A/N
dedicated to altsunsworld
no trigger warnings for this chapter! it's just a silly one of boys being boys.
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"You ready for the first Hogsmeade trip of the year, mate?" Blaise clapped him down onto Draco's shoulder, who was sitting at his desk reading a book. "We've got to leave in a few minutes."
"Yeah," Draco flipped the page, scanning the words. "Let me finish the chapter quickly."
"Wait, he's reading?" Lorenzo raised an eyebrow at Blaise, who shrugged nonchalantly.
Mattheo pulled his leather jacket over his shoulders, slipping on his black trainers. "I didn't know Draco could read."
"Very funny." He rolled his eyes and sneered over his shoulder, closing the book dramatically. "I believe I'm far more literate than all of you."
Theodore scoffed, sat on the edge of his bed, lacing up his boots. "I'm sure you are."
The boys continued getting themselves ready to go to Hogsmeade before they had to meet their year's group out by the castle's gate. Mattheo was ready first, he leaned against the door of their dorm and waited, his eyes finding Theodore. He tried to not make it obvious that he was watching his friend, but he couldn't help himself. It had only been a week or so since he had found Theodore unable to breathe at the top of the astronomy tower. Mattheo had kept a close watch on him since that night. It was an odd feeling, Mattheo knew Theodore wouldn't want his pity and Mattheo didn't pity him. He was just... Worried. About his friend.
Theodore tried not to pay attention to Mattheo's gaze as he pulled his black turtleneck over his head. He wasn't daft. He had picked up on the fact that his friend was keeping an eye on him and while he didn't think he needed that, it still felt nice to know someone was watching out for him. He looked over his shoulder as he grabbed his jacket and nodded his head at Mattheo, who gave him a small unnoticeable smile in response.
The other three boys finished getting themselves ready and eventually, all five boys left their dorm and walked out to meet the rest of the students in their year who were headed to Hogsmeade. They took their place with the group, standing in the sea of students. As they began walking, Lorenzo accidentally bumped into a girl.
"Shit, I'm sorry." He said, quickly backing out of her personal space.
She turned back to look at him, pushing her wavy brunette hair out of her eyes. "No, it's okay." Her voice was sweet and soft, and Lorenzo noticed her ravenclaw scarf. "Don't worry about it." The girl smiled quickly before turning back to her group of friends, linking her arm with a blonde girl and walking away.
Lorenzo stood there a moment before he shook his head slightly and caught up to his friends, taking his spot walking next to Mattheo back. "What was that about?" Mattheo raised an eyebrow, his hands in his jacket pockets as he walked.
"Nothing, I ran into her is all."
"Right then."
Once the group of students got to Hogsmeade, they got instructions from the professor to meet back at the bridge at four so they could head back to the castle for dinner and then they were on their own. The group of boys wandered around, taking in various sights and buying the occasional trinket from the shops around.
It was quite a beautiful scene. There was a light dusting of snow that covered the village and more flurries falling from the sky. The overcast of the clouds seemed to make the streetlamps and the lights on the inside of the shops look warmer, like they were glowing in the winter weather. It was quite a cozy day to be in Hogsmeade.
Mattheo had seen a stray cat down by the riverbed and he took off running to get down towards it, causing the other boys to take off running after him. They laughed as they ran through the street and then even more when Theodore had tripped whilst he was trying to get down the slightly steep hill down to the riverbank.
When the other boys caught up, Mattheo was sat on the ground with his legs in a circle shape, the cat curled up in between them. "Isn't he pretty?"
Lorenzo sat next to him, reaching over the smooth the cats' fur that Mattheo had ruffled. "He is." The cat was a small, black cat with bright green eyes and sleek fur. "I feel bad he's out here alone."
"He's a strong boy." Blaise sat in front of the two next to Draco, watching the cat roll around happily. "He'll be okay."
"Where was that energy when I fell on my face?" Theodore smiled sarcastically, running his fingers over his ankle he'd fallen on. "I'm okay, thanks for asking."
"Oh don't worry," Mattheo pet the cat that was now in lap softly, matching Theodore's expression, "no one was asking!"
Theodore sneered and the rest of the boys laughed. "Laughing at my expense, I see."
"That's how you know we're your friends, Theodore." Draco nudged him slightly, and Theodore couldn't help but smile.
This was exactly what they'd needed, a day where they could be just a group of friends and nothing more. No expectations, no people looking at them to make the right move or expecting them to make the wrong one, no family matters looming over them. Just for them to simply be them, and for that to be enough.
After the cat had gotten tired of human interaction, it scurried off and left them sitting there. "RIght lads," Blaise stood off the ground, brushing the grass off his trousers. "Should we get a drink, them?"
"Oh thank god." Draco stood hurriedly. "I am freezing and a hot drink sounds wonderful. This sweater was not enough to keep me warm."
The boys veered towards the Three Broomsticks and filed inside, each taking a seat around a high-top table towards the back corner of the room. A waiter came by and took their drink orders fairly quickly as they settled into the space, and the drinks came even quicker than they were ordered.
The boys were sitting there a while before Blaise noticed the same group of girls from before. "Hey Enzo," He nodded his head, signaling over Lorenzo's shoulder, "that girl over there keeps looking over at you."
Theodore immediately turned his head to the side and looked across the room to the group of girls Blaise had gestured to, his eyes locking with one of them. He knew she was a Slytherin in their year, they had a few classes together but he had never paid her any attention before. She was quite pretty, her dirty blonde hair pulled back into a ponytail and her style quite put together. "You talking about that one?" Theodore glanced back at Blaise, hoping he'd say no.
"No, the one with the Ravenclaw scarf."
Lorenzo nonchalantly turned his head over his shoulder, smirking at the girl who glanced back at him. "She's the one I bumped into earlier." She smiled softly before turning back to her friends, them all leaning in closer to each other and talking profusely. "She's cute." He turned back to his friends, unable to wipe the smirk off his face.
As the minutes flew by, the two groups stole glances at each other from across the room, although the boys were much less timid about it. Their glances borderlined on stares. The gryffindor girl of the group locked eyes with Mattheo briefly before leaning into the ravenclaw and whispering something. The blonde Slytherin was just as bold as the boys it seemed, her chin resting in her hand and her eyes trailing over Theodore as she listened to the other two girls, one Slytherin and one Hufflepuff, speak to her. There were five of them total, just as there were five boys.
"Should we go over there?" Draco's eyes left the Hufflepuff girl he was blatantly staring at and directed them around the table of boys, taking a sip of his butterbeer.
Theodore pondered the idea. None of the boys were in a position to get wrapped up in any sort of relationships, not with everything threatening them and their families. Theodore especially knew he wasn't at least. It wouldn't be fair to bring anyone else into it. But some sort of little fling or a bit of flirting couldn't hurt.
"Fuck it." Mattheo set down his empty glass, standing up from his chair. "Why the hell not." He began making his way over to the table of girls.
The rest of the boys hurriedly followed their friend's lead, all of them enjoying the thought of a distraction from their recently more somber lives. Each one slotted themself next to the girl they'd been looking at, like it was some sort of rehearsed act.
The Gryffindor girl sandwiched between Mattheo and Lorenzo was the first to speak. "And what do we have here?" She smiled slyly, her gaze locking with the blonde Slytherin girl. These girls knew who these boys were, mostly because of their families high statuses, but no way in hell would they feed into their most likely already inflated egos.
Mattheo leaned down, his arms resting on the table, "Mattheo Riddle, it's a pleasure to meet you," he said, his voice loud enough to be heard by everyone, but clearly directed at the one girl. "And you are?"
She rolled her eyes in response. "Freya." Her tone was confident as she looked up at the boy towering over her. "It's definitely something to meet you, I haven't decided what that something is yet though."
Blaise snorted at her witty remark, a smirk tugging at the edge of his lips. He glanced over at Draco, who leaned in and attempted to talk to the Hufflepuff girl, although it looked like she was not having it.
"Brave girl, I see." Mattheo threaded the end of her scarf in between his fingers. "The epitome of a gryffindor."
Meanwhile, Lorenzo had begun talking to the ravenclaw girl. "Well hello there, gorgeous."
"I do have a name, you know." She laughed softly, taking a sip of her drink.
"Please enlighten me." Lorenzo pulled up a stool from a nearby empty table and took a seat next to her.
"My name is Madeline."
"Nice to meet you, Madeline. Gorgeous better suits you, but Madeline's a beautiful name nonetheless." He moved a stray strand of her brunette hair out of her face and behind her ear. "I'm Lorenzo."
She blushed slightly, her blue eyes flickering over to the dirty blonde Slytherin girl who seemed to be watching this interaction with narrowed eyes, like she was waiting for the signal that Madeline was uncomfortable.
"What about you, love?" Theodore moved his fingers under her chin, lifting her head to meet his eyes and drawing her attention away from her friend. "What's your name then?"
"Evangeline." She smirked up at him, like she knew she had the upper hand. "Nice to see you here, Theodore."
Theodore tilted his head slightly, a confused look flooding his face. "I see you already know me." It seems she did in fact have the upper hand.
"I'm in your house and in your year, you moron. I know all of you." She shook her head, a sly grin on her face. While she was enjoying the attention, she knew these boys. She knew they weren't particularly good news, nothing she or any of her friends should get involved with.
"That's no way to talk to me, now is it?" The blue eyed boy leaned slightly closer to her, his eyes narrowing ever so slightly. She was feisty, not an easy accomplishment. That made her even more desirable to Theodore.
"How should I talk to you then?" Evangeline tilted her head, moving away from Theodore's hand, but kept her eyes on him. He smirked and leaned in, whispering something in her ear. Her eyes widened slightly as she looked over at the Hufflepuff girl, who was rolling her eyes as Draco was trying to speak to her.
"No offense, Draco, but I'm simply not interested in you." Instead the girl, whose name he had learned was Violetta, was glancing over at Madeline, who was engaged in conversation with Lorenzo. Violetta smiled softly watching her friend, Madeline had this thing for Lorenzo for a while. It was nice seeing her happy. "You're just not my type." She shrugged nonchalantly, tossing her brunette hair over her shoulder.
"What?" Draco seemed totally taken aback. "But I'm everyone's type."
Violetta scoffed and shook her head. "Yeah no, sorry ferret boy."
"Oh god, that was one time!"
The other slytherin girl who was previously in conversation with Blaise chimed in. "Yeah, but we all remember vividly."
"Good one, Georgia!" Blaise slung one of his arms over the brunette Slytherins', Georgias', shoulders and the other over Violetta. Both of the girls giggled and looked at each other with wide eyes, whilst Draco crossed his arms and scoffed.
"Alright then." Draco rolled his eyes, obviously embarrassed by his failed flirting attempt and he headed back to their original table.
"You'd better go with him." Freya nodded, gesturing for Mattheo to go on.
"What?" He leaned in a tad closer, a condescending pouty expression plastered to his face. "You aren't interested in me?"
"Not even a little bit." She put her hands on his shoulders and turned him back towards the table he came from. "Goodbye, Mattheo." And with that, he was off.
"I best be going as well, ladies." Blaise removed his arms from around the two girls he had been speaking with. "Don't miss me too much." He winked at Georgia and left them there to giggle amongst themselves.
"I think that's your cue as well, no?" Evangeline smiled, her eyes locked into Theodore's.
"I guess it is." Theodore grabbed her hand and lightly squeezed it. "Until next time, cara mia." He heard her laugh softly as he turned and walked away, heading back to his friends,
"Uh-huh," She shook her head, waving after him. "Bye Theo."
Lorenzo was the last one to leave the table. The other girls tried not to make it obvious they were watching his and Madeline's interactions but they definitely were. "I should get back to my friends." He said quietly, his eyes on hers.
"Yeah, you should." She nodded, her gaze drifting.
"It was a pleasure to meet you, Madeline." Lorenzo gently used his thumb and index finger to guide her eyes back to his. "I hope I'll see you again?"
"I'm sure you will." Her breath hitched slightly as he kept his soft grip on her. "Go on then."
He nodded, bringing her hand up to his lips and lightly kissing the back of her hand, without ever breaking eye contact with her. He watched as a light pink flush appeared on her face, a sly grin stitching itself to his lips. "See you later, gorgeous."
He made his way back over to his friends with that same grin on his face, where he noticed they already had another round of drinks waiting for him. Mattheo clapped his hand on Lorenzo's shoulder when he sat down. "Who knew you were quite the player, huh?" He sent him a playful wink.
"I did." Lorenzo shrugged, picking up his cup. "You lot just never pay attention, but that's nothing new."
"Hey!" Blaise scoffed, pretending to be offended. "I pay attention!"
"I was referring to Mattheo and Theo." He glanced between his two friends, a fake sympathetic look on his face. "I seriously worry for your brain capacity on a daily basis."
"Uh-huh, very funny, Enz."
"I'm just confused how I struck out before all of you." Draco scoffed, pretending he was kidding but really, his ego was downed.
Blaise snickered, his tone teasing. "Awh, did that Hufflepuff hurt your feelings?"
"Please die in a hole."
The rest of the boys broke out into a fit of laughter, enjoying their time together. They hadn't had time like this in ages, where the crushing weight of their reality wasn't pushing down on them. Eventually Draco couldn't help but join in on the jokes, even if they were aimed at himself. All was well in their world.
For now.
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A/N
hi... i in fact did not die, i'm so sorry this chapter took so long, but i was having a REALLY hard time writing it. hence why it's a little cringy and cliché, but i am a sucker for a cliché :,)
also, this chapter is dedicated to my angel girl, mia, because its HER BIRTHDAY! or it will be in 25 minutes in her timezone. all that to say: mimi, i love you more than anything in this world and i hope this made you giggle and kick your feet. and of course, always remember lorenzo is head over heels in love with you, he literally told me himself.
i love you all so much and thank you for your patience with me and this book!
- love, elly <3