Party Rockin'

Ellie had passed a ton of notes around, giving everyone the time and place for the party. She was doing this for the right reasons- spite. If Foster thought she would be miserable because they weren't talking, well, he had another thing coming. For weeks, she had prepared- stealing carpets, comfy chairs, tables, curtains, and more from empty classrooms and smuggling them here. She had used a ton of her savings on food and drink and had even given a huge seventh year so money to be the bouncer. It cost a sickle to come in, simply to help pay for her expenses. Some lame fourth years had volunteered to play their instruments for music, and Ellie had been surprised to find that they were pretty good!

Everything was set into place. The band started up, the last napkin was set down, and Ellie started a fire in the fireplace, filling the dungeon with warmth. She called to the bouncer, "Let them in!" and in poured the crowd.

Iris had heard that one of her best friends is going to throw a party and Demetria just had to be there. She decided she would go a little bit earlier than other students and see if Ellie needs help with food, music, decorating or anything.

Once she made it to the Deathday Party Dungeon, the party had already started. She smiled and entered the dungeon. Demetria stretched up on tiptoe to and looked for Ellie. She noticed the girl and approached her. “Hey!” she smiled and hugged Ellie, “you´ve done a good job, it´s really cozy here.” Girl looked around and chuckled: “And you even managed to hire a band?” Iris looked at fourth year students, “they aren´t so bad actually...” she admitted.

Franki had not exactly been dressed for a party, but that had not been her fault. She had been heading out to go enjoy the sunset when she passed by some housemates whispering about the party. When she asked about it, they gave her the note that had informed them of the party. A quick glance at the clock told her that she would be late if she didn't leave at that moment. Fixing her hair the best she could, she hurried off.

She was glad she always had extra change, as she was asked to chip in a sickle at the door, which she gracefully did. She hurried into the chamber and looked around. The band was pretty good, so she grabbed a bottle of Butterbeer and walked towards the music, sipping the drink.

The moving staircases were a devious breed; so much so, in fact, that despite his years spent mapping Hogwarts and its grounds, he had lost himself amongst the moving portraits on his trek back to his dorm. That was Rudolph's story and he had every intention of sticking to it. The notoriously shy and gentle did not spontaneously decide it a fine evening for a party, thus it was with a muttered "Hello. Excuse me," to the larger student at the door and a hasty exchange of money that Rudy glided over the threshold.

He had eyes only for the floor beneath his feet while his stained-purple fingertips fidgeted with the sleeves of his striped sweater. But he walked on, avoiding incoming obstacles with precision, despite his averted gaze. "Excuse me," He repeated the well-worn phrase when he came to a halt beside a near student, one whom he only recognized to be the familiar Franki when he peered at her from beneath the hem of his hat and admitted flatly, "I got lost."

Suzanna hummed softly as she followed her best friend, Katty, down to some party she had been told about. "It'll be fun. I promise." The girl kept going on and on about what they could do there and how everyone was going to show up. Suz looked at Katty with a bored look and suddenly smiled. "Alright, but if we don't you owe me a galleon." she told the other girl.

Katty looked at Suzanna confused before agreeing and shrugging. When they got there, they were each made to pay a sickle before they were let in. Of course Katty forgot any money so Suz had to pay for both of them. "That's two galleons now." she informed her friend. She waved it off and pulled Suz into the chamber with her. The band was playing and the two girls stopped to listen to them for a minute. "Not bad." Suz commented before walking over to a table and taking a butterbeer for herself and one for Katty.

Franki had begun to sway to the music, unwillingly taken it by how good the band actually was. For a band of scraggly Hufflepuffs and Gryffindors, they had some good musicians and they were playing new, popular music, rather than the worn tunes that frequented the radio stations her parents generation listened to. She had finished off about half of her Butterbeer, leaving the bottle half full, and she was beginning to feel warm and happy.

She felt a presence and turned, seeing a slight figure before her. A tentative gaze met hers and the voice informed her Rudy had arrived. "Rudy!" she gushed warmly, surprised and happy to see someone she genuinely enjoyed the company of at the party. She reached out and squeezed his arm, smirking and said, "I think you could resist my famous dance moves." She grinned- in the dorms, he was the boss. When social interactions were thrust upon them, Franki's dominance was sure. She always tried to give him a reassuringly kind glance to inform him she meant no harm though. She worried about Rudy.

"Well, you're here," she stated. "Have a drink, move your hips a bit." She glanced at the refreshments table, and summoned a glass of Firewhiskey, before thrusting it into his hands. "Take a night off from research!"

If Rudolph was fond of anyone, Franki was the most likely candidate. Though her lack of expressed curiosity towards his comings and goings frequently boggled him (For it was as though she had developed a blind spot solely for his sake – and over the course of so little time!), it proved to be quite the benefit under such circumstances. While his tale of having lost his way was a frail one, due to the proof that he presented on a daily basis that his memory was above the norm, she did not propose any questions. Unlike most, Franki had taken to allowing him to do as he pleased and to welcome him blissfully with open arms when he returned to her side. Her company required far less effort to maintain than most, and for that, Rudolph was grateful.

Thus it was with a well rehearsed and near-charming smile that Rudy greeted his other half. “Dancing?” He inquired uncertainly, for it was one of the many socially acceptable skills that he had opted not to learn. A forced chuckle followed suit, and he lowered his gaze to its earlier position. She would encourage him, no doubt; perhaps even cast him an enthusiastic and comforting grin. Rudy had become accustomed to her concerned habits. He thought that she may even feel she needed to be his shepherd on the rare occasion that he joined in on the festivities. But he didn’t mind; she only aided him in his act.

Rudolph allowed his eyes to jump upward and for his chin to fall against his chest at Franki’s mention of his hips. Move them? Dancing was a tedious thing with no purpose, and he could not begin to understand it. “OK,” He agreed with a firm nod after lifting his head once more and he gave his hips a single, cautious rock. But before he could ask his companion if he had done it right, a glass found his alert hands, which had grabbed hold of it quickly out of instinct.

The substance smelt strongly of alcohol. Even across the distance that remained between his nose and the rim of the glass, he could smell it’s overpowering aroma, and he was tempted to frown. Rather, he met Franki’s eyes and grinned politely, “Thanks,” before proceeding with his hurriedly concocted plan. “Oh – you, um. You have – just there,” Rudy began, gesturing vaguely towards the girl’s shirt collar. “Just a bit of Butterbeer – on your shirt,” he informed her. “Here,” he absently proposed as he handed her his Firewhiskey and withdrew from a pocket in his torn denims his wand. “I’ll just – there you go,” He mumbled with a concluding smile, and from her other hand he whisked away the Butterbeer that she had started on, leaving her with the Firewhiskey.

He had a policy to keep, after all. Alcohol was not permitted. It was a foolish risk.

“There. That’s better,” Rudy stated, and turned to look onward at the live entertainment.

"No-ho!" Franki laughed as he jerked a hip awkwardly. Poor Rudy. When the two of them were alone, it was Franki that was indebted to Rudy. They were an awkward pair, but she would have excused the strange behavior of anyone who was gracious enough to pretend to accept her. But that Rudy never seemed to outwardly judge her for her family's shame or her own too-accepting nature. Few Slytherins treated her like she had a purpose. Rudy, at least, gave her the purpose of helping him survive the awkwardness that was the social experience of Hogwarts.

He had already accepted his drink and warned her of a spot on her uniform. "Oh," she said, bending her neck as her eyes darted over her shirt. "Where is it?" He offered to help her and she took the Firewhiskey. She stood still as he fixed the stain she had not seen. "Did you get it?"

He took the Butterbeer and assured her it was. "Thanks... By the way, there might be cooties on that," she teased. She didn't mind if he wanted the Butterbeer. It was more warming than the whiskey, and the dungeon still had a lingering chill. She opened the bottle of Firewhiskey and took a swig.

The music was beginning to get into her and she rocked back and forth, before bumping Rudy's hip with her own. She remembered his failed attempt to dance earlier. "C'mon, let me help you," she said, turning to him. "It'll come in handy when you find yourself a wife-y and need to dance at the wedding. Besides, the Yule Ball will be coming up, and you've gotten much taller. The girls will be lining up!" Franki liked to be optimistic, and she liked to be kind. After years of putting on the brooding, rude Slytherin mask, it was refreshing to change it up. She faced Rudy and took another drink of Firewhiskey. "Get the beat in your head," she instructed. "Then... move!" She began twisting, jokingly doing the old fifties style dancing. "It feels good after you've been hunched over your books all day."

Cooties. Rudolph allowed his lash-tipped lids to dip briefly in recognition of his defeat, for the goal that he had hoped to achieve (a clever and well disguised flourish to act as an exit from an unpleasant scenario) had not gone so accordingly. Franki had made note of his actions with ease, and though it did not appear immediately that she had identified his trickery, but had merely accepted it, Rudolph was overwhelmed at once by the desire to reprimand himself for his spontaneity. It was a rule of his, after all; plans were not to be crafted at a moment’s notice. Improvisation was no true option, but a trap.

He would not be so careless again.

“Of course you know what the word ‘cooties’ means ... When you get near the trenches you get a course in the natural history of bugs, lice, rats and every kind of pest that had ever been invented,” Rudolph recited the quote for lack of better conversational filler, before continuing with his own selection of words, “There really is no such thing as ‘cooties’. During World War I ‘cooties’ were considered to be an infestation of lice – which may not have been lice at all, but contagious diseases that…” He trailed off when his eyes drifted away from the band and back towards Franki. “Nevermind.”

It seemed carelessness was in the air this evening.

Rudolph took a sliding step off to the side with a start when Franki’s hip collided with his own, before coming to the realization that this reaction had been inappropriate and he provided a level, “Sorry.” He smiled for the umpteenth time since his arrival; an expression which he felt had begun to weigh heavily upon his face, but provided an easy solution to any mistakes he may have made.

“Oh, I’m not looking for a wife,” Rudolph corrected Franki with a chuckle that stumbled from his drying lips. “- Four inches since the last,” He piped up in regards to his increasing height. But the notion of the year’s Yule Ball left him feeling less enthusiastic than he had been prior to having been reminded of its nearing date. “Are you going to the Yule Ball?” He asked with audible curiosity while he calculated the pros of Franki’s presence at such an event. Perhaps with her by his side he would not be expected to bring along a partner. Or better still, perhaps catching a dreadful case of a potion-induced disease would provide a valid excuse of absence.

“This really isn’t my type of music…” was Rudolph’s retort, but he inhaled a lengthy breath and began to listen carefully to the song’s rhythm as he had been told anyhow. If anything, his ‘try everything once’ attitude was to blame for his predicament. He squinted, arching his right eyebrow as though anticipating an explosion to erupt from his core at any moment. “I don’t feel anything,” came his exasperated sigh while he watched with mild confusion as Franki danced. "You're a brilliant dancer. Maybe if I just watch I'll learn something." And from his Butterbeer he took a small swig.

Rudy did this. Now, Franki was not stupid. But she sis know when to filter out information. Why stress your brain on things that were absolutely irrelevant to you? And Rudy had a tendency to say things that Franki found irrelevant, not only by her standards, but for anyone who was not a rocket scientist or a muggle historian. Naturally, she had only teased about the cooties because she liked to make little jokes. She had not thought of the technicalities of the word.

So he turned her stare to Rudy, blinking exaggeratedly, her face rather blank. He caught on and abandoned the topic. She smiled, tapping his bottle. "Drink. Relax." He slid away after her bump, and he apologized. "It's alright. You're still jumpy after I brought up cooties- oh, sorry. I mean- 'a course in the natural history of bugs, lice, rats and etcetera, etcetera." She smiled more widely. "Alright, I'm done teasing. Promise."

He assured her he was not looking for a wife, and she quickly added, "Yet. You never know, dearest." Franki could not help herself with the affectionate names. Most people were lovely, dears, and loves to her. He seemed a little proud of the height. She noted to compliment him more on it. Perhaps it would give the poor boy some confidence, and maybe help him relax. "Of course I'm going to the Yule Ball- everyone goes to the Yule Ball!"

She took another long drink. Two more swallows and she could discard the bottle. He complained about the music and she continued dancing, hoping he would attempt it anyway. She paused her twisting to take another drink of her Firewhiskey. So close now. He gave up, citing his reason, and complimenting her dancing. "Thanks, but I'm not concerned about me!" She downed the last of the Firewhiskey- the effects of finishing it of so quickly spun the world slightly and she stood still a moment, before stepping forward the place the abandoned bottle on the edge of the stage.

She turned. "Alright... C'mere, then!" She smiled, and, though she had beckoned Rudy to her, stepped towards him. "Hear the beat?" She began nodding her head in time to the music. "Now... you move." On beats two and four, she dipped her shoulders and hips. "See? Dancing nowadays is so lame, all you do is move, but it's fun." She reached out and gripped his shoulders, moving them along with her. "Try it. No one watches other people dance- it makes them feel pathetic. It feels nice to move, doesn't it?"