Devilishly

[Victoire Fontaine]

Victoire had not told Jean what she was going to be, rather keen on keeping it a surprise no matter how many guesses he tried, it was half because she hadn't fully decided and half because she couldn't wait to see his face when she had, and really Victoire felt like she'd decided well, the flowing blonde hair in loose smooth curls, cascading down her shoulders, with little red horns at the top of her head growing from nowhere, the deep red lipstick which had taken three attempts to get absolutely perfect, she'd thought about wearing a mask but decided against it, instead applying a minimum amount of make up, since she felt that a little eyeliner and the mascara was enough. She was wearing a red laced dress fitted to her shape, stopping exactly where most halloween dresses stopped, and matching stiletto red heels, she had a pitchfork, and added to the costume a cloak, which she could use to cover herself but opted to just wear like they would with most cloaks.

Eventually Victoire was ready and she arrived at the Yuleball, given the nature of the relationship she had with Jean, they couldn't come together, they couldn't appear to be together, but there was nothing against two friends enjoying themselves together, and she was pretty happy to do that, even though it would be difficult to not want to kiss him. She stood at the drinks table pouring herself a drink glancing around to see if she could spot him, keeping an eye out in general for anyone who might be a little suspicious, with rumours of the magazine returning she hardly wanted that to be the way that they were discovered. Victoire finished pouring herself a drink and moved away from the table, carefully using a straw so as to not smudge the lipstick. She knew that what her and Jean had was not exactly ideal, but she knew it was the only way, and they were making it work, although perhaps tonight would be the real test, to be together in public at an event and still be able to share the night without anyone finding out.
​

 

[Jean Snow]

Up until earlier in the day before they’d separated to get ready for the Halloween Feast, Jean had been throwing guesses at Victoire, but she was good. She’d given him no confirmation or denial of her costume, and knowing that he’d see it (finally) in a few hours, he finally stopped asking. Jean was pretty excited for the feast. He usually was. Halloween was a pretty fun holiday, and he usually enjoyed it. Most of his family didn’t celebrate it, so he was happy to be at a school that did. The teenager wasn’t really big on sweets, but he knew that he’d enjoy a cookie or brownie or some other sweet before the night was through. It just wasn’t Halloween without some kind of treat. The teenager finished putting the final touches of his costume after his roommates had already left. It was an intricate costume with a lot of pieces that had to be put on separately. The Gryffindor looked around, enjoying the silence, though he was a bit sad that Victoire wasn’t peeking her head in. It was when he was alone in his dorm room that she always came in and they’d enjoy themselves. Sometimes, he’d watch her study or actually do some school work of his own. It didn’t help the poor teenaged boy’s mind that his bed was always so very, very close when they were alone together. He really didn’t think he could be blamed at all for having the thoughts that he did, especially not when his girlfriend was Victoire Fontaine.

Picking up the fake sword that he’d taken when he’d been exploring the castle one day, Jean placed it in its sheath at his side as he headed down the stairs. He knew that Victoire would be waiting in the Great Hall. They couldn’t arrive together, her call, so they would have to run into each other at the feast as they had done in the past. As he entered the Great Hall, the Gryffindor took short notice of how nicely the room had been decorated before his eyes began to roam. His heart sank in disappointment as he didn’t spot her, and he realized that he may have arrived first. Jean headed for the drinks and snacks, grabbing himself a glass of pumpkin juice and a cookie that was covered in spider web frosting. He began to roam around. Jean looked around some more as he walked around, not even spotting Clara and Lucien, though that wasn’t exactly a surprise. Though they had no need to hide their relationship, the two often spent their time hiding away and necking. Just as he bit into his cookie, Jean spotted her and he felt his heart skip a beat. His stride quickened as he reached her side in no time. A devil. Jean bit his lip to stop the first thing that he’d been thinking from escaping his lips. “Now I see why you kept your costume from me” he smirked, leaning in to whisper in French where he was both less likely to be overheard and understood. “You knew I’d be asking to get a sneak peek of it. You look gorgeous.” The teenager leaned back, standing straight again. “What do you think?” he asked in English, stepping back so she could see the whole of his costume.

 

[Victoire Fontaine]

Victoire had carefully selected her costume, as she always did every year, but this costume had taken more thought in it, it had started as most of hers always did with a dress of some specific colour and this then branched out into something else, when she'd seen the little red lace dress in the shop she'd just known that it was the dress for this Halloween and the rest had fallen around her, she felt confident in each stride she took with the red heels, she felt confident as the red cloak moved in the wind her movements created, she was just pretty pleased with how it had all turned out and keen to see what Jean had come up with, he had always liked Halloween, and she was as interested in his costumes as he was in hers. She unlike him in the quiet time they spent studying in his dorm had not asked, rather used the time to actually work on what she needed to, enjoying the proximity to him and the fact that he could very easily distract her from her work.

Victoire spotted him just as he made a beeline for her and she just smiled at him, taking in his costume and smiling at it, definitely liking what she saw on him, and blushing ever so slightly with the compliment, she thought she'd managed the costume perfectly, "Thanks," she told him, smiled at him and nodding at his costume, "You look dashing," she told him in french so that people couldn't overhear them, she wanted nothing more than to share this night with him forgetting about everything else, and just in a moment of bliss with him, but she knew that just wouldn't be possible. Instead she just smiled at him and took his hand, "Let's dance" she told him, sticking to french as she pulled him through the crowd to the dance floor smiling at him with a bright and fond expression, really ensure they were within the busy mess of students around them, she wasn't sure how they should dance, but she brushed strands of the flowing blonde hair back into place before putting her arms on his shoulders pushing the cloak to hang fully not longer covering her shoulders and sway to the relatively slow song playing, not the most lively song to start but one that would definitely start this evening for them. She wanted nothing more than to spend this night with him, she wished to spend more than that to kiss him in public like she saw others doing but this was what they had to do, as much as it did occasionally suck.
​

 

[Jean Snow]

Jean grinned. He'd put a good amount of effort into getting all of the parts for the costume. The clothing was the easy part. He'd just used some of his older things, clothing that he mostly used when he was going to be doing something messy or when he was practicing spells and might risk burning a hole in something. Then, he'd dyed them brown. The armor he'd searched for, finding it in a catalogue and ordering it mid-September. Really, it was an immense amount of effort for the Gryffindor teen. He'd even impressed himself this year, but he did enjoy Halloween a lot so he knew it would be worth it to have a great costume. Victoire's words helped too. The teenager smiled as he ducked his head slightly, letting the compliment wash over him. As she grabbed his hand, Jean let their fingers intertwine and allowed himself to be pulled onto the dance floor. They kept walking, the crowd around them thickening as they made their way into the middle. It'd be easier to just enjoy themselves this way, but he knew that they'd still have to be careful. His family was all around, though not in any of the faces closest to them at the moment.

Standing stock still as he got a feel for the beat, Jean didn't know how to feel about the current song. Under normal circumstances, he would have enjoyed the slower beat which would allow him and his dance partner to dance a little more closely, skirting with the school's rule about how close was reasonable when dancing. But if they did that, they'd really run the risk of people correctly guessing their true relationship. He waited to see what Victoire would do, and as she placed her hands on his shoulders, the teenager placed his on her small waist, finally moving with the beat. In her heels, they were a great deal closer to being face-to-face. The temptation was strong this evening. The teenager stared at Victoire's blue eyes for a moment before he spoke "I deserve a reward for how good I'm going to be this evening" he deadpanned, but only for a moment before he brightened. "Hey look! It's Orwell and Archie. We should go say hi later."If he was going to remain on his best behavior, Jean knew he was going to need some distraction from his friends.

 

[Victoire Fontaine]

Victoire fully realised that despite how they were in costume and surrounded by others they would definitely still need to be careful, they would need to keep an eye on their surroundings to be sure that no one could figure them out, it felt annoying to have to do on such an evening, but she wanted nothing more than to spend this evening with her boyfriend and for no one to know about them, since that would make things all the more complicated for them, simple was good. The Gryffindor perfect smiled at him placing his hands on her waist not yet used to the warm feeling that being physically close to him brought and she just kept her gaze on his as they moved to the music, her heels keeping them close and she just nodded leaning in to him and quietly speaking in his ear, "If you're good then you'll definitely get a reward" Victoire opted for french so that no one or very few who might hear would not understand. She pulled away from him and just met his gaze smiling at him. She was glad at how things had worked out between them, a tentative relationship, a quiet private relationship away from all else, it was difficult to not want to sit with him at the meals and hold his hand or kiss between classes, But it was better than nothing.

Victoire followed his gaze, looking over at the pair Jean was talking about smiling at them, knowing of the work they'd done together to trying to improve their situation on the quidditch team and the general friendship they shared. She smiled at them, "We should," she agreed although a little jealous that they were so easily able to display affection as friends and she and Jean could not do so as a couple, but it was a fleeting thought, if things were different they might've but things were how they were, she glanced back at him, swaying to music, "strange costume they have," she commented off handly before glancing back up at Jean meeting his gaze and just finding herself smiling at him, just dancing away and thoroughly loving the fact that they were able to dance in this crowd and have few question it. It took all her might to not just brush a hand against his face, to kiss his lips, "I just want to kiss you, you look so handsome," she admitted with a small laugh in rapid french, feeling the small blush this was definitely harder than she had imagined it would be.
​

 

[Jean Snow]

As Victoire leaned back and met his gaze, Jean was completely speechless. He nodded his head, dumbstruck for a moment. His blue eyes looked over Victoire as if he was seeing her for the first time. The Gryffindor didn't know what had gotten into his girlfriend when she had put on that red dress and those horns, but he absolutely approved. He was pretty glad that she had kept it a surprise because he was sure that he wouldn't have been able to handle knowing for the week that he'd been harassing her to tell him. His hand tightened on her waist. "I can't wait to see what you have in mind" he smirked, regaining some of his senses back. Jean hadn't been entirely happy about their showing up separately, but the promise of this reward was enough to distract him from that, for the moment anyway. The teenager was still harboring the hope that if he behaved this evening and everything went well that he could convince Victoire for them to go to the Yule ball together. If he could get that reward and somehow manage that, Jean would be ecstatic. He knew it was asking a lot, and he didn't want to get his hopes too high. For tonight, this was fine. They were dancing together and holding each other, but he wanted to be able to walk in proudly with her on his arm.

Looking back over at the two guys, he noticed their costume. He hadn't noticed it before, just seeing them and thinking that they hadn't bothered to put a costume on at all. They had though, one of them wearing wings and the other with a small tutu or something. "That's Orwell and Archie for you" he replied in a fond voice. He liked the two a lot. They were funny and were always good for a bit of fun. It helped that they really were fearless, not afraid to show their affection to each other and their other friends. His attention went back to Victoire, and he smiled at her as the next song came on, a faster one and people began to dance a little more wildly. Jean didn't let go of her though he did pick up the pace of his dancing. He leaned in closer, hearing her words and giving her a look as if to tell her to not tempt him. "We could bail. It's a lame party anyway" he remarked, giving her a wink. It was actually pretty fun, though he always had fun when he was with her. "But if we leave now, I won't be able to show you how good I can be. Your call" he stated with a shrug, her arms still on top of his shoulders. Jean enjoyed dancing, especially dancing with Victoire. But, he certainly wouldn't turn down the idea of bailing on the party to head to his empty room. Getting out of here with no one noticing them leaving at the same time might be a tad difficult, but he figured they could manage it with not too much suspicion if they wanted to. "Have I mentioned how much I like this costume?" he smirked.

 

[Victoire Fontaine]

Of course Victoire had no idea what a prize might actually be, she hadn't thought about what it could be, wasn't like she could do much aside from perhaps offering to do some of his homework, but really she was all about encouraging him to do his, but it felt like the right thing to say given the costume and given the situation, and she enjoy spending time with Jean, he was her boyfriend after all and they didn't get much time to spend just being out in public and able to show affection, this really was a first. Of course they'd attended these events before, hung out during then before but it was never that they had arranged to go together, never had they attended together, just every time they just met up together, aside from a few of the yuleball ma when she or him had had other plans, had been with other people. Victoire just kept her gaze on his, smiling fondly at him and nodding at his words, it was just them, she'd never spoken with them but it seemed to be something that they did, and if that was what they wanted then who was anyone to stop that.

Victoire just felt jealous because they could and she and Jean could not, it was a small annoying jealous born from something that they'd really chosen to do, it wasn't their fault and it was just something that would eventually go away if she wanted it to. They could just be out in public as a couple and deal with the blows as they came, but she wasn't ready for such a thing, not at all, and she didn't know how ready she would ever be for that kind of thing. At his words she just shook her head they couldn't just leave, they couldn't just bail on it, they were prefects supposed to be in attendance, and it might look odd if they both left early, she just shook her head, it was hard, but it was manageable, she felt better as the song changed and became more up beat, a welcome contrast from the last song. She shook her head at him as an answer, just as he spoke again, complimenting her on the costume, and she just smiled brightly, "You have indeed," the girl said with a smile before pulling away from him slightly so they could dance more easily to the fast tempo song, "We should stay a little longer then we can bail," she countered, "Dancing is always fun" she told him pulling at his hands so that he would begin dancing just like she was.
​

 

[Jean Snow]

As the music changed to something a bit faster, Jean watched Victoire move for a moment before the tug on his hands reminded him that he was expected to dance along as well. He kept hold of her hands, moving to the beat of the new song that was playing. He wasn’t too surprised to hear her say that they should probably stick around for a bit. They were prefects after all, and although they were here to mostly have fun, he was sure that they were expected to be keeping an eye on things as well. Not that Clara or Lucien seemed to be too worried about that. He realized that he still hadn’t seen them yet, and he hoped that his brother was having a good time doing…whatever it was he was doing. Jean was surprised that she’d considered bailing at all. He had only been joking, pretty sure that Victoire would never have considered such a thing. So, either the costume really had gotten to her or there was still a lot about Victoire that he needed to learn. Whatever the answer, he was glad to be with her this evening. The night had only just begun, but he was feeling pretty good about things.

“It is” Jean agreed, using his hand to spin her around, a chuckle crossing his lips as he did. “As long as you have a good partner, dance partner” he quickly corrected himself. And dance they did. It was easier to just stay on the dance floor when you were surrounded by people anyway. The thought of having to shoulder his way past the crowd that surrounded them just didn’t seem worth it. But, then he got extremely thirsty. The music had stayed mostly quick and there hadn’t been much opportunity to talk as it got louder and louder, the beats bouncing in his chest. Finally, Jean had had enough. “I need a drink!” he yelled, hoping that she’d hear him or at least be able to read his lips. He gestured over his shoulder, the drink table somewhere in that direction. At least he thought it was. They’d migrated from their original position, and although he was pretty tall for his age, many of his family members were in attendance and they were just as tall as he was.

 

[Victoire Fontaine]

Victoire felt it was easier to be around him without feeling annoyed or jealous about the fact that she wasn't able to more publicly display affection when they were dancing a little more upbeat to the music that was less slow and didn't require them to be physically closer, it was easier to spin under his arm with a small laugh and just dance away, she was always vague aware of the cloak she was wearing, trying to ensure that with the heels that she didn't end up falling on her face, which wouldn't be a fun experience, the teen was just trying her best to keep in time as she danced happy for the up beat song, but finding that it was as ever pretty tiring work, and the heels were not exactly the most forgiving thing to be dancing in and the girl was feeling that the fast hard beats of the music currently were likely to continue hard, and she was out of breath, but she was having a lot of fun with him, it was an easy thing to do. The teen strained to hear him over the music that was pounding around them, but figured out the gesture that he'd been making, a break, a drink.

The Gryffindor prefect nodded her head at him, and then just smiled at him, taking his head gently and lead him through the thick crowd they'd ventured into, it wasn't a bad thing no one would ever think anything of them, of holding hands given the crowd, and she let out a sigh of relief when they broke free and ventured to where the music was softer and they could hear each other, she continued to the drinks table and poured him one, handing it to him, she just took the time to look at the crowd, smiling at it fondly, she had better memories of halloween than anything else, she liked Halloween, it had less pressure than the yuleball. The teen glanced up at Jean, giving a small smile, "I always forget about how loud the music can be," she commented off handedly hoping that she hadn't sweated too much that it had ruined the make up that she was wearing. Not that it really mattered but she was vaguely concerned about it, and as much as she was watching this and dancing with Jean was fun, the time they spent alone was just as much fun in her mind, it was just nice to get out every so often.
​

 

[Jean Snow]

Jean was grateful for the large crowd. It made behavior that otherwise might have immediately labeled them as a couple seem to be relatively normal. Of course they needed to hold hands as they made their way off of the dance floor. They simply didn’t want to lose each other. Still, Jean couldn’t help the smile on his face as Victoire led him off of the dance floor and to the drinks table, having heard his request. He took the drink that she held out to him, quickly taking a sip. His parched lips thanked him for it. It was some kind of punch he was drinking. Whatever it was, Jean was happy with it. The two stood next to each other facing the crowd, though Jean wasn’t really paying attention for anyone or anything in particular. He was too aware of how much closer the pair was to the door and the reward that Victoire had promised him. He had , after all, been well-behaved all evening. He hadn’t argued or yelled at anyone. Thankfully, no one had annoyed him so far. And, he’d done his best to keep his hands to himself, trying to respect Victoire’s desire for them to appear as if they’d just run into each other at the party rather than planned to come together. That had been much harder on him. Even now, Jean was resisting the urge to put an arm around her shoulder, letting the other guys in the room know that the two were together. He narrowed his eyes at a seventh year that glanced her way as he walked past.

“I know” he agreed, once the guy had walked past. “I can feel it vibrating in my chest” he added. He knew that once the night was over, everything would sound far quiet. The sudden loss of night and hard-driven bass beats would take moment to get used to. Jean drank half of his punch before he spoke again. “I hope it’s a Gryffindor that gets best costume. We could do with the points” he stated with a nod, still in disbelief that the house was so far behind in points. Last year, they’d be terrible and had managed to blow everyone away. This year, things were going quietly in Gryffindor House and they were falling more and more behind in house points each day. Pretty soon, even the quidditch team wouldn’t be able to help get them back into the competition.

 

[Victoire Fontaine]

Victoire nodded at his agreement to the statement she had made, it was strange to be stood at this table with him, when they were a couple but unable to act like it, since they'd gotten together classes and other school activities kept them both busy, they hadn't had to worry about being seen or being in situations where if they weren't a secret couple that everyone could know about them. They were better alone and shut off from the world and able to just be themselves comfortably around each other, she wanted nothing more than to lean into him, or for his arm to be around her, but they needed to be like this, it was necessary, it was what they both wanted, being out in public was far too much hassle but it was in this moment she wished things for them were simpler, that they didn't need to worry about such frustrating things, that they didn't need to spend most of their time thinking about how they appeared in proximity to one another. Things were not as simple as perhaps they had both respectively really wanted out of a first real relationship.

At his statement she nodded again, Gryffindor, despite having a far calmer stat to the year clearly wasn't doing well, in last place for house points and it would make a lot of difference to them to be able to get those points, "I hope we do too, I'd really love to win the house cup again," Victoire had a lot of house pride even if houses meant less and less as time went on, "There's only so much extra credit I can do," she joked lightly smiling at him, she hoped that the Quidditch team could bring in more points too, Victoire liked to win, as she was sure Jean did too, "Who knows maybe you'll win it," she told him, since it was entirely possible for him to, and he would bring in the points for the house, not someone else, "Do you want to leave? Go back to the dorm?" as much as this was fun, she knew it would be just as fun to just sit in each other's company in the costumes they were wearing, Halloween felt different when they were trying to hide in plain sight, she liked halloween, but she wanted to just spend the time with Jean as a couple, rather than pretending not to be.
​

 

[Jean Snow]

Jean knew that if anyone would get her, it would be Victoire. She was a Gryffindor as well, which meant that she was just as competitive. With a laugh, Jean gave her a smirk. "I keep telling you that you can do my extra credit too, Victoire. I'm willing to make that sacrifice" he joked. He'd been telling her that for weeks as he mostly watched her study in his room. Jean took another sip of his drink, feeling fairly safe that nothing would come flying his way. His pillows were safely tucked under his covers in his room. The blond ducked his head as Victoire declared that he might win it. Jean had never mentioned it, but winning the competition would make him very happy indeed. He had worked hard on the costume. Really, it had only come together fully in the week before the feast. So, he wasn't sure that he had a shot, but he appreciated her saying that he did.

Perking up as she asked him to bail, thoughts of winning an award left him. Besides, he'd still be winning something. Jean didn't hesitate to nod his head, lifting the cup to his mouth again. He didn't bring it to his lips though. Instead, he spoke in French. "You want to leave first? I'll wait a few minutes and meet you upstairs" he suggested a plan, wondering if she'd think of something better or go along with it. Jealousy kept Jean from suggesting that he leave first. There was no way in hell he was leaving his girlfriend alone in this room with the guys in this school. He wouldn't do it. He brought the drink to his lips and drained it, his blue eyes taking a peek at Victoire.