Being so early in the morning, Hogsmeade was mostly silent and Rowan rather enjoyed her momentary moment of solitude. Well mostly as she was being accompanied by James Potter. Despite herself, she found that she could not turn away the Gryffindor especially when he was trying to her great dismay.
Glancing down at the time, Rowan becomes still and forcibly pushes the memory of the recent events that had transpired at the Hogs Head Inn into the back of her head. She could not afford to be distracted nor to recall them at this juncture until she retired for the evening. Snapping her pocket watch wide open, she loudly says, "I shall be heading to Honeydukes, I am certain that Zonko's eagerly awaits you, Potter."
"No, I have no intentions of heading off to Zonko's for the time being, Prince," teasingly answered much to James' own surprise as that of Rowan's.
"Fine," Rowan grumbled before leading the way to the empty shop of Honeydukes.
The bald owner instantly recognizes one of his more preferred customers. "Miss Prince or should I say, Prefect Prince, I have the orders received ready for pick up."
"Thank you," Rowan sincerely replied. "I shall shop for some personal sweets, before heading off to pay and collect the order."
"Naturally, Miss Prince, take all the time you require," the bald owner said, before returning to stacking several boxes neatly one top another.
"What was that about?" James curiously asked only to be ignored as Rowan studied the shelves upon shelves of the most succulent-looking sweets imaginable. Creamy chunks of nougat, shimmering pink squares of coconut ice, fat, honey-colored toffees; hundreds of different kinds of chocolate in neat rows; there was even a large barrel of Every Flavor Beans, and another of Fizzing Wizbees, the Levitating Sherbet Balls, and more.
Besides the barrels of sweets, there were the other "Special" sweets: Droobles Best Blowing Gum, (which filled a room with bluebell-colored bubbles that refuse to pop for days.) The strange, splintery Toothfloosing Stringmints, tiny black Pepper Imps that caused one to become a fire hazard by being able to breathe fire. Ice Mice that made one's teeth chatter and squeak. Peppermint cream shaped toads that hopped realistically in the stomach. Fragile sugar-spun quills and exploding bonbons.
Certain of her purchases, Rowan picks out a large supply of chocolate bars, nougat, honey-colored toffees, Toothflossing Stringmints, and Ice Mice. Tragically, she had developed a bit of a latent taste for Ice Mice much to her utter disturbance. Mostly, she blamed Terry, since he kept feeding her the blasted sweets every chance he had.
Satisfied with her selection, Rowan returns to the counter and in an orderly fashion sets her purchase down. With ease, the balding shopkeeper totals the amount on an old-fashioned metal cash register including the boxes of chocolates, which Rowan would be returning with to hand out to the first and second years, who were unable yet to visit Hogsmeade. It would go a long way in smoothing any emotional or envious turmoil.
Finished paying and shrinking her packages, Rowan turns around to her surprise found that James in a prompt fashion had finished selecting his own sweets. Hiding her shock, Rowan moves aside and waits for James to finish paying for his sweets lest she is accused of abandoning him. Because if one thing was for certain and that was that this James was just as tenacious as the James she knew of old.
"Thanks for waiting," James cheekily said as he put away his purchases causing Rowan to scowl in his direction as they exit of Honeydukes.
Before Rowan can reply, the shouts of students yelling and running towards the sweet shop can be heard as she turns around and sends a dark look in their direction. Instantly, the stampede comes to a halt as they meekly walk forward and enter the shop in a quiet manner to the utter shock of James. Smirking to herself, she leads the way before shouting at a third-year to tie their shoelace before they trip, and fall.
Strangely, most of the morning passed by in such a manner as Rowan reprimanded students, docked points, and assigned detentions all the while with James trailing after her. At some point mid-morning, they spot Peter and Quyen holding hands and heading into Scrivenshaft's Quill shop. The latest fashion trend was for couples to buy or order matching feathered quills that were said to keep the couple together for all eternity. Apparently, Peter and Quyen were only the latest victims of these so-called scheming romantic fashion trends.
Not far off in the distance, Pandora can be seen performing her Prefect rounds all the while being accompanied by Xeno, her boyfriend, who was chatting his girlfriend's ear off about the latest conspiracy. And whether or not Pandora was truly paying attention was a mystery as she made the correct expressions and sounds in all the right places. Love was truly blind, and even deaf at times…..
Sadly, to Rowan's great dismay, it seemed that Hogsmeade was full of such couples. The straw-colored hair and freckled figure of Barty Crouch can clearly be seen in company with the square-jawed young witch of Letitia Bones. Rumor had it that they were dating, but nothing had yet to be officially confirmed as of yet.
Though if Rowan had to guess by the lovestruck expressions on both of their faces, the rumors were true. Albeitedly Barty would have his work cut out if he ever decided to officially become betrothed with Leticia considering, who her two brothers and older sister were. He would be lucky if he escaped without being heavily interrogated
Turning away, Rowan scowled, when she spotted her friends, Terry and Silvia, Regulus and Bethanie accompanied by Tiffany. Any greetings quickly died off upon spotting just how grumpy Rowan looked. In a unanimous decision, the five of them pretended they did not see Rowan and escaped into the nearest shop. And never mind the fact that it was Ceridwen's Cauldron shop and that none of them were in the market for a new cauldron.
On her way past, Hogsmeade Post Office, Rowan spots the curly flaxen head of Dirk Cresswell, who was still gangly as ever as he was still growing. At his side, is his girlfriend, a certain shaggy-haired witch with wire-rimmed spectacles, Dorothy Cabot. The two of them don't even notice Rowan as they chat quite animated about one thing or another as they make their way down the cobbled street, before entering the crowded shop of Honeydukes.
"Don't run, you two! You will trip and fall," Rowan hoarsely shouted and glared at a pair of boys, who slowed down, but still hurried away at a fast pace with their Zonko's purchases lest they be taken away as contraband, (which Rowan had already done to more than a few students! However, in her defense, said items were on Filch's list, and she merely took perverse satisfaction in fulfilling her Prefect duties as required).
Resisting the urge to do a facepalm, Rowan unconsciously rubs her sore throat and regrets her decision to patrol Hogsmeade. Next time, she was sticking to Hogwarts, and Severus could patrol Hogsmeade. Clearly, her twin brother had gotten the better end of the deal!