Closed Runaway Gryffindor

[Veronique Chatelain]

set post Halloween Dance Y45

Veronique rushed out of the Great Hall, holding back her tears as she made her way to the courtyard, before letting it all out. She couldn't believe that Cameron had just dumped her at the dance in front of other people. Sure, maybe it wasn't visible to everyone, but people definitely heard and saw her rush out. She started pulling at the red tie around her neck, struggling to get it off as it got caught in one of her curls. Veronique managed to pull it over her head and throw it on the ground as tears rolled down her cheeks. There were a few few stray people in the courtyard, but she had managed to place herself near a bench, collapsing on it, hands covering her face. Teenage relationships were hard, and she just didn't understand what she had done to deserve this.

 

[Demetrius Wagner]

Demetrius hadn't gone to the Halloween feast - it just wasn't his thing, getting dressed up in a costume like that. It seemed kind of embarrassing, but he couldn't concentrate on his studies so he'd gone for a stroll in the courtyard to get some fresh air. He was surprised when he witnessed Veronique rushing outside, able to see the tears in her eyes and how upset she was, struggling to take off her tie. He wondered if she'd noticed him as she sat on the bench, covering her face. He paused a moment, looking at the others in the courtyard. Demetrius took a deep breath, and approached, taking a seat beside her. "Hey, are you...alright?" He knew it was a stupid question as soon as it left his lips, so he retried. "I mean, what happened?"

 

[Veronique Chatelain]

Veronique felt horrible. She still wasn't sure what she had done wrong. She only wanted them to look cute together in a couples costume. Maybe this was just a fight and not an actual break-up, but his words were pretty clear. She didn't think she was such a terrible person, but seeing as she had been broken up with twice in less than 2 months, it was starting to look that way. As she sobbed into her hands, she felt someone sit beside her and quickly looked up, only to see Demetrius. "Oh, hi," she sniffed. "I just, well, Cameron broke up with me like two seconds ago so you know, it's great," she managed to get out as she tried to calm herself. At this point, she wasn't sure if she was sad about Cameron or upset about being embarassed. The Hufflepuff wiped her eyes with her sleeve as she sniffed and looked at Demetrius. "I'm fine, really."

 

[Demetrius Wagner]

Demetrius' eyebrows rose. He knew the pair had been dating; he'd seen them around together, heard from others that it was so. He hadn't expected them to break up though, and so soon. Demetrius had a tentative friendship with Cameron, but they weren't close enough that Cameron would talk to Demetrius about things like relationships so Demetrius wondered why he'd decided to end it. "Wait, really? That's kind of...not great of him," Demetrius said, putting it lightly. He knew the basic etiquette for breaking up with someone typically wasn't in the middle of a big public event. It's not something Demetrius would ever do. "Did he even give a reason?" Demetrius asked, a little bit curious, a little bit trying to figure out the best way to comfort her. It wasn't his forte, but he was going to try. He didn't like seeing a girl in tears, after all.

 

[Veronique Chatelain]

Veronique was surprised to hear Demetrius comforting her. They were friends, she supposed, which meant that it made sense he'd care that she was upset. But she wasn't used to having a ton of friends who were boys. "Yeah, it wasn't, and I'm pretty sure that some of the gossip gang in there heard so that's gonna make this even better," she said sarcastically. She really didn't care what the other girls in her year had to say, but in reality... maybe she did.

The Hufflepuff thought for a moment. She thought she knew why he broke up with her, but in reality, she wasn't sure. She also wasn't sure she wanted to share any of that and her insecurities with Demetrius. "It doesn't matter, really. He broke up with me," she said, feeling her crying slow down a little as she tried to talk. "I'm like crying all over you. I'm sure your date at the dance is waiting for you."

 

[Demetrius Wagner]

"I'm sure they'll be on your side. I mean, I am," Demetrius said, feeling a little bit traitorous to Cameron but breaking up with a girl publicly? It really wasn't a good look. Or a good anything. Unless she was truly awful, which Demetrius couldn't picture Veronique being. He felt a dim pang that he would have treated her better, then felt bad. She'd just been broken up with and Demetrius was thinking about her like that. Surely that was inappropriate. Demetrius nodded when she said it didn't matter - it probably didn't. "Hey, it's okay. I, uh, I don't have a date at the dance," he admitted sheepishly. "I don't have a date in general," he added, not sure why he thought to telegraph that information. He wondered if he should reach out and put his arm over her shoulders, but didn't have the confidence.

 

[Veronique Chatelain]

Veronique sniffed as Demetrius comforted, surprised, seeing as he didn't know how much of a dreadful person she was to date, apparently. The Hufflepuff subconciously leaned her head on his shoulder as she felt tears continue to warm her cheeks. She had calmed down, but the waterworks were continuing from being so worked up. When the boy revealed he didn't have a date, Veronique sat up and looked at him. "Well, we'll have to fix that for next time," she said, sniffing as she wiped her face. "You're obviously very sweet." She looked at him for a little too long and then looked away, wiping her nose. "This costume is so stupid. Why did I think dressing as a different house was funny?" she said, half being serious but also half fishing for compliments from Demetrius. He was being very kind, and she wanted to take advantage of that in this moment. Maybe it would make her stop crying. She could feel her face puffing up, and she was sure she looked dreadful.

 

[Demetrius Wagner]

Demetrius liked that she leaned against him - he didn't quite think he should, but he did - despite the fact she was getting tears all over him. At least she seemed to be calming down a bit now. Demetrius hated seeing her like this, but he was doing his best to comfort that. He chuckled a little at the idea of finding him a date, was he really at all dateable? He was then a little embarrassed that she'd called him not just sweet, but incredibly. It made him blush a little, he could feel his cheeks heating up. "That's nice of you to say," Demetrius said, a little sheepish. "I don't know who'd want to date me though." He felt like he was doing what anyone would do. A pretty girl in need of some comforting? Oh, there he was again, thinking about her like that when he shouldn't. He mentally chastised himself, then kept listening. Demetrius paid properly paid attention to the costume for the first time. He only really just noticed she wasn't wearing Hufflepuff colours at all. "Hey, I think it's great," Demetrius said genuinely. "It's an original idea for sure."

 

[Veronique Chatelain]

Veronique was surprised by Demetrius' lack of self-confidence. There was a serious lack of dateable boys at this school, and she was surprised more of them weren't taken. "Well, thanks, but apparently it's not because there's a girl in there claiming to be a prefect, which was not what I was doing, but same idea basically," she replied in regards to her costume. The whole thing still confused her, but Slytherins were weird, and Veronique didn't like to interact with them much, especially after the recent incident with Cameron - she was going to avoid them altogether. "Also, you've got to give yourself more credit. You're nice and, well, you're handsome," she started, feeling a little embarrassed saying things like that out loud. "Plus, you've sat here with a crying girl for 15 minutes even though you could have been anywhere else."

 

[Demetrius Wagner]

"Oh, really?" Demetrius said, surprised someone else had a similar idea. "Not exactly the same though. I still like your idea better." Demetrius didn't truthfully have a strong preference on which idea was best, but he figured he'd be nice. Veronique was still crying, after all. He felt embarrassed as she lay on the compliments, making his whole chest feel warm and slightly odd. Demetrius didn't quite have a word for how he felt - he'd never really felt it before, not entirely. "Well, that's nice of you to say," Demetrius said, words coming out of his mouth before he could properly think what to say. He was surprised to be called handsome, but he quite liked it. He'd never been called handsome by anyone other than his mother. "Hey, I'm just doing what any self-respecting guy would do," Demetrius declared with a hint of arrogance, feeling a bit more confident after the ego boost Veronique had given him.

 

[Veronique Chatelain]

Veronique sniffed as she looked at Demetrius. He was a friend, not necessarily a close one. However, in this moment, she could feel herself wanting to know him more. But she knew she probably looked like a disaster, and her eyes were feeling swollen as she wiped some lingering tears away. At this moment, she kind of just wanted to go to her room, take a hot shower, and sleep, even if that meant saying goodbye for the evening. "Well, I could use more self-respecting guys in my life. Maybe we can hang out tomorrow? I don't think I'm really fit for human interaction right now," she continued with a little laugh, standing up before turning to look back at the Hufflepuff. "Thanks. Goodnight," she said, giving him a quick peck on the cheek and hoping he wasn't upset by the gesture. Veronique tried to avoid eye contact with any other students as she made her way out of the courtyard.

 

[Demetrius Wagner]

She was suddenly leaving and Demetrius wondered if he'd done something wrong, but it didn't feel like he had. After all, she said maybe to hanging out with him more and that was a good sign. He was about to reply with an affirmative when Veronique kissed him on the cheek. Heat bloomed on his face at the gesture; certainly a welcome one, though unexpected. "Good night," he called out as she left, a little too late and a little too loud, drawing some attention his way. Demetrius hoped his cheeks weren't as red as they felt as he sat dumbly, just watching her leave. Some time after, he finally got up with a sigh, trying to swallow down his feelings and made his way back to his dorm.