Closed Fortune and Favour

[Knox Ivers]

Drinking the felix felicis had Knox feeling renewed and energetic, and as if anything and everything he wanted to happen would happen if he willed it to. As if he were invincible and powerful and he could materialize his wildest dreams just by thinking about them and wishing for them to appear in front of him. Many thoughts raced on Knox’s mind as he headed up from the dungeons into the entrance hall, whether he should talk to Simon and ask him to the ball again, whether he should run around the castle grounds and simply experienced whatever happened to him. But through all the thoughts, Knox felt as if the entrance hall was where he should stay, so he moved to lean against one of the stone walls, watching and smiling at all the students that walked past. Knox knew there might have been smarter ways to use his time and have luck be on his side but he also thought the best course of action was to trust his instincts and wait, so that was what he did.​

 

[Clifton Ward]

Clifton didn't think he had ever been this miserable in his life. He had been doing his best to distract himself from his worries, but nothing seemed to work. He wasn't good enough at school for focusing on his grades to make him feel any better, photography meant spending time around people who probably all knew Lily had dumped him, and when he had tried to spend time with Nell it had been a complete disaster. She had been nice about it, but it seemed clear enough to Clifton that she didn't seem to think he was a very good kisser. Another thing to feel horrible about. Clifton had been spending as much time as he could in the Accio clubroom, away from the vast majority of the school. As long as he pretended really hard that he was working on stuff, hopefully people would leave him alone. He was heading to the clubroom with his camera in hand when a crack in the stone floor surprised him, sending Clifton stumbling and his camera flying out of his hands. He cried out, already seeing the expensive device smashed to pieces in his minds eye as it flew as though in slow motion. Before it could hit the ground though, someone else had caught it with lightning fast reflexes. Clifton righted himself, looking at the other boy with wide eyes. "Oh my, thank you! That was impressive!"

((God mod approved))

 

[Knox Ivers]

It all happened so fast, Knox didn’t even have time to register what was happening in front of him, until it was all over and he held an expensive camera in his hands. It almost happened in slow motion, watching the boy in front of him trip over and the camera fly into the air, and then holding his hands out to catch the camera seamlessly, as if he knew what would happen before it happened, as if it was meant to happen. Knox smiled, looking between the camera and the boy it belonged to, someone who he recognized but wasn’t all too familiar with. Knox then stepped away from the wall and moved one of his hands to the boy’s shoulder and then offering the camera to him with the other. “Are you okay? Here’s your camera.” He said simply, looking back to the camera. “That was a lucky catch.” He added, chuckling to himself as if it were a joke, when it was a fact the truth that it was lucky. Despite felix felicis being banned for use in sports, Knox wished he had near as much luck when he played quidditch.​

Smiling, Knox then looked to the boy’s eyes for the first time and blurted out a question that wasn’t even in the back of his mind, appearing entirely out of nowhere. “Hey, do you wanna date?” He didn’t even realize what he had asked, until he had already asked. It surprised him, but he trusted the potion in his system and decided to let the cards fall as they may.​

 

[Clifton Ward]

Clifton straightened his glasses quickly, staring at the other boy in bewilderment. He vaguely recognised him as one of the Gryffindor prefects and quidditch players, but not quite well enough to remember his name in such a fuddled state. Taking photos of so many people meant that there was never a chance he'd remember an individual name. He laughed awkwardly as the boy offered his camera back, nodding in agreement. "Very impressive. Must be the Quidditch reflexes." He said as he took the camera back, hoping the boy's name would come to him soon. All thoughts rushed out of his head though, at the next thing the boy said. Did he want to what?! He stared at the Gryffindor in shock, taking a moment to process it. But... he had heard what he had heard. "Um.... what sorry?" He asked nervously, reflexively defaulting to politeness out of nerves. "To... to date, did you say?" Clifton stammered out weakly.

 

[Knox Ivers]

Despite the other boy’s understandable confusion at the question, Knox felt confident and sure of himself, and as if his confidence was unbreakable. Without so much as a pause between the boy’s question Knox responded in kind with a nod of his head, not hesitating to repeat the question because he was sure it was the right thing to ask. “Yeah, do you wanna date? Hang out, and go to the ball and stuff?” Knox repeated, adding more detail, and smiling widely at the boy. “I’m Knox by the way, I know you from like around the school and stuff but I don’t know your name, sorry.” Knox added, moving his hand from the boy’s shoulder. “I know you from accio and picture things.” Knox pointed to the camera, knowing he knew the other boy from around the school and from taking photos at school events. If Knox were in his normal, and not his felix felicis influenced mind he would have worried about his manners and if he should have asked the boy out so overtly, even if he would probably forget to use his manners regardless. He just felt that what he was doing was right no matter what, and was trusting his gut and letting the effect of the potion guide him.​

 

[Clifton Ward]

Even as the other boy clarified what he had meant, Clifton still wasn't totally convinced that he hadn't misheard. The other boy introducing himself, at least, was easier to follow than the rest of the sentence, and Clifton jumped on that, glad to have something he knew how to respond to. "Oh! Knox! Um, yes, I'm Clifton, I recognise you from... you know, the same, picture days and all..." He trailed off awkwardly, unable to wrap his head around this conversation. Knox was... a prefect, a quidditch player, by all standards the kind of popular student who should never want anything to do with someone like him. He wasn't totally sure this wasn't some kind of.... strange, cruel prank. But he had never even spoken to Knox before, so why would it be? "And, um... I mean, I didn't... have a date for the ball, so..." Clifton stammered, more thinking out loud than really giving a proper answer, not sure what to do with this situation. "I mean, but, um... I suppose I'm thinking... why me? I mean, you know, not to... ah... not to imply anything, this just.... I mean, it's all a bit out of the blue, isn't it? Sorry..."

 

[Knox Ivers]

Knox nodded his head again, still feeling confident as ever. “Clifton!” He repeated so he wouldn’t forget, liking that he finally had a name to go along with Clifton’s face. He smiled wider, nodding along to Clifton’s words, and not letting Clifton’s hesitance deter him from answering the questions confidently. When Clifton finished speaking, Knox answered his questions and uncertainties with honesty. “Well, today in potions class we were given felix felicis, and I had that, and stood here against this wall, and I asked you because this seems like the right time, and you seem like the right person to ask. It seems so right, you know? Like fate, or whatever that’s called, that I happened to catch your camera and meet you, and I don’t wanna leave this moment wondering ‘what if’ if I didn’t ask you.” Knox explained. “It crossed my mind, so I asked, and something about the potion is telling me I want to get to know you, that I should ask you to the ball, so I am listening to it.” He added. “If you don’t wanna date, that’s okay, we should be friends at least. We should know each other somehow.” Knox then decided to mention, to give Clifton an out if he needed one. Knox was simply following his instincts and was being honest in following his instincts and was letting the situation play out as it wanted to.​

 

[Clifton Ward]

The sincerity with which Knox said his name went further to knock doubts out of Clifton's head. If this was some kind of prank, he certainly would have known who Clifton was already. It certainly wasn't a bizarre retribution for Lily, at any rate. Clifton's confusion slowly eroded as Knox started to explain the situation, though as questions were answers, new ones were raised. The Felix Felicis certainly explained the camera catch, and the strange abruptness of the question. And... if Knox was acting guided by luck potion, it certainly seemed to imply that going the dance together wasn't a terrible idea, to say the least. He hesitated a long moment, then nodded. This was peculiar, certainly, but it didn't feel as wrong as his ill-advised hook up with Nell had. "Well... I suppose if a luck potion thinks it's a good idea, then why not?!" Clifton laughed nervously. He didn't think he had ever done anything so impulsive in his life, but there was something nice about taking a risk like this. It felt... strangely comfortable, despite the unusual circumstances. "Yes, alright, let's... let's date, yes."

 

[Knox Ivers]

In usual circumstances, Knox would have felt insecure about explaining his situation to Clifton, worrying Clifton would reject him and think he was weird for asking him to the yule ball so abruptly. Especially after what happened with Simon. But with the influence of felix felicis, Knox remained nothing other than confident. He smiled wide when Clifton agreed to be his date. “That’s awesome!” Knox exclaimed, before looking down to Clifton’s camera for a moment and realizing Clifton might be busy with yearbook duties and picture taking. “Oh, do you need to take pictures at the ball, too?” He asked, frowning slightly.​

 

[Clifton Ward]

Clifton still didn't entirely believe what was happening, but he was well and truly in this now, he supposed. His job for Accio didn't really occur to him until Knox brought it up, and Clifton shrugged idly. "I'll have to take some pictures, but there's a team of us, it's not all on me." He explained with a sheepish smile. He really didn't know what to expect from this date... Knox certainly seemed nice, albeit far more confident than Clifton himself, or anyone he was used to spending time around, really. But was that just the luck potion? He knew he would have to wait for the ball to see how this actually went, but for the first time all year, Clifton actually felt excited for something coming up.