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[Felix Layton]

Nia told him it was obvious, although truthfully Felix appreciated her spelling it out. He expected to feel a certain way if he heard the words, but as she admitted her feelings for him, Felix only squeezed her tighter in response. It wasn't just a relief to hear those words, but it was almost overwhelming that he wasn't flooded with fear. He didn't know whether he'd broken through some sort of barrier or whether it was just because this was Nia, but the prospect of her liking him didn't make him want to run for the hills. It scared him, but only in the way that he didn't want to let her down, that they were facing an unknown and had a lot to contend with, but not in the way that usually had him wanting to block someone out.

Felix shook his head. How could it possibly be a bad thing when he remembered the disappointment from just a few minutes ago, believing that Nia didn't share his thoughts? It had been the biggest indication he was onto something, because for the first time in his life he actually feared her leaving. Usually he never let anyone get close enough to have that sort of influence, because the idea that they could use it against him was too much and not something he was willing to give out. But for Nia? Somehow she had the power to destroy him from the inside out, but in a strange turn of events, it was the unpredictable, short-fused fire starter that he trusted the most of all.

 

[Mania Athanasiou]

It wasn’t a problem, so did that mean he liked her too? Or did he just like her liking him but he didn’t like her? Either way it was a huge relief that it wasn’t a bad thing. “So, do you like me as well or should I call the department of broken hearts?” She tried to mask her nerves with a sense of humour, but really his response could make or break her heart.

This had definitely not been how she’d imagined the Yule Ball going. Heck she’d been CONVINCED Felix had only asked her as a friend, so if by any luck he also liked her she’d probably die out of excitement. But that also raised another question. What then? What happened when she liked him and he liked her back? She’d never had that issue before, not that it’d be an issue really.

 

[Felix Layton]

Felix quickly realised that he'd lost the ability of speech. He swallowed, gaining some sort of composition. He couldn't even respond to her joke with his usual wit because the words on the tip of his tongue were perhaps some of the most serious he'd ever said in his life. He pulled his head away a little so that he could look at her properly again, the peace in his stomach almost as unsettling as the alternative. "I like you Nia," he added finally, the only startling element in his chest was the buzz of excitement from admitting it. It was a weight off his shoulders to say it out loud. He reached up to brush her hair with his fingers, tucking some strands behind her ear. He took a slightly deeper breath, Eoghan's words from before repeating themselves in his head. Felix didn't want her to think this was anything to do with anyone else, or that she needed to worry about him going his separate way after the Yule Ball was through, but at the same time he didn't want to scare her away either, or tell her anything that put her off. It took him a moment to find the words, his eyes searching hers as though somehow they were going to be his answer. "I want to be with you more," he told her, "you're so.. fascinating. The way you think and the way you are. I didn't ask you to the Yule Ball just so you could be my date, I asked you because I want to do things with you. It doesn't even have to be anything special, you know? The other day in the library, it was a fun afternoon just because you were there too."

 

[Mania Athanasiou]

Okay good. No need to call the department of broken hearts. If that even existed. When Felix brushed some of her hair away from her face it took everything in Nia not either lean into the touch or simply pass away. Both could have been very probable situations. Instead she just focused on his eyes as he began speaking. The words felt weird and Nia couldn’t fully believe them. Her? Fascinating? Had it not been for the way he was looking at her she might have thought he was talking about someone else completely.

The way he was also sort of answering some of the doubts that had sailed freely in her brain just then didn’t get past her and it sort of amazed her. She knew what he meant when he said it didn’t even have to be anything special because in a way just hanging around each other made it special. “Okay, yeah.” The Gryffindor managed to say. “We could try to hang out more then?” She offered, still a bit unsurely because it was all new territory to her to have someone she truly and well liked wanting to hang out with her too.

 

[Felix Layton]

The smile on Felix's face grew when Nia suggested they hang out more. "Yeah, yeah we could do that." It wasn't that it wasn't something he wanted to do, just the way that Nia made it sound so.. straight forward. It wasn't a bad thing either, and if anything phrasing it like that just took the pressure off too. It was as though they could have the best of both worlds, crossing over whenever they wanted. Only time would tell whether that was too good to be true.

Felix took Nia's hand, his other still around her waist as he started to move, once more in time to the music. "I think people might start being suspicious something interesting is going on over here if we don't dance on the dance floor," he joked, only loud enough for her to hear. Every now and then students and professor would pause, breaking the flow of those around them, but if they stopped for too long they'd start to attract attention. "Besides, I asked you to a dance," Felix offered out his arm again, ready to lead Nia through another twirl, "and I've got no intention of letting down my side of this bargain."

 

[Lilith Ilves]

Faye’s phone did a switch and Lili wasn’t near here but she was hppy cor her friend.

 

[Mania Athanasiou]

Mania’s stress about offering such idea dissipated as Felix said they could do that. Smiling she nodded. “Okay, yeah we’ll do that then. Hang out more.” She said it more so to herself than him at this point, accompanied by a firm nod.

Mani glanced around them with a blush when the fourth year mentioned people might get suspicious of whether or not there might be something interesting going on. “I think we got that interesting part covered with the whole kiss and all.” Nia muttered quietly. As she moved around her eyes spotted her sister who was practically glaring daggers at Felix’s back. Uh oh. It was weirdly easy dancing with him, it wasn’t uncomfortable or anything, it felt sort of right too. “Yeah? You did promise me you’d dance with me so good to know you are worth your word.” Said with a grin before twirling again, but having to stop so she wouldnt get too dizzy.

 

[Felix Layton]

Nia wasn't wrong, if anyone was watching them they probably had already seen what they came for. "Of course I am!" Felix wasn't known to be someone that didn't see things through. The fourth year followed Nia's glance, spotting Gaia at the far side of the room looking as though she could storm over to them at any moment. "She's protective of you," if his chat with the Slytherin had showed him anything, it was the Nia definitely had someone looking out for her. Felix didn't have a lot of experience with befriending the families of the girls he dated, although he supposed in Professor Cade and Veronica he was stuck with them, but that wasn't out of his choice. From the way that Gaia was watching them however, perhaps it wouldn't have been a bad thing to make sure he stayed on her good side. "She introduced me to Clover other day," he mentioned, wondering if Nia would think that was at least a good sign.

 

[Mania Athanasiou]

Nia glanced back towards Gaia and almost snorted at the understatement of the century. "Tell me about it," was all she managed to come up with, had she been at the receiving end of the looks Gaia gave to those Nia hung out with or liked she wouldn't know what to do with herself. Her head snapped to look at Felix as he said her sister had seemingly willingly introduced her miniature dragon to him, her eyes widening with shock. "She..... did?" Mania asked in disbelief. "I mean don't get me wrong but that's practically her baby, she adores dragons and since she can't have a real one yet she doesn't really trust people to handle Clover without a good reason." It'd taken the Slytherin a bit to let Nia handle the thing if she was being honest. "Wait... you spoke to her? Merlin was she being mean? I'm sorry if so." If Gaia ruined her chances with whatever this was that was happening right now she'd have a meltdown of the century.

 

[Felix Layton]

Hearing that Gaia was protective over Clover in the same way she was Nia, made Felix feel like at least he was on the right track when it came to befriending her. "Yeah," perhaps it wasn't best to tell the Gryffindor the conditions under which they'd met. "We were talking on the lawn a couple of weeks back," he explained, leaving out the part where it was early in the morning, and he was hanging from a tree by his sweater. "She wasn't mean, helped me actually," Felix glanced back up to the redhead across the room, waving his fingers in her direction with a grin. He'd seen Gaia around at the Brew Crew too, although he hadn't really known who she was during their last meeting. "Guess she considers me to be a good reason," he turned back to Nia, running a hand down her arm.

 

[Mania Athanasiou]

Mania frowned when Felix told her about how they'd spoken, Gaia hadn't mentioned it to her. He was saying her sister hadn't been mean or rude, but if that was the case why hadn't she told her about it. "Gaia, out of her own free will, helped you?" The way she'd been so smug over how she'd purposefully blocked every shot of Logan's at practice made this little fact way too hard to believe. Her eyes narrowed a little, there was something fishy about it. "I have hard time believing that, no offense. She never does anything without a motive and certainly not when it comes to boys I like." That ought to be something she needed to inquire her sister about. "You sure she didn't like threaten to... I don't know? Throw you into a pit with spiders or something as lovely?" Perhaps her sister was trying a new approach, she certainly hoped so.

 

[Felix Layton]

Felix scratched the back of his head, wondering how it had come to this; being offended that Gaia couldn't possibly have been nice to him of her own accord. There was still a smile on his face though, "Well, she grilled me too." Felix thought back to their chat, and how he'd tried to dodge her questions. "Wanted to make sure I wasn't.. you know," he shrugged, feeling unease at speaking it so forwardly to Nia. "I just told her.." he'd already admitted to Nia directly that he liked her, but suggesting he'd already told her sister that just made things even more serious, "She just wanted to make sure you were okay."

 

[Mania Athanasiou]

There it was, her motive. "That sounds more like the Gaia I know, she isn't known to be nice exactly..." She said looking up at Felix, hoping her sister hadn't been too intense with her questioning. "I'm sorry she should mind her business, I mean I am older than her by ten months so one would hope I can handle myself?" Alas she knew that was far from the truth, especially given how she had handled the Alexander situation. Merlin, hopefully nobody at school ever found out about that. "Don't worry Princess I'll protect you from the big bad dragon lady." She joked grinning at Felix, she might not be much use in protecting anyone physically but she could handle her sisters. At least she hoped she could.

 

[Felix Layton]

Felix was glad he didn't have to go into details about the interrogation, that Nia seemed to know what he was talking about from his short sentences. "From what I've seen, I'm pretty sure you can," he grinned, trying to ignore the fact he now knew they were being watched. He laughed at her protective joke, his cheeks aching already. His arms pulled Nia closer again as he lowered his head, "I'll hold you to that one." He had no doubt that if it came to it, Nia would be like a wild fire and while he had no intention of causing a rift between the sisters, he was more than happy to let the Gryffindor take the lead in those situations. He would just have her back. "Do you.. want to get out of here?" he asked, quietly enough only she could hear. It was one thing that they'd be looking forward to coming to the ball so they could spend time with one another, but he figured they'd be better off figuring this out without the prying eyes.

 

[Mania Athanasiou]

Nia smiled yet again, she was always smiling but tonight the smile was just a tad more vibrant. Not that anyone looking from afar could tell, at least she hoped not because that'd be awkward. "I'll keep her at bay don't worry," she nodded, only half joking. She did have a lot of sisters and unfortunately Gaia wasn't the only protective one these days, what her parents lacked in caring for her, her sisters made sure to make up in ten fold. "Please, besides I don't think I can stand in these heel's much longer. My mama has an uncomfortable but fantastic taste." She replied, matching his quiet tone. The heels were pretty but Merlin were they hurting her feet after the evening already. Turning around Nia didn't let go of Felix's hand as she pulled him behind her out of the Great Hall. "Where to? Common Room?" That'd be the smartest bet probably, right?