Chapter 9: Of Llamas and Porcupines
Ah yes, and I'm a galloping baboon! - Mr. Mysterious and Handsome
It was beautiful. The hall I mean. Instead of the normal weather showing ceiling, there were shooting stars. A pumpkin floated passed me and I looked around for my friends. I couldn't see them, so I walked into the hall and was immediately pulled into this giant circle of dancers. I finally noticed the music playing in the background was a festive type, and I relaxed and started to enjoy myself.
The music then changed into a waltzy sort of thing, and all around me people were pairing off. I quickly scanned the crowd for a partner, and I realized that I knew no one. It's quite a scary revelation, not knowing anybody. I suddenly felt a tap on my shoulder, so I spun around and was immediately whisked off in a waltz.
I looked up to see who my dance partner, and was surprised to see a handsomely dressed man who looked just like Elinsa's partner. Elinsa was the character I was supposed to be dressed up as. The strange thing was that he fit the description perfectly, right down to the gold on the boots and bright red hair.
"And what is such a fair maiden doing in a place like this?" he asked me. Geez, now isn't that corny? Okay, so it's also unbelievably romantic, so much that I feel like giggling. Hehe.
"Going to a school dance," I replied. I didn't mean to sound mean, well maybe I did. But there's a physiological reason for it! I've discovered, through the use of many self help books that in order for me to find love, the star Llama and the star Porcupine had to line up in the shape of elbow macaroni.
Okay, so it wasn't self help books. It was Hannah interpreting Monica when Monica asked Professor Trelawny. During third year, Monica entered a Divination obsession, which actually got her interested in Egypt, so technically it was a good thing. Monica says she wants to be an archeologist, but I say she would make a heap loads more money singing. She retorts that it really isn't about the money and she should do what she wants, which sends me off grumbling, only to take my anger out on some unsuspecting first-year. I don't actually yell at them, more like prank them. It's nothing bad, you know, just ants in their pants, the uncontrollable urge to cry, and a different hair color.
Anyway, back to Mr. Mysterious and Handsome. Okay, I have to admit he was pretty cute. If his rear was anything like Charlie's, I'd be all set. Yes, I think Charlie's rear is nice, no I would never think of him that way. Not again. It hurt too much last time.
"Ah, so playing hard to get?" he asked, smiling still, with one eyebrow arched. I stared up at him and his red hair, trying to place them somewhere in my memories.
"Not really, just not feeling the whole dress up and have fun vibe," I replied, trying to look bored. Okay, so I didn't exactly lie, but I was feeling the fun vibe slowly creep onto me as he spun me around. As much as I tried to deny it, I was starting to have a good time.
"Ah, then we will have remedy that," he said as he spun me around into another song. I inwardly laughed, but I refrained from laughing out loud because that would mean I was having fun, and he had won. I would hold out as long as possible, until the happiness took over me.
"So, how about them Red Sox?" he said after a period of silence. What? I looked at him confusedly. He smiled at me and proceeded to explain, "The Red Sox are a baseball team from America and their home stadium is in Boston. Baseball is a muggle sport."
"Well I knew that baseball was a muggle sport because I remember chucking a baseball at my brother's best friend. It was quite amusing actually," I said reliving the time when I had gotten so mad a Charlie that I threw a baseball at him. I believe he avoided me for a week.
He laughed and said in response, "Ahh, so you're the violent type?"
"Not really, I just know some really annoying people that deserve to be smacked," I replied matter-of-factly. Because what I said was true, I did know people who deserved it. Like take Hannah for instance. She constantly goes off on these long tirades about who should be with who in our school. In fact she's convinced Monica and Chaki that I belong with Charlie, and so now all three of them have begun plotting to get us together. They think we're a match made in heaven. Yeah right. He is probably the most annoying person in my life right now.
Well okay, maybe that was a bit harsh. My fellow Gryffindor girls always take the top spot for most annoying. But Charlie ranks high up there.
"And are there lots of these people?" he asked as he twirled me around.
"Geez, what is this twenty questions?" I snapped, a little annoyed, "Not really, only a select few ever make that list. What about you? Anyone really annoying in your life?"
Okay, so it was a ploy to get the questioning off of me. I really didn't like being questioned by people I didn't know, although Mr. Mysterious and Handsome seemed oddly familiar.
"Not really," he said, seeming closed up. Then I guess he decided he could talk to me because he continued on. "There's just this one girl who's annoying beyond reason. But the strange thing is that she doesn't annoy me in the way a little kid does, she annoys me because she's so thick."
I gave him a look that said 'continue please.'
"I try to tell her subtly that I like her, but she never seems to get the clue. In fact it seems as if she hates me," he said, rather unhappily.
"Hmm, well maybe you should ditch the subtleness and tell her right out straight," I suggested after a switch in music. It was now an upbeat style, and strangely I knew all the steps. It was weird. It was like the knowledge had been placed in my brain or something. If Voldemort had found out about this before he died, he would have a field day. Planting suggestions in people's mind and causing them to know things they had not is really amazing, for that's what I recognized this as.
"I think she would laugh at me," he said sadly.
"Well you never know, she may actually be madly in love with you," I said, laughing a bit. Not too much, just enough to lighten up the mood a bit.
"Ah yes, and I'm a galloping baboon!" he said, laughing along with me.
"We-el, I'm sure I could help make the change," I said, and he spun me around, his eyes twinkling with laughter.
"So what about you? Any boy troubles?" he asked, somewhat seriously as we moved gracefully through the dance steps.
"Not really," I said, "The last time a boy gave me trouble was in third year."
"Ah, what happened?"
"Nothing big. I just had the hugest crush on him and he kissed me as a joke, which really hurt," I said, losing my happiness.
"Wow that guy sounds like a jerk," he said, his voice littered with disapproval of the younger Charlie.
"And I think I might actually like him again," I said, surprising myself. Okay so it might be true, but it wasn't as bad as third year. I mean, I suppose I wouldn't mind if Charlie came up and kissed me or something, but I wasn't about to go and run off with him or something.
"Let's hope he's matured then," he said, laughing.
We spent a good few hours just talking. It was the most amazing experience I've ever had. When we got tired we just sat down and continued on talking. And it wasn't like he did all the talking either; we were having intelligent conversations.
Although over time something weird began to happen. It seemed slowly that I was losing the sense of clarity. This seemed to increase alarmingly whenever I took another sip of my drink. It took me a while to figure out that the drink was actually spiked and that it was making me drunk. Uhoh, that could possibly turn into a problem.
Especially since Hannah says I do some pretty stupid stuff when I'm drunk.
Of course, I'm way underage to be drinking, but it was summer and we were alone with lots of firewhiskey. What else do you think we were going to do?
"Hey I think the punch is spiked," I said, suddenly unsure of myself. I mean really, what if it wasn't spiked, and I was just going coo-coo? If I do go coo-coo, I hope it's for Coco Puffs.
"Probably," he said, after taking a large gulp, "But if it is, it sure feels good. You wanna go for a walk outside?"
I think he was referring to the lovely gardens that Dumbledore had set up by the greenhouses. I had been kinda hoping my date would take me there, so now I'll get to see them. I was practically jumping for joy.
I nodded to him and we proceeded out the door. Okay, so it was more like a three story castle type-door thingy, but really, did it matter? When we finally arrived at the gardens, I noticed that he wasn't the only one with the idea of bringing his date out here.
A soft melody floated past us and I was immediately calm from the sense of impending doom that was sure to come. Okay, so maybe it wasn't that bad, but still. It was strange for me though, to be out here with so many other people. Yea, I've had many boyfriends, but we always did stuff in private. PDA was a big no-no with me. I always was uncomfortable whenever it took place, especially when it involved me. I guess it was all rebounded off of that horrid night.
Bloody Charlie Weasley.
Mr. Mysterious and Handsome must have noticed something was wrong because he pulled me close and leaned down to whisper his inquiry in my ear. Damn, he smelled really good.
"Anything wrong?" he whispered, his voice sending tingles through my body. Okay it's decided, regardless of who this guy is, I will at least try to be his friend. And that's a promise.
"Not really, I just don't like being around people when the mood is set at romantic," I said, leaning my head into his chest, still aware of all the people, feeling their eyes on me. It wasn't so bad in the ballroom because we were just talking, but out here it felt as if everyone was laughing. Okay, maybe not so dramatic, and I knew that people were too wrapped up in their little worlds to care about what was going on in mine, but the fear was still there.
"Ah, so this is romantic?" he asked with a smirk. That smirk seems real familiar...
"Why yes, good sir, it is," I replied and we both started quietly laughing, so as not to disturb the other love birds.
Whoa, backup. Did I just call the people lovebirds? The alcohol must really be getting to me. I'm really starting to sound like McGonagall. That would be a bad thing because then I'd have to put my hair up in a tight bun and walk around like there's a stick up my ass. Okay so the stick thing is more of a Snape. On the plus side it would be cool to turn into a cat. Then I could finally see where Chaki goes when she's 'studying' because there's no way someone can study that much and not go insane.
Okay so maybe she's a little screwy, but then again we all are. I suppose that because the rest of us are insane that it hides her whacko-ness. Seriously, this girl in Hufflepuff named, uhh, I think it was Tania or something, came up to her once and told her she seemed normal and proceeded to ask her what she was doing hanging out with those freaks.
The freaks meaning us. I almost laughed outright, because Chaki is anything but normal. She's just as wacky as the rest of us and that's what makes her so lovable.
While I was wrapped up in my thoughts, Mr. Mysterious and Handsome had led me away from the masses and into a lovely secluded spot in the greenhouse garden thing.
"This better?" he whispered into my ear, again sending chills through my body. I swear, if I'm this affected by his whisper, I wonder what would happen if he kissed me.
I didn't have to wait long to find out because suddenly he bent down and covered my lips with his.
By brain turned to complete mush.
It was swishing all around in my head, threatening to pour out my ears. I wrapped my arms around him and ran my hands through his hair. The lovely silky hair that was so much fun to play with. When I find out who this is, I will definitely be dragging him to an empty classroom just for the pleasure of playing with his hair.
You know, it takes a really long time to find a guy with perfect hair for running your fingers through. There's been eight guys since third year and there's only been one with good hair. And his hair was not as nearly fun as this one's.
I smiled against his lips and deepened the kiss until any coherent thought was gone.
It was like eating the sweetest strawberries in the summer. Or like getting that warm cup of hot chocolate in the winter time after a particularly amusing snowball fight. It was simply perfect, in way that nothing ever could be.
We stood there, lip locked until I was practically blue from lack of oxygen. Then we broke apart, so we wouldn't fall over or something. Of course what happened next was a new feeing for me, even though I was practically an expert in gazing into peoples' eyes.
When looking into a person's eyes, you expect to see into their soul, to see deep dark secrets of who they were. Okay, so maybe that's a bit over exaggerated, but you get the point. You can easily get lost in someone's eyes. The point is that you usually know who that person is.
So what endlessly freaked me out was that I was totally, completely, and utterly lost in this guy's eyes and I had no idea who he actually was. Okay so I knew a lot about him, but still, a name would be nice.
I mean how else am I supposed to seek him out in the hallways and flirt with him until he succumbed to my seductions? It's rare to fins such a nice guy and I swear I would take advantage of this. The only guy who is remotely nice in my life is my brother, and no thank you that's just weird. And plus he practically belongs to Hannah anyway.
Charlie, being the only other male remotely close to me other than the occasionally classmate joking I get with my guy friends, is also a no-no. He's an ass, as I believe I've pointed out many times. A very sexy ass, yes, but that's beside the point. And yes, while I may have the teensiest crush on him, I still hate his guts and I have determined that he should run away to some remote island in the South Pacific.
Yes and then maybe he would marry some island girl and he would be out of my hair. And him and this island girl would have many kids, I think about ten. And after that a volcano would spontaneously erupt and destroy their town leaving them homeless to wander about.
Okay maybe that last part was a bit harsh. And okay maybe I was rambling. And yes I admit, for a second there I was picturing the island wife a petite short haired blonde with blue eyes and a tendency to whack him. But no I don't intend on ever marrying Charlie Weasley and I will eat slugs before that day comes to pass.
A soft melody floated into our tiny little hideaway and Mr. Mysterious and Handsome backed away and held his hand out as an invitation to dance. I, of course, accepted, and we danced the rest of the night away.
Okay! There. It's done, finally! I apologize for the month overdue from what I said, but this whole update thing is hard! I will really try to have the next one out soon, though. I even have a good idea of what I'm going to write, which is better than most of the time. Oh yes, and I would also appreciate REVIEWS! They really boost my moral and help me get my butt of the lazy chair and back to work. :) Okay so next chapter, the morning after, and we'll see if the stars are indeed lined up in the shape of elbow macaroni