for a moment {DANNI}

[Fritz Towler]

Fritz's parents had given him some money to take his brother shopping for new school supplies - and to get himself some as well. Usually, he might have taken their money and bought a bottle or baggie, but he figured his brother might tattle if he wasn't brought to Diagon Alley. So Fritz had been a good older brother and did as his parents said.

At some point during the afternoon, however, he'd grown tired and had decided to go get some ice cream while his brother got new robes. There was a line, anyway, and Fritz wasn't about to wait around when he didn't need new robes. So he stalked down to the ice cream parlour, telling his younger brother to come there straight after his robe fitting.

It was cool instead the shop, unlike the sticky heat outside, which Fritz was grateful. He stepped up to the counter to order the biggest bowl of ice cream he could, paid for it, and then turned around to find a place to sit down. He headed for an empty booth (booths were so much better than tables), but as he passed by an occupied one, he thought he recognized the girl sitting there. He paused after he had passed her, but then turned back around and went to her table.

"Danni?" Fritz asked, looking down at the girl. He smiled. "Danni."

[Danni Oberlin]

Danni Oberlin was sat in a little booth tucked into the corner of Fortescue's ice-cream parlour with a rather astonishingly big ice-cream set on the table in front of her, as yet untouched as she considered it, twirling her spoon absent-mindedly in her fingers. She hadn't been out all summer, instead having opted for curling up on the sofa in leggings or tracksuit bottoms and big t-shirts and watching Dirty Dancing on repeat (Danni Oberlin was nothing if not a sucker for Patrick Swayze) and she was feeling somewhat bewildered by being out and about. Her mother had insisted that she get out of the house that day, sending her out with a purse full of galleons to pick up what she needed for sixth year. Danni hadn't protested, never being much of a rebellious sort, and had showered for longer than usual, massaging shampoo and conditioner into her scalp, blow-drying her hair and styling it carefully, setting every potential piece of clothing to wear on her duvet and weighing the pros and cons of each outfit before making up her mind. Applying make-up after not having done so in almost two months was an odd sensation for Danni; she'd slicked her lips with clear gloss, framed her eyes with black eyeliner. Looking good was her best defence against the world and she used it to her advantage as much as possible.

She'd stopped off at Fortescue's ice-cream parlour because ice-cream, to anyone normal, in Danni's humble opinion, was an irresistible force and you absolutely couldn't beat it. She didn't have to bother herself with scanning any menus, instead marching straight over to the woman behind the till, flicking a tendril of hair out of her eyes and ordering the Summer Sundae, which was made up of strawberry and vanilla ice-cream scoops, summer berries and pink-and-white sprinkles and had been her absolute favourite since the age of seven, the dish she always ordered when she appeared in Fortescue's. She'd slid into the corner booth because she didn't want to run into anyone from school who would start firing questions off about why she had disappeared from the social scene all summer long. Eating in Fortescue's was a risk, of course, but ice-cream was worth the hassle.

Lady Luck did not seem to be with the blonde, however, as she spotted a familiar boy at the counter, a boy who was almost too familiar for her to feel completely comfortable. She grabbed her purse the moment she saw him, fully intent on diving into the ladies' room and not surfacing until she was sure he'd gone, because the very last person she needed to see was Fritz Towler, who'd had his tongue down her mouth only two years ago. Her cheeks still burned at the sheer idiot she'd made of herself and she'd been avoiding Fritz very nicely for the past two years. One thing she wouldn't be able to bear would be Fritz Towler ambling over and making fun of her. Ducking her head, she hid behind her hair, poking her spoon at the ice-cream half-heartedly, irritation swelling in the pit of her stomach at her own cowardice.

She'd almost thought she'd gotten away with it when he passed her, tilting her head upwards and breathing a sigh of relief. This relief was short-lived, however, and she almost jumped out of her skin when he doubled back and spoke her name. At a loss for what to say for once, she poked at her ice-cream again, and then said, in a voice that suggested she was terribly bored of his presence already and not at all interested in him, shoulders rolling up into a shrug, "Hey, Fritz. Good to see you." For lack of anything else to do, she licked what ice-cream she'd scooped up from her spoon and then added, very carefully not looking at him, "Well. I expect you've got places to go, people to see. See you around, yeah?" She flashed him an utterly transparent smile.

___________________________________________
ooc. - outfit!

[Fritz Towler]

Fritz took a moment to look over the girl before him, who seemed to him like one utterly depressed person. Sure, she looked gorgeous in her outfit and make-up and with her hair styled the way it was, but... Fritz couldn't help but wonder if it were just a cover up. He hadn't seen much of Danni Oberlin in a very long time; he hated to admit it, but part of him had forgotten she'd even existed. But he convinced himself that it was only because he hadn't even seen her in the corridors at school - because would he really forget what a beautiful creature she was? The answer was no.

They'd shared a kiss two years ago at a party. Okay, it was a little more than a kiss - it was a snog and a good one at that. The night had been going well and then Danni had mysteriously gotten ill and promptly left. And now she turned up after two years. Something told Fritz that perhaps she'd been avoiding him. But he wasn't going to ask; he didn't fancy prying into other peoples issues. If they brought it up first, fine. "It's good to see you, also, Danni," Fritz replied with a toothy smile. He arched one brow and shrugged, though the girl wasn't even looking at him. "If I had places to go and people to see, I would be at those places, seeing those people. As it is, I'm alone."

With that, Fritz slide into the booth seat across from Danni without even asking. (He feared the answer.) "What have you been up to?" he asked casually, digging into his own sundae, which was something called Give Me S'Mores. It contained chocolate ice cream, melted marshmallow topping, digestive biscuits crumbles and chocolate chips. It was a seasonal special and one of Fritz's favorite things from the parlour.

[Danni Oberlin]

Danni had been expecting a snide comment about her sudden attack of illness the last time they'd properly been together, and when one didn't fly her way she was somewhat surprised and a tad softened but she continued to avert her gaze from him, instead choosing to focus on her ice-cream, and pursed her lips together, the fact that her eyebrows were hitched ever-so-slightly the only feature betraying the fact that she was appeased by the fact that he hadn't said anything snarky to her. She ignored his first response, but was promptly jogged out of her icy-cold facade when the boy slid into the bench opposite her.

Looking at him properly for the first time he'd appeared with an incredulous expression on her face, Danni crossed her arms, leaning back in her seat and tilting her head to one side, saying, "Wow, you know, I must have totally blanked when I asked you to join me," which was followed by a very pointed mutinous look. This didn't last for long, however, Danni never being one for the silent treatment or holding grudges, and instead she rolled her eyes expressively, picking up her spoon again and running it around the edges of her bowl. "Well, whatever. Sit here if you like -" she became momentarily distracted by the type of ice-cream he'd picked, her second favourite from the whole shop. Although she wasn't quite ready to welcome him with open arms just yet, her features did soften slightly. "I've been doing...stuff," Danni said, finally, unable to conjure up anything that would sound remotely cool to say.

[Fritz Towler]

Fritz watched Danni, who seemed adamant at avoiding looking at him. He didn't mind so much, though he did feel a bit intrusive (which he didn't care much about) and then he wondered if maybe he had something on his face - dirt, ice cream? He grabbed a napkin to wipe around his mouth at least, though it came back clean.

"Wow, you know, I must have totally blanked when you asked if I cared," Fritz mimicked, though no emotion displayed on his face. Danni's look disappeared before long and Fritz relaxed a little more, glad that she wasn't demanding he leave - or, worse, that she left instead. He ate his ice cream silently, and nodded at her response. It was elusive and perhaps she had intended it to be that way.

"That's cool," Fritz commented, trying to keep the girl talking, but he didn't know why. It wasn't like they were even friends. "Doing stuff to occupy your time is always good. What do you like to do for fun?"

[Danni Oberlin]

Danni scowled at him, but could find nothing else to throw back at the boy, finding herself utterly hopeless at any sort of battle of the wits - which was unfortunate as her twin sister was excellent at them and she lost many an argument simply from not being able to chuck a witty retort right back in her sister's face. If this was her debut back into the social scene, it was not going swimmingly. Generally Danni was one of the easiest people to get along with in the world but seeing as she'd basically become a hermit for the past couple of months it seemed almost as though she'd forgotten how to talk to people, and instead of trying to get along with Fritz opted for flicking her hair away from her face haughtily, realising in dismay that she was acting a bit like Devyn, except not as cool or moody.

At his next question, Danni let out an audible huff, throwing both hands into the air in a wild sort of fuck-this gesture. "Screw the small talk!" She exclaimed, pulling her ice-cream closer to her and sticking her spoon into the scoop of vanilla, easing a large chunk of ice-cream out of the bowl and plopping it into her mouth frustratedly. Once she had swallowed this, she continued on as though there'd been no break, "Just cut to the chase, Towler. What d'you want?"

[Fritz Towler]

Fritz was caught off guard by Danni's abrupt and unusual change of moods. He stared at her, spoon halfway to his mouth, wondering what he should do next. He hadn't foreseen this - then again, he hadn't really thought much about how this afternoon would pan out. Fritz watched Danni shove ice cream into her mouth and he smirked, amused. After eating one more spoonful of his own, he set the spoon down and leaned back in the booth.

"I don't want anything," he began slowly, studying her face. "Can't e just enjoy each others company?" It wouldn't work. In fact, Fritz was sure that it would only make Danni even angrier. So he sighed heavily and shrugged. "The truth is... I haven't seen you lately - not since that party. So I thought now would be the perfect time to confront you about it." He stared at her with his ice blue eyes, anticipating her next move.

[Danni Oberlin]

"Please," Danni said, rather rudely, as she wondered where, exactly, all her social skills had disappeared to over the summer. The only thing she knew now was that she desperately needed the smirk to be wiped off Fritz's face - she felt like he was making fun of her, and that was what terrified her the most. It sounded like a silly thing to be petrified of, being teased or laughed at, but the mere thought had always been Danni's weakness. She fought hard against ducking her head, willing herself not to blush, forcing herself to hold his gaze and to act confident, casual, totally in control of the situation. "You're Fritz Towler. Why aren't you off...I don't know, getting high or something?" She'd wanted to tack on something about him shagging someone but her fear of going all the way made it near impossible for her to talk about sex sometimes, especially with experienced guys, as they intimidated her in the worst of fashions. It was all very well to have your friends tell you what sex was like - but you didn't really know until you actually had it.

When Fritz brought up the party, Danni realised that she had only two options; the first was to acknowledge that she knew which party he was talking about, to brush away his confrontation, to coolly remind him that she had been sick at the time. The second option was to play dumb, to feign confusion, to act as though she hadn't a clue what he was on about. In that split second, Danni made her decision. "I don't know what you're talking about, Fritz," she replied evenly, shrugging. "We see each other all the time. We're in the same year, remember? And I have no idea why you'd want to confront me about anything," she tacked on, eyeing him with a totally unamused expression.