Once bitten, Twice Shy

[Alana Finch]

Alana wasn’t exactly sure what to expect this evening, but that was half the fun. As she finished pouring herself a cup of pumpkin juice, the teenager looked over her shoulder and smiled at her date for the evening, Ezra Cade. They’d been making eyes at each other during practices, and Alana had decided to just go for it and see what would happen. She was pretty sure that they were in agreement about not looking for anything serious, and for Alana, that was always for the best. She had enough serious in her life without carrying that with her to school.

Moving away from the drink table, Alana adjusted the ‘Prom Queen’ sash around her shoulders. The teenager had used a potion to lighten her hair a few shades as well before donning the tiara her parents had sent along. She didn’t particularly like the new color of hair and was quite glad it was temporary, but it worked well with the costume. "You dance right?" the Slytherin asked, though it was more a statement than a question. She had no plans on just standing around for the evening, and if Ezra didn’t dance, Alana would find someone who did. Turning her full attention onto him, the girl’s red eyes took in her date’s costume as she posed another question to him. “Better question: Do you dance as well as you play quidditch?” she asked, this time actually curious about his answer.

 

[Ezra Cade]

Ezra had to admit, being approached by Alana go attend the Halloween feast together had been a surprise. Sure he had noticed his fellow Slytherin making eyes at him during practice and he couldn't deny that she had caught his eye on several occasions and considered himself quite lucky to be going to the feast with her. Ezra wasn't looking for anything serious with Alana, and he doubted she was either if the rumours about her arranged marriage were anything to be believed. Not that he paid a lot of attention to rumours.

Alana looked stunning in her prom queen outfit, she easily...one of the prettiest girls at the feast. The standards were very high at Hogwarts and Halloween had added a new level to that. After taking in his costume Alana's first question was his desire and ability to dance. Ezra smirked at her. "Alana Finch, do i strike you as the type to be bad at anything? Only one way to find out," He said holding out his hand to his date.

 

[Alana Finch]

Alana took in the boy’s appearance, laughing at his comment. “I’m sure there has to be something you’re not good at…maybe humility?” Many words crossed her mind when she thought about Ezra, and arrogant floated to the top of the list. Lucky for him, Alana could appreciate someone being so confident in themselves that they wouldn’t tolerate someone else trying to belittle them. When she’d invited him, Alana had been half expecting him to have a date already, but she had been pleasantly surprised to discover that wasn’t the case. It was her gain, she believed, especially now as she saw that he hadn’t gone with a cheesy costume. No, the costume he’d chosen had only made him seem even more attractive than usual, and Alana was discovering that he was one of those guys who could make any outfit look good.

The Slytherin teenager reached for the younger guy’s hand and allowed him to lead her onto the dance floor, dropping her empty cup on the closest table. Adjusting her sash once more and wishing she’d applied a sticking charm to it, Alana began to move to the beat of the wizarding song that was playing. “So, what do you think of the school so far?” Alana asked, a smirk playing across her lips. The prefect had heard rumors about what Ezra liked to do during his free time. Really, as long as he showed up to practice on time and played as well as he did, she didn't care if he planned on snogging his way through the entire school.

 

[Rome Savage]

Rome was not going to enjoy this halloween, she liked when she had a costume and was able to have a little fun like that usually with Cairo, since lying was almost second nature to her but with ulterior motives this year when it came to halloween and the halloween feast it was hardly like she was looking forward to it. She felt so deeply frustrated by what the quidditch captain had done to her and her position on the team, and while Rome could not be physical, since she was a witch she had an entire other method of being petty and annoyed. Rome was wearing a cape, and she had adorned a mask, some nondescript halloween mask she had picked up, and was roaming the room until she spotted the exact person she was supposed to be finding, and she was with one of the slytherin players, and Rome couldn't help but think that this girl had only put him on the team so that she could get a crack at him.

Rome wasn't supposed to have brought a wand, and so she decided she wouldn't start with that, instead she smiled to herself and got herself a cup of juice, filling it far more than she should, and then smiled to herself, the quidditch would know who it was, and she could take points from her, but it wasn't like Rome had ever cared about such things before so why start now. The girl carefully picked out once more where her target was and she just as if she wasn't looking where she was going began to walk towards the pair, the drink extended away from herself so that when she purposely bumped into her, she would get the juice over Alana and hopefully not herself, though Rome would be fine with a little spilling on her. Rome approached easily, blending in with the surrounding crowd until she got to her and then purposely went to bang into Alana with the drink ready to be poured all over her.
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Out of Character:

You can decide whether or not Rome manages

 

[Ezra Cade]

Ezra was in awe of the girl in front of him, she was beautiful, confident and one hell of a Quidditch player. She was a good pull, the best part had been that she came to him, no effort required. "Believe it or not you are not the first person to tell me that, but when a person has my skills, and my looks, how could they not be boastful about it? Tell me I'm wrong," He challenged her and winked at his fellow Slytherin. Once they were on the dance floor Ezra moved with Alana in time to the music.

He grinned broadly when she asked him how he was finding the school so far. "I have no complaints, I found my feet on the Quidditch team, though I have to admit it was weird playing chaser at first but I'm talented enough to adjust, plus the girls here are a step up from Durmstrang, present company very much included, and I get to torture my brother on a regular basis, no complaints at all," He laughed as he held onto her. The bliss of the moment was ruined by the emergence of a girl. He knew her, she was an alternate on their team and by all accounts unhappy about it. "What the...?" Before Ezra finished his sentence Rome crashed into Alana pouring juice all over her dress. Before he could react he got a look at her dress wet and clinging to her and smirked. No complaints at all.

 

[Alana Finch]

"I believe it" Alana laughed, not really bothered by what Ezra was saying. There was something to be said for embracing what you were good at and not hiding it just to let others feel better about themselves. She shook her head, a broad grin on her face as he winked at her. She wasn't going to go so far as to indulge it, but she appreciated it anyway.

The teenager had learned bits and pieces about Ezra during practice as he'd boasted about this or that, but this was the first she recalled hearing about him having a sibling in the school. Cade...ah James, she quickly realized. Alana was just busy dancing, unaware of what was about to happen to her until she heard Ezra's exclamation. Whipping around did more harm than good and rather than have the back of her dress ruined, red juice poured over the entire front of it. Alana spluttered, some had even splashed onto her face, her wig, and she was already feeling the stickiness of it all. "You...you...you b***h! You did this on purpose. I know you did. Don't lie!" Alana exclaimed angrily, her red eyes narrowing since she knew exactly who this was. Rome. Reaching for the girl's arm to painfully drag her to Styx, Alana slipped slightly in the juice puddled on the floor. Instead, she ended up reaching for Ezra so she wouldn't fall completely to the floor. "I hate that little....Ooh, I hate her so much" she seethed to Ezra as she reached down to unstrap her heels. Alana was angry and embarassed which only added to her anger.

 

[Rome Savage]

Rome couldn't say that she wasn't very pleased when it had the desired affect, when the juice got just all over the girl's dress effectively ruining it, and some even getting on to the girl's face. The teen felt pretty good about herself, she marvelled a little at just what she had achieved and would've been grabbed by Alana had the girl not slipped on the juice, "Of course not," she said to her with false sweetness laced within her tone, "I am so sorry," Rome continued before just letting a small smirk reach her lips, "If only you had been able to beat that away," Rome then continued walking, throwing the now empty cup on to the ground as she stalked away, there was no way that Alana could prove Rome's intentions, the halloween feast was a busy place, accidents were bound to happen. And Rome had done what she needed to a little annoyance to the girl whom she was annoyed at, it wasn't like Rome was ever going to stop either not until Rome got her way.
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[Ezra Cade]

Ezra couldn't believe the nerve of the girl, was she so petty about being an alternate that she would choose to ruin her captains costume. The more he thought about it the more Ezra thought the girl was quite pathetic, for one the reason she was acting out and secondly the manor of her acting out, spilling juice on her halloween costume, how pitiful. Ezra's attention quickly turned back to Alana, she had been about to go after the girl when she slipped on a puddle of juice. Ezra held out his hands and caught her, he lifted her on to her feet and kept his arms around her waist. "Well being around you is never boring is it?" He grinned at her, he knew she was angry so he was attempting to cut through that. Ezra released his hold on her as she leaned down to unstrap her heels. "Wanna get out of here?" He asked with a mischievous grin.

 

[Alana Finch]

Rome’s tone made it even more clear that she had planned this whole thing. She’d be a persistently annoying presence in Alana’s life since she’d been benched. Alana hadn’t given the younger Slytherin a reason as to why she’d been benched, but it was clear to both of them that Alana had done so purposely. It was her little way of exacting revenge on a meddling little girl, though how well the message was received was unclear since she continued to meddle in Alana’s life. The little display in the common room after their win hadn’t even bothered Alana much, but this was far more annoying. She’d ruined her costume, and Alana hadn’t even brought her wand with her to the Great Hall. She’d had nowhere to fit it and hadn’t wanted to carry it the whole evening. Good thing too because she was certain she would have hexed Rome if she had it. As Rome slipped away, Alana continued to seethe.

With one shoe in her hand and the other very near to being off, Alana paused to glance up at Ezra who seemed to be making a joke of the whole situation. The girl’s red eyes still clearly showed how angry she was about the whole thing, but she couldn’t help but smile faintly at Ezra’s attempts to distract her from the whole thing. “You have no idea” she mumbled under her breath, thankful for the noise in the Great Hall. Down a few inches due to her lack of her heels, Alana looked up further at the boy who was now asking if she wanted to leave the room. The Slytherin didn’t have to think too hard about it. Her feet were now wet, though moving would be much easier now that she wasn’t sporting four inch heels, and she was increasingly aware of how cold and drafty the room was with a wet dress on. Shivering slightly, Alana nodded her head. “Ugh, yes please” she replied, moving towards the doors. First, she needed to stop in her room to change and then she’d be up for anything.

 

[Ezra Cade]

Ezra never did understand the petty acriona of teenage girls, but he was thankful for Rome's little outburst. He would be taking Alana back to the common room while everyone else was at the feast. Who knew what that would mean but Ezra certainly had his own ideas about how he wanted to spend his evening with the Quidditch captain. He was glad to see Alana smile in reaction to his remarks, at least she wouldn't be storming up to her room as soon as he got her back to the common room, she at least appeared open to the concept of staying in his company.

"Come on, lets go," He placed his hand on the small of her back once she got her shoes off, and dropped a little in stature, and followed her out of the Great hall and in the direction of the common room. Once they were inside Ezra removed his blazer and threw it on one of the armchair. "You should get out of that dress, I'll wait here, as much as that pains me," He smirked and laughed still attempting to keep the mood light.