(T.Broomsticks) Away from the Tassle

[Alexis Alméida]

Alexis-Mai had decided to get away from usual bustle of the castle, in all honestly, muggleborns bumping into her in the corridors was not exactly Alexis-Mai's idea of a leisurely stroll down them. They really got to her, muggleborns, and she still didnt understand why her brother even let them talk to him, let alone touch him. She just could fathom it out no matter how hard she had tried.

In the past, Alexis had tried to let muggleborns speak to her, she had tried to be nice to them, she had really tried. Though everytime one spoke to her she got shivers and felt rather ill, not only that but she felt like she was letting down her family and her families pride was the most important think to her, even if it wasnt to Mark, who seemed not to care whether he tarnished their name. They had things to do, things to live upto and expectations to meet, and though Alexis-Mai tried her hardest to live upto them, Mark didnt even seem to care.

As she trudged through the streets, keeping her cloak wrapped tightly around her and tried with all her might to keep whatever bodily heat was inside her, actually inside her, though she still found herself shivering uncontrollably. She saw the sign for The Three Broomsticks and took a quick peek inside the window, there were no students inside today, in fact Alexis-Mai had not yet seen a student down here and figured it would be fine for her to go inside and warm herself up with a nice butterbeer.

Pushing open the door, a little bell ringing just above her head, the chatter of the adults in the pub met her ears, and most by the looks of things had had one too many firewhiskys. Though this both amused and disgusted Alexis-Mai. She pushed her way through the crowd, not bothering with 'Excuse Me's' and 'Thank You's'. She found her way to the bar and ordered herself a butterbeer though of course made sure it was a large one before going off to sit at a table, away from the drunkern men.

[effie]

The trees that surrounded Hogsmeade had turned a golden brown, and single leaves were slowly falling to the ground below. Effie brushed another leaf off her woolen scarf, and pulled it tighter around her neck. It was a cold Autumn's day, just like Autumn should be really, a sharp breeze rustling the vegetation and seemlingly putting everyone into hiding. There was not a soul sitting around the cafe tables outside, and every bench other than one was unoccupied. Everyone had packed the shops to escape the cold.

Effie had just lost her dorm mates in the village robe shop. They had all been getting very excited about the 'Sale' sign and had thrown themselves into the crowd before Effie could even open her mouth to tell them that she couldn't be arsed to go in. Walking away from the shop, figuring that she would find them all later, Effie found herself facing a very familar sign of three broomsticks all zooming around each other as if playing a game. She pulled an expression as if to say, Why not, and pushed open the pub's doors.

The pub was bustling, as expected, and after ordering a butterbeer Effie had to strain her neck to try (and fail) to seek out a free table. She wriggled herself away from the crowded bar, being sure to avoid some young wizards who now seemed to be regretting their 'Who can drink the most firewhiskey' game.

As far as she could tell there was only one other student in the room, a Slytherin who looked one, if not two years younger. She had managed to get a table to herself, and it looked a good a place as any to sit. Effie made her way over to table, flushed from pushing through the groups of people and gave the one sided smile she often used as she spoke. 'These seats free?'

[Alexis Alméida]

Alexis could see the window from where she was, and the leaves falling off the trees in slow spirals seemed to enchant her. The sun was setting and casting a golden glow over the streets of hogsmeade, making the leaves on the floor seem more golden than they actually were. Alexis could sit and watch the leaves fall off the trees all day but, even though she loved this time of year, it was still a bit too cold outside for her liking.

Alexis was lost in her own thoughts, mainly about why Mark was still being stubborn with her, their argument in the library had not boded well on Marks mood and he seemed to be both avoiding her and ignoring her when he did actually come across her path. Though Alexis wasnt taking this much to heart she knew Mark would come to her eventually, probably when he wanted something or he needed help.

Somehow over the racket of the pub, Alexis heard the doorbell over the door ring and turned to see who it was. She knew the girl was a student at Hogwarts, in the first week she had seen her running around the corridors and she knew she was probably a couple of years older than herself, though she turned her attention back to what was happening in the pub. Though nothing seemed to interest her, not even the good looking young men were making Alexis's mouth drop tonight, she just wasnt in the mood to be her usual self. The argument with Mark had really set her down.

"No-ones sitting on them are they?" Alexis said back rather out of habit than anything else. She looked around and realised there were no other tables and gave the girl a half strained smile, "Yeah, sorry they are free" Alexis had taken to pushing people back and being all sarcastic and snappy with them, but the sarcastic remark she had made first seemed to drain her mind of anything else to say. Maybe she just wasnt in the mood to have a verbal slanging match tonight.