Dursley's Daughter (A Harry Potter Next Generation Fan Fic)

8. Hogsmeade

The days were getting shorter and colder, so before leaving the dormitory I pulled on my sweater and stuck a scarf and hat in my bag. Felicia and Claudette were excitedly planning their day in Hogsmeade as we headed down to breakfast. I passed Cassie on the way out and gave her a wave. Because it was nearly Halloween and our first Hogsmeade trip of the school year, I had given the team the weekend off from Quidditch practice. I was team captain, not a tyrant, and everybody had been working so diligently recently that they deserved a break.

After breakfast, most of the students filed through the exit, had their name crossed off the list by a Professor, and then continued along the path towards Hogsmeade. There was a continuous stream of students heading into town, all chatting happily and bundling up against the late autumn chill.

"We're definitely getting a butterbeer," Holly said.

"Absolutely," I said. "No matter how many pubs I go to in the Muggle world, not a single one compares to the Three Broomsticks."

"You can't beat a good butterbeer," Sawyer agreed. "I'm going to drink about five."

Holly raised an eyebrow. "I bet I could drink more."

"Bet you couldn't."

"Oh, you are so on."

I separated the two of them. "You're being ridiculous," I said. "I could drink twice as much as the two of you combined."

They laughed. We had arrived in the town by now and the students spread out, the doors to shops constantly opening to admit new arrivals. Honeydukes and Zonkos Joke Shop were by far the most popular but Holly and Sawyer led me into the Three Broomsticks before I could get a good enough look to see if Scorpius was outside Honeydukes. I hoped he wasn't waiting for me just yet.

Holly and I trailed Sawyer through the dark interior of the Three Broomsticks. There weren't many open tables and Sawyer led us past them. He rejected one covered in empty glasses and at the next one he noticed the Slytherin students sitting nearby and turned bright red and rushed past. We finally sat down at a table in the middle of the boisterous pub. The place was full of local townspeople and Hogwarts students alike and the air was full of talking and the clinking of mugs. Sawyer ordered three butterbeers and when they arrived, he pushed his own galleons across the table.

"You don't have to pay," Holly said. "Esther and I are perfectly capable of paying for ourselves."

"You can buy the rest of them if you're going to complain," Sawyer replied, grinning.

We sat in the cozy, warm, noisy pub for a while, talking about nothing and taking turns buying rounds of butterbeer. Then we relinquished our table to some fourth years and headed back outside. I pulled out my hat, a ridiculous blue fluffy thing with a big pompom on top, and pulled it down over my ears. It was only October, but I was always prone to getting cold.

"Where to now?" Holly asked, looking around. Most of the crowds from earlier had dissipated. Down the street the door to Zonkos burst open and something came whizzing out, followed by a crowd of boys. Holly pulled a face. "Not that way."

"As prefect, shouldn't you go and monitor their behavior?" I asked. "You can't have them bringing explosvie jokes back to the castle or the professors will go mental."

Holly groaned. "As long as they don't pull any pranks in the Common Room, they're doing nothing wrong."

Sawyer laughed. "Worst prefect ever."

"I will have you know that I have handed out a total of three detentions to some second year brats," Holly said. "I won't hesitate to use my prefect abilities when necessary."