Chapter 3 ~ Dares and Dances

"How was Wood's Quiddich practice?" Severus asked stiffly as they practiced casting banishing charms during a particularly noisy charms lesson.

"It was interesting. They've got a strong team this year." Muriel answered noncommittally. She had been asking him what was wrong with him all week. It was getting harder and harder to tell when he was nearby. Now, a week before Halloween, she had forgotten that he was even sitting beside her.

Severus was seething. As if it wasn't bad enough that she'd agreed to go to the dance with the prat, now she was going to all his practices too. She'd even sat with him once at lunch already. He felt his stomach contract as he thought about it and said the banishing charm. He had apparently flicked his wand a little too forcefully, however, and Professor Flitwick went sailing across the classroom, letting out a stream of expletives to rival a Malfoy. Most of the class laughed.

"You didn't do that on purpose," Muriel accused suddenly, setting down her wand. Severus wondered for a moment if she really knew that for sure, or if she was guessing. He was having enormous success with blocking his thoughts and emotions. She shouldn't have been able to feel his guilt.

Her eyes were flashing angrily. He smirked. "Maybe I did."

"Liar. I've seen you cast banishing charms before. You've never had any trouble. What's got you so upset?" she kept her voice down, as the professor still seemed rather annoyed.

"Why should I be upset? I hear Wood's going around telling people you're his girl now." He added bitterly. She fixed him with a piercing gaze.

"Not that I let him get away with it, but why should that upset you? You spent all of last term telling me how much you hate dancing, and you avoided me like the plague at Malfoy's wedding! Don't tell me you were planning to ask me to the dance this year!"

Severus had been planning to do just that. He'd finally gotten his Occlumency abilities to the point where he was sure he wouldn't betray himself. Now he was finding that when she couldn't feel his emotions, he had trouble telling her what they were.

"I do, and it doesn't!" he snapped angrily, banishing another pillow. Unfortunately he was a bit distracted, and the pillow landed right in Professor Flitwick's face. Severus cringed as the Professor threw the pillow angrily into the pile where it belonged.

Muriel watched him stalk from the classroom as she gathered her books. 'Well, sod him anyway. At least this year someone WANTED to go with me!'

On Halloween, Marisa taught her several new spells for her hair, and they spent half of the day trying them out. Muriel had bought new robes at Hogsmeade the weekend before, and was gratified when her dorm mates threw a fuss over them. They'd been fussing over her all week, actually. Apparently she was going with one of the most sought-after boys in the school; not that she had noticed him before he'd asked her.

She was unaccountably nervous as she and Marisa headed downstairs. Her pale lilac robes were complimented by the ribbon Vanessa had leant her for her hair, which fell in ringlets from a pony tail on the back of her head. She had borrowed a pair of Marisa's earrings too, since she had gemstones the right color. It had been a bit of a pain to let her friend pierce her ears, but the spell kept it from bleeding, and the effect was definitely worth it.

Severus watched from a staircase above as she took Jeremy's arm and walked into the Great Hall. He wondered if she would dance with him if he showed up. Probably. But that would mean admitting he'd lied to her again. He made his way back to the Slytherin common room briskly. Perhaps he could amuse himself with yelling at the first years.

"Alright, I've got something to tell you, and you probably aren't going to like it," Jeremy said slyly as they entered the hall. She raised an eyebrow, which made him cringe.

She couldn't help but laugh, and he relaxed a bit. "What? Are you going to tell me that your ego fell to the ground and registered an 8 on the Richter scale?" She'd been teasing him about his ego all month, and he was becoming much more good-natured about it than he'd been the first day.

"Worse. I lost a dare last night." This produced a great deal of confusion until he explained to her the muggle game of Truth or Dare, which he said he'd been playing with the other boys on his Quiddich team.

"And you were dared to do what?" Mur asked apprehensively.

"Let you dance with every guy on my team," he said quickly.

Muriel laughed. "It sounds to me like Potter lost in that deal, since the moment he lays a hand on me I'm going to curse him."

Wood looked very grave indeed. "The dare said that whoever you refused to dance with had to sit out the Quiddich match next week," he explained worriedly.

"Ah, yet again the fate of Gryffindor's Quiddich season rests in my hands." She smiled at his confusion as they sat down at a small table to watch the few couples who were already dancing.

"What?"

"Oh, didn't you know that Black and Potter had brooms third year courtesy of yours truly?" His mouth fell open. "Don't do that, you look like a fish."

He laughed as she continued. "Well, it was my fault they didn't have them in the first place, but I DID go out of my way to make sure the game was fair." He nodded, surprised. That game had been against her house. She could easily have let the boys ride school brooms and run the risk of losing.

"So, where are the boys on your team? Oh, never mind. I see them all huddled over there, smirking at us." She waved. "And which one of them came up with this dare?"

"Can't say!" he replied, smirking a bit himself. The expression didn't suit his boyish face at all. She tried to pry the information out of his mind, but his attention span was like a strobe light, and he was already thinking about her lip gloss.

"Well, you can have your keeper," she smiled at him here, and he smiled back, "your beaters and your chasers, but I'm afraid you are going to be a seeker down for the game." Before he could protest, she stood up. The dance floor was nearly full, and she liked this song. "Let's make sure you aren't without a keeper first. We'll worry about the rest later."

By the fourth dance, Wood felt a little sad. He'd already decided that he wasn't going to ask her out again, but he was having a really nice time. She seemed to sense this, so when the song ended, he let her go. "Alright, which of my team should I fetch first?"

"Go get Potter and let's get this over with," she said in a resigned tone of voice. It was his turn to raise his eyebrows. "I really appreciate you asking me to the dance. No one else would have," she explained. "The least I can do is dance with your bloody seeker."

He grinned as he went in search of Potter. He was pretty sure several people would have asked her if he hadn't gotten to it first. It really was a shame that Sirius had to like her so well. But, he wasn't going to make another date with her after what he'd heard last night. He shook his head, remembering when his older cousin, Arthur, had said exactly the same thing about Molly Tucker in THEIR fifth year. And they had a kid already!

James approached Muriel slowly, as if she were a white rhino he didn't want to startle. Muriel smirked and drew her wand. "Stand there," she said, pointing with her wand at a spot on the floor. It was closer to him than she wanted to be, but it would do. He put his feet together, watching her warily.

"Now hold still." Muriel whispered commandingly. He stared at her. "Well, if you thought you were touching me, you were dead wrong." She cast a jelly legs curse on him and his feet began to wobble. She grabbed him by the wrist, swung him around a few times, and ran to find Wood, laughing.

"Dance another one with me before you throw me back to the wolves!" she exclaimed, as she pulled him up from his chair.

Remus took the curse off James, who was more than a little annoyed. He hadn't been part of the Truth or Dare game, because Peter had managed to get himself trapped in the vanishing closet. He'd spent the evening with the marauder's map and his invisibility cloak, running all over the castle to try and find him. If he'd been there, he would have punched whoever had dared Wood to get Deesia to dance with them all.

Of the seven people on their team, only 4 were boys, Wood, Black, Potter and a chaser named Umbridge. Muriel had never met him, so she asked for him next. He turned out to be a decent dancer, but not very attentive. Muriel decided almost immediately that one of the girls on the team must have placed the dare. There just wasn't anyone else who could have.

Wood sat and watched them. Umbridge hadn't been too keen on the idea when he'd heard about it this morning. Wood hadn't told him who had come up with the dare, and Umbridge already had a date that he liked very well. But Deesia hadn't called him a half blood yet, and they appeared to be getting along fine. Wood saw Sirius dancing with the Hufflepuff girl who'd asked him to the dance and grinned at him. Sirius looked confused, which didn't surprise Wood at all.

He let Muriel drag him onto the floor one last time before he made her dance with Sirius. It was a slower song, and he closed his eyes when she rested her head on his shoulder. She really was a nice girl, no matter what his Quiddich team said about her being a spitfire. And he was glad he'd asked her, for his friend's sake. There was no way anyone else would have let her dance with Sirius Black.

Sirius had explained the whole thing to his date, or at least, the version that Wood was giving to Muriel. She'd taken it pretty well, and James was dancing with her in the meantime. He put on his best smirk and walked over to the drink table where Muriel was talking with Wood.

"Isn't it my turn yet?" he whined convincingly. Mur rolled her eyes.

"Does that hex you used on my desk legs work on human legs too?" she asked sweetly. Sirius blanched a bit. He didn't think it would work very well at all. Mur laughed.

"You know, my parents aren't here to keep me in line," she whispered as Wood winked at her and walked away. "Think of all the nasty things I could do to you without the threat of Riddle hanging over my head!"

He smiled. "You mean Voldemort?" he asked as he put an arm around her waist. Her smile fell away.

"NO," she said, in a hard voice. "I mean Riddle. He can pretend he isn't a half blood all he wants, but the fact remains that he's a bloody fool. If there's one thing I've learned hanging out with Marisa it's that it doesn't make a bloody bit of difference who your parents are. There are purebloods with less talent than she's got running around everywhere. Look at Peter for Merlin's sake!"

Sirius looked at her hard. "I thought I was the only one from our crowd who'd figured all that out," he said finally. He pulled her a little closer but she hardly noticed. She was still thinking hard about Riddle and his ridiculous ideals. And she was angry. She was very angry with Riddle for ruining her mother and getting her killed for nothing, and she wasn't going to afford him the honor of choosing his own name.

Sirius let her think, enjoying the feel of her hand in his and the smell of her hair. "You okay?" he asked finally. They'd been dancing for quite a while, but Muriel hardly seemed to notice. She snapped out of it.

"Fine. I'm still pretty upset with Riddle. It's his fault my mother got killed. Him and his bloody vendetta against muggles." She fell silent again. He tightened his arm protectively around her waist and this time she looked up. For a minute he was afraid she might reach for her wand. Instead she just looked into his eyes. "I'm going to be an Auror, you know. Like Papa. One day, I'm going to help stop people like Riddle."

Mur didn't know why she was telling this to the one person in the world who was least likely to care. "And you're helping," she added, thinking of their ongoing duel. "You and your mates make really good moving targets." Finally she smiled.

"In that case, maybe I'll be an Auror too. I've certainly done my share of practicing on you." Sirius couldn't help but think of something else he'd much rather practice on her. But as soon as his eyes left hers to look at her lips, she pulled away hard.

"I think I've fulfilled Wood's end of the bargain. Whoever set him that dare should be satisfied that you can all play now." She backed away from him, her eyes wide. Surely she had imagined what she'd heard him thinking. She bit her lip. But then, why would she imagine such a thing from her worst rival? She ran. She couldn't help it. She turned around and went to find Wood, and didn't let him talk her into sitting down the rest of the night.