This Hogsmeade weekend was different and more exciting than the others because Lydie was going on a date. She had searched in the depths of her wardrobe for something cute and girly-looking. The options were limited. The dress she ended up with was tight and Lydie was pretty sure it was her little sister’s. She added velvety boots and looked in the mirror, wiggling her hips as she adjusted the outfit. It would have to do.

To be honest Lydie was surprised that her date was with Jonah. Their paths didn’t cross often but he was cute, and now that she was sixteen Lydie was feeling an increasing desire for a nice long snog. She didn’t have many stories to gossip about when it came to her own love life, just everyone else’s.

They hadn’t decided on a specific meeting place so once the students reached Hogsmeade, Lydie tried to make herself visible. She flipped some of her long black hair over her shoulder, then fussed with it a bit until it felt normal. She regretted not wearing a hat. Lydie rocked on her heels and scanned the crowd.

Jonah was not entirely sure how he ended up agreeing to a date with Lydie Patil. She was a nice girl, he supposed, she was just... a lot. A big presence. He did admire her ability to retain any and all information that qualified as "gossip" - he had no idea how she stored all that information and still had space left over for courses. Truly something to behold.

In any case, he had agreed to this date, and so had forgone his usual plaid-overshirt-and-t-shirt way of dressing in favor of something a bit nicer. Shoving his hands in his pockets, he shifted his weight back and forth, searching the crowd of students in Hogsmeade for his date. He saw black hair tossing and raised his hand, waving once before walking in her direction.

"Hey," he said once he reached Lydie, "You look nice." He offered her a smile and held out his arm, inviting her to take it.

Here goes nothing, Lydie thought as Jonah approached her. He offered his arm and it took Lydie a moment to realize that she was supposed to link hers with it, or something. She did so, albeit clumsily, but she added a smile.

“You look nice.”

“Thanks,” Lydie said quickly. “It’s my little sister’s dress actually I think….” She looked down at said frock and looked back at Jonah. They were nearly the same height, and so Lydie tried to look dreamily into his eyes the way you were supposed to. She managed to hold his gaze for a second before needing to concentrate on walking again, as she tripped a little over her own feet.

“The shoes are mine, though,” Lydie added, as if owning her own pair of shoes was a sign of romantic prosperity. She did a mental face palm.

She didn’t return his favor by complimenting his outfit, because she was too busy trying to figure out what she was supposed to be doing and saying. Lydie wasn’t normally this discombobulated but dating wasn’t exactly her forte. “Where are we going?” She asked.

Jonah smiled the awkward smile of a sixteen-year-old on a date with someone he didn't really know. He noticed but didn't comment on the pause before Lydie took his arm - he guessed it was confusion, rather than reluctance, on her part, and while he wasn't the most proper gentleman he did have the tact to not embarrass his companion.

"It's my little sister's dress actually I think..."

Jonah shrugged. "It looks good on you," he offered, nodding when she mentioned the shoes were hers. If her behavior was anything to go by, she was feeling about as awkward as him, which in its own way put him more at ease. As she stumbled, he caught her elbow, holding it as she regained her balance. When she seemed to have her feet back under her, Jonah let go in favor of tapping his chin thoughtfully at her question.

"Where are we going?"

"Well," he answered, "Puddifoot's is traditional for dates, but if you'd prefer the Three Broomsticks we could go there instead."

As they walked along the path Lydie tried to come up with interesting and witty things to say, but for what was probably the first time in her life she couldn’t think of a thing to say. There were a dozen different rumors she could bring up, but that didn’t seem like romantic conversation. What was romantic conversation? Lydie had never really given it much thought before. She decided to wait for Jonah to say something.

"Well," he answered, "Puddifoot's is traditional for dates, but if you'd prefer the Three Broomsticks we could go there instead."

“Sure,” Lydie agreed. She realized that it hadn’t really been a ‘yes or no’ question. “I mean… the Three Broomsticks could be fun? Puddifoot’s gets crowded sometimes?” Lydie began to imagine being surrounded by all of the couples of Hogwarts, all of them attached at the mouth while her and Jonah looked at each other and tried to make conversation.

“So… do you have any summer plans, yet?” Lydie managed. It was such a dreadfully cliche question, especially for someone who was usually busting with a thousand personal questions.

"The Three Broomsticks could be fun? Puddifoot's gets crowded sometimes?"

"The Three Broomsticks it is, then," Jonah nodded, privately thankful. The atmosphere of Puddifoot's made him a tad uncomfortable, and he wasn't sure how well suited the pair of them were to such an overtly romantic establishment. He felt like their awkward, fumbling conversation would be out of place among couples whispering sappy lines at each other.

"Do you have any summer plans yet?"

Jonah shook his head. "Not really, just bumming around London and staying out from under my parents' feet," he shrugged, "Nothing very interesting. What about you?"

As they headed in the direction of the Three Broomsticks, Lydie’s brain continued to storm up conversation starters. All of the ideas she came up with were bizarre and definitely not date material. Would you rather eat a human hand or the head of a hippogriff? What’s the grossest thing you’ve ever eaten? Can you burp the alphabet? Would you like to see me do it?

With each inane thought she became more frustrated by the fact that she couldn’t come up with something more romantic to say. This was what all of the girly teen magazines and books had prepared her for: dates with cute boys. And Jonah was cute, Lydie liked his smile and he was pretty smart. Those were good things to have in a significant other, right?

"Not really, just bumming around London and staying out from under my parents' feet," he shrugged, "Nothing very interesting. What about you?"

Unfortunately Lydie’s answer was essentially the same. She said as much and they continued to walk in silence for a bit, a silence that Lydie felt was painfully awkward. She was used to filling up silence with lots and lots of talking and shouting and laughing.  Finally she came up with something decent to contribute to the conversation, although it wasn’t really the witty comment she’d been hoping for.

“I can’t believe we’re gonna be upperclassmen,” Lydie said. “It feels like just yesterday we were getting lost in the staircases and learning to fly.” Lydie liked quidditch, and though she wasn’t good enough to be on the school team, she did play recreationally with some friends. “Think you’re ready?” What does that even MEAN, Lydie!?! she cursed herself.

Jonah shot Lydie a sideways glance, wondering what she was thinking. From what he knew of the Gryffindor, she was the type to speak first and think second, so the silence, while not a problem, struck him as strange. He hoped he wasn't making her uncomfortable - it was probably just nerves, he guessed. He wasn't any more used to going on proper dates than she seemed to be.

Come to think of it, he wasn't even sure what this date was supposed to be. Romantic? Platonic? Lydie was a pretty girl with a strong personality, but Jonah didn't know if that meant he liked her. He shook his head minutely, trying to clear his thoughts and focus on the conversation.

"I can't believe we're gonna be upperclassmen. It feels like just yesterday we were getting lost in the staircases and learning to fly. Think you're ready?"

Jonah laughed. "I nearly tripped over a third-year the other day - were we ever that small? I don't know if I'm really ready though. I have no idea what I want to do with my life, you know? It feels like the future's coming up too fast." He surprised himself with his honesty. "What about you, ready to be a big bad sixth-year?"

"I nearly tripped over a third-year the other day - were we ever that small? I don't know if I'm really ready though. I have no idea what I want to do with my life, you know? It feels like the future's coming up too fast."

What Jonah said was true, too true. “I totally know. It’s soooo weird. My little sister’s gonna be here next year, I feel like I need to, like, set an example or something.” Fae would be starting at Hogwarts in the fall, a year late due to her condition. Lydie had always admired her little sister for her resilience through the werewolf attack and its unfortunate effects.

"What about you, ready to be a big bad sixth-year?"

“Ugh, no way mate,” Lydie blurted. That probably wasn’t a cute thing to say. Lydie didn’t really feel much of a desire to impress Jonah, who she had known for years. “I mean. I don’t know what I wanna do either.” She sighed. “Maybe we can go into business together!”

"I feel like I need to, like, set an example or something."

Jonah bit down on his tongue to stop himself from saying the first thing that came to mind: What about the example you've already set? She didn't say anything about it being a good example. But snark would probably not be appreciated by his companion, and he did have some manners.

Instead, he nodded, smiling sympathetically. "I don't know what that's like - I'm an only child - but it sounds like a lot of pressure. I'm sure you'll do well, though." That worked: it was polite, complimentary, without being an actual lie. Flattery was an art.

"Maybe we can go into business together!"

Jonah laughed aloud at that. "Maybe, maybe," he answered agreeably. He had recently been turning over in his head the idea of a muggle job - he had one foot in each world as it was, maybe he could do nonmagical work until something better came along. He'd be good at public relations.

He let the conversation lapse into thoughtful silence as their feet carried them the rest of the way to the Three Broomsticks. When they got there, he opened the door, gesturing for Lydie to go first.

When they got to the Three Broomsticks, it was moderately crowded, as expected. Actually, it was very crowded - but Lydie spotted a table in the corner of the room, which was near the clanging pots and pans of the kitchen but it at least had chairs.

“C’mon,” Lydie grabbed Jonah’s hand. She had become something of an expert at working her way through hordes of people, her skills so adept that she could do this confidently, as if there were no people in front of her at all. Though she was zig-zagging around the place, every move was deliberate (or it at least looked that way).  She helped Jonah weave through the groups with what she hoped was only slightly nerve-wracking for him.

Conversation had started to slow and Lydie couldn’t bear silence. “I might work at the Prophet, or Witch Weekly or something,” she offered. Lydie already wrote for the closest thing Hogwarts had to a tabloid, the Howler. He knew that, probably. Someone was always mad at Lydie for writing something exploitative. As of yet she hadn’t made any reports about Jonah and wondered if it was journalistically ethical to write about this very date.

There was a menu on the table, which Lydie was grateful for. Menus were filled with words, and you could make anything out of a word, including conversation. She reached for it and asked Jonah, “What d’ya feel like? Are you hungry?”

[sorry this took so long. x) ]

Jonah didn't balk as Lydie took his hand, glad for her grip keeping them tethered. It would be easy to get separated and lose track of one another in this crowd, especially with the way Lydie was weaving through bodies like a fish through seaweed. He just did his best to keep up, edging between patrons and trying not to bump into anyone.

"I might work at the Prophet, or Witch Weekly or something."

Jonah nodded. "You do the Howler, right?" He tilted his head in consideration. "Journalism seems good for you. You've got a knack for it, yeah?" He chose not to say "you like poking into other people's business," although he thought it. He had thus far escaped the discomfort of being written about, and figured the best way to continue that was by being polite.

"What d'ya feel like? Are you hungry?"

"I could go for a snack, sure. What've they got that looks interesting?" He didn't come to the Three Broomsticks often enough to know their menu very well, but he was up for trying something new. That seemed to be sort of the theme of the date, anyway.

Over the years, Lydie had watched a countless number of female housemates positively high-pitched with glee about a boy. She would listen as they pored over each detail of their dates, first chronologically and then in parts, over and over again, until the next one. She wondered when all of that panic and excitement would start happening. Lydie had the feeling that she was waiting for something to begin, but she didn’t know what.

"I could go for a snack, sure. What've they got that looks interesting?"

Rice pudding would be more interesting than this conversation, Lydie thought, scowling a little. She was not very adept at hiding her emotions. She scanned the menu to see the same items that had been there since her first trip to Hogsmeade, and probably long before that too. She liked Jonah and everything, but the butterflies in her stomach were mysteriously absent.

Lydie handed him the menu. “I dunno, I think I’m just gonna get some chips,” she said shortly. She was growing more and more frustrated with herself and with the situation and she wasn’t being discrete about it. If nothing else, Lydie was honest. She drummed her fingers on the table until the waitress came over.

“Hi, I’m Tina, I’ll be taking care of you today,” the girl chirped. It wasn’t until she started speaking that Lydie noticed her, but once she did she perked up and suddenly felt determined to impress and befriend Tina.

“What would you recommend?” she asked as if whatever answer Tina gave would be life-altering. Tina said she liked the strawberry milkshakes and despite her 15-year long abhorrence of strawberries, Lydie smiled and said, “I’ll have that then.” When Tina walked away with their orders Lydie noticed that the room got distinctly darker, although she couldn’t make the connection.

“So, uh…” Lydie said, clearly trying to come up with something to talk about but coming up blank.