Love is Blind- A Blind Date

Simon sat at a table in Sparks Bistro and Bakery, tapping his fingers gently on the table and humming to himself, emanating confidence, though he was really more nervous than he let on. He, like his father, was very self-assured, though Simon was much less sure of himself. Still, he did not know what could go on.

He had been crazy on the dating scene recently, and to find that he had even one weekend free had bothered him fully. He had been complaining about this rather loudly when a rather abrupt Gryffindor put him in his place and offered to find him a date if it would "Shut his bag, fat mouth." He had agreed and the girl, Jack Dyllan, had procured some Ravenclaw girl named Brienne.

Simon was well aware that he had a way of charming women, but he often forgot himself and felt his insecurities slip up. However, dressed in a nice button up and some new jeans, he did not know what he could be nervous about. He obviously looked good; what could go wrong? Hmm... The girl could ditch him.. He had not thought of that...

He forced his worries from his mind. All he had to go off of the girl was a rough description and he knew that Jack had given the girl the same. He wondered how quickly he would be able to recognize her, if he could at all. Although he was pretty sure the dog ears and tail may give it away...

Brienne stepped into the Bistro, wearing a red shirt with black lace with a black Flamenco-dancer-like skirt. Sandals were on her feet, which were a little tight but comfortable enough. She was nervous as well. Her tail was bound to her leg so that it wouldn't stick out, and to make the skirt easier to fit. She browsed a little until she saw him, the blind date. By the description she was given by Jack previous to the date, it'd seemed too good to be true. But, here he was in all his glory.

Her black wolf-tail squirmed under the spell she used to bind it to the leg, making her rather uncomfortable. She'd eke it out just for the sake of this, though. She felt her heart race as she approached the table. A number of stuff could go wrong here, but she tried to put that out of her mind. Tonight, she'd slather on the charm like chocolate on a frog at Honeydukes.

"Are you... Simon McLaggan by any chance?" Her eyes darted back and forth from him to the other people.

Simon had been looking down at the table, tracing images onto the table that were not really there, trying to relieve his boredom and look as though he was not about to do anything particularly interesting. It was important to look too cool to care. In fact, he put a lot of time and care into not caring...

He heard a voice and looked up, and he could not help but offer a somewhat amused smile, though he managed to pass it off as a smirk. Jack had not been lying about the wolf ears then... There was no mistaking this girl and he let a keen and warm smile unfold onto his face.

He stood up, as was proper when in the company of a lady. His father had taught him to be a gentleman to the best of his ability. He was not to sit until she had taken her seat. He proffered a hand rather pompously for her to shake. First dates were hand shakes, second dates were kissing the hand, and third date earned a kiss on the cheek. "Yes, that would be me. Simon McLaggen. And you must be the lovely Miss Brienne Ravenquill?" He could not really remember the last name, it being rather difficult to pronounce.

Brienne reached out and shook Simon's hand, "Actually, Ravenquist. Close though, most don't really remember my name that well if they haven't been around me much". She was blushing at the word 'lovely', no one called her lovely before that she'd remembered. Unless it was a joke or something. Her mind was digressing away from the situation at hand. She hated it when it did that.

She sat down after she'd shaken his hand firmly. She always had a good grip while shaking hands, it wasn't exactly a defining trait but it was unusual for the fairer sex. Her hazel eyes went big as she put the napkin in front of her on her lap, it was an awesome restaurant and she'd never been here before.

"So...uhh...nice evening, isn't it?"

Simon smiled and bowed his head slightly, though he was silently kicking himself for screwing up...already. Thirty seconds in. What would his father say? Maybe he did not need to ever know it. Retaining his confidence, he said, "My mistake. And now I shall never make the mistake again." He chuckled.

She had a firm grip. Hmmm... Most of the girls Simon took out were rather delicate and he had felt as though his hand would crush theirs. He did not think he minded though, since either way was okay for him. When it came to girls he really had little preference. All girls was his type of girl.

She sat down and he, too, sat. He smiled at her nervous attempt at small talk. She was obviously rather new to dating, or maybe she was just naturally nervous like that. He tried to keep his eyes on hers and not on her ears. They were rather different and they drew his attention. "Oh, quite nice actually. I rather like this place to. Quaint, don't you think?" He smiled and glanced down at the menus that had been on the table. "Have you been here before? I'm rather stuck. So many delicious choices."

"It's actually quite a nice place, very quaint. Can't say that I've been here though, however I do know that a friend of mine had been here when he was dating. He also came here alone for some reason" Brienne said, she was becoming a little more confident with each word, even giggling a little when he assured her that he'd get her name right. She picked up the menu, and visually scanned each choice. So many things to choose from, but she wouldn't know what the food was like until she tried. Thinking back to her strategy for trying new restaurants, she decided to get something she was familiar with. Something she thought she'd like.

"Hmmm...I think I'll try the fettuccine alfredo. Here's a tip for trying new restaurant food; get a food that you're familiar with, that you've tried at other places" Brienne was overly helpful, which was annoying to some people, but hopefully not to Simon. She didn't want to make a mistake. She over thought things.

Simon smiled and nodded as she spoke, nodding absentmindedly and trying to keep his mind from wandering. He had a bad habit for paying attention. For a Ravenclaw, he was rather thick and it was obvious to all of his past tutors. He let out a appreciative chuckle at the end of her story, trying to refocus back knowing that being the airhead he was would not score him any points.

He was pleased to get a giggle out of her and he smiled deeper, knowing that it was a good sign. He surveyed the menu but at her suggestion, his stomach rumbled in agreement. He flattened his menu. "That's the trick eh?" He smiled. "Well then I think I'll go for the same, if you don't mind my lack of creativity." He flagged over a waitress and told her, "Two fettuccine alfredos please?" He smiled over at Brienne. "Oh, and I'll just take a water, thank you." He faced forward again to face Brienne. "So, tell me about yourself, Brienne."

"I don't mind lack of uncreativity, sometimes I lack it too", Brienne smiled warmly, she wasn't shy anymore.

"Hmm, a little about myself. I'm a Ravenclaw at Hogwarts, seventh year, and I'm a werewolf. I tell you, never mate with a werewolf on a full moon, or something like me will happen. That was the mistake my mother made, he transformed in coitus. That resulted in werewolf mutations that I'll live with for the rest of my life" Brienne touched the scar on her mouth, running her fingers along the raised skin.

"This scar was from a fight with another werewolf. I happened to be lucky enough to win, at the cost of the other's life. I still have nightmares from that" Surprisingly, she didn't cry at all whilst telling the tale. Not one tear, because she didn't want to ruin this night. "Good news though, I won't go berserk anymore, I live with a guy who can whip up a great Wolfsbane to stave off the crazies". She smirked at that last remark she made.

"Is there anything that you'd like to tell me about yourself?"

He smiled at her comment on creativity and then listened intently to her story. He could not help but give her a soft look of surprise when she said not to mate with a werewolf on a full moon, thinking she was actually just offering it as advice, though his face relaxed into a look of understanding once she explained. He said, with a slight smile, "Good to know." That was about the extent of his humor...

She explained the scar and he nodded slowly, listening carefully to the story as though there would be a quiz at the end... you could never tell with women... He felt his eyebrows fly up in surprise when she said she was living with some guy. He would not mind dating a taken girl too much, if there was not the possibility that the boyfriend could hurt him. He decided to assume that she meant an older brother or something of the sort and moved on.

"Sure," he said, interested in the idea of a conversation centered on him. He would be the first to talk about himself. Simon had a little problem with boasting... "I'm a Ravenclaw as well, sixth year. I belong to a few teams at Hogwarts and I play Quidditch in my spare time or whenever I get bored." He stopped himself from launching into a life story, because he knew there was always the possibility of that.

"Oooh....Quidditch, I love that game. I always wanted to play, but I never made the team for some reason. Daniel, the man I live with, played that. He was an excellent Quidditch player, however he's...how do I put this lightly? He's gay, but I live with him because he's a mentor of sorts, and can make large batches of Wolfsbane" Brienne said.

"I think I saw you a couple times in the Ravenclaw common room, I never talked to you though because a lot of Ravenclaw men are kinda snobby towards me. I'm not thin enough for them, too unorthodox or too wolfish. I was scared that you'd be the same way".

The waitress came and brought the food to the table. The pasta looked nice and appetizing, but would it live up to her expectations? She took a bite, it was delicious.