Colin fumed as he tapped his foot furiously against the ground. He was put up in a booth at the Three Broomsticks waiting for the date who was supposed to have been there nearly two hours prior. Honestly, he couldn't believe that he was still waiting.
It was obvious that he had been stood up, but one butterbeer turned into two and then it just went downhill from there. He wasn't drunk, far from it actually, but he couldn't stand the thought of leaving and then his date showing up.
This all would have been easier, if he knew who the bloody prick was. He had been coerced into going on a blind date and he was cursing Lavender to hell. She was very good at blowing smoke when it came to these things.
The thought made his eyes burn with tears and he choked them back with another swig of his drink. He would not cry over something so stupid. He wiped the tears away angrily as he finally stood from the table - he was leaving.
He made it as far as the front door before he was stopped by a hand wrapping around his wrist. Spinning around with a jump, he leaned back against the door as far as he could.
When he recognized the blue eyes staring down at him, he sighed in relief. "Cormac, it's just you." The older boy nodded with a strange look on his face and Colin hesitated before asking, "Are you alright? Did you need something?"
Cormac's mouth opened and closed a few times before he muttered, "I'm sorry." It was so soft that Colin had trouble catching it through the noise of the room.
"What do you mean?" He asked as he looked around the room, "Hold on, let's step outside so I can actually hear you!" Cormac nodded, though Colin wasn't sure that the boy had actually heard him.
He turned and opened the door, smiling as he was enveloped by the cold of winter. With Cormac on his heel, he left the pub and walked down the street a few yards. "Now, what were you saying?"
The boy took a deep breath as if he was nervous, "I'm sorry for not coming over." A confused look settled on Colin's face, wondering what the hell Cormac was talking about.
"Pardon?" Cormac seemed to shrink into himself at the question as his cheeks flushed red. Colin couldn't tell if it were due to the cold or embarrassment.
"I wanted to apologize for not approaching you for our date." It was then that Colin's eyes widened in shock, before slowly melting into a scowl of anger, "I'm so sorry."
"It was you?" Colin hissed out his nose wrinkling with his sneer, "You bloody arse." With that said and the tears welling up once more, Colin twisted away from the boy and stomped off.
Rushed footsteps crunching through the snow followed him, "Colin! Wait! I'm sorry! I was just nervous, and I knew that it was a blind date…"
"So you thought it was acceptable to stand me up because I didn't know it was you?!" Colin whirled around, stopping Cormac in his tracks.
"No! Of course not! I just…" Cormac ran a hand through his hair anxiously, "I'm not very good at this and you're gorgeous and talented and smart. After…" He paused not going on with that current statement, "...I just didn't think I was good enough for someone like you."
Colin frowned in disbelief despite his blush. No one had ever complimented him like that before. He sighed, "Cormac...you are the most confident, stubborn, playboy of a git in the entirety of Gryffindor house and you expect me to believe the things you've just said?"
Cormac had the decency to look sheepish as he leaned back on his heels, "I know it's hard to believe, but you make me stop thinking Colin. You make me blank."
It was unsure whether Cormac knew the effect that the words had on Colin. His stomach erupted in a flurry of butterflies and finally his anger melted away. "I would have been just as nervous had I known it was you."
Slowly a smile began to light up Cormac's face, "Will you let me make it up to you?"
With a small smile of his own Colin simply nodded, "Next weekend. Now, walk me back to the common room." Cormac immediately offered his arm and Colin melded into his side, appreciating the warmth in the cold.
::
Thanks for reading, I hope you enjoyed!
