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𝐇𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐞𝐧
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Halloween soon came around and it was the first trip to Hogsmeade. George, Fred, Lee, and Eden were in the courtyard waiting for everyone to hand in their permission slips to McGonagall and Filch. Harry attempted to talk to McGonagall to convince her to sign his permission slip but she refused. The rest of the students had started to walk while Hermione and Ron had stayed back a little while Harry had spoken to McGonagall. Eden turned and looked over her shoulder as Harry spoke to his friends before he headed inside and they headed in the direction of the other students.
"I feel bad for him," Eden stated.
"Yeah, me too, but I'm not surprised the Dursleys didn't sign his slip. Remember last year?" George asked.
"Yes I do, you and Fred told me and boasted for weeks about how you saved Harry, honestly, you're lucky you weren't the ones who led to your dad being questioned. If someone had overheard you, you could have ended up being the one on the receiving of a howler. "
"Well, that's why we only told you. Ron was the idiot who decided to fly it during the day, visible for all the Muggles to see."
"Anyway, come on let's catch up to Fred and Lee," Eden said. Her watching the scene between Harry and McGonagall unfold meant that George and herself were at the back of the group not including Hermione and Ron.
They walked past a few people before they found Lee and Fred.
"Hey guys," Lee said as Fred and him turned to look at the other two.
"Hi, so where to first?" Eden asked.
"Well, I want to go to Zonkos."
"Of course you do Fred. Well, we can go there, then to Honeydukes and after that maybe we should go to the Three Broomsticks for some butterbeer. How does that sound?"
"Sounds good," George replied and the other two nodded in agreement.
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"4 butterbeers please," George ordered their drinks and paid after the group had sat down at a table in the Three Broomsticks. The twins and Lee had all bought a plethora of items from Zonkos but nothing had caught Eden's eye that day. Afterward, they had bought chocolate frogs, sugar quills, and many other sweets from Honeydukes before heading over to the little pub they now sat in.
"I can't wait for the Halloween feast tonight," Fred said after their drinks had arrived.
"Yeah, me too. It's always the best," Lee added. George took a sip of his butterbeer and when he placed it back down Lee and Fred both laughed a little in unison. Eden looked between the two, confused before turning to the boy beside her and she joined in with their laughter.
"What?" George asked turning around, confused.
"You've got a little something..." Eden motioned towards the top of his lip. George grabbed a napkin and wiped off the froth which had been there.
"Ha ha, very funny," He said sarcastically. The other three laughed a little and when their laughter finally died down, Eden changed the subject.
"So, how's Quidditch practice been going so far?"
"It's been pretty good, Fred and I didn't have our usual amount of practice over the summer because we were in Egypt but I think we have a good chance of winning the first match."
"When is the first match by the way?"
"8th November, us against Hufflepuff," Fred replied.
"Cedric Diggory's on their team and whenever they play half of the girls just stand drooling over him," Lee said shaking his head a little.
"Do you really blame them?" Eden asked before taking another sip of her drink.
"Huh?"
"Come on, Lee, you have to admit he is gorgeous."
"Sounds to me like someone has a bit of a crush." Lee raised his eyebrows at Eden. Fred noticed how George curled his hand into a fist and clenched his jaw as Lee said this.
"Just because I think he is attractive does not mean I like him in that way, I don't even know him."
"Alright, whatever, but the point is loads of people drool over him and won't even pay attention to the match."
"Why does it even matter to you if people pay attention or not?" She questioned him.
"Well, because afterward, I like it when people compliment me on my outstanding commentary skills." Eden pulled an unimpressed face at him as if to say "really."
Interrupting their conversation, George coughed and began to speak.
"We should finish our drinks it's nearly time to head back."
They drank the rest of their butterbeer and then left the Three Broomsticks. The sun had already started to set when they left the pub and once they had made it back to the castle it was fully set. The crowd of students that had arrived back from Hogsmeade headed to the Great Hall for the feast.
The tables were scattered with plates full of different Halloween-themed food. Above the tables, there were floating pumpkins with faces carved into them which replaced the usual floating candles. The Great Hall was alive with the noisy chatter of all the students. Eden couldn't help but laugh to herself as she thought of all the Muggle children dressing up as witches and wizards not knowing that magical people do, in fact, exist.
The boys were stuffing their faces with food and she looked at them in mock disgust.
"The food isn't going anywhere, you can slow down you know?" She laughed and shook her head at them.
"Yeah but we gotta get it before Ron does," George replied quickly.
"Hey!" Ron, who was sat next to Fred exclaimed.
"Boys," She sighed to Hermione who was sat beside her. Hermione just shook her head in agreement.
The rest of the feast was filled with the boys shoveling more food into their mouths and Eden and Hermione discussing the hardships of being the only girl in each of their groups. Eden and Hermione were never particularly close but when they did talk it was nice to be able to have a bit of 'girl talk.'
Finally, the feast had concluded and everyone was headed up to their dormitories. Eden was headed up the staircase with Hermione, continuing their conversation from earlier. Suddenly, she bumped into George who had been walking in front of her as all the Gryffindor students had come to a halt. George turned around and apologised and explained that something was going on with the Fat Lady's portrait.
All the students were confused. Ginny Weasley came forward and explained that the Fat Lady was missing from her portrait. The other paintings on the walls seemed to be in chaos trying to get a closer look at the scene unfolding. Dumbledore came pushing through the crowd of students to inspect the scene before instructing Filch to locate the Fat Lady. However, he didn't need to search for her as he had already spotted her in another picture, hiding behind a hippo that was on the canvas. Everybody rushed forwards towards her. Eden could barely hear what she was saying because of all the students that pushed in front of her. She only caught a couple of words.
"Somewhere in the castle. Sirius Black."
Panic spread through the sea of students as they all heard Dumbledore's booming voice order them all to go back to the Great Hall.
At the Great Hall, all the students were gathered and sleeping bags were handed out. Eden and George had found each other in the crowd of people on the way back to the Hall, now they were lying on the stone floor, staring up at the enchanted starry ceiling. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw George turn his head so she copied his action and met his eyes. They both just smiled a comforting smile at each other. She turned her whole body so she was on her side, facing him. Without really knowing what he was doing, George reached out his hand and brushed the hair out of her face. He blushed and whispered an apology but Eden shook her head and smiled again.
Despite the circumstances of the situation they were in, being there together in the Great Hall had been oddly comforting. Eventually, they both fell asleep and their dreams were filled with visions of each other.
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