Disclaimer: Any resemblance to actual characters would be really cool.
"You broke up with Isaac?"
I knew Bellatrix would do this…
"Bella, the guy treated me like a show-dog!" I said.
"But you dumped him within twenty minutes of the date?" she asked incredulously.
"Who wouldn't?" I said offhandedly. I'm half vampire, I'm immortal! I have the right to be picky!
"But -" Bella began.
"I know he was cute!" I groaned. "'Hey! Hey guys, I have a date! See?'" I imitated Isaac. The whole evening was a disaster. Who brings a girl on a double, no, triple date when he doesn't even know her for three minutes?
"So, let me guess. You smacked him across the face and left?" she smirked.
"In front of all his little friends," I nodded smugly. "I'm better off when I'm single," I shrugged. Bellatrix rolled her eyes at my propagandist approach to just about everything. Augustus Rookwood walked into the room and made to sit in an armchair.
"Pig," Bella gave a fake cough. Rookwood looked serenely at her.
"Bellatrix, you are so shallow. You see a guy, you think he's a pig, but then you realise he actually has a really good body," he said and gestured to himself.
I couldn't help but giggle. Bellatrix wheeled around.
"I pity you," she said quietly to me. "Meaning I look down on you with an ambiguous frown."
I elbowed her hard in the stomach. Bella wheezed, shrugged, gave Augustus the finger and went away. I flitted through Woodsmanor all night, fantasising about a perfect date. I couldn't… The Death Eating Headquarters woke up late the next morning. And… I had to get a date. Death Eaters assembled around a long table in the Death Eater common room in the middle of Woodsmanor. I needed my energy for that afternoon, so I did what I always did: Got jumped up on sugar and/or coffee. No one took the beaker yet, so I walked over to a side of the room to get it. 'I Heart My Job' mugs were neatly lined up with each Death Eater's name of the bottom. I found mine and picked up the jug containing the coffee. Someone followed me there to get some napkins. The Rookwood himself was smirking to himself a few feet to my right.
"Sara, be a good girl and get me some, too," he said cheekily.
"Sure," I said slowly. I pretended to be oblivious to him staring at my hands. I didn't bother to hide the fact that I was pouring a Sleeping Draught in his coffee.
"You're pouring a potion in my drink," he stated.
"Tell me something I don't know," I said.
"I'm single," he said bluntly. I raised my eyebrows at him. He copied me with a smile.
"You have got to be joking," I laughed and shoved the cup into his hands.
"Believe it," he said and poured himself a cupful of pure coffee with no added tranquilizers.
"No, I'm not surprised you're single, Rookwood," I said casually, pouring myself some coffee. This conversation was slightly different from the ones I usually had with him. He's always picked on me, from the moment we met. And not the way Snape did. Augustus just playfully teased me since the beginning of time. Practical jokes made up most of our relationship until now. Why was he telling me he was single? The only reason I had a slight crush on him was purely because I knew nothing would ever happen. But how could I be so sure he wasn't actually asking me out?
"Likewise," he said smoothly. I glared at my coffee. The second reason I liked him was because he was cheeky... I forget why.
I didn't retort, but just put some sugar in my coffee. Augustus smiled and leant back against the wall.
"What do you want?" I sighed. I couldn't stop smiling.
"One date, that's all. Nine, in front of Woodsmanor," he said. I looked up from my coffee.
"Why?" I blurted out instead of 'What the -?'.
"Needless to say," Augustus said and walked past me, but not before he brushed a strand of my hair off my shoulder. He walked to the breakfast table and sat down without a backwards glance at my reaction. I stared at his turned back with my mouth open. Some nerve! He didn't even wait for me to accept! I giggled involuntarily when I turned back to add a little milk to my coffee. I walked back to the table, not looking at him, pretending I was trying not to spill any of the brown liquid. I chanced a glance at Augustus and saw that he was talking to his friends at a far end of the table with his hands behind his head. Suddenly, he looked at me and winked. I looked away and giggled again. I saw Augustus grin out of the corner of my eye. I sat down next to Bella, still giggling in a very uncharacteristic way.
"What's going on?" she said.
"He asked me out," I tittered, not daring to take a sip of my coffee for fear that it will squirt out of my nose.
"No way!" she said. I made frantic gestures, telling her to tone it down.
"Sorry," she said quietly. "But I thought you hate him," she said pointedly.
"You hate him. I dislike him a reasonable amount," I said.
Bella raised an eyebrow at me.
"I'm telling you, that guy is one smooth talker," I said.
"Did you accept?" she said. For Bellatrix, when it concerned Augustus, not hating him was considered heresy.
"He didn't wait for me to say anything. I feel sorry for him, so I think I'll go," I lied.
"Oh my God!" she said loudly and placed her hand on her cheek.
"Bellatrix, mind the frequency!" I hissed. "Is he looking?" I demanded.
She looked discreetly at him from behind me.
"No," she said. I breathed a sigh of relief .
"But it does look like he's listening…" she said a second later. I buried my face in my coffee. Luckily, Augustus didn't come over. I looked his way and saw that he was still talking to his friends, but just nodding along dazedly and smiling at wrong moments. He caught my eye. This was my chance. I waved at him. He copied me with a goofy grin that reached his ears. I made a grimace and giggled again when he looked away. Suddenly, I wished I'd taken the coffee with the Sleeping Draught. He's always had a way of making me feel like an idiot. Not many people were capable of making me feel that way. And yet, I was planning on going on a date with him. I suppose it's just a Gemini thing: Acting on impulse. A bit too much!
