Michelle had not been avoiding Luke. At least, not entirely. She had avoided finding herself alone with him, certainly, making it a point to stick close with her friends as much as possible. The whole fiasco with her parents over the holidays had been so mortifying; her mothers words later that night, after Luke had truly left, had been so pointed andeducationalthat the idea of spending time alone with Luke was back to being rather frightening. However, there was also a small part of her heart that was disgruntled with the observation that he hadnt gone out of his way to spend private time with her. It seemed - that disgruntled feeling told her - that maybe her mother was right. That maybe Luke had just been acting like a boy, taking liberties with her as she allowed him, and not troubling himself to think of her any further than that. And just when Michelle had begun to think of trying to banish him entirely from her heart and return her attention to the traditional object of her affection, Luke caught up with her one day and changed her mind. He asked her for a date; an actual, honest to goodness, official sort of date to Hogsmeade, on Valentines Day of all days. Michelles cheeks had flushed pink as shed quietly agreed to go with him, wondering why on earth boys even the ones who were no longer very scary had to be so blasted confusing.

And so there they were, entering Madame Puddifoots. It was difficult for Michelle to avoid watching him. For all that she was accustomed to her classmates being dressed up somewhat for classes. The idea that hed taken time to dress up for her was striking, and she couldnt help but to think he looked particularly nice. He was acting like such a gentleman, too, and that kind of effort made her feel like such a lady that her very best manners slid into place without a hitch.

Shed taken her time getting ready that morning, accepting far too many opinions about her attire and finally settling on a jewel green dress that seemed to be a favorite among her friends. It brought out her skin tone and her blue eyes, but was not nearly warm enough for the weather and was too tight so that it made her hips look as wide as could be. She relied on her heavy winter cloak to make up for both of those deficiencies, fastening it close about her body, and drawing the hood up over her hair as they walked. She brushed her hood back as she breathed in the warmth of the tea shop, feeling the tip of her nose and her cheeks tingling and reddening at the change in temperature, and stepped aside so that Luke could select a place for her to sit.

He smiled at her as he followed her in, and Michelle smiled in kind before she glanced away, timid, her eyes landing first on a cheeky cupid floating overhead.

"I know it's a bit cliche, isn't it?"

Is it? Michelle asked. She wondered if he meant the decorations, or just he coming to Puddifoots to begin with. Shed only been inside the tea shop once before, when she and some of her friends had been prowling about Hogsmeade once in their earlier years. The decorations, though, were the height of clich and tacky all at once. I dont know, she whispered to him. Lace and Cupids are so original for Valentines Day. Her eyes followed a golden cherub as it floated directly over head and showered them with a burst of pink confetti. Bits of paper stuck all in her hair and some on her face and cloak, and she blinked a few bits away from her eyes as she looked at Luke. Maybe we can get one of these cherubs for the common room. It would be brilliant, dont you think?