He reached out when she stumbled but his hand remained a careful distance from touching her.  Katy looked at the open palm, ready to catch her if she fell, and was confused.  She was touched by his concern but wary of being touched, insulted that he might think her weak, and disappointed that he hadn't actually touched her.  What in the name of Merlin was happening to her?  She hated feeling so uncertain and honestly didn't know what to do.  But at least she could busy herself with once and for all securing the rose in her bag with the sparkling bloom sticking out, showing off.

His eyes sparkled when he laughed and he laughed at what Katy said, not in a mean way but in a good way, like he found her humorous.  The last person who thought she'd been funny was her best friend Brynn and Katy missed the warm feeling in her chest that causing genuine laughter caused. 

"I don't think you're boring," Katy replied firmly.  Boring people were lumps with no drive and no passion.  They just slouched through life one step at a time without really considering themselves or their actions.  Shadows of people, Katy thought, and Jean-Paul was definitely not a shadow of anything.

"It's good that you have something that makes you so passionate."  Katy couldn't remember the last time she'd felt such a driving need to do something that made her happy.  Usually her driving need was the need to defend herself or  her house, or to prove herself somehow worthy in class.  He seemed embarrassed by the excitement caused within him by the topic and Katy didn't understand why.  In the end it probably wasn't all that dissimilar to the way she felt about talking about personal matters.

A slight blush of crimson ran over his cheeks again when she talked about his passion. He wondered what it was about her that caused such a reaction. The Fontaine sisters were gorgeous, intelligent and every Beaux boys wildest dream and yet neither Cecile or Elodie caused this sort of reaction in him when they talked about his passion, so why was this small Hogwarts girl so different?

He smiled when she once again tucked the rose away and hoped that this time it would stay in her bag. He made his way over to the nearest bench within the courtyard and took a seat, motioning for her to join him. He searched his brain for something to talk about. Something neutral that didn't involve school work, personal questions or his 'passion'. He finally settled on something that was buzzing around the whole castle, something they could both weigh in on without having to reveal too much about themselves. Since it was obvious she didn't like talking about herself and whenever he tried to talk, he blushed so bad he probably looked like he was sunburnt.

"Have you been watching the Tournament?"

Katy followed Jay over to the bench a little nervously and, when he sat, so did she.  At first she sat as primly as she usually did, with her knees pressed together straight  in front of her, her pleated skirt spread over them and her bag on the ground leaning against her shins.  She bit her lip and glanced at Jay out of the corner of her eye.  Then she swiveled and laid one knee out on the top of the bench with the toes of that foot tucked into the crook of the other knee.  She'd seen other girls sit like this.   She'd scoffed at them at the time, thinking it looked uncomfortable and unnecessarily forward.  But now that she tried it for herself, she found she quite liked it, if only because it now allowed her to face him and, if she was honest with herself, it really was quite pleasant to be able to look the Beauxbaton boy in the face as they spoke.  It was in itself a very pleasing face, especially when it was tinted pink.  She liked that she wasn't the only one embarrassed and uncertain. 

"I've seen the Champions placing their names in the Goblet," Katy said, in answer to his safe and thankfully impersonal question.  In truth, she'd taken to doing her homework in the Great Hall so she could watch all the students who entered their names after dinner. 

"It's interesting to see how people approach it," she confessed.  "Some people are prideful.  Others are nervous.  Still others don't even seem to care."  She didn't remember seeing Jean-Paul entering his name in the Goblet although, as a Beauxbaton, he'd have been sure to enter his name since that was his purpose for coming here.  She couldn't be in the Great Hall all the time, though.  She wanted to ask him what he thought about potentially competing but held it.  If he didn't like talking about himself, a question like that might run him off.

"The Champions for the  first task are supposed to be announced tonight.  I wonder what the the first task will be."

Jay turned to her and put his arm along the back of the bench, not around her shoulders but definitely in a comfortable almost intimate fashion. It seemed so natural for him to do so he didn't even think that it may have come across as too forward for her. He was still getting used to this awkward back and forth they were doing over the last quarter hour they had been talking.

He chuckled, "Yeah I put my name in but I did it late after dinner so no one could watch. I was definitely one of the nervous ones." He smiled at her again, "Not really sure why, there's just so many others in Beauxbatons that would do better than me I guess I just didn't want to make a big deal out it." There was still a pink hue to his cheeks but he felt less awkward talking about the tournament than his 'passion'.

"Is it bad that I hope it's not me?" He asked her with a nervous smile, "I'm really just here for the experience. I wanted to meet new people, see the sights, the buildings. I'm not exactly the best student to come out of Le Palais du Beauxbatons." He chuckled again, aware that he was butchering his own language to prove his point.

He sighed, "I just hope it's not as dangerous as the last tournament, I mean dragons, do you think they could find something more dangerous than Dragons?

She swallowed hard and tried to remain calm when he rested his arm along the back of the bench.  He seemed to do it without thinking but to Katy it was fairly monumental.  And distracting.  As the closest anyone besides her mother or Brynn had ever come to putting their arms around her, it was difficult to tear her attention away.  She was tempted to stare at that arm in wary disbelief.  But that would be weird, right?  she asked herself.  So instead, she was certain, she ended up staring a bit in the general direction of Jay's face.

It was his self-conscious humility that roused her from her immobility.  She liked Jay and was quickly beginning to identify with him.  It was a strange, newborn protective instinct that wanted to boost him up when he was feeling so down about himself.  In the end, it was that self-deprecating laugh combined with a defeated sigh that gave her the wherewithal to speak  around her own nervousness.

"I think it's a good thing that you're nervous," she said at last.  Then she realized how that might sound and continued, "It is dangerous.  It has to be in order to prove the things it was designed for.  People who don't take it seriously are just fooling themselves and probably wouldn't make very good Champions anyway."

Katy looked down and fiddled with one of the pleats of her skirt.  She'd read up on the Triwizard Tournament, now Tetra, when it had been announced.  She'd wanted to know what it was about before it arrived.  She'd developed some of her own ideas about the Champions but wasn't sure about sharing them.  It might seem like she was a know-it-all.  Or something.  She wasn't sure, having a difficult time understanding how she came across to people.  Questioning these things before they left her mouth was proving to be as much of a headache as second-guessing after she'd already insulted someone.

"Every Champion has something to offer," she said anyway.  "It's not always the raw or obvious talent we might choose for ourselves.  The Goblet is a very powerful magical artifact, like the sorting hat, that has the ability to see what we ourselves cannot. "

She looked him in the face again, her eyes steady and direct because what she wanted to say felt important enough to convey clearly.

"It's ok that you don't want to be the Champion but..."  She bit her lip.  "Why don't you want to be the Champion?  And I don't mean why you think others would be better at than you.  Personally, why not?  Is it because you're scared?"  Her face was open and curious with a small trace of concern but no judgement.

Jay tried not to flinch under her stare. He couldn't help but be impressed with the way she spoke about the tournament. It wasn't someone reciting facts out of a history text it was simply someone who found the subject interesting and was able to talk about it with a sense of fervor that made her point clear. He felt that if he had this conversation with her before he had put his name in the goblet he would have been a little more confident in doing so. After all she was right, it was dangerous, it had always been a dangerous tournament but it was what the tournament proved that made that danger acceptable. Perhaps he just wasn't a fan of danger.

"It's kind of hard to describe. I didn't even think I'd qualify as a champion actually. My Professors thought I'd be good, based on how good I am at problem solving and making things, seeing things the way other people don't. Though I have no idea how that would actually help me if I had to go up against something like a dragon but I accepted, eager to study abroad for a year and figured I might as well make my Professors proud by putting my name in." He sighed and looked up as a group of Beauxbaton students passed by. He waved genially and turned back to Katy, "Everyone else that came with us just seems to have better reasons for competing."

He looked to her again took a deep breath and opened his mouth to speak but was cut off as the bell rang loudly through the courtyard, "Merde." He spat out then smiled again to her, "I've gotta get to class." He stood up and offered her a hand up as well. Once she was on her feet he brought the hand up to his lips and placed a gentle kiss there, "I hope to see you again soon, cherie." With one more lingering look he smiled and turned back to the castle heading to his next class.

A thin and wavering smile wobbled on her lips for a moment.  "That makes sense, I suppose,"  she said in response to his comment about other students' reasons being better than his own.  "Although I still think you'd make a good Champion for your school.  Humility is important too."  She nodded firmly, the smile gone again. 

The ringing of the school's bell caused her to jerk in surprise and look up at the clock face.  Jay cursed about going to class and Katy realized that she too would be late if she didn't leave now as well.  To her surprise, he held out a hand and helped her up out of her seat and then he kissed her hand.  Katy didn't blush.  She didn't.  Or at least, she never had before.  But when he kissed the back of her hand and used the french endearment, she couldn't help but be internally horrified by her hot cheeks.  She liked to think it was hard for him to walk away, especially given the long look he gave her as he walked away but she quickly reprimanded herself. 

With a frown and a shake of her body, she strode into the castle.  She shouldn't be so foolish as to think they're little chat meant anything.  It was friendly and interesting  but no one ever took her seriously, especially not in a romantic way.  She would just go to class and try to forget about the handsome Beauxbaton with the infectious smile.