Reid, Delilah & Phaedra Valentines

[font=PT Serif]Love and like, both were kind of loosely used by Reid that he lost meaning in it. He didn't really comprehend how heavy either words meant to someone else, but he never used them in the context most people would like. Reid loved Quidditch, he liked Derby FC, he loved his family, and he liked Earl Gray tea. So when he signed himself up on that form, he thought it be daring himself to do something rather courageous. Twenty percent was about the possibility and the other eighty was for the fun of it all.

It was new, exciting perhaps, or honestly just a time where he finally would have the chance to just dedicate one time to just talk to people. Contrary to what some people might think about him nowadays, the one talkative and rambunctious teen had hushed over the years. He was loud and proud on the Quidditch field, but quiet in the corners of Hogwarts' castle.

Reid hardly hung out with people much anymore, maybe he was starting to believe in teen angst. He often avoided the dangers of the school, he didn't chase it in fear of getting into something he wasn't quite sure of yet. But he chased the calm and the happiness in between, this was one of those chases. Reid didn't slack off but neither did he try to hard, he dressed for the weather and for the occasion.

The teen came in a black turtleneck with a simple dark brown jacket over it, slacks, and he wore his some clean casual shoes. He didn't know who he'd get but he didn't mind the surprise that would come from it. As he saw the place that he was supposed to be at, Reid's brows shot up at the sight of the food on the table. This was pretty posh, très chic even.

Reid sat at the table and looked around, making a quick observation that he was alone for now. Should he wait? His fingers had curled around the tea cup already, but his grandfather's voice rang in his head. 'You don't eat until everyone is at the table.'

With the mental and physical reminder, his digits uncurled from the porcelain handle and settled beside it. Reid leaned back on his chair and rolled his head back to stop the groan from tumbling out of his lips. The Fosgates did a number on his ill-gotten manners and ironed him out under the hammer of his grandfather's teachings.

They even managed to temper his impatience because he would be eating everything on this table right now if it weren't for the fact that he was trying to seem like a changed person. He was just a kid held on a very long harness held by an incredibly annoying old fart. Reid brought his head back forward to begin folding one of the napkins on the table while he waited for another person.

"Maybe thirty minutes ... the tea is gonna get cold." He debated in knocking that down to twenty.[/font]

Outfit

Reducio

At this point, was it a surprise that Delilah was nervous? Not really, nobody that knew her would find this to be a shock in the slightest. But what was a shock, was that Delilah was running very slightly late, this wasn't her, she didn't do this, tardiness? Who? Not her, that's who. Tugging at the sides of her denim jacket as she speed-walked in the direction of the astronomy tower, she really wasn't that late, but early is on time, on time is late and late is unacceptable. As with everybody involved in this event, she had no idea who she would be facing when she got there. She hadn't even signed up for this in the first place, that was all on Serena.

She wasn't running, no no, running wasn't appropriate in a school building...just speed walking...pretty quickly. She could see around her a lot of people, whether they were heading in the same direction that she was, or elsewhere. It was a Sunday evening after all. Being February, it was already pitch black outside, the corridors in the stone castle left her freezing cold, even with her jacket. Although her clothes were maybe not the best choice. The bottom half of her legs bare and a small gap between the waistband of her skirt and her top. But she thought she looked nice, she had only went back over this outfit idea 4 or 5..or 9 times. She wanted to look nice, she didn't know who was waiting for her, or who she would be waiting for. She didn't even know whether she had met them before or if they were the same age as her.

Finally she reached the bottom of the staircase heading up to the astronomy tower. Utterly in awe of the view in front of her, all of the heart based decorations trailing up the stairs. She slowed way down now, taking her time going up them, the pretty decorations becoming a distraction. The spinning hearts above her head capturing her attention. Once she had reached the top, she scanned around, She investigated the small table with chocolates, cupcakes and roses. She didn't take much notice of the food, instead taking a flower, and holding it between both of her hands. Oh, it's changing. A number slowly appeared on the tag underneath the head of the rose.

Looking up, she saw all of the picnic blankets and tables, the balloons hovering above them in a few selections of colour. Delilahs eyes flicked across the balloons, landing on one above a table, matching the number on the tag in her hand. Immediately she walked towards it. As she did so, her eyes trailed down the string of the balloon to the person sitting at the table, her feet stopped. No, no, no, no, of all people, why him? She had been purposefully avoiding him for about 2 years. He hadn't done anything, it was purely out of her own embarrassment. She couldn't just leave now though. Maybe this was a sign? That she shouldn't try to run away from her problems. She didn't have feelings for him anymore thank god, but she still felt slightly panicked at the idea of talking to him again, last time they had spoken, she had been rejected. Which of course she had expected and she wasn't surprised, but it still stung.

No, she had to face him, he had probably seen her awkwardly standing there by this point anyway. She had been doing so well lately, doing better for herself, trying to make more friends, trying new things. Maybe they could be friends again. She had never stopped considering him a friend, but maybe she could stop avoiding him. She kept walking.

Upon reaching the table, she gently placed the rose on the table across from Reid, the label falling down so he would be able to see that she had the number that matched the balloon. "Umm... Hi. Can I sit?" She asked nervously, gesturing vaguely towards the chair across from him.

Interacting with @Reid Kovacs & @Delilah Stewart

The invitation came to her by owl two days prior while she was eating breakfast in the Great Hall. The parchment was led by instructions to the Astronomy Tower with promises of good food and company, but problem was, she didn't sign up for any of it. Some jokester (@Serena Towers) thought it'd be funny to sign her up for a blind date without her consent. Phaedra didn't know who was responsible or where to even begin at finding out who—the girl had a lot of enemies, these days—but if there was one thing for certain, it was that if the slightest thing went weird or wrong, she was out. She knew that much.

As much as she told herself she didn't want to be here, there was the faintest glimmer of hope that she'd find Max Avery waiting for her atop the stairs. Phaedra had no answers for his whereabouts, but assumed that he was probably pulled out of school again. These suspicions weren't unwarranted because Alisdair Avery had done so last time, causing Max to stay behind a year. Whatever was going on for the boy at home, she didn't have the power to interfere with it, and it broke her heart. Besides her helplessness, she felt torn between feelings of adoration for him and guilt for liking a good friend—the time they spent apart did little to ease her pining.

Coincidentally enough, she'd worn his bracelet tonight. At least it provided some sort of comfort for what was sure to be an uncomfortable evening. Along with it, she wore a monochrome skirt and blouse combo and a cotton cloak in case the temperature were to drop, though judging by the amount of people cramped in the tower, it was likely to do the opposite. Speaking of the Astronomy tower, Phaedra found what had been done to it a great sin. Heart decorations were plastered everywhere and she couldn't see how they were supposed to elicit mature feelings of romance. The tower's architecture and weathered stone were beautiful enough in their own right. Why bastardize it?

If all else failed, perhaps the food would be the highlight of the evening. Perking up at the first glimpse of candy, Phaedra made her way to the table at the side of the room. She paid no mind to the roses or cupcakes and picked up a clear bag of chocolates, peering inside for anything that looked like caramel, her favourite. Before she could loosen the tie, the label on the bag warped into the number "21" and she whipped her head up with a raised brow. Obviously the label was trying to guide her, and after a quick scan, she saw the assigned table there with two familiar faces.

Merlin. She didn't know Reid that well. They were more like mutual friends than anything set in stone. On the other hand, she and Delilah were a tad more acquainted, though that was the expected outcome of them living together as dormmates for the past several years instead of any sort of close time spent together. Regardless, Phaedra supposed there could've been worse options to spend a Valentine's Day with. Reid was her age and in her year. Not hard on the eyes either, she supposed. But who had Delilah gotten paired with? Was there a mix-up with the numbers?

The prefect watched for what felt like a minute, almost as if gathering the courage to approach. She was completely out of the loop that the sign-ups had accounted for third-wheels and non-heterosexual preferences, though that would be plenty obvious enough if she took a second to look around. Mostly, she just didn't care. Her two fellow fourth-years seemed to be conversing, so after stepping to their table, Phaedra politely waited at their side until they acknowledged her presence. If Delilah wanted to switch places and she could go back to studying, Phaedra would gladly oblige.

“Hi, you two. I'll be honest. Someone signed me up for this.” She let a moment of dramatic pause simmer in the air, looking less than amused at the situation. Her cloak was pulled tighter over her shoulders and she sent a look towards Reid. “I'm supposed to be on a... date, at table 21? But if you two are seeing each other, I can leave you be.”

Reducio

She felt so awkward, she as she sat down across from him all she wished was for it to swallow her whole like just snap shut and squish her, flat, bam, done. This was too much and she had only just sat down. She took a deep breath, she would be fine, she knew Reid, sort of, she didn't know too much as to what's been happening in his life the past couple of years..and she realised she didn't know much about him in the first place. She had been too busy somewhat obsessing over him to actually know much about him.

Upon hearing his compliment of her jacket, she smiled and pulled at the hem of it, thankfully it was made well and didn't come apart with her fiddling. "I like your jumper." She replied, referring to the turtleneck he was wearing. Not too much longer after that, Phaedra came over, they had never gone out of their way to talk to each other really, but they did see each other a lot, not just in classes but they were also both on the headliner and duelling teams. She gave a small smile to Phaedra as she approached "Yeah somebody signed me up too." She chuckled, when she said about the two of them seeing each other she immediately felt extra awkward. As if this giant weight came crashing onto her, "No, no, no." She said basically in sync with Reid's No's. "Yeah what he said, just enjoying the evening."

She turned to Reid as he spoke again, "Uh, yeah I'm alright, been a bit busy lately with studying, duelling and the headliner. What about you?" It wasn't entirely the truth, she had just been avoiding him since.. when would it have been..Late 2018? Early 2019?...2 years.. Maybe she did go a bit overboard, she had gotten so used to avoiding him that it had become second nature, she was so short it was usually pretty easy to disappear into crowds when she saw him come around the corner. She had actually even joined the headliner the issue after his last, although that wasn't entirely on purpose. She fiddled with the edge of her jacket again, once again wishing the chair would just...swallow her.