Gred and Forge

“Well, where should we start?” I asked, curiously glancing at the small amount of students who have already started to gather in the popular shop.

“It all depends on what you want. Most of the magical sweets are in the front while the ‘normal’ stuff is near the back.” He pointed to the back of the store and I decided that that was where I was going to start.

As soon as we distanced ourselves away from the fidgety energy in the front of the store I started to see what exactly this Honeydukes had to offer. Walking down the aisle closest to me, I started to take inventory. They had plenty of hard candies, the usual butterscotch and peppermint, practically any nut or berry covered in some flavor of chocolate, and the largest arrangement of muggle jellybean’s I’ve ever seen against the opposing wall; row after row of boxes filled with beans of every flavor and color of the rainbow. Turning right, farther into the store, the shelves seemed to have developed in a chocolate wonderland.

Dark chocolate, semi-sweet chocolate, milk chocolate, white chocolate, raspberry chocolate, the selection seemed endless. Chocolate covered caramels, peanut butter and chocolate, cherry cordials, truffles, peanut clusters, turtles, chocolate covered pretzels, you name it and I bet you that you could find it here.

Grabbing a small paper bag off a near-by rack I walked up to a box of milk chocolate covered caramels and started to fill it up using the provided shovel.

“So what do you have planned for today?” I asked Fred curiously as he studied the labels of the surrounding boxes of sweets.

He just merely shrugged, “I was thinking we could walk around the streets for a little while, you know looking at the shops and what not, then maybe heading over to Madame Puddifoots for lunch-“

I interrupted him before he could continue, “Madame Puddifoots? Isn’t that the tea shop that vomits confetti and glitter all over its customers while they get suffocated by the obnoxious perfumes that it emits?”

“Well yeah,” Fred’s freckled face was now dusted in a light pink blush, “I figured that’s the kind of place that girls like going too…”

I raised one of my eyebrows at him, trying to hold back the smirk threatening its way onto my face. “That’s where girls who actually like tea and being drowned in glitter go, the kind who are total prats to their boyfriends and drag them along with them everywhere regardless of if they want to go or not. Do you honestly think of me as being one of those?” It took all I could not to burst out in laughter.
He opened his mouth, “Emily and George are going.”

“My point exactly. See, you’ve gotta start thinking of me as more than just a girl, think of me as a person. I would never drag you to a place that I know you will hate, that’s stupid. Especially since neither of us really likes it anyway.”

Fred smiled and pulled me into a hug, putting his arms around my waist. “You know this is the exact reason why we’re dating, you are the utmost coolest girl in the world.”

“Oh yeah,” I asked, beaming up at him, “Is that the only reason why you even considered dating me? It’s because I’m cool?”

He chuckled and slightly shook his head, “Oh no, there’s a whole list of reasons. I’ll write one up and give it to you for Christmas.”

Soon we were heading towards the cashiers counter for check out, the same on that we hid behind earlier. The stores population seemed to grow larger since we first arrived; the majority of students had seemed to reach Hogsmeade by now and were filling into their favorite shops.

We go into the short queue and Fred looked down at me, his arms supporting the bags of various sweets against his chest. “Well,” he said, “Since my plans seemed to have been thrown away, what do you have in mind?”

I shrugged my shoulders and turned my head to look out at the busy street through the display windows. “Well we could go to that one pub that everyone talks about…”

“Three Broomsticks?” Fred asked, I nodded my head in confirmation, “That sounds like a great idea.”

“It doesn’t puke confetti everywhere does it?” I asked in a teasing manner.

Fred smiled and shook his head, “As far as I know it doesn’t.”

We now became next in line to pay and I decided now would be a good time to take out my small coin pouch. Picking it out of my coats pocket Fred stopped my hands from opening it.

“What do you think you’re doing?”

I looked up at him confused, “Getting out 20 sickles…?”

“No you’re not,” Fred replied. He then proceeded to take my bag of chocolates, and another one full of Blood Lollipops, right out of my hands, “You aren’t buying anything.”

“Fred,” I started to protest. When we started to develop our friendship I noticed right away that Fred and George seemed to be very cognizant about how and where they spent the small amount of money they had, a large part of their savings was lost due to carless gambling at the Quidditch World Cup over the summer. “You don’t have too-“

He cut me off with a very stern look, “I know I don’t have too but I want too. If I’m going to be your boyfriend I’ve got to be a proper gentleman. Ever since we’ve met I can tell that you don’t take any crap. From anybody.”

“You’re right, I don’t take any crap,” I smirked, “Keep that in mind Weasley.”

Within minutes we broke out on the street now busy street. Cold winds weaved through the crowds, causing me to adjust my scarf and pull on my gloves. It was a grey day and the signs of winter fast approaching were ever present. I wouldn’t be surprised if it snowed before the first task.

Fred handed me back my candy as we made our way down the street, walking farther into the small village, “Sweets for my sweet.”

Laughing I elbowed his side, “You are so corny.”

“Yeah I guess that was a pretty lame joke, but you know you love it, don’t lie.” He gave me a cheeky smile and I laughed some more. I watched as he opened his own bag, pulling out a small circular hard candy that was light blue and emitting a slight fog. Back in the store Fred told me that these were called Iceberg Mints, a favorite of his. After popping it in his mouth he let out a deep breath, one that was heavy with white mist and small crystals, it was something I have never seen before.

“That’s brilliant!” I exclaimed, somehow managing to keep my vision trained on him while also maneuvering through traffic.

“You think that’s cool watch this,” He said, hints of amusement flaring up in his voice. He popped another mint in his mouth then blew out a frosty breath, aimed at the back of his out stretched hand. Instantly small crystals formed all over the exposed skin binding together and making a tight case of ice that quickly shattered into pieces only moments later.

“That’s really neat! I have never seen something like that before!”

“Here,” Fred thrust the opened bag at me, “Try one.”

Accepting it with thanks I plucked a small blue mint out and carefully put it in my mouth, not sure how it would feel in the warmth of my mouth. As the mint made contact with my tongue a cold rush traveled down the length of it, seeping into the surrounding tissue, making my taste buds feel like they had gaping holes in them. As the sweet melted it made my entire tongue feel numb and foreign. Opening my mouth I blew a misty breath out into the cold air, the same foggy white that Fred’s was
.
“Interesting ain’t it?” Fred remarked as an ever present smirk was plastered on his face. “George can get the fog to blow out of his nose but he doesn’t like too because he says it hurts and rips all his nose hairs out.”

“Thanks for that visual.”

“Any time.”

He grabbed my hand and pulled me farther into Hogsmeade.