Smoke filtered up along the tiled wall and slipped out of the cracked window far above into the rain outside.  Ezra stood, leaning back against the tiled wall of the boy's lavatory with a tired, drawn expression on his face.  He brought his cigarette to his lips, inhaled, and then tilted his head back to blow the smoke up towards the window.  He stayed like that for a moment, his head against the cold tile.  The sky beyond the windows was grey and dreary just like a Scottish fall was supposed to be, he supposed.  But it did a rather good job of matching his mood.  He took another inhale without moving his face away from the faint light. 

What the hell am I going to do? he thought to himself. He'd ducked out of the common room excessively early this morning.  His roommates had glared sleepily at him when the tomato on his bedside table began to squelch loudly at him to get up but he'd wanted to get out of there before everyone woke up so he could get a little time to himself.  He liked Hogwarts well enough but finding time alone when the weather turned foul was practically a magical feat in and of itself.

Ezra pushed off the wall and waved his wand at the window, closing it against the rain.  He stepped into a stall and dropped his lit butt into the water.  He flushed it away without a second look and turned to the door.  Pushing the door open, Ezra slid into the dark and quiet hallway.  He pulled up his hood and pushed his hands into his pockets.  He contemplated going down to the common room and doing homework but dismissed the idea.  Homework was for Sundays.  What then should he do to occupy himself?  What could he do that would keep him from thinking too hard on his cousin's words; the words that seemed to haunt him whenever he wasn't completely occupied. 

Liviana was annoyed, this was not a particularly new or strange experience - lots of things annoyed Liviana; the weather, the rain, wrinkles, bad hair days, people who thought too highly of themselves. It wasn't really hard to earn a small amount of distaste from the Slytherin sixth year when the conditions were ripe. She rarely allowed her annoyance to progress to full on anger however, she had seen in the beautiful example set by her brother that being angry was like drinking poison and expecting the people you hated to die. It just didn't work. It required too much effort on her part to truly be furious with anyone, and she was good at finagling her expressed emotions where other people were concerned. With the exception of, perhaps, Kitty Li, Liv just kept her feelings in check, she watched what she said and never let anyone get too close to knowing anything real about her.

The flaw in this system was that she had developed a weak spot in her armor in the form of one devilishly handsome sixth year named Ezra Inkwood. Her first mistake had been to genuinely like him, to enjoy his company. Once a person got swept up in liking someone it wasn't long before they were worming their way under your skin, into your thoughts. Her second mistake had been assuming they were both in the same place, that they put the same value on one another. His actions up until recently had made it easy to believe. He was attentive and charming. He seemed to enjoy being with her - not just trying to snog her, but genuinely having conversations with her. She had had her moments, late at night, tucked in her bed when the idea of ending up like her brother and Dolly would creep into her mind. She did what she could to push those thoughts out. She never let it change how she was with him.

She knew when they went "public" so to speak there would be slithering tongues wagging, people trying to create trouble for the sake of creating trouble. She had thought Ezra was a strong enough person to handle his own. He surely couldn't be as weak willed as her brother and need someone to tell him what to believe. The whole reason he was attractive to her was because he thought for himself - or so she had believed. Little things had started around the fourteenth, only two weeks into being a couple and his attitude shifted. It was almost imperceptible at first. It was easy to explain away... now it had grown to a level that was impossible to ignore, so impossible that she was actually resorting to half stalking him to get a moment of his time. She'd almost had him, read to pounce having quietly followed several lengths back - ready to pounce before he ducked into loo.

She drew the line at following into the toilet; there were just some places a girl need not ever go and the boy's lavatory was one of them. So she waited, just around the corner, glaring at the door. She was mad at him... but she was also angry with herself. She was angry that she cared so much about someone she was stooping to such levels. She was angry that he didn't seem to care enough about her to just talk out whatever was bothering him. When he exited the bathroom she thought about throwing a jellylegs jinx is way but it seemed excessive. She was good with her wand but she was rational about duels. It was unfair to sucker punch someone from behind. When she hexed him he'd see it coming right for his pretty smug little face. So instead she stomped after him, snatching the back of his hood, jerking him around, brown eyes narrowed and usually pretty lips drawn into a scowling frown.

For a moment she just looked at him, waiting for him to say something before finally speaking - voice obviously annoyed, "Why do you insist on doing things the hard way? You're running around, practically hiding from me - pretty sure I saw you duck into a classroom the other day to avoid me. It is ungodly o'clock in the morning and you're slouching about like you've got some terrible secret you can't bear the weight of and I, the self professed Ice Princess, have resorted to practically stalking my own bloody boyfriend. Now either you're going to tell me what in Salazar's name has gotten into you, or we're going to end it now because I refuse to be this person. We're in it together or we're not in it at all, because this is the sick shite my brother and Dolly do to each other and I do not fancy following that fine completely fecked tradition if it's all the same to you, Ezra".

He was barely out of the lavatory when he was attacked, an unknown person taking hold of his cloak from behind.  Ezra tensed and whipped around.  He had one hand on their shoulder and the other around the offending arm before he realized who it was.  The second he saw Livi's furious brown eyes, he dropped his hold like he'd been burned and jumped back a foot.  He was a little leery of being too forceful with her after what had happened in the hallway with Professor Kesali.  He wasn't that guy.

She was yelling at him for avoiding her and he didn't really have much of a defense.  He'd been busy, yes, but that's only because he made himself so.  On any other week he had no trouble whatsoever finding free time to laze about or, more recently, spend with his girlfriend.  But this week... he looked away, unable to look Livi in the eye, afraid that his insecurity would be written on his face like a bloody Prophet headline. 

"I ducked into a classroom because I had class," he said sourly, with narrowed eyes focused on Livi.  He didn't particularly appreciate being attacked in the hallway.  Last time they'd conducted private business in the hallway they'd been stuck together by their tongues.  It was early on the weekend, but there was always a chance.  He leaned back, feigning relaxation, and looked at her coolly.  "I don't know what you're talking about.  Perhaps you're just... imagining things.  Blowing things out of proportion.  I don't live in you pocket." 

Crap, he thought to himself.  That was a stupid thing to say.  He sighed and rolled his head away.  The expression on his face softened completely and he actually looked a little sorrowful.  "I'm sorry, Livi, I didn't mean it the way it sounded."

And now, to add insult to injury, he took a leap back and dropped her arm as soon as he realized it was her. Rational Livi knew that it probably had to do with what had happened the day their tongues had been stuck together. Also, he wasn't a total idiot and she'd laid out fairly plainly the only reason she hadn't hurt him back was because she knew he hadn't intended to hurt her and if he did ever physically hurt her she would make him very sorry. Then the excuses started and she already looked insanely bored as she cocked her hip out and inspected well manicured nails, "Really? You had class, that's the story you're going to go with? The boy who needed a five minute breather before he walk down the hall with me was in a bigger hurry to go to class - which wasn't even close to it's start time rather than walking me down the hall to my class like you've been doing since the second day we started dating".

"Do you think that I'm stupid? No, really, I am genuinely asking if you think I do not have the brain capacity to know when you're lying through your teeth," her lips were pursed in a sour pucker at the accusation she was overreacting. In most cases she couldn't stand girls that confronted their boyfriends in fairly public places - he had reduced her to being one of the things she couldn't stand. He'd been so dodgey she couldn't get time or a straight answer out of him lately about anything. She actually held up a finger to silence him and tilted her head to one side, "You don't live in my pocket? Do you hear yourself? You're talking but I don't actually think you hear what you're saying or you've forgotten who you're talking to. I don't expect you to live in my pocket. I expect you to treat me with some respect and acknowledge I have a brain and can, oh, I don't know, tell when someone who never had trouble finding time to smoke gillyweed or try to feel up a Ravenclaw is suddenly too involved in his studies I only see you at dinner and then you're with your friends".

He looked sorry - but as her own acting skills had proven the first time they got in trouble looking sorry didn't actually mean you were. She sucked her cheeks in, her jaw clenched tightly as she squared her shoulders, "I hate when people say something disdainful and then act like they didn't mean it. You said it, you meant it. So why don't you tell me where all of this is coming from, because has previously stated I'm not playing head games with you. We're either a couple and we confront and talk through issues like a couple or we're not and we break even now before one of us really gets hurt - because I refuse to invest in someone who isn't giving as much as I am. I'm not going to sit around biting my nails worrying I've done something wrong if you don't even have the backbone to confront whatever's on your mind. A week of this bollocks is more than enough. Talk to me or don't, but I'm not going to keep chasing after you. I refuse to be that girl, I refuse to need to be with you so much I sacrifice myself respect because you have your knickers in a twist".

Ezra had no better excuse than the one he'd already given her and even that hadn't been very good.  He went quiet and still for a moment and simply endured her angered ranting.  His mind was working over time trying to figure out a way to tell her the truth without telling her what was really happening.  He'd already let enough of his insecurities slip in his irritable defense.  Ezra really didn't appreciate being attacked physically or verbally, even from his girlfriend.  He fought the fluttering clenching in his chest that urged him to walk away from this before things got any worse.  He owed Livi more than that, though.  So he took a deep breath and crossed his arms over his chest.

"I did mean it," he confirmed seriously.  Licking his lips, he adjusted his stance and leaned in a little.  "But I'm beginning to wonder if you're the one who hasn't been listening.  I said that I didn't mean it the way it sounded.  Believe it or not, I haven't been trying to hurt you."  He turned away and raked his fingers through his hair, creating a fluffy and disheveled look.  He spun back around towards her with he hands out to the side.  "I just needed some time to myself to think, ok?  I need to be able to consider some things."

Ezra couldn't leave it there, he knew Livi wouldn't be satisfied with the answer.  She was asking a lot of pointed questions all of which only served to put him more on edge, on guard.  His eyes flickered rather dangerously.  He moved in close like an animal stalking prey.  He maneuvered her backwards against the wall and stared down into her eyes.  Just as the tension began to build, he gave a slow blink and then reached up to caress her cheek softly.  "You say you're not playing games with me," he whispered, "but how can I really know that?  Tell me, what is it about our relationship, only three weeks old, that means I can trust that anything you tell me is real?"  His fingers trailed down over her neck and fiddled with the white fringe on her collar. 

"I feel like I'm losing my mind when I'm around you."

And I don't like it.

Liviana's expression could only be called incredulous as he accused her of not listening and then proceeded to come back with the oldest excuse in the book. She felt sick in her skin and for just a moment she hated him for making her act this way. She knew, in reality, she was in control of her actions... it just didn't feel like it with Ezra. She felt fluttery and happy one minute and terrified the next of repeating her family's horrible mistakes. She cared so much about him, about what he thought, about what he wanted it. She wanted to be close to him all the time. It wasn't normal, it could lead to a million unhealthy things. Caring about people made you weak, it meant they could hurt you...and he had hurt her. He hadn't meant to but he had... and now  she wasn't even acting like herself anymore.

He tried to stare her down, but she met his gaze evenly, still angry, still expecting more than he was willing to give her then. She felt the cold stone wall against her back and the vicious part of her wanted to pull away when he touched her cheek. She didn't though, instead she focused on keeping her breathing steady as he spoke. Salazar's knickers he was an idiot. How could he trust her? She was standing in the hall, dressed and ready for the day (which meant that she had been up for hours because Liviana's pretty face didn't just happen) at this hour on a Saturday - before even the birds were really stirring. When she finally spoke her voice was calm, "If you couldn't trust me I'd never give you enough time to wonder if I could be trusted, because you'd already know it was meaningless. I don't use people, Ezra".

She clenched her jaw and looked toward the castle buttresses, taking a deep breath, "Never mind the fact that I stalked you to the bathroom on a Saturday morning to make you talk to me. If you weren't important, if you were just some boy I was using to keep my mother off my back, if I didn't actually care about you - I would be asleep in my nice warm bed dreaming of Italian leather or Bristol Collins". Crossing her arms over her chest to put more room between them, because now she genuinely was more hurt than angry she held his gaze for a moment before looking away, taking a deep breath, "but I'm not in my nice warm bed am I? No, I'm standing in a cold hallway while you question whether or not I'm trustworthy and not hexing you for suggesting I'm anything but. And do you know why"? She finally looked back at him and shook her head, "Because I care so much about you I'm acting like a crazy person".

She sucked on the inside of her cheek trying to choose her next words carefully. As angry as she was she didn't want it to just be over, not like this. It was so stupid, the whole thing was so stupid - why did anyone ever trust anyone else? Taking a deep breath she exhaled slowly, "There isn't any concrete reason you should trust me; but there isn't any reason I should trust you either. We are who we are, but I choose to trust you. I choose to let you into my life. I choose to share more with you than some stolen kisses and the latest gossip. Is it scary to let you that close to me, to let you know that I value things, and people, and most of all you? Yes, it's terrifying. It's so terrifying that I am acting like all the girls I've ever found completely distasteful. That's the thing about being with someone, really being with them; you're handing your fears and weaknesses over to someone and placing faith in an unspoken promise they won't make you regret it".

A small frown developed between Ezra's eyebrows.  He backed away from Livi uncertainly with a wariness in his averted gaze.  She said that he could trust her because if she was trying to manipulate him then he wouldn't have time to worry about it.  But in the same breath she asserted that she didn't actually try to use people.  Didn't she understand how contradictory that was?  She couldn't have it both ways, not with the way she said it.  She either manipulated people or she didn't.  Truth be told, they were both Slytherin for a reason and he found it highly unlikely that they weren't manipulating each other in some way, whether they realized it or not.

"I wouldn't have time to question it, why do you think I've been distancing myself lately?  I've been trying to get some perspective on the situation that I can't get when I'm near you because all I can think about is the smell of your hair, the quirk of you smile, and the wicked gleam in your eyes.  I feel like my world gets so narrow and focused on you that everything else falls away."  Ezra leaned back against the wall beside her and sighed, causing his chest to rise and fall noticeably.  He was only wearing a t-shirt and his cloak over it but he wasn't cold. 

The pull of cloth over his chest made him realize that he could offer his cloak to her if she was feeling cold.  He was irritated with himself for even thinking it because once the thought entered his mind he knew he'd have to offer.  He straightened up and shrugged the cloak off his shoulders.  "Here," he said, draping it over her shoulders and arranging it so that the fringe of her shirt's collar sat over the lapel.  His hands lingered. 

He ducked his head and looked at her through his thick eyelashes.  Ezra was well aware of how attractive he was and he used it to draw her attention and make her understand how serious he was about this.  "I'm sorry," he admitted.  It didn't happen often and he hoped she appreciated it.  "I was talking last week and I realized how caught up I was in you.   It was like someone had doused me with cold water.  It's not really that I was doubting you, ever.  I was..."  He paused and looked away, closing his eyes.  He didn't want to say it.  It could be used against him and, Merlin forbid if Theo ever found out Ezra would probably be laughed out of Slytherin.  But Livi had admitted things and she was clearly looking for him to admit things as well.  Mutual fear, mutual trust. 

"I was doubting myself," he finally finished, looking down at his shoes with shame.  "I doubted my own ability to think and reason.  I couldn't trust myself to even notice if I was being manipulated, by you or by anyone."  For a Slytherin, being manipulated was almost standard, expected.  Not realizing that you were being manipulated, however, could end up very, very badly for you.  In his book, it was completely unacceptable.

Livi sighed and rubbed the bridge of her nose, "That's not what I," and she stopped herself shaking her head. How could she make him understand? "If this wasn't real, if I didn't care about you, you wouldn't have to question it because I would have handled it like a business deal. I would have told you up front my expectations and there would be no feelings involved. You would know how much you could or couldn't trust me because I wouldn't be manipulating you in an underhanded sneaky way. If you had something I wanted and it was the only thing I wanted it would have been a fair and equitable trade from the get go and you would have gotten something in exchange," she wrapped her fingers around his wrists as his hands lingered near her collar, expression serious, "the easiest way to get what you want from people is to ask for it".

She chewed her bottom lip and looked down as he talked about how narrow the world seemed when they were together, brows drawn together as she shook her head a little, "Do you think it's just that way for you? I got caught snogging you by a professor and had to cry to keep us out of trouble. I got so lost in that moment with you that I was sloppy - and I was so worried about the way that he was trying to bait you I took the blame. I risked my reputation to make sure  you didn't do something you'd regret - because I care that much about you". Chewing her bottom lip, her expression was rather helpless. Maybe she expected him to inherently know more than he could, maybe she was such a good actress that he had no idea every time he he was within three free of her physical being her heart fluttered madly and she actually had to concentrate to carry on a conversation.

Tilting her head to one side her eyes narrowed, the apology was a start - she trusted that he meant it because Ezra Inkwood didn't apologize... but there was something else in what he said that her mind snagged on. Who had he been talking to? She could think of a list of people who would want to hurt her for the sake of hurting her... but who would have the sway to actually make him doubt himself? Would Theo be that much of a bastard, would he try to ruin things for shits and giggles? The answer was a resounding probably but she wouldn't make accusations. It was pointless anyway, whoever it was had managed to get to him if she started trying to badger out of him who it was he would probably just shut down. Winter break could not come soon enough, she felt like she was surrounded by poison in her own house.

She didn't point out that he had been manipulated by someone, that he had fallen victim to mind games; they just weren't hers. She didn't berate him for inherently believing this mystery person (Kitty? Naomi? Gracie?) - though she rather wanted to. He just looked so sad that she couldn't bring herself to be righteously indignant. Sometimes in life you could be right or you could be happy; in this particular case (right as she was) pounding that point home would just make them both miserable. Reaching up she ran her fingers through his hair and sighed, "People are going to try to pit us against one another Ezra. I knew that when we decided to go public rather than skulk around like we were ashamed of ourselves. We live in the house of Judas and Brutus, our friends as likely to stab us as save us"

She lightly touched his cheek and tilted his chin up, her brown eyes very serious "all I can ask is you give that equal weight the next time one of them tries to convince you you're being betrayed". She didn't want to sound sad or hurt, she just wanted things to go back to how they had been before whoever started nosing around in their relationship showed up. She knew it was going to drive her crazy until she found out who it had been but now wasn't the time to push. Slipping her arms around his neck, tone cajoling, "Can we go back to just being us? I like us. I swear I will never stalk you to the lavatory and pounce as soon as you leave ever again if you promise to just... talk to me. I don't want to play stupid games, I don't want to be like other sixth year couples. I've seen how that ends up, my brother and Dolly still can't decide if they love or hate each other and they're old! I'd like to be smarter than they are".

Ezra narrowed his eyes and leaned in slowly, like he was going to tell her a secret.  "I just want you to know," he said lowly, "that you can pounce me any time you want."  He flashed her a broad, playful smirk and darted in the last inch to kiss her swiftly.  He took her hand and began pulling her along with him down the hallway.  He playfully turned and walked backwards so he could look at her as he spoke.  "Stalking me, though, should probably wait until we break.  Wouldn't do to let people know you're crazy.  At least, that's what my father used to tell me," he advised with a mockingly sage nod of his head. 

Ezra found that the easiest way to go back to the way they were was to simply go back, rather than talk about it too much.  He didn't want her to think he was playing more games with her though, by simply dropping everything.  He continued on a more serious topic but still with a light-hearted tone of voice.  "No one was trying to convince me I'd been betrayed, cher.  It doesn't always take a Niffler to find buried treasure," he quipped.  "But you're right, of course.  My judgement lapsed.  I'll be more on guard from here on out."

He stopped and regarded Livi with a mischievous grin that he tried to suppress.  He'd quite honestly spent too much of the last week moping around and so had Livi.  He wanted to make her smile and relax like she had that night in the forest when things had been easy.   He lifted his chin.  Was she ready to switch gears?  Playing political games with him could earn you a rare but serious grudge but he couldn't live life without humor.  Could she play with him like that?

Her laugh was good natured as he assured her she could pounce on him whenever she liked, brown eyes rolling as she bumped his forehead with her own. It was good he had a sense of humor about these things, but she wasn't so fond of the way he casually threw out there a possibility of a break up - as though it were almost an inevitability. Realistically she knew the odds of Ezra being the person she would someday marry and grow old with were slim but she didn't like the prickling of panic her stomach gave at the idea of him being settled with the idea that eventually this would end. It bothered her that he could even suggest such a thing. She wouldn't say she was in love with him, but there were feelings. She didn't want to look too far ahead to the time when it would be over, it made the futility of what they were engaging in almost physically painful.

She was drawn out of her thoughts by the sound of his voice as he tugged her down the hallway; and though she didn't bother to remind him he had said he'd been talking when all of this came up, it nagged at the back of her mind. She let it go, more eager to makeup than to bicker over semantics. He obviously wanted to get back to the way things had been as badly as she did, that was enough for her in that moment. If (or when) their status as a couple collapsed under the weight of itself, it would be because they had chosen to break. She would not let someone else dictate the nature of their relationship. She only hoped he would keep his head about him too and bear in mind anyone he sought counsel from would have their own agenda. She could think of very few people in their common circle of associates that wouldn't take the opportunity to play puppet master were they given it.

As he gazed down at her, that expressive eyebrow cocked, it seemed he was waiting for her to be in step and drop the whole thing. A part of her wanted to lay down strong ground work, to needle him until he divulged all that he was keeping secret about how those doubts had come to be planted in his head. But, as previously stated, you could be right or you could be happy. In that moment, looking at him, she just wanted to be happy again more than she wanted to know just who needed to be beheaded. Tugging on his shirt front with a slender hand she grinned at him, "I might just take you up on that offer," she leaned in as though she were going to steal a kiss before murmuring softly, "but we both know the chase is more fun than the catch," and with that she ducked around him, boots sounding against the hard floor as she broke into run down the corridor, his robes billowing behind her as she scurried around the corner.

Dammit, Ezra cursed to himself.  He almost got a kiss out of her despite their argument but she ducked away at the last minute.  He watched her run with a grin on his face.  He really liked this girl.  How many girls would be willing to let something that irritated them so badly go like this, just because he'd wanted to spark a bit of challenging play?  Not many, that was for sure, fewer still who belonged to Slytherin.

His smile broadened and he broke out into a run, just as Livi disappeared around the corner in a swirl of cloth.  He had long legs and wasn't wearing heels that could turn an ankle.  So he could catch up and keep up quite easily.  He played it a bit though, allowing her a few playful dodges out of his grip.  But before they came to the stairs, Ezra jumped forward and caught hold of her.  He swung her around and pinned her against his chest.  He grinned wickedly.   He liked doing that with her.

He kissed her soundly so there could be no doubt in her mind that he was going to be going anywhere soon.  "I have to say," he murmured when they parted, "the chase is all well and good, but I definitely prefer the catch.  And now that I've caught you, I don't plan on - "  He stopped himself from finishing the sentence and instead ducked in again to cover her soft lips with his own.  He slid his palms down her back to rest lightly where the swell of her butt began, which released her arms.

Liviana was not often so quick to forgive, in fact she could be as vindictive as any of her Slytherin counterparts - and it wasn't as though the matter wouldn't come up again... but in that moment it was just so easy to run, to laugh, to play. It was fun to be silly and childish (which of course she could just see Carys rolling her eyes over now), it felt like her lungs could finally really take in all the oxygen she needed. Was this how it was supposed to be? She certainly hadn't ever felt this way before, toward anyone. So much of her life, of her world, was for show; knowing the right people, saying the right things, wearing the right clothes. Of all the logical reasons Ezra made sense in her life (the blood status, the family name, getting her mother to lay off the blind dates) it was the ways he had let her just be that drew her in.

It would always be an intricate dance between them, the idea of who held the cards and had the best hand, vying for control of the situation... but somehow in that moment as she was running down the hall, it didn't feel like a chore. She was happy to be caught, her eyes bright as they locked with his. Nothing else in the entire world mattered but the breathless words muffled when their lips met. He hugged her slender frame close and she let him, arms slithering around his neck when he released her wrists. Later they would have to be more careful, Merlin forbid a professor catch them again - that stolen moment was worth it though, something for him to hold onto whenever he started to doubt her. He'd tell her everything she wanted to know in due time, she could wait the information out.

When he finally pulled back, her smile could only be called rueful as she glanced around the deserted corridor, "careful Ezra, don't make promises you can't keep. I doubt Storm will be the pushover our last peeping professor was - and I couldn't cry in front of him, I'd die of mortification". Her tone was teasing but she did try to put a little room between them - even if she wasn't very keen on the idea herself. She liked being able to be close to him, there was just a time and a place for every thing. "I don't suppose you'd like to go for a walk? It's terribly dreary out but I've acquired a rather warm set of robes - and I'm dying for a cigarette," she cocked an eyebrow at him before trying to duck out of his arms, headed toward the nearest exit.

She tried to duck out of his arms but Ezra tightened his grip and kept her close.  "I'm really starting to hate school," he murmured, in reference to all of the eyes kept peeled for a couple of passionate students who just wanted to express their affection for one another.  They were highly intelligent students, though, and they would no doubt figure something out together.

This walk, for example, held quite a bit of potential except for the chilly weather.  Maybe they could find someplace quiet in the woods and start a fire. He let her go, now that he was good and ready to do so.  But rather than allow her to saunter off without him, he kept hold of her hand and also kept pace with her.  "Well, let's go fetch these new robes of yours and then go for a walk.  The weather may be dreary now but soon it'll be unbearable."