Twirls For Days

[Lydia Warrick]

Lydia stood a little awkwardly at the entrance to the great hall, she wasn't particularly happy, she couldn't understand why Gabriel hadn't like the other dress she had shown him, sure it had perhaps been a little less conservative that the one she now wore, but Lydia had really liked the other dress, it had fitted her better, made her feel more at ease and just more confident, this dress which she now wore was lovely, but it felt like she was hiding, and she didn't feel as good about herself in it. Of course she had been keen to impress Gabriel, and when he'd said to change her choice of dress she had, without much of a protest. Lydia fiddled with a loose thread on the edge of the skirt, her eyes glancing about trying to find him with the people around them, the Valentine's Day dance was a great idea and another way to just spend an evening, her mind easily drifted away from topics that might've been less desirable to think about. Everything was fine in Lydia's life, but nice distractions were always helpful. And that was what he was, Gabe was a distraction, a change from Felix, and she did like Gabriel. He could be odd at times, didn't always make her feel too good, but she liked him, and that was the important bit. Finally she spotted him, and waved brightly at him, approaching the slytherin with a little smile on her face as she did so, giving the smallest of twirls to show the dress to him, hoping that he would be happy with it, she didn't know what else she could wear and Lydia really wanted to attend this dance. Valentine's Day had never really been important in her life but it was more about the fun and the distraction that this sort of thing could bring.
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[Gabriel Fletcher]

Gabriel hadn't disliked Lydia's first dress choice, per se; had he and the Hufflepuff been the only two students at the dance, he'd have been quite thrilled to see his girlfriend in such a tight fitting dress. But they were not alone, and Lydia being extraordinarily attractive, she'd been bound to turn more heads than Gabriel could bear. She was far out of his league, and unless the Slytherin intervened, it would only be a matter of time before her attention was drawn to this fact, whether it be by Stefan, a friend, or merely the sheer amount of guys who stared at her. In his desperation to keep Lydia from discovering the truth, Gabriel was willing to go to great lengths - even lengths that appeared outwardly unkind. No, he was not unkind - he loved her, and he would keep telling himself this for as long as it continued to ease his conscience.

Finally spotting her amongst the crowd, Gabriel smiled. Her twirling was a little much, but he gritted his teeth and refrained from mentioning it as he approached. "Hey," he said, looking disinterestedly around the room. He might once have told her she looked beautiful, but now he could not risk it. She was lucky to have him. Or at least, that's what she needed to think. "Any idea where the bar is?"

 

[Lydia Warrick]

Lydia's expression brightened when she saw Gabriel, everything that had happened leading up to this was just discarded, she enjoyed seeing him, spending time with him, which was good because they were dating. Lydia didn't love him, for one it was still too early in her mind for such a thing, but because as much as she liked him, she wasn't sure that it would go beyond what she currently felt, the teen smiled at him, pushing back all such thoughts to focus on him and this dance they would enjoying together, "Hey" she greeted warmly in return, she did desire to dance but wasn't sure if he would want to, lydia wanted to be able to dance the night away because that kept her mind focused on what she was doing, on what was in front of her rather than letting her mind wander. Everything was fine, she was fine. At his question she frowned wondering if he was joking, after all there was no alcohol and therefore there could be no bar. She shook her head, "No, there isn't one," she told him a little tentatively, she motioned to where there were soft drinks, "That's where the drinks are, but it's only juice," she paused for a moment before sparing a glance out to the others dancing, "Can we go dance Gabe?"
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[Gabriel Fletcher]

"That's what I meant," clarified Gabriel, scarcely looking at Lydia as she spoke to him. "Yeah, yeah, in a minute. I need a drink first." This was important. In his hierarchy of interests, Lydia came somewhere around the middle rung; she did not take precedence, and he would make sure she knew it. With a dismissive wave of his hand, the Slytherin headed on over to the soft drinks, pouring himself something fizzy that he could not identify, but that must have been good, because nearly all of it was gone. He turned to Lydia and smiled at last, sipping his drink. "You look incredible, by the way," he said, as if this had only just occurred to him. "Would you like something? Diet, I hope. Wouldn't want to ruin that gorgeous figure." He smiled, disguising his manipulative words behind a compliment.

 

[Lydia Warrick]

Lydia was slightly downhearted that he didn't immediately want to dance, and instead with a dismissive wave went to the drinks table that she'd pointed towards, since she had nothing else to do and he was her date she followed behind him, and just watched with a bored expression as he poured and then all but downed a drink, then only then did it seem he really noticed her, paying her a compliment that at this point she didn't know if she believed, had he only just noticed what she was wearing which was a dress she had picked for him, and the words that followed while at first something nice was then backhanded with an odd compliment, she looked down at the dress she was wearing and wondered if that had anything to do with the fact he'd asked her to change, but her words failed her and she just shook her head, Lydia didn't really understand why he'd said such a thing, her father had always said it was good to watch ones weight but then to deny food or drink that one desired was silly. It was the first time since his death that Lydia had even given any thought to the man, and suddenly she didn't feel so good, everything was supposed to be fine. So, she focused on Gabriel and forced a smile upon her lips, "I'm good, not thirsty," she said, "And diet doesn't taste as good, I much prefer soft juice anyway, can we go dance now?"
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