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[Delilah Thorne]

Delilah had been nervous all day leading up to the dance. She had been so certain that signing up for the Blind Dates was such a good idea, but now that it was happening she realized she would rather be in her dorm, appreciating the quiet. But she had made a commitment, and she wasn't about to bail on it now. She took a deep breath and stood on her tip toes to see if she could find him. She had to remind herself that it wasn't a real 'date' and it really meant nothing if you thought about it, but it didn't stop her from feeling vaguely nauseous. Eventually she spotted him, or at least she thought she did and made her way over. "Hi." she said softly as she tucked her hair behind her ears. "Are you Lumio?" she asked, hoping she hadn't made a mistake, while half hoping she was wrong so she could say she tried and call it a night.

 

[Lumio Skey]

Lumio didn’t know who his date for the yuleball actually was, well, he knew their name and he had looked them up in the yearbook, but that didn’t help him know who she was. He was looking forward to it, and hoped that it would just be a fun night. He wasn’t expecting anything too grand with it, just an opportunity to have fun with someone and to have fun at the dance. He had made a tiny effort in his outfit, a proper red shirt, and some formal trousers but he knew he could’ve probably gotten a suit. He just didn’t feel like he needed to dress up, he was too young for one of those stuffy suits. He was arriving at the great hall and looking towards the different people, hoping to spot her in the crowd in case she had arrived well before him. After a few moments he looked towards the girl that approached him. "Yeah!" He greeted cheerfully, "You're Delilah," he extended his hand to her. "Pleasure to meet you, do you want to do some introductions or just get to like dancing?"​

 

[Delilah Thorne]

Delilah sighed in relief as he confirmed his identity. She smiled warmly and took his hand. "That's correct, and it's a pleasure to meet you too." she said sweetly. She took in his outfit, a button down shirt and trousers, and suddenly felt a little silly and overdressed. Her mother had insisted she bring this dress for the ball and now Delilah regretted ever going along with it. But she kept her face smiling and tried to push past her self-consciousness. Tonight would be fun, or at least that was what she was going to tell herself. "We could go inside and chat for a bit." she suggested a little too quickly. She wasn't sure if she was ready for dancing quite yet and maybe if she got to know him a bit better she would finally relax. "You're a second year right? Are you from New Zealand?" she asked, too nervous to give much pause between her questions.

 

[Lumio Skey]

Lumio nodded at the suggestion, "Sure!" he agreed loudly, "I'm a third year, Gryffindor!" he had a tone of pride as he said his house but mostly was just smiling. "Yeah, my dad's kiwi, my mother's italian, grew up here and in Italy," he explained. He was sure that by her accent she wasn't from New Zealand or had not at the very least been here overly long. She didn't have the accent or one close to those he knew in this country. "Are you?" he asked, he decided to walk more towards the drinks table leading her a little over to that area of the hall. ​

 

[Delilah Thorne]

Delilah smiled as he agreed with her and started to relax a bit. So far Lumio seemed nice but when he mentioned being a third year she hesitated. For some reason him being a year older was a little intimidating. She knew it was just a year difference but she felt like she needed to act more mature. “Wow, Italy? That's cool.” she said excitedly. She had gone there on holiday as a child but it was so long ago she couldn't exactly remember where they went but she did remember that it was beautiful. “No. I’m from England actually. I grew up in London. But we moved here a few years ago now.” she explained, and noticed they were getting closer to the table with all of the food. "Do you want a drink?" she asked.

 

[Lumio Skey]

Lumio nodded at her in agreement, "Yeah, before school I'd spend half a year in New Zealand and the other half in Italy," he told her with a warm smile. Lumio gave an eager nod as she explained where she was from too. "Wow, what a move, did you find it hard?" he asked, it was quite a move, he was used to. moving back and forth but to do such a big move like that would be exceedingly hard. "Sure, but let me be a gentleman and get us something to drink, what can I get you?" he could get her a drink while she continued to the food table. He could be a good date for her and a good gentleman and get her a drink. ​

 

[Delilah Thorne]

“So did you get two summers or two winters?” Delilah asked with a smile, when Lumio explained how he moved every six months. She thought the idea of living different places sounded so exciting but she could also see how hard it could be to have to pick your life up twice a year. But what did she know? The move to New Zealand was the first time she had ever moved and maybe it was easier if you did it all the time. “It was a pretty big adjustment.” she said with a small, not wanting to annoy him with all the boring details. “Oh, thank you.” Delilah said brightly when Lumio offered to get her a drink. “Anything would be great.” she said not wanting to be picky.

 

[Lumio Skey]

Lumio gave a warm smile, "Two summers, my mother's awful with winters, and I prefer summer, so it suited us," Lumio said, he had always liked getting the two simmers, though the summers in New Zealand were very different to those in Italy, especially since they lived in the southern Italy. "Yeah, must've been, I can only imagine," he said to her with a warm smile. He nodded and with a little nervous bow action went to the drinks table and got some pumpkin juice, he hoped she wasn't allergic, he came back over and held out the juice for Delilah, "I hope you like pumpkin," he said cheerfully with a wide smile. "So, you're in Ravenclaw right? Do you like that?" ​

 

[Delilah Thorne]

“Two summers?” Delilah mused, thinking about his answer and she wasn’t sure if she would handle that. She didn’t like hot weather much and not being able to escape it sounded kind of awful. But she was glad it obviously worked for them. She smiled at Lumio and continued to loosen up as they talked. “Pumpkin is perfect.” she said brightly as he came back holding two cups. She took the one he held out to her carefully not wanting to spill any on her dress. Delilah took a sip right as he asked his next question and she swallowed quickly. “I do. It’s nice.” she said. “It’s a lot of stairs but you really do get great views.” she explained.

 

[Lumio Skey]

Lumio nodded, he had always preferred summer over winter, as had his mother so it had worked for them. He had never been much of a fan of winter, for good reason he thought, it was cold, wet, dreary and awful. He smiled gratefully when she didn’t seem to mind the pumpkin, it was the easiest for him to get and really they were all quite nice flavours of juice but he wouldn’t know if it was one she liked or not. ”Yeah it is right!” he agreed with a wide smile, ”Gryffindor has lots too, but not as many, lucky slytherins ehh, like a couple of flights at best, and I hear they can see under the water,” he replied with a tone that implied he wasn’t actually sure how true the statement was. He was still willing to spread it though. ​

 

[Delilah Thorne]

Delilah laughed at his excitement over successfully picking the right juice. She was hardly picky and liked pumpkin just fine, but she wouldn’t say it was her favorite. But she was definitely not going to say that now as she saw how happy he seemed. “Oh right.” she said, remembering they were on the seventh floor. Not as high as the towers but still worth noting. “I’m sure your views aren’t bad either.” she said as she took another sip of her drink. “That’s what I’ve heard.” she said with a shrug. Her brother had never mentioned it but that didn’t mean it wasn’t true, he never told her anything. She felt the conversation pause and she started to get nervous again as she searched for something to say. "Did you still want to dance?" she asked tentatively. It felt like the thing they were supposed to be doing and she didn't want to disappoint, even though she felt like she was perfectly happy to talk.

 

[Lumio Skey]

Lumio gave a little nod, he knew most gryffindors would contest the views of gryffindor being better than bad either, but he didn’t feel the need to, just grinning lightly and chuckling. He wasn’t surprised that she too had heard that Slytherin saw under the lake, ”It’s a real shame they don’t allow students from other houses to visit other common rooms like once in their school life. I bet people have ‘broken in’ before,” Lumio said. He wouldn’t necessarily want to break in, there was nothing that drove him to wanting to break in, but he knew that others might have reason to. At the question he gave a little nod, ”But, Delilah, we don’t have to if you don’t want to,” he assured her, she didn’t seem too sure that she wanted to dance and Lumio would never force her to do something she didn’t want to do, or didn’t feel confident doing. ”I did attend the yuleball ball dance lessons, so I’m practically an expert, but I’m also great at talking, and talking loudly,” he chuckled lightly and kept a wide smile, letting her make the final decision about whether or not they were to dance. ​

 

[Delilah Thorne]

Delilah considered what he said and nodded thoughtfully. “I’m not sure why they keep things so secretive.” she said. “Oh I’m sure.” she agreed with a giggle. She wasn’t sure if she would ever be desperate enough to try and peek at a different house’s common room, but she had no doubt someone probably had over the years. Delilah had been nervous to ask about dancing but Lumio’s insistence that she didn’t have to if she didn’t want to, caught her off guard. She blinked a few times and really thought about if she wanted to, and she did. Lumio had been nothing but a gentleman and she did want to dance. It sounded like fun. “You did?” she asked with an excited smile. She had learned to dance before but it had been a little while so she was glad at least one of them had brushed up their skills for the occasion. “You are very good at talking. But it would be a shame for those dance lessons to go to waste.” she assured him and held out her hand.

 

[Lumio Skey]

Lumio nodded in agreement, he didn’t get why they made things so secretive when they really didn’t need to. What would it change if they knew a little about the other houses in that manner. But he wasn’t going to question it too much, that was just how it was. Lumio wasn’t sure if what he said would help Delilah decide what she wanted to do, if she wanted to dance or not. He gave a nod at the question and the gave a deep bow and with a partner of a ghost did a few of the steps. He knew he’d claimed to be an expert but he liked to think the one lesson had helped him greatly improve his dancing. Lumio’s smile widened at the compliment and then took her hand. ”It would be a shame,” he agreed, but he put down his drink and went to go to the dance floor so they could start dancing. ​

 

[Delilah Thorne]

Delilah laughed much louder than she meant to as Lumio began to pretend to dance with someone. She nodded along approvingly and even clapped when he finished. “How could I say no after a performance like that?” she asked through her giggles. Quickly she placed her cup down and took his hand. "A real shame indeed." she agreed, sounding very serious. "It's been a little while since I've danced so I may need you help." she said as they reached the dance floor.