Kingdom of Knuffel

Julia listened to him speak and shook her head,"No, I'm staying here for Christmas." She said,"I had actually made the arrangements to shortly before we started to talk again. Just in case we were still on sore terms." She looked over at him,"Maybe things will be a bit safer since most students have gone home for the holidays..." She knew it was silly to hope that. She knew it was silly to hope that most of the Slytherins that were after them would be gone for a few weeks. But she could always hope, right?

After standing with him for a few moments, she looked over at him,"I had gifts for Frank and Aren but I'll have to give them to them when they return." She smiled,"There's a Hogsmeade weekend coming up before Christmas...Would you want to go with me?"

Caelum was pleased when he heard that Julia will be staying at Hogwarts with him. "Great, I'm stuck with you." he teased, trying to feign arrogance but a smile still crept on his lips and his eyes gave everything away. "We will be safe from the students, I am sure of that. Those blood purists will never be caught spending a holiday on school grounds. But whether or not being in Hogwarts itself is safe ..." he shrugged. "I suppose I'll be employing you as my bodyguard then, Miss Potter. You will have to stick to me at all times to ensure my safety." he finished with a smirk.

"Or we could have the gifts sent directly to their manors. The house elves will surely be more than ecstatic to help with that." he spoke, remembering how Twilly seemed to almost glow with gratitude when he told her to bring a few gifts to Malfoy Manor for his parents before they left for their trip. "I will have to think about that offer. I am an extremely busy man." he teased, "With this much work during the holidays, I don't know how I'll survive." He paused and seemed to contemplate on the offer. "But I do acknowledge the fact that I will need to take a break from all the work to be done. Yes. Hogsmeade will do."

Just as he agreed to go to Hogsmeade, a sneeze manage to escape him and immediately turned red from embarrassment. He looked at Julia to see if she heard, but who was he kidding? He was sure the students on the Hogwarts Express heard him. "It's cold. Let's go inside." He pouted and turned to trudge back to the warm embrace of the school's fire places.

((I'm so sorry for the late reply! My mom was sick last week and I'm just now getting over being sick))

Julia crossed her arms playfully,"And you think I enjoy being stuck with you, Mr. Malfoy?" She scoffed playfully, going along with it,"It is nice to know we won't have to worry about them for a few weeks. I'll be happy when we graduate from here and never have to worry about them again."She looked over as he mentioned her as his bodyguard,"With them gone, do you think you will really need protection from anything?" She asked him, wondering if he really would since most students had left for now.

When he mentioned sending the others their gifts to their homes, Julia thought for a moment,"I'll have to see if one of the house elves in the kitchen could deliver mine for me.." She said,"I have a couple at home I could ask, but I don't want to overwork them. They probably are busy helping my parents anyways."

She listened to his words about having so much work to do before the holidays, she smiled,"I already have it all finished." She said,"Of course if you would like some assistance with a few things, I could offer some help. And I thought a visit to Hogsmeade would be a nice break too."

She heard him sneeze and frowned. She pulled out her own scarf, her Ravenclaw one, and gently wrapped it around him too in the same manner he had put his on her,"That sounds like a good idea... we wouldn't want to get sick and have to miss all the festivities."

(( It's alright And do get well soon. I heard it's flu season? ))

Caelum knew that he blushed as she wrapped the scarf around his neck but he was sure his cheeks couldn't get any redder from the biting frost of winter. He felt the shivering of his spine stop once the warmth from being wrapped in a scarf flushed over his skin, and continued to walk towards the school.

"You never know what's lurking behind these old walls." He told Julia as they stepped into the familiar halls. "I am a very important man. I need to be protected from all possible threats." He grinned but froze as he heard footsteps from around the corner and the caretaker's continuous mutterings. "But that right there is a threat we must never face." He grabbed Julia's hand and ran towards the Great Hall where he knew they would be safe from the caretaker's unending detention slips.

"I've finished most of the work we've been given. There's only that one last report that Professor Turpin gave us - Frank, Aren, and I - about the uses of the Herbifors spell in battle." He groaned. "What kind of dimwit would use Herbifors in battle? It turns your hair into flowers!"

He sighed as he took a seat on one of the sofas that littered the Great Hall. He warmed himself in front of a recently transfigured fire place and patted the space beside him, urging Julia to follow him there. He took a look around and noticed four other fire places as recent additions to the hall. One in every corner and the last took the place of the professor's table at the end of the hall. Rugs covered the cold floors and the thick tapestries seemed to dare the wind to enter. And in the center stood a gigantic tree with Professor Failey decorating it with various knitted animals and rainbow strings. Over all, they seem to have turned the Great Hall into the Great Living Room.

((I think it was just a head cold because I feel much better now XD))

Julia allowed him to lead her inside the school and away from the caretaker of the school,"I wish there was a way to make him a little less bitter..." She said softly, about the caretaker,"I mean, I wouldn't expect him to be friendly all the time but he's pretty cruel with his punishments sometimes." She looked over as he spoke of the work given and giggled," Yeah, that was a strange assignment." She said as she sat down with him,"I don't know why you would want to turn your hair into flowers while in a fight unless you want to disarm them with the flowers somehow."

She looked around at the decorations for Christmas and smiled,"It's hard to believe this was the same room the ball was held in." She said. She loved how some decorations could change the appearance of any room in the castle, no matter how much or how little.

"I'd have never thought this was possible. I've only ever heard about the Great Living Room from the gossiping going around after everyone's returned from Christmas break." Caelum looked at the gigantic tree in the middle and squinted at the knitted animals hanging off of it. "Over all, ignoring the childish decorations that Professor Failey's brought out to decorate the tree, I appreciate how the hall's turned out."

Just then, a house elf popped into existence in front of them holding a tray of milk and cookies. Caelum's eyebrow rose but took the treats nonetheless, placing the glasses of milk on the table beside him and holding the tray of cookies between them. Taking a bite of the cookie, he nodded in satisfaction and looked to the elf. "You're Twilly, right? Julia has some concerns about present delivery."

((I'm so sorry for the late reply! I thought I posted but I guess I never entered it! It's been a busy month ^^')

Julia smiled,"I love the decorations on the tree." She said,"They remind me of home, as my cousins decorate the tree like that." She smiled, seeing the house elf and thanked it for the milk and cookies. She also took a cookie and took a bite, looking over as Caelum spoke to the elf, mentioning gift deliveries. When the elf looked at her, she nodded,"I do, actually. I just have a couple of things that need to be delivered."

(( It's completely alright ^_^ I'm just glad you're back, hahaha~ ))

Caelum's thoughts went straight to his cousins after Julia mentioned hers. And the thought of the Black Family decorating a Christmas Tree with knitted animals confounded him. He shrugged the strangeness of it away and took another bite of the cookie.

"Twilly will make the deliveries, mistress Potter. Where does mistress Potter wants Twilly to deliver?" The petite house elf replied, hands rubbing with excitement at being given a request.

Julia smiled and pulled out some parchment that she had written a short list on, as she knew house elves were able to read. She showed it to him,"It's not a large list, but I need things delivered to these places. I already have things sorted in small bags in my dorm room, labeled as well." She looked at the elf worriedly,"I hope it won't be too much for you. A couple of the items are kind of big. But not heavy at least."

"No problem for Twilly! No problem at all." The house elf replied and with a flick of a finger, he disappeared together with the list.

Caelum's eyes roamed the Great Hall again and landed on the Christmas Tree that Professor Failey just finished decorating. His mind drifted off to the gift he bought for Julia and once more doubted if what he bought was enough. What if she doesn't like it? he asked himself. Maybe I should have asked for one of those catalogues that mother always looks at. What if there's a better gift there?

The singing of the gargoyles broke Caelum's train of thought and brought his attention to the buffet tables popping into existence in the middle of the Great Hall, surrounding the Christmas Tree. A multitude of food appeared and the mixture of scents emanating from the freshly cooked variety spread through the hall. The noise attracted students and professors, all seemingly eager for a meal.

"Well, I've never seen anything like that before. Does this happen every year?"