Chapter 46 | Inches Away

845 67 118
                                    


"So," Charlus started awkwardly, waving his hands a little, "Where do you want to go?" he asked Euphemia, glancing at her uncertainly as all of his playboy experiences went out of the window, getting lost in his will to please Mia and not treat her like just another girl that he took to snog in Madam Puddifoots.

"You're telling me that you, Charlus Potter, notorious for your player reputation and dating expertise, have no idea where we should go?" Euphemia teased him, laughing a little which did make Charlus relax a lot more though he still shuffled from where he was stood.

Mia and Charlus had long left the others behind and had pretty much separated from them the moment that they left the gates of Hogwarts, getting a lot of suggestive looks and snickers in return.

They were now on the winding Hogsmeade main street, the two of them looking around whilst considering a manner of different shops and places to eat.

The main street was crammed with Hogwarts students, clad in their non uniform wear for a change though a lot were still wearing their school cloaks and many donned their respective House scarves, hats and attire.

There were groups of girls either eyeing Charlus up or glaring at Euphemia for being with him; gangs of boys jostling each other and mucking about or couples like Mia and Charlus themselves walking around hand in hand or making out furiously in side streets or on benches.

Charlus coughed awkwardly and swung his hand back and forth, trying to summon up the courage to take Euphemia's hand.

Usually, when he went on dates with his many girlfriends or flings, he would easily take their hand or flirt with them but Mia wasn't like the other girls.

She was different and Charlus didn't want to spoil the day by doing something wrong but, then again, he also didn't want it to be awkward if they didn't even hold hands.

Suddenly, a gloved hand slipped into his grip, clutching it reassuringly and Charlus looked to his left to see Euphemia smiling at him, looking quite amused.

"If you wanted to hold my hand, you should've just asked," she said softly before squeezing his hand, making him grin and squeeze it back, a happy feeling surging through his body and pumping through his veins.

There was a slight silence between them for a second, broken only by the chatter of other students around them and the slight shatter of a glass as someone dropped it on the ground after coming out of one of the pubs.

But then Mia rolled her eyes and tugged him towards the Three Broomsticks, claiming that she was cold and needed a Butterbeer.

Charlus simply chuckled to himself, looking down at their joined hands and still trying to get over the fact that Euphemia Black was actually holding his hand voluntarily.

"You know," he called suddenly, coming to a halt before they entered the Three Broomsticks, "I know this really cute cafe not far from-" Mia cut him off quickly, placing a hand in front of her in a 'talk to the hand' gesture, "You better not be talking about Madam Puddifoots. Because I would rather snog Orion than go in that place which I know is a favourite haunt for your make out girls but...." she shrugged with a challenging smirk on her face and Charlus sighed though he felt an amused grin sliding onto his face.

"No, I was talking about a small cafe that not many people know about, actually," he corrected her and, ignoring her pleading look towards the closed door of the Three Broomsticks, Charlus took control this time and dragged Euphemia to the other end of the street, their joined hands becoming the subject of many glares from girls and wolf whistles from boys.

The cafe that Charlus was directing them to had actually been one that Mia had not seen before, making her wonder how it had slipped her notice.

It was a rather small cafe that hunched into itself, with white shutters that had been yanked up, the slight graffiti just peeking through the gap where the shutter had gotten trapped.

Toujours Pur | Euphemia BlackWhere stories live. Discover now