A Change of Heart [James Potter II]

Chapter 27: Fred's Plot To Go To Hogsmeade On A Friday

Fred's Plot To Go To Hogsmeade On A Friday

THE FACT THAT QUINN WAS going to break probably ten school rules only really hit her after she agreed to go to Hogsmeade with Fred. He made it quite clear that they wouldn't be going with the usual carriages they took to Hogsmeade. Of course, the first trip was towards the middle of October, which was about three weeks away at the time.

"Oh my Merlin, Quinn!" Carrie exclaimed after Quinn was muttering about all the trouble she could get in to because of Fred. "Fred is one of the best pranksters at Hogwarts right now." She added, before pausing. "I think he has some way he's executed getting out of school easily." Quinn frowned.

"But you know that Mister Filch has gotten better at his job." Quinn was probably the only student in all of Hogwarts that called Filch 'Mister Filch'. And most people thought it was weird or goody-two-shoes-like. But it was just another one of those things that made her so completely Quinn, and her friends loved that about her. "He's going to catch me. And if not him then that cunning cat of his will."

Dominique giggled. "I love Mrs Norris." She stated before getting up from her bed. "Well, I have to meet Louis." Dominique then rolled her eyes after her comment. "Mum got angry with him for failing Care of Magical Creatures, and she knows I got an O on my OWLs so she said I should help him on every Friday."

"You've missed three Fridays already." Quinn stated, furrowing her brows together. They were about a month into the school year already and Quinn was unsure why they hadn't met up earlier.

"Better late than never." Dom shrugged, waving at her friends before leaving their dorm. Quinn grabbed some black ankle boots from the foot of her bed and slipped them on.

"I better go and meet Fred soon." Quinn said, getting up from her bed and grabbing her Muggle phone and slipping it into her pocket. She still had cell service there and she could text her parents and some Muggle friends she had. "I have no idea what he has planned for this evening and although I am slightly afraid," she paused, smiling a little. "I am definitely curious to see how he's going to get us to Hogsmeade in the late afternoon."

"Don't die." Carrie pleaded sarcastically, waving her fingers at Quinn in a sarcastic but playful manner. "But seriously. Good luck Miss Fabray." Quinn raised an eyebrow. Carrie had begun watching a Muggle TV Program called Glee about a showchoir at an American High School, and apparently Quinn had the same name as one of the characters. (A/N: DIANA AGRON IS QUEEN)

So Quinn grabbed her leather jacket and held it in her arm before leaving her dorm room and walking into the Gryffindor common room. A lot of thoughts were running through her mind. The big thing was how she would be getting to Hogsmeade in the first place. Because the carriages, Quinn knew they were pulled by Thestrals, only went when Dumbledore ordered them to, and there was no way Dumbledore would authorize a carriage for Fred to go on a Friday, late afternoon.

"Hey," Quinn smiled as she got to the bottom of the stares and saw Fred smiling there, looking at the wristwatch attached to his arm. "Alright so I've been absolutely dying to know how we're getting to Hogsmeade." She admitted after a moment, practically bursting. "I mean I've been contemplating this for days now and I know you're quite intelligent so I'm a little nervous."

Fred laughed at how jittery Quinn seemed. He knew she was a big follower of the rules at Hogwarts, especially to do with curfew, so this was pretty amusing to him. "Well yeah. Listen..." Fred suddenly turned serious. "Is this like, a date?" he inquired, raising an eyebrow.

Suddenly, Quinn felt embarrassed. She hadn't realized that a person of the male (or female; she wouldn't judge them) gender asking her to go to Hogsmeade could possibly be a date. Despite often being admired from afar, the closest she came to properly dating would be the encounters and adventures she had with James.

"Oh," Quinn stammered out eventually. "Um, I hadn't really thought of that to be honest. Did you mean for it to be a date?" Fred smiled. Sixth years are so adorable. He thought to himself, although he was mostly joking... To himself. Maybe he should have said that out loud.

"Well not really," Fred confessed. "I'm not really interested in dating for the moment. I recently got out of a relationship and you know how it is..."

"Sort of." Quinn said. Well she was being honest. She did know how it is, except that she was never dating James. But she did trust him. And breaking Quinn's trust came with consequences. "But anyway – I totally get it. Literally no harm done at all."

Fred nodded. "Yeah, um I actually invited someone." He admitted, his hands now in the pocket of his jeans as he tried to look casual. "Yeah. He's someone you know. Terribly confident but handsomely charming." The words Fred used made Quinn quite suspicious.

If she was to use the description Fred had just said to describe any person she knew, it would probably be... Quinn sighed. "Really?" she asked.

"WHO WANTS SOME BUTTERBEER?" A loud voice yelled before there was a yelp and James Sirius Potter came tumbling down the stairs. "Hey, guys." He croaked, wincing in pain as he stood up.

"You always have to make an entrance, don't you cousin?" Fred joked as James ran a hand through his dark hair, messing it up even more than originally; something Quinn thought he might have done on purpose.

"And would you mind not announcing our evening plans to the entire house?" Quinn added, looking anxious. "I don't fancy getting a detention. Or seven."

Fred and James shared a look. "How are you not a Prefect?" Fred inquired, his brows raised again as he looked at the blonde in front of him. He had to admit she was probably the definition of beautiful with her curly blonde hair and the alluring blue eyes. Her personality was great too, and she was generally kind.

And although she had gotten the best OWLs in her entire year, Quinn wasn't perfect. That was another one of those good things about her. She was cheesy and clumsy and very very insecure. But Fred didn't know her very well, despite his entire family raging over how cool Quinn Meredith was. Even his younger sister was a Quinn fan.

"I don't know." Quinn shrugged, smiling. "I was made Dorm Captian. But that means literally nothing because it's one of those things that are supposed to be important but nobody cares about." She rambled.

Fred nodded. "Kind of like Health & Safety regulations."

At the alarmed look on Quinn's face, James stepped in. "He's kidding." James promised her. "Now, who's ready to go to Hogsmeade?" he asked, clapping his hands together in excitement before grabbing something he had stuffed underneath his jumper. Quinn hadn't even taken notice to it, despite him looking like he had gained weight or was in his second trimester of pregnancy.

"What is that?" Quinn asked, inclining her head towards the object in his hand. It looked like a cloak, but it seemed soft, like it had water woven into the material. "Wait..." she gasped, looking at James with wide blue eyes. "Is that what I think it is?"

"Why are people always so dramatic about it?" James feigned modesty. "I mean it's only an invisibility cloak. Very rare, but whatever." Quinn smiled but still had her eyes glued to the material in James's hands.

"It's gorgeous." She said even though it was obvious. "But that doesn't explain how we're getting to Hogsmeade."

"Alright, here's another thing I took from my dad." James admitted sheepishly. "Well, the cloak I inherited. But this..." he takes out a piece of parchment. "I took." He handed it over to Quinn, who took it with an inquisitive look on her face.

James pulled out his wand and whispered: "I solemnly swear that I'm up to no good." And ink began to spread across the parchment. Quinn watched in fascination as she opened the parchment and a map of Hogwarts appeared with people's name on it.

"Wow." She said, unsure of what else to say. Realistically, it was all that Quinn could really get out that would have made sense. "Who made this?" Quinn asked, looking up.

James smiled sadly. "My granddad." He informed her. There was a depressing sort of atmosphere that surrounded the three Gryffindors now. "He and his three best friends creating this map. The only map of Hogwarts to ever be created."

"But you're not supposed to be able to plot Hogwarts," Quinn recalled. "How did they do it?" she asked. "And what's with the nicknames, too?"

James laughed. "I know right? But I suppose they did it somehow. Every classroom, every corridor... Even some," he hesitated, sharing a look with Fred.

"Hey," Quinn said, moving closer to James to place her hand on his forearm. "You can trust me, you know you can." Then she stepped back, releasing his arm like it was on fire. I'm not supposed to be falling for this again. Quinn reminded herself.

"Secret passageways." Fred filled in for James. "It documents the passages hidden in the walls of Hogwarts."

Quinn realized that was how they were going to get to Hogsmeade. "There is no way I'm doing this." Quinn said, sitting down on a sofa and placing her leather jacket next to her. The Marauder's Map was still resting in her hands, but Quinn was frowning, no longer wide-eyed with astonishment.

"What?" Fred's excitement had deflated just as much as Quinn's. "Why not?"

"Because this isn't right." Quinn explained. "Look, this is breaking rules. This map alone is breaking rules." She looked at James. "But I wont tell anyone about it. I know that it has sentimental value to you." James sighed.

"Quinnity Faye Meredith, you're coming to Hogsmeade with me." he stated firmly. "You'll have fun, I can promise you that." James practically pleaded. There was something in his tone that made Quinn feel like he was desperate to get out of school. "And you won't get into any trouble."

"Unless I come," Fred commented randomly. "I love trouble."

James gave him an irritated glance. "Maybe you shouldn't come."

Almost as if on cue, a girl walked through the portrait hole and towards Fred. She looked quite nervous and shy, but was very pretty. The girl had naturally tanned skin and dark brown hair, with a hint of purple in it. Her eyes were a dark brown too, and she had an attractive exotic look to her. "Hey Fred." She greeted, smiling shyly as she tucked some of her perfectly straight hair behind her ear. "I think it's time we talked."

Fred looked sadder than before. "Me too, actually." He admitted. At the curious expression Quinn had, he decided to introduce the girl. "This is my ex-girlfriend, Sofia Cabrera." He said awkwardly. "Sof, this is Quinn Meredith. She's a sixth year like my cousin."

"Nice to meet you." Quinn said kindly, her charming personality intimidating Sofia a little, as she was quite shy. "You know what, James and I will just get out of your hair." She added, getting up from the sofa and pulling on her jacket. "Have a good time. Fred, be nice to Sofia." Quinn winked at the Spanish girl before looking reluctantly at James. "I'll go."

James cheered and pulled the cloak around the two, causing them to appear invisible. Sofia had a stunned look on her face, but Fred assured her he would explain later.

So James lead Quinn down the hall, stopping when he saw a name coming towards them once in a while. It was an odd, intimate sort of moment for James. He had never told anybody who wasn't family about the Marauder's Map and his Invisibility Cloak, so it was important. Especially because he was so close to Quinn. Physically, at least.

And soon, they made it to the statue of the one-eyed witch. "So the entrance is near the statue of the one-eyed witch," James said.

"Gunhilda of Gorsemoor." Quinn corrected. "That's her name." James rolled is eyes.

"Do you want to get to Hogsmeade or not?"