The Founders

Chapter 37

Hogsmeade weekend rolled around and Kyra's mood lightened with the weather. Weak sunlight filtered through a thin veil of blue cloud, illuminating the landscape with a mellow, forgiving gold.

The grey stones of the castle looked warm and the grass, rolling down to the forest, seemed the greenest it had been in months. Stepping out in the first spring day of the year, Kyra tilted her face up to the sky, the sun warm and red on her eyelids. She felt Oscar approaching from behind her and let him fold his arms around her. He dropped his head on top of her and she leaned back, grinning up at him.

"Honeydukes?" he asked.

"Why, yes."

Grace and Kat stepped out to join them, pulling on woollen gloves and they set off cheerfully, crunching down the gravelled path to Hogsmeade. It seemed that most of the school had taken the first opportunity to get off of school grounds and enjoy the weather, and groups of students straggled along the path, chatting loudly.

When they arrived at the village, it was already full of students walking in and out of the joke shop and Honeydukes, and crowding into Madame Rosmerta's.

"Shall I get us a table in Madame Rosmerta's, then?" Kat asked, eyeing the line that was starting to form. "You guys get the snacks and meet me there."

"Sure," Oscar nodded, already heading towards Honeydukes. "Try and get one by the window, please," he said over his shoulder.

Grace rolled her eyes at Oscar's retreating back. "What a pig." She turned back to the other two. "Alright, is there anything you want, Kat?"

Kat shrugged. "Just the chocolate, please. See you guys later." She headed off to join the queue and Grace and Kyra went to catch up with Oscar. He was already inside the shop, trying a sample of peanut butter chocolate. Since peanut butter had only recently been introduced to the magical world, this was still a huge novelty, especially for someone as clueless as Oscar.

They spent about an hour in Honeydukes, in which Oscar tried all the samples and Grace and Kyra tried to feed him the most disgusting sweets that they could find. This culminated in Grace chasing Oscar around the shop with a spoon of cockroach cluster, dodging customers, while Kyra was collapsed with laughter on the window seat. To the evident annoyance of the shopkeeper, they ended up buying only a few chocolate slabs and some liquorice wands.

Piling out of the shop, with Oscar carrying all the bags, they crossed the high street for Madame Rosmerta's, where they could see Kat through the window, leaning over the table to talk to some Gryffindors.

She stood up and waved when they came in, and they skirted around the packed tables, extra chairs pulled up, to get to the far corner. The room was loud with incessant chatter and the noise of scraping chairs.

"Liquorice wands?" Kat asked in disgust, picking through the bags. "Why would you buy liquorice wands?"

Grace and Kyra turned to Oscar accusingly, who raised his hands in alarm. "You guys said I should get on with it and choose what I wanted! I panicked, alright."

"Oscar," Kyra said in exasperation. "You spent an hour just deciding what kind of chocolate you wanted. And you tried literally every sample-." She turned to Kat, gesturing at Oscar, saying "he tried literally every sample in the shop. I was just surprised the shopkeeper didn't kick us out when you finished his pumpkin pasties."

Kat, who had opened the peanut butter chocolate and was eating a piece, waved airily. "That's nothing, I once had to go clothes shopping with him." She gave Oscar an unimpressed look. "You spent at least two hours in each shop, and still only bought three things."

Oscar leaned back in his chair, crossing his arms. "Stop this slander. Banter, not bullying, guys, how many times do I have to remind you?"

They spent most of the afternoon in Madame Rosmerta's, drinking butterbeer and talking. Grace left to stock up on quills from Flourish and Blotts, and pick up a book for Potions, and came back to find that the three of them had not moved an inch. By the time they left, the crowd had died down and it was dusk outside.

When Kyra stepped out, the wind felt chilly against her warm skin, the sun completely gone. She pulled her hat back on, linking arms with Grace, and they slowly wandered back to the castle.

By the time they made it back, the castle was just a silhouette in the darkness, lights spilling out warmly from all the windows. Kyra jumped up the steps two at a time and leaned back down to put her hands on Oscar's shoulders.

"Wow, you're short" she said, leaning onto him so that he couldn't walk up. He pinched her waist quickly and she let go, doubling over in laughter and unable to stop him as he pushed past for the great doors. She tried jumping on his back as they entered the brightly lit entrance hall, and then stopped abruptly.

The hall was bordered with students, watching with serious faces as the teachers filtered into the grand hall. Professor Brockett caught sight of Kyra as she passed them, and she hesitated for a moment before breaking away and coming towards them. Kyra felt her heart do a slow thump. Everyone in the hall was looking at Professor Brockett, and Professor Lingard gave a nod before closing the doors behind the teachers.

"Kyra, Grace, I think you'd better come with me. It's about your sister."

Kyra nodded mutely, and numbly followed her across the silent hall and up the stairs.