The Perfect Date (Alayna)

[Xenophilius Lovegood]

(We'll start in here and probably keep the thread here, even though the locations of the date will probably move around quite a bit.)

Xeno had it all planned. He knew Alayna fairly well, and knew her to be a girl after his own heart, so he planned a day that he knew she would enjoy. Rather than the boring old "dinner and a movie" date that many of the other young people seemed to fall back on for their dates, Xeno had opted for an afternoon date. It would start with a picnic lunch in the park, then they'd go to the zoo in Hogsmeade, followed by the Botanical Gardens, then buy chocolate in Honeydukes and pasties in the bakery. Finally, they'd finish up back in the park to eat their treats while watching the sunset over the lake before walking back to the castle arm in arm.

Feeling unusually self-conscious, Xeno decided to meet Alayna at the bottom of the stairs in the Entrance Hall of the castle. This way there wouldn't be too many witnesses to make him feel like his outfit was inadequate, even though he was wearing his very best robes in deep violet, and he'd even managed to tame his long, messy blond hair into a short ponytail.

He was now waiting at the foot of the stairs, leaning casually against the railing. He looked relaxed, but inside he was feeling anything but.

[Alayna Måne Farbright]

At 4:47am a turquoise enchanted alarm clock squawked loudly, causing Alayna Farbright's eyes to fly open instantly. She always woke at this precise time, because waking on the hour, the half hour of any hour, o r waking at an even-numbered time attracted Sheetsnipes into your dreams for the next night. And no one ever wants Sheetsnipes in their dreams. Curling tighter around her pillow for a moment, and then tossing of the covers she hopped out of bed, slipping into mismatched purple and olive slippers. Alayna pulled out her hair-tie and shook head, sending her messy hair flying around her shoulders. At her bedside table was her potions book, a guidebook for the summer camp she would be a counselor for, her wand, and her hairbrush. After sorting out all the knots in her hair, she tucked her wand behind her ear and padded across the room to the nearest mirror. Now, she thought as she studied her reflection, I just need to get the knots out of my head. For today was the day she'd get to spend an entire afternoon with Xenophilius. What could be better than that, you ask? The fact that it was a date, a bonafide date. Alayna saw her eyes light up and a smile crumple the laugh lines on her face as that word, date, danced around in head. That was a lovely word. More lovely than all the Farsprites and Unicorns and Lillihoppers in all the world. And that... that was lovely.

As Alayna busied herself with getting ready and dressed for the day, her usual routine was quite unusually, well, picky. Alayna was attempting to match her clothes. It was true. Instead of just picking whatever she fancied that morning, she tried to stick to similar colors and was having a dreadful time of doing so. If only she had the sense like her sister did with clothes... oh, her sister! Alayna recalled a spell that her sister had tried to teach her that would sort out an outfit that was flattering. Naturally, when her sister did it elaborate sets would lay themselves out on her bed, while Alayna's attempts produced much more modest layouts. Unable to recall the spell, Alayna searched her memory for an outfit that her sister had made for her. A confident smile lit her face, and she slipped into a knee length spring dress and collected trinkets to go with it. Returning to her reflection, Alayna was pleased with what she saw. Adding the last touch, Alayna took a yellow ribbon and tied back the fron tendrils of her hair, pulling her waves up and out of her face and letting them trail down her back. Her fashion was lovely and slightly formal. But still, she was glowing with one hundred percent pure, lovely Alayna magic.

Finally, it was almost noon. Alayna excused herself from the strangely social Ravenclaw girls, who were suddenly much more intrigued by Alayna likely due to her appearance. She couldn't help herself from dashing down the winding staircase from the common room, her bag bouncing against her hip with each step and her loose hair dancing about her shoulders. It was like there were Trickkettes not just on her fingers and toes, but all over making her restless and anxious, and a whole storm of Fidgewidgets zooming about her mind. Alayna was barely concious of the soft fabric swaying about her knees and the padding of her shoes that echoed the hall. Slowing her pace as she reached the entrance hall, Alayna took a deep breath to quell her nerves and peeked around the corner, instantly making eye contact with her favorite pair of eyes and blushing pinker as the roses adorning her blouse, hardly able to keep from running the last few steps to her Xeno.