Closed Menaces Coming Through

[Audrey Beauchamp]

Audrey was exhausted. She had never had to work so hard in her life, and while on one hand she relished it, on the other hand she had been so tired and cranky. She only hoped now she'd be used to it for second semester, because there was still so much to do. But for tonight, she could put all that aside. Sure, she would have liked to go to the ball with a cute boy, but nobody in the year was really that cute (except for the transfer student because he had that air of mystery about him). There was something to be said for spending time with a friend, though, and she was glad she and Teddy could still hang out and have fun now that they weren't both drowning in work and desperately trying to outdo each other. "So, what's the strategy, captain?" she joked, carefully making sure all her tools were concealed up her sleeves. A glitterbomb, her wand, and fake spiders. She'd picked this dress for good reason, after all.

 

[Teddy Pirrip]

This semester had been the most intense so far, but as the weeks went on, Teddy got into it the busyness. He worked hard and felt he'd earned this celebration, arriving at the Yule Ball in his bright red suit which he loved, a wide grin plastered on his face. Making a mental note to enjoy every moment and grab a gift from beneath the enormous Christmas tree before they all disappeared, he scanned the room for his friends and quickly spotted Audrey, also weary bright red. It felt like they had coordinated, but they hadn't. Teddy laughed as their eyes met, gesturing to her dress. "Love it, you're supporting Gryffindor too," he joked. He also had a few prank items stashed in his pockets, including his personal favourite, dungbombs. "Stand down, recruit. We're here to have fun."

 

[Audrey Beauchamp]

"Well, one of us is going to have to change," Audrey joked, giving a small twirl. Even so, she still felt pretty. "Shame I'm not in Gryffindor, hm? I look good in red." She had to be careful not to let the glitterbomb fall too early, though truthfully she wouldn't be too upset if she got caught in the blast radius. It was dungbombs she wanted to stay well clear of. "Fun, huh? Well, the dancing looks pretty boring until they play something faster." She shrugged. "Looking forward to the break?"

 

[Teddy Pirrip]

"Oh, that'll be you then. Shame, really, because you look really pretty in that dress," Teddy flashed a grin. He was being kind by complimenting her, but it had to come in the form of a joke. In truth, they were staying like this for the evening, and he liked the matching red. He also wouldn't mind if Audrey was in Gryffindor; it would definitely improve their House Cup and Quidditch Cup chances, and, of course, for the social element of seeing her more. "Yeah, of course, I'm looking forward to it. It's my birthday over the break," he reminded her. "And as soon as the music improves, we're dancing!"

 

[Audrey Beauchamp]

Audrey might not have thought too much of the boys in her year, but she was still a teenage girl - her cheeks reddened enough to match her dress at the compliment. That was mean of him, she thought. At least he tied it into a joke. She was still glad she was in Ravenclaw, though, as much as she might have had fun in Gryffindor she liked her dorm and hanging out with Lucy. "Of course, of course. What would you like for your birthday? Puking pastilles? Frog spawn soap?" She grinned, thinking she might have to send him a prank item even if she sent him something normal for his birthday. "Sure, I'm a delight on the dance floor!" Although, of course, Audrey didn't even really know how to dance properly.

 

[Teddy Pirrip]

Teddy found Audrey's blushing reaction quite endearing. For all their rivalry in lessons and Quidditch, she was a good friend of his. "Hmm, tough choice. Maybe both?" he teased back. "Or save your the galleons and donate your gift from under the Christmas tree," he said, pointing towards the large tree which had gifts that Professor Alcott-Ward had said they could take. "I wonder if setting off a dungbomb, then wrapping it up in a gift box would contain the smell until someone else opened it?" Teddy mused, getting all sorts of ideas running through his mind. They had to find something to do whilst they waited for the music to pick up after all.

 

[Audrey Beauchamp]

Audrey tapped her chin, seemingly lost in thought. "Oh, I know, I'll send you two identical quills, only one of them only writes gibberish." It was kind of lame, though, she'd probably find something better. "Or I could regift you your dungbomb," she added, pondering whether it would work. "I feel like it needs to be on a sort of timer. Oh no, wait, like maybe adding something to it so it goes off when you open the box!" Her mind was churning with ideas, but it was nice to be thinking about fun things rather than what she needed to know for the next exam.

 

[Teddy Pirrip]

Teddy considered the quill idea, "That'd be fun, although I might not be able to tell the difference between them," he joked. Audrey was always full of creative ideas. Teddy pondered how to set a dungbomb to go off when someone opens the box. "We need to get the trigger lent on the lid so that removing the lid sets it off. I dunno how that would work though. Maybe I should just chuck one in the Christmas tree and be done with it," he said. Although he was enjoying the Yule Ball, he didn't want it to end in evacuation, reminding him of the bonfire event a couple of years back. "Maybe something else. What did you bring with you tonight?" Teddy asked, knowing Audrey well enough to be certain that she had something up her enormous sleeves. Er, metaphorically speaking that is.

 

[Audrey Beauchamp]

"You'd probably need to tie the trigger to the ribbon so when you undo it it gets set off...but I guess if they didn't pull the ribbon right it might not work. Hmm. I'd better keep thinking." Audrey grinned, at least having some fun with it. "Well I'm glad you asked!" She made a sort of silly dramatic motion with her left arm, flipping her arm around to reveal her wand. "Perfect way to stash it. Aaaaand..." She dramatically moved her right arm to reveal the glitterbomb, 'accidentally' dropping it before swiftly catching it before it could hit the ground and explode, hoping it at least looked intentional. "Ta daaaa! Oh, and there's fake spiders. For good measure. Maybe I shoulda put a sandwich in here too. Food here's pretty good, though." She grinned, flicking her wand and summoning over a cake. Which she probably could've easily walked over to get, but guided it over to Teddy instead. "And I didn't prepare it, so you know it's good."

 

[Teddy Pirrip]

Teddy was highly entertained as Audrey revealed exactly what was up her sleeves, literally. He braced himself to be absolutely covered in glitter, but she fortunately caught the glitterbomb at the last second. "Phew, that was close. You should play Seeker with reflexes like that," Teddy commented. Watching as she summoned over the cake, he asked, "You definitely haven't touched this before I eat it?" He confirmed, he wouldn't past her to have spiked the table before he'd seen her.

 

[Audrey Beauchamp]

Audrey gave a snort of derision at the comment. Truthfully, she thought playing seeker might be fun, but she wasn't built for it. Literally, she was a little bit too stocky. "Puh-lease, as if Ambrosius Beauchamp would ever let a daughter of his play anything other than beater," she said with a roll of her eyes. "I'd never be allowed home again if I changed positions." She stated it as if it were simply fact, despite her exaggeration. "We-ell, if you don't want it..." she smirked, and with a flick of her wrist sent the cake flying right into the back of a hapless first year's head. Some snivelling brat of a Slytherin, by the looks of it. "Hah! Bullseye."

 

[Sunny Day]

Sunny had been searching for her best friend, Ignitus at the Yule Ball, but couldn't find that sneaky seeker anywhere! Pausing her search for snacks, she reached for chocolate cake when something soft and moist hit the back of her head. Feeling icing on her fingers when she reached back to check, she glanced around in shock, too overwhelmed to confront anyone. Instead, she fled the hall, back to the Slytherin common room to wash. That marked the end of Sunny's Yule night.

(Sorry couldn't resist)

 

[Teddy Pirrip]

It surprised Teddy that Audrey wouldn't be allowed to play as Seeker. Teddy just didn't get that kind of pressure from his parents as they supported him to do whatever he wanted and were always proud of him. He forgot that some people didn't have it as easy as him.

"Oh-okay, well, you can always come live with me if you get disowned," he said casually as though it was a throw away comment but there was truth in it. Teddy was about to take the cake when she threw it at a first year. Teddy wasn't drinking, but if he was, he would have spat out his drink at that. He laughed a lot, finding it hilarious. He watched the poor girl run off and then looked back at Audrey. "You got lucky there! I know some Slytherins who wouldn't have let you get away with that." It was funny, though, and that was what was important.