The conclusion to the Yule Ball catastrophe.
After the Yule Ball
December 25th, 1994
Sixth Year
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Jo yanked Marcus away as Leili Summoned Oliver, both girls letting both boys stumble back and fall, back first, onto the hardwood floor.
Jo saw Marcus try to stand back up—single minded in his attempt to rearrange the Gryffindor's internal organs, no cocky Gryff insulted his girlfriend and got away with it!—and shoved him onto his stomach, planting herself on his back and crossing her arms.
Wood climbed up to his feet and stalked over to the pinned Marcus, hands on his hips cockily.
Before Wood could do anything, Leilani pointed her wand at him and growled, "Sit. Down!"
He was sent crashing to the floor where he opened his mouth to voice the thought forming in his mind.
"And Shut! Up!" she snapped, a very visible and very real zipper sealed his lips. That hadn't been intentional.
Marcus opened his mouth to say something but Jo stopped him with a quick, "And that goes for you too!" His jaw closed with a snap and his dropped his head into his hand, the fingers of his other hand drumming against the floor in irritation.
"Sit. Stay," Jo heard him mutter to himself.
"Good Boyfriend," she muttered back. That made him perk up a bit!
McGonagall swooped over in her emerald green dress—if the girls weren't a bit distracted they probably would have been admiring the outer trumpet sleeves, the black ruffle-wristed under-sleeves and the way the skirt swished out when she moved. "What is going on?"
"Fighting, Professor."
"Over what?" she glared down her nose at the boys.
"…Us, professor," Leili admitted.
"Sort of," Jo amended.
"Now really, Wood, I expected better of you!" Professor McGonagall chastised. "Starting a fight on tonight of all nights. 50 points from Gryffindor and Slytherin, for your reckless behaviors; in addition you will both receive detention."
Marcus was sent back to his dormitory while Oliver was sent down to the hospital wing so Madam Pomfrey could remove the zipper while Jo and Leili hung around for a bit.
When it became obvious that they were probably going to be ignored for the rest of the night, they decided to head back to their own dormitory.
"Well, that was a bit of a disaster, wasn't it?" Leili sighed, gathering the skirt of her dress, a dark blue ball gown with a sparkling black overlay and a sweetheart neckline, to her hip as she and Jo started down the stairs that led to both the kitchen and their common room.
"A bit, yeah."
A mischievous grin crossed Leilani's face as she asked, "So, what exactly did Marcus say to you to get you to blush?"
"Nothing really. He thanked me for breaking his nose, so there was that."
"He thanked you for breaking his nose?" Leili repeated slowly.
"Yup."
"Aren't they usually upset over something like that?"
"Yup."
"Well, that's distinctly… Odd."
"Yup," Leili looked over at Jo.
"Are all your answers going to monosyllabic 'yup's?"
Silence as Jo thought about it, then, "Yup," they said together.
"Jinx! You owe me a soda," Jo cried happily.
"Ha!" Leili exclaimed with a wide grin, "Gotcha!"
Jo's grin disappeared and she crossed her arms, pouting. "Darn."