People Watching.

Chapter Eleven.

"Guys, is my outfit nice enough for a date?" (Y/n) asked on Halloween morning as she walked up to Gryffindor table.
She had a creme, beige, brown, and green argyle-patterned sweater that was tucked into a green denim skirt. She had black, floral-patterned tights with white leg warmers and beige Converse. She went with a light green eye look and a matching green bow in her half-up hairstyle. She clutched the canvas bag that sat on her shoulder anxiously as the Gryffindors surveyed her.

"No," Fred answered. "In fact, it's so bad that you might as well save yourself the embarrassment and join us for the day," he added. (Y/n) looked on the brink of crying at Fred's comment. Hermione and George both roughly elbowed him. Hermione laughed humourlessly at Fred's comment.

"Real joker of a twin!" she said, through gritted teeth as she smiled. "You look great, (Y/n)," she assured. "And if they make any negative comments, they aren't worth your time!" Lavender and Parvati hummed in agreement, rapidly nodding their heads. "And you don't think you'll be cold?" Hermione asked. (Y/n) beamed.

"Well, that's all part of my master plan, 'Mione," (Y/n) said, taking a seat beside Parvati in order to show the girl her nails (she painted little sheet ghosts on them). Parvati oohed and intertwined her hand with (Y/n)'s, bringing it closer to her face in order to get a better look.
"Act cold, get my date's sweater," she explained as though it were simple math. "Oh... but then he'll be cold," she mumbled.

"Or, you can take mine," Angelina suggested. "And it matches, too!"

"Or you can go back and get your own jacket. Not too late, you know," Ron said.

"Hm. Tempting," (Y/n) mused, glancing in a certain direction. "But their jacket would match too and if I go back now, I'll miss breakfast! Can't have that now, can we? Anyways, I should probably go and join the Ravenclaws before Percy has my head on a platter." The Gryffindors glanced in Percy's direction. Seemingly, he was debating about whether or not to come and tell (Y/n) off.

"Well, I genuinely hope you have a good time today, (Y/n)," Alicia said. 

"And if you don't, we'll be... around Hogsmeade," Katie added. (Y/n) beamed as she got up.

"Toodles!" The Gryffindors smiled and waved and when she was out of sight, their smiles dropped.

"That was hilarious!" Katie giggled. "You guys were so obvious about not wanting her to go and she was oblivious!"

"Or chose to ignore it," Hermione murmured. "I don't think we'll know, either. She works in all too mysterious ways."

(Y/n) rocked back and forth on the balls of her feet, patiently waiting for her date to arrive at their meeting place. Seeing as this was supposed to be a more 'secretive' date, they chose to separately get their respective drinks and then go for a walk around Hogsmeade together. (Y/n) was growing extremely nervous as it had been twenty minutes past the time they agreed to meet and she had no sign of where her date was.

"Hey, sorry I took so long," Cassius Warrington greeted. He held a hot drink in his hand. "The line was long, the boys were asking too many questions, and I wanted to finalize some things," he chuckled, shaking his head. (Y/n) beamed at him. 

"Don't worry! I just got here myself," (Y/n) said. That was a lie. She arrived fifteen minutes earlier than the agreed meeting time. She had been waiting thirty-five minutes and her once-hot drink was now lukewarm. She felt like a pathetic loser whenever someone would approach her, either asking about her date or asking if she was all right.
"Er... Anyway, where were you thinking?" (Y/n) asked. Cassius beamed. 

"This way," he instructed. (Y/n) hurried after him as he broke into a speed-walk, heading for an alley. (Y/n) rose an eyebrow as Cassius drew to a stop and rose his wand. (Y/n) followed his gaze, finding a fire escape at the side of one of the inns. There was no way to reach the fire escape other than a folded ladder that led to the second level. Muttering a spell under his breath, the ladder slid down rather loudly. The two grimaced and looked around. 
"After you," he mused. (Y/n) looked hesitant. "Don't worry. I've been up here before. Multiple times, actually," he assured. "I'll be right after you. Promise." (Y/n) nodded. She gave her drink to Cassius and climbed the ladder, trembling as it rattled. The fire escape was nowhere near stable. She stayed in a crouched position and caught the drinks Cassius levitated up to her. True to his word, Cassius was right after her. (Y/n) grew nervous, silently wondering if the fire escape would be able to hold them both.
Nonetheless, she continued up the fire escape, which now had an unstable set of stairs between each level. When they reached the rooftop, (Y/n) was deeply surprised to find a little area already set up. There wasn't much: only a blanket, a pastry box, and a satchel. 
"The view is excellent," Cassius informed. "We're never allowed to stay here long enough to see the, like, sunset or anything, but it's cloudy and foggy enough and the town is lit up just right, I thought—" he rambled.