Open Better Plans Than Dancing

[Audrey Beauchamp]

Okay, maybe Audrey was a little bit of a jealous type. It was hardly fair that even first years were on dates at the Yule Ball, though. They weren't even old enough to know what a date was. The only people who really seemed to like her were some professors, though, and that didn't equate to having Yule Ball dates. Teddy would ask her out of pity, she knew - unless he really did feel something in the kiss but she seriously doubted it - but somehow that felt kind of sad.

(The obvious answer was just to ask boys herself, naturally - but that wasn't how it worked in romance stories. Besides, they'd probably be stupid enough to say no and then classes would be awkward.)

So she'd settled on a much better idea. She had her wand on hand, a jar of real fake spiders, and a vantage point table from where she could casually fling spiders at couples distracted by mistletoe with some carefully aimed depulso spells. She still needed to work out how to enchant them to descend from mistletoe onto the couples when they started kissing underneath it, but she hadn't learned that type of magic yet and suspected it was something she'd probably only really be able to master in seventh year. At least that was something to look forward to, especially if the boys never wised up and realized how pretty and clever and talented she was and that they should be falling over themselves to date her. Because they certainly hadn't yet.

 

[Ethan Alexander]

Ethan wasn't sure how to feel as the last Yule Ball rolled around. Most of the time he was excited to finish school and get on with his life. But there were events like this that felt more bittersweet, especially when it came to Marnie. It was hard to know what the future held for them. Would they ever have another reason to get dressed up and dance together after graduation? He tried not to let those kinds of thoughts from taking over as he tried to enjoy the night. But even the fun needed a break and he stepped away from his date to sit for a while and he saw a mostly empty table. "Mind if I sit here?" he asked before noticing the jar of spiders in the girl's hand. He hesitated, not sure what to do and had an internal debate. On one hand the spiders were likely harmless but on the other he was a prefect now and he should probably say something. He sighed. "Do I want to know what you're going to do with those?" he asked slowly.

 

[Audrey Beauchamp]

Audrey was surprised by a cute older boy joining her, one of the Ravenclaw prefects she recalled. She perked up a bit, sitting up a little straighter, only to falter at his seeming exasperation. Maybe throwing spiders was some sort of bad thing but Audrey figured it couldn't be that big of a deal. They weren't even real spiders! "I," she started, very officiously, "am simply helping the professors!" She batted her eyelashes, as though that would somehow help. "First years shouldn't be making out. And, like, we totally need to be on our guard in the magical world, even at dances. Especially at dances." Audrey looked wide eyed and earnest, which probably just made her look more suspicious if anything. "You aren't going to get me in trouble, are you?" she pouted.

 

[Ethan Alexander]

Ethan frowned at her answer. He wasn't always the best at reading people but even he could tell that was a lie. But he let her ramble and he couldn't exactly argue her point about first years making out. He glanced over his shoulder just in case he was supposed to do anything about that. But he couldn't see anything. "I don't think sudden spider attacks are a very big threat to the magical world." he argued halfheartedly and finally sat down. He laughed a little when she asked if he was going to get her in trouble. "Probably not." he said with a shrug.

 

[Audrey Beauchamp]

Audrey nodded very seriously. She was trying to do better at the whole poker face thing (she had been working on it to impress Professor Hale at first, but thought it was a useful skill to have) but she was perhaps a little too expressive. The lips twitching into a wicked grin gave her away. "Maybe not yet, but you never know! Maaaaaybe one day the spiders will start dropping from mistletoe," she suggested, barely suppressing the urge to brag about her clever ideas...such as rigging mistletoe with spiders. "Or, like, if there's a basilisk again, like the one that I heard was in the forest, and then you gotta deal with all the spiders running away from it." Audrey giggled, resting an elbow on the table and propping her chin in her palm. "But I bet the poltergeist will do worse. I'm surprised it hasn't dumped slime on anyone yet."

 

[Ethan Alexander]

Ethan didn't really have any intention of getting involved with whatever she was planning but for the mean time he was content to let her talk. He glanced up when she mentioned the mistletoe, and while he wasn't sure where they sourced it from he wouldn't be surprised if there were some spiders stowed away among the leaves. A scary thought, raining spiders. But before he could respond to what she was saying she moved on to something else. Finally she paused and he could get a word in, a dance he was familiar with after being with Marnie for almost a year. As fascinated as he was with ghosts he didn't really care for the poltergeist. "Careful." he warned playfully. "If you talk about them long enough you might summon it. Would like to make it through the night without slime."

 

[Audrey Beauchamp]

Audrey looked around, though she was paying attention to the older boy. She spotted a first year couple being very serious, however, and rolled her eyes as she muttered a depulso spell and sent a spider flying right onto the hair of the girl. She cackled, but cleared her throat and tried to look very innocent. "Quidditch practice. Ravenclaw do need to win their next game, after all," she explained, keeping her wand on hand. "Oh, I met it at the lake. I was hoping to come across a mermaid or something, but alas," she said, with a melodramatic sigh. "It might make it more interesting, though. All these couples. So boring."