A Simple Outing Between Friends
Hogsmeade was particularly crowded that weekend.
Students from every house walked through its streets, going in and out of the shops, some carrying bags full of sweets, others simply enjoying the few hours they had away from the castle.
And among all of them...
Harry walked calmly beside Fleur, who moved alongside him while looking around with interest, especially at that tea shop that seemed to be meant for couples, although she quickly looked away before Harry could notice.
"You know, when you said you wanted me to come with you to Hogsmeade, I expected you to have something specific to do," Fleur commented, giving him a sideways glance while pretending to be annoyed.
Harry smiled.
"Well, it's not that I have anything specific to do here. It's more that I specifically wanted to get away from the castle for a while, because if I stay there, I'll probably end up becoming a nuisance," he added calmly.
Fleur's expression changed, not understanding.
"What do you mean?" she asked.
"I'm starting to understand how my friends feel when they're around me whenever..." Harry glanced at her, but didn't finish the sentence before smiling and continuing to walk.
Fleur narrowed her eyes behind him, staring at him, but she didn't stop walking either. In the end, she gave up trying to figure out this shameless guy and rolled her eyes.
"I really don't know why I agreed to come with you," she complained with a hint of disdain.
"Because you enjoy my company," Harry replied with a proud, shameless smile.
"Definitely not," Fleur said dryly.
"That hurt," Harry said, dramatically acting as if he were in pain.
Fleur let out a small, satisfied smile as she watched him place a hand over his chest as though he'd actually been wounded.
"Idiot," she murmured.
Despite all her complaints, Fleur didn't make the slightest attempt to move away from him.
And Harry, of course, had no intention of pointing that out.
For once, wandering aimlessly around Hogsmeade, away from all the problems at the castle, was actually pretty nice.
…
A few minutes later, the two of them walked through the doors of the Three Broomsticks, since all that walking had left them a little thirsty and hungry.
As soon as they entered, Harry looked around for an empty table for them, but, of course, since it was the weekend, most of the students had already taken the seats there, with every table packed except one, where only a huge man sat drinking alone in a corner, looking somewhat gloomy and silent.
Hagrid.
Harry made a small gesture for Fleur to follow him, and the two approached the half-giant.
"Hey, Hagrid. Mind if we share your table?" Harry asked with a friendly greeting when he saw the Care of Magical Creatures professor.
"Hello, Professor Hagrid," Fleur greeted respectfully as well.
Hagrid startled slightly at the greeting and looked at both of them as if he'd barely recognized them, though he blinked a couple of times as if trying to shake off his drunken haze and gave them a happy smile once he realized who they were.
"Oh, Harry and the librarian... er, Fleur, right?" Hagrid said with a friendly smile.
"Yes," Fleur said with a nod as Harry pulled two chairs over to Hagrid's table and let Fleur sit first, almost automatically pulling the chair out for her.
That earned him an amused look from Fleur for a moment, but Harry ignored it before sitting down beside her, the two of them facing the half-giant.
Then Harry looked at Hagrid and noticed that he seemed even more bruised than the last time he'd seen him, making him give the man a strange look.
"Are you okay?" Harry asked.
"Me? Yeah, course, never better, Harry," Hagrid said quickly as he tried to smile, although his smile looked somewhat forced, or maybe the bruise on his cheek hurt a little when he smiled.
Harry didn't know what to say to that and could only exchange a look with Fleur, so the two decided to take the opportunity to place their order with the waitress, a pretty witch who gave Harry a wink, causing Fleur to shoot her a deadly glare.
Harry simply made a gesture as if asking what exactly was his fault for being so attractive.
Earning another eye roll from Fleur.
Hagrid, who had been silent for a few seconds, suddenly opened his mouth.
"You and me are in the same situation, aren't we, Harry?"
Harry stopped his silent conversation of gestures with Fleur and gave Hagrid a confused look.
"Well..." He really didn't know how to answer that.
"Yeah, that's what I thought. You and me are a bit alike, Harry. Never quite fit in everywhere, do we?" Hagrid said, nodding his head wisely. "And we're both orphans. Well, though now you've got your mum Wanda, an incredible witch, of course. But you know what I mean," Hagrid quickly added.
"I guess," Harry replied, having no idea where this strange conversation with the man who stood more than three meters tall was going.
Fleur, for her part, simply remained quiet and listened without interrupting, watching the two of them while hiding a small smile.
"If you've got a decent family, everything changes," Hagrid continued as he took a drink from his enormous mug, which honestly looked more like a bucket. "My dad was decent, and your parents were too. If they hadn't died, your life would've been pretty different, wouldn't it?"
Harry, who normally seemed to have control over any conversation, now had absolutely no idea where Hagrid was going with this strange mix of questions.
"Maybe. I don't know," Harry admitted cautiously.
"What was it like suddenly finding out you had siblings?" Hagrid asked out of nowhere, staring at him as if this were the most important question of all.
"Well... I don't know. Just... that I had to protect them and be there for them if they needed me, I guess. After all, we're family," Harry replied without thinking too much about it.
"Family, eh?" Hagrid let out sadly as he wiped away a thin trickle of blood dripping from his head toward his eye.
"Hagrid," Harry interrupted, unable to hold himself back any longer. "Where are you getting all those injuries? I swear, every time I see you, they look worse than before."
"Eh? What injuries?" Hagrid asked, widening his eyes and pretending to be confused.
"All of them," Harry let out, pointing at the half-giant's bruised face.
"Oh, don't worry about it. Just some minor injuries and bruises, occupational hazards. You know how troublesome the hippogriff squad at Hogwarts can be," he added, brushing it off.
He emptied his mug in one gulp, set it down on the table, and stood up afterward.
"Better get going. Got a few things to do before heading back to the castle. See you two later, enjoy your date."
And with that, he walked out of the pub without waiting for either of them to answer, almost as if he were escaping before something slipped out that he wasn't supposed to say, which was quite likely knowing Hagrid, especially after drinking.
Harry watched the half-giant disappear through the pub door and remained thoughtful for a few moments about that strange conversation. Hagrid was clearly trying to hide something and, although he hadn't said much, his questions about family and siblings gave Harry a few ideas about where this whole thing might be going.
But he decided to leave it alone for the moment and turned his attention back to Fleur with a slightly teasing smile.
"So it looks like everyone else sees this as a date. What do you think?" he asked.
Fleur raised an eyebrow.
"A date with you? I thought this was just two friends hanging out. Obviously, unless you want it to be a date," she said, giving him a sweet smile as she rested her head on her hand and leaned closer to him.
Harry raised an eyebrow in amusement and also rested his chin on his hand, staring directly at her.
"If you want this to be two friends hanging out, then that's what it is," he replied with the same smile. "Well, unless you're the one who wants it to be a date," he added.
Fleur stared at him in silence for a few seconds, her smile almost faltering for just a moment, but she managed to hold it as her blue eyes remained fixed on him and she calmly picked up her butterbeer.
"Perfect," she replied before taking a sip. "Then it's just two friends hanging out."
"Perfect," Harry replied, calmly picking up his own glass as well.
The two stared at each other and smiled in silence while they drank.
"So, as my friend, are you paying for your half?" Harry asked.
Fleur's smile disappeared.
"You were the one who invited me."
"But we're friends."
"And you're a gentleman."
"We never agreed on that."
"Harry..."
At a nearby table, three Ravenclaw students watched the scene and sighed. One of them slowly set his butterbeer down on the table.
"We left the castle because we were tired of watching them flirt in the library, and now they followed us all the way here. When are they finally going to give up and just date already?" he let out, although his words sounded more like the complaints of a bitter single guy than genuine annoyance.
His friends could only pat him on the back, since they shared exactly the same feeling as they watched the pair continue that stupid little push-and-pull game.
...
While Harry and Fleur continued their completely normal and definitely not romantic outing between friends, someone back at Hogwarts was having a considerably worse afternoon.
Dolores Umbridge sat behind her desk. Her expression was about as bitter as she could possibly make it while her fingers impatiently tapped against the desk.
In front of her were several empty chairs, as if she were waiting for a group. There was even a parchment in front of her with something called the "Inquisitorial Squad" written as its title and, beneath it, a space prepared for a list of names.
But the list was completely empty.
No one from any of the four houses had shown up to become a member. Not even a single Slytherin student seemed interested in the privileges she was offering. In fact, no one had even stopped by to ask about them, something Umbridge simply couldn't understand.
She had seen it as a masterful move to control the students who still refused to respect her and make sure they got what they deserved...
Fed up with waiting, Umbridge grabbed one of the pink cups in her office and hurled it hard against one of the walls covered in cat portraits, causing the cup to shatter and one of the portraits to end up destroyed.
And while the inspector remained inside her office wondering why no one wanted to accept the privileges she was offering...
What Umbridge didn't know was that her complete failure had definitely not gone unnoticed.
Elsewhere in the castle, Sirius Black received the report.
He calmly read through it and started laughing in amusement.
"You're a stupid woman if you think Hogwarts is still the same as it used to be. Sometimes common enemies manage to bring everyone closer together than ever before. Why else would I let you run around doing whatever you want?" he said before tossing the report aside with disdain.
"And here I thought I'd lost Karkaroff for that role," Sirius murmured in amusement. "Looks like the students have a new common enemy now."
Sirius paused for a moment before his smile widened.
"Ah, no. Make that two," he corrected himself, remembering Umbridge's boss as well, Albus Dumbledore.