It had been rather fun for the Seventh Year to run around Hogsmeade, enjoying the fresh air and one of her last weekends she’d spend there as a student of Hogwarts. There had been minimal drama, her concern that Trent would try to ruin her fun being pretty much it but thankfully he didn’t argue with her when she had told him she wanted to spend time with her dormmates and not him. It wasn’t too often that Henri felt inclined to hang out outside of their dormitory with the girls she had lived with for the past six and half years so she was a tad apprehensive about what silliness they’d get themselves into but surprisingly it had been a fun and carefree afternoon. She had filled up her purse with sweets from Honeyduke’s because she was incapable of making a Hogsmeade visit without spending almost all her money on peppermint toads, chocolate frogs, and sugar quills, picking up extras of the last two to share with Trent. After that they had wandered around, munching on their sweet treats and giggling over memories of bad fashion choices, regrettable snogs, and terrible jokes. All in all it had been a fun day, one that she had definitely needed and it ended with them finding a booth in the always crowded Three Broomsticks, ordering butterbeer and fried foods.  

She had just about finished her drink when something, or rather someone caught her eye. Shifting in her seat, she leaned out of the booth, careful to not get her head smacked into by a passerby. It appeared to be her future brother-in-law and the former Head Girl standing by the stairwell at the end of the corridor that she assumed he thought was concealed or he most likely wouldn’t have been stupid enough to do what he did next (but he was pretty thick so she could never be too sure). She just about toppled out of her seat as she saw the pair kiss, the girl sitting next to her saving her from the terrible fate by grabbing her arm and pulling her back to the group. Henri watched as Alex and the girl parted ways and left the pub discreetly but not without attracting at least her attention.

This made no sense. Well, that wasn’t entirely true. They had been in the same year and she was pretty and Alexander had a reputation but he was also betrothed to that younger girl who was most certainly not the girl he had just been snogging. She wondered if Trent knew about this. He had never mentioned anything to her but she didn’t think he’d probably run around gabbing with her about his brother’s indiscretions…but then again, Trent was incapable of keeping his mouth shut so no, he probably didn’t know. Which made her wonder if he wasn’t supposed to know. Clearly Alex was trying to be discreet which made sense considering he was to marry someone else but that didn’t always stop such things from happening, and he hadn’t been that careful because she had just been sitting minding her own business and she’d seen him. She laughed to herself just thinking about how stupid he was.

Deciding this sort of opportunity came around only once in a blue moon, she made an excuse to go back to the castle early, slipping out of the booth and almost running out the door. Once outside, she looked around for the familiar blond hair of the boy she currently disliked quite a bit. She didn’t see him but that didn’t mean anything. She ran-walked the path back towards the castle, thankful she’d decided to wear her boots with her simple black shift dress and denim jacket and not her flats like she had considered since the mud from the most recent rain had made the ground rather muddy. Finally she spotted him and hurried to catch up.

“All by your lonesome, Holcombe?” she called once she was a step or two behind him, a devious smile tugging at the corners of her lips despite her desire to play it cool.




They say the poisoned vine breeds a finer wine.