The Three Broomsticks (Extra)

Ignoring what she said about his having to fancy something he skimmed over the essay, picking it up so he could sit normally and read it. "This looks pretty good so far but here, this might help." Putting down the essay he picked up another book and flipped through it, trying to find the page he wanted. When he got it he turned it around to show her, "Here you go. Does that help?"

Violet rolled her eyes a little, muttering in her head mostly, though slightly under her breath as well, that of course there was something wrong with it. She took the book from him regardless and skimmed it over. "Oh, yeah, I was looking for something about that part, actually." She grabbed another scrap of paper and scribbled a few things down, tucking it into the page so she could keep that spot marked. Turning back to the book she had more recently been looking at, she continued reading the tiny script, hunched low over the book, cursing the low light of her favorite corner table.

He smirked, pleased that he had helped and amused by her disgruntled muttering. Picking the book he was reading up again he tucked back into the pie, quickly finishing the plate off. Raising his hand he caught the bartender's attention and Madam Rosemerta came over to see what the wanted. Ordering himself another drink and a pasty he looked over at Vi to see if she wanted anything.

Violet simply shook her head at him, and went back to scribbling down notes. Grabbing her essay back from his side of the table, she wrote in a few more sentences, concentrating so that her handwriting was very legible and she got all the strokes and curls on her letters just how she liked them. Writing was fun to her, just the act of it. It was a bit like drawing, but more constrained because the shapes were predetermined, but still sort of fun to see how you could warp them and still make them obvious what they were meant to be. She was the sort whose handwriting changed monthly, just on a whim of trying a new way to write. Satisfied with what she had written, both in form and content, she pushed it to the side again and kept reading through her books, taking notes, putting some away and and pulling others closer to her. "Hey, do you know..." she paused, fighting with herself if she wanted to ask his help or not. Part of her wanted to do it all herself, independent, you know. Just how she'd been all her life. But part of her liked having someone to ask questions, someone to help her out. "uh, this chapter on turning mice to earmuffs... you're supposed to use their natural body parts to form parts of the object, right? So are you supposed to use, say, their tails for the headband part? I just wonder if I'm right in how I'm thinking about all this, it just seems really, really weird to a girl who was never taught this crazy stuff."

He looked up when she spoke, waiting for her to finish her sentence. When she had finally asked her question he nodded, reaching over and grabbing a spare piece of parchment and her quill. "Yeah, kinda. See like this," and he drew her this picture:



"So does that make sense?" He pointed to the main part of the mouse, "it sorta splits in transfiguration so when I visualise I usually try to see it as just the side of the earmuffs like this," and he drew this next bit in next to it:



"Get it? Kinda?" He gave her a somewhat hopeful look, remembering last time he tried to help her.

Violet leaned forward, watching as he started to draw. She bit down hard on her lower lip to keep from laughing or grinning too broadly, figuring that he wouldn't appreciate it if she dissolved into laughter at his attempts to explain what she was meant to do. Finally though, it came time for her to talk, and she took a good little while to gather herself properly. "Yep," she managed, biting her lip again as he paused. "That's how I was thinking." Finally she couldn't handle it anymore, and covered her face as she flopped back against the back of the seat, shaking lightly with giggles. She took a deep breath, calming herself again as she looked at him. "Sorry. Those are very good mice. Thanks."

He gave her a look when she cracked up laughing, "Whatever. As long as they helped." He knew he sucked at drawing and didn't really take it personally but those had been some pretty good mice. For him. When she had completely calmed down and he had accepted his food and pasty from Madam Rosemerta he spoke again, "So when are you doing the practical for all this? It would probably help you with the theory writing to be honest."

Violet took a few good slow breaths and turned back to writing her essay, glancing up when he spoke. "I don't know. Later I guess. If you're suggesting practice right now, I think I'll pass, as last time you attempted teaching me did not end so very well and I wouldn't like to have another five days where we don't talk, if you don't mind." She shrugged and looked down at her paper again, writing in a few more lines of information, still talking as she did so. "I didn't mean to upset you laughing, if I did. Then again, if I did, maybe you should loosen up. You should always be able to laugh at yourself, and you're so..." she paused, searching for the word inside her head. She wasn't able to find just the one she was hoping for, but made her shoulders all boxy and put on a stern frown and glared a little, pretending to be Walden. "I don't know. Don't you ever just goof off and have some fun? I mean, sure you flopped down in the grass when we went looking for those potions ingredients, but that doesn't really count."

Listening to her he leaned back and unintentionally made the exact face she was mocking. He could have fun... If he wanted ... But usually he kept his cool and his composure at all times. Laughing and acting like an idiot had no appeal to him at all. Maybe it did make him impersonal sometimes but he never felt like he had suffered for a lack of close personal relationships. Needless to say anyone else would disagree with that, saying it had turned him into a surly solitary bastard. Rolling his eyes he gave her a sarcastic smile, "Yes I know how to have fun but I don't see the point though of goofing off, what good does it do other than making someone look like a complete fool?"

Violet shook her head at him, her face softening once again as she leaned forward, resting her elbows on the table. "Walden Macnair, who's your best friend?" She stared at him seriously, talking again before he could answer. "You win a vacation for you and three friends to anywhere you want, where would you go and who would you take? You've been surrounded by all kinds of people for your whole time at Hogwarts since you were eleven. You've got to have an answer for me." It was almost like she was begging him for an answer, hoping that he had one. Hoping at least he had a best friend even if maybe she didn't feel like she had many at all.

Macnair looked at her, keeping his face neutral as she spoke. Best friend? He had a few people he got along with tolerably, people he would go out for a couple of drinks with after a meeting, but nothing special. Dolohov and Rookwood were okay but he wouldn't 'take them on a vacation anywhere he wanted'. He could see the hope in her face that he would say someone but he shook his head anyway, "No one I can think of that I would want to take anywhere with me for an extended period of time." He could see the disappointment on his face but he didn't really see any problem not having a 'best friend'. He had company when he wanted it and that was all he needed.

"That's really sad, Walden," she admitted to him, shrugging one shoulder weakly as she gave him a slightly pathetic look. "You might feel like being alone is okay, but before long alone just turns to lonely, and everybody needs someone from time to time." She wondered if she was talking more to herself or him, and wasn't sure what the answer was. "You should learn to have fun. You should come to Hogsmeade on Halloween. Mostly because I don't want to go by myself."

He shrugged back at her, "What are you doing for halloween? I guess you'll get dressed up and eat more candy than your system can handle?" He grinned and leaned back, relaxing again now that they seemed to have their conversation about his relationships, both romantic and platonic, behind them. "Sure I'll come. As long as I get candy and firewhiskey, oh and I'm not dressing up."

"That's the best way to spend Halloween," she laughed, crossing her arms and giving him a challenging look. "There will be lots of candy for us both, lots of firewhiskey for us both, but yes, you will be dressing up." She lifted and eyebrow and shook her head as she saw the protest building in his expression. "Don't. It's a losing battle you're about to fight, Walden Macnair. I'll have you know I've had no less than three boyfriends and four other males give in and concede to dress up on Halloween for me. You will just be another for the list," she said with a grin, leaning in to whisper to him with a smirk, "trust me." She started closing up some of her books, stacking them away to the side since they were no longer being used. "The only issue now remains is what will our costumes be? I always try and go for something different each year, because repeating costumes is boring." She started brainstorming, chewing on her fingernail absentmindedly as she did so. "If you have a preference, speak up."

He was so ready to argue back but when she leaned in with that smirk he just sighed, giving in only because he did want a mountain of candy and he didn't want to get in a fight with her again. "Fine. Make it a lot of black and nothing stupid. Okay?" He rolled his eyes, dreading to think what she was going to come up with, at least if her rainbow wardrobe was anything to go by. Reaching forwards he ripped the end off his pasty, "So what have you been in the past?" Leaning back again he continue to eat, waiting for the inevitable deluge of information he was about to receive.

Violet laughed, a light warm sound rolling from her chest. "You don't trust me to pick a costume for you, do you? Doesn't matter. You'll like what I've got in mind, I think. It's fitting. Very fitting." She glanced up his torso as if measuring him, pinned him with a look, and then smiled widely like the gif below. "Trust me!" At his question, she sat back and thought for a moment, readying herself to name them all. "Okay, we'll make this a quick list. Ready? I'm going to talk fast," she told him, taking a breath, "A muggle child witch when I was eight, a muggle hippy when I was nine, pirate at ten, ballerina at eleven, demon when I was twelve, vampire when I was thirteen, vampire hunter when I was fourteen, and that muggle hero Catwoman last year. I think that's all right. I didn't really get to do Halloween before the witch year though I did have some fairy wings and a Hogwarts hat I wore around Bobby's house on Halloweens before that. Couldn't tell you what that costume was meant to be. I've got a few ideas for this year, so we'll have to see what I can put together. For you though, I've got a solid plan. And as soon as you shove that pasty into your mouth, we can go get it. Halloween is in two days anyway."

Spoiler:

He restrained himself from letting out a nervous cough when she smiled at him like that, now vaguely terrified of what she was going to do to him. Whatever if it was that awful he would just not go, or transfigure it into black robes. He was about finished up his pasty when she finished listing, generally amused by the costumes and wondering exactly how Catwoman dressed. Sounded interesting to him. Obligingly he ate the last piece of pasty, put down what they owed on the table, seemed like he was covering everyone's checks today, and downed the last of his butterbeer. "Okay Miss Impatient, where do you want to go first?" Standing up he helped her put the books away in her bag and grabbed his own coat, opening the door to let her out into the blustery autumn weather.

Violet watched as he put down enough money to cover her shepherd's pie as well, but she picked up a bit of his money and put down her own sickles instead, shoving her books into her bag as he handed them to her and following him to the door. As she caught up with him, she pressed his money back into his hand. "You're not buying my dinner for me, you already bought one unfortunate girl's food today anyway," she explained, stepping past him out into the street. "There's a shop around the corner closer to the shrieking shack that sells costume sorts of things around this time of the year. I think we can find all we need in there, so come on!" She grinned, grabbing his hand that hadn't had money shoved into it, and tugging him along down the street.

I'm going to hijack this thread from myself for a little while because it's not like we're going to be here for three pages worth or something.

James looked down at her when she said 'don't', but didn't let it upset him. He shrugged lightly as they came to a stop outside The Three Broomsticks. "Well don't think it's anything overly special, I won't be treating you different from anyone else. I'd have probably done the same for whoever I invited, just so you know. And if you feel that upset about it, I'll let you buy me a butterbeer," he added with a jovial wink. He turned and followed her inside, peeking over her head to see if there were any open spots. Though it was essentially filled up, there was one table off in a corner that people seemed to forget existed that was left vacant. "Over to the right is a spot!" he told her excitedly, nudging her elbow gently in the right direction before he took the lead, pushing through groups of standing people so that they could get to the table through the crowd. He scooted into one side of the little booth, moving the salt and pepper shakers out of the way on Lily's side of the booth. He glanced around but figured it was next to impossible to seen back here. No waitress would likely come. "I think we're going to have to fetch our own drinks. I could go and get them unless you prefer... but one of us will have to stay behind to keep this table claimed for our awesome selves."

Good plan.

"Fair enough," Lily said when he explained he wasn't treating her any differently than he would any of his friends, mollified by his ready assurance he wouldn't do the same thing to her in the pub. She pushed through the crowd, hot on his heels as he took off for the free table, moving through the crowd more easily than she anticipated. Their bright costumes stood out, far flashier than anything else in the semi-dim setting, and people turned to look, creating a path as they did.
She thought a moment. "I'd say so. No, you mind the seat, it's fine. I'll go to the bar," she offered and made her way up to the nearest barman she could spot. There was a crowd of people spread along the bar, but Lily's bright outfit worked in her favour and it was only a minute before she'd managed to wave down some service. She ordered their butterbeers, and while he was pouring them she looked along the bar. A few themed snacks were on display, Lily supposed everyone wanted to get in on the holiday profits, and she considered a moment. Glancing back towards James holding the fort at their table, she considered going to ask him if he wanted anything or what he liked, but she dismissed the thought. She didn't have all afternoon to fight her way across the pub three more times just to ask a question. She bit her lip, coming to a decision as the barman plonked two full tankards in front of her. "Thank you. And a pack of those, please," she pointed.
A minute later, she was back across the pub and setting their drinks on the table. Smoothing her dress underneath her, she slid into the other side of the booth. "Here, I impulse shopped," she said, opening up a pack of ghost pretzels and putting it on the table between them.

Seriously, these are kind of neat....

James settled back in the booth comfortably, watching Lily walk off, unable to help but notice that those boots did really nice things for her. He ran his hand through his hair absentmindedly, as was a habit of his, realizing only after he'd done it that he had probably messed up how it had been gelled Elvis style. He pouted and picked up a spoon, hoping it was shiny enough to use as something of a mirror. It wasn't very good, but enough for him to guess how he needed to rearrange his hair to get it back to how it was meant to be. He sat it down quickly when Lily came back, looking from her, to the drinks, to the bag she was opening. "Awesome!" He picked up one and looked at it for a moment, before promptly biting its head off. "And delicious too, good choice, Evans. And thanks for getting the drinks, too." He grabbed his and held it up to her, waiting for a toast before taking a drink. "To having an awesome Halloween!"



ugh it's short I'm sorry >.>

I love how that's a short post for you. XD

Lily's lips quirked, she pressed them together to hold back the smile as she realised what James had been doing when she returned to their table. He'd done a pretty good job, but there was one stubborn lock of hair that, once freed from its gelled restraints, refused to be tamed again. She chuckled as he bit the head off the ghost pretzel, laughing more at his hair than anything, and picked up her own tankard. She'd been about to take a sip when he held his own up for a toast. She considered it a moment. Well, it was shaping up pretty well, actually. "An awesome Halloween. Cheers."
She took a sip, then put her tankard down. Her eyes strayed unbidden to that stray lock of James' hair once more as she reached for a pretzel. "Suppose I'd better try one, then," she decided, and picking one up she popped the end into her mouth. It was a surprise to the system, really, tasting the sweet icing where she'd automatically been expecting the saltiness of the pretzel. She absently began to lick the icing off, the way she usually would lick all the salt off pretzels before actually biting them, even though Petunia always said that was gross.

lol it is though! Maybe I just have high standards >.>
Also just noticed I'm not technically hijacking the thread from myself because they've already moved to a different place oops

James took a long swallow of his butterbeer after tapping his cup against hers. He picked up a second pretzel as she picked up her first, and watched unblinkingly for a moment as she sucked on it, her tongue attempting to get all the icing dissolved from the crunchy salty base it clung to. He shook his head and took a bite off the top of his own, under the belief that something delicious or good should be eaten right away and fully enjoyed instead of little bit by bit and prolonging things. There was more of it for later, so why bother trying to save it up? It was a different story with the valentines sweets. There were precious few and those were savored. But there were food rules for things like this, and perhaps only James understood them, but rules were rules, and he would certainly not waste time enjoying these pretzels. Suddenly he noticed she kept glancing at his hair over and over, and paused halfway through his pretzel. Swallowing the bit in his mouth, he tilted his head at her. "What?" he asked, reaching up to see about his hair, wondering if maybe he didn't get it all in his first attempt after all. "Is it still messed?" He tried to fix it but found himself at a loss. "Some help would be nice," he laughed, since his attempts to turn his eyes up and see the hair above his forehead were proving no success.

lol maybe. Or maybe you're just a rambler like me - I wrote a 200-350 word conference paper abstract that was 680 words and had to be violently culled by my friend. >.>
And well done.

If Lily could hear James' thoughts about pretzel consumption strategies, she would roll her eyes at the typical Potteresque expectation that he would always have the best of everything so he didn't need to appreciate the good things he had so much. Lily herself liked to savour her pretzels, since she had them she figured she might as well enjoy them as much as she can, and she liked to appreciate all the different flavours for what they were. So she happily continued to take all the icing off the pretzel, and then the salt, before finally chewing and swallowing the leftover wheat base.
Her lips curved a little again, then became a full smile when James noticed her eyes fixating on his hair and finally he appealed to her to fix it. "What," she laughed, "is this opposites day or something? You're actually trying to tidy your hair? Suppose something scary was bound to happen eventually, being Halloween and all. Come here, then, my arms aren't that long." She slid a little further into the booth, waiting for him to slide around too until his head was within her reach. It was so, so tempting to take creative licence and give him a couple of gelled-hair devil horns, but Lily behaved. She pressed the stray lock of hair back down, but right before her eyes it sprang back up as soon as the pressure of her fingers was released. Laughing, she tried a couple more times, with the same result. "I think you broke it, James," she announced, then had one last go at it. She pushed harder, using her whole hand to smooth the hair back until finally it seemed to regroup with the rest of James' Elvis style.
Pulling her hand away, Lily grimaced to feel the oily sensation of gel on her skin. "Here, you can have it back." And with that, she wiped her hand clean on the arm of James' outfit and set to work on another pretzel.

"Hey, only trying to tidy it because I'm Elvis right now. James Potter can come back in full splendor later, don't you worry," he laughed, moving toward her so that she could help fix it. He winced slightly as she kept pressing hard against his head, but when she finally seemed to make it work, he grinned his little sideways grin. "Thanks." He laughed and shrugged his shoulder playfully away from her as she wiped her hand off, and then tried to reach over and wipe his arm against her again. Instead he gave up and took another long drink of his butterbeer, sad he'd nearly drained it all so quickly. He waited for Lily to reach for another pretzel before he did as well, sneaking his fingers under hers and grabbing the one she had been reaching for. He grinned at her for a moment, pausing with it halfway to his mouth. "Oh, did you want this one?"