get off my case, i won't say it || [ZOE]

Zoe was naturally good at turning around apologies. It had started because when she was younger it just simply made her feel bad that someone had a reason to apologize to her. She also wasn't very good at them herself so by making a jokingly sarcastic remark, it opened it up to not be so bad. It was her own special way of saying, 'Hey, man, it's okay. No big deal.' Most people seemed to get the hint. 

Zoe mockingly glared at him for his response. It was good. She had a feeling she was never going to live it down. "Oh, so now you're late because you were a hero?"  she looked at him momentarily as if that were a bad thing and then she dropped her shoulders. "Alright, that's probably a good reason. Whatever."  She grinned at him. "We're just trying to look nice. Next time I'll just come out with you after I've just gotten out of bed. That'll give you nightmares, I can assure you," 

"Hmm, only an hour? We better make the most of it then."  she said as she turned back to the shelves. As if the librarian had read Zoe's previous thought, the woman brought over a step-stool - or she was being nosy and saw that Zoe could hardly reach any shelf higher than what a pre-schooler could reach. Zoe took the step-stool and went to some of the higher shelves to dust. She casually read some of the spines as she went - it wasn't often she saw the books this high. "Hey Ted, have you read this one yet?"  she asked as she pulled out one of them. She blew dust off the cover, which only made her cough. "A Guide to Being Able to Secretly Live in the Hogwart's Library for the Strange and the Overachieving? It must come in useful."  she tossed the book down, even though it wasn't much of a fall for him, and even though it wasn't at all what she said it was. It actually had something to do about wizards in the fourth century or something equally unnecessary considering it was covered in so much dust. She stopped dusting for a moment to contemplate his question. "Maybe spending an hour with you in say... Switzerland. In the mountains. I can't ski or anything, but you know. But considering that's not going to happen any time today, I suppose this'll do, too,"  she told him with a wink.

Zoe's eyes went to the flowers as she stepped off the ladder. How had she not noticed them before? Her face went bright red as she looked them and then back at Teddy. She hadn't noticed because she was too busy looking at his face. "Those are for me?" she apparently didn't realize how awkward the question was. The longer she stood there, the longer she realized they probably were for her (considering he told her they were) and the grin on her face just got wider, but it didn't help the redness. "I mean, I suppose they could have been for another mysterious girl you met in the library or something, but that's be obviously quite rude considering we're in this detention date together." She took the flowers from him and held them in her hands as she inspected them. "They're lovely,"  she said, finally in earnest. She stepped towards him and kissed him on the cheek. She had missed where she had attempted to reach and instead ended up kissing him in a spot that was quite close to his mouth. Zoe pretended she didn't notice as she pulled away, still blushing furiously. She looked around them. "I don't want to put them in the floor,"  she finally admitted. In all honesty she wanted to get all girlish about it and run back to her dormitory and put them in a nice vase by the window next to her bed, but that wasn't going to happen considering they had to stay there for at least another fifty-five minutes, give or take. 

Zoe laughed with him. "Well, just don't get too comfortable and let that be the highlight of your life,"  she warned. "Let it be your starting point into greater and more adventurous things."  She realized immediately that she came off as some preachy Professor who was giving some sort of graduation speech, but that was a little the point, wasn't it? Besides, she couldn't let him come off sounding too noble and valiant; no, that would be too easy. There was an art of teasing that meant never letting having the other person have the last word... then again, that might also just be a woman thing. Zoe found she didn't care either way. 

Zoe heard him mumble something, but she didn't catch it. She supposed if it was important he would repeat himself. She guessed that she didn't have much of a good hearing range up there on her ever-important stool as things he said seemed to get caught off a bit. You'd think it would have the opposite effect considering she was now closer to his mouth. Then again, she wasn't aware that he was intentionally mumbling. 

"Wonderful, I've published a book. I do hope it's selling well -" she made a mockery of seeming offended when she saw him wipe the dust of the cover. "I guess I'm the only one who envisions annoying you something to make an artwork out of,"  she said. She scrunched up her face as if she were looking at a puppy dog. "How lucky are you!"  she booped him on the nose like he should be happy that she wanted to annoy him quite frequently. It was all in good fun, though, if she was actually annoying him - like truly annoying him - she probably would just run and duck for cover. If she had been truly misreading their friendship for quite that long, that would be probably the most embarrassing thing to happen. 

Zoe looked at him curiously. "And other becoming Mr. Library Hero and this lovely detention-date with me, what are the other perks? Befriending the librarian?"  Zoe herself was a regular haunt of the library, which only showed how much more he was in the library. When in doubt, she checked and he was there. She liked being there too but he beat her out by a long shot. After all, she was in Ravenclaw, and she was the studious type. Being in the library sort of just went along with her personality. Teddy on the other hand took great pride in his living in the library. "Do people ever confuse you for a library assistant?"  she suddenly thought out loud. 

Zoe rolled her eyes at his comment. "I better take back that cheek - kissy - thing, then,"  she said to him as she waved her hands at him obnoxiously between each word as if she didn't know what to call what she did. Not that she wanted to draw even more attention to it. She looked at the flowers and then back to him. "Honestly, I wouldn't be surprised. That would explain your living in the library - always coming in to see her,"  Zoe said as she nodded her head in the librarian's directions. The woman was hardly a looker and maybe it was in bad fun to say it so sarcastically, but the woman hardly had a wonderful personality to make up for her looks. 

She took the vase from him and placed her flowers inside while casually muttering, "Right, magic,"  as if she had temporarily forgotten they could do such a thing. She spun in a circle, looking for a place to put the vase before deciding on a shelf nearby. She could always move it with them. She was glad that he had come up with a way to keep them alive. Zoe had to admit, his magic was smooth and quick thinking even if he was blushing furiously, which she wasn't going to make fun of him for. There was always a place you drew the limit. She liked his blushing, she thought it was cute, but she couldn't help wonder that she'd probably kissed him on the cheek before, no? Her mind wandered through their years and years of friendship, but nothing came up. If she was aware of that tidbit, she wouldn't have done it. Well, maybe she would have. He had also never given her flowers before, either. She continued to look at her flowers for a moment longer and wondered what would have happened if she had placed her kiss a little more to the right and had kissed him on the lips. She was sure it would have been the best use of detention time she'd have used. She doubted if the librarian felt the same way.

"Well, it's a formal, so I'm going to say no to both of what you just said,"  she said as she went back at her stepladder, which almost, not quite, made her as tall as him. "Don't you have any sort of dress robes? Suit or something? I don't know. I think there's supposed to be silly masks, too. Maybe I'll make my mask have a giant peacock tail feather come out of it, that way you don't go chasing after the wrong girl by accident,"  Zoe teased, although now that she realized that she had gotten Teddy's attention, she had begun to be afraid that she might lose it. It was stupid, irrational, but completely like her. At least before if he had liked someone else it might have been easier, she could have put it down to him never seeing her that way. Now if it happened she would feel a little... overlooked. Shadowed. "I'm assuming I'll wear a dress of some sort. Haven't decided which one, between my sister and I we have quite the collection. You know, I've been in her closet before looking for something to wear and she has so many more outfits than I could have ever imagined. Besides, I'm sure if I owl her she'll send me something."  Zoe knew that she had mentioned Teddy to her sister before, in fact, she knew she rambled on about Teddy and Tia on a regular basis. She remembered once that Jessica had suggested that Teddy and Tia should date, and the reaction her sister had gotten out of her only made Jessica double over in hysterics. Apparently she had been joking just to see what Zoe would say. "Maybe I'll even tell her I'm going with you. She'll be pleased."

That was like an understatement. Teddy had met Jessica before, and Jess absolutely loved Teddy. After their first meeting years ago she wanted Zoe to marry him or something, and everything the two did together prompted Jessica to make some sort of 'oooh'ing noise or comment. Zoe suddenly blushed at the idea. She could only imagine the owl she got in return. 

Zoe raised an eyebrow at Teddy as she watched him as if she were not amused (which she actually was). "Really? And what would your superhero power be, telling people really long stories until they fall asleep and then you jinx them once they're out?"  she couldn't help but admit, that would be sort of impressive. If he was ever late handing in an assignment or something and needed another day, he could simply talk until the professor fell asleep and then get the work done. Not that Teddy needed to do that, but that was beside the point. 

She laughed at catching him a little off-guard with her nose boop. Nose boops were always necessary in situations such as this. It certainly did stop him from talking. "Chapter Three is the Art of Mussing Up Ted's Hair," she explained simply, "...and then getting away with it."  she could only imagine people randomly running up to Teddy and screwing up his hair and then running away or disapparating or even being pulled up into the ceiling by accomplices like spies. 

He handed her the book and she instinctively went to put it away - before she felt tickling in her sides. Zoe let out a small squeal of laughter as she tried to get his hands away. She amazingly somehow kept her balance on the stool. She managed to get his hands off her, only for his hands to be in hers. She let them go a little too quickly. It wasn't like she didn't want his hands in hers, but she didn't want to be that weird girl who insisted on having a moment ever second and a half. Was she being like that? Did Teddy care - would Teddy care if she was? 

"Mhmm,"  she replied with a small roll of your eyes. She looked at the librarian for a moment. She was going to ask if girls actually talked to him a lot in the library. She always just assumed he sat by himself but that couldn't be the case, could it? He was sociable, he was adorable, there was no way that he was actually by himself all the time, was there? Zoe ignored her thoughts. It wasn't a big deal. It wasn't like she never talked to other boys. She realized a little too late that her thought process had gone completely off track and made her stare off into space. 

She focused her attention back on Teddy. She didn't know if he noticed that she had just had her head off in the clouds, but she was back now and he was blushing while talking about dress robes. "Even if we both can't dance, we can at least just goof off while looking nice,"  she said with a partially joking voice, and partially a mumble. She had never seen Teddy in a suit or dress robes or whatever they wore, nor had he ever seen her in a fancy dress and all made up. Sure, he saw her in sundresses and casual dresses, but nothing this formal. Just the thought of it made her panic, but made her somewhat excited. She didn't want him backing out just because he couldn't dance. She knew they would have fun no matter what. "Jessica's nuts, that's why,"  she explained simply, waving her hand a little dismissively. She loved her sister very much, even if she had a tendency to be a little excitable and such. "You know, if you did she probably would. She'd probably find you something in exactly your size without even telling her your size. Shopping is like her second career."  She thought about it seriously for a moment and then pushed on Teddy's shoulder. "You should do that! Or get me to. She would definitely do it."  The idea struck Zoe as a good one. He had sounded a little insecure about his dress robes/suit options, so maybe they weren't the nicest or the best looking. At least if Jessica picked him up something, it was bound to be very nice and very high quality and maybe that would loosen Teddy up a bit and calm down about the whole matter. She then a horrible thought that she couldn't keep to yourself, "You know, if you weren't intending on going..."  she let her statement hang, obviously allowing Teddy to fill in the blanks. She continued to dust as she left it there as she couldn't meet his eyes. She had been so excited about it that she never even stopped to think that maybe Teddy didn't want to go. Obviously he seemed like he wanted to go with her, but it didn't mean he wanted to go to the formal. He might have had no intentions of going until she asked him. 

She turned to him when he called her name and looked at him expectantly. "Hmmm?"

Zoe laughed at him. His defensive voice was one of her favourite sounds in the world - was that weird? Instead she merely shook her head, "Well, I'm the one in your company right now so you should be glad that at least I enjoy your rambling stories,"  she said to him kindly. There was actually something quite soothing about listening to any of Teddy's particularly long winded stories, more so when they were in the common room just spending time together. She could literally just watch him as he talked and flung his hands around to make his points. She did sometimes have the ability to not make fun of him - sometimes, usually when she was particularly tired. It didn't mean that he put her to sleep, it just meant her brain was too tired to be witty enough to think of anything sarcastic to say. Besides, one could only insult for so long without the other party actually taking personal offence, and she never wanted to cross that line. 

Her laugh was almost a giggle as he flung his hands over his hair to protect it. Zoe prided herself in the fact that she didn't giggle, but around Teddy she laughed so much that her laughs were sometimes almost reduced to such. "And on that day, I will receive the award for finally crossing Ted's Patience Line."  she always believed that Teddy was almost patient to a fault. It was something that Zoe wasn't, really, especially to newcomers. She tended to regard people she wasn't familiar with as irritants. She was happy with her friends, and she never knew what those other people were intending. She couldn't ever remember not accepting Teddy, but he was there for her from day one of Hogwarts. It didn't matter, really, because towards each other they were wonderful in her mind. It wasn't like it was hard to cross Zoe's patience line, but she couldn't image anyone doing it for Ted. "I wonder what that would be like,"  she said, curiously. She narrowed her eyes at him for a moment as she placed her hands on her hips. "Are you a yeller, or are you more prone to silent treatments, or what?"  Now that she thought about it, she couldn't let it go. 

"Wonderful, I'm sure Jess will make us both look nice,"  she said as she tried to sound casual. In reality, she was anything but. She hoped Jessica would use her brain and actually send her something appropriate for a formal. The last thing she needed was some sort of dress that was inches above her knees and high heels or something else that Jessica might have thought was funny. She felt nervous all of the sudden - sometimes Jessica thought she was funny and would pull stupid tricks like that. Maybe she'd have to include in her own letter that this was serious. Zoe smiled at Teddy. "Okay, good, because I'm really looking forward to going with you."  she added the last bit because she wasn't sure how excited she would have been if she was going alone. Zoe still would have went, but a part of her would have always been on the lookout for Teddy (if he went) and therefore she probably wouldn't have enjoyed herself as much. 

Teddy's words made Zoe's stomach flip. Was he serious? Was he really serious? He looked like it, and it caught her by surprise - she sort of supposed like her earlier suggestion of them going to the formal together. They seemed good at catching each other off-guard - sort of like when Teddy wrapped his arms around her and lifted her off the stool. Zoe's heart felt like it was going to flutter right out of her chest. Was this really happening? Right now? Teddy put his hands on her now blushing face and she couldn't believe what was going on. When his lips finally touched hers, a feeling of warmth went throughout her body. His lips felt like they perfectly fit with hers and just as she was about to properly respond, he pulled away. 

"Well that was interesting,"  she said simply. She wasn't about to let it go, though. He could tell that he was looking for a reaction from her, and the only way she knew how to was to respond properly. She went and stood on the first level of her stool so that she was closer in height to him and then put her arms around his neck and pulled him in for another kiss. Zoe pressed not only her lips against his, but her body as well. She tried to kiss him in a way that showed him that it was everything she had wanted for months - that he was everything she wanted. She didn't want to let him go. 

Zoe laughed. "Passive aggressive? What would you do, go back to your dormitory and write in your journal about it?"  her eyes lit up excitedly. "TEDDY! Do you have a journal?"  the laughter that followed almost bordered on cackling. She could completely imagine it, too. He seemed perfectly the type. Zoe had always tried to keep her own journal but she tended to abandon them, especially that one time Jessica found her journal and then teased her relentlessly about it for what seemed like forever. If Teddy had a journal, Zoe would die to see it - she just really wanted to see what he wrote about. Even an old journal before the days he had a crush on her. Did he write about other girls? Did he write about Hestia? The possibilities were endless and although a part of her didn't want him to write about other girls, there was just a curiousity there. 

She scrunched up her face at Teddy. "Oh come on, it's not like I'm mad that much. I mean, provided I'm around Tia and you..."  she groaned since she knew that she was kind of lying. "It's not my fault other people bother me so much."  God forbid that she took responsibility for her own anger. She was mostly just kidding around. She didn't like that she got irritated so easily, but it just kind of ... happened. Zoe tried to work on it, but as of yet she hadn't been able to properly keep it under control. "I just like things a certain way and I'm only comfortable around certain people... I don't know." she shrugged. She out-thought the joke a bit. 

Zoe couldn't help the silly grin that forced its way onto her face as she saw Teddy blush and look at a book. For some reason, she got an odd satisfaction of being able to cause such a reaction from him. Most of the guys she dated in the past (no matter how briefly) didn't tend to blush, at all, even when she was trying to get them to. She hadn't even tried this time! 

She couldn't help but smile against his lips at him freaking out over her choice of the word 'interesting.' If he didn't like her wording then perhaps she would like the second kiss that followed. That morning she hadn't even kissed him once, and now she was already on to her second one with him within as many minutes. 

Zoe liked how Teddy pulled her closer. The warmth of his body caused her cheeks to turn pinker, deepening her blush. She had been rather close with other boys before, but never like this, and most importantly, never with Teddy. The latter bit was the more important part to her. She could only imagine what Hestia would say if/when Zoe told her. She actually wanted to tell her, even if it resulted in teasing. When they broke apart, Zoe became very aware of the fact that they were in the library. She seemed to have forgotten in their kissing session. Her mind automatically went to the supervising librarian and she felt completely embarrassed. "I guess the librarian is getting quite the show,"  she muttered with a small laugh. She found it difficult to make herself look back at Teddy. She felt like a child suddenly so she forced herself to, especially when he spoke to her. "Well, yeah!"  she exclaimed a little too enthusiastically. She coughed lightly before meeting his eyes. "If you want to." She smiled at him to show that she was more than willing. She just didn't want to seem way too enthusiastic in case for some strange reason he didn't want this to be an official 'thing.' Who knows? People act in weird ways sometimes.

The way that Teddy didn't answer Zoe just made Zoe grin knowingly. All she wanted to do was raid his dormitory now and find it. Then again, it would be a complete invasion of privacy. Maybe she could persuade Hestia to do it for her. When he finally did address the issue, she merely laughed. "Oh yeah?"  her tone clearly said that she didn't believe him. She herself kept a diary, but she wasn't about to give that information away. Besides, she didn't think Teddy would want to read it. It wasn't like she confessed her undying love in it until this year - before then he was just this sexless being that she spent all of her time with. It was more filled with her pointless crushes and boyfriends and the one time she wasn't sure if she had a crush on this girl or not. Zoe's cheeks burned at the thought of it. Perhaps she should set fire to the damned thing. "Maybe I should start one,"  she thought out loud, but also in a way to distract from the fact that she already had one. "I could start it from this day. It could be called the Adventures of Teddy and Zoe and occasionally Hestia."  It wouldn't be the same without Hestia. There would just be blank spots in it between everything.

Zoe smiled at him but still felt a little unsure of herself. She tried her best to be nice to others, but sometimes it didn't happen. Most of the time she just did something that everyone thought might be on the mean side. She didn't even know what she was thinking about, really. Zoe tended to be so incredibly defensive that she couldn't even think about her own bad traits. She knew that everyone had their bad traits, but people seemed (in her mind) to pick hers out more often than others. 

Zoe bit her lip to keep from turning to look at the librarian and laughing. "It's probably her favourite hobby,"  she said as she desperately tried to avoid blushing at his 'more excited than you are' comment. "She probably just watches students and has bets with other teachers on which ones get together. I know that's what I would do if I were a professor or the librarian here. I mean, if she was actually upset about us snogging she would have said something by now."  Considering they had done little to no work so far, Zoe would have assumed that they would have gotten a lecture by now. At that thought, she dusted a couple of books. 

Zoe literally giggled as she was spun around by Teddy and by his words, although it surprised her somewhat. She didn't know how long Teddy fancied her but by what he said it seemed like it was longer than she had expected. When they stopped spinning she ran her hands though his hair affectionately. She didn't muss it up or anything she just wanted to touch him. "Well, let's try to actually last that long as a couple,"  she smiled at him and didn't want to look anywhere else but at him.