Chapter 30: The Yule Ball
Lydia squealed, squirming in her gold dress as Stiles exited her dorm bathroom, adjusting his tie, but only making it look worse. He had always been horrible at tying his tie. "Look at you! Derek is going to have to hide in the bathroom for ten minutes when he sees you!" she shouted, beckoning him over. She adjusted his tie so that it sat squarely between his collar bones and lay flat against the shirt of his dress robes.
Stiles frowned. "Why would he have to hide in the bathroom?" he asked, accepting the Fire Whiskey Cora handed him, grimacing as it slid down his throat.
Rolling her eyes, Lydia explained, "Because he's going to pop a boner and then he's going to have to go take care of it so he doesn't just jump you right there where everyone can see. Your father is going to be there. You two at least have to play it PG-13 while he's looking."
Malia sneered, lounging across Lydia's bed in only a towel. Her dress hung from a hanger at the foot of the bed, but she was steadfastly ignoring it until the absolute last minute that she would have to put it on. "Truth. How much do you guys want to bet that they sneak off in the middle of the ball to fuck? And then come back and act like they weren't doing it in the Room of Requirements?"
Stiles scoffed, ignoring Lydia, Allison, Erica and Cora as their hands shot into the air. "We wouldn't go to the Room of Requirements. That would be way too far for us to go. We'd just end up groping each other against a wall before we got there. If this situation were to occur, and I'm talking hypothetically here, we'd just go out into the courtyard and find a dark corner." Cora released a noise of disgust, and he simply shrugged his shoulders.
"You two are like a newly married couple on their honeymoon without ever having been married. I can't imagine what your actual honeymoon will be like," Allison spoke up, turning to Erica to zip up the back of her dress.
"They'll never leave their room, that's for sure. I'm not sure they'll even eat," Erica said, grinning wolfishly when Allison met her eyes in the mirror they'd set up.
"They'll leave the hotel owners with a broken headboard and maybe a cracked wall too," Lydia said matter-of-factly, looking to Cora, "Cora, darling, come here so I can do your hair for you."
"My hair is fine," Cora whined even as she moved towards Lydia.
Lydia smiled pleasantly. "Not if you're going to be seen with me, it's not." Stiles sighed loudly, drawing the girls' attention back to him. "What are you forlornly sighing for, Stiles?
"I am not forlornly sighing!"
"You are."
"I'm not."
"You are, actually," Kira interjected because she was unsure how long that would have gone on, but she was sure that it would have ended with someone getting hexed. Again. For the fourth time that day.
Rolling his eyes towards the ceiling, Stiles explained, "I don't understand why I'm dressing with you guys. Don't get me wrong, I love hanging out with you girls, but there are also male friends of ours who I could be dressing with. That would at least be more appropriate."
"Appropriate?" Cora shouted incredulously, laughter in her words, "When have you ever cared about being appropriate?"
Ignoring her, Allison said, "Well, you're the other Champion, and Kira and I are dressing together instead of with our schoolmates. It wouldn't seem right without you here too."
"Also, you'd probably be late because you were boning Derek," Malia said, cleaning dirt from beneath her fingernails.
"And we want to keep Derek all edgy and anxious. We spelled everyone so they wouldn't be able to tell him what you looked like in your dress robes," Erica explained, grinning, "It'll be hilarious to see him go from anxious to horny in a millisecond. The look on his face is going to be priceless."
Lydia smirked over her shoulder. "I may have also told him that you'd be wearing crotchless panties for later."
"Lydia!" Stiles shouted. The girls burst into fits of laughter.
…..
"I told you he would look like he got hit by a train!" Cora hissed triumphantly to Isaac whose eyes weren't trained on their alphas, but instead on where Scott was stuttering incoherently to Allison and Kira.
"And I told you he would be more focused on the girls," Isaac muttered back, plucking at his robes, "So that makes our bets null and void."
"What? That's not fair! I totally bet you more for the Stiles and Derek one than the other one!" she protested, "And also, you were dressing with him so it totally doesn't count!"
"Actually, the betting terms were that if you won, I would have to give you/do whatever you wanted, and vice versus for the second bet. As such, it is now canceled out. Also, I dressed with the other Hufflepuffs, not the pack."
Derek and Stiles tuned out their pack's squabbling. They only had eyes for each other. "W-wow, you look..." Derek trailed off, his words failing him as he stared at Stiles. His mouth gaped open, his lips moving in an attempt to form words, but he couldn't find the means to.
"You look pretty good yourself," Stiles said, stepping over to him. He lifted Derek's chin to close his mouth before pressing in close, sealing their mouths together. "You even taste pretty good," he hummed, "What were you eating before this?"
"Chocolate that Lydia, Allison and Kira gave me," Derek said against Stiles' mouth, pressing back together.
When they pulled apart for the second time, breathless and grinning, Stiles said, "We're probably going to regret that later, but for now, let's enjoy ourselves. Whatever they did to the chocolate can't be too terrible, unless Lydia is using it to experiment on us again. Then we should actually be worried, but I can't bring myself to be right now, so..." Flashing his teeth, his eyes suddenly flashing crimson, he pecked Derek on the lips before breaking away, headed towards Allison and Kira.
"Oh! There you three are!" Melissa called, bustling towards them, Sheriff Stilinski hot on her heels. "I thought I'd never find you. What took you so long to get down here?"
"Well, you see, Lydia tried to turn me into a dog because I-" Stiles started, but Melissa cut him, shaking her head.
"Okay, okay, I get it. All you needed to say was Lydia and you. Now, let's get moving." She turned sharply on the rounded toe of her heel, nearly colliding with the Sheriff. Narrowly avoiding him, she darted around him, marching purposefully towards the tall doors of the Great Hall. "Come on, come on, we don't have time for you three to be standing around. Grab your dates and meet me outside the doors."
The three Champions glanced at each other before grabbing the wrist of the respective person they'd decided to conduct the first dance with, dragging their reluctant partners towards the doors. They stumbled out of the crowd, breathing harshly as they stood straight. Stiles glanced at who the other two had chosen to dance with and had to stifle a laugh.
"You guys sure picked... interesting dance partners."
Allison released Ethan's wrist, smiling apologetically. "Oh, thanks, Stiles. What is that supposed to mean anyway?" he snapped.
Beside them, Liam took back his wrist from Kira, rubbing it gently. He blinked at Stiles stonily, unamused in every possible way. "I'm not that bad of a dancer, thanks."
"You're actually pretty good," Kira agreed.
"I just mean that... I thought you guys would dance with Scott and Isaac," Stiles explained, still trying to keep a straight face. He just couldn't imagine these two specific pairs doing anything together, let alone dancing, unless it was with the rest of the pack. They just didn't seem to fit together.
Allison popped her lips thoughtfully, pursing her lips to the side. "Well, I didn't want to decide between Isaac and Scott. They're both important to me, and that would just cause jealousy and/or rivalry. You know boys. And Ethan needed some cheering up, I think. I mean, look at him!" She grabbed his face between her hands, turning it to face Stiles and Derek. "Look at those bags! Look at those blood shot eyes! Look at that sallow skin! This is the look of a very sad man, and we are here to cheer him up!"
Ethan sighed deeply, shaking his head. "You're not going to be able to make me happy. The only thing that can make me happy is forbidden and has severe consequences even if you do do it. On top of that, I don't know anyone who can actually do it."
Giving Ethan a sad smile, Stiles turned to Kira and Liam. "What about you, Kira? You know Malia is going to rip your throat out for touching him. You know how territorial she is, even if she hasn't outright claimed him. It might have been safer for you to choose someone from your school, or maybe the Beauxbatons. Nothing against us, but sometimes Hogwarts boys are a little sketchy."
Kira shrugged. "I'm not trying to steal him. I only need him for one dance."
"Now I feel like a tool," Liam pouted.
"That's because you are a tool, Liam," Stiles said without skipping a beat. The other four grinned, laughing.
"That hurt, Stiles, that really hurt."
"I am so far from sorry that it's not even funny."
They jumped as Melissa popped up beside them, pressing a hand to her chest in relief. "There you all are. We're just about ready to begin the first dance. Come on, line up, line up." She dragged them towards the closed double doors, placing Kira and Liam in front followed by Allison and Ethan with Stiles and Derek pulling up the rear. "The doors will begin to open as soon as the music starts. Once the six of you are situated, they'll start the song for the waltz. You are expected to dance for one whole song, and then you can do as you please after that. Remember, you are acting as representatives for your schools. Act appropriately, but have fun." With a last, fleeting smile, Melissa slipped back into the Great Hall, closing the doors behind her.
"Oh no," Stiles whispered, his eyes wide as he stared over Kira's head.
"What? Is something wrong?" Derek asked, glancing at him out of the corner of his eyes.
Stiles smiled shakily. "No. I'm just getting really nervous all of a sudden."
"I should be the one getting nervous," Derek retorted with a soft smile, "You're going to do fine, Stiles. They won't be able to take their eyes off of you. You enchant everyone who looks at you. You're going to be the center of their attention."
"Oh my wand, don't tell me that! You're just making me more nervous!" Stiles shouted indignantly, glaring over at him, "And your opinion doesn't count because you're biased."
Allison glanced over her shoulder, grinning at him. "No, no, he's completely right. You're like a beacon on a dark night. People can't help, but watch you. It's like you purposefully cast beauty spells on yourself like a lot of actresses I know do."
Stiles whined pathetically. "But I don't. I don't even know any beauty spells. I don't want people to stare at me." Blush was already rising hot along his neck, staining his ears and cheeks.
"You should have told your parents not to make such a pretty son then," Kira said, laughing as she looked at Stiles' face. "You're adorable, you know that."
Stiles was opening his mouth to retort, but the doors started to creak open. Allison and Kira snapped back around, and took the first steps into the Great Hall.
…..
The music was loud and thumping. The lights had been dimmed and black lights had been added. Bodies writhed around them, against them, dancing until they couldn't feel their legs. Stiles and Derek danced against each other in the middle of the rest of the pack, their pack mates doing their best to be touching them at all times.
Fun, they were having fun for the first time in two weeks. They laughed with each other, kissed those who they weren't specifically meant to kiss, and hands found their way towards untoward places. Stiles laughed as Lydia slipped her hand against his stomach, raising a challenging eyebrow at Derek over his shoulder, glancing down to where his hands hadn't left Stiles' rear in over an hour.
Beside them, Jackson, already plastered, danced between Erica and Isaac. He was never going to live that down.
Lydia's eyes went wide with terror. Even over the laughter and the talking and the music, her scream was still piercing, and Liam's screech of, "Hayden!" was clear as an autumn morning.
Somewhere in himself, Stiles had known that their happiness couldn't have lasted, even for a moment.
Yep, you know what that scream means. Also, sorry to those of you who are disappointed I didn't do more with the Yule Ball. I never meant for it to be more than a chapter anyway. Next chapter should be longer. We're headed into the Second Task after this, so hold your covers everyone!