[Kingsley Shacklebolt Jr.]

He was a man on a mission. Kingsley Jr. was currently dateless and big, bad V-day was just around the corner. His closest friends all had partners squared away and were planning to throw a rager of a party and he really didn't want to be the odd man out and show up without a special young lady on his arm. He was already being teased enough for being so late to the game, but unlike most of his friends, he actually had other things to focus on. Like his Quidditch team, like lookin' out for his younger siblings, like makin' sure his grades stayed top notch so he could get that job his old man had lined up. Things had been different this year. He had ambitions to fulfill. Dating hadn't been on his mind the way it had in previous years. 

But he'd never spent a Valentine's Day alone since coming to the school and he was not about to start breaking that streak now. No sir. He set out to Hogsmeade with his most winning smile, eye-flirting with each young lady he passed, occasionally stopping to chat it up with the ones who seemed receptive. He layed on the charm real thick, but all the ones he spoke with either already had dates or were otherwise unavailable. 

By late afternoon, Junior began to feel some actual discouragement creep in. He wasn't used to it at all. He paused and pursed his lips in thought. He glanced down to his feet. Was it the shoes? Couldn't be. He'd worn one of his best pairs. He'd carefully chosen every part of this outfit. The slick leather jacket, the faded designer jeans, the musky cologne. He looked to his hands and a fresh wave of inspiration struck. 

He was empty handed. That was a problem. 

He snapped his fingers and with a renewed bounce in his step, Junior entered a floral store and headed straight for the back. He needed roses and he needed them to be red. Nothing else would do. He'd buy a giant bouquet and hand a single rose to each girl he spoke with. That was sure to win one over. He inhaled the perfume scent of the flowers and scanned the ones they had left. Most were gone, which made sense considering Valentine's Day was only a couple of days away. He was momentarily disappointed when he saw they were fresh out of red, before he spied one last bouquet hidden behind a row of yellow ones. 

Haha, he thought. Must be my lucky day!

He reached for it eagerly, grin returning, and grasped the thick stems just as a smaller hand shot out at the very same time to grab them too. Brows furrowed, he glanced down to see a pretty blonde. He blinked, stunned, too distracted to notice he was still holding her hand. 

Juliet Opal Greyback

[Juliet Opal Greyback]

Juliet... didn't get out much. She'd gotten councelling when her aunt had rather gracelessly kicked her out of the house and she'd gotten assignments. Stupid assignments, mind you. Jules wanted to stay indoors, where she felt safe and where she didn't run the risk of getting sick. Normally that wouldn't seem like much of a problem but Jules was painfully aware of her very fragile and weak lungs. Useless and pathetic things they were.

But apparently she needed to get out more and be around her peers. So she'd asked Victoire and Teddy to find out when the next Hogsmeade weekend was and had managed to arrange transport to and from the little village through her councellor. One might think she'd opt for the floo network but it was too risky with the option of inhaling smoke and ashes and Juliet absolutely despised public transport. It gave her terrible anxiety. So a taxi it was and Juliet was beyond happy she wasn't the one paying the charges.

So as she was in the village she'd mostly stuck to herself. She'd been watching people a bit and had found a quiet corner to drink a warm cup of tea earlier but well, now she really had to.... do more. So she'd decided to purchase some flowers as a thank you for Victoire and Teddy. Juliet absolutely loved roses and figured that with valentines day around the corner she could suggest she could try painting a bouquet of red roses. Something pretty she could actually have in her room without the risk that it'd affect her health. She didn't even have a carpet. Then again, her councellor did claim her aunt had been paranoid and obsessive and that she definitively could have flowers without ending in the hospital.

Still, the scent had hit her hard and she'd almost been dizzy. It had been pretending to browse for a moment before she'd finally spotted the red flowers. She'd reached out to grab them and a hand and closed around her own, around the flowers. Julie wasn't much of a ... touch person. Or well, not most of the time. She got nervous and uneasy because she just wasn't used to any type of physical affection. So her eyes instantly got wide and she probably would have retracted her hand, if she'd been able to.

But then she looked up.

A very handsome guy was standing there. He was tall and he was looking at her in a way that made it feel like there was something going on in her stomach that wasn't entirely unpleasant. She felt her mouth open slightly, as if she intended to speak, but no words came out. Then she closed it, swallowed slowly and could almost feel her face get red as she quickly looked... well anywhere but his face. "Uhm.. I'm sorry. Can I....?" She trailed off, wriggling her fingers for a split second under his. Oh dear. She had no idea how to act in a situation like this! What was she supposed to do?!

Kingsley Shacklebolt Jr.

[Kingsley Shacklebolt Jr.]

Junior continued to gaze down at the girl, not feeling at all self-conscious about it. When she met his eyes with a wide-eyed stare, he felt the stunned expression on his face begin to melt into something more familiar. His eyes softened and his mouth pulled up into a beaming smile.

He watched as her face grew red, her gaze shifting away from his. She was shy, huh? He didn't talk to a lot of shy girls. And she was gorgeous. That was a rare find. Someone beautiful and seeming unaware of it.

When he felt her hand move, his attention shifted to where he still held it. It was a nice feeling, holding her hand, but he didn't dwell on that too long. He was much more comfortable being flirty and playful than vilnerable and sappy. He chuckled, "ah, my bad." He lifted his hand and held it up in apology. "Sorry. Caught me off guard."

He looked between her and the roses, brow raising. "Well this is an interesting situation, isn't it? Only one bouquet and I am pretty sure I had my eye on it first." Nothing wrong with a little teasing, right? His only purpose in purchasing theses roses was to score a date, but maybe little miss bashful here would take him up on that offer?

Juliet Opal Greyback  

[Juliet Opal Greyback]

His expression changed rather quickly and before she knew it he was smiling at her brightly, as if he was somehow happy to see her. Well that was just weird. Still, a small smile pulled at her own lips, unable to be stopped despite how utterly confused she was feeling about the entire thing. Encounters like this were very uncomfortable for her because she wasn't used to them. She didn't exactly get out of the house enough to have them.

He retracted his hand and apologised, holding it up as if she planned to shoot him. She shrugged a bit and pushed a stray lock of hair behind her ear. "It's okay." She said, her voice soft as always. Jules wasn't a loud person, ever. "I didn't quite notice on time either after all." She reminded him, shifting her weight a bit awkwardly. She wasn't quite used to this.

He said the situation was interesting and that he was pretty sure he had his eye on it first and she looked up, her brow furrowed slightly in confusion as she studied his face a moment. "How did you determine that?" She asked curiously. How was he so certain he'd seen it first? Had he counted the roses, perhaps? She smiled a bit. "I'm more than willing to let you have them of course, provided that you can tell me how many roses are in it. You get one guess." She quickly moved the bouquet so that it was behind her back so he wouldn't be able to cheat by simply counting them on the spot. That wouldn't be fair, would it? Meanwhile she was counting stems behind her back by touch to make sure that she would know. Tactical, but she really wanted the flowers.

Kingsley Shacklebolt Jr.