[The Three Broomsticks] A thousand silhouettes [Lyall]

Why she'd finally submitted to this idea of Geri's, she would never be able to know. While she hadn't seen her fiancee in close to six months, she couldn't just assume that things were done between the two of them. Sure, she had completely betrayed him when she gave up her baby to adoption at St. Mungo's, but she still wore her ring every day. As she dressed, she slipped it off and left it on the table beside her bed, looking down at it affectionately. She hoped that Mycroft would come 'round eventually. They were engaged after all, as quickly as it all had happened. Would he even know where to find her now? Ever since she'd left his flat for the last time, she wondered if he even had any desire to get a hold of her again. Alas, she had cried enough tears over it, and perhaps this little "date" was going to be good for her. She thought that Geri generally had good taste, but she just hoped it wasn't someone she'd known from school years or an old friend. That would be awkward to say the least.

Letting her hair fall down in a slight mess around her shoulders, she took one last look in the mirror, applying her lipstick carefully. She threw her coat on quickly, grabbed her matching lime green purse, and made her way out of the room to her living quarters, heading for the exit to the castle that was closest to Hogsmeade. It was getting colder out, and being so far up in Britain wasn't treating Bronte so well. She was used to the south of England, not the north of Scotland, and even if the temperature wasn't such a major difference, she was closer to the North Pole, and she could feel the chill in her bones. Taking her time on the moving staircase, she felt a tidal wave of nerves, which was an emotion she had been avoiding. When was the last time she had gone on a first date? What if he was out of her league, or what if he was a troll? What if Geri had been completely wrong in thinking they'd be a good match. Even scarier, what if he was charming, funny, kind, and a true gentleman? Bronte did have a deep rooted weakness for a man with impeccable manners.

She finally reached the grounds, and taking careful steps down the hill to Hogsmeade, she wondered if she should stop at Crust & Crumbs to see Geri for a quick pep talk before her blind date, but then her better judgement thought that perhaps the man she was going to meet had done the same thing. So she headed straight for The Three Broomsticks, determination in her step, refusing to let herself get nervous or scared or cowardly again. She was a former Gryffindor, and she was going to harness that bravery to get her through this ordeal with confidence and determination. And she was going to have fun, dammit.

Instinct and history told her that she was late, but since she had no idea what she was looking for, she took a quick look around the room anyway. Her eyes fell on Lyall Trickett, her co-worker, sitting by himself at a table made for two. Forgetting her original purpose, she crossed the room with a toothy grin, keeping her coat on and her purse tight in her hand, she reached his table with a big, toothy grin. "'Ello, Lyall!" She said brightly, bringing her hands together in front of her. "What brings you to the Three Broomsticks in the middle of the day like this?"

It's just tea, it's just tea, it's just tea

Lyall repeated that in his mind over and over as he sat at the table inside The Three Broomsticks. It's what Geri had said to him before he almost kicked Lyall out of the bakery. The Charms professor was certainly not nervous. Pssh. He was a man. A manly man. A super strong, manly man with no fears of something as silly as a tea date. Of course... it was a blind date. Set up by his cousin. No there certainly wasn't anything to worry about. Right.

The idea of setting Lyall up with another woman was a subject that was brought up often with Geri. Lyall's wife had died a year and four months (two weeks and three days) ago and apparently the grieving period had been long enough. Geri said Lyall needed to get out more, make some friends, but Lyall was resistant. He didn't think he was ready. He was obviously not ready considering the levels of apprehension he felt about doing this. But Geri had been relentless and Lyall had finally conceded. He was a people-pleaser at heart and maybe he thought if he did it once, Geri would let up for a while.

But even though Lyall had conceded to the idea, it didn't mean he didn't try to get out of it. He woke with a cold sweat on his forehead. He felt sick to his stomach. Maybe he had a fever to. Lyall thought he might not be well enough to go on this little blind date. He mentioned this to Geri over breakfast who brushed off the excuse. Lyall had frowned and drank his morning tea in silence. About two hours before the scheduled date, Lyall brought up the fact that he had loads of friends, female friends, and began to list them for Geri as evidence to the fact that this wasn't necessary. Geri had been unimpressed by Lyall's list. Probably because there were only four names on it.

Then an hour before the scheduled date, Lyall broke down with nerves. It was like he had developed a problem with word vomit in the past hour because he couldn't shut up. He kept going on about Comyna and how he wasn't ready and how this probably wasn't a good idea because of Sorley and how he didn't have any nice clothes to wear and how he had an ear ache or maybe an infectious cough and didn't want to get the poor lady sick and it went on and on. He was just working himself up. Geri finally took him by the arm, said it was just tea, not a betrothal and then promptly kicked him out of the bakery in the direction of The Three Broomsticks. Lyall trudged along Hogsmeade's main road and entered the establishment, his brow furrowed, the nervousness, self-pity, and uncertainty etched on his face.

He had been sitting at the table in silence for a good ten minutes, staring at his table, at the menu, at anything but anyone actually in the place. His eyes darted to the door every time it opened and then quickly back to the table.  Maybe she wouldn't show, he thought hopefully. But then someone stopped at his table and a familiar voice said his name. He glanced up in surprise and looked at Bronte. "Hello Bronte," he said with a nervous smile as his eyes darted toward the door again. He was surprised to see her here even though he shouldn't be. It was a common enough place for professors to come. Maybe he had hoped that the embarrassment of him going on a blind date would be private, something that wouldn't get spread around Hogwarts like idle gossip usually does.

Her question made him nervously push away the white carnation that was on the table next to his left hand. As if she would know the meaning of it. Geri had pushed it into his hands as he sent him out the door, telling him his blind date would recognize him by this flower. Geri had wanted him to put it on his lapel, but Lyall had refused. "Oh, you know, just having some tea..." he responded, a nervous edge to his voice. It wasn't like he was actually going to admit that he came here for a blind date. He could just imagine her amused reaction. Blind dates were kind of a joke right? Then why had he agreed to this, he asked himself. "What.. err what brings you here .. in the middle of the day?" he asked her, awkwardly repeating her words. The normally laid back and affable professor was replaced by this nervous, fidgety person and Lyall hoped that maybe he was dreaming all of this...

Bronte wasn't even sure if Lyall enjoyed her company. He was Geri's cousin, one of the many Tricketts that had graced the earth with their presence, and although Bronte and him hadn't been friends in school (more friends by association and nothing beyond that), she knew that she enjoyed his company enough to carry on friendly conversation. Bronte had always been very close to Geri, but Lyall was more quiet, more reserved. Quiet, intelligent people didn't always get on with Bronte, because she was the complete opposite. She wasn't an intellectual by any means, but she certainly was passionate about the things that mattered to her. She didn't like to learn for fun, or even put "learn" and "fun" in the same sentence, really. Lyall, however, was a Ravenclaw. That needed little explanation.

And maybe he was a more private person than her, but Bronte didn't mind the reason why he was here, really. Maybe he was meeting someone that he didn't want anyone else to know about. Bronte could respect that. She, however, liked laughing about her own life with other people. She wasn't shy and she wasn't afraid of what others thought about her. She was sure that telling him she was out to meet some bloke for a blind date would make him laugh at her and think she was silly. If she could make him laugh, even at her own expense, than that would be a small success in her book. She did enjoy making others happy.

She shrugged, making a funny face in response to his inquiry. "Your lovely cousin has tried to set me up on a blind date..." She laughed, completely oblivious and noticing little but the story she was discussing. "How's that supposed to work anyway? I have no idea what this bloke looks like." She looked around the pub, not really trying to investigate any of the other men, but wondering if someone would speak up and tell her that they were also on a blind date. She was much less concerned and nervous than she should be. In fact, he seemed much less nervous than her, and she noticed for only a moment, not making the connection that her blind date was right in front of her. She was as oblivious as always, but that was just her nature. Switching the hand that was holding her bright green purse, she shifted her weight off of her right foot onto the left, and then looked over her shoulder to see if her date might be behind her. She shrugged, looking back to Lyall, who looked like he might have a fever. "I don't know if it's possible for someone to be later than me... Maybe this is my soul mate I'm waiting for here." She laughed again, grinning and hoping he might make some joke at her expense as well. It would make her feel better.

He watched her face with feigned interest, hoping to high heaven that the girl he was supposed to be meeting didn't show up while Bronte was still here. But then she was mentioning Geri and the words blind date and Lyall absolutely froze, his cheeks coloring. She was laughing and making jokes and he tried to laugh too, just because he felt that was the nice thing to do when someone made a joke, but the sound that came out of his was wooden. All of a sudden, he felt a very strong urge to find Geri and kick him where it hurt. And then immobilize him and paint his face with permanent ink. And something else equally embarrassing.

Then all of a sudden it struck him. His cousin had set him up on a blind date with his co-worker and they had had no idea about Geri's plans. When she laughed again with a joke about her soul mate, this time Lyall laughed for real. A deep chuckle rumbling in his chest, his face finally breaking out in a real smile. "Maybe I should have worn a shirt that said 'soul mate' then," Lyall replied as he brought the white carnation, holding the stem between his long fingers, with an amused smile on his face. In light of the preposterous situation, Lyall's nerves seemed to dissipate. This was obviously not a date, considering he worked with this woman. They didn't, however, stop them from having a nice time at tea.

He rose fluidly, unfolding his tall 6'2" frame, and pulled out the chair across from him politely. "I know I may not be the company you expected, but would you still like to share a cup of tea?" he asked her then grinned. "Perhaps we can plot our revenge on my cousin. Surely I'm not intelligent as I thought if I didn't see this coming," he added, falling back on his self-deprecating habit he had.

Lyall motioned the waitress over and as he waited for her to join them at their table, he gazed at her seriously. "I'm very sorry that you got caught up in this practical joke by my cousin." Even though he wanted to smash Geri's head in, he still felt the need to defend him to her.

Life was much easier when she didn't take herself or anyone else too seriously. She liked being happy even when it was difficult to find anything that could keep a genuine smile on her face. From time to time, she fought her own personal battle with depression, and it wasn't always easy to stay positive. From giving up a baby, something that had been a part of her for nine months, to the absence of the man who was supposed to love her till the end of her life. Some days she didn't know up from down, what was real or fantasy. Was Mycroft there for her when he wasn't there at all? But if she thought about it too much, that was when it hurt. It was always going to be easier for her to pretend that nothing hurt at all, and that was a sad thought to think. So if she could laugh about her own dating woes, how sad it was that she needed to have a blind date because she didn't have the looks or balls to go on a real one herself, she could pretend that she was truly happy. She herself might even believe it.

But she could tell that she was imposing herself on him, and she was going to take the opportunity to walk away during the next lull in conversation. However, the next time her eyes landed on his face, he could see him looking more sick than ever. Had he eaten something bad, or was he just that uncomfortable with the things she was saying? Maybe her jokes repulsed him... But it was the off-handed comment about the soul mate that finally brought some life back into his face. He laughed an actual laugh, and though the hint of a smile never left her features, she laughed along with him, even if she didn't immediately grasp his comment about needing a T-shirt with the words "soul mate" on it... But when it hit her, it was like a ton of bricks.

Her eyes widened in terror and she stared for a moment, mouth agape, before she laughed at the stupidity that she just displayed. What a hole she was laying in, a hole she had dug for herself. She covered her face, turning bright red, and laughed openly at herself. "Oh you must think I am an ass!" She said, her mind spinning with thoughts. She watched as he stood up from his chair and walked over to pull the chair out for her, which she politely took a seat in, wishing more than ever that she could sink into the earth. Bronte looked back up at him reluctantly, and nodded with a smile, thinking enjoying a cup of tea would be nice. "Of course. That sounds like a fabulous idea." She looked down at her purse and began shaking her coat off, and then looked back up at Lyall when he mentioned plotting Geri's demise. She laughed heartily, displaying a big toothy grin. "Great idea! I'm sure we could come up with something just dastardly between the two of us vexed souls here." She laughed softly again, and then smoothed out her skirt, and then frowned at the second half of his statement, looking up at him with a pitiful smile. "Ah, come on Lyall. You're the smartest bloke I know!" The smile on her face only widened, hoping she could ease a bit of the tension she felt. She wasn't sure if he felt uncomfortable (but she was willing to bet that he did), but she just hoped that they could enjoy themselves, if nothing else.

Goodness, how Bronte hoped that none of their co-workers found out about this. She was in no way embarrassed that it was Lyall she had been set up with, but more that she had been so oblivious and was terrorized by the sheer embarrassment she felt over her cluelessness. She wanted to avoid looking at him so that she could save herself from further embarrassment through the expression of her emotions, but after he had called to the waitress, he spoke again, and his face was one of seriousness. It made her feel childish, but laughter was the only way she could deal with it. In response to his apology (which she didn't think was necessary), she shrugged and shook her head. "Oh, not at all!" She said, smiling. But his words made her wonder if it had been a joke of Geri's, or some serious attempt. He was always nagging her about Mycroft and not waiting around, but it felt like Lyall's wife had only died a few months ago. The thought of his wife hurt her slightly, and she wondered if this was Geri's way of trying to make him stop waiting around as well, and it became evident to her that this wasn't a practical joke at all. Her suspicion came out of her mouth more quickly than her judgement could chase it. "I don't think it was a joke, though..." She looked down at the table and straightened out her napkin, deciding that it would be best if she just wired her mouth shut for the remainder of their little tea.... thing....

Lyall watched her reaction with a tinge of sympathy and an urge to put her at ease. He had been the one that almost vomited on her shoes because of his nervousness. He was quick to brush off her comment, shaking his head in disagreement. "I would never think such a thing of you," he said with a comforting smile. "For all I know, you might be my soul mate," he added jokingly, hoping they could both get over their embarrassment by making a joke of it.

He returned to his seat and nodded to her. "He certainly picked the wrong pair of professors to mess with." His gray blue eyes flashed with a look of pure devilment as he thought of all the ways he could get back at Geri. Perhaps he would get his students in on it as well. And while the idea of revenge was fun, a twinge of disappointment and betrayal jabbed at him. He didn't want to believe that Geri would do something like that, to him or to her, especially after he had been so hesitant, so careful after Comyna. He just didn't want to believe it of Geri.

He smiled at the waitress when she stopped over to take their order. Lyall, in a ladies-first manner, motioned Bronte to order her beverage before he ordered his own. He also requested a few of their pasties for the both of them, which were a favorite of his. "How do you mean?" Lyall said, a brow furrowed as he wondered what she meant. Not a joke? How could setting up two coworkers not be a joke? "Geri must have known we work together," Lyall stated just before the waitress delivered their beverages and food. He thanked her with a smile and set about adding milk and sugar to his tea from the little pots on the table.

He was sweet, and it was a great relief. Whether he actually thought she was an ass or not was irrelevant, since he was kind enough to ensure her that she was alright. She was mere moments away from being completely over the blunder and feeling better, and as she settled into her seat, satisfied with the straightness of her dress, she grinned up at him. "Thank you." She said quietly, in a manner that was still slightly mocking of herself. His comment about soulmates made her one last time, and without anything clever to say in response, she simply brushed it off, glad they could move on to the topic of their revenge on Geri Trickett, evil blind date mastermind.

The wrong pair of professors they were, huh? Lyall had always been brilliant, and Bronte was at least fairly skilled and specialized in transfiguration. Next to curses and hexes, being transfigured was probably one of the worse ways to have revenge enacted upon oneself. Bronte could turn Geri into a toad... or a matchbox... or a men's toilet... The devilish look on Lyall's face brought laughter to Bronte's face again. "The ideas are just swimming!" She said, making a swirling motion with her finger tip at her right temple. Laughing again, she looked up at the waitress, who had finally made her way to the table, and she greeted the girl with a bright grin. "Hello!" She said, eager to be polite. "A pot of Earl Grey, please. Thank you." She always did her best to be kind to waitresses. She herself had spent a few years as one down at the local pub following her graduation from Hogwarts. Waiting on miserable people was hell, so Bronte went out of her way to show happiness and appreciation to others. Especially people with the misfortune of having to serve her.

Yes yes, it would've been much better if she hadn't said a thing at all. She was better off not bringing it up, but Bronte had the very bad habit of spewing off things that came into her mind. Perhaps there was still time for her to save it, if she just didn't mention anything but herself. If she just talked about herself and her own embarrassing woes with love, it would be much less awkward. "Well, what I mean is that Geri is always talking about setting me up with someone," She began, knowing she'd probably give away far too much information. It would more than likely be more than he would care to know, but Bronte was sure that if he knew the whole story, she might be able to cover her ass a bit more. "You see," she said, tucking a chunk of hair behind her ear. "My 'fiancée'," she rolled her eyes, making air quotes. "left me months ago, and I haven't seen him or heard from him since." She shrugged, sitting back in her chair, and hoping he didn't feel badly for her. "So Geri is always complaining and nagging me and telling me that I've got to move on and find someone else. Which is why I think this is his attempt at finding me love." She laughed, feeling slightly awkward. If he had ever noticed her wearing a her ring, this would hopefully explain it. She felt a little sleazy anyway, since she was still technically engaged.

Bronte could consume tea in gallons. She heartily enjoyed any and all hot beverages (Aside from chai lattes. Gross.), and she was very excited when her pot of tea arrived. Pouring a bit into her cup, she struggled with what she should say next, feeling sentimental and a little too thoughtful for her own liking. Her brow furrowed, the smile slowly drifted from her features as she thought of Mycroft. Her eyes trailed from the teapot from which she was pouring hot tea into her mug, and on to her left-hand ring finger. Not only did it feel naked, but it looked naked too. She wasn't sure how she felt about it. In some way, it was liberating for her to walk away from such a deep affliction. In another way, she wasn't ready to accept the fact that she was no longer in this part of her life. It felt strange, but she didn't know what she would rather. Some days, it was easier to pretend that nothing was wrong, and ignore everything that hurt. Acknowledging it now sucked.

He smiled at her, softly, when she thanked him and made eye contact with her before he ducked his head and nodded once. It struck him that he was sitting opposite a woman who wasn't his wife and he didn't know exactly how she took her tea. That thought made him wonder, but didn't hurt in the way it normally burned when he thought of Comyna. Maybe it was just plain old curiosity.

The light of her laughter on her face made him unexpectedly warm and, he too, could feel the ideas whirring about in his headspace. He leaned over the table toward her, glancing over his shoulder surreptitiously before stage-whispering to her. "What do you got?" he asked knowing she would have some good ideas. "I was thinking... an itching charm on his knickers. Every single pair. Or a what about a balding charm!" He grinned at her, the excitement causing crinkles around his eyes as they plotted their revenge.

Lyall listened with his entire focus on her, eager to hear her thoughts, eager to hear something that would prove Geri had not done the thing Lyall feared he had. But Bronte surprised him with more details about her... situation. He didn't mind and made sure he looked at her and nodded, showing his attention. And maybe that's why, as he was looking at her, that he couldn't prevent the shock from crossing his face. Fiancé?! He hastily averted his gaze back to the table, feigning extreme interest in the wood grain patterns that laid themselves out before him. He tried to echo her laugh but his was wooden and stiff and he hoped she wouldn't notice. Lyall was still struggling with her news though.

Maybe, he thought, maybe it hadn't been Geri's joke. Maybe it was a joke played by fate itself. Because really what were the chances he was set up with his coworker and the only 'available' engaged one at that? He was reeling and the only thought that kept coming back to him was the question of whose story was more tragic: the man on a blind date who still wasn't over his dead wife or the woman on a blind date who had a runaway fiancé.

He forced himself into the present, not wanting her to think him rude or impolite. He made an apologetic sound, mostly because he couldn't think of anything to say and then he tried to laugh again with her but it came out wrong and Lyall didn't linger on the sound. "Geri keeps telling me that I need to get out more too," he said with a sheepish smile as he struggled for normalcy but was surprisingly genuine. "Still can't quite believe that Geri didn't know that we worked together, but I guess it matters little now. At the very least, we can say that we enjoyed a nice cup of tea together," he said before taking a sip from his cup. Then he worried that might be too forward. Was that friendly or forward? She was engaged after all. Engaged!

Why had they never been friends? It seemed that Bronte was already able to pour her life's story out to him and he took it fairly well. He was surprisingly easy to talk to, and when they were children, Bronte always got the impression that he was too intelligent to listen to her prattle on about stupid stuff that she was always talking about. She'd always thought that he didn't have the patience for a friend like herself, so she left him alone and turned to bright-eyed Geri instead. She felt badly about it now, knowing that she'd wasted years thinking she didn't merit Lyall's friendship rather than actually trying to get along with him. He was not hard to get along with at all. She was laughing and enjoying herself, and he was polite and much more kind than he probably should be, so she liked him well enough. Then again, Bronte liked almost anybody.

She dropped a few spoonfuls of sugar into her tea, liking the fruity Earl Grey to be sweet as well, and dropping her own spoon inside the tea to stir it, she took a slow tentative sip, leaving the spoon resting against the inside of the cup. She looked back up at Lyall, who was leaning into the table, and whispering over to her. A toothy smile came back to her face, and she laughed, putting her cup down. "Well, the possibilities are endless, really. But those are great ideas." She nodded towards him and laughed loudly, considering her own thoughts. Imagine transfiguring him into a toilet and then replacing the toilet in his shop with Toilet Geri. She shook her head, enjoying her own private joke, thinking it was far too mean of her to do that. The picture in her head was horrible and delightful at the same time. It would be akin to torture, though, and probably way too far.

She slapped a hand to her forehead, composing herself following her fit of laughter. "My ideas are bad and mean." She raised a hand in front of her, and reached down to take another sip from her cup of tea. "You're the brains of this operation, though. Or you should be, at least." Looking up at him from her glass, she smirked into her cup and sipped slowly, but only lowered the cup from her mouth slowly, holding it in front of her as she began listening to what Geri thought of him... And his situation...

Bronte knew that Lyall's wife had died. Geri had told her after it happened, and being a friend of Geri's and a friend of a friend of Lyall, she had been tempted to send a card expressing condolences to Lyall. But when he spoke about Geri wanting him to get out more, Bronte found herself feeling badly for him and forgetting about her own problems with Mycroft. She thought that his life made her woes look like a complete joke, and she felt silly for being so worried. Their biggest difference was that Mycroft had chosen to leave Bronte. He wanted to go. Lyall's wife was taken from him, and he could never see her again. Bronte could search England for Mycroft if she wanted to, but she didn't. She felt instantly stupid, nodding slowly and taking another sip from her tea. Her problems were minuscule compared to his. She was thankful when he changed the subject. Another thing that had been Bronte's fault. Of course Geri didn't know they were co-workers. She had never told him...

"Eh, yeah that was me..." She smiled awkwardly. "I didn't tell Geri that I got the job at Hogwarts immediately because I wasn't sure that I'd actually get it... I'm only a temp, as it is." She shrugged with an apologetic smile. Eeek. Would he think she was trying to justify this "date"? That's what it sounded like. She fought a twinge of embarrassment but a flush of blood came to her head when she thought of it. She was only saying it because that was how unsure she was about getting the job. They didn't even hire her as a full professor. But maybe that was protocol. She didn't know! But trying to explain that would sound absolutely stupid of her. He would have to think what he wanted about her statement. She was impossible to save. "But yes, the tea is good. We might've never gotten the chance without your dear cousin." She smiled, and tried to save herself by taking another sip from her cup.

The man smiled at her warm laughter and felt like laughing himself. He really could see it now. Geri squirming under the interminable itching, desperate for some relief... down there. Or him screaming as he looked at himself in the mirror, his wavy brown hair replaced by a shiny bald head. Never much one for pranks, Lyall wondered if this was what it was like to be a Gryffindor.

He liked that she laughed at his jokes and found himself laughing along with her even in light of her new... situation. Friends could laugh together right? That couldn't mean anything. He shook his head at her, smiling from behind the tea cup he had raised to his lips. Lyall didn't like that she named him the brains of the op, sounded to him as if she were trying to put herself down. "No," he disagreed with a smile, "but you seem to have more compassion out of the two of us. " He had felt a twinge of shame. If she thought her ideas were bad and mean, he couldn't imagine how his ideas could be judged. But then again, they were only ideas right?

"Ah, but you're right. I probably shouldn't be plotting my cousin's demise," he said, perhaps to appease his own conscience than anything else. "Although.. I know who to come to if I ever do need to exact some revenge," Lyall added with a chuckle.

His brows quirked when she took responsibility for the misunderstanding and his hands that had been pulling a bit of the pastie apart stilled. "Oh," Lyall said, thinking on her words quietly for a moment. So if she hadn't told him she was teaching at Hogwarts, then he hadn't set this up as some kind of joke. The revelation made him feel better and worse at the same time. He felt like a fool for not understanding, but he was sort of happy because he didn't feel pressured to be a good potential mate. He actually felt lighthearted. 

"Well then," he said to her with a grin after he had finished the morsel of pastie that seemed to melt on his tongue. "In that case, I think we might need to play this out... for Geri's sake of course. " He grinned at her and then looked down at his lap, his hands folded neatly as he tried to compose his expression. He raised one finger at her, to wait, as he took a few long moments in silence. When he raised his eyes back to her, he smiled politely, an innocent if not perhaps a little self-conscious expression on his face.

"It's a pleasure to meet you. My name is Lyall, Lyall Trickett," he said as he extended a hand over the table to her. "I believe my cousin Geri set us up on this.. thing. What did you say your name was again?"

Darn it, did she finish the first cup of tea already? She looked down into the bottom of her glass and foresaw a future of a thousand bathroom trips. Actually, she would hold it. She wouldn't want Lyall to think she was trying to bail on him, even if this wasn't a real date. A bit of sugar sat like wet sand in the bottom of her glass, all caked together and making the last taste of her first cup of tea much sweeter than the others. Deciding to wait a bit before she poured more tea into her glass, she looked down at the pasty in front of her, which Lyall had ordered. She knew that she was trying to save herself from potentially awkward conversation by drowning herself in tea, so her conscious chose to punish her and forbid her from another cup for now, but her hands found a new safety blanket: food.

Using a fork and knife, Bronte cut a corner off of her own flaky pasty, and stuck it into her mouth. Good. Very good. Bronte was a woman of routine and usually got the same old thing. Even if she loved adventure, she liked comfort as well. Usually she turned to a cream puff of a pork pie, but this was good. She covered her mouth with her lips as he spoke, wanting to interject with the fact that he was the Ravenclaw, afterall. And she was sure he had plenty of compassion! If it came down to it, there was no way they would do it. Bronte might have been a trickster in her younger years, but nowadays, there wasn't much she could do which wasn't ever taken too far. Or perhaps she had just merely lost her touch.

By the time her mouth was clear of food, she was nodding along with him with a smile. "Right. Just let me know and we'll figure something out then." With a grin, she decided that it was definitely time for some more tea, and so she refilled her cup. But she wasn't exactly put at ease by his acknowledgement of her failure to inform Geri that she was working at Hogwarts. It really wasn't as sick as they might have originally thought. All of it had just been an innocent misunderstanding, but there was no point in dwelling on it. He was right.

She looked up at him as he began speaking again, dropping a few spoonfuls of sugar into her cup once more. She smiled, laughing softly at his words, but not exactly sure what he meant. His raised finger caused her to laugh more heartily this time, and she removed her hand from the spoon in her glass, waiting patiently. He was good at composing himself, but it was impossible for Bronte. She might not have been the most mature thirty-something, but she liked to laugh, and it was impossible not to laugh at his rather good acting.

His introduction only made her laugh even more, but she tried her best to compose herself as well. Biting down on her bottom lip, she shook his hand, her grip very gentle. "I'm Bronte Barrett-Awning. It's very nice to meet you, Lyall." She put her chin in her hand, playing along as best she could. She pulled her hand away and stirred her cup of tea. "What do you do?"

Lyall smiled and nodded in agreement. For a moment, he really loved the idea of pulling an epic prank on Geri. But... he also lived with the man. It probably wasn't the smartest idea to tick off your roommate, considering he had prime access to where one slept. Nevertheless, Lyall dreamed about it....

The fight to keep a straight face was difficult in light of her laughter. He wanted to smile back at her, laugh with her and he fought the urge. The amusement could still be seen in his warm brown eyes, in the quirk of his lips as he tried to fight off a smile. But finally he had it under control and they were playing their little game and he found he felt loads lighter than he had when he had walked into the room.

His palm tingled as he shook her hand and then let go gently. "Bronte, now that is a very beautiful name," he commented, as if trying out the name, as if he was unfamiliar with it. He couldn't quite keep the smile off his face though. Her smile was contagious. Lyall glanced away modestly and picked up his tea cup as she asked about him. Oh, you know, nothing special. I work up at the school," he said with a nod towards the castle. "I teach Charms. Try to wrangle in the youngsters and hope some knowledge seeps in past the latest Weird Sisters song or what the last scores were of Quidditch game match." He lifted a shoulder in a shrug. "But I bet you do something much more interesting," Lyall said with a grin. "What line of work are you in?"

Taking the cup up to her lips, she only allowed herself to have a small taste of her second cup of tea; limiting her intake would be best. The desire to busy herself was going to be great, considering she was a horrible actor and Lyall was far too good at going along with this little charade he was putting on. She knew he was only playing around, but it still made her feel a little... silly. In the best way, of course. Bronte was, afterall, the most immature thirty year old she had ever met. Most days she woke up cursing the fact that she hadn't gotten younger instead of older. The older she was, the more and more inappropriate her lack of control over her own life got. Sure, now she had a serious job again, and she was paying her own bills and being as responsible as possible, but she didn't feel like she was any older than she had when she was eighteen. She still didn't get how life was supposed to work. Wasn't that understanding supposed to come with age? Hell, she was in her thirties, engaged, and had the opportunity to start a family. She gave up the baby because she didn't think she was ready, but how many women in that position would do the same? There must be something wrong with her. Then again, maybe Geri was right. Maybe she did need to get out more. By the looks of it, Mycroft wasn't coming around any time soon.

Quickly, she snapped back to their game, and she grinned, placing the cup of tea back down onto the table, nodding interestedly. At least she could be herself around Lyall, something she never thought would be possible. Maybe she had grown up a little, because sixteen year old Bronte would probably stay as silent as an armchair at the sight of him. His intelligence was intimidating to her, and she always thought that if she were to accidentally say the wrong thing to him he would just utterly trump her with his smarts, and she would just be there feeling stupid as ever. Though, in their teenage years, Bronte didn't pay him very much attention at all, and it was a shame now that she realized that they could get along so well.

She laughed, cocking her head in mock surprise. "Gee, that's funny. I work up at the school too! I'm the transfigurations professor." She laughed at herself, at their whole conversation, and then figured that she could reveal a bit about herself, about things he didn't actually know, while they were at it. "But I used to work for the ministry. I was on the Accidental Magic Reversal Squad." She raised her eyebrows, figuring he might laugh at her for leaving a job like that, which paid very well and was exciting and cool, to be a teacher. Bronte didn't even really like teachers when she was younger, and he could attest to that. But here she was, and she liked it so far.

The game they played together was more thrilling than the latest Quidditch match and Lyall had to wonder at the reason why. Smiles hidden behind tea cups, the joy of putting up such pretense was extraordinarily enjoyable. How did this blind date turn into an encounter he didn't mind in the least bit? How smug would Geri be when Lyall told him what happened? The Charms professor tried not to think of his gloating cousin and instead got back to being busy and pretending like he didn't know anything about the woman sitting across from him.

"Oh really?" he said with playful surprise, widening his eyes for extra effect. "How odd that we've never bumped into each other before." His tone was colored with a jolly sort of sarcasm, his eyes gleaming with amusement. He set his chin in his head and looked at with brows quirked. "Oh? The AMRS? You must have so many stories about the oddities you've come across. Give me the best one you've got." He smiled as he thought about that little tidbit of info she had shard with him. He didn't peg her for a Ministry girl for some reason, but also knew that she probably kicked arse in the Reversal Squad. Not only was it a pretty difficult department to get into, but one had to have their wits about them all the time. Never knew what you would be walking into with that job. Lyall admired her for that kind of ... adaptability.

"Did you know I didn't always work at the school either?" he volunteered, finding some common ground in the fact that their paths had lead them to Hogwarts from other very different fields. "Pretty much the dorkiest thing you can think of," he said with a little roll of his eyes in a charmingly self-deprecating way. "I was a Charms research scientist. So basically I would invent new charms for new products and such. Are you familiar with the sparklicopter?" Lyall asked, naming a popular children's toy from a few years back that was essentially a helicopter that shot mini fireworks out the top. He smiled widely. "That's my claim to fame." He shook his head with a laugh as he thought about the fact that the vast majority of people would only know his work by the few children's toys that had managed to make it out on the market. All that work and yet he still hadn't made it out of his five-year-old mindset. Ah well. No harm, no foul.

He took another bit of the pastry on the table between him as he regarded her with an interested gaze. "What if," he offered, "we each said something about ourselves that most people don't know?" He was trying to hold back a smile but wasn't succeeding all that well. "Isn't that what people do on dates?" Merlin, he thought. Probably shouldn't have said that. Then she would think he hadn't done the whole dating thing. Even though he hadn't. Cause he had been married. Past tense. Gulp. Think of something else, you dolt. But then nothing else came to him and his question lingered in the air. He didn't want to rush forward and reveal something about himself if she didn't want to play. Maybe this was a horrible idea after all. He gulped down some tea to hide his foolish reaction.

Thinking on the matter at hand for a moment, Bronte considered just how peculiar all of this was. Why did they have to pretend that they didn't know each other in order to open up to each other? It was alright - She certainly wasn't complaining! In a way, this was a bit of fun, and she was glad that they could talk to each other as if they had no reputation to lose. She figured that even if the one wanted to sell the other out, they still had the embarrassment of going on a blind date together that they wouldn't want the rest of Hogwarts staff to hear about. Especially with Bronte being new to the teaching staff, the last thing she needed was rumors about her floating around the teacher's quarters.

She continued laughing at his surprise, and nodded in the most serious way possible: with a big smirk and bright eyes. "Yes, so strange." Lacing her fingers together in her lap, she crossed one leg over the other in an attempt to make herself sit up straighter. She looked up at the ceiling with only her eyes, seemingly in thought, and made a humming noise in her throat. "Let's see." She said, placing her finger to her lips and finally narrowed her eyes in an effort, it seemed, to get deeper into her own thoughts. "I'm afraid my favorite such instance is wildly inappropriate for casual daytime conversation," She looked back at him and nearly burst with immature giggles. She looked down at her teacup, unlacing her fingers in temptation, and willed herself to keep her hands in her lap. "But," She started, looking down at the table cloth. "I think one of the better experiences was a time that this woman out in Gloucester, a drunk woman at that," She put her chin in her hand, relaying the story with waving hands. "got herself stuck, sticking out the side of her flat." She shook her head, waving her hands slightly. "Don't ask me how she did it! We don't know, she doesn't know. We got her out safe and sound by the good grace of Merlin." She leaned into the table slightly, speaking in a softer voice. "Bright morning, this woman is drunk at 10 AM. Can't imagine."

Realizing she was completely rambling, she laughed at herself and brought her hands back into her lap, calming herself down. She let him speak, biting her lips together and nodding politely. "I had no idea." She said with bright eyes, actually surprised that he hadn't always been a teacher... Which might've been bad of her, but he was just so smart, and she thought he probably was a really fantastic professor. Just the sort she would have hated in her day.

She listened intently, getting even more interested as he spoke, nodding. She grinned at his small confession, her mouth agape. "Wow! I had no idea." She nodded, smirking at him. "That's pretty impressive, I must say..." She took a small sip from her teacup and placed it down, sitting back in her chair.

His suggestion was enough to bring a goofy smile to her face, but also send her brain a-whirring. "That could be good." She nodded slowly, considering it. "I mean, a 'no-skeletons-in-the-closet' approach is probably a good way to start things off." That sounded stupid. Stop talking. She laughed awkwardly at herself, and then took a deep breath. "Uh... I guess I'll start." This is probably a bad idea, she thought, considering the first thing that popped into her mind was probably far too heavy a burden to place on Lyall's shoulders. Still, she felt like if she were to say anything else, it would be a serious downplay on what Bronte's life was all about. Should she be honest and say the first thing that came to mind? Or something that was much lighter fare? She almost considered forcing him to go first to see what exactly he had in mind, but since she had already said she would, she was burdened with setting the bar... Shit.

"Er... Well..." She started, tapping her fingernails anxiously on the tablecloth. "I like hiking and outdoorsy stuff?" Cop-out. She laughed, shrugging. "That sucks. I don't really know where to draw the line." She shook her head, and might as well've just admitted the fact that she broke up her own marriage-to-be by giving her child up for adoption. How would that make him feel? What if he had been hoping she might spill the beans about the fact that an engagement ring that was typically on her finger was now suddenly missing? Had he noticed at all?

Suddenly prompted to "tell the truth" (although she had never been lying), she suddenly fessed up. "My fiancee hasn't spoken to me in nearly three years because I gave our child up for adoption." Suddenly looking very severe, she exhaled sharply, and immediately regretted this decision. "But that was too much information and I am very sorry."