Curiosity Is Not a Sin

A Visit to the Village

"Don't worry," James said. "It's been reciprocated. When we found them, she was halfway to ripping his shirt off and he had his tongue in her mouth."

She kicked him again. "I was not ripping his shirt off. Stop exaggerating. I just - um - wanted to touch his chest. Some people find him very attractive, you know."

Fred shook his head, still looking very bemused, and she changed the subject before he could say anything else. "Can we have something to drink?"

Fred raised his wand, and several bottles of butterbeer floated over. Rose took one and opened it, but James crossed his arms and kept staring at Fred, who laughed and raised his wand again. As Rose took a swig, another bottle and two glasses floated over, and when they'd landed, Fred opened the firewhiskey. "You are not having all of it," he said, pouring a very small amount into one glass and filling the other about a quarter of the way.

He pushed the first glass to James, who scoffed, "That's hardly any!"

Fred made to take the glass away. "I could just give you none."

James snatched it up. "No, I'm good." He took a drink and shuddered. "I love this stuff."

Fred downed a significant portion of his own glass and put the bottle in the centre of the table. "So, Rosie," he said, taking a drink of the whiskey himself. "What'd you do to need the shield stuff two weeks into school?"

In some ways, Rose was glad to share the story with Fred. She loved all of her cousins, but there was a special place in her heart for Fred. His help in learning flying in her first year had really helped her get onto the team in her second year, even if he'd already left by then.

"Well..." She launched into a lengthy and detailed rendition. By the time she finished, Fred was beaming.

"All right," he said. "That's good. He must have looked ridiculous - "

"He did," James said proudly.

"- and good for him to be able to take a joke." He took another swig of his whiskey. "Rose says you're putting them through the ropes at practice, James. I'm proud of you."

James leaned forward enthusiastically, and he and Rose were off, describing the team's improvement, their competition, and their new training regimen. He'd helped them both turn develop into very good players, so they were always exceedingly eager to impress him - and, for his part, he was always very interested in hearing about how the team was doing without him.

As the afternoon wore on, Rose sighed. "We should really be getting back. We've still both got a class this afternoon."

Fred walked them to the front of the shop and handed them a small bag. "I thought I might be seeing one of you soon," he said.

"Not that I'm complaining, but you just sent us a huge box."

He shrugged. "Yeah, well. Good advertising, and if I'm going to help Dad out this fall, I'd rather do it properly. They'll be streaming in here first Hogsmeade weekend." He gave both of them a hug.

"They will anyway," Rose said, "But thanks." She touched the necklace. "Especially for this."

"No problem," he said, reaching out to rufflle her hair. "What's family for, anyway?" He gave them each a hug. "Get going. I'll see you soon."

They pulled the invisibility cloak back over themselves before they left the shop, and Rose dropped a decoy detonator right outside the door of Honeydukes. When it exploded, the owners ran outside, and she and James slipped in through the open door.

"Must have escaped from Weasleys'," she heard the man say as they hurried down the stairs.

"It's amazing how often that works," she said softly to James.

He let out a soft chuckle as they pulled open the trapdoor. "It is."

They had to duck into several unused classrooms on their way back to the common room. Between prefects, teachers, and the caretaker, there were plenty of people about who would have been happy to put them in detention for going out-of-bounds, as their bag clearly indicated that they had. Even students might have raised a commotion.

The common room wasn't full, but it wasn't empty, either, and when they clambered through the portrait hole, they got several curious looks, and Damien called out, "Why did they make you a prefect again?"

"I don't know," she called back. "Maybe they're hoping it'll encourage me to behave myself!" He grinned. She elbowed James, who was clearly enjoying the attention he was getting from an assorted group of sixth and seventh years. "Let's get this upstairs."

He made a face at her. "Killjoy," he muttered, but he picked up the bags and followed her up the stairs that led to the boy's dormitories. When they reached the sixth year's door, James kicked it open and they dropped the packages on his bed. "You know," he said, "just once, I'd like to toss stuff all over your room and leave it for you to clean up."

Rose shrugged. "Not my fault you can't come up into our dormitory. Come on, we've got to get our books and head to class. Or at least I have to."

He sighed. "No, I do, too. Unfortunately."