Dear Diggory

chapter 9

We went off to find an empty changing cubicle and by the time we came out Luna had her bra size. She spent some time picking out some cute ones and we went to the register to pay as the other girls joined us.

We left the shop and spent the next two hours flitting between a few others in the high street.

Maisie and Dakota picked up some puke bombs and excessive hair growing pills from Zonko's Joke Shop. They had big plans to prank some of Slytherin boys they had a playful rivalry with.

Evelyn bought some new pens from Scrivenshaft's Quill Shop, hers had depleted from all the doodling.

Luna purchased some prosef liquid from Dogweed and Deathcap. Apparently Neville had recommended it to decipher which mushrooms were poisonous and she seemed excited to show him.

The only thing I bought were some fizzy salted caramel snakes from Honeydukes. They were my favourite sweets and you couldn't find them anywhere else.

Exhausted from all of the walking, we decided to go for some drinks at The Three Broomsticks Inn before heading back to the castle. We walked along the cobblestone path to the end of the street where the pub sat.

We entered and were welcomed by the familiar smoky smell and candle wax. The inn was in the style of an old Tudor house, we were careful not to hit our heads on the low wooden beams as we stepped into the main area. The cosy warmth was comforting and I was relieved to be out of the harsh wind.

As usual, it was filled with lots of the Hogwarts students in our year and above. We looked around for a spare table but they were all taken.

"Lila! Come sit with us."

I turned to my right and saw the familiar faces of Max and Alastair. They were with some other Hufflepuff boys who I recognised to be Jamie and Rory. Cedric was sat there too and I cringed internally.

They motioned for us to come and before I could stop them, the girls wandered over and sat in the spare seats, relieved at the boy's offer. I walked overly gingerly and sat down in the remaining seat next to Max. Cedric was directly opposite me and I tried to avoid his piercing eye contact.

We shrugged off our coats and put our bags down under the wooden table.

"Did you guys go shopping?" Max directed his question towards Evelyn, eyeing her hair with a grin.

"Yeah we thought we would use our free time whilst we had some. What are you guys doing here?" she asked.

"We just fancied a drink really and we thought it was about time to show Cedric the sights."

He introduced Cedric to the girls and I watched as Maisie and Dakota exchanged looks, they'd been dying to talk to him first hand.

Max stood up and slipped out from the table, "what do you girls want to drink? I'll get them."

The girls rattled off their orders but before I could tell him mine Cedric stood up too.

He looked at me, ignoring the stares of the others, "I'll get yours. What would you like?"

I raised my eyebrows slightly before answering "um...a virgin piña colada?"

I blushed at my choice but we weren't allowed to drink in the pub yet and the pineapple milk mixture was addictive.

He smiled at me, an expression that seemed so charming I decided it might as well be illegal. He nodded before he left with Max, striding towards the bar.

I leaned over to Dakota who was sat on my other side and whispered in her ear, "I think we should just drink these quickly and go back to the castle. We don't want to intrude on their guy thing or whatever."