[Acelyns] Roman Holiday ~ [Harvey]

Tess was really going out on a limb here and there was something simultaneously terrifying and exhilarating about it, while she waited outside of the ice cream shop with her hands stuffed in the pockets of her sister's coat. A brisk breeze blew through the alleyways and she was instantly glad that she had stolen this ugly coat, even if Harvey Landsdowne might think it unflattering...

The sun was hidden behind the buildings that surrounded her, and she silently wondered if he might blow her off. Her correspondence was somewhat unprecedented, insofar as she had never sent him a letter before, and she had been the one to initiate the conversation. To celebrate his appointment as Head Boy, Tess offered to take him out for ice cream, and he should be here any minute to meet her outside Acelyn's.

All of this was terribly nerve-wracking and she stood pigeon-toed, wiggling her knees back and forth in nervous impatience. Of course, there was no mention of this being anything serious or scary on either of their behalves, but she wouldn't want to be stood up, even if it was just a friend date. It had only happened to her once with Egan, but she vowed to never let someone leave her hanging again. However, if she wanted Harvey to pay any sort of attention to her, when there were herds of prettier, smarter, more interesting girls at Hogwarts and abroad, she would have to put herself out there. With the cat out of the bag with Freya, she knew it could only be a matter of time before the actions she had taken to get Harvey to notice her were on the tongues of her classmates; embarrassment was something she just couldn't afford.

One thing she was thankful for, however, was this new hair potion she'd created in her spare time in the apothecary. Downtime was somewhat rare, but Tess was getting into the art of creating hair potions with tweaks and additions in order to really benefit different hair types. She'd made a batch for Freya's blonde tresses with added lemon and chamomile, and for herself, she'd added cocoa butter, beeswax, and wool grease... The result, though experimental, had gone incredibly well, and now her hair was shiny, bouncy, and soft. Sure, there were other potions out there that could do similar things, but the fact that Tess had engineered this concoction herself had her over-the-moon with pride and excitement.

She just hoped Harvey would notice...

Hm.

Well, he hadn't been expecting a letter. To be honest, Harvey had been busy. With working in his auntie's florist shop (it was manlier than anyone would think) and reading and studying and all of the other junk, there hadn't been much time to socialise. He needed the money. He'd neglected to go to the summer camp and he did sort of regret it but in his mind, he thought it was for kids who were shy and Harvey had confidence in abundance.

He had to admit, seeing that the letter was from Tess, it surprised him. She'd been so sweet to say she'd be treating him to some ice cream as a well done but there was no way that she'd let her pay for anything. Chivalry wasn't dead just quite yet. Harvey was honestly rather flattered that she'd bothered to congratulate him at all.

Swiftly, he apparated to Diagon Alley and was hit by the new term rush. Dressed smartly, he manoeuvred his way through the crowds with surprising grace. The cobbled streets were full of children, presumably soon to be first years and their parents. It had been a long time since he'd felt the excitement. It soon hit him that he might have to sort out these children's problems. As Head Boy, it was his job and his privilege to aid his peers. He just hoped he wouldn't have to deal with any resentment from the students who weren't offered his position. Ah well, jealousy gave you wrinkles~

Harvey was right on time. Punctuality is the politeness of princes his grandfather had taught him and there was no way in Hell he was going to make a lady wait.

He could see Tess before she saw him. It was impossible to miss her, really. He sometimes felt like she was some sort of homing beacon for him. It could be partly because he wanted to spend time with her but mostly because he lowkey learned her schedule at school. Yeah it was pretty creepy but it liked to think of it as…unusually romantic. He'd have to do it all again this term but she would be worth the effort. She was always worth the effort.

"Hey Prefect," came the deep voice as he grinned when he drew closer. His big blue eyes flicked over her figure from behind the lenses of his glasses but not in a disrespectful way. Had she done something to her hair? It looked very glossy. His mum had always told him to compliment a girl, even if she looked like a bag of shite. Which Tess definitely did not. "You look lovely," he said brightly and honestly with another smile, touched that she'd dressed up for him. Or had she? He'd never spent time with her outside of school so maybe she always wore cute little dresses and had hair that looked like it belonged in a Renaissance painting.

"Shall we?" Harvey asked as he held the door open to the bright and popular ice cream shop. Once Tess was inside, he closed the door. Seeing as how the place was rapidly filling up, he reached behind him to take her hand. It was a swift gesture that felt natural. He kept her close in fear of accidentally losing her as he ducked through the patrons and miraculously found a spare table. "Phew," he said with a laugh, letting go of her hand gently.

"Oh I almost forgot," Harvey said swiftly, smacking himself on the head with his hand as he reached into the back pocket of his trousers and retracted something. A journal wrapped in cream paper and tied with a pale pink ribbon. As he waited for her to open it, he turned pink as a blush crept over his cheek and he shrugged, trying to act cool. "Your last one looked a bit battered and I thought this might be useful for your duties?" Biting his lip, he arched an eyebrow, hoping she'd like it. He was a terrible gift giver.

Tess heard Harvey's low rumble before she noticed him walking towards her. Perhaps her head was elsewhere or too clouded with worry to have seen him coming, but she started at his arrival. Oops!

Recovering from the surprise, Tess laughed at herself. She had lots of reasons to be nervous, and she was sure he would understand them, but she wanted to appear bold and strong! How could she look brave when she flinched at the slightest of surprises?

"Hello," She sang, keeping her arms pinned at her sides. She was hyper-aware of the possibility of making an ass out of herself, and she wasn't sure if he would look for a hug, but she left no indication that she would initiate the contact. Instead, she searched for smart things to say and floundered when he was finally by her side. He was so tall and broad, it was still a wonder to her. Pre-pubescent Harvey was somewhat average, and Tess's own blossoming had come fairly late, so she felt as if she was perpetually catching up to her peers in terms of adulthood. She'd turned seventeen in July, and adulthood was coming on so quickly... Harvey looked like he would be strong and healthy forever.

"Thank you," Her face colored when he said she looked lovely, but she made easy work of disguising her bashful smile by breaking eye contact and tucking her hair - an attempt at distraction. She considered objecting, but thought it would be easier to seem gracious of the compliment instead. She was slowly starting to catch on to this boy business.

She followed his lead and entered the ice cream shop, knowing before she got there that she would get a cone of their lemon pie ice cream - it was her usual.

Working at an air of cool obliviousness, Tess peered around the shop as if she didn't know the walls well enough already. The amount of patrons inside was easily hidden from the outside, and despite a slightly overwhelming feeling in her abdomen, Harvey moved to show her that he'd help her through the small crowd.

In a momentary internal struggle, Tess fought the urge to cave in to her nerves and simply allow him to hold her hand there in a limp indifference. Color shot into her cheeks again, but she found it somewhat easy to force herself to give his hand an encouraging squeeze. She allowed him to take the lead, holding onto it steadfastly, but worried about the nervous sweat accumulating in her palms. She was thankful when they reached an empty table, and conspicuously wiped them on the back of her dress.

Shaking off her coat, she hung it off of the back of the chair and avoided eye contact with the new Head Boy until he spoke up again and her chocolate-brown eyes fell on what he was pulling out of his pocket. A gift? Her face lit up in a mixture of excited pleasure and shameful disapproval. She shouldn't accept a gift!

"Harvey," She chided, looking over at the papered thing he extended to her. The smile pulling her face horizontally betrayed the air of scolding she wanted to bestow. The young journal enthusiast hesitantly accepted it, looking over the wrapping a moment in curiosity. "Did you wrap this?" She wondered, looking up at him impressed and surprised. The wrapping was better than she herself could've done. This looked careful.

She tugged at the ribbon, placing it untied on the table top, and then started on the paper. Inside was a beautiful journal, and she chimed a happy, adoring whine. She gave a careful exam of the cover, running her hand over the detail. When she looked up again, it was with an undeserving frown, but she wouldn't dream of rejecting such a thoughtful, beautiful gift.

"Thank you." She smiled, abandoning her earlier reservations and wrapping her arm around him in a tight hug.

The happy chatter of the place did a little to distract him. Well, no, that was a lie. All he could hear was the clatter of cutlery and the rush of blood that pounded in his ears. Tess was not an ordinary girl. Harvey was no fool, either. He knew that she'd come of age but she'd always been beautiful. The boys at Hogwarts were always slow to catch on and she'd come back to school after the summer, glowing, gorgeous and she was sure she was beating off suitors with a stick.

As always, he'd done nothing. Why? Because he was content to sit in his dark, thick, uncomfortable jealousy that threatened to consume his very being. He didn't act the way he usually did around her and he couldn't figure out of that was a good or a bad thing. He'd make mistakes in the past with girls. He was either playing to way too cool that they lost interest or he came on too strong, scaring them away.

The Gryffindor blushed, shifting awkwardly as Tess mentioned his wrapping skills. "Yeah," he said with an embarrassed smile, scratching the back of his head awkwardly. "It's a bit twee, I'm afraid," he offered with an apologetic smile. Over the summer, he'd worked at his aunt's florist shop. Most teenage boys would snort, preferring to do something "manly" but Harvey couldn't see anything more lovely than giving someone a gift that was romantic. He'd toyed with the idea of giving Tess some flowers but he'd seen realised that flowers were a minefield. Each flower had a hidden meaning. Oh sure, they were outdated and as silly as horoscopes but women still believed in both of those things.

A comfortable silence covered both teenagers like a warm blanket as he waited to see  her reaction. Had this been a bad idea? Had he been too presumptive? Would she think he had some sort of agenda?

Her expression was unreadable and for one gut wrenching second, she thought she might be disappointed. "Ooof!" Came the grunt as he was embraced, caught completely unaware but delighted nonetheless. Harvey was quick to reciprocate as he looped his arms around her neck and pulled her in close, resting his chin on the top of her head and giving her a squeeze. In their embrace, he uttered a quick silent prayer to a number of deities that the gift giving had gone well. She seemed to like it. She seemed impressed. Either that or she was a very good liar.

Taking a step back, he rested his warm hands on her slender shoulders as his bright blue eyes flicked back and forth over her face. "Do you like it?" Harvey asked, genuinely concerned about it. The only gifts he'd ever bought for women were the ones belonging to his family. He and Tess were friends but he didn't know a lot about her. Correction; he didn't know enough about her. They were cordial but she still remained a beautiful, mysterious creature with a lovely lilting accent that occasionally frequented his dreams. Sometimes. Maybe once a month. Or every night. Whichever was less creepy if she found out. Sssh.

Letting her go, he folded his tall frame into his rickety seat before offering her a smile. Harvey would be lying if he said he came to this place often. He honestly didn't. He avoided it for the same reason that he avoided Madam Puddifoot's: people. Usually a cheery young man, he was prone to slipping into dark period of anger and isolation and he usually strode Diagon Alley with a face like a slapped arse.

"What do you recommend?" He asked casually as he flipped over the menu, looking for anything vaguely peach flavoured. He was, of course, going to buy her some ice cream. Despite her letter, it wasn't going to happen. As an amicable  silence descended, he peeked up to look at her when she wasn't looking at him. He couldn't help it. Who really gave a shit about ice cream or good manners when someone so exquisite was sitting opposite?