Little Talks - A Draco Malfoy Love Story

47

It was a surprisingly warm Saturday; snow had melted, the sun was finally peeking out of the clouds. Hogsmeade was empty for the most part, which is exactly where Blaise and Faris were. They were celebrating Blaise's birthday by spending the day in shops pulling faces at each other over the shelves and between the aisles.

But besides pulling grotesque faces at each other they purchased sweets and clothes, repeatedly going in and out of shops. They had bought many items from Zonko's Joke Shop and Gladrags Wizardwear.

Earlier the same morning at breakfast they had invited Draco to come to Hogsmeade with them and celebrate but he had Prefect duties for detention and said that he would meet them at the Quidditch field for their evening celebration.

They had purchased a cake from a small bakery along with a pint of butterbeer for later that night.

"What flavor do you want?" Faris asked. Blaise peered through the glass of the display case gazing at the brightly frosted cakes.

"I know I want chocolate but I don't know if I want yellow or pink frosting."

"It'll taste the same with either cake."

"But they're both so pretty!" Blaise whined.

But they ended up walking out of the bakery with the yellow frosted cake, even though Blaise hadn't picked that one. He hadn't picked one at all so Faris picked for him.

"I didn't think you would care how the food looked as much as how it tasted."

"Well, it is my special day." He had used that excuse several times that day.

"What do you wanna do now?" Faris breathed out, setting her bags down to stretch her arms.

"We could start heading back to where we have to meet Draco in an hour plus I have one more thing I want to do before he arrives," Blaise said with a mischievous grin.

"Well, let's get a move on then, we need to catch one of the carriages before someone else does."

They both picked up their bags heading up the dirt pathway towards an empty carriage. Faris flung the carriage door open, setting her bags next to her on the bench, Blaise did the same already tucking into a chocolate frog on the ride back.

"So what is this other thing that you want to do?"

"It's a surprise . . . it won't be as fun if you already know how to do it though."

"That's oddly suspicious of you to say."

"Why's that?" he asked with a mouth full of chocolate.

". . . You're teaching me something aren't you?" Faris attempts to sit up straight but only cowards back with a slight tremble in her voice.

Blaise chuckled blissfully, "I'm not saying anything about the surprise."

"Why am I the one getting a surprise when it's your birthday?" She asked after a few long minutes have passed.

"Because it's fun for me this way."

"Well, it is your birthday so I don't have much of a choice, I guess," Faris joked.

"It's nothing embarrassing," Blaise paused, "It definitely won't be easy." She pressed her lips into a firm line, the carriage came to a halt in front of Hogwarts, jolting Blaise forward in his seat.

When they did get to the Quidditch field the sky had gone completely dark, stars had lined the sky and the air was nothing but a sweet chill. They both dropped their shopping bags by the blanket that Blaise laid down for their picnic.