ask forgiveness, rather than beg permission

Oh, booooo.

"Maaaat," she groaned, chasing after him. Usually when someone ran away from her, it was Johnny Murray, running to go under his covers and refuse to come out, and she'd stop him by wrapping him into a hug and making him sing along with her, screaming lyrics of old Weird Sisters songs until he mumbled along.

She caught up and jumped in his path, walking backwards in front of him. She had maybe thirty seconds before she tripped. "Look. Word's getting around about that. I'm being real with you. Yes, I have something to gain from it, but I could just offer to snog you or something in exchange for the party if I just want to manipulate you. But I'm being real. People are talking about how you, the Head Boy, got soooo serious in Duelling Club that you punched Jack Dyllan."

Her face was serious but spoke of truth. Margo wasn't always a great person, but deep down there was a heart of gold. Nosy, loud, obnoxious. But earnest. "I can have a party any time. I've got friends in Hogsmeade. But why not have one here where you can show off that you're the cool Head Boy that people can come to if they have a problem? And you won't punch them." She offered him a small smile. Only a little smirk-y.

He stomped down the dungeon hallway back towards the Slytherin common room. He was angry, not at her or at Jack - but with himself. He heard her voice come from behind him as she caught up to him. He held his head down not looking at her as she spoke.

He stopped walking.

He looked at her.

People are talking...

Yeah, that wasn't a new statement for him - he had always known people talked. It was different when someone else pointed it out to him though. He opened his mouth to say something but closed it. He really didn't know what to say at this point. The picture she was painting wasn't exactly manipulation but she was capitalizing on his misfortune. He smirked to himself at this thought - very Slytherin - and then he ran a hand through his hair in desperation. He sighed heavily before he finally opened his mouth to speak again.

"Very few people are 'real' with me," he air quoted the world real. "I understand you're heart is in the right place here but you also need to realize there is so much more that is important to me than Jack Dyllan." He was lying, she was avoiding him and he didn't like it. Jack was one of the few people who was real with him and he honestly missed their spats. But, he did not miss throwing punches with her. "And I'm already in enough sh*t with the headmaster about punching Jack I don't know if I can do it."

"But, you have a fair point about the other stuff." he murmured through a thoughtful finger on his lips. "I suppose I could spin it as something to do with rising tensions and volunteer myself and Sophia to personally chaperone."

"Oh but I don't know!" he exclaimed as he began walking down the hallway again

“Well you can count me as one of the few,” she said. “I’m not many things. Not a good student. Not a good secret keeper. Not allowed in the Herbology greenhouses unsupervised anymore - but I am real. And you can take that to the bank.”

He was yielding. She bit her lip… but then he was backing off. AGAIN. She scampered after him. “Listen. I can guarantee a fix to your reputation. If there’s one thing I can do, it’s curate a vibe. It’ll be a rager where not only is everyone safe, thanks to you, but everyone’s having a blast, thanks to you. It’s a win for everyone.”

She was as persistent as he was inconsistent. Her voice was in his ear and out the other as he mentally flipped through all the possible outcomes that could occur. It was a lot of work to fix a reputation he didn't care that much about. But who was he kidding, honestly, he wanted people to like him - deep at his core Lestrange's had connections. But he had none.

He stopped abruptly and felt her bump into him from behind. He stepped forward quickly to distance himself from her before he turned back around. He folded his arms doing his best to hide the fact that he was a little shaky. He could really feel her when she bumped into him - it was weird. New for him - sort of.

"Look, I'll talk to Sophia and I'll speak with one of the professors I'm close with. I think I can turn this into some pseudo-club meeting with myself and the Head Girl as chaperones. No professors." he said, shakily.

He wasn't paying her any mind so she took out her comm, opening a private message to @Johnny G. Murray and quickly typed out her message. Hey, I'm a genius and have literally figured everything out.

It was because her eyes were on her comm that she collided into Matt, and she quickly tucked the device into the pocket in her skirt, which Molly had so kindly magically enlarged. She smiled up at him innocently, listening to his... idea. His horrible, absolutely awful idea.

He couldn't tell a professor. And judging by how Kace and Christy responded to her hints at drinking, she doubted their friend The Head Girl would be okay with what she was planning on bringing anyway. She thought it made sense to go to Matt. He didn't act like a traditional Head Boy, so she thought he might have jumped at the chance to make it clear he was a cool guy. But apparently he was dead set against getting any help.

This was horrible. She had to stop it.

Her face suddenly brightened. "Perfect. That's amazing. We were thinking of doing it in the old greenhouse that's just storage now. Maybe next Friday? Thanks, Matt," she said, sealing the deal by kissing her hand and tapping his cheek, giving him a wink as she turned to hurry off. "I'll send you the details as they come!"

She whipped her comm back out and sent Johnny a new message: I've made a terrible mistake.