Lily woke up to Marlene's voice, cheerful and far too loud for the early hour.
"Lily, get up! We're going to Hogsmeade!" she said, tugging back the corner of my blanket.
Lily groaned softly, burying her face in the pillow. "I'm up, I'm up..."
"You'd better be," Marlene said with mock warning. "You ditched us last time for Severus and your sister. You owe us."
"I know, I know," Lily said, sitting up and stretching with a yawn. She rubbed her eyes, then stood to get ready, pulling her hair into a tidy ponytail and wrapping a warm scarf around her neck. After checking her satchel for money and her wand, she joined Marlene, Alice, and Mary downstairs in the common room.
Outside, the sky was pale and overcast, but the cold was crisp rather than biting. The four girls joined the stream of students heading toward the front gates, voices buzzing with excitement. The path to Hogsmeade was a long, winding road lined with trees already losing their leaves. Patches of golden and russet foliage crunched underfoot, and the occasional wind carried the scent of chimney smoke from the village ahead.
By the time they reached the outskirts of Hogsmeade, the village was alive with activity students darted between shops, arms full of sweets or bags, while villagers bustled about their errands, smiling fondly at the familiar Hogwarts crowd.
"So, where to first?" Marlene asked, slipping her hands into her pockets.
"Let's go to Madam Puddifoot's," Alice suggested brightly. "I heard they've redecorated for autumn. And I'm craving one of their hot chocolates."
"Ooh, yes," Mary agreed.
They all nodded in agreement and made their way to the quaint little teashop nestled between Scrivenshaft's and the Three Broomsticks. The shop was already bustling, full of students chatting and laughing over cups of tea and sweets. Many were couples from the upper years, heads bowed close together, hands shyly entwined across the table.
As the girls stepped inside, Lily's eyes scanned the room for a table and then she froze.
At one of the larger tables near the corner sat Petunia, smiling warmly between Felix, Andrew, Emmeline, Pandora, and Severus. They were all mid-conversation, teacups steaming before them. Petunia glanced up and spotted her sister. Her whole face lit up.
"Lily!" she called, waving eagerly.
Lily smiled and walked over. "Hey, Tuney."
Her friends Marlene, Alice, and Mary trailed after her as the other table turned to greet them.
"I've missed you so much," Petunia said sincerely, standing to pull Lily into a hug.
Severus gave a soft chuckle. "You two were apart for what four hours?"
Petunia shot him a flat look. "We're twins. You don't get it, Sev."
Severus raised his hands in mock surrender. "Fair enough."
Petunia turned back to Lily and grinned. "Did you miss me too?"
Lily laughed. "Of course I did."
Petunia smirked and turned triumphantly to Severus. "See? She missed me too."
"I didn't expect you three to be here," Marlene said to the boys.
Felix leaned back in his chair and sighed dramatically. "Well, Petunia, Emmeline, and Pandora insisted. And let's be honest we came because we didn't want to hear Emmeline's nonstop snark if we said no."
Emmeline narrowed her eyes. "You're on thin ice,Felix."
And then she promptly kicked him under the table.
"Oi—!" Felix winced, grabbing his shin. "See what I mean?"
A moment later, Mary nudged Lily and pointed to a small, newly vacated table near the window.
"There! Come on."
"Looks like we've got a spot," Lily said, turning back to the others. "We'll leave you to it."
Petunia gave her hand a quick squeeze. "We'll meet up later, okay?"
"Definitely."
With warm smiles and exchanged goodbyes, Lily and her friends headed off to their own table, the sound of laughter and clinking teacups filling the cozy shop.
As we settled into our table by the window at Madam Puddifoot's, I took a moment to glance around. The place was as frilly and pink as ever lace curtains, floating rose petals, and glittering candlelight in every corner. The place was crowded with students, mostly couples on dates, and a few awkward-looking third years trying to look older than they were.
Marlene leaned back into her seat and flipped open her menu. "Right then, what are we getting? I'm craving sugar."
We all glanced at our menus and called out our orders hot chocolate with vanilla scones for me and Alice, cinnamon apple tart for Mary, and Marlene went for Madam Puddifoot's signature heart-shaped shortbread with strawberry cream tea.
As soon as the waitress walked off, Alice leaned forward with a gleam in her eye.
"Okay, so. You're not going to believe this," she said, her voice dropping just slightly into the classic I-have-gossip tone. "Louise Reid is dating William Clearwater now."
Marlene's jaw dropped. "Wait, what? Louise Reid from Ravenclaw? Fifth year?"
Mary blinked. "William Clearwater? The Gryffindor fifth year?"
"Yup." Alice nodded solemnly. "I heard it from Sarah in our Defense class. They were spotted holding hands near the greenhouses last night."
Marlene's eyes widened. "But didn't William just break up with Lisa Morgan like, two days ago?!"
Alice lowered her voice even more. "The rumor is that William was already seeing Louise while he was still dating Lisa."
Marlene slapped her hand against the table. "That is shameless."
"It gets worse," I said. "Petunia and I saw Lisa slap him. Full-on, open-palm across the face. In the middle of the hallway between Transfiguration and Potions. Everyone stopped and stared."
"And she yelled at him," I added. "Loud. Said something like 'I hope she was worth it.'"
Marlene whistled. "That must've been the fight Ginny and Ella were talking about. It's all over the school now."
"Lisa looked furious," I said. "I don't blame her."
"They could've at least waited a week or tried to be subtle," Alice muttered.
"The worst part is," Alice said, "Louise was smiling in the Great Hall this morning. Like she's proud of it."
"Honestly, all three of them William, Louise, and Lisa are going to be at the center of every whispered conversation for the rest of the week," Marlene said, shaking her head.
"They already are," I said. "Even Professor Sprout mentioned something cryptic about 'teenage drama' before class today."
We all laughed, sipping our drinks as our pastries arrived.
"They're going to regret being so public about it," Mary said, picking at her scone. "Everyone's watching."
"Fifth year Ravenclaws and Gryffindors," Marlene muttered. "Always causing chaos."
"They should just write a soap opera and be done with it," Mary said, and we all burst out laughing.
Just as we were finishing our pastries, Mary leaned in with a smirk. "Speaking of relationships... there's another rumor going around."
We all perked up immediately.
"They say Amos Diggory you know, the fourth-year Hufflepuff gave your sister a flower," Mary added, her eyes twinkling.
"Amos Diggory?" I repeated, raising a brow. "Wait—who's Amos?"
At that, Alice, Marlene, and Mary all sighed in perfect unison like they couldn't believe her.
"Oh, Lily," Marlene said dramatically, placing a hand over her chest. "He's only the best-looking boy in Hufflepuff."
"Honestly," Alice added, "he's got that golden-boy charm. Tall, great smile, smart, sweet—he's basically a walking Honeydukes advertisement."
I glanced over toward Petunia's table she was laughing at something Felix had said, her eyes bright, her cheeks flushed with happiness. The group around her Severus, Pandora, Emmeline, and Felix—was clearly enjoying themselves.
"She is popular with boys," Mary mused, watching her. "I mean she's already got Sirius Black teasing her nonstop. And now Amos Diggory?"
"Well," Alice said matter-of-factly, "just look at Petunia Evans. She's gorgeous. That blonde hair, those blue eyes. She walks into a room and half the boys sit up straighter."
"I'm honestly not surprised," Marlene added. "You both got lucky with those genes."
I laughed, a little flustered. "Oh, stop it."
"No, really," Marlene insisted. "She's pretty. You're pretty. You're twins—it's some kind of magical family spell, I swear."
We all looked again at Petunia, still chatting and smiling with her friends, her hair catching the soft glow of the afternoon light through the café windows.
Mary giggled. "Someone owl your parents and ask for the incantation, please."
We all laughed, and I dramatically flipped my ponytail. "Honestly, I think it's just Mum's hair and Dad's nose in the right order."
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