"I hate you, too." - Draco Malfoy Fanfic

Chapter 6

"We accept the love we think we deserve."

- The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky

----

Soft flakes of snow drifted down from the cloudy sky, their touch a gentle kiss on Eden's pale face. She reached a freezing pink hand out of her pocket, pulling her scarf higher up her chin as her warm breath sent spirals of hot air out from her parted lips.

"I hate the cold." She mumbled, her hands now open to accept the delicate snow. "It's a shame it's so pretty." She observed the flakes as they melted into her cold skin. "Christmas is soon." Faye smiled, her eyes on the footprints they'd pressed into the blanket of white beneath them.

Faye adored the cold and looked forward to winter all year--she and Eden were opposites in this way. "Halloween is even closer. I'm surprised it's snowing." Eden kicked a rock, which had made its way into her path.

With Halloween just a few days away, Eden had agreed to make a visit to Hogsmeade to buy sweets with Levi, Faye and Francesca. Levi and Francesca had gone ahead, but Eden had woken up late and been allowed to sleep in while Faye waited patiently for her.

A few shrivelled up brown leaves poked up out of the top of the snow and an occasional crunch would sound from beneath their shoes. The early snow was a sign of a very cold winter, and Eden's mind drifted to her visit to the Kelp forest with Luna Lovegood-- a tinge of sadness lacing her thoughts as she realised it'd be too cold to swim there again. Perhaps Luna knew a fancy spell to protect them from the icy underwater.

A blast of warm air stung at Eden and Faye's rosy cheeks upon entrance to Honeydukes. Already the store was packed, making it difficult to locate Levi and Francesca. Francesca would likely be buying a heap of Bertie Bott's every flavoured bean. Every year she mixed them up with the rest of the normal jelly beans at the Halloween feast. It was her own little tradition.

"Oh, I just love Halloween." Francesca appeared out of nowhere, wrapping an arm around Eden's shoulders. "I'm so glad you came, come look at the chocolate frogs--they have special edition halloween cards." She dragged Eden away.

"Can we get butterbeer after this? I haven't had any since summer." Eden asked, and Francesca nodded rather enthusiastically. "We should go to Hogshead for Butterbeer instead of The Three Broomstix. Hogshead has really shady people and we can make a game out of trying to figure out their occupation. Is it a Grindelwald acolyte on a mission to assassinate Dumbledore, or is it just Hagrid trying to drink alcohol without feeling like he's setting a bad example for his students?" Francesca grinned.

"Sounds like fun, i'll go wherever everyone else wants to." Eden shrugged, then once the group's bags were filled to the brim with colourful sweets and other little trinkets, they made their way back into the chill outside and down the street into Hogshead. As Francesca had predicted, it was full of shady people.

The air was dry and cool inside, with limited sunlight filtering through three small windows. The group of four made their way into a secluded corner, where Francesca claimed they could watch everyone and not be judged for it. Though Eden suspected the customers in this particular bar received no judgement for far more than just people-watching.

If anything, the wizards in the bar seemed to purposefully avoid looking in anyone's direction. It was like they knew they should mind their own business in a place like this. Faye and Levi ordered up the front, and soon returned with four butterbeers.

As Levi and Eden entered into a hushed conversation over their plans for the Christmas break, Faye played along with Francesca's career guessing game. "I think he's definitely an auror who's here to bust any illegal activity. He's trying to subtly look around the room, and he's super on edge." Francesca pointed to a lonesome man sitting by a window.