[Godric's Hollow] Can I burn the mazes I grow? [Seth]

It was ridiculous how much thought had gone into this day, but Lorin had always been the planning type. She didn’t really “wing it.” Especially where this was concerned, she certainly wanted to make sure that everything went exactly as it should, and that nothing would reveal her true intentions to her guest. She tried to pretend that her face wasn’t flushed and that she wasn’t breathing harder than normal as she fluttered endlessly back and forth from her bedroom to her bathroom. She was feeling fussy and dissatisfied with everything she thought about wearing, and more than anything she was feeling overwhelmed. She hated this phenomenon, and how easily her mind betrayed her. She shouldn’t care about these things. She’d picked out what she had wanted to wear the night before, but she just worried. Would she be obvious? She feared that, perhaps, she would be.

That was the thought that worried her more than all. Lorin didn’t care what other people thought of her. They took her or left her, just the way she was. She could be charming; she could smile and bat her eyelashes and be anything she wanted to be—anything she wanted. She had never stopped to care about anyone’s perception of her other than Theoren’s, to be completely honest, and his opinion of her was whatever she wanted it to be. She applied her lipstick carefully, going so far as to wipe meticulously along the edges to make sure there was not a bit out of place. She blotted against the tissue, then looked back into the mirror. She pressed down a few flyaway hairs, then scrutinized herself for a bit longer.

The dress she had chosen was sleek and seductive, green and black with a slight V-neck. She wanted to show just enough cleavage to look as sexy as she could, but not enough to give anything away. She turned sideways and sucked in her stomach, straightening her shoulders. She hated it, she decided. Thoroughly despised it. It was too dressy, and would absolutely look out of place. He would notice. He would think she was dressing up for him, and that wouldn’t do. No, she wanted to look nice but not look like she wanted to look nice. She needed something better. More effortless.

Besides, the green didn’t look right with the brownish, dark-red lipstick she had been favoring lately. She would have to make do with something else. She threw the dress onto her bed in a heap of fabric, and then looked for something else. Maybe a skirt with tights could look somewhat effortless? She didn’t like to wear pants if she could help it, and she certainly didn’t want to encourage the idea that she was something akin to a guy friend. However crass she may have let herself become with him, she was not a teenage boy, she was a lady. She needed to at least look like it. She pulled a button-up shirt over her shoulders and buttoned it up halfway before she realized that the buttons were going to tug over her full chest. No, not this. Why didn’t she have anything to wear in this house?

She ran her fingers through her hair, tugging apart a few curls accidentally, as she thought to herself. She took everything off, and decided to just start over. Why didn’t she just start with a skirt. She wanted something flowy, not too tight. It was summer time, and it was hot, and she didn’t want to feel too constrained. She was already going to be uptight, and didn’t need to not be able to move her legs more than an inch apart. Some of her nicer skirts were already out, on dressiness alone. This narrowed it down quite a bit.

She pulled out a black lace skirt, and nodded. That could work. Black was always classy and it matched everything. She only had to find a blouse to go with it. She pulled out a black corset top without thinking and zipped it up. She loved blouses like that. She thought the structure highlighted her best features and hid her least favorite ones. The silver zipper also made it easy to adjust, giving exactly what she wanted to give, however much or little it was. She left it unzipped about a half-inch from the top, and pulled the skirt on. Great. Just a belt and she’d be fine. She grabbed her favorite one, then scurried back to the bathroom to check herself out again.

She thought that this was acceptable, and was happy that she’d gotten something on. Her face was still warm and red, from the stress and worry. She worried that she was sweating a little and put a little extra deodorant on just in case. One last makeup check, her necklace and rings, and a few squirts of perfume later, Lorin decided that she was ready.

She went to work cleaning up the mess she made in her room, and tried to figure out what exactly they were going to do, what they would be talking about. She was certain that they’d figure something out. After-all, they only had a few hours to fill and conversations with him came relatively easy. She just hoped that she could come up with a better excuse for why she had invited him. Truthfully, she had been nervous since realizing that he would be graduating. She wasn’t ready to completely lose contact with him. Of the few friends she had made at Hogwarts, he was among the most important to her. Their connection was one the most genuine relationships that she’d had with anyone except Theoren ever, and she was thrilled that she’d had someone to tell the things that often went unsaid. Like it or not, she had come to realize that his opinion of her mattered, and that if he never wanted to speak to her again once he graduated, she might very well be heartbroken.

So, she thought about it. She started writing her letter to him before they even took the train ride home, congratulating him on his success and inviting him to visit her. She hoped that it hadn’t been too forward, but she had tried very hard to make it sound friendly and unassuming. For Lorin, that was quite a feat. The summer months were often long and tedious with nothing and no-one to help her fill them, and she had really hoped that he would agree.

Hoped, though. Not expected. She hadn’t really thought for a moment that Seth would agree to come. She had thought that, perhaps, he would have written back to her... or ignored her. What use would he have for talking with her, anyway? She was not overconfident enough to assume she was the least bit important to him. With the job hunt, and starting out as an adult.. she knew that he would be busy. However, the letter she got back from him had made her positively giddy in a way that thoroughly disgusted her. She had allowed herself to think about it for nearly a full day before she really realized what it meant. He would be coming there. To the home she was sharing with her brother. Seth would be seeing her there and her things. That was when she started to panic. She didn’t doubt that her reasons for inviting him would be called into question and she still wasn’t sure how she would answer. She supposed that the lies flowed much better under pressure than they did the rest of the time. If she had time to think, she had time to second-guess herself.

Honestly, her intentions were a mystery to even her. It was much easier for her to function with a goal in mind, but she did not even know if she would try to do anything with him or not. She hadn’t thought that far ahead. Usually, she spoke to others for a purpose. She wanted something they had, wanted to take something, wanted to share it. With Seth, she was in the uncomfortably new position of wanting nothing more than his presence, conversation, and attention. She certainly wouldn’t resist the offer of anything more than that—and she had definitely taken her potion that morning—but her pathetic desperation was so uncharacteristic that it actually made the brunette angry and bitter. There was truly nothing she loathed more than what her fascination with him had made her become.

Green eyes flicked up to the wall clock. He’d said three o’clock. It was only quarter after two, and Lorin was ready and waiting for him. She took a quiet moment to let the calm sink in, and practiced putting on her character, speaking quietly with her pillows: greeting him, starting off conversations with practiced eloquence. Perhaps she should eat something, though, before he came. She would probably offer him something when he arrived, but she didn’t want him to see her eating, at least not much.

She checked the clock as she reached the kitchen. Half past two. Time was barely crawling by as the suspense mounted.

The letter from the younger Slytherin girl had been … well, somewhat unexpected, at least where Seth was concerned. He hadn’t been remotely aware of the fact that she was still interested in keeping any form of contact with him since they’d had the one night deal and then sort of blown it off. Pretended like it hadn’t happened, almost. That was the nice thing about getting with girls that knew their way around once in awhile -- you didn’t have to worry about them blabbing to their stupid friends or getting attached. Maybe a nice visit with Lorin Odell would have been exactly what Seth needed during the summer. It would get him away from his family affairs, anyway. Distract him a little. Thus, he’d accepted in a few short, concise, seemingly sincere sentences in the letter he’d sent back to her, and hadn’t thought much of it until right before it came time to start getting ready to leave the Manor for Lorin’s place in Godric’s Hollow.

The recently graduated Gryffindor boy had absolutely no idea what Lorin had invited him over for, nor did he particularly care. Spontaneous things outside of his boring-as-hell job weren’t anything that Seth would say no to, and this felt fairly out of the blue and almost unnecessary. What significance did his physical presence have, other than the obvious answer? Did she enjoy his company? Not that many people did, and it wasn’t as though he could blame them. He wasn’t a ray of sunshine, and he wasn’t a gentleman. Not, at least, when he wasn’t trying to get into the girl’s pants. He was rude to males most of the time, but from what he’d heard and seen of Lorin, she was tolerable at the very least. He seemed to get along with intelligent Slytherin girls. Intelligent girls in general, but most of those cases were platonic. This case wasn’t, really. Seth was kind of curious whether there would be tension looming in the air as soon as he stepped over the threshold of her house, but he wasn’t worried about it. It was just another thing he was used to.

Shady thoughts of whether anyone else would be home crossed the tall boy’s mind. Would he really be brave enough to initiate anything of the sort while he was with Lorin? He didn’t know, because things tended to be different when he was actually experiencing them instead of just thinking about them, but if he did, it probably wouldn’t end up being something he’d regret. It certainly hadn’t been subpar the last time. Absentmindedly, he quirked an eyebrow in the midst of his reminiscence of their … evening together. Of course, she’d been beautiful. Long dark hair, big eyes, and curves. Curves weren’t a terribly usual thing for Seth, but they weren’t anything he was opposed to or would refuse by any standard. Especially not in her case. She hadn’t been overbearing or naggy or anything that would be a turnoff like that, so he didn’t think this little chat of theirs or whatever was going to happen would be unpleasant either.

After spritzing some light cologne onto his wrists and his neck, Seth slid his watch onto his wrist, admiring the expensive quality and the still-shiny metal. Now, he needed nothing else to complete his outfit other than his jacket. The clothes he was wearing didn’t scream pureblood, but the colors were pretty neutral and nothing was really all that flashy. He didn’t want to come off as too pretentious, as that would change the mood a bit. He wanted things to be as open as he could make them.

Adjusting the brown semi-heavy jacket around his broad shoulders, Seth took a deep breath and apparated himself as near to Godric’s Hollow as he could remember. He really hadn’t wanted to splinch himself, so walking a couple more blocks didn’t bother him in the slightest. That was his getaway from all the drama most of the time -- just going outside and doing something active, so this wasn’t really any different. He’d eaten lunch before he’d left the house, considering that most people did before three o’clock, but it wasn’t likely that he would say no to anything she had to offer him, if she did.

Upon a second glance at the piece of paper Seth held in his oversized hand, he nodded in affirmation that he’d picked the right house. Right number, anyway. He rolled his shoulders back, fixing his posture to look as though he took up more space than he actually did, and knocked confidently at the door. When the much shorter figure opened it up, he smiled warmly at her, feeling his cheeks dimple. He knew girls liked that, and he didn’t suspect this pretty brunette was any different. “Hey, Lorin.” He said, his low voice lilting as he said her name. Seth still wasn’t really sure what would happen, but so far, so normal.

By a quarter till, Lorin was feeling even more nervous than ever. She had helped herself to a few of the cookies she’d made for Theoren at the beginning of the week, then felt a little guilty about it as she struggled to clean up after herself. Now she would need to brush her teeth again, bother.... she tried to hurry as she made her way to the restroom again. She was glad to see that the “non-smudging” charm the lipstick promised hadn’t been a gimmick. It looked just as good as it had when she had first applied it. When she finished brushing, she grew more and more nervous. Less than five minutes left and her heart was beating out of her chest. It was unbecoming for her to get so flustered over a boy. It wasn’t as thought she’d never met him before. She’d known him for months. Hell, the girl had even taken him to bed already. None of this should have been new.

Somehow, though, it was. It was nothing at all like taking him to the victory ball had been. There was no one watching and no one to impress except him. She supposed he would not had come if he wasn’t the least bit interested in talking with her, but she worried about that, too. She had rehearsed her conversations with him a few times, but he had a nasty habit of always saying something different than what she imagined he would say. Regardless of what she expected, he tended to surprise her. Due to this, she had tried to prepare herself to not anticipate anything he would say. She would try to ‘go with the flow.’ That was a horrifying thought, but what better could she do?

She fluttered uselessly in and out of the bathroom for a few moments trying to remember what she needed to do in between trips to the mirror when she heard the doorbell finally ring. She took a deep breath, straightened her shoulders, and then walked towards the door. She hesitated for just a second before opening the door, preparing himself to see him before she stepped out to greet the former Gryffindor.

She had forgotten how tall he was. Lorin wasn’t a short girl. In fact, she was a little above-average in that department, but Seth still towered over her. He looked very handsome, which she expected, but also appeared quite happy to see her. She felt snakes in her stomach at his dimpled smile, but tried to ignore it as she always did. “Hello Seth.” She greeted in return, the name feeling different on her tongue.

Lorin hated using first names when she could help it. They felt too personal to her. She only had a short list of people whom she cared for enough to use their first names in conversation. This list consisted of her family and Rosaline Bane. No one else made the cut. Except, apparently, Seth. She couldn’t exactly greet him with a surname, not after his friendly greeting. She sometimes called the men she was involved with by their names, but this was usually only while being intimate. She changed back almost immediately after. She didn’t know what it was about them she didn’t like. They names felt intimate to her, and that meant that they had meaning. She would have preferred to keep Stanton far, far away from her heart if she could help it. She was already in too deep with him, and she wasn’t sure how she had managed it.

“You look very handsome today. Some kind of special occasion?” She teased playfully,  nodding for him to follow her inside. “Come on in." She suggested. "I’ll admit that I don’t have much of anything planned for today. I was just hoping that we could catch up a bit. I’m sure you have plenty to share, what with being a Hogwarts alumnus now and all.” She was surprised that the words were coming so easily. She hadn’t rehearsed this, but it seemed alright so far. She kept the rest of the stock conversation in the back of her mind to pull out when the inevitable lull hit.

“Before we start, are you hungry?” She asked. “I could make tea.” She offered. “I also baked cookies this week, if you’d like one. In the kitchen.” She walked into the kitchen without waiting for a reply, then turned and went back to the archway to ensure he was following her.