Closed it may be raining but it is dry inside

[Willow Cullen]

the sound of rain was what woke willow up that morning. and willow had been glad that they had chosen to have their date picnic in the north tower. the place was usually pretty quiet and had a great view. which today would be dampened slightly by the rain but it would still be better than her second choice of location which had been the cliffs. The morning was like always filed with class but she returned to the dorm afterwards missing lunch, or rather just picking up a cookie as a snack before she got up showered and got ready. she didnt know what one was suposed to wear for a picnic date inside. she was tossing up between a cool comic art top and leggings or a blouse and skirt. in the end she decided to go with the blouse because the yellow colour reminded her of his red suit at the valentines dance. she took a blanket to sit on and a bag of food and started to make her way up to the north tower she wanted to be the first one there. she found a nice area and layed the blanket out and started to set up some sandwiches, cupcakes and fruit on it on plates

 

[Noelle Maxwell]

Noelle was beyond excited to spend more time with Willow. Since the Valentines Dance, he had been brainstorming ideas on a picnic date. It was not a surprise since he let Willow come up with the venue choices. Originally, they would be out at the cliffs, but with the rain outside the castle, they opted for the towers. The view, he was sure of it, would be breathtaking. To see a bit of everything outside meant that they could pretend they were in all those places.

Willow requested that they would just meet there. Knowing the girl, she had already brought the picnic basket. That Gryffindor got it all figured out but there is no way the Hufflepuff would come empty-handed. So with another special basket and his spare blanket, Noelle made his way to the towers. He arrived to see Willow in the middle of arranging cupcakes. He set the basket near and opened them to give her the flowers he asked Alexis from the wild patch. "Hey there.", he greeted warmly, debating whether to kiss her on the cheek after giving the flowers or not. "I love what you did here. I brought more for us.", he added.

 

[Willow Cullen]

Willow heard someone coming up the stairs and looked to see who it was. she was glad when it was noelle. could she call him her boyfriend? maybe that would be something they would talk about today. she stood up as he came towards her and her she put her arms around him and gave him a hug. "Hey Noelle." she said before kissing him. ever since valentines, she had really started to appreciate and enjoy the time they got to hang out together even if it was just sitting together at meals. she had enjoyed kissing him at the dance unfortunately often their time together was not particularly private and she wasn't sure how official they were but she wasn't going to miss out during their date. she watched as he reached into his basket and produced some more flowers for her. "Thank you they are so pretty. I was wondering what i was going to do with the vase i had to get for all those roses" she said teasing him slightly the rose delivery had been a surprise and made even better by the fact that it had been leda who had had to deliver them, leda being the Slytherin girl who always seemed to be gossiping and spreading rumours, especially about her and her friend syrus.
"ooh Accio cushions" she said waving her wand at one of the benches under a windowsill summoning both the long bench cushion and the decorative cushions on either end of it towards them so that they would have something a little more padded than the floor to sit on. "I have pretty much layed out everything i brought. what do you have in the basket" she asked curiously as she sat down.

 

[Noelle Maxwell]

Noelle was actually surprised for he received a kiss more than what he expected to get. He quickly recovered and kissed her back before pulling apart to give her the flowers. Things had been great between. Between lessons and free time, they managed to spend time together. Not so much with the kissing though, as they were not exactly in a private setting. He did not want to push nor rush the Gryffindor. So with this date in the towers and the kiss she gave him, the Puff was confident with what they had.

Willow was so thoughtful and creative with the picnic space she created for them. Good thing he brought his Puff blanket, he could give this to her before he dropped her later. "I've got more fruits here and also brought my blanket for us. More comfort.", he replied brightly, sitting down. "But first...", he gently took her face in his hand before leaning for another sweet kiss. She already initiated the first. It would be fair for him to return the gesture. Her lips were the same as they first kissed. "Hello again...", looking into her eyes to see her reaction on what he would say next. "...girlfriend."

 

[Willow Cullen]

Willow was enjoying how this date was starting. with sweet kisses and flowers from one of the nicest boys in her year. the picnic was a nice date but she would have been happy doing anyhitng just hanging out with him.
as the cushions landed next to her she moved them slightly and sat down eying the basket he had brought with him wondering what snacks he had selected. before she could get the lid more than half open noelle was sitting next to her taking her head in his hands as if trying to destract her from what she was doing. not that she wouldnt say no to another kiss. but she was unpacking. she kissed him back trying to enjoy the most out of his being so sweet. as they parted she smiled. as she heard what he said. "hello there Boyfriend" she said feeling her cheeks start to warm up. she quickly turned back to the basket to try and hide some of her blush. as she took out some strawberries watermelon and grapes. she tried to think of what to say. the conversation had not really started as kissing had taken over and now she was a little speechless she knew they had been hanging out a lot and chatting but with the words boyfriend and girlfriend, she realised how little she actually knew about him. "so boyfriend tell me something interesting." she said not specifying what somethign interesting was about, himself or something else. the picked up a grape and ate it as she wondered what he would say

 

[Noelle Maxwell]

Noelle beamed at her Willow. He was actually nervous as to what their status was but seemed it was already established. Settling onto the cushions, he poured some drinks for them just as she asked him a question. Come to think of it, they did not really know anything about each other. Well, nothing aside from the basics that you would know of a classmate. That should have to change of course. The Puff let out a chuckle as he handed her drink. "Let me see.", his twin came to his mind first. Sure, they shared the last names but since they were fraternal, people just assumed they were cousins and not siblings. "Have you met Yvette? I wonder if you knew that we're twins. I'm the older twin.", he said, racking his brains for more facts about himself. He was just the guy who liked books and spent most of his time at the library, lounge and the lake with reading material on hand. For sure, his girlfriend would find it boring.

 

[Willow Cullen]

Willow listened as Noelle explaind that he had a twin ins slytherin. she knee of Yvette but hadn't ever really had much to do with her. she also had not thought anything about her and Noelle. she guessed that it sort of made sence. they did have the same last name after all and there were some similarities between them. "I never thought. but that makes sense. I suppose i had better be nice to her now" she said. then she had to think about a fact about herself. "I have a younger brother called Lindon, he is ten and will be sorted in just over a year. she said. "we are both named after trees which is a tradition in my mums family" she said. that was interesting, right? she had started to speak before she realised what question she was opening herself up for next. what did her parents did. she loved her dad and spending time with him on the boat and while she didn't feel any shame towards their jobs, the fact that her mum had left a cool job playing quidditch to work in the ministry annoyed her. That bit of fame and appearance every now and then in the prophet either in opinion pieces or because of her work or because of her activism meant that as soon as she mentioned her name he would likely know what she was, and now seemed like a fairly good time to tell him. after all her family was important to her. but maybe it would be best to wait until a little bit later.

 

[Noelle Maxwell]

Noelle chuckled as soon as Willow said she would be nice to his twin. Many had tried, even Alexis, a distant relative by marriage and none worked. Except for Joshua, Alexis' best friend, who seemed to be spending time with Yvette. He laced his fingers with hers, he listened with interest as Willow talked about her family. Clearly, his girlfriend adored her family. When he heard about their names being based on the trees, he suddenly quipped. "I read that your name means flexibility and graceful appearance." He stopped short when he suddenly showed a display of his being bookworm. "I have a rather large family. From both sides. Though, it was just me and Yvette.", he contributed. He tried not to be boring this time.​

 

[Willow Cullen]

Willow laughed as Noelle said that he name meant flexibility and grace.it was kind of sweet that he had found out what her name was meant to mean. she knew a lot about her tree but not about what it was meant to represent. "Someone didn't get that memo. some people say I can be as stubborn as a goat sometimes" she said. which wasn't usually said as a compliment but that didn't stop willow from taking it as one sometimes.
Willow had never thought of what it would be like to have a big family. hers had always been close. her, her parents and brother against the world. "how big is big? for me, it is my parents and brother, aunt Madlyn uncle chay and Chante and then last holidays my dad's sister aunt Ellie and her daughter stayed with us." she said. then she had an idea. "ooh, my aunt and uncle are getting married over the holidays. did you want to come?" she asked. she wondered what he would make of her family. it wasn't particularly conventional her mum having been adopted by her best friends family when at school which meant that she looked completely different to her aunt and cousin, and that was even before you factored in the condition both of her parents lived with. maybe soon would be a good time to mention that. at least in regards to her mum. but she would have to find where to fit it into the conversation.

 

[Noelle Maxwell]

Sorry, it took a while. I've had to ask Alex for his family. ​

​

Noelle laughed at Willow’s response. “No worries. It was just me being my bookworm self. Sorry.” He passed her some berries as she was talking more about her family. Asked about his own, Noelle thought for a moment. He wondered how he would answer that question. He could go centuries with it or just give the basics like her. “Well, I’ve got my twin, you know her already. Mother and Father. My dad’s siblings, two of them are already married, each with a child. That makes two cousins.”, he nodded. “I guess that’s it. I don’t want you to get bored with my family ancestry.”, he added with a laugh. When invited to her plus one to the wedding. “Yeah, sure. Would your family be okay with me coming?”, he asked, a hint of nervousness in his voice.​

 

[Willow Cullen]

willow thought that Noelle was cute when he was in his bookworm mode. some times when they were studying together in the library she would just watch him for a minute totally absorbed in what he was doing and not paying any attention to what was going on elsewhere. as he passed her some berried she ate them enjoying the sweet tast of the juice on her tongue as she listened to him describe his family. she wasn't sure how it was, it wasn't any bigger than hers but it sounded a lot more formal somehow. maybe it was talk of family ancestry. or maybe it was just the fact that her family was as far from a standard family as you could get. "That sounds like a good size, it is impressive that you even have the optopn of following it back she said. thinking that her grandparents were really as far back as she could follow hers, and Iris wasnt even her proper grandma.
at the menton of the wedding she was surprised to see Noelle looking a little nervous, there wasnt much to be nervous about. her mum annoyed her at times but her dad was always kind to her. as for her aunt and cousin, Noelle would already know them. "of course they won't. I think chante is bringing someone too. i should probably warn you, my family isnt particularly normal. I don't know how closely you follow politics or the news but you may have heard of my mum." she said not quite sure how to phrase what she probably needed to say. she took a breath to settle herself. if not i should probably let you know she is a werewolf, and a rather proud and unapologetic one" she said. she wondered how her boyfriend would take that news. she hoped that it would be well as her parents were important. and whilst she only named her mum as the werewolf her dad was also one though he was a lot more secretive about it, only really telling those he was close too and thus she had sworn to keep it a secret. but it had been how they had ended up together whilst they had met before they had gotten to know each other one evening during a full moon when they had both tried to find solitude in the mountains to transform that had been how they had found out about each other. after that night they had kept in touch as she had been fairly new to the conition he had helped her understand it and they had ended up falling in love. it was kind of sweet really. and odd that her dad was the one helping her mum come to terms with things.

 

[Noelle Maxwell]

Noelle smiled at what Willow said. Sometimes, he had to remind himself how lucky he was to have her as his girlfriend. He often saw himself as a nerd with his glasses and his constant companionship with books. But here he was, talking about families with her like it was a natural thing to do. “You just knew the surface.”, he laughed. “I don’t want to bore with the complexities of my family heritage.” Not bothering to mention his nobility line or his affiliation with any noble titles that his family relatives had.

When Willow mentioned Chante going to the wedding, he relaxed. He knew the girl since they were both Puffs and she was also a kind prefect. “That’s great. The more, the merrier.”, he said, squeezing his girlfriend’s shoulders in adoration. The Puff was unable to keep his hands to himself, always wanting contact with her. When she mentioned her family, especially her mother, Noelle was kind of surprised about it. He heard of Briar Cullen and even thought that they might be related but he did not think how close they were. “I prefer myself to be distanced from the politics but I knew of your mom.”, he slowly said, in an admitting kind of voice. “I kind of admire her, actually. Her being a werewolf did not hinder her from doing good and representing her kind in a good light.” He looked at her in a different light. Seeing and knowing Willow all this time amazed the Puff even more.