Kingdom of Knuffel

Julia smiled and with Aren's help, picked out some cute new outfits she loved and couldn't wait to wear on the weekends or free days at school. She had finished getting the rest of her gifts when she saw Frank and Caelum,"Guys!" She called to them,"Over here!"

Frank smiled,"There they are." He said, pointing them out to Caelum.

"There they are." Caelum echoed his friend with a satisfied sigh. He walked up to Julia and his Italian friend with a smile as he pocketed his cold hands. "I see you two have done a lot of shopping." He noted as he looked at the bags in Aren's hands. "What do you two say to getting on a carriage right now so we can get back to Hogwarts just in time for lunch?"

"That'd be great!" Aren replied gleefully, pushing all of the bags onto Caelum who frantically grasped at them, hoping none would fall onto the ground. "Hey!" He called to his friend only to see him sauntering off with Frank towards the carriages.

"Frank," Aren grinned into his friend's ear. "guess who's going to the Yule Ball with you?" He did not even give a chance for the boy to reply before giggling and whisper-shouting into his ear. "Miss Your-crush-since-first-year."

Julia had watched and shook her head before going over to Caelum and taking some of the bags, not thinking it was fair he should carry them all,"Let me help." She said gently,"Most of this is new clothing for me... I needed to get some new things and since Aren knows fashion, I had his help picking out some things." She smiled at Caelum,"So how did shopping go for you and Frank? Did you guys find his dress shoes or anything else you were hoping to find?"

Caelum let her take two of the bags. Just two. He was a gentleman of noble upbringing, after all. Although he could have used a shrinking charm, he found there was a feeling of ... mirth when he found out that the bags were Julia's and that he was the one carrying them. "We've managed to purchase what we needed to." He informed her as they followed the two towards the carriages.

"So ... uh ... The ball's next week. Friday evening. Five PM. I'll meet you by the doors of the Great Hall? Or would you prefer to meet elsewhere?" He had blushed, relishing the fact that Julia would be his date for that night.

Julia nodded,"Sounds good." She said as they walked. She was a bit nervous. It would be seen then, maybe more than normal, that the two of them were at least friends. She worried about the backlash from his house. She knew the Ravenclaws wouldn't mind. But it was the Slytherins that really worried her.

Caelum had chuckled when he noticed how nervous she had gotten. He knew the exact reason why she started worrying again and so gave her a reassuring smile. "Don't worry about the snakes. They can do nothing against me. Not anymore." He grinned, remembering the contents of a parcel he recently received from his mother before they left for Switzerland. "I could wear that warding amulet my mother sent, if it would help you sleep at night."

"And don't you worry. They wouldn't dare to do anything during a public event. They're Slytherins, not Griffindors. They like working in the shadows, away from prying eyes. No witnesses, no rebounds."

"It would help." Julia admitted. She couldnyhelp but feel guilty. He could tell her a million times it wasn't her fault and it wouldn't change how she felt. She never wanted anything like that to happen again, especially to someone she considered a friend. "I'll probably always worry though. Even if its just a little."

Caelum simply smiled at her. He knew where she was coming from. If the target had been any of his friends, anyone he was close to, he would be terribly worried as well. "We better get going. Those two surprisingly seem to be very excited to get back to Hogwarts. I wonder if it's because they're so terribly hungry that they can't wait for lunch, of if they want to make sure everything's perfect so that they wouldn't embarrass themselves in front of their dates?"

He chuckled and moved all the bags to one hand and held Julia's with the other and chased after Frank and Aren. "Wait for us, you two!"

Julia laughed and nodded, running with Caelum to catch up with his friends. They managed to grab a carriage back to the school so she sat and relaxed a little bit, thankful all the shopping was done. She was ready to go back to the school to eat something.

They arrived at the Great Hall and were greeted with numerous stares, but none felt as uncomfortable as it did before. Most of the Slytherins chose to look away or glare at their food while the rest snuck glances at the group. Caelum could care less about what the other houses thought now.

"Will you be okay?" he leaned into Julia's ear to ask, worry coating his voice. He could handle the students. But if they were to target her ... he did not want to know what darkness he was capable of.