Safe With Me ~ Fred Weasley

The One Eyed Witch

The final days leading up to Halloween had been excruciating. Mostly due to the fact that everyone was itching to go on the first trip to Hogsmeade, but had to sit through the rest of the weeks classes. The wait was made worse by Ron's grumbling and Harry's sulking since the twins had yet to show Harry the passageway through the one eyed witch, always finding an excuse or telling him it wasn't "ready" yet. The pair had asked at least a dozen times if the twins had mentioned anything about their secret plan, and each time I had to shrug and lie. No, I hadn't even thought of it. No, they haven't seem to have had the time.

Finally, Friday had come to an end. After an informative lesson from Lupin on Nocturnal Beasts, or as Hagrid would have called them, 'pets,' The class sprang from their seats, paying no attention to how their books and quills landed in their bags.

"Cassidy!" Harry called, grabbing hold of my wrist and jumping back as if he had been shocked when he felt me flinch.

"Yeah?" I asked, my eyes boring into his green ones, begging him not to mention it.

"Er... Tomorrow's the Hogsmeade trip. I was just thinking, you know, if you don't have anything to do, we could hang out. I dunno if you play quidditch, or chess? Or we could go see the Black Lake before it frosts over." He rambled.

I prayed I was keeping my face steady. If I were still in the same boat with Harry, I would have said yes in a heartbeat. It was kind of him to offer to hang out with me, since he knew both of our friends would be in the village enjoying themselves. But I couldn't. Because unlike Harry, the Weasley twins had shown me how to get to Hogsmeade. This time tomorrow, I would be climbing back through that statue with the boys, pockets weighed down with whatever I would let myself waste money on. It was Halloween after all.

"Oh, Harry. I would, totally. I just have to finish that History of Magic paper, I've barely made a dent. But I'll see you at the feast right?"

"Right, yeah. Good luck. I had Hermione's help and that paper still took me hours." He looked disappointed, and I felt too guilty to stand near him any longer. I would go with the twins this time, but if they hadn't told Harry how to get through by the winter trip, I would stay here with him. It wasn't fair to be the only one breaking the rule.

I woke up a bit later this morning, thankfully. Maybe my body was finally getting used to the concept of weekends. Maddie, Bri, and Hannah were already out, presumably making the walk to Hogsmeade already in large bunches of excited chit chat. I let myself stay tucked beneath my blankets for a few more minutes before I threw them towards the end of the bed and headed to the window. I slid the glass pane up a smidge just to feel the outside air. It was brisk, now a day away from November. This was the weather Halloween should be.

I knelt next to my trunk once again and dug through the piles of black robes and sweaters until I found anything remotely different. Weekends were the days we could finally wear whatever we wanted, especially if I was going to be out in the wizarding world. Aside from Diagon Ally for school shopping, I had never been anywhere frequented by our kind.

I finally decided on an olive green sweater and black pants, wrapping a brown plaid scarf around my neck and pulling my hair out from under the fabric. I briefly considered curling my hair, but decided against it. I didn't want Fred, or... either of the twins to think I was dressing up for a simple day out shopping. I wiped some concealer under my eyes and ran the mascara wand over my eyelashes.

After pulling on my brown boots, I headed towards the exit. The twins and I had arranged to meet at the stairs near the one eyed witch, just in case a teacher caught us lurking near the statue and got suspicious. It was halfway between each of our dorms, but I assumed they would be running late, so I didn't rush myself.