Who: Seamus & Parvati Where: Gryffindor Common Room When: Friday night, November 28, 1997 What: Oh the flirting… Rating: G
Seamus had made his way down to the common room a little early, just in case Parvati did the unthinkable and actually showed up on time. It boggled him how girls took so long to get ready - it didn't take more than five minutes to comb his hair and put on some clean slacks. But he had to admit that, whatever beauty rituals she engaged in, they certainly seemed to work for Parvati.
His wizard chess set lay open atop the gaming table, pieces in place and Seamus resting comfortably in the armchair to one side. Alright, so maybe it wasn't likely that she was a world class chess player, but if it meant getting to touch her, he'd gladly show her how to move the pieces.
After taking notice of the time and feeling she had sufficiently stalled long enough, Parvati made a dramatic entrance. She descended down the stairs from the girl's dormitory with the air of a queen, her gait measured and slow. Wanting him to know that she was to be waited for, she made slow strides towards the Common Room.
Her visage painted just enough to accentuate her eyes. The tiny crimson gem placed just between her brows and her brown eyes brightly glittered reflecting the firelight. Seemingly disinterested, she did not directly look over to Seamus sitting in the corner, but first to a gaggle of fourth years debating the fine art of bowtruckle care. After another moment passed, however, she looked up and caught his eye and she flashed a brilliant smile to him before walking slowly over.
Seamus very nearly knocked over a rook when Parvati walked in. Aloof as she might have been, she was gorgeous and she knew it. More importantly, he knew it.
"Parvati," He cleared his throat when she was within earshot, valiantly trying to keep his gaze above her neck. With a figure so fit that even robes couldn't hide it, however, it was pretty damn difficult. "You feel like sittin' down?" So he wasn't the most eloquent boy, but one needed only to glance at his expression to see how taken he was with her.
Let the game begin Parvati thought. Unable to hide a knowing grin, Parvati smiled and nodded. "That is the usual position to play Wizard Chess, is it not?" The Gryffindor girl looked calmly into the eyes of the attractive Irishman. Holding his attention was all part of the game, as were the intentionally charged words she chose. She loved the beginning, if only for a brief time she felt energized as she looked at the boy's expression.
"Position?" He repeated distractedly, eyes fixed intently on her exotic features. "Oh, position, right." Clearing his throat again in an attempt to mask his weakness for her, he indicated one of the pawns forward with a firm voice. The very moment the piece complied, he returned his attention to the girl before him. What could he say, he couldn't keep his eyes off of her for more than a minute. "Have you ever played before?" A cough. "Chess, I mean."
Despite herself, Parvati giggled at his floundering, her mouth covered by a delicate hand. "Yes I have." she spoke the truth, glad he did not ask how well she played. She slowly reached over and pointed to a pawn opposite the pawn Seamus had just played and smiled softly despite her own anxiousness. She tried to avoid the equally numbing eyes of the young man before her.
"Yeah?" A hint of surprise shone openly in his voice. He hadn't thought her the type to engage in games of strategy - not that he thought her unintelligent. She just seemed more interested in other sorts of things. "Who'd you play with, your sister?" Fingers almost absently indicated a knight, prompting the piece to accordingly hop into the space the pawn had just vacated. "I bet she's right good at it, Ravenclaw and all."
"Yes, Padma was more of a strategist than I." The young Gryffindor prodded another pawn forward. Randomly picking pieces was her best strategy. She had learned that as long as she made mistakes with confidence, she was rarely faulted for them. Knowing others had a low expectation of her was never an hindrance to the social creature.
She looked over at Seamus, struggling to make a conversation more than a sentence. "I do forget though, what is this guy?" her question merely meant to stimulate conversation. She pulled her feet under herself and moved up over the table to lean over the board and point to Seamus' right rook.
Seamus swallowed, keenly aware of just how near her shift in position had brought him to her. She was so close that he could almost inhale her scent, the faint smell of jasmine blending with the comforting aroma of the crackling fire, drawing him into her and leaving him completely oblivious to the game at hand. It was only after a long, distracted moment that he realized she had actually asked him a question.
"Rook," He replied a bit roughly, bright green eyes gazing deeply into hers. "It's called a rook."
She smiled with a soft look, having noted that his green eyes were staring at her. She could have lived in the moment forever, their anxiety and anticipation palpable as her heart thudded in her chest. His eyes looked only at her, the Common Room seemed empty in that briefest second, when the two shared a moment in each other's eyes. Trying not to get any further pulled into the moment that always passed too quickly, Parvati broke the unspoken spell and averted her eyes, pulling away from him and re-seating herself. "Oh...yes....a rook. They are my favourites."
Suddenly, chess didn't seem to matter so much anymore.
"Parvati," Seamus said suddenly, completely ignoring the aforementioned rooks in favor of re-initiating the eye contact. "Would you consider - ah, that is..." Had he been standing, he would have undoubtedly shuffled in his nervousness. Even now, he had to resist the urge to tousle his hair out of anxious habit. "Next Hogsmeade, would you go with me?"
Thankful he had seemed to forget the entirely boring game, Parvati could not contain a wide smile. Seamus was definitively one of the most handsome Gryffindors currently, let alone most likely the most comely of the seventh year boys. Who were quickly dwindling away. However, even he seemed to act the fool around her. She was a bit taken aback, thinking that surely of all the boys at Hogwarts, Seamus "Fireblood" Finnigan would have put up more of a fight.
Without realizing, she had tucked her bottom lip in and had been biting it nervously. She caught herself and forced a nervous laugh. "Of course I'd go with you Seamus. If you don't mind going with me for holiday shopping?"
"Yeah?" Seamus was too pleased with himself to even notice the stipulation she'd added at the end, far too focused on resisting the urge to puff his chest up in pride at getting one of the most beautiful girls in school to go on a date with him. It was only after he'd mentally congratulated himself sufficiently that he realized she'd asked a question in return. "Shopping, of course." Truth be told, he'd much rather play Quidditch or roughhouse than go shopping, but if it meant spending more time with her, it was a bearable sacrifice. "For gifts, d'ya mean?"
Parvati slumped down in her chair slightly, looking at him with a bemused expression. "Seamus, what other holiday shopping were you expecting?" She watched him for a moment, surprised at his awkwardness. She had never seen her classmate so befuddled. In honestly, she had probably never spent so much time alone with him before either. She merely wondered where his grit and determination went tonight.
Quite satisfied with himself, Seamus merely leaned back in his own chair, crossing an ankle over his knee. His momentary increase in confidence was somewhat marred by her question, a somewhat sheepish expression replacing the pride on his features. "Well, I went out with a girl once who wanted to tell her how her outfits looked before she bought them," He explained, before pausing and favoring her with a faintly appreciative glance. "Of course, we could do that too," He suggested.
Having moved her gaze back to the chess board, she absently directed another random piece forward. She looks up at him from the board and cocked her head oddly to the side. "Finnigan, I have never seen you this indecisive before...have you no opinions?" she gently challenged him, waiting to see something, anything other than the blind admiration she had grown accustomed to.
The suggestion that he was indecisive was enough to prompt Seamus to raise an eyebrow, mildly irritated by her accusations. Unlike the other girls he'd dated, she was his friend and he was trying to show a modicum of respect. "Just trying to be polite, Parvati - would you rather I asked you to model holiday swimsuits for me?"
Aha, there's the Seamus I know. thought the Gryffindor prefect. She leaned foreward in her seat a bit toward him. "How dare you?" she asked with mock insult. "It is nearing on winter! It is far too cold to try on bathing suits!" she grinned and picked up a knight from the chess table, and hucked it in his direction playfully.
Seamus scoffed loudly, catching the knight easily and depositing it carelessly atop the chess board, much to the piece's vocal protest. "Who cares if it's winter? I'll brave the cold if it means getting a glimpse of you in a bikini."
A wide and defiant grin spread across her face. "I'll try one on if you do." She rested her elbow on the table and placed her chin delicately in hr palm. Imagining that scene was both terribly amusing and mortifying at the same time, but she had to admit that she could not stop staring at him. "What do you say?" she grinned evilly.
"Are you mad?!" His reaction was strong and immediate, an astonished look on his face. Him? In a bikini?. "Men do not wear bikinis," Seamus said firmly, deeming the notion absurd. And yet, even in dismissing it, he cast a brief glance in Parvati's direction, enticed by the prospect of seeing her in so little.
Parvati laughed so loud that three fifth year students studying Arithmancy jumped and turned to look at the pair. The prefect threw her hands over her mouth with a look of surprise at her own outburst. After a moment, her russet skin reddened to the ears, she looked up at Seamus, struggling to keep the image of him in a fluffy pink blinking bikini out of her mind. "It was a joke Finnigan." she laughed as she watched his shock fade.
His astonishment faded, but he couldn't suppress the hint of disappointment in his eyes at the realization that he wouldn't be seeing her in a bikini. Sure, he'd imagined it countless times, but it wasn't nearly the same as it'd be in the flesh. "You're a bloody tease, you know that?" Seamus harrumphed, but there was no real anger in his voice. "Will you at least wear a short skirt to Hogsmeade?" He countered.
She raised her head up and slams her hand down on the table, as she knocked over a few unsuspecting chess pieces. "A tease am I?" she feigned indignation. You have no idea she thought. "Do you seriously expect me to dignify that with a response?" she watched him closely not wanting to truly anger him. The social dance beginning to pick up nicely. "A short skirt, in the middle of bloody November? Do you want me to catch my death?"
"So wear stockings," He replied nonchalantly, though he privately thought stockings would only add to the appeal. It took a great deal of willpower not to lose himself in the titillating image. "Come on, Parvati, you're a big girl," He dared. She surveyed his expression closely, her brown eyes glittered in the firelight. "And what is in it for me mate?" She asked him, as she flipped her hair needlessly away from her face.
Seamus scratched his head, confused by her retort. He hadn't thought that far again -- hormones would do that to you. "What do you want to be in it for you?" A pause as he thought back to their previous exchange, quickly amending his question. "I'm not wearing a skirt."
She giggled and grabbed an overstuffed pillow from her chair, throwing it at the handsome seventh year. "Fine then...a drink at Madame Puddifoot's."
Sadly, his reflexes weren't quick enough to spare him a pillow in the face, but he took it in stride, his blank expression transforming into one of amusement. "You're on." Somehow, a few minutes at a notoriously silly establishment seemed a small price to pay for a date with a tantalizingly-clad Parvati Patil.
She jumped up quickly, her plait bouncing over her shoulder. "You, my dear Mister Finnigan have a date!" she said moving to his side of the table and holding out her hand. She was not sure if he would shake it, ir kiss it. She thought she's test him quickly before bounding off towards the girl's dormitory, leaving him wanting.
Seamus might not have been the most refined boy in the school, but his mother had managed to embed some sense of manners in his head. When she extended her hand, he accepted it, head bowing courteously and lips brushing over the soft skin. He even dared to linger a moment before releasing it, his bright green eyes sparkling with mischief. "You just make sure you hold up your end."
His lips on her hand sent electric shocks up her arm and down her spine. She gazed into his eyes a moment too long, and shook her head with a brilliant smile. She took her hand back and tousled his hair quickly before she spun on her heel and skipped merrily back to the girl's dormitory stairwell. "We shall see, mate!" she called back to him as she reached the stairs. She turned for one last look, hoping her last move had been effective before giggling and skipping up the stairs.