Countdown [Lucas]

Alicia sighed, shoulders slumping slightly as she slipped her bag, weighed down heavily by its numerous books. She'd spent all day being just a bit too perky, probably, throughout all of her classes. Especially the Ravenclaw and Gryffindor lessons. God, she'd been wedging herself as close to Lucas as she could get for practically the last year. It was kind of ridiculous, but she had thought that she was being subtle enough. Lucas hadn't said much of anything about it yet, or brushed her off, so maybe he had noticed? Maybe he was just as nervous as she was? The mere thought brought a smile to her face as she exited the classroom, turning out into the hallway to head back to her dorm before dinner. Maybe to groan over the fruitlessness of the entire endeavor with Amelia or Angelina. She was probably being a bit ridiculous but it had always felt like it was worth it.

Despite her reserved feelings Alicia broke into a grin when she spotted Lucas as she turned the corner before she smothered it into a polite smile, striding forward to catch up with him. "Hey Lucas!" She greeted him cheerfully as she finally drew even with him, adjusting her bag on her shoulder, "Have a long day of classes?" Alicia asked, casting her gaze up at him and fluttering her eyes just a bit. She had certainly had a long day, herself. Way too much time holding a quill and taking notes. "You know what sounds like a good idea?" She queried excitedly, tilting her head and grinning. "I'm thinking that a nice hand massage might be the way to go." She shrugged, sure, it sounded a bit odd but man those quills weren't friendly. "They really need to come up with a new writing utensil. Either that or built in cushioning charms." Surely they could come up with something better? After all, some of the brightest witches and wizards had walked through these halls.

"Have any exciting plans for tonight?" Alicia didn't, that was for sure. Now, if something better came up she wouldn't be at all opposed to going along with it. "We could head on down to the dining hall for dinner together, maybe?" Yeah, she probably sounded a bit overeager but over the last year or so it had become rather apparent that she was going to be the one who ended up taking that first step. Not that she minded, so long as it meant straightening out the butterflies that started fluttering in her stomach, or the way her cheeks heated up, whenever Lucas came into her line of sight. Something had to give.

Lucas Hartwell

School was, well school. Of course Lucas loved learning, and did very well in school, but his heart was out on the quidditch pitch. Especially with it being slightly nicer weather outside. But nicer weather meant exams were coming up, and the quidditch season was wrapping up. Exams meant he had to really start focusing on making sure he knew the information so he could do well on the exams. Of course he was hoping he would be far enough away from his father when the exam results come out that he wouldn't have to worry about anything. But they could also determine what job he could do if this whole professional quidditch thing didn't turn out well. So, regardless of the fact he just wanted to be out on the quidditch pitch all the time, he had really hunkered down the last couple months studying. Studying and Quidditch had become his two focuses. He had even missed a couple meals holed up in the library, and had to get something later from the kitchens as a result.

He was on his way back to the library after a day of classes when he heard a familiar voice say his name. He looked over to the side and smiled at Alicia. "Hey Alicia, how are you?" Alicia was a Gryffindor, and slightly younger than him, but she played quidditch, so they had bumped into each other a lot over the years. She was certainly attractive as well. "Yeah, well you know with Lupin sick, leaving a double dose of Snape, it was long enough." He hoped Snape was no where near and hadn't heard that. He didn't need Ravenclaw to lose any house points on his behalf. When she mentioned the hand massage, he looked at his very callused hands and chuckled "I'm not sure anyone would take these on." He nodded when she said they needed new writing utensil before saying "It would be nice, but I doubt they'll find something new that doesn't cause hand problems"

"I was planning on just heading to the library to study. Super exciting I know." But what could you expect from a Ravenclaw. He was an odd case of loved playing Quidditch, but also quite enjoying curling up with a good book for hours on end. "Hmm, dinner." He said pondering. He really had been a bit oblivious to what had been going on with Alicia. He quite enjoyed her company and talking to her, but with his focus elsewhere, he had missed any signs she may have been giving. "I suppose I could manage to make it down to dinner. What time where you thinking?" Yup completely oblivious.

Alicia's classes had been the greatest events to take place today. Charms was always interesting but today there hadn't been anything new given that Flitwick had been drilling them for the next exam. Classes never really held her interested, something that became even more apparent when there wasn't anything intriguing or exciting to be learned. Getting to actually practice the spells in class was worth it and all but it did get a bit dull after a while. Especially when review took more than one class. She'd much rather keep up with the new spells rather than going over the ones they had learned weeks ago time and time again. The rest of her classes hadn't been much more thrilling, but then that was the curriculum. She'd just have to put off a bit of her studying to hit the Pitch to make her day more interesting than what it was becoming now.

"I'm doing pretty well, classes are a bit of a drag but that always comes around when the unit exams come up." Her eyes darted away at Lucas's smile, though, and her cheeks flushed. Gods, she did like his face. "That had to be a right horror, then. I hope Lupin gets better soon." He probably didn't Snape's ire the same way all of the rest of her housemates, she'd rather have Lupin. He at least had taught her quite a bit more than what she had gleaned last year. She reached out to grab one of his hands and examine it, "Well, I doubt they can be much worse than mine, given how much time I spend on a broomstick." And she was holding his hand, if she was around anyone else she might be hyperventilating. "Though, you probably spend more time writing than I do." No, Alicia wasn't that much of a note taker but she did like reading, mostly Quidditch related things. "True, but quills are just so tedious, always having to dip it back in the ink well." Maybe she'd be more willing to be more of a note taker if it was less painful.

"It's not quite my idea of a fun time, but it's better than lounging around alone in my dorm." Amelia might be there, but Alicia doubted that she would want to listen to her wax poetic about how handsome Lucas was. It might be embarrassing, if it wasn't rather true. She wasn't at all ashamed to admit that, to herself if not to him. "Though, the library is rather quite and nice. Perfectly comfortable when there isn't too much chatter." Now, if studying in the library involved cuddling up next to him she'd be more than willing to become a little nerd. "I have no idea, what is a good dinner time?" Her eyebrows drew together in contemplation, "I usually end up heading down whenever someone drags me off the Pitch." She shrugged, not the healthiest way to go about it, sure, but she usually ended up way to distracted to remember for herself unless someone realized she was missing. "Or we could find one of the hidden passages and hit up the Three Broomsticks." Was that even subtle? She couldn't even tell at this point, after so long.

Lucas loved learning. He enjoyed sitting in most of his classes. Sure History of Magic had been dull, but he had dropped that after his OWLs. But all the classes he had now were interesting and things he enjoyed. They would also allow him to pursue a wide array of jobs if the whole quidditch thing didn't pan out. He could work for the government or learn a trade and work in a shop. He was keeping all of his options open. He hoped his quidditch skills were good enough to continue playing, but there was always that little voice in his head that kept telling him he wasn't good enough. So he pushed himself to excel both on the pitch and off. All he had to do was do well on his NEWTs and then he could hopefully focus 100% on quidditch.

"You should see all my classes with all the NEWTs coming up. It's as though the professors are all trying to cram in all the information just in case we need to know it. You'd think after teaching a class over and over you'd figure out how to fit all the information in equally over 2 years." Lucas figured it was hard for the teachers, but it was kind of fun to watch them panic over whether there would be a question about an obscure spell or plant on the test. "I'm sure Lupin will be back soon. He always seems to recover quite quickly." Lucas had some ideas, but he was not about to question that. "I spend all the time on a broomstick and plenty of time writing. I'm sure they're just as bad." He said letting her take his hand in hers to look at it. "Well maybe something will come along to replace the quill, until then we'll just have to suffer."

"There are more tables and such in the library. Our common room gets pretty packed around this time of year." All the Ravenclaws huddled around studying or doing other work. He wondered why they didn't just give them all a personal desk in their room. He supposed there just wasn't enough use for them. "The quiet does help as well." Not only did the quiet help him focus on either the studying or reading he was doing, but it let him ponder things without too much distractions. "I usually just go down after quidditch or when I have a good place to stop when studying." He said with a shrug. Or just grab something from the kitchens before trekking up to the common room at the end of the night. "And what ruin my good boy persona? After all these years? As much as I like that place, I think staying around here would be better." Plus if he got caught it would get back to his father, and this late in the year, that wasn't worth it.

Alicia practically groaned at the mention of professors cramming material for NEWTs. "It's not like you don't have enough to worry about studying for NEWTs without adding all of the last minute information." She hadn't been looking forward to those big tests at the end of the year she would have to take next year, let alone now that Lucas was telling her that it got worse. Really, she should have known. "At least it seems Binns keeps his droning to a steady pace." It might be terribly boring but at least Binns practically had it down to a science. Alicia was fairly certain that he had taught her parents as well. "He certainly has had enough time to perfect it." Still, History of Magic wasn't regularly interesting enough for her to have truly considered taking it for a NEWT. Maybe if Binns had sounded alive, or at least interested, at some point over her Hogwarts career. She was dubious that he'd ever been truly invested in what he taught, to attempt to make it interesting. Or, his idea of interesting was more than strange. "I can't imagine how terribly difficult that is to keep up with, especially with Quidditch." She tilted her head for a moment, and this time she actually did groan, "At least, not yet."

Alicia nodded in agreement, "True." Lupin did seem to bounce back quickly, even if he didn't bounce back fast enough for them to not have to deal with Snape at all. At least, not outside of the Potions classroom. "I'm just hoping it's not something more severe. Lupin's a lovely professor, and I'd rather not have to deal with Snape for two classes." Alicia wasn't a trouble maker, but she was bound to do something to draw Snape's ire eventually. She'd rather not double those odds. "Probably worse, since I'm not the most accomplished note taker." She snorted at the thought, narrowing her focus to Lucas's hand as she held it tentatively within her own, cautiously tracing a finger over the calluses and gently prodding one. "Unless they want us to suffer." She snorted at the idea, highly unlikely but still. "That just might be the grand conspiracy." She added, waggling her eyebrows with a snort.

"Everyone in the Gryffindor Common Room are pretty rowdy as is, let alone with the added stress of finals." Maybe she'd have to start making her way down to the library. Being in the common room was fun, but it didn't make for productive studying. Especially when Alicia was beginning to glean what she'd be up against next year. "Yeah, that makes sense." Alicia had ended up making herself more than familiar with the house elves herself through the last few years because it was so easy for her to get distracted. Sometimes she suspected the house elves ended up a bit exasperated with her always showing up in the kitchens at odd hours. "Oh, you're a good boy, are you?" She arched an eyebrow, "It certainly didn't feel like that the last time you practically shoved me off my broom for the Quaffle." Alicia giggled at the thought, because she more than gave what she got. "Gotta be a good boy to get the sweets from the kind old ladies." She nodded in agreement, they were better off not pushing their luck trying to sneak out of the castle. "Probably, I have to admit my appearance-changing charms aren't top notch enough to fool Rosmerta." It would certainly suck to make their grand escape only to end up caught stepping into the pub.

It had been a relatively stressful year, but he was used to balancing studying and quidditch. He had managed it with his OWLs, and he had had more of them then his NEWTs. "Well it's a lot of information they feel like could be a question or two. But the main bulk of what will be on the test has already been taught at this point." He felt comfortable enough with all the tests he was taking, but he just hoped he could actually do well come test day. "I'm glad that was the one class I decided to drop. Although, yes, he does teach at a steady pace." He had surivied through the required 5 years, and decided he didn't really need to continue learning about this history of the magical world. It wasn't something that would help him in the future, even if he didn't make it in the quidditch world. "I'm used to it. Just a matter of having good time management. A little bit at a time, and not just procrastinating on everything." He made sure to work on assignments a little at a time, and study throughout the year. "Just don't get behind on everything. It'll work out."

He wouldn't be a Ravenclaw if he didn't come up with potential ideas for what seemed to afflict Lupin quite often. But he wasn't going to speculate. Lupin was a fantastic teacher and he had learned a lot from the guy in the past year. The hands on sessions made it super interesting. "I'm sure it's not. But I hope him all the best regardless." He was certainly much better than the pathetic excuse Lockhart had been. Of course that wasn't really saying too much. It was difficult having so much change year to year, but he had managed to get an O on his OWLs in the subject. Then again he had also managed to get an E, as his lowest score. "Maybe hold the quill a little lighter. Someone once told me to relax the grip on the quill. It can help." His eyes watched her tracing over the calluses and prodding at them. He just let her do it, curious as to the appeal. "Yes the conspiracy of making students more miserable in school than they already are." he said with a chuckle and a shake of his head.

"Yeah it's generally relatively laid back up in Ravenclaw." There could often be people making noise, but it was practicing of instruments, which was usually tolerable. They could get a little loud and busy, but it was usually because of a quidditch win, or some other celebration. But after that it was back to studying and other pursuits. They were nerds. It was what they did. He figured the house elves must know they was a good chance there were students from Ravenclaw who missed a meal, even unintentionally. They always seemed to have food for the Ravenclaws that visited the kitchens. Sometimes they even brought food up for the students. "Well I mean it wouldn't look too good to go all this time and then get a detention right before I graduate." he chucked as he said it. "I'm not about to get a detention for my play on the pitch. And it's not my fault if I have a bit more weight to throw around." Play could get rough on the pitch, even without the bludgers flying around. "Oh yes, I have all the kind all ladies giving me treats." he said shaking his head. It wasn't as though he had people just giving him things. He was just trying to avoid his father's wrath. "Mine aren't too bad, but I feel Rosmerta is smart enough to see through them anyway."

Alicia might not have been the best student, ever, but she had always put in enough effort to stand her own and not flunk every year. "I don't think I'd have much of a hope of passing if they left all of the important test stuff until the end of next year." No, she would probably end up a hermit living in the broom shed down on the Pitch with the amount of stress she would be under. She had enough faith, and good enough study habits, that she knew she wouldn't fail. Getting all outstandings would be a bit of a miracle, or a sign of the divine, though. "Yeah, maybe History of Magic would have had a chance if there was a different professor." Hell, even Snape was more interesting than Binns. At least he kept them on their toes. "I wonder how you would go about sacking a ghost." The whole situation was rather odd, especially since Binns had literally died in the castle. "I mean, procrastination can be really fun." Alicia wheedled with a grin, eyes darting to his face. "I mean, I'll get the work done, but I don't mind enjoying my procrastination too." So, maybe she wasn't talking about procrastination and maybe she seriously needed to level up her flirting skills. Maybe sit down Amelia and have her be her practice dummy.

Alicia was concerned about Lupin, sure, but it was mostly to the extent that it directly concerned her or her empathy. She worried mildly about Lupin but not so much that she couldn't be distracted from it by Quidditch, something which happened frequently. She had never had much of an inclination to look into why Lupin got so sick so often past being concerned about his eventual return to the classroom. "I thought I was meant to hold my quill firmly, can't be getting marked off for shaky handwriting." Alicia tilted her head contemplatively, "Maybe I'll have to try it your way, if only for the sake of not letting my fingers get too stiff I can't keep a grip on the Quaffle." She arched an eyebrow as she glanced back down at Lucas's hand held in her hand, her cheeks heating rapidly as she realized she still had a grip on it, letting go of his hand rather abruptly. "Sorry about that." She murmured, glancing off down the hall. Not embarrassing at all, which was obviously why her face felt like it was on fire. "You do have nice hands though." It wasn't much above a whisper. God, she just couldn't keep her mouth shut around him, that much was apparent.

"I can imagine, you're all a bunch of intelligent fiends." She admired their pursuits, but she had never been so inclined towards that. Probably one of the reasons why the sorting hat had barely even hesitated before it tossed her into Gryffindor. Though, she was a bit envious over how they could knuckle down and study. Still, she wouldn't give up the foolhardiness of her Gryffindor housemates, even if they could be pains sometimes. "I don't know, a few detentions might make you look cultured or something." Alicia certainly had a fair amount of interesting stories that had come out of her detentions, or the things she had been doing until she had gotten caught. "Oi! I'll show you 'a bit more weight to throw around' next time we meet on the Pitch." She snorted at the thought, but she could totally take him. Possibly. "Well, the least you could do is share your sweets with me." Just give her a little taste. "Yeah, Rosmerta probably knows all the tricks and then some." A bit of a let down, but it certainly wouldn't be anywhere near romantic if they got caught by Filch on the way back in anyway.

Lucas was consistently one of the top members of his class, but it wasn't because he was super intelligent. He pushed himself so he wouldn't incur his father's wrath for a grade that was less than it could be. It took a lot of hard work and there were times where he missed meals and got very little sleep if any. He had given up spending time with friends to do school work. "It's not important information, don't worry." Well he hoped it wouldn't be important anyway. He hadn't put all this work in the last couple of years for them to be tested on all of the small stuff introduced in the final few moments. "I mean the guy died and just kept teaching as a ghost, I don't think he'd going anywhere any time soon." It had almost become like a sort of right of passage for witches and wizards. Everyone who had gone to Hogwarts had had Binns as a professor. "Once in a while it's okay, but best not make a habit of it." He was so oblivious to her flirting. He liked her well enough, and they certainly got along. But he just seemed to be oblivious to flirting like this.

"You hold it firm, but not so hard that you feel as though you could snap it in half. Too loose and your handwriting can suffer. But I'm sure you'll figure it out." It would likely still lead to calluses, but it could lead to less hand cramping. At least that's what he had found. Maybe it wasn't true for everyone though. "Although being able to drop the quaffle easier seems like a good idea for me, so just forget what I said." he said teasing her a little. Of course the quidditch season was all but wrapped up, and they didn't have a match versus Gryffindor left on their schedule, so it didn't really matter. He wasn't expecting her to let go of his hand so abruptly, so it fell a little before he caught it. "No worries." No harm no foul right? He let his arms cross, resting them against himself. He heard her whisper. It was relatively easy in the quiet hallway. "Please, they're a mess from the quidditch and an active childhood." Well some of it was from his father, but most of those scars were on his back.

"Well you pretty much have to have some sort of drive with academics to be in the house. Not having some intelligence could make it hard in the house." he said with a shrug. Of course just to get in and out of their common room meant they had to think. They had to answer a riddle that changed quite frequently. They needed to use logic in order to solve it. When he was younger a few of them had stumped him, but he got the vast majority of them riddles in this day and age. "I don't see how a detention would make me cultured, and I don't know if I need to experience it at this point." He didn't need that after almost getting to the end of his schooling. "And here I was thinking me having more weight than you was a good thing to say." He was taller than her, and certainly had more weight on his frame. Then again, sometimes it was just about having the right momentum. Again, they wouldn't be able to find out, given he was graduating. "Sorry I give them all away to the 1st and 2nd years in my house." Even if he was getting sweets from people he wouldn't keep them. He wasn't necessarily as fond of sweets like that. "I wouldn't be surprised if she has something at the door to detect underage individuals. Probably an issue she has to deal with."

"I don't know, now I might have to." Alicia might trust Lucas's word, but she could certainly see some people throwing in some last minute factoids to throw them off of their game and shake their confidence. Probably a professor who had both a first and last name start with 'S.' Fancy that. She'd just have to put in the extra effort to prove she wasn't some brainless Gryffindor, if many of those even existed. "You'd think he'd have someone to haunt, some friend or passing fancy." Alicia shrugged, trying to play up her indifference, "I know I would." Could ghosts go all invisible? That would certainly make things interesting, but that was more than a bit far to go to catch a glimpse. "Once in a while. Or daily. I might be down for daily." She wasn't sure she could be any more obvious unless she just shoved him against the wall. Her more Slytherin attempts obviously weren't making an impact, but that was what she got for not being her true Gryffindor self.

"Right, don't want to kill the quill. I'd think after all of these years I'd have it down, but I'm always getting better. I'm good a figuring things out." Except for Lucas, at least. He was a bit of a puzzle, and as handsome as he was sometimes she wasn't always sure what to make of him, past her stellar competitor. "Nah, you'll have to put in a bit more effort and get a lot closer before you get that Quaffle away from me." She arched an eyebrow in challenge, but that sort of challenge wouldn't be much of a hardship considering how much she would be enjoying it. "Quidditch has gotten the best of mine, but my mum always smothered me with dittany whenever I got into something." It had been more of an annoyance for her, especially since she had been looking forward to her battle scars whenever she got a new one from each fall. Them disappearing almost immediately had been more than a disappointment for little Alicia. Still, she wouldn't mind rubbing dittany on his wounds.

Alicia hummed lightly and gave a shrug, "Well, at least intelligence isn't the solution for everything. Leaves some room for the rest of us." She certainly could be rather good for a surprise herself, once she stopped shuffling about over silly little what ifs. She'd much rather just go for it. "Detention can be fun, especially when you get a hall pass at the end. You can get up to the fun stuff, then tell Filch you got a bit 'turned around' on your way back to your common room." Alicia hadn't had the inclination to use the trick that much since Filch would only let so much slip by, but it certainly could be fun. "Maybe, except for when I'm snatching the Quaffle right from under you with my superior speed." She'd be faster than a snitch if it meant grabbing the quaffle for him and winning the game for Gryffindor, as per usual. "Well, you'll have to come find me the next time you have some. Come knocking, even." Alicia certainly wouldn't mind, day or night, if it meant getting to thank him. "True enough. That plan's out then." She pouted then sighed, it would have been interesting too.

"Well he's not Peeves, so he doesn't get to do the fun stuff." he said, speaking of the poltergeist who had made the school his home. What he wondered was what unfinished business Binns had that had kept him here. Or how had the guy been afraid of moving over. He knew with Nearly Headless Nick he hadn't wanted to move on. He had been afraid to die. Who knew with Binns. "I try not to that often." He was never really good at picking up the cues like this. Even in later years, with Amelia, he would find it hard to pick up her body language. Maybe it came from years of not seeing affection from his father or really being around anyone else. Or maybe it came from years of being hidden away by himself reading. Reading body language was certainly not his strong suit. Then again the social aspect of life wasn't really either.

"The only thing to do is improve. So you're on the right track if you're figuring things out." If only he could figure out a way to not just run away from his problems and face them. But what good was that? He hadn't, yet, received any offers from teams to even get a second look. And he didn't currently have any financial income. He'd be at the mercy of his father until he figured out exactly what he could do if the quidditch didn't pan out. "Getting more of a challenge will just help me hone my skills." More practice would mean he would be better. Even more of a chance to improve his game to get another look. Maybe he should convince Amelia to let him practice scoring on her, since their games vs Gryffindor were over for the season. "I never got the fortune of getting dittany. But rough and tumble boyhood I suppose, just natural." He couldn't see his father caring that much anyway. Especially as he had been the cause of several of them.

"Book smarts will only get you so far in life." he nodded in agreement. What good was being intelligent without knowing how to survive in the real world? "I wouldn't know. I haven't been in a position to earn a detention before." Quiet in class, keeping to the rules, and not fighting with people in the halls. Lead to a whole lot of not having a detention. Plus as a Ravenclaw, he wasn't getting the ire of certain professors as the Gryffindors were. Being more of a naturally quiet individual helped as well. "I'll just have to work on my speed, so I'm faster than you." He really hoped he would get a spot on a team and end up being able to continue to hone his skills. "And how do you suppose I come knocking when I can't get into your common room, eh?" he said with a smile. How true was that though. They were all separated. To keep them all from interacting he supposed. "I'm sorry that wouldn't work out."

"I'm sure you don't." Alicia replied, a bit halfheartedly. Yeah, it didn't seem like he was getting it. At all. This wasn't going at all like she had imagined when she had spotted him at the end of the hallway. Perhaps she'd have to revisit the issue or something and be just a bit more fierce. Either that or her subtlety was a bit strong, it wasn't like she could go around asking for reviews. "Yeah, there does seem to be a fair amount of things that I need to improve on. Take it to the next level." If her usual tactics weren't going to do her any good, she would just have to come up with another more efficient way. "I'm sure you could tutor me if I don't get it, though." Yeah, that had probably ended with a fluttering of her lashes, but she was beginning to doubt he'd be noticing much of anything she was attempting to hint at unless she hit him upside the head with it. Something which was perhaps a touch disappointing given how long she had been waiting for this moment, or to just get him alone in general.

"Well, a bit of practice never hurt anyone." And she would be more than willing to help if he needed someone to wrestle the Quaffle from. "But, then, you're not anywhere near bad to begin with." Not something that she would admit at the beginning of the season, but now that he was graduating she didn't see the harm in admitting it. "You might not need all of those book smarts if you end up on a Pro-Quidditch Team." That was certainly her own dream, and she wasn't sure what else she could do if that didn't pan out in the next year. "Well, it will certainly take you a bit of time to be faster than me." Not that she was one to gloat, but she had put a whole lot in to get to where she was on the Pitch and if he planned on surpassing her he was definitely going to have to work for it.

"I'm sure the Fat Lady would let you in if I left word. I certainly wouldn't be opposed." She grinned at the idea, but for all she knew he'd just end up showing up innocently with a bag of sweets someone had shoved at him. With her luck, they'd be spiked with some sort of love potion. Still, she was a bit frustrated that she was going nowhere fast with this, kicking her shoe against the ground for a moment before hardening her resolve. Grabbing up as much of that Gryffindor courage and brashness as she could before looking straight up into Lucas's eyes. Alicia took a deep huffing breath before popping up onto her tiptoes to kiss him. Like hell was she letting him disappear again before she got her chance, not when it seemed that he didn't have half a clue about how much she fancied him. It might not have been what she had daydreamed about, but she was going for it regardless.

He would end up growing up and maturing a little bit in Australia out from under the watchful eye of his father, but that was still a ways off. Not that it would help his reading situations that much. Not these ones anyway. Of course he had already had a couple relationships at Hogwarts, but they had been the typical highschool ones that last a couple months. They had also been ones he had pursued, not necessarily ones he picked up on flirting. Alicia was nice, and he could see something possible there, but he was also leaving soon. How fair would that be? "Tutoring you from outside of Hogwarts wouldn't be the easiest thing ever." he said with a smile. Especially as hopefully he'd be able to get away from England for a bit. He was hoping to at least get out of the country and get some sort of job, even if it was outside of Quidditch. He couldn't stay with his father much longer.

"The only way to improve is to practice." he said with a nod. "Please I have a lot to work on." There was a big part of him that didn't think he would be good enough to make it to a pro-team. He didn't think he necessarily had the skills to make it. No matter what others told him. "Hey, even if I somehow do make it, there's always the risk of injury. Might need a back up plan right?" Not that he knew what that plan was quite yet apart from likely working for the government in some shape or form. Who knew. "Well while you are studying next year, I'll be working on my speed. Maybe I'll catch up at some point." Maybe he could get a faster broom too. He was speedy enough, but not the fastest, and especially not fast enough to be a seeker. He could probably also be a beater, but he much preferred the coordination between the other chasers.

"I don't know about that." He said. Plus, that would again be breaking the rules. And Amelia would be up there and probably get him in trouble. Then it seemed as though she decided to be bold and kiss him. It caught him a little by surprise, but not enough to not kiss back. Had he really missed this coming. Well yes, but he didn't object to it. It wasn't a bad kiss, but it just didn't leave him with necessarily a feeling of a spark. But did that really happen? Maybe he read too many books. When the kiss was over he just looked at her, with a slightly puzzled look. "What was that for?" Yup clueless. That pretty much summed Lucas Hartwell up in a nutshell. Of course just a couple weeks later he'd be kissing someone and finding out, that yes there could be a spark. Although he wouldn't quite be sure why he kissed that person either.

"Yeah, it'd probably be more trouble than it'd be worth." What with him graduating and everything, owls weren't the fastest and while she had no idea where he'd be up to, it would still be off the school grounds. Which would mean days between letters. Alicia wasn't all that big on studying to begin with, having to wait day between letters answering her curiosities would probably just lead to even more procrastination. It was a fun idea, but even she could admit that it was rather dubious how well they'd be able to keep in touch once he graduated. Especially since they had never been the closest to begin with. Now, if they were best friends there might have been more of a chance she'd put the extra effort in to keep in touch, maybe if they'd been more familiar outside of the Quidditch Pitch.

"Oh, you can still be fantastic and have a lot to work on." She shrugged, there was always room to improve - something that she was always striving towards herself, at least on the Pitch. "They're not mutually exclusive, and you can always get better." Alicia would never call him better than her, but she also never planned on underestimating an opponent. She wasn't quite that naive, or self absorbed. "Maybe, if they don't beg you to coach or train." She'd certainly heard of it, but she wasn't sure that if she didn't land among the Quidditch Players herself that she would be able to be so close to the game. Not without playing herself. "Maybe, but keep dreaming if you think I won't keep improving, just like you." Alicia certainly wasn't going to turn down the challenge, a bit of a kick in the pants to have her keeping up on her training over the summer. Especially if she could come face to face with Lucas as a pro Quidditch Player.

"Well, you only get in trouble if it's after hours, and you get caught." She certainly hadn't gotten caught too many times this year. A few detentions for the odds and ends, but not enough to get her benched or anything. The feeling of his lips on hers was pleasant enough, and certainly not terrible. He knew what he was doing, and she certainly had more than an inkling, but it wasn't what she had anticipated. Hoped for. Her feelings weren't quite straight as they pulled apart though, not quite sure what to feel. Still, she arched an eyebrow at his question, "You do realize I've practically been hounding after you this last half of the year, don't you?" Alicia was rather bemused, still a bit at odds with everything. "I've rather fancied you, you know." She said rather matter of factly, though now she wasn't quite so sure or steadfast in her feelings. She probably should have opened with that, though.

It would likely be relatively easy to keep in touch if he stayed in the United Kingdom, but he wasn't sure he would. But that still wouldn't allow for any tutoring. She would do better asking someone that would still be there. "Especially if I'm somewhere outside of the country. Who knows how an owl would do with that." The world was a big place. He was sure there was job for him somewhere. It was somewhat scary, though, leaving a place he had felt he fit in and where he had friends, to possibly somewhere he'd be starting new. But maybe then he could start fresh and get away. He'd see how it all pan out. His ultimate hope was he would get an offer to at least try out with a team in the next couple weeks. Or it would be a rough go to have to go home with no prospects.

"As someone once told me, there's no such thing as perfect." The coach of Puddlemere when he was a child had told him that when the boy had asked why they practiced even the simple things. He had probably been about 5 or 6, and completely clueless to the world of professional sports. He had spent his childhood watching practice when his dad had to go to meetings at the stadium. "Well everyone can get better. Just have to want to get better." He'd spend his career pushing himself to be the best he could be. He would spend long hours at the stadium working on being in the best shape he could be and running skills all by himself. It would be especially true when he got traded back onto Puddlemere. "Yeah but I could spend all my waking hours playing. You'd still have school." He teased. They wouldn't get a chance to play each other again, but challenges would always be fun.

For a shy boy he had actually had a bit of experience. The quidditch thing helped he supposed. He had gone out with a couple of Ravenclaw girls and one Hufflepuff. But that was it. And none of those had lasted too long. The kiss with Alicia was nice enough. Certainly not the worst he had had, but it still left something to be desired. He didn't even know what. At her statement saying she'd been hounding after him he just raised an eyebrow. "Umm... to be honest no." But he probably wouldn't have noticed if she had literally laid it out for him every day. That was just him being him. Just a little bit on the clueless side. "I didn't know that." he said. "Why didn't you tell me?" Yes be more social awkward. That's what the girls wanted. Maybe he was better off with his books.

"It certainly wouldn't do to have owls falling from the sky in utter exhaustion." Well, Alicia hadn't had all that much experience with long distance owling but that certainly seemed like a possibility. Though, maybe there was some sort of system for that. Owl refreshment stations or something? It was just as likely as anything else, really. "Might alert the muggles and all." She, even as a pureblood, wasn't sure how people were meant to keep in touch after Hogwarts. Sure, there were floo calls and owls and stuff, but they weren't exactly easy or convenient. Not when it could take weeks to receive an owl, it was so easy to fall out of touch with ... everyone. She desperately wanted that to not happen with her, but it wasn't like many people could keep in touch anymore, especially if she landed a place on a Pro-Quidditch Team. She was quite certain she couldn't even imagine the kind of training that went into that yet.

"Nope, but you can certainly try." With as much practice as she put in, she certainly did. Though, Alicia didn't really think she'd ever be perfect - her ego certainly wasn't nearly that inflated. She just wanted to prove to herself that she was doing as much as she could to get what she wanted, to chase her dreams as long and as hard as she possibly good. To not let anything get in her way of doing that. "Well, I think I can certainly say that I want to get better - maybe more than you?" She looked forward to facing him again on the Quidditch Pitch, hopefully, in the future. Just maybe on an utterly different level. That'd certainly be a way to get the gang back together. "That's unless I drop out of school and spend all of my breathing moments on my broom. Might have to get into sleep-flying." Though, she was rather dubious that she'd retain much of the practice she got done while sleeping - if she even managed to actually keep her bum on her broom.

Alicia blinked, arching an eyebrow, "Are you sure you didn't notice? I mean, I thought I was being pretty obvious." Maybe even a little too obvious, she'd obviously need to be reevaluating her life. "I mean, technically I just did." Totally not the point, but it really was better late than never at this point. Either that, or she should've just skipped it altogether. But, then, that'd make her less of a Gryffindor - and she did take some true pride in being a full and utter Gryffindor. It was who she was. "You're right, though. I absolutely should've snogged you weeks ago." Gotten her Gryffindor courage up and going before it was so last minute and everything, though that would have given the potential embarrassment longer to linger before the end of the year. "That's certainly a quick and easy way to get things figured out." Though, not a poised enough way that her parents would approve. Snogging everyone up front was seeming like a more and more appealing idea.