"Drink up!" Madam Pomfrey fussed at me, as she gave me one of my daily potions. After the last task, I'd been rushed to the hospital wing. I'd been diagnosed with three broken ribs, a fractured jaw, sprained ankle, and a few bruised ribs in the back, not to mention having bitten my tongue, hence the bloody taste in my mouth. Apparently I'd gotten lucky that I didn't have a mild concussion as well.

I grimaced as the slimy green liquid oozed down my throat. It tasted like all of my least favorite tastes, all mixed into one. Madam Pomfrey shook her head at me.

"Well, sweetheart, it isn't pumpkin juice, if that's what you're wanting. If they'd listen to me, this stupid tournament wouldn't be happening at all!" She scrubbed off the bedside table by the bed next to me furiously, letting out all her anger with the sharper-than-usual flicks of her wand. "Students getting injured left and right, and who's supposed to cure them? Me! And the last time here...poor Cedric! Ogres! Of all things! How stupid can they be?" She muttered under her breath. She imitated Professor Actriz's voice in a warped version. "'Now Poppy, it's about upholding wizarding honor! Forming international friendships! Overcoming our differences and forming strong bonds!' But OGRES? Next thing you know, a student will be killed! As if these were just minor injuries. When I get ahold of that school board I'll..." But I never found out what she would do to the school board, because at that moment, a puking third-year three beds down from me found his pile of get-well gifts and popped an unfortunately colored purple sweet into his mouth, which I recognized immediately as a Puking Pastille. As he began to puke over everything in sight, Madam Pomfrey whirled around. "...RYDER WALKER I SWEAR TO MERLIN'S BEARD! HAVEN'T I TOLD YOU A MILLION TIMES YOU'RE NOT TO EAT ANY SWEETS UNTIL I GIVE THE OKAY!" She hollered as she rushed over with a fresh bedpan.

After she finished cleaning Ryder's mess up, she disappeared and reappeared quickly.

"You have visitors, Miss Strought. I'm told you're to be released as soon as this potion works its magic. You may go in half an hour. For the meantime, there are three people here to see you." I craned my neck to see around the door. I'd been in the hospital wing for four days, and no one had come to visit me per request of Madam Pomfrey, who insisted I needed peace and quiet. I didn't even know who'd won the last task, or how I'd done. A welcome sight met my lonely eyes as the door swung open and my three best friends rushed in.

"AL!" Lily bellowed, taking off at a run, her red hair flying behind her. Rose shook her head, amused, but followed right on Lily's face. My face split into a grin at the sight of my best friends, and Albus stood in the doorway, watching his sister tackle me in a hug and Rose follow suit.

"Careful!" I wheezed. "Not quite fully healed ribs, here, you lot! Careful!" Lily rocked back on her heels, letting go of me.

"Sorry, sorry! We've missed you so much!" Lily said as Rose gave me a much gentler hug. I laughed.

"I've missed you lot as well." I replied. Lily started chattering at the speed of light, filling me in on what I'd missed in the last four days, but I was too distracted to pay any attention. I was focused on the person standing behind her, who gave me a shy smile that I returned. Rose jabbed Lily and she stopped talking long enough for Rose to not-so-subtly jerk her head in my direction. Lily got the picture and shut up, and Albus filled the silence.

"Hey Liss." He'd come up with a new nickname for me, since calling each other 'Al' got confusing. "How are you feeling?"

"A lot better now." I grinned.

"Is it my turn to hug you yet, or are you feeling smothered?" Albus laughed, gesturing to his energetic little sister. I held out my arms in response, and Albus wrapped me in a gentle, warm hug.

My friends sat by my bed and talked to me through the whole half an hour, filling me in on the other Champions, the scores, and the events of the task.

"You came out with the most injuries." Rose informed me. "That Adelena girl," I rolled my eyes at her name, "She came out virtually unscathed. The Durmstrang girl came out with some injuries-she fainted too afterwards- but not nearly as bad as you. She was released from the hospital wing after two days."

"And the scores?"

"You tied for first!" Lily said gleefully. "You and that snob! Thirty two points!"

"How am I doing overall?" I asked Albus. He squeezed my hand.

"Not bad at all, Liss, considering everything you've gone through. Unfortunately the Beauxbatons girl is a point and a half in the lead. Nothing you can't catch up on in the next task. You're tied with Mia." As that tidbit of information sank in, the timer on my table started to ring, making my friends and I jump. Madam Pomfrey rushed in and examined me quickly.

"It appears you're free to go. Take care of yourself, you're still fragile! Just because I'm a witch doesn't mean I can make it completely healed!" She hollered at my retreating back. I was already out of the ward and down the hall with my friends.

As we walked down, everyone stopped their conversations and swiveled their heads to look at me. I just ignored them all. It's not like I'd died and come back to life or something like that. Just battled an ogre. Not that impressive. Lily still chattered most of the time, but eventually realized I wasn't listening and strode off in front of us, walking next to Rose. Albus and I walked silently and companionably hand-in-hand, with a bit of conversation, but mostly contentment to see each other again. Eventually Rose, Al, Lily, and I reached the crossroads where we had to part to go to our different common rooms. Rose tugged on my arm after I said goodbye to everyone, but Albus didn't let go of my hand.

"Liss, there's a Hogsmeade trip tomorrow." Albus said, raising his eyebrows. I didn't catch his drift.

"And...?"

"Will you go with me?"

"Oh." I said sheepishly. "Of course I will, doofus. Lil, Rose...want to meet up in the Three Broomsticks for lunch tomorrow?"

"Sure!" Rose said, narrowing her eyes to cut off Lily's protest. I pretended I didn't notice that Lily was bothered, but I'm not the brightest witch in my year for nothing. I knew Lily felt a little awkward now that Albus and I were official, but she tried not to let it show, sweet thing that she was. I didn't want her to feel like she was being blown off, but I also wanted to spend time with Albus.

"Lil, that alright?" I asked her. "Be honest. It's alright."

"It's fine." Lily forced a smile. "Honestly. Have fun." I cast a glance at Albus and he shrugged.

"Meet me at the Great Hall at nine, alright?" He told me. I nodded and he bent over and kissed me. We preferred to be private about PDA, so it was a short kiss. Albus let go of my hand we parted ways with him and Lily. On the way to the Ravenclaw common room, I confronted Rose.

"What's up with Lily? She seemed so bothered at the end." Rose sighed.

"To be honest, Al, it's not my story to tell. You'd have to talk to Lily. The most I can say is she's feeling a bit third-wheelish now that you and Albus are dating, she feels like she's been replaced, and I think she's feeling a bit jealous. But she still cares about you an awful lot. You should talk to her though." Rose explained.

Feeling overwhelmed, I thanked her and rapped the eagle knocker smartly. It responded with a riddle.

"How far can a dog run into the woods?" Rose and I exchanged a puzzled glance.

"I suppose as far as it wants is too obvious?" I tried. The eagle responded.

"Excellent guess, but that's incorrect."

"Halfway." Rose answered after a moment of thought. "Any further and it's running out of the woods."

"Nicely reasoned." The knocker replied, swinging open to let us pass through. After a glance at the clock revealed that it was almost lights out, I decided to retire early. Bidding Rose goodnight and heading into the dorm, I crawled into bed fully clothed and flicked out the light with my wand, staring into the dark room until sleep claimed me.

The next morning dawned sunny and bright, the light dancing off of the snow outside the grounds. The lake was still frozen over, and it was a perfect day for a Hogsmeade trip. I sprung out bed and dressed quickly, wanting to get a bite of breakfast before Al and I headed out. Throwing on a pink sweater and pair of jeans under my school robes, I brushed out my hair and straightened it, adding a grey knit cap, blue-and-silver scarf, and gloves. I rushed down to the Great Hall at 8:45, sliding in next to my best friend at the Ravenclaw table.

I piled my plate with breakfast (crepes, yum...I loved having the French around. Hogwarts got more exotic foods now...) and shoveled it into my mouth. Rose laughed.

"Honestly, Alissa. You eat like my dad. You're not going to starve!" I swallowed and stuck my tongue out at her, still plowing through the mound of food on my plate. It was delicious. At precisely nine o'clock, I felt two hands wrap around my waist.

"Morning beautiful. Ready?" Albus asked, grabbing my hand and helping me up. I cast an apologetic look at Rose, who gestured to Albus.

"Yeah. Catch you later, Rose. Three Broomsticks at noon." I waved at Lily, who was sitting by Alfred at the Gryffindor table. She caught my eye and pointedly looked away. I felt my heart sink. She'd been so excited to see me yesterday...what had happened? I decided not to let it ruin my day, and squeezed Albus's mittened hand. He pulled me out of the Great Hall and through the doors to Hogsmeade.

The moment we stepped outside, I breathed in the cool air, marveling at the beautiful sight of the village. The sun glinted off the snow covering the ground and nearby mountains, making it so bright I almost had to squint. The shops still looked merry, most of them not having taken down their Christmas decorations yet, since it was only early January. Wreaths decorated most of the doors, and even though it was early in the morning, students from all three schools already filled the village, pouring in and out of shops, hand in hand with one another. Three tall trees stood in the center of town, lavishly decorated in sparkling lights and brightly colored baubles, giving the town a pleasant glow about it.

"Where to first?" I asked Albus.

"Well, James sent me a bunch of joke presents for Christmas, so I figure it's time to return the favor." Albus replied. "You game for Honeyduke's?"

"Always!" I said. He pulled me through the streets, leaving me breathless as he pushed open the shop door. A bell jangled merrily as we entered. Honeyduke's was a favorite among the students so it was already packed with a throng of people. I browsed the non-joke sweets, eventually deciding on a pack of squeaking Sugar Mice, a pack of Peppermint Humbugs, and a box of Chocolate Frogs, which were my favorite. Honeyduke's had every type of sweet a person could imagine, the walls simply lined with candy. Rows and rows of it. Finally, Albus checked out, laden with Cockroach Clusters, Acid Pops, Fire Fliers (which actually lit on fire and flew around in your mouth), all types of Bug Biscuits, and more. After loading up and paying, we headed out. We passed Madame Puddifoot's Tea Shop, which was decorated with twinkling lights and had loads of snogging couples inside. I shared a glance with Albus, who had a rosy tint to his cheeks that I didn't think was because of the frosty weather.

"Maybe save that bit," Albus commented, jerking his head towards a pair of snogging Hufflepuffs in the window, "for later, yeah?" I smirked at him

"What, afraid of a bit of PDA?" I replied before lightly kissing his cheek. Tingles raced up and down my body, warming me up. I pulled on Albus's hand. "Let's keep moving."

We ended up stopping in Weasley's Wizard Wheezes, which was run by Albus, Rose, and Lily's uncle. It used to just be in Diagon Alley, but they had bought out Zonko's Joke Shop a few years ago.

Albus and I strolled around hand in hand, and ran into his Uncle George, who happened to be overseeing the Hogsmeade expansion on that particular day.

"Al!" Mr. Weasley exclaimed excitedly, slapping Albus on the back. "How's my favorite nephew?"

"Great!" Albus replied, pointedly squeezing my hand. Mr. Weasley noticed the gesture and raised an eyebrow.

"Excellent! Alissa, isn't it? Friends with the Potters and my dear old Ronniekins and his family?" Mr. Weasley joked, turning to me. Albus and I both stifled a laugh, Albus actually letting through a snort. I swatted him with a mittened hand and replied to his uncle.

"Yes, that's me. By the way, I almost got blamed for a prank Fred and Roxanne pulled the other day. I blame you." I informed him. For a brief moment, something came over him and he turned over his shoulder, as if looking for someone. To share the news with, perhaps?

"Really?" Mr. Weasley said, snapping out of it. "Excellent! What did they do? Was it brilliant?"

"They put itching powder down Filch's pants."

"Brilliant!" Mr. Weasley exclaimed proudly. "Chips off the old block! Angelina will kill me! This is really excellent!" He rubbed his hands together. "Well, I must be...you pocket that and you'll earn yourself a lifelong ban from this store, Curtis!" He snapped at a passing fourth year, who was trying to smuggle out some Decoy Detonators in his robes. Mr. Weasley faced us again and shook his head. "Curtis is a regular. I think he wants to live up to our...my...legend, but every time he enters this store I catch him trying to pocket something. Must be off, brilliant to meet you, enjoy yourself, everything's on the house!" With that, he hurried off, and I stared at Albus, mouth open. I'd never had a true conversation with his uncle before.

"He's a brilliant wizard, a legend, but he's never quite been the same since his brother died." Albus explained. "He's still loads of fun at family gatherings though. Still quite the prankster. Once he nearly scared Mum to pieces by planting Shrieking Sites into the toilet lid. She had quite a shock when she sat down! It was absolutely brilliant! Anyway, shall we?" He asked, gesturing around.

I nodded, grabbing a few things off the shelf as we passed them. Albus loaded his pockets and bags. "He never just gives me free stuff! You must really have made an impression!" After Al had gotten everything to his prankster heart's content, (mainly to repay his brother James, who was the true prankster of the Potter family,) we exited the shop, waving goodbye to Al's uncle.

We strolled down the rows of shops, admiring the New Year's and Christmas decorations still out, as our shoes crunched in the cold snow and our breath hung in the crisp winter air. My cheeks were as red as a lobster, but I couldn't have been happier. We passed Adelena, hanging around Scorpius Malfoy, and I scoffed.

"Figures." I muttered under my breath.

"What?" Albus said.

"I said it figures." I repeated, jerking my head at the two. "They deserve each other." Adelena threw me a scathing look, leading me to assume she overheard me, but I held my head high and walked passed.

"Now Liss, play nice." Albus laughed.

"I did! Didn't you notice how I didn't use any of the one hundred and one hexes I learned from the book Lily gave me for Christmas?" I replied, indignant. Albus just shook his head and laughed, kissing my cheek lightly. We walked happily side-by-side for awhile, pleasantly window-shopping and simply enjoying each other's company. We laughed at the advertisement for wizard's underwear, since it was shown on a wizard far past his prime, we winked at the sight of Lily and Alfred in a shop, hand in hand, and of course we had to stop in the sock shop to buy a pair of socks for Albus's dad, since Mr. Potter no longer had Dobby to buy him some. We continued people-watching and window-shopping until I stopped dead in my tracks.

"What's wrong?" Albus asked, as he noticed that I wasn't moving.

"We have to go in." I replied. "There's something I have to buy." In the window, I'd spotted the perfect present for Lily- a pair of the most brilliant Quidditch robes I'd ever seen. They had some in all four house colors. The Gryffindor one was a deep red with shimmering golden threads woven through it, giving it an incredible shine. It had a silver unicorn embroidered on the back, Lily's favorite animal, as well as advertised "immediate personalization". The perfect gift to prove that I still cared, especially since she'd been complaining for weeks about how hers were falling apart, ever since her last match with Slytherin. I dashed into the shop, with a confused Albus trailing after me, and asked for a pair of the customized Gryffindor robes, complete with "Potter" and the number 7, her Quidditch number, on the back.

"Thirty Galleons." The bored witch behind the counter told me, flicking her wand so that my customization appeared in beautiful script. It was a lot of money, but my friendship was worth it, so I slapped the money on the glass counter and had it gift-wrapped, dragging Albus out of the shop.

My stomach rumbled, reminding me that I had eaten a rather rushed breakfast, and Albus noticed. He pulled me into a nearby coffee shop. "Liss, you should eat something." Albus said.

"Hi what can I get for you today." The wizard behind the counter droned in a monotone. No inflection, no cheerfulness. Apparently it was a slow day for him.

"I'd like the Merlin's Mocha, a medium please." I ordered. Albus ordered after me, and we picked up our drinks and found a table in the corner of the room. I took a sip of my mocha and sighed in happiness. The warm, chocolately liquid slid down my throat easily and warmed my entire insides.

"Want a sip of my latte?" Albus offered. "A sip for a sip?" Enthusiastically I agreed.

"It's a deal." He slid his drink across the table to me and our knees bumped together. Neither of us moved away as I picked up his drink and took a sip, as he did the same with mine. "Delicious." I informed him. "Nicely picked." Albus's eyes met mine and he smirked.

"What?" I demanded.

"You gave yourself a mustache with my latte's foam." He snickered. "It's pretty adorable, actually." Al reached for his drink and gave himself a matching one. I couldn't help but laugh, because he looked like a dork. He reached for my hand and held it as we laughed at each other, sharing our drinks and chatting. I lost track of time, but I didn't care. I was perfectly content to watch the passerby and the occasional people enter the coffee shop.

"Liss, weren't you meeting your friends for lunch?" Albus asked after we'd had a lull in our conversation.

"Yeah, why?" I replied.

"It's nearly one in the afternoon." He grimaced as he told me. I swore softly under my breath as I let go of his hand and jumped up from our table.

"Thank you for a wonderful day in Hogsmeade. I loved it. I love spending time with you. Rose and Lily are going to kill me. Sorry, I have to go!" I said, pulling my hat and gloves back on.

"Wait." Albus said softly, standing up. He pulled me into him and whispered, his breath tickling my nose. "I love spending time with you too." He pressed his lips into mine, and I rose onto my tiptoes, feeling the sparks fly as I kissed him back. His lips were soft and tasted of chocolate, vanilla, and espresso, all at the same time. He wrapped me in a tighter hug and kissed me more firmly. I pulled away breathless.

"Really. I have to go." I responded, picking up my bags and packages and running out of the shop. I sprinted down the street, my lungs screaming in protest from the burn of the frosty air, and burst into the Three Broomsticks, where I was met by a crackling warm fire and lots of rowdy laughter and clinking of glasses, amid the hustle and bustle and conversation. I saw Rose and Lily sitting together at a long wooden table in the back, a table that looked as if it'd been around as long as Hogwarts itself. They each had a butterbeer, and there was an extra butterbeer sitting next to them. My heart sank as they noticed me. Rose shook her head disappointedly and Lily gave me a look far, far colder than the temperature outside. I ran up to the table and Lily pushed back her chair abruptly.

"Nice chatting with you, Rose." Lily said curtly, emphasizing my best friend's name. She completely ignored me. "It was a pleasure that we got to have lunch together. See you around, I must be off." Lily turned her back towards me and stalked off, leaving me staring helplessly at her retreating back. It was as if time stood still.

"Wait!" I cried, finally regaining my senses. She stopped dead in her tracks, and turned on her heel, giving me an icy glare. If looks could kill, I would be six, no, make that twelve, feet under already. "I'm sorry! I lost track of time, honestly!"

Lily looked past me at Rose. "Did you hear something?" Rose turned pale and looked at me helplessly. Lily shrugged. "Shame." My mouth was frozen, dropped open. How could my best friend be doing this to me? We'd been friends since we were first years! She couldn't just turn and leave me because I was late to one lunch date, could she?

Oh, but she could. How easily she could.

Lily spun back around and flipped her flaming red hair. I wanted to run after her, to cry, to give my apologies, to hit her for being a jerk, and pull her back. Make her explain, make her stay. I should've. I should've gone after her. But I couldn't move. I was frozen solid. Frozen more than all the icy trees, even the lake.

I should've gone after her. But I didn't.

With one blink, the bell of the Three Broomsticks jangled far more cheerfully than anything should've in that moment, and Lily was gone. My hand dropped to my side and I leaned against the table for support, letting out a sigh I didn't know I was holding. One tear streaked down my cheek and I slumped down in a chair that Rose pulled behind me.

I was suddenly aware of the bag I was holding. Lily's Quidditch robes. An icy hardness flooded through my veins and my gaze turned to steel. No more tears would I shed. Rose was saying something, but it sounded far away, as if underwater. She patted my hand and I whipped it away. I threw the present down on the table. If Lily wanted to play that way, fine. So would I. Two could play this game.

But somewhere deep down, that icy coldness hadn't made its way there. It hurt more than anything to watch Lily's retreating back, and I decided that instead of being the happiest place on Earth, Hogsmeade was the worst.