Everywhere to me

[Tilly Drage]

With Felix Felicis thrumming through her veins, Tilly knew exactly what she needed to do. There was a certain Gryffindor she wanted to find; working up the courage to do so had taken some time. She’d had all winter break and several weeks beyond that to think about Seraphina My. Between Quidditch and classes, she struggled to find the time and the bravery to approach her enemy-turned-friend. Now, a little vial of liquid luck was giving exactly the edge she needed.

Tilly walked through the castle, confident she would find Seraphina, despite the fact that the castle was massive and there were only so many hours left in the day. Tilly didn’t stop to think that the Gryffindor could be holed up in her dorm. Somehow, Tilly just knew that she would run into the girl.

Guided by intuition alone, she took to the stairs. She climbed up and up, past her own house, her feet taking her to the Seventh Floor. Stopping in the corridor, she remembered meeting the Gryffindor here in much less pleasant circumstances. The memory almost made her laugh. Either way, she couldn't fight the stupid grin splitting her face.

@Seraphina My

 

[Seraphina My]

Seraphina had been chilling on her bed when she found the sudden urge to go for a walk. Walks weren't unnatural to her, but she had been busy in her graphic novel for a few hours and figured this was her body's way of telling her to move. Taking the book with her in case she decided to go outside and read more, the Gryffindor exited through the portrait to an empty corridor. Except for one. "Hey, Tilly," she said rather normally. It felt weird for her to really say the girl's name after years of creating horrible things in her head, but after their last break, Seraphina really felt like things had changed in her brain.

 

[Tilly Drage]

Tilly turned on her heel as she heard her name, in the mouth of exactly the girl she’d been looking for. Her smile widened. “Hey,” the Hufflepuff replied, as talkative as ever. Whatever nerves had been tangling up her thoughts had dissolved for the moment. “Go for a walk with me?” Tilly suggested. This Felix Felicis was good stuff. Tilly felt like absolutely nothing was going to go wrong. Right now, what she’d been both dreading and looking forward to all term seemed so easy.

 

[Seraphina My]

Seraphina usually took her walks alone but held the book in her hand as she easily started walking next to Tilly. She switched the book to her outside hand, away from the Hufflepuff, as she had a very bad track record with not doing weird things around this girl. She wasn't sure what to say. "It's weird how empty the corridor is."

 

[Tilly Drage]

“Yeah,” Tilly said, looking up around her. There weren’t even any younger students messing about. She almost mentioned the incident with the bouncy ball, but it seemed so stupid now. Tilly wondered if it would have ended any differently if Liusaidh hadn’t gotten into the fight. She still felt bad that Seraphina had broken her nose even though first year seemed hundreds of years ago at this point.

Tilly made sure to walk at the same pace as Seraphina. She always forgot about her long legs. “Hey… are you going to the Yule Ball with anyone this year?” Despite her potion-induced confidence, she was happy the corridor was so empty today.

 

[Seraphina My]

Seraphina didn't feel like they got very far before Tilly asked her a loaded question. After previous years, she had kind of decided going to the ball might be a bad idea. One more incident, and her mother had threatened to take her out of school. And even though she wasn't a huge fan of school, going to a new country where her mother had more control over everything just seemed like a nightmare. "Umm, I don't know. But I promise not to bother you," Seraphina said authentically. Her summer "friend" had broken down that while nothing Seraphina had ever done to Tilly was excusable, it could have been because she was harboring feelings for her. And as crazy as it sounded, she realized that she had been. Nothing she had done really had been due to that because it was all just downright Seraphina being a bummer. But it had really changed her motivations coming back to Hogwarts. However, she really doubted Tilly ever really wanted to be her friend, let alone girlfriend.

 

[Tilly Drage]

Tilly had to hold back a laugh when Seraphina said she wouldn't bother her at the ball. She knew it wasn't the time to make jokes about smashing cakes on her chest.

The Hufflepuff shook her head and grinned. "No, I mean, do you want to go with me?" she asked, still too emboldened by the potion to feel self-conscious. She would have plenty of time to be embarrassed later when it wore off.

All break and into the term, her head had been spinning with questions about her friendship with Seraphina, especially the fact that the Gryffindor had kissed her and just run away. Tilly was starting to think that it might be nice to kiss her back. Of course, she'd kept that thought corralled in her head. She didn't dare approach the subject with other people close to her, even her roommates or Rita; she didn't need their opinions clouding her feelings.

 

[Seraphina My]

Seraphina was still in her head when she finally recognized what Tilly said, taking a step back. Why in the world, after all she had done to her, would Tilly want to go to the Yule Ball with her? She couldn't dance as wasn't anywhere near fashionable, as Jenna was always so clear to point out. "Why?" she asked, softly. Was this some sort of prank? Were they going to make a big fool of her at the dance? Even though she had worked out some of her issues over the past year, she still couldn't help like people weren't out to get her. "Why would you want to go with me?"

 

[Tilly Drage]

On a normal day, Tilly would have taken the hint and found the nearest escape route to Hufflepuff House. She had thoroughly prepared herself for rejection. Luckily, the liquid luck wouldn’t let her give up so easily. She stood tall, her shoulders relaxed, her expression calm. This was the day she was not going to screw this up.

“I need a date, and I’d rather it be you,” Tilly said confidently. “Plus, I like you.” She smiled at Seraphina. Hopefully, her smile came off as reassuring; she would hate to be thought of as desperate.

Later on, she would replay this scenario over and over in her head later on and cringe. She would be tempted to walk out onto the Quidditch Pitch and release the bludgers with no bat in hand. No matter how much Felix Felicis she chugged, it didn’t make up for her absolute lack of game.

 

[Seraphina My]

Seraphina felt her throat close as she tried to force a sound out. This had to be a prank. She didn't understand why Tilly would like her after all she did to her. The names, the looks.. the cake. While she desperately wanted to say yes with every fiber of her being, her body felt frozen, unable to account for the sudden predicament she was in.

"Okay."

Okay? Okay??!?!?! That's all you can muster up?

Seraphina looked at Tilly. She felt her arms start to tingle back to life and quickly crossed one over her torso. "Umm, I'll meet you there?" she said hesitantly, even though it came out more like a question. In reality, the Gryffindor was happy. She hadn't been this happy since the last time she spent time with her nonna. And even though she physically was mimicking a statue, Seraphina felt a jolt of energy and excitement take over as a small smile finally arose on her face.