It was eleven thirty the next day and Greta was feeling quite excited to meet her new friend in Hogsmeade. However, she thought it was best if her friends didn't know about it. They would get awfully mad at her and she didn't want to deal with that. Thankfully, she came up with a plan to convince her friends otherwise.

"Greta, where are you going?" Hermione asked. Greta looked at her nervously.

"To Hogsmeade," she replied. "To… show a third year I just met what there is to do there."

"Ooh, can we come?" Ron asked eagerly.

Greta froze then added, "It's best if I go alone. I'm so sorry!"

"O...k, then…" Hermione muttered suspiciously.

"Yep! Just gonna… go now. See you later!" Greta rushed as she stepped outside the portrait of the Fat Lady.

Oh, man! That was a close one, Greta thought. I feel like Hermione's awfully suspicious of what I'm doing.                       
When Greta arrived at Hogsmeade, she immediately scanned all the different shops until she laid her eyes on The Three Broomsticks.

"Bingo!" Greta cheered.

She shivered from the cold of the newly fallen snow as she entered The Three Broomsticks.

"Psst! Greta, over here!" Draco's voice called out.

Greta turned around and saw Draco motioning for her to approach him. Greta made her way over to the seats Draco had saved. He was wearing a dark green sweater with his black coat and scarf on the backside of his chair. A soft looking hat lay right next to him. He also wore a welcoming smile, which was different from his usual smirks.

"How're you doing today, Greta?" Draco asked casually.

"I'm doing wonderful!" Greta removed her black beanie and baby pink scarf from her head and neck, then hung them over her chair. "How are you doing?"

"I'm doing just great. It was very difficult getting here though with my friends asking questions and all that," Draco replied.

"Same here," Greta agreed. "Hermione was especially suspicious about it. I told her I was giving a tour for a third year. I don't think she bought it."

"Granger's suspicious about everything," Draco scoffed. "I wouldn't be surprised if she were the first to find out that we're friends now."

"Yeah, I wouldn't be either. She's really clever," Greta laughed. Then, the waitress approached them.

"Are you two ready to order?" the waitress asked. She had a quill and a notepad at hand, ready to jot down anything they ordered.

Draco spoke up first. "Two Butterbeers please," he requested. The waitress quickly wrote it down on her notepad, then asked, " Alright, anything else?"

"That's all," Draco clarified. The waitress left. Draco turned to look at Greta and added, “I’ll be paying for you if that’s ok.”

“Y-you don’t have to do that, Draco,” Greta protested.

“I have to make everything up to you,” Draco pleaded, his expression softening. “It’s the least I can do.”

Just as Greta was about to say something, she noticed that Draco looked beaten up about what he had done. His expression said it all.

“Alright,” Greta smiled. “You can pay if you really want to.”

Draco eyes sparkled with joy. “You won’t regret this. I promise.” He paused. “Anyway, we met up so that we could get to know each other, right?”

Greta nodded.

“Well, to start things off, what do you like to do for fun?” Draco asked curiously.

“I like to read, draw, and write in my spare time,” Greta began. “I also like to hang out with my friends.”

“So you’re into more creative and quiet things, right?” Draco said. “Interesting. Can I see your drawings sometime?"

“Sure! I’ll bring some of them by next time we meet,” Greta suggested. “What about you? What do you like to do?”

“I like quidditch,” Draco stated. “I’ve been too busy with my studies and all that to have any other hobbies though.”

“Yeah, I’ve seen you play,” Greta agreed. “You’re a seeker, right?”

Draco nodded. “Yes, I am. Do you play at all?”

“Not really,” Greta laughed nervously. “I’ve always been kind of… worried about falling off the broom and stuff like that.”

The waitress returned with the Butterbeers and Draco paid for them. The waitress left again.

“I can teach you how to stay on the broom sometime,” Draco suggested. “It’s really easy actually once you get the hang of it.” He took a sip of his Butterbeer.

“Ok, sure,” Greta said hesitantly.

Draco looked at her with concern.

“Don’t worry! It’s not that bad. I promise,” he assured.

“I’ll try it,” Greta said. She drank some of her Butterbeer then changed the subject. “What's your… favorite animal?"

It took Draco a while to answer. He appeared to be deep in thought.

"Honestly, I'm not really sure," he replied. "If I were to pick a few, I would say snakes or dragons. What about you?"

"I-I really like cute, small animals like cats, bunnies, ferrets… that sort of thing," Greta said.

"Is that why you kissed that ferret?" Draco asked, his cheeks a shade of pink.

Greta scratched her neck nervously.

"Yeah," she explained. "I have a weird habit of giving cute animals kisses." She could feel heat rising up to her face. "I-I just have a lot of weird habits. Just… just ignore that I said that!"

"It's fine, really. Everyone has weird habits. I don't blame you."

"Yeah, I guess that's true." Greta looked up to see that Draco looked a bit uncomfortable. His face was now a bit red and he seemed a bit nervous. "Hey, are you ok? You look nervous."

"What? No, no! Everything's fine. Don't worry about it," Draco rambled. "Hey, since we're done with our Butterbeer, let's go on a walk. I think I might be getting a bit hot in here."

"Good idea! Let's go, then," Greta agreed. She didn't really want to disagree with him since they had just become friendly with each other. She could not mess this up! After putting their coats, scarfs, and hats back on, Draco and Greta left the warm restaurant and went into the cold outdoors.

"Where do you wanna walk to?" Greta questioned.

"I… haven't really thought about that actually," Draco said quickly. "How about… over there towards the woods?"

He pointed to where the edge of Hogsmeade was. There was an old, wooden fence and a ton of trees over there.

"Sure, why not?"

"Great! Let's walk then."

While they walked, Draco and Greta talked about what classes they liked, they’re favorite snacks, and other random questions. When the two approached the old, wooden fence, they decided to take a break and rest for a few minutes.

“Hey, Draco, what are you doing?” Greta asked.

Draco’s back was turned and his hands appeared to be fumbling with something.

“Ah, it’s nothing,” Draco said mischievously. “Just getting ready to throw… this!”

Draco swung his arm back and threw a big snowball right at Greta’s face. When the snowball hit her, Greta started giggling.

“Oh, you’re gonna pay for that!” she smirked as she bent down and scooped up some snow to roll up. She shot a snowball at Draco, but it missed him.

“Your aim is terrible!” Draco laughed. “I’ll show you a real snowball fight.”

“It’s on!” Greta roared playfully. She scooped up some more snow.

Soon, the two were having a full on snowball fight and enjoying themselves a lot. At one point, Greta hid behind a tree, two snowballs at hand. She stood as still and stayed as quiet as she could so that Draco wouldn't find her.

"Greta, where are you?" she heard Draco drawl. "You can't hide for much longer, you know. I'm gonna find you sooner or later."

Greta had to cover her mouth in order to stifle her laughter. It was too late to silence herself completely however.

"BOO!" Draco yelled. He smashed a snowball into Greta's face.

Greta yelped, "Ah, cold!" and fell into the snow.

"Hey, are you ok? Did I hurt you?"

Greta suddenly had a brilliant idea. She rubbed her cheek with one hand and groaned. With her other hand, she snatched one of the snowballs she had dropped.

"I'm so sorry! Here, let me help you up," Draco offered frantically.

"Hi-yah!" Greta shouted. She threw the snowball at Draco and it actually hit him this time.

"Sweet Merlin, Greta! That was a good throw," Draco chuckled as he wiped his face off. "Just don't scare me like that again, ok?"

"Oh, sorry," Greta apologized.

"Don't beat yourself up about it." Draco patted Greta on the shoulder. "That was still a really good throw."

Greta smiled. "Yeah! It was."

Draco brought his wrist up to his face and his eyes widened. "Wow! I didn't realize it was getting late," he gawked. "Come on, let's get back to Hogwarts."

"Ok!" Greta said. She followed Draco to where the bridge connecting Hogwarts and Hogsmeade stood. They walked across the bridge, talking and laughing about their snowball fight. When they reached Hogwarts, they had to say their goodbyes.

Draco turned to look at Greta and said, "Today has been fun. I can't wait for the next time we meet."

"Same here!" Greta beamed. "You're really cool and I had a lot of fun hanging out with you."

"Here's a Christmas present for you. Open it up as soon as you can," Draco said as he handed Greta a small box.

"Thank you so much, Draco!" Greta beamed. Her smile faded when she realized. "I didn't get you anything. I feel so bad…"

"Don't worry about it," Draco assured. "I'm just grateful to be giving you a gift."

She gave Draco a goodbye hug and the two went their separate ways. Greta quickly walked towards her common room and desperately wanted to tell Hermione, Harry, and Ron about Draco. She slowed down her walking pace when she realized that she couldn't tell them anything. It saddened her a bit that her friendship with Draco had to remain a secret.

"Hello, G-Girl!" The sound of Cedric's charming voice echoed throughout the hall. Greta blushed at Cedric's new nickname for her.

"Hi, Cedric!" she grinned.

"How was your day?" Cedric asked, making his way over to Greta's side.

"It was amazing," Greta bubbled. "How was yours?"

"It was ok," Cedric's voice suddenly became unenthusiastic. "Me and the other competitors had to train for our final challenge. It was kind of brutal. At least I'll be prepared."

So that's where Harry was! Greta thought. She hadn't seen him at all before going to Hogsmeade.

"Sounds hard," she replied. "What kind of training did you do?"

"They tested us on our knowledge of labyrinths, worked on our self-defense skills and stuff like that," Cedric explained. "It was kind of boring. What did you do today?"

"I went to Hogsmeade."

"Did you go with anyone?"

"I, uh, went with a third year to give him a tour."

"Oh, that's nice of you! Who'd you give the tour to?"

"I-I forgot his name. I'm not really good at remembering names at first."

"Oh, bummer! I hope you remember. I really want to meet this kid."

They approached the Gryffindor common room.

"Well, I guess it's time for me to go," Greta said shyly. "I'll see you tomorrow, Cedric! I hope everything goes well during the tournament next month."

"Thanks! I hope everything goes well with you too," Cedric flashed another one of his charming smiles at Greta. Greta blushed fiercely. "Well, see you later, G-Girl!"

Cedric walked away.

Greta told the password to the Fat Lady and was able to make it inside.

Hermione, Ron, and Harry sat on one of the couches in the common room.

"So… how was the tour?" Hermione asked curiously. Hermione's tone of voice reminded Greta of a famous detective.

Greta shuddered. "It went well. Very well," she said nervously.

"So well that it lasted all day?" Hermione asked again. She seemed serious.

Greta nodded, "Yep! Sure did! The third year wanted to do so much there, so I treated him with a bunch of candies and tours and stuff."

"Aww, man! It sounded like you had a blast," Ron groaned. "I wish I could've been there with you guys. All those snacks…"

Harry didn't say anything. He just looked at Greta awkwardly. In fact, he'd done that ever since the Yule Ball. It was really weird. Greta took off her coat, scarf, and hat.

"What were you guys doing all day?" she asked casually.

"Hermione and I just hung around and talked with some friends," Ron explained. "Harry was off training for the Tournament."

"Oh, yeah! Cedric told me about that on my way here," Greta said. She looked at Harry. "He said you guys were practicing self defense and labyrinth stuff, right?"

"Yeah, we did," Harry agreed. "It was really difficult. It makes me a bit nervous about the upcoming round."

"I'm sure you'll do fine," Greta cheered. "You're Harry Potter after all! You can do anything."

Harry blushed. "Y-yeah, you're right. Thanks!"

That night, Greta gathered some of her drawings and placed them into an organized pile on her dresser. She looked around to see if nobody was around and quickly opened the present that Draco had given her. It was a beautiful necklace with a ruby red gemstone in the middle.

"What're you doing?" Hermione asked. Greta jumped and hid the necklace.

"Just organizing my drawings," Greta answered.

Hermione slid into her bed. "Hey, are you ready to watch the last round of the Tournament next month?"

"Yes. I'm a bit worried about Harry and Cedric though. Do you think they'll be ok?"

"I'm sure they'll be alright. Well, goodnight, Greta!"

"Goodnight, Hermione!" Greta wrapped her arms around a nearby Lucky Charm and snuggled her cat as she slept.

Word Count: 2314