The Last Riddle

31. First dates and Hogsmeade

Snape stands at the front of his classroom facing us with a very bored expression "so I have asked all third year Slytherins here today to go over the rules."

Blaise glances at me with a raised eyebrow, clearly he is as bemused as I am.

Snape sighs deeply as though he is trying very hard to stay awake "as I'm sure you are all aware, in your third year you are granted permission to venture down to Hogsmeade."

A ripple of excited whispers spread around the room at the mere mention of Hogsmeade.

Snape glares at us all and a heavy silence falls instantly "I am sure that in your dull lives this seems very exciting but unfortunately there are also some strict rules you must all adhere to. First of all none of you are to walk anywhere in the village alone, always stay in pairs or more. Although it is a magical village and the use of magic is permitted I would advise you all from doing this as it will result in point deduction."

He picks up a piece of parchment off his desk "here is the list of rules that I stole from Professor Sprout which she came up with for her students, luckily I'm sure that they can easily be used for you as well."

He leans against his desk and flicks his greasy hair away from his face "firstly" he draws out in his monotone voice "Hogsmeade is full of not only students but other magical people also, they do not want to be bothered by you and your friends. Be respectful" Snape rolls his eyes "be kind and be responsible."

He mutters curse words under his breath before continuing on "Hogsmeade is a lovely place to study, spend time with friends or even..." he looks up at us with very visible distaste on his face as he spits out the words "a cosy and romantic date."

I laugh behind my hand as I feel my eyes water with amusement, Snape looks at me and his frown deepens. "That is enough of that" he tosses the parchment into the air where it sets fire before turning to ashes "everyone with their signed permission forms bring them to me. You will all be free to go to Hogsmeade tomorrow, anyone who does not have a signed form will not be allowed to go."

Blaise leans towards me as he whispers "did you get yours signed?"

I nod smiling "yeah, thankfully I got my aunt drunk and asked her to sign it before Harry blew my other aunt up."

Blaise snickers as he takes mine out of my hand and walks it over to Snape's desk for me, I thank him when he returns and we leave the classroom together.

"I better go find Cedric I'm late for our studying session, can I meet you back at the common room later?" I ask him as I hug him goodbye.

"Course I'll be picking out my outfit for tomorrow, want me to pick out yours?" He calls as he begins to walk away.

I laugh "knock yourself out."

I wave goodbye and begin my walk to the library to meet Cedric as I normally do. I take a seat at the desk in the far corner and place my books down wondering where he is, he is never tardy and I myself am twenty minutes late.

Starting on my potions homework, I bury my head into the book as I write an essay on the magical uses for bat wings.

"Hey Ang" I look up to see Cedric walking towards me looking extremely pale.

"Hey, you okay? You don't look too good." I ask concerned as he sits in the chair besides me wiping his hands on his robes.

"Huh? Yeah I'm fine don't worry. I'm sorry I'm late I was stuck talking to someone." He offers me a weak smile before pulling out the charms we are working on and sliding it towards me.

We carry on with our session as normal but I can tell something is wrong with Ced due to the way he is acting. He is acting twitchy and nervous and has knocked over the bottle of ink at least three times now. After the fourth time I begin to grow really worried and place my quill down.