Green Smoke

Fake Date-

It's November second, a Sunday. It's a Hogsmeade day for the school. One I have promised to spend with Adelaide. I dress warmly to fight the biting cold of the Scottish winter. I layer an emerald green jumper with a black trench coat and black slacks. I'm out of the common room door just before twelve.

I meet Adelaide at the carriages. She is standing next to the therestial, which she can not see. I lend her a hand as she climbs into the carriage. The ride is bumpy as we sit in comfortable silence. She scrolls on her phone while I watch the scenery pass us by. I again helped her exit the carriage once we reached the small town.

We don't talk as I lead our way. We don't need to speak to know where we are going. We enter the Three Broomsticks and are led to a booth in the corner. We weave through the busy shop full of students. We order our drinks and a side of chips. Conversation flows effortlessly between us as we have to nearly yell over the sounds of the almost full building. We talked about our weeks and how our Halloweens went. She tells me of the Ravenclaw party, where she apparently won a drinking contest with one of the Ravenclaw beaters.

It's only after we finish our drinks and she eats nearly all the chips that she tells me she wishes to go to the town's only bookstore. So I let her finish with the chips and then pull out a few coins to pay our tab before I led her through the crowded room and out of the door. We walk side to side. As we walk on the cobblestone road, I reach out and lace my fingers through hers.

The bookstore is cozy. A store that makes you feel warm. There are as many shelves as there could be shoved in the bare brick shop. There are bookcases, record shelves, and rows of CDs. The older man behind the counter smiles at us in greeting and tells us to find him if we need any help at all. Adelaide thanks him while I merely smile in response. The store is quiet other than the soft jazz playing from a record in the front of the shop behind the sales counter.

I let Adelaide lead me through the aisles. She looks mainly at the mystery and romance sections. No books catch my attention as I walk behind the girl. She picks up a few books before returning them until I see her pick up a familiar cover. The Six of Crows. It's a hardcover copy with a red and black color scheme with the name and the author's name in bold print.

"Read that one." I flip the book in her hands and let her read the synopsis. I wait until she finishes to continue. "It's an interesting read and even connects with a romance series that you can also read. I highly recommend it."

She nods before starting to walk away with the book in hand. Following her to the record section of the store, a few records caught my attention, but they were not enough for me to stop and pick them up. That is until I recognize an album cover. It's the song Kiss Kiss Bang Bang by Specimen. It's a no-brainer for me to pick it up. Jo has talked about the song before and even showed Elle and me the album cover. Now I need to find one for my other girl. I found a Bad Omens record for the song Dethrone, which I know for a fact that Elle has been looking for since the end of the last school year. It's the only one of its kind in the aisle that I can see. I walk towards Adelaide, who is browsing the indie section with the two records in hand.

She doesn't pick anything before moving on to the CDs. She handed me the hardback book before starting to shift through the CDs. I wait on the other side of the aisle while she looks through the indie genre. I watch as she slowly moves down the aisle and follows her. I hear her let out a disappointed sigh before turning towards me empty-handed.

Leading her to the front desk, I see the older man sitting behind the desk and reading a book with what seems to be a Spanish name. He stands with a smile as we approach him. He asks how our experience was, and Adelaide tells him it was good. I reached forward the second he rang us up to pay before the girl beside me could. She lets out a frustrated sigh, which gets a few laughs from the shopkeeper and me. The man gives me the due change with the same smile he had had the entire time.

We walk without a destination for a while until I start to hear the busy shop of Honey Dukes. I lead her towards the shop before holding the door open, and she ducks under my arm to enter the doorway. She leads me through the shelves of sugar. I pick a few items up and carry them with me as I follow her. The noise of the store starts to overwhelm me, making me stick closer to Adelaide, gripping the sweets in my hands. She turns to me and speaks much louder than she needs to so that I can hear her above the crowd. She insists that she will be paying this time around. I know for a fact that I won't let that happen. Our relationship may be a lie, but there are standards that I need to meet as a "boyfriend," which includes me paying for everything. People still believe this fad even after so long because of the little things we do for each other.

I let her choose a few items before steering her towards the checkout. The noise gets louder the nearer we get. I place my sweets down on the counter, and Adelaide does, too. I hear the price over the surrounding noise before Adelaide can understand, making me able to pay before she can. This gets me a light slap on the chest from the girl before I pick up the bag of candy and lead her through the crowd and out the door.

Checking my phone, I see that it is nearly five p.m., meaning the final carriages will leave soon. Adelaide agrees to end our date here and head back to the castle. I carry all of our bags to the carriages yet still hold the door open and help her into the carriage. Once I am inside and the ride starts, Adelaide leans back on the cushion and sighs.

"I'm surprised you're still holding up the act." She looks up at me and kicks her feet onto the cushions on the other side of the compartment. Shaking my head, I start to explain.

"This doesn't only help you, Addy." I stop momentarily, debating whether to go deeper into my family situation. "My mother has been looking into arranged marriages for years. This just makes her satisfied for the moment." My tone is flat as I explain. I don't go any deeper than that now, as I never talk about anything to do with my parents and home life with anyone other than Regulus, which only happens when he feels like coming and venting about his own home life.

The compartment is silent for a few moments before Adelaide turns her entire body towards me and embraces me. I freeze. Slowly, I raise my hands and hug her back. I keep my hands on her upper back while she rests her chin on my shoulder. We stay like that until the carriage makes its final stop. Adelaide silently separates from me and waits for me to gather myself before opening the door. I lend her a hand to help her step down, which she accepts.

The walk to the Ravenclaw tower is silent. It's a more open and personal silence than we usually share during our time together. It feels almost lighter. I drop her off and then move on to my own common room to change into some more casual clothing before going to The Room, where I am sure my girls are waiting on me.

—

"You're late." These are the first words I hear when I open the painting. Elle is looking at me with narrowed eyes and arms crossed. I see my girls both in sleepwear, under a wool blanket I got from France, with Jo's laptop on the couch between them. I step in with the bag from the bookstore. I walk over to the coffee table and set the bag down before sitting in the armchair closest to the door.

"I got you both something." Making eye contact with Jo, I nod towards the bag. "Go on."

Elle makes it to the bag first. She immediately recognizes which one is for Jo and hands it to her before she realizes what her own gift is. Jo blankly stares at the record in her hands before abruptly standing and going straight for the record player.

Elle, on the other hand, is buzzing with excitement. She holds the record to her chest as Jo puts on her gift. Elle bounces to her feet, rushing towards me, embracing me with reckless abandon. The blonde falls into my lap and repeatedly thanks me against my chest.

Looking up, I see Jo dance in a unique way that is special to her and only to her. She smiles at me brightly. Elle lets go and leans back to look at me. Her smile is toothy, and her eyes are crinkled with delight.

As Kiss Kiss Bang Bang ends, both girls return to their former spots on the couch under the blanket. Elle had put her new record in its new place, as does Jo. I know that the three of us will be reorganizing the shelves soon so that they not only fit the new ones but also reorganize them based on either their owner or genre. Usually, they are organized by owner first, and then each person organizes them based on their own preferences.

"Have you seen the fan pages yet?" Elle says casually as if she were talking about the weather. "They went wild for your date today." I don't reply, which gets her to open her phone and toss it into my lap.

It's obviously a fan page for me and Adelaide; I didn't need to question it. The username is a combination of my and Adelaide's names. Scrolling down, I see multiple pictures of us in the various places we visited today. I blankly stare at the phone screen before clicking on one of us in the bookstore. There are dozens of likes and comments already. Most comments are positive, while a few are about my adultery.

I toss the phone back to Elle before leaning back on the chair. I let out a heavy sigh before running my hand down my face. Jo lets out one of her sarcastic laughs at my pain.

"You act as if you don't love the attention." Flipping the girl off, I dramatically roll my eyes, getting both girls to laugh at me.

-1,905 Words-