It would be a sad thing to waste their last opportunities to soak up some sun before any semblance of summer left Scotland. So with this in mind, and with the desire to do something nice for his girlfriend, Zeke staked out a claim in Professor Myers' garden for their date.

He chose the spot with great care, too, because not just any spot would do. No. Surrounded by flowers of various colours and scents, close enough to shade but open enough to enjoy the warmth of the suns rays, the Gryffindor unfurled a white and red checkered picnic blanket over the plush grass and set to work unpacking the basket he had put together.

Extending his arm into the magically-extended inside of the basket, Zeke first pulled out a couple of soft pink and white cushions and a throw rug to match, before extracting the foods. Of course, he was usually advised not to plan food dates but felt confident enough with the fruit platter he'd requested from the elves. If he'd had the foresight he might have asked for two... it was almost a shame that he'd have to wait before diving in. Zeke also unpacked from the basket a chilled jug of lemon and mint infused water along with two glasses, setting them to the side of the plate and out of legs-reach should he decide that now was the time to lay down. There was only one last finishing touch to his plans, and that was flowers for his lady. He looked briefly at the ones that Professor Myers grew, but knew better than to pick them... conjuring flowers would suffice. With a well thought out and correctly executed Orchideous, Zeke produced a modest posy and set it beside one of the cushions, at the same time as taking the liberty of laying down on the other.

Now all he had to do was wait.

Maggie had dressed up for this occasion. Naturally. It was a DATE after all. Plus, it was probably one of the last few days she would be able to wear a dress without either warm tights or a heating spell. The latter of the two was of course useful in theory but she usually avoided it seeing as wearing short dresses just didn't GO with cold weather anyway.

So, naturally, she had taken this opportunity to wear this dress one last time.

She had ALSO straightened her hair which she only did on very special occasions. So consider yourself lucky, Zeke. Speaking of whom, Maggie had finally made it down to the Herbology professor's garden. Not only that, but she had also found the boyfriend. Clearing her throat to announce her presence, Maggie waited for him to get up and greet her, a grin playing around her lips.

He had totally made an effort there, she could tell.

The hardest part about getting comfortable, was getting up... unless you were Zeke Browne and had the hottest girlfriend in the UNIVERSE, or something. Yes. That.

At the sound of throat clearing, Zeke blinked open his eyes and peered up to see Maggie all dressed up and present. Very present. He couldn't help but purse his lips a little as he took in the sight of her, leaning up into a sitting position. He was in no way into fashion or hair things, BUT, he could still appreciate these things on her.

"You look.... amazing," he concluded finally, pushing himself up proper before approaching her to embrace her in a hug. Pulling away slightly, Zeke kissed her cheek softly, lingering just shy of her lips. Hi girlfriend.

Maggie folded her hands behind her back when Zeke opened his eyes and looked at her. And he was looking for a while there. Good. So all that time she'd spent picking out clothes and doing her hair and makeup had already paid off then. It had definitely been worth it.

Her lips curled into a small smirk, yet she still had the decency to blush slightly at his compliment. "I'm glad you like it" sounded a lot better than 'I know' so she went with that. Maggie leaned into him when he kissed her cheek, lightly tugging on his shirt playfully.

"Did you do all that yourself?" She peeked around him at the picnic blanket.

Glad he liked it... yeah he liked it.

Really.

"I do," he confirmed, as if it needed saying. Zeke smiled at her, his gaze locked on her smirk before admiring the colour in her cheeks, just enjoying the way she was. Also it was nice to hold her again and things, laying around by himself was no fun.

He leaned forward slightly as Maggie tugged his shirt, but it appeared she wasn't much interested in his wardrobe, opting to scope out his work. He grinned. "I did, and I hope you're at least a little hungry," he said as he took her hand pulling her onto the blanket. "Water?"

Maggie's eyes locked on his for a few seconds longer before she looked over at the blanket. It seriously did look very inviting. And it was a really nice place. Somewhat secluded too. Private. Unless Professor Myers chose to pay them a visit of course. Which, hopefully, wouldn't happen.

Although, at least he didn't seem as crazy as Flamsteed was.

So Zeke HAD done all this himself. Maggie's smirk morphed into an almost proud and definitely appreciative smile. Well done. Seriously. "Please." She nodded at his question while getting comfortable on the blanket, stretching out her legs before tucking them under her.

Now, what else had he brought? Maggie glanced at each of the items on the blanket, briefly running her fingers over one of the pillows.

Seriously, well done.

His eyes were glued to her - not only because of how pretty she looked, but also because he was waiting for signs of approval, or disapproval... not that that was an option. No. There was effort involved here, and people were seldom disapproving of effort.

Seeing her smile, it made his grow. So as she settled on the blanket, so did he.

That meant she did approve, right?

Zeke shuffled across on his knees to fill two glasses, and promptly returned to her side, offering her one of them. "Here you go." By this point he was feeling a bit of his thirst, so Zeke downed half his glass before setting it aside and pulling the fruit platter a little closer. If she wasn't hungry, he certainly was.

"Those are for you, by the way," he noted, indicating the flowers beside her. Not that the rest wasn't for her... but, yeah. "I think though you should make things easier on me and tell me your favourite things." Mmhhmm. It would be in both their best interests.

Maggie watched Zeke with an easy smile on her lips. This really WAS pretty cool. It was really quiet here too. Or at least she couldn't hear any of the other students she'd passed on the way down here. And it was outside too. So Maggie definitely approved. A LOT.

"Thank you." She took the glass and sipped on the water for a moment. It was good. Like, it wasn't just regular water. It had a distinct flavor. Honestly, had he come up with all this by himself? Or had he asked for help? Seeing as he'd confirmed the former a few seconds ago, she would have to believe him. For now. Maybe she would find out more in the course of this day, though.

Her eyes fell on the fruit platter when he pulled it towards them but she was distracted again by him pointing out the flowers next to her. "Aww, thank you." Maggie picked them up, then put them on her lap. They weren't ROSES but like, they totally went with the whole outdoor picnic theme.

So, very cute, Zeke.

Eventually reaching over to take one of the strawberries off the platter, Maggie leaned in and held it out for him to eat. "My favorite things?" She echoed, considering his words. "Like food or...?" In general?

"You're welcome." he smiled at her thank you. Honestly he could almost thank himself. Refreshing and relaxing, it was just what he needed, as well as it being something he hoped Maggie wanted. So far though, so good. He'd always been a fan of the grounds, but flowery garden things seldom rated on his list of places to see. Today though, it was fitting, and nice.

Moving to lay on his side, his head supported by his arm, Zeke smiled as Maggie accepted her flowers. Did he do alright?!?! He supposed that he couldn't have done poorly... she was still here.

And ooohhh, strawberry.

Grinning, Zeke opened his mouth to bite down on the fruit that she offered him - which he was thoroughly enjoying too. Hand feeding. It was hot. His eyes were fixed on Maggie and once he finished chewing and swallowed, he answered her question. "Mmm, yeah, you know... favourite things." Any things. All things.

"When you agreed to date me, I asked what you liked and you wouldn't tell me... so now that I've passed the test, you could share a few of your secrets." Little things that would make pleasing her easier. "It'll be safer for you too, because lets face it, things could go horribly wrong next time." Hideous flowers, meat heavy meals, and even just the general things...

Maggie moved a little closer to Zeke while she fed him the strawberry. She was such a good girlfriend, wasn't she? Feeding him like that. The best really. She deserved an award. Rewarding herself with a blueberry once he was done eating, she considered his questions.

Favorite things. Secrets. It was all quite vague, wasn't it?

Buying some time, she reached for a pair of cherries next and held it up. "Look, we can eat those together." Cute, huh? She certainly thought so. It had that Lady and the Tramp kind of vibe. Not completely but a little.

Still holding up the cherries, eying them, trying to figure out how to best eat them without bumping against each other, Maggie then shrugged nonchalantly. "You can ask me anything. I don't have any secrets." At that her eyes flicked over to Zeke briefly and she smirked at him. That was a lie but like, everyone had secrets right?

"I like berries." So he'd done well there.

A date that was for her, suddenly felt like a date that was for him. It ticked his boxes. Outdoors. Sun. Food. Attention. He liked having her attention, which he seemed to have, until she didn't indulge him in an answer... though, when did she ever? It was always one of those things they danced around, and sometimes, usually he got something out of it.

It was difficult to care about such things now though, because there was food.

Zeke peered at the pair of cherries she was holding up, and yes, yes that was an excellent plan. "Come on then, I'm waiting," he encouraged, waiting for her to take one end so that she might dangle the other to him. His free arm reached out to pulled her closer to him.

...

Or an answer, he could make do with that.

Conflicted between sharing cherries and talking, he tilted his head toward her. No secrets? "I'm calling hogwash on that," he smirked. Everyone had secrets. But berries, that was a start... "and?" just and.

"Patience, Zeke...."

Maggie replied with a smirk while trying to sound like she was scolding him at the same time. She turned a little until her back was facing him, then leaned back so the back of her head was resting against his shoulder. Now, that was the perfect position to eat that cherry, right?

Yes.

Wait. He was calling her out on that no secrets thing? She giggled lightly, glancing at him. "I'm an open book." Totally wasn't. The opposite really. Zeke didn't even really know anything about her. Like, none of the big things.

And he wanted to know more? Gosh, so demanding. Before she shared more she held up the cherries once more, however, taking one of them with her teeth and leaning over so he could take the other. This was a lot harder than she'd expected. Also funny though. Maggie was trying very hard not to laugh.

Now, what else did she like though?

Patience? ... "Mmmm, I have none," he replied, smirking. She should know better than to think he was capable of it. With Maggie turning her back toward him, Zeke took her cue and turned slightly - sitting up a little more to accept her. Placing his arm around her, he idly started smoothing out her dress and feeling its texture.

He approved of the dress.

Her giggling was enough to have him shaking her head, her response had him doing so. "Then you're missing pages," he whispered in her ear before leaning in to place a kiss on her cheek. Fibbing would get her nowhere, and that was most definitely a fib.

Squeezing his arm around her gently, he eyed the cherries, his smiling lips parted and seeking it out. He was sure there were easier ways to do this, but it was amusing enough nonetheless. "We should try that again," he added sincerely, swallowing what he'd manage to get.

Zeke had no patience. Yes, she was aware.

"Good thing I'm not making you wait for anything then." Maggie smirked back and leaned against him some more. It wasn't entirely true. But she hardly ever kept him waiting. For TOO long at least. He had to live with the fact that she was fashionably late to dates. It was a thing. Sorry not sorry.

Her eyes flicked down to his hand on her dress. "You like the dress then?" Maggie whispered while leaning in to place a quick kiss on his jawline. He better like it. She'd worn it just for him. "You're welcome to try and find the pages." It wasn't a very good reply but it was a challenge nonetheless. Like, if he asked the right questions she would give him answers.

Probably.

Ooookay, this wasn't working very well. And now she was giggling. Maggie lowered the cherries and plucked what remained of them from the stem. She offered him his half-eaten cherry before eating hers. "Do you have a different idea for eating them?" She flicked the stem away from them into the grass. "Because this isn't really working." But she was willing to try new things.

Now that comment earned a chuckle on his part. Didn't make him wait for anything?! "Cute, real cute Maggie," he added giving her a look for good measure. He didn't like to be kept waiting for things, it only made him anxious... but of course, she had to know that.

Leaning against her a bit more, Zeke adjusted the pillow behind his back so that he had more support which meant both of his hands were free to enjoy holding her, and playing with her dress - which she seemed to notice. The kiss on his jaw had him distracted from answering her question for moment as he smiled to himself, but he came to his senses quickly enough. "I do, it's..." what's the word he was looking for?... hot? sexy? noooooo, nice? was nice too casual? pretty? "gorgeous," that would do... only, he wasn't really into dresses. "Not as gorgeous as you though." Yeah? That was better, right?

As for finding her pages, "I'll keep that in mind."

It was working and not working at the same time, and his grin only grew with the sound of Maggie's giggle. With their attempt sadly over he accepted what remained of his cherry and polished it off, spitting the pip into the garden beside him. "We could experiment," he suggested, reaching around her to help himself to another pair of cherries.

"We might need angles though," he informed, his head tilted slightly as he watched her closely building up suspense. He kissed one end of the cherry-duo, keeping it fixed to his lips, and then in the next instance he turned her slightly and bent her backwards over his lap, an arm holding her up slightly at the shoulders as if he were dipping her. Your turn Maggie.

Something told her that in this case 'cute' was NOT a compliment.

Maggie smirked anyway, pretending to be taking it as such. "I know. I get that a lot." People calling her cute, you know. She heard that on a daily basis. Usually people were genuinely calling her cute though. Unlike Zeke. Rude boyfriend was rude. Only not really. HE was being cute too.

Watching him as he apparently looked for the right word to describe her dress, Maggie lightly ran her fingers over the back of his hand. Hmm? What was the dress like? Her lips curled into a grin before she could even try to hide it when he did finally finish his sentence. "Correct answer." He got another quick kiss for that, this time on the corner of his mouth though.

Well done, Zeke.

She would have to prepare for the possibility of Zeke asking more questions about her then. Although right now he clearly had other things on his mind. "I'm all for experiments." Usually she liked to know the outcome beforehand however but you know. It sounded really cool to say that. Plus, they were talking about eating CHERRIES. What could go wrong?

Wait....angles?

Maggie only had the chance to look confused for a second before....what was happening? She squealed in surprise and ended up giggling again. How was this helping them eat the cherries? After a moment of trying to get over changing positions so suddenly, Maggie leaned up and....kissed him instead of the cherry. Like, his lips looked a lot more interesting right now.

Right.

So, Paul Myers had been trying to water his flowers for like, an hour now, and the two still weren't gone. They were having a date, right in his garden. Paul didn't mind one bit, actually, but he found himself wanting to somehow...make the mood more romantic for them.

He trumped back into his office to grab his banjo, grabbed the bowl of rose petals he kept in his office for surprise special occasions, and made his way back out. He was BEAMING. They would just love this, wouldn't they? His desire to help them out was blinding him to the fact that no teenager in the entire world wanted their professor to crash their date with banjo playing and rose petal throwing.

He crept up....

and then....


He began playing the song, charming the bowl to throw some petals at them in a staggered way. Paul couldn't sing that well. That was Clifford's job in the band, but he knew what he was doing when it came to the banjo!

Ahem!

"Your hand fits in mine like it's made just for me
But bear this in mind, it was meant to be
And I'm joining up the dots with the freckles on your cheeks
And it all makes sense to me.."

It was a song he'd picked up a few years ago, some muggle band or another from an extremely long time ago. Petals kept throwing themselves at the young couple.

"I know you've never loved the crinkles
by your eyes when you smile
You've never loved your stomach or your thighs,
the dimples in your back at the bottom of your spine
But I'll love them endlessly...."

Were they enjoying this? Paul was SMILING. DID THEY FEEL THE ROMANCE?

"...I won't let these little things
Slip out of my mouth
But if I do
It's you
Oh it's you
They add up to
I'm in love with you
And all these little things...."


He peeked at the rose petals...good, there were still a lot left.

Cute, she was being cute again. Hardly surprising, because she actually was. Maggie Traulton was many things, many many things. Half of the world's adjectives applied to her, all the nice ones of course. He was sure of it.

He continued playing with the fabric of her dress, he had no clue what it was, but it was obvious he liked it in general. AND, what was better, was that she accepted his answer. He was right, of course he was right. The small kiss on the corner of his mouth was a good prize too, she was definitely positively reinforcing him in that sense. However, he wished it could have lasted longer, and that it had been a proper kiss. They could work up to it.

Maggie's approval was all he needed. And he received it. He wasn't exactly the sciencey type, but even he could hypothesise that things would go exceptionally well with this experiment. If not with the cherry eating, then at least with Maggie.

Grinning with the cherry to his lips, Zeke was already ignoring how stupid he might look, and was instead savouring the sound of his girlfriend squealing and giggling. It was music to his ears. But with the look that she gave him, his cherry dropped from his lips as she leaned up for a kiss. This was more like it. The experiment was officially successful.

...

And, was that more music to his ears?

He heard the banjo first, but the unmistakable voice of Professor Myers... SINGING... reached his ears soon after. And, what was falling on them???

Reluctantly, Zeke's lips parted from Maggie's and just stared.

Why was Myers ruining his date? His carefully thought-out and executed date?

Cherries? Maggie briefly forgot all about the cherries. They could go back to the cherries later. They had time. Now Maggie had other things in mind. Even though she couldn't quite get rid of the taste of cherries there. This was a recurring theme wasn't it? Which reminded her of something she'd been meaning to-

?????

At first Maggie thought the music was something Zeke had planned. Like a music box or something. Yet when someone started singing (ish) she could only hope that he had NOT in fact planned for this. Like, enlisting their professor to play music and sing (?) would be a very weird plan. Plus, like, Professor Myers had VERY BAD TIMING DID HE KNOW???

When Zeke broke the kiss, Maggie opened her eyes and just stared at the boyfriend for a long moment, holding completely still. Like, maybe it would all go away. Or at least make sense. This was....something. Eventually, she turned her head – and torso – towards the sound of singing (?) and banjo playing.

What even...??!

She quickly glanced back to Zeke with a partly amused, partly confused look on her face. Plucking two rose petals from his hair, Maggie then picked up a few more off the blanket next to them and put them in the palm of her hand. With a healthy blush to her cheeks, she then turned to look at Professor Myers again. "Professor...?" And with that she blew the rose petals off her hand and in his general direction.

Despite the ridiculous and, frankly, very awkward situation Maggie also found it somewhat amusing.

Paul finished his piece, smiling in such a PLEASED way with himself, when Maggie blew some rose petals at him. He took it that..Maggie liked his little intrusion! Zee looked shocked still, but Paul knew the boy would soon learn that serenading your significant other was ALWAYS the way to go...and if you can't do your own serenading, you get someone else to!

"I just came to make this more romantic! I'll be on my way now....if.....you water my flowers as you leave. Whenever you leave." He moved his banjo to his back, the strap from his shoulder to his waist.

He winked at Zeke.

And then, Paul took a bow. "MAY YOUR LOVE CONTINUE ON--" and the Herbology professor ran back to his office. SPRINTED more like.

.... what even was the Professor singing? Zeke wasn't quite sure, but considering he wasn't much of a singer himself he recognised the effort the man was going through to get words out in a way that didn't sound like plain yelling.

His gaze drifted to Maggie, curious to see what she thought about it all. Was the date ruined? Broken? Over?...

The blush he couldn't explain, and it was only as Maggie blew petals at the Professor that he noticed there were some in his hair, or rather, ON his hair. as well as everywhere else Using his fingers to comb it out, he waited for the banjo playing and singing to stop. There was an explanation for this, right? And sure enough, there was. Zeke beamed, actually genuinely amused by this. The response to their date was a good one, and it was comforting knowing they wouldn't be sharing a date with toads in the dungeons again - it was enough of an experience the first time. Professor Flamsteed ought to come and take note on HOW to react to people snogging in his space of scientific inquiry. Music, candles, rose petals would totally be appreciated.

"Thanks... Sir," he managed. Watering the garden before they left though, that was work... which he would bear so that Maggie wouldn't have to. "I'll see to it," he added. But he... wait...

...

Was that a wink?

....

Partly shocked, but greatly amused, Zeke's grin grew as he nod his head farewell to the Herbology man. Myers may be a crazy hippy with odd ideas about touching souls and things of that nature... but he was a pleasant man. This was something Zeke would be sure to remember.

"So," he started, his gaze returning to his date, "shall our love continue on?" Naturally he was pre-empting the answer as being YES, and so he leant back in with a lingering kiss, his hand on her chin.

Maggie wasn't sure if she was supposed to laugh, be embarrassed or annoyed with Professor Myers. In the end she opted for the first, however, with a hint of the second. Her cheeks a bit more pink than they usually were, Maggie kept watching the professor, giggling slightly. This was probably the weirdest thing she'd seen him do so far. Still amusing, though.

A quick glance at Zeke assured her that he shared that sentiment, apparently.

Sitting up properly, her smile grew when he explained just why he'd come here. ".......thank you, Professor." Sort of. But while he HAD in fact interrupted them, Maggie did appreciate it. The rose petals. Even the banjo playing and singing. Not what she would specifically ask for but it was cute. Yes, though, Zeke would do the plant watering, of course. She would wait. And watch. Maybe.

Maggie was already turning back to Zeke seeing as the professor was clearly leaving when....he yelled at them. About love. Oooookay. Wow. She giggled, finally looking back at the boyfriend again. "He clearly knows how to treat a lady." Maggie smirked and picked up a few more of the rose petals around them. While she did kiss him back, she also raised her hand and...sprinkled the rose petals on them.

Cute, huh?

Nothing ever did go to plan at Hogwarts, he should have known better than to think it would. There was always something out of the ordinary, some sort of surprise... and this was definitely surprising. All Zeke could do though, was smile. Smile against Maggie's lips as she showered them with petals again.

Yes Maggie, it was cute. Very cute. Though he wasn't sure what to make of her comment.

Breaking the kiss, he watched her for a brief moment before reaching over for his glass and downing what was left of his water. This was all such hard work that he needed a refreshment, obviously.

"I can do the petal showering, but I'm not sure you'd want me singing to you," he decided honestly. Unless she really want him to, then, well, he couldn't say no. It was in her best interest though to keep his singing voice to himself.

Maggie would've been disappointed if all of this came easy to Zeke. Like, she was worth a lot of effort. Otherwise, what was the point really? It appeared that he had put a lot of thought into this picnic though so she was more than happy to be here. Right now. With Zeke.

When he leaned back, she just looked back at him with a sort of half-smirk on her lips. Hmm? Was he liking the rose petal shower? Maggie definitely did. It was a very nice touch. She would have to reconsider taking Herbology for her OWLs.

Yeah no. Not really. Sorry, Myers.

"Is your singing worse than his?" Maggie had lowered her voice to make sure Professor Myers didn't overhear (should he be spying on them or something). She wasn't serious of course. Zeke serenading her was not on her bucket list. Not necessarily anyway. "I do like the rose petals though." She put a few more into her palm and held them up, closer to her face.