I cheated myself, like I knew I would [Wini]

It was Valentine’s day weekend. Ezra had been spread thin a little, over the past few months, but had remembered that Wini was a thing when she had written him last month just after he had come to visit Jet. He had kissed the girl on New Year’s, but had all but forgotten her in between everything else he had going on—between the interview with Ollie, the mess with Jet, the tryst with Azalea, and studying with Gene.  He felt guilty and decided to make it up to her with a really nice valentine’s day. Maybe this was a bit forward—they weren’t boyfriend and girlfriend, were they?—but he wanted to do something nice for her. He bought her a plush the size of her body, and had made reservations in the pink frilly tea shop almost a month out, to make sure they would have a seat.

 He was dressed nicer than usual, in a button-up shirt and dark-washed jeans, his favorite leather jacket still over his shoulders and his hair slicked back a little. He had even wore a little cologne. He hadn’t brought the car this time, as Janae had been too busy for Valentine’s day this year, and thought the holiday was trite anyway. Not to mention she didn’t care much for travel at her size. She was six months along now, and growing fast. She hated the way she wobbled, and hated feeling like a watermelon, as she put it. Ezra thought she was cute, but was getting nervous about there being a small child in their small apartment. He was still helping her out however he could, and he knew Jam would be a stand-up father, regardless. He hoped Sid would be, too.

 He charmed the plush to float behind them, several inches off the ground, which made it almost Ezra’s height. He brought a few sunflowers for her, thinking she would prefer them to roses. He really wanted to make this nice for her. He waited for her at the entrance of Hogsmeade, spotting her at a distance and trying to obscure the large plush from view unsuccessfully. When she finally reached him, he smiled widely at her.

 â€œHey Wini, you ready?” He grinned, knowing she was going to love the presents. “This is Mr. Bear.” He teased, introducing them, and using the bear’s paw to try and shake her hand. “He’s your new boyfriend.” He joked lightly. “You can cuddle with him every night and think of me. Plus, I got you some sunflowers, I hope you like them. You seem more sunflowers than roses, yeah?” He smiled. She was really cute, and he liked her more than he remembered. He wished he had been more focused on her. She deserved that. 

@Winifred Gwartney

Wini was so!! excited!! But she was trying to play it cool (as per the Witch Weekly article she had scoured on dating tips).

But still excited!

No, no, she reminded herself to take a deep breath as she walked, practically floated, toward Hogsmeade.

She had been counting down the days until this weekend. Valentine's Day actually falling on a Saturday and Ezra wanted to take her on a date? She almost hadn't believed the letter when she read it, had squealed with delight, bouncing her feet on the floor, before searching the letter again to make sure she hadn't read it wrong before celebrating all over again. Marin had just patiently waited for her to explain without looking up from the Charms essay he had been writing. Wini didn't think she had stopped gushing about how sweet Ezra was for hours, and hadn't stopped gushing about it since. Well that, and worrying about what to wear, and how to do her hair, and what this date even meant after their kiss on New Year's Eve, and all sorts of little worries and thoughts buzzing around her mind.

But the day was officially here and she had tried to take her time with her hair, pinning it back perfectly away from her face, and tried not to rush through what little makeup she put on, a little blush and eyeshadow and some cherry flavored lipgloss. It was a good thing she was so good at Charms too because the outfit she had chosen wasn't exactly winter appropriate, but honestly, who cared about things like weather when you were going on a date with a cute older guy who was in a band?! If this wasn't the very reason she had learned the warming charm, she wasn't she what was. Wini had dressed in a cozy baby pink sweater with a floral skirt that was shorter than it should have been given the cold temperatures, white ankle booties, and a few layered gold necklaces completed the look under her longer gray pea coat. She found herself excited to dress up for Ezra. She hoped he liked it, but in a cool way.. in a way that he wouldn't be able to tell that she had spent the better part of yesterday deciding between outfits and polling anyone in the Hufflepuff dorms who would listen.

As she spied him at the entrance, her anxieties seemed to float away, only to be replaced by new ones, but also fluttery feelings. Her wide smile betrayed how excited she was as she couldn't help but rush those last few steps between him. She bit her lip gently as she looked him over too. Ezra was always so.. handsome, but today even more so. "Hey Ezra," she replied in greeting, giddy as she peered behind him at the giant plush he was trying to hide. Cute! It was huge! She wasn't even sure it would fit through the common room door without a charm, but she didn't care one bit. She loved it.

Wini laughed, taking a step closer and politely shaking his hand once or twice. "Pleasure to meet you, Mr. Bear," she said, glancing at Ezra before she blushed a little and ran a hand over the stuffed animal, feeling how soft it was beneath her fingertips. Her new boyfriend? Cuddle him and think of Ezra? She wasn't sure what to think of that. Besides she was-- "Oh, I love sunflowers!" she said as he showed them to her and she took them, her hands brushing his as she studied them, nodding immediately. "They're perfect," she said, getting caught up in his smile for a moment before she wrapped her arm around him to say thanks.

She felt a little dazed as she smelled his cologne, felt the warmth of his body, but she felt a little brave as she kissed his cheek lightly before pulling back. It was nothing she hadn't done to Marin or Lip before in friendship but with Ezra... it was just different. Wini glanced at Mr. Bear and grinned. "I'm not sure Madam Puddifoot's will have room for him at the table," she joked.

He laughed lightly, smiling at her warmly and feeling a little fluttering in his own chest. She was so sweet, so kind to him. She deserved probably more than he had t give her, but he would try regardless. He wrapped an arm around her when she offered, and hugged her close. He smiled and blushed lightly at the cheek-kiss. “Well, I suppose we can just leave him outside.” He shrugged, “or maybe….” He did a charm to make him a little smaller, so they could carry him around easier. “Just for the time being.” He smiled. “Wouldn’t want him to get taken, you know?” He started leading the way to Madam Puddifoot’s.

“I’ve never been to this place before,” He confessed. “It was always scary, for like ‘real’ couples.” He admitted. “But it seemed like the kind of place you’d really like. I had to put in my reservation last month to get the table.” He admitted.

“Let me know if it’s too much, you know? I’m just trying to make up for not seeing you last month.” He hadn’t told her that he had come to see Jet, and wasn’t going to remind her that he came and didn’t see her. He had completely forgotten about her at the time, so preoccupied with seeing Jet that he’d spaced on her entirely.

Soon, they were there. He smiled at her, and held the door open. He gave their name and they were taken to their table. THe bear was small enough to fit in the chair beside her, now. He looked at the menu, and showed it to her as well. “What did you want to order, one of the specials? I think they have a Valentine’s Day for two special.”

His smile just for her, his arms around her made her feel butterflies that she had only dreamed of before. Ezra had been a surprise for her at that party over the summer, she hadn't expected anything to come of it, anything really from him, and yet here she was. On a date on Valentine's with him. She wasn't sure life could get more perfect. Wini grinned as he charmed Mr. Bear smaller and hugged him to her chest. "This is perfect, good thinking," she complimented him, even though she had kind of liked the big, obnoxious version. She knew this made more sense logically. Wini fell into step beside him as they headed to Puddifoot's.

"Oh really?" she asked, surprised at his admission. She guessed she didn't know that much about him, but at the party and even at the Three Broomsticks, he always seemed so popular. "You haven't taken your dates there before? I've gone a few times, it's not too bad," she told him. And by went a few times, she meant she had dragged Marin because she thought that the place was just super cute, loving all the pink frilliness and mini cupcakes. And by not too bad, she meant she would live there if she could. Besides, she couldn't help question what he meant by 'real couples'. Did that mean they weren't? She knew they weren't official or anything, but.. this was a date right? The Witch Weekly quiz she had taken last night had definitely pointed to it being a date, but she couldn't help but wonder if Ezra would disappear for another couple of months again. She really hoped he wouldn't.

"Last month?" she asked, seeming to only be able to repeat his words, surprised again, but this time at his thoughtfulness. It made her think that him disappearing was less and less likely to happen. It made her smile brighter, but then a thought occurred and her smile faltered. "I didn't bring anything for you," she admitted, her cheeks turning pink as she glanced up at him, embarrassed at her own blunder. Wini was usually very on top of things like gifts and cards and token holidays, but she had been so swept up in excitement and nervousness about the date, she had totally blanked.

Wini flapped a hand at him as she passed him, smiling. "It's fine, you don't have to make up for anything," she told him, more out of good manners than truth, but she didn't really hold it against him. She squeezed into the small tea shop and smoothed her skirt as she sat, Mr. Bear taking the seat next to her as she gazed at him across the menus. It was cozy in here and maybe a bit more frilly than she remembered, but she glanced down at the menu to busy herself from her nerves.

"The Lovebirds special sounds good," she said, trying not to blush at the name as she smiled and glanced up at him, pointing to the item on the menu before blinking up at one of the charmed cherubs who floated over them and then sprinkled pink confetti over them. Wini grinned as it rained down on her, brushing a few pieces that had gotten stuck in her hair as she meet Ezra's eyes. "It is a little over the top, isn't it?" she laughed quietly.

He was a little surprised, somehow, at the charmed cherubs flying overhead sprinkling confetti on them. This was why he thought this was for ‘real’ couples, people super in love and super romantic. He had never had a real, serious girlfriend. Not enough to want lovey dovey stuff with quite like this. He always wanted a serious girlfriend, someone to hold and love and spend all his time with, but instead he often got dumped after the first month for being an idiot, or being boring, or something. He never got to experience anything that involved a real romantic connection, and while he yearned for it, he wondered if he and Winifred were at ‘that point’ yet. He knew they weren’t, which made him feel slightly awkward taking her here, but he knew she would like the gesture. Besides, he really did like her! She was cute and sweet and funny, and he was happy that she was still giving him the time of day.

“A little, yeah.” He agreed with a chuckle. “It’s kind of cute, though. A little intimidating for me, I must admit.” He laughed again, this time out of a little awkwardness. “I want to live up to it for you, you know? Make everything perfect.” He flicked his eyes to meet hers with a little blush. A waitress came over, and he ordered the lovebirds special in his most serious voice, chuckling a little more as the waitress walked away. He reached for Wini’s hand over the table.

“So, how was the rest of your break? You know, after the concert and stuff.” He asked, nibbling at his lip a bit. He was nervous. He didn’t mean to be, but he couldn’t help it. He felt dumb and unsure of himself.

She smiled wider at his laugh, the sound feeling warm to her and the edges of her anxiety-nerves smoothed more into the familiar territory of excited-nerves. And sure, yes, she knew that he was talking about the establishment being 'cute' but a teeny tiny voice in her head wondered if there was a double meaning to his words. Her heart clutched at the thought.

Wini nodded along though, replying with, "Maybe it's only a grand entrance? Like you don't think they'll confetti our food, do you?" she suggested, hoping to put him more at ease. Maybe she should've been less excited about Puddifoot's. She didn't want him to feel too intimidated by this place. That didn't seem like a good sign for a date, but his mention of wanting to make everything perfect made her heart melt a little, smiling softly at him. "Aww, it is perfect, don't even worry about it," Wini told him warmly with a big smile. She tried not to look too embarrassed as he ordered their food - so nice of him to order for her! - and then laughed with him as the waitress walked away and she relaxed into her chair a little more.

Well, until he reached across the table to hold hers. (!!) She pressed her lips together in an attempt to play it cool like one of the Witch Weekly magazines advised but she was never really great at hiding her emotions and it was only a second later when a wide smile turned up her lips as she glanced at their hands together (she hoped hers wasn't sweaty!). As he asked after her break, she couldn't resist curling her fingers around his as memories of New Year's Eve drifted through her mind.

"It was good, really good!" she said as she looked back at him, noticing how captivating his dark eyes were and how artfully messy his hair was. He looked like such a rock star. "Lip and I hung out a lot since he was staying over William's with me and of course, I popped by Marin's to visit because he--" Wini stopped herself as she realized her mistake.

She and Marin had talked about this pending date last night in his dorm and she had mentioned how nervous she was about not appearing cool and mature enough since she was still at Hogwarts while he was in the real world and Marin had suggested not to talk about school things and yet here she was blabbing on about her school friends. Shoot. She had a moment of panic before she tried to bluster her way through it. "--but been studying for my NEWTs since I want to do the whole healer thing - did I tell you about that? - and you know, fingers crossed and everything." There future job things and adult life chat. That seemed more mature right? She swept some of her blonde hair behind her ear with her free hand, some confetti floating to the table, making her wonder how much was stuck in her hair.

"But what about you? Did you play anymore gigs? Spend time with your family?" As usual, she wanted to know all the things.

Ezra gave her hand a squeeze as she took his, and let her lace their fingers. His face was warm and flushed,  but hev felt good. This seemed to be going well,  and God knew he needed something to go well.  Things had been icy at him between him and Jam, Janae, Sid, and especially Circe. He hadn't spoken to her since the breakup and it was hard to be around them.  They all seemed to have taken Circe's side.  He was feeling very alone in his own house. He didn't like it.

"The band isn't doing great. " he admitted.  "We're having some troubles I guess.  They don't like me like they used to,  and I've been trying to avoid them.  I think they're gonna move out soon,  and have me leave. " he shrugged. "They're pretty good,  and I'm not bad on bass, but maybe it's a relief? I don't know if that band is for me anyway. " he shrugged again. He sighed,  a little emotional thinking about his friends breaking up with him,  but he could feel the distance.

"Anyway,  a healer!  My mom would love you." He laughed.  "She's got me going to law school,  you know?  I've been doing pretty well there,  but I don't know how.  It's coming naturally to me,  despite not being my passion.  If i could pick,  I'd probably want to go into comedy or acting or... even writing someone else's material. You know?  I'm... comedy is really all i have.  But we both know I'm a performer at heart. "

He paused. "Enough about my crap,  though. Tell me more about you.  The healing thing,  or maybe your friends or what you like..."

When he squeezed her hand, Wini pressed her lips together as she tried not to let the goofy smile appear on her face. She hadn't held hands before on a date but it felt nice. Connecting with someone like this in such a physical but casual way. Plus, was it just her or did their hands seem to fit together perfectly? She made mental notes so she could fully dissect every single moment to Marin lately and get his full opinion and his take from the male perspective. She was sure he'd have lots of thoughts for her.

The positive vibes took a turn, morphing into something more akin to concern and empathy for the troubles Ez was having with his friends. Her brows came together in concern as he talked about it and she squeezed his hand reassuringly. She had no idea he was having troubles like this, but at least he felt comfortable talking to her about it. That was nice to have someone be open about what was going on, unlike her two best friends who seriously needed to improve their skills in that department. "I'm sure it'll work out," she told him immediately, wanting to put him at ease or fix it somehow, but it's not like she really knew any of his bandmates. "Did something happen between you and the rest of the band?" she asked, trying to understand. Perhaps if she knew what happened, she could try to help find a good solution.

"You're amazing on bass," Wini gushed immediately, wanting to lift his confidence a bit, not liking to see him so down. Especially after she had seen how much he loved being on stage a the New Year's Eve party. "I'm sure you can work it out, can't you? Have you talked to them about it?"

He was easy to talk to. Wini knew that to some extent, but it was really nice falling into it again and not having to drag information out of someone like she usually had to. Plus, he was still holding her hand and his was warm but not too sweaty and it was near perfect if only she wasn't worried about the handholding dismount when their food came. Or should she have practiced eating  with her non-dominant hand for this exact situation. Hmm.

Ezra laughed and Wini's smile grew, blushing a little as he mentioned his mum. "She would?" she asked, liking the idea even though she wasn't sure why his mum would like her. She tried not to think about her own mum and the estrangement she felt there, trying to think of his family as isolated and completely separate from her own family issues. It was easy enough since she kept getting caught up in his gaze. Made it kind of hard to focus on what he was saying actually. She laughed, trying to cover the fact that she hadn't really been listening to every single word, but managed to catch the end. "You'd be so good at acting! You should try it," she encouraged. She hoped it would work out with his band of course, but she knew he was talented enough to find something else that would maybe suit him even more. How someone like him who was so charismatic and magnetic was into someone like her who was too embarrassed most days to even sing karaoke would forever confound her.

"No no no," she said with a laugh as she grinned at him. "I like talking about your crap," she said mimicking his words even though she wouldn't have phrased it at all like that. It was actually really nice not having to fill all the silence. Weird, but not. And while she would normally enjoy being asked after her own interests and latest happenings, her hang up about not wanting to see immature with school stuff while he was out in the real adult world threw her for a loop. "Well, sure, yeah, so," Wini started as she tried to think of something that wouldn't sound so lame. "I'm really hoping to get the marks I need for NEWTs for the whole healing thing and William already said I could stay with him in London for my first year which would be nice to live in a big city, right? How do you like London? But I'm worried about Potions. I told you it's my worst subject, right? I just can't seem to get it right no matter how much I study, no matter how many note cards Marin makes for me." She sighed and then glanced up at him a little nervously, having said more than she had intended. Whoops?

Ezra loved the way that Wini held his hand. It really did feel like they were made for one-another’s touch, and that was reassuring. He didn’t know how many details he wanted to go into about the band troubles—as a lot of it had to do with Circe, who he had very clearly ditched Wini for over the summer. He sighed a bit, stretched his bad gently, and then shrugged. “Long story, I guess. I was dating a girl and it didn’t work out, but now my friends are mad at me. She was a mutual friend, but now we aren’t talking so it’s made everything awkward. I think my best friend thinks I was the asshole, and he’s probably right.” He shrugged again. “But, enough about that, I guess. You really don’t need to hear about my exes. After all, I’m not here with them. I’m here with you, and this is where I want to be.” 
 
He smiled at her, gave her hands another squeeze. “Oh yeah, mum would love you. She’s basically strong-armed my way into law school, thinking I need a real career. Hearing that you want to be a healer will absolutely make her jump for joy.” He laughed. “But yeah, potions, huh? If it wasn’t also my worst subject, I’d offer to help with it.” He teased a bit. “Marin makes your note cards? That’s sweet. He’s your best friend, right? How long have you guys known each other? Jam and I met first year, and have been close ever since. I think having a best friend is always a great thing.” He hurt a little, thinking of the struggles he was having with him. Jam had really hurt his feelings. 
 
The food came, and Ezra let go of her hand. He reached down to pick up a finger sandwich and offered to feed it to her. “Open up.” He laughed. 

Wini nodded as he explained, trying not to wonder too much about who the other girl was and what happened between them and if she was pretty than Wini and-- She stopped herself and refocused on what he was saying. I think my best friend thinks I was the asshole. Wini frowned at that, not liking the sound of this best friend. Or maybe she didn't like the idea that he had been an asshole to his last girlfriend? It was confusing and she couldn't really work it out, her questions mixing with her own experience of what if Marin thought she was an asshole. Even just thinking it felt foreign so she was glad for the change of subject, giving him a small smile and a breath of laugh as her expression brightened. How could he be this sweet? She squeezed his hand a little tighter without thinking about it and nodded. "It's fine," she said breezily as if she weren't dying for more information.

His mum rather than his ex was a much easier topic though. "Law school sounds exciting?" she ventured a guess, trying to feel out what he was thinking about it so she could be supportive either way. She didn't know what it was like to have a parent try to dictate your career so she couldn't imagine how much tension would surround that topic over dinner. "It's fine, I'll make it through somehow," she told him, trying to feel light about his teasing, repeating the line she had told herself over and over again throughout the year. It would all work out. It had to, right?

"Yeah, part of the best friend duties," Wini nodded when he asked after Marin. "Marin and I met first year too. Well we didn't become friend friends until second year, but that all feels like such a long time ago," the blonde sighed at the thought, feeling her heart squeeze in anticipation of graduating. It seemed too close and too faraway all at the same time. She sat back a little as the food was served and it looked really good, but she was blushing and giving him a shy look a second later as he offered to feed her.

Wini leaned forward anyway and opened her mouth for a bite, feeling ridiculous in the process, but he was being cute and she chalked it up to her just not having enough experience with the whole dating thing. She hoped she didn't look like one of those baby birds waiting to be feed. The sandwich was actually quite good even though her cheeks burned. "Want to try some of mine too?" she asked with a gesture at her plate and an easy smile.

Wini was too cute, he decided. There was something about her that made him happy, and hell if he didn’t want a drop of sunshine in his life. Things with her had been a long time coming. He remembered singing a (albeit terrible) duet with her over the summer and that had been the beginning of them hanging out seriously. Of course he knew her from before. He had always chatted with her and her friends in the common room, making jokes and doing impressions for her. He liked doing the voices. Even if it wasn’t an impression of someone, his accents and ability to manipulate his voice made him great for radio and voice acting. He amused his friends at school with it all the time, and she was no different. They had just never hung out necessarily alone until summer. He had liked her then, too. He had wanted to kiss her, he remembered, one night they had gone for Indian. He had held off, though, because he was pretty sure she had never been kissed before. 
 
Lucky for her, he had held off. The next week, the very next week, he had kissed Circe for the second time in his life, and started dating her seriously. He had never jumped right in from talking to dating seriously before, but Circe wasn’t like other girls to him. She was special, and always had been. He had always liked her, and they had been seriously short-lived for how much effort he had tried to put in with her. He had thought, when they got together, that this was it. This was the love of his life, the girl he was going to marry. It wasn’t until she grew cold to him physically and then became separated from him, emotionally, that he found his heart aching for human contact. Then, he had met Ollie and things had gotten out of hand.
 
Nothing happened between them. Oliver didn’t think of Ezra like that in the slightest, and Ezra knew that. That had, maybe, been part of the problem? If he had sensed even a sliver of affection coming back at him, just a little mutual interest, he might have thought what he was feeling was wrong. As it was, despite the fact that he would have done most anything the young musician asked him—physically, emotionally, or otherwise—he had blabbed about their connection to Circe and made her feel replaced. She seemed to think of him sharing a joint with a celebrity on the hood of his Mustang more romantic than any date he had taken Circe on, and in all truth, maybe, it was. He certainly felt more taken by Ollie than he had ever felt by Circe. Maybe she had been doing him a favor, and he just didn’t know at the time. There was something more out there for him than Circe could give him.  Somewhere, some day, he would find another person that made him feel the way Oliver made him feel, only they would feel the same for him. He shivered at the thought.
 
Truthfully, he didn’t think that person would be Wini, even as he sat across the table and smiled and laughed as he fed her pieces off his plate and leaned in, mouth open, to let her feed him too. He really liked Wini, but this wasn’t love at first sight. He didn’t feel his soul reach out to her or anything. There was no mystical force pulling them together, but she was nice and she was pretty and he liked her. He wanted to keep liking her, for now. 
 
After feeding each other for a while, the two talked about school, love, and life. He made his best jokes and did some accurate impressions of Hogwarts professors, then he paid the bill for her and smiled. He extended his hand to her on the way out, not forgetting Mr. Bear. This had been a nice date. He was enjoying the aftermath of their tea while walking with her, hand-in-hand through Hogsmeade. He was leading the way to Honeydukes’ sweet shop to pick her out something she might like, when the conversation turned to her friends. He liked hearing about her friends. After a while, she mentioned Jet and he felt the hair on the back of his neck prickle a little bit. She knew Jet? Had they been talking? About him?
 
“Uh, what was that?” He asked, pretending to have been distracted by something he walked by. “Sorry.”

Ezra had always been funny, Wini knew that, but she was surprised at how much he had made her laugh throughout their meal. He had this magnetic energy about him, like she was always wanting to hear the next joke, the next impression, the next whatever because whatever it was, she knew it would be amusing or interesting or just downright funny. And the way he smiled at her? It made her feel like she was the only person alive. It was nice. More than nice actually.

So as the meal came to an end and she tucked Mr. Bear under her arm, she easily slid her hand into his, glad that he wasn't immediately saying goodbye and disappearing off to whatever else he had to do today. She was drinking in each moment she had with Ezra and it almost felt like an outer body experience as they strolled hand in hand through Hogsmeade. She had always wanted to be one of the couples that she saw doing this and now she was. Life was wild. She was loving every moment of it. Her cheeks ached a little from smiling so much.

Honeydukes was up ahead and she wondered if he would mind if she got him something since she was still chiding herself for that oversight earlier. "Hmm?" she sounded, glancing up at him before she replayed his question in her head and it answered her own question. "Oh, I was just talking about my friend Jet. I've mentioned him before, right? He's in Ravenclaw. He's really nice, you'd like him. Anyway!" she continued as they got closer to Honeydukes and she tucked some of her hair behind her ear.

"He was helping me with Potions - he's a genius, I swear - and I actually managed to complete the Dreamless Sleep potion without botching it so that was really nice. After you," she said with a wide smile as she held open the door to Honeydukes to him and motioned him in.

Ezra cleared his throat, feeling a little nervous about this conversation. To say that he didn’t think it had been cheating was almost laughable, even though, at the time, it was true. He and Wini had been going on dates, but they weren’t officially an item. He could say the same for now, though, them having never had the “down to relationship” talk. Despite this, he could tell that Wini thought they were a couple. She probably thought they had been boyfriend and girlfriend for awhile, and would absolutely be devastated to find out about his transgressions in December, and January, and the ones that continued.

“Oh yeah, I know Jet. He’s super smart. Great at herbology and creatures. You should watch him go in COMC.” He laughed, a little dryly. He thanked her for holding the door and went inside Honeydukes, pausing so he could take her hand again. He really hoped they might get off this topic before he thought he might puke. As it was, it didn’t seem like she knew anything, which was good. Maybe he could keep it from her a little while longer.

“So, what’s your favorite?” He asked. “I’ll spoil you a bit, so pick what you like.”

"Yeah, isn't he?" Wini agreed with a wide smile, happy that Ezra agreed with her about Jet, laughing softly as he did just because his sound inspired hers. Plus he was holding her hand again and it was nice and warm and hers was thankfully not sweaty at all like she had worried about. The shop was a little crowded so she shuffled past other students with their friends, keeping close to Ezra just because she could.

She really ought to stop smiling at some point because her cheeks were starting to hurt, but she just couldn't.

But between Ezra offering to spoil her which sent her grinning and his question about her favorites, which sent her on a long list of all the sweets she liked - and a few she really hated - she was a little distracted. "Oh, you don't have to buy me anything. I should probably be buying something for you actually since I didn't get you a gift. Sorry again about that," she gave him a sheepish smile as she took a candy bag and started looking through the assorted candies to pick out her favorites.

She chattered as she went from container to container, dark chocolate almond clusters and cherry cordials and a couple of the cocoabons, avoiding the cockroach clusters of course and -- ew -- the fudge flies, when a thought came back around and she stilled as she glanced up at him. "Wait, you know Jet?" she asked, confusion showing on her face. She had talked to Jet about Ezra more than a few times, especially about the kiss after New Year's and Jet hadn't mentioned he knew Ezra.. Of course, Wini had usually called him her 'rock band hottie' but she wasn't going to tell him that. Why hadn't Jet told her he knew Ezra? Or how?

Wini turned a little more to Ezra. "Are you friends or something? He never said anything about you.."

This was getting a little uncomfortable for Ezra, but he found himself blurting out “Oh yeah, we’ve been friends awhile. I didn’t know you guys knew each other that well, though. He never mentioned you either, not even when I came to visit him in January.” He said, without thinking. It didn’t take long for him to realize his mistake. He had come to visit Jet in January, but had not visited Wini during that time. In fact, he had barely thought of her at the moment, and hadn’t even written her to tell her he would be in town. He hoped she let it go without noticing… maybe. Unlikely. 
 
“Uh, I mean.” He started, trying to backtrack. “We hung out a little over Christmas break.” He admitted. He looked at her, unsure if she was playing at something or not. Did she know more than she was letting on? He hoped that she was telling the truth, that Jet never mentioned him at all. He wondered if he had told her anything about him, using some kind of vague non-descriptive language. Not identifying him. 
 
Over winter break, after he had been on a few dates with Wini prior, he had managed to find himself in bed with two different people. He didn’t consider it cheating per say, he and Wini weren’t exclusive or anything, but he knew she would be hurt if she found out, and he felt a little guilty over that fact. 
 
“So, pumpkin pasties?” He offered, changing the subject abruptly. “I really like those. I like a lot of things, though. I think they’re on sale. You want one?” He looked away, a little nervous.