"We're going to run out of time," Jemma sighed and dropped the box back onto the table. Skye had handed it over to her and Fitz again to try and figure out, but they were no closer to figuring out what it was or how to open it than they were the day after the first task. It had been almost a month, and they had nothing. There was only a little more than a month and a half left before the next task, so Jemma was already beginning to panic a little bit.
"We'll figure it out." Fitz said confidently beside her. He picked up the box and turned it over in his hands as if he'd somehow see something new. They'd looked in every book they thought could possibly help, but there'd been nothing.
Jemma didn't feel like eating tonight, she'd been too focused on the box and she and Skye had already had a bunch of candy in the attic earlier that day. She shifted her eyes and let them land on Skye across the hall at the Slytherin table. She knew the other girl was still having some trouble sleeping, but it was clear that she had been getting a bit better because she didn't look as completely as exhausted as before.
"I haven't found anything either." Bobbi suddenly announced herself as she sat next to Jemma, her own black box in hand. Thanks to the second boggart, Jemma knew that Skye was worried about her and Bobbi, but she wasn't going to let that stop her from being friends with her. If she listened to Skye's jealousy before, she would have never had Fitz, so she remained friends with Bobbi as well.
It was true. Skye still wasn't getting the quality of sleep she used too, but thanks to having told Jemma what had happened, some of the weight had been lifted. She didn't have nightmares every night now, only a few nights, but she still slept in the attic with special permission from her Prefect. No one enjoyed waking up in the wee hours of the morning so it was the best deal for everyone. She was trying hard not to worry about the box, but she could tell that Jemma was starting to get panicked. Even Fitz couldn't figure it out, and the two of them together were like the wonder-wizarding duo.
Skye was sitting alone at the Slytherin table. Her quidditch mates were around her, but they had stopped talking to her ever since she failed the test. Slytherin's didn't come in last and she was acutely feeling the ramifications of it. No, now she got to stare at Jemma and Bobbi from across the room all by her lonesome, although Trip did keep making silly faces at her from the Gryffindor table to cheer her up. It made her smile enough to not mind.
Jemma had given him a stern talking too after finding out he was the one who had given her the book on dark magic. Skye had heard all about it and how he had been turned in and had to give the book back to the library. Even got points docked from Gryffindor. Only fifty, but fifty could mean a lot in the long run. She found it amusing. As the food magically appeared onto the table, Headmaster Coulson stood up before anyone could grab any.
"Ladies and gentlemen, the first task of the Triwizard Tournament has come and gone. After winter break in February, the second Task will take place. I know that all of you are excited to witness it, but before any of that there is another aspect of the Tournament for which you all need to be preparing." There were some 'oohs' and 'ahhs' and speculation in hushed tones about what it could possibly be. Skye herself was quite interested. What else could they possibly ask of her to do that could be any worse than the tasks?
"The Yule Ball traditionally accompanies the Triwizard Tournament and this year will be no different. The Ball is to be held the night before winter break begins and is the formal highlight of the tournament. All are encouraged to attend. More information will be distributed in your classrooms and posted outside of the great hall as the event draws closer."
There were some more murmurs followed by some happy cheering as well as those who sounded like formal dancing was the worst thing in the world. Skye was one of those people. She did not enjoy formal dances. She was more interested in the free spirit muggle sort of dancing that went on at parties and raves, not weddings and ballrooms. Still, she didn't even know if Jemma liked to dance.
Skye's eyes shot over to the Ravenclaw table where Jemma was still sitting with Bobbi. What if she asks her first?! Idiot, Jemma wouldn't say yes. She's dating you, duh. Skye's brow furrowed and she took a biscuit from a bowl and shoved half of it into her mouth while she chewed angrily. But Bobbi would certainly have the balls to ask, Skye knew that much. She hadn't been flirting with her nonstop for no reason. Certainly this must be a goal, to get Jemma to go to the dance with her. That had to be her endgame.
Stop thinking about it! Jemma is going to go with you. You don't even like dancing but you are going to suck it up because Jems will look so cute and hot in a fancy ass dress. You can live through it. Skye sighed and tore her gaze away, filling her plate with some other food. She wasn't too hungry though, after all the candy she and Jemma had eaten earlier. They would need to make a new trip to Honeydukes to restock soon.
As soon as Headmaster Coulson announced the Yule Ball, Jemma could feel something shift in the girl next to her. She suddenly remembered that strange image from the first task of the boggart version of herself and Bobbi, and she had to blink twice to shake the image from her mind. Bobbi moved slightly in her seat and Jemma felt her heart begin to race a little. Bobbi wouldn't ask her to the ball, would she? That would be really awkward. Her usual planned rejection line from the few times another guy had asked her out was "Sorry, I'm gay," but that wouldn't exactly work in this case.
She wasn't stupid, she knew by now that Bobbi and Skye absolutely hated each other and should never be within ten yards of each other, so she tended not to talk to Bobbi about Skye or to Skye about Bobbi. If the tall blonde did ask her, she'd have to undergo a terribly awkward conversation about how she couldn't go with anyone else because Skye was her girlfriend. She'd probably end up spending the evening of the ball in the attic with Skye, she wasn't sure her girlfriend was even going to ask her. These types of events weren't really her scene. On the other hand, if Bobbi asked, would she be offended that Jemma wasn't planning on going with anyone but still declined? If Skye didn't ask her to go anyway, would she be offended if Jemma went with Bobbi?
Jemma had to remind herself that all of this depended on whether or not Bobbi actually asked her, which hadn't happened yet. She shouldn't even be worrying about this until it actually happened, especially when there were so many more important things to think about. She couldn't let herself become an annoying, hormonal teenage girl who had nothing to obsess about other than the school dance. That wasn't her.
"Hey, Jemma?" Bobbi caught her attention. Jemma could feel her pulse racing and she really didn't want to have to deal with an awkward situation. The blonde's voice was different than it usually was. Normally, she sounded confident and proud, but Bobbi's slightly nervous, unsure tone made Jemma uncomfortable.
"I'm sorry, I think I left one of my books in the library earlier." Jemma blurted out before Bobbi could get any further. It was a total lie and she was pretty sure Bobbi knew it, but she needed to talk to Skye before she could deal with Bobbi asking her to come to the ball. She needed to plan, it's what she did. She needed to know what Skye was going to do and how she would feel before she could even think about deciding what she was going to be doing that night. She took the black box back from Fitz and quickly gathered her things, leaving her stunned friends behind as she rushed off towards the library for refuge.
By the time Skye looked up to see what Jemma and Bobbi were up to again, all she could see was Bobbi, sitting by herself along with Fitz, who looked rather taken aback. Her eyebrow rose in confusion as she quickly scanned the table, and finding no Jemma, her eyes darted to the door in just enough time to see the light brown haired girl rush out. It was highly unlike Jemma to leave before dinner was even over, since they waited for each other outside afterwards practically every night. She looked back to Bobbi, with what was most certainly a glare. What had she said to Jemma? Had she tried to ask her to the dance? So soon?!
The brunette jumped up from the table and sprang over the bench. She hastily chased after Jemma, through the great hall doors and into the hallway. She was probably heading towards the library and when Skye looked, she had been correct. Jemma was heading in that direction. She raced after her and before they could turn down the other hall, Skye reached out and caught Jemma's arm.
"Jemma? Are you alright? What's going on?" The Slytherin girl asked, finally managing to stop the girl's dash to the library. "What is it? It's unlike you to just get up and leave…" Skye held her arm gently, slowly guiding her hand down to hold Jemma's hand instead. She wanted to ask if Bobbi had said or done something, but she refrained...for now.
Jemma nearly jumped out of her skin when she felt a hand on her arm, but she was relieved to find that it had just been Skye. She found herself stumped by her girlfriend's questions. She couldn't just tell her what she was thinking, it was too ridiculous. She knew that Skye absolutely hated Bobbi and she wasn't sure what the brunette would do if Jemma voiced her suspicions about Bobbi wanting to ask her to the dance. She didn't really want Skye to know, she wanted to know if Skye was going to ask on her own. She definitely didn't want Skye asking her to the dance just to beat Bobbi. If they were going to go, she wanted it to be because they both wanted to.
"I… uh, I left a book in the library." She sputtered out the same lame excuse she had used on Bobbi. Her eyes darted to the floor before returning to Skye's eyes, hoping to maybe at least seem a little honest.
Skye frowned, but it was only a half frown, because really the other part of her wanted to grin. Jemma was absolutely, without a doubt, the worst liar Skye had ever met. Her eyes always looked around, she fiddled with her hands, she blushed. Yeah, she was lying. The brunette shook her head and sighed, deciding to smile instead.
"Yeah, I think we both know that you didn't leave a book in the library. One, that's really unlike you, and two, I know you're lying. Your nose is red," Skye finished, grinning, and nodded towards the hall. "We can go to the library, but you're going to tell me what's wrong."
Jemma blushed even more furiously than she had been before because she'd been caught so easily. She really needed to get better at lying. She just nodded and squeezed her girlfriend's hand. Finishing the walk to the library and the attic would give her enough time to come up with a more believable reason for her to get up and leave during dinner.
"Nothing's wrong, exactly…" Jemma felt she needed to at least keep Skye from worrying. It really wasn't that something was wrong, she was just a little confused about what she was going to be doing the night of the Yule Ball and she was too embarrassed to bring it up. They continued to walk down the empty hall and Jemma struggled to find the words to finish her thought. She came up blank, so she let silence take over and continued walking with her eyes on the ground.
Skye let them walk in silence the rest of the way to the library and even so far as the enchanted door to let them up into the attic, but once she had climbed up the ladder after Jemma she began her mission anew.
"Well, if nothing is wrong then why did you run out?" Skye asked, trying to be patient with Jemma like she had for her so many times before, but Skye wasn't the patient person. Jemma was. And her question about Bobbi was right on the tip of her tongue. She bit it.
"It's just unusual for you is all, to run out so fast. I thought you were just going to wait like normal. Oh, did you figure something out about the box?" Skye asked instead of asking about Bobbi. It was a very good possibility that she had gotten a clue instead. Skye hoped that was it.
"Like I said, it's not a problem, just a thought." Jemma sat down on the couch and leaned all the way back into the worn in cushions. Maybe she did have a way out of this without telling Skye everything. Why did Skye have to be the one to ask her to the ball? It wasn't like they had set roles to play.
"Are we going to… Would you like to…" It felt like Jemma's face had been sunburnt and she knew she was probably completely red at this point. Even now, when they were dating, asking Skye out was much easier said than done. Well, it wasn't easy to be said, either, apparently. The Slytherin girl had always been the one to do all the asking. "Do you want to go to the ball?" Jemma finally blurted out. About ninety percent of her was actually expecting Skye to not want to go at all. She knew Skye didn't like that kind of thing, and now she even felt a little stupid for asking.
Skye was confused at first, with Jemma stumbling through her words it was hard to tell what the problem was until the girl finally got it out. Then a warm smile crept over her lips and the brunette even chuckled a little.
"Look at this. Jemma Simmons is asking me to the daaance," Skye drew the sentence out in a sarcastic, teasing tone as she stepped closer to the shorter girl on the couch and took both of her hands in her own. She had been about to ask Jemma the same thing anyway, so the desired effect was in fact, achieved. Still, she didn't think asking her out to the ball warranted Jemma rushing out from dinner. It could wait a moment. Right now Skye was just enthralled with how adorable her girlfriend was being.
"Since you asked so nicely then, yes. I would love to go with you," Skye smiled and quickly shot down and wrapped her arms around the girl, tickling at her sides before she fell onto the couch herself.
"Skye, stop it!" Jemma laughed, trying and failing to slap away the other girl's hands. The only way to stop the attack was to fight back, so the smaller girl threw herself at Skye, tackling her and pinning her shoulders to the couch in a weak attempt to stop the tickling.
"Oh no! I've been trapped," Skye chuckled, rolling her eyes at Jemma and letting herself be 'pinned' down. The girl above her was so small she doubted she could hold even a rabbit down if she wanted to. Skye acted quickly, wrapping her arms back around Jemma's waist and pulling her down tightly with a cunning smirk, "Oh, looks like you're trapped too. How...unfortunate," Her grin widened and her fingers spread out and tickled Jemma again. When Jemma moved her head to the side to try and escape, Jemma would feel a set of teeth nip at her neck. Skye could put their issues on hold for a minute or two.
Jemma gasped in surprise and pushed down against Skye's shoulders, but the brunette's arms wrapped firmly around her waist weren't letting her move very far away. After she felt a few more teasing kisses on her pulse point, however, she accepted her fate and let her body relax and mold into Skye's like it belonged there, because it did. She drew her face away for only a moment, just long enough to get Skye to pause so that she could make a move herself. Jemma's hands moved to the cushion on either side of Skye's head so she could prop herself up above the brunette. Her lips met Skye's and she felt the familiar warmth that always traveled through her body whenever she was with Skye like this. The kiss was playful, as Jemma could feel both of their mouths stretched into small smiles and she gently bit the other girl's bottom lip as a reward for finally letting up on the tickling.
Skye grinned into the kiss. They were being playful, and she loved it when they were cute and snuggly adorable like two peas in their little old ratty couch pod. Biting lips was a game changer though. Skye could switch moods in an instant. She had actually let out a tiny satisfied moan. Something about having her lip bitten was just something that Skye couldn't get used to, in the best way possible. Just like when Jemma messed with her ears. Sometimes Jemma minded these quick changes, and sometimes she didn't. Skye just had to see which it was today.
Her arms loosened from around Jemma, but they did not leave her. They slid down to her waist and held there rather firmly, a good indication of what Skye was about to ask for. Skye was biting her own lip now, debating on whether or not they even had time for this. Of course they had time. They had left dinner early. Skye had already begun her new assault on Jemma's neck, kissing and nipping there again in a less playful manner than before, when she remembered.
That's right. They had left dinner early. Jemma had run out. Surely she hadn't rushed away so quickly just to ask her to go to the ball with her. That seemed silly and Jemma could have waited till after dinner for that. So why had she actually run off? Bobbi. Skye bit down on Jemma's neck a little harder than she meant to.
Jemma felt a sharp pain on her throat and yelped, pulling away from Skye and pressing her palm against her stinging skin. Usually she liked Skye biting- loved it, actually- but this one kind of hurt. She searched Skye's face for an answer or an explanation for why she'd just bitten her with so much force. Skye looked annoyed, angry even, and Jemma knew the mood had been killed. She scrambled off of Skye when she abruptly sat up.
"What was that?" She asked, still rubbing the sore spot on her neck. It was definitely going to leave a mark.
"An accident," Skye answered, though it didn't sound like much of an apology. Her arms were crossed over her chest. She couldn't hold her tongue anymore, no matter how much she would have liked the previous situation to continue.
"You still ran out, and we both know you didn't run out just to ask me to the stupid dance. What did Bobbi say to you? What did she do? Did she ask you first? Could you not just say no, so you had to go get an excuse?" She was upset, the words coming out perhaps a little more bitter than she had meant them to but it had to be true. There would be no other reason for Jemma to try and lie about it and then distract her.
"No, Bobbi didn't say anything." Jemma answered quickly, not wanting Skye to get the wrong idea. This whole thing had been blown way out of proportion, all because she thought that maybe Bobbi would ask her. "I just… I thought she was going to." Jemma shrugged and looked down at her hands in her lap. This whole thing was stupid, she should have just stayed at dinner.
"So you just left instead of saying no? You ran all the way to the library to avoid saying no? I'm pretty sure the conversation 'Oh sorry blondie I have a girlfriend' is a pretty easy one to have, Jemma. You didn't have to rush here and ask me first just to have an excuse. Or were you just too nervous? Because I don't like dances you thought you'd see if I want to go and if I didn't then you would just go say yes to her?" Skye was upset. Clearly. She was already off the couch and pacing around like she did when she was mad. She was probably flying off the handle a little too soon but she didn't care. The Slytherin girl was a terrible green monster, she might as well have been the wicked witch of the west.
Jemma felt the accusations hit her hard. This was a complete and utter misunderstanding, it shouldn't have even gotten this far.
"No, that's not it at all!" She said urgently, hoping she was going to be able to get Skye to calm down enough to listen and understand. She knew that wasn't very likely, though. "I ran out of the great hall because I didn't want Bobbi to ask me." She tried to explain. She jumped off the couch and stood in Skye's pacing path to try and stop her. Her girlfriend clearly didn't look any less upset by this, so Jemma decided to elaborate and just explain. She'd rather be a little embarrassed and admit what she was thinking then have Skye be angry with her.
"I didn't want Bobbi to ask me because I was afraid you were going to ask me just out of jealousy. I want you to come because you actually want to. That's why I asked you before you knew about Bobbi, so you wouldn't just say yes because you didn't want her to try and take me." Jemma explained in a rush, not even sure Skye understood all of it because she'd been talking so quickly. Every second her girlfriend remained silent, her anxiety grew.
"I'm pretty sure that we have already established that my jealous issue with Bobbi is an issue, or have you already forgotten my first task?" Skye asked, shoving her hands into her pockets and sitting down on the couch. "I, yeah, I probably would have asked because of that anyway, but that doesn't mean that I don't also just want to go with you. I mean I might not like this stuff but I know that you do and the Yule ball is a pretty big deal…" The brunette bit her lip and shook her head, "Whatever. I'll go if you want to go. I already said yes, so you can go tell your stalker no now."
Jemma knew Skye's words weren't supposed to hurt, but they still did. It was pretty clear that Jemma was the only one of them that actually wanted to go. She didn't want to force Skye to come with her, and clearly going as friends with Bobbi was not an option. Going alone wouldn't be any fun, so maybe she'd just stay in that night.
This was exactly what she thought would happen. Skye would never really want to go to a dance with her, she should have known. Even if Bobbi wasn't a factor her girlfriend would still only be coming to please her. It was stupid to think that Skye would ever want to go to something like this anyway. It just wasn't her.
"We don't have to go." Jemma said quietly, gathering her things. "I'm just going to go back to the common rooms, curfew is soon anyway." She clutched her bag tightly and left the attic without looking at Skye. They'd been fighting too much recently, and now they were fighting about stupid things like a school dance. She really wished they could just go back to last year.
Skye huffed, staying seated on the couch as she watched Jemma go. She laid down on her new 'bed' for the past few weeks, arms behind her head as she stared up at the ceiling. That wasn't supposed to have happened. She just blew up again and although she was still bitter about it, Skye still wanted to make Jemma happy. She would go to the dance if that's what Jemma wanted.
"Stupid, you had to be jealous and make shit complicated…"