☆

CLOVER SHEEPISHLY SMILED AT THE BOY whose hands lingered on the tops of her shoulders. Looking up into the face of George Weasley, Clover's head tilted, her smile growing as it inched its way across her features as she faced the tall boy, his eyes gleaming with the mischievous glint they always seemed to carry.

"Why is it that you always witness me falling?" the girl mused, as George snickered, his hands still firmly planted on her shoulders.

"I don't know, but let's just say it's lucky that I always catch you."

Clover laughed heartily, as the boy's hands fell from her shoulders, dropping to his sides. The laughter faded and the two lingered in a moment of silence as they awkwardly glanced around.

"So...you here alone?" George questioned, leaning back against a seat behind him.

"No, I, uh...forgot my coat." The girl awkwardly gestured to her jacket. "I'm about to head off to Honeydukes to meet my friends. Uh...What about you? Here alone?"

"Nah," George answered, shaking his head. "I pulled the short straw and got stuck paying for butterbeer while Fred and Lee went ahead to Zonkos."

"Well, I could wait with you if you'd like?"

George tilted his head, a small smile creeping its way onto his face. "Uh, yeah sure," he answered, keeping his voice as casual as possible. The boy fished a few loose coins from his pocket, turning around to pay for the drinks, whilst Clover glanced around the pub.

"Right," the boy began, gathering his leftover change from Rosemerta, "Should we go?" Clover responded with an eager nod and soon the two were emerging from the warm pub back out into the nippy streets of Hogsmede.

"So, how are you holding up?" George questioned, motioning to his head as the girl groaned.

"Whoever said Firewhiskey was worth it- they're wrong," Clover stated, "My head feels like it's being run over and it doesn't help that Hugo woke us up at the crack of dawn to come down here."

"If it makes you feel any better, you're not the only one suffering," The boy pointed out a small cluster of fourth-year students whose green-tinged faces were visible from a mile away. They all looked like they'd faced death and were now walking the stairs to hell.  At the sight of the hungover bunch, Clover couldn't help but let out a small giggle of amusement.

"I feel horrible for laughing," She spluttered, "-But there's something so entertaining about seeing people look the way you feel...oh Merlin, that sounds so mean."

"Woah, Miss Carstairs has a mean side?" George teased incredulously, "Should I start calling you 'the big, bad Hufflepuff' now?"

"Please don't-"

"Ah, too late, Carstairs, you're stuck with it now."

Clover found herself chuckling at the boy's antics, causing George's eyes to widen. As the two continued down the lane, he decided to step it up a notch, take his chances and hope to hear the sweet sound once more.

"Watch where you're going," He boomed loudly as they passed a group of students, ignoring Clover's bewildered expression. "Don't get too close to the big, bad Hufflepuff, she'll eat you alive!" The girl could only burst out into laughter as the younger students inched away with looks of utter confusion crossing their faces.

By the time the two reached Honeydukes, Clover was bent over in hysterical laughter, tears streaming down her face as George warned off a group of third years by saying she'd drown their grandmothers if they got too close. Half of the girl wanted to recoil at the interactions with the students, yet the other half of her took joy in laughing at their expressions as George spoke.

"You're horrible!" Clover choked, trying to get a grip on her laughter. "They looked so concerned!"

"And rightfully so!" George remarked, a small smile gracing his face. "They have to be wary of the Big, Bad Hufflepuff, I was only making sure they knew the risks."

Letting out another brief chuckle, the girl shook her head, her eyes drifting towards the small sweetshop. Clover could see Hugo and Cedric talking through the glass windows, while she presumed Juliette was lost amongst the clutter of Hogwarts students at the counter.

"Well, I guess this is where I leave you." She beamed, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear.

George glanced towards the shop before diverting his eyes to Zonkos down the street. "Uh, I guess it is." He concluded, shoving his hands into his pockets. The two returned to their semi-awkward state, as the girl feebly waved goodbye to the boy as she entered the sweetshop.

The colourful shop was filled to the brim with students, as they admired the lavish array of wizard sweets. There were shelves upon shelves of the most succulent-looking sweets imaginable. From honey-coloured toffees to a large barrel of Every Flavour Beans and Drooble's Best Blowing Gum, Clover could feel her mood lighten once more as soon as she stepped into Honeydukes.

She weaved through a few students, making her way over to Hugo and Cedric. The former talked animatedly while the latter was listening intently.

"-and that's only part of the reason you should avoid them. If it were up to me, the creator of such a horrid sweet should rot in Azkaban." Hugo rambled, waving his arms as he spoke.

"What are you two nattering about?" Clover questioned with a raised brow as she stopped in front of the two boys.

"Hugo was explaining why fudge is better than nougat," Cedric answered quickly, sending the girl a wide-eyed look as if urging her not to enable Hugo's ranting once more. "Which I'm going to have to disagree with."

"Both are crap, toffee reigns supreme." The girl stated dismissively, looking towards the wall of sweets. "I mean who willingly walks into a sweet shop like this one and thinks 'oh I'm going to buy some nougat', you just don't do that."

"I agree," Juliette poked her head over the girl's shoulder, "Besides, all of you are wrong, fizzing whizbees are the best and will forever remain on top."

Cedric, Clover and Hugo all tilted their heads at her words, a silence falling over them as Juliette prattled on about the importance of Fizzing Whizbees in today's society and how they were superior in every way. Once she'd finally concluded her point, she sent them a very smug look. Hugo cleared his throat, disguising a chuckle.

"I think we should all ignore Juliette's last words as she is tremendously wrong and deserves the death penalty for making us listen to that garbage." he started, raising his brows towards the other three. "All in favour?"

"I!" Cedric chirped enthusiastically, raising his hand.

"I!" Clover also chimed in, her face pulling into a grimace at the glare she was receiving from the other girl. "...sorry."

"Hm..." Juliette huffed, her arms unfolding as she slowly crept towards Hugo while she sneakily uncapped the top of the bottle of Butterbeer she'd bought a few moments ago. "Hugo, karma will get you eventually."

In the blink of an eye she'd tipped the drink over, its contents spilling onto Hugo, more specifically onto his lower region, suggesting that he'd had an unfortunate accident.

"OH, MY MERLIN!" Juliette called out dramatically, a smirk plastered across her face as students turned to face her. "Hugo's pissed himself!"

Clover stifled her laughter as Hugo frantically tried to cover the wet stain, his face turning bright red in the process. Cedric offered the boy his jumper, as he too struggled to contain his chuckles.

"Looks like karma came a little early." Juliette mused, taking a swig of whatever was left in her bottle. Hugo glared at her, his eyebrows furrowed deeply as he scowled

"I'm going to kill you, Garrows."

"Now, now, no fighting." Clover tutted, her smile betraying her serious tone.

"Yeah, stop the violence," Cedric sang, his arm stretching over Hugo and Juliette's shoulder. "Also, on another note, we should probably go because Mrs Flume is giving us the death glare." All four heads turned to face the unimpressed witch standing at the sweet counter who seemed to be getting angrier by the minute.

"Yeah, leaving..." Juliette nodded.

"Leaving sounds good," Hugo sheepishly smiled.

And so the four made their great escape, avoiding the wandering eyes of Hogwarts students as Hugo moaned and complained until he was eventually told to shut up.

Clover wouldn't have called the excursion a successful trip but she had to admit that it did have its perks.

☆

HELLO YOU BEAUTIFUL PEOPLE!

This chapter is severely overdue and criminally shit so I do apologise luvs. I sort of lost motivation for a while then had exams but NOW IM BACK!

So yeah, I love you all and don't forget to vote + comment :))

BYE <333