* just one of those things [wally] ?!

[ccole]

The snow may be pretty to look at, but it sure was cold. Finola shivered and pulled her coat tighter round her, half wishing she had bought the rather large scarf that was curled up on her bed back in Hogwarts. And the matching gloves. But it was too late to go back for them, the Three Broomsticks was in sight and she was supposed to be meeting someone. That person happened to be George, the boy who sat next to her in History who was new. She wasn't sure if this counted as a date or not, or what it was supposed to be, but at least she was being nice.

She shuffled down the street, stamping her feet outside the pub to get rid of the snow from her boots before opening the door. The rich smell of butter-beer embraced her and invited her in and she crossed the threshold with the door closing behind her. The pub was, as usual, packed with people, mostly from Hogwarts as she recognised a few people, some she did and didn't want to see. She sighed and began to make her way through the crowd, which took a while since she was quite small and didn't like to speak up.

Finally she made it to the bar, managing to catch the attention of the tender and ordered two butter-beers - it was a safe choice and possibly George had never had a butter-bear before. Finola didn't know very much about Finland, except that it was cold. Perhaps she ought to ask him, she felt a little guilty now for not asking before.

The butter-beers came and she paid before having the delightful task of trying to get them over to a table. Luckily people seemed to notice more when you have drinks in your hand that could potentially be spilt. There was an empty table in the corner, near to the fire but tucked out of the way. Finola set the beers down easily, going round the table and slid into the booth, removing her coat as it was now getting quite warm, though her hands were still cold; she put them round her drink to warm them up.

When it was mild enough she took a drink from it, savouring the delicious taste but didn't drink too much, that would be rude. She glanced around, just in case he had turned up and she hadn't noticed it, but she couldn't see him. Or at any rate, he would be here in a minute. She brushed her hair in a sub-conscious manner, it was slightly damp from the snow and crossed her legs and set her elbows on the table, and waited.

words; 462
tag; wally!
muse; get over it - avril lavigne
comments; there you go! sorry for the massive wait

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[waldemar]

Word count: 664

Waldemar could hardly be more thrilled with the amount of snow that had fallen. Of course, it was but half the amount of what usually fell 'at home', but as he was steadily making friends amongst the students, his homesickness had lessened considerably. Besides, this afternoon he was going to be shown round Hogsmeade by one of the girls from his History class - Finola Kafka. Maybe he'd only see the inside of shops and cafés, because it was rather cold and he didn't want the poor girl to freeze to death, after all; he was looking forward to it, nonetheless.
He was dressed in normal clothes (normal, save for the fact they were tailor-made to fit him perfectly, at least), the only extra things to protect him from the harsh weather were a cloak and a pair of fur-lined boots. Waldemar had no need for gloves, scarves and hats yet. Not yet.

They had agreed to meet in the Three Broomsticks and it didn't take Waldemar a lot of time to find the place, as it was rather brimming with students both in and outside. Waldemar also was used enough to snowy weather not to slip and slide all over the place, like some students did, and moved around like he'd been walking over icy streets all his life (which was technically true).
Like Finola, he had no idea if he had to treat this like a date or not. Part of him wanted to, but another, deeper part of him knew that it was futile. However, Waldemar had learned to ignore that part rather well throughout the years at home. Besides, he didn't want to bother himself with thoughts about that subject just now. He just wanted to have a fun afternoon and he was sure he would be going to, Finola seemed like a nice girl.
Walking inside, he was greeted by all sorts of unfamiliar sights and scents. He had never been in a café before, or a pub, just like Waldemar had never been out to dinner ever before in his life - why do that if there was a perfectly good cook at home? The place was packed with people and although he'd thought this wouldn't be so difficult when he'd found the Three Broomsticks without any trouble, he knew it wouldn't be so easy to find Finola in this mass of.. bodies.
He figured he could perhaps ask the bartender if he'd seen her, and worked his way to the front. Waldemar did so a lot quicker than Finola, as he was taught to speak up and had no qualms about asking people to make way for him. He was just about to ask the barmaid if she'd seen Finola when he spotted her on the other side of the café, also at the bar and in the process of walking away with two drinks in her hands. Waldemar pushed through the crowd gently to eventually find her at the empty table she had spotted and sat down opposite her. "Hey, sorry - I'm usually more punctual." Getting through the throng of people inside had caused him to be four minutes late. Hardly serious, you'd say, but Waldemar had often been scorned for not being punctual. "Hadn't.. hadn't expected so many people would be here?" The words escaped him before he knew it and Waldemar had the feeling that was a bit of a stupid thing to say, really, but then again.. this was the first time he'd ever been in a place like this. He suddenly realised how sheltered he probably seemed.

He smiled at her briefly and sipped the drink she'd bought him. Waldemar's smile widened. "This is really good, what is it?" He'd never had butterbeer before, his parents usually served wine at dinner and thought beer was strictly for 'plebeians'.