A Trip To Hogsmeade
"You made my heart melt, yeah I'm cold to the core..."
Unlike Harry, he was very lucky that his mother signed his permission form to visit Hogsmeade. The last place he wanted to be on a nice winter’s day was boarded up in the dorm rooms alone. He hated being alone now, ever since Severinus had begun to avoid him as well. He wouldn’t admit it but it hurt like hell. Okay, maybe they were friends and Arcturus is just paranoid that if he admitted it then someone would do something to Sev and he would never forgive himself. Instead, he could never forgive himself for being a complete asshole. Such is life. All he can do is move on. He didn’t know why he sat in a clearing right where he could see the Shrieking Shack but he just wanted to read. That was all he wanted to do. Reading made him feel less alone because he could disappear into a book for hours.
Then a snowball hit him in the back, hard.
“Hey, Black! Chase away any of those losers?” Draco called from behind him and he inhaled sharply. Draco Malfoy was the lousiest cousin he ever had, and so far it seemed like Draco was his only cousin.
“Piss off.” His voice was level as he turned around.
“Are you going to run away again? You don’t have anyone to hide behind.” Draco snickered, his face contorted into this evil sneer.
“I don’t hide behind people, unlike you.” Arcturus closed his book, marking the page that he stopped on. “Now leave me alone before you get what you’re asking for.” That was a threat, Arcturus was pretty intimidating when it came to threats.
Of course, he was talking to Draco who loved to bully other students for fun with Vincent Crabbe and Gregory Goyle. What a pathetic lot of students.
Another snowball hit him in his face and he pulled out his wand like he was pouncing to attack, firing a spell at Draco he noticed a snowball come out of nowhere and hit Draco in the face.
“You want to have a snowball fight then, huh?” Draco scooped up some snow and compacted it together. “Then so be it.”
“I didn’t throw that!” Arcturus ducked from the snowball that was hurdling toward him. “What do you want from me Malfoy?”
Then more snowballs began to pelt Draco and his two friends until they ran off screaming about ghosts. Hermione and Ron had run over just as the Slytherin’s fled in fear. Harry had uncovered himself from the cloak and held out a hand to help Arcturus up. The Hufflepuff slapped his hand away and stood up on his own accord.
“I could have handled that on my own?”
“What? No thank you ?” Harry crossed his arms over his chest.
“I didn’t need you to help me.”
“I helped because I wanted to.”
“Yeah, cut him some slack. He just wants to be friends.” Ron said. “Although, I don’t get why. You’re evil.”
“I am not evil!” Arcturus snapped. “Merlin’s beard, I am sick of hearing that…”
“Then be my friend, show people you aren’t all those rumors.” Harry urged.
“Hard pass.”
“Why?”
“The last thing I need is pity from the chosen one, who everyone loves regardless.”
“This is why no one loves you.” Ron muttered.
“Care to say that again Weasley?” Arcturus turned on his heel, temper rising.
“You’re such a dick, for no reason, to everyone you meet. No wonder people think you’re evil enough to try and kill Harry. No one even knows you!” Ron stepped forward with this spark of courage and bravery, taking out his own wand.
“Let’s not start a duel, please.” Hermione stepped in between Arcturus and Ron. “How about we just start anew?”
“No.” Arcturus drawled.
“See? This is what I mean, Harry! He’s impossible! Why do you even want to be friends with him?”
“The rumors are my fault, aren’t they?” Harry asked innocently. Dear Merlin, that boy was an idiot.
“They’re entirely his.” Ron reassured him with a smile.
“I want all three of you to get the hell away from me now.”
“No, we’re going to have fun in Hogsmeade.” Harry hooked his arm with Arcturus’ and started to drag him off. The Hufflepuff trying to dig his heels into the ground.
Ron and Hermione shook their heads, following after the two dark-haired boys.
Arcturus suddenly found himself under the invisibility cloak with Harry as they walked through the snowy streets of Hogsmeade, the little village just outside of Hogwarts grounds. He noticed Neville in the window of a candy shop and a little smile found its way to his face.
“You’ve been getting close with Neville, yeah?” Harry asked.
“Why the hell do you want to know?” Arcturus shot back.
“Relax, I’m just trying to be friendly.”
“You basically kidnapped me. That isn’t friendly to begin with.”
“Can we just start over?” Harry sighed. Stopping, he held his hand out. “Hi, I’m Harry Potter.”
“This is so stupid…” Arcturus sighed but complied nonetheless. “Hi, Arcturus Black.”
“It’s nice to meet you.”
“Yeah, same.” The Hufflepuff rolled his eyes.
“Do you like herbology too?”
“Potter, I’ll be honest, I hate small talk.”
“I… Don’t know you that well.”
“Exactly.”
Ducking under the invisibility cloak he jumped when he saw Ron and Hermione standing quite close to them. The shock on his face disappeared and he settled into that stoic expression he always wore. Turning to walk away he squeaked when his scarf was grabbed. Landing on his ass a shiver ran down his spine. A chill ran through his body and he looked up at Harry who was holding the cloak up to show his face.
“Arcturus, please.” The boy-who-lived had pleading eyes.
“No. Leave me alone. Do you not understand those words?”
Harry was silent, staring down at him on the floor.
“I was trying to read in peace, thank you for ruining that.” Arcturus replied snarkily.
When no one else said anything he got up and marched back the way they had come. All he wanted was a moment of peace before he had to deal with everything again. He just wanted a moment of solace before he was faced with the rumors, and the bullying, and just… everything. When he came back to the clearing he had previously been in he stopped and took in the Shrieking Shack from afar. It’s a magnificent building from afar even though it's rundown on the inside. The way it was coated in snow made it look ethereal. Leaning on the fence that separated him from the land the shack resided on he sighed and thought about Severinus for the infinite time that day. It hurt seeing Sev in the halls and being completely ignored but he wasn’t going to do anything about it. If he wanted to be alone then so be it. Arcturus couldn’t enjoy Hogsmeade much anymore and walked back to the castle. The cold nipped at him as snow crunched underfoot.
“Arcturus!” He turned and saw Neville waving at him with a big grin on his face. The boy jogged to catch up with him. “I didn’t think you would enjoy Hogsmeade.”
“I just needed some fresh air.” He noticed the lollipop. “You went directly to that sweets shop, didn’t you?”
“Fred and George have been bragging nonstop about it. I couldn’t help myself.”
“Tell me you saved some for me.” He joked.
“Oh– I’m sorry! I didn’t– “
“I’m only joking Nev, I don’t have much of a sweet tooth.” Arcturus chuckled.
“I saw you with Harry earlier, what was that all about?”
“Same thing it’s always about. He wants to be my friend.”
“That doesn’t seem like a bad idea.”
“Oh, it is a bad idea.” Arcturus snorted. “I mean, think about it. Me? Friends with the chosen one? The person everything thinks I’m going to kill. It’s mad!”
“At least he doesn’t hate you.”
“Well– Yes, there’s that but I would prefer he hates me so I don’t have to feel bad about hating him.”
“You hate him?”
“Yes? No? I’m still not quite sure how I feel about him honestly, but his face is so punchable.”
“It sounds like you hate him.” Neville said with a matter of fact tone.
“Okay, maybe hate is a strong word. I dislike him.”
“That’s better.”
“Is it weird I wish I had Severinus around? I mean, he’s downright annoying but shows up at the most convenient times to save me from people like Malfoy or Potter.”
“No,” Neville shook his head. “At least I don’t think so, you two are friends . There’s bound to be some hurt feelings, especially when you’ve spent so much time together.”
“God, why does everyone keep throwing the word friend around lately.” Arcturus sighed and ran a hand through his hair. “I feel like everyday it's just an incessant drama about who I’m grouped with or who I should be grouped with.”
“I don’t mean anything like that!” Neville corrected himself quickly. “It’s not weird you miss him, it’s understandable. Like, I miss my gran from time to time because I’ve spent my whole life with her.”
“You don’t live with your parents?”
“...No.”
“I uh– “ Arcturus cleared his throat awkwardly. “I might try to fix whatever happened with Sev.”
“Really?”
“ Maybe, that is the keyword. No promises.”
“I know you try to act tough, and pretend that nothing bothers you, but you say it more through actions than words.” Neville smiled. “You just have to notice it for yourself.”
“Notice what?”
“Hey, do you want to go into that shop?” Neville pointed to a random shop with the words on the sign fading away.
“Sure, I did bring some money with me in case I really did want to shop around.”
“Well, come on then.”
Instead of feeling uncomfortable when Harry had dragged him to Hogsmeade village, for some reason Arcturus felt comfort. Neville didn’t hook their arms together, only grabbed his wrist gently and pulled him to the shop he pointed out. He only recognized it once he saw the Weasley twins on the second floor balcony looking down with giant grins on their faces, but when they saw Arcturus those grins seemed to fade and their faces looked grim. Quickly looking away he focused on the random knick knacks piled onto the shelves in copious amounts, it looked as though there wasn’t enough space for the various joke items. He didn’t know why Neville would point this shop out, clearly he must have known it was Zonko’s and looked quite out of place just like Arcturus did.
“We- We could get something for Severinus.” Neville muttered quietly, uncomfortable with the silence. “I’m sure he would like a gift.”
“Anything you get him will be thrown away. Just a forewarning, Black.” George had called down from the second floor. “Don’t waste your money, eh?”
“We’re leaving.”
“Arcturus!”
Neville hurried behind the Hufflepuff quickly, almost tripping on his robes then almost tripping on the icy store front. Merlin’s beard, he wished he was as tall as him. It was hard enough being as short as he was surrounded by boys merely a foot or two taller than him. Around this time girls started to swoon for most of them so he was starting to feel a bit left out. No doubt if these rumors weren’t going around there would be girls lining up just to talk to Arcturus.
“I’m not about to let those Weasley twins talk to me like everyone else, it’s bad enough Ron talks to me like I’m a rock in his shoe.” Arcturus wore a scowl.
“They are very close with Severinus from what I know.”
“How much do you know, Longbottom?” And he was back to using his last name.
“That the three of them are almost inseparable, Sev used to actually prank a lot of people.”
“Yes, and then I came along and ruined their fun.”
“You didn’t ruin their fun.”
“They were close before me.” Arcturus hid his clenching fists in his pockets.
“Don’t just think about the past, think about the present.”
“Yeah, the present sucks.”
“That’s not what I meant.”
“Then what did you mean Neville? Did you want me to think about how much Severinus has bothered me and suddenly I want to mend things with him?”
“I get that you’re not trying to show weakness, but it’s blinding you. The hate… It’s getting to you.”
“So what? Afraid I’ll turn into a death eater and kill everyone?” Arcturus sniped.
“I– “ Neville stared at him with wide unblinking eyes. How on earth could he even say that? That was the last thing he truly feared, because what the Gryffindor feared most was losing his friends.
“This was hopeless. I shouldn’t have come.” Arcturus started to walk faster leaving Neville behind in the streets of Hogsmeade stunned and worried.