[Hogsmeade] throw it away, forget yesterday

[Felicity Locke]

Felicity had been a bad daughter lately, considering she hadn’t seen her mother in more than a few weeks. Christi was probably going out of her mind by this point. One good thing about owning a candy shop was that she could hear all the best gossip. Maybe some about her Felicity too. Anyway, the extremely obsessive, overprotective mother was debating whether or not to just drag the girl out of the school. How was that for embarrassment? And a bit frightening too. Angry veelas were not something to be toiled with.

Of course Felicity had thought of this all in advance, and decided it was time to pay her mother a long overdue visit. Tossing on a pair of snug jeans and a low-cut sweater, Fay snatched her light coat and dashed out the common room door. Getting to Honeydukes was never really a problem. Felicity knew all the shortcuts and secret passageways like the back of her hand. Plus, the sweet smell of candy could lure any child to that store. Just follow your nose!

The sign on the door stated “closed”, but Fay shoved open the door anyway. The bell above the door chimed, warning everyone of her entrance. Oddly enough, nobody was in the room. Confused—and a bit surprised—Felicity was almost ready to leave, when her mother’s all too melodic voice chimed from the back room.

“Sorry, we’re closed!”
“I suppose I’ll come back later then.”

Felicity grinned as her mother popped her head out from the room. Christi let out a girlish squeal and nearly tackled her daughter in her excitement. Christi was surprisingly strong for such a slight woman. It was a somewhat awkward picture, seeing as Fay was a bit taller than her mother. Christi pulled off petite well though. Come on, she’s a veela, she could pull off a brown paper bag if she honestly wanted to.

After her mother stopped freaking out and actually allowed Fay to talk, she dragged her daughter into the back room. The room had a couch nestled into the corner, with a pair of chairs facing it from the other side of the room. In the middle was a medium-sized coffee-table, which currently had a pot of hot chocolate brewing. Her mother was a mind reader. Now, the two only talked for an hour or so, before Christi said something about Fay needing to hang out with people besides her “boring old mum.” So, Fay was shipped off with a cup of hot chocolate in hand.

Felicity had planned to just return to Hogwarts, but the delicious aroma of baked goods lured her otherwise. Her feet moved on their own accord to the window of Tempest Treats. So the delicious smell was coming from this new shop, eh? She shuffled toward the door, but apparently someone else had the same notion as her. Fay bumped into the person it front of her, effectively dropping her cup of hot chocolate and causing it to splash across the road.

“Oh crap, I’m sorry! Are you alri-” Her ranting cut off once she looked up. Felicity’s face froze, sticking to whatever expression was on it at the time. Suddenly, going back to the common room sounded so good.

[Kieran Davies]

The castle had seemed less like home than anything just recently. His friends were all backwards, (not that that counted for much in Lucas' case) and he wasnt his normal self either. Recently he had been avoiding the inside of the castle as though it was the plague and stuck to the outdoors, avoiding the Lake as best as he could. In fact, Kieran could usually have been found just inside the forest. Not too far in so he would be in danger of some nasty trying to eat him, but far in enough so he didnt really run into any unwanted or slightly embarrassing (on his side) company.

He decided however, on this afternoon it would be safe for him to go down to Hogsmeade. It was a Tuesday night and not many students ventured down there on a weekday so he doubted he would run into anyone. Besides, he had heard about a new sweet shop opening and he wanted to see if it would be any good. He loved Honeydukes, always had. But the risk of bumping into Felicity was too much and, though he knew it wasnt the case, he didnt want her charm back on him. Especially when everything he says under that charm is the truth. Ollie told him he should just grab his balls, walk upto her and just tell her without being under the charm. When Kieran told him 'no way I am not doing that!' Ollie proceeded to call him a wuss. Which he figured was true, but Kieran and Fay... Well...

He took a route which enabled him to see everything and yet nobody noticed him. He was off the normal path but walking paralell to it. His black jacket zipped right up to keep him warm and his hands shoved in his pockets. He had a niggling in the back of his mind telling him to go back to the Castle and stay there, that something bad, awkward and embarrasing was going to happen. Though he ignored it. Kieran had a sweet tooth, and he would just annoy the fellow Gryffindors if he didnt satisfy his cravings. He had tried to convince Rie to come along with him, but she was too busy with Ollie she said and told him to ask Lucas. Which Kieran didnt do, if Lucas asked him one more time if he was a 'man or a mouse' or if he was having 'technical difficulties' then he would just have to curse him to hell and back again.

He soon found the Village and wandered down the streets, looking into the shop windows and considering if he should buy anything or not. Deciding against the idea, he wandered down the street looking at the shop signs waiting to see the one labelled 'Tempest Treats' so he could have a nosey in there. It wasnt cold, but Kieran held himself quite stiffly as though it was, he had done for a while now. The sense of embarrassment doesnt leave you quite as easily as you would like.

"Kieran!" Came the quite obvious voice of Dante Nikolas. Kieran turned around and looked at the black haired boy, "I thought it was you, why are you hiding?"
"Im not hiding."
"Then why have you got your head jammed into your jacket like you want nobody to recognise you? Anyway, thats not what I wanted you for. That damned owl of yours came to me again this afternoon with a letter for you. Here."
"Thanks." He said flatly and took the letter from Dante, sticking it in his pocket after he recognised the writing of his mother. Though he did find it a little amusing how his owl 'Owl' kept going to Dante. It was probably cause Dante always fed him treats. Not that Kieran didnt, but Dante always gave Owl more than he did.

He looked up from where he was stood and scanned the street, Honeydukes was a little beyond this point now, Kieran could see it from where he was but had no intention of going in there. As he moved his eyes he saw the sign for Tempest Treats and made his way towards the door, keeping his head low and his hands shoved into his pockets. To anyone looking around he probably looked like someone who was going to commit theft. Though it didnt matter to him really what other people thought of him. He walked slowly, being in no rush to get there, he had the rest of the afternoon afterall, but he wasnt prepared for what came next.

He was knocked back a little and felt a slight burning through his jacket, he looked down and noticed someone had spilt some hot liquid on him. Great, just had this washed too. He thought dryly to himself as he heard someone speak, though not quite registering who the voice belonged to, "Dont worry about it I'm fine." He spoke absent mindedly as he began to brush the area the liquid had landed on him. He looked up into the face of the person he spoke to, and to his horror he saw it was the person he had spent so long trying to avoid in fear of his own feelings. "F-Fay?" He stammered, his face reddening at the sheer sight of her. Suddenly feeling awkward, as though he was stood on a platform in front of the whole school completley naked. "Uh.. h-how are you?" Was his attempt at making some form of small talk.

[Felicity Locke]

On her good days, Christi could be very observant. She was a little put off by her daughter’s outfit—that so wasn’t Fay. Her mother even commented on her attitude, which with her motherly sense she could tell there was a change. The way she spoke about talking to a gaggle of guy Gryffindors, or the way she laughed when she mentioned a Puff caught staring at her while she was on her patrol. It just wasn’t Fay.

Even with all these changes, Felicity made an extra effort to avoid the Gryffindor common room at all. She asked Bray to take that hallway for the prefect routine. Luckily he agreed, though he was rather confused about it. How sad was it that Felicity couldn’t even confide in her best friend anymore? She nearly hated herself, because how could she not notice the changes?

Of course, the day she decided to visit her mother she had to run into him. Her luck sucked, still. Not that seeing him was all that bad, per say, it was just incredibly awkward. And it was all because that stupid lake incident. Before that, they could meet up, go somewhere and have a grand ol’ time. And now here they were, with a hot chocolate stained jacket and two awe-stricken teenagers. Kind of sounds like a set up for a movie right?

His brilliant response snapped Fay out of her staring contest. She noticed the slight coloring of his face, and had to admit she was a bit surprised that he was just as nervous as she. Buck up damnit. Felicity rearranged her expression to allow that infamous smile to grace her features. “I’ve been alright, I suppose. How about you?” Alright? Yea right. If only he knew how much crap was going on in her life. It almost sounded like a soap opera.

Felicity’s gaze strayed back to the bakery. Now, the old Fay would be a stuttering fool, freaking out still over the fact that she bumped into Kieran. But for heavens sake she was a veela; she should know how to handle situations like this. Fay glanced back up at Kieran as she spoke. “Well, seeing as we were both heading to the same place and you owe me for the hot chocolate, why don’t we talk in there?” She gestured to the shop with a grin.

Leaving the invitation hanging, Felicity pushed open the door to the shop and was greeted by the delightful smell of fresh baked cookies. God this place had to be heaven (haha, pun). Sauntering over to the counter, she leaned in closer to look at the baked goods. Her mouth was watering already at the thought. Fay already had several choices in mind, but she would wait to say anything to see if Kieran had walked in or not.

[Kieran Davies]

Kieran, though he didn’t like being a third wheel, had been spending more time than usual with Ollie and Rieko. It was something he had done to keep his mind off Fay, though how would a lovesick couple would help him keep his mind off someone he liked, you ask? Easy, cause Rie and Oll weren’t always lovey dovey, and Rieko took pleasure in trying to cheer Kieran up by making herself do funny things in her Animagi form. Like snapping playfully at first year’s heels and making them run. Or waving at passers by and watching their rather startled and confused expression. Occasionally she would do stupid things like try to steal his drink, or stick her tiger nose in his ear. It kept his mind off Fay anyway.

As another attempt, Ollie had suggested he try for the beater position in Quidditch with him. Kieran was fairly speedy on a broom, feeling comfortable in the air and heaven knew he loved ‘beating’ things. So a bat, a ball, and trying to knock a few Slytherins off their broom’s didn’t sound so bad. If nothing else, it would surely help him pent his frustration. Take it out on someone, or something, other than the tree’s in the Black Forest. Usually, if Kieran was himself he would have sighed in defeat, given up and moved onto a rebound lass, but even after Fay’s rejection, he was still caught up on her.

It was strange putting most of his effort into avoiding her, doing things he wouldn’t be caught dead doing, like studying for hours on end in the common room. Or reading. Kieran didn’t like books, he and books didn’t mix. It was wrong, “Illegal!” as Lucas had yelled at him once when he caught Kieran with a book in his hands. He sighed, as he walked, remembering the times he would Owl her and tell her to meet him somewhere. Then they’d go off and just have fun, have a laugh and a joke. Now, they couldn’t see each other without them feeling awkward.

The two seemed to just… stare at each other for a minute. Though that minute felt awfully long to him and he wished with everything in him that this flush of colour would go away. He was sure this was not going to help much. He looked back at his chocolate covered sleeve, in a bid to avoid her eyes. If he looked at her his mind would stray and he would probably begin thinking how perfect she was, all over again, and no doubt, something stupid would happen, he would say stuff she quite obviously doesn’t want to hear and then he’ll be left feeling as though he’s in the dog house again. He gave a wary sort of smile, his eyes were cautious, but obvious signs of nerves were in his voice, ”That’s good. Glad your okay.” She was dealing with this a lot better.

”I owe you?” He choked out, looking down at his jacket, though decided not to say any more on the matter. He supposed in a way it was his fault for walking into her and besides, he didn’t want to have a… disagreement over a cup of chocolate. Talk about petty. He ran a hand nervously over his chest, then through his hair as she gestured to the inside of the shop. She was smiling, and the word ‘talk’ was in there, though talking didn’t seem really all that safe for him at the moment. What would their awkward selves talk about? The colour of fluff? Yeah, brilliant.

He watched as she stood in the doorway, eyeing up the many baked treats. The smell was inviting, he couldn’t resist going in there he knew it. It made his mouth water slightly, but was it a good idea to stay around Fay? He looked up the street, it would be so easy to just walk away. Say he didn’t want to talk, he couldn’t talk, and walk away. Never look back. Though, as he looked at the back of her head, he knew that was the cowards way out, and Kieran was no coward. He had to keep reminding himself lately of that fact, he was a Gryffindor, and Gryffindor’s were not known for cowardice, quite the opposite. So, plucking up what little courage he had left, he placed his hand on the door and walked in next to her. His mind racing, and heart thudding loudly along the way.

”Come on then,” He spoke, a nervous, slightly not Kieran like tone in his voice. He almost added ‘before I change my mind,’ but decided against it. He was curious, as well as nervous, scared, frustrated and slightly irritated all at the same time. Though curiosity of what the two could possibly say to each other now, overpowered the other feelings. ”Puff pastries a callin.” He mumbled, unsure whether she heard him or not.

[Felicity Locke]

So what’s the moment when a person feels truly alone? Felicity had debated the idea in her mind for a while—mostly after the time she had that fight with Bray and Ellie. Sure, recently she surrounded herself with people, suddenly becoming the center of attention. Guys would compliment her, girls gossiped about the latest news, but it all felt wrong. None of these people were people she knew well, or cared that much for. What the hell was happening to her?

And so the same question was in her mind now, as she stared up at him forcing herself to smile. Kieran had made an effort to avoid her, she was sure of that. Felicity wasn’t stupid; of course he wouldn’t want to see her anymore. But that couldn’t stop her from catching a glimpse of him in the hallway, just to torture herself, and her cheeks would flame in response. Whoever she was talking to took it as a compliment, but really they didn’t understand.

At meals, she would sneak a peak over at the Gryffindor table, pretending to wave to Harrison while looking for Kieran. She was crazy, honest to goodness crazy. Was it selfish of her to hope though? Obviously it was, because he wanted nothing to do with her. So, she kept with trying to avoid talking to him. With the school going crazy, who knows what would happen with those two.

“Yes Mr. Davies, you do. Granted I owe you a new jacket, but we aren’t conveniently placed in front of a jacket shop now are we?” Felicity tapped his jacket lightly with her hand and rolled her eyes. She hoped he didn’t notice her hand trembling as she clasped her hands behind her back. At least her face wasn’t flushing with color; thank god it was cold outside. Speaking of which, Felicity’s hands were starting to feel numb from it.

As she pretended to browse the treats, Felicity’s mind was going a thousand different directions. What if he didn’t come in? She was left alone to look like a depressed idiot. Or, what if he came in and started to yell at her? She deserved it of course, but she couldn’t very well handle it. But, her worrying was over once she heard the small bell above the door chime as Kieran walked in. Fay released the breath she was holding and shakily brushed the hair from her eyes. Great, now what?

“Don’t rush me. If I make the wrong choice then I’ll be disappointed.” Felicity turned her head a bit to the side to glare at him, before looking back at the treats. Finally, she looked up to Lorelai—one of the owners—and pressed her finger against the glass to point at her choice. “The double chocolate cookie please.” Fay turned to walk to the counter, and was surprised to find how close Kieran was. Her step faltered as she tried to not run into him, but placed herself dangerously close to him. “Sorry.” She muttered, turning away as her face colored and she stepped quickly over to the counter.

[Kieran Davies]

He didn’t understand the feeling of loneliness really, he had his two best friends, Ollie and Lucas, not to mention Rie and Dante. He never honestly felt lonely that his parents were never around because Ollie’s parents tended to take him in over the summer holidays. He had been lucky that way, never having to be alone and yet, he had never felt more alone than he did right now. He couldn’t exactly gush out his feelings to Ollie, Lucas or Dante. Guys just didn’t do that, and telling Rie would be highly embarrassing too for him so instead he just locked it away and dealt with it. Despite the fact everyone had known something was wrong.

Kieran wanted nothing more than to see Fay. Selfish desires compelled him to look for her, to hope she would come to him, but he avoided her and she never came to him. Of course, there were certain times when avoiding her was impossible. Lunch times in the castle for example, where he usually sat he had a very good view of the Ravenclaw table. Though, after the incident on the lake, he had taken to sitting at the opposite end of the hall, where he knew he wouldn’t be able to see Fay. He thought, if he saw her, if his gaze wandered on her for too long he wouldn’t be able to handle it. He had been in relationships before. Many different kinds, and in a way he had felt for each of them. He thought he would never find anyone like Kendra, but here she was, Felicity Locke. Catching him totally by surprise. The worse kind there is since there is absolutely no warning for it.

Ollie had observed Kieran was having woman problems. Though, try as Ollie might to get it out of Kieran who he liked, he was unsuccessful. Each time Kieran simply told him it had nothing to do with him and she didn’t like him anyway. At least, that was his impression, she was doing just a good a job as he was with the whole avoiding thing. He brushed a hand through his hair, as now he stood face to face with the one person who could make him crazy. He hated it if he was honest. He hated the fact she had a hold over him like this. He hated the fact that one look from her was enough to make him crazy, how just the thought of her kept him awake, wondering if she may be awake too, thinking about him. As unlikely as that was.

”Forget the jacket, it’s just a jacket.” Though it was his favourite one, he wasn’t going to make her buy him a new one. ”Kay, I’ll buy you a new one then.” Indicating the spilt chocolate, yet still not looking at her. Could this become any more tense, he was sure the air was so thick between them you could cut it with a blunt knife.

As she walked into the store, Kieran gave himself time to consider his options. Run and hide? Stay and fight? Stay and Hide? All different thoughts ran through his mind, and after debating with himself if he was indeed a man or a mouse, he decided to go in the shop, but first he stood outside. He ran his hands over his face and through his hair trying to compose himself, to get the flush from his cheeks and actually be able to face her with what little dignity he had left. Which, he was willing to bet, wasn’t much at all. So, it was with forcing himself, he pushed open the door and walked inside. Walking a little closer to Fay than he probably should, but he couldn’t help himself.

”The wrong sweet would be disastrous I’m sure.” He was becoming defensive. It was the only way he knew how to hide his awkwardness, but as soon as the words left his mouth, sounding harsher than he would have liked he instantly regretted it. He gave himself a good mental kick and told himself if he couldn’t behave he would send himself home. Which, right now, wasn’t seeming like a bad idea. He looked into the window, the smell wafting up his nose, suddenly making him feel slightly nauseous. Though, he knew it wasn’t the sweets doing this to him, it was his nerves. As he heard her mutter a sorry, he looked around and realised how close in proximity the two of them were. The blush he worked so hard to get rid of returned and he held his arms out slightly and moved backwards, putting distance between them once more. Awkward, tense, uncomfortable distance, but distance non-the less. ”.. No worries.” His shaken voice said, ”Chocolate… I owe you. Come on.” His head a little confused, yet his insides doing a rather happy dance at how close they had come, he lead the way out of the shop and turned to walk up the street to Honeydukes. To think the afternoon has barely begun…

[Felicity Locke]

Honestly, how stupid were they being? In all reality they should just talk and everything would be great, fine, dandy! But they were both too damn stubborn to admit anything—mostly Fay was guilty of that. Stupid stubborn people. It was annoying how ignorant people could be to the others around them. Then again, it was also sad how far people could deceive themselves into thinking things other than the truth. Was the truth really that horrible?

For a veela, Felicity’s love life was surprisingly nil. Alright, so there was one Gryffindor…but that only lasted a few months and Fay never really spoke about it again. Other than that, she hadn’t dated anyone before. Wasn’t it weird? In all honesty, Felicity could probably get any person she wanted. But that was just her problem wasn’t it? She didn’t want that. To the point where she denied anyone even having any true feelings for her. Fay was always rather hard on herself in that aspect.

“It’s a very nice jacket though…” Felicity trailed off, dropping the subject to not get into another fight. Kieran was avoiding eye contact now, looking anywhere but where she was. She had to admit, that made it easier for her to look at him; when she didn’t have to worry about meeting his gaze.

The sweet-smelling bakery was supposed to rid her of her anxiety and her problems, but the sickly-sweet smell only seemed to magnify them. Felicity pressed her hand against her mouth, suddenly feeling the need to escape the bakery. Inviting him with was a bad idea. Bad, bad idea. She couldn’t have a normal conversation with him. They could barely look at each other. Felicity clasped her hands tightly together to keep them from shaking, though she could always just blame that on the cold. It probably didn’t help that anxiety had her chillier than before.

“Are you making fun of me?” His words had the harsh bite to them. So he wasn’t obviously keen on the idea of her being here with him. She probably ruined his day by bumping into him. Let’s add that to the list of apologies shall we? Oh, and don’t forget to add almost bumping into him, again. As he held out his arms, Felicity couldn’t help but feel a bit hurt that his first reaction was to push her away. Of course, common sense wasn’t exactly kicking in at that point.

“What?” She blinked up at him for a moment, before glancing out the door. “Oh…right.” Though he started to walk away before she could actually respond. Felicity didn’t seem to think as she followed behind him, internally cursing herself for being stupid enough to do it. Now, while worrying about all this and still freaking out over bumping into him, Felicity failed to remember how…perceptive her mother was being today. That was mistake number one.

Fay pushed open the door to Honeydukes and nearly jumped into the store when she didn’t see her mother yet. But, Christi popped her head around the corner and smiled as she saw Fay again. Her gaze shifted to the young man stepping in behind her daughter, and confusion replaced her smile. Until she further noticed the awkward way they were standing near each other, and suddenly pieced together that the boy must be this Kieran fellow.

“Hello you two! Come in to get a treat or two?” Christi bounced over to where the two were standing and grinned, looking like the image of pure innocence. Mistake number two, never judge a book by its cover. “I have some stuff in the back if you want to go take a look.” Being a bit forceful, Christi placed her hand on each of the pair’s backs and led them to the back room where her and Felicity were conversing just a moment before. Grinning all the while, she pushed them into the room. “Have a nice chat!” Christi skipped out of the room, shutting the door behind her and locking it with a spell.

“…I think she locked us in.”

[Kieran Davies]

They were being extremely stupid. People in the bakery had noticed their behaviour, some girls were looking over at Kieran, obviously surprised by his awkwardness as Kieran wasn’t usually an awkward kind of person. He couldn’t miss the glares other guys were giving him, obviously hating the fact that Kieran was in here with Fay and not lapping it up for all it was worth. Kieran felt like hexing them all to hell and back, he didn’t need people staring, it wasn’t exactly helping him feeling as though there was a very bright light shining on the pair of them. Right now, he felt like he needed to get out before he did something stupider than usual.

If you took a look at Kieran’s dating history, and compared it with Fay’s, you would think Kieran was the Veela. He wasn’t new to the dating scene, he had dating witches and even muggles back where he lived. Being around girls was generally a second nature to him, flirting was a second nature to him but with Fay, it was different. Putting the fact Fay was a veela aside, nobody made him laugh like she did. Nobody made him think it was worth standing in the rain for like she did. It was so easy to be himself around her, he had no reason to hide anything. Well, it used to be like that. True, there was a lot of stuff Fay didn’t know about him, he hadn’t told her much about his past or anything along those lines, his dating history (which many girls seem to want to know first with him for some reason), she had never even made him answer a question before. She was completely different, and he didn’t know what to expect from her.

”I have other jackets, seriously Fel--Fay.” He stammered, he had never called her by her full name before, apart from meeting again earlier, it was strange, it sounded false on his tongue. ”Its no big deal just forget about it. I can get a new one easily enough.” Honestly, summer holidays he replaced all his clothes usually anyway, save getting hogwarts mess out of them. It was easier.

”No, I’m not making fun of you.” His mouth was dry and it came out in his voice, rather coarse. It was awkward, but they were together. True, he wasn’t looking at her and he was hyper aware that she was in touching distance, though somehow he was able to resist reaching out and well, placing his hand on her shoulder, or pulling her to him and wrapping his arms around her in a hug. It didn’t help when she almost walked into him, the hairs on his arms stood up and at the back of his neck, like a spark of electricity had coursed right the way through him, making him more aware of her than ever. Though, his first reaction was to put distance between them. To try and lessen his temptation.

”Chocolate.” He said again, his voice choking as he found her eyes. Signalling over his shoulder to the door. Without waiting he turned on his heel and strode out of the door. Once outside, he breathed in the fresh crisp air, hoping it would clear his head of the fog which had settled there. Only, it hadn’t. As she caught upto him, he kept his eyes in front of him, his body language stiff and rigid once more, his hands thrust in his pockets and his head tucked in the neck of his jacket so only half his face was showing, and it was impossible for him to say anymore.

Kieran walked in after Fay, only taking his hands out of his pockets to hold the door so it wouldn’t slam in his face. Though, that would be less torturous than what he was going through right now. He edged in behind her, obviously awkward as he brushed against her slightly, though jumped away as soon as he touched her, like he’d been shocked. He looked around the sweet shop, remembering how long it had been since he had actually been in here. The smell of the fudge, the lolly’s and other various items filled his nose. He had missed Honeydukes.

At the sound of another voice, Kieran looked around and became startled. He had obviously seen Christi before, a million times before but he had never thought of her as Fay’s mum before. He had never been awkward like most guys in front of her, he had occasionally had the odd conversation with her and she seemed like a nice enough lady. Though now, he was seeing this woman in a whole new light. She was Fay’s mum. And if it was possible, Kieran became more rigid, his body language more stiff, and began to feel a lot more awkward if it was possible. ”None for me, thanks.” He managed to say, his voice surprisingly normal, ”I owe Fay a hot chocolate, my jacket arm decided it was thirsty.” It was awkward, but it was his way of trying to make himself feel less awkward.

Obviously, Kieran was having sweets whether he liked it or not. Christi had a look of innocence about her and for some reason Kieran felt as though he couldn’t say no to her. Not like the charmed effect of a veela, but because she was being so sincere about it. Or seemingly so, she was so convincing, that when she came and stood behind Kieran and Fay, her hand on his back leading them into the back room, he had no suspicion of an ulterior motive. Until she spoke again and shut the door behind them both. ”… Yeah” He gave a laugh. Give the woman one thing. She had style.

”There’s gotta be a way out.” He couldn’t handle more awkwardness, thankfully he had his wand on him. He tried the alohomora spell but that didn’t work. The next one however, was seemingly a very bad idea. He tried blowing the door off its hinges, another quick spell would put the damage right. Though the bombarda spell backfired, sending Kieran flying across the room instead, his back smacking painfully into the wall behind him. He pulled himself to his feet, rubbing his head. ”Guess we’re not getting out that way…” He mumbled, ”… Any ideas?” He was trying to prolong having to have a ‘chat’ as Christi put it, he didn’t want to cause Fay any more unnecessary humiliation by him. He had done enough already.

[Felicity Locke]

Internally kicking herself for choosing one of the busiest places of the day, Felicity tried to ignore the fact that nearly everyone was looking at them. Glares from the girls for whatever she had done to Kieran to make him act so unlike himself, and the occasional glance from a guy trying to catch her attention. Fay felt like just running out there and hiding out in Honeydukes, but that really wasn’t going to solve anything was it? Plus, Christi would just shove her back outside and tell her to man up. Ironic thing to say to a veela right?

Okay so, she didn’t date a lot, but that didn’t mean she didn’t like anyone. Felicity just never had the guts to tell them. It always seemed to work out for the best, because she would become friends with the guy anyway and her little crush would be over. So what happened when someone started out as a friend and blossomed into a crush? Kieran and her had been friends for some time, and Felicity enjoyed hanging out with him. He always managed to cheer her up with his chivalry and what not. She enjoyed whatever attention he gave her, and smiled wider when she was around him.

Kieran knew basically nothing of her family, or her history, or any of that, and same went for her. It never really mattered between them. Felicity knew Kieran was a flirt—and with looks like that he probably dated who knows how many girls—but she found herself not really caring about it. Girls would shoot jealous looks at the two when they hung out—much like today. Truth be told, Felicity missed hanging out with him. Perhaps that was why she jumped on this chance to talk to him, even if it was awkward.

“If you say so.” She muttered, looking at the jacket. Felicity barely noticed the slip-up in the name; she was too worried about his ruined—and expensive looking—jacket.

“Hmm.” Was her brilliantly witty response. No, he wasn’t making fun of her; he was just pissed at her for dragging him in here and making the whole thing more awkward. It didn’t help that he was standing in such a close proximity. Fay had the urge to turn around and hug him. He looked so tense, she felt bad.

Oh right, the hot chocolate that he really didn’t owe her. Feeling a bit guilty, Felicity trudged behind him, happy that he couldn’t see her expression. He obviously didn’t want to talk, because he wasn’t even looking at her or made an effort to walk side by side. Fay was brought back to the last time they were here, when they walked arm in arm down the street talking about who knows what. Felicity let out a small sigh at the thought and shoved her hands into her coat pockets. Things change I suppose.

So, it wasn’t exactly smart of her to just sit in the way of the door. Kieran tried to wriggle his way past her, but as his arm brushed against her back she jumped forward. Felicity nervously brushed her hair from her face and bit down on her lower lip. She crossed her arms and held a vice-like grip on them with her hands. Fay’s body was almost as rigid as Kieran’s, but the only difference was her shifting from foot to foot.

Christi eyed the pair, noticing the tense body language and equally tense atmosphere. Thankfully, Kieran spoke in response to her question. “None for you? Poppycock.” She waved her hand flippantly as she spoke. “The hot chocolate is in the back anyway.” Upon mentioning the jacket, Christi finally noticed the stain sitting on the sleeve. Giving a little gasp, she smacked Felicity lightly in the arm. “Felicity Locke, did you dump your hot beverage on his man?” A bit stunned, Fay rubbed her arm and shook her head. “Bumped into him.”

Felicity plopped down on the couch with a sigh. She looked up a bit startled as Kieran laughed. This honestly wasn’t a laughing situation. Her mother was taking drastic actions. This wasn’t going to be safe for anybody. “Mum never was good at first impressions.” She muttered, rolling her eyes all the while.

As Kieran pulled out his wand, Fay couldn’t help but grimace a bit. Alohomora didn’t work, and she hoped he would stop there. Apparently not. “Don’t-” Too late. Kieran was flying across the room already. Felicity was on her feet and running over to him in a moment, barely thinking of herself anymore. “Oh merlin are you alright?” He seemed to be good enough to stand, and Fay didn’t see any blood anywhere.

Fay crossed the room again and sat back down on the couch, every so often glancing worriedly at Kieran to make sure he wasn’t going to pass out from a concussion. His comment though, made her wince. Glancing down at her lap, Felicity bit down on her lip as she tugged on the edge of her sweater. “Is it really that bad being by me?” Glancing up, she looked over to Kieran, trying to get him to look at her again.

[Kieran Davies]

No matter where he was in Hogsmeade, he always found himself in Honeydukes at one point. The past however long Fay and Kieran had been avoiding each other, it took tremendous amounts of will power to stop himself from coming in here just in case he happened to bump into her. The sweet shop always reminded him of her, for obvious reasons and some probably not so obvious. There was a time he would come in here when he hadn’t seen her for a while in the hopes of catching a glimpse of her, and usually he did. Though recently, if he saw even the back of her head he would duck down the nearest corridor to avoid her. It wasn’t like he regretted anything that had happened down at the lake or before that, he just didn’t want to give her the unnecessary embarrassment of facing him again after everything he had told her.

Christi spoke again and Kieran looked up at her with a slightly bemused expression. He had been called many things before, some nicer than others but never had he been called poppycock. He had never even heard the word before. ”No, thank you, Miss Locke.” Kieran was a strange person in many ways, there were many different sides to him and he couldn’t help being polite to people’s mum’s, especially Fay’s. For some reason it was important to him to make a good impression upon her, even though his body language was incredibly rigid, probably giving off signs that he would rather be anywhere else but here. Soon the topic found its way back to the jacket. ”Seriously the jacket doesn’t matter. It’s only a jacket.” He didn’t want Fay to feel worse than she may already feel, ”Besides, I wasn’t looking where I was going. It was my own fault.”

Once lead into the room, the door magically locked behind them, Kieran began to panic. Of all the places to be trapped, Honeydukes. He would have loved being trapped in a sweet shop if it wasn’t for the fact the air would be so tense considering Fay was with him too. He felt as though he could go crazy, anything could happen in here, he was worried about that, what if he did something stupid again? Said something she didn’t want to hear? He couldn’t handle making her more embarrassed and his only thought right now was I need to get out of here. ”Its not a first impression, I’ve met her before.” He said as he ran his hands over his jacket nervously. This just wasn’t his day.

He had expected something to happen, considering she had magically locked the door but he hadn’t expected to be blown backwards. His back smacking against the wall as he landed on the floor with a thud. He looked up as Fay approached and quickly jumped to his feet, a pounding was now in his head but it was his own fault. At least he hadn’t done serious damage to himself eh? That was enough to be thankful for. ”Im fine.” He said simply, walking away from her to the door. He couldn’t be that close to her now, there was a time when he would lift her over his shoulder playfully and threaten to throw her into the lake. Though now, he couldn’t even be close to her. He was afraid of his own actions.

He touched the door, only to have it shock him. Christi had gone all out on this one. She was obviously adamant for them to sort out whatever was going on, but Kieran didn’t think he could handle Fay telling him what she had already said at the lake. One rejection of her was bad enough, he didn’t want to tally the count up to two. He turned around and walked back across the room, leaning against the wall as he tried to think. They couldn’t be trapped surely Fay knew another way out. Yet, he couldn’t bring himself to ask her.

He looked at her, for the first time he properly looked at her as he spoke. Feeling bad now for what he had said, part of him hoped that maybe, just maybe, there was something in her that liked something about him. He wasn’t evil, he wasn’t vindictive, sure he was a flirt and his past record wasn’t all that good but he wasn’t a bad guy, not really. He seemed to choke when she spoke, how could she even think that? After everything he had already told her? ”No, of course not, I didn’t mean it like that.” He said rather quickly, crossing the room again and sitting on the couch, but far away enough from her. ”Its not bad being around you Fay, it’s just hard. That’s all, I don’t quite know what to do or say around you anymore.” He had told her last time at the lake he wouldn’t take back what he said and he meant it. He wouldn’t go back to just pretending he only liked her as a friend. He returned his gaze back to her, trying to think of something else to say, but no more words would come. Those two sentances had been awkward enough to say and they weren’t on the subject of why he was feeling awkward either. ”Im… sorry.” He looked at the floor, then in a fluid movement snapped his head back up, ”Not for what happened.. For being awkward.. Now.. I mean.” Realising it may have sounded like he was apologizing for what happened between them, he cleared it up before he even had chance to think about what he was saying.

[Felicity Locke]

Miss Locke? Christi shot a glance at Fay, but her daughter wasn’t looking at her. Felicity was focusing on the candy in the back, trying to ignore her mother. “Mrs., if you don’t mind.” In response, Fay clenched her jaw and still refused to look at anyone. “Never say a jacket doesn’t matter!” Christi gasped as she spoke. “Probably hurt the poor jacket’s feelings, saying it doesn’t matter.” Christi huffed and crossed her arms.

In all honesty, Felicity probably should’ve been like Kieran. Freaking out, trying to find a way out, but all she did was sit. The boy seemed adamant about not looking at her, or even being near her, as she walked around trying to find a way out. She should’ve been helping, but she couldn’t bring herself to do it. This was the first time they had actually spoken in a while, and she missed talking to him. Wasn’t that selfish? Putting the boy through all this anxiety just because she had missed him.

Worry clouded her expression as she reached out to touch his head, but her hand hesitated, then dropped back down to her side. Felicity didn’t say anything as he walked past her. Well, it was clear he didn’t want to be near her. Maybe he was revolted. Or afraid. The second would be more likely. Fay stood there for a few moments after, before dragging herself back over to the couch. Drawing her knees up to her chest, she wrapped her arms around her legs and glared unseeingly at the wall. Scared, revolted, anxious, whatever the cause for avoiding her was, it was most likely her fault.

Felicity’s denial, ignorance, or whatever you wanted to call it probably derived from her poor opinion of herself. She could see anyone else in a good light, and admitted to herself that she was talented in some aspects, but beyond accepting a compliment or two that was it. That was the reason behind what she said at the lake. Kieran was a great guy, she wouldn’t deny that. And yes, she would be hurt if he did start dating someone besides her. Jealous no doubt. So why couldn’t she buck up and tell him?

The couch’s weight shifted as Kieran sat down next to her. There wasn’t much distance that you could create while sitting on a couch, and so this close proximity had goosebumps raising on her arms. She was silent as he spoke, looking back at the wall across the room. ‘it’s just hard.’ Felicity snapped her head back over to look at him as he uttered the last phrase. “You’re afraid I’m going to slip up again, aren’t you?” She muttered, and couldn’t help keeping a harsh tone as she spoke.

That was always the case wasn’t it? Veelas were too volatile, and their charm too powerful. Top that off with Felicity having little to no control over it, that turned many men off. Sure, she had the looks of a veela, that was always a plus for people. But then she’d slip up, accidentally charm someone random, or maybe even a friend of her crush, and that would be the end of it. Christi never had that trouble, she was used to the attention and “charming” attitude.

“Sorry?” But before she could say anything more, Kieran was scrambling to explain what he said further. Felicity laughed, in spite of herself, at his comment. “It was bound to be like this. Come on, we’ve been avoiding each other ever since the lake.”

[Kieran Davies]

Uh oh, had he said something he shouldn’t? He looked a little more awkward as she shot a glance at Fay, who was evidentially avoiding her mothers eyes right now, just as much as his own. ”Sorry.” He mumbled and glanced down at the floor feeling a little more foolish than ever. He hadn’t known Christi was married, Fay never mentioned it. Though he should have figured really. He looked up as she spoke again, and back down to his jacket, how could a jacket have feelings? Though he didn’t say anything else, just gave a nervous twitchy smile. When people say ‘go home to meet the folks’ he hadn’t imagined it would be quite this awkward.

He knocked on the walls, to see if there was a secret passage back to the castle. Though none of the walls sounded at all hollow to him. So instead he took to pacing around the room, thinking how to get out of here. He could feel Fay’s gaze on him at some point, but this made him all the more adamant not to look at her. In a way, Kieran was enjoying this. It seemed as though now they were stuck together they’d have no choice but to talk, and Kieran had missed Fay but just couldn’t pluck up the bravery to talk to her again, and he had received some taunts for that one.

His eyes flew to hers as he saw her hand moving to his head, once more he became still again, like a statue as the seconds ticked by. He wondered if she would actually do it, but as her hand fell back down to her side he realised it was just his wishful thinking. He stood up and walked away from her, leaning against the wall and looking at the floor with feigned interest. His stomach was already in knots and his head whizzed, everything seemed to be just that little bit louder and just that little bit brighter, or maybe that was just him. He stood against the wall and Fay wrapped herself up in herself. Both silent. Neither speaking or moving. Awkward.

He was having an inner battle with himself, telling himself this is ridiculous, she was one of his best friends, the world wouldn’t end if she didn’t like him. Yet Kieran had a nagging suspicion things wouldn’t be the same around them anymore, especially now Fay had heard that he wasn’t going to take any of it back. True, in time he would get over it and probably throw himself back into the dating scene. Though right now, as far as he was concerned, nobody but Fay mattered to him, and he couldn’t tell her that.

Plucking up whatever courage he had left, he walked over and sat on the couch and for a minute thought about putting his arm around her and hugging her like he used to. Though he couldn’t. She didn’t say a thing as he spoke, she just listened until he had finished. He heard the harsh tone in her voice and winced, but it was as far from the truth as you could be. ”See, wrong again.” He spoke quietly, ”I’m not worried about you slipping up again, I’m worried about me slipping up again.” He ran a hand through his hair, ”Im worried that you think of me as just another pig headed arrogant lad who thinks he can get anyone he wants. I was afraid you wouldn’t want to talk to me after… well you know, the lake. So I avoided you, but that doesn’t mean I didn’t want to talk to you, or I don’t like your company. It’s just I cant…” Its just I cant pretend anymore. He finished in his head. That’s what made it hard, the pretence of just acting like he was only a friend.

He had gone over this a million times in his head, what he would do, what he would say. Yet, everything he thought he would say he now found impossible. Before she knew, before the lake, it was easy just being content with her friendship but things had changed. He wasn’t just content with that anymore and he knew it was highly selfish of her. She would go out, find someone who means to her, what she means to him and she would embrace him with open arms. He couldn’t be around for that, he couldn’t watch her like someone else. He wouldn’t.

”Im sorry for a lot of things I’ve done. But the lake isn’t one of them.” He said, mainly to himself. In a way it was a relief to get it out, to actually say it rather than think it. Though, she laughed and he found himself smiling while she laughed. ”Yeah… I guess so.” He looked over to her his eyes searching her face, ”It was easier to avoid rather than confront. I… didn’t want to put you under any more pressure or give you any more unnecessary embarrassment.”

[Felicity Locke]

And now, he was pacing. Back and forth, back and forth. It as better than having him knocking against the walls, in her opinion. Though her imagination took it a bit too far and she imagine him banging on the walls, screaming to be released from this hell. Wincing at the mental image, Felicity finally looked away from him. Maybe the floor would open up and just swallow them up. That would save either one from torture.

For a moment, she forgot herself. Someone close to her was hurt, and what would she do besides help them? But after Kieran met her gaze, she faltered. He hadn’t wanted her anywhere near him before, why would this change now? And so, as painful as it was, she dropped her hand to her side and just let him walk by. No comment, no complaint. What was her problem? Just hug the damn boy and get it over with!

What would happen if Kieran had changed his mind about her? After that moment at the lake—when she saw him so defeated—Felicity thought that he would probably hate her at that point. It was impossible to go back to how they were before. Fay had been blissfully ignorant to his feelings, and him to hers, so they got along great. But now…Kieran had spilled his guts to her, and it was up to her to decide what to do. The wrong thing said could lose him forever. The stress was just too much.

Felicity waited—hoped rather—for him to put his arm around her, laugh, and tell her everything was fine. Selfish, Selfish, Selfish! She expected him to consent to what she said though. But, surprising her again, he didn’t. Fay couldn’t keep the shock from her face as he spoke, and she finally looked back up at him. “…I’ve missed talking to you.” She muttered, looking back at him. Felicity doubted he heard her, because he began talking again. Confused, she knit her eyebrows together as she spoke again. “You can’t…?”

“Well, thanks for the concern. Ironically, I had the same notion about you.” She said in response, grinning a bit. It was nice to see him smile again, despite the awkwardness of the situation. It wasn’t like before—those days were long gone by now—but it was a start right? Felicity had to admit, she preferred smiles to tears—or anything related to that—any day.

[Kieran Davies]

Pacing, Kieran suddenly reminded himself of a yoyo and stopped abruptly. He had no idea what he was doing, but if he stopped, he began to think, and if he began to think while Fay was with him, well he may just do himself an injury. So, to keep himself occupied he took his wand from his pocket and began to twist it in his fingers, watching as the occasional red spark flew from the tip. Any other day, before the lake incident, he would have given anything to be locked in a room with Fay. The two wouldn’t be awkward and they’d have a laugh. They’d bully each other and play fight. Now the two could barely look at each other. He didn’t know what was worse, thinking about the past and wishing they could go back to it. Or thinking about the lake and not regretting anything even though it put them in this torturous position. Talk about a nightmare.

It was a tense moment as Fay was beside Kieran, her hand outstretched as though she was going to touch him. Kieran looked at her, and she looked right back at him. Even now he was getting the feeling she wasn’t seeing him properly. He wanted to reach out and grab her hand, pull her to him and tell her everything was going to be alright, that they could overcome anything. The two of them were strong and they could beat whatever obstacles was in their way. But something was holding him back, he was waiting to see if she would make the first move to wherever they were supposed to be heading. She faltered, and Kieran knew then and there she wasn’t going to do anything, so he stood up and moved from her, not wanting any more pressure, any more torment or temptation.

The lake, he wouldn’t deny, was both a painful and the best memory he had. It was the best because, even though she hadn’t believed him, he had finally told her everything he had kept hidden. He had let go of it all and placed, in a sense, himself in her care. Lowered his defences so much in that moment that she had the power to both make and break him. The painful part was when she broke him. She hadn’t believed a single word of it, she thought he was making it all up because of the charm and no matter how hard he tried to tell her it was true, she wouldn’t listen. She had said no, and how he wished the ice would have broken and just sucked him under then and there, she would never know.

Kieran had already promised himself enough was enough now, he said that after the lake incident. He wouldn’t hide it anymore, he wouldn’t just go back to her not knowing, to think it was only her charm doing this to him. Granted, he would never have said a word about it if her charm hadn’t gone haywire, but it did, and he spilled, and he’d be damned if he was going to take it all back now. As he spoke, his eyes on her face watching for any reaction, her only reaction was shock. ”I can.” He said quietly, ”Didn’t I tell you I would never take those things I said back? I meant it then and I mean it now but… Look, it doesn’t… I don’t mind if you don’t have even a slight idea of me but I do of you…” He trailed off, he wasn’t saying anything he hadn’t already said, he looked away, leant back on the sofa and rested his head on the back, looking up at the ceiling, ”You can forget it all if you want to. That’s your choice.”

He glanced sideways at her when she spoke and gave a short laugh, ”Imagine that… both with the same concern.” He kept shifting his position, moving slightly on the couch, trying to somehow ease the awkwardness as he waited for Christi to let them out of their prison. He smiled up at the ceiling, a small smile though not an overly happy one either. He knew she knew that he knew they could never go back now. The life they had as friends was just a memory now, though they could try to go back, things would never be the same now she knew what he felt.

[Felicity Locke]

Felicity was too afraid to move from her position on the couch. Who knows what either of them would do. It was ironic how drastically the two changed when they were around each other now though, versus before. Before, if something like this had happened, Felicity would’ve been joking with Kieran, telling him something like ‘maybe he should use his big head to break through the door.’ Laughing, smiling, maybe even play fighting. But now, there was just silence.

Silence was the worst. Silence gave her too much time to think about what she had done, or what she was going to do. Wouldn’t it be better to just act on impulse? Then they wouldn’t be bumbling fools trying to find their way out of this sticky situation. It was like there was a one-hundred pound gorilla in the room and both were just ignoring. Alright, so that’s a bit of an exaggeration, but it sure felt like it to Fay.

The lake had left Felicity confused, and further more mad at herself. It was hard for her to believe that the things he said were true. A veela’s charm could create feelings where none existed, or in Kieran’s case amplify those feelings tenfold. It was hard to tell the difference between the two, and most often veelas didn’t worry about it. Felicity’s first reaction was to deny it. Him liking her? It seemed completely irrational. Her liking him seemed more reasonable, but she never thought he’d share her feelings. Him and Ollie could get whoever they wanted, so why settle with her?

“I don’t…” She trailed off, looking back down at her lap and tugging at her sweater. “I don’t want you to take it back.” Felicity glanced back up at him for a moment. “What you said at the lake.” Her cheeks flamed with embarrassment and she couldn’t help but jump up from the couch. But, after she stood up, she wasn’t really sure what she wanted to do. Instead, Fay crossed the room and leaned against one of the walls. Too frightened to look back at Kieran, she just stared at the door.

“More like, imagine that, you worrying.” She murmured, still refusing to look at him, though a small smirk did cross her face. Wasn’t it before when he was chastising her for worrying too much? Ha, just look at them now. Who was worrying too much now? She was still guilty of it, of course, but now look who was calling the kettle black, so to speak.