IRIS GROANED AND BANGED HER HEAD ON her messy desk. Ink stained parchment and failed tricks were strew across her desk haphazardly. She had been up for over four hours working on some new concoctions for pranks. Iris was in dire need of making new ones since she had really only perfected about five pranks since last year.
There was really only one that was successful and it wasn't that impressive. All it was was a quill that wrote out the same sentence no matter what the writer tried to do. A simple trick that she was able to put together within an hour or so. Nothing too impressive, honestly.
Though at the moment, she was having a tough time trying to come up with ideas and create formulas for her new trick candies. Her mind felt as though it was going to melt into a puddle and pour out of her ears.
Even Shadow looked to be just as annoyed and frustrated as Iris. He rested on her bed right next to her desk, sunbathing in the sunlight that came through the window with his tail flicked from side to side. Though he was frustrated for a different reason than his owner. He just wanted to have a snack. Even though he had a nice helping of food for lunch not only twenty minutes ago, but that didn't matter.
"Hey, Iris," Lily said as she leaned in through the door.
Her sister grunted too focused on her writing to really pay attention, "yeah?"
"I'm heading out with Oscar and Samantha, but Derek wanted to hang with you today." She lazily said and started to walk away.
Lily had been hanging out with her muggle friends just about every day this summer. Then again, there wasn't much else for her to do after all. Occasionally, they'd get a visit from Marlene, Alice or Wendy, but that was rare. So, ever the active person, Iris went out any chance she could with those in the village. Iris wasn't as willing to go out as her, but it wasn't like Lily forced her to. At least, not all the time. There were times when Lily made it her goal to get Iris to hang out with her and the others, but that was only when Iris had been cooped up in the house for over a week or so.
Iris huffed before stretching and cracking her back with a satisfying groan. She got up from her chair and shuffled a few of her papers around into a semi neat pile. The redhead glanced at the clock to see that it was a little after one and walked out of her bedroom. She hadn't planned on going out today, it was one of her scheming days after all, but she was stuck in a bit of rut. Going out may help her a bit, inspire her. Of course, Shadow followed after her in hopes that Iris would actually get him a snack.
She lazily brushed a hand through her hair and made herself somewhat presentable as she followed after Lily. She found that the two nuisances were talking with each other in the living room while Derek stood next to them nervously. Why he was nervous was beyond anyone, but no one really cared to think about it.
"Hello, Iris," Oscar and Samantha snidly said with a roll of their eyes. Obviously in an act to be polite to her. She hummed in their direction but didn't even greet them which most certainly ticked them off a bit.
Lily grabbed Oscar and Samantha's arms before either of them could reply to her sister. "Right, well, see you later!" The trio then left leaving Iris and Derek to themselves. A thick silence enveloped them. It blanketed over the pair of teens and induced an awkward tension between the two.
Iris stared at him for a short while with a tired expression before letting out a sigh. "So what do you wanna do?"
Derek jumped slightly and scratched the back of his neck. "I-I don't know." Honestly, he wasn't entirely sure how he was going to go about this. He wants to make this a day that neither of them would forget. After all, this would be the first date that he had been on...
She nodded her head and grabbed her sneakers from the floor and slipped them on. "Well, then, I think I should stop by Quinn's, you wanna come with?"
"Oh, sure!" The boy nodded his head rapidly and jumped off to follow her.
So the two teens left the house. While Derek was a bundle of nerves, Iris was quite tired and needed some relaxation. Visiting her pseudo-grandmother would definitely mellow her out, at least a little. Maybe she'll even have some cookies to pass out to Iris. Mmm... Quinn's cookies were the best!
---
The two teens set out on their short trek to the local bookstore. They talked with each other all the way there. However, Iris hadn't noticed the fact that Derek was beyond nervous. He was fidgeting with his hands or the end of his shirt for about most of the walk. Instead, she just complained to him about Lily waking her up before noon every so often.
He did his best to try and talk with her, but his nerves were causing his throat to close up. He shouldn't be nervous like this! Derek is used to talking with her, so talking to her now shouldn't be any different. Though it may be because he believed that he could turn this hang out into an official date. He really should have just told her that he wanted to take her out on a date. However, poor, innocent, little Derek didn't do that. A simple thing that should be the first thing that he did before heading out with her. Though he'll tell her at some point, right?
"Your summer's been good too, right?" Iris asked him, startling the teen from his thoughts.
Derek cleared his throat and scratched the back of his neck., "oh, y-yeah, kind of boring... but better since I can hang out with you!"
Iris smiled, "yeah, it's fun to get to hang out with someone." She then clicked her tongue as her lips turned down in a slight scowl, "you're definitely better than Oscar or Samantha." Even at the mention of them brought a sour taste to her mouth.
The two of them shared a laugh together as they made their way down the calm street. Though it was quite obvious that Iris wasn't picking up on the fact that... Derek wanted this to be more than just a couple of friends hanging out. Though it seemed like both of them were quite oblivious! While Iris didn't see the indication of Derek's interest in her, Derek didn't see the fact that she wasn't interested that way. Oh boy.
They eventually made it to the quaint bookstore and greeted Quinn. The lively older woman bounced from behind the counter to greet the two teenagers with a wide smile. Though if one paid close attention, it was more like a smirk, with how her aged eyes were alight with devilry.
"Oh hello, you two!" She embraced them both in a tight hug that stole their breath. "Having a little date, are you?" At her words, Derek blushed a brilliant shade of red, one that matched Iris' hair.
He was just about to insinuate that, maybe, he wanted their little hang out to be a date when Iris laughed loudly. "No, no, Quinny, we're just hanging out for the day."
Derek visibly deflated at her words, which was only noticed by Quinn. She felt a jolt of sympathy phase through her for the boy. Obviously, all he wanted was for Iris to notice him as more than a friend. Though Quinn remembered quite a bit about Iris talking about this other boy, a Sirius, and it seemed like Iris already had a significant other. Don't even get her started on how much Craig liked to complain about the boys who were courting his daughters. Quinn had sit through far too many rants from the man.
"Well, then, come to get a few books, dears?"
Iris shrugged her shoulders and lazily walked over to a bookshelf. "I guess, Lily's been nagging me about reading more. I don't know why we read far too much at school anyway!"
They all shared a chuckle at that as Derek joined Iris over at the bookshelf. The two of them looked through a couple of interesting books that caught their interest. Derek suggested a few different fantasy stories to Iris who just rolled her eyes and kept her focus on a few mystery books. Iris was living in a fantasy world of wizards and witches, no need for her to read about a fictional one.
Derek, poor Derek, tried once again to catch Iris' attention in a more romantic way. Despite being hesitant and shy about it, Derek decided to wrap an arm around Iris' shoulder. To him, it was most likely the most intimate thing that he could do,(besides kiss her, of course. Which he had already done, to his embarrassment.). Keeping her close to him would hopefully give her the hint that Derek wanted to do something more than just be friends.
However, because Iris is generally a touchy-feely kind of person and not a stranger to physical contact with just about anyone, she didn't notice it. All she did was allow the boy to keep her close to him as they looked over the books and barley batted an eye at him.
Eventually, Iris had settled on getting a small mystery novel. Hopefully, it would satisfy Lily's incessant need for Iris to read more. It was that Iris didn't like read or anything, she would just rather be scheming than reading about fictional stories.
Iris bought her book and turned to Derek with a large toothy smile, "where to now?"
"U-uh, why not Freezing Point...?" Derek stuttered. Damn him and his shyness. He usually has no problem talking to her, as he has done plenty of times in the past. However, at the reminder that he was trying his best to get her attention in a more than friendly way, he couldn't help himself but get flustered.
The redhead's eyes brightened at the suggestion. After all, a nice hot summer day certainly called for some delicious ice cream. "Alright, cool!" She then grabbed his arm to pull them out of the store, "bye Quinn!"
The grandmotherly woman waved after the two teens, "bye-bye dears!" Once they disappeared through the door, Quinn shook her head and sighed lightly through her nose. Her thoughts straying to the failed attempts of romance that Derek tried to woo Iris with. "Oh, those two."
---
Bouncing with eagerness, Iris walked alongside Derek on the sidewalk. "I don't know why I didn't think of this beforehand, ice cream is a perfect idea. Good thinking, Derek."
The teen boy beamed at her praise. His chest seemingly puffed out as he stood up straighter. It felt wonderful to be praised by the girl that you fancied, he concluded. "You probably would have thought of it sooner or later."
Iris shrugged her shoulders and smirked, "yeah, most likely. I usually only think about sweets anyway."
The two of them laughed together at her comment. So for their walk to the ice cream shop, they divulged more about themselves to each other. Iris learned that Derek is quite hopeful in staying in England for as long as he could since he was quite tired of having to move around so much. He also wanted to go to school to be a teacher of some sort. The boy wasn't completely sure what he wanted to be a teacher of, most likely History or English, but thought he had enough time to figure it out later.
Derek learned... Well, he didn't learn all that much about her. Most of the stuff they talked about was just continuations of the things that they had talked about before. He already knew that she was a troublemaker, getting in trouble at school all the time. She hated her History class with a passion but remarked that it was still somewhat easy class. Iris told him stories about her friends, mostly about Sirius and James(to Derek's annoyance), and complained about Lily's nagging. He asked her about her hobbies, and she hesitated on telling him. He wasn't sure why, but she almost appeared unsure what to tell him.
Unknown to him, Iris couldn't just divulge to him that she loved to create magical pranks or that she enjoyed watching Quidditch. All of the things that she liked to do had some sort of magical aspect to them. So she couldn't just tell him upfront what her hobbies were or what she enjoyed. Truthfully, there weren't many non-magical things that she liked to do. So instead she told him about the music she liked to listen to, especially on her new record player she had gotten last year.
The two arrived at Freezing Point, ordered some ice cream, and sat down outside under the sun to enjoy their treats. It was getting a bit late and soon enough as the sky was slowly starting to become tinted with orange as the sun descended below the horizon. Iris didn't even notice that they had been gone for such a long time. She supposed hanging out with a good friend really did pass the time.
Though just like the rest of their hang out, Derek tried and failed to make some sort of move on the redhead. Yet she still didn't notice it. He wasn't sure why she didn't notice it, after all, she was a pretty big flirt. You wouldn't think that someone who knew exactly how to fluster someone with such advances would notice them when they were directed at them. Not Iris. She was completely oblivious to it.
As they joked over ice cream and laughed with each other between Derek's failed attempts, the sun was ever so slowly disappearing. The sky exploded in a wonderful array of colors. A perfect setting for a date...
"Do you miss some of the places you've been to?" Iris asked him before taking a lick of her ice cream.
Derek nodded his head slightly, "Yeah. Some places were really cool, and I would have liked to stay there." He bit his bottom lip, "but I'm glad we moved here though, I wouldn't have met you if we didn't."
Iris chuckled at the sentiment and punched him in the shoulder good-heartedly before continuing to eat her frozen treat.
Eventually, it was starting to get close to supper time, and both of them knew that they should probably head home. Wouldn't want to worry their families with their disappearances, right?
Though while the two had lapsed in a comfortable silence that was laced lightly with awkwardness on Derek's part, he knew that this was his last chance. He needed to say something about his interest in her. If he didn't do it now, he probably wouldn't be able to work up the courage to do it later. Coming to the conclusion that it was now or never, he made up his mind.
---
At the door of the Evans' household, Iris smirked at Derek and ruffled her short hair. "Thanks for getting me out of the house today!" She was genuinely happy that she got to hang out with someone today. Getting out of her room every once in a while was a good thing... Oh, Merlin, she was starting to sound like Lily! The horror!
Disregarding that, she was still satisfied with how the day went. She got a new book from Quinn's that piqued her interest, had some ice cream, and got to spend time with the one muggle she actually liked. All in all, a nice summer's day!
"No problem, Iris!" Derek smiled, "We should do this more often."
Iris nodded her head vigorously, "definitely."
Derek's cheeks started to darken for what seemed like the hundredth time that day as he grabbed her hand. "Uh, listen, Iris... I had a great time with you today, I just... Well, I was wondering if maybe if next time you want to like go out."
Iris eyebrows furrowed, "but didn't we just do that?"
"Ah, no." He couldn't help himself but chuckle lightly at her confusion. Derek swallowed thickly before squaring his shoulders and gathering as much courage within him as he could. "I mean as on like a date."
Iris stared at him for a moment and processed it. Oh. A date. A Date? Really? She didn't think that Derek would want a date! Well, now that she thought about it, the comments he made about being with her, keeping her at a close distance to him, and his nervous state started to add up. He thought that he could make this into a date, didn't he?
Now Iris wasn't stupid... Well, not extremely stupid. She can tell when she being flirted with or something to a certain extent. It's just that, she hadn't of even thought of looking for the signs of flirtation from Derek. Though she could guess that because he was not experienced with flirting that he may have had a bit of a tough time even doing it. Iris had written off Derek as a friend. He was nothing more than a muggle friend who she enjoyed the company of. Not only that, but she was already in a relationship. Why would she actively be looking for the affections of other guys when she's already involved with someone.
"Oh." She blinked.
He definitely messed it up now! "Yeah," Derek swallowed after her short pause of silence.
Iris cleared her throat and tried to smile as kindly as she could to him, though she was certain that it appeared more like a grimace. "Derek, it's nice getting to hang out with you and all, and you're a cool guy... but I already have a boyfriend."
"O-oh," Derek breathed out. He did his best to keep the disappointment from leaking into his voice, but he wasn't as successful as he had hoped. It also didn't help that a crescent fallen expression was now plastered on his face. He had no doubt in his mind that she was most likely dating that Sirius boy that he had met at the party last year. Both Iris and Sirius seemed like they couldn't keep their hands off of each other that night. How long had they been dating, he wondered? Had they been together when he had kissed her? No, if they had, Derek probably would have had his ass beaten by Sirius for it.
Though Derek didn't take either Iris or Sirius(even though he barely spoke to the guy but has heard plenty of stories about him from Iris and Lily) as the commitment types. Maybe, he still had the chance. If what was between the two didn't work out, Derek could swoop in and possibly have a relationship with Iris. Of course, from there he would try to make it work between them, even if Iris had a problem with commitment, he'd work it through with her. Still, Derek would wait. He could wait for her instead of fucking with the relationship she was already in. That certainly wouldn't be a good idea.
Iris pursed her lips, "Yeah, uh, sorry about that."
"No, no. No need to apologize," Derek awkwardly chuckled to try and defuse the tension between them. Though it didn't do much.
Iris nodded her head slowly, "right, well, see you, I guess." She then shuffled into her home to hopefully escape the awkwardness that was starting to suffocate her after Derek's confession. She sighed heavily and leaned her back against from door. Merlin, things just had to get complicated, didn't they?