“There’s another Hogsmeade weekend the week before we go home,” Julia told him.  She’d already noticed girls talking about potential dates during that particular weekend.  It was bound to be cold, and hopefully snowy – a cold, wet day in town was miserable if they didn’t at least have some snow to make it worth while. She wanted to sit and visit with everybody and anybody while working through a big warm butterbeer, while the snow sprinkled outdoors, and then sneak down and buy up tons of Honeydukes before heading up to the castle.  Julia expected she would have some time in London to do real Christmas shopping once they were out of school.  She wondered if Michelle would let her give the babies lollipops.  Her sister was so obnoxious about what she let the babies eat, but surely a fat lollipop would be alright for Christmas.  Maybe if she just passed them out when Michelle wasn’t looking . . . then Michelle couldn’t take them away.  

While Julia was wondering about babies and lollipops, and moving on to Silent Night in the meantime, Jamie was wondering about something far more interesting.  Julia began to smile somewhat, listening closely when she realized what he was getting on about.  

“Mallory?” she repeated, her grin growing so that her cheeks hurt.  She was missing a note here or there, but still holding on to the hymn relatively well.  “I knew there was somebody.”  Of course, that somebody wasn’t memorable enough for him to know her name right off, but it was a start.  “And Mallory is a witch?” she asked, wanting clarification.  Intellectually, Julia knew that Jamie came from a Muggle background, but actually seeking out a Muggle to date seemed so far fetched to her that she couldn’t make that mental leap until he said it directly.  “Have you spoken to her much?  Or just admired from afar?”



Life unfolds in proportion to your courage.