He'd never seen Hogsmeade like this. Maybe it had been during the war, when he'd been kept away from the little town, it must have been a good few years since he'd properly visited. In his mind Hogsmeade had always been a bright and shining glimmer of hope on the horizon. Something to look forward to when the weeks dragged, somewhere to escape to. Now it felt... wrong. A few aurors and people who looked like ministry-associated folk were milling about the small town, but there were no Hogwarts students. No teachers enjoying a rare afternoon off. No smiling faces chucking snowballs at each other in the streets.
Jude kicked at the snow, sending a flurry up into the air. Here it was still pristine and white, unlike the brown slurry that tended to line London's streets. His repetitive trudge between home and Knockturn alley each day was currently lined with the sludgy remains of melted ice. The short walk wasn't pretty, but it cleared his mind and gave him time to think in a way that flooing or apparating didn't.
Time to think was why he was here. A rare day off - a day when Noemi didn't need him and he'd already completed his tasks for Oogie. He hadn't had one of those since he'd started at the Devil's Den, he'd practically forgotten what free time was for. And for some reason he'd thought about Hogsmeade. About the weekend trips to the small town, and hours lingering in the apothecathy and potions store there, replenishing supplies that were already full and browsing potions he dreamed he'd one day make. He'd come on far since then, but the pull of nostalgia had been too great to resist.
Plus he'd wanted to see it for himself. The dome.
His parents were going half-mad of course, worrying about Jo. Since he'd moved out of their home and in with Noemi, he'd received a surprising amount of letters from them... but most of them centered on Jo and their worries about how the sixteen year old was faring in the unknown beyond the dome. Jude tried to reassure them, but secretly he was a little worried himself. He and Joanna had never really gotten along, but that didn't mean he didn't care about her. Or want to know she was safe. He'd heard rumours that a few people were now passing into or out of the dome... and a part of him was tempted by that madness.
He came to a halt, looking up to see where well-worn brown boots had brought him, walking without paying attention. Honeydukes. Of course. After the potions shop, this was always the next location on his list. With a shrug, he headed inside. Maybe some chocolate would do him good. Maybe he could buy his parents a box...
The bell chimed as he headed in, and he stomped the snow off of his boots on the mat, flicking down the dark grey hood of his outer robes and shaking out his bright turquoise hair. A usual check and minor panic over his appearance followed - making sure that his robes weren't bunched in the 'wrong' place, revealing what little of his breasts the binder couldn't squash down, checking his reflection in the glass and analysing quickly whether today he could pass, praying that the first words out of Flume's lips wouldn't be 'Afternoon Miss!' in a cheerful tone that he knew wasn't meant to harm, but felt like the stab of a knife every time.
But as his eyes rose to the door between kitchen and shop to see Flume approaching, it wasn't quite who he was expecting. A vaguely familiar face, but a different one from his early Hogwarts memories. A very attractive different face. "Oh.. hey," he said with a small smile, trying to keep his voice at the lower end of its natural spectrum, "Surprised you're still open. Must be pretty quiet these days, huh?"
