Hogsmeade: A village like no other

“There is no point living in the cold if one doesn’t have to.” Dora nodded. “I agree.” She picked up her Butterbeer and put it to her lips, finishing off the last of the warm liquid and savouring the taste. Dora smiled at Scorpius and put the bottle down. She took her book off of the table and slipped it into her bag, not wanting it out and susceptible to damage. It was her father’s after all. “Your demeanour has changed.” she observed. “Over the last month or so. You have gotten colder to those you used to trust. A burden has been placed on your shoulders?” she said it as a question but it wasn’t one that she needed an answer to. She already knew. She always knew. Knowledge was power and there was always those too weak to seek it. However, she wasn’t weak, she just chose not to reach for it; preferring to let it come to her.

Scorpius was beginning to like the girl, she was thoughtful, and only spoke when she had something useful to say. Something you didn't find in people nowadays. And she waas giving relatively good advice too. "Well, yes. Sort of..." Scorpius replied slowly. This wasn't something he wanted to talk about to most people, but perhaps Amadora would give some good advice. Plus, he just wanted to tell it to somebody, let out the secret. "I well.. betrayed one of my bests friends, not on purpose.. Well you probably don't want to heard about it anyways, its a long story," he said doggedly. He was in two minds, he wanted to tell her, but he didn't want to admit how big of a coward he was. That was Scorpius, forever hesitating.

Dora doubted that it was a long story. Most things weren't, just blown out of proportion. But she loved stories and unlike many things, Scorpius' tale wasn't something that came back through the woodwork to her. Where would she hear things, honestly? A group of gossiping girls in the hallways told her nothing but she didn't want to know about half of the things they were interested in. She just wanted to make sure everyone was happy and healthy. She didn't worry about herself - she could have cared less about her own welfare.

"Scorpius, it isn't wise to keep things like this, which has obviously deeply effected you, bottle up. It's not good for your sanity. Slowly, these things eat away at a person and what really happened - the images become distorted and no longer seem like reality. Tell me. My father always used to say I was a good listener; even if I sometimes didn't understand."