Details for Divined Valentine: Gerald and Sybil |
Summary: | Having put their names forward to participate in the Divined Valentine's event that Elizabeth's running, Gerald and Sybil run into each other. |
Date: | 14th February, 1939 |
Location: | Corridor, Hogwarts. |
Related: | Part of the Divined Valentine Plot |
Characters |
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February 14! Even in 1939 it's a big deal, one that spurs dread in the hearts of some, depression in the souls of many, and glee in the lives of a few. For those that are relatively untouched by /most/ of the V-Day drama, there are enchanted rose colored glasses and /way/ too much time thanks to being ahead in classes.
Wandering the halls, sans robes thanks to the end of classes, Gerald has been missing for the better part of two hours. Only now, glasses perched lazily over his eyes, does the Gryffindor appear… complete with slightly clumsy steps and a new appreciation for seeing everything in the color pink.
Seriously, Elizabeth has no idea what she was doing with these glasses. Attention spans across Hogwarts have been devastated.
Sybil is wandering the corridors with a group of her friends. Every last one of them is wearing the glasses and they are, simply put, every boy's nightmare; a pack of hunting females. "Nothing. I'm still not getting anything," giggles a dark-haired 5th year, name of Claudia, a touch to her glasses as she does a 180 degree sweep of the area left to right. "Try harder!" "Split up!" "This way! I saw someone duck in that classroom!" "Hey is that Cornfoot??" There's a shove to Sybil's shoulder as she's pushed to the front of the herd of girls, the petite blonde dressed in a soft pink sweater with tiny hearts embroidered in silver around neck and hem. Someone likes Valentine's Day it would seem.
Yes, the girls /are/ hunting, aren't they. Twice already Gerald has been confronted by a gaggle of rose-tinted girls, and twice already he's sent them along with a small salute, a wink and a lazy snicker before going on his way. Chances are he'd not be wearing the things if he really thought they had a function. Up until this point they haven't done a thing outside of make everything pink, but hearing his name, Gerald's eyes instantly find the blonde, his expression shifting first toward her friends and then to her…and the parade of hearts that buzz obnoxiously around her head. The sight causes a small snicker, and a loudly hushed, "Haaaa….you have hearts." Which, considering her sweater likely makes very little sense.
Sybil blushes immediately, though maybe its just the effect of everyone looking at her through those glasses. "Merlin's wonky eye… " Her words finish on a bit of a squeak and she slides her glasses down her nose, peering at Gerald over the top. Sans glasses, she has to bite her upper lip to thwart a giggle as she looks at the Gryffindor without the floaty heart effect. So hard not to giggle though, given he's wearing the cutely-shaped and colourful glasses too - its just such a manly look. She pushes her own back up her nose with the press of a finger and knots her hands behind her back, shushing her friends as she takes a half-dozen steps towards him. Its a girly walk that's designed to focus his attention fully upon her, one hip slightly lowered so there's the faintest sway to her gait. The girl's good. "I see hearts too…"
Gerald grins, deeply even, as she approaches. His hand reaches to push the glasses back, shoving them up his forehead to rest perched on his head, it allows him to clearly watch her, and her walk does good to keep him tuned in rather tightly on her. The other girls…pft. WHAT other girls. Though Syb's has a little help. She just doesn't know it yet.
Her little confession about what she sees earns a rather deep grin, his steps picking up as he draws toward her as well, his hand reaching to tug her forward once she's within reach. His goal, to press a firm kiss against her lips.
There's a ripple of giggles behind Sybil. "They're going for it." "Lucky cow." "Oh why aren't my glasses working!". There's a laugh from Sybil too as she follows Gerald and pushes her own glasses up on top of her head pinning her hair back from her face. "Hello, you…" she smiles, allowing the tug of his hand to pull her towards him, indeed welcoming it. She doesn't touch him though, her hands remaining firmly knotted together behind her back, her head tilted 'just so' until he's dropped that kiss upon her. Damn but she's gone all out for this event, her eyes as they close in that brief moment showing the effect of magically enhanced and lightly applied make-up. They're ringed in a smudge of kohl, tiny stars shimmering in shifting metallics at the outer edges and her skin is enhanced with a luminous powder. Whatever perfume she's chosen to wear is likely magical too; the scent light and simple, insinuating itself deep within Gerald's senses with a warm, pleasant glow. The end of the kiss has her smiling into his eyes, a hint of amusement just playing her expression. "Nnngh. And I was worried this wouldn't work…"
So, MAYBE the glasses he made so much fun of are actually kinda cool. Naturally Gerald wont openly admit to such, but he does allow them to drop back into place with a small grin sent toward the blond. "What you think? Pink my color?" he asks lazily, leaning to slump against the wall as he finds his footing again. He also sighs. "Also…wow. Shine has some really weird admir-ers." He furrows his brow at the word, tripping slowly over it before he laughs, "I've learned my lesson..no more eating peoples gifts…not at Hogwarts, land of the roving, potion brewing stalkers." Whatever he means, he does at least seem confident he's nailed the reason he can't see straight..or feel his feet..or speak properly without snickering. "But hey..you look hot. I like this." This being clothes apparently, because he reaching to give the sweater a tug.
Sybil leaves her own glasses atop her head, and smiles at Gerald. "You sound almost drunk," she says, a gentle poke given him in his ribs. With her group of friends throwing a few more comments their way before turning and heading down the corridor, glasses firmly back in place, she leans a little more boldly into Gerald, looking down at the sweater when he draws attention to it. "This old thing? Had it ages," she fibs, "And as for the colour suiting you, I think possibly so. It says a lot about a boy if he can wear pink and still pull the girls."
Gerald smirks, though she manages to drag a laugh from him. "Drunk? No way." He even dismisses the idea with a wave of his hand. How characteristic of a drunk! "Seriously though. I'm not. I may have had a very unfortunate run in with a potion. Or..potion spiked gift not meant for me..because I don't guys." He grins. He's just very very very..calm. And happy. And possibly a bit glassy-eyed. He seems perfectly aware how he seems, because it's apparently rather funny. "I have officially learned to stay out of peoples stuff."
Sybil laughs, a shake of her head given. "You were pilfering some of Shine's Valentine's Day's presents? Well serves you right. Try that with mine and you'll get a poke on the nose and your arm twisted to replace them." There's a lift of herself onto her toes with that, and Gerald will get a very pink-tinted version of Sybil tugging his head down for a kiss, not least because her hair being so pale itself takes the colour rather well. A touch of her lips to his and then she speaking again. "I did get you a gift though, so perhaps you won't feel the need to go raiding."
Gerald chuckles. "It's a rule. Shine gets something, and I mess with it. She didn't stop me..to be honest I half think she knew." Which she did! Or at least had a hunch. "Kinda mean things, red heads." he grins, more than pleased to bend forward at the tug, allowing her to press the kiss to his lips. "You got me somethin? You're not supposed to do that. Birds are supposed to get gifts, not the fella." Though, he doesn't seem too terrible offended. He also reaches into his pocket to tug something free. "Got you something too."
"If you like someone, then you should let them know," Sybil says easily, her eyes pulled immediately towards Gerald's hand when its pulled from his pocket. "But lets go somewhere quieter? I don't want another herd of girls charging this way, I want you to myself for now." She slips a hand into his free one, a small tug given. "Please? We could maybe go to the boat house and sit in one of the boats, exchange gifts and do a bit of that 'not kissing or touching' that you're so keen on."
Gerald is easily, allowing her to take his hand and lead him on. "I guess you're right." He allows in regards to her words, "Though, I never said that I didn't want to kiss and touch, just that you can't be shocked when I want to touch /you/." Just sayin. He shrugs at his words, as if it were a perfectly explained science.
"I didn't say you can't touch me," Sybil laughs, lacing her fingers through his as they head for the stairs. "In fact, I quite like it. Especially when you pick me up and sling me over your shoulder. You know, I think that that was the moment when I decided that I really quite liked you." She grins with that, admitting completely and utterly to being a girl with those few words as a scarf gets pulled from her cloak and wrapped about her neck. No need whatsoever to be frozen if they're going to be walking through the cold outside, and indeed, when they do step out and onto the path that leads to the boathouse, there's another fresh fall of snow that quilts the grounds.
Gerald smirks, his brows arching silently at her 'correction' of him. "Well..most girls tend to be that way." He allows with an easy roll of his shoulders, though there is the distinct likelihood his heart just skipped a beat. He also allows her the moment to protect herself from the cold, though he remains mostly affixed as he came. Coat, and a scarf left loose. Having things wrapped around his neck is hardly his idea of a good time. "Want me to carry you know?" he teases after a few seconds. "You can ride my back, or I can just lug you." All dainty like!
Sybil laughs. "I've not been piggy-backed since I was about ten!" She pulls her hand free of his and blows some warmth into her fingers before looking at him with mischief in her eyes. "So go on then. See if you can manage to carry me all the way to the boat house. I promise I won't put you off by tickling or being mean if you do, AND you'd be doing me a favour as my feet will be frozen otherwise. I'd have put on my wellies if I'd known the snow was going to cover the path again." Just like that, and possibly also because she's a girl, she lays the challenge down and expects him to pick it up and run with it.
Gerald laughs, reaching to lift her, though he doesn't sling her over his back, rather he lifts her with at least a touch of concern for her modesty, making sure to pull her arm around his neck as he does. She weighs nothing in comparison to the things he's had to carry in the past. "I can carry you just fine, but what do I get if I make it to the boathouse without a problem?" Snow of course, can cause many concerns he's overlooked. He also leans to try and steal a kiss before heading out and on toward the boathouse.
"You get a snog," Sybil says, another laugh just threatening to break as she's hoisted off her feet. "That is, if you make it there without dropping me. I didn't promise not to molest you however to avoid the horrors of that." Her arm tightens about his neck with that, her other reaching to join it in a closed loop to secure herself better and a rub of her nose to his cheek. "Of course, I'll probably snog you anyway, if only because you look so cute in your glasses. That, and I'm thinking the chances of you speaking French or Italian to me once we're there are highly likely. I don't need to excel in arithmancy to figure the odds on that."
Gerald grins, the attention to his cheek earning a laugh, as does the mention of Arithmancy. "So very bad at that." He admits with a chuckle, his head tilting against her before he pushes on through the snow toward the lakes edge. To his credit, he's careful not to fall, and seems to know the ground rather well at this point. He does jog the grounds twice a day after all. "Perche devo aspettare che ci arriviamo?" is questioned over to her, a broad grin playing on his lips before he gives her a squeeze, right before he's forced to push the shades back onto his head. "Sorry Kitten, I can't see a thing in these."
Sybil giggles, curling herself in warmly against Gerald. "You don't need to wait at all," she says, finding the hollow between his jaw and ear to which a kiss is pressed. Which, granted, isn't exactly a snog as such, but the way she takes care to just touch her lips to his skin before blowing a breath of air across the spot might, should the boy allow himself to get distracted, be enough to cause a falter in his step. "Inoltre, call me kitten. Mi e piaciuto molto."
It IS enough to potentially falter his steps, though he manages to only stumble a little at the attention. "Kitten.." he allows, perhaps with the smallest bit of a tisk to his tone. "You throw me off, and /you/ end up on your ass in the snow." He reminds her, though a smile does manage its way through. It widens as he steps into the shelter of the boathouse a few minutes later.
Sybil tightens her arms, almost comically, about Gerald's neck when he says that. "I know you'd not drop me, I trust you," she smiles, nevertheless remaining well-behaved for the rest of the trip, only speaking again when they're safely in the boathouse. "See? I was right. I'm always right. Do I get my present now, or will you demand yours first?" She's deliberately ambiguous as to just exactly which present she means; the Valentine's one or the snog, but perhaps that's not surprising.
Gerald laughs, carefully settling her onto her feet once they are safely outside the reach of the snow. Her words, believe it or not, do not manage to catch him off guard. "You can have it." He allows with a laugh, "It's simple..but keep in mind I /bleed/ for this. Maybe not recently but I did." What he tugs from his pocket is in fact simple. A thin silver thread of a chain, holding a single, but rather unique pearl clasped at its end. "Vacation before the holidays I went on a trip with my family and I found this. I put it back till I could think of something to do with it. I didn't want to waste it and, since I ended up needing healing after the bloody shell cut me openI nearly died, by the way," he embellishes playfully, "You seemed like a very good reason to send for it." It's a sizable little pearl of a deep, red tint. "Unless you don't want it..of course." Again, he teases.
"No! I want it!" Sybil exclaims, her eyes full of laughter as she reaches for the necklace. "Its lovely. Beautiful." She doesn't take it from Gerald, not fully, the curl of her fingers just lifting the pearl so it drapes her fingers. "Did you honestly, actually, really nearly bleed to death for this?" She lifts her eyes, a deliciousness in her expression that can only really be attributed to the delight she finds in the uniqueness of the present, and she slips an arm around his waist, pulling herself in close. He'll need to lift his hand a little to avoid her squashing the necklace between her chest and his, but the kiss she gives him in thanks is probably worth the inconvenience.
Gerald laughs, but he doesn't fall victim to the boyish need to play keep-away with his lass. "I can get you something else if it's not enough." He teases, "But, no not to death. But I get cut up pretty bad trying to get the damn shell open. I needed healing, and my mom tried to murder me with her eyes.
The kiss she gives is well worth the inconvenience of lifting a hand, which still holds the necklace security as his arm wraps around her shoulders. He returns said kiss without any force of hesitation. Naturally. He also reluctantly breaks the kiss several ticks later, with a sigh. "Come on thenput it on so I don't have to be responsible for keeping up with it any longer."
"You put it on," Sybil laughs, twisting away from him as she pulls her scarf from her neck. Silvery hair spills over her shoulders so she necessarily takes a moment to lift it from her neck with the scoop of one hand to expose her nape. Babyfine hairs wisp the line of it as she tucks the majority out of the way, a glance over her shoulder to Gerald with what's inevitably another tease. "Unless you find your fingers won't work the clasp, I know the terrible things a flash of a neck can do to a boy."
Gerald chuckles, nodding gently as she turns. "I can work it just fine." He snaps back at her, laughing as he reaches to drape the chain around her neck, clasping it expertly and with a small snort given to her. Course, she's right about one thing she does. Any amount of exposed skin is very good at attracting attention, and from behind her Gerald does seem relatively interested in leaning to kiss along that small swath of skin his hands sinking to slide around her waist to lazily pull her back against him. "How's that?"
Sybil leans back into the hug when she's drawn into it, the line of her back moulding easily to those of Gerald's chest and belly. "I think that that's just perfect," she says, lifting the pearl with a careful finger so she can look at it once more. "I love the colour and its a perfect gift. Thank you. I think that I could quite get used to this whole girlfriend/boyfriend thing if its as nice as this. But. I have yet to give you your present." Tilting her head a fraction so that he can look over her left shoulder, that is - if he's not distracted by dropping another kiss there - she pulls a brown, paper-wrapped package from the folds of her cloak. Its about four inches by three and tied with deep scarlet ribbon. She holds it up. "Any ideas what it is?"
Gerald chuckles against her skin, though as she speaks to him, he's forced to withdraw his lips from that perfect little section of her form. "Uh-huh.." he allows with a sigh, "I think the gift should reflect the girl." He admits with a laugh. "My dad always said that, I'm inclined to agree with him." And if there is anything he's good at, it's going above and beyond on gifts.
As she moves and offers out the gift, Gerald finds himself distracted. Pleasantly so. "I have no idea.." he admits with a blink, eyeing the package curiously as he reaches to take it, and no doubt gives it a shake. "Will it bite me? Burn me, or otherwise cause me bodily injury?" He is of course teasing.
Sybil scrunches her nose, passing the package up to Gerald. When he opens it he'll find a book that, from the worn nature of its leather cover, would indicate it being of an age. The edges of pages are gilded gold and the name is tooled on the front, embossed with further gold: Dark Arts - A Legal Companion. She turns back into him, looking at his face to watch his reaction as her arm relocates itself around his waist. "Its a first edition copy and signed by the author. My aunt tracked it down for me when I told her I need something nice for you. I thought, with you wanting to be a hit wizard, you should probably have this in your collection." There's a small bite of the corner of her lip and she looks back to the book. "Its got some wonderful pictures in too, I had a sneaky look."
Wow! Look at that, actual emotion! He looks pleased, and slightly caught off guard. "Wow…" he admits in his typical dry tone, of course it breaks into something slightly more felt seconds later. "This is…really great." It certainly has his attention. Even as she attaches to him he continues to flip through it, turning it in his hands until finally he lowers his gaze to her, narrowing it, "You're very very amazing." Just in case she didn't know. He also leans to try and trap her lips in a rather deep kiss. "Thank you." He mutters against her mouth, "I love it."
Sybil smiles against the kiss, the young woman melting ever so slightly into Gerald for its duration. "Mmm. Well. I thought you'd appreciate it more than a basket of chocolate frogs or something covered in hearts; I know how sensitive you boys can be in front of your friends when something embarrassing jumps up and explodes into pink confetti. Or worse. You'll probably want to get an up to date copy for actual use though as this is probably a bit of an antique and better suited to sitting on a bookshelf." A beat. "And you're amazing too. Just so you know."