stardust ⋮ george weasley

sixty-three :

S I X T Y - T H R E E

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The temperature had suddenly dropped in Scotland the later it got in the year, and it was no different on the Saturday morning of one of the famous Hogsmeade trips. The light layer of snow crunched under their feet as the group of seventh years trekked down to the village. Adeline had her Ravenclaw scarf wound tight around in an effort to keep out the cold and her blue knitted hat sitting comfortably on her curly head. Still, Adeline was practically pressed into George's side in an attempt to stay warm as they made their way down to Hogsmeade.

As she was walking down, Ophelia happened to look behind her about halfway to the village, and her eyes widened when she saw what – well, who – was behind her. "Merlin, is she running down the path?"

The whole group stopped and turned around to see Hermione bounding towards them, occasionally stumbling a little on the icy path. She was practically out of breath when she reached them, but even then, Hermione was on a mission and didn't have any time to waste. "None of you are learning a thing in Umbridge's class, right?" She asked, getting straight to the point.

"Merlin, no," Melanie groaned. "It takes every part of me not to burn that bloody textbook right in front of her. She's the worst Defense teacher we've ever had, and that's saying a lot, considering we had one guy who had You-Know-Who sticking out the back of his head."

"We're not learning a thing from her," Estelle added, a distasteful look appearing in her eyes as she thought about the terrible woman.

"I never learnt with any of the teachers," Fred quietly commented, earning a snort of laughter from both Lee and George.

Ignoring Fred's comment, Hermione continued, "If you want to actually learn something about Defense Against the Dark Arts, be at the Hogs Head pub in fifteen minutes. I have a plan."

"What, are you going to start your own Defense Against the Dark Arts class or something like that?" Ophelia questioned with a laugh.

Hermione smiled knowingly to herself, as if she was laughing at her own inside joke. "Something like that."

She then said a quick goodbye to the group and then ran down the snowy path once more, trying to catch up to a group of Gryffindors before they disappeared off in the village.

"But Three Broomsticks..." George whispered longingly, staring at the bustling pub in the distance that looked warm and full of life.

Adeline was tempted at the thought of the famous warm butterbeer too, but she could tell that whatever Hermione had arranged, it was incredibly important. "We can go there in a while," She reassured. "Let's just go to this meeting, alright? I'm not entirely sure what be, but knowing Hermione, it's probably a good idea."

"You say that, but she came up with that whole S.P.E.W. thing last year," Ophelia muttered.

"Speak for yourself!" Adeline responded. "I've only been to a few S.P.E.W. meetings, but it's for a really good cause! Plus, it got me really good at knitting socks and hats."

"I still have no idea why you joined that stupid S.P.E.W. club anyways," George asked her.

"You joined too!" Adeline said with a laugh. "You're not allowed to say it's stupid if you joined it as well."

"Yeah, well, George only joined because he thought he'd have more of a chance of snogging you if he did," Lee piped up, letting out a loud laugh.

"Well, it worked, so I'm not complaining," George pointed out in an almost proud voice as he leaned over to kiss the top of Adeline's head. He then looked back at Lee and Fred with a smug smile and loudly commented, "Maybe you two should join some clubs so you finally get the chance to snog someone of your own!"