The Forbidden Invitation PV Lydia Closed

Time: Breakfast time
Day: Apr 13, 2020

Back home, during Easter Monday, Lydia would have woken up to the smell of pancakes and bacon filling the rooms of her grandmother's house; she would have gotten up and, still in her pyjamas, she would have made her way to the kitchen, where an incredible breakfast would have been served. But that particular Easter Monday, the red headed girl had woken up in her dorm, the sun light on her face and her Grandma's letter staring at her from her bedside table. Since she had received it, Lydia had read it almost everyday, hoping to finally wrap her head around what it meant. Spending the summer in London was already a torture, if you added that she would have done that at her Grandma's was even worse; yes, she had a pool, but at the same time Lydia knew that there would have been an endless list of rules to follow at her house.

She had finally managed to get out of bed, after a good five minutes, and had gotten dressed, before walking down to breakfast with a couple of friends. The day outside looked wonderful, the sky clear and the sun shining bright, it filled the girl's heart with happiness and some peace, the idea of passing her morning laying in the sun by the lake, before meeting up with the others to continue planning the ball.

Speaking of the ball, she couldn't shake the feeling that, when the other day she had gone to Rafael to ask for his help, the boy had expected a different answer to his question about why she had walked all the way to the training pitch.

Lydia shook her head and sat down with her friends right in the middle of the Hufflepuff table, since some places had just become available, the table being particularly full for a holiday day. She decided to have some milk with cereals, and to have some eggs as well, knowing well that she would have probably ended up skipping lunch that day as well. She started eating, her mind focused on listening to one of her friends talking about her mom's famous Easter Pie, as she let her eyes wander aimlessly around the room.

@Rafael D'Spacito

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Interacting With: @Lydia Cooper
Mentioning: Aaron Jones

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[font=Segoe Print]The nerves of the young Captain only continued to crescendo with every passing moment, his movements growing more erratic and nerves more frantic for alleviation as he errantly searched for the girl in which he was to invite to the ball, eyes wide and jaw steeled in anticipation. It was funny, he really didn’t get nervous all that often, and for a moment, the boy was left to wonder what was at the source of such a strange feeling. Was it that he actually cared what Lydia had to say about him? Whether she said yes or no? Surely not, the boy certainly didn’t give such regards to just anyone, let alone a girl he’d only just met a month or so prior. Right? No, such feelings had to be sourced from his original rejection – though Flash’s letter had been polite, it had done nothing to cushion the boy’s pride as it fell into the pits of despair, fractured by the weight of his own failure. Perhaps he was left feeling in such a way, as he didn’t wish to fail once more. One way or another, he’d earned success – his fight with Aaron was more than enough proof. What was he to do with himself, should he fail once more? Give up and go to the ball with a friend?

He would have no time to consider such thoughts further, as he was soon wrenched from his thoughts by a sudden glimpse of red – the boy’s eyes subconsciously followed, coming to rest on the figure of an angel. Slightly cropped shirt, skinny jeans, black heels, a face that could only belong to a veela – Lydia really was perfect, there was no doubt in his mind. The very sight of her tugged on his lips in the slightest, his eyes sparkling in euphoria as he considered the redhead sitting at the Huffle Table. If only he’d been brave enough to make her his first choice to the ball, perhaps then he would have felt more courage in asking her. Alas, he felt a pang of fear at the very indication that he was to invite her in such a moment, a frown tugging at the end of his lips as anxiety slowly leaked into his mind – he couldn’t be sure why his stomach turned the way it did, his eyes widening as his heartbeat steadily rose with each passing second, a small sheen of sweat beginning to formulate on his forehead. It was then, that his fractured pride tightened its hold on the boy’s senses. You can’t… she’ll say no. And, even if she doesn’t, what happens when Aaron finds out? Nothing good, he supposed. The other boy had made his feelings towards Rafael quite straight-forward. However, he knew he couldn’t just wallow in his own fear of circumstance, not when she was sitting so beautifully at the Hufflepuff Table, generally alone and without invitation. What kind of Gryffindor was he, if not brave? What kind of example was he?

It’s your time mate. Grow a blood pair and go ask her!

Steeling his nerves, he slowly but surely started forward, feet falling one in front of the other as he progressed towards the girl in which he was to ask to the dance. It was odd, fickle how time seemed to slow down in that moment, his heartbeat only pounding louder and louder in his ears as he progressed forward, knuckes white in distress as they rested in his pockets. His shoulders burned in tension, his jaw steeled and gaze only intensifying in ferocity as he glared at his shoes. He wished it were over, for the feeling in his chest to dissipate, release its painful grip on his livelihood and allow him to walk away unscathed. But alas, it seemed as if the universe were loath to offer the boy such a mercy, its icy tendrils constricting around his heart, threatening to pop it should the girl say the wrong thing. But he couldn’t give such monstrosities a thought, not when his lungs were aching the way they were, his senses riddled with the stress of oncoming panic. His mind was blank, void of sound or reason, save for the steady thumping of his own heart, and the buzzing of white noise, blocking out all rationale, both detrimental and constructive. What would she say? Was the girl attending the dance with another? Were his attempts in vain? Did she even want to go with him? What if she didn’t like him, in the way he liked her?

[Okay, so maybe he did care what she thought.]

Pulling his hood up as to mask his black eye – he was wearing a hoodie under his robes, in blatant disregard to the school’s dress code – he slipped into the seat across from the lovely badger in question, looking down as to not put himself through the distress of considering her pretty face. To the average onlooker, one could definitely tell something off about his presence – though his face be void of any tells regarding his inward turmoil, it was more than present in his disposition, shoulders tight and jaw clenched in the slightest. Rubbing his eyes, and then his mouth, he considered his words carefully, contemplating his next move with the scrutiny of a Ravenclaw. This wasn’t good. He played with a few words in his mouth, before spitting them out in favor of something else, before looking up, meeting the girl’s gaze in a seemingly easy smile. “Hey, Lydia!” he voiced in a friendly manner. “Was wondering –“ he rubbed his neck, ”I was wondering,” fuck, he was really crashing and burning. How stupid could he look. “I mean, I don’t know if anyone’s asked you yet, buuuuut,”

This was it, there was no going back. The easy smile shortly disappeared from his face, replaced with an inquisitive purse of the lips, his gaze falling to the plate in which she so gracefully dined on. There would be no more stress, no more inward turmoil in that moment. He would ask her, plain and clear, his words cleanly enunciated, almost American in clarity as they rolled off his lips. Here it went.

“Would you? Go to the dance with me?” [/font]

-Interacting with: @Rafael D'Spacito-

It's always funny, how one's subconscious can influence their actions.

As Lydia's eyes were wandering around the packed Great Hall, she found herself looking at the Gryffindor table, as if she was looking for someone; every time she would feel her gaze move towards that direction, she would correct it, bringing her focus over something else, but not for long. She knew who she was looking for, a tall boy, with dark hair and dark eyes...

Only a couple of days had passed since she had last saw Rafael, and Lydia, more than ever, couldn't get the boy out of her mind. Since she had met him, she had felt some kind of connection with him, something that with time, for her, changed from friendship to having a crush on him. It was kind of frustrating sometimes, how she would be in the middle of a class, or studying in the library, and the Gryffindor's face would just randomly pop up in her head, making it impossible for her to concentrate again.

As her eyes moved yet again towards the Gryffindor table, Lydia sighed and focused her gaze on the plate in front of her, just as she took a sip or orange juice from her glass. With the liquid still in her mouth, she looked up from her plate, and her eyes met Rafael's face, or well, his hood; he was sitting right across from her, with his hood up and his face looking down at the table. Lydia was so shocked that she almost chocked on her drink, swallowing down before smiling at the boy. When did he even arrive? He definitely wasn't there before, that was for sure, or she would have noticed.

Something was different about Rafael that morning, he looked kind of tense, his hands going from his eyes to his mouth, a telltale sign of nervousness... but why? Lydia felt one of her friends nudge her arm, and she quickly shot her a glance, before focusing back on the boy in front of her. ""Hey Rafa, how-" Lydia started saying, but as Rafael continued talking -and as he grew more nervous, apparently. What was going on? She gave him a small smile as she let him finish. His words were kind of unsure, which was quite unusual for the Quidditch Captain.

"Yeah...?" Lydia exhorted him, as she moved a little further over the table. She was so curious about why Rafael was acting that way, almost annoyed with herself because she couldn't figure out the reason why. She bit on her bottom lip as she waited for the boy to continue, completely ignoring her friends whispering behind her; she tried to look for his eyes, to see if maybe his face would have had any clue to why the boy sounded so nervous, but he was staring at her plate.

Then, his next words made Lydia widen her eyes, as warmth started filling her chest.

“Would you? Go to the dance with me?”

It took the girl a second to register Rafael'S words, but once she did, pure happiness filled Lydia's whole body, her cheeks becoming a darker shade of pink as the biggest, brightest smile appeared on her face. "Yes!" she almost shouted, before she could stop herself. "I mean, yes. I would love to go with you," she added, this time in a more normal tone of voice.

Her heart was beating so fast inside her chest, exploding with happiness; she wanted to jump around, run, dance to no music; she needed to spread the wave of joy she was feeling. Now it made sense why Rafael acted so nervous, or at least, in part; she still couldn't understand why he was so nervous about asking her, after all she had told him she would have loved to spend more time with him.

Unless...

A sudden, random thought passed through Lydia's head, and once she had considered that, she wouldn't have been able to stop thinking about that. Did Rafael like her, the same way she liked him?

Could that be true?