Last First Kiss {HP Next Generation}

Chapter Fifty Nine

"Figure anything out yet?"

Hope glanced up from the table as she sat in the Great Hall, early the next morning to see Stella and Eliza take their seats across from her.

"Nope, I've only come to the conclusion that I'm going to Hogsmeade and spending this thing." Hope replied, flipping her coin into the air, but Stella snatched it up quickly before it came back down.

"I don't think this is the time for being silly, Hope." Stella told her. "If we want to stay in the lead, we have to stay on top of these things and that means, figuring this out first before the other teams do." 

"Yeah well, I got nothing." Hope shrugged. "It's a real coin, so it's not like it's fake or anything. Pass that, I'm not sure what else it's supposed to hint at. There aren't any unique markings. It's just gold...and that is acceptable currency in Hogsmeade-"

"HOPE!" Stella and Eliza looked at her, their dragon forms appearing, causing Hope to scoot back from them.

"Simmer, simmer." She said placing her hands up. "I was just trying to have a laugh over here. You know, lighten mood. No need to be so...well I would say serious but that would just call for a terrible pun. Anyways, did you two discover anything about the coin last night?"

"I tried aparecium," Eliza said. "But it did nothing."

"I tried that too, but I was met with the same results.' Stella sighed, resting her chin on the table.

"Well, there is some good news to all of this," Hope said.

The twins looked up at her. "And that is?"

"The other teams seem just as confused as us." She pointed out to where the Durmstrang team and Ilvermorny team were seated in different parts of the Great Hall, all of them examining their coins carefully, but looking terribly puzzled. "See, nothing to worry about?"

"But what if that's all for show?" Stella pointed out. "What if they know, but they want us to think that they don't know, because we don't know."

"What?" Hope stared at her.

"Keep up here, Hope, what I'm saying is, they could just want us to believe that they don't know, when they do actually know. "

"Not sure if I agree them, those are genuine looks of confusion, Stella. I would know, those are the same looks that Henry and I have in Ancient Runes. Speaking of which, I have to go wake him up, along with Fergie. I swear those two could sleep all day."

The Gryffindor girl pushed herself up from the table and went to leave.

"But Hope, you can't leave," Eliza called after her.

Hope turned to her with a confused expression of her own. "Then...what am I doing right now?" She asked as she continued to walk away. "It seems...it seems like I'm still leaving?"

She clapped her hands to the sides of her face. "What madness is this?!"

"I really hate when she does that." Eliza sighed, once Hope turned around and skipped out of the Great Hall happily. 

"I hate when she has motive behind it too." Stella groaned.

"What do you mean?" Eliza asked.

Stella didn't answer verbally as she pointed over her shoulder. Eliza turned around to see Teddy and Elliot making their way over to talk to them. 

"That little sneak!"

Hope was about to make her way to the boy's dorm to wake up Henry and Fergie, but before she could, she was pleasantly surprised as the boys came down the stairs first.

"Well, well, well, this is certainly a first." Hope said with a wild grin. "Actually getting up early on your own? What's the occasion?"

"How early did you get up?" Henry asked her with a yawn.

"Since about six."

"See, I told you." Fergus said rubbing at his eyes. "Didn't I tell you? She would be up before the entire school."

"I was not up before the entire school, Peeves was up too." Hope told them. 

Henry chuckled while Fergus just gave her a flat look.

"Did you sleep well?" Henry looked at her as she smiled, once Fergus flopped onto one of the sofas with a loud groan. 

"I did." She said. "It was a pretty eventful night, I had a lot of fun dreams. Especially because of Fergus."

The two looked over to the boy, who instantly lifted his head up from the sofa cushion and looked at them.

"What's that supposed to mean?" He asked.

"Don't you remember what happened last night, Fergie?" Hope leaned over the back, with Henry by her side.

Fergus looked back and forth between the two, who continued to smile directly at him. He thought hard, but most of it was sugary blur.

"I uh...I was dancing...and..I drank way too much butterbeer that I probably should be in a sugar coma."

"Trust me, with your snoring last night-" Henry went to comment but was silenced by a glare.

"Okay, okay, rather than teasing me about it, can you just tell me what awful embarrassing thing I did, so I can just sulk about it now, rather than later." Fergus said sitting up, watching as Hope and Henry exchanged looks with one another.

"You don't remember the arm wrestling?" Hope asked him in an innocent tone.

"Arm wrestling? I was arm wrestling someone? Who?" He scratched the top of his head as he tried to recall the previous night's events.

"Armina." Henry answered.

"Armina...I...Armina? Really?" His face suddenly flushed a vibrant red causing Hope and Henry to laugh heartily before turning back to him. The boy was gripping the sides of his head, shaking it back and forth in disbelief. "Why...why did I do that? Why did I think it was a good idea to challenge her to an arm wrestling contest just to beat her-"

"Uh, we didn't say anything about you wining, Fergie." Hope told him.

Fergus looked up at her. "I didn't win?"

The two shook their heads no.

"Oh dear Merlin," he flopped back dramatically, falling off the sofa and onto the floor. "Just..just end me now."

"Don't worry, Fergie, to be honest, I think she found it rather cute."  Hope walked over and patted his head.

Fergus lifted his head up. "Really?"

"Yes, at least, you were making her laugh quite a bit."