Courtyards!

"Real nice." I said, rolling my eyes as we walked back into the school. We could walk a bit before we had to split up and that's what we did.
"We have a trip tomorrow to hogsmeade so maybe you can find something." I said, turning to him before we had to go our separate ways.

"Eh? Really? Awesome!" He smirked down at her, putting his hands on either side of her head. "How about going to Hogsmeade with me tomorrow?"

"It would be my honor." I said, giving him a quick peck on the lips.
"I will meet you in the Great Hall at eight tomorrow, okay?" I asked him with a small smile.

"Eight?" He asked, face crumpling. "That's so early, though." He looked up toward the ceiling. "Why, oh why did you have to make me fall for one of those dreaded morning people?"

"That's not even that early love. Now go on home, before they send someone out looking for you." I said, before I turned to go back to my commons. Paige was in my room, of course, and I rolled my eyes.
"You're not getting any details." I said, and she pouted.
"Why not?" She asked and I rolled my eyes.
"Let's just go to bed." I said, changing into pajamas before I went to bed.


The next morning I woke up long before Paige did. I wasn't a morning person but she certainly wasn't.
"Wake up sleepy." I said, pushing her off my bed.
"Wha?" She asked, sitting up and I laughed at her.
"Nice hair." I rolled my eyes and she grumbled.
"You're evil." She informed me and I shrugged as I put my clothes on. I went out to the commons, skirted past a sleeping blue George, and went down to the commons, skipping. I sat next to Ian, who was miraculously here before Seb.
"I really thought that you'd be the one to sleep in." I informed him, stealing a top half of a bagel off his plate.

"Not early she says," he grumbled as he crawled through the barrels. "Eight in the morning, she says." His shoulders fell when he caught sight of Ian, who was just returning from a shower, absently rubbing a towel over his wet hair.  "IIIIANNN!" Seb cried out, throwing himself at his long time friend.
"Seb?" The tall boy asked, surprised at the sudden onslaught of dramatic boy. "Y'alright?"
"It's...it's terrible," Sebastian whispered. "I'm - Im a goner!"
With a scoff, Ian pushed him off and rolled his eyes. "Go to bed, Summerby. You're annoying."



Ian sighed as he spread cream cheese on his bagel. He had just placed it down and was picking up the other half when Kaalee stole the top. "Oi! Oh, it's you; you're cheerful, Black. Usually I'm up around this time, but I probably wouldn't be if I hadn't promised Gen. It's unfortunate, but it appears as though I'm the only civilized bloke left in Hufflepuff 6th year." His eye twitched at the memory. "Cole's a bloody bear, and Seb...well, you probably know just as well as anyone. Congrats, by the way - if dating that can call for congratulations."
He bit into his bagel. "You owe me honeydukes for that," he jerked his chin to the bagel in her hand, "and for compensation for your boyfriend. If he behaves like that again, do in have your official permission to beat him to a pulp? So annoying."

I laughed as he complained and I sat down next to him, slightly pushing a less than thrilled fifth year out of the way as I did so.
"Thank you, I'm sure the same was said to Gen when she decided it would be a good idea to try and date you." I teased him before I took a bite of the bagel and shook my head at his concluding statement.
"No, I'd rather have him as unpulplike as possible." I said, my eyes flicking to the doors, waiting for him to come in.

Ian pouted. "Of course not! They all know how awesome I am! And alright, but he begged not be as annoying as he was last night...and this morning, actually." Noticing her gaze, he smiled. "He was getting ready when I left the dorm; should be here in a bit."
Almost as soon as Ian said that, Sebastian walked through the door, waving and chatting with people he passed. He laughed at something a 7th year ravenclaw said, flipping the boy off goodnaturedly before catching sight of Kaalee. His face lot up.
"And speak of the devil," Ian said. He stood up, leaving his empty plate behind, but paused before leaving. "He really fancies you a lot, so try not to hurt him too badly, okay?"

Sebastian smacked a high five with Ian as he passed and then dropped down in the spot next to Kaalee his friend had just vacated. "Mornin! Look, I'm up, and it's not even the afternoon!"

"Congratulations love, would you like a star?" I asked him, giving him a muffin as I spoke.
"Unfortunately I'm fresh out of stars, unless you count me, but I do have muffins?" I said with a bright smile. I thought about Ian's words...I didn't want to hurt Seb at all. That was the problem with relationships, everyone always thinks their doomed to end.
"So, I thought we could make a stop at Honeydukes, because what six year old doesn't want candy, and then we could make our way around, which is why I made you wake up at this ungodly hour, so we wouldn't be rushed." I said, with a grin as I finished my bagel.

He snuck a quick kiss, a mischievous glint in his eye. "But you're sweeter than any muffin." He heard a gagging noise behind him, and turned around to push the little fourth year who had mocked him. The kid's friends collapsed into giggled, and Seb turned back to Kaalee, taking the preferred muffin from her.
"Thanks for that. Honeydukes? Yeah, yeah, let's go there! Greg loves those sour snitches they have, which really doesn't make any sense to me. Alright, shall we go? I can eat this on the way."

"Sure one second." I said, discreetly waving my wand at the fourth year and suddenly his hair was multicolored, but it was shifting colors every second. His friends burst into even greater laughter.
"Now we can go." I said with a smile, taking his hand as we walked out of the Great Hall and then outside. It was a beautiful day, sunny and warm. I looked up as we walked, sunning my face a bit.

Seb patted the kid on the shoulder supportively as he passed, but he was doubled over in laughter while they left the great hall. He stretched when they got outside, taking a deep breath of the morning air. "Ahh, it's so nice out!"

The walk to Hogsmeade wasn't long, maybe twenty minutes, and with the nice weather it made the trip seem even shorter. When we got there I debated.
"We should probably visit Honeydukes last so the candy doesn't get all melted. So where would you like to start?" I asked hi.

"Greg's the mousy bookish sort, so maybe Tom's Tomes? They've kids books there, right? Then a toy shop, probably." He grabbed her hand with a smile. "So, you like to read, too?"

"They do, quite a lot actually. I used to spend hours there." I said, with a small smile.
"Yes...what gave it away?" I said with a cheeky grin as we headed over to the old bookstore. It looked quite small on the outside but inside it was enormous.
"Follow me." I said, squeezing his hand slightly as I ducked under a shelf that instead of lying in it's own bookcase, connecting the one across from it. I led him around several corners, down a flight of stairs, up two flights of stairs, and across what seemed to be a moat except there were books instead of water. Finally we managed to get to the children's section, which was next to one of three windows in the store. It was sort of a mess, but no worse than the rest of the store. I flicked my wand and the books started to sort themselves. I grabbed several books as they passed her by and handed them to Seb to inspect.

"Over the river and through the woods," Seb sang under his breath as they navigated the shop. "Merlin's beard, does this shop have every book ever printed? I didn't know there were this many books in the world."
He juggled them as he tried to keep up with all the books shoved his way. A book bound in bright blue with a cartoon dog on the cover caught his eye and his face lit up. "No way," Seb laughed. "I used to love this book! Ahh, I haven't read it in forever."

"Good dog Carl." I read the title with a smile.
"I remember that book, I used to read it all the time too." I said, as I finished cleaning up.
"Any of the other ones catch your eye?" I asked him.

Chewing his lip, he sorted through the slim volumes, picking out an illustrated version of The Tales of Beedle the Bard, one about being different, and one about a little boy learning how to ride a broom. Seb held the last one up with a guilty smile. "I don't want him to be scared of flying anymore."
"Alright, you wanna look around a little bit? We've got all day here."

"That's a good choice." I said with a smile, kissing Seb's cheek.
"Follow me." I said, leading him back across the moat of books and over to another 'room' on the same floor.
"I'll just be a second, have a seat." I said, gesturing to the couch against one wall. I moved the latter over to a different shelf and climbed up, going up pretty high. I grabbed a few books and had them float over to the table in front of Seb before I climbed down and sat next to him, looking them over, trying to make a choice. I always limited myself to two books, otherwise I would never get any school work done. I reread the books I already have enough as it is.
"Hmm...should I go romance or humor?" I asked him, with a raised eyebrow.

He raised an eyebrow and smirked. "I didn't know you were into that sort of mushy stuff, Kaals." He leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees, book dangling from one hand. "Why not both? It's no good to have a romance without any humor."

"Because I want the sci-fi one and I limit myself to two new books a month during the school year. And this one isn't that mushy, it's more angsty if anything." I said, reading the back of books again. Finally I sent the humor one up and grabbed my sci-fi book.
"OKay...I think I'm ready." I said, nodding.

He waited until she had turned to go to the register, and he scooped up the romance book she had been eyeing. Then, he plucked the two books from her hands and raced to the cash register before she could catch him, laughing.
"These ones, sir!" He told the man behind the counter, piling the six books up.

"Sebastian Summerby!" I laughed as I chased after him.
"Don't you be ringing that romance novel up Tom!" I called but the old man did anyways.
"That one will be on me" He said, happy to see Kaalee with someone. He watched her grow up so alone, it was good she had someone to look after her now.

"I owe you one, Mr Tom," Seb said with a grateful smile. He passed over the designated number of galleons, and tossed in an extra couple of knut in gratitude. "It's my thanks, Kaalee; for helping with Greg, of course." He said, putting his arm around her shoulder and kissing her temple.
Picking up the parcel, he waved in thanks to the shop owner once more and headed toward the door.

"That was my pleasure Seb." I said, kissing his cheek.
"Thank you for the book." I said as we walked over to the nearest toy shop. It was loud, in terms of the toys, but quiet, in terms of customers.
"I once saw a checkerboard in here but instead of the normal pieces it had little figurines on broomsticks. That was kind of cool." I said.