Disclaimer: Nope, still not mine; conspiracy time.

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Caring and Sharing

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Chapter 7 – Us Time

"Come on, ladies, hurry up, please. Abbott, Bones! We haven't got all day, darlings, I'd really like to get a good look in at Flora and Fauna this morning!" Professor Sprout's motherly shout rang out over the scuffling and chatter as she chivvied us out of the castle and along the path to Hogsmeade. The twins, Emma and Rose flitted through the crowd as they tried to keep up with us, Lisa striding ahead of all four of us.

My alarm had decided that I needed a little extra beauty sleep and so it had been a bit of a dash for the Hufflepuff 6th year girl's dorm this morning. As much as I appreciate my dear little clock's thought, today really was not the best day for such kindness.

"Where are we going first?" Emma managed to grab onto my hand as Rose aimed for Susie. Try as I might, I couldn't tell which one of them had spoken. They were identical in every aspect apart from their hair. They'd been dying it the same way since Second Year because people had had such a hard time guessing which one was which.

Although the girls looked the same, their personalities differed as much as their contrasting hairstyles. Emma's blonde pixie bob reflected her sunny disposition. Rose had always been the quieter twin, though in my opinion, her thoughts were much deeper than her sister's; her dark chestnut curls draped around her shoulders to her mid back. If I'm really honest with myself, they're not the prettiest of the female population around here, but I'm hardly model material either…

…Which is less than can be said for Lisa. She was even in Witch Weekly once! The copy had even made its way into the Slytherin common room, apparently. She does have a bit of a temper, though. Yes, she works to try and be nice to people, but sometimes she snaps with a bite as fierce as a crocodile.

Anyway, what am I doing rambling on about the girls? Here we all were, shrouded in fluffy coats and scarves on our way to doing a little bit of well earned retail therapy. It had been absolutely ages since we've had a totally boy-free indulgence day, and we were witches on a mission today!

The plan was to have a little catch up on everybody's lives with a bit of gossip here and there. As Susie and I had decided, enough was enough with the whole obsessing thing. Yes, the boys were wonderful. No, they hadn't actually asked us out yet, but we were pretty sure they were going to. So no, we didn't need to pay them attention every single minute we were free.

By the time I had zoned back in, everyone else was having an animated discussion about where they all wanted to see. Honeydukes was a given, of course. Lisa wanted to have a look around Gladrags, which most of us agreed was a good plan (bar Emma, who isn't that fond of clothes shopping). Still, we all wanted to stick together, so that meant me compromising to go into Zonko's for Susie and following Rose around Flourish and Blotts if we all had a rest at the end of it in The Tree Broomsticks.

Our plot set, we walked off with renewed vigor down the winding path at the edge of the forest towards the village. I just love looking around people in the crowd and discussing what they're wearing. Some people look really nice, but when you look at others, it really does make me wonder if they've actually got mirrors in their bedrooms. My mirror would never let me go out looking such a state.

Susie giggled as we passed one particularly ugly old crone and Rose elbowed her in the ribs to shut her up. The old bat was dressed in an ill-fitting purple dress that hung off her in all the wrong places. Her black straggly hair really did need to be washed, as well.

"Maybe we should buy her a hairbrush?" Emma muttered in my ear. I chuckled despite my best attempts to hold it in. The woman turned to stare at us as we walked alongside us to give us an especially foul glance. We shared raised eyebrows and widened eyes indicating that we thought she was a little strange as we hurried around the corner.

"Oh my God, did you see that witch?" Susie asked disbelievingly, even though she knew that we all had seen the eyesore.

"I know, seriously, doesn't she have a mirror?" I agreed, voicing my thoughts.

"Maybe she does," Rose giggled, "but maybe she just doesn't have a reflection!" I looked at her, a puzzled look on my face unsure about what she meant.

"Yeah!" Emma agreed enthusiastically, "Maybe she's a vampire!"

Susie rolled her eyes. We didn't need to go any further down that conversation. It was one we'd heard oh, only about a thousand times already. We had a running joke that the twins were on Vampire-Watch, ready to catch out the vampires that Draco Malfoy was smuggling into the castle from his creepy Manor Estate.

"No." Lisa and I chimed in, her disagreement embellished with a few choice words I'd rather not be repeated in front of my mother, thank you very much.

"Yeah, Em," Susie thought about it, "I mean, I know Draco Malfoy's a bit of an strange guy with weird tastes, but I doubt he'd go for her."

"What," I turned to face Susie, "You reckon he's more into the Beautiful Siren-turned-Vampire Seductress?"

Consequently, the rest of the shopping trip was spent discussing the intricacies of Draco Malfoy's love life (or lack of). Okay, so maybe the day wasn't quite boyless. But you have to admit, Malfoy has always been a bit of an exception.

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Later that evening, I found myself surrounded my chocolate, hair potions and nail polish as we lounged around having a girlie night in. Emma had brought her muggle hair straighteners in and was brandishing them about, trying to get the wires untaffled. How she managed to master a lightening charm on that little metal bit at the end, I'll never know.

But then again, I really couldn't understand why she would even bring her straighteners when she could just use SleekEze's hair care range. Admittedly, it's a bit expensive and takes a while to set in, but still. It's a lot easier than the torture she was putting Susie's hair through. Nevertheless, we were having fun.

That is, until Professor Sprout burst in through the door, a worried expression on her face. We froze, wondering if she was going to tell us off for messing up the room, but she managed a weak smile as she looked around, almost apologetic for spoiling our fun.

"There's…" she paused, her eyes fixing on each of out faces in turn, "There's been another Death Eater attack." She concluded, her voice wavering a little through its usual strength.

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It's a little shorter than usual, but I thought you'd like a new chapter. That is, if there's anyone still out there ;)

It would be excellent to hear from you all again.

Reviews are very much appreciated and encouraged.