Outside the Ravenclaw Common Room

Claire made her way over to the west side of the castle where the Ravenclaw common room entrance was located. She paused when she heard footsteps around her and turned around. It was dark since it was after hours and she suddenly grew very nervous. "Who's there?"

"Relax," Teddy called from below her, "It's just me." He held back a smile at her nervous reaction because, as cute as he found it, he didn't want her think he wasn't taking things seriously. He caught up to her, standing just a few steps below her. "Are you okay?" He asked, "You left in a bit of a hurry."

Claire's right hand clasped to her left elbow. She grasped her shoulder with her free hand and slowly wished that she would fade away or turn into a bunch of sea foam like the Little Mermaid did. "Oh. Erm, hi," she said stupidly. Even though she felt like falling apart after everything that had happened, she couldn't actually fall apart because 1) Melanie wasn't there and 2) Teddy wasn't officially anything to her yet. She simply liked him and that was all and he might not feel the same way and he might be like James and think they were friends and nothing more and if he did, she didn't want to make a fool out of herself again. She stiffened and let her arms fall to her sides. "I'm totally fine. I had too much to drink and I'm going back to my room, but you should, um, you should go back because you have friends there who you were having fun with and I messed it up and I embarrassed you and myself and I'm sorry."

Teddy frowned as he watched her hug herself, wondering what she could possibly be thinking. Nothing good, he was sure. "You don't have anything to be sorry about." He told her, leaning against the stairway railing and looking anywhere but at her, "It's my fault. I knew it was your first time drinking, I shouldn't have let you have that much. I should have got you out of there when I knew you were drunk. Merlin, I probably shouldn't have even invited you in the first place. You told me you weren't use to things like that and I invited you without even a warning." He sighed, meeting her eyes, "So no, you don't have anything to be sorry about. I'm the one who should be sorry. As for embarassing yourself, you don't have to worry about that. Half of those people will do much worse then blurting a few things out by the end of the night and the other half will get to drunk to remember in the morning."

Claire watched him, the uncertainty getting to her. She kept overanalyzing and working herself up over so many little things that eventually she began to feel too much at once. "That one friend of yours didn't look happy to see you go. I don't want - I don't want to be the reason you left. I know I said something that might have made you follow me, but I don't want to be the person you chase after if you feel obligated to. I shouldn't need to be babysat. I'm sixteen years old turning seventeen. I need to learn to take care of myself as well as others, not vice versa. I... I care about you enough that I don't want you to feel like my caretaker. I'm sorry for being sloppy. In spite of it all, I still had an okay time. Even though I wish I hadn't been kissed by that girl or yelled at her boyfriend." She bit her lip and looked down at the floor, her hair falling into her face. "I'm so stupid, aren't I?"

"Dom? Don't worry about her, she won't be mad." Teddy frowned, knowing she won't believe him if he told her that he hadn't left because of her. He'd followed her up here, hadn't he? "Look," He said instead, "I know you don't need a chaperone. I just thought you might be upset and I wanted to let you know that no one will hold it against you." He climbed the last few steps separating them and put his hands on her shoulders, "You're not stupid. Everyone does things like that. I've made my fair share of mistakes, too. And, if it makes you feel any better, I like you too. I probably should have told you that earlier, should I? I guess that's just another mistake I made." He smiled at her and decided that he really liked her and wanted to start something with her, everything Dom had told him aside. It might be worth the chance. He leaned in and kissed her, taking in the smell of her perfume as their lips touched.

Claire wanted to have his friends like her and she could tell she didn't make a very good impression. She signed. She felt childish and she wanted to disappear in the common room and go back to reading and not knowing anyone. Maybe this is why she was not meant to hang out with all those people since all she did was make a fool of herself. However, her thought process ended when Teddy said he liked her. She didn't know how she should respond since she had drunkenly confessed her feelings already. She bit her lip and nearly fell backwards when she noticed his face was getting dangerously close to hers. But, oddly enough, she leaned towards him instead of sprinting up the stairs and her eyes closed gradually as she pressed her lips gently against his. She rather liked this kiss, more than any she'd ever had actually, but there was a small part of her that told her she should be sober. Her heart thudded in her chest as she nipped his bottom lip before pulling away. "Erm, that was nice," she said bluntly.

Teddy couldn't help laughing now, "That was nice. Well, thanks." He knew that she didn't want to act like a babysitter, but he couldn't help worrying that she was about to go to her dorm and run through everything that happened that night over and over. "Now," He started, worrying about whether or not she was going to have a bad hangover tomorrow, "You're going to need sleep or you'll feel even worse when you wake up. And drink lots of water, that should help too. If it gets really bad you can always go to the Hospital Wing. I'm sure they'll have a cure somewhere, but that might mean admitting to drinking. I don't know how they'd take that." He shrugged, figuring he was probably just freaking her out, "It shouldn't be too bad, I wouldn't worry."