XXX
Chapter Eight: The "Mysterious Hottie"
With the masquerade only a few days away, it was the only thing on everyone's minds. Rumors circulated wildly throughout the school about who was going with who or who was wearing what. Most of the gossip was about Circe and Sirius, apparently the most interesting couple amongst the upperclassmen. The two of them were seen together a lot over the first few days of the week, much to Kylie's chagrin. The Brooks twins were in an uproar about it; incensed that Circe would dare go after one of 'their guys' and were complaining about it to anyone they spoke to. Even Paris Stone had seemingly forgiven Circe, and was always in her company as if they were the best of friends. ("She's probably too scared of her to be her enemy," was Kimmie's smirking comment. "She'd be risking her own social standing by going against her, because Circe's the popular one now.")
Even with all the excitement going on, none of the teachers were going easy on them. They still had loads of homework to do and plenty of tests to study for. N.E.W.T students never seemed to get a break from work, even when there was a once in a lifetime party coming up.
Kylie found herself sitting in her dormitory Saturday afternoon with all the dress robes she owned laid out on her bed beside her. She'd come back early from lunch when she'd realized how discontent she was with the outfit she'd picked out to wear to the masquerade. It was a nice enough gown… but it was just so boring. Even the mask she had was boring. No fancy markings, feathers, beads, or anything! It was the dowdiest thing she'd ever seen.
For some reason she couldn't really fathom, Kylie was determined to look really good for this party. She wanted to be glamorous for once, not dull and gray like her dress. But she had no idea how to go about becoming eye-catching and snazzy, especially with the party less than a few hours away.
Why do I always wait to the last minute about everything? It's really such a bad habit to have.
Just then the door opened. Kylie looked up to see Ocean, Opal and Mallory waltz in, the three of them once again in the same huffy mood they'd been in all week, likely talking about how much they loathed Circe Billancourt. They stopped when they saw her.
"Hi Kylie," greeted the twins as the three of them walked into the room and shut the door.
"Whatcha doing up here by yourself?" asked Mallory.
Kylie took a deep breath. Oh well, it's worth a shot. Now's the time for drastic action.
"Um, you guys? Could you help me with something?" she asked tentatively as she stood up.
"Sure," replied the twins. "What do you need?"
"I… kinda don't know what to wear tonight…"
Instantly, their three faces lit up and they all started talking excitedly at once.
"Oh my god, oh my god!" cried Mallory. "Are you asking us for a… makeover?"
"A makeover? Not exactly, I mean-" stammered Kylie, taken aback.
"Of course we'll give you a makeover!" cried Ocean.
"We've been waiting for you to ask us that forever!" cried Opal, unable to contain her excitement.
"You are like the perfect candidate for a makeover!" added Ocean.
"Wha...?" stammered Kylie. "Me...?"
"Of course!" assured Mallory.
Opal and Ocean were suddenly upon her, dragging her over to their vanity table and pushing her to sit down in front of it.
"Just you wait, Kylie, we're gonna make you so hot no one will even recognize you!" cried Mallory, who was already grabbing her make-up kit.
"We even have the perfect dress for you to wear!" said Ocean. "We have plenty to spare!"
"Okay, first things first," said Opal. "These glasses are an absolute no-no!"
"My glasses? Why?"
"Duh! They hide your eyes! You have such pretty eyes, Kylie, except no one can see them. All they see is your glasses!" she replied. She took them off of Kylie's head. "Can you see well enough without them?"
"Er… Yes, my vision isn't… so bad. The glasses were just for seeing the board in classes," explained Kylie uncertainly. "But is all this really necess-?"
"Good!" stated Ocean, cutting her off. "We don't have time today, but after tonight you need to get that magical operation done that'll give you perfect sight. You're family's rich, aren't they? So you can definitely afford it. Or at least get those Muggle things… what are they called again?"
"I think they're called contacts," answered Mallory.
"Yes, that's right! Contacts or the professional sight-curing spell. Either one of those are essential for your makeover," said Ocean. "Now then, on to… your hair!"
"Oooh!" cried Mallory, clasping her hands together.
"You have such great hair, Kylie!" complemented Opal. "Except you're always tying it up! Buns and ponytails everyday! You have to let it live a little!"
She pulled Kylie's hair loose from its ponytail and began brushing it. "I'm certain that with just a little bit of styling, it would look perfect. Your hair is such a glossy black! Like satin, you know."
"Oh… thanks…?" muttered Kylie, gazing awkwardly into the mirror.
"You have completely straight hair, but I think for tonight we should tease it into flowy, curly waves, don't ya think?" asked Mallory. "For a little more flair?"
"Definitely," said the twins simultaneously.
"Now then, Kylie. You should go and take a quick shower so that we can do your hair perfectly," said Mallory. She stuffed two bottles into her hands. "Use Sleakeazy's Hair Potion. Trust us, it's the best brand ever!"
"Yeah! We got it from Madam Aurora's apothecary in Diagon Alley. She is the ultimate authority on beauty products!"
"While you're doing that we'll pick out your dress. And then you should have a quick facial to exfoliate your skin. Oh, and we'll be needing to pluck those eyebrows of yours, too," said Opal.
"And take this body wash here! It'll make you smell like roses! And the fragrance lasts as long as you want it to!" cried Ocean, grabbing another bottle from her own kit and handing it to her. "It's another specialty of Madam Aurora."
Kylie didn't even have time to say thank you because suddenly she was ushered into their dormitory bathroom and the door closed behind her.
As she started up the shower and waited for the warm water to come, she sighed, feeling somewhat overwhelmed. What have I gotten myself into?
Almost immediately after that thought, an image of Circe came to mind, looking as stunning as a Muggle celebrity on Oscar night, dancing with Sirius. She closed her eyes with determination. What am I saying? This is a perfect idea!
XXX
Nearly two and a half hours later, Kylie stood in front of the bathroom mirror, staring in awe at her reflection. She hardly recognized herself at all! The girl staring back at her from the mirror looked daring, exciting and alluring all at the same time, traits that the old Kylie definitely hadn't had (at least not on the outside). She turned from side to side, feeling awkward in the boldly revealing dress the girls had picked out for her. A part of her still thought the dress was too revealing, but they'd insisted for fifteen straight minutes until Kylie had finally given in and agreed to wear it.
As she stood there, still feeling slightly uncomfortable about the whole affair, Kylie unwittingly started chewing her fingernails.
"Kylie!" gasped Mallory, quickly smacking her hand away. "We just manicured those!"
"Oh, sorry…"
Opal hummed to herself as she activated a hair-styling charm with her wand, watching intently as she decided on exactly how to twist up her platinum tresses. She couldn't seem to make up her mind, though, as the style kept shifting back and forth from very curly, slightly curly, completely straight, wavy, and back to curly again.
The door opened and Ocean waltzed in, already ready to go.
"Alright," she said.
"I just talked to Lily, Kimmie and Taren. They were wondering where you've been all this time so I told them you'd meet them at the party."
"Excellent! Kylie, when you walk in with your date no one's going to know who you are! You'll be the mysterious hottie!" exclaimed Opal, quivering with anticipation. She'd finally settled on a wavyish French twist for her hair.
"You look sooo good, Kylie! That dress suits you so well!" said Mallory.
"Yeah, I always knew you could look great if you had the right outfits. Before you've always dressed so prim and proper. Once we order a brand new wardrobe for you you're going to look fabulous everyday!" said Opal.
"I can't wait to see the look on Circe's face when you become the belle of the ball and not her," sighed Mallory dreamily.
"'Belle of the ball'? That's laughable," muttered Kylie, shaking her head dismissively.
"Hush, Kylie!" gasped Ocean. "Remember, a true makeover isn't just skin deep! You must become confident and feel as glamorous as you look!"
"That's right!" agreed Mallory and Opal.
Kylie smiled benignly, not really believing them. "Uh, thanks you guys. I didn't really… expect this. It means a lot to me."
"It was our pleasure!" said Mallory happily.
"Makeovers are our specialty," said the twins.
As they made their way down to the common room they slipped on their half-masks (that covered only their foreheads, eyes, and noses) and their coats or jackets that matched their outfits. Several younger students stared at the four of them as they walked by, envy on their faces.
"Oh I wish I could go…" sighed one of them wistfully.
"It's not fair!" agreed another.
Kylie took several deep breaths as they headed down to the entrance hall where their dates were waiting. Already she could feel butterflies in her stomach, and her legs felt like they were made of lead. Was it this makeover that made her feel so nervous? I hope I don't look as stupid as I feel...
XXX
The Halloween masquerade was in full swing at the Hogsmeade fest hall by the time the first guests began to arrive. There were several candlelit tables situated all around the huge, circular room with space in the middle as the dance floor. The stage was set up for Shade to perform later in the night. For now some music from the WWN was being magically played somehow from an unseen source (since speakers and DJs were a completely Muggle thing anyway).
Artfully carved pumpkins with bright lights inside floated about above the students' heads, which appeared to be the only visible light source. There was just the right amount of lighting, not too bright or too dim, and it was already very loud and crowded. Everywhere students were dressed up in various creative ways as witches, ghosts, vampires, pirates, animals, and occasionally famous wizards or witches, each of them wearing different kinds of masks, too.
Kimmie and Taren were both standing at the edge of the floor watching the dancers. They're dates, Casey Shipley and Devon Hendricks, both Hufflepuffs, had hurried off to get drinks from the bar.
"Where is Kylie?" asked Kimmie for probably the fiftieth time. She was dressed up in bright colors as a belly dancer, unashamedly flaunting her bare abdomen.
"I'm sure she'll be here soon," said Taren. She had gone with a far more modest look, wearing an elegant flowing dress in earthy green and brown colors, dressed up as the druidess Cliodna. "You know, I still can't believe you're wearing that."
"What?" stated Kimmie with a grin. "My costume is perfect. I did say I wanted to be as slutty as possible."
"Why?" asked Taren, looking very perturbed.
"Because tonight I can get away with it, remember?"
Taren shook her head with a laugh. "Oh, here come our dates."
Casey, dressed as Gregory the Smarmy, and Devon, dressed up as a member of the Puddlemere United Quidditch team, arrived bearing bottles of butterbeer for each of them.
"Have you seen what that Billancourt girl has on?" asked Casey, handing Kimmie her butterbeer glass.
"Hmm, let me guess… not much?" she asked with a grin.
"Uh-huh," he replied with a nod, chuckling.
"We saw her just now at the bar," said Devon, giving Taren her drink. "She said she's supposed to be Helen of Troy or something."
"What?" gasped the simultaneous voices of the Brooks twins as they walked up seemingly out of nowhere with Mallory, each of them escorted by their dates who couldn't be recognized through their costumes. The three blondes were all dressed up as fairies, complete with gossamer wings and fairy wands, except each of them had a different colored sparkly lacy dress (one was in light pink, another in baby blue, and the other in pale yellow). They all looked very pretty, indeed.
"Did you just say Circe came as 'Helen of Troy'?" asked Mallory in disbelief.
"Who does she think she is?" said the twin wearing blue (there was no way of telling them apart with masks on).
"Ugh, that girl is so full of herself!" snapped the other twin wearing pink.
"So, where's Kylie anyway?" asked Taren.
"Don't worry, she'll be here," said Mallory. Each of their scowls disappeared at the thought of Kylie.
"We performed a miracle tonight, you guys," said the blue twin happily. "Just wait until you see her!"
Kimmie and Taren exchanged looks.
"Hey, what's up," greeted the familiar voice of James, who walked up to them accompanied by Sheherezade, Remus with his date Gwendolen Hutchinson, one of the fifth year Hufflepuff prefects, and Peter, who didn't seem to have a date at all. James was dressed up as Godric Gryffindor and Sheherezade as Rowena Ravenclaw. Remus appeared to be dressed up as the famous Giant-slayer Gifford Ollerton, and Gwendolen as one of the disguises of Wendelin the Weird. Peter was dressed as Uric the Oddball, looking rather silly with his jellyfish hat.
"Hey, you guys look great," commented Kimmie with a grin.
"Why thank you," James replied smoothly. He barely hesitated before saying, "So… where's Lily?"
Sheherezade's face tightened, but she still managed to maintain her bright smile.
Kimmie smiled mischievously. "Oh, haven't you seen her yet? She's out on the dance floor. In the flashy Celestina Warbeck costume."
"By herself?" he asked with confusion.
"Don't be silly. She's with her date, of course," said Kimmie cheerfully. "Wesley Kent."
"Wesley Kent is Lily's date?" James repeated slowly, as if it was the most preposterous thing he'd ever heard. He even smiled, as if it were a joke.
Kimmie nodded, saying as casually as possible, "Yup. He's kinda like… her boyfriend, you know."
James' smile disappeared instantly. "Zade, let's go dancing, shall we?"
Without waiting for an answer he strode determinedly onto the dance floor, and Sheherezade had to hurry after him to keep up.
Everyone started chuckling.
"Oh dear, Kimmie, did you have to tell him that?" asked Taren. "What if they get into a fight?"
"Nah, James wouldn't do that. He's got too much class," said Remus.
"Since when has James been a classy guy?" asked Casey with puzzlement.
Remus smiled. "Just recently, I assure you. I think he's learned that getting into a fight, whether magical or just plain fist fighting, isn't going to win Lily over."
"Is he trying to reform himself or something?" asked Taren with surprise.
"Something like that."
"Aww, that's so adorable!" cried the twins.
"He must really be in love with her!" said Mallory dreamily.
"Uh, yeah, whatever," said Kimmie, barely resisting the urge to roll her eyes. Taren giggled.
XXX
"I'm having such a great time, Sirius," said Circe, entwining her arms around his neck and gazing up into his eyes as they danced to the slow, romantic tune playing through the hall.
"Of course you are," he replied with a grin. "You're with me, aren't you?"
She giggled. "You're so funny, Sirius!"
"I know… I know," he said confidently. He cut quite an impressive figure dressed up as Count Vlad Drakul, the notorious vampire that had inspired the Muggle story of "Count Dracula", in mostly black with a long flowing cape. He knew perfectly well he was one of the best looking guys in the room, as usual, and was enjoying every minute of it. Circe didn't look too bad herself in her fancy get-up.
As the song came to an end Circe linked her arm around his. "Let's go get something to drink. I'm tired of dancing right now."
"Sure thing," he said agreeably. He was never one to like dancing, and only did it when he was with a girl who happened to enjoy it.
They walked off the dance floor to the bar where they found James and Sheherezade. James was sitting with his back to the bar and watching the dancers with narrowed eyes, completely ignoring a sulky looking Sheherezade. Toby and several other students were there as well, including Joey Hendricks and Daniel Redfern, both seventh years from the Hufflepuff Quidditch team whom they were friends with.
"Two butterbeers, please," Sirius said to the bartender as Circe sat down daintily on one of the bar stools. Antoinette Marceau and Fredrica Belrose, two fellow Ravenclaws, were already there and immediately started complementing her on her costume.
"Something bothering you, Prongs?" asked Sirius.
James scowled. "Yeah. You could say that."
"Just look over there," said Joey with a smirk, pointing at a couple on the dance floor. Sirius spotted the girl's red hair and recognized them instantly.
"Evans is here with the Head boy?" he asked out loud. "Interesting."
"Apparently he's her 'boyfriend'," said James tightly, scowling even more. "And I'm only hearing about this now."
"Don't go doing anything stupid, Prongs," said Sirius. "It'll only piss her off more."
"I know," he grumbled. "That's what sucks."
Sheherezade sighed, clearly very annoyed that she'd been forgotten already. "I'm gonna go find my friends. See you." James didn't seem to notice as she stood up and left, his attention still focused entirely on Lily.
"What am I suppose to do about this?" muttered James angrily. "If I can't hex the guy how I am supposed to get him away from her?"
"That's easy. Just make yourself better in comparison to him, and soon she'll come along," answered Sirius simply. "Oh yeah, and you and I could always viciously beat his team in Quidditch to get back at him."
James smirked. "That is true."
"Whoa… who's she?" gasped Toby suddenly.
"Who?" they all asked.
"The red cat," he said.
He nodded towards the hall's entrance not very far away where a tall, dark haired guy who appeared to be dressed up as Salazar Slytherin had walked in. On his arm was a slender girl dressed in a slinky, strappy red dress robes that teasingly left very little for the imagination with a low, sweeping neckline and a very short skirt. The girl herself had a semi-dark complexion, glossy black wavyish-curly hair spilling about her shoulders and a sparkly red mask with pointed cat ears and catlike features that managed to hide her identity.
All in all, she was absolutely stunning. More than a few heads turned to stare as she walked by on laced up red stiletto heels.
"Damn, she's… hot," uttered Joey.
"Anybody know who she is? I don't recognize her at all…" said Daniel.
"Maybe she doesn't even go to Hogwarts," suggested James offhandedly, who still only had eyes for Lily dancing on the floor.
"No… there's something familiar about her…" said Sirius. "I think I've seen her before somewhere."
Circe scoffed disdainfully, looking a little uneasy with their current conversation. "Ugh, look at that dress. She practically painted it on."
"That doesn't bother me at all," smirked Joey.
"Nope, me neither," agreed Daniel with a grin.
Circe's face grew sullen. "Well, I think it's very vulgar, don't you agree, Sirius?"
Sirius was too busy staring at the girl to pay attention. Where had he seen her before? He prided himself on knowing just about every upperclassman in the school, particularly the dazzling female half. Surely he would have remembered someone like her!
"Sirius!" cried Circe, briefly losing her composure.
"What?"
"I'm your date, remember?" she asked, barely hiding her frustration.
"Yeah, course," he replied, eyes straying once more to the girl in the red dress. Toby and James snickered.
Circe glowered even more heavily, suddenly standing from her seat. "Sirius, let's go. I wanna dance some more."
Sirius merely nodded and led the way, mostly because he was hoping for a closer look at the other girl. He had to know who she was!
XXX
Kylie beamed as her friends spotted her, hurrying over to where they were standing as fast as her heels permitted.
"Wow, Kylie!" cried Kimmie and Taren.
"You look amazing!" said Lily.
Kylie grinned, bashfully averting her eyes to the floor, awkwardly adjusting her skirt. "Thanks... You guys look great, too! And this is all due to the efforts of you three," she said, nodding towards Mallory and the twins.
"No!" gasped Mallory with a giggle.
"Yeah, all we did was uncover your hotness," insisted Opal.
"It's been there all along, you know," added Ocean cheerfully.
Kylie shrugged. "Whatever you say," she said with an offhand laugh, idly twiddling her fingers.
"Where's Evan?" asked Taren curiously.
"He just went to say hi to his friends, I think," Kylie replied distractedly. "He said he'd meet me over here."
"Hey, look! They're finally starting!" cried Kimmie excitedly.
They all looked around just in time to hear the music stop and to see the lights on the stage brighten intensely. A voice boomed over unseen speakers.
"Ladies and gentlemen of Hogwarts! Shall we get this masque really started? Give a warm welcome to your entertainers for the evening… SHADE!"
The audience erupted into claps and roars of approval as the artfully punk-dressed band arrived on stage and immediately struck up a fast-paced, energetic tune that sent throngs of students onto the dance floor.
"Let's go!" squealed Kimmie, grabbing Casey's hand and dragging him into the midst of the crowd. Lily, Wesley, Taren, Devon, Opal, Ocean, Mallory, and their dates all followed quickly after.
"Shall we dance?" asked Evan suddenly.
Kylie almost jumped, not expecting him to appear right behind her.
"Of course!" she laughed, slightly nervous. How am I supposed to dance in these ridiculous shoes?
They made their way through the crowd until they found the others, all laughing and dancing about enthusiastically in rhythm with the pounding music.
Before she knew it Kylie was joining them, letting loose and trying to have a good time. Dancing was not really her thing, especially when she was wearing uncomfortably high heels, but at least it managed to take her mind off everything else. Besides, it was fun just being there, being young and frolicking freely with her best friends. She could at least try to get used to this!
Abruptly, the song ended, and Kylie swayed, feeling slightly dizzy as the band started playing a much slower, mournful tune.
"You guys are an amazing audience! This is one here goes out to all those young couples here tonight!" called the lead singer from his magically enhanced microphone. As he started singing everyone on the floor with dates paired off for the more intimate slow dance.
Kylie was ready to take a break, her head already resounding with a dull, throbbing ache from the too loud music. Before she could get away from the floor, however, Evan had already pulled her into his arms and was swaying with the song.
"You look really beautiful tonight, Kylie," he said, smiling down at her.
"Er, thanks." She smiled hesitantly, feeling a little uncomfortable being in such close proximity with him. She avoided his eyes, nervously gazing about at the couples around her instead of at him.
"Who would've thought a mere school dance could be so romantic?" he asked with a low chuckle.
"Uh… yeah, it's very… romantic," she replied, swallowing. Her mouth suddenly felt very dry.
Many couples around them seemed to be moving closer together – some even becoming wrapped up in ardent embraces. With growing unease, Kylie felt Evan's hands moving slowly but surely lower and lower down her back.
What's going on? She asked herself, slightly panicked. Since when is he allowed to do that?
"Kylie…" he murmured. She glanced at him and very nearly gasped out loud when he began lowering his face towards hers, eyes closed… He was going to kiss her!
For a moment Kylie froze, head running rampant with debating thoughts.
At the very last second she made up her mind, turning her face away, and thus Evan's lips pressed against her cheek instead.
"What's wrong?" he asked after a moment. "I thought you…"
"It's gotten rather warm in here, hasn't it?" she blurted out. "I'm just going to get some air."
With that she pulled away and dashed off, veering in out of dancing students and trying to ignore the waves of nausea that had arisen from a fresh new migraine. She closed her eyes, rubbing her temple wearily, when her shoulders suddenly bumped into someone.
"Watch where you're going!" the girl snapped. It was Circe.
Oh, wonderful… she thought, nearly groaning out loud.
"Sorry," Kylie grumbled.
"Hey, are you alright?" asked another concerned voice.
Kylie eyes darted towards the tall masked and caped guy next to Circe, instantly knowing who he was.
"Sirius, right," she said coolly, straightening up. "I'm just fine."
"… Kylie?" he stammered, doing a double take. "Is that you?" He looked utterly nonplussed.
"Who d'you think it was?"
He gaped at her, at a complete loss for words. She might have found it amusing had her head not felt like it was splitting open.
"Oh my god, you mean that little nerdy girl?" gasped Circe. Her lips curved into a mocking smile as her scathing eyes looked her briefly up and down. "Nice dress."
Kylie's only response was to smile wryly. She shook her head with a sigh, sending Sirius one last appraising glance before turning to leave.
"Wait a minute, Kylie!" he called.
She ignored him and continued determinedly on her way, desperate to get out of the stifling room as fast as possible. He made as if to go after her, except Circe grabbed his arm to stop him.
"Sirius! What are you doing?" she asked perplexedly. "The song hasn't finished yet."
"Well, for me it has," Sirius replied hastily.
He then slipped out of her grasp and pushed his way through the assemblage, searching to see where Kylie had gone. She'd already disappeared into the crowd with no sign of her anywhere.
At the edge of the dance floor he stood, using his tall height to try and spot her, but it was to no avail. Come on, where could she have run off to so quickly?
Suddenly, out of the corner of his eye he saw her, passing through an arched doorway and out of sight once more. Before he could hurry after her, though, someone stepped in his way.
"Evening, Black." It was the guy who'd arrived with Kylie, except Sirius suddenly knew who he was.
"Rosier," he said stiffly, hand instinctively closing on his wand concealed in his pocket. "What the hell do you want?"
"Nothing, really," the Slytherin replied lightly, eyes narrowing behind his gilded mask. "Just came to give you a warning."
He smirked. "Did you, now? And what warning might that be?"
"To stay away from Kylie Hart."
"Excuse me?"
"You heard me. She's mine," Evan said firmly. He flashed a jeering grin. "I don't want some punk like you messing around with my business."
"You've got a lot of nerve, Rosier," Sirius uttered through gritted teeth.
Evan sneered derisively. "Whatever, Black. You'd better do as I say. Unless you wanna deal with the consequences. Someone could get hurt, you know."
With that final cryptic remark, Evan strode on past Sirius, merging with the crowd.
"Tch, jackass," Sirius cursed, not intimidated in the slightest. He continued on his way to the doorway where'd seen Kylie leave, wondering with annoyance what was going on. Since when was Kylie involved with that sleazy bastard?
The doorway turned out to lead to a back exit out of the building, and soon Sirius emerged onto the Hogsmeade street outside. Kylie was leaning against the wall of the building. She'd removed her mask.
"Kylie!" he said, approaching her in a few swift strides.
"Why are you out here?" she asked with blank surprise.
He paused. Why was he out here, anyway? When she'd run off after he'd only just recognized her then… it had merely seemed like a good idea at the time to run after her.
"I was going to ask you the same thing," he said, recovering his composure quickly.
"I came out for some air," she replied after a moment's hesitation. "I didn't feel well."
"Kylie…" he said slowly. "What the hell are you doing with Rosier?"
"How is it any concern of yours?" she retorted fiercely.
"Of course I'm concerned! He's one of the Fanatics!" he shot back.
"No he's not! Evan's completely different from the other Slytherins."
Sirius scoffed. "Is that what he's been telling you?"
Her eyes flashed dangerously. "Don't be absurd…"
"The guy's twisted, Kylie. One of the worst of the whole bunch. He was practically calling you his personal property back in there when he spoke to me."
"He wouldn't say something like that!"
"Well, he did, Kylie! Clearly, you've never met the real Rosier."
That comment seemed to hit a nerve.
"Oh yeah, Sirius? I could say the same thing about you and that… that slattern inside!"
"What? You mean Circe?"
"She's no better than any of them! But there you are… r-romancing her like it's no big deal at all!"
He stared at her, bewildered for the briefest of moments. "Kylie… are you jealous or something?"
She froze, eyes very wide. "Certainly not!" she cried disdainfully, whirling around so he couldn't see her face.
He couldn't help it. He grinned. "You are, aren't you?" he asked, stepping around in front of her, catching sight of the tell-tale flush staining her cheeks.
"Newsflash, Sirius! Not every girl in the world is infatuated with you!"
"Only because I haven't met them all," he replied.
He chuckled at the expression that prompted as she fumbled for words. The moonlight illuminated her face, reflecting off her hazel eyes and glossy hair, setting off her exotic features to the best advantage. Sirius found himself marveling that he'd never noticed just how gorgeous she was after all these years.
Kylie had always been the squeaky-clean, no-nonsense, self-righteous, scrawny and very prissy bookworm like all her friends, the kind of girl he'd never consider as anything more than a friend or acquaintance. But now, out of nowhere, she'd somehow blossomed into this beauty standing before him. He remembered that the same sort of thing had happened to Lily two years earlier to catch James' eye. One had to assume that Kylie had just been a late bloomer… or perhaps a beautiful girl had been hiding behind those dowdy clothes and glasses all these years?
One thing was for certain, though: he could never look at her the same way again. Nor will any other guy in the school, I'm sure, he thought with a mental smirk.
A gust of wind chose that moment to rush by, fluttering wildly through her ebony tresses and billowing his cape all about him. She hugged herself, shivering. Without hesitation (and without really thinking about it) he took off his cape and put it around her shoulders.
She looked from the cape and back to him again, taken aback. "Sirius, what…?" she began, puzzled.
"It's the gentlemanly thing to do," he said simply with a shrug. "Unless you'd rather stay cold?"
Confounded, she gazed at him as if not quite sure what to think. She opened her mouth, intending to speak, when suddenly the door burst open.
"There you are!" cried Circe, running to Sirius' side. "Where've you been? I was getting lonely in there!" Only then did she notice Kylie standing there. "Oh, you again. What's going on out here?"
"Nothing at all," said Kylie with a frown, shrugging off the cape and handing it back to Sirius. "I was just leaving."
She slipped on her mask and went back inside the building, leaving the two standing there by the street. Sirius watched her go and pulled his cape back on, a contemplative smile upon his face.
It occurred to him that his relationship with Kylie Hart had suddenly taken a rather interesting turn.
XXX
