[June MP] Give me a reason to be a woman [Sid]

Last night, the Great Hall had been decorated in the colors of the House Cup winners for the last time Alis would ever get to see, and she was a little bummed the colors hadn’t been bronze and blue. She would have loved winning for her final year, but it was okay. She would be gone, soon, a Dilys Derwent student, and soon graduate from there and Hogwarts would be a distant memory. Even so, she had unfinished business here, and she was ready, finally, to take it on. She had meant to do this last night in the Great Hall at the feast… or after, in the commons, but she had chickened out a lot, and she was nervous, even now. She had a crush on this boy, and it was very possible that she might never get the chance to see him again after this. What if she never told him? What if she never tried? She would regret not knowing. She liked to know all. She was a Ravenclaw, after-all.
 
She didn’t tell Circe about this. While Circe clearly knew of the crush, and had never encouraged it, Alis didn’t want to share this with her good friend. She was scared it would end badly. After all, Sid Saunders was a bad boy if there ever was one. He was close with Circe, but he was a troublemaker, a known womanizer… it was really terrible of Alis to feel so attracted to him. If anything, she should have been put-off and annoyed by his reputation, the same as she was with her ex-flame Alexander Zhen (at least, she was once they broke off their brief fling). She found that she liked the challenge, though. She liked the idea of a bad boy being soft on her. Her former crush on Roderick McNair had never gone anywhere because she had been too shy to even tell him the truth, and she wasn’t making that mistake again.
 
She lingered in the commons for Sid to come up, waiting long-after she would have usually wanted to be on the train. She didn’t want to try to find him up there by the train. He would be surrounded by his friends. So, she waited. Finally, he came up from the boy’s dormitory and she sighed a little. He was very handsome, but she couldn’t get distracted. She cleared her throat.
 
“Saunders, can I talk to you for a moment?” She asked, giving him a little smile, but still using his surname. They weren’t friends. They weren’t amicable enough for first names yet. At least… she hoped it was “yet.” Maybe he would like her after all. Maybe they would even share a soft, lingering kiss right there in the commons where anyone could see. She was fluttering at the thought, but trying to stay realistic. She was doing this for her conscience. She was NOT doing this for a positive outcome. This was just to clear her heart and mind of him for good….
 
She motioned to the corner, peeking back at him as she moved. “You and I haven’t talked very much in the past, have we?” She asked, careful. “I’m pretty close with Circe, though, and I know you know her. She’s told me so much about you.”

@Sid Saunders

Sid had a lot on his plate, and honestly thought that he was dealing with all of it fairly well-- all things considered. He was about to become a father, though he felt a little guilty admitting that he was relieved when Janae's parents had offered to take care of the baby. They were better equipped. He didn't even have a home of his own. After his parents had been killed, he'd been staying with the Sutcliffe's, and then when that hadn't worked out he'd gone to Tock's, and then once that was over he'd been staying at Izzy's when he wasn't in school. He couldn't give that kid what they needed, and he knew it. It would have been more selfish, he thought, to not give them up.

Then, there was what was going on with the band. Jam and Ezra hadn't been on the best of terms and so there hadn't really been a band for a while. What were they supposed to do without a bloody bassist? Sid badly needed drumming as an outlet and he was angry with both of them for taking that away from him. Sure, he could have probably been nicer to Ezra. He had a lot of regrets when it came to the other boy, but it wasn't anything that he particularly wanted to think about at the moment. Nor did he want to think about all of the drama that had happened over the spring holiday, or what madness might unfold over the summer holiday. He'd told Tock to keep his distance from Circe, and hoped for all of their sakes that he would listen. It was a small relief that at least he wouldn't have to come back to Hogwarts anymore after this. He just wasn't built for institutionalized learning.

Pondering on all of this, Sid almost hadn't heard Alis. "Yeah." He nodded. "What's up?" He knew who she was, but hadn't said much more than "hello" in all of their years at Hogwarts. Her older brother had graduated the year prior, with Jam, and the boys weren't exactly on friendly terms. Steffan was a big fan of using bloodist slurs, and they'd gotten into physical altercations on more than one occasion. Regardless, he followed her on over to the corner that she was leading him to.

He couldn't help but wonder where she was going with all of this. He nodded at the mention of his pseudo-sister. "She's talked about you, too, yeah. All good things. Hope she's said good things about me, too, but... eh." He shrugged and gave a little smirk. He knew that he could be an ass, but oftentimes it was only because he cared.

“They were good things.” She promised, offering him a warm smile. “Said you’re like a brother to her, though perhaps in less pleasant words.” She teased, eyes sparkling at him. She shouldn’t have done this without slipping him a love potion. She knew a love potion wasn’t real and would wear off, but she was nervous. She looked at him, shifting a little from foot to foot.

“I.. well, I suppose it’s best to just get to the point, I suppose. Circe never encouraged this, you know, but I’ve always found you attractive. Watched you from a distance. You’re a better person than you let on, you know.” She ;looked away. “I rather fancy you.” She admitted. “I’ll give you my address if you’re interested in keeping in contact after school?” She offered. “I know we don’t know one another well, but…” She sighed. “And there’s no pressure, of course. I know you probably haven’t even seen me around much, and I mostly just wanted to get it off my chest… but, if you do…” She managed.

She cleared her throat and brushed some hair behind her ear. She was blushing a little. “I’m.. yes, Sorry.” She didn’t know what she was apologizing for. She had offered herself, a wonderful prize for any man, and if he didn’t want her that was truly his loss…..

Sid laughed. "Yeah, that sounds like Circe." He was sometimes a little hard on his "sister," perhaps. He called it tough love, but some things were probably better left unsaid and he was learning that. Still, there were times when she actually, legitimately, needed his constructive "big brother" criticism. He wondered if Circe had told Alis about the events that had taken place over Spring Break, though it wasn't his business to bring up.

He was a little surprised at Alis's confession, though if he'd thought about it then it made sense. "I'm.. flattered. Truly." And he was. "But, I have a girlfriend. I mean, I'd like to be friends. You seem cool. I just..." He paused, thinking of Janae. "It's really serious. You know? Besides, a nice, pretty girl like you is bound to find someone." She was pretty. He remembered Jam talking to him about how pretty she was, in fact, back when Jam had fancied her and he'd been encouraging his friend to make a move. That hadn't ended well, and he felt bad that he might have been why. Probably wasn't, though. He didn't want to get too full of himself. Maybe Jam just wasn't her type?

"I hope you have a great summer, all the same."