Adventures in Rebounding

The party was loud, smelled of beer, and was every bit of the distraction than Irene had hoped it would be. The Room of Requirement was filled with Slytherins, Ravenclaws, and the occasional Gryffindor or Hufflepuff who had proved their fun at parties was more valuable than the disgrace of their house name. This gathering was centered around the Slytherin team's victory the night before and Arren had found out about the secret location for her own involvement in Quidditch. It was always amazing how oblivious the professors could really be, failing to notice a large chunk of upperclassmen disappear for a good portion of the night.

Dance music blared from an old fashioned record player at the back of the room, sounding more like high-tech surround sound than an antique. Half of the students stood around the edges talking and laughing. The other, more drunken, half danced in the center of the room, bodies pressed against each other despite the space they had to spread out. Irene was floating around the room, chatting with anyone she saw that she knew and occasionally being dragged into the fray at the center. She noticed Arren dancing with a short-haired blonde, her hands wound around the girls waist as they moved.

Far from willing to get in the way of Arren's success, Irene continued on towards the back where she received another drink from Gavin Blackmoor, a fifth year Gryffindor boy who had been invited on the condition that he would pass out drinks for the evening. She hadn't been drinking too much and got the drink for more social reasons than a real quest to get drunk. There was a Charms test tomorrow morning that she had no interest in failing (though she was not so concerned it had stopped her from having a bit of fun). But it was early still and Irene had hours before she would make the sneaky retreat to Ravenclaw Tower with the undoubtably more wasted Arren.

Irene had barely made it five feet from the drinks when she practically ran into Danny, the Slytherin keeper. She congratulated him on the game and the pair settled in to a comfortable, though not very deep, conversation about Quidditch, Charms, and the party. Everything was going as well as could be expected for two slightly drunk teenagers who barely knew each other until Danny asked The Question. "So how's Rufus doing? I haven't heard from him lately."

"He's great. Living in London and working at Gringotts." Truthfully, Irene had barely spoken to Rufus in months, receiving a messy and vague letter about what he was up to, though even these had all but stopped. He had graduated and she was a little girl stuck in school. There were bigger and better places for him to go in life and while she wished him all the best, it still stung that she had been so easily discarded. That's what made these parties so fun. More friends than one could ever hope for, laugher all around, and a sense of belonging that was intoxicating. After a bit more small talk Irene moved on into the crowd.

It was going to be a good night.

Keiran wasn't one for parties would be a massive understatement. Frankly, he didn't see anything wrong with them, other than the fact that it turned everyone around him into complete idiots. The sixth year was just tired of their winning meaning a long night for him. Why couldn't they just let him head off and gets some work done? Was that such a bad idea? He didn't think so. No, instead Danny had made him go along since he was 'a shoe in for team Captain next year' or something, and apparently this was the way to get there. It didn't really add up, if you asked the Slytherin, but at least he wasn't that loser that spent the night in the dormitory instead of with the rest of the team.
 
The Room of Requirement was far too loud for his tastes, but there wasn’t really any getting out of it. Instead of standing around complaining, Keiran had taken to drinking – another thing he didn’t do often, if at all. No, it was a more conversational thing, though he couldn’t say he disliked the taste of it. Some types weren’t so bad – especially if firewhiskey was around somewhere. Keiran eyed the poor bloke who was passing drinks around but plucked a glass off the table anyway. A few feet away, a brunette stood alone, watching the people move around her.

“Well, Audriana. Didn’t expect you to show.” Keiran drawled, leaning against the wall next to her. Swan looked up at him and pursed her lips. He grinned at her and took a drink while waiting to see if she would return his greeting. In the end, his patience won out.

“I see the on-the-field rivalry extends to parties.”

Keiran chuckled and nodded. During their last game, the Gryffindor Seeker had been far too pleased with herself when she negated the Slytherin goals. Instantly, her snark had annoyed him and brought about a face-to-face argument ending in their agreeing to the future involving bets and gloating. Somehow, their relationship was actually not half bad; they really could get on outside anything relating to Quidditch. Call it what you will, but they were both entertained. “I’d wager you wouldn’t like to dance?”

“Certainly not.” She replied, sipping from her cup – though Keiran suspected it was just water – and lifting an eyebrow at him in a mixture of surprise and distaste.

“Have it your way.” He shrugged, turning to head over to his teammates. Keiran flashed her a grin over his shoulder as he walked off.

After a bit of searching, Keiran spotted Danny talking to a girl who looked vaguely familiar, though he was fairly certain she wasn’t in his their house. Setting a hand on Danny’s shoulder in greeting, Keiran glanced from his teammate to his dark-haired friend. “Evening,” he offered the both of them before lifting his hand from Danny’s shoulder and offering to her. “Hi. Keiran Hayes.”

“Plays Keeper,” Danny pointed out lightly.

“Hopefully next year, I’ll be Captain,” Keiran teased, referencing Danny’s comments over the past few weeks. Shaking his head, he took another drink and returned his attention to the brunette across from him.

Another boy appeared beside Danny, just in time to add new excitement to a quickly dwindling conversation. Irene recognized him from the team and was already searching for his name as introduced himself. Of course. How many times had Irene heard that name announced? Even without Slytherin's strong offensive line Keiran was good. The Chasers that got past the bludgers rarely put it into the goal. She took his extended hand, shaking it lightly with only the slightest bit surprised at the semi-formal introduction at this less than classy event.

"So confident." she teased with a grin, her hand lingering on his for a moment before shaking it. "Irene Rutherford."

Irene released his hand and glanced back over at Danny, noting the friendly relationship between the two men. It should have only been expected among teammates but the bonds of brotherhood fell short in some groups, leaving them as separate parts rather than a whole. Not that Irene really knew anything about sports besides what she had figured out after spending way too much time at Arrens Quidditch parties. The most active thing the Ravenclaw ever did was swimming and biking on the summer holiday.

"But I suppose it's justified. You played pretty well yesterday." Irene conceded, an easygoing grin on her face.

She was sure she must have spoken to Keiran in the past but could not recall for the life of her when it would have been. They would only a year apart and seemed to socialize in the same circles. Irene recognized the younger boys face well despite having never been properly introduced - maybe it was just from watching him in goal? Regardless, it was a cute face and she felt pleased to have the small circle of boys to talk to, especially when they were both on the first line of the winning team. They were practically celebrities among this crowd.

Keiran shrugged at Irene’s jibe, but grinned regardless. The sixth year wasn’t always particularly interested in being observant, but it seemed easy to focus on little things when the three of them were more or less cut off from the other people in the room. Thus, his attention was drawn to her lingering hand where it rested in his. He very nearly squeezed her hand as they shook, surprised by his own sudden desire to do so.

She smiled in return, adding on an unexpected compliment. Keiran’s smile turned into a bit of a smirk. “Don’t blame me; Danny can’t seem to shut up about how well I play.” The purely dramatic flare and drawl of his tone of voice pointed out how exasperated he was, as well as how little he went on with it.

Danny shrugged good-naturedly as Keiran glanced about the room again. His gaze alighted on Audriana once more, his mind racing through the possibilities she offered. “Give me two seconds,” he said suddenly, the words directed at Irene and Danny. “I’ve got someone you’ll want to meet, Dan.”

Audriana looked over at Keiran’s return, brow furrowed. What in Merlin’s name did he want now? Surely his taunting was finished for the day. There wasn’t much to say when Slytherin had only managed to beat Hufflepuff, rather than Gryffindor. Otherwise, Aud definitely would not have shown up, and most certainly wouldn’t have stood by as he attempted to talk to her.

“What now, Hayes?” She asked, the question coming out as an exasperated sigh.

“I want to make a deal,” he began, watching her eyes light with interest. He smirked; it wasn’t hard to catch her attention if you knew what buttons to press. “You distract Danny and I’ll owe you. Whatever you want.”

Audriana looked over to the bloke Keiran was referring to, catching sight of the brunette next to Danny. Understanding dawned on her face before she set her glass down and faced the Slytherin Keeper. “Fine. But don’t expect me to forget if I don’t ask for anything right away. And don't expect me to choose anything simple or pointless just because you're doing this to get a girl.”

“I would never.” He replied cheekily, setting a hand on her back to lead her over to the two he had abandoned momentarily. “Danny,” he started, catching the Seeker’s attention. “This is Audriana Swan. Gryffindor Seeker.” Keiran had to nudge her to get Aud to offer a hand, but when she did, Danny gave her a once over before suggesting they dance and chat.

Aud passed Keiran what could only be termed a death glare, and he knew immediately that whatever she asked for would be incredibly painful, if not impossibly annoying. He turned to Irene, offering a smile. “You want to get another drink?” He suggested lightly, both pleased that he’d managed to send Danny off as well as glad that he had been talked into attending the party. At least he had met someone he found interesting.

Keiran disappeared and returned a few moments later with a brunette in tow. While her introduction was clearly for Danny's benefit it jointly helped Irene's memory. The same sounded familiar and the face was even more so, probably due to the fact that they seemed to frequent the same parties. But before Irene could consider it too deeply the other girl was swept away to the dance floor by an all-too-eager Danny. Poor little girl. Without another thought she turned back to Keiran and found herself a little too willing to return his smile.

Irene glanced down at her mostly full cup and shrugged. "I'm fine. Do you need another?" Soon her dance around the drink table would become dangerous if someone was watching her. Being attended to at parties tended to make Irene slightly more reckless and willing to drink both more and faster. When she blended into the crowd her cup became more about being an accessory than a beverage, easy to be forgotten about.

Irene was relatively new to this whole scene. Only through the combined efforts of Arren and Rufus had she been dragged out of her dorm room and given a social life for the first time. While her books were still a great friend, it was strangely nice to spend so much time interacting with humans too. Now Irene enjoyed a wide variety of social events from Room of Requirement parties to night swims in the Great Lake. The Ravenclaw only spent about half of her nights up studying or reading, much less than she had been before.

((This is poop.))

Keiran wondered briefly if he should have felt bad about sending the younger girl off with Danny, but instead he decided that if anyone could handle herself, it was Audriana Swan. When Danny came limping back and ranting about the Gryffindor, Keiran wouldn’t be surprised. He would probably just laugh. That would certainly teach him. Regardless of their teammate status, Keiran didn’t agree with Danny’s pushy nature regarding women.

Irene’s voice drew Keiran’s attention back and he shrugged down at his own cup. “Just checking.” He replied, knocking back a good amount of the alcohol before eyeing her curiously.

“Why haven’t I seen you around before?” He asked after a moment, realizing that although she looked vaguely familiar, it wasn’t from the Quidditch parties that he knew her. Classes, perhaps? No, he guessed that she was older. A seventh year, then. But that didn’t explain why she was suddenly here and he hadn’t gotten to know her before.

The dark-haired Ravenclaw had immediately caught his attention when Keiran walked in, her eyes having been what drew him in. He turned, acting like he wanted to observe those dancing nearby, but the movement also allowed him to take a couple steps in her direction, their shoulders nearly brushing. If all else failed, he could claim the music was too loud and he couldn’t hear her. He nearly smirked at the idea, covering it up with another drink from his cup.

((OOC: blahhhhhhh))

Irene watched the backs of Danny and the brunette disappear into the crowd of dancers. A part of her felt a little bad for shaking the boy off at the expense of another, probably just as innocent, girl but she could not honestly admit to regretting this change in company. While Danny was an excellent Chaser he wasn't exactly the kind of guy she wanted to have lunch with - his mental capacity didn't extend beyond small talk and he had a habit of getting a little too close.

Irene glanced over at Keiran as he spoke and took note that he had gotten much closer, their shoulder's almost brushing as she swayed slightly to the rhythm of the music. There was a warmth where his eyes glanced over her and she was surprised at how pleasant the sensation was. For the first time in a long time something flickered in her chest, a small smile hinting at her lips as she remembered just how good it felt to be wanted.

"No idea. Maybe you aren't very observant, Mr. Keeper." Irene teased lightly. Truthfully she had never been much of a person worth noticing. While the Ravenclaw's confidence had grown in her year with Rufus, his confidence and charm easily took the spotlight off of her. Irene was beginning a new era - never before had she been so comfortable in her own skin, much less completely independent. While there was a notable loss where Rufus had once been she was also aware that he had given her something much more valuable.

When else would she have been this comfortable in the middle of a beer-soaked, dance-riot of a party?

Irene glanced over at Keiran again, becoming increasingly aware that he was one of the boys people considered attractive. Quite attractive in fact - the Quidditch swagger managed to be sexy at the same time it was annoying juvenile. Boys were stupid but girls couldn't help and love them anyway.