The Potion Princess

The Yule Ball

Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned, it's true, and that's especially applicable when it comes to a Slytherin with a point to prove.

Audra spends all day getting ready.  She coats her hair in potions until her curls are tamed, piled high on top of her head and falling down her back.  Emmeline does her make up, applying mascara and eye shadow and blush like its war paint.  Her arms are bare, and so is her back, skin pale against the green of her dress.  A bracelet winds its way around her fore arm. 

She looks into the mirror, turning one way, then the other.  She does not look like herself, but she doesn't look bad either- she looks dark, and haunted, and maybe a little sad, but it is an elegant kind of pain. 

When she makes it down to the great hall, Damien is waiting for her.  Heads turn as she makes her way down the stairs, but she doesn't bother to look at them, because tonight she is a queen, strong and regal and as warm as ice, but she's also playing a part for her audience, and she does it well.  Audra wants the sight of her to hit Fred like a bludger in the stomach, to make it so the jealousy he's so enslaved to roars up until he can't focus on anything else but her.  So when she reaches the bottom of the steps and Damien reaches out to her, she doesn't hesitate before taking his hand, going up on her toes to kiss him on the cheek.

"You look gorgeous,"  He says, care free and happy as always.

She did not need him to tell her that.

Damien is an excellent date. 

It's not that she thought he wouldn't be, exactly, she was just expecting to be too busy looking over her shoulder at Fred to care who she went with or what he was like.  Damien, though, looked to happy and nice and care free to be ignored, peppering her with questions about her home and her family and where she grew up, about her friends and Hogwarts, her interests and hobbies and what she thinks her future will look like.  Audra responds in kind, learning about his home and his family, and that his favorite person in the world is his younger sister, and about Durmstang and his favorite classes being transfiguration and that his favorite place to holiday is in the middle of muggle resorts, because they're just so fun to be around, with all their inventions and distractions and explanations. 

"You're kidding,"  He says, looking around like someone might tell her that yes, she is indeed joking.  "You like to make potions?  For fun?"

"And I'm quite good at it."  They had fallen into an easy banter, and the back and forth had not stopped all night.  She could not remember what she had eaten, though she knew it had been quite good- all she could remember was the earnest look on his face as he talked about the creatures that lurked in his woods.  "What do you do for fun?  Transfigure random animals into house hold objects?"

"Occasionally,"  He is grinning, like he has been all night, and she thinks that if he was an animigus he would be a a golden retriever.  She leans in, her hand on his arm.   They really are the best looking couple in the room.  Audra had tried not to notice, but it gave her a vicious sort of glee to watch Fred walk in with his too short dress robes and ratty tennis shoes and unruly hair, knowing that he would look second rate standing next to Damien and his designer robes. She thinks that she'll have to introduce them later. 

The music starts soon, and then she forgets about Fred entirely.  He's a good dancer, even better than her, and he has no problem with taking her around to all of his friends and showing her off just like a good date should.  "This is my date,"  He says proudly to each new face.  "Prettiest girl in the whole damn room."

No one argues with him, which does wonders for her confidence, and then the next song starts  and she finds herself in his arms again, swaying to the sound that was coming from the invisible speakers.  They last an hour, maybe two, before he pulls her off the dance floor and off to get drinks.  "Would you like to get out of here?  Take a walk?"  He pulls at the collar of his robes, loosens them, and she sees his collar bone underneath.  "It's too hot."