I’d just finished selecting a marbled blue and white jawbreaker when Alex came up to me, his bag overstuffed. I couldn’t help but grin, subconsciously I knew that he would fill it up. “You sure you have enough there? You know you could have used a second bag instead of that one not being able to close, right? Might help the frogs to not knock the boxes of beans out of the bag,” I noted, as one fell to the floor at his feet.

Of course, he probably wouldn’t have grabbed a second one even if I had suggested it, he seemed like he was holding back, just his attitude said that he was used to holding back. I understood that to an extent, although I liked to squander my father’s money because of my hatred for him. But emotionally and socially, sure. I held back all the time.

“If you’re finished, I was going to go check out, I can take your bag if you wanted to wait outside,” I gave a slight nod of my head backward, toward the mass of people at the register. Not that I wanted to go over any more, but I couldn’t just walk out with the sweets, either. When he didn’t make a gesture to leave, my eyebrow raised just a bit, but I led the way into the line. There was easily over a dozen people in front of us, with more filtering through the door than the ones leaving.

I couldn’t wait to get out of there. Looking at Alex, I decided it would be rude to just stand there when we’d end up waiting for a while. “So, Alex, did you have anything you came into Hogsmeade for besides just getting out? I was going to head back to the school after this, but if you needed to go anywhere, I wouldn’t mind going…” I trailed off for a brief second. “I mean, if you even wanted company. If not, no hard feelings, I like alone time too."