Chapter 8 – Christmas time at Durmstrang
By Wednesday Lily was going out of her mind with boredom, she liked to get her work done and did spend a fair amount of time in the library studying every day but after five full days of either studying, being in lessons or eating in the dining car with Professor Longbottom and Lizzie she was desperate for someone else's company. Lizzie was constantly moaning about what she would do now that she had been kissing Peter when she was supposed to be going to the ball with Francis, would Peter ask her? Would she want to go with him instead of Francis? How can she work out what she's feeling when she can't even see either of them? She had been so supremely drunk at the time that she had been completely oblivious to what had been going on between Raulph and Lily and the latter had decided not to share the details until she had seen Raulph and found out for herself whether it had been just because he was drunk. She had laid in bed every night running over it again and again and then fantasizing that they had actually been able to kiss she imagined what it would have been like, a few times the kiss had developed into something more as Raulph's hands had begun to explore her body both outside and inside her clothe. The idea had excited her and this Wednesday morning she was feeling more eager than ever to see him, she was hoping that he was going to mention the almost kiss and they would finally be able to sort out their feelings.
After eating a freshly prepared sandwich in the dining car Lily and Lizzie went their separate ways for the only lesson which they did not have together, as she walked across freshly fallen snow to the animal pens in the courtyard she saw a familiar crop of shaggy dark blonde hair, he had his back to her and was talking to Oskar and Bjorn who nodded at her as she approached the group. "Afternoon," they said as Raulph turned to look at her, she felt her heart skip a beat when he smiled down at her and she gazed longingly into his shining blue eyes, "sorry about the punishment, it's a bit harsh, bet you're going out of your mind!" Bjorn added looking at her apologetically.
"We should have reset the charm when we left but..." Oskar said.
"It's nearly over," she replied.
"Hi!" Raulph said quietly, almost shyly.
"Hi," she returned looking away from him now as she realised she had been staring at his face for much longer than was normal.
"I've missed you around," he went on, "thought you were avoiding me at first until I heard about your imprisonment, sorry about that, I should have checked the charm when they'd gone too."
"It's done now, don't worry about it," she reassured suddenly becoming a little worried that he appeared to be uncomfortable around her, she was waiting for him to mention the kiss but knew that he would not bring it up while his friends were still there.
She waited through the entire lesson, once Frau Morton had sent them off in twos to find out which foods the new firestoat preferred she hoped that he might bring it up, they were completely by themselves and had chosen the pen furthest from the teacher which was also a short distance away from all the other ones. After trying leaves and berries Lily went straight for the juicy looking steak which each group had been provided with and discovered that the firestoat was a rather vicious carnivore as it devoured the whole thing in seconds using its razor sharp teeth. Once they had discovered this fact they tried to feed it the other food sources they had been given but the animal was disinterested in it all and so were they, instead they kept looking at each other uncomfortably and Lily was desperate for him to mention the other night.
By the time Frau Morton had assigned their homework and they had packed up their experiments Lily was almost beside herself, why had he not said anything to her yet? Surely if he had wanted to kiss her then he still wanted to now unless it had just been the drinking or he'd forgotten about it or... She looked over at him and smiled in a friendly way and he picked up her bag and offered to walk with her back to the train. This was it, they would be completely alone for a few minutes, she was sure he wanted to say something and this was his chance, they might be able to finally share that kiss beside the train before she had to go back into it for another torturous night.
As they walked side by side over the drawbridge towards the train they both made idle conversation about the lesson, it was mostly prompted by Raulph and Lily was allowing him to take the lead in the hopes that he would eventually move on to the other night. As they got closer and closer to the scarlet engine she began to worry that he was not going to bring it up at all and was half tempted to mention it herself when they had reached the carriage door and they were still discussing the bizarre collection of food they had been provided with for the firestoat. Lily put her hand on the door when they got there and then turned to look at his face, she was slightly smaller than he was so she had to look up and she noticed that his eyes were boring back down into hers, this was it he was going to say something or do something, "Lily," he whispered.
"Hmm," she said almost breathlessly.
He coughed and went on, "The...the other night."
"Yes," she replied leaning towards him a little.
"Well...it was...was good fun, wasn't it?" she nodded at him, she was still looking up at him but his eyes had now begun to shift nervously around which she found quite endearing. "I...I am sorry though about what happened, I...I should have been more...careful but...I..." he coughed again and Lily started to feel worried again that this stilted sentence was not going to go the way she wanted it to, did he mean he was sorry that they got caught, or was he sorry he had tried to kiss her again? She tried to hide the worry behind a smile but he wouldn't look into her face anyway so it didn't really matter. "I just...I'm sorry that we can't have our usual afternoon today." He looked up at her then and smiled, "I suppose you have to get in?" he gestured to the door and her heart sank.
"Yes," she replied sullenly.
"Well, I'll...I'll see you after your imprisonment."
"Yeah."
"Bye then," he said quietly turning away from her and walking back towards the castle by himself. Lily watched him go and bit her lip to keep back the emotion she was feeling, she had been so sure that he was going to say something, bits of her birthday night had come back to her over the week and she was sure that Raulph had actually said something about wanting to kiss her, but was it only the alcohol which had done that? She turned and walked through the door making her way to the library where she tried to work for the rest of the afternoon but her head was confused again and she didn't get very much done. By the time she packed away for her dinner she had barely written a word on her parchment but she had convinced herself that it had been purely alcohol talking and that she was going to put away her feelings for the handsome young Krum and concentrate on something else.
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Raulph inwardly kicked himself all the way back to the common room where he actually did kick a couple of chair legs and stubbed his toe before sitting down in one of them and burying his face in his hands, what the hell had that been about? Why hadn't he just said to her, 'I like you Lily,'? What's the worst that could have happened? She said no and their friendship was ruined. But she had looked quite responsive to him, like she was waiting for him to mention the other night and he'd turned into a blundering idiot stuttering and spluttering an apology about the whole thing. He had been all set to talk to her on the way back to the train as it had been impossible really in the lesson, even though they had headed for the furthest pen he had still found it too crowded for a conversation that could have ended in a kiss. It had only been as they were packing away and he had realised they would not be spending the afternoon together because of her punishment that he had offered to walk her back to her prison thinking it would be the perfect opportunity to say something.
He had played the conversation over a few times but when it came to actually saying it he found he was suddenly completely tongue tied, he had made small talk as they walked but when they had reached their destination he had found his brain and mouth had stopped working and after gabbling something about being sorry that it had all happened he had practically run away like a lovesick thirteen year old. He ran his fingers through his hair and stared into the burning fire in the grate, he knew now that he probably wouldn't see her again for two days until her punishment had been lifted and he decided then and there that the next time he saw her he was just going to tell her exactly how he felt. He spent the rest of the afternoon wishing that he was with Lily like he normally would be on Wednesdays and did very little else before his final lesson of the day.
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By Friday morning Lily and Lizzie were both adamant that they would never break a school rule again, they were desperate to be out of the Hogwart's Express and had both agreed that they would stay out for as much as possible over the weekend. They were quite excited about the prospect of eating in the great hall on Friday evening and after their lessons finished at three o clock they decided to take a long walk outside, even if it was cold. They ambled around the outskirts of the fortress passing the mountainside where the champions had completed their first task, Lily frowned as she remembered Raulph climbing up it and she once more began to dwell on fact that he had said he was sorry for what had happened on her birthday. She had now convinced herself that he meant he was sorry about almost kissing her and was determined to make sure he did not work out that she would not have been sorry at all. She had not seen him since Wednesday but she was well aware that she would probably run into him at dinner that night.
Eventually they had to set off towards the dining hall, they were looking forward to a loud and raucous meal for once after the week of eating alone, although the meals prepared by the house elves on the train were just as delicious as the ones in the castle, they were a much quieter affair with only Lizzie and Professor Longbottom for company. They took their seats at the sixth year table and were welcomed back by some people who commiserated them about their punishment. They smiled as they began to tuck into the food which appeared instantaneously on their plates and after wolfing down three courses were comfortably satisfied and ready to return to the main common room. As they rose from their seats Lily heard the voice she had been half dreading and half anticipating hearing since the moment she had walked into the room, "Lily," it said and she turned to look into those deep cerulean eyes once more, her stomach did its usual little flip but her resolve strengthened and she tried to ignore the way he was making her feel, "can we-"
He was cut off swiftly as another voice shouted her name aswell, "Lily," it said and she turned away from Raulph to face a slightly taller brown haired boy wearing Hogwarts robes.
"David," she replied to him softly.
"I...I'm sorry to interrupt," he looked apologetically at Raulph, it looked like he had been plucking up the courage to talk to Lily again and it seemed like a now or never moment, "I just thought we should...you know sort out our plans for the," his voice dropped quite low, "Yule ball."
"Oh, yes, yes I suppose we should," she replied glancing at Raulph for a second.
"So do you want to meet in the common room or up here at the hall?" he asked.
"I think the common room, don't you?"
"Right, okay the common room then at half past seven?" he replied looking a little more relaxed than he had when he had approached her.
"Half past seven," she said softly touching his arm and then he flashed her a quick smile before turning around and heading back to the seventh year table where he had been sitting. Then Lily turned back to look at Raulph, "Did you want to talk?" she asked gently.
"What?" he replied looking a little confused, "yes I...er...are you going to the ball with David?" he asked and she nodded in reply. "Oh, I...no I just wanted to see how you were now that your confinement has been lifted," he grinned childishly trying to hide that fact that he was deeply gutted that she had a date for the ball while simultaneously trying to show that he had not been about to ask her himself.
"Great," she said, "I won't be breaking any more rules anytime soon," she went on, "was there anything else?"
"What? Oh no, no I'm just glad you're punishment is over, I'll see you around yeah?"
"I'm sure you will," she finished and then turned to walk out of the hall, arm in arm with Lizzie. Raulph watched her walk away and felt himself pining, he had been building up all day to ask her if she wanted to go to the ball with him and he had been hoping she would say yes and then he would have a starting point to work from in order to kiss her properly and maybe ask her to be more than just friends.
Lizzie chuckled all the way to the train and by the time they got there Lily had to ask her what was wrong.
"What was wrong?" she replied laughing heartily now they were inside the common room, "That was brilliant!"
"What do you mean?" Lily asked innocently.
"Oh, Lily you are so naive! I thought you were playing hard to get."
"Me? Why?"
"Oh it is so obvious that Raulph likes you, he was gutted when he realised you were going to the ball with David!"
"Was he?"
Lizzie shook her head and continued through strangled giggles, "You really have no idea do you? You think I can't remember much about your birthday don't you?" Lily looked at her and drew back her head in shock. "I was quite out of it I know, but I do remember you two going off to a quiet corner on your own and it looked like you were going to be doing what me and Peter were already doing, oh come on Lily," she said as the other girl sat back and stared at her friend, "I know you were kissing."
"No we weren't!" Lily shrieked.
"Liar!"
"We weren't, we were almost kissing but then the teacher came in and well you know what happened next, and then I had to wait until Wednesday and when I saw him I thought he was going to say something about it and he even walked me back here after the lesson because we couldn't go to the common room and then he tried to say something to me but he kept looking away from me and ended up just apologising for what had happened. I think he meant the almost kiss," she added quietly.
"No way," her friend replied. "That boy was dying to ask you out until David mentioned the ball and then you could see it in his face, he was disappointed."
"Well that's not how he came across to me," Lily sulked.
"Lily, did you say anything to him about the almost kiss?"
"Well...no...I didn't..."
"Because?"
"Because I was waiting for him to say something."
Lizzie began to laugh again, "And he was probably waiting for you to say something! Honestly I swear next time I see him I'm going to-"
"Don't you dare," Lily shrieked at her, "I will never forgive you!"
"Well you'd better get it done instead and soon because I'm sick of seeing you both gazing at each other like love sick puppies and doing nothing about it!" Lily looked at her friend with a slightly angry stare but relaxed it and began to laugh along with her after a while, maybe she was right but it was a bit late now with the ball coming up, she had already agreed to go with David and she couldn't change that now she would just have to talk Raulph afterwards, if she could ever find the courage to do so.
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As the last day before the Christmas holidays approached students and teachers alike were full of the Christmas spirit, the last few lessons of the week were all centred around a Yuletide theme and included charming decorations on to trees and transfiguring redundant items into sparkling decorations. There were Christmas tunes playing all day through the corridors by a magical schoolboy choir and a fresh sprinkling of snow on the ground every morning only helped to put everyone in the holiday mood. Lily and Raulph had had two more care of magical creatures lessons and had spent both afternoons following the lessons working in the large Durmstrang common room. Neither of them had mentioned anything about the night of Lily's birthday and things had gone back to normal between them.
Lily had been on a couple of walks with David who had become less nervous around her and they had even kissed the previous night when they had walked underneath one of the fresh sprigs of mistletoe being floated around the castle and its grounds. It had been a pleasant kiss but there had not been any spark or jolt of electricity for Lily like there had been with Raulph. David was an attractive boy but in a much more serious way than Raulph, he had dark brown hair which was always neatly styled and closely shaven at the back and his eyes were blue like Raulph's but they did not seem to shine out at her when she looked at him. He reminded her of her Uncle Percy who was the most serious of the Weasley Uncles, David was very studious and abided by all of the rules, he had not mentioned Lily's birthday night during any of their walks around the castle but she could tell that he had not been impressed by the activities. A few times during their time together she would compare him to carefree and fun Raulph who was always laughing and joking while he still had his more serious side but as she now knew that he did not have the same feelings for her as she did for him Lily had decided to make the best of it and try to forget about him in the hopes of developing a spark between her and David.
The only thing which had spoilt the Christmas mood for Lily was when she had turned up for her last care of magical creatures lesson, it had been the last one of the term and Frau Morton had allowed them to test which drinks the firestoat preferred and had included Christmas eggnog as one of the choices. As she had approached the pens where the lessons took place she had noticed a boy she had never seen before, he looked to be a seventh year and was wearing the Durmstrang uniform, he was tall, bulky and had a podged belly. His hair was roughly cut around his shoulders and was bright blonde, he had a menacing look about him and when he noticed Lily walking up to the pens he leered at her and put his fingers in his mouth to call a wolf whistle at her. There had only been a few other members of the class waiting at the time as she had been early and they all turned away and ignored his behaviour as Lily started to blush. Eventually she had reached the area and had had no choice but to stand by herself and wait for Raulph, she looked out towards the entrance which led to the great hall staring determinedly in that direction however the leering boy had moved closer to her, right into her personal space, and had then run a finger down her arm making Lily shudder as he said, "And who might you be?"
"Lily Potter," she had replied putting on a brave voice and trying to hide the fact that she was feeling very uncomfortable in such close quarters to this boy.
"From Hogwarts are you?" he asked in a seedy voice, "Yeah I noticed you all seem to be pretty you Hogwart's girls and the Beauxbaton ones too, got a date for the ball yet? Cause if you haven't I'll take ya!"
He had cackled then in a sinister way and she had replied using the same calm unwavering voice, "Yes, thank you."
"Shame, I could have had a bit of fun with a pretty girl like you!" He had cackled once more while putting his hand on her arm, Lily had held back the shiver determined not to show this horrible boy that he was making her uncomfortable and at that moment Raulph and his friends had stepped out of the castle, laughing and joking as usual, and had made their way towards her. She'd noticed the look on Raulph's face turn to one of anger when he saw the position she was in and he had suddenly started to stride purposefully in her direction.
"Get away from her, Branton," he said as he reached her and knocked away the hand which was still resting on Lily's arm, "you may think you've got away with what you did, but we all know it happened and we'll be watching you even if the teachers aren't."
"Well well, it's the champion," he had said sarcastically, "this your date for the ball?" he'd asked tuning back to Lily, she had started to shake her head but as she did so Raulph grabbed her arm and led her away from him.
"None of your business," he called back over his shoulder and then when he had moved far enough away he had turned Lily to face him before explaining his actions. "That's Rick Branton, nasty piece of work, always has been. He's a seventh year like me."
"How come I've never seen him before?" she asked curiously looking back at the boy who was leering at every girl who happened to walk across the courtyard.
"He was suspended just after we came back, before you all came. A girl in the fifth year accused him of trying to assault her in the common room one night after most students were in bed. He'd been leering at her since the first day and had been making suggestive comments, everyone had heard him, well everyone except the teachers. Anyway the day after it had happened the girl went to Nitschmann and told him what had gone on and naturally he had hit the roof, Branton was called in and his parents notified while the girl went home for a while. The headmaster suspended him indefinitely until the matter was sorted out. Of course no one here knew what was going on but I know a lot of girls were relieved because he was always whistling at them and watching them like that," he indicated the boy who was now staring at a younger girl crossing the courtyard by herself, the way he looked at her made Lily feel uncomfortable for the girl and she shuddered a little. "Then, lo and behold three days ago he comes waltzing back into our dorm, all charges were dropped, the girl had 'got it all wrong'," he made air quotes with his fingers around these words and flashed a glaring look at Rick who was searching round for another victim, "reckoned she had made it all up because he wouldn't look at her and she was trying to pull him."
"But how did...?"
"Branton's Dad is well off and in with the magical government, he'll have paid someone off, the girl has moved schools, apparently too embarrassed about what she has done and Rick is back here just in time to ruin everyone's Christmas fun. He's bad news Lily please stay away from him as much as you can, and warn Lizzie too and the other Hogwarts girls for that matter. The teachers will be keeping a closer eye on him I'm sure but he's sly and sneaky so just be careful won't you?" She had nodded at him, secretly pleased that he cared so much about her and thinking back for a moment on what Lizzie had said about it being obvious that he liked her. Looking up at him during that moment she could have really believed it wholeheartedly, he was trying to protect her and she found it wonderfully endearing.
Lily had managed to avoid Rick's stares and crude comments for the rest of the week and now there was only twenty minutes left until the holidays officially began, Christmas day was in six days and that meant the Yule ball too. As most people were staying at the school over Christmas because of the triwizard festivities the teachers had decided to organise a trip into the nearest wizarding village for all students in the top three years. It was to take place on Saturday and they would all be taken by sleigh down the mountain to Lisleberg, a village similar to Hogsmeade only slightly larger. It had been founded at the same time as the school almost eight hundred years ago and had originally been a place to house all the teachers who had not lived on site in those days. As there were only wizards living there it had quickly become a popular place to live as it meant they did not need to take care to keep their world hidden from the muggles. The place had grown over the years and was a thriving wizarding village with a variety of interesting and curious shops alongside those which provided most wizarding essentials.
The students, especially those who had never been before, were excited about the visit and Lily and Lizzie were up until the early hours talking about what it was going to be like. Hogsmeade at Christmas was like a magical wonderland, it was always covered in snow and decorated in style, trudging through the snow on a cold winter's day had been one of the highlights of the year and the girls had done all of their Christmas shopping during the one visit they were allowed before going home for the holidays. They both hoped that Lisleberg would be almost the same with singing choirs and hundreds of decorations up and down the street, they wondered what shops would await them and what delights there would be inside to send home to their loved ones.
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Saturday morning dawned and a group of excited students gathered near the castle drawbridge where seventeen white sleighs were waiting for them in a long row, they had room enough for about eight students and each one was being drawn by two animals which looked like a cross between a reindeer and a moose, they appeared much bigger and stronger than an average reindeer and seemed aptly built to drag the large sleighs full of people. Lizzie and Lily climbed into a sleigh near the back of the row and were promptly joined by Terry and David along with a couple of other Hogwart's students. Lily noticed Raulph approach the drawbridge and look round for her, when he caught sight of the dark haired girl in her snow white fur lined cloak he smiled and then turned to look for another sleigh when he noticed that she was sitting with David. Lizzie also saw this and smiled knowingly at her friend who frowned in response before turning her head to engage in conversation with David.
"Do you girls think you could help me pick out something for Mel?" Terry asked shyly, "I haven't a clue what I should buy her." They giggled at him and nodded as the sleighs began to move forwards and the next fifteen minutes passed quickly as they gazed at the scenery around them and discussed possible ideas for Mel's present.
The ride down the mountain was smooth as they travelled over the fresh snow, they passed through a short forest and came out on the other side where they could see the little village in the distance, it was about halfway up the mountain on another plateau, it was larger than Hogsmeade but looked just as picturesque, especially with the snow all around it. There was one long street which had a variety of different sized buildings all of which looked like Alpine lodges, they were all built out of logs and had small porches on the front of them, as they drew nearer the eagerly looking students could see that they all had a few steps which led up to them as they were elevated from the floor. There were a few side streets leading off the main one where more buildings of similar sizes could be seen, these looked more like homes than shops though. Everything was covered in snow so the roofs could not be seen properly and the main street was just compacted white, lots of wrapped up shoppers were already hurrying up and down the street calling in shops and carrying bags of goodies.
The sleighs all came to rest outside a large cabin at the bottom of the street which had a pub sign swinging outside, it was called The Alpine Horn and unlike the other buildings along the street it had no porch, the door opened straight out onto the street and as it opened to let out a couple of customers the students could see a roaring fire inside, stoked up high to keep its patrons warm. They all alighted from the sleighs in small groups, David held out his hand for Lily as she stepped down and Raulph passed by at the same time, Lizzie noticed him cast a green eyed look at the Hufflepuff boy but Lily had not seen it, she took the hand gratefully and landed by his side without ever seeing Raulph walk past them.
"The sleighs will leave from here in three hours students, be sure to be back because it is a long and steep walk back to the fortress if you miss them," Professor Nitschmann informed them all before turning to the other teachers who had accompanied them and gesturing towards the Alpine Horn's doorway.
Once they had all disappeared inside the students left in small groups to explore the shops, "Would you care to walk with us?" David asked the girls who nodded in agreement and they set off up the slightly elevated street in search of purchases. Raulph, who was stood slightly ahead of Lily and her friends with Peter and Sitric, saw David offer his arm to her and she took it willingly, he felt a growling inside of him and soon realised that he was glaring quite menacingly in their direction. He did not like the boy who Lily was with and he knew it was purely because he wanted it to be him offering her his arm as they made their way through the streets of Lisleberg. A cough from one of his friends brought him out of his reverie and they set off into the village themselves a few paces behind the brown haired boy who's back Raulph was almost burning a hole into.
There were curiosity shops dotted up and down the street selling a strange variety of things, one of them was covered from wall to wall in talismans and superstitious items which Lily found amazing, she noticed a corner dedicated to a phenomenon she had heard of but was convinced did not exist, the crumple horned snorcack, which her godmother Luna was obsessed with. She received a few strange looks from her companions when she decided to buy a bracelet supposedly made from its claws but she dashed these away as she said, "My godmother, Professor Longbottom's wife, is obsessed with this creature, I think she'd like this for Christmas!" She bought her cousins various selections of sweets from a store which could rival Honeydukes and spotted a silver alchemists test tube set in an old apothecary which she got for Albus.
After finding suitable gifts for all of their families the four friends set about choosing something for Terry to give to Mel, at the top of the street was a small jewellery shop which had a variety of both antique and new items. They eventually picked out a necklace for Mel which had a strange glowing red jewel on it, they all thought was very pretty and it reminded Lily of a similar one which her mother wore around her neck. It was a golden rock which shimmered constantly without having to be polished or even washed, her mother said her father had given it to her shortly after they were married but she never explained why it shimmered like it did. While they were waiting for Terry to pay for the necklace the doorbell tinkled and Raulph walked in with Sitric, he nodded at Lily and asked her if she was enjoying Lisleberg and she replied with a vehement 'yes.' David stepped closer to her as Raulph spoke and she felt his arm slip around her waist as the latter's eyes seemed to darken a little. "I'm looking for something for my mother," Raulph said focusing his attention on the pretty girl and not the envious looking boy clamped to her side, "any ideas?"
"I was just looking at these beautiful charms," she said pointing to a selection of antique gold ones in the shop window, "does your mother have a charm bracelet?" she asked and he looked at her with an expression which told her he had no idea what kind of jewellery his mother had at all. "Nothing like this?" she said holding out her own bracelet but his expression didn't change, "Oh, well maybe not, why not just try a simple bracelet, I'm sure she would be happy with anything!" she laughed and Raulph found himself chuckling along, he loved to hear her laugh and her face always lit up when she did so giving her a more beautiful look than usual. He smiled gratefully at her and then noticed the boy beside her who was glaring at him but was obviously not going to act on the jealousy he was feeling.
"I'll find something," he said deciding to back off, "enjoy the rest of your day," he added and then turned to walk to another corner of the shop as Terry approached with his gift bag and the four of them left. Having picked up everything they wanted the companions decided to head back to the Alpine Horn and enjoy a bottle of butterbeer before they made the journey back up to the castle. It was cosy and warm inside the pub which had lots of cosy booths along three of the walls and a variety of mismatched tables and chairs in the centre. They bought four bottles and then clambered into one of the booths, Terry sitting with Lizzie and David sliding in next to Lily. He was starting to get on her nerves a little bit now, she had never spent such a long period of time in the company of a boy before, other than her family members and Raulph, and the way he kept sliding his arm around her waist and offering it to her as they walked was too much. In truth she didn't have any feelings for the boy, she had been flattered when he'd asked her to the ball and had agreed because she had no other offers but now he seemed to want to be by her side all the time and she was getting a little fed up of it. They had kissed on a few more occasions and she had still felt nothing for him, he was attractive enough but there was nothing about him which made her stomach flip like it did when she looked at Raulph. He was always around and did not seem to like it when she talked to her Durmstrang friend and so she had already decided that after the ball she would find a way to end whatever was going on between them, there was little point in being in a relationship she was not particularly enjoying but knew a few days before the ball would not be the best time to do it.
As she was thinking over this again the door opened and Raulph walked in with his friends, as predicted David slid a little closer to Lily when he noticed this and she sighed inwardly, she nodded towards her friend and he returned it but also spotted the look in her companion's eye so decided not to try and talk to her. They sat at the other end of the pub with three bottles of butterbeer and waited until it was time to ride their sleighs back to the school. As the professors in the corner rose from their seats all the students did so too and followed them out into the chill mid afternoon air, Lily took the opportunity to catch up with Raulph and ask him what he had ended up buying his mother but he quickly hid the bag and explained that it was just a simple sliver bracelet and she nodded. At the same time he glanced over at her three fellow students and noticed David glaring at him menacingly, "He doesn't like you talking to me does he?" he asked and she shook her head trying to hide the fact that it annoyed her but failing miserably, "But we're only friends," he added, "doesn't he get that?"
"I don't think so," she replied.
"Ride back up with us," he suggested but she shook her head, "go on Lily," he pleaded, "bring Lizzie along too, Peter will like it!" he added "Come on Potter, you don't have to be surgically attached to your boyfriend every minute of the day!" he goaded.
"He's not my boyfriend," she shrieked quietly hitting him on the arm.
"I think you ought to tell him that," he joked glancing over at the boy once more, "come on there's room for both of you in here," he indicated two spare seats in the sleigh he had his foot on the step of and she looked at it wistfully before turning back to look at Terry, Lizzie and David.
"I can't," she said and Raulph shrugged his shoulders at her dejectedly.
"See you back at school then," he said quite sullenly as he climbed into the sleigh and took a seat next to Sitric. Lily felt a little affronted by his response and turned around to walk back to her friends, they climbed into a sleigh a little further behind and when David sat close to her again and took her hand in his she felt like kicking herself for not taking Raulph up on his offer. He had looked quite hurt and annoyed when she had rejected him and as the reindeer like animals began to pull the travellers back up the mountain side she noticed the boys in the other sled laughing and joking and realised it would probably have been more fun if she had travelled with him. Looking out into the trees as they were enveloped by the forest Lily sighed as she realised that now they were not having lessons for the next two weeks and therefore she would probably see very little of Raulph until the new year as they would not have their usual Wednesday afternoons together something which she now counted down to. She also realised that if she attempted to seek him during their time off David probably would not react very well.
They reached the fortress quickly and once again David helped her down from the sleigh and escorted her back to the Hogwarts Express, she tried to flash a quick smile at Raulph as she passed him on the way but he did not return it even though she knew he had seen her and she returned to her dormitory with her purchases feeling much less spirited than she had when she had left it.
