Double Dare

It was finally the day of the Halloween dance. I was wandering around the grounds with Draco. He was moaning about how he had to take Tempest.

"She's dressing up as a damn mermaid!"

I laughed; "that's not so bad!"

"She's going to be waddling about all night"

I laughed even more; "she's going all out?"

"Yeah! It's going to be so embarrassgin!"

"I know...I have to go alone tonight...Poor little me"

He laughed; "whatever, I know you're be trying to hook up with Snape after a while"

I grinned and shrugged; "well...Yeah..."

He laughed and pushed me playfully.

"Do I still have to wait to see what your outfit is?"

"Yup"

"Damn you"

I smirked and draped my arm round his shoulders.

"There there Draco, only a few more hours"

"I guess...So anyway...Will you be getting off with Snape tonight?"

I looked at him sceptically; "something tells me I won't be"

"Really? I mean, you two are pretty much a couple already, all that flirting and whatnot"

I laughed; "alright then?"

"Don't try and deny it! I've seen you two around each other! You forget others can see you"

"...Meh"

He laughed; "is that a win for Draco Malfoy"

"Class it as whatever you want"

"WIN!"

I laughed as he did a victory dance.

"You are such a loser Malfoy"

"You love me"

"That's what you think"

He pretended to be shocked and began 'crying'. I laughed and just ignored him.

"Hey! You're supposed to comfort me!"

"Why? You're crying like a little girl! Comfort yourself!"

"What? How? There's no logic in that response!"

"Yeah, well, there's no logic in your face!"

We laughed.

"Oh dear Lenore, your mind is slowly unravelling!"

"Like a tapestry and some angry kittens!"

I did an impression on a cat clawing at a tapestry. He stopped walking and looked at me as if I'd suddenly grown 10 extra heads. I looked at him questioningly.

"...Yes?"

"Help! This girl has lost her mind!"

I laughed and punched his arm playfully.

"I'm not a complete lost cause yet Malfoy"

He smirked and draped his arm over my shoulders.

"Come on...Let's go...Do...Something"

I laughed and threw his arm off me. We walked back up to the castle. On the way we saw both sets of twins. They were stood in the corner of the courtyard and looked to be plotting. I laughed and looked over at them. Jade noticed me and waved. I waved back. Draco continued walking, mumbling things to himself about the Weasleys. I sighed and jogged after him.

"Your friends fancy the worst people!"

I shrugged; "my friends have a few screws loose...I don't exactly see the attraction with Gryffindor boys"

"Yeah, we Slytherin guys are much sexier"

I burst out laughing; "yeah, Crabbe and Goyle, hot stuff!"

He laughed too; "okay, so there are a few bad apples in the bunch, but some are good"

I shrugged; "I guess some of you are all right"

We wandered around the castle, looking for something to do. I sighed and stopped, leaning on a pillar.

"There's nothing to do! It's too early to get ready for tonight?"

Draco nodded; "it'd be better if you were in Slytherin...We could hang out in the common room"

"Where else can we hang out with comfy sofas?"

He shrugged; "there isn't anywhere"

"...This sucks!"

"Majorly"

I slid down the pillar and sat on the floor. Draco sighed and sat down too. We watched loads of first and second years and girls running around excited for tonight.

"...Not hanging out with Tempest today?"

"NO!"

"...Okay"

He sighed and looked up; "I'm on the verge of just giving up! I can't stand the girl! At first I just put up with it because I had a chance of winning...But now...Snape's totally just wrapped round your finger, you've pretty much won already"

I grinned; "c'mon Draco! You could win! Especially after tonight! Just...Be nice and go for it"

"I don't want to! I actually don't want to hurt her feelings! I don't want her to get attached just for me to dump her as soon as I win"

"Wow, are you getting soft?"

"No! I'm just aware of people's feelings!"

"I'm impressed!"

"Why thank you"

He grinned. I laughed and patted his head.

"Good boy"

He scowled at me and pushed my hand away.

"Don't patronise me whore!"

"Watch your language Malfoy"

We looked up; Snape was walking past. Malfoy rolled his eyes.

"Sorry Professor, I didn't mean to insult your new favourite"

He stopped; "my new favourite?"

I laughed; "Ignore him, he's just jealous you like me more"

Snape smirked; "life's hard"

"I told him that, he's just so darn emotional right now!"

Draco scowled at us. I grinned.

"It's okay Draco! Just let it out!" I said hugging him. Snape smirked and walked on. Draco sighed and glared at me.

"Let go of me before I kick your ass!"

"Bring it!"

We raised our fists and glared at each other before bursting into laughter. We slowed down and sighed loudly in unison.

"...Why's there's nothing to do?"

He shrugged and sighed again. We sat in silence, watching everyone run around.

"You know what...Even though there's about four hours until the dance...I'm gonna go get ready"

Draco laughed; "yeah, I might too"

We parted ways and went to our common rooms. Celeste was lay on her bed grinning to herself.

"Someone's happy...Not with Neville today?"

"Yeah, he's gone to hang out with his friends for now..."

"Okay...You have a look about you of a girl in love"

She giggled and grabbed her teddy bear. I smiled and lay on my bed.

"So...Are you going to entertain me for a few hours?"

She sighed happily. I rolled my eyes and lay there for a few minutes before getting restless.

"Celeste, are you going to do anything other than giggle about how much you love Neville?"

She giggled and squeezed her teddy. I sighed and went to go find something to do. I wandered around the corridors looking for someone or something. I ran into Flitwick.

"Ahh Miss Page, we're not busy are we?"

"No...Are you going to give me a job to do?"

"Well aren't we eager! Yes, I'd like you to deliver these notes" he said hanging me a small pile of envelopes.

"Sure thing Professor"

I looked through the envelopes; McGonagall, Trelawney, Snape, Hagrid...I put Snapes at the bottom and wandered round the school to each office. Finally I got to Snapes. When I went into his office he already had company. Lucius Malfoy was talking to him. They both smiled when they saw me.

"Lenore! How nice to see you!" Lucius said hugging me. I smiled and hugged him back.

"This is a surprise, what are you doing here?"

"I uh, need to talk with Professor Snape, why are you here?"

I held up the envelope.

"I'm playing owl"

Snape smirked and took the letter.

"So, looking forward to Christmas?"

"Yeah...But, it's two months away!"

"No harm in being excited now! I hope you don't mind having to spend it in the company of your grumpy old Potions Master"

I looked at Snape; he smirked and nodded.

"He's gonna be there?"

"Yes"

"...Why?"

"Because..."

I sighed; "you're so secretive! Have you seen Draco?"

"I'm on my way there after this meeting"

"I'll stop interrupting then"

"It was nice to see you again"

"You too Lucius"

He gave me another hug and I left. I wandered back up to the Ravenclaw common room. That errand had killed an hour and a half. When I got in the twins were sat on their beds giggling.

"Any of you girls not too in love to hang out with me?"

They all looked up.

"What do you want to do Lenore?" the twins asked? I shrugged and flopped down on my bed.

"Anything! I'm bored out of my mind!"

"Why don't we dress up ready for tonight?"

"...Then do what?"

"...Take pictures, mess about...Whatever"

I looked at Celeste, she shrugged. I nodded.

"Sure, let's do that"

We spent about an hour getting into our costumes and adding extras such as make-up and hair. Celeste and I looked into our mirror.

"...I love being a pirate, I wish I could be a pirate all the time" I said twirling round. Celeste laughed and nodded.

"Could we wear more layers in winter?"

I shrugged; "sure, whatever floats your boat"

She laughed; "bad pun!"

I looked at her oddly before laughing; "I didn't even mean that as a pun!"

"Whatever! You're just amazingly lame"

"Whatever plant lover!"

She laughed; "old man lover!"

"He's not old! ...Dumbledore, is old. Snape's just older than us..."

She nodded sceptically; "sure thing loser!"

"You're the loser!"

"Prove it!"

We both drew our swords.

"I'll cut ye throat from where ye stand!"

She burst out laughing; "uh, yargh ye won't!"

We began play-fighting with our swords.