It was the first time in all her life that Florence had woken up for a Hogsmeade weekend without feeling some sort of giddiness course through her. She sat up from her bed, sighing as her eyes landed on Nicolai's vacated bed. With a heavy heart, she trudged to the bathroom to do her morning necessities. She didn't make a single effort in hurrying up, knowing that none of her friends were downstairs and waiting for her to finish.

In a span of three months and a few weeks, their fifth year would be over, the February temperature growing a tad bit warmer than February—however, not warm enough to go without a jumper or any extra layer of clothing.

Florence had gone down stairs, from the entrance hall she could already see both of her best friends on different tables. "So much for making time for me... Can't even spare breakfast for me." she muttered, plopping across from Jeremy and Roger who looked at her quizzically.

"Why the long face, Price?" asked Jeremy as she reached for an apple and gloomily stared at it. "As you can see, today will be the first time that I will be flying solo during a Hogsmeade visit since both of my prospects are apparently too preoccupied in their own lives."

"I see," said Roger, glancing at both Nicolai and Alexander.

"So it is true, then? Nicolai's dating Weasley?"

"Apparently so..." Florence sighed audibly, Cho sympathizing with her—as she was a seat away from Jeremy. "I'd go with you Florence, but I already promised Cedric that we would—"

"No, nope," she said most definitely, "You are not compromising your date with Cedric for anything, Cho. I'd rather that I went alone than you standing him up."

The seeker grinned, "Well, I thought you'd say that."

"And you thought right." she nodded, feeling someone sink down beside her. She swiveled around, frowning at one of the Weasley twins. "So... Are you here to give me my best friend back?"

Fred raised a brow, "I'm Fred, actually." he corrected, Florence jabbing her temple at this, "Sod...I thought for sure that I could tell you two apart by now."

"Well, it would be quite easy now. Just remember that George's with your best friend, canoeing down the tunnel of love, whereas I remain single."

"Right..." she grumbled, plopping her barely finished apple onto her plate before pushing it away, "Now what brings you here?"

"Well, since I'm sulking, and obviously you are too, why don't we just go to hogsmede together? George said you'd be alone...or are you making any plans with anyone?" he eyed Jeremy and Roger, who both shook their heads no.

"Nah, mate, you could go with her. Roger and I—we're both booked—"

"By each other?" Florence asked, making Cho and Fred chortle, the two chasers glaring at her as she grinned in amusement.

"Real funny, you tosser." Jeremy said flatly

"We're going with separate dates," Roger emphasized, Florence raising a brow—making the captain sigh, "Merlin... No, I'm not gay, Price." he said, accompanied by an eyeroll.

"Bummer."

"So..." Fred trailed off, "How about it, Price. You and I be each other's company to hogsmeade."

Florence shrugged, "Yeah, well, I have nothing better to do, anyways."

"Great," he beamed.

"But... It's nothing like...that, okay?" she clarified, Fred giving her an incredulous look, "Ofcourse it won't be anything like that."

Breakfast had rolled by pretty quickly, and soon Fred and Florence rode on the same carriage together, focusing on the scenery that passed by to deduce the awkwardness that was brought due to the fact that they didn't have the slightest idea on what to talk about.

"So..." Fred began hesitantly, his eyes not peeling away from the blurring scenery, "Where do you normally go at hogsmeade?"

"Well, I usually just restock my quill, ink and parchment... Go to Honydukes for a couple of sweets, then to Three Broomsticks for a nice mug of butterbeer. You know, the usual."

"Don't you go to Zonko's?"

"...No...?"

Fred feigned a gasp, "You have been living your life wrongly!" he accused, Florence rolling her eyes.

"We're not all dunce pranksters, you know?"

Fred scoffed at this, "Excuse you, Zonko's isn't just for prank toys, it's for teenagers who are kids at heart! It's a paradise really. You've made a great mistake by ignoring it."

"I'm not convinced."

"Well," Fred started, "I know what we're going to do today then."

"No," Florence said warningly, to which Fred only smiled wickedly in response, "Oh yes, I will be showing you the way of life of a prankster. You will love it, I tell you."

The carriage had stopped, and Hogsmeade was seen from a fair distance away. Fred hopped out of the carriage first, ans as soon as Florence followed, he grabbed her hand and ran towards the village. Florence struggled to keep up, flailing behind the red haired boy. "Slow down will you?!" she complained.

"I'm not even running that fast." he retorted.

"Well, yes, you may not be. But you have legs as tall as street lamps and you take massive strides. All of us can't be abnormally tall, you know."

"Excuse you," he frowned, stopping infront of the gates, Florence bumping in to him as she failed to slow down, "My height is perfectly normal for our age. And my legs are not as tall as street lamps."

Florence shrugged, "Well, if you say so then—"

"To Zonko's!" Fred yelled suddenly, clasping her hand again as he ran through the streets of Hogsmeade. The snow had melted off of the rooftops, no longer looking like a Christmas village from a muggle greeting card. Flowers were starting  to sprout up from flowerbeds, and trees were starting to blossom with leaves.

"Here, here!" he said excitedly, pointing at the Zonko's sign hung above the shop. Fred had an unexplainable look on his face, as if he was going to go in for the first time ever in his life. Florence glanced down at their intertwined hands, giving him a look.

"You could stop holding my hand now," she said, Fred apologizing sheepishly before untangling his fingers from hers, using both free hands to point at the sign, "This, my petite friend, this is where the magic happens..." he breathed out in awe.

"..."

"Hey," he chastised, "No judging eyes,"

"Fine, whatever."

They entered the shop, a small bell tinkling from above as they did so. Joke toys lined the walls, rows and rows of shelves filled with all things that screamed Weasley. Fred completely ignored his companion, sauntering over to his favorite section and scooped up dungbombs and stink pellets—his immediate priority.

"George might be all too busy snogging Nicolai to think of restocking, I'll do it for us, then." he grumbled, returning to Florence with his basket halfway full. She grimaced at this, "You might want to refrain putting images of my best friend snogging anyone. It's disgusting."

"Why?" Fred frowned, "Hasn't she dated anyone before George?"

"They're not official, mind you," she corrected, "And no, now that I think of it, she hasn't really went on any dates. I mean yes, there are mentions of boys that she fancies... But it never really goes beyond that."

"Oh," he said, "Well hey, now that we're here, why don't you look around? Maybe you'll find something interesting."

Florence raised her brow at him, "No, I'd rather stay here and watch you fan over their stuff like a little kid."

"Oh come on don't be such a killjoy." he groaned, dragging her over to a shelf filled with fancy looking teacups. "Nicolai loves tea, doesn't she?" Fred asked, Florence nodding absentmindedly. They couldn't be normal teacups, she thought, why would they sell china teacups in a store filled with hazardous objects?

"Well, you could give her these, they're perfect for a nice cuppa. And they don't break very easily, plus they look amazing." he said, pretending to bring the cup and saucer to his lips, tipping it forward to drink the imaginary tea—only to have the once harmless porcelain cup grow teeth and bite Fred's nose.

"Ouch!" Fred wailed, prying the vicious teacup off of his reddening nose and putting it back onto it's shelf. Florence laughed, a hand on her sides as Fred rubbed at his nose. "Did you mean to do that?" she asked once her laughter had died down, Fred frowning at her.

"No. I knew it was going to do that, but not until after a couple of seconds. I must of have miscalculated my move."

"Well that was hilarious, nonetheless." she chuckled, taking a cup and saucer, "I think I'll buy one."

"Really?" his eyes lit up, as the two of them moved to the counter to pay for their items.

"Really. But, only to get you to stop banging on about me adapting to your way of life. And so that I could prank Nicolai with it..."

"If you ask me, you're already adapting to our way of life. This is your biggest baby step, young one." he cooed, patting her on the head as Florence immediately swatted his hand away. "I haven't given you the privilege to insult my height, Weasley."

"Ah, but you will... Soon enough that is." He winked, "Come on, let's go restock on your necessities."

----
"Does it usually take you this long to choose?" George groaned, resting his temple beside the empty plate, pumpkin pasty crumbs were the only thing left. He watched in boredom as Nicolai had a hand on her chin, her eyes skimming through the many types of tea laid down on the table infront of her.

"Florence and Alexander never whine about me taking too long." she shot back, George rolling his eyes in the process.

"Well, clearly you have two perfectly working eyes and as you can see, I am no Florence, nor am I an Alexander."

"Well you could atleast try to look patient about it—" she spotted Florence and Fred at a distance, "—Quick, George, pretend like you and I are having fun!"

Fred and Florence's had landed just in time as George leaned in with a smile, Nicolai feigning a chuckle as she lifted a tea box closer to his face. Once she had seen them run along in peripheral vision, she sighed audibly. "That was a really close one." she admitted.

"Are they gone?" asked George, his face still frozen into a smile.

"Ofcourse they are, you prat."

"I should tell Jordan that name calling should be a sin in this project of ours." he grumbled, Nicolai glaring at him, "You've been calling me shorty since breakfast George. Way to be a hypocrite."

"Well I'm telling it as it is. You are short—agh!" Nicolai clipped him round the head with a tea box.

"And violent too..." Nicolai added, "So stop calling me shorty."

George made a noise of disapproval, before finally saying. "Fine. Go and pay for those now, will you? We've been sitting here for ages now. I need to get to my own thing too, you know."

"Fine." she said, the chair legs scraping noisily against the tiles as she scooted her chair, scooping up the boxes she wanted and headed to the counter. Madame Puddifoot's daughter greeted her with a smile from behind the counter. "These are all this time, Nicolai?"

"Yeah, just a little bit for this time. I still kind of have a little bit more left in my trunk." Her eyes trailed outside to see Jillian as the cashier was tallying her purchase. "One galleon, four knuts and ten sickles." Nicolai dug around hastily in her pocket, before producing the coins needed.

"Could you please hand my purchases to that redhead over there by the window?" she asked, pointing at George, "I just have someone I really need to talk to."

"Is that your boyfriend?" the woman giggled, Nicolai just nodding curtly before starting off towards the door.

"Hey, hey. Where are you going?" frowned George, who also stood up from his seat.

"No," she said sternly, pointing a finger at him, "Stay here."

"But—"

"Stay here, George. And get my tea." she said with much authority in her voice. George sat back down like a helpless child, frowning at her as she exited the shop.

"Jillian!" Nicolai yelled as she approached the blonde girl, a wide grin on her face. "Oh, Nicolai. Hello."

"Hello. Where's Alexander? I thought you two went together?" she asked, not seeing the blonde boy anywhere. Jillian nodded, "Yeah, we were together. He just went down for awhile to buy a roll of parchment, and we'll be on out way to the Three Broomsticks."

"Oh. Good that. Jill, ah, I just want to thank you. You know, for doing this? I know we didn't really tell you much about what was going on but you chose to help in spite of that."

"About that, Nicolai.... I think—I, um... I don't really know how I'm going to say this without sounding like an almighty prick, but..."

Nicolai frowned at the blonde, "If it's about the set up, Jill, I know you hate lying to Xander and I am awfully sorry for putting you in this situation. It would be okay for me if you don't want to do it anymore."

Jillian shook her head, "No... It's not like that, I mean—" she paused, taking a deep breath before she even continued "I-I like Xander, Nic."

"What? But... But you're gay..." Nicolai felt something relatively similar to a heart ache as the words sank in to her.

"I know I am. But Xander... He just, it's just that he's so nice and caring. He does these little things for me which no one else has done for me. And I can't help but want to be with him, you know? He makes me feel special, Nic. I think I could change for him."

Nicolai laughed hollowly, "You can't change who you are. Y-You've said it yourself, Jillian. That you tried but then it wouldn't work because who you are is what you'll always be. And, and what if it doesn't work for Alexander, too? You're going to hurt him, Jillian. I don't want him to get hurt because he's my best friend."

"I'm not going to hurt him... If you could just—"

"No, you can't do that to him, Jillian. You don't like him that way, you know you don't. You promised me that you wouldn't lead him on...." she snapped.

"I'm not going to—"

"You are going to, and you know it! Now stop this nonsense before Xander ends up getting hurt!" she said one last time, before turning on her heels and starting back towards the tea shop where George sat in boredom, Nicolai hearing Jill call after her. She was fuming, shaking in anger as she stumbled back into the shop, startling George.

He looked at her red face peculiarly, "Whoa, what happened to you—?"

"Do you have anywhere else you'd like to go to?" she asked in a mumble.

"Yeah... I just need to get to Zonko's to pick up a few things. Why?"

"After that I'd like to head back to the castle...."

"What?" George frowned, "I though we were going to Three Broomsticks after to spy on Florence and Fred."

"No," she said curtly, "I'd like to go back to the castle, please." her voice cracked at the last part, George's expression softening.

"Alright, then."

///////
a.n: Guys it would mean the whole world to me if you checked out 'Golden'. I've been working on it for quite awhile now and a few reads and votes from y'all might put it out there! Thanks! And I would also love feedbacks regarding this story ❤️

-Denise