Defying Gravity

II: Wynn

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6 September 2011
Highlands of Scotland
Hogsmeade Village

"Come on, Teddy!" I cheered to my best friend and I hopped out of the carriage before it had even stopped, excited for my first visit to Hogsmeade. Teddy climbed out much slower than I did, casting a sad glance back at the castle. "Come on, Ted, Victorie will be fine. I know you've got a crush on her, but that doesn't mean you need to spend every waking minute with her. She'll get to come with us next year. Besides," I teased, "Isn't it weird that you're crushing on her. I mean, she's basically your sister, right?"

Teddy rolled his eyes before whacking my arm as he caught up to me. "If anything, she'd be my cousin."

"There's nothing cousinly about that relationship, lover boy," I joked, laughing good naturedly as I stumbled to the side from the force of Teddy's playful shove.

Teddy and I joked together as we walked farther into the village, him giving me a good ribbing about the latest girl I'd had a crush on.

"But enough about Lyla, we should really be talking about your newest love interest. Why, I wouldn't be surprised if you were snogging her before fourth year!"

"What are you on about, Ted?" I asked with a chuckle as we sank down into a booth at the Three Broomsticks, our butterbeers clutched tightly in our hands.

"Circe Rosier," he said smugly, causing me to choke on the butterbeer I had just sipped.

"Rosier? Nah, there's nothing going on. She's just a tough egg that I want to crack. Seriously, I sometimes wonder if that girl even knows how to smile!"

"Sure, sure. I bet you that by sixth year, the two of you will be the most controversial couple at Hogwarts."

"Whatever, Lupin," I said as I rolled my eyes. "So how much are we betting?"

"5 galleons," he said, a cocky smirk on his face.

"I look forward to collecting in 3 years," I said with an equally sure expression.

We chatted for a bit before Teddy's eyes widened as he gazed over my shoulder. Looking at him in confusion, I turned and saw what his eyes were focused on. Circe had just walked in, her face blank as usual as Slytherin's golden boy, Lennox MacKendrick trailed after her like a trained puppy. I swear her eye was starting to twitch as he hovered around her before leaving her at a table as he headed towards the counter to fetch butterbeer.

I shot Teddy a mischievous look before draining the rest of my butterbeer, slamming the mug on the table, and standing up to make my way over to her booth. I heard Teddy scrambling after me, muttering softly under his breath about how much of an idiot I was.

"Hey, Frostbite," I said with a smirk as I leaned on the back of the bench across from her. She rolled her gray eyes.

"What do you want, Sunshine."

"Ooh, nicknames. You two are going to be the cutest couple," Teddy teased from my side.

"Shut it, Kaleidoscope," I said while Circe looked away, her nose raised in the air loftily. "If you're not careful, your nose will get stuck like that," I quipped before grabbing her hand and dragging her out of the pub before she could let out a squeak of protest.

"Let go of me!" She said, slapping my arm roughly as soon as we were outside. "What in Merlin's name do you think you're doing!"

"You looked like your brain was about to explode from boredom with only that Slytherin prat as company. Teddy and I are much more fun than he could ever be, so we decided to rescue you!"

"Wynn decided, I had nothing to do with it. I honestly don't even want to be here when your boy toy finds out we stole his girl."

"I am not his girl," Circe said frostily. "Lennox and I were simply getting to know each other better, not that it's any of your business."

"Well, you can get to know us better instead," I said with a grin before latching onto her wrist again and dragging her towards Honeydukes. She followed, dragging her feet and standing ramrod straight, making it very clear that she wanted nothing to do with me. That had never deterred me from making friends in the past though, and I wasn't going to let it stop me now.

It took a while but eventually her posture relaxed enough that she no longer looked like she had stuck a fork in an electric socket. She still wasn't letting on that she enjoyed our company, but after a while when I released her wrist, she still stuck with us, so she apparently didn't find us completely deplorable.

After about two hours, we were headed out towards the Shrieking Shack, Teddy and I laughing our heads off at a joke I'd just told. I looked over at Circe when we'd calmed down to find one of her perfectly groomed eyebrows arching upwards as she looked at me.

"Well would you look at that. We got some slight expression from the snow queen. Somebody notify the Daily Prophet! The woman finally realizes I'm funny!"

"I never said you weren't," she said haughtily before turning forwards again, her footsteps faltering moments later. The proud grin on my face quickly slid off as I saw what had caused her to stumble. Lennox MacKendrick was striding towards us, an angry expression on his face as two of his large friends trailed behind him.

"You know, he looked a lot smaller from farther away," I told Teddy as I leaned closer to him. He nodded in agreement, looking a shade paler than usual, before we turned back to face the music.

"Why the bloody hell did you two lowborn badgers steal my girl?" He asked angrily as soon as he was within earshot.

"Well, Circe here looked bored out of her mind with you, poor girl, so Teds and I decided to entertain her a bit. You obviously weren't doing a good job of it, after all."

"Why you stinking little-"

"That gave you no right to grab me and pull me into your little schemes," a cool voice said from beside me as Circe stepped forward, placing a hand on MacKendrick's chest as he started towards me. "I was with a fellow Slytherin and it's sad that you would think I'd rather spend my time around a few wimpy Hufflepuffs. I suffered through your ideas of entertainment all afternoon and I never want to do anything of the like ever again. It was a waste of my time. Now, come along, Lennox. No use wasting our breath." She grabbed his coat and flounced away, disappearing back inside the Three Broomsticks with MacKendrick and his posse before Teddy and I could even pick our jaws up off the pavement.

We stood in silence for a few moments before Teddy exhaled deeply. "Well, that went well. I've gotta say, Wynn, your future wife sure has a mouth on her. Good luck to ya, mate," he said as he clapped heartily on the shoulder before walking away.

"Hey, Teddy, what did I tell you! I'm never gonna date her! Oi, Lupin! Get back here!"

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