𝙥𝙖𝙡𝙚 𝙖𝙦𝙪𝙖 ➪ 𝗆𝖺𝗋𝖺𝗎𝖽𝖾𝗋𝗌

𝐶𝐻𝐴𝑃𝑇𝐸𝑅 𝑁𝐼𝑁𝐸

➪ ORANGE ➪

"THAT WAS AWESOME!"

Loki grinned at Nicolas as another student praised him. It had been a week since Nicolas had allowed Hufflepuff the chance to compete against Gryffindor, but people were still praising him. He had broken his arm in the process, but Madame Pomfret had quickly healed it.

"Thanks, mate," Nicolas grinned back to the first-year.

Loki walked next to him as they headed to their Charms class. "Are you excited for Hogsmeade tomorrow?" She inquired.

"Yes!" He yelled out, turning to the girl. "Of course! Every Hogsmeade trip is automatically a great trip."

Loki hummed in reply. The girl definitely liked the small excursions. She definitely couldn't wait for the snow, where she would be able to enjoy Butterbeer when it was at its best. And she couldn't wait to wander around the small village, conversing with villagers she'd grown to know, despite the fact that most people didn't talk to the locals. She was especially excited about the lolly shop near the centre of town.

The pair rounded the corner, stepping into the classroom. Loki's eyes widened, as they were the usual five minutes early. She peeked around the stands of chairs, spotting the short Professor Flitwick humming to himself as he flicked through some books. The two students exchanged a glance before Nicolas rapped his knuckles on the wooden stands. Flitwick squeaked, whipping around.

"Oh!" He breathed at the sight of the pair. "Miss Hawthorne, Mr Jones, still have five minutes until class, I presume."

"You know Loki and her timing, sir," Nicolas joked. "You don't mind if we take our seats, do you?"

The professor shook his head, waving his hand at them. "You may."

Loki smiled. She and Nicolas climbed up to the fourth row, where they took their usual spots near the middle. Barely anyone else sat there, so they were good.

Loki had just been watching Nicolas struggle to get a biscuit from his forehead to his mouth for the past two minutes when she heard voices. It wasn't many, possibly a small group. Loki shifted to the end, where she stuck her head around the corner. Her eyebrows raised and eyes widened at the sight of Remus' face inches from hers.

"Hi," he breathed, chuckling in suprise. Loki didn't reply, just pulled herself back, red in the face. "Well, I didn't think I was that ugly," he commented, offhandedly joking.

Loki paused in horror and she quickly went back to apologize.

"I–I'm sorry, Remus! I didn't mean for it to seem like that!" She squeaked. "You–you don't have an ugly face. In fact, you have a very attractive face. It has nice features and–"

"Woah, Loki," the boy grinned, laughing at her rambling. "I was just kidding."

"Oh." Loki retreated slowly. Her entire face burned. "Sorry." Remus waved her off and a familiar head popped up beside the boy.

"Princess " Sirius winked, casually resting his hand on Remus' shoulder, ignoring the clear height difference. "Man, I almost forgot how much of a goody-goody you are. You're worse than Moony here."

"Oi! Would you mind getting out of the way?" The three turned their heads to a Hufflepuff boy who wore a rather annoyed expression. "We're trying to get into class."

"Well, Merlin's beard," Sirius rolled his eyes, coming around to the steps. "Calm your tits."

The Hufflepuff boy, who Loki recognises as Nathaniel Raine, grumbles something under his breath before heading to the other steps. Loki bites her lip guiltily. She steps back.

"You really do like being early," James grins at the girl, joining Sirius at the bottom of the stairs. He raced up the stairs. Sirius, Remus and Peter follow him as he settled into the fifth row. "And did you drag your friend or did he come willingly?"

"Good morning to you, too, Mr Potter," Nicolas rolled his eyes, looking anywhere but the chaser. Loki frowned, but James just gave the boy a pat on the shoulder.

"He's just getting ready to lose for the next match," James told Loki. She looked between the two and nodded.

"Good morning, class," Professor Flitwick smiled as he stood on his usual pile of books.

The rest of the class spoke their usual 'good morning Professor Flitwick' before the teacher continued on.

➪

"WHAT'S THE PLAN?"

Loki jumped at the sudden appearance of the two boys beside her. She flushed immediately, her heart flipping. She looked to them, flicking her head back and forth between the two, before frowning.

"Plan?" She inquired.

"Yeah," Remus nodded, "for Hogsmeade."

"And Christmas," Sirius piped up. Loki noted the updo Sirius had placed his dark curly locks into, with plenty strands falling into his face.

"I didn't really have any plans," she shrugged, shutting the book in her lap. "Not for Hogsmeade, really. And why are you asking about Christmas plans? December isn't even here, yet."

Sirius shrugged. "Just curious. So, what are they?"

"I'm supposed to be heading home for Christmas." Loki averted her gaze to the book.

"But?" Sirius leaned down.

"My dad might have to cancel," she answered. "We don't know, yet. He might be called away for a business trip, he might not."

"At least you won't be alone if you stay here," Sirius winked. "I don't really have a place to go for now." Loki frowned in concern.

"Merlin, don't give him that look," Remus groaned. "He'll be stacking up those pity points to boost his ego." Sirius shot the other male a glare.

"What–what are your guys' plans for Hogsmeade?" Loki queried.

Remus shrugged. "I'm about as clueless as you are."

"Me too," Sirius sighed. "I was supposed to have a date–" the statement made Loki's heart drop a little– "but she's ill, so I don't think she'll go tomorrow."

"Don't James and Peter have something for you all to do?" Loki questioned.

"It depends," Remus replied. "Sometimes we have plans, other times we just go off and do our own thing."

"Seeing as none of us has plans," Sirius spoke up, "how about a friendly outing together. I kinda wanna see what other drawings you've done. You know, I'm sure there's more than just us in there."

"Oh." Loki nodded. She tried desperately to ignore her accelerated heart. Her cheeks tinted a light shade of pink. "Okay."

Maybe she had plans after all.