Fallen Angel

Chapter Sixteen: Fall Far From the Tree

The third Friday in January brought the first Hogsmeade weekend of second-term, and Harry was relieved when Ron and Hermione agreed to go with him. He heard from Ginny that Luna and Neville had a date at Madam Puddifoot's to celebrate one of their anniversaries, while Draco was going to surprise Ginny with a carriage ride up and down the streets of the little wizarding village, with full cooperate of Dumbledore and the various employees of the village. There was plenty of snow upon the ground as they walked down the slope from the Hogwarts grounds, along the twisting road, and ultimately across the little stone bridge, until they entered the village and looked around.

Harry felt a burst of laughter escape from him when Ron suddenly darted forward and grabbed Hermione by the hand as she looked longingly into the window display of Tomes and Scrolls, which boasted the latest edition of An Appraisal of Magical Education in Europe by Begonia Ironbark, and took off down the street. Harry went off after them, and wasn't at all surprised when Ron took Hermione by the hand and brought her into Honeydukes. Hermione rolled her eyes indulgently but allowed Ron to wander into the sweet shop ahead, and waited for Harry to catch up to them before going inside herself.

"Sure does love his sweets, doesn't he?" Hermione observed softly to Harry, as the pair watched Ron scurry about from display to display, filling a little shopping basket with sweet after sweet, confection after confection, his brown eyes filled with glee.

"Least we know where the term, 'kid in a candy store' comes from," Harry replied ruefully, and snagged a basket for himself, and handed one over to Hermione.

Hermione shook her head, muttered something about 'boys' and 'eating' and 'overindulgence' under her breath, but nevertheless ventured down various aisles, looking at the sweets on offer meticulously, and slowly began adding things to her basket. Harry, from where he stood—adding a few Chocolate Frogs to his basket, after realizing that Ron hadn't gotten to all of them—watched Hermione's progress, and noticed that she had already added Sugar Quills, Licorice Wands, and Toothflossing Stringmints to her basket. Once Harry had completed his own task of getting his hands on some Chocolate Frogs, he himself added Pumpkin Fizz, Bertie Bott's Every-Flavor Beans, Exploding Bonbons, and Cauldron Cakes to his own basket.

Once he, Ron, and Hermione had finished perusing the wares, they brought their baskets up to the counter and handed over the proper amount of wizarding currency for each purpose. After this was done, the proprietor of the shop considerately shrunk down their carrier bags and waved them off, while the trio stuffed each of their bags into their pockets and trooped back out into the snow, which had begun to lightly fall again. Harry, again, suggested a Butterbeer, and the trio then walked off towards The Three Broomsticks, getting a table in the back, with Hermione ordering them their usual.

As they sat down—with Harry and Ron on one side of the four-person table, and Hermione on the other—Harry noticed Leanne Lyre sitting rather anxiously at a table in the front portion of the establishment. Her long, pale fingers were tinkering with her glass, half-full of Butterbeer, and she was looking around, clearly for something. It surprised Harry to see her without her closest friend, Katie Bell, and wondered if her anxiety was connected to Katie in some way. As Harry continued to wait with Ron and Hermione for their Butterbeers to be brought to their table—he ignored their conversation, as well as the buzz of the conversations from the various patrons around them, and was surprised when Draco walked in.

Straightening up, Harry's eyes locked with Draco's, but Draco appeared to be slightly taken aback by the look, faltering in his steps for a moment. When Harry lifted his hand to wave to his friend, the blond Slytherin's eyes narrowed slightly, and he climbed the staircase and went into the door about halfway up. Perplexed, as he'd previously heard from Ginny about her plans with Draco that day, he wondered if something had come up, or if they'd had an argument, which could likely account for Draco's bizarre behavior.