disclaimer; I don't own Harry Potter, or the few references I've made to Alice In Wonderland.
notes; A silly little thing that I'm hoping my Harry Potter 'alert'ers appreciate. :) Don't think I've forgotten about you all!
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"If I had a world of my own, everything would be nonsense. Nothing would be what it is, because everything would be what it isn't. And contrary wise, what is, it wouldn't be. And what it wouldn't be, it would. You see?"
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"You really shouldn't be dancing alone."
The voice was nearly inaudible over the music and the joyful crowd, but she dropped her arms almost immediately.
Turning on her heel - admiring the way her skirt spun and resisting the urge to do it again in favour of proper manners - she faced the man she supposed was talking to her. She was the only one dancing by herself, after all.
"But it's such lovely music," she said, checking to make sure the sunflower was still tucked in her hair. "It would be such a shame to waste it."
He smiled, bemused. He'd only met the girl a couple of times before, and he'd never had a conversation with her, so he wasn't as prepared as he probably should have been.
"You can't waste music," he said, "seeing as everyone else is dancing, too, it shan't be wasted."
She thoughtfully tapped a finger against her chin. "That might be true, for some. But the music is telling me to dance, so I'll listen." As if to illustrate her point, she twirled in a circle, letting the yellow skirt fan out like she, herself, was a flower.
"So why aren't you dancing with someone?" he couldn't help asking. She intrigued him, with her protruding eyes and polka-dot shoes, and he felt himself wanting to know more about her. Plus, her mannerisms were amusing, and he thrived on entertainment.
"Nobody will want to dance with me," she said cheerfully. "You see, most people think I'm quite strange. 'Loony', they call me."
He'd called her that a number of times himself, but thought it wasn't really the time to bring that up. Instead, he frowned, feeling guilt creep in on him.
"That's not very nice."
She tilted her head, hair cascading nearly down to her hips. "I suppose not. But I'm used to it," she said, quirking her lips into a sad smile.
From the expression, he gathered that she was well aware he'd never exactly defended her from such people. He shifted onto his other foot, reaching up to rub the back of his neck self-consciously.
"Then, do you want to dance?" he asked, not entirely sure why he'd done it.
Her smile became bigger, brighter, until she was the picture of sunshine. "I'd like that," she said.
So, he took her hand in his and placed his other on her waist, grinning all the while. She wasn't too much shorter than he, so she didn't need to reach very far to put her hand on his shoulder.
They started dancing, rather awkwardly at first, seeing as she wasn't very good at keeping the beat and he'd never liked slow-dancing much anyway. Soon, though, they fell into a kind of rhythm, laughing.
Her fingers toyed with the hair at the base of his neck without embarrassment.
"I believe you need a haircut," she decided. The serene smile playing around her lips seemed unlikely to go away for a long while.
"I believe I like my hair the way it is," he teased, easing her into a small dip.
She laughed louder than necessary, throwing her head back.
"You're right," she said, "Your hair is perfectly lovely. It's just that if it grows too long, you may need to watch out for the Bandersnatch."
"The Bandersnatch?" he asked, curious despite himself. He'd heard all the rumors, of course. Loony will say anything. Loony will chase anything. Loony will believe anything.
But they've never mentioned just how much Loony's eyes light up when someone is genuinely interested in one of her creatures. It's never gotten around how fast she can talk when on the topic of one.
"- and they've got claws, real big ones, right, but they won't hurt you. They just want your hair for their nests. They're gentle really."
They got so engrossed in their conversation that they didn't realise the song had changed to a faster tune. Still they waltzed, drawing some curious glances from the other wedding guests.
"I reckon you've seen a Bandersnatch?" he asked, drawing slightly closer to her. Despite what he'd intended, he'd gotten into the story of the make-believe creature. He saw how real it was to her, and found himself wanting to see more of that eager expression.
She shook her head, still smiling. "Not yet. You see, they live in Poland, and Daddy hasn't taken me there yet." For a moment, they just grinned at each other. Then, she rested her ear on his shoulder and kept revolving slowly on the spot to the jazz music. Her breath was tickling his neck, making him slightly distracted when she murmured, "You've been very kind to me, Fred. Thank you."
"I'm not Fred, I'm George," he said, trying to feign offense.
She laughed, the breeze ruffling his hair, and chastely kissed the side of his neck.
"That's my favorite joke. Now you see him, now you don't."
He wanted to turn his head and kiss her - snog her senseless, actually - but in that split second, several things happened at once.
A flash of silver. A detached voice.
"...They are coming."
And the spell was broken as curses flew above their heads and her father grabbed her, turning with her on the spot and taking her right from his arms.
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"Will you, won't you, will you, won't you, will you join the dance?"
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notes; This is a rather strange oneshot, I'll give you all that much. But I hope you enjoyed it anyway.