Camping Weekend (Ruby)

Eli appeared in the forest. He put the Portkey in his pocket and took the wizard tent from his bag. He would have fun this weekend, he was positive. Eli put the tent on the floor and waved his wand at it. The tent sized itself and he walked inside. It was standard, practical but it had a certain type of luxury to it.

Elijah idly wondered how long it would take for Ruby to arrive but however long that took, Eli was willing to wait.

Ruby wandered through the forest, looking around curiously. She had had to take the tube using a muggle thing called an 'oyster'. She found it to be quite interesting, and a nice change from flooing, portkeying, or side-along apparating. Of course, she wouldn't have had to take the tube if she wasn't in a rush to get to the forest but in the end she had had no choice.

Ruby sighed and ran a hand through her messy hair. She hadn't had time to properly finish dressing and really didn't feel like morphing herself. She hadn't actually finished packing, as Serena had chosen that exact minute to walk in and start lecturing her about something or other, as usual. Ruby didn't even bother listening, she just walked out of the house and left her step-mother gaping and yelling after her.

Have I packed pyjamas? Please tell me I've packed pyjamas. Ruby thought, opening her bag to check just as she found herself in a large clearing. She smiled when she saw the tent and entered it.

'Morning Eli.'

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"Morning!" Elijah grinned.

He flicked his wand and set some rocks up so they were in a circle. He smiled at Ruby and glanced over at the tent. He Accio-ed some log benches and set them around the fire pit. He smiled at Ruby again and put his wand away.

"How've you been?" he asked, genuinely interested. "It feels as if I haven't seen you in an age."

Ruby smiled at Elijah. 'I know. It's been too long, I think.' She dropped her bag down and sat down on one of the logs. 'I've been fine. Not too much work but that's probably 'cos I've been missing classes.'

Ruby grinned and ran a hand through her hair. 'What about you? Any new paintings since our last meeting?'

"Why have you been missing classes?" Eli asked. He flicked his wand and some wood flew out of the forest. He dropped it into the fire pit and flicked his wand again, lighting the wood. He put his wand away and walked back into the tent. He took a folder off of his bed and walked back outside.

"Many." he smiled and took some out of the folder. Some were of Ruby, a few of Amelia and her various bizzard facial expressions, some of Rosalie and others were just landscapes and some of the Slytherin's practicing for the Quidditch match coming up.
"I think they're alright." he chuckled. "So how's your lovely step-mother?" he asked with a small smile.

The woman was a banshee, he wondered if he should introduce his mother to her. He was pretty sure they would get on splendedly. He was glad he didn't though.

'Do I need a reason? I just didn't feel like studying.' Ruby grinned and shrugged noncomittedly. She thought it was simple enough. She hadn't wanted to go and so she didn't.

Ruby looked at the drawings interestedly. Some were of her but she didn't recognise the other two girls. 'They're really good. Who are the other two models?' She asked curiously. The drawings were good, and she was genuine in her praise.

Ruby gave a dramatic shudder. 'Serena is being the old hag she is. Baby's due any day now so she's cranky most of the time.' She said, frowning a little. Ruby had avoided her for the last two weeks. Her bad moods were worse now.

"Well you should study it's good for the soul." Elijah chastised. He didn't particularly care about studying but Ruby should. She'd need the grades just like Eli would but he knew he wouldn't use them. He'd probably just slip into some company and turn up as CO without anyone noticing.

"That's Amelia." Eli said fondly, picking up one picture. "And that's Rosalie." he smiled, pointing to another. Elijah hadn't seen Ruby in a while and he felt as if it had been a century or something to that time effect. He smiled at her and put the picture of Amelia down.

"Maybe she'll lighten up a bit when she has had the baby." Elijah shrugged. "If not then just hit her with something then that usually gets them to shut up. I tend to make the house elves throw things at my mother when she'd having a fit."

Ruby laughed. 'I'll tell you what's good for the soul. Going camping in the middle of winter with a hot guy is good for the soul!' She said. It was nearly Christmas, and she wasn't going to bother herself with schoolwork when there was so much fun to be had. Most teachers were slacking off, anyway, given the time of year. The holidays were just round the corner, for God's sake! Who wanted to go to bloody classes??

Ruby nodded and smiled, noticing his obvious fondness for both girls. She had honestly missed talking to Elijah. Being in different houses and all, they hadn't seen each other since that night at the quidditch pitch. It was good to be camping with him after such a long period of none Elijah-ness.

'Hmmm, maybe.' Ruby said, thoughtfully. She let out an amused/shocked laugh at what he said next. 'You throw stuff at your mother?! You naughty boy!' Ruby shook her head slightly disbelievingly before smiling mischieviously. 'Although, that could work, I guess.' She giggled, imagining Serena's face if she threw a frying pan at it. 'I need to go Christmas shopping as well. That baby might have a witch for a mother, but it's my half-sister nonetheless. I want to get it something for Christmas.' Ruby sighed. She disliked shopping. But baby shopping was cute. And she would have to get used to it if she wanted children in the future.

((God, you should have seen how many typos were in this originally! o.O))