Chapter Seventy-One

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The days and nights were growing cold, the days growing shorter and there seemed to be an early and bitter winter on the way

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The days and nights were growing cold, the days growing shorter and there seemed to be an early and bitter winter on the way. Students hurried back and forth between their classes when it came to travelling between the castle and the greenhouses, escaping the cold that nipped at their exposed noses and cheeks. Many didn't take to spending time in the courtyard as they once did, the majority huddling themselves in front of a fireplace in their common room between classes. But in between classes, Elspeth found herself looking outside, watching as the green grass turned brown, watching as the leaves faded and fell, and watching as the sun took to hiding behind the thickness of the clouds.

"I wonder what's got Demeter all pissy and out of sorts, besides the usual," she muttered to herself one afternoon on her way to the Great Hall for lunch. "You had Persephone all summer to yourself and now you want to be a miserable cow. No wonder Persephone doesn't look forward to the visits anymore."

She had been meaning to ask Hades or Persephone about the recent cold weather, knowing that Demeter was behind the drastic and harsh change. However, it seemed in the recent days, that the couple had been rather busy or they were avoiding her for some reason. Maybe they were giving Elspeth time to actually spend time focusing on her schooling, rather than the drama that surrounded the gods, but it still felt odd. When she ventured to the Underworld, it was either Thanatos or one of the Furies that claimed that Hades and Persephone were busy tending to other matters.

Elspeth didn't want to think they were ignoring her or avoiding her, but she couldn't help but feel as though they were. Of course, this led her thinking back to any recent events wondering if she had said or done something they would have found offensive. But nothing she thought of seemed to be out of the ordinary of her usual behaviour.

Perhaps they were just dealing with Demeter or matters pertaining to Demeter as the harvest season seemed to be ending a lot sooner than normal. More than likely Hades had gotten into some argument with his mother-in-law leading to Demeter taking it out on everyone else.

As the wind continued to whistle and howl outside, Elspeth made a face at her reflection in the glass and proceeded to shrug her shoulders before heading to the Great Hall. She knew the boys were waiting on her and she hoped that Lily would come to join them as well. After the incident in Potions and James proving to show that he could be a caring soul in her eyes, it seemed Lily was softening her views of James.

Although it was nothing drastic, she didn't automatically forget everything James had said or done in the past, but she was finally able to see another side to James that Elspeth had spoken about. And Elspeth was hoping that it would be enough that Lily would even just give James a chance at friendship.

That was if James continued to keep doing the right thing and didn't screw things up with that mouth of his.

Entering the Great Hall, she spotted the four right away, but there was no sign of Lily just yet, which left Elspeth with an ample opportunity to talk to James. There had been a discussion about attending Hogsmeade that weekend, despite the weather and it seemed like the perfect timing.

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