Isabella put the strange man out of her mind the next morning; she had a meeting with David, a boy she had known her whole life. He was a Duke in England, and three years older than her, and had apparently been to her fathers ball the night before although she didn't remember dancing with him. Putting on a pair of dark jeans and a nice top, she met him in a quiet little cafe.
"Isabella," he greeted her when he saw her coming. He stood up and kissed her lightly on the cheek. She smiled and took her seat as he pulled it out, chivalry was not dead with David. His features were really striking, he had really dark hair for an Englishman, practically black with a pair of baby blue eyes, high cheek bones, and full lips. He was tall and muscular and she knew her parents would have liked him as a son in law. She hadn't seen David since she was eleven and him fourteen, right before she left for Hogwarts. She was kind of swept up in his good looks, he was the way you imagined an English Prince to look, even if he was only a duke.
"David," she smiled. "It's been a million years."
He laughed at this. "Indeed it has, but time has been really good to you, you're beautiful."
She looked down at her feet in embarrassment. "You look well yourself, David." He brushed off her remark.
"I would have enjoyed dancing with you last night, but you seemed preoccupied," he teased lightly, though he had been really irritated that he hadn't been able to get a moment of Isabella's time last night. He had been interested in her when they were young. Sitting across from her now, he couldn't help but thinking she really was beautiful. They would make a handsome couple.
"Oh, yeah," she mumbled noncommittally.
"Who was he?"
"I'm not sure. Just some stranger, he left a midnight," she confessed.
"A modern day Cinderella."
"I guess so. Um...David, are you going to be there when my father addresses my people?" she asked him quickly before she could change her mind. In an effort to forget about Oliver she had promised herself she would begin dating people again, suitable men for her, and who more perfect than David?
"I will be," he told her as he leaned forward. "I'm looking forward to it, your father is going to be a great leader."
She smiled. "Well...maybe afterwards we could...I dunno..." she trailed off helplessly, she had never asked anyone out.
"Maybe see a movie?" he supplied helpfully.
"Yeah," she breathed in relief. "That would be nice."
"Excellent." He stood up, waiting until she had gathered her stuff. "See you then."
She smiled and hugged him. He smelled nice, and she figured she could do worse, and with that in mind she got back in her car, which she had just learned to drive, and headed home to get ready for her fathers address. Filomina had a white dress ready for her, which she slipped into easily. As Filomina did her hair they made conversation about David.
"That boy is beautiful," Filomina sighed as she pulled pieces back and pinned them with bobby pins.
"Yeah, he's really nice to look at, and he's smart, he graduated top of his class at Oxford with a degree in Political Science," Isabella told her, wincing at Filomina's pulling.
"Well you could do worse, I'm not sure if you could do better. No way is your hair escaping out this. You should consider letting me cut it after today," Filomina was spraying what had to be a whole can of hair spray into her hair.
"I'll think about it," Isabella stood up and put on her sash once her tiara was firmly in place.
"Good luck!" Filomina told her cheerfully. She met her parents, brother, and his wife by the doors. "Isabella, you'll go first with your brother," her father instructed her.
She looked at Christian, who nodded, and when the cue was given, the two stepped out. Isabella was used to all the people and photographers, but today she was not in the mood for it. She smiled sweetly next to her brother, and when her parents joined them, Isabella moved to her mothers side and began listening as photographers snapped away. She was standing comfortably when David caught her eye and smiled at her. She smiled back at him, wondering briefly if he had been her masked dancer when her hair suddenly fell out, despite all the bobby pins and hair spray. It was like she had been holding it up with one flimsy clip because it tumbled down like nothing was in it, no hairspray or anything. This caused a commotion with the photographers, who began snapping away fervently. Her mother raised an eyebrow at her but Isabella didn't notice. She had a good feeling magic was behind her hair malfunction, and was scanning the crowd for someone who didn't look like they belonged.
At the very back of the crowd a boy in a jersey that stood out against thousands of people was standing, brown eyes burning. He was staring at her, waiting for her to see him. Oliver Wood was not going to let Isabella get away that easy, even if he was the one who had originally let her go. Seeing her, smiling at that boy had caused Oliver to act and send the spell that undid her hair. He didn't feel like it was his Isabella he was looking at with hair like that, and now that he had caught her attention, he pulled out his mask from last night before she could look away.
Isabella forgot where she was when she saw Oliver put on that mask. Ignoring the fact that her father was in the middle of a speech, or that thousands of people were watching her every move, she stood up and began walking down the steps, past the barriers, and into the crowd. She saw him walking through, and was grateful that people were parting for her. She was vaguely aware of her father saying her name in a confused tone through the microphone, but she kept going. Once she broke through all the people she saw him jogging around a corner and down a street, so she picked up her skirt and took off running. Behind her people began talking loudly about their princesses strange behavior, none of them had realized she was running after someone.
"Find her!" her father ordered, concerned for his younger daughter. His son was making his way after her, but once Christian rounded the corner she was gone. He didn't realize, having never been a wizard, that once she caught up with Oliver she had grabbed his wrist and apparated before anyone could stop her.
"What are you doing?" she demanded once they landed, in a field no where Oliver recognized.
"I was watching your father speak," he told her honestly. She turned around so she didn't have to look at his face because it had suddenly become painful and ran her hands through her hair.
"I meant in general, Oliver. What are you playing at?"
"I'm not playing at anything Isabella."
"Right. Then undoing my hair...kissing me at the ball...that was nothing?"
"I never said that. The hair was to get your attention. And...the kissing was because...I miss you."
Isabella's breath caught in her throat and she couldn't move. Oliver put his hands on her shoulders and turned her around.
"I'm so sorry I let you go. It was a mistake. I miss you."
"...but...I lied to you," she said softly, looking down at her feet.
"And I reacted the exact way you thought I would," he reminded her.
"I should I have just told you when we met," she confessed, still staring at her feet.
"And things might not have worked out this way. I am the jerk here," he lifted her chin up with a finger and looked at her.
"No, I am."
"We'll agree to disagree. So...we okay?" he asked her, smiling.
"Yes, we are okay. It's good to have my best friend back," she smiled back at him. Oliver's smile, however, froze on his face at the word 'friend'.
"Friend..?"
She looked at him perplexed. "Yeah. Dating didn't really work for us, so I thought we should probably go back to be friends. It worked for us for years."
He swallowed. This is not what he had had in mind at all, he wanted her to be his girlfriend again. His mouth opened to protest this, but had a realization. Telling her he refused to be her friend when he was still madly in love with her could cause her to retract and him to lose her altogether. The better alternative was to stay friends with her and win her back. Smiling, even though he felt like throwing up, he responded.
"Best friends. Always. Now lets get you back."
