"Here, a crepe with strawberries." Vincent handed a crepe to a first year boy who looked hungrily at the food, "enjoy.""Thank you!" the boy dropped a couple of sickles into Vincent"s hand before he ran off to join his friends who each had one.
*munch munch*
"Crepes do seem pretty popular," Vincent said to himself as he did his homework at the stall, "earning a lot more than I thought I would with these."
*munch munch*
"The library packed with books about cooking," Luna said as she took a bite out of her own crepe. She jotted down a few notes, "What"s impressive is that you managed to learn some of the recipes in a week."
*munch munch*
"Well, there were more than a few failures than I"d like to admit," Vincent smiled wryly.
*munch munch*
"...Not to mention," Vincent turned to the other person in the stall, "someone seems to like it a bit too much."
*munch munch*
Arnya"s eyes sparkled as she finished her crepe only to grab another on a large platter. She then proceeded to continue munching down on it, finishing it in a few bites. Nyx and Blimp were nibbling one to the side.
*gulp*
Arnya swallowed her bite before seeing Vincent and Luna staring at her with wry smiles, "What?"
"Nothing," they both said at the same time. Arnya looked at them in confusion before shrugging it off. She then grabbed another crepe before eating it.
"You doing ok, Luna?" Vincent asked as he folded his parchment. Luna paused before continuing on with her homework.
"Why do you ask?"
"Just wanted to check in with you," Vincent replied. "I mean, you come here pretty much everyday, you doing alright with school?"
"I"m, fine," Luna said, smiling as she saw Vincent"s worried expression. "Really, I"m fine. I"m happy that you"re worrying about me, I really am, but I can take care of myself."
"I know that, but still..." Vincent trailed off. He took a deep breath. "Just, well, talk to me if you need help."
"I will," Luna nodded.
"Hey Vince, can I get a crepe with strawberries?" a dark-haired handsome boy asked as he came up to the stand.
"Hey, Cedric," Vincent got up and heated up a pan. "Finished Quidditch practice? Ain"t the cold getting to you?"
"You know how it is, practice makes perfect," Cedric Diggory gave Vincent a smile that has made several female students fall for him.
Cedric was one of Vincent"s first customers when he started up his stall. With him coming at least once a week, he could be called a regular of Vincent"s food stall. While they weren"t particularly close, they were at least on speaking terms.
"Speaking of the cold, stuff that"ll warm you up might help earn you a bit more cash," Cedric pointed out as he looked around his stall to see Luna and Arnya. He gave a wave which was returned by Luna, Arnya was too preoccupied with her food to notice.
"Hmm, that"s true," Vincent muttered to himself as he poured the crepe mix into the pan.
"First Hogsmeade Weekend for third year students this week if I remember," Cedric mentioned. "You excited?"
"Yeah, I"m interested in the shops there I guess," Vincent replied "Seems like a cool place."
"You"ll love it," Cedric rea.s.sured, he sniffed and sighed as he smelt the faint fragrance of the crepe.
"Here you go, one crepe with strawberries." Vincent handed him a wrapped crepe.
"Thanks, two sickles was it?" Cedric took out two sickles and placed it on the counter. "Take care man."
"You too." Vincent waved him off as Cedric made his way back to the castle.
...
On Halloween morning, Vincent woke up early for a run when he noticed Harry sitting at the edge of his bed.
"You ok Harry?" he asked.
"Oh, Vince," Harry greeted glumly. "Yeah, I"m fine, never been better."
"Clearly, you have something bothering you," Vincent said as he scarred his head. Harry remained silent. "How about you come for a run with me, you know, to keep your mind on other things."
Harry looked thoughtful before nodding, "That sounds like a good idea."
It wasn"t...
Half an hour later, Harry finally finished his second lap around Hogwarts, exhausted, sweaty and cold. Originally, he was confident in his own ability to run, but then he met Vincent, sprinting, not jogging around Hogwarts for what was the seventh, eighth? Harry lost count.
Not mention how cold the weather was that morning!
"Tired?" Vincent called out as he pa.s.sed by. "We can stop early if you want."
"...Yeah...right!" Harry gritted his teeth and managed to force in another lap and a half before collapsing.
"Here."
Harry caught and drank greedily from the bottle that Vincent pa.s.sed over, not giving any time to taste it. He paused in amazement as he felt all the sore spots and pain in his body fade, being replaced by a cooling sensation.
"So this is that comfort water." Harry thought.
"So, what"s up?"
Harry took another sip, "Hogsmeade trip is today."
"Professor McGonagall still not allowing you?" Vincent asked as he sat down.
"Yeah, probably worried that Black will be present there," Harry muttered.
"Fair enough," Harry looked at Vincent annoyed.
"You agree with her?" He asked.
"There is a killer after you Harry," Vincent said calmly. "Put yourself in Professor McGonagall"s place. If one of your students had a well-known serial killer after them, would you let them go out to have fun at the risk of them getting killed?"
Harry looked down while Vincent continued, "You have people that care for you in their own ways, whether you want to acknowledge them or not is entirely up to you."
The two of them sat there for a while until Harry sneezed. They both entered the castle, happy to be out of the cold. They reunited with Ron and Hermione at the Great Hall with Arnya nowhere in sight.
"Where"s Arnya?" Vincent asked Hermione as they sat down.
"She said she had something to do today," Hermione answered. "Doesn"t seem like she"s coming to Hogsmeade with us today."
"Really?" Vincent asked sceptically. "That seems a bit odd."
Vincent felt a bit strange hearing that Arnya wasn"t going to be with him for the day. Somehow, he had gotten used to having her around. They quickly finished breakfast before leaving the Great Hall.
"Don"t worry about me, I"ll see you guys at the Halloween feast," Harry said as he waved them off.
"Hope Harry will fine," Hermione said worriedly.
"Nothing we can do about it, let"s just take as much back for him as we can," Vincent said.
The three of them traveled down the road to Hogwarts before turning at an intersection along with other students, mostly other excited third years. They trekked through several fields before finding themselves at Hogsmeade.
From the distance, Hogsmeade was a small village cottages and shops around giving off a very picturesque look. When entering, it felt very welcoming and warm despite the cold.
"So where should we visit?" Hermione asked.
"I want to see Honeydukes," Ron said with enthusiasm. "Oh, we could also have a look at Zonko"s Joke Shop. Fred and George told me all about that place."
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The three of them walked around the village, trying seemingly intending to visit all of the shops in Hogsmeade. Zonko"s Joke Shop, into the Three Broomsticks for foaming mugs of hot b.u.t.terbeer, Honeydukes where they handed out free samples of a new flavoured toffee. Vincent took a look at the unusual flavors section.
"Blood flavoured lollipops, toffee, ice cream?" Vincent muttered to himself. "Maybe Arnya would like this?"
Then there was Dervish and Banges, the wizarding equipment shop.
"This is like the Sneakoscope I got Harry," Ron muttered as he stared at the price before looking at a quill. "Wow, these Self-Spelling Quill will definitely help with homework."
"Oh those are rubbish Ron," Hermione said. "Relying on these things to spell properly will create bad habits in your writing."
"Says the girl who can memorise books from front to back," Ron complained. He then looked at the front desk to see Vincent talking with the store clerk seriously. "What"s Vince doing?"
Vincent and the store clerk then dissappeared into the back room, but not before Vincent gave an, "I"ll be a moment", type of face.
"Knowing him, it"s definitely something interesting," Hermione said thoughtfully.
In the back Vincent brought out a pitch black cloak that seemed almost alive as it rippled despite there being no wind. "Can you at tell me the properties of this cloak."
The manager frowned as he looked at it.
"Is that a Dementors cloak," he muttered in awe. "This is my first time seeing such an item, may I take a closer look.
Vincent nodded as the manager placed one hand on it...
...before turning unbelievable pale as his hands shot back with a short scream.
"Sir, are you alright?!" Vincent asked frantically as he bent down to help the man.
"DON"T COME ANY CLOSER!" the manager yelled. Silence reigned over the shop as customers heard that scream. The manager shook as he got to his feet before opening the door.
"Everything"s alright," he rea.s.sured the customers before closing the door.
He then took a deep breath before looking at the cloak warily, full of fright.
"Sir, what exactly happened?" Vincent asked.
The manager held up a hand as he leaned back against the wall, "That cloak...fear...terror...terror invaded my body. But it wasn"t my own, it felt like someone else"s."
"Huh?" Vincent thought as he shifted his attention to the cloak in his hands. "Then why am I not affected?"
"I"m sorry, but this is out of my expertise," the manager said. "We deal with magical equipment created by Witches and Wizards, not by those nightmarish things. Please, just never let me touch one of those again."
Vincent walked out silently with customers staring weirdly at him as he reached Ron and Hermione who looked at him questioningly.
...
"Oi, Zwei!"
A large, bald, well-built man turned around in annoyance to see Axel walk up to him.
"Axel," he growled.
"Geez, chill out a bit man," Axel patted the large man"s back with a smile. "I mean, we"re such great buddies right?"
"PLEASE DON"T KILL ME! PLEASE DON"T KILL ME! PLEASE DON"T KILL ME! PLEASE DON"T KILL ME!" Axel thought desperately.
Despite everything he felt, he showed none of his thoughts.
"Remind me when we became like so?" Zwei shrugged off Axel"s arm. "What does trash like you need me for?"
"Ouch, harsh." Axel raised his hands in mock surrender.
"Why"s he so mean?" Axel felt like crying in his head. "I just wanted to see if you were doing alright."
"And?"
"Can"t us old friends check on another friend?" Axel scratched his cheek in embarra.s.sment.
Zwei scrunched his eyebrows before walking off. "We"re no longer friends..."
"...Wait."
Zwei stopped again before turning in annoyance. Axel looked at him determined.
"You can"t stop me Zwei," Axel said with resolution. "I"m sorry, you can hate me all you want, but I"m not stepping down."
Zwei"s face morphed into anger. Wisps of of blood leaked out of his arms, solidifying into gauntlets with chains wrapped around them.
Axel watched all of this with without reacting. His expression calm.
"You shouldn"t have pursued the life of a fighter," Zwei muttered. Suddenly a hoot sounded, making them both look up. They saw a brown owl with a letter attached to it"s leg make its way to Dracula"s throne room. Zwei"s clenched fists released, dissipating the half solidified gauntlets. While Axel breathed an inward sigh of relief.
"Must be from Arnya," Axel thought. "A report?"
The owl flew through an open window before landing on the arm of a chair. A long, pale, slender hand reached out and stroked the bird which shivered and hooted in reply. Another hand then reached out and took the letter. Dracula opened the letter with interest and read the letter. He then paused before pulling out another parchment in the letter, his face expressing confusion.
"Axel, Zwei, you may enter," Dracula muttered as Axel and Zwei entered the room.
"What news does Arnya bring?" Axel asked curiously.
Dracula stayed still with furrowed eyebrows, making both Axel and Zwei confused.
"Milord, is anything wrong?" Zwei asked anxiously.
"Does either of you have a pen?"
The sudden question made Axel and Zwei look at each other with puzzlement. Dracula then showed them the parchment he held.
//Start note
((PERMISSION for VISIT to HOGSMEADE for))
...(Student name)...
This doc.u.ment hereby serves to state the aforementionedThird-year student of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardryis permitted to visit the village of Hogsmeade at such a timeThat the school arranges, and with the signature of the undersignedparent or guardian.The student shall abide by all such rules & regulations relevantto such expeditions and set by the school as per article 528/Zof the 1714 Edict.Print Name ..........Relation ..............Signature ............
//End note
At the end of the note it had scribbles by Arnya.
It read:
//Heard that students need this signed.
Zwei had a blank look on his face while Axel fought down the urge to laugh, hard.
Dracula had an indescribable expression on his face.
Meanwhile, Arnya was in the library with Luna, listening to a discussion about the Blibbering Humdinger.