Best Friends

[Margo Ellis]

Margo would rather have gone to the Valentine's dance in Any. Other. Dress. Unfortunately, her mother had only sent her one, and of course it was modest and respectable and not very flattering. Margo would even have been willing to suspend her dislike for her sisters if they'd been willing to lend her one of their dresses, but sadly they were not feeling very fond of her at the moment either, and had claimed in their letters that their dresses would be 'too big' for Margo, in spite of Cynthia sharing almost her exact size and build. It wasn't worth getting upset over. Much as Margo wanted Odette to notice her, now was hardly the right time, and she would never have tried to take advantage of Odette's vulnerability by being anything more than her best friend.

She waited by the doors of the great hall for Odette to arrive, her stomach doing somersaults and her palms refusing to dry no matter how many times she wiped them on her dress. To ease her nerves she reminded herself that this didn't mean anything - that she'd invited Odette to the dance to try to cheer her up, and nothing more. It helped a little. No matter how much she wished her feelings were requited, she would always be Odette's friend, first and foremost; and if friends were all they could ever be, Margo knew she would learn to be OK with that.

 

[Odette Madison]

Odette had been wondering if she should really go to this dance. It seemed almost mean to go when her going to the previous one without Harley had largely caused their breakup. Odette knew that it had been more than that, but it had definitely made Harley more upset than she had expected. She dreaded the possibility of seeing the girl here with her own friends while she was hanging out with Margo. It would make everything so much more awkward.

The Slytherin had decided on a blue dress, nothing too special but good enough for the event. Margo really seemed to want to go, and Odette had the feeling the girl was trying to cheer her up. It was a sweet gesture, even if Odette didn't think it would work all that well. She would show up to make Margo happy, hang out for a bit and then excuse herself. She at least hoped not to run into Hayden this time. She headed over to the doors to the great hall, smiling at the sight of her best friend. "Hey." She said, taking in her outfit. It was simple, but it looked nice. "That's a cute dress." She knew a few years ago she would have said something snide, but she felt no urge to now. Margo was not someone she had to compete with, she was her best friend.

 

[Margo Ellis]

Finally spotting Odette, Margo grinned, rising up onto her tiptoes to make herself easier to see amongst the crowd. Odette looked beautiful, of course. She could have worn Margo's dress and looked beautiful. But Margo was determined not to think about that at the moment. The compliment brought a blush to her cheeks. "It's awful," she said. "I look like I'm wearing a tea towel. You look amazing, though. Are you ready?" Margo linked her arm inside Odette's, ready to head inside, grab a drink and do some dancing. "I already had a look - the hall looks so nice." Suddenly Margo gasped and started to laugh. "Oh my God, you're going to break an ankle in those heels!"

 

[Odette Madison]

Odette raised her eyebrows slightly at Margo's comment and shook her head. "If it looked awful, I wouldn't have said it was cute." She said honestly. Odette was working on being nicer, but she was also working on being honest. She thought a simple dress like this suited Margo a lot more than some ballgown would have. "Thanks." She added a little belatedly as she realized she had ignored the compliment. "I'm ready." She smiled as she and Margo linked arms, but was clearly distracted as they headed inside. Odette raised her eyebrow as Margo commented on her heels. "Please, I fly around hitting magical flying balls of steel around on the Quidditch pitch and haven't broken anything there. I can handle these heels." She said with a smile, deciding not to add that her mother had had her practice walking in them ages ago. She craned her neck to make sure Harley wasn't nearby, looking for any sign of the girl before deflating a little. She wasn't sure what was wrong with her, she didn't want her here. But she also hated the idea of Harley staying away because of her. Odette tried to push it from her mind. "The hall does look nice." She added after a small silence had fallen. "So... what do you want to do?" She glanced at Margo. "You know, if you have someone you like, you don't have to hang around me all evening," she said with a shrug. The sight of all the couples had reminded her that not everyone was here simply as a distraction. "Do you like anyone?" She asked, though she had the feeling Margo would have told her if she did. "I could try help setting you up, as long as it's not that boring Austin guy still." She rolled her eyes, he definitely wasn't good enough for Margo. Besides, she was pretty sure he wasn't available.

 

[Margo Ellis]

Margo believed that. Odette wasn't known for her filter when it came to offering her opinion. It made the compliment all the more touching - and embarrassing. The Ravenclaw laughed, already glad she'd decided to ask Odette to the dance in spite of how it pained her they could not go as a couple. They were going to have fun - to close the door on all the serious, sad things in their lives and let their hair down for a few hours. They might not have been able to close the door on Harley, who may well have been in the hall somewhere, and Margo certainly couldn't close the door to her heart all the way, but she could pull it to and hope that the music would drown out whatever sorrow seeped through the gap.

Margo's heart went from zero to one hundred in the second it took Odette to ask her who she liked. "Eugh," she said, before she could help herself. She hadn't thought about her first-year crush for ages, and it made sense to her now that she had never felt motivated to approach him in spite of thinking he was cute. Oh, no! Odette didn't even know. If Margo told her now, would it look like she was throwing hints? But if she didn't tell her, Odette might never even consider it... "Boys," she finished finally. "Honestly, I wouldn't care if I never had to kiss one. They're just..." She shuddered. "Eugh." Was that enough? Maybe it would do for now. "I'll get you a drink! Then we have to dance," she said, hoping not to have to respond to Odette's other question. She scampered off, returning a moment later with two glasses of punch, one of which she offered to her friend. "I love this song! Come on, let's go."

 

[Odette Madison]

Odette's gaze flitted from person to person as she reassured herself Harley wasn't here. At least, not in view. She saw Hayley with her girlfriend, as well as one of Harley's other friends with a significant other. Her heart sank slightly as she pictured the girl on her own somewhere, miserable. Maybe she shouldn't have come. But Margo looked excited to be here, and Odette would rather not spend the night by herself while thinking of her regrets.

Odette's eyebrows raised slightly, but she smiled as well at Margo's reaction. "Well, not him then I guess." She said with a slight shake of her head. Margo's reaction was strange, and Odette wondered if something had happened that she didn't know about. Had Margo had some negative interaction with a guy recently? Some sort of romantic trouble that made her resentful? Odette felt like she should know, but she didn't. Puzzled, she decided to let it go for now. "Alright, I just wanted to help you out so the evening's not a waste if you did like someone and were just too shy to do something about it. You deserve something good." She said with a shrug. As far as she knew, Margo had never dated anyone, and she didn't want to hold her friend back from any opportunities that may arise here. She waited as Margo got them some drinks, finally relaxing a little. There would be no drama here tonight, just her and her friend hanging out. "How are we supposed to dance with these?" She said, gesturing to the two glasses of punch. "That's a dress disaster waiting to happen." Odette meant it jokingly, but halfway through the sentence she remembered that yule ball years ago, when she had thrown punch on Margo's dress on purpose because she had thought her to be flirting with Hayden. A stab of guilt ran through her that made her pause on her way to the dance floor. How had Margo stayed by her side after that? She swallowed down her sudden emotions and tried to focus on the moment. Odette took a big sip of punch. She knew Margo was probably thinking of the same incident, and she had no idea what to say now.

 

[Margo Ellis]

Margo's heart twisted guiltily at Odette's kind words. Was it really terrible that Margo had an ulterior motive in asking her best friend to the dance if she wasn't going to act upon it? It seemed to get harder and harder by the minute not to burst open and tell Odette everything. Talking to Professor Pendleton had helped for a little while, but the pressure had since built up again, and with nobody to vent to (she didn't want to bother her uncle with embarrassing girl problems again) she wasn't sure how much longer she could keep it to herself. Yet she knew she had to, for Odette's sake - for the sake of their friendship.

Margo took a sip of her drink, then took Odette's back from her and put them both down on a nearby table. She grabbed a hold of Odette's wrist and dragged her over to the dance floor, grinning. "There. Problem solved," she said. The song was an upbeat one, and Margo wasted no time bobbing around to it. She took Odette's hands and moved them around in an attempt to get her to join in and enjoy herself. "Wouldn't it be cool if we could dance all night? Like, sometimes I just want to stay up forever and do something crazy. Don't you?"

 

[Odette Madison]

Odette was waiting for the moment Margo's expression would darken as she remembered that yule ball years ago, and remembered the sort of person Odette had been back then. Though, had she really changed? Harley had suggested she hadn't, and those words were still going through her mind. A part of her wanted to ask Margo what she thought directly, but she was too afraid her friend would just tell her what she wanted to hear, rather than the truth. She watched Margo, but it didn't seem like anything changed for her. The girl grabbed their drinks and put them away before dragging Odette over to the dance floor, and as far as she could tell there were no memories of darker times between them clouding her mind. Maybe she was overthinking. "Fine, we'll dance." She said with a slight smile, though also some reluctance. Margo immediately started moving to the music, and Odette hesitated briefly, and in that time Margo was moving her hands. "I'm dancing!" She protested, moving to the music and gesturing to herself. "See? I can do it on my own." She said, pulling her hands back. "I guess that would be cool, but wouldn't it get boring after a few hours?" She couldn't really imagine wanting to dance that long. Her eyebrow quirked up slightly at her second statement. "Crazy like what?" She asked, rather than answering the question.

 

[Margo Ellis]

Margo's heart twinged as Odette pulled her hands away. Didn't she want to dance with Margo? Margo realised her friend wasn't in the best of spirits - and naturally so - but she was trying her hardest to cheer her up. Odette did at least start to dance a bit, but Margo couldn't stop feeling sad. "I don't know," she admitted, glad for the distraction. "I've never done anything crazy before. Do you think sitting up on the cliffs all night would be crazy? I mean, it wouldn't be dangerous, but we might get caught. I want to watch the sunrise! Have you classes tomorrow morning? Pleeaseee, let's stay up, at least for a bit. It's Valentine's day!"

 

[Odette Madison]

Odette moved to the music, but it was halfhearted. She knew Margo wanted to dance with her, but she would prefer to move on her own for now and decide for herself what to do. She could tell Margo wasn't too happy about that, and she shot her friend an apologetic smile to make up for it. The conversation went in an unexpected direction. Somehow, Odette had expected something more thrilling than sitting in one spot all night. But she didn't want to disappoint Margo twice in a row, and thought about it. "Well, the cliffs are probably a bit dangerous." She said with a shrug. "But we're smart enough not to just fall off them, I bet. But are you really awake enough to stay up all night? And would it be worth it for the sunrise?" She asked, genuinely curious as to how badly Margo wanted this. "I don't have classes tomorrow morning, no..." She said hesitantly. She could already tell Margo was going to convince her. Somehow, she seemed to be able to convince her to do almost anything. It was really frustrating.

 

[Margo Ellis]

Margo laughed happily. "Of course we won't fall off," she said. Her grin grew as Odette slowly appeared to contemplate agreeing. She didn't actually say yes, but Margo could tell she was wearing her down. It felt a little mean, but Margo just knew Odette would have a great night if only she took a chance and did something exciting. "There's literally nothing better than watching the sunrise," she told her friend. "If we get tired we can sleep in the morning! No-one will ask questions if you say you're not feeling well." Brogan had done that once or twice after coming home late from a party, and her mum had always believed it. "And if you haven't got any classes, you won't even be missing anything! You know it's a good idea. We graduate in - what - a year and a half? Do you really want to say you graduated Hogwarts without ever pulling an all-nighter? It'll be fun!"

 

[Odette Madison]

Odette smiled and shook her head as Margo insisted they wouldn't fall off, as if that wasn't a danger near cliffs in the dark at all. As far as crazy plans went, this was still mild, but the possibility of falling off the cliffs was definitely there. "You're going to fall asleep before the sun rises, I'm calling it now." She said, knowing as she said it that she was essentially agreeing to it. "Fine, we'll do it." She added with a smile and another shake of her head. "But we're stealing some food from the party, and we should probably get a jacket or something." She wasn't sure why she was the voice of reason all of a sudden, but she didn't mind it much. "Also, I'm pretty sure we'll be pulling at least one all-nighter in preparation for the NEWTs in a few years. But fine." She smiled slightly. "I'm in." It would be a distraction from her worries, which was what she wanted most of all.

 

[Margo Ellis]

Margo laughed, positive she wouldn't fall asleep. It was the most exciting thing she'd ever thought of doing! How could she possibly fall asleep? As soon as Odette said she was in, Margo squealed with delight. "We should go right now, while the professors are busy," she said. "I'll get the snacks, you get us jackets... and maybe a blanket - and then I'll meet you in the entrance hall in five minutes, okay?" The Ravenclaw was already buzzing with the prospect of staying up all night with her best friend. "This is going to be the best night ever! As long as we don't get caught..."