Closed Hook, Line, and Sinker

[Gwen Goodwin]

Gwen couldn't stomach the idea of not having a date to the yule ball, again. It was her fifth year, this was supposed to be the year she started seriously dating someone. So today, Gwen had set her target on René Tofilau. She had considered picking someone else, but René had proven to be interested in her in the past, and he was perfect. Older, handsome, Quidditch Captain, easy to manipulate... she would just have to deal with Jenna's wrath if it ever came. Gwen had wandered the castle looking for him, and finally spotted him in the student lounge. She briefly fixed her hair, then took a seat of her own near him, making sure to sit within his line of sight. She smoothed down her skirt, then rummaged in her bag, pretending not to notice him yet. She hoped he noticed her.

 

[Rene Tofilau]

Despite how well the semester was honestly going for him so far, Rene couldn't help find his mind wandering back to things last year. Specifically, with Jenna. He was over her, he kept telling himself, he was busy being a (successful!) Quidditch captain and prepping for his NEWTs next year, but times like this, when he was sat alone in the lounge, wondering where his roommates were or if Caleb and Louis were done being weird about each other, he couldn't help but miss having her around.

He only just managed to stop himself doing a very obvious double-take when he spotted Gwen sitting down nearby, that same lonely feeling pushing him to wonder what things might look like right now if she hadn't suddenly lost interest in him however many years ago they had gone to the dance together.

Rene only let himself hesitate for a moment before making up his mind; just talking to her for a moment wouldn't hurt, right? "Hey. Gwen, how's uh, how's OWLs going? They're not really so bad as everyone makes them out to be, aye?" He said, moving to sit a little closer to her and reminding himself he was a cool Quidditch captain now, he could handle talking to pretty girls.

 

[Gwen Goodwin]

Gwen fought the urge to smile as René looked over to her almost as soon as he spotted her. It was kind of thrilling, having that sort of power over someone without even doing anything. She looked up and smiled in surprise as she saw him. “Oh, René.” She said, tucking some hair behind her ear. “I didn’t see you. My OWLs are going alright, I think.” She said, briefly biting her lip as she considered it. “I suppose I’ll see when I actually take the exams.” She glanced at him. “How’s sixth year?”

 

[Rene Tofilau]

Rene felt his chest flutter as Gwen tucked her hair behind her ear, imagining quietly what it would be like if he could do it for her. "It's good, it's good," he said mindlessly, trying to focus back on the conversation instead of just staring at her. "I mean, it's not nearly as much studying as last year, which is good since I've been pretty busy with Quidditch and all," he said, trying to pump himself up with the little reminder as well as make sure Gwen remembered he was Captain now. "So uh.. You have any plans for the holidays? Or before that? You know.. Yule and stuff?" He asked vaguely, clearing his throat. They'd gone together before and it'd ended in a big, fat nothing, but things were different now. He was different now. And Gwen was talking to him, so maybe... It couldn't hurt to ask.

 

[Gwen Goodwin]

Gwen found it quite easy to look at René as if he was saying something incredibly interesting. She could only hope he noticed, but she thought he would. "Well, that's a relief. If it was more studying I might have decided not to take the train back next year." She said with a small laugh. She tilted her head slightly as he brought up Quidditch, her eyes widening a bit. "That must take up a lot of time. What's it like being captain?" She asked. She did't really care all that much, but she had the feeling René would like to talk about it a bit more. She glanced at him as he asked her about her holiday plans. She had to suppress a smile as he mentioned the Yule Ball. He was being pretty obvious, but she didn't mind. "No plans for either, really. I'll just be with my parents over the holidays." She said with a small shrug. "I have a dress for the yule ball, so I'll probably go..." She added absently.

 

[Rene Tofilau]

Rene gave Gwen was he was sure had to be a wobbly smile, egged on by what he was sure was her playfully joking with him. That was a good sign, girls did that when they were flirting, he was sure. Jenna had done that a lot. Sometimes it hadn't even really felt all that playful even... But Gwen was a lot nicer than Jenna. It helped even more when Gwen asked about being a captain too, clearly impressed with it and Rene couldn't hold back his grin. "I mean it's pretty intense, you're responsible for the whole team as well as playing your own position and it kind of becomes your fault if things go wrong, but I mean I've been on the team since my first year so it's all pretty old news to me and stuff, aye," he said, shuffling a little to sit proudly in his seat. "I mean I must be doing something right if we've won our first game and all, right?" He added, just in case Gwen had missed her own house losing to them.

He was pondering going for some water on the table, just to have something to do with his hands, when Gwen mentioned she was conveniently free for the ball, glancing between her and the table a few times. She didn't have a date. He didn't have a date. The perfect opening. "Well, I mean, if you already have a dress and stuff, and you're not busy. Maybe we could- I mean I don't have a date either yet, I mean if you're still free, we could go together. Since you were gonna go anyway and stuff," he said. "I mean, I'm definitely going, so we should go together." He finished, trying to end more confidently.

 

[Gwen Goodwin]

Gwen had been right, talking about the captaincy was something René would appreciate. She almost thought it was cute, how excited he go to talk about it. He was clearly proud of himself. She wondered if he was even vaugely aware of how much he was showing that. She thought not. She propped her chin on her hand and listened, watching him closely. "I heard." She said dryly when he said they had won the first game. "The Quidditch fans in my house were devastated." She added with a slight roll of her eyes. Maybe she shouldn't be revealing this, but she always thought those too invested in Quidditch had little else going on in their lives. She wouldn't say that to the Hufflepuff Quidditch captain, though. Let him think she had been cheering for Hufflepuff secretly, or something.

She had to fight a smile as René took in the news of her going to the dance by herself. This was going to be too easy. She just watched him patiently as he struggled his way through asking her out. She wondered how this went with Jenna, but she had her suspicions. She didn't think René had to make many decisions when he was dating Jenna. "I'd love to go with you." Gwen said with a sweet smile.