Winifred was incredibly excited! It was her first time ever having a boyfriend and not only did she have a boyfriend but they were going to Madam Puddifoot's for a Valentine's Day date! Winifred couldn't be happier. She was wearing a red and white dress (because those were Valentine's Day colors) and had purchased Zel a few gifts. A really weird looking cat sweater that her mother had found in Muggle London, a stuffed werewolf- also a muggle item, and finally a large tin of pumpkin seed brittle. Zel loved cats and pumpkins so she just knew he'd like his gifts!

She had been surprised that Zel said they were going to go to Pudifoots. It was a popular place for Valentine's Day dates- why, even later that evening they were having a speed dating event here! But it didn't seem like a place Zel would like very much. Even so, Winnie was glad he'd take her just to make her happy. She couldn't wait to write home about it! Her Auntie Leola would be so proud of her for going on a real date!

Sitting across from him at the table draped in clashing pinks and reds, she swatted at a cupid circling their heads. "Oh Zel! This is just perfect! And you look so handsome! We must have someone take our picture. Why, I bet Madame Puddifoot is doing Valentine's photos for couples! We need to remember our first Valentine's day together, after all. It is so very, very important!"

Winifred picked up her drink and took a long sip from it, batting her lashes at him from over the rim of her cup. "I hope you like your present! Do you want it now or after we eat?" she asked, literally bouncing in her seat. The large box was brightly wrapped and sitting by her chair on the floor.

Puddifoot’s seemed like the sort of place that Winifred would like. After all, it was where all the couples went to get all lovey-dovey on Valentine’s day! Zelig didn’t feel particularly lovey-dovey, but he did enjoy Winifred’s company. She was sweet, with a heart as large as her mouth. Some wouldn’t think that was necessarily a good thing, but Zel appreciated people who were able to say what they were thinking almost effortlessly.

Finding a gift for Winnie had been difficult—but then he decided to stick with the basics! Some cute-ish jewelry that his older sister had insisted that a teenage girl would like, flowers, and chocolate.

You really couldn’t go wrong with chocolate, unless Winnie had an allergy that she hadn’t mentioned.

He put the gifts on the table and pushed them over to Winnie after handing her a bouquet of roses.

“Happy Valentine’s Day.” Zel said softly, “Your dress is very red.” Nope, that was not the right thing to say—do over!
“Er. You look pretty.”

"And um-- thank you?" He said to the barrage of comments and complements. He looked handsome? Zel never thought he looked handsome! He thought he looked pasty and creepy most of the time. "We'll get a picture. Do you think she'll fit both of us in? I mean.. I'm tall." He wouldn't mind too much if his head got cut off of the picture, but Winifred might.

"You.... Can open your presents now?" Zelig was now wishing that his presents weren't so predictable! He couldn't even begin to imagine what Winnie might have gotten him.

Winifred was ecstatic to see the rose. She inhaled deeply, grinning brightly at Zel from across the table. Her smile, however, faltered slightly when he said her dress was very red. But Zel quickly remedied his mistake, telling her that she looked pretty. Winnie smiled. "Thank you! I tried super hard," she told him. And she had. Winnie wanted to be beautiful for Zel! It was important, after all, for your boyfriend to think you were pretty.

"I think we can! We can take the picture siting down," she suggested. "That would help! We'll probably have to take most of our pictures sitting down!" Unless they got married someday. But she couldn't say things like that. Winnie knew that would be super creepy and she didn't want to scare her first boyfriend off before she even got to properly enjoy him! How awful would that be? Maybe she could even be really cute and sit in his lap. She'd have to send one to her Uncle Archer, too, just to prove to him that she was all grown up now and that Zel was a nice boy and he had nothing to worry about.

She was excited about the presents, though. Winifred set her flowers off to the side and opened her candies. "CHOCOLATE COVERED STRAWBERRIES!" she exclaimed. "Those are my FAVORITE!" The earrings were super cute, and she immediately put them in. "These are perfect, Zel! You are perfect!" she said.

Winifred put the large box on the table and scooted it over to him. "I hope you like them!" she said. "It was super hard to figure out what to get you, but I think I did a pretty good job." She waited, anxiously, for him to open up the box and pull out the few things she'd found him. "I got some advice on how to buy presents for a boy. It's way harder than getting presents for my girl friends!"

“Yeah, sitting down might be better.” Or he could carry her. Even though Zel was super skinny, he had quite a bit of lean muscle. Winnie didn’t look like she’d be too heavy. But he was afraid that he’d drop her out of sheer nervousness, and ending a date with a broken neck and a bruised tailbone wouldn’t be romantic in any sense of the word. In Zel’s head, they were sitting down in separate chairs. It looked so formal to him! It didn’t even cross his mind that Winnie would want to sit in his lap. Of course, he’d let her—even if he wanted to refuse, he wouldn’t out of concern of offending her.

Zelig couldn’t help but grin! He had gotten her the right gifts! He kept it in mind for next time, that Winnie loved chocolate-covered strawberries. And earrings that looked like food.

But now, it was his turn to open his present. 

His eyes lit up when he saw that sweater. He put it on immediately. “it’s perfect, Winnie!” Zel exclaimed, tugging at it a bit. It was a little long, but Zel felt like he was growing a little taller still. Then he pulled out the pumpkin brittle. He was touched that she remembered that he loved pumpkin things and cats. The toy werewolf was cute but also a little disturbing, though he wasn’t going to say that.

“Thank you!” He exclaimed, "You did do a good job." Zel felt like his gift to her paled in comparison. Her's was so thoughtful, his was so...Generic.

Winifred was so excited to watch Zel open his presents. She was even more excited to see him pull on the bright cat sweater immediately. It fit him well enough- a bit long, but it other than that, alright. But it was hard to guess Zel's size. He was very tall but very thin, which made things a little difficult in the fit department. But explaining that to clerks made it easier to get things magically taken to more or less the right size.

"I'm glad you like them!" she said. "The sweater was perfect I thought. Maybe one day I'll learn to make brittle instead of having to buy it. But I'm not allowed to cook without supervision," Winnie said. "Especially not at school." She rolled her eyes a little. "I don't know why my mom acts like that. I mean I'm fifteen, I'm old enough to cook without supervision! It's not like I'd burn down Hogwarts!" Even if Hufflepuffs did have a reputation for that. Nevermind the fact that Winifred didn't even know how to go about making any kind of brittle.

Winifred waved a fat little cherub off, away from the table. It threw a large handful of pink confetti at them before floating away.  "I want some hot chocolate with lots of whipped cream on top," she told him. "And chocolate shavings and cinnamon and caramel. What about you?" Winnie asked. "What do you want? Are you hungry?"

He adjusted the cat sweater proudly, knowing that this sweater would be worn every opportunity he had—so pretty much, every weekend.  It wasn’t even a concern for Zel that people may make fun of him for the sweater—he genuinely thought it was tasteful and perfect. If anyone made fun of a cat sweater, they were cruel and heartless.

Zel frowned slightly, “Not allowed to cook? Why?” He couldn’t imagine someone not being allowed to cook. Granted, he could barely get by in the kitchen. His skills were limited to pouring a bowl of Unlucky Charms (though if he was feeling creative, he might mix some Rice Hex in there too). Still, he couldn’t imagine anyone being awful enough at cooking to be completely forbidden from learning how! “I’d help you cook, but I can barely make toast.” He admitted.
Then, she wanted to know what he wanted to eat.

“If they have a warm pumpkin cider, with cinnamon? I might have that.” He was fond of pumpkin flavored things, with Pumpkin Pasties being among his favorite foods.