Date

It was already October, and everyone was back into the swing of things. The first Hogsmeade trip was right around the corner, and Albus and Lorcan could go this year for the first time. Both boys were excited to see everything and leave the castle for a few hours. Scorpius, Hyperion, and Hugo were excited to get more candy without having to sneak out of the castle. Mary was going along with the boys but was jealous of Ara because she was going on another date with James. 

There was this new place for lunch, and James was taking her there. It would be their first official date as a couple, and Ara had already enlisted Mary's help to help her find something to wear. She was normally good at picking out her own outfits at home, but she lost all of her fashion sense when she got into the rhythm of wearing her uniform. If she wasn't in her robes, she was wearing a jumper, and she didn't think that that would be a good thing to wear to this new restaurant. 

When Saturday came, Mary went with Ara after breakfast to find her something to wear. She had never been in the Slytherin common room before and was quite excited to see it finally. She loved the Gryffindor common room and had always wondered what the other ones looked like. 

It was darker and colder than she imagined, and she felt slightly bad for all of the kids that were always down here. Her common room was warm and inviting, and this was much more proper. It reminded her a lot of the sitting room at Malfoy Manor, actually. 

"Mary, I genuinely left all of the clothes I like at the Manor," Ara was laying on her bed with all of her clothes around her. She complained about it for around an hour, and Mary was about ready to go up to her room and find her something there. 

"Come on, Ara, it doesn't have to be that fancy," Mary started going through the clothes again, looking for anything that she could wear. "Here, what about this denim skirt. This is cute. I am sure you could find something to go with this. Plus, it isn't too cold out yet." 

"I like this; where did you find this?" Ara was now looking for a top to wear with it, and she was realizing quickly how ridiculous this all was.

"Here, wear this!" Mary held up a white crop top jumper. Ara didn't even know where it came from, but it looked good with her skirt, and she thought it looked good, so she was happy. 

"Thank you, Mary; I really was being a pain. I appreciate it." 

"So when he asked you to be his girlfriend, is that really what happened?" Mary thought that Ara might have not told her the whole story, and she really wanted to know what actually happened.

Ara was silent as they passed by a couple of classrooms. Mary didn't want to push her, but she told Ara everything. Ara used to do the same with her, and it felt as if they were drifting apart. 

Finally, Ara looked over at Mary and sighed, "Well actually, I asked him," She didn't want to hide stuff from Mary, but she also didn't want her making a big deal about everything. 

"I knew it!" Mary smiled and then switched the topic up. She tended to go overboard sometimes. It used to be the opposite. Ara was the crazy one when they were younger, who always got them into and out of trouble, but Ara really changed while she was at school. She was more reserved with most people, and she only really trusted her closest friends. On the other hand, Mary had completely come out of her shell; she was friends with everyone. 

"Hey, Mary, ready to go?" Albus was excited and wanted to get going already. Mary was supposed to meet them almost 15 minutes ago.

"Yes, sorry." Mary shot everyone a look that she was sorry. 

"That was my fault, Albus; I couldn't find anything to wear. Mary came to the rescue." Ara tried to explain so that they wouldn't be upset with her friend. 

"Well, you look nice," James had snuck up behind her and pulled her close to him. She blushed at his actions and smiled. Mary winked at Ara, and they all started walking toward Hogsmeade. 

Once they reached where James and Ara were going, they split up from the group and went inside. Ara already loved the way that it smelled. It was spicy, she thought, and she loved that. 

"2 please," She came out of her trance when she heard James's voice.

"Right this way," The hostess led the two of them to a table. Ara sat down and started looking through the menu. It was Indian food, and she was excited to try something new. She loved cooking and trying new things, so this was perfect. 

"I have no idea what to get," James looked over at Ara, who looked as if she was analyzing every option there was. 

"Well, I will find two things I think we might like, and then we can share. Is that alright? Dad and I used to do that when we would go to lunch," Ara put the menu and smiled at James.

"If that's what you want." 

After they ordered, the two talked for a while about classes and everything they were learning. Ara was currently trying to explain the newest potions assignment to James; he wasn't listening, though. All he could think about was how perfect Ara was. The light was coming in from the window, and the sunlight was making it seem like she was glowing. He watched her face and how animated she was when she talked to him about anything she was passionate about. He was still young, but he figured this is what love must feel like. 

"So James, did you want to do that?" He snapped out of it when he heard his name. His smile dropped into a frown. 

"You weren't listening to any of that, were you?" Ara now had a frown too. 

"No, but only because I couldn't help but look at you. The sunlight is hitting you so perfectly. You are glowing." James knew it sounded lame, but it was the truth or most of it. He knew it was far too soon to be telling her that. 

Ara smiled slightly and then started her speech over again. This time James held onto every word. He never wanted to disappoint her. He wanted to be the best person for her he could. She had been, in fact, talking about studying together for their potions exam that was coming up. She had found somewhere magical they could do it all in silence, where no one could bother them. 

She had found it the other day when a couple of boys were following her through the corridors. She had wanted to get away from them so badly, but there were no classrooms around that she could lock herself in without getting into trouble. When she walked past this particular wall, a door seemed to appear. Her mother had told her all about it. It was the Room of Requirement. 

"My dad told me stories about that," 

"It was perfect, James," Ara smiled again.

"Well, I would love to go there. You'll have to show me," James got up after he was done eating and offered his hand to Ara. They left and walked through Hogsmeade some before ending back at Honeydukes. Neither could believe that everyone else was still in there looking around. 

"Ara, over here!" Mary was calling from the other side of the store. Both went over, and Mary's smile dropped slightly when James accompanied her, but neither noticed. Mary had just wanted to talk to Ara about something, but she supposed that they could talk about it later. Maybe she could go back to the Slytherin common room afterward. 

"Have you been in here the whole time, Mary?" Ara looked around; they surely had looked through everything. 

"Well, yes. Hugo is talking about buying the entire store. It took us ages to talk him out of it."

"Yeah, Uncle Ron would not be happy about that." James looked around for his cousin and started to walk away toward him. Mary saw this as her chance and pulled Ara around one of the shelves and into the corner of the store. 

"What was that for?" Ara rubbed her arm where Mary had grabbed it. 

"Sorry, I just wanted to tell you something without the boys around." Mary felt bad instantly and figured she should have just waited, but she was just so excited. 

"Well, what did you want to tell me?"

"Someone asked me on a date!" Mary whisper screamed. Ara's face lit back up at the excitement in her friend's eyes. 

"Well, who is it?" Ara was hoping that it was her brother. Mary had a crush on him for what seemed like forever. 

"You know the really cute 6th year, Thomas, in Gryffindor?" Mary looked as if her eyes were sparkling. 

Ara had absolutely no idea who she was talking about. She hardly knew anyone in Gryffindor that weren't her friends, though she thought saying no to this question would really hurt Mary's feelings, though she also didn't want to lie to her. "Well, maybe if I saw him," Ara looked around in hopes Mary would give her some clue. 

"He's not in here, but I will point him out in the Great Hall during dinner." Mary clapped her hands, and they made their way back to the group. 

"Where were you two off to?" James took Ara's hand in his own and smiled at her.

"Nowhere in particular," Mary answered for Ara, and she looked signaled that she didn't want the boys to know. They all walked back up to the castle. It was getting late, and it was almost supper time. Ara was happy; she had a good day. She really liked James, and he made her happy. She just wished she could tell him how she really felt. She knew she loved him; she just knew it was way to tell him soon. She didn't want him to feel pressured by anything, so she was content on just enjoying the time they shared.