I See You

*Scorpius' Point of View

I couldn't make myself sit still. It had taken me about half an hour to get ready for the Ball, including the shower, and then I'd had nothing to do but wait. I tugged at the collar of my tux, glad I'd taken the time to buy them in Muggle London rather than wear dress robes. Adam, sitting next to me, had also forgone the robes his mum had bought him, and looked as relaxed and in control as always. I envied him his calm.

A group of my friends and I had decided to go dateless. Fredrick had gone on about some rubbish along the lines of not getting tied down to a woman. What a crock. Adam was the same, but it was different when he did it - he never pretended to be anything other than what he was. I obviously had different reasons for not taking a date, but I didn't particularly feel the need to clue anybody in.

Still, I took a deep glug of firewhiskey as it was passed around, gratified when the nervous feeling became muted, if only slightly. There was only one person on the planet who could make me feel this nervous.

I glanced up at the quiet whisper of 'oohs' and'ahhs' from the girls around us. I frowned and looked where everybody else was - the girls' staircase. And my mind shorted out. Just wiped itself clean.

Wow. Just wow.

One of the girls was definitely Victoria, in full black goth complete with mask, and she was towing another, more reluctant girl behind her. I frowned when I couldn't immediately place who she was. There were very few people I didn't know in my year, and it immediately began to bug me.

She was undeniably beautiful, with long, dark golden curly hair tumbling over her shoulder in a loose braid and a floor-length grey satin dress which trailed after her as she stumbled down the steps. But her body was still graceful and the eyes behind the white mask were wide and sparkled in the light.

Just as she reached the bottom I caught sight of the eye-pendant necklace. I stood up and craned my neck to see her disappear into the masses of well-dressed people. No... can't be...

But it was - I'd seen the necklace, and now that I noticed, it couldn't have been anyone else - the hair colour, her body... her clumsiness...

"Later, gents!" I called over my shoulder to my friends, suddenly grinning. I dove off into the crowd as everybody began moving towards the door to the dungeons. [Oh, give me a break, I thought, exasperated as somebody elbowed me in the back.

I wasn't going to call out her name like a total fool. There was no way she'd hear me over the excited babbling of the crowd anyway. I resigned myself to the fact that I'd have to catch up to her in the Great Hall.

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*Mona's Point of View

I was starting to feel quite merry and mellow. In fact, I was pleasantly surprised to find that the crowd pressing in on me didn't bother me so much when I had a bit of alcohol in my system. I didn't feel overwhelmed at all as I danced with Victoria and a couple of our dorm mates, Aurora and Valerie. They were indifferent to me and I to them; it worked.

Now, alcohol wasn't actually allowed in the castle (well, for students anyway), but nobody seemed to care very much. Bottles were being passed around with flagrant disregard for the rules, and I couldn't even name half the drinks I'd had shots of.

Actually, I think the dancing was making it worse. I started to feel a little wild, and Victoria and I danced with abandon. I felt confident here on the dance floor - though I'd never done it in front of people, I'd always been able to dance well and listen to the rhythm. There was little chance of making a fool of myself here.

"Well look at you!" Victoria yelled delightedly over the music. "Shake that thang!" I grinned; this wasn't so bad, this socializing thing. I vowed to get out more as Victoria brandished a bottle that seemed to have appeared out of nowhere. The music pulsed and what looked like live fireflies dove in and out of the crowd, illuminating faces and bodies for a moment before moving on. It felt magical.

Out of nowhere a warm body was pressed against my back and a hand crept up my ribcage from behind. I whirled around, off-balance, to find myself nose-to-chest with a boy wearing navy robes.

"Get off!" I shouted above the music, trying to tug his hand away; I felt Victoria come to stand next to me. Certainly heard the obscenities she yelled at the boy as he leered down at me.

As another firefly darted close I placed him - the most loathsome boy in our year, part-time beater for the quidditch team and full-time twat. Avery.

"Why don't we go somewhere private darlin'?" His deep voice seemed to cut through the noise so that he didn’t have to shout. I wished I hadn’t heard. Alcohol loosened my tongue.

"Urgh! Why don't you go fuck yourself, you big bully?" A nasty expression crossed his face. Not smart, this one, but plenty mean enough to do me some harm if he wanted. I realised this a little too late.

He shoved me and I fell hard on the stone floor. Uncharacteristically, I suddenly felt tears well up as I was nearly trampled by people who hadn't realised there was somebody beneath their feet.

And then there was somebody standing over me, standing off with Avery. Blond hair. I was glad to see him, but that could've just been the drink.

"-you FUCKING touch her again-“ I couldn’t hear everything over the pounding bass, “-I'm gonna kick your FACE in, Avery! And you're off the team, dickhead!" Avery pushed him back as well, unwisely in my opinion. Scorpius stumbled back a couple steps and nearly stood on me. He yanked me up when he got his balance and tugged me up behind him.

And then he took one step forward and punched Avery so hard in the face that he spun out, very nearly falling. He came up swinging, but Scorpius whipped out his wand and pointed it right between Avery's eyes.

"I've had enough. Don't make me do something I won't regret." Breathing hard, Avery stared at Scorpius and then turned and disappeared off into the crowd.

After a few moments of watching where he'd vanished, Scorpius turned to me; Victoria had gone to get help when I'd fallen.

"You okay?" His voice was deep and growly from aggression and all I could do was nod. I suddenly felt really, really drunk and must've stumbled, because he caught me, his face softening slightly. "Alright, you lush. Let's get you some air." He pulled me through the crowd and out into the entrance hall, where I sagged against him.

"Mona? Mona!"

"I'm fine," I told him dreamily, and then began to giggle because I couldn't help it. I could feel people smirking as they passed us to go into the Great Hall. "Big strong man come to save me. You're my hero."

"You're delirious. Let's just sit down here for a minute, eh? On the niiice, comfortable stone steps." He was right - it was comfortable, though I knew it shouldn't have been. It felt like a beautiful thing to rest my legs for a minute.

I think I might've nodded off for a second because he caught me again.

"Shit, Mona! Try not to fall down the stairs, yeah?"

"My bad," I giggled and looked up into his face. Well, his mask anyway, which didn't nothing to hide his frowning lips. His eyes glinted through the black mask and though he was frowning I was glad he was here. "You know, you're actually sort of beautiful."

"Oh, jesus. Mona, did you hit your head?" he asked, worried as he gently felt my head with his fingertips. I laughed him off.

"No. And I meant it. Just because you're a knob doesn't make you less pretty. It's what's on the outside that counts." He rolled his eyes and propped me up against him. I let myself lay my head on his shoulder. He smelled nice, like woodsy cologne.

I think a lot of time passed before I said anything else. I was starting to feel a little better from sitting down.

"Thank you. For helping me."

"My pleasure. I couldn't believe it when he shoved you. He gives you any more trouble, you let me know. He's a big guy and you're. . . not."

"Thanks for clarifying that for me. I'm not a big guy. Got it." He laughed softly and buried his face in my neck in a way that managed to make me feel even more wasted. My head spun and gooseflesh erupted seemingly all over my body.

"Always with the smart mouth..."

"Well it's not like I've got the looks to be stupid. All I got's my stunning personality." He tsked in my ear and shook his head slightly.

"You don't see yourself at all, do you?" I let that one slide; I couldn't be bothered to argue the point right now, when my mind was so much jelly.

Students had been passing us steadily up the steps before, but almost nobody was coming out now. It was getting so late it was early and the party was mostly over. Scorpius stood up and held out a hand for me. I took it to stop myself falling and he tugged me up. I fell into him hard and he gave a put-upon sigh.

After a few long moments of negotiating the steps (my dress was too long and I kept tripping over it), he just swept me up into his arms, ignoring my half-hearted protests.

I drifted in and out of awareness as we descended into the dungeons and awoke as he set me down gently on the couch in the common room. He tucked the blanket up to my chin, figured out how to take off my mask and started to move away.

"No," I said, grabbing his hand. I moved deeper into the couch. "Just stay for a bit." When he just looked down at me blankly, I tugged a little harder on his hand. He sighed.

"You're drunk. You're going to go back to not liking me in the morning." He sounded resigned. I paused.

"Just liedownwimme. For bit," I slurred, the late hour taking its toll. I closed my eyes and felt him carefully lay down lengthwise with me.

*Scorpius' Point of View

I groaned to myself; she really was going to hate me in the morning. Not that I'd done anything wrong - I just knew how her mind worked. Getting her to open up was like trying to get water out of stone. Only harder.

She'd fallen asleep a couple minutes ago and had already curled herself around me, her leg wrapped around mine. She shifted and I gritted my teeth as she pressed against me. Oh, my God.

It was a good thing she was asleep. If she had been awake I don't know how long my control would've lasted. She really didn't see herself the way she was. I’d seen her on the dance floor before Avery the Asshole came along. The way she moved her hips, her body. . .

Mona sighed in her sleep and pressed her face into my neck. She began to shiver slightly.

Fuck it. I gathered her in my arms and let her press into me for warmth, deciding I may as well let myself enjoy this while I could.

I drifted off surprisingly quickly.