Ethereal [George Weasley]

𝙖𝙘𝙩 𝙤𝙣𝙚 𝙨𝙘𝙚𝙣𝙚 𝙩𝙚𝙣 - 𝙝𝙤𝙜𝙨𝙢𝙚𝙖𝙙𝙚

It took a lot of begging for McGonagall to allow us to Hogsmeade the next day. Though we were all frightened after the break-in, we still wanted a day out.

We got up bright and early the next morning. Harley jumped out of her scarlet covers and ran to the tall window between mine and her bed.

"It's snowing!" She said in the same tone as an excited five year old.

Amanda stopped in her tracks, her hand half raised to yawn.

"Then we need winter-wear!" She said in a mixture of panic and joy. She ran to her trunk at the bottom of her bed and opened it up, digging deep inside.

We waited to see what she was getting excited about until she finally pulled out some jumpers.

"We can all wear these!" She said, handing us a jumper each. "To match!"

"Well, you thought ahead, didn't you?" Evelyn laughed.

"Always be prepared for a fashion emergency!" Was Amanda's response.

We thanked her and got dressed, before heading off downstairs.

"Hey guys." Said George as everybody waited in the Common Room to be escorted. "Ready to go?"

"Yep." Said Harley. "I need as much candy from Honeydukes as I can."

"Are you gonna visit Zonko's?" Fred asked.

"Probably not." Lindsey said. "We're planning to go to The Three Broomsticks for the majority of the time, anyways."

"You guys don't like joke shops?" George scoffed, before holding his chest. "You've betrayed me!"

We laughed at his little joke before our small chat with the twins was cut short as McGonagall had finally arrived so that we could leave.

Once we had all made it, everybody scattered and began to head into different shops. We stepped inside Honeydukes and gasped - it was much bigger than from last year. Clearly Mr. Flume had renovated it.

There were shelves upon shelves of the most succulent-looking sweets imaginable. Creamy chunks of nougat, shimmering pink squares of coconut ice, fat, honey-coloured toffees; hundreds of different kinds of chocolate in neat rows; there was a large barrel of Every Flavour Beans, and another of Fizzing Whizzbees, the levitating sherbet balls that Evelyn loved.

Along yet another wall were 'Special Effects' sweets: Drooble's Best Blowing Gum, the strange, splintery Toothflossing Stringmints, tiny black Pepper Imps, Ice Mice, peppermint creams shaped like toads, fragile sugar-spun quills and exploding bonbons.

"We need five of everything!" Harley said as she grabbed as much as she could. "These could last us till final exams!"

"The ones that you haven't studied for?" I laughed.

"It's only November!"

We helped Harley grab the sweets and left the store with three separate bags. As we walked down the street, Lindsey gasped.

"Look!" She said, her eyes big and suddenly gooey.

"What?" Evelyn said, following Lindsey's eyes. They landed on a large, black dog. "Oh, a stray dog!"

Lindsey rushed over and began to pet it. She was literally the human version of Hagrid. The rest of us looked at each other and laughed, before following her.

We crouched down beside her and the dog.

"I wonder what it's name is..." I said, petting it. The dog seemed to warm up to me quite quickly.

"Forget the name, it might have fleas." Amanda said, scrunching up her nose. "We shouldn't get too near."

"You should be worried about not getting to near Black, not the dog." Harley scoffed, before opening up one of our bags. "It looks hungry. Should we feed it?"

"I don't think dogs can eat nougat chunks." Evelyn pointed out as Harley grabbed some and passed them to Lindsey, who fed them to it anyway.

My knees were beginning to get cold from the snow, so I got up, though the dog stayed at me feet. Harley, Amanda and Evelyn followed.

"We should go." I said, before Lindsey looked at me with pleading eyes. "The dog will be okay."

She sighed and got up reluctantly, before the dog ran off in another direction.

We chose to visit the Three Broomsticks next, and ordered five extra sweet Butterbeers before finding a table to sit at.

"This year's even weirder than the last." Harley began as we took off our gloves. "And last year was just plain strange too."

"I agree." I said. "The Dementors, Black's escape, Snape, my family... Heck, even the weather's acting up!"

"At least it'll be snowing on Christmas." Said Lindsey as the waitress arrived with our drinks. We bid her thanks and started to sip on the thick, warm liquid we all craved. "Speaking of, is anybody staying at the castle during the holidays?"

"I'm waiting to see what Grandma says. But I'll probably be going home." Was my response.

"I'm going to France again." Amanda said. "I can't wait."

"I'd much rather stay at the castle." Harley said in a deflated tone. "But it depends on whether Dad's at home or not. And given my luck, he probably will!"

"I'm going home." Evelyn said simply. "But i'll be writing everyday day, mind!"

"Oh good." Lindsey said in a relief. "I didn't want any of us at the castle alone. I'm going back too."

"Hey." I said. "What if we meet up during the holidays?"

"As if we don't see each other enough!" Harley mocked, but I could tell that she wanted to.

"We could, I guess.." Amanda said, suddenly deep in thought. "The holidays are two weeks, right? I'm only going to France for five days, so i'll be back after Boxing Day."

"I'm not too busy, either." Evelyn said. "I'll probably be allowed."

"Same here." Was Lindsey's answer. "We could even have a sleepover!"

Suddenly Harley jumped up.

"You're right! You could all stay at mine for the last few days! Then we can come back together!"

"Brilliant!" I grinned cheerfully.

"I'll get my Dad to tell your guys' families, but you best tell them before hand." Harley said.

"It will be so much fun!" Amanda said brightly.

"Excellent!" Evelyn said, before picking up her Butterbeer. "To us."

We grabbed our bottles and clinked.

"To us!"

1015 words

A/N: Hmm, I wonder why I randomly included a black stray dog in this chapter? Also, is it just me who thinks that butterbeer tastes like a mcdonalds caramel frappe? Next chapter coming soon!