Get a Little Closer

[Harley Tsuji]

Harley had been going back and forth about how to pose this question for weeks now. Every time she met up with Odette she almost brought it up, but backed down at the last second. The thought wouldn't leave her mind though, ever since the conversation with Margo. This... whatever it was had lasted a lot longer than Harley would have ever expected, and she... liked being with Odette. She liked it a lot. They had each told a friend about their relationship, and it seemed silly to avoid that word at this point. It had been almost a year now. Surely Odette would agree it was past time to stop hiding by now. Things were stable, they were good, and for the first time ever, Harley actually wanted to take a date to the Yule Ball. Surely Odette would agree.

Harley's nervous pacing between the desks of their usual abandoned classroom was cut short by the door opening and she looked up, grinning brightly when she saw Odette. "Hey beautiful." She said happily, wrapping her arms around Odette's neck and giving her a soft kiss in greeting. "How was your day?"

 

[Odette Madison]

Odette was starting to feel almost normal again. Margo was once again her best friend, and even though Odette was trying her best to be a better person, their dynamic really hadn't changed too much. Counselling sessions with Maria were nice, and Quidditch kept Odette motivated no matter what. The only strange part about her life at Hogwarts was this ...thing she had with Harley. Sneaking around, hiding in abandoned classrooms, it felt like a hidden second life. But after the way Margo had reacted to the news, she was happy enough to keep it a secret for now. It would just change everything, and she was sure Harley's friends wouldn't want to know either.

Odette entered the abandoned classroom that was now almost as familiar to her as her dormitory, and smiled at the sight of Harley pacing. Was she nervous? Surely not, they had been doing this for long enough that it felt familiar. At least, it did to Odette. Harley's words made her blush a bit, but she kissed her back. "Hey menace." She muttered fondly. "It was alright, had practice earlier." She pulled back from their embrace to smile at the other girl. "How was yours?"

 

[Harley Tsuji]

There was something about just being around Odette that softened Harley. Her worries from before faded away as she kept her arms loosely around Odette's neck, idly toying with her hair as they talked. "Nice. Did you smash up all the new kids on the team?" She teased, wondering what Odette's practices were like. Harley didn't have much of an interest in Quidditch, but there was definitely something cool about just flying around hitting things as hard as you could. Harley could respect that.

Harley shrugged in response to Odette's question, rocking slightly from one foot to the other. "Pretty boring, the usual. Everyone's super busy lately being prefects or making out or whatever." She pulled a face and continued rocking a little from one foot to the other, realising that what had started as an idle gesture could be a nice lead in to the question she wanted to ask. She started swaying more deliberately, giving Odette a nervous, impish smile. "Hey, so... I wanted to ask you something."

 

[Odette Madison]

Odette had never imagined Harley to be so intimate and touchy-feely. It took some getting used to, even though she'd had a relationship before. But it wasn't unpleasant to have Harley's arms loosely around her neck, simply a little strange. She chuckled at Harley's question, raising her eyebrows at her. "I think you fundamentally misunderstand the position of captain." She teased her gently. "If I smash all the new kids, I have no one to beat Gryffindor with." She said with a slight smirk, though she kind of doubted Harley would care if her house won or not.

She listened to Harley's response to her question, smiling slightly. "Don't tell me you're jealous you're not a prefect." She teased. "Or are you jealous of the making out part?" That seemed like a pretty good way to start kissing and stop talking so much, but it seemed like Harley had a different idea. Odette immediately felt herself tense up and grow nervous as soon as Harley told her she wanted to ask her something. She wasn't sure what she was worried about, or if it was just the nervousness she could see on the other girl's face. But it took Odette a second to respond. "Sure, go ahead." She said, trying to sound casual.

 

[Harley Tsuji]

Harley laughed softly, fingers lacing idly through Odette's hair. "Hey, who says I'm not trying to sabotage you so we win?" She teased, quickly adding. "Kidding. You're a Beater though, it's your job to smash 'em up a bit so they know what it'll be like during a game, right? I don't actually understand Quidditch." Harley's parents had taken her to a few matches as a child, especially after the discover about Jason, but she had made an effort to learn as little as possible out of spite.

Harley laughed at Odette's joke and shook her head. "God no, gross, I don't wanna be a prefect. And I've got all the making out I want right here..." She teased, leaning in and giving Odette a soft kiss before pulling back, swaying lightly side to side with the other girl as she asked her question. "So, like, I know it's dumb and like... boring and whatever, I don't even usually go, but I wondered if you wanna... go to the Yule Ball together?" Harley smiled nervously, trying not to look concerned. "We'd have to like, tell our friends and stuff first. Or we could surprise 'em. That'd be pretty fun... imagine the looks on their faces."

 

[Odette Madison]

Odette laughed softly too, leaning into the other girl's touch. She really rather liked how the blond hair looked on her, it was also nice to match in a weird way. "You're not that competitive about sports." She said with a slight smile. "The only thing you'd do at the Quidditch pitch is carve your initials in one of the stands." She paused. "And watch me play, of course." She said, grinning slightly. When the girl admitted she didn't know much about Quidditch, Odette grinned. "Obviously. But yes, you're right. We do have to aim for moving targets during practice after all." Sometimes it felt a little weird to aim for her own teammates, but it was important to do so.

The Slytherin was glad when Harley took her bait and kissed her, but it only lasted a second before she pulled back. Odette frowned a little, wondering what was bothering the other girl. She seemed a little nervous, which in turn made Odette a little nervous. At her question, Odette tensed and averted her gaze. She could tell Harley did want to go, despite her calling it dumb and boring. But she didn't. She didn't want Harley's friends to stare at her as if she was doing something horrible, for people to talk and gossip and laugh. She had actually planned to go to the ball alone and hang out with Margo, safe in the assumption Harley wasn't usually at these parties. "I don't want to tell anyone." She said, moving back slightly. "It's good like this, right? Why do we need to change it?" Telling Margo had been bad enough, she didn't want to be so vulnerable again.