5.3 - Her Latest Liaison

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A joyful anticipation filled the air around the school grounds as the students of Hogwarts prepared for the first Hogsmeade trip of the year.

All the students in year three and up had rucksacks packed with necessities for their trip, and they were raring to go.

The last two years, Ophelia had gone with Pandora, Regulus, and Barty for every single Hogsmeade trip. Though she definitely enjoyed their weekend trips to Hogsmeade together, Ophelia had different plans for this time. It was only a few hours until they were all expected to leave, and Ophelia still hadn't told her friends. In fact, she wasn't even sure when or how she would tell them.

Ophelia sat alone on a bench outside the school, surrounded by crowds of other students. Regulus walked up to her with Barty slouching behind him. She was staring down at the ground with an absent look flushing her face.Β 

"What's wrong?" Regulus sat down beside Ophelia and asked. "You look upset."

"No, I'm alright." She told him.Β 

"Well, good. You can't be upset on a Hogsmeade day. We've got the whole weekend to do whatever we please."

"Actually, there is one thing I've been meaning to tell you."

Barty interjected with one of his famous sarcastic one-liners. "Oi, sorry mate, it looks like Effie's finally breaking up with you."

Regulus and Ophelia politely told Barty to shut up, in almost perfect unison, then brought their attention back to each other.Β Β 

"No, it's just that I'm not going to spend the trip with you guys." Ophelia said. "I told someone else I would spend it with them."

"Who?"

"You know Thomas, the Gryffindor." Ophelia told Regulus, looking over his shoulder and waving to Thomas, who was shooting her a smile from across the courtyard. "He asked me last week and I said yes, but I was scared to tell you in case you're mad at me for ditching you."

"Why would I be mad about that?"

"Just because I'm not going to be spending the fun, weekend trip with you like I always do."

"That's ridiculous. You should spend the weekend however you want."

"So you're not upset?" Ophelia asked, becoming relieved.Β 

"No, of course not." Regulus reassured her. "As long as we can eat jelly slugs together after the trip. Go have fun with Thomas!"

Ophelia hugged Regulus tightly and thanked both him and Barty for understanding, though Barty was completely apathetic. She stood up and headed across the field towards Thomas with a giddy smile on her face.Β 

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Throughout the day, Regulus and Barty kept passing Ophelia and Thomas out on the town.Β 

They were friends, and they definitely seemed friendly. Though that was something to be happy about, there was something about it that Regulus didn't like. Something that he couldn't quite put his finger on, but knew it was definitely there.

Everytime he walked past her and Thomas, he felt a tightening of his chest that he could explain. He couldn't explain what he was feeling, or why he was feeling it. All he knew was that it happened because of seeing them together, and he wanted it to stop.

While they were walking past Zonko's Joke Shop, Regulus turned to the side of the pavement and sat down on a bench, and Barty followed along.

"Did you notice how Ophelia looks at that Thomas kid?" Regulus asked Barty.

"No, why would I?" Barty replied.

"Well because it happens every time we run into them. She keeps staring at him like he's the most charming person in the world."

"Why would we care? We know he's not. Have you seen the way he acts at school? He's not even the most charming person in Gryffindor."

"So why is Ophelia acting like he is?" Regulus asked, pausing to ponder the answer to his own question.

"Don't tell me you're jealous, mate." Barty said.

"I'm not jealous." He said. "I just don't get why she ditched us to spend her trip with tall, dark, and handsome over there."

"I'll ask one more time. Why do you care about her spending the trip with Thomas?"

"She keeps getting closer with Sirius and now she's ditching us to spend the Hogsmeade trip with that half-blood. It's just getting on my nerves for some reason. I don't know why though."

"So accept defeat and move on." Barty rolled his eyes.Β 

Regulus sighed and stood up from the bench.

"Fine, you're right. Let's go get a Butterbeer." He said.

The two of them walked over to Three Broomsticks Inn, and when they opened the door, they saw Thomas and Ophelia sitting together at one of the far tables.

Ophelia looked entranced by him, as his finger slowly stroked her cheekbone, just ever so gently.

Regulus left Barty at the door and dashed over to their table, trying to appear calm and collected, but failing. Ophelia noticed him from over Thomas' shoulder, and Thomas turned around in his seat to look as well.

Regulus slowed down when they noticed him, and stopped once he reached their booth.

"Reggie, hey, how's it going?" Ophelia asked him with a bright smile on her face.

"Oh, I'm good." He said. "I just saw you two here and came over to say hi."

Thomas held out his finger by Ophelia's face and quietly told her to make a wish as she blew an eyelash off of his finger. She looked back at Regulus, and invited him to sit down.

Barty walked over as well, with two glasses of Butterbeer in his hands. He set them down on the edge of the table, and Ophelia asked how he was and invited him to sit down, the same as Regulus.

"Actually, I think we were just going to have a quick drink and head out." Barty told her, very obviously hinting at Regulus that he wanted to leave.

"I was kind of hoping to stay for a little while." Regulus told him.

"It's no problem if you two want to stay with us. Here, I'll move over a bit." Thomas offered.

"That's great, Torrance." Barty said, brushing his offer off. "Regulus, I think it's best that we leave. Maybe see if Zonko's has closed yet."

Regulus sighed, and reluctantly agreed.

"Oh, alright." Ophelia said, watching Regulus grab his glass and stand up to leave. "Well, it was nice running into you boys again. Maybe we can do it again in an hour or so."

"No, that's quite alright." Barty told her while walking away with Regulus. "You two enjoy the rest of your trip though!"

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