How Fast the World Moves

[Lily Cliffeton]

It had been a few months since Lily had first settled in New Zealand, such the just drastic change in her life. She was trying her best to keep her life moving, to keep her life on some kind of normal track, which wasn't always the easiest thing for her to do. She occasionally went to a muggle area and checked her old phone, her old email, and the messages she had gotten from people. The messages asking where she'd gone had dried up after a couple of weeks, the other messages she received were from her ex, asking for her to call him, to message him, so they could talk about this, work it out. She ignored them all, she didn't reply, she didn't even know at this point why she kept her phone other than just wanting to look at some of the messages, to look at the old pictures, aside from that she didn't use it. She barely used anything muggle nowadays, her house ran almost completely on magic, such a stark contrast from her life previous to this. She was settled, had been for a couple of weeks, when she had finally decided that she was finally done setting herself up. She had a brand new job which kept her fairly occupied, not much time to finish things up. Within her personal life, things were changing, she and Justin hadn't moved at all in the nature in their relationship, though he'd come and sat with her in the store for lunch multiple times. It was nice, easy, there was nothing complicated about their relationship, though it was completely unspoken what exactly they were, and as of right now that was all Lily really wanted. She didn't want anything more with their relationship, she didn't want to move too quickly, when in her mind inevitably the relationship would end in disaster like the last ones.

However, that all being said, now that she was finally settled, Lily had agreed to dinner, she had been postponing it for so long, and finally felt in a position, ready to have dinner with him. However, to avoid having to go out or anything too complicated, Lily had decided to invite him round to her newly furnished house so that they could have dinner, Lily was cooking. She had been slowly working towards getting her own weight to something a little more normal, and no longer ballerina-normal, it was taking a long of time, and Lily was having some real difficulties with it. It was difficult to switch so completely in life style, so she was sure that Justin would find her choices of food for the evening different, a good salad, a light soup starter, salmon as a main and a light lemon tarte to finish, all low in exactly the right places. She was grinning to herself as she tied her hair up to put the final bits and pieces as she knew that Justin would be arriving soon. It was soon to be ready, and Lily was doing little bits of cleaning, straightening pictures, paintings. She had pictures scattered about the place, of her school time, of her with her brother, of her in both Bulgaria and Russia. Her proudest picture which had been in the paper in St. Petersburg of her mid-flight during a production of Swan lake had the place of honour, bigger than the rest. The doorbell rung, and Lily jumped slightly in surprise, before going to the door, taking her hair out of the ponytail and fluffing it before opening the door, "Justin! Come on in,"
​

 

[Justin Cliffeton]

Justin had been hanging out with Lily on and off for the last few months and it had been a very good time between them, she was such an interesting person and he really enjoyed that he was able to spend that time with her and get to know her better. He had even visited her at work and had lunch with her a couple of times, and that had been a real eye-opener; he had thought about owning a shop before he had begun his job as a professor and now that he had seen just how busy a shop could be, especially during the season when all of the new first years were beginning to get their school supplies, it was really hectic and downright crazy to say the least. He had been in envy of her ability to stay calm even when the store was ridiculously busy. He most definitely would have never been able to do anything like that, he would have lost his cool basically straight away.

He was on his way to dinner at Lily's tonight and he was just getting to her house now, he stood outside the door for a moment making sure he looked alright, he didn't want to make a bad impression on what could be considered a date but he wasn't sure if she would categorise it like that so he wouldn't unless she did. When he was satisfied with his own looks he knocked on her door and waited for her to open the door. When she did, he gave her a warm smile. "Hello Lily! You look beautiful." He said, a slight tinge of red hitting his cheeks as he took her in, she looked absolutely beautiful and he was happy that he was here with her tonight and not somebody else. As he walked inside, he looked around. She had a lovely home, better then his for sure. It was all so clean, and he noticed the furniture that they had selected together was laid around the room, he grinned at this. "You have a lovely home!" Justin exclaimed.

 

[Lily Cliffeton]

Lily greeted Justin with a warm smile, truly glad to see him again, as she was every time that she say him. She blushed deeply at his compliment, bowing her head slightly, before motioning for him to come into the flat. She'd once been pretty good at taking compliments and while she knew that she did look beautiful it was always nice to hear it from someone else, and it made her cheeks warm that someone else noticed. She watched him as he carefully looked at all the different things, "You can spot all the furniture we got together," she told him happily, having been truly thankful for the help he had given her that day, the company he had provided for her, she hadn't expected so soon to meet someone, or to make a friend so face but that was what had happened and she was glad for it. Lily smiled at him, before closing the front door and then showing him the way into the kitchen where the food was still cooking. She had the door propped open with a chair, and a second door lead out of the kitchen to a back decking area, "I know it's a little chilly, but the sun's out, I figured we could eat outside," she told him as she motioned outside, before turning back to him with a small smile. She would do the grand tour, but she figured that could wait till after dinner, "Something to drink? I got some good red wine, or some beer?" she asked him.

Once she had gotten him a drink, she checked on the main dish before pulling a salad out of the fridge, it was a simple salad that while freshly made was an option in case either of them wanted it. She handed the bowl to Justin and then gave him some utensils, "Mix the salad," Lily told him, knowing that getting him to do a little bit of work would be better than nothing, then she could focus on getting the table set, which was simple, after she grabbed her wand and without saying the spell waved it and the cutlery started flying out of the drawers and to the table outside. She took the opportunity to pour herself a glass of wine and then wipe her hands against a dish cloth and watching Justin mix the salad, she had added a salad dressing which her italian friend had shown her when she'd been living in Bulgaria, it was a little spicier than most, but she felt like it was perfect for a fairly plain salad, "That should be good there," She told him, handing a dish cloth and taking the salad from him before carrying it with the soup and wine magically following behind her to the table, "Come on, let's eat," she told him grinning happily at him.
​

 

[Justin Cliffeton]

Justin really enjoyed her apartment, it was such a nice place and a really cool environment. He remembered when she had said that she wasn't really settled in yet, and she had seemingly come a long way in only the few months that he had known her and her home had become something really come and nice to look at. Not that he had seen it before, and that he was judging it badly in any way; but he thought it looked really great as it was right now and all of the furniture that they had chosen together really went well in the room and gave it a nice feeling that it was 'home' for someone; and that was the most important aspect for a house. He smiled to himself at this, and glanced at Lily with bright eyes. "Yeah, it all looks so nice. The furniture goes together so well. We did a really good job!" He was excited for their dinner, and it sounded awesome when she said that they would be eating outside. "Sounds fantastic!" He said with a warm smile. "Red wine sounds awesome." He said to her, hoping that this would be a really good night. He took a sip as she handed it to him.

Justin chuckled when she asked him to mix the salad, and did just that. He was happy to help her while she set out the rest and he was really excited to be able to be here with her and share the night with her. When she grabbed the salad back off of him and chuckled at her, walking over to sit down outside and eat the food together. "This is amazing!" He said with genuine pleasure, she was an amazing cook and he could really taste it in this food. It was so great and cooked to perfection. "You really have a gift for cooking, I wish I was half as good as you were at cooking!" He said with a warm smile on his face, this was an amazing night so far. The food and the drinks were awesome, but the company was the best heart for him. Lily looked beautiful.

 

[Lily Cliffeton]

The witch was glad that he seemed to like her place, not that she was looking to impress anyone, but it was nice to see that he liked it. It was nice to know that the work she had put into it was appreciated, the woman didn't doubt that her work wasn't, but it was good to know that it was. She poured him a glass of wine when he asked for it and then placed the bottle to the side, so that when she took her glass it was within reaching distance. The woman had gotten better at cooking as the time had gone on, she had found her talent in it, and decided that this was a good thing for her to continue doing it. She had challenged herself often, and it had helped that her strict regime meant she couldn't eat, like never. The woman just hoped that Justin would like it, she wasn't particularly trying to impress him, but in the same way she really was, she wanted to thank him for all that she done for her, even if it was just being there for her. She appreciated it, and in her mind she was glad that she'd run into him during that walk across town. The woman smiled when everything was finally ready, and was using her magic to keep the main course as they took their seats outside.

The former ballerina although the smile to grace her lips as she watched Justin try the food first, unable to stop the blush from touching her cheeks. She really wanted him to like it, and it seemed that he really did, "The regime they put ballerinas on in both Bulgaria and Russia is pretty strict, learning to cook was a necessity," Lily shrugged at him, not trying to be modest about it, but trying to explain why she was good at it, most people it didn't matter what they eat, when Lily had been a dancer it had been vitally important, just as important as all the exercise that she had been doing. Lily took her own spoon and tasted it slightly before nodding happily, it did taste good. She was pleased, Lily began to eat a little more normal pace, "You must be busy with the new Hogwarts term beginning soon? If the amount of first years in my store are any indication of anything," she gave a small smile, knowing that they were both pretty busy with the new school term, she had books flying off the shelves at an alarming rate, but she hardly want to spend this dinner talking about work, "So, tell me about your family? Any siblings?"
​

 

[Justin Cliffeton]

Justin gave a bright smile to Lily, he was having such a good night and her company was the highlight of the night. It was such a nice place to be here with her and he was happy that she allowed him to join her on this night because there wasn't anywhere else that he would rather be honestly because she was so nice to him and she was such a good cook the food practically melted in his mouth. It was an amazing feeling, and he savoured every bite just in case he wouldn't be allowed back in the future to try it again. He couldn't believe that learning to cook was part of a ballerinas regime, did they all learn to cook this well? That must be on hell of a school if that was indeed the case. He smiled to himself and held back a laugh.

Justin frowned when she mentioned the school, not because he didn't want to talk about it, but because there was indeed a lot of work to be doing. The new first years would be arriving at the castle any day now and classes would resume soon enough and it would be an interesting year to say the least. They were all interesting in their own ways, but this was his second year as flying professor and he was looking forward to see what the new students would be like. "It's pretty crazy at the moment to say the least, everything has to be ready for the students to come back and we have to get the sorting ceremony ready. I'm sure you remember." Justin said with a chuckle. Justin thought about her next question, he had a relatively small family and for what he remembered he didn't have any brothers or sisters, he hadn't been home in a while. "I'm an only child myself. It's quite fun but it gets lonely after a while. At less you don't have to compete for who the favourite is." Justin said with a cheeky grin. "Tell me about you! I wanna know as much as I can. Is your whole family as beautiful as you are?" Justin said slyly, though he meant every word.

 

[Lily Cliffeton]

Lily could remember the amount of crazy it had been those first few days of any given term, she had seen what the new term and new things could do to a place as calm and peace as the ballet company she didn't envy what he was having to do, she wished him all the best in it. The book store had been crazy busy too lately, but she knew that it was nothing to the scale of what he would experience, not all students came to her for their books, though it seemed like a lot of them did. Parents came and seemed to buy books for every year, Lily had wondered if it was pre-emptive buying or if they had a child in every year, which to her seemed impossible. The woman was eating her soup slowly and watching him carefully, she had been spending time with him, but knowing about who he was was tricky, in the same way that still he knew little about her. She placed down her spoon and then picked up the glass of wine, sipping it slowly as he spoke. Hearing about the fact that he was an alone child she nodded at him, he didn't seem forthcoming about his family, and Lily could respect that, not everyone was keen to talk family.

However, of course the question was returned to her and she just gave him a smile, picking the spoon back up and finishing what was left of it within her plate, "My family, hold on," she motioned towards his plate to ask if he was done, when he indicated positively, she took both his plate and hers, and then took them back into the kitchen, bringing out the main course. The former ballerina served it before sitting back down, "Right, yeah, my family," she repeated, "My mother died was I pretty young, now idea where my father is, and my brother died a couple of years back, he was an auror in France," Lily explained, she had no issues now talking about her family, previously she would not have even uttered her mother's name, now she could talk about her. Losing her brother had been more difficult, she had loved her brother though she hadn't often shown it, he had always supported her, and she him. Lily laughed slightly, "Yeah, not a great dinner story," she obviously hadn't said how her mother had died but she assumed he probably wouldn't ask, "We were a small family, non magical until my brother and I, my dad was never the same after he learned about the magic my brother and I did, I come from a line of dancers the magic sprung up on everyone, it wasn't part of the plan," she shrugged at him, it wasn't exactly the best situation but Lily didn't think that she was worse off from it, in fact she definitely thought she was better from it, "Do you dance at all?" she asked him with a smirk.
​

 

[Justin Cliffeton]

Justin was really enjoyed the food that Lily had provided for the night. It was all so nice and he was happy that she had invited him to come over and see her tonight; she was amazing company and he was learning a lot about her, all of which was glorious. She was an interesting person, and he was interested in learning more about her, but he wasn't prepared for what she told him about her family. He frowned a little bit, he felt bad for asking about her family now when she told him that she basically had none, with her mother dead and her brother dead, and her father was a deadbeat by the sounds of it. He felt bad for her, really bad. He placed his hand on hers. "I'm sorry to hear that." He said with a half smile, one of those smiles that one used to try and cheer their sad friends up. She didn't sound upset about it, maybe it had just been too long for her to be upset anymore.

He took a bite of the main course which she had just served to him, and boy was it amazing. Possibly one of the best dishes that he had eaten in a long time, maybe even in his whole life. He just gave her a huge smile and ate some more of it, he couldn't get enough. He gave her a warm smile and grinned a little bit. "Your life sounds so exciting, there's some sad moments but every story has a bit of sadness, right? Magic is always a bit unexpected to say the least." He said with a smile. He smiled again when she asked if he danced. He had never even given it a chance, he knew that he would just be terrible at it. "I'm not much a dancer, but I'd be willing to try and dance with you." He said with a smirk on his face.

 

[Lily Cliffeton]

Lily just smiled slightly and shrugged, "I miss my brother, but I don't remember enough of my mother to really miss her, you know?" she couldn't of course be sure that he would know what that was, but she felt like it needed to be said, she didn't think it was necessary to read too much into it, she didn't have much family left, and with how things had gone she was the last of her line too. They hadn't done too well, but thus was life, sometimes lines died out, and she was unfortunately going to be the one to do that to her own family, perhaps though history would never be doomed to repeat itself quite like it had. Lily missed her brother dearly, but he was dead and nothing was going to bring him back, she had come to terms with it, she just offered him a small smile, to show that she was okay with it all, well, perhaps okay with it all was a little bit of a stretch but she wasn't crying over it, and nor would she break down in tears at the mention of it, or the discussion they were having. It had been a while, and the former ballerina knew no amount of tears could reverse the past.

At his words Lily just smiled at him, as she took a last drink of her wine, before moving to pour herself more and offering it to him as well. She agreed with what he was saying, every story had a little bit of sadness, she wondered what his was, since he seemed to say that with such strange authority on the matter, "My life has been no different than most," Lily told him, blushing slightly, thinking her life as normal as everyone elses, "I'm sure your life has been as interesting and exciting as mine," she encouraged, even though she perhaps didn't know enough about him, to be able to speak on any authority about the matter. It didn't hurt to though, she wanted to hear that he thought his own life interesting, she wanted to hear all about his life, all the moments which had eventually lead to this very one, "The magic was a surprise indeed" she agreed laughing slightly, "I can still see my dad's face when he found out, you would've thought someone had slapped him with a rotten fish," she laughed at the face she could remember him pulling. Composing herself a little after, just in time to ask him about if he danced and to then laugh slightly at his response, "I would definitely enjoy teaching you," she told him, before taking another sip of her drink, and then getting up, holding out her hand to him, "Come on,"

Lily waited till he got up and then cleared a little space, though the main course was largely done, they still had desert, but the former ballerina had decided that this was definitely more important that anything else. She was maybe wearing heels not made for dancing, and her dress would allow for much movement, but it was more than enough for him, "Right, dance, let's see what I'm working with," she told him, waiting for him to just start dancing, of course if they were to dance, she would likely start with a waltz, but it would be fun to just see what he could do.
​

 

[Justin Cliffeton]

Justin gave Lily a bright smile, he felt bad for her and her childhood because it didn't really sound like it had really been the best, but at the same time Justin wanted to make her future a great time! He wanted to make her happy, and watch her be happy. He wanted to see her pretty little smile, and he would do everything he could to make sure that that would be true. He knew that if he hadn't had the best childhood, he would look to his friends to make him a better person and a happy person and that was what he wanted to provide for Lily now because she was his friend and he wanted to show her that she had someone who would go all out to ensure that she had a happy life and a good life. He would be that friend for her, and he would make her happy, whatever it took. He gave her a warm smile, and listened attentively to her story about magic and her family, he could only imagine how he would have reacted, but it probably would have been funny. He chuckled to himself.

He most definitely had not been expecting her to ask him to dance, so he was a little taken aback and a little cautious but he would make it work because that was what she wanted, and he aimed to please. He smiled at her, taking her hand when she offered it to him, and, thinking as quickly as he could to try and remember the very limited dancing knowledge that he had, took her waist and, quite clumsily, led her in a waltz. She seemed like the kind of girl who would enjoy that. He smiled at her the entire time and kept his attention fixated on her, trying to maintain as much focus as he could on the dance, which was quite clumsy to say the least about it, and as he focused, he did something crazy. He dipped her, and on their way down, he kissed her.

 

[Lily Cliffeton]

Lily was pleseantly surprised when he took her waist and appeared to bring her in to waltz, she herself knew a number of them, having done many a production which had involved at least one waltz. His dancing wasn't great, it needed a lot of work she thought, but then that was coming from someone who had been dancing most of her life. She let him lead, mimicking his movements with all the grace of the dancer that she was. She smiled at him, finding her gaze reaching his and smiling. He was sweet, he was so sweet to her, and he had this smile that she was finding she loved seeing, there was something about him, she hadn't expected herself to like someone so soon, but it was so easy to like him. It was funny that she had told herself she'd had enough of boys, of love, of all the things that reminded her of what she could never have or provide, and yet here was this sweet man, this ever so sweet person who deserved all the love of the world, and she could feel herself falling for him. Why else would she have gone to such effort for a friend. She hadn't wanted it to happen, had tried to push back against it in the first instance, and yet it was still happening.

In letting Justin lead, Lily had felt her mind just drift away, she was brought back when she was dipped and he kissed her. She immediately returned the kiss, trusting that he wouldn't drop her, like she had always trusted the male dancers who'd lifted her above them, he wouldn't drop her, that would make things pretty awkward. When she pulled away, she kept her face closer to his, "Well, the dancing could use a little practice, but the kiss does not, doesn't mean we shouldn't practice it though" she told him, a faint giggle on her lips, all her problems and fears of what this relationship might bring seemed to be gone in that moment. All she cared about, was him, she moved her hands and placed them on his face, on both his cheeks, before smiling and leaning in to kiss him again, vaguely aware that she perhaps wasn't in the best position for it, but none of it seemed to matter right now, all that matter was that they were kissing, and that was what she wanted most in that moment. When she pulled away, waiting for him to bring her out the dip, "Think you could let me up, so we can kiss properly" she asked him laughing lightly.
​

 

[Justin Cliffeton]

Justin was quite surprised when she kissed him back, but he enjoyed every moment of it. He had wanted to kiss her the moment he had started dancing with her and he hadn't realised just how much he had really wanted to kiss her, and it was such a good feeling to finally do so after such a long time of waiting and getting to know her and it had all started because he had helped her choose a good tasting ice cream, what a way to meet someone that had been. He thought to himself and smiled; it was a beautiful way to start a friendship, because ice cream was sweet and so was Lily, he knew that it had been a match made in heaven. A sweet day with a sweet girl, he thought to himself with a smile.

Justin let her up with a chuckle when she stopped kissing him to ask him to kiss her properly, that wasn't something that you heard from people most days, and especially not when you were on basically their first dinner date together. He just smiled warmly at her and, with his arms still around her, brought her closer to him and gave her a deep, passionate kiss. He didn't want the moment or the night to end, he was enjoying himself being with Lily and he could tell that she was also enjoying herself. He stopped kissing her for a moment to respond to her, "You mean like that?" He asked with a cheeky grin and quickly resuming the kiss.

 

[Lily Cliffeton]

Lily couldn't believe what was happening, she couldn't believe that she was currently kissing Justin, once she had been brought out of the dip, and she could once more stand on her two feet she felt him kiss her again, and being brought in closer, she put her arms around his neck so that she could hold him closer to her. She didn't know what this was, or what it would become but it was amazing, she loved every second of it. It was just every colour of perfect. She felt him pull away and she had to keep herself from just keeping his lips on hers. When he spoke, she couldn't help but laugh slightly, "Yeah, like that," she muttered to him with a bright smile, leaning slightly away from him, although allow him to come back in for the kiss. She couldn't believe this, and just continued kissing him, her hands snaking up so that they were in his hair, she wanted to do more than kiss, but Lily just leaned out before it could go much further. She smiled at him, and gave him a small peck on the lips, giggling slightly, how silly and school girl was all this. She felt like she was seventeen again, and it felt good.

Lily smiled at him, "You know desert is getting cold, and I didn't spend all that time baking a lovely desert for you to mess it up," she pulled away from him, and then walked back to the table, flicking her wand slightly and the main course as well as their plates floated up and then followed behind her as she then went to get the desert, which was a lightly heated lemon tarte, which she then brought to the table, she leaned in and gave Justin a kiss before sitting down at the table, "So, dancing not a strong point then," she said to him, laughing slightly, "I mean you definitely weren't bad, something I can work with," she told him, though the part she had most liked about it was the kissing aspect, but she could still work with some of his dancing skills too. It was definitely a work in progress, and though they got along so well, the former ballerina wasn't sure what else to say, what did this even make them, was this technically a first date? She had no idea, it was just all so confusing to her, she liked him, but was she really ready for anything, "I am not great with desserts so you got to be honest," she told him grinning hoping that he wouldn't just say nice things because that was the polite thing to do, "If it's horrible you have to tell me,"
​

 

[Justin Cliffeton]

Justin hadn't been expecting the night to take a turn like this when he had showed up here earlier on, but he was happy with where it had ended up and he wouldn't have changed it no matter what. This was progress, and he was interested in seeing how far he could push the progress. He was interested in seeing what she was really interested in, he wanted something serious with her; a relationship, but he wasn't sure if she would be up for it so soon. He smiled at her warmly, and got excited when she brought the dessert out. Just as he was getting hungry again! And it looked good, he just gave her a weird look when she mentioned that she wasn't the best with desserts, it sure looked delicious to him. When she gave him a kiss, he just smiled at her, he could tell that she was enjoying herself and his kissing; that was good for him.

As he tried the dessert, he just laughed as she mentioned his dancing skills weren't anywhere near the best. He knew that much, he had never been the best dancer and he had always been more clumsy then good. He gave her a bright smile as he let the taste of the dessert sink in, and boy was it amazing. "Your dessert making skills are still mountains better then my dancing skills. This is wonderful!" Justin said with a huge smile, and he had meant every single word of it. It had been an amazing meal, and an amazing night, and he had enjoyed every bite of the amazing food, the clumsy dancing, and the awesome kissing skills. He supposed now was the best time to try and push his luck. With all the cliche of a little kid, he asked her, "So, you wanna be my girlfriend?" He asked, not missing a single beat.

 

[Lily Cliffeton]

How strange life really was, Lily couldn't help but think she had travelled all of this way back home to get away from the stresses of being in a relationship, of being around other people and not being able to deal with anything other than her own immediate needs and here she was with Justin. She hadn't ever expected to like him as much as she currently did, after all they hadn't even known each other in school, and Lily doubted that she would've ever liked him. Yet, here they now were with Lily warmed to the depths of her heart about everything he did for her. She smiled happily at him, and felt herself just be filled with such joy she hadn't felt that much in years, she couldn't help but blush deeply for no other reason that just the fact that the way he made her feel. It was just fact that she felt like this, that he made her feel like this, no matter how tricky it sometimes felt when beginning relationships, this had been a jump, a skip and a tumble downwards until this point. Lily couldn't believe it, and she felt like she'd been gifted something she didn't deserve, since he was so good and she was well, she had whole mounds of issues.

At his words, she couldn't help but blush even more deeply than before, the former ballerina, then took this cue to also then try to food she had served, "Justin, you are too kind," she told him between bites, since she thought it was good, but it wasn't perfect yet, a little heavy on the lemon which made it a little too bitter, not nicely lemony, "You should give your dancing skills more credit, they aren't awful, I mean they aren't the worst I've seen," she told him with a smile, not only trying to make him feel better about it, but feeling it was honest fact. She had been about to continue when he then without missing a beat, asked her to be his girlfriend, Lily have frozen, dessert fork in her hand, and she stared at him, "Justin...I," she wasn't sure if she was really ready for a relationship, if this was the right time for one, considering everything else, "Yeah, okay," she then just said, the issues she had they could deal with after, "And here's to think I came back to New Zealand with the thought of no relationships, you really screwed that one up didn't you Justin," she had no malice in her voice, she was laughing lightly, smiling at him, glad that he had done just that. She finished the food on her fork and just smiled at him, "Are you going to want tea or coffee after this?" she asked him motioning to the cake.
​

 

[Justin Cliffeton]

Justin wasn't sure why he seemed so sure that he wanted to be with Lily, he just knew that when he was with her she made him happy, and he felt like he could be himself and relaxed. It was an amazing feeling, and even though he had only known her for a small period of time he felt like he knew her as well as he would have known someone else that he had known for a long time. They had spoken a lot, and she seemed to be so relaxed and open and happy when she was with him, and that was what he wanted. He wanted her to be happy, and relaxed, and to feel safe around him. He wanted her worries to go away and for her to feel like she didn't have to get all worked up over silly little things. He just gave her a nice warm smile, and blushed a little when she mentioned that his dancing was better then he was giving himself credit for. "I'm glad you think so, maybe I'll need some more lessons though." He said with a chuckle.

Justin got a little worried when she seemed to take a bit longer then he had thought she would thinking about his question, almost like she wasn't sure if she wanted to be with him. He wondered if maybe there was something going on that he wasn't aware of? He wasn't sure at all. But his fears quickly dissipated when she agreed to his question and he gave her a huge smile, she had said yes to him! He was extremely excited by this, but he was still a little unsure by what had been crossing his mind before and he wondered to himself if he should be worried about it. He just mentally shrugged and knew that if there was something he should know she would tell him. He smiled at her warmly, "Aren't you glad I did?" Justin said with a cheeky smile. "Anything to give me a little more time with you. Coffee will do nicely!" He said with a chuckle and a grin.

 

[Lily Cliffeton]

The former ballerina had never been sure of what her life in returning to New Zealand would look like, but it definitely didn't look like this. She hadn't even been back six months and already, this was perhaps about to be her life. She had never really been one to follow the crowd as such, she had always done her own thing, lived her own way, and this was just an example of that, she wanted to be with him a lot more than she was sure most people would think it was right for her to be with him, so soon after a last relationship though it had been over for almost a year or so, which in her mind was not even a remote reason why she couldn't do what she was now doing, there was a different thing going on in her mind as to why she couldn't. The former ballerina pushed that away as she looked at him, finding her eyes drawn to each part of him, the little blush, the way he chuckled after he'd spoken, it was just amazing. The woman just smiled and nodded, "Definitely in need of lessons," she repeated with a small nod, she wanted to do more than dance with him, but that could wait.

It wasn't so much that she was afraid of what become of the relationship when they got further down the line and the inevitable question came up, but she didn't know what else she could do about it, now wasn't the time to be mentioning it, but maybe later he would just be more angry about it. But that really didn't bare thinking about currently, it didn't matter what happened between such times, but Lily was willing to try and really make this work between them, which was why in the end her mind just said yes. She looked at him, and just grinned happily at him before then nodding, "Yeah, I guess I am," she told him smiling, "Was kind of just hoping I could become a cat lady," she added smiling brightly, before he asked for coffee, she got to her feet, and with a small flick of her wand, the table began clearing itself, and she lead Justin back into the main house, "It should only take a few moments," she explained before showing him into her living room, which was perhaps a little bare, she had books neatly stacked in places, an old magical record player, no tv, and not much else in terms of things to do. The room, was like the others, scattered with pictures of her life up to that point, "Here, coffee," she said passing a cup to him, "What's your home like?" she asked him, since they were currently in hers,a nd she was curious as to if his was anything like hers.
​

 

[Justin Cliffeton]

Of all the ways Justin had imagined tonight, he definitely hadn't imagined himself ending up getting together with Lily. That hadn't been his intention coming into this, but it was a development that he was more then willing to take and never question. She was beautiful, and such an amazing person. She was so so so nice and anybody would have been lucky to have her in their life.. but they couldn't have her now, because she was Justin's new girlfriend! He smiled to himself and grinned at Lily, the smile on his face quickly spreading into a rather large and warm grin. Just being around her made him happy, and he hoped that she felt the same way around him. It was such a nice feeling, and he was happy that he was able to share it with her. He went and sat down on her lounge next to her as she invited him into her living room. It was a lovely home, and he wished his home was half as nice as hers was.

He slipped his arm around her shoulders and pulled her closer to him - carefully, not in a rude way or anything but in a nice way that one does for their partner. He wanted her to feel comfortable with him. "Well, my house is nowhere near as exciting and, well, clean, as your place is! It's a bit of a bombshell at the moment because I haven't had a lot of time lately to clean up. But, your place is magnificent compared to mine." He said with a slight life. He took a sip of his coffee, thinking his next question over carefully. He wanted to know as much about her as he could but he didn't want her to get upset with him or anything like that. "Is there anything about you I should know?" Justin said with a warm, inviting, smile. He was merely curious about her life. "You are of course welcome to come and see my house yourself anytime." He said with a chuckle.

 

[Lily Cliffeton]

It hadn't even really crossed the woman's mind that her night would become like this in any way. It was just a strange thing, she didn't mind it, she like Justin, and being in a relationship with him, did really appeal to her as something that she could do, and of course they had jumped into it. Lily watched happily as he put his arm around her shoulder and brought her closer to him, she adjusted the way she was sitting to account for that, and flattened out her skirt so that it wouldn't ride up too much and make it uncomfortable as she sat almost leaning against him. She listened to him talk about his own house, vague aware of the way his voice sounded when she was leaning against him slightly, the vibrations which she could lightly feel, the former ballerina glanced around the place and then looked up at him, "I'm sure your place isn't that bad, or not as bad as you think it might be, and if it's really that bad just move in here, it's not like I lack the space," she told him, with a small shrug, Lily had always been quite tidy, all the years spent living in various halls and the lack of her own real permanent bedroom had made her a fairly tidy person, and though they had just started going out, Lily knew she would be happy for the company even more so if it was Justin.

At his next question, Lily turned away and frowned slightly, not knowing what else to say about it. She was wondering about whether or not to tell him about the problem she would have, the fact she didn't have children, but the woman didn't particularly feel like sharing that. She knew it would have to come up, but she wanted to enjoy a little bit of time with him, rather than scare him off if he had his heart set on biological kids or give him the impression that she didn't want children, because she really did, it had broken her heart to find out she wouldn't be able to have any of her own, there were other options available to her, but she had always though she'd have a little boy or girl related to her who could carry the family line. But, glancing back at Justin she couldn't tell him, "I go running every morning at about five or six," she told him, grinning slightly, "Some ballet habits are hard to kick, I'm reintroducing ice cream as a staple of my diet, so you know one thing at a time," she knew that one time she would tell him about the whole children situation, but now wasn't the time, "What about you?"
​

 

[Justin Cliffeton]

Justin gave Lily a bright smile as she got comfortable against him, he was happy to be here with her and be able to enjoy this night with her, he was happy with her and he was even more happy to be able to be hers, she was a beautiful person and an absolutely sweetheart and she had actually said yes to him. It was a beautiful thought and an amazing sentiment; he was happy. He gave her a weird look when she mentioned that he could just move in here with her, it was a little bit of an odd request because they had more or less just met - but he was open to the idea, he knew that it could only make their relationship stronger but at the same time being around each other so much could cause them to hate each other at the same time if they didn't like the little quirks about each other that made them themselves. "I'd love to move in here, but why don't we ease into it and I just stay here a few nights to start off with so that we make sure that we get along properly first? Not that we wouldn't.. I just don't wanna ruin anything.." He started, and had to quickly recover and he just ended up sounding all muffled and weird. He didn't mean it in a bad way, he just didn't want to screw up and lose Lily already! "And then maybe when we're settled I could get you that cat!" Justin said, with a smug look on his face. He would never forget about that, and he was serious when he had said one day. He wanted her to have a cat, and he wanted to get it for her!

Justin just gave her a chuckle as she mentioned that ballet habits were hard to kick, and he could imagine that they most definitely would be, but she wasn't in the country now so he knew that she would be able to afford to slack off a little bit now, not that she probably would have to begin with though. She seemed like the type of person who committed to something for the long run and the ballerina habits would probably stay with her for a while, but he didn't mean, it just made her more endearing to him. He smiled at her when she mentioned she was going to include ice cream in her diet, he wouldn't have it any other way. "I'll have to take you to all of the usual places I go to for ice cream, there is some nice ones but they're not all in this country so we'll have to wait until my semester off at Hogwarts." He said with a smile. "I can of course take you to the ones I know in this country without waiting but the other ones will be more difficult to get to!" He said, chucking to himself. He was having a great night, he learned over and gave Lily a kiss.

 

[Lily Cliffeton]

Lily while being serious about him moving in, was not that bothered about, if he chose to then that would be a lot of fun, if he decided to not then that was fine also, she hardly wanted to force in to making a decision so quickly when they was just the beginning, so when he began replying and she could feel the way he wanted it but didn't want to rush it, she just made sure to meet his gaze and smile, not wanting to say anything but instead just looking at him and making sure that she was expressing that there was no rush, that simply being at this point and if he wanted to the offer stood. She wanted to laugh at how sweetly he recovered from what he was saying, and how easily he tried to assure her of something that she already knew. She did laugh at the part about the cat, she felt like a cat was definitely going to be in their future, how soon, only time would tell. She grinned at him, "I'm going to have to cat proof this house, aren't I?" she looked about the place, noting that a few changes would have to be made to it.

The woman knew that ice cream was something he liked, she could tell by the way he was speaking, she had been healthy for so long she was actually really wanted to reintroduce some of that unhealthy stuff she'd largely eaten while at school. She glanced at him as he spoke, just imagining all the places they would end up just for the purposes of ice cream, and it excited her, she hadn't ever been excited in a relationship before, the people she'd been with before hadn't been bad people, just never ones that had gone out of their way for Lily. It had always been good, but she felt like it could be better, like it could've been better, even her last relationship when they had been trying to have a child, it had been normal, mature, they had had the same job it left their options limited. Lily grinned at him, feeling truly great, and ever so happy about how this had turned out, and when he leaned over to kiss her again, she put down the mug and responded to the kiss, wrapping her arms around him, and bringing him closer to her. Deepening the kiss, this was a good night, she was definitely happy with how all of this had happened, feeling at home, and good in this country for the first time since arriving back.

---

End

---

---

​

---