Disclaimer: For what feels like the millionth time, no, I don't own this.
A.N. All in all, I was rather pleased with the last chapter. I hope you all were, too. I think you'll like this chapter even more. Oh, and this will probably be the last official update of the summer, as I start school again on Wednesday. Updates after that will probably take a little longer, as I'll be working too, and trying to keep up with my schoolwork. Anyways, here we go! Chapter Thirteen! The title chapter comes from one of my favorite songs, "Over My Head" by The Fray.
Who Says Love and Quidditch Can't Mix?
Chapter Thirteen
Charlotte awoke the next morning feeling giddy. It was quite a change of pace from the gloom that she had allowed to permeate her mind and body for the past week or so. Her heart felt whole and full of emotion again, and it wasn't the type of emotion that made her want to cry, it was the type of emotion that made her want to find Derek and snog him senseless.
She laughed aloud at that thought and buried her face in her hands. Snog Derek senseless? Where did that come from? Maybe all this giddiness was a bit of a bad thing. . .
Charlotte threw the covers off and sat up to stretch. The room was awash with bright sunlight, boosting her mood further, if it was possible to do so. She padded over to the doors and threw them open, allowing the warmth of the day to fill the room. She had better sense than to step out on the balcony in her pajamas in broad daylight, so she settled for allowing the breeze to tickle her skin and the freshness of the air to fill her lungs from safely inside her room.
She hummed a mindless little tune as she readied herself for the day. Derek was going to take her shopping for a dress to wear to the ball tonight after they ate lunch. She grabbed the easiest clothes to wear for a day of trying on dresses: a pair of track pants and a Weird Sisters band t-shirt. She was going against her original plan of wearing something nice, like a skirt or something. But when she thought about it, Derek had seen her at her worst, covered in mud and dripping wet from matches in the rain, and, at her least, in nothing but a towel.
She blushed as she remembered that day in the locker room. She had been so repulsed by the way his eyes had about bugged out of his head when he saw her in nothing but a towel. Now, she almost gave a shiver of pleasure. She knew now that she liked when he looked at her like that.
Charlotte giggled and rolled her eyes as she brushed her teeth. She was turning into a regular old sap. After Derek had left last night, once they had hashed things out and had basically declared their mutual feelings of undying attraction, her heart felt like a puddle of goo. Of course, not being used to feeling like that, she had sat down and wrote her mother a long letter, telling her what had happened, the whole story, from beginning to end. All she had to do now was find an owl to send it off to England, preferably today, so there would be no awkward questions when they arrived back home tomorrow.
She gave a little noise of impatience as she threw a dash of mascara on. She could just picture Oliver's reaction to seeing the two of them holding hands or something of the nature. Which was why she had expressly mentioned to Hermione that she was to explain the situation to Oliver in the best way that she could, which wouldn't result in decapitation on Derek's behalf.
She thought about what would happen to their relationship once they arrived back home as she brushed out her hair. There were still plenty of games left in the season, most of which would require a short Apparition trip to nearby teams, like the Ballycastle Bats and the Kenmare Kestrels. She knew she would see Derek regardless, as he was almost always present at the matches or tried to be at practice at least three times a week to "keep an eye on things," as he called it. Of course, there could be unseen complications, like Oliver pitching a fit and refusing to allow Derek to drop by the cottage, but, that's what Hermione was there for. After all, Hermione was the one who was adamantly pushing for Charlotte to get together with Derek in the first place.
Charlotte took a moment to look at her reflection in the mirror. A few days ago, her face was pale, dark circles underlined her eyes, and she couldn't find a reason to smile. Now, her eyes were snapping with merriment, her mouth seemed to be frozen in a permanent grin, and her face was pleasantly flushed with excitement.
"I am pathetic," she announced to herself, shaking her head, but still grinning nonetheless.
She had sworn a long time ago that a boy would never, EVER be her sole reason for happiness. And she had managed to go almost nineteen years following that belief. But then Derek came along, and it was like she had received a Bludger to the head.
"A boy will never be my sole reason for happiness? Yeah, right," she snorted.
Well, he wasn't her sole reason for happiness. She had a blossoming Quidditch career, she was seeing the world for the first time, she had an amazing family who supported her every decision, and then, there was Derek. But not in any particular order.
There was a knock on her door. Slightly puzzled, she glanced at the clock on the night stand near the bed. Derek had agreed to drop by around noon so they could grab a bite to eat before going shopping. She still had a half an hour before he came, so she had no idea who it could be at the door.
She jerked it open to find Chase standing there.
"Good morning," he greeted her. "I was hoping that I didn't wake you up, but I guess you've been up for awhile."
She shrugged. "Not too long. I just finished getting ready for the day, actually. So what's up?"
"The rest of us are going to venture out into the city for the day, you know, catch some Parisian sights. Do you want to go with us?"
She rolled her eyes. "Parisian sights? More like Parisian women, Chase."
He grinned guiltily. "Okay, fine. You win. But really, do you want to come along? We're leaving in a few minutes."
She shook her head. "Thanks for the offer, but, erm, Derek and I are going out for the day."
He smiled, looking a little relieved. "So you two have made up then?"
Charlotte nodded enthusiastically. "He's invited me to accompany him to the closing ball tonight for the convention!"
"Good for you, Charlie. But does this mean that you guys are, like, a couple?"
Again, she shrugged. "We both agreed that we want to take things slow, to see where things go, you know?"
Chase nodded. "Well, you guys have fun today. And we all want to see what you look like in a dress before you two go to this ball thing tonight, got it?"
She rolled her eyes. "Do I have to?"
"Yes," he said, and his tone made it perfectly clear that the subject was closed.
"Hmph. Fine. You guys have fun out there today too. And no spying on us!" she called at
Chase's retreating back.
He tossed her a saucy grin and a wave as he stepped into the elevator further down the hallway.
She sighed and rolled her eyes again as she shut her door.
"Men," she muttered, shaking her head.
Derek greeted her at her door with a kiss on the cheek.
"Hello, love. Are you ready to go shopping?"
Charlotte's cheeks went pink. "Lead the way."
He took her hand and led her down the hall to the elevator, where they stood for a few minutes, waiting for it to arrive. Charlotte was very much aware of how his hand felt holding hers, and she hoped hers wouldn't break out into a clammy sweat, like they usually did when she was nervous about something.
They stepped into the elevator when it arrived, and Derek pushed the button for the lobby. The doors slid shut, and for a few moments, all was silent, except for the ding of the elevator as it descended the floors of the hotel.
"Did you sleep well last night?" Derek inquired.
She smiled. "Very well, thank you. I do believe I owe you the credit for it."
He grinned. "Why, thank you. I have to say, I slept quite well myself. For which the credit goes to you."
She smiled shyly and looked down at her feet, hoping to hide the blush on her face.
"So do you know what kind of dress you're looking for?"
They kept up their endless chatter as they left the elevator and walked out of the hotel into the bright sunshine. The more Charlotte talked to Derek, the more she began to lose her shyness. Slowly, the walls she had spent so much time building against him were falling down.
"Where do you want to go for lunch?" he asked her as they strolled along hand in hand.
She shrugged. "I don't think I've ever really had French food before. Surprise me."
He grinned. "My pleasure."
He led her to a small café of sorts and told her to sit down. It wasn't a fancy place, as it didn't appear that there were waiters around to take their order. Instead, Derek disappeared inside for about ten minutes, during which Charlotte sat watching all the people who were walking through the square in which the café was located. When Derek reappeared, he was laden with food spread over two trays.
Her eyes must have grown huge at the sight of all the food, for Derek chuckled as he set the trays down on the table.
"I thought you might like to try a little of everything," he explained as he set a fork in front of
her, as well as a glass of wine.
"Derek, I can't eat all this! I have dresses to try on!" she exclaimed as she picked up her fork.
"You're forgetting. I'm male. I eat a lot. I'll make up for whatever you don't eat."
They picked up their wine glasses and clinked them together.
"Cheers," Derek said. "Now, let's eat."
Miraculously, the two managed to eat their way through almost all the food before them. Charlotte was pleased to find out that while most of the food looked heavy and filling, Derek had actually chosen foods that would make the two feel less stuffed when they were finished.
Derek sat back in his chair after dropping his fork, sighing with delight. "I'd have to say that's probably the best damn meal we've eaten on this whole trip."
Charlotte nodded as she took one last bite of the chocolate gateau. "I think I like French food now."
He drained the last of his wine and stood up. "Are you finished?"
She nodded as she too finished the last of her wine.
"Let me go take these back inside and then we'll go looking for a dress for you," he said as
he picked up the trays and disappeared back inside.
Charlotte strolled to the little bookstore next to the café and looked at the window displays while she waited for Derek. A lot of the titles were foreign, but the cover designs of many were colorful and pretty, so she amused herself with the pictures as she looked.
Derek reappeared and offered his arm to her. She took it with a smile and they made their way slowly through the square, looking at all the window displays, and occasionally stopping in one of the small dress shops they found along the way.
"No. Absolutely not," Charlotte declared as she wrinkled her nose at the dress Derek was
holding up for her.
"Why not?" he asked, his laughing at her.
"Derek," she said with pained tolerance, "not only is that dress about five sizes too small
for me, it's orange and green. Are you color blind?"
He turned it so he could give it another once over. "Oh, I don't know, Charlie, this just might be the dress for you."
He laughed at the look on her face as she turned away to move further down the wall to look at the other dresses.
She found nothing that struck her as ball-worthy in that shop, so they continued on to the other shops. She could tell Derek was particularly enjoying this; he had a habit of picking out either the absolute most ugliest thing he could find, or he would pick out something that was a little more than revealing for her.
"How about this, Charlie?" Derek called from near the front of the shop.
She turned to find him holding a deep green dress with a plunging neckline. It was pretty, there was no denying, but the neckline looked to her as though it plunged straight to the belly button. Not particularly stunning, in her opinion.
"A little low cut, don't you think?" she asked as she moved closer to scrutinize.
He gave her a little grin. "I think it's perfect."
"You would," she muttered as she fingered the material. "Derek! The sides are slit all the way up to the hip bone!"
His grin widened.
"Nope. I'm not wearing it. Put it back," she dismissed.
He pretended to pout as he put it back.
At long last, Charlotte found something that was just perfect. Well, Derek had actually found it, and she wasn't exactly crazy about it at first, but he chivvied her off to the dressing room to try it on, and she fell in love with it.
It was a strapless, floor length gown of deep royal blue. It had a metallic sheen to it in the light, and it was gathered in various places throughout the front of the skirt. There was a thick black tie around the waist that tied in front. The back laced up like a corset. It was absolutely, one hundred percent perfect.
Derek banged on the door. "Come on, Charlie, let me see it on you!"
She smiled as she turned this way and that in front of the mirror. "No."
"What do you mean, 'no'?!" he exclaimed. "I'm the one paying for it!"
"Which I very much appreciate, but you're not seeing this dress on me until tonight, when it's time to go to this ball."
"You've got to be kidding me."
Her smile widened. "Nope, not kidding."
"You are infuriating, woman!"
She carefully pulled the dress off. "But that's what keeps you around."
She could hear him muttering darkly on the other side of the door and couldn't help but laugh softly at him.
"I heard that!"
"I meant you to."
She emerged from the dressing room with the dress draped carefully over her arm. She grinned at Derek when he gave her a sour look.
"I have to wait until eight o'clock tonight to see you in this thing?" he asked dispiritedly.
She nodded. "Yes, you do!"
He looked at his watch and his face brightened. "Well, the good thing is that it's only three hours away. Damn, you're indecisive. We've spent almost four hours looking for a dress!"
She laughed. "Women are supposed to be difficult when it comes to finding the perfect dress. Didn't you know that?"
He sighed. "Yeah, I guess I did."
They walked over to the counter to pay for the dress. The French woman kept thanking them for buying one of her dresses. Apparently, all the dresses in the shop were not from some famous designer, like Dior or Armani or any of those. This woman made all the dresses in her shop by hand. And she was proud of it.
"Oh, wow! You made all these dresses yourself? There must be hundreds of them in here!"
Charlotte exclaimed when the woman told them.
The woman smiled and started babbling in French, which Charlotte didn't understand, but she thanked her just the same for the dress when Derek began pulling her out of the shop.
"Let's grab a coffee to drink on the way back to the hotel. I'm sure once we get back, you'll want to get ready," Derek suggested.
"You're right. I'm sure it will take me awhile to get ready."
Derek found a small coffee vendor in the middle of the square and paid for two. He handed one to Charlotte as he stuck the change back in his pocket.
"I would have gotten those," Charlotte said as she watched him shove the change in his
pocket.
Derek shrugged it off. "My treat."
"Everything today has been your treat," Charlotte reminded him, sipping her latte.
"Consider it making up for every rotten thing I've ever done," Derek said.
They walked in companionable silence the rest of the way back to the hotel. Once they reached Charlotte's room, Derek handed the garment bag containing the dress over to Charlotte.
She beamed up at him as she stood in her open doorway. "Thank you for my dress, Derek. It means a lot to me."
He shrugged, trying not to look too pleased with himself. "My pleasure."
"And thank you for the wonderful afternoon. I had fun."
"So did I," he said, before leaning down to kiss her on the cheek. "I'll be back for you at about ten till eight."
Her cheeks blazed red again at his touch. "I'll be ready."
She shut her door and locked it before laying her dress down on the bed. She glanced at the clock again before giving a shrill squeal. She had less than two hours to get ready!
She grabbed fresh underthings and dashed into the bathroom to shower and wash her hair. It took forever to rinse out her hair when she washed it because it was so long and thick, courtesy of her mother. She tried to hurry nonetheless. If worst came to worst, she could always charm her hair clean, something she usually avoided, as it sometimes went wrong and she would end up with a giant frizz ball for hair.
She ran her razor over her legs to get rid of the stubble that accumulated overnight and rinsed off. She climbed out and dried off before haphazardly smoothing some lotion on.
She wrapped her towel around herself before grabbing her wand to dry her hair. Then she began the painstaking task of poking, prodding, and pinning it into place.
Twenty minutes later, she finally had her hair in an agreeable state. She had parted it off to one side and pulled it back, leaving her thick bangs free. Using her wand, she had painstakingly curled the mass into small banana curls, which she pinned into place using sparkly bobby pins. She combed her thick bangs off to the side of her head and pinned them into place using a few more of the sparkly bobby pins. With a mist of hairspray (besides the large amount of Sleekeazy's she used) she finished it all off and threw a light dusting of glitter over herself.
Then she turned her attention to her makeup. She put on a light layer of foundation to hide her blemishes then threw a little blush on. She used a light purple eyeshadow, then made her eyes pop by sliding a layer of dark blue eyeshadow through her creases. She used a little blue eyeliner and some blue mascara to finish off her eyes. She would put on her lip color once she finished getting dressed.
She left the bathroom, still clad in her towel, to get dressed. She pulled the dress carefully from the garment bag, admiring it for a minute before slinking out of her towel and sliding into the dress. She managed to get the zipper up by herself, but then she ran into a problem. She couldn't get the laces done up by herself.
She sighed. She really didn't want to have to ask one of the guys to help her with it. It was bad enough that Chase would have made sure that they all found out about her going out with Derek, in a dress no less.
She decided her safest bet would be to go to Callum. He, at least, wouldn't tease her to death when he saw her. She pulled on her black strappy heels and unlocked her door, peeking out into the hallway to make sure the coast was clear. She marched purposefully down to Callum's room and knocked sharply.
He pulled the door open seconds later. He smiled when he saw her.
"You look amazing," he offered, holding the door open so she could come in.
"Thanks. I have a favor to ask," she said hurriedly, stepping inside and shutting the door
behind her.
"Ask away."
"I got the zipper up, but my arms weren't made to bend the way I need them to so I can tie up the laces in the back," she said, looking pleadingly at him.
He laughed. "Turn around, I'll get them."
"You're a lifesaver, Callum. There's no way I could have asked any of the others to do this for me."
"It's a good thing you didn't. You should have heard them all talking about you and Derek when Chase let it out of the bag about what was going on."
Charlotte groaned. "Great. And I'm guessing they all still want to see what I look like in a dress."
Callum's chuckle was enough to assure her of it. "They want to know what the 'Girl Charlotte' looks like."
"Oh, joy."
"There you go," Callum said, giving her a squeeze on the shoulder to let her know he was finished tying her up.
She gave him a quick hug. "Thanks so much Callum. I guess I'll see you downstairs with the others in a little bit."
"So you will. And you still look amazing!" he called after her as she went back to her room.
She went back to the bathroom to put on a little lipstick and had just enough time to grab her shawl and throw it on before a knock on the door announced Derek's arrival.
She took a deep breath to calm herself before she pulled open the door. She was quite glad she did, for the sight in front of her made her lose her breath.
Derek was perfection in a black tuxedo. His bow tie was perfectly done and was the exact same shade of royal blue as Charlotte's dress. His shoes were polished and shiny in the light. For once, Derek had forgone the usual grooming routine with his hair and let it hang down in his eyes, something that Charlotte found very attractive. His eyes looked very blue tonight, and seemed to sparkle as they took in Charlotte.
He smiled at the look on Charlotte's face. Her mouth was slightly open and her eyes were wide, taking him all in.
"Wow, Derek. You look. . .I. . .there's. . .just, wow."
He chuckled. "That's about what I was going to say about you."
They both stood smiling at each other for a moment. Then Derek offered her his arm and they set off down the hallway toward the elevator.
"That dress looks even better on you than I imagined," Derek told her as they rode the elevator down to the lobby.
"Thank you," she said softly, wishing her cheeks would stop glowing red.
Just before the elevator reached the lobby, she broke the silence again.
"I'm warning you, the guys are all going to be out there, and they're gonna be ridiculous."
"Why? I think you look beautiful," Derek said, frowning slightly.
"Yes, well, thank you again, but that's not the point. They've only ever seen me looking like another one of them, you know, t-shirts, sweat pants, Quidditch robes. Total jock clothes.
They've never seen the 'Girl Charlotte.' And I'm going to pay for it."
The elevator doors slid open. Sure enough, the rest of the team was gathered a short ways away from the doors. And of course, they all had to turn around when they heard the little ding of the elevator, announcing their arrival.
Charlotte wasn't prepared for them all to stand there gawking at her, like a bunch of gormless baboons. Their mouths all hung open, their eyes wide and staring. Only Callum stood there looking like he always did, and he was smiling at her.
"Evening, boys," Derek said with a grin as he stepped out of the elevator, Charlotte still holding onto his arm.
They only managed halfhearted waves as the two walked past them. Charlotte managed a small smile at them all as Derek led her past them.
The large convention room had been transformed into a magnificent ballroom. There was a large wooden dance floor set up near the front of the room, where a small stage stood for the string quartet that was playing quietly as people arrived. There were numerous tables set up all around the dance floor, each with six place settings.
"They're serving us all dinner as well," Derek murmured to her as they moved through the people.
She nodded as she looked around the room. She tried to avoid catching eyes that she knew were upon her almost from the moment she walked in on Derek's arm.
Derek chose an empty table closer to the dance floor. He pulled out Charlotte's chair for her and helped her scoot closer to the table before sitting down beside her.
"So what do you think?" he asked her as he watched her look around the room.
"It's fantastic!" she said, looking at all the decorations and all the fancy outfits.
They were joined shortly by two other couples, whom Derek seemed to know from the convention. They were all delighted to meet Charlotte, and the conversation kept flowing all throughout a marvelous dinner of filet mignon and sauteed vegetables.
Charlotte didn't think she was that interesting, but apparently, these people seemed to think otherwise. It was nice to be engaged in a conversation with other people who wouldn't make Derek jealous. He was smiling and laughing and contributing to the conversation right along with her.
Once all the dishes had been cleared away by the numerous waiters around the room, they all sat listening to the quartet for awhile, letting their food settle before getting up to dance on the floor, which was slowly filling up.
A lively sort of waltz began playing. Derek stood up, offering Charlotte his hand.
"Care to dance?" he asked, his eyes twinkling.
"I'd love to," she said, taking his hand.
He led her out to the middle of the dance floor. He took up her hand in his own and placed his other around her waist, pulling her a little closer. He smiled down at her when he saw the look on her face. She was unsure of the steps, but gave in to the music and Derek's masterful leading.
Charlotte tried to keep her head clear, but it was next to impossible when she this close to Derek. She was experiencing that familiar heady feeling from last night when he had held her close. Though there was still space between their two bodies, Charlotte was starting to feel slightly intoxicated by his smell and his touch.
Derek was in a similar situation. He loved the feel of her hand in his and the feel of her waist beneath his other hand. Her smell was nearly as intoxicating, and her smile when she looked up to gaze into his eyes was downright hypnotizing.
They both didn't know how much more of each other they could take.
They kept dancing until well past eleven, when the quartet finally called it quits for the evening. During the evening, with all the dancing, they kept getting closer and closer to each other, until now, as the final notes of the quartet faded away, there was almost no space between them at all.
He didn't let go of her hand as he led the way back to their table to retrieve her shawl. Nor did he let go of her hand as they rode the elevator back up to their floor. He held on to her as they walked down the hallway.
They stopped outside her room.
"I had an amazing time tonight, Derek," she said quietly as she looked up into his blue eyes.
"So did I," he replied, moving a step closer.
"Derek?" she asked uncertainly.
He wrapped an arm around her waist and pulled her to him, her smaller body pressed against his. Before she could open her mouth again, his mouth was on hers.
Wildfire spread from her head all the way down to her toes. Every limb tingled with surprise and pleasure. She wasn't just feeling heady anymore, she was drowning in him, every particle of his being. She was in way over her head, but she didn't want to surface any time soon.
She would just stay right where she was.