rookwoood:
he did not drop his gaze, even when he noticed her cheeks flush. augustus was aware that the scrutiny she was under from only him was uncalled for, perhaps even bordering on plain rude, and yet he found himself suddenly unable to tear his eyes away from her. here she was, out of place, a speck of yellow in a sea of green, but she remained, despite the amount of embarrassment she was clearly feeling. as she spoke, augustus contemplated what he’d be doing if he were in her shoes. running for the hills, he decided.
he really did laugh at her poor joke, and sincerely as well, with each passing second becoming more and more drawn to her — the reason, he couldn’t quite put his finger on. she didn’t remind him of anyone he knew, certainly not, and he considered whether it might instead be down to the complete opposite —— she didn’t remind him of anyone he knew at all, and to the tired slytherin, that was a welcome breath of fresh air.
as she fumbled through what he assumed was some sort of attempt at a compliment, augustus lowered his head finally, turning just as scarlet as the girl had done previously. ‘ uhh, ’ he stalled, offering an awkward chuckle as an initial response, mind racing as he found himself unable to formulate any real words. somehow, even though she’d effectively said exactly what his ego had been wanting to hear, he was thrown. ‘ er, i mean… cool ? i know. i mean… not “i know”, that’s… that’s a really weird thing to say, actually. sorry, it’s just… ’
he rubbed his face again, sighly loudly at his own ineptitude when it came to this sort of thing, thinking that this was exactly the sort of time to be using the time turner he’d so proudly turned down in his fifth year. gladly, the words that came out of riley’s mouth next let him off the hook, and he pretended that he’d not just been unable to finish a simple sentence.
‘ go for it, ’ he nodded, leaning back in his seat, all of a sudden feeling like he was sitting far too close to her, despite the whole table of food separating the two strangers. ‘ i’ll answer anything. ’ with a quick glance at the students sat to the left and right of him, and either side of her, he was glad that none seemed to be listening in, though he was sure that at least one calculating snake would be paying attention, and he’d have a lot to answer for when he finally returned to the dungeons with his peers.
The fact was, she couldn’t tell if he was confident & bad with words or if he was just as nervous as she was -- yet she still wanted to talk to him. It was surprising to her, even after all of that, the dropping of food, the staring, the anxiety, he was willing to engage with her, answer any of her questions -- it was what made all the difference in Riley staying and leaving. For now, she could pretend it was only them at this table, she could force herself to ignore her anxiety telling her they were all staring at them, she could focus on THIS conversation that was ending up a lot better than she could’ve expected.
“Anything? Really? You’re brave, you sure you should be wearing Silver and Green? That’s not an actual question, but,” she shrugged, as she continued. “Alright, what’s your name? ‘Cause, I feel that’s sort of IMPORTANT to ask at this point. I won’t forget it either, I promise,” reaching over for her goblet, she took another sip, trying to focus.
“I am Riley. Hufflepuff, obviously. Lover of memes. To confess, even though I sat here on accident, I’m glad I did.” It wasn’t that she was bold, it wasn’t that she was confident, it was just that -- though she easily could’ve been projecting -- she felt an amount of nerves come from Augustus. She imagined herself in his position, being a Slytherin talking to a Hufflepuff who’d just made a mess of herself, who he didn’t even know, in a way she felt the need to make him feel comfortable. As far as she was concerned, they were in this weird slightly serendipitous conversation TOGETHER.
Plus, their conversation had flowed remarkably well before -- if she didn’t know better, she would’ve thought she had known him before this meeting. That was a rare feeling for Riley to feel, only reserved for a select amount of people she’d met online. “Oo, I got another good question, besides your name, do you like weed? Oh God, wait, that makes me sound like such a druggy. HOLD ON, let me think of something more socially acceptable to say,” she let out a laugh, feeling her cheeks flush, “do you like ...cheese?”
