Gold for a Badger

[Lizzie Parker-Taylor]

Rose deliveries coming around again was always one of the highlights of Lizzie's year, and she was eager to get out there and begin spreading love and joy around the school. Before breakfast she made her first stop on the way to the Hufflepuff table, relieved that the names seemed easier and easier to track down every year, even when they belonged to people she had never actually spoken to before. "Hey! Tristan, right?" Lizzie caught up with the boy she recognised both as a Prefect and from pride events on his way to breakfast, giving him a friendly elbow in greeting. "Got a special delivery for ya!"

 

[Tristan Collins]

Valentine's Day was hard to miss at Hogwarts, and Tristan had to admit he enjoyed it. The boy had sent out two roses, both strategically planned. One was to October and asked her to the dance tonight, the other was to Vivian and was unsigned. He wasn't going to take any risks. With Kauri, things had gotten ugly, and he wanted to avoid a repeat of that at all costs. Still, he was rather hoping to receive a few more than two roses in return. It was a good sign when one received more than he sent out, in his opinion. He was on his way to the Hufflepuff table for breakfast when someone suddenly elbowed him. He glared in their direction before realizing what was going on. The girl was familiar to him. He knew she was on the Gryffindor Quidditch team, and had also seen her at pride events. He quickly morphed his glare into a smile, though her 'friendly' greeting had hurt him more than he wanted to admit. "That's me." He said, slowing his pace. "You have a rose for me?"

 

[Lizzie Parker-Taylor]

Lizzie got a bit of a strange vibe from the Hufflepuff boy but nothing was gonna break her good mood on Valentines day, smiling back at him cheerfully. "I sure do." She said happily, picking up Tristan's rose and message from her basket. "First delivery of the day, happy Valentines day!" Lizzie beamed, handing over the rose and its attached message. "Hope it's a good one!"

Spoiler: Message

Tristan,
Thanks for all the advice!

Jake

 

[Tristan Collins]

Tristan took the rose from the older girl and gave her a nod. "Thank you." He told her with a smile. "And a happy Valentine's day to you too." He looked at her for a moment. "You're... Hayley's girlfriend, right?" He asked her as he unfolded the note. He paused to look at it, and smiled at the message. Jacob was a cute kid. He should have remembered to send a rose to him. But hopefully, thanking him for this one would be enough. He tucked the note away into his pocket.

 

[Lizzie Parker-Taylor]

Lizzie smiled, pleased that the younger boy's mood seemed to have picked up. "Thanks!" She was glancing at her list to see who was next when he asked her a question and looked up, nodding in surprise. "I sure am!" Lizzie beamed. "Are you a friend of hers?" She didn't think she remembered Hayley ever mentioning Tristan, but they had pretty different social circles, other than Rose, it wouldn't be surprising for Hayley to have friends Lizzie didn't know.

 

[Tristan Collins]

Tristan smiled at Lizzie's question. Friend really wasn't the right word, but they did certainly know each other and had similar interests in politics. Their views, however, were completely different. But he didn't hate having someone to debate with when needed. "Well, we're classmates." He told her with a shrug. "We clash a bit politically, but generally we get along." He had enjoyed listening to the debate with her, though he did think she was entirely biased towards her friend's mother. "I don't really go for her whole... revolution deal. But it's cool that she has someone like you to support her."