The friends, not expecting to end up in Hogsmeade, had not got much money on them, and so could merely browse, but they did not mind, for they now had a means of getting there whenever they wanted. They looked quickly round Honeydukes, breathing in the heady, sugary air and smiling unconsciously as their eyes fell on rows of Every Flavour Beans, an multicoloured array of sugar-quills, little squeaking Ice Mice, an assortment of chocolate animals, with of course Chocolate Frogs as the centrepiece; there were also Muggle sweets in jars on the shelf at the back. It was a magnificent shop, and they were disappointed that they could not buy anything, but resolved to come back as soon as possible.

So they left the shop, shivering a little as they passed from warm toffee-scented air to the chill of the outside, looking up and down the little street of shops with its overhanging roofs and intriguing shops with wide eyes – they had only ever seen Hogsmeade in the dark from the station after getting off the Hogwarts Express. James made a bee-line for the window of Zonko's, where he spent more than a few minutes spouting a mostly self-addressed monologue on the wonderful joke items he saw there, whilst Sirius stood next to him and occasionally pointed things out.

'Hey, look, they have Fanged Frisbees,' James said, indicating a stack of boxes with teeth drawn on the outside. 'They're new, I saw them advertised in the Prophet. They'd be cool. Bet old Pringle would have a fit.' He grimaced a little. Much as he liked playing pranks and getting up to mischief, he was genuinely a little scared of the caretaker, who was prone to violence if he got angry, and not bad at certain painful hexes. 'They're getting rid of him soon, though, aren't they?'

'And probably replacing him with someone worse,' murmured Sirius as they moved away from Zonko's. 'Can we get a Butterbeer? They're only a couple of Sickles.'

'Oh, at the Three Broomsticks, you mean?' cut in Remus, as he and Peter caught up with them. 'Theirs is the best, apparently.'

'I heard Madam Puddifoot's was better,' said Peter.

'Yes, but her café!' James pulled a disgusted face. 'You can go if you want, but it's all pink and revolting. Let's go to the Three Broomsticks. Everyone says it's nice in there.'

'Can I have a look at Dervish and Banges first?' asked Remus. The others nodded, and they set off down the street to the shop that sold just about everything useful, and was the first port of call for older students who were running low on supplies. Whilst Remus was studying the differently-coloured inks (he liked to make his notes all different colours, and decided that when they came back here he would buy maroon, royal purple and cauldron grey), James and Sirius wandered lazily up and down the street, looking in at the windows of other shops, and studying the place, trying to imprint the layout on their minds.

'Oh, is that Madam Puddifoot's place?' Sirius said then, pointing to a little cafeteria. 'Urgh, look, it is horrible.' The façade was done out in pastel shades, and the inside looked distinctly pink and girly.

James wrinkled up his nose and looked at the shop in cheerful disgust. Then he let out a gasp and pointed despite himself. 'Wa-it, wait, look...'

He shuffled backwards a little, so that he could look into the café without necessarily being seen from the inside. 'Look who it is!'

Sirius hurried to him, and followed his gaze. 'Oh!' and he chuckled. 'So it is a thing! Ha! Flitwick and Sprout in Madam Puddifoot's!' He turned, and called out to Remus and Peter only as loudly as he dared. They ran over, and smiled when they realised what he was looking at.

Flitwick had his back to them, and was perched on a heap of scarlet cushions so that he could reach the table. Sprout, cleaner than usual, was opposite him, a shy smile between cheeks the colour of the cushions. Though the boys could not see the table well, they could see a floral-patterned teapot and matching cups, and were convinced that the couple were holding hands across their afternoon tea. Sprout said something and Flitwick shook a little with laughter. They watched this scene for a short while, and then moved away before they started to look suspicious, hurrying back down the street and heading for the Three Broomsticks.

Over their Butterbeers they discussed the matter at length, excited as they were by this new bit of gossip. However, as Remus pointed out, they couldn't very easily spread it around the school, as they would surely be asked how they had managed to get to Madam Puddifoot's. Nevertheless, they could probably get round it somehow to feed their gossip-hungry fellow-Gryffindors. This was the confirmation of their suspicions and the most important bit of news they had found out for a long while.

'Sprout and Flitwick on a date!' Sirius kept saying.

'I know!' James kept replying. 'It's a thing, it's definitely a thing. We should keep a watch on the map, see if they keep disappearing off to Hogsmeade.'

'And then what?' asked Peter.

'Well... I don't know,' shrugged James. 'But we need to keep investigating until everyone gets tired of the whole thing. Which could be a while...'

Just as they were walking back to Honeydukes, Sirius put up his hand in some kind of danger-signal, and then indicated down the street. Sprout and Flitwick were walking arm-in-arm, talking together, and did not seem to have seen the four boys. More quickly than they had run in their life before, they sprinted to Honeydukes and slipped inside, sneaking down to the basement to find the tunnel and hoping desperately that they hadn't been seen.

'Close one,' panted James. 'Lucky you saw them, Sirius. I really, really hope they were too busy looking at each other to notice us...'

And with that not-entirely-reassuring thought, they headed back up to Hogwarts and safety.