Levens Hall

Cecily smiled when Nicolas said he was glad too. She was about to say more when he bid his house elf to owl a letter for him. She waited until Verney left before she said her piece. "Nicolas, I'm thankful because if it hadn't been for that meeting, we wouldn't be together today," she said, determined to get out what she'd been feeling.
 
Nicolas chuckled a moment before he spoke again, "Then we're thankful for the same reasons." He replied, finishing off his orange juice and wiping his face off with a cloth napkin that had been beside his plate.
 
Cecily breathed out a silent sigh of relief. She looked down at her plate and was amazed it was empty. She was wonderfully full and had a slight food buzz going. She wiped her mouth with her napkin before placing it on the table. "Breakfast was delicious,"she said.
 
"I'm sure Verney will be glad you said so." Nicolas stated as he rose from his seat. "So, how you're dressed today, is that common muggle fashion?" he asked, having seen nothing like it before.
 
"Oh this?" she said, looking down at her vintage clothing as she got to her feet and pushed in her chair. "It's the height of fashion," she smirked. "Or at least it was," she laughed, "decades ago. I, um, borrowed some of my mum's clothes years ago and never got around to returning them," she grinned.
 
"Ah, I see." Nicolas said, moving toward where Cecily stood. "Well, it looks strange to me but you look lovely in it." He stated with a smile, "So, had you any ideas of what you wanted to do today?"
 
Cecily warmed to his compliment. "I'd love to be shown your garden,"she smiled.
 
"But it's just a bunch of sticks in the winter." Nicolas said skeptically, "But if you enjoy looking at a bunch of sticks I suppose that's what we'll do that." he agreed, "Would you like to wait for Verney to give you the tour?"
 
"Unless you had something else in mind," she grinned. "What did you use to do here in the winter?"
 
Sarah was staying with her parents for the holidays. They didn't live very far from Leven's Hall, so she got the letter while at breakfast that morning. The owl surprised her greatly, as she had given up hope of Nicolas responding. However when she opened the letter her eyes widened in happy surprise. She left her breakfast sitting on the table and rushed up to her study to pen him a response.
Nicolas,

To be honest I would not have been surprised if you never responded to me.  I’m really glad you did though.  I would love to meet up with you.  Just name the time and place and I will be there.  I really appreciate this Nicolas.

Sincerely,
Sarah
Click to expand...

Sarah gave the letter to the owl that had brought Nicolas' letter and saw it off after giving it a treat.
 
"Well if it was snowing I'm sure there would be a multitude of things, but right now in this cold a walk through the sticks and mud doesn't quite intrigue me." Nicolas said in an honest fashion, "I was thinking more like going into town and doing something or some such." Nicolas stated, not really sure what there was to do here anymore. There was always sitting by the fire with coco and a book, but that didn't seem the type of thing to do in the morning while you had company.
 
"What's the town like? I think that would be a nice way to spend a day,"she grinned, knowing she'd have to go upstairs and change first. Her outfit was fine for a day about a house but not really for public viewing.
 
"Well, we could go to Kendal or Calisle, Kendal's closer though." Nicolas began with a smile, "Kendal is mostly muggle occupied, there are only a few witches and wizards that live in the area, and has this amazing treat the muggles came up with, the Kendal mint cake." Nicolas began trying to recollect the town as he went. "It's a market town, so plenty to buy if you have any muggle currency. Otherwise you're a loon to them. Carlisle is much larger, and looks even more like a muggle city than Kendal, but it's cursed. The muggles know the city is cursed and commemorated it by carving the 1, 069 word curse on a stone inside the city." Nicolas chuckled, recalling an outbreak of foot and mouth disease there had been in the town when he was about eight. The curse had been in a lul for over a hundred years but when they started to carve the stone...
 
"Fascinating," Cecily said, enthralled with the town's histories. "Kendal sounds like it would be fun. I always carry a stash of muggle money," she grinned. "Although Carlisle's history is intriguing. Why on earth would they carve a curse?" she mused.
 
"To commemorate the year 2000." Nicolas said with a slight chuckle, "A known witch in the city convinced everybody that the curse only works if you believe in it, and that to destroy the stone would be to say you believe in the curse, making it more powerful, so they left it in the city after it was carved and all." He explained, having wondered similar things himself in the past. "So Kendall it is? If so, I'll probably have to find something Muggle-esque to wear before we go there, and I might have to find some muggle currency. It's Euros now, isn't it?" Nicolas enquired, having recalled at one time all the Muggles worked in pounds and the like.
 
"Yes, it is. I miss pounds though,"she chuckled. "I'm going to pop upstairs and change and grab my purse," she said with excitement.
 
"Wait, where are we going? That'll dictate how I dress." Nicolas called after Cecily.
 
"Kendal!" she called out over her shoulder, already half way up the stairs. She jogged lightly to her room and raced around it, grabbing an outfit. She had her hands on the bottom of her shirt, about to discard it when she realized she hadn't closed the door. With a squeak, she raced to it and closed it. Then she took off the outfit she had and almost fell over when she got her foot caught within her jeans. Within moments she was finished and ran a brush through her hair quickly, then brushed her teeth.
She was coming down the stairs calmly within moments, dressed in a cream colored turtleneck sweater dress that hugged her and came to above her knees, light sage green leggings and suede chocolate color boots that came to just below her knees. A sage green crocheted beret was atop her head at a jaunty angle, her blonde hair bounced around her shoulders and down her back. She'd slung a small purse over one shoulder that matched her boots. She was ready to see the sights and excited to know more about Nicolas' childhood haunts.

(wow, I totally want her outfit now. :lol: )
 
Nicolas followed Cecily up the stairs after she had decided where they would be going, he entered the master bedroom and shut the door behind him. "Verney" he called out, within moments the House Elf was standing in front of him, "Do we have any of those Euros here?" he enquired, knowing Galleons would be useless in town despite his being overflowing with them.

"None sir." Verney said in a solemn voice.

"Well, thank you then." Nicolas said as Verney nodded the disappeared again.

Nicolas quickly got changed into some of the few muggle clothes he had and went to go back downstairs where Cecily was already waiting for him. Nicolas was in mismatched muggle trousers and dress shirt with an old fashioned Bowler hat. the only things the seemed to fit together in the ensemble were his socks with his shoes, and that was only because he wore such things daily. "Hello again."
 
"Hello again."

Cecily turned around, a reply on her lips when she saw her handsome Nicolas standing there in a most unusual collection of muggle clothing. Oh dear.
She giggled. "You look dashing,"she said, coming up to him. Although the outfit was a bit odd to see on him, she thought he looked like someone from the 1920's.
 
"I thought so." Nicolas said with a wide grin, fully aware that his choice of clothing probably didn't seem like the muggle fashions of today, he was glad there were people in the ministry who told him how to dress when and if he was going out into the muggle world for any given reason. "You look quite stunning yourself." he replied. "So, shall we travel by brooms in the cold? I fear there is no floo connections with anybody in the town, or at least nobody I know of. We could always apparate too, that is if you trust me enough to keep you all in tact."
 
"Perhaps apparition would be the safest, and least conspicuous, choice," Cecily said. "I trust you not to leave behind my ears,"she grinned.
 
"Alright then m'lady, if you'd just take my arm we'll be off." Nicolas agreed, ensuring his wand was with him despite going to a muggle town.
 
Cecily took his arm, winked at him and then crossed herself with a cheeky grin. Hours later they apparated back in, covered in mud and soaked to the bone. There had been an unprecedented storm that blew in, forcing most outdoor shops to close for the day and Nicolas and Cecily were caught in the deluge.
Cecily pulled away from Nicolas' arm, looking down at her ruined boots. She'd have to wait for later to fix them with a charm or two. "Well,"she wrung out her hair, "that was fun." They both stood there looking like drowned rats, great hunks of mud on the clean floor. They'd tracked a good deal of it in on their persons.
 
"Verney will enjoy this." Nicolas started with a smirk, finding his wand quickly and cleaning off his muggle clothing quickly before calling Verney into the room. Verney had been on the second floor, and for once decided to walk down the stairs. he stopped at the top of the steps and shook his head. 'Blast it' Verney mumbled under his breath as he came down the stairs.
"You realize I haven't cleaned up mud in over twelve years now?" Verney said impatiently, surveying the work that was in store for him.
Nicolas smirked, "Ya, um, sorry 'bout this. But who would've guessed it would rain in the middle of Winter in Northern England, perhaps Kendal is cursed now too?" he suggested ruefully.
 
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