Kingdom of Knuffel

Julia could only watch and wait with her friends. As classes went on, she took her notes and played attention in class, but she couldn't help but worry. She played with the ring absentmindedly when classes were ending soon or just going slow at the moment.

By that evening there had still been no sign of Caelum and the others. Julia told her friends she would see them later and went up to the dorms. She sighed and looked at the Malfoy ring again,"Just be careful." She sighed softly

Perhaps it was by sheer luck that the headmistress didn't cart him off to Azkaban once they told her about his connections with a dark wizard. Caelum didn't think to believe in any other possible reason why she wouldn't. Indeed, she called in a curse breaker from the Goblin's payroll to have a go at the curse once she failed in trying to dispel it, but it only ended up with him crying out in pain and utter disbelief.

If the curse breaker couldn't break his curse, then who could? He couldn't just waltz into Malfoy manner and ask the dark wizard to dispel it over a cup of tea, right?

The trio left the headmistress' office that evening with heavy hearts, but the weight in Caelum's was considerably lighter. He did manage to tell the headmistress about it and not get punished … severely. He only got a few days of detention for that.

Over the next few days, to keep herself from worrying herself to death, Julia focused hard on coursework, up late in the evenings to finish up an essay or piece of homework she couldn't put off. She spent time with her friends when she could, but hadn't been able to see much of Caelum since that ride to Hogwarts.

After a couple of weeks of being at school, Julia sent Caelum a message that Frank had been kind enough to deliver for her. She wrote:

"Dear Caelum,

I feel guilty I hadn't gotten to see or talk to you in the last few days. I've buried myself in coursework to keep from worrying too much. I know you are able to take care of yourself, but one still worries no matter the circumstance. I know a trip to Hogsmede is coming up. Amira and Olivia are joining me. Are you able to come too? I'm sure Frank and Aren will come if they can. It would be nice to go, a change of scenery for a while. Let me know if you can.

Love and miss you <3

~Julia."

"Eight 'o clock by the steps." Aren finally managed to locate Julia and ran over with a grin. "And we'd be more than happy to accompany the ladies on a trip to Hogsmeade." He sent a shy(?) look at Amira and a nod to Olivia before leading them to a corner and taking out a note from within his robes once he was sure no one was around.

"We've managed to put together a list of spells that might have been used to create the one cast on Caelum but we can't really figure out which ones go together … or if any of them really were used. We were thinking, well, Frank and I … Frank mostly, that maybe you three could help with the research?"

Written on the note was several spells, some of them dark, most of them unfamiliar and beside some spells were quick notes on why they were added to the list.

• …
  Animavinculum - Some form of restraint for the soul? Soul binding?? Pinocchio effect???
  …
  ……
  …
  Captivitatem - Caelum is a prisoner!!!
  ……
  …
  Morsmordre??? - I mean, why not? Doesn't look like it but it could be.

He rummaged around the numerous pockets of his robes once again before extracting a signed waiver. "Found nothing relevant in the restricted section so we got Caelum to ask for a waiver for you three."

Julia looked over the list they had written,"Well... I know it's not this one..." She murmured, pointing out Morsmordre,"That spell is to put the dark mark up into the sky. That wouldn't be of use right now. Hopefully..." She looked at Aren,"I plan on asking my father... he might have a few ideas too. Plus Mrs. Malfoy is still living with us and I know he just wants to help fix things." She slowly lapsed into silent thought.

Amira looked at her friend sadly, knowing how much she worried. She looked at the list as well,"I can always ask what my mum might know." She said softly. She didn't know what to do when it came to Aren. She still really liked him, but after the argument about Caelum she worried how things could go now

Olivia smiled,"And we could always do our own research too. I just hope we can find something of use." She looked at Aren,"Is he doing okay? I hadn't seen him for a while. Unless he was in class and I was to distracted to see him there."

Amira giggles,"Yeah that happens a lot...."

"They've got a curse breaker working on him." Aren paused for a second. "I didn't have the permission to tell you that so you never heard it from me."

"Have you owled Aunt Dorothea yet? We've tried calling Uncle Corvus over the floo but he never answered. Anything trying to get into the Malfoy Manor is getting cut off or redirected. Mum was lucky when she ended up in Scotland and not in pieces in the Manor's gardens when she tried to apparate in."

He was about to add more when the bells for the next class rang.

"I've got to go. Transfiguration is next and I don't want to be the cause of Slytherin's downfall because of that biased fool of a professor." He waved them a goodbye, his gaze lingering slightly longer when he looked at Amira. "And don't forget: Eight by the steps tomorrow!"

---

It was a quarter to eight in the morning when the sun shone magnificently on the steps by the school's entrance. Three pairs of eyes glared at the light shining on the steps as they stood in the shade of the magnificent archway.

"It's too bright."

"Yeah."

"When are they arriving?"

"I told them to come at eight."

"Are you sure? Maybe you were too distracted by Amira."

"I was not!"

"Hush. It's too bright and now it's too noisy too."

"Sorry mate."

(Sorry! Life got crazy and I had yo move. I couldn't get back to the original account I posted with so I made this one instead.)

Julia and her friends were arriving just after that exchange, all three looking exhausted.

"Morning." Julia said to them sleepily, rubbing her eyes, and holding back a yawn,"I messaged my father and Mrs. Malfoy last night. Dad said he'd ask around and message me back."

((Will you be using this account from now?))
((I hope the move was alright :) ))

"That is wonderful news." Caelum's eyes visibly brightened after seeing Julia and moved towards her. He planted a soft kiss on her temple and led the group down to the stables. "Tell him to take great care though. I don't want him or you or anyone to get into harm's way because of this."

They could see the thestrals now, or, well, the visible lack of thestrals for some others. The carriages were very much ready for their use.

"So what have we planned for Hogsmeade?"

(Yup. Here I stay. And I'm SO SORRY! I swear I don't mean to just disappear!)

Julia smiled gently and hugged him,"Honestly? I just wanted to spend some time with you guys." She admitted,"I haven't even hung out with Amira and Olivia much recently because of researching and class work. But I know they also wanna spend time with their favorite guys." She giggled as her friends flushed lightly.

Amira looked at Aren,"Yeah...I did want to talk to you. About... This. And what we want to do about it." She said

"We should ... yeah." Aren nodded at her and led her to a carriage.

"So, um, wanna get some sweets at Honeydukes?" Frank asked Olivia as he fiddles with the edge of his robe. "Then, then maybe we could check out ... um ... the, uh, the bookshop? The cauldron shop looks interesting too. We could ... we could go to Madam Puddifoot's if you'd like." He finished with a flush of his cheeks.

---


Caelum alighted from the carriage and offered his hand to Julia. "Where would you like to go?" He asked, eyes roaming around what he could see of Hogsmeade, and wrinkled his nose when he saw the gaudy pink of Puddifoot's.