your mind can become sand through your fingers -- artemis

[Deleted]

@jill8

raleigh wasn't even sure what he was doing in the post office. he'd come in here for a reason but as soon as he'd walked in the door it had seemed to slip his mind. he had been in hogsmeade for a little while now. he was waiting till the evening to go up to the castle to see his siblings. it was strange, being an orphan when his parents had been alive just a few days ago. the stranger thing was that raleigh had often wished growing up that his parents weren't around and now they weren't. it was different than he thought it would be. like he still expected them to show up at any given time and make his life difficult. the last time he'd seen his mother alive she'd been drunk. it was a sad way to remember any parent but that's how she'd been his whole life. he blew out a breath and rubbed his hand through his hair and grabbed a packet of owl treats from a stand on the counter. he could find them at the pet shop in diagon alley but the post office had some in stock too. he wasn't sure how many letters he'd need to send out in the next few days. river had been the one to inherit everything but raleigh was still the oldest flint child. he had yet to figure out if that meant he'd be in charge of figuring out funerals and things like that and even if it was written into the will that it was river, there was no way leigh would let him do it on his own. he dropped some money on the counter and pocketed the treats, turning to walk to the door as someone else came into the room.

[Deleted]

@leigh
<3

Artemis hadn't been home for Christmas, so she needed to send out her parent's gifts. Normally, she'd use her own owl Ash, but he deserved a break. She'd been owling Emile and her sisters constantly over the past few weeks and Ash needed a day of rest. So she decided to use one of the extra owls at the Post Office in Hogsmeade. It was still very cold out this January so she had on over the knee black boots and a dark brown pea coat jacket. Her blonde hair fell over her shoulders, straight as could be. She had two packages grasped in her arms as she walked through the crowds of people and entered the Post Office. Her quick feet stopped short as someone else had been standing just on the other side of the door. Her eyes widened and she gasped slightly, looking up at at the person in front of her. Raleigh Flint, her sister's close friend. Artemis immediately looked past him and moved away. "Sorry, I hadn't been looking."

[Deleted]

@jill8

leigh couldn't help but raise his eyebrow when the familiar blonde haired girl before him gasped when she almost ran into him. "Sorry, I hadn't been looking." he tilted his head slightly as he looked at her. clearly. he folded his arms over his chest slightly as he took her in. he hadn't seen her since he graduated and it had been a little while before that since he hadn't actually had much to do with her. he was friends with her sister and he had been friendly with her oldest sister but he had only really seen artemis from a distance or in passing. "i noticed." he said as he stepped to the side so she could get to the counter. he noted the two packages in her arms and thought for a second they might be heavy and he didn't want to stand in her way of putting them down.

[Deleted]

@leigh
<3

His facial expression looked stone cold, and Lyla decided it would be best to ignore him. She didn't know exactly what his problem was, but she wasn't in the mood to deal with it. She already felt bad that her parent's gifts were going to be late and not delivered on Christmas, and that she hadn't been able to see them. So when he spoke two words after she had walked past him, Artemis dropped the packages on the counter and turned back to him, her eyes narrowed. "Great. You can leave now." She wasn't one to usually take attitude, and if he was going to be sarcastic, Lyla would show him how she felt about it.

[Deleted]

@jill8

it was the first amused smirk that had crossed his face in the last few days. when she dropped the packages on the bench and turned back on him and narrowed those eyes of hers. "Great. You can leave now." he shrugged his shoulders slightly and kept the amused smirk on his face. "say hi to your sister for me." he said as he walked toward the door and pushed it open, stepping outside into the streets of hogsmeade and he let the door close behind him, stuffing his hands into his pockets he started to walk away from the post office, shrugging his coat up more against his neck as the wind swirled around him and lifted the powder of fresh snow.

[Deleted]

@leigh
<3

Lyla rolled his eyes as the boy left and took a deep breath, turning back to the packages she had left on the counter. A brown owl flew over, sitting in front of her. Artemis took a small piece of bird food and fed it to her, smiling. "There you go girl." The owl took the packages and flew off. Artemis paid the woman at the front desk and just nodded in thanks before heading back out the door. The snow blew past her face and she took a deep breath, stuffing her hands into her pockets, thankful for the gloves she had on. She had gone the opposite way of Raleigh, and she had been walking quickly, only to bump into someone. Groaning to herself, she realized this was a day she just shouldn't be outside. Her eyes glanced up, her face apologetic, until she saw that it was him. Again. "Are you following me?"

[Deleted]

@jill8

so far raleigh had only met one person who had wanted to stop him to talk to him. while it wasn't ideal he had stopped, grateful for the distraction and glad for the chance to talk to the deputy headmaster to check that it was alright for him to visit the school later to check in on his younger siblings. as their conversation finished and they parted ways, raleigh turned from the edge of the path where he had been standing, only to be run into by someone. he stumbled just slightly before righting himself and he narrowed his eyes. "Are you following me?" he raised a brow and shook his head slightly before turning to walk away. "don't flatter yourself. you're the one that walked into me." he said without a glance over his shoulder as he pushed his hands into the pocket of his jacket and walked away for the street.

[Deleted]

@leigh
<3

His own eyes narrowed at her and her mouth dropped open as he walked away once more. Huffing to herself, she jogged forward so she was only a few steps behind him. "I haven't got to flatter myself. Just because I walked into you doesn't mean you weren't following me. Don't avoid the question." Artemis thankfully had no more items on her, so she was able to walk faster with her hands in her own pockets. "And you said say hello to my sister. I've got two. Which one were you speaking of exactly?" Artemis didn't expect him to turn around and speak to her, but she was now following him.

[Deleted]

@jill8

"I haven't got to flatter myself. Just because I walked into you doesn't mean you weren't following me. Don't avoid the question." he hadn't avoided the question. he had answered her. "i answered you. but since you appear to need clarification on something so simple. i wasn't following you." he said with a roll of his eye as he kept walking down the path, his hands in the pockets of his jacket. "considering the distaste in your voice when you accused me of following you .. why are you following me now?" he asked her, knowing she was still behind him because he could hear her hurried footsteps as she tried to keep up with him. "And you said say hello to my sister. I've got two. Which one were you speaking of exactly?" he raised a brow slightly, still not making any effort to look back at her. "both of them."

[Deleted]

@leigh
<3

Artemis laughed at his response. So simple? "Technically, you didn't answer me. You ignored the question and instead decided to try and insult me." She smiled at him. He continued to walk, but also continued to speak to her, which she took as somewhat of a decent sign. "Obviously because I had a question, and you didn't stop walking. I don't know why you'd expect me to wait all the way back there and attempt to hear your answer." Artemis rolled her own eyes but shrugged as he said both of her sisters. "I'll make sure to do so. Do you still talk to them?"

[Deleted]

@jill8

"Obviously because I had a question, and you didn't stop walking. I don't know why you'd expect me to wait all the way back there and attempt to hear your answer." he rolled his eyes slightly and shook his head a little. "actually i was expecting you to let it go and find someone else to annoy." he said as he tucked his hands into his pockets and kept walking down the path that was covered in snow. "I'll make sure to do so. Do you still talk to them?" he nodded his head once, still keeping his eyes on the village buildings ahead of him and he decided that he'd get something to drink. something strong. he wasn't normally a heavy drinker, he'd been raised by a drunk and refused to become one, but he liked the odd glass of wine. today was going to call for whiskey though. "on occasion." he said as he turned towards the door to the hogs head. "now excuse me, i'm busy." he said as he pushed open the door and slipped his jacket off, letting the door close behind him and he made his way more inside.