"Do you think that awful woman will mess up the party?" Sarah asked as she applied the finishing touches to her makeup. The awful woman, of course, being our new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher Professor Umbridge. The tiny, toad-like woman was a pest at best, a complete nightmare at worst. I shrugged as I slipped my heels on.
"Doesn't really matter does it? She loves me." I rolled my eyes. Umbridge did love me. She had made it quite clear all week in class that she was so excited to have a 'respectable, ministry-abiding student in class'. Good to know she was trying to suck up to me to get to my father. Really a pity since my father couldn't give a rat's ass about what I thought.
"Are we ready to go?" Violet poked her head in from the bathroom. "God Bri! You look banging! I would KILL to have a body like yours!"
"Dedication and self-control Vi." I sneered back. God I hated her. But she was right. I did look smashing tonight. I had decided on tight black jeans and a white halter crop top. Black heels, red lips, and of course a lacy black mask completed my look.
"Yea but that's not really much of a mask is it?" Sarah laughed. "Everyone will know exactly who you are!"
I shrugged. "Who said I was trying to hide anything?" I linked my arm with hers and pulled her to the door. "Now let's go! Time to party!" Sarah, Violet, Tiffany, Marsha (the last two of the 7th year girls) and I headed towards the 7th floor. We ducked into alcoves at the slightest noise, but otherwise made it safely to the Room of Requirements. Few people knew about this room, but I had happened to stumble upon it a few times in my days at school. I had already walked by earlier in the day to set up the space. Heaven forbid we be the first ones there! As we walked in, the music was bumping and the booze was flowing. I quickly dragged Sarah away from the other girls and headed to the bar.
"Pick your poison." I asked Sarah holding up a bottle of firewhiskey and a bottle of wine. Sarah pointed at the wine so I poured her a glass. I opted for the firewhiskey.
"So, who are you trying to impress tonight?" Sarah asked as she sipped her drink.
"Do I have to be impressing anyone?" I raised my brow at her.
"Well, no, but I'm trying to live through you!" Sarah had been dating Luke Thrasser for 2 years now. He was a perfect pureblood from a well-established family. He was also a year ahead of us so had graduated last year. "Plus I'm betting it's someone from another house. Why else would you want to throw this party?"
Red hair and blue eyes immediately popped in my head. "I mean, there might be someone." I took a sip of my drink. "But it was be purely physical and not meaningful at all. My last hoorah before my father marries me off to someone."
"Well who is mister boy toy going to be?"
"What fun would it be if I told you?" I giggled as Sarah glared at me. Secretly, I knew that even though Sarah was my best friend, and even though she herself didn't believe in all the pureblood-blood traitor nonsense, admitting my sudden crush on a certain Weasley would be a disaster. Even if it was just physical, there were some lines you just didn't cross.
My eyes scanned the room, looking for the flaming red hair of said crush. But in the sea of grinding bodies, all with masked faces I had little hope of finding him. Instead I pulled Sarah to the dance floor in the middle of the room. We shimmied to the loud music for a few songs, but I left to refill our drinks.
"Need help with that?" A guy asked as I balanced our drinks in my hands.
"I think I got it." I turned towards the dance floor only to have my arm grabbed.
"Come on now, don't be like that." I glared as he tried to pull me closer.
"I said, I'm fine." I tried to pull my arm free without spilling the drinks all over me. But his grip was too strong. He pulled me into him and placed his free hand on my hip.
"Come on sugar, I'm just being nice." I felt his hand slide up my back and shivered in disgust. But before I could comment, a fist came out of nowhere and connected with his face.
"I believe the lady said she didn't need your help mate." My savior said, placing his hand on my lower back. He didn't wait for a response before guiding me back on the dance floor.
"Thank you good sir!" I cheerily said trying to push my way back to Sarah. The dance floor was more packed than before. Luckily, I found her and passed her her drink. Turning around I was able to full appreciate my knight in shining armor. He was tall and built, his arms definitely showed signs of playing Quidditch a time or two. He wore simple, yet well-fitting jeans and a tight black t-shirt. His hair, however, was brown, not the bright red I was hoping for. The top of his face was covered by a plain black mask. Still…..
"Would the lady care to dance?" My knight asked holding out a hand.
"My, my what a gentleman." I smirked and grabbed his hand. A spark ran across my skin. I looked at this mystery man's face again. That spark had only happened with a certain red head before. He looked at me strangely.
"What? Is there something on my face?" I shook my head. I was being ridiculous.
"It's nothing." I said as I began to dance with my hero. But something kept nagging at the back of my mind. Everywhere he touched me, I would tingle. Hand, hip, back you name it! But I ignored it and soon, with the help of a couple more drinks, I was pulling Mister Mystery away from the dance floor to a secluded corner of the party. I leaned up against the wall expecting prince charming to come lean up against me but he instead stayed a respectable distance away.
"Why so shy all of a sudden?" I pouted.
"I'm not so sure that we should go any further than a dance." My heart fell. Was he going to reject me before anything even happened? He must have seen the hurt flash across my face because he quickly added, "It's not that I don't want to. Believe me I do. It's just…I don't think you'd ever do anything with me without this mask."
"And why's that?" I asked.
"Because my family isn't exactly on the list of Slytherin favorites." He responded. My heart kicked up a notch. Maybe I'd been right all along!
"What if I told you I didn't care?" I purred, talking a step towards him. He didn't move but his eyes showed doubt.
"I'd say you're full of it."
"What if I guess who you are without the mask?" I took another step towards him. Still no movement. "What if I guess right and I still want to do more than dance with you?" I was close enough now I could reach out and touch him if I wanted.
"You'll never guess." He smirked down at me. Damn, he was tall.
I placed my hands on his shoulders and stood on my toes so I had almost closed the space between us. "Oh how wrong you are Mr. Weasley." He stiffened beneath my hands, but his hands had flown to my waist. "And just for the record Fred, I have a thing for redheads." With that, he closed the gap between us. His lips took mine as he pushed me back against the wall where I had started. I moved my hands to his hair, tangling them in the (now certainly) changed locks. His tongue darted across my lips asking for permission. I gladly gave it. Just as soon as our fiery embrace had started, he pulled away.
"How'd you know?" He whispered against my lips. He sounded a smidge out of breath which is exactly how I felt.
"Call it a hopeful guess." I whispered back. I didn't want to keep chatting, I wanted to feel the tingle across my skin I had every time he touched me. I wanted the sizzle his lips had given me. I wanted more. So I took it. I pulled his face back to mine, grinding my body against his. He groaned. I smirked against his lips. I moved my hands down his chest, lightly scratching. I reached his hips and found the edge of his shirt. My fingers grazed his bare stomach. I pulled away slightly.
"Should we take this somewhere a little more….private?" I purred. I wanted him, bad.
"Moving a little fast aren't you?" Fred asked, raising a brow. I shrugged.
"A girl's got needs. I'm not very good at waiting for what I want." Which was true. I wasn't the slut of Slytherin by any means. But I wasn't a prude either. I knew what I wanted and I usually got it with no protests.
But I guess there's a first time for everything. "I think, if you still want to go that far when you're sober, then we can talk."
"Are you turning me down Weasley?" I was dumbfounded. This had never happened to me before. And certainly NEVER with someone like Fred Weasley.
"I was raised as a gentleman, my lady." He tried to lean back in to kiss me again but I turned my head. Suddenly, I wasn't in the mood.
"Well, I never said I was a lady did I?" I pushed away from him. All I wanted now was to curl up in my bed and hide. "But I guess you're right. We should stop before we do something we'll both regret." And with that I walked away. Right out of the party, ignoring the calls from others to join them, all the way back to the Slytherin common room. Fuck parties. And fuck redheads.