| Details for Ground Rules |
| Summary: | Lillian and Augustin talk about the rules of their arrangement. |
| Date: | 1938-09-02 |
| Location: | Courtyard |
| Related: | SnowSnakes and Galleons |
| Characters |
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Lillian heads outside striding out of the courtyard and to one of her favorite places on the grounds, an old gnarled tree near the lake. She sits down at the base of it smoothing out her skirts and looks out over the water with a soft smile. Her head turns slightly and she looks towards the castle with a thoughtful expression wondering if she was followed or not.
Oh, she was followed alright. Augustin is right behind her. Luckily, there's a bit of time before classes start, so their conversation won't get either of them into trouble. "I think they bought it," he tells her. "I mean… /I/ almost did, and I know better." He grins and sits down next to her, about an arm's length away.
Lillian smiles softly. "Well I -am- a decent actress after all. I get a lot of practice as well." She sighs softly looking at the the lake. Judging by her expression she doesn't seem to like this fact very much and her next words confirm it. "You know sometimes I feel like everything I do or say is an act. I wonder what it would be feel something that isn't faked or temporary." She shakes her head and turns to look at him with a sad look in her bright blue eyes. Then the previous sorrow disappears under the calm mask once more, her voice is soft disappointed almost as she speaks. "I'm such a mess. I shouldn't want something so silly."
Augustin frowns a bit at her pensive mood. "Quidditch isn't faked, or temporary, is it?" he asks her, trying to find something good for her to think about. "And… and neither is our friendship. I mean, I haven't even known you for a full day and I think we'll make great chums. You can count on me, honestly. And we don't have to pretend when we're around each other." He shakes his head. "It's not silly. Sounds perfectly reasonable to me, Lil."
"No, Quidditch is one of the things I enjoy for the very reason that no acting in involved." She pauses studying him as he speaks about friendship her eyes widen a bit and there is a flicker of surprise and hope there. She smiles at him. "Thank you Gus. I'm not sure exactly how this will work out. I am not used to…well I guess nice people and friendship are kind of foreign to me. I don't understand either very well. You confuse me with your happy smiles and cheerful attitude. It doesn't seem fake…and I don't understand you but I kind of like you anyway." She smiles shyly and leans against the tree watching him.
"Maybe we should talk about some ground rules," Gus says. "About this arrangement of ours. Just so there's no miscommunication or hurt feelings, eh?"
Lillian gives him a wary look, almost like she is expecting something bad but nods her agreement anyway. "Very well. Go on then."
"Ah, well, let's see," Augustin says. He squints and tilts his head to the side. "Ummmmmm… Okay. We should have a 'date'," and he says the word with air quotes, "Once a week. Friday or Saturday, do you think?"
Lillian nods relaxing slightly now. "Fridays or Saturday evenings are best for me. I usually practice Quidditch on Saturday Mornings." She manages a faint smile and looks thoughtful for a moment.
Augustin nods. "I should probably come watch those regularly. Your practices, I mean," he says. "Though I have to cheer for Hufflepuff during games. Sorry." He idly scratches his shoulder. "Gift exchanges, oh… every other week?" he suggests. "We can buy our own gifts, I suppose. Like, I'll buy what I want and just tell people you got it for me. Or we can just tell each other. Nothing too big, just little tokens, right?"
Lillian nods in agreement. "Okay and no worries just don't be mad at me when I knock that Hufflepuff seeker off his broom again. He makes such an easy target" A smirk is given and she tilts her head to the side her blonde curls lifted slightly in a breeze. "Hmm I will tell you want I want and you can do the same okay? And no nothing too big, little things are best." Sh
"I'll hold my tongue, as saying anything one way or the other about Quidditch will get me into trouble with /someone/," Augustin says solemnly. "You know your first present is the snake I'm carving. You can bring dessert. Ask one of my friends, they'll tell you my favorite." He watches her twirl her hair, and suddenly grins. "Why do girls /do/ that?" he asks, pointing. "SnowSnake was doing it earlier, too."
"SnowSnake? Please don't go around giving -me- such a ridiculous nickname. Janette maybe a bit cold but that name will probably make her positively icy!" Lillian shakes her head and laughs softly moving her hand away from her hair with a shrug. "I don't know…its girl thing I guess. Though I am not a typical girl I still -am- one. Sometimes I think poeple forget that…" She smirks playfully.
"Never!" Augustin promises. "You're just Lil. It fits you." He gives her a smile, a dimple popping in his cheek for a second. His eyes wander her face, down her arms, to her slender hands. "How could anyone forget?" he asks. "I mean, /look/ at you." He shakes his head and lays back on the grass, using his folded arms as a pillow. "What other rules should there be?" he asks.
Lillian laughes and leans aginst the tree with a smile. "I will take that as compliment." She thinks for a moment looking at him with a soft smile. "We can always add more rules later if we need to. So lets just see how it goes for now yes?"
"We should go ahead and agree to be each other's company for the dance," Augustin says. "Like we said in the car. Oh! Do you think we should write this down?" He starts to dig around in his pockets and comes out with a pen and some paper. "I think this was in here at the end of last term," he mumbles to himself. "Rules… of… Engagement…" he says aloud as he writes. "Number one… stay… friends." He nods decisively. "Number two… Go on date… once… per week. Number three… Gifts… every… second week. Number four… Attend… school… functions… together…"
Lillian smiles looking rather amused and leaning over to watch while he writes. She nods as she starts reading over the list. She nibbles on her lower lip as she tries to think of something to add. "I can't really think of anything else for now but if we keep up with how we are currently acting then everyone will likely be conviced that we are completely lovesick by Halloween."
Augustin looks up, and her face is /right there/. He catches his breath and gazes at her for a second. "N—number six," he whispers. "Kisses." He swallows, stares at her lips.
Lillian blinks in surprise, a hint of a blush creeping into her cheeks. She smiles sweetly at him. "Kisses? Oh right…how..silly of me to forget." She leans in a bit closer gently pressing thier lips together in a gentle but lingering kiss.
A note of surprise from Gus is muffled by their lips being pressed together. After a few seconds he drops the quill and paper and grabs her shoulders gently. He tilts his head so he's not poking her in the eye with his nose, or anything. It's kind of obvious that he wasn't expecting this, but he definitely isn't going to pass it up! He kisses sweetly, if somewhat clumsily, and his hands are trembling. "Lil," he whispers after he breaks apart to breathe. "Merlin's beard, that was —" words fail him.
Lillian smiles happily as she slowly pulls back from kissing Augustin. "Wonderful…that was wonderful..and my first kiss as well." She smiles a bit shyly and she is blushing a light shade of pink. The pair are sitting by the lake near an old gnarled tree and seem to have just separated from a kiss.
"Mine, too," Augustin confesses. "I…" he swallows again. He's still holding her shoulders gently. "I'm not sure how fake this is, any more." His cheeks are quite red. "I just met you /yesterday/. Somehow I always thought, you know, I'd spend weeks trying to get a girl to kiss me." He suddenly laughs a little bit. "Must be more irresistible than I thought. Witches, beware," he jokes.
Douglas appears from a patch of longer grass, not in a ninja way but in a general ambling around sort of way, lifts a hand to greet the pair, then hurriedly lowers it again, backing off. "Whoa, sorry. Sorry, man, didn't mean to intrude. Um. Hey, there's a kinda more private spot down by the lake, y'know?"
Lillian studies Augustin intently for a moment. Her next words are soft just a bit above a whisper. "Maybe we don't have to fake it…I'm not against dating you for real…if you want that is.." She looks incredibly nervous and then she hears Douglas her head turning to look at him. She gives a dramatic sigh. "Well there went my almost perfect moment…" She turns back to Augustin looking torn between nervous and happy.
Augustin springs back from Lillian at Douglas' arrival. "What?" he sputters, quite red in the face. "We — we weren't doing — doing anything that requires privacy," he stammers. "Yee gads, man, what kind of animals do you take us for?" He shoots an apologetic glance at Lillian.
Douglas opens his mouth to respond to that, then closes it again, holding up a finger. "I'm not going to answer that, but I am going to say that if you head for the lake, and find the massive willow tree by the pair of rocks there? There's a little sheltered bit where nobody can see you, and that's /alllll/ I'm saying, okay?"
Lillian turns to Douglas eyeing him curiously. "Speaking from experience are you?" She is blushing a bright pink and quite emabressed as well. She moves back a bit propping against the tree and trying to keep what is left of her dignity.
Gus stares at Douglas for a bit. Just stares at him. Then looks at Lillian. Then back at Douglas. "For one thing, this is /none/ of your business, mate. For another, Lillian deserves more than — than sneaking around, and private patches of /dirt/!" He seems irritated, and yanks on his sleeves a bit, unnecessarily straightening them. "If I catch you implying otherwise, you and I will have /words/." He pauses, and his voice drops. "And by words, I mean I will punch you in the face, friend or no." He crosses his arms. "Lil's a proper lady, and I am going to treat her as such."
Douglas taps his chest, brows raising innocently. "Hey, hey, I'm helping! You don't want Ogg catching you swapping spit here, do you? Or worse, some bloody great Gryffindor wandering in on you and ruining your… er… near perfect moment." Lillian gets an apologetic smile at that. "And you're welcome, by the way. I don't share all my hiding spots with everyone."
Lillian turns her head away staring at the lake trying to hide her emabressment. She does spare a bright smile for Augustin though as he defends her honor. "Thank you Gus…." There is a hint of surprise in her expression but its mostly graditude. She gives Douglas a look. "I think you should go." The words 'before I hit you' go unsaid but the look she gives him says it quite plainly.
Augustin rubs his forehead. "We should /all/ go," he says tiredly. "Classes start in a few minutes. As it is I'll have to Accio my books on the way." He hesitates for a moment, and then holds his hand out to Lillian, fingers wiggling.
Douglas exhales, rolling his eyes. "Maaan… sometimes there's no helping people," he notes, more to himself than anything. "Right, right. Classes. Woo. Yay classes." He turns on his heel, heading very, very slowly back towards the castle. It's almost like he's not looking forward to another thrilling lecture.
"Oh right classes." Lillian takes the offered hand with a smile and rises to her feet. "Thank you." She starts walking towards the castle with her hand still in his and a happy smile on her face.