Along the broken road | Priscilla & Riley

[Deleted]

October 26 2024

Riley went to the small village of Hogsmeade whenever he was allowed. He loved to get away from the castle and he loved the calm, peace in the air. He often took his time in the village, and didn’t do too much of anything of substance. He liked to watch. He would sit on a bench and watch people walk in and out of shops, interacting with their friends in this different, less structured environment. He’d watch couples on their first date or the hundredth walk in and out of any of the tea shops or eateries around them, holding hands with smiles on their faces. He’d watch snowball fights down the lanes, and people jumping over puddles along the path. It was so interesting, how people interacted when they thought that no one was watching. He sometimes felt a little weird for watching, but it wasn’t like he was peeping through a bush, he was in plain sight and they were in public.

He had agreed to spend time with Priscilla while in the village, but he had said he’d meet here there since he liked to get there as early as possible. He’d be around when she made her appearance, and then maybe he’d take her for a butter beer or something.

@priscilla

[Deleted]

Priscilla had always enjoyed her trips into Hogsmeade. They gave her a chance to get out of the castle and actually interact with people besides those at school with her, which got a little annoying after a while. She wasn't sure what she had done in her first and second years without those weekend trips—besides read, that was. She was certain that her Hogsmeade weekends in the current year would be even better than they had been before, especially since she and Riley had made plans to spend the day in Hogsmeade together.

It wasn't exactly a date, per se, since she and Riley were already engaged to be married, but it was as close to one as she would ever get. Riley had let her know that he would be in the village when she got there, which sounded great to Priscilla. She didn't want to have to wait around for him, because that was always so awkward.

Instead, she had agreed to meet him on the high street, though she had no plans to keep Riley waiting for too long, either. She'd waited, at least, until her roommates were finished in the bathroom so that she could put makeup on and look absolutely perfect for her fiancé. Fortunately, it was only late October, so she had only had to throw on a lighter jacket over the top of her black lace dress and ankle boots, which she wore with tights underneath for a little bit of added warmth. (Was she showing off a little? Perhaps…)

In spite of her choice of footwear, she was quick to head down into Hogsmeade—or at least as quick as the mass of other people trying to get into the village would allow her to be, which was nowhere near fast enough for her liking. It took her a few moments of looking around to find Riley, but she rushed over to him as soon as she spotted him, her dress flouncing as she moved.

"Hi, Riley," she beamed at him as she reached for his hand. "Do you think Madam Puddifoot's is decorated for Halloween?"

@riley

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Riley saw Priscilla approaching him out of the corner of his eye and when he did so, he shook his head of his previous thoughts and turned his attention to her. He hadn’t been thinking anything negatively or anything he wouldn’t want to talk to her about, but just nothing that pertained to her and nothing important. He had been going over psychological theories and trying to figure out what people around him were thinking based on the way they were acting, speaking, and holding themselves. He missed just people watching. He also missed reading. He had been almost too busy to read for fun and to further his skills in a while. “Hey there.” Riley smiled to the younger girl as she made her way to him and grabbed his hand when she got there. He She asked if he thought the tea house would be decorated for Halloween and Riley shrugged, “Probably so. Is that where you’d like to go?” he asked, standing and brushing off his clothing. “We can do whatever you’d like today.” he insisted. He felt a little bad, a part of him had been avoiding her recently - he still wasn’t entirely used to or okay with the idea of marrying her. But he wanted to give her a chance. It wasn’t her fault that they were put into this situation.

@priscilla

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Riley said that he assumed that the tea shop would be decorated for Halloween, which sounded to Priscilla as though it could be fun. He asked her if that was where she would like to go and, even more, go wherever she wanted. It was a tough decision, with the whole village available to her, but Madam Puddifoot's was the best date spot there.

"If Madam Puddifoot's is decorated for Halloween," Priscilla thought aloud, "we have got to see it!" The shop was cute ordinarily, and it must have been infinitely better if decorated for the upcoming holiday. "It's probably so perfect," she gushed, almost squealing at the thought of how the kitschy little shop must have looked with spider napkin rings and fake cobwebs on the ceiling.

"Shall we go and have a look in the window, at least?" she suggested. "We could get ideas for Lily Potter's party," she added. "We're going to that one, aren't we, Riley?" Lily was a Potter, but she threw the most interesting events at Hogwarts of anyone at school.

@riley

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She insisted that they needed to go and check in the tea shop was decorated for Halloween and he nodded, “Let’s take a look then.” He said while leading the way over to the little shop. It wasn’t a place that he went to regularly, but it wasn’t the worst place he could see himself in either, not by far actually. Plus, anyone who saw him in there, would see Priscilla on his arm and would understand why he was there. It wasn’t often a place that people went on their own, at least from his understanding. While the tea and coffee was supposed to be good, it was a popular date spot and that was mostly what students used it for during their Hogsmeade weekends.

As they walked, she asked about Lily Potter's party and whether or not they were going. “Uh yeah, sure. Why not?” he agreed. He normally went to those big parties. They were fun, and for the most part harmless. He had gone to them in the past, and while he hadn’t exactly been planning on going to this one, he hadn’t been planning on not going either. He wondered whether Kinsey would go. “So how’s it look?” he asked as they got closer to the tea shop.

@priscilla

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Riley agreed that they should take a look inside Madam Puddifoot's and led their way over to it. As they walked, Priscilla snuck occasional glances at her fiancé. How had she gotten so lucky? She couldn't have picked a better fiancé for herself, she didn't think—not when Riley Fudge was the total package. He was so handsome and so clever; he was from a respectable family, and he was all hers. It was impossible not to feel like the luckiest girl in the world with him by her side. She got to marry him.

As they walked, Riley even agreed that they should go to Lily Potter's party. "It will be our first party as a couple," she added. Knowing what their families' social calendars were like—aside from their still being at Hogwarts—it would be far from the last.

It didn't take them long to get to the shop; Hogsmeade, as it was, wasn't very large. Priscilla had been in the little tea shop a few times over the years that she had been attending Hogwarts. Usually, it was filled with couples on dates, but it didn't look as busy as she had sometimes seen it. (At least, nobody in there had their tongue down somebody else's throat as she was looking in the window.)

"So how’s it look?"

The shop did have a few Halloween touches, although not as many as what she had heard were being planned for Hogwarts itself this year. There were little spider napkin rings, for example, but the tea shop hadn't lost its very feminine and romantic—perhaps overly so, depending on who one asked—feel. (In other words, it wasn't so scary that Priscilla could play up how frightening it was for the sake of clinging on to her fiancé even more than usual.)

She still found it perfectly acceptable, though.

"Oooh! It's not even busy today!" she alerted Riley with a smile. "It would give us plenty of time together," she added, her voice rising more than it normally did. "And we should go in before everyone else steals our idea."

@riley

[Deleted]

Riley internally flinched at her words, it would be their first party as a couple. She was right about that. And he wasn’t exactly upset about that fact, but it was weird to hear. Sometimes it was still weird to even look at her and know what she was to him now. He could hardly believe that his parents actually followed through on the lifelong, typical, pureblood parents threat. They had set him up to be married to a girl they chose. Of course, he and Priscilla still had the final decisions, but they both knew it was expected that they would comply. “Yeah, I suppose it will.” Riley nodded, restating the fact but not adding any commentary of his own about it. It was what it was, he guessed. And he’d just had to get used to it.

They got to the tea shop and Priscilla decided it was perfect and she wanted to go in. “Of course, whatever you want.” he gave in with a smile. He didn’t really mind, he did love the tea here. He had been here a handful of times. It wasn’t exactly his favorite. He did fancy the three broomsticks more, but oh well. It wasn’t painful to walk in. He held the door open for her and allowed her to enter, he entered behind her and he put his hand on the small of her back as he lead her to the counter to order. “Get whatever you want.” he told her before ordering an orange spice tea for himself, and an order of little tea cakes for them to share. It was all on him, of course.

@priscilla

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Riley said that he supposed that it would be their first party as a couple, and Priscilla momentarily pouted. "It's a shame we can't make it a tradition," she told him. On that front, they would have to make Lily's party this year really worth it. "But we'll have real parties to attend soon," she considered, perking up. Real parties with the people who mattered and had more connections than half the students at Hogwarts would ever have. The right sort, where people wore actual jewels instead of the kind of jewelry that turned that hideous greenish black after a short time.

Her fiancé said that they could do whatever she wanted, and Priscilla liked the sound of that. She hoped that there would be many more occasions for that, too, and why wouldn't there be? Riley knew the kind of lifestyle to which she was accustomed. She was used to getting what she wanted, and she was thrilled that she was finally going to be the Rosier child in the spotlight. She had every intention of outdoing her siblings' weddings before hers, and she'd been to a few more weddings to know how high the stakes were. Every detail would be perfect, and Priscilla would ensure that. She was a Ravenclaw; errors weren't in her vocabulary.

Putting his hand on the small of her back, Riley guided her over to the tea shop's counter. It was nice to feel his hand against her like that, not that Priscilla hadn't been showing off their relationship at each and every opportunity she had gotten since they had found out about their betrothal.

"Get whatever you want," he told her, and he ordered an orange spice tea and some tea cakes.

"Hmm." It was tempting to order the same tea as Riley had, though Priscilla figured that they could always try one another's. It took her a moment to decide what she wanted, going back and forth internally. She settled on and ordered a mint tea, as well as a scone with clotted cream and strawberry jam, which she was happy to share with Riley.

@riley

[Deleted]

As against the marriage as Riley still was, he did his best to keep his happy demeanor whenever he was with Priscilla. It wasn’t her fault, she had initiated any of this, it was their parents who set it all up and they were both victims of the circumstance. She was a fine girl and he wouldn’t have minded spending time with her if it was their choice, they might even have made fine friends if they were going to be friends, so he gave her a chance and was always polite. If he was going to have to go through with this wedding, he’d want to be friends with her. He wanted to do anything he could do to make it easier on the both of them, perhaps one day love would grow, but he couldn’t see them being anything but friends for quite a while.

The two sat in the shop and had their tea, talking and smiling as they did so.

Fade Out

@priscilla