Julia looked at him with worry,"If you say so." She said, wishing she wouldn't. She didnt want to take it from him, he was the one that had been targeted lately, not now...She looked over at him,"I will wear it if it keeps you from worrying too much." She kissed his cheek gently

Caelum grinned when Julia finally agreed to wear the amulet. "And I promise to visit the owlery tonight to send the letter, if that would lessen your worry." He tucked the few loose strands of her hair behind her ear. "I can use the Floo in the Headmaster's office to speak with my mother but I'm not too fond of having my face covered in soot. I'm not even sure if Aunt Amelie's connected to the Floo Netwo-" He suddenly paused and his eyes darted towards the door. He swiftly look Julia's hand in his own as he stood up while placing a finger over his mouth to signal her to keep quiet.

He led her towards the back corner of the room and tapped one of the wall stones thrice with the ring on his finger and the wall opened to a dark passage. He pulled her inside and as soon as the wall closed behind them, he took out his wand and wordlessly cast a lumos. He gave her a reassuring grin, albeit a little cheeky, and started to lead her through the narrow corridor. "Someone, other than the first years, entered the dungeon and into my alarm spells. I'm thinking it's Professor Prince, here to shower upon us his undying love of potions books. That's what the others got when they stayed here last year anyway."

They met with a dead end where Caelum searched the wall and tapped another stone thrice with his ring. The wall descended into the floor this time to reveal the inside of a closet. He kept his wand and pulled Julia into the closet before the wall closed in between them and as they stood inside the cramped wooden box, Caelum suggestively raised his eyebrows before laughing. "I think we should get out of this closet before anyone finds us in here, Miss Potter."

Julia looked fearful as she followed Caelum and listened to his instructions. When they made it into the closet, she was still terrified,"Where exactly are we?" She murmured softly, wondering where those passageways took them. She hoped it was somewhere that got them out of the Slytherin common room without being seen.

Caelum blinked when he noticed that Julia was nervous, fearful even. She breathed out and wrapped his arms around her, resting his chin on her head. He pat her back in rhythm with his breathing and couldn't help the chuckle that escaped his chest. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't be laughing." He sighed before continuing. "We're at the first-floor corridor. That passage was created by a Malfoy. Don't know which one. I'm sorry for not exactly warning you before hand."

Julia let out a soft gasp of relief, calming down slowly as he explained. She hugged him back gently and nodded,"Its okay." She said gently. She peaked out of the closet to make sure the coast was clear before opening up the closet and carefully climbing out.

Caelum did not seem to be too keen on keeping quiet while exiting the closet as he hopped out of it. He looked to one of the clocks on the walls and noticed that it was almost six, meaning that the professors would start looking for the students to gather them around for Christmas dinner. He moved closer to Julia and held her hand and began to lead the way to the great hall with a playful smirk on his lips.

"Do you know how these dinners usually go?"

(( It just dawned on me that they confessed their sweet undying love for each other in a corner of the Hogwarts kitchens ... ))

((Pretty much xD))

Julia looked over at him and shook her head,"No...I usually go home around the holidays." She said as they walked. She couldn't lie though, she was actually really excited about Christmas dinner. She leaned over and kissed Caelum's cheek as they walked,"At least now I dont have to hide that I like you." She said with a smile.

(( They must be making some really good soup there xD ))

Caelum's eyebrow rose as an idea popped into his head. "So you've been hiding the fact that you like me, after all? As much as I'd love to say that I knew you've fallen for me since the beginning of first year, I highly doubt that is true." His smirk turned into a grin. "So, when did you really fall for me? When did you notice that I'm the perfect specimen deserving of your love?" He asked as they turned the corner.

Julia couldn't hold back a laugh as he spoke. She looked thoughtful about it,"Actually...since the beginning of the school year." She admitted,"When we had actually talked without any fights. Then of course it got really bad with the dementor attack..." she was quiet for a moment, as if waiting to see if he would mock her like he did when they were kids. She doubted he would but still... she couldn't help but worry one day she might not be good enough anymore...

Caelum sighed and momentarily closed his eyes as he intertwined his fingers with hers. "How I acted after the attack ... It was stupid. I'm truly sorry for how I treated you. I was just so used to being ... being a Slytherin prick." He sighed yet again but ended with a chuckle as he tightened his hold around her hand to give her a sense of assurance. "I should have talked to you on the train sooner then; cast a sleeping charm on Zabini and locked him up in the compartment with Frank and his toad."

He looked at her and stared at her features for a while, studying them in detail with his gaze. "It was that evening by the lake when I truly laid my eyes on you right before the dementors came and sucked the happiness out of everything. My actions right after did not make sense, I know. I like to live antagonistically." He took a pause, unsure if he should continue as he bit his lip but soon gave in. "But the very first time you caught my eye ... you had your nose in a book inside Flourish and Blotts eleven years ago. It was 'A Children's Anthology of Monsters', I think."