Giddy Brew
Chapter 6: Shaking Up the Broom Closet
By: Jondy Macmillan
A/N: I've noticed I'm much more into dialogue and body details than I am scenery in this story, and you'll have to forgive me for that. I think it's because I'm naturally a fanfic writer when it comes to anything Harry Potter, and it's hard to break out of the fanfic mold into original story mold when I'm still in this universe.
The first Hogsmeade Weekend was Halloween Day, ironically the same day as the dance. Prue and Bobby had their costumes all planned out, as did Elanore and Rufus. Serendipity wouldn't spill about hers, but Prue claimed this was because she didn't have one. Her silence only caused Prue and Elanore to keep their own ideas hidden. Undaunted, Serendipity was telling Elanore that Prue was jealous because she was the only person in the sixth year who hadn't kissed a boy for real. Prue had kept very quiet about Cerulean.
Which was why it was very embarrassing when Loupe and Gislaine walked by her that morning, on the way to Hogsmeade, making kissy faces, "And what is that all about?" Elanore inquired, raising an eyebrow.
"I haven't the slightest," Prue replied, flushing red. She stalked towards the Icemen in the Great Hall. Quant was waving a spoon around in the air, more animated than anyone had ever seen him before, Sylvester was sulking next to him, and Casey also looked unnaturally upset. Bobby and Frank weren't at the table.
"Hey, where's Bobby?" When Prue asked, Casey just glared at her. Sylvester gave Serendipity a very mean look.
"Where's Bobby?" Elanore tried, since she seemed to be the only one not on the receiving end of a glare.
"He's talking Quidditch strategy with Frank, I reckon. And it's a good thing, too. You wouldn't want him to know, would you?" Casey said accusingly, looking straight at Prue. Just as he said this, Radovan Glass walked by, making the same sorts of faces at her as Loupe and Gislaine.
"Know what?" Now Elanore and Serendipity were really curious.
"You know," Sylvester said to Serendipity, "I was serious before. You could have come to me before Quince. The prat doesn't deserve to be snogging anybody with the rates he charges."
"That's true," Prue put in sensibly.
"Oh, shush. Sylvester, stop being a crybaby," Serendipity snapped.
"..." Surprisingly, he shut up, never to pursue the subject again in front of the other two Saints. Elanore later suspected this was because Serendipity pulled him aside and whispered in his ear that she would find a nice girl to 'give him some action'. Prue suspected Elanore had a pervy mind.
"Still," Casey demanded, "At least she had good reason to go see Quince! She wanted to prepare herself for January's advances. Then the look on Casey's face became deadly.
"I want to know what your excuse is," he demanded of Prue. Elanore and Serendipity were still looking at him like he was dumb, but Prue could feel a flush rising to her face, "Why were you making out with my brother?"
The entire Great Hall went dead quiet. Hogwarts had always been full of eavesdroppers, and this time was no different. The meager amount of people left in the Great Hall, mostly first and second years, as well as a few smatterings of higher grades, couldn't help listening to Casey's very loud, very irate voice.
"Blimey, keep it down. Do you want the whole school to know?" Prue hissed. The blatant shock written across Elanore and Serendipity's face grew. In fact, Elanore's eyebrows didn't look as if they could rise any higher without disappearing into her dark hairline.
"So you admit it?" Quant asked, surprised.
"Way to go Gelliston!" Caroline Durret called from the Hufflepuff table, "Cerulean Hargrove is way better than Leonardo!"
She flashed Prue a thumbs up sign before leaving with Radovan on her arm. Weakly, Prue smile-grimaced back.
"Well, are you happy? Screaming it across the Great Hall like that?" She quietly asked Casey, "I would have preferred you didn't talk about it at all."
"I would have preferred you kept away from my brother," Casey shot back, "And anyway, you were doing it right in front of the Common Room entrance, did you think no one would see?"
"Who did see?"
"Loupe Barkley, for one. Radovan Glass. Gislaine Ranfree, obviously. Of course they wouldn't tell, being loyal to Cerulean and all. It was Tea-Aquila Zoquin who ended up talking to Cherridy, and he told me." Prue knew Tea-Aquila. She was a fifth year, and a decent Quidditch player, an alternate chaser. She was also Reese O'Malley's cousin by marriage. Obviously, Reese had taught her a few things.
"Why that little snitch, I'm so going to-" Fuming, Prue muttered to herself about wringing Tea-Aquila's neck.
"I can't believe you didn't tell us," Serendipity grumbled, somewhat awed, "After all the times I made fun of you. And Cerulean Hargrove, for god's sake. He's so GL. Major good-looking. That's wicked for you!" Beaming, she went on, "My little Prue's all grown up."
Casey turned his back on her, "You're lucky Bobby wasn't here. Cherridy came up to us, all excited and babbling. Then he let it slip."
Fate did seem to like her. Unfortunately, Casey wasn't all that fond of her. Not that this was a particularly bad thing, but…Time for a change of subject.
"So, why are you so happy?" She asked Quant.
"He got a date," Sylvester put in.
"Just now? I thought you had one!" Exclaimed Elanore. As they talked, they gathered up their things and started walking to the Quidditch field.
"Well, aren't you going to tell us who asked you?" Serendipity wondered.
"It was Fortune Zechs," he replied happily.
"Quant's had a crush on Fortune for the last month or so," Casey finally said, losing some of his tension. He still wouldn't look at Prue. She hadn't thought he'd be this mad. It was odd, really. Hearing the others' laughter without Casey's mixing in.
Hogsmeade was brilliant around Halloween. The Three Broomsticks was decked out in pumpkins and skeletons, and there were hundreds of people milling about the Shrieking Shack, daring each other to get closer and closer.
Aside from the Icemen and the Saints, Rufus, Fortune Zechs, and a few other sixth years from Ravenclaw and Gryffindor had joined their group. Fortune was an average height girl, with skin the color of a paper bag, and near the texture what with the time she spent in the sun. She was the daughter of a famous herbologist who used charmed gems to increase her plants' growth, and helped her mum out an awful lot. It showed in her skin, the blonde streaks in her otherwise dark brown hair, and the dirt that was constantly underneath her fingernails. Already she had convinced Professor Singer into letting the Gryffindor class do all sorts of things that they usually wouldn't get away with. It was almost enough to make Prue wish she was in Gryffindor. Almost.
Also with them were Dana Wingate and her friend, Krit Renfro. Prue adored Krit, but then it was impossible not to. Despite his wiry build and always-messy beach bum hair, there was a light intelligence to his warm sloe eyes that you would never notice at first glance. He was absolutely charming, and obviously adored Dana. She was going to the masquerade with Frank, and Krit was obviously jealous. He kept glaring at the blonde with all his power.
They had barely entered Honeyduke's when Elanore grabbed Rufus's hand and lead him into a jewelry boutique called Silveryce's Fancy. Reading the signs on the door 'buy your honey the honey flavored engagement ring! She'll always think of you when she tastes that sweet nectar', and more corny sayings such as 'Elemental mood rings; feeling glum? Rain on your friends' parade! Fancy the hot weather? It breathes fire when you're happy! It does what you feel!'.
Serendipity snickered, "She's probably getting him to pick out a tiara for her to wear at the library."
Ignoring her friend, Prue looked around at Honeyduke's selection. She stayed far away from Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans; sardines and bogeys weren't her thing. However she did gather up a large supply of sugar quills and a bag of blood flavored lollipops. One of the schools owls seemed to fancy blood, and you could get him to do all sorts of things for you if you gave him something that tasted like it. A lollipop was better than ripping open her skin.
Casey already had a large supply of pepperimps and chocolate frogs, and though she didn't think he'd offer her any at the moment, she still didn't buy any of those. Prue bought a single unbreakable jawbreaker, because the last one had lasted for a year, and even a few Marshmallow men, that inflated when you bit into them. Naturally, she had to buy the butterbeer flavored chocolate syrup to eat them with.
Next they went to the Post Office, so that Dana could send a letter to her father. She didn't have an owl of her own, and for some reason the school owls didn't like her. There they lost her, Krit, Fortune, and Quant. None of them wanted to come into Zonko's Joke Shop. Serendipity actually passed too, saying she had to go back to the castle and work on her costume. Sylvester offered to walk her back.
Casey, Bobby, Frank, and Prue found a large variety of gags to buy, some of which she knew Elanore and Serendipity would kill her for. One of Casey's favorite new acquisitions was a simple blue bit of cloth that transformed to be sharp as a dagger when you tickled a certain part of it. The salesperson was reluctant to give it to a minor, but when Casey offered him an autograph, he let it go. Prue was worried about what he might be doing with such a sharp object.
"You're going to hurt yourself, you know."
"Did I ask for your opinion?" He snarled back.
Bobby and Frank exchanged glances. They had no clue what was going on, "Hey, are you guys fighting?"
"You think?" They shouted in unison, and then looked at each other, then away.
Frank shook his head, "Let's go get a butterbeer and some soup. I'm starving."
They agreed, and wandered over to the Three Broomsticks, pockets bulging with sweets and wet start fireworks. The first thing all four noticed when they walked in the room was Professor Esquiline and the Flavian brothers at one table, heads bent very close together.
Amethyst Esquiline was a saucy twenty three year old with a major scowl on her face all the time. She had long, waist length hair that was always piled up on her head in a ridiculous do, and rhinestone wire frame glasses with no lenses in them. Her robes were always a variation of one color; purple. Once she said the Esquiline family descended from royalty, which was why she always wore royal purple.
Across from her was Tiberius Flavian, the Charms teacher. Far from being a squat little man, Tiberius was overlarge and over pudgy, and definitely over hairy. He had a big mustache that twirled a bit at the ends and hair longer than Amethyst's. Dorniticus Flavian, the Muggle Studies professor, was his complete opposite. Dorny was one year younger than Tiberius, and was short, squat, and balding in a happy Buddha sort of way. He had very few hairs on his head, and those were mostly on his eyelashes. They were pretty long. Neither man was particularly attractive, but Professor Esquiline had them both twirled around her pinkie finger.
Next to their table sat Professor Singer, Professor Snips, and Professor Stellae. Prue liked Professor Singer; like Fortune, she was constantly covered in dirt and the scent of flowers, with graying hair carelessly pulled back and sparkling eyes as well as large buckteeth. Professor Stellae, their astronomy teacher, was a mere wisp of a woman who had flyaway silvery hair and abyssal eyes. She always looked like she might blow right off the Astronomy Tower. Professor Snips was much younger than the rest of them, and would have almost passed as a student. She was a little obese, but had actually transfigured her hair into rainbow strands of wire in stark contrast to her translucent skin.
They caught bits of the three women's conversation, "Nirvana, how goes the quest for Cerberus?"
"Oh, he's come back. I don't know where he goes all the time. If only Muggles realized the constellations actually move on their own, not with the seasons! Chelsie, I wish you'd put your hair back to normal. Grow old like the rest of us!" Professor Stellae replied, then reprimanded Professor Snips.
"No. I refuse to look like you and Yuhvahnya, no offense to either of you. But you both very much resemble my grandmother."
Since their conversation didn't provide the four with anything interesting, they went to find their own table and ordered some Butterbeers from Madame Rosmerta. Ever since Voldemort's attack, Madame Rosmerta had been losing brain cells like tear drops. She had been declared insane by the ministry of magic, but not unfit to work. Even so, the woman still freaked Prue out a little, with her wild eyes and empty gaze.
"Why are you and Casey fighting?" Bobby quietly asked Prue.
"It's not anything important," she told him reassuringly, wishing he'd stop butting in. She loved Bobby like a brother, but ever since she said she'd go to the dance with him, he'd been treating her differently. Prue wasn't sure if she liked it or not. As if wanting to annoy her, Bobby reached for her hand.
Casey huffed and turned towards Frank.
That night, the common room was a blur of fairy wings and werewolf masks, although the girls weren't sure if some of the masks really weren't real. They came down individually, quietly meeting their respective dates and rushing out to the Masquerade. When Prue met Bobby, he didn't say a word. Only after they walked out of the rest of the room's sight did he lean over and whisper, "You look quite nice."
She giggled and smacked him upside the head, "Way to keep a girl in suspense. You're not looking so bad yourself."
To earn the extra points from Dorny, Prue and Bobby had dressed as muggle musicians. Their personas exact names were John Lennon and Yoko Ono. However, Prue initially had serious misgivings about the pair because she hated the Beatles. Naturally, Bobby, who was a rabid fanboy, overruled her. He had allowed her to do some funky thinks with her outfit that Yoko never would have. Prue had her hair strung high above her head with a magnificent amount of glowing orange gems, called carnelian, set against black gold plating, and her micro-mini dress was of a translucent, shimmery material patterned in the same sixties-seventies style as the old muggle woman wore back in the day. She had placed a tiny glamour on her hair to make it back, as well as circled her eyes with black eyeliner so that she looked a bit more like someone from the Far East. Bobby wore round wire framed glasses and a slick black, seventies style suit. He hadn't done anything about his hair, although he was constantly running his hands through it. Personally, Prue thought he looked more like a misplaced mobster than John Lennon.
Serendipity and January waited for them at the entrance of the Great Hall, although not very comfortably. Neither Ravenclaw could help but laugh at their friends. It wasn't that they weren't cute or original. No, both Serendipity and January looked very cute. It was just that they did look more like they wished to take a swim in the lake outside the castle. Their costume idea had been to transfigure themselves into merpeople.
"Well, that wasn't very smart, was it?" Prue asked Serendipity jovially.
Miserably, Serendipity replied, "It seemed like such a good idea at the time."
From her waist down, Serendipity was covered in scales. A thick tail seemed to be growing there, encasing her legs from her thighs to her knees, then jutted out and joined with fins. The part that wasn't attached to her bounced around like rubber on her calves and seemed to hinder any walking movements she tried to make, the same which was true for January. However, she had made up for the impediment wonderfully, adding enchanted pixy dust, glass slippers, and a large amount of shells strung with water lilies meant to cover her voluminous chest. Her hair hung wavy and loose near her shoulders. January was simply bare-chested. Which actually looked nice on him with his broad, wiry chest and dark shock of hair for contrast. Sylvester was standing awkwardly off to the side with them. He wasn't wearing a costume.
"Anyway," Serendipity added, "At least you can't see my underwear."
Prue smirked, "I'm not wearing any underwear."
January and Bobby suddenly fell into an awed silence. As in, they weren't even breathing, "You're not…?"
"I'm wearing biker shorts!" Prue chirped.
This statement was greeted by glares from all directions, "Don't scare us like that! For a second we thought you were like those dirty fourth years. The ones who brought around that rule that our robes have to be past our knees!"
"Not that we'd mind," Bobby put in.
"I thought that rule was brought about by the fact that people whose robes were above their knees looked moronic."
"Well, there's that too. Hey, we better get to the entrance hall!" Serendipity exclaimed. She grabbed January's hand. Prue and Bobby watched them waddle along, following closely behind. Every once in a while, Prue would have to stop and snicker at Serendipity's retreating tail.
More often than not, Serendipity would hear. Finally, sick of Prue's muffled laugh, she whispered, "Sealipificus."
Unfortunately for Bobby, Serendipity's tail got in the way of her wand arm. This only made Prue laugh harder. In fact, she laughed right up until she got to the Great Hall and Serendipity regretfully unsealed Bobby's mouth. Then she saw Casey. Usually, the sight of Casey would have been enough to set her into an even more rambunctious round of laughter.
Except she found his outfit insulting. Really, really insulting. It wasn't that it didn't look rather funny on him. It did. Casey did not make a flattering witch. The thing that rubbed her was the fact that Casey wasn't dressed as a witch. Instead, he had made a mockery of the average muggle girl. He wore a short, pink poodle skirt combined with a white mini skirt that he was using as a shirt over an orange and brown plaid button down. Under the poodle skirt he was wearing a pair of tight stretch jeans. He had tied five pink bows in his spiky orange hair. There were bangles on his right wrist. A sign on his back read 'muggle'.
"D'you think Dorny will award me points for this?" He asked the group cheerfully, not looking at Prue. She noticed that the outfit was completed with red stilettos.
"Are they still not talking?" Sylvester asked Bobby, who shrugged. Serendipity shot Sylvester a warning look. Bobby didn't know about Prue and Cerulean's late night embrace, and it had been decided beneficial to everyone's health that he went on with the ignorant act. Especially Cerulean's. Not that Bobby had a crush on Prue or anything.
"I only ask because Prue looks a bit…well, upset, doesn't she?" This was true enough. Actually, Prue looked positively livid. She was making this funny rumbling noise in the back of her throat. It sounded sort of like a growl.
Casey finally glanced at Prue, "Who the hell are you supposed to be?"
Bad move. Prue didn't reach for her wand; it was still spell-o-taped, so she preferred it stayed in the dormitory. She'd ordered a new one from Ollivanders. But she didn't need a wand. It was easier to pull back her hand and slap him with all her might.
"Bloody-what was that for?" Casey exclaimed angrily. The look in his eyes was half murderous.
Taking a deep breath, Prue shrieked, "WHAT IN THE WORLD WERE YOU THINKING? Did you think it would be amusing, dressing as a muggle girl? Never mind that you're making fun of all my friends back home! Never mind that you've no idea what a real muggle girl is like! How could you, when you sleep through muggle studies? You never think, do you? You could be dressed as me! I hate you, Casey!" With that said, she stomped away.
"Wow, you really pissed her off, didn't you Hargrove?" Bobby asked wondrously.
"Go follow your date, Bobby. Otherwise she might get lost and wander into some other guy's arms," Casey snarled.
"Uh, January, Bobby, lets go!" Serendipity pulled the two boys into the Great Hall, despite Bobby's protests. Dark Symphony was playing, and for a second she lost herself to Orpheus Vaughn's gently swaying hips as he moaned on the tiny platform stage. He was dressed, or rather undressed like a ghost. Orpheus had perfect white skin, to match his shining white hair, and had enchanted his eyes so that they glowed silver-white. Only a short pair of white satin boxers covered his body, and they left nothing to the imagination. Next to him, Polaris pounded out a few notes, clothed in his usual black attire. He had added a black cape for effect, and Serendipity supposed he was a vampire. Noah was in a similar state of undress to Orpheus's. He had rubbed something oily all over his body to give it an unearthly glow, and donned blue satin breeches that sprouted tufts of golden hair. On his feet were furry slippers with claws sprouting from the toes.
"A ghost, a vampire, and a werewolf. How unoriginal can you get?" Casey muttered. Serendipity hadn't noticed him following her.
"Leave them alone," she snapped, "You're just jealous that they got to play the masquerade."
"What's to be jealous of? Moaning is not music!"
"Look, it's Prue you have an argument with, not me. So please do us all a favor and shut it."
Casey looked a bit taken aback. Bobby frowned, "What's with you girls tonight? You're awfully emotional."
"They might be having female problems. But do they do that in packs?" Sylvester asked.
Serendipity smacked him, hard. On stage, Orpheus let out a particularly mournful sound. Casey shook his head again, "That's not music. It's noise."
"Hey, there's Prue!" Sylvester had spotted the angry witch next to Frank, Quant, and Elanore. Frank looked pretty good, much to the group's surprise. He was dressed in a rather snazzy suit and black sunglasses, twirling a toy gun in his hand. Dana was wearing a slinky silver dress and spiky heels. Quant had Fortune hanging off his arm, but neither was in costume. They looked like they had just fallen out of a greenhouse, with dirt and leaves in their hair, and a few large flowers in Fortune. Elanore was dressed in some kind of fancy, medieval looking ensemble with gold and white embroidery.
"Prue!" Bobby snaked an arm around her waist. Glancing quickly at Casey and huffing, Prue didn't make him remove it. Casey looked at Frank, "What are you supposed to be?"
"James Bond, right?" Bobby asked, "And you're one of the Bond girls?"
Dana nodded her dark head, "You got it baby."
"We're trees!" Fortune declared, hugging Quant's arm tightly.
"And you?" Serendipity asked Elanore, looking curious.
"I'm a queen. My outfit matches Rufus's. But I don't know where he disappeared to…" she replied sadly.
"Rufus totally ditched her for the other Hufflepuffs. It's because she's been putting out." Frank said knowledgeably. This lead to a variety of different reactions.
"You didn't tell us?" Serendipity asked, annoyed.
"You've been slutting around? ELANORE! You're all grown up!" Prue exclaimed.
"Gee, is that a theme with Ravenclaw girls?" Casey wondered, looking at Prue. She pointedly ignored him.
"Way to go Rufus!" Bobby and Sylvester gave each other high fives, since Rufus wasn't around to hear their congratulations.
"Elanore, I never would have thought I'd see this kind of unmoral behavior from you!" Fortune chided.
"Well you two look like you've been having a time of it the greenhouse. Quant, wipe that grin off your face unless you actually have done something!" Dana told the couple.
"It's not like you aren't the little ho," Fortune retorted, "What with Frank on your arm when you had a different one two days ago."
Sounding miffed, Dana replied defensively, "Frank's being gentlemanly because my former boyfriend and I had a…disagreement."
"He didn't like the dress?" Sylvester wondered.
"I have not been putting out!" Elanore finally got a word in. She looked somewhat scandalized by the suggestion, "What kind of a girl do you take me for?"
"Prue," Casey responded promptly. Prue looked like she wanted to slap him again. Wisely, Casey didn't make anymore smart aleck remarks after that. Bobby didn't hear what Casey said. He was too busy ruffling his lovely golden tresses. There were some odd similarities between Bobby and Apollo that Prue didn't want to think about. For a moment, their entire group was silent.
The crowd was moving, writhing, around them. For the first time, they noticed the glowing pumpkins that hovered over their heads, carved with gruesome faces in traditional Halloween fashion. The darkness of the hall increased their awe, combined with the soft lyrics Orpheus was now singing. After a second, Quant lead Fortune away to a corner, where the two swayed in time to Orpheus's slowly gyrating hips. Serendipity was enamored with the sight of her love god, so much so that even January couldn't draw her attention from him.
Prue would have rather stared at Noah's dreamy body as well, but Bobby was tugging at her hand, "Let's dance."
Questioningly, Prue looked at Elanore, who said huffily, "Oh, you go! I'll find Rufus. The tosser probably wandered into a group of his pratty friends, and they're discussing Quidditch as we speak."
"I don't think you should," Casey objected, his voice soft.
"No one asked you, Hargrove!" Bobby replied gruffly, and Prue realized neither one looked like they were joking.
"It's just a dance," she told Casey. It occurred to her that she was still mad, but beneath the dim lights, Casey looked like a little boy. Or a really ugly little girl. If there was one thing Prue had a weakness for, it was little kids.
"Yeah man," Bobby interjected, giving Prue a strange look, "Nothing to get upset about."
"Go! Dance! I don't care," Casey stalked away, presumably to find his brothers.
And so they did. They danced to the soft song, then to the speedy one following it, and to the one after that. Neither could dance very well, but they had fun looking like idiots. Sylvester finally got Serendipity to throw down, and Elanore had found a dance partner in Perseus Elroy, a cute Gryffindor boy with a mass of black curls, dressed in a toga. Absently, Prue registered the fact that she'd seen Rufus twice now, every time Bobby swung her by the dark corner where Quant and Fortune had taken to snogging. He was dressed like a knight, and the girl he was with resembled a damsel in distress. Except she wasn't a damsel, her name was Seldom Rose. Her hair was long and paler than anyone else's, even Orpheus. Every time Prue and Bobby danced by, their faces got closer and closer together. It was only a matter of time before Elanore noticed, but Prue hoped Perseus could keep her friend happy and distracted for a while longer.
Casey was nowhere to be seen, but among the writhing mass, Prue spotted Seprie's dirty blonde hair lit with pixy lights, and Antoinetta's tiara. The two girls danced right in front of the stage, and every now and then, they'd wave seductively to Orpheus and Noah. Even though Prue's life ambition was to make Noah Weslen fall madly in love with her, she couldn't bring herself to care at that moment in time. Neither could Serendipity, she saw. The redhead was wrapped up in January's arms, swaying gently to the music. She also noticed Dirk and Gethesemane grinding off to Antoinetta and Seprie's right. Quince and Francesca Feehan were sitting on the steps of the stage, very interested in exploring each other's anatomy. Prue was surprised none of the Professors were around. The masquerade was sure to spiral out of control very fast with out them.
And in that way, the night was good.
Right up until Bobby offered to go grab them drinks. Prue was sweating like a pig, of course, so she agreed instantly. Then Cerulean waltzed up, "Cheers, Prue."
"Um," Prue searched for words. She hadn't talked to Cerulean since the week before, and wasn't really keen to embarrass herself in front of the only guy she'd ever kissed. Quince's peck-on-the-lips not withstanding.
Helen Carter was peering over his shoulder. She was dressed like a Viking, in shiny aluminum foil armor and her hair in thick pigtails. Cerulean wore a dark blue jumper with brown cargo pants and Birkenstocks, "I'm Professor Laedere," he explained, tipping his wire-rimmed glasses at her.
"You know Helen, right? She's on the Gryffindor Quidditch team."
"I know. Hey, Helen." Prue nodded toward the larger girl.
"Gelliston," Helen replied curtly in greeting.
"I don't suppose you've seen my little brother anywhere? Cherridy, I mean. He showed up with that Matilda Robins girl dressed as a pumpkin. They made a rather cute couple, and I suspect they've gone off to explore a broom closet somewhere," he winked at Prue, "They're great for privacy. All that darkness, the smell of Quidditch in the air…"
She really couldn't believe he was hitting on her in front of his date. And she did not want to invoke the wrath of Helen Carter. Prue was strong, but Helen was twice her weight and possibly height. Not really good odds. Frantically, she looked for Bobby. He was absorbed in conversation with Frank over by the punch table. Stone, she thought, this isn't the time for small talk.
Helen was looking sort of mad, and not at Cerulean. Luckily for Prue, Casey arrived, "Cerulean, are you molesting my friends again?"
"Gee, my knight in shining armor," Prue said sarcastically, trying not to show how happy she was to see him. It wasn't that she didn't like Cerulean. He was right up there on her list of hotties with Noah. The thing was, she wanted to keep her life, and Helen didn't seem keen on letting her.
"No little brother, I'm flirting. You should try it some time. Who knows, you might get a girl. Have you seen Cherridy?"
"Nope. You should go. I want to dance with Prue," Casey told him matter-of-factly.
"You should have said so. As for you, girl, I'll be seeing you," Cerulean grinned arrogantly at Prue. She tried not to swoon, or do any of those stupid things girls always do in romance stories when the guy they lust after is flirting with them in front of his date and little brother. Helen cast her a final glare as she obediently followed Cerulean off into the sea of dancers.
"Well you saved my butt from the Amazon. Do you want me to thank you or smack you first?"
"Oh, are you still annoyed at me? Too bloody bad. I want you to dance with me. Don't worry, Bobby's stuck in an argument with Frank over whether the Cannons will ever beat anyone. Dana's pretty into it too. Frank's lucky he's got himself such an understanding girl."
Casey took hold of one of Prue's hands, and wound his other arm around her waist, "Muggles and wizards dance the same way, don't they?"
She shivered beneath his steady gaze, "I guess so. Why are you acting so serious?"
"What can I say?" He laughed dryly, "I'm a serious guy."
"So you forgive me about Cerulean?"
"I'll never forgive you for that. It wasn't really your fault in the first place. Cherridy talked to me before he vanished with Matilda. I suppose someone told him I was mad at you."
"Imagine that. I thought you said you hadn't seen Cherridy."
"I needed to get rid of Cerulean, didn't I? Cherridy made a rather cute pumpkin, the little bugger."
"You know you're still a giant prat, right?"
"And you're still a stubborn git," Casey replied easily, leaning his forehead against hers.
"Great, we're a real pair, aren't we?" Prue wondered, meeting his eyes.
Orpheus's sweet voice filled the sudden silence.
"I really can't think of anything to say," Prue laughed nervously, pulling away and looking for Bobby. He was still talking. She felt Casey's warm body against hers, and shivered again.
"Then don't talk at all, Gelliston. Just dance with me, even if it's only this once. You look nice, by the way."
Prue thought of saying something, but then remembered how she yelled before, "I'm sorry I yelled at you…"
Casey had put a finger up to her lips, "I thought I told you not to talk."
So she didn't, for fear that he'd find other ways of silencing her using Cerulean's method. Or more, in anticipation that he would. For a second she thought he would. His lips came so close that her heart felt like it would beat its way out of her chest. At the last minute, he pulled away, to her dismay. For the love of the goddess, she told herself, you don't want to snog Casey. Just dance with him. The way her heart thumped in reply wasn't such a good sign. There was no way she could be falling for Casey. After all, she had Noah and Cerulean to dream about, not to mention Bobby. But Casey?
Prue's objections didn't hold up very well in her heart, although they won in her mind. The colors whirled around and around, as Casey and Prue slowly made their way across the dance floor. And Bobby never did escape his conversation. Which wasn't a bad thing, in the end.