Long time no see

[Patricia Styx]

Patricia was glad to be closing up the shop early today. Elliot was away somewhere so she was running it and becuase of this she got to lock up early. It wasn't that the shop was exactly busy, it never was, but she hated being cooped up in the shop all day with no one to talk too, it got quite lonely. As she finished checking everything was in order she turned off the lights and left the shop. Closing the door behind her she took the keys out of her purse and began to fiddle with them. Being in the magical world the door was not used to muggle ways of lockng up, "Stupid keys." she muttered to herself as she finally heard a click.

 

[Jude Thompson]

Jude was visiting his aunt Onyx in New Zealand during school break. They were staying at her brand new permanent residence just outside of Brightstone. He had requested to be able ot stay at the Hog's Head once more. Fat chance she'd told him. He chuckled aloud at the idea, his breath coming in puffs of white in the cold wintry air.

He saw a familiar curve of auburn hair locking up the store that he knew said brunette worked at. He ventured up behind her, placing a hand upon her should, "Hello M'Lady" he murmered into her hair, just against her ear, hoping to give her a fright. Hopefully she wouldn't bash him over the head for disappearing without a word last vacation. But after being denied entry by HNZ he'd turned to Durmstrang. He'd been too behind at Hogwarts Scotland to start back there. Plus he thought it would be better to have a clean start.

But that didn't mean Patricia didn't plague his every waking moment. Perhaps a better term would be bless. Her smiling face and lovely features were always on his mind. In fact it was like a dyadream in Potions come true that he had run into her on his first visit to the village.

{{There crazy lady }}

 

[Patricia Styx]

As the key finally turned Patricia felt a hand on her shoulder and someone whisper in her ear. The voice gave her goosebumps but she didn't recognise them because she had let out a little scream the second it happened. It was nearly night fall and having someone come up behind her had scarred her. Taking the key out of the lock she turned, "Sorry you give me a fr-" she started off, ready to apologise to the person. BUt she cut of the second she saw who it was. No, it... it couldn't be? she thought to herself.

But she was sure, it was him. Jude Thompson. The boy she had met well over a year ago on her 13th birthday. The boy who she had a crush on from the moment they met. But they she had only been 13 and when she hadn't heard from him after a few weeks she had forgotten about him. She had felt hurt when he hadn't contacted her after they went their seperate ways that day but she didn't know why. It wasn't like they had planned to keep in touch and he had probably forgotten about her the second her back was turned. It wasn't as if he had liked her back.

Patricia had so many thoughts going through her head at that moment in time that she didn't even realise that she was just staring at him, not talking. If anyone was to walk by it would have looked a strange sight.

 

[Jude Thompson]

Jude jumped as she did, trying not to laugh when she screamed. He heard her melodic voice attempt to apologize for him sneaking up on her and couldn't help but smirk at her usual Puffness even after having the hell scared out of her. She then experienced the overwhelming feeling of realization and he thought he may have to catch her in a faint at her reaction. A blank stare....?

He positioned his hands at her elbows and held her steady, staring back into her eyes, "How have you been, love?" he asked, finally realizing jst how much he had missed her. Now that he wa sback for the summer he found himself wishing he didn't have to let her go.

 

[Patricia Styx]

Patricia felt Jude's hand on her shoulder, giving her that bit of help that she needed to steady herself, she had so many things going through her head at that moment in time she felt dizzy. What had come over her? She didn't know what was wrong, it was just Jude. Then again he is the same boy that made her as giddy as the school girl she is and made her feel dizzy at his presence.

But she was only 14 for crying out loud, she wasn't allowed to have these feelings, a crush? Although she was probably the only girl in her entire year that didn't have a relationship before, let alone a crush. She was always the one to give relationship advice; despite never being in one herself; to give the shoulder to cry on when something went bad and lend words of comfort. She had always been the senisable one, maybe it was time that she allowed herself to have a crush, if indeed that is what it was.

She smiled up at Jude as he began to talk, realising how much of an idiot she must have seemed like, just staring at him and not saying anything. As he talked one more thought came into Patricia;s already overloaded mind, what if Jude didn't feel the same. She had already let herself be hurt by him once, over a year ago; when she first met him. She had indeed developed a slight crush in their somewhat, brief, meeting in Madam Puddifoots, but he had disappeared for over a year with no contact whatsoever, leading Patricia to stay further away from boys than she already did. Taking a breath she tried to control herself, taking her shoulder off Jude's hand she steadied herself, she wasn't going to let herself fall for him again.

Stike 1 she thought to herself as she felt her cheeks burn slightly with a blush at Jude calling her 'love' it was unexpected but she liked it, although she knew a lot of people who called their friends that too. Focusing herself again she finally spoke. "I've been great." she said with a smile, not wanting to give him the satisfactionof letting him know she had been thinking about him. Boys were all the same, find a nice girl, lead her on and dump her the moment they get a chance, enough though that had indeed happened to her, Patricia wasn't going to let it happen again. Shame on me if you fool me once, shame on me if you fool me twice. she thought before continuing. "The question is, how have you been? I haven't seen you in over a year." she commented as a matter of factly.

 

[Jude Thompson]

Jude let her remove his hands, not thinking much of the gesture as she shook her shoulder away slightly. He heard her answer and began to nod and tell her that was good, but then the very next thing out of her mouth made his heart hurt. Something was obviously bothering her. He wanted to pat her shoulder then remembered the earlier rejection of sorts and instead tucked his hands into his armpits - for one to keep them warm and another to restrain himself.

"Well, you see, I can explain that. Erm....I was denied entry to Hogwarts last winter..." he said sheepishly, leaning against the alcove. Swirls of snow were starting up and he frowned, "Look there's no acceptable reason for me not contacting you. I want you to know that I really wanted to. But I was ashamed of the fact that I didn't get in, and I was missing my parents, and I had to catch up on what I'd missed out on while I was out of school. Anyway, could we duck into a pub or something? It's bloody cold out here." he said, his teeth chattering together.

"I'll give you a complete rundown of everything that has happened since your birthday and then I want to know every detail of your life in my absence. But first let's get out of this.....weather?" he said, getsuring. He knew it was summer where they were from - the UK - and was beginning to wonder why he had decided to stay with Onyx this summer!!

 

[Patricia Styx]

Patricia listened to Jude start of to explain how he'd been. Even in the cold weather her heart melted for him, he really did seem sincere about the abrupt absence last year, maybe he was worth a second chance? "Aw I'm sorry Jude." she said frowning, maybe she shouldn't give him a hard time. "I understand, I didn't expect you to contact me again anyway, it's not like we said we would stay in touch." she said with a shrug of her shoulders. It was true, they left without any promises, sure there was the standard 'see you later' but at that time they both thought Jude would be starting Hogwarts in the Fall.

As her mind started to go into full swing again he heard his teeth chattering and his inquiry as to weather they could get out of the cold out not. Shaking her head she let out a light laugh, "What type of boy are you, can't handle some cold weather? You'd think you never seen a British winter before." she commented as she motioned her head to the direction of the nearest pub.

---

Upon entering the pub she purchased two butterbeers, before Jude had the chance to be the gentelman and get them in, she was fully able to look after herself and didn't always need to be treated like a lady. Making her way over to the table by the fire so the two could defrost as they caught up. "So stranger, spill." she said with a tiny grin, meaning no harm, taking a sip of her butterbeer, letting the head fill her up.

 

[Jude Thompson]

Jude frowned. That was right, they hadn't made any promises to one another. He felt like making a joke, but that wouldn't have made things any better, so he smiled slyly to himself instead at his private joke. She insulted his masculinity however, when she asked what kind of boy he was.

"Ah, I figured you would know me better than that by now. I'm no boy, I'm a man." he said, rather cheesy but he thought it was funny and a bit cute all the same, "And besides, it's summertime in England. It was a bit of a shock to leave just as it was warming up and come right back to the winter cold. I was looking forward to a nice muggy summer as always in the UK." he joked, loving that they had that in common at the very least.

But she obliged anyway and he was relieved as they entered the Hog's Head.

---

"Haha, this is a far cry from our last meeting." he couldn't help but remember with a hearty laugh. It didn't seem like it had actually been a a year ago - they had picked up right where they'd left off.

He grinned as she ordered the round for both of them. Such a new age lady. Jude was chivalrous but he was completely and totally for girls acting for themselves. Any fool who thought he had control over a girl or that she couldn't do things for herself didn't deserve said girl. He pulled his mug from her grasp and took a cautious sip to make sure it tasted the same is it would in Hogsmeade, then at his acceptance a hearty swig.

She told him to spill and he nearly did. Butterbeer dribbled out of his mouth as he tried not to laugh at how much this was like a girls' slepeover. He was about to relinquish the juicy gossip. He found this hilarious as he attempted to pass the drink through his mouth without it coming up through his nasal cavity and out his nose. Finally, after allowing the alcohol and warmth of it to settle he nodded with a smile and leaned across the table to her.

"Okay, my life since your birthday. I got my deny slip to the outrage of Onyx - though you know her, she'd never show it outright. I was a bit miffed, I mean, how could they not want me at Hogwarts?" he winked at her and continued, "So I moped aroudn for the rest of the summer in my room at the Hog's Head before eventually going off to stay with Josiah's family - his little brother is my best friend, that's why he was amde to be another guardian. His own parents have too many mouths to feed besides mine, so that's why I didn't prolong my visit. I then decided to apply to Durmstrang, seeing as I did NOT want to go to France with those frilly pompous...well..you know where I'm going withthat. So I'm now a student of Durmstrang Academy of Magic. Naturally I had to catch up on my school work, and they're very disciplined at Durmstrang....and well, you know me and how I feel about fitting in. So I tried not to let you seep into my scholarly thoughts too much."

He smiled at her, continuing, "But that was impossible...so I'm back here.......and I was hoping to see you this summer. I figured my chances would be better at seeing you at work than they would be of tracking you down across Northern Ireland."

He really hoped he'd come across as sweet, and not a freaky stalker type.

---

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{{ there crazy lady, happy? XD }}

 

[Patricia Styx]

Patricia laughed at Jude's comment about the comparison between their current location and their last meeting. It definitely was a far cry from the coziness of Madam Puddifoots, but it was warm and that was enough to please the 14 year old; being with Jude was just an extra bonus.

As she waited for Jude to answer she started to sip lightly on her butterbeer, savouring each sip, letting the heat warm her up, it was bliss. As Patricia waited for Jude to reply she saw a few drips of Butterbeer come out of his mouth. Patricia covered how mouth so none of her butterbeer would come out and laughed at Jude's little mishap. As Jude leaned forward, Patricia did the same, making herself comfy. Patricia listened intently as Jude talked. He had indeed gone through quite a bit but she found it funny how he attempted to lighten the mood with his smile and the odd wink.

Patricia couldn't believe that Jude was attending Durmstrang Academy. Patricia didn't know much about it, but she knew enough to know it was a horrible place, one someone as nice as Jude shouldn't have to attend. Frowning as he described how disciplined they were, she hoped nothing bad ever happened to him. As he mentioned how he tried not to let her 'seep into his thoughts' too much Patricia she slowly moved back into her chair, confused. The confusion, though, was only added too as Jude continued to talk. Despite being confused she couldn't help but feel a blush rise on her cheeks and her heart start to race. “You're here, to see me?” she asked. “But why?” she added. It was clear that he was here to see her, he had just said that but she didn't know why, what was so special about her that would make him think about her for over a year and then come back just for her?

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Stop with the crazy lady comments already, you're giving away my secrets : And yes, very happy, thank you