บท 394: A Day Out With Tracey

"What do you mean, you can't come!?" Oleandra hissed.

Valentine's Day had finally arrived, and Oleandra was currently standing in line with the other students who'd be going to Hogsmeade; Tracey was standing at her side, looking at the various other couples snogging in the Bell Tower's Entrance Hall with vague interest.

"Can't help it," said Astoria, shrugging helplessly. "Captain Angelina wants a full day's training. Dunno why she's insisting on me being there, though— it's our new Seeker who needs the practice, not me…"

Cousin Ron was the new Seeker, of all people. Due to his growth spurt, which had caused him to shoot upwards in height, his limbs were quite uncoordinated, accentuating his clumsiness. Astoria sometimes wondered if he didn't have sausages instead of actual fingers…

"So, you'll have to make do without me," she whispered in Oleandra's ears, before adding loudly for Tracey's benefit, "have fun, you two!"

"We will!" said Tracey happily. "Good luck with Quidditch practice!"

Oleandra's thoughts raced as she watched Astoria sprint away; without her little sister's help, she'd have to do things in a different order…

"Ah, there you are, Oleandra!"

What was it now!?

"Hermione wants us to meet her in the Three Broomsticks at around midday," said Harry.

He was accompanied by Cho Chang, who was looking equally surprised as Oleandra to learn that Harry would be taking a break from their date at noon.

"Who, me?" said a puzzled Oleandra. "Whatever for?"

"Is it for RC (temp) business?" Cho questioned Harry.

"I haven't the foggiest," Harry admitted, shrugging his shoulders. "She said you could come as well, Cho."

If it was for RC (temp) business, then Oleandra wasn't interested. Surely it could wait?

"It might be important," said Tracey, sensing Oleandra's profound disinterest. "We should probably go, shouldn't we?"

"But the schedule…" Oleandra argued.

She had planned everything down to the last detail, so there was no room for sightseeing or lollygagging!

"You're taking this too seriously," said Tracey soothingly. "The important thing is to have fun, isn't it?"

Cho's mouth opened in a small 'o,' while Harry just goggled at them.

"You're going out with her?" said Cho in shock.

Somehow, Cho's incredulousness sounded faintly insulting to Oleandra.

"That's right," said Tracey defiantly.

And that was that.

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At some point during the walk to Hogsmeade, Tracey's hand had found its way into Oleandra's— which meant that they were now holding hands. They talked about various things on the way to the village; the topics mostly revolved around common memories, since Oleandra didn't have many positive memories of things that had occurred outside of Hogwarts.

"Well, we're here," said Tracey energetically. "Where should we go first?"

Now, if things had gone to plan, Astoria would have fetched some chocolates and some takeaway for them to eat away from prying eyes, but since she was otherwise indisposed, Oleandra and Tracey would have to go buy the supplies themselves. And that's when Oleandra remembered that she had already paid Astoria in advance for the approximate cost of the food— but her little sister hadn't thought to give her the money back— did she even have enough money on her to cover their date's expenses!?

"I'll pay for my half," said Tracey with a little giggle, as she watched Oleandra furiously rummaging around the insides of her pouch for coins.

"Honeydukes first," Oleandra responded gratefully. "It must have been a while since Daphne last had her favourite sweets, so I was planning on sending her some lime-flavoured Valentine's Day sweets by owl."

Hand in hand, Oleandra and Tracey walked down Hogsmeade's scenic main street, admiring the decorations that the shop owners had put up for the occasion. Technically, Hogsmeade didn't have a main street, due to the thoughtless, or rather, haphazardous city planning that had given birth to Hogsmeade. It seemed like that aspect of Britishness didn't merely restrict itself to the Muggles…

In any case, since the particular street upon which they were currently standing had the Three Broomsticks, Zonko's Joke Shop, Dervish & Banges and Honeydukes', Oleandra thought it was fair to grant it the title of Hogsmeade foremost street.

"That's where you found that bloke," said Tracey, pointing at a tall fence. "Remember?"

She mimed a marionette whose strings had been cut, making Oleandra chortle.

Upon closer inspection, a series of wanted posters had been affixed onto the fence. The magically animated miens of the 10 Azkaban escapees on the posters kept grimacing and shooting death stares at any passerby that came too close, and among them, Oleandra recognized Dolohov, the man who could be at this very moment, torturing…

Oleandra shook her head and accelerated her pace. There was no point thinking about things she had no control over…

A few minutes later, the two girls had crossed the threshold of the Honeydukes' Sweetshop, the tinkling of the door chime announcing their arrival to the shop's other patrons. Oleandra ignored the stares and the hushed whispering, making a beeline for the special heart-shaped Valentine's Day sweets.

"Oh, look!" Tracey exclaimed. "Milk chocolates with a lime-flavoured white chocolate filling. Do you think she'd like that?"

"It's a shame, what happened to your sister," came a man's voice behind Oleandra. "She was one of my best customers…"

Oleandra's interlocutor was none other than Honeydukes' proprietor, Ambrosius Flume.

"We were just browsing," said Oleandra sharply as she turned to face him. "I'm more partial to raspberry, anyway."

The old man shook his head sadly.

"I've always said that anyone who has a sweet tooth cannot be a bad person," Mr. Flume said. "Please, why don't you take a few bags, free of charge; chocolate and citrus are a rather unpopular combination, so you would be doing me a favour, really…"

"This isn't some kind of trick, is it?" said Oleandra suspiciously, opening her Mystic Eyes slightly.

"You have my word that it isn't," said Mr. Flume solemnly.

Oleandra's expression softened; her eyes told her that the man wasn't lying to her.

The entire shop was giving off a gentle glow in her Mystic Sight; the candies shone especially brilliantly, like multicoloured gemstones. No matter how mundane they outwardly seemed, they all had some kind of enchantment to enhance their taste.

Oleandra popped one of the chocolates into her mouth experimentally, feeling the sweetness of the chocolate dissolve on her tongue, followed by the richness of the white chocolate and the slight bitterness of the lime hidden within.

"I think she would like them," said Tracey, grinning through a mouthful of chocolate.