Because butterbeer always tastes best after laying on a gross old couch...

Natalie stayed securely on Landon's back for the whole walk to the pub, ignoring any odd looks that they drew from other students or people who lived in the village along the way. "You know, maybe one of these days, I'll give you a piggy back ride instead," she teased, sliding off his back when they had reached the exterior of the pub.

It was packed, as always, and she had no idea where they were going to sit until she spotted a table near the back that looked as though it had recently been vacated. She carefully weaved her way around people until she made it there, sliding into one of the seats, relieved that there had been a space for them. "Looks like we have good timing," she said to Landon, smiling.

Natalie couldn't think of a snappy comeback to his remark about not being able to handle him, so she just stuck her tongue out at him. She was sure that she would be able to handle him just fine; she was a strong girl. Wait... that was how he meant it... right?

"Yeah, falling on me," she teased, rolling her eyes. She didn't believe for one second that it had really been an accident, although she certainly hadn't minded. It was innocent enough and they hadn't done anything wrong, so it was okay in her book.

There was normally a waitress or two walking about the pub taking orders, but it was so packed that it didn't appear that they would be waited on anytime soon; it looked like the only way they were going to get a drink would be to go up to the bar. "Shall I get the drinks, or do you want to?" she asked.

"Uh-huh, sure," Natalie rolled her eyes at his insistence that it had been an accident.

She looked around while he was gone and noticed a few people she knew from school. She smiled and waved at them, though she couldn't risk going over to actually say hi, in case someone else came and swiped their table away.

If she wore a watch, she would have been staring at it, wondering why it was taking Landon so long. It was too crowded for her to even be able to see him from where she was sitting. She smiled when he returned, though it faltered momentarily when he said some girl was flirting with him.

"Well I hope that you told her that you were in the company of the prettiest girl in school and didn't have time to waste on her," she said, only half-joking. She didn't like the idea or other girls flirting with him.

Natalie put on the best poker face she could. There was no way she was jealous of this girl that Landon was going to meet up with. Nope. Not one bit. Okay, maybe a teeny tiny bit. A little. Ish. Okay, a lot, if she was being honest. But they were just friends. He was perfectly welcome to see whomever he liked.

"That's... nice," she said, forcing a smile on her face. "I hope you have a nice time," she took a sip of her butterbeer to conceal her disappointment.

Natalie blushed that Landon was being so affectionate in front of so many other people. She had renewed hope that he wasn't just going to up and ignore her some day, not for some random girl that started chatting him up in a pub. She had to remind herself that it had only been a joke and that the girl in question did not exist. "Yeah, I knew that," she lied.

She returned his kiss, not really caring who was watching. They could assume what they wanted about Landon and Natalie. She kissed him again, for reassurance that he didn't go around acting like this with every girl he met.

Natalie gave Landon's hand a little squeeze and took a sip of her own butterbeer. She wondered what she would do when the day inevitably came where one of them really did attract attention from some other boy or girl. Hopefully it was far enough off that she wouldn't have to deal with it anytime soon. "You know, I think the Frazzlegorps have moved up to the clock tower," she said, resting her head on his shoulder.

Natalie smiled and looked up at Landon, laughing. "What? They really are! I swear! Haven't you heard the difference in the tone of the bell when it rings?" she got really close to his ear and dropped the volume of her voice so that she wouldn't attract too much attention from the people around them. "It used to be just a normal bong, but now it's a sort of bongzzzzzz," she did her best to imitate the tone of the bell and the difference between how it used to sound and how it sounded now.

Natalie perked up at his comment about her being odd. It was the kind of thing that she took as a compliment. "Well maybe people should listen to the bells more often. It's a very pretty tone, even with the buzzing," she took another sip of her drink.

"So what does catch your attention then?" she asked.

Natalie raised an eyebrow at him. "That big of a secret? Now you have to tell me! Please, pretty pretty please," she begged, pouting at him. "You have to tell me, that's what best friends do. Here, I'll even go first and tell you what catches my attention," she thought quickly, since she didn't really know offhand what caught her attention. What did she pay attention to?

"Bells, obviously, birds singing, children playing, Peeves cackling," she listed, "Although that last one is mostly so I can try to avoid him. See? It's not so hard."

Natalie's mind latched on to his "pretty girls" comment. He called her 'pretty girl' all the time. Therefore he liked her. She smiled at her triumphant thought, before she remembered that she already knew that he liked her. They were friends, and people generally weren't friends without liking each other.

"I'm going to hold you to that, you know," she said, grinning. It was a promise that she fully intended to keep. "In a few years, I'm going to march right up to you and demand that you tell me," she informed him.

She took a few more sips of her butterbeer. "Are you sure you don't want to just tell me now?" she asked. She had to give it one last try.

Natalie gave an exaggerated sigh. "Fine, if you say so... I'm still going to hold you to it though," she grinned.

Her free hand, that is, the one that was not holding Landon's, was still holding her near empty glass. She could have finished it off, but there was no fun in that. Instead she opted to steal Landon's and take a sip. "Why is it that your stuff always tastes better than mine?" she complained playfully.

"I believe you," Natalie said, smiling. If he said that he would tell her, then he would tell her. He hadn't yet broken a promise to her.

"Then, does that mean that my lips taste better now than they did before I kissed you?" she asked, giggling as she took another sip of his butterbeer. She kept a firm grip on the glass, not about to willingly hand it over to him.

One kiss was all it took for Natalie to lose her focus and loosen her grip on Landon's glass of butterbeer, one silly little kiss distracted her that much. "You're sneaky, you know that?" she grabbed her own glass, pretending to be angry with him. "You should have been in Slytherin," she teased.