#c;alice04

The return to Hogwarts saw questions accompany Ted as the first few days back into what would be his final term came and went. Truthfully, he had been almost completely isolated from what had happened during the break and in a way, he believed himself to be fortunate. In other ways, he saw a need to catch up where others may have already made decisions or at least had an idea of where they stood. Homework kept him busy enough to where Ted could momentarily fall into a world where the hardest decision to make was when to start an essay. 

In the days leading up to their first Hogsmead weekend of the term, his questions grew until eventually he penned a letter to a friend outside of the castle walls: Alice. In the hours leading up to his small journey into the wizarding village, Ted found himself coming to accept a decision he would have to act on sooner rather than later. Yet, it was also something he pushed to the back of his mind in favor of happier and simpler thoughts. 

Their meeting place wasn’t the usual spot most agreed upon and that was perhaps why Ted had asked Alice to meet him at Zonko’s; the fact that they would be in a place meant to bring joy while discussing matters that were anything but fun wasn’t a detail lost on Ted. For as loud as Zonko’s was on the inside, it was relatively quiet on the outside. Lost in thought, Ted simply allowed himself to stand facing away from the joke shop while his mind raced to decide if he had enough information to make an accurate decision. It wasn’t too often Ted found himself feeling odd in the Wizarding world but when it came to politics, Ted found he really didn’t know as much as he thought he did. While that was fixable, it brought on a small frown.

With a shake of his head and a resolution to not worry until later, Ted drew himself out of his thoughts. After all, he hadn’t arrived terribly early and it would have been rude to greet Alice with a frown. There was always something to smile about and Ted was determined to find it before she showed up.