Every nerve in Avalon's body was buzzing with excitement as she ran down the moving staircases with such lack of precision that she was surprised she didn't fall.
She ran for the Hufflepuff common room as fast as she could, and she had left her own dormitory without thinking of what she looked like.
Avalon wore the green sweater her Aunt Narcissa had given her for her birthday and a pair of athletic shorts, and she hadn't bothered to fix her hair or put on any shoes, so she was racing down stone steps in fuzzy socks—it was a miracle she hadn't fallen already.
She allowed herself to slow down when she saw his head of blue hair, and she grinned widely.
"Oi, Lupin!" She shouted.
He turned around.
Teddy was still wearing his robes, for he was doing a round of hall monitoring as one of his Head Boy duties, but his black and yellow tie was loosened and undone, so it hung around his neck like a scarf.
"I think I'm ready for that date now." She said confidently.
He had already been smiling from the moment he had first seen her, but now he was smiling so wide it almost looked like it hurt.
"Really?" He exclaimed, crossing the distance between them in only a few strides. "You're serious? You want to date me?" He was happy, it seemed; his joy was practically oozing off his tongue.
Avalon held up one hand, as if to say pause. "Don't get too excited—I'm agreeing to one date. We'll see where it goes from there."
She was mostly telling the truth—if he asked for her hand in marriage right then and there, she probably would have said yes. But she didn't want to get in over her head with the boy she'd been in love with since she was six years old, although six year old Avalon and the Avalon that existed ten years later would both agree upon the fact that he was everything she'd ever wanted.
"Don't worry, Ava. I'm confident enough in myself to know that you'll be wanting another."
She rolled her brown eyes. "Oh, shut up, will you?"
He just smiled, grabbing her hand and pulling her to him.
Her hands found his shoulders, and his placed themselves on the back of her neck and her waist. His eyes flickered between her eyes and her lips for a few moments.
"I'm going to kiss you now. That alright?"
"Absolutely."
Teddy's lips were on hers in an instant, and she let herself melt into him, enjoying the bliss of being able to kiss him freely, without the worry of anyone disapproving.
YEEHAW