The Great Hall was bustling one chilly Saturday morning at Hogwarts. The enchanted ceiling displayed a bright blue sky dotted with fluffy clouds. Warm sun streamed into the room from the large windows behind the High Table that seated the staff. Excitement filled the air as students chatted loudly about how they would spend their day at Hogsmeade Village.

"Honeydukes has the limited edition Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Beans. There's thirty-seven new beans! I've been dying to see how badly the Peppered-Bile one tastes-"

"-I heard him telling his friends he might take me to Madam Puddifoot's Tea Shop for our date. Oh, it'll be so romantic-"

"-I wonder how Snape will enjoy the Screaming Yo-Yo I plan to buy today at the joke shop. We can use it to drown out the sound of his voice in class-"

"-I want to visit the Shrieking Shack and see what all the fuss is about. Whoever said it's the most frightening building in Britain was clearly not in my house last summer when Mum found my secret stash of Firewhiskey under my bed."

Grace overheard the conversations and thought about where she would like to visit today. She turned to her friend Ginny Weasley, a fifth-year girl with fiery red hair. Grace and Ginny had gotten rather close over the past few weeks, despite Grace being a year older than her fellow Gryffindor.

Ginny always let Grace rant to her about the troubles of her life, especially those involving Ryan. Ginny understood a lot about manipulation, so hearing how Ryan had treated Grace in the past made her furious. Although things seemed to be a little better between Grace and Ryan, Ginny knew that his controlling actions did not just disappear with the snap of a finger. Grace just couldn't see it. The bruises on her skin became scarce, but little did she know her mind was the one taking the beating now.

"What shops do you want to visit, Gin?" Grace asked, dreaming of filling her pockets with Chocolate Frogs and Pumpkin Pasties.

"Oh, you know, the usual..." Ginny trailed off before leaning closer to Grace so that she could whisper just between the two of them. "Listen, I have a plan."

A smirk appeared on Grace's face. She already liked where this was going.

"I've been saving up for a new broomstick. My Cleansweep Five is practically in shambles. There's no way it will last another day on the Quidditch Pitch," explained Ginny.

"So you want to go to Sprintwitches Sporting Needs?" Grace asked, holding in laughter as Ginny instantly spit the pumpkin juice she had been drinking back into her goblet.

"Yuck! Don't even mention that name in front of me!" Ginny teased. "I didn't spend all this time saving up Galleons just to waste it on a cheap, wooden stick from Sprintwitches."

Grace threw a napkin at her friend's face, laughing as she waited for her to continue.

"We're going to Quality Quidditch Supplies," Ginny finished, beaming.

"Yeah, that's great and all, Gin, but there's just one problem," Grace started. "Quality Quidditch Supplies is in Diagon Alley, not Hogsmeade."

Ginny put her hand to her chest as she gasped, faking a shocked expression.

"I can't believe you think so little of me. I've obviously already sent an owl to Fred and George telling them to meet us outside one of the shops on the edge of the village when we get to Hogsmeade so we can apparate with them to Diagon Alley. They approved, of course. They would always be willing to help anyone break a few rules now and then."

"You amaze me," Grace announced, grinning and shaking her head. "I'll just have to figure out how to ditch Ryan at Hogsmeade."

"Ditch? How about dump?" Ginny suggested.

"Ha, ha, very funny," Grace replied flatly, sticking her tongue out.

"I wasn't joking," Ginny shot back, bringing a new glass of pumpkin juice up to her lips.

Dumbledore rose from his seat and waited for the students to quiet down before announcing, "The carriages to Hogsmeade will be leaving in just a few minutes. I hope you all have a splendid time in our wonderful village." He raised his arms, which instantly cleared the long tables of their plates, goblets, and food.

The students gathered their belongings and began to exit the Great Hall. Ginny and Grace shuffled along with the others, hearing Dumbledore call in the distance, "I will give five points as a reward to the student that brings me back some Sherbert Lemon from Honeydukes!"

"Albus, your point system is so inconsistent-"

"Minerva, please-"

Grace was finally out of earshot, heading outside when she spotted Noah a few yards away walking with Draco Malfoy.

"Noah!" Grace hollered, gazing at the boy as he instantly perked his head up in her direction. The two Slytherin boys traveled across the sea of students before they reached the Gryffindor girls. "Are you two going to Hogsmeade today?"

"Wouldn't miss it," Noah mumbled, his eyes bright as he stared at her. Grace watched them turn cold when she felt a hand grab her own.

"Found you."

"Ryan," Grace sighed, "You scared me."

Ryan bent down slightly to kiss her. Noah turned away, sparking up a conversation with Draco.

Grace returned the kiss briefly before pulling away, returning her attention back to Noah.

"No Rachel today?" she asked. Noah looked at Grace, whose head was down as she focused on not tripping over her own feet while they walked on the uneven ground. Noah flickered his eyes over to Ryan.

"No, not today," muttered Noah. Ryan smirked. Grace's heart tugged.

The five of them continued walking down towards the carriages without saying another word. It wasn't until they were all sharing a carriage together did Ginny break the silence.

"Well this isn't totally awkward," she announced, glancing around the carriage. Ryan, Grace, and Ginny were on one side, with Draco and Noah seated across from them.

"Now it is, Gin," Grace replied, a smile inching onto her lips. Draco and Ryan seemed to be off in their own worlds, but Noah and Grace caught each other's eyes. The corners of Noah's lips tugged upwards.

What felt like hours later, but was merely a few minutes, they finally arrived at Hogsmeade. Ryan hopped off the carriage before anyone else, landing swiftly on his feet. Draco and Noah let the girls off before they stepped down as well.

They were beginning to walk towards the shops, joining the company of a bunch of other students, when Ginny nudged Grace's arm.

"What was that between you and Noah, hmm?" Ginny asked in a hushed voice, wiggling her eyebrows.

"I don't know what you're talking about." Grace's face flushed ever-so-slightly. She tugged her cloak tighter around her.

"Mhm," replied Ginny, biting her tongue and holding back a smile.

As they continued walking for a few moments, Grace's eyes perked up at The Three Broomsticks.

"Ryan, I was thinking that I could go off with Ginny to some of the shops and meet you back here later," Grace started gently.

"Why would I let you do that?" Ryan asked. Grace heard Ginny fake-gagging behind her.

"Please, Ryan. It will just be me and Ginny. It's not like I'm abandoning you. Go grab some Butterbeer with your friends," Grace suggested.

Ryan seemed to think about this for a second. He eventually nodded and carefully put a finger under her chin, steering her gaze to look up at him.

"Don't do anything you'll regret, Grace."

She nodded silently.

"And on that note-" Ginny interjected, grabbing Grace by the arm and snatching her away from Ryan and the other boys. "See you later!"

Grace and Ginny scurried off through the village, eventually spotting two red-headed boys that were already waiting for them.

"Took you two long enough," said one of them as the girls finally approached.

"You can say that again, Fred."

"Well, we weren't all blessed with trees for legs," Ginny snapped. "This is Grace, by the way."

Grace smiled. "Nice to meet you two."

"I'm Fred."

"I'm George."

"Oh, would you two stop it?" Ginny groaned. She turned towards Grace. "They're the complete opposite of what they just told you. They'll try to trick you either way, so you might as well just call them Gred and Forge."

Ginny grabbed onto Fred's arm and Grace let George take her hand before the four of them disapparated from Hogsmeade. The world spun around Grace for a few seconds, but her feet quickly made contact with the ground once again.

Grace looked at her surroundings. Old witches and wizards were entering and exiting establishments like Flourish and Blotts, Gringotts, and Eeylops Owl Emporium. Fred and George said their goodbyes as they strutted into Gambol and Japes Wizarding Joke Shop. Ginny found Quality Quidditch Supplies just up ahead. Grace, however, spotted something even more intriguing.

"Grace, are you ready?" Ginny called, already halfway through the doorway, itching with excitement.

"Yeah, I'll meet you inside in a minute," Grace replied, frozen to the spot she was standing in as Ginny rushed inside the store.

Grace focused her gaze on two boys in the distance that were exiting Diagon Alley onto another path.

Why the hell were Draco Malfoy and Noah Dolohov going to Knockturn Alley?