People Watching

[Lily Potter]

((OOC edit - closing this thread now it's got longer, sorry guys!))

Lily traipsed down Diagon Alley, weaving in and out of shoppers making the most of a sunny summer's day. She didn't really like the alley that much when it was this busy, and was regretting her decision to come here today. She'd been bored at home, and not sure what any of her cousins or friends were doing. She'd already read everything on her bookshelf, so had come up with the bright idea of heading out to Flourish and Blotts and getting something new. 'Something new' had turned into 'some things new' because Lily could never resist in a bookshop. Two hours after going in, she had emerged back into the sunlight clutching a shopping bag and thinking how glad she was that Aunt Hermione had taught her how to do that extension charm. 

She'd intended to go straight home, but the bright colours of the Tamarisk Tree caught her eye as she passed, and she suddenly fancied a coffee. Until recently, Lily hadn't really liked coffee, but she'd suddenly developed a taste for it, specifically Libby Jordan's special brew. Hoping there would be a table free, she turned inside and let the door close behind her with relief, shutting out the noise of the Alley. It wasn't exactly silent inside either, with the noise of voices and hissing coffee machines and clattering plates and cups, but it was a lot more peaceful. It was busy, but she spotted one free table over in the far corner and made her way over to it. She put her bag on the floor under a chair and sank down. A waitress - one she did not recognise - came over and she ordered a latte (she still only really liked her coffee sweet and milky) and then reached down and pulled out one of her books. It was the first one that came to hand and was the only one that wasn't fiction - instead it was a book about Muggle literature that she'd thought looked interesting. 

While waiting for her coffee to come, she opened it and flipped through it, he eyes drifting from the page to look around the cafe every now and again. This was the kind of crowd Lily liked - the kind she could sit on the edge of, unnoticed for the most part, and watch. People watching was one of Lily's favourite activities. She decided that the middle-aged witch in a pretty dress and heels who kept fiddling with her hair and looking at a wrist watch was probably waiting for a date who hadn't turned up, and that the man with a lot of parchment spread out in front of him was clearly a master thief examining plans of a building - possibly Gringotts - that he was planning to rob. Her coffee arrived and she used the spoon to scoop some of the froth off the top and drink it, then returned her gaze to her book, becoming absorbed in the first chapter.

((OOC - I'll be closing this thread once I have like one or two people in it, I don't want a big one lol. Also apologies for the title, I have lost the ability to think of decent thread titles.))

[Sebastian Nott]

Sebastian Nott's own personal brand of people-watching could be further categorized into girl-watching. It was somewhat ridiculous how utterly shameless Seb was, but he'd always fancied Libby Jordan, just a little bit. He'd taken a gander into Diagon Alley because he fancied buying food to stock up the kitchen of the Nott Manor (in all honesty, they hardly needed anymore food, but one of Seb's greatest talents was being able to eat sixth helpings of about anything, and he often got peckish for large tubs of ice-cream in the night) and was planning to go home and either annoy Chloe or lounge by the pool - or perhaps both, which would give ample opportunity to shove Chloe into the pool - but as he'd been walking past the Tamarisk he'd realised that he was quite hungry at that very minute, actually, and didn't want to wait till he got home - and anyways, he'd had a thing for the owner of the Tamarisk for a while now, and her daughter, Ricky, was scorchingly hot, too, so it all worked out rather nicely whenever he ducked into the Tamarisk. He'd pushed his sunglasses onto the top of his head (because wearing sunglasses made him look cool and not at all like a poser - it was summer, after all) - and swept his gaze across the coffee shop and realised almost right away that Ricky wasn't there, but another waitress was. He hadn't flirted with her before - had never seen her before, really - and he'd felt a rush of sympathy for the girl. He'd have to do something about that.

And so he'd spent a good ten minutes leaning over the counter and claiming the girl's attention whenever he could, although she was rather busy indeed and didn't seem to be able to spare much for him. He couldn't give a toss, though, really; he smacked on his most charming smile and worked his very best smoulder, chucking chat-up line after chat-up line towards her and wondering what time she got off. After all, there was only one way to spend lazy summer days in Seb's humble opinion. Although the waitress was stern when she suggested he buy something or promptly leave, he kept grinning and ordered a coffee.

His coffee was thrust into his hands a couple of minutes later - as he hadn't yet sat down - and the girl turned her back firmly on him to talk to another customer. With a good-natured shrug, Seb chucked a wink in her direction and came to the conclusion that the best thing to do would be to find himself a table, read the newspaper - ah, yes, he'd begun reading the newspaper, because he was an adult and incredibly dignified nowadays, thank you very much indeed - finish his coffee and then return to trying to get into the girl's pants. Or at the very least get her to survey him with an expression less disgusted. She was probably jealous, he thought with a shake of his head as he made his way towards the back of the shop where there were free tables. People couldn't help being jealous of someone like him. Catching his reflection in a mirror hung up on the wall, he found himself suddenly distracted, and - very clumsily for someone who claimed to be dashing and utterly elegant - tripped over his own feet.

He managed to regain his balance (his free hand went straight up to his hair, eyes widening in panic at the thought of it going out of place - he had arranged it perfectly that morning to look sexy and disheveled) but he didn't manage to save the coffee. Instead, half of it slopped out of his cup and onto a table where a girl sat, and, unfortunately, some of it even got onto her book. Hair still his main concern, Seb was still brushing his fingers through it frantically as he looked from the book to his half-empty cup of coffee in astonishment, as though he couldn't figure out what had happened.

"The floor must be wet," he announced finally. Ludicrous to suggest that he was clumsy in any manner. "Did you see that? I could have seriously injured myself..." he raised his voice and turned slightly to give the waitress a martyr-like look, one hand pressed over his heart (the other was still in his hair).

____
ooc. this is crap sorry!

[Lily Potter]

The first Lily knew of the boy's approach was seeing a splash of coffee appear across the page of the book she was reading. With an explanation of dismay, she glanced up, hardly taking in what he looked like, let alone whether or not she recognised him, and dived for her bag to find a tissue to mop up the mess. That was the downside of bags with extension charms on them, though - the things you wanted always drifted to the bottom, and the bottom was a long way down. And she couldn't use her wand to summon it, as her wand was in the bag too. Giving up, she mopped at the coffee with the sleeve of her thin summer cardigan. It was pale grey and would probably stain, but books were more important than clothes in Lily's opinion. Although there would probably be a stain on the book too, she thought sadly, looking at her not-altogether-successful attempt to clean it. Maybe she would be able to improve on it with a wand when she got home.

She looked up again as the boy spoke, taking him in for the first time. She knew who she was - Lily's habit of quietly watching everything that went on meant that she knew who most people were, and anyway he was friends with Albus, and also with Rose and Roxie, she thought. She didn't think she'd ever spoken properly to him though. An apology was deserved in Lily's opinion, but it didn't come, and as she was Lily and he was a relative stranger, she did not demand one.

"Oh gosh," she said instead, her tone mildly concerned. "Are you okay?" She looked down at the floor. There was no liquid in evidence, but that didn't mean it wasn't there. "Is it very wet? Maybe we should tell someone and they can come and clean it up," she added doubtfully. He had lost half his coffee, she noticed, but there wasn't anything she could do about that, and he was the one who had tripped, so it really wasn't anything to do with her. She dabbed again at the coffee on her book, but it didn't make much difference.

She sort of hoped he'd go away now, as he'd interrupted her reading and was making her feel vaguely uncomfortable. She didn't think he'd recognised her, which was good (and also unusual, since Lily found that most people recognised here wherever she went, even when she'd rather they didn't), but talking to annoying, coffee-spilling boys had not been part of her plan today. He was also unfortunately good-looking, which was fine if all she had to do was look at him from a distance (Lily had no aversion to watching good-looking boys), but liable to make her flustered at close quarters.

((OOC - Lmao if one hand is in his hair and one is on his heart, where is his coffee? Also, I don't really want him to go away, that's just Lily being Lily.))

[Sebastian Nott]

"Oh gosh indeed," Seb said impressively, giving his hair one final sweep with his hand and leaning backwards a bit to get another little glance in the mirror to see if he looked as ruggedly handsome as he had moments before. He most certainly did, and, very appeased indeed, flopped into the chair across from the girl without even thinking of asking her if it was alright. After all, she was a girl, and girls always liked him. Usually. Mostly. More than fifty percent of the girls he met liked him, anyways. "That's a health hazard, am I right or am I right? Disgraceful," he tutted in the general direction of the waitress, although really he was just using it as an excuse to check her out again. As he rested his elbows on the table, he managed to dip them in the coffee he'd spilled and consequently forgotten about. With a little yelp, he set the cup down on the table and leaned back, frowning at the coffee spill.

"Oh, hey, sorry..." he blinked at the coffee on the table, and then clocked that some of the coffee had gotten onto her book, and all of a sudden had to clamp down a snigger. He didn't attempt to hide his grin, however, and said with a deeply amused air about him, "Blame the cafe. It's their fault for their shocking health and safety standards. I'm an innocent in this entire ordeal." Truth be told, he could fix it in a second if he bothered to get out his wand, but he was hoping the waitress or Libby Jordan would come over to clean it, so he could get some generous flirting time in.

"And I only have half of my coffee left," he announced, pouting down at the offending cup. Raising his arm, he waved it at the waitress with his most charming smile slapped on his face and called, "Garcon!" hopefully - he was fairly certain that was French, and everyone knew French was hot - but he was met by a mere roll of the eyes. Shrugging good-naturedly, he turned to the red-head and winked, saying in conspiratorial tones, "She's playing hard to get. I've got this..." once he'd looked at her, though, he realised first that she was pretty, and second that she looked vaguely familiar. He sifted through the list of girls he'd snogged during his life - he'd remember if he had shagged her - but it was difficult because the number was rather appalling and often times he'd been quite drunk. Not all the time, but time enough. Flicking his gaze up and down shamelessly (as he was wont to do when girls were about), he turned towards her properly and said, "Do I know you?"

_____
ooc. - seb has skills ok

[Lily Potter]

Lily stared at him, trying to work out whether he was trying to be funny or not. Either way, he was quite funny, and Lily bit back a smile at his dramatics, feeling slightly overwhelmed with the problem of how to respond. She wasn't used to being suddenly accosted by random friends of Albus's like this. Although he presumably couldn't be too bad if Roxie also liked him (she was fairly sure Roxie had talked about him as a friend) and she'd also heard Lorcan mention him. He didn't seem to be hurt, though, just indignant, so she allowed him a small smile as he sat down at her table. It seemed she was stuck with his company now, whether she liked it or not, so she supposed she'd have to make the best of it.

"I suppose it is," she agreed, glancing again at the floor (she still didn't see any water). Her lips twitched slightly as he put his elbows in the coffee, trying not to laugh at him, although he didn't seem to have the same scruples. She raised her eyes slightly as he appeared to find it amusing that he'd messed up her book, although she only shrugged and said resignedly: "It's okay. I expect someone'll be able to clean it at home, if I can't." In truth, she thought she probably could, if only she could find her wand, but she didn't feel like burrowing around in her bag in front of him. "I'll tell Libby next time I see her then," she commented in reply to his complaint about the cafe, beginning to relax a little (he was so at ease himself, it was almost impossible not to). She didn't actually intend to complain to the cafe owner, of course, who was a general friend of the family.

She stared at him as he rudely attempted to summon the waitress, her cheeks turning pink with the attention he was drawing to their table with his bad manners, although this time she couldn't hold back a horrified giggle at his choice of French.

"Garcon means 'boy'," she informed him, not really knowing what to say to the rest of his absurd statements, and taking a sip of coffee instead. She noticed his eyes flick up and down and her slight smile turned into a frown, her cheeks turning a little pinker. She hated it when boys thought they could do that. Staring at the table instead of meeting his eyes, she shrugged. "I'm Lily. Al's sister," she added, in case her first name was not enough to jog his memory.

[Sebastian Nott]

Seb wasn't quite mean enough to let her have to trawl back home to get her book fixed - plus, he had always been a bit weird about books, and liked it when they were kept very clean. Although he was a slob with most things, books were a different story. If you so much as folded the corner of a page on one of Seb's books, he'd hunt you down and rant dramatically at you. And so, with an angelic expression on his face, he pulled his wand out of his pocket, flicked it, and the puddle of coffee on the table and the stains on the book disappeared instantly. Smugly, he returned his wand to his pocket, shrugging and saying smoothly, "No need to thank me. All in a day's work. I live for good deeds." He'd almost forgotten that he'd been the one to spill the coffee. When she suggested she talk to Libby for him, however, he shook his head vehemently. "If anyone gets to talk to Libby, it'll be me," he informed her, peering towards the counter as though hoping Libby would pop out from behind it. He wasn't sure why he tended to fancy peoples' mums, it was just the way it was. "We're old friends, Libby and me. Not going to lie, I think she sort of fancies me," he raised his cup and took a measured sip, sounding completely genuine despite the fact that he was talking complete shit.

"Well, that probably explains a lot, then," he said, with a slight frown, when she revealed that he had actually referred to the waitress as a boy. "It's been a while since I learned French, I'm sure she can understand that..." as he peered at her, he noticed that she blushed and looked down. He noticed it, but he didn't particularly react to it, mainly because he rarely ever felt embarrassed and was so at ease in almost every social situation that it didn't occur to him to do so. He found it sort of amusing, actually, but he stifled a grin.

"Al has a sister?" He repeated, looking terribly confused. "What? When?" He slammed his hand down on the table, eyebrows knitting together. He couldn't ever remember Al talking about having a sister. Not that he ever listened to anyone else much - his own voice was far too delicious in stark contrast to everyone else's - but still. And anyways, it was hardly his fault; there were so many of that family around you could hardly breathe without bumping into one of them. He frowned at her, but as he did so, a look of dawning comprehension appeared on his face, and she clicked in his memory. "Oh, right. Yes, yes, I remember you," he nodded impressively. "Sort of. My deepest condolences. About being related to Al. Must be tough. Give him my love when you get home, and let him know that I'm sorry it couldn't work out between the two of us."

[Lily Potter]

"Oh." Lily looked at her now clean book, and then up at him, giving him a proper smile for the first time. "Thanks," she added, despite his statement that there was no need to thank him. He talked a lot of nonsence, of course (either he was joking or actually just mad), but he clearly meant well, Lily decided. Cleaning her book had been nice of him. Of course, he'd messed it up too, but that hadn't been deliberate. Anyone could trip. However, she shut the book to avoid any more accidents - at least the outside had a shiny cover on it.

"Oh. Okay," she went on, looking slightly oddly at him. Yes, he had to be joking... right? Nobody was actually that delusional. "I'm pretty sure she probably fancies her husband actually," she suggested gently, matching his serious tone.

"Probably," she agreed vaguely, her eyes following the waitress, who was carrying three trays at once. "Or maybe she's just very busy. She looks quite busy." She took a deep breath and made herself look up again, the heat in her face dying down. No, she was not a shy little girl any more, she was coming up for seventeen and was a prefect - she could talk to random people in coffee shops and not get all flustered, she really could. Even if they were slightly obnoxious.

"Mmhm," she nodded. "At least, he did last time I checked." Her lips twitched again. "It's not that bad. He goes out a lot. You probably see him more than I do."

Her eyes strayed over her shoulder, to the man she had previously decided was a master criminal. He had just taken out something that looked like a small camera and was holding it up almost as if taking pictures out of the window, although he was probably simply looking at it. Forgetting about Sebastian, Lily's eyes lit up.

"Photographing the site," she murmured, then realised that she had said this out loud, and blushed crimson. "I mean... I wasn't... Um, never mind, I was just... talking to myself."

[Sebastian Nott]

"Eh. She probably thinks her husband's okay," Seb leaned back in his chair, rolling his shoulders up into a shrug. "But, seriously, when you're offered a face like this, nobody can really blame you. It's the occupational hazard of being Sebastian Nott. Everyone fancies me," he smirked, taking another gulp of coffee and frowning when he realised that, after the spillage and a couple of glugs, it was practically all gone. With an almighty roll of his eyes, he heaved himself upwards and waited until he caught the waitress' eye, motioning to the coffee cup. Scowling, she approached, and he said, very pleasantly indeed, "Another cup, please and thank you very much." He made sure he had his smoulder turned on and all, but the waitress seemed immune, and merely turned away from him towards the counter. Seb watched her go with a vaguely puzzled air before turning back to the girl - Lily.

"Again, when you're offered a face like this, everything else is irrelevant," he informed her seriously, one eyebrow cocked. "Nobody's too busy not to notice this face. She's playing hard to get. Probably," he stretched, raising both arms towards the ceiling. "I'll win her over with my wit and charm yet."

It was true that Seb actually did see Al quite a lot, it just felt like less, due to the fact that they weren't living together in a dormitory anymore. "Unfortunately, yes. Like many others, your brother holds a bit of a torch for me," he nodded solemnly. "He's been madly in love with me all this time. That, or insanely jealous of my luck with women and my general greatness, it's hard to tell. Maybe a mix of both."

Seb noticed that her gaze strayed because he was the sort of person who rather enjoyed having all attention on him, and when she muttered something he couldn't quite make out, he turned, puzzled, to see a very boring-looking man inspecting a tiny camera. A crooked smile on his face, Seb twisted back to look at her and said, mockingly, "Boyfriend of yours?"

[Lily Potter]

"Probably, a bit," Lily agreed, deciding that the best policy was probably to humour him. "Everyone fancies you. Right. What about your family?" she added as an afterthought. "They can't fancy you." She didn't bother to point out the obvious fact that she did not fancy him herself, since that was, well, obvious, and also would be an embarrassing topic to bring up. He was the sort of person to try and insist she did fancy him, which was not a conversation Lily felt comfortable having. Best to leave herself out of the equation altogether.

She watched him order another coffee. So he was planning on staying here longer. Oh well. She supposed it was more entertaining than it might otherwise have been.

"I'm not sure she is," she said doubtfully, forgetting her resolution to humour him. "I think maybe she just wants to be left alone." It occurred to her to ask what wit and charm he meant, but that felt a bit rude considering she'd only just met him.

She couldn't help laughing at his claims about Albus - which she was fairly sure were nonsense, although she supposed she couldn't completely guarantee it. Her brother hadn't shown any immediate signs of pining away though. "Oh, so that's why he's always out," she said innocently, nodding as if completely serious. "I wondered what it was."

"What?" Lily stared at the man and then at Seb, becoming quite outspoken suddenly, in her hurry to debunk that awful idea. "No!" She looked at the man again. "He must be about thirty five! I don't even know him, I just..." She trailed off, not really wanting to explain that she had made up an entire story about the man in her head. "I was just wondering what he was doing," she finished lamely.

[Sebastian Nott]

He blinked at her, and then rolled his eyes. "Well, obviously not the family. Although they do adore me. Perfect son, perfect brother...I'd say it's exhausting, being this golden, but I'd be lying. It'd effortless," he shrugged again, but, seeing as they were on the subject of families, he cocked his head to the side and said: "So, which Weasley are you? Well, Potter-Weasley," he corrected himself. "You don't seem like the rest of 'em," he surveyed bluntly, shaking his head. "Except you and Rose both have ginger hair. But, I digress; you've got Rose, who's the Head-Girly one, you've got Molly, the flirty one, you've got Dominique, who seems intent on killing me every time she gets within a ten-metre radius...and so on, so forth. You're a lot quieter. It's disconcerting. Are you sure you're related to them?"

It wasn't often that people argued with Seb, and he turned to look at her again, eyebrows slightly raised. She seemed so terribly earnest about the entire thing. "Is my company that horrendous then?" He demanded. He was joking, and there was a mocking undertone, but he wasn't sure if she'd get it.

She didn't really look like Albus, but, then again, some siblings just didn't. Considering he and Chloe were twins, they didn't look all that alike. And he couldn't remember ever seeing Albus with her, either. It thoroughly boggled Seb's mind when people weren't close to their siblings, or their cousins. "Hang on!" He pointed an accusing finger towards her, lighting up, "What year are you in?"

He hadn't expected her to over-react like that, and he had to press his lips together to keep from howling with laughter. Instead, he waggled his eyebrows at her and crowed, "Methinks the lady doth protest too much! Did I interrupt something, then? Had you been eyeing him up before I arrived? Naughty," he chided, wagging his finger at her reprovingly. "Are you looking for someone older?" He asked, the picture of innocence. "I'm sure we could find someone in his forties, if you really wanted."

[Lily Potter]

"Right," Lily said again. "Brother... Chloe's your sister, isn't she?" She had met Chloe Nott on occasion, as Rose's best friend, and liked her. Sebastian didn't seem much like his sister. She frowned in puzzlement when he asked which one she was (she'd just told him she was Lily, Al's sister, after all) but her face cleared as he clarified. "You forgot Roxie," she told him. "Which one is she? But I suppose I'm the... quiet one." Well, that sounded boring. Lily shrugged it off. Most people probably would call her the boring one, but she was pretty happy with how she was, so who cared what he thought? "I'm the only one who knows how to listen properly," she added, though that probably didn't even make any sense. "Anyway, why does Dom want to kill you? Though you shouldn't take it personally, I think Dom wants to kill everyone at some point."

Lily raised her eyebrows at his question, trying to hide how very bad at this kind of conversation she was. She didn't understand how some people could banter like this effortlessly - Lily's head was constantly trying to work out what the best response to people was, and over-analysing everything. "I don't know yet, you've only just sat down," she pointed out. "But if I'm busy, I don't like being bothered. Maybe she has a boyfriend. Or maybe she isn't into guys. Or maybe she got her heart broken by someone who had hair just like yours and you just remind her of it..." She stopped herself as her imagination ran away with her, as usual.

She blinked at the accusing tone of his next question. "Erm... I've just finished Fifth Year," she told him. "So I suppose technically I'm a Sixth Year now..."

Despite her dismay, Lily found herself laughing again, albeit in a slightly horrified way. "No. No, no, no. Shut up. I like to watch people, that's all. Anyway," she added, "your quote's wrong. It's 'the lady doth protest too much, methinks'." She didn't really care about the accuracy of his quote, but she hoped to distract him. She really wasn't usually this forward with people she'd just met either, but it seemed impossible to be shy with someone like this.

[Sebastian Nott]

"Yep," he beamed as he checked his watch. He'd get back home soon enough and get Chloe to spend some twin-bonding time with him. He had an enormous amount of food, after all, so she wouldn't be too hard to convince. That, and he was irresistible, and the best brother ever. "We are, indeed, twins. It's quite baffling, really, that that amount of fantastic can be in one family. You have my permission to be intimidated. And Roxanne's my favourite," he informed her with a solemn nod of the head. "A bit loopy, but there you go. She's practically one of the family. Just waiting until she and Scorp elope," he rolled his eyes expressively, and then his face arranged itself into a glower. "They'd better bring me along, though. They'd be fools not to, really, because first off, I'm best man material, and second off, I don't see how they'd get on without my wisdom to guide them." Dragging himself out of his reverie, he had to scrabble around in his mind for a bit to recall what she'd just said. "Ahh, there's always a quiet one. You can't trust the quiet ones. You always know what the loud ones are going to do, but the quiet ones are usually devious," he informed her, clearly forgetting that he was a loud one. "I'm still not one hundred per cent sure why Dom wants to kill me," Seb said, but a wicked grin unfurled itself on his face. "Something to do with a number of pranks in first year that can't be proved were mine, an accusation of my 'hitting' on her, and something about me being a slag. I don't really mind though, 'cause she's fit. I mean, she's after my blood," he said thoughtfully. "But I'd still totally do her."

At that moment the waitress reappeared and settled Seb's new cup of coffee on the table before taking off again, and he had barely any time to shoot her a flirty look. Either way, however, he was rather perplexed by Al's sister - Lily, Lily, Lily - who didn't seem to find him overwhelmingly attractive, nor did she seem to think that anyone would be lucky to shag him. Well, obviously she must find him overwhelmingly attractive, but she was good at hiding it. "I'm everyone's type, okay, and I wasn't bothering her," he wrinkled up his nose, "I was just...chatting her up. Completely different. Poles apart. And what are you saying about my hair?" He tacked on defensively, hand immediately jumping to his hair.

"You must know Ainsley and Ella, then!" He said, with a grin. "They're my cousins. Best cousins. Ella's the blondey one with the attitude and the generally Malfoy-ish demeanor. Ainsley's the brunette who's going to rule the world."

He snorted, and proceeded to waggle his eyebrows again. "Watch people?" He repeated. "That sounds really dodgy. And the lady doth, yes she doth," he agreed vehemently, not really knowing what he was saying, but grinning all the same. "So if he's not your type, then who is? Other than me, obviously," he added seriously. "As before mentioned, I'm everyone's type. But, seeing as you've obviously been people watching, so fill me in on all of the juicy details about everyone in the cafe."

[Lily Potter]

If he liked Roxanne, he definitely couldn't be all bad, Lily thought. It probably meant Roxie liked him too, and she trusted Roxie's judgement a lot more than she did either Dom's or Al's. And 'a bit loopy' was quite rude, but no more than accurate when it came to just about any member of Lily's family. "D'you think they're planning on it?" she asked interestedly. She couldn't really see Roxanne eloping - she would, like the rest of the family, be quite offended if Roxie chose to get married without telling them - but it was an entertaining idea. Lily was sceptical about romance on her own behalf, but always liked other people's, and out of anyone in her family, Roxanne was currently the best bet for a happy-ever-after.

She didn't know what to say to his assessment that the quiet ones were always devious - she didn't think she was particularly devious, so she just smiled and moved on. "She'd probably be out for your blood whether you'd done anything or not," she assured him. "Like I said, it's nothing really personal." He was just loud and cocky, which would get on Dom's nerves no end, Lily was sure, even though Dom was a bit like that herself. She pulled a face at his other comments on her cousin. "I'm sure she'd be really happy to know you think she's fit," she commented dryly, only the tiniest hint of sarcasm in her voice.

"Not everyone wants to be chatted up though." Lily stuck to her guns, despite not really feeling that this was a topic she was any kind of expert at, never having been knowingly chatted up herself. "Plus, calling her a boy's not the greatest chat-up line," she added, as this popped into her head. "Nothing," she went on hastily. "Your hair's fine. I only meant... well, you know what I meant." She hadn't really looked at his hair up to now, but now that she did, she thought critically that it looked like he took a long time to get it as messy as it was, but it didn't look terrible despite that. She realised that she was now staring at his hair, and firmly brought her eyes back to his face.

"Oh, yes," she said vaguely. "I know them, but not that well. They're in different houses. Ella's friends with Lucy, though."

She sighed as he insisted on taking her words the wrong way again. "Yes, watching them. You know. Don't you ever sit and people-watch?" She skipped hastily over his question of who was her type by pretending not to hear it. "Well, she" She gestured with her spoon at the woman in the heels, who had stopped looking at her watch and was picking as a cupcake on her plate, with a scowl on her face. "Has obviously been stood up. And he" She pointed her spoon at an elderly wizard sitting hunched in a corner behind the Daily Prophet. "Either doesn't like his wife much, or his wife is away. Either way, he doesn't really want to go home. And he" she pointed at the man with the camera who had started the whole conversation, "might just possibly be planning to break into Gringott's. Although he might also just be doing some work," she conceded.

[Sebastian Nott]

"Oh, completely," Seb responded, entirely untruthfully. He had a habit of talking complete and utter nonsense - he'd taken winding people up too far quite some time ago and half of the time he didn't even know what he was on about himself. "I can practically hear the wedding bells..." in truth, Seb was deeply opposed to the idea of Scorpius getting married. Even though Seb thought Roxanne was great, he sort of felt wrong-footed at times. He'd gotten used to Scorpius going out with him when they were younger, and now it felt as though Scorpius was going to settle down and become a boring old fart any day. "I hope they've got time to pick up some bridesmaids when we all head off to Paris for the ceremony. And that the bridesmaids dresses are tight-fitting," he rolled his eyes, expression grave. "Come to think of it, I think I'll organize everything. That's my motto: Have money, will make sure they have an expensive and classy wedding. Or elope. Whatever."

Seb sniggered. It was fairly personal when it came to him and Dominique, actually, and his chuckling faded slightly as memories of his ego being bruised by Dominique resurfaced. It wasn't that he'd ever done anything to her, but it had probably been a slight mistake to goad her when she already hated him and laugh at her when she threatened him. Similar to poking a dragon in the eye. Or a bear with a stick. It just hadn't been a good idea on the whole. "You're joking!" He protested. "I tried. I tried to let her know I thought she was fit. But you make the teensiest, most perfectly innocent comment to your cousin, and the slightest suggestion of hitting on her, and you get kneed in the last place anyone should ever be kneed. I was fourteen," he shook his head, mock-outraged. "She shattered my ego and left me crippled. Tough times." (In actuality, after he had recovered from the pain, he'd wandered off and ended up in a broom-cupboard with another girl, but that wasn't necessary to add.)

"Why?" Seb scoffed. "I mean, okay, I get it if it's some complete loser," he conceded. "But it's me. People should want to be chatted up by me. I'm adorable," he widened his eyes, "And sexy and brooding when I want to be," he forced his face into an impressive glower, "And I'm always extraordinarily handsome," he relaxed his face, lips twitching up into a smile. "And my hair had better be more than fine," he corrected her, give it another pat. Seb was very passionate about, and protective of, his hair. He caught her staring at it, and grinned again.

"Oh, man," Seb took a generous gulp of coffee, "I totally forgot you were related to Lucy. How is she? Still angry and bitter? I think she has a crush on me too, you know," he added thoughtfully. "I considered flirting with her once, but somebody told me she might castrate me if I did, and it'd be a terrible misfortune to all the girls I haven't shagged yet if I was castrated. So."

He threw up both hands in mock-surrender, saying, "Okay, then! No need to get all sassy. And no, I don't people watch. I sit, and people watch me..." but, very obediently indeed, he twisted around in his seat and looked carefully at each person she pointed at. Seb was very rarely interested in anyone else other than himself, and if he was, it was only because he was planning on getting them into bed at any cost. So it was somewhat surprising to hear her observations. He wouldn't have come to those conclusions at all - wouldn't have spent enough time to think about it. Weird. He swiveled around to face her again. "That's kind of creepy," he told her cheerfully. "Do you often sit in cafes and gawk at people? Or did I stumble upon you on your special day?"

[Lily Potter]

((OOC - Scorpius would not settle for anything less than an expensive and classy wedding, thank you.))

Fortunately, Lily was quite at home with nonsense, thanks to her family. She was slightly wrong-footed with Seb, because she didn't know him and wasn't entirely sure whether he was joking or not all the time, but she was now beginning to work him out and come to the conclusion that he wasn't really serious about anything. Although Lily was sometimes slightly too serious about things, once she relaxed then she quite enjoyed nonsense. And she was feeling better now that she thought she knew where they stood. She nodded thoughtfully. "I think you might need to get some help if you want Roxie not to kill you, though."

She tried to look sympathetic as he recounted his encounter with her cousin, though to be honest, it sounded like he'd probably deserved it. Not that she had any experience of it, but Lily didn't really like the idea of being 'hit on', whoever was doing it. Though she would never knee anyone in the groin for it, as that seemed unnecessarily violent, but then this was Dom, who had a tendency towards unnecessary violence. "Yes, she does that kind of thing," she agreed, sounding slightly apologetic for her cousin.

She gazed at him in bemusement as he proceeded to pull a series of ridiculous faces, possibly intended to be attractive, and found herself once again biting her lip to stop herself laughing. "Why don't you just give it up when someone's not interested, and try someone else?" she suggested.

"Mmhm. I'm related to a lot of people," she observed, slightly ruefully. "And she probably would. Lucy's a bit like Dom in some ways." And sometimes Lily wished that she was more like Dom and Lucy, and that the reason people did not flirt with her was because they were scared of her, not because they were completely unattracted to her. Not that Lily would really want to be that violent. She glanced round them surreptitiously, wishing that he wouldn't talk about shagging quite so loudly. People might be listening.

She rolled her eyes at his assumption that people watched him, but then folded her arms as he faced her again. "Pretty often," she replied, after thinking about his question for a moment, not really bothered by his assessment that it was creepy. "You can always guess things - like that guy with the Prophet has four empty cups sitting beside him, and a few minutes ago, he got to the end of the paper and then turned back to the beginning. And I know he's married because he has a wedding ring on. And if you can't guess them, or they're boring, you can always make them up..."