Sore Loser

Mystery ButterBeer

Marietta smirks, and you step forward, eager to wipe that grin off of her smug little face.
"She would not do that, (Y/N)! That could potentially get her into more trouble! She would never do such a thing as to get into detention!" Cho says angrily.
"Oh, so you can't ruin your mother's reputation at the Ministry, can't you? I don't get what your problem is!" You scoff, saying it mockingly. Marietta backs into a defensive stance and glowers at you through her sharp eyes. Cho looks at you, disappointed, as if you had gone insane.
"I didn't do it, I don't know what is going through your head." Marietta says pompously, her chin up.
"Then how the bloody hell did that extra ingredient get into my potion I was working so hard on? So, you think Leanne did it, or maybe one of the other Ravenclaws? No, we might be competing for top of class, but no one would do that!" Cho tries to speak, but you cut her off. "Why'd ya do it, huh? Don't want to be a snobby nerd anymore, Marietta?" You lunge toward her, Cho grabbing your arm and holding you back.
Really, you didn't want to be so upset, but this is the last straw. Marietta absolutely seems to abhor you for no logical reason, and you don't know why. The detention was actually pretty fun, especially with the Weasley twins at your side, cleaning in creative ways.
"(Y/N)! You're absolutely crazy! What has gotten into you?" Cho pushes you away and the force causes her hair to flip into the air and over one shoulder.
"Why is everyone against me?" You say, much more quiet than what you had been saying seconds before. "You can go find someone else that's as funny as me to take to Hogsmeade, Cho. I never liked going with this- this- this sneak anyway!" You storm out of the dorm and hear some of the other Ravenclaw girls stir quietly in their beds. You wouldn't be suprised if you woke up the whole Ravenclaw population. You feel that your face is heated, and your eyes water but you don't dare let the tears fall.
How could Cho take her side? The girl who has always been with you, ever since the time you met just outside Gringotts the summer before your first year at Hogwarts. Cho, who only has one bad bone in her body, decided to use this frustrating time to go against you, her best friend? You can't go back to the dorm room, at least not until you know everyone else is asleep, but maybe you'll sleep here. It is more comfortable by the fireplace than under the covers of your twin bed.
You lay down on the cushions of the couch and close your eyes, cooling down a bit. The fire is out, but the embers still burn red, causing heat to fill the room. Who will you go with to Hogsmeade? You don't really know who the best option is. If you're being true to your own thoughts, all the people available are also not the best options. Your most ideal idea would have to be with Lee, Fred, and George, but you don't want to annoy them when you ask to go with them.
Obviously, Cho and Marietta are out. The other Ravenclaws are nice, but you want something new, not some people you see every day. What about the rest of the quidditch team? Nope, Chambers and Davies won't be pleasant to hang around with. But, what about... Leanne and Katie? You know that they go together to Hogsmeade, and they both are your friends, so why not? It's decided then, you'll ask to go with them.
The next day, you find yourself desperate for Cho's friendship. She is completely ignoring you, and the only person she ever talks to is Marietta. You know that that isn't normal, because Cho has a load of friends. She hangs out with anyone who can breathe almost. Well, except you and the Slytherins. Great. Now you can be considered associated with those prats in some kind of way.
The morning started out drearily, with you waking up on the couch and having to head upstairs for a change in clothes. You had to avoid eye contact with the two girls whom you had a fight with the night before and you grabbed your bag and wand, leaving a solid minute after you had arrived. You pretty much didn't talk to anyone, not wanting to accidentally bring up that Marietta was the one who put that thing in your potion, then that you got detention and accused her for doing the deed in front of Cho.
No one likes a problem person, someone who constantly complains about their own life. Therefore, you would not be that problem person.
After a breakfast of eating alone (with people looking at you, of course) you walked with Katie Bell to Herbology.
"Katie, I don't want to be annoying or anything but could I come with you to Hogsmeade this weekend?" You ask, now entering the greenhouse with the most foul smelling plants you've ever seen.
"Sure, that would be fun!" She replied, relieving you of that weight on your shoulders. "So, I heard about.. Potions." Katie said after about 30 minutes of pickling Sopophorous plants. You are used to the smell, but not used to that question.
"Leanne?" You asked quickly, and Katie nods hesitantly. "Yeah. I don't know, I think Marietta did it. I don't know what her problem with me is." Katie freezes, her hand with a jar in midair. "Katie!" You say sharply to get her attention. She looks startled.
"I- I was just- I blanked for a second." What did she know? She was obviously lying. You looked at her curiously and she flushed a bit. You decided not to pry, knowing that Katie was so loyal she could be in Hufflepuff if she hadn't been placed in Gryffindor for her bravery. After a stinky Herbology lesson, and went back up to the dorms to take a shower, because every inch of you stank like Sopophorous.
Of course, you saw Cho and Marietta on your way to the Great Hall for lunch, but they ignored you, and you them.
"Oi! (Y/N)!" You turn and see George Weasley running toward you, surprisingly without his twin by his side.
"Hey, Georgie." You smile softly, glad that one of your friends is actually talking to you, one of the many benefits of having Gryffindor friends. "What are you doing?" You ask, confused about Fred not being there.
"I just wanted to congratulate you again in the last twenty-four hours for causing even more trouble!" He grins, out of breath. You roll your (E/C) eyes and cross your arms. He follows up with another comment after taking a chug of air, "Although, when we get in trouble, we don't prefer friend drama, or anything that unnecessarily doesn't involve the possibilty of getting detention."
You restrain yourself from looking up at the ceiling again and give him an "Are-you-serious" glance. He just laughs and gallops to the Great Hall before either of you could say anything else.
Why is everyone being so ridiculously stupid? You find it hard to think about anything else as you sit down by yourself again at the Ravenclaw table. Hopefully, this would all blow over soon, after Hogsmeade. Even better, although you know it's bad to wish it, Marietta will catch a terrible cold and not be able to go there at all. Too bad there's no one you know who would be willing to cause that sickness.
Or is there?
You suddenly get up, leaving your table as if your legs are moving of their own accord. You feel people staring at you, or maybe your paranoia is just getting worse. Soon enough, you are standing feet away from the Gryffindor table in the Great Hall. It takes about a minute of looking around like an idiot before you finally discover that the red-headed geniuses you are hoping to approach are at the other end of the table.
You speed-walk over there, with a new bounce in your step. They have to agree, they life for this type of thrill.
"My dear Gryffindor beaters, pranksters, and friends, I have a proposition for you, one that will cau-"
"No." The two say abruptly, and at first you don't hear them well enough.
"What?" You say sharply, your arms crossed. You desperately hope that they are joking.
"I told you, dear Ravenclaw chaser, half-nerd, and friend, we don't cause that kind of drama." George was the first to respond and the twins turned.
"Friend drama is a no-no." Fred added, shaking his head tiredly.
"The hell are you talking about?" You glower at them. "What about that time you pranked that Slytherin for calling me a know-it-all?" You throw another question their way and they roll their eyes, much like you do to them.
"That was a Slytherin, that was different." George answers yet again, and you feel your patience dwindling.
"But-"
"Just go with Leanne and Katie! They're way better, and way nicer." Fred interrupted.
"-and way cooler." George finished.
"How did you two know that I was going with them?" You raise your eyebrow, your nails digging into your palms to get rid of your frustration.
"No reason." They respond quicker than lightning and you see George make eye contact with Katie, who is sitting a couple seats away, gazing at the argument with bewildered eyes. You scoff and turn, unsure what just happened. The twins would never turn down a pranking oppurtunity, especially against someone who was totally mean to you, no matter what house.

The week seemed to pass by slowly, and every time you would come across Cho and Marietta, they would stop whispering and turn to go the other way. There were a couple of times when you would pretend to be asleep while they talked, to listen in. However, those two kept so quiet you couldn't tell what they were saying.
It was almost the same with Fred and George, but slightly different. The twins pretended to completely forgot about their mini quarrel in the Great Hall, but still seemed to fall completely silent whenever you were within twenty feet from them. They were scheming, and sometimes Katie Bell would be with them.
Thank goodness today is Saturday, or else you might have landed Marietta in the hospital. The only people you had to talk to were Leanne and Katie, and obviously the latter was acting suspicious. Another thing about today was that you are finally going to be from the tension trapped inside Hogwarts at least for a couple of hours.
Right now, you are walking with your Gryffindor and Hufflepuff friends, who had happily agreed to let you come with them on this trip.
"I can't wait to have some butterbeer, I've been craving it, for like, a really long time." You say, grinning at the thought of the atmosphere in the Three Broomsticks.
"Yeah, me too, but I think we should wait until noon to go there." Katie says, looking at Filch as he checks everyone on the list.
"Why?" You and Leanne say it at the same time, curious.
"Because most people go right away?" Katie says, sounding like it was a question. She makes it look like she is making it up as she goes, her eyes confused. You decide to ignore it, because even though it's fishy, you really don't want to pursue this mystery anymore today.
After getting checked in and leaving for Hogsmeade, you three go to Zonko's and Honeydukes. About two hours later, the Three Broomsticks is right in front of you, and you lick your lips as you walk inside, your friends right behind you.
It's chaotic, contradicting what Katie had said early about people leaving early. You throw an "I-told-you-so" glance her way and navigate through the many students and villagers that are drinking enthusiastically. Madame Rosmerta leads you guys to the last remaining booth and you don't even look around before ordering a butterbeer. The other two follow suite and all three of you begin to talk, loudly of course, about the happenings of Hogwarts. When Leanne mentions Marietta, Katie quickly changes the subject.
"Ya know, pretending the fallout never happened isn't going to make the haunting feeling of my best friend becoming a traitor disappear." You raise your voice when Katie decides to interrupt Leanne to bring up quidditch. Katie blushes and looks to her right, which makes you think she's avoiding her gaze. But, once you follow her line of sight, you see she is staring at George, who is a couple booths away with Fred and Lee
"Oh my Merlin!" You yell, attracting some attention from surrounding customers. Katie looks a bit nervous as she blushes. You stay quiet for another moment more and then mouth to her, "You like him."
She pauses, looking at Leanne, who is staring over at the three guys of your attention. Katie nods slowly and bites her lip. You grin and she shakes her head, "Don't tell anyone!" She says. You agree, fully intending not to mention this conversation to a soul.
"But, why do you keep the topic off of Marietta, that doesn't make any sense." You say, sitting up as the butterbeer floats onto the table, propelled by a levitating charm. She doesn't answer, but you infer exactly why.
The twins don't like it when you talk about Marietta, so she must be steering away from the conversation because she wants George to talk to them. There are a couple moments of silence as you gulp down your drink, while eyeing Lee, Fred, and George cautiously. So, Katie likes George. Huh. Who woulda thunk it?
Using the absense of talking to your advantage, you gaze around the pub, noting who is sitting everywhere. Roger Davies and a couple of his other friends are sitting across the room, at a wooden table. You ignore the fact that Roger totally made eye contact with you and keep looking around. Obviously, Fred, George, and Lee are over at that booth over there. And then, Cho and Marietta are by the bar, standing and talking. Other people you know are lingering in the Three Broomsticks as well, but none of them even glance your way.
After finally finishing the sweet drink, you clunk the mug down on the table and go over to the table that seats Fred and the others.
"'Ello!" You greet, sliding into the booth next to Lee. They all greet you back.
"(Y/N)! You're just in time." Lee speaks loudly, his hand enclosed around something. He turns it up to reveal a galleon. You fake a swipe at them and he nearly drops the coins.
"We're going to drink Firewhiskey." George claims, smirking as he also shows the contents in his hand, five sickles.
"Don't be stupid." You lean against the table, taking a quick look at Katie and Leanne, who are starting to get up and come over as well. "Everyone knows that you can't order Firewhiskey if you're underage!" You say, sounding a lot like that Hermione Granger girl from Gryffindor.
"That's why we're paying that kind gentleman over at the bar to order for us." Fred leans back, a bit pompously, his head held high.
"You guys could get into quite a bit of trouble." Leanne cuts in, sliding in next to you while Katie slides in on the opposite side by George. You wish to wink at her, but that would give something away surely.
"Nope, we are mixing it with our butterbeer, care for a swig?" George asks, looking over at Katie. A man with a scraggly dark beard and a bald head comes over and slides a red bottle under the table, which Fred grabs and keeps under there. George and Lee hand over their coins and they gaze at Fred, who is taking the glasses one by one and filling them in secrecy. You bite your lip and exchange nervous glances with Katie and Leanne. Finally, as Lee, Fred, and George, take sips, you step up and say, "I'll try one sip."
"Where's your glass, (Y/N/N)?" Lee asks.
"I haven't one." You say, glancing at your table, which had been cleared away while your group was absent.
"Take a sip of mine then." Fred slides the glass over to you and you put the glass to your lips. Immediately after the Butterbeer-Firewhiskey reaches your mouth, you put it back down, horrified by how disgusting the blend tasted.
"Ugh, that's terrible!" You squirm, sliding it back across the table to him. The three guys shrugged and downed the rest of theirs while you look on, slightly impressed.
"Now now, don't get drunk. That stuff is very strong." Katie warned, and the boys nodded.
"Well, we best get going." Leanne chirped up, while Lee nodded and wished you fairwell. You, Leanne, and Katie made your way to the door, but right before you could exit. Madame Rosmerta hurried over to you, balancing five butterbeers in her arms.
"(Y/N)? This is for you, dear. Someone, bought it and told me to send it your way." You take the bottle of butterbeer and look to your two friends, who are just as curious, if not more, than you are. There was a note attached, and you stepped outside before opening it and reading aloud:

Quidditch is fast,

And dragons are too,

Paid for this butterbeer,

and now it's for you.

PS: This is pretty cheesy, and I'm not stupid enough to scribble my name, so bear with me here.

You coughed and Leanne and Katie squealed. "Someone has a secret admirer!" Leanne said happily. You looked at the writing. It was in dark blue ink, but many of the words were smudged. The writing was so messed up that you could barely read it.

"Whoever it is, they forgot to capitalize the 'and' in the last line of the poem. Plus, it looks like they didn't try to use even the slightest effort to make the calligraphy nice." You scoffed, secretly purring inside. Someone liked you, someone who was sweet enough to write a poem. You had to admit, if it was someone you knew, that was incredibly impressive, despite the lack of work shown.
Now, as the hours went on, you got more and more excited. Every time the subject was brought back to the mysterious butterbeer, you would wave it off like nothing. It was incredible how a simple concept like a note could overtake your mind so easily.