Closed Returning Items, Moving On

[Valeria Iglesias]

Valeria had only noticed that she still had Charlie's old book, in the bottom of her trunk when she had returned to school. She hadn't realised it was there until she was back at school and unpacking. She didn't necessarily want to return it by hand, because it would be awkward. Valeria didn't really think she'd left it in a good position with Charlie, but Valeria knew that she couldn't just hold on to the book. It was not hers. She didn't want him to come looking for it to her, that would be worse in her mind. No, she had to go and take it to him. Or at least get it to Hufflepuff and get it to him.

The Ravenclaw had cut her hair over the summer, keeping it in a nice short but not too short bob. She missed the longness of it, but she thought the cut was more mature and sophisticated, which she of course was. She was the most sophisticated. Valeria had of course put in an effort for him, she hadn't wanted Charlie – should she run into him – to think she was broken up about what had happened. She was doing good, better than good, and she looked good. But as Val approached the Hufflepuff common room, she spotted someone else, and realised this would be better. She wouldn't hand it to Charlie, someone else would. ”Manaia!” she called out, approaching him. ”Hey,” ​

 

[Manaia Te Rangi]

Time was flying by, faster than Manaia was really prepared for. Sixth year. Sounded much too old, and much too close to being an adult. Before long he'd be out and away in the real world, making his own way for better or worse. Marama would be at school next year too, and he knew he'd have to make sure his baby sister was well settled in before his own graduation. It was a lot to think about, but for now all he was thinking about was this year. Rāwhiti had finally made it onto the Quidditch team, so at least his brother was hopefully going to be less... going to be less. His thoughts were interrupted by a familiar face, and he grinned, raising a hand in greeting as Valeria approached. "Hey!" He said brightly. "Good holiday?" He knew something had happened between Valeria and Charlie, but as far as he was concerned, they were both still friends.

 

[Valeria Iglesias]

Valeria smiled at the boy, he was cute. They had bonded over divorced parents, but now a little away from it, she had to admit he was very cute. She nodded in return, "Yeah, spent some time with my dad in Portugal, which was…fine you know how it can be" she replied with a little smile. He was probably the only one who would probably understand the particularities of having split up parents and holidays. "How was yours?" she asked before holding up the item of Charlie's that she had.

"Listen, would you be able to do me a favour?" she asked, flicking her hair and giving a slightly charming smile. She didn't know if Manaia and the other boys knew that she and Charlie had been together and now were broken up. "I promise it shouldn't take more than a minute to do," ​

 

[Manaia Te Rangi]

Manaia nodded in sympathy when Valeria mentioned spending time with her dad, a small pang of sympathy hitting him as he thought of his strained relationship with his own father. As sad as he was that Valeria had to go through that, there was something comforting in knowing he wasn't alone. "Yeah, I get it." He shrugged when she asked about his holiday, giving a small smile. "Played a lot of Quidditch. My brother's obsessed with making the Gryffindor team, so I've gotta practice with him." He smiled when Valeria asked for a favour, nodding immediately. "Oh yeah for sure, what's up?"

 

[Valeria Iglesias]

Valeria gave a sympathetic smile as Manaia talked of what he did. "You're a good brother, Manaia," she complimented him. "I bet he'll get on the team now, thanks to your efforts." Val was sure the Gryffindor team was a busy one, but if he was that determined then she was sure he'd get it, or keep trying until he did. "Charlie and I broke up, just before the break, and I found this of his in my trunk, and wanted to give it back," she said, holding out the small item. "it was mutual but, I still doubt he wants my face to be one of the first he sees." ​

 

[Manaia Te Rangi]

Manaia grinned at the compliment, nodding. "He's put in the work, I'm sure he'll crush it." He smiled, pride in his brother thrumming in his chest for a moment. He quickly turned his focus to Valeria's request though, face falling. "Oh man, that sucks." He said gently, nodding in agreement. "I'll take it back to him for sure." He said, accepting the book with an easy nod. "Are you doing okay? Even if it's mutual, breakups suck." He added, speaking from no experience whatsoever. Manaia wasn't sure where comforting his friend's ex stood on the bro code if it had been mutual, especially since he had been friendly with Valeria too. He wasn't going to just let someone be sad without doing something about it though.

 

[Valeria Iglesias]

Valeria didn't know his brother, but felt confident that he probably would make the team, or have a very good chance at it. She was glad he agreed to it, and was nice about it. ”I'm doing okay. it's sad when something ends, but it was mutual, we are just in different places, wanting different things,” the teen replied, it wasn't all the truthful, but close enough that it wasn't too much of a lie. ”But, I'm just gonna have to get back out there,” she told him, with confidence. She was sure she'd manage to find someone else to move on with. ”Are you seeing anyone?” she asked, she hadn't heard if he was seeing anyone, but she might've just not heard about it. ​

 

[Manaia Te Rangi]

Manaia nodded as Valeria explained, relieved that she didn't seem too broken up about the whole... break-up. It seemed like a good reason to have ended things as well, all things considered. He laughed lightly at her comment. "Always more fish in the sea." He agreed, though her next comment made him falter. Was he seeing anyone? "I, uh... not really... officially?" He said slowly, thinking of Louis and Caleb. "I mean, I've had a few... casual dates, I guess. But I don't have a boyfriend. Or girlfriend." He added quickly, not wanting to give away who he had been seeing. He didn't think Louis or Caleb would want it to be a secret, but he wasn't going to go blabbing their business either.

 

[Valeria Iglesias]

Valeria gave a little laugh. "I've always been good at fishing," she joked back with a little wink. She had dated a few boys since her arrival at the school. She had kissed more than a few boys since her arrival at the school, moving on was never going to be something she struggled with. "Casual dates are fun, they're no pressure, easy," she said with a little smile. Not quite sure if it was something that Manaia enjoyed or had enjoyed. Perhaps he was more like Charlie in that he wanted a relationship. She wondered if he wanted to date the people he'd seen casually more officially. But was hold off on asking such questions while she just didn't know enough about it. ​

 

[Manaia Te Rangi]

Manaia laughed at Valeria's comment, nodding in agreement. She was pretty and nice enough that he was sure she wouldn't have any trouble moving on when she was ready. He nodded slowly at her next observation, thinking about it for a moment. The thought of a relationship with Louis or Caleb made his heart swell, but the fact that he felt the exact same about both of them was... probably a sign that keeping things casual was for the best. What if he got into a relationship with Louis and couldn't stop thinking about Caleb, or vice versa? "Yeah, definitely agree." He nodded, making up his mind in the moment. It had been serving him well enough so far, and he didn't want to mess up by making things too serious and regretting it.

 

[Valeria Iglesias]

Valeria gave a little smile, she had been looking for something a bit in between, to help settle things after Charlie and until she found something else. Perhaps this could be the rebound she needed. It was just that he was Charlie's roommate and friend and though she was keen to have something she didn't want to get in the way of friends. ”Yeah, they're good,” she agreed. ”If you're interested in a little casual, well, you know where I live,” she said as flirty as she could, flicking her hair a little bit. She wasn't sure is Manaia found her attractive, he hadn't indicated which way he swung, but she figured might as well go for it.​

 

[Manaia Te Rangi]

Manaia had always been very aware of how pretty Valeria was, and he couldn't help smiling back when she did. While most of his attention the last few years had been on Caleb and Louis, and he hadn't thought about her much while she was dating Charlie, he was well aware that she was probably the prettiest girl in his year. He was fully aware of the flirty tone this conversation was veering into, but it was still a surprise when Valeria said it outright. A year ago he would have said yes without question, but now... "I'll keep that in mind." He said, thoughts turning to Charlie. If their breakup had been mutual there was nothing wrong, but...

 

[Valeria Iglesias]

Valeria smiled easily, giving him what she hoped was a flirty expression, wanting him to consider he. He didn't outright say no, so it wasn't like he was only batting for the other team. She nodded lightly. ”You should, I'm good fun, so I'm told,” she said. She knew there was likely a bit of Charlie influencing this. ”And Charlie won't mind, I know there's the bro-code, but I don't think that covers casual,” she added. Wanting to be sure that it wasn't Charlie who was the stickler in this. ”Anyway, I'll catch you around Manaia,” she said, giving a little smile as she pulled away, having done the task she set out to do. ​

 

[Manaia Te Rangi]

It had been years now since Manaia had started flirting with boys in his year, but it was behaviour he wasn't used to seeing from girls. It was a little odd to think about – how much more popular he had been with boys than girls. So the overt flirting in Valeria's tone caught him off guard a little, and he took a moment to pull himself back together, giving what he hoped was a charming laugh. “I'll keep it in mind.” He smiled, though part of him was sure he would need to run things by Charlie. Valeria was pretty and fun to spend time with, but he didn't want to jeopardise anything with one of his closest friends. He smiled when Valeria said goodbye, giving her a nod and a wave. “Catch you later.” He smiled before heading back to the common room to find Charlie, hoping this wasn't a mistake.