May 29, 1891 - Hogwarts COB

The Season had really begun already, but this marked a whole extra starting point to it — summer balls and dinner parties and he was going to have to chaperon his sisters more, and they were going to have to compete with younger debutantes. And they really needed one of them to get married this year, because of the — ongoing shitshow of the Greengrass family finances. Ugh.

Noble was watching them carefully — and all three of them were here, which meant he had to try to track more than usual, just in case Ford missed something — but he was doing that thing that men in their early twenties did at these sorts of parties, which was hover. He wasn't marriageable, wasn't interested in marriage soon, so — why on earth would he dance with a debutante? The trouble was, he'd lost one of his friends who he had been hovering with — and he couldn't just hover with no one to talk to — so perhaps he ought to find Ford.

This was of course what brought him face-to-face with Daff, before he'd managed to even begin finding his brother. "Miss Potts," Noble said — surprise flickered across his expression for a beat, before he managed to school it back into something impassive.

If he still felt this gravitational pull towards her he was fucked, right? It wasn't going to go away — or, it wasn't going to go away quickly, the way he needed it to.

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@"Daffodil Potts" Elsie Kirke

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   Elsie Kirke

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set by Bee

Aside from the obvious reason that Dahlia was debuting with her classmates today, Daffy had wanted to come to the ball today, simply to spend a little more time at a place that had once truly made her happy. Hogwarts held nothing but happy memories for her, even if everything was all in ruins now. She'd lost a little of that shine and it was exhausting trying to appear as if nothing was wrong. Maybe a little recharge was what she needed. According to everyone else, there couldn't possibly be anything wrong, even if she knew otherwise. She had still put on the bracelet, along with one of her favorite dresses, a simple light green one that was as comfortable as it was worn. There was no need for her to be fancy this evening, she was just here to be in the background, to support her sister and make it through the evening in quiet study of the castle. She tucked one lone, white dahlia into her updo tonight and that was all that she had done in her attempt to fade into the background

Of course that was too much to ask as she once again found herself accidentally face-to-face with Noble. This was never going to get any less jarring was it? For once, and she felt incredibly guilty about it, she would have preferred to run into the other Mr. Greengrass; at least speaking with Fortitude wasn't quite this painful."My apologies Mr. Greengrass, let me get out of your way." She passed him a tired half-smile; she did not have the energy for this tonight. Daff had insomnia to begin with and it was only exacerbated by her current state of mind. Trying to fake her way through a conversation with Noble was not in her capacity at the moment. Maybe she could steal away outside for some fresh air, that would help.

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"My fault," Noble replied automatically; it was. He should have known to keep an eye out for her, and he was going to have to get better at it if he was going to spend the whole — ugh — season trying to avoid her. Despite what he'd said, he hadn't moved, and his eyes were drinking her in; the green dress he'd seen a few times before, the dahlia in her hair, the tired smile she offered.

Daffy wasn't doing well, it was obvious. To be fair, he wasn't either.

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set by Bee

Her subsequent smile was weak at best and she sighed softly. This was how it was going to be wasn't it? Maybe she should just stop going to events altogether, leave it to Zin and Dahlia for now. They had better chances at these things anyway. She could stay home with Thistle and man the shop.

"Enjoy your evening." She added as a farewell, scooting around him toward the large doors that led to the foyer of the school. Just a few minutes to escape and collect herself. The evening had barely begun and she would need to put on a happy face for the rest of it, so she needed to gather her wits about her— which for Daffy, happened best outside.

The castle itself brought back so many memories, if it weren't for Dahlia's debut, she wouldn't have come, but she couldn't begrudge her sister her night after all. Daff stole out the heavy oak doors at the front of the school and down the steps, hitting the walkway and turning left to the small courtyard that was off to the side. It had often been a good hideaway during her school years. Her feet carried her there of by memory and she finally felt like she could breathe. She leaned against the stone wall, head tilted back as she looked up and soaked in the sinking sun and the colors on the horizon; she felt better already.

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He shouldn't follow her, because it was a terrible idea and things were over and — maybe someone would notice, and things were over, and she certainly didn't want him to. But somehow after half a minute Noble found himself heading out after her, and he felt stupid doing it and he felt stupid once he was outside, too, watching her lean against the wall upset because he had made her that way.

"I'm sorry," Noble blurted, knowing he should turn back around.

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set by Bee

Daffy had closed her eyes, trying to breathe herself back into a good mindset to go back inside. She had to collect herself enough to put a happy face back on and go support her sister. She could do this.

Visibly startled at the sound of Noble's voice for a myriad of reasons, but mostly because she truly hadn't expected it, Daff jumped. Her hand flew to her heart and she huffed out a quiet curse. "You scared the daylights out of me." She ran a hand over her face and blew out a slow breath.

She laughed quietly, and tried to wrap her head around what was happening right now. The last person she'd expected to find in this courtyard was Noble. Sighing softly, she looked up him finally. "I'm sorry, I'm all out of sorts."

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He shouldn't have followed her. He knew that before she reacted, and then he'd startled her, so it reaffirmed it. He should just leave her alone and ignore the gravity that existed between them, because they were never going to be able to actually be together, so all he was doing was wasting both of their times.

He shrugged at her. "It's alright," he said, "Can I get you anything?"

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set by Bee

Daff could feel her heart racing, both from the scare and the anxiety now coursing through her at the weight to this situation. He'd said he was sorry, but for what? She wasn't sure she was brave enough to ask. On one hand, he had followed her out here, that had to mean something, but on the other, what was he doing here? They had parted ways and even though they couldn't avoid one another permanently, the superficial run-ins at events like this were all that could pass between them anymore, right?

"No, I—" She was going to say she was alright, but clearly they both knew better. The only thing he could do was open up to her again, like they used to, but she highly doubted that was going to happen. Not to mention this was neither the time nor the place. "I haven't been sleeping well," He knew that about her, knew it better than anyone else, but she didn't need to comment further. "But I'll be alright." Eventually. she had to.

What else could she say anyway? She had no reason to lie to him, even if they weren't close anymore.

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"Oh," Noble said, feeling stupid, because he again couldn't think of what to say. What he wanted to say was I miss you, but if he shouldn't have followed her out then he really shouldn't be walking around saying things like that to her. They were over. He hadn't thought it would come to this, but it had — they were over, because at the end of the day his family had to be his top priority.

"Chamomile tea," he said instead. He swallowed. "It might help you sleep. If you haven't tried it yet."

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set by Bee

"Right, I remember." There was a whole host of things Daff had tried over the years to help her sleep at night, but this go around there wasn't that seemed to be working. Mostly she had just picked up drinking coffee in the mornings and hoping for the best. It was hard when she just couldn't turn her brain off at night.

"Lavender, chamomile tea, plenty of sunshine, the works." She sighed softly, thinking she sounded like a plant herself.  It was funny how she could easily figure out how to care for the plants and people around her, but not necessarily herself. By now in a bout of insomnia this serious she would have asked Noble for something to help her sleep, but that was no longer an option and that was part of the reason she was up all night.

She waved a hand half-heartedly. "I'll be alright," It wasn't a concern of his anymore anyway. "It was nice of you to check on me."

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Daffy sounded like a flower herself; she needed sunlight and water and care, and Noble thought she might find it funny if he pointed that out, but he wasn't supposed to want to try and make her laugh anymore. So he swallowed it down.

He shrugged at her; it would probably have been nicer of him to leave her alone, now that he thought about it. "I'll see you around," he said, although he wasn't supposed to want that anymore, either.

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set by Bee