Hannah was in her dorm getting ready for her date with Harry, and Susan was with her helping her decide what to wear. Hannah had managed to avoid Harry for the most part ever since he had asked her to Hogsmeade, not because she was angry at him, but mostly because she was embarrassed. He had entirely caught her off guard when he asked her to go to Hogsmeade with him, she had never even held a boy's hand before and now she was going on a date. She wasn't even sure if she liked Harry in that sort of way; sure he was handsome and she enjoyed being around him, but he did infuriate her sometimes. However, as of late she had begun to recognise that was more him just teasing her than anything else.
"I can't believe the nerve of him," Hannah said as she stood in front of the bed looking at the three different outfits in front of her, she had considered wearing a skirt but the weather up in Hogsmeade was too cold. She decided on a pale blue jumper and some dark blue trousers, nothing special, she wouldn't let this date go to his head.
While she started to our on her outfit Susan looked on from the side, Hannah was really pretty, much prettier than Susan was; she wasn't surprised that Harry had picked her to go on a date with. Though that didn't make it hurt any less, somehow she had managed to keep a smile on her face the entire time. She felt a little guilty that she hoped their date didn't go well and she'd get another chance but she knew there wasn't much chance of that, Hannah and Harry were both amazing people. 'They deserve each other,' she thought to herself.
They both turned around when the door to their dorm opened. "I hope you aren't dressing too risqué for your date, you at least wanna make him work a little hard for it," Tonks said with a smirk on her face.
Hannah's cheeks went bright red and she threw a pillow at the older girl "Nothing like that is going to happen!" She yelled with embarrassment. Tonks laughed loudly as she avoided the pillow and walked into the room.
"Blimey Hannah I would've thought you'd be excited to go on your date," she said as she walked up next to Susan.
"I am not, we had a bet and I lost, I am just fulfilling my end of the bargain, after today we won't be going out again," she said with her nose upturned.
Tonks moved behind Susan and wrapped her arms around her neck, surprising her, she put her chin on her head and looked at Hannah with an amused smile. "Are you sure about that? He is rather dreamy," Tonks asked.
"He's annoying! And immature!" Hannah said as she looked over to Tonks.
"Lean muscle, emerald eyes."
"Ugh stop it!" She said as she finished getting dressed.
"From the sounds of it maybe you should go on this date," she said as she put her coat on.
"Pfft, maybe when he's older, he's a bit too childish for me right now," Tonks said as she waved him off.
Hannah just shook her head in annoyance as she wrapped her scarf around her neck and turned to face them. "Wow you look beautiful Hannah," Susan said with a genuine smile.
Tonks nodded in agreement "You'll make his poor jaw hit the ground."
Hannah gave them both a small smile before heading out of the dorm into the common room.
...
Standing outside the Hogwarts gate were Harry and Cedric. They both stood by the carriages and watched as various students travelled to Hogsmeade. While Cedric was rubbing his arms to keep himself warm, Harry just stood near the Thestrals, they looked quite beautiful, in a dark and grim sort of way.
"Harry... I don't wanna be rude, but have you lost it?" Cedric asked as he watched Harry chucking to himself as he stroked the air.
"They're thestrals, you can only see them if you've seen death," Harry explained, he had read about them in the book of magical creatures he had gotten in the library.
Cedric wasn't very versed in magical creatures so he was sceptical of Harry's words —believing it to be another one of his pranks. Nonetheless, he walked over to Harry and reached his hand out to where Harry's was, he was surprised to feel something under his hand. "They are quite nice creatures," Harry commented as he continued to stroke the thestral.
Both of them stood there for a while before Cedric turned to Harry "Why did you ask Hannah to Hogsmeade?" He asked.
Harry raised an eyebrow as he looked at Cedric "She's pretty, outgoing, why wouldn't I ask her," he replied.
"Because you don't like her in that way," Cedric commented.
"How do you know that?" Harry asked with a smirk on his face.
"Because I've spent almost every day with you for nearly two months, you've never shown the slightest interest," he replied.
Harry shrugged "I've been having lots of fun since I came to Hogwarts, I want to keep trying new things."
"You've never had a crush or gone out with a girl before?" Cedric asked.
Harry shook his head "Where I'm from I didn't get much chance, they often thought I was the strange cause of my hair."
"You haven't told me much about where you're from," Cedric said in a questioning manner.
Harry shrugged once more "Not much to say, it was a boring place, I won't be going back," he said. Cedric wasn't satisfied by this answer but understood Harry's want for privacy, though he did hope he'd start to confide in him one day. Cedric then bumped Harry on the shoulder and gestured to the gates where Susan and Hannah both walked out; Harry was surprised to see how beautiful they both looked, though it was sort of ruined by the look of annoyance on her face.
Harry and Cedric approached the girls "If I didn't know any better I'd say you were looking forward to this," Harry said as he approached Hannah.
"Let's just get this over with," she said as she walked past him and to one of the empty carriages.
Harry flashes his eyebrows at Susan and Cedric "I think she likes me," he said before following her off to one of the carriages.
Cedric just sighed as he watched Harry and Hannah's carriage ride off to Hogsmeade. He then turned to Susan who was still standing there "Wanna go spy on them?" He asked.
"Yes..." she replied almost instantly.
———————————————————-
Harry had an amused grin on his face as he looked at Hannah who had the opposite expression. "You know you could at least wait until after the date to have a face like a slapped arse," Harry commented.
Hannah sighed "I suppose so, but I'm still trying to figure out why you asked me to begin with."
"Can't I just like you?" Harry asked incredulously.
"Pull the other one," she said with a snicker.
"Why ask questions when we can just enjoy ourselves?" Harry said right before the carriage stopped and he opened the door. He got out and helped Hannah out which she found weirdly out of character for him; usually, he'd apply a slipping jinx to the step of the carriage and laugh when she fell.
"Shall we?" Harry said as he offered her his arm.
With a small blush on her cheeks, she took his arm and linked hers through it, and they both walked into Hogsmeade proper. Hannah looked at Harry who was looking at all the shops and houses with wide eyes —sort of like a child. She couldn't help but laugh at his expression which made him narrow his eyes at her. "Something funny Abbott?" He asked.
"Your face," she replied.
"I'll have you know many people love my face," He said turning his nose up at her.
Hannah rolled her eyes "So what are we doing, you organised this date, what have you got planned?" She asked.
Harry gave her a sheepish smile "Ummm I don't have a plan per se..."
"You asked me out but you don't even have a plan!" She said with disbelief on her face.
"How's it my fault, I've never been here!" Harry said to defend himself.
"You could've asked!?" She replied.
Harry's face shifted into a thoughtful one "I guess I could've... I wonder why I didn't," he said to himself.
Hannah just signed "You're an idiot that's why," she replied before walking faster and dragging him along.
"Woah where are we going," he asked as he sped up to keep up with her.
"I'm taking charge of this date, we are going to the Three Broomsticks first," she said as she dragged him down the street. Onlookers were very amused at the prodigal first year being dragged by a girl a head shorter than him, Cedric and Susan who were hiding behind a building also found it amusing.
Hannah brought them both to the Three Broomsticks, the first thing Harry noticed when he came in was the woman behind the bar and her large 'assets' that were a couple of inches away from being exposed. "Two please," Hannah said to the woman.
Madame Rosmerta the owner of the Three Broomsticks smiled at the couple and walked from behind the bar before grabbing Hannah into a tight hug "Awww my little Hannah all grown up and bringing boys to my Inn, I haven't seen you since you were a little girl," she said as she squashed Hannah's face into her breasts.
She then looked up at Harry, his hair was a big indicator of who he was as only one family had that kind of hair. "You must be Harry Potter, I'm Madame Rosmerta, it feels like just yesterday I was watching your mother and father come here on their first date," she said as she let go of Hannah and approached Harry.
Harry smiled at her "I'd like to hear about that sometime... if you don't mind?"
Rosmerta smiled at him "Of course love, now why don't I show you to a table," she said as she took him and Hannah to a table by the window.
"Now my darlings what can I get you?" She asked as they both sat down.
"Two butterbears and a sharing fudge sundae," Hannah replied.
"Alright loves it'll be with you in a moment," she said before walking off.
"Hannah," Harry said.
Hannah looked at Harry "What?"
"What's a Butterbear?" He asked.
Hannah sighed again.
...
Their food and drinks came a short while after and Hannah immediately attacked the fudge sundae, her eyes sparkling as the hot chocolate sauce touched her tongue. Harry on the other hand tried the butterbear first, as soon as he drank it his eyes opened wide "That's good!" He said before downing the rest of it pretty easily.
Hannah giggled at how fast he drank it, but her smile soon disappeared when he picked her one up and started drinking it. "Hey!" She said as she reached over the table. Harry placed his palm on her face as he kept drinking it.
"Ow!" Harry yelped as he stopped drinking.
"Did you just bite me?" Harry asked.
Hannah narrowed her eyes "Don't take my drink..." she warned as she took it out of his hand and started drinking it while keeping an eye on him.
Harry held his hands up in surrender "My bad, I didn't know I was out with a werewolf," he said with a grin.
"Well now you are," she said mockingly as she sipped her drink.
After finishing their food Hannah led them out, they then spent the rest of the afternoon exploring the other shops. Harry bought a few things from Zonko's and he got Hannah some sweets from Honeydukes which she liked a lot. They were now walking down the path enjoying the limited time they had left, Hannah had enjoyed herself a lot more than she thought she was, but if she was honest, something bothered her. It had been bothering her a lot, she had spent almost two months with Harry and yet she felt like she didn't know him at all.
"So how did you enjoy the date?" Harry asked.
Hannah looked up at him and gave him a genuine smile "I thought it was going to be a disaster, but I enjoyed myself a lot," she replied.
Harry's smile widened "But I don't think I'd go on another one with you," she continued.
Harry's smile fell "How come?" He asked.
Hannah looked around and saw that they had walked out of Hogsmeade and were now close to the shrieking shack "Harry as annoying and frustrating as you can be I like you," she said in a serious tone.
"I feel like there's a massive but coming," Harry said.
"But... I don't know you," she said.
"You don't talk about where you're from, you don't talk about what you like, your family, your thoughts or feelings," She said.
"You joke around and have fun with us, but apart from that I don't know anything about you, you won't even tell us about why you were forced to live in a cupboard under the stairs for Merlin's sake!"
"Do you even consider us friends, or are we just people for you to have fun with?" Hannah asked.
Of all the things Harry expected he didn't expect Hannah to come out with this. He actually didn't know what to say to her, instead, he just walked away from her and sat down on a tree stump near the shack. Harry never had any friends, before he had learned to control his magic, Dudley had made sure to scare anyone off being friends with him. After that, he wasn't interested in making friends. 'But things are different now...' he thought to himself.
Harry looked up at Hannah who was holding herself, she looked vulnerable and Harry couldn't help but think of how bad of a friend he was. "You're right Hannah... I haven't been treating any of you like my friends," he said. Hannah walked closer to him and sat on a stump next to him.
Harry was reminded of the first night he came here and the danger he'd placed Hannah and Susan in, he had only been thinking of how much fun he was having. "I'm sorry Hannah," Harry said as he looked at her.
Hannah was surprised to see the genuine expression on his face, It was rare to see anything other than a smirk on his face.
"I don't know how to be friends," he admitted. Hannah was shocked at the revelation but kept a passive expression.
"Thinking back I've been pretty selfish to all of you since I came here, you've all told me about your families and your lives and I haven't said a single thing, I really was just using you for fun, even this date was for my amusement," he admitted.
Harry's next words seemed to be stuck in his throat, he tried to get them out but he couldn't. Until Hannah put her hand on his and squeezed tightly, giving him an encouraging smile. "I don't have a happy life at home, the people I'm with despise magic, they made every effort to isolate me when I was younger, that's why I sleep in a cupboard."
"Had I not gained control of my magic from a young age I can't imagine how much worse they'd act."
Harry then started to tell her about some of the events of his childhood and Hannah found herself tearing up. He explained how he stopped regarding people as people and just things that were there. "I suppose I kept it all to myself because I didn't trust you, I didn't trust you not to see me as a freak like everyone else did, despite being the same as me," he stated.
Hannah moved from her stump and sat on his one hugging him tightly. "I liked the Harry Potter I met in the sorting ceremony, but I think I might like this one a lot more," Hannah said sending a wave of relief through Harry.
"Does that mean I get another date?" He asked as his smile returned.
Hannah looked at him "Is that what you really want?" She asked.
Harry looked at her for a while before his smile disappeared and he shook his head "I'm enjoying having you as my friend, I wanna stick with that for a while."
Hannah smiled brightly at him "Me too," she said as she hugged him again.
"Does this mean you'll be less annoying?" She asked.
"Not a chance," he replied.
Hannah giggled "I thought not..."
———————————————————-
Quirrell smiled as he stood in front of a large stone tablet in a dark room at the heart of Hogwarts. It had taken him a while but he finally found the wardstone, with this he had full control over Hogwarts security and wards. He could let anyone he wants come in, he could also prevent certain people from leaving.
Albus Dumbledore may be the most powerful wizard in the last thousand years but he couldn't summon up enough magic power to overpower the ancient wards created by the founders. Once the Halloween feast begins, Dumbledore would get a floo call from his office, where he would then be deadlocked inside using the war wards.
Quirrell would then allow Grindelwald and his men to attack Hogwarts. It was the perfect plan, one that made Quirrell in awe of his master's genius, but as Quirrel looked at the ward stone he saw the command rune for a very familiar-looking ward. His grin widened as his fingers brushed over it, this would certainly add much more blood to the night's events.
Voldemort loved a massacre and this was going to be one the likes of which hadn't been seen since the witch trials.
(AN: We are done boys, slice of life is over and now Halloween is next chapter, I'm gonna try and make it pretty long, after Halloween we diverge from canon. I hope you enjoyed the chapter.)
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