Nervous? Kyle was not nervous. Nope. Not at all. She was more anxious - it was a blind date with someone she'd never met. Were they blind? Maybe. She had no idea? The other reason she was nervous.

Elephants.

There might be elephants at this circus and well - elephants and Kyle Manning went together like milk and orange juice...one time one stepped on her foot. Thank you Skelegrow for the new working bones. Powdered witch feet don't work for standing.

So. When was this date supposed to show up? She wondered as she played with the hem of her skirt.

This date had to be better than the last, right? Thomas's last blind date had consisted of- well- the girl not turning up. Even if he hadn't known the girl literally at all, it stung quite a bit.

He scanned the crowd for this girl that he was supposed to be meeting. Spotting her, he grinned and made his way over. Thomas was carrying a single pink rose in his hand. He had charmed it so that the perfume was stronger and the thorns would not prick the skin as well.

"Are you err- Kyleigh Manning?" Thomas said, glancing at the name written on his hand then back back up at the lady. She was very pretty. "You look beauti-" Cough. "Shall we find some seats?" He offered his arm to Kyleigh in the way that a prince might have done with his ball date. Being a gentlemen. Yes.

Kyle turned when she heard her name being called - well, asked. Okay this guy seemed nice. Nice was good right. But somehow deep down there was a sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach when she looked at his blond hair that reminded her of - well, her friend...someone he probably didn’t know.

“Yes, I’m Kyleigh - you can call me Kyle if you want...easier, or Ky” she added with a soft smile. When she heard him begin to speak next she simply froze, how to break the awkward - right comment on the very beautiful flower he had brought her. Chivalry? Already?

”Oh what a beau-i mean-pretty flower, th-thanks” she bit her lip it must have been from the local flower-shop the one that grew special flowers that never marred the gifted or the gifter. Seats? Right.

”S-sure seats sound like a good plan - how about um...anywhere not close enough to elephants? Don’t plan on being stepped on today” What was she doing? Awkward girl. ”Its a long story - I was stepped on at a traveling petting zoo when I was back in france.” she admitted with a laugh. Walking forward closer to the tent and the seats she smiled over to Thomas, ”So - where did you go to school?” she asked with a smile. Maybe they went to school together...maybe he knew her? Maybe acting like a pirate and a complete fool would make him remember the insane girl in-front of her and he’d run off?

No that was not the plan. The plan was to meet someone. Even if someone else kept getting in the way of meeting someone.

Thomas nodded, "Ky." He said, "You now, I've never had a nickname. Except maybe Tom or Tommy." He shrugged. His sister was the only one who used those nicknames.

Oh? She was commenting on the flower? "No problem." And it wasn't a problem at all."I went to Hogwarts. I was in Hufflepuff." Yep.

At Ky's next comment Thomas let out a small chuckle, "All righty. If the elephants get near to us, you have my express permission to use me as a body guard and chuck me under their feet before you." He led her up the stairs in the circus tent before they had a good view far away from the elephants, "But you went to France? That's cool." Thomas sat down and awaited the circus to start.

Ky she liked the way the nickname rang as he said it. Still, she couldn’t help but laugh when he commented about never having a nickname. Well, almost never.

“Aw well nicknames are the best” she smiled.

When he said he was from Hogwarts she just raised her eyebrow and smiled, ”Oh yeah I actually lived there - hence the itzybitzy accent” she smiled. ”Wait you were a hufflepuff - nice...I heard the dorms were shaped like a badgers den with little tunnel-like halls that led to the dormitories from the common room.” she smiled.

Right she was leaving something big out. ”I actually went to Hogwarts for the last two years of schooling - left part way through seventh year though what with the pirate-thing going around...I was one of the few who got possessed by the black ship and the pirates who used to...well, man the ship i guess” she flushed right that wasn’t what she was trying to say really. She was nervous a bit, and well, nervous was her calling. ”I was in Ravenclaw house - reserve quidditch team in seventh year before i had to leave” she admitted. The fact that heights made it nearly impossible for her to sit on a broom without screaming was left out of the conversation.

”Oh and thank you - but you know...I think getting stepped on isn’t something I’d want to happen to anyone at all.” she admitted with a laugh. As she took a seat next to him, and took a bite of the popcorn that was sitting in little cups next to them. This was actually kind of nice - even with it just being them there. With other people there could be moments that her awkwardness would go, well unnoticed.

"Ravenclaw." Nod. "Must be smart then." He waggled an eyebrow and grinned. "I was never the best at that academic stuff. Alright at healing though. I'm a trainee healer at St Mungos at the moment. Thought I might take a course at Wizarding University this year, maybe." Might get a better position if he worked some more at it. Living in a little flat in muggle London wasn't exactly the best living for a guy. Seemed washing clothes and dishes was not as easy as his mother had made it out to be., might want to work on household charms while he was at it.

Badger den? Well that was a funny way of putting though, yeah. Sorta. "I guess you could say that." He chuckled and helped himself to a handful of popcorn and a sip of cola from a glass bottle he had bought earlier.

"I heard the Ravenclaw common room was up in the Ravenclaw tower and you have to answer questions to get in? I would be stuck out for a week if that's true." He laughed again, settling into his chair and watching the circus for a while. They hadn't really started performing yet, just parading animals around until everyone got to their seats.

Ky had been possessed by that creepy pirate ship? Whaaa..? "Really?" He asked incredulously, "I tried to stay low at school." A sudden thought crossed his mind, "That'd make you a year older than me then." Thomas said. Not that it really mattered. Although he had always dated girls slightly younger than himself.

“Aw thank you” she smiled over to him flushing a bit at the comment about being smart. She didn’t feel like she was the smartest person in her house when compared to former housemate Emily Browne or well, anyone from the class ahead of her they were well, brilliant.

“Aw that must have been fun - though, I don’t think i’d have been too much of a fan of the under-ground feeling. Even though I’m afraid of heights i love seeing clouds, and sky and well just being able to open the window to sunlight.” She explained with a happy little smile as she took a bite of her popcorn.

The fizzy salt taste making her tongue tingle.

“Oh you heard about that? It is true...i mainly got really odd riddle-questions myself.” She chuckled. “I remember onetime the door said Although I am neither big nor small, nor am I a liquid, solid or gas, I can be broken without being dropped. What am I?...I remember it took me a few minutes to rattle it over - and this was well, I think it was sixth or seventh year” well it had to be sixth or seventh year...geesh wasn’t there for fifth remember? She smiled. “anyways it was great fun really because once i got it i actually said ‘oh silly me, Silence’ and managed to smack myself with the door when it opened.” She smiled.

Glancing over to Thomas she just smiled. “So - yeah that would be true you would be a year younger its no worries really” she smiled softly. Glancing out over the circus floor she couldn’t help but gulp as she watched as a girl in a sparkling leotard began to balance on one foot on a tight rope. “Jeepers - i mean goodness i’d not be able to do that sure i played quidditch a bit but the heights were dreadful” oh yeah she was a complete ‘fraidy cat wasn’t she.

"Oh I reckon I could do it." Thomas said with bravado, "I mean, it's just walking on a rope right?" He raised an eyebrow as he watched the girl walk along the tight rope with a hald grin on his face, "I'd try it."

As an afterthought, Thomas added, "I wonder if she's freezing." It was a leotard for goodness sake! And here he was wearing a jacket.

"Oh yeah! That's right," Thomas exclaimed, "You play Quidditch. What was your position anyway? I play bit of Quidditch. I wasn't on the Hufflepuff team but I go to see games with my sister and stuff." Shrug again.

Kyle smiled when Thomas brought up the fact he would try walking on a tight rope. Goodness that would be far too high for her, and her tiny little boned self she’d need someone walking beneath her and her accident prone self like some kind of caring watchdog that made sure she didn’t get her.

When he commented about her being freezing she couldn’t help but laugh - well, that was quite a possibility. “I wonder if she has a heating charm on there - I know that i’d be frozen if I was in just that...or falling for my life” she chuckled.

When he brought up quidditch she just shrugged as well, “I was on the reserve team never actually played - basically if they needed someone screaming and saying ‘I am going to fall off this splinter’ i’d be who they sent in” she chuckled. The fact she was possessed and super confident then maybe had something to do with it. “I don’t think I was that good it was a nice way to make friends with people from other houses.” She smiled. “So you have a sister? Same here I’ve got Charlotte we call her Charlie though and I’ve got an older brother Edward he’s off in god knows where doing something...always big plans that one” she chuckled.

Nervous? No. She wasn't nervous. No, not at all blind dates never made her nervous or want to run her hand through her hair like a dog with fleas.

Heating charm? "Perfectly plausible." Thomas said, doing an imitation of stroking a non-existent beard. "I wonder if she using a gripping charm on her feet or something." He said, gazing out at the girl walking the tight rope again. It would explain how easily she did it. The girl in the leotard had nearly finished her stunt and he could see the clowns waiting at the side of the tent for their queue.

He took a sip of coke from his bottle and glanced around the circus tent. Merlin. It was packed. Full of lots of little kids with their mother's. Kids could be perfectly pleasant...sometimes. He had never minded Glenn's moaning when she was little but many other kids seemed to annoy him rather a lot.

Thomas smiled at the mention of Ky having a sister and brother, "I have a little sister, yes, Glenn and she'd be in her second year at Hogwarts now. My mum's also having a baby soon. Won't know the name or gender until then though." Mystery baby was what Glenn had called it.

Ky smiled over to Thomas when he brought up the possibility of a gripping charm. “Its possible - but I think that’d take the fun out of it - the thrill...maybe they just have charmed ground so if you fall its more padded? Like the giant tree house at school was” she added as a possibility. The little smile that was playing at her lips began to disappear as she saw the clowns walking in.

Clowns were not her favorite. Why on earth did Circus’s need clowns? All they did was squirt you in the face, make jeering comments, and sometimes they were quite funny.

She hope they would be like that French Canadian group she had seen with her mother years ago. The clowns at Cirque De Soliel. They were good. Heck they were acrobats in their own way.

”Ah so are you the oldest?” She asked with a soft smile. ”I’m the youngest myself - anyways a new baby? I wonder what gender it’ll be or if you know like you and your sister they’ll be magical”. She offered with a smile. In the spurr of the moment - her excitement gushed forth and she nearly squeaked ”Oh! Guess what! I’ve got a new little Kitten Nyx - she’s a tuxedo kitten and well, white paws adorable picked her up with a friend of mine” she smiled. Nyx was cute - but why had she brought her up?

Right. She had heard the tiger's howling growl as it made its presence known.

"A bit of a Gryffindor then." Thomas looked back over to see the girl bowing to applause. He joined in for a little bit. He wondered if she actually went to Hogwarts. Probably if she grew up in England. Most people who lived here did, except for those who choose to go to Beuxbatons or Durmstrang instead of course.

He eyed the clowns in their little coloured car come into the centre of the tent making a great deal of sound. From the corner of his eye he saw Ky's smile fade. He knew why. While he didn't mind Clowns, his little sister was terrified of them. When she was little, there was a boggart in her cupboard, it took the shape of a clown and when Thomas had come into the room and banished it, he received a warning letter from the Ministry for under-age magic. What form his boggart took was irrelevant.

"Yeah. The oldest is me." He nodded.

He had taken his eyes off Ky so when she gushed about her kitten, it startled him and he barely controlled the urge to jump. "We have two cats. Tibby and Amata. Amata is my sister's."

Kyle smiled over to Thomas when he brought up the comment about being a little bit gryffindor - yeah she had to agree this girl had guts. "So you are the youngest child? Me I'm i guess you'd call it 'middle' there's Charlie and Eddie above me" she admitted with a little bit of a shrug to her shoulder. Eddie was strange - or was it estranged? She hadn't heard from him in such a long time.

"So...odd question - what is the most bizzarre thing you have ever done just because you could do it?" She asked as she glanced over to him. What she liked strange questions.