Open Restitution

[Eutropia Vetrov]

Ro had spent a little longer at the dance than he'd expected. He'd had a nice conversation with the Ravenclaw girl Adorah, but after having seen Maggie, he hadn't been able to concentrate on much else. Honestly he did feel awful about the whole situation. He liked Maggie, he really did, but, he just wasn't great with people generally. He was much more comfortable in a dark corner of the library researching things he probably shouldn't have been than anything else and whilst he enjoyed being in Maggie's company, and he genuinely liked her, he knew he wasn't treating her the way she deserved and he really just had to let her know how sorry he was about everything, he really wished he knew how to be different, but he really just didn't and he wasn't comfortable with a lot of public physical affection. He stood outside the Hufflepuff common room waiting for her to return. He was hoping the majority of people would actually be in the common room and not out in the corridors and that was why he'd decided to do it out here. He was scribbling in his notebook as he heard the sounds of people, but as he looked up he realised it wasn't Maggie, so he put his head back down again. He just hoped he would see her sometime tonight, he really did want to apologise.​

 

[Maggie Majors]

Maggie had been angry to hear that Ro went to the ball and hadn’t even asked her. As far as she was concerned, he was no longer interested in the Pufflehuff like that and it hurt, but she knew she had to try and move on. It was a good job Mini had graduated or this might have been even worse for all parties. She had instead enjoyed a fun evening with Noelle, and the pair had walked their way back to the common room, chatting about their experiences. Really all Maggie wanted to do was to curl up in the jumper she’d been gifted with, but she looked up to see Ro waiting outside. With an apology to Noelle and a promise she would come and find him after, Maggie looked across the corridor to the sixth year. The anger coming back almost immediately at the sight of him. “What are you waiting for?” She asked coming a little closer. She hated the small part of her that was still hoping. He’d already shown he didn’t care.​

 

[Eutropia Vetrov]

Eutropia looked up as he heard Maggie’s voice. She still looked amazing, which wasn’t a surprise at all. Of course she would, since she was amazing. He knew he’d been taking her for granted, but he didn’t know what to do. He’d never had someone like Maggie in his life and even though they’d not really been a coupe or whatever, he was very observant, he knew more about her than she probably realised. So as she approached, it wasn’t hard for him to figure out she was angry. He held his hands up in front of him. “I’m sorry, Maggie, I was waiting for you,” he told her, carefully dropping his hands. “I... wanted to apologise if I could, I know what I did wasn’t right and I probably should have made our relationship clearer, but I didn’t, and I readily accept that,” he said, though he didn’t want to crowd her, he wanted her to know how sorry he was for that. She definitely deserved better.​

 

[Maggie Majors]

Her heart raced as Ro told her he’d been waiting for her. Why would he wait if it wasn’t to make sure she was okay? No she couldn’t think like that, it wouldn’t only hurt more when he let her down again. “Should have made it clearer? We do not have a relationship and I think it is safe to say that we definitely are not getting one, when you go to the dance without even asking me!” She knew technically she had accepted Noelles invitation, but it had been different, “I was not even planning on go to the dance. Noelle asked me to go only this afternoon and you had.. weeks, to say something if you wanted to.” She was more upset with him than she realised, and this wasn’t how Maggie wanted to end her evening. “How abut next time, instead of just waiting for something to fall in place, you just say it!” She wasn’t necessarily just taking about herself, she knew Ro was shy and not wasn’t all that fair of her to say so, but it was frustrating to watch opportunities just pass them by. ​

 

[Eutropia Vetrov]

Eutropia should have known that opening his mouth was only going to lead to trouble, because he was horrible at trying to get his point across. There was something about the way he spoke, that people just seemed to misunderstand him, or, maybe it was that Maggie wasn't fluent in English. Nor was he, but, he had a bit more to lean on than she did. "I didn't want to go, Maggie!" He suddenly said, knowing that she wasn't going to let that slide. "I never intended to go, not even with you because I'm not comfortable in those situations," he told her, shaking his head and leaning harder against the wall. He didn't mean to raise his voice. He wasn't angry, he was upset, and worried. He really liked Maggie and he genuinely didn't want to lose her like this. She thought she didn't matter to him, she did, but he had no idea how to express that because he had no idea how to explain it. "I only went because he asked you, Maggie, I heard about it and I thought that I could go and see you in your pretty dress, because I think you are absolutely gorgeous," he told her, but that wasn't the only reason he'd gone. "I was worried that... that something might happen and I didn't want you to prefer him to me. I know I'm not a good... friend to you," he wasn't sure how else to say it, "but, I really did not mean it." He said, biting his lip lightly to try and think of what to say. "I never thought about how you would want to do it. I know we went to Yule ball last year and I had a lot of fun with you, I've grown to enjoy your company, Maggie and I really am sorry for what I have done." He sighed, leaning back against the wall. "I hurt you. I did you bad... I treated you badly." He said, momentarily struggling to find the right words, a sentiment she would no doubt understand.​

 

[Maggie Majors]

When Ro began to tell her that he hadn’t actually wanted to go at all, she was shocked and confused. Why had it taken her so long to realise that he wasn’t comfortable in these positions? And if he wasn’t, why had he gone anyway? Ro answered that question easily enough too, and the Pufflehuff stood the dumbfounded for a few seconds as she realised what had happened. “Why would you be worried I liked him more than you?” She asked, having an idea but given that this was the first time Ro was really telling her how he was feeling, she wasn’t going to let it drop until he told her exactly that. No more beating around the bush, waiting for something to happen. If Ro wasn’t going to tell her directly she’d have to find a way of getting it out of him. It was clear just by watching him that Ro didn’t think he’d been good to her, and while it was true that most of the time she felt like she was trying to catch smoke with her bare hands, maybe it was a good thing that this had happened. The sixth year took a few steps closer towards him, “I am sorry, I did not realise. I.. I thought you did not care and, I like you too much to keep doing this if you do not feel the same.” Really she was just looking for clarity, her big brown eyes looking up to him concerned, she was both at a loss and angry at herself for still hoping.​

 

[Eutropia Vetrov]

Eutropia wasn’t in the habit of being emotional. He was more shy than he liked to admit, which often meant he had trouble dealing with his feelings. He looked over to Maggie when she asked him why he might be worried about her liking Noelle better. He thought it was pretty obvious honestly. “Becuase he danced with you,” he admitted, shaking his head. “In public,” there was really no good reason as to why he was so shy, he just couldn’t help it. “It’s my fault, I’m sorry. We’ve been something that wasn’t anything for too long and I allowed that to happen.” He shook his head, sighing. He wasn't good at this. He had the words in there somewhere, but, he knew he needed to get his point across some how. "Maggie... I do like you, I really do and I enjoy spending time with you, I have since you asked me to the dance." He was usually so caught up in himself that he barely even noticed that time had basically flown them by completely and he did feel bad about that. He couldn't say for sure exactly how he felt because, despite everything, they hadn't actually spent a lot of quality time getting to know each other, so, it was hard to know what they were, or what they could be. He reached out slowly and wrapped his hand lightly around her wrist. "I want to spend time with you and know you... if you want to. I understand that... that I might have missed the opportunity..." He just wanted to know her, like he should have before all of this. Know more of her interests, what she liked to do and her favourite class. He knew none of that and it was all his fault.​

 

[Maggie Majors]

Maggie had considered herself to be shy until she met Eutropia, and then she saw how much some people struggled more than her. She'd been nervous to start up the gaming in her first year but she'd still done it, and really when she looked to Ro now wasn't it the same thing, he was still doing things he didn't want to do because he wanted to get through it. Hearing that Ro did still like her did help a little, and the Pufflehuff wanted to believe more than anything that he wasn't just saying it because he thought it was what she wanted to hear, but how could she really tell? Maybe he was too shy to upset her. She looked down to her own wrist when he took it, thinking it was a bit of a strange mood but feeling him touch her was still what she was looking for. The sixth year moved a little closer, lifting her other hand to rest against his cheek, "I want to know about you." Maggie felt like she'd barely scratched the surface although so far his actions hadn't seemed as though he was interested. As she considered what she was supposed to say next, she glanced down at what he was wearing. He had made quite a bit of effort for someone who hadn't wanted to go at all, and surely it would have been so much easier for him to ignore her if he didn't care? "You..look quite gorgeous too," she said, her gaze returning to meet his. She'd always felt some sort of silent pull towards the Pufflehuff and it was why she'd even felt destined to approach him that day after taking the potion. But why did it have to feel as though only now she was even being noticed? "Maybe we can start from the beginning," she said quietly. Maggie had come too far to just let him go like that, and if Ro really did mean it then she didn't want to throw away what small connection they did have.​

 

[Eutropia Vetrov]

Ro honestly didn't know what he was doing, but he wanted to help Maggie understand that he did like her and he did want to spend time with her. She moved to touch his cheek and despite his initial instinct to move away - physical closeness was not something he was used to or good at - he allowed her to get close and touch his face. He leaned into her touch slightly, though he wasn't quite sure he knew why. His hand tightened slightly around her wrist, though it was more to let her know he was still holding it, than an effort to stop her from moving if she wanted to. He wanted this to be her choice, after all, he'd done nothing but ignore her for most of their relationship, this wasn't something he could suddenly stop. He wanted to break the habit, get to know her, form proper connections with people and he hoped he could start with Maggie, by actually giving her the attention she deserved rather than ignoring her like he had been doing. She was gorgeous, and her honesty and ability to understand and show her emotions only added to the overall affect her beauty had on him. He'd certainly never been one to think much about blood status, despite his families desperate attempts to make him see reason, but, the person he was, why would he care? It wasn't important and as someone who was deeply interested in history and genetics, he knew how it worked more than his family did. "Thank you... it should have been something to match you," he said, looking at her. He wished he'd had the courage to do that, to be with her in public, but curses he was not. He couldn't help it, but, perhaps he could learn. Perhaps he could learn with Maggie? "I would like to... start from the beginning I mean." Yes, the beginning was as good a place as any, besides, had they ever really left the beginning?​