28| PROPOSAL EXTRAVAGANZA
Golden.
The colour of the late morning sun, the glassy whiskey in the trough, the shimmering bodies of the giant, gorgeous Abraxan horses. It was all golden.
Henry spread his wings half open and shook them, lapping up the golden liquid in front of him with a snort. Oswald was standing in one corner of the paddock majestically, his disdainful gaze sweeping over his companions, then resting on the swaying green twig dangling from a strand of Henry's mane. He seemed to roll his red eyes at them.
Galleon lay on his belly on the grass outside the paddock. He had gotten drunk by sniffing the whiskey. He felt two gentle hands pick him up and pull him onto a familiar, warm and soft bed.
Gemini held in her giggle as he snuggled into her lap.
"I'm getting light-headed as well..."
Gemini turned her head to the boy beside her, who had been observing her with one of his legs pulled against his chest and his chin resting on his knee. His curly, brown hair danced in the light breeze and the small moles that spaciously dotted his jaw and neck stood out against his pallid skin. He blinked slowly as if mesmerised by the sight before him.
She sighed. "You're not getting any special treatment, Nott. Now tell me what you're here for."
Theodore pretended to be upset at Gemini's response. "That's no way to treat your superiors, Delmar."
"Oh, pardon me," Gemini said, clearing her throat before trying again. "What the fuck do you want?"
"That's actually worse?"
She smiled at the nonplussed pinch of his brows and clapped him amicably on the shoulder. Hard. "You see, Nott, that is the beauty of it. No one's my superior."
"You're awful," he hissed, rubbing the spot where she hit him.
"Tell me something new,"
He rolled his eyes and shifted his head so that his cheek replaced where his chin had been. "I want you to help me with something..."
"And that would be...?"
"You remember the gramophone we are — well, were — using for the practice?" he asked, then continued when she nodded, "It broke last night."
"Already? It's been three days," she said incredulously.
He lifted his head and massaged his eyes with his fingers — the action bizarrely drew her attention to the two freckles beneath his left eye. "Some third-year cretin slammed into it. Don't ask me how — it was literally in the corner of the room,"
Gemini considered this, then tilted her head. "What do you want me to do about it?"
"I've been asked to fix it, but I'll need some help," he answered with a calculative frown. "I need skilled hands."
Gemini laughed. "You think I'm skilled with cogs and screws?"
"The cuts on your hands don't lie as your lips do." he smirked, "I know a pair of experienced hands when I see them."
Gemini raised her eyebrows at him, subconsciously twisting her ring. "I'm not helping you."
"Only if you can provide me with a good reason."
"I don't want to."
"Lame."
Gemini merely glared at him.
Theodore's own eyes narrowed in concentration as he tried to guess the rationale behind her withholding. "Is it because of Zabini?"
"What?"
"Zabini. Does he have something to do with this?" he interrogated, "And don't even try to act like you don't know what I'm talking about. With the way you two are behaving, even Malfoy caught on. One day you both are flirting like there's no tomorrow and the next, he's making plans with some Ravenclaw girl while you find excuses to avoid him."
Gemini gave a disgruntled "no".
Theodore groaned. "Listen, I have no interest in your love life —"
"What love life?" she mumbled.
"— so just help me get this over with. No one's going to force you to join the practice again if you don't want to. As for Zabini, I'm pretty sure he has more pressing matters that he would like to..." he trailed off, swerving his head toward the Beauxbatons carriage.
Gemini looked up as well and spotted Fleur Delacour descending the doorsteps of the carriage. Her silver-blonde hair billowed out behind her and gave her a glowing aura. Theodore was ogling at her, open-mouthed.
Gemini called his name once, twice. Then she practically leaned into his ear and shouted, "Nott!" as she snapped her fingers in front of his eyes.
He came to his senses and turned to her so abruptly that she barely had time to pull away. He glanced back at Fleur more consciously this time and blushed fiercely.
A laugh bubbled out from Gemini's throat, which earned her a blazing look from him. But she only threw her head back and laughed harder, her dimple appearing prominently on her cheek. The sound eventually caught the attention of Fleur herself. The older girl looked curiously at the pair of them sitting on the sparse grass that covered the dirt outside the paddock.
Theodore was trying hard to get Gemini to stop now. "What's so funny about this anyway?"
"Y-your face," she responded between uneven breaths and began wheezing.
Theodore was antagonised by how attractive she looked with that dimple. In a fit of temper, he grabbed her shoulders and pinned her to the ground. Her pet scurried off her lap with a frightened squeal. She, however, appeared startled for only a second before her grin returned, cheekier than ever.
"As I said — grumpy." she quoted herself.
"Shut the fuck up," he hissed.
"Let me up," she then said, bending her arms to grab hold of his. When he didn't comply, she patted his elbows impatiently. "Come on, let's go fix that gramophone before you start drooling again."
He glowered at her for a second more, then, ignoring that last part, he released her shoulders and yanked her up with him.
"Ow — careful! There's only one of that invaluable arm in this world!"
Theodore tightened his grip on her, making her wince in pain as he pulled her to her feet after him and dragged her up to the castle. She raised her free arm to wave goodbye to Twig, Galleon, and the Abraxan horses, but he snatched her wrist and pulled it down.
"You know, she's still looking at us. You don't want to give a wrong impression of yourself," she told him sincerely, then tugged on his sleeve. "Lemme go."
"I'm giving the perfect impression of myself," he retorted.
She groaned, throwing one hand up and rolling her eyes exaggeratedly as they stepped into the chilly shade of the entrance hall. Granted, it wasn't a new thing but people threw weird looks at them as they passed. And then someone called Gemini's name.
She jerked back a very pissed-off Theodore and swivelled her head around to catch sight of a Ravenclaw who she vaguely knew to be a year above them.
"Could I have a word with you in private?" he asked Gemini, his eyes darting repeatedly between her and Theodore.
"She has a date with a gramophone right now." Theodore asserted, one eyebrow cocked up challengingly.
"Talk about a whole other level of ridiculousness," Gemini commented as he resumed hauling her down to the dungeons before the other boy could get another word out. "Where exactly —"
But she stopped short as something caught her eye on their way. In the empty hallway on their left was a small group of fifth or sixth-year boys, and through the gap between their bodies, she could spot two younger boys — first-years, by the looks of it — cornered against the wall. Their familiar-looking faces were contorted in fear, and they were clutching at each other's hands for dear life.
Theodore didn't seem much bothered and tugged at her arm to indicate that they should leave, but she halted him.
"No, look," she muttered, pointing discreetly at the uniforms of the first-years.
Slytherins.
A raucous laughter rose among the older boys as one of them conjured a snake in front of the younger ones.
"Scared, little devil?" one Gryffindor said as the first-years froze in cold terror. "Come on, it's not going to hurt you, you're the same breed, aren't you?"
And they roared.
"Maybe I should remind you of your breed, you fucking quim."
The boys all turned to look at Gemini with shocked faces. She stood ramrod straight, an eerie stillness about her, wand deceivingly slack between her fingers as her mouth twisted into a scowl. But the most terrifying were her eyes — they were piercing and cold and livid. Next to her, Theodore looked like he was a second away from breaking his thread of restraint.
Terrified of the capability of two Slytherins who weren't defenceless, they scrambled out of there as fast as their wretched legs could take them. Theodore nearly followed their departure but was held back by Gemini, who indicated that they had more pressing matters at hand. Their focus automatically shifted to the snake, an unspoken agreement passing between them to let her handle it.
"Don't move," Gemini told the first-years in the calmest voice she could muster. She remembered one of their names now. "Stay very still, Malcolm."
The boy gulped and stilled.
Gemini pressed her feet gingerly to the ground as she made her way to them. Theodore stayed in his place with his wand out, ready to help should things turn nasty. But Gemini, as always, seemed to have everything under control as the snake turned to her upon sensing her movement. She extended her fingers to it unflinchingly and cajoled it with her eyes. She heard one of the first-years stifle a sob as it slithered up her arm. She trailed a finger along its spine, hushing it.
"You can stop worrying now, it won't hurt you as long as I have it in my hold," she reassured them.
The little boys relaxed a little, watching Theodore pocket his wand through big, teary eyes before he came over and crouched before them.
"What are your names? Your full names," he added, recalling one of them to be 'Malcolm' according to Gemini.
The blond boy with a pair of stark, honey-whiskey eyes answered, "Graham Pritchard," while the one with mousy brown hair introduced himself as Malcolm Baddock.
"Why were those boys after you? Did you do something?" Theodore further inquired, but the first-years shook their heads.
"Th-they said w-we didn't deserve to b-be here because we're meant to be evil like a-all Slytherins," Graham stammered, and Theodore exchanged a glance with Gemini.
"And what did you tell them?" she asked quietly.
Malcolm swiped a stray tear off his cheek. "N-Nothing,"
"Nothing?" asked Gemini sharply, and they flinched. "So you're telling me that those morons insulted you for your house and you did nothing to defend it?" The snake hissed as she spoke, and the effect was so terrifying that the first-years' joint hands started trembling.
Theodore looked rather displeased as well. "You should be proud of your house, not give in to that old blather about all Slytherins being spawns of the devil."
Gemini's hard gaze softened a little when she noticed Graham and Malcolm guiltily lower their eyes. "You need to learn to disregard their shallow remarks and stand your ground because one of these days you won't have us or anyone else to save your rear-ends. That begins, first and foremost, with accepting who you are."
Theodore nodded in agreement. "You have a lot to learn about Slytherin's great history and achievements. We are easily the best of the four houses." As he said this, one corner of his mouth tipped up boastfully.
"Yeah, did you know that Slytherin won the house cup six years in a row before Potter and his little gang arrived?"
The eleven-year-olds gaped at Gemini.
The look on Theodore's face suddenly turned distasteful. "It could have been seven years in a row. We could have won the house cup in our first year — actually, we did win the house cup that year, until that biased old geezer Dumbledore decided to award — and I quote — 'a few last-minute points' to Gryffindor. We Slytherins had to sit there, stupefied, and watch as the house cup was taken from us and given to those schmucks. All our hard work and discipline was put to waste."
"That doesn't sound fair," frowned Malcolm.
"It wasn't fair," Theodore rolled his eyes. "but that's not the purpose of our pep talk. We're here to remind you that our house is something to be worshipped. So quit whining about those bullies and get to work to earn more points."
"Don't be a prat, Nott." Gemini chided, observing the crestfallen expressions on the first-years' faces, "Escort these two to the common room while I deal with this snake. I'll meet you in fifteen to work on the gramophone."
Rolling his eyes yet again, but agreeing to the plan nonetheless, Theodore left with Malcolm and Graham in tow. Gemini, meanwhile, retraced her footsteps to the forest, spooking out the school a second time with her slithery companion. As she was crossing the Abraxan horses' paddock after dropping off the snake in the same spot she'd guided the last one to, she was stopped by one of the Beauxbatons boys who very smoothly asked her to the Ball.
"If you can ride that horse," she pointed at Oswald — the most stubborn of them all in particular, "Sure,"
She swung around then, her skirt swishing almost as dramatically as her, and without awaiting a response, was on her way.
When she arrived in the common room, her eyes swept the area to look for Graham and Malcolm as if it was second nature to her. She found them seated on a table with a prefect in front of them who was lecturing them on their house history by gesturing to the tapestry of medieval Slytherins.
"Did you really just leave those boys to a prefect?" she voiced as she felt a presence joining her.
"He's perfect for the job!" Theodore defended himself, "You don't actually expect me to take them touring around the common room to explain the entire history of Slytherin from Salazar's birth right up till their own sorting, do you? Besides, they were crying and I'm not good at babysitting."
"They were wh — Nott!"
"Deuced Gwydion, it's not a big deal!" he complained when she smacked his shoulder, "Calm yourself,"
Gemini gave him a disapproving look. "You could have just left them with Daphne, she's good with kids."
"Yes, well, Daphne would spend more time giving them sweets and drying their tears than giving them actual knowledge about the numerous faces on the portraits and tapestry, or the biography of Merlin, or the great deeds of Slytherin himself."
Gemini grumbled but didn't argue.
"Now, you up for some repairing?"
"Nah, I'd like to clear out."
Theodore's arm shot out to grab hers as she tried to make a run for it. "Not so quick, sweetheart,"
"Then why'd you ask the damn question?"
Theodore casually ignored her and suggested they move to his dorm to escape the uncomfortable spotlight they were bound to receive if they worked together in the common room. Things were made much easier when they found out that all the other boys were off somewhere. They carried the gramophone up into the dorm and sat down cross-legged on his freakishly neat bed. There wasn't a single crease in sight.
"Do you iron your bed, or...?"
"Just a quick spell; I can't stand untidiness. To some extent, I would even claim to be relieved that Zabini's bed is next to mine. The other side of the room is like a whole other world. You don't know how horrifying it is to have to get across that pile of muck every time I want to use the bathroom."
Gemini gave a light laugh.
"Now," he muttered, examining the gramophone as his eyebrows scrunched in concentration. "Where do we start?"
─────────
It was evening by the time they finished, hands greasy and fingers stinging from all the little nicks the sharp edges had given them. But the gramophone was now in brand new condition. Of course, fixing it had required more than manual work. They had to carefully take off the rust using magic and use the switching spell to perfectly replace several damaged parts that were unreachable.
Theodore was still bent over the instrument with a lit wand, however, just to recheck everything. Gemini, on the other hand, was lying on her back across his bed, her head hanging over one edge and her legs swinging over the other.
"Stop moving your legs, Delmar,"
"Why does it bother you?"
"Because it does —"
The door swung open all of a sudden and two figures engaged in a very heated snogging session stumbled into Gemini's upside-down view.
"GOOD LORD, MY EYES!"
The two people stopped in their tracks and jolted around to find a horrified Gemini slapping a hand on her eyes. In her defence, they were in a very compromising position, and she knew one of them very well.
Theodore's eyes widened as well, but he almost looked as if he was used to this. "Well, there's an unexpected surprise. Why, of all places, did you think this would be a good place to do your dirty deeds, Zabini?"
Blaise's gaze was switching rapidly between Theodore, whose face was now painted with a look of impassive, condescending curiosity, and Gemini, whose head was still hanging upside down as she peeked at him from the gap between her fingers. The girl he had brought with him was glued to his body as if someone had put a permanent sticking charm on her. She was glaring at Gemini for a reason no one knew about.
Gemini would say the girl was in no position to give her that look considering how high her skirt was hiked; not to mention, the Ravenclaw tie discarded on the doorstep was an obvious indication that she wasn't supposed to be here in the first place.
"What are you two doing?" Blaise asked suspiciously.
"A candlelight snack," responded Gemini.
"Drug experimentation," Theodore said simultaneously.
They looked at each other.
"You crashed our confidential date," Theodore then answered with a tone of finality, trying to hold in his laugh at the sight of Blaise struggling to keep up with their absurdity.
Gemini bobbed her head up and down like a five-year-old. She was doing a very good job of keeping a clear expression.
Blaise pushed the Ravenclaw off him, muttering to her that he wasn't in the mood for anything anymore and that she should leave. She gaped at him incredulously and stomped her foot, starting to blame a rather unbothered Gemini for ruining her evening.
Blaise looked ticked off. He didn't like it when people insulted his housemates incessantly for no plausible reason. "Get out." he murmured, cutting her off mid-sentence.
The girl looked stunned. Her eyes became moist almost instantly. She speechlessly spun on her heel, picked up her tie, and flew down the stairs, crying.
Blaise cocked an eyebrow, then shook his head, and shut the door. He adjusted his shirt slightly — he wasn't quite used to walking around without his tie or with his top two buttons open. Then he settled gracefully on the edge of his bed, starting to unbutton his sleeves and roll them up.
"Date?" was the one-word question that escaped his mouth.
"Hi Blaise," Gemini responded softly.
He looked at her properly for the first time in three days, feeling the corner of his mouth quirk up at how immeasurably innocent she seemed as her eyelashes fluttered. "What are you doing?"
Gemini gave herself a good long look before answering, "No clue,"
Blaise suppressed a smile. "How about an early dinner then? Unless you'd prefer to continue your date..." His eyes swept over Theodore, growing colder with each passing second.
Theodore and Gemini exchanged a look.
Then they dissolved into a paroxysm of laughter that made them violently choke on their breath.
Gemini nearly fell off the bed convulsing, but Blaise caught her in time and helped her up. She was laughing as he leaned her head back against his shoulder and she was laughing as he conjured some water for her to drink. It wasn't until he shoved the rim of the glass to her lips that she quietened.
Blaise was highly annoyed at Gemini, and Theodore was enjoying every minute of it.
"Are you two done?" asked the dark-skinned boy.
Theodore smirked, relishing in the feeling of hassling his dorm mate. "I thought you were smarter, Zabini. Did you actually think we were on a date?"
"Of course not," Blaise answered, to a room full of arched brows, "it was just... unexpected of her to hang out with the likes of you."
Theodore's eyes were as cool and calculating as ever. He wasn't the type of person to take offence easily.
Gemini cleared her throat and grabbed Blaise's sleeve. "Dinner?" she asked him.
"Sure," said Theodore, then grabbed the gramophone, grabbed her hand, and pulled her along.
Gemini was dragged to her feet, stumbling uncharacteristically to the common room where Theodore handed the gramophone to Pansy. He was about to continue his merciless pulling when Daphne came to Gemini's rescue.
"You boys are all ruffians, I swear. Leave the poor girl alone," And she snatched Gemini's wrist from his grip.
Gemini nearly kissed her.
Theodore cut his eyes to the side and narrowed them in a look of annoyance that was more subtle and much more effective than an eye roll. Fortunately enough, however, he wasn't interested in prolonging the discussion and left with a muttered, "Yeah, whatever."
"Wanna join us girls for dinner?" Daphne asked her charitably.
Gemini sighed. "Appealing offer, but it involves Pansy..."
Daphne peeked over at Pansy, who was glaring at the two of them. She nodded her head to the side to indicate that she was leaving and that Daphne should join her. Daphne covered up her disappointment with a counterfeit smile. She liked spending time with Gemini — the girl was a surprisingly excellent combination of quaint and cool. But Daphne had her obligations, she couldn't stay.
Drawing her arm from Gemini's, she gave her an apologetic look, "Well, I have to go... try to keep away from those idiots."
Gemini passed her an impassive smile and set off to the Great Hall by herself. On her short journey, she imagined finally succumbing to the comfort of good food. She could, in her mind's eye, picture the meal laid out on the table: the warm bread, all the different types of pies, and a perfect mountain of muffins that would wash the entire day away.
But that was not what was in store for her.
The moment Gemini stepped through the huge doorway and into the golden-hued premises of the Hall, a loud, alarming BOOM resonated. Then, in the reflection of the breathtaking night sky appeared a spray of sparkly colours.
Firecrackers.
The teachers frantically began searching for the source of the commotion. Gemini watched in confusion as another firecracker shot up and burst into a startling display of words —
WILL YOU GO TO THE BALL WITH ME?
Her immense perplexion showed on her face. She didn't understand what was going on until she heard the whispers and giggles and tilted her head back down.
There he was, on one knee before her, a deep red rose in his hands — the Gryffindor who had been bullying Malcolm and Graham.
"Will you go to the ball with me, Delmar?"
There was an ugly smirk plastered on his face as if he was confident she wouldn't utter anything but a glad yes. Perhaps he thought she hadn't been able to catch what he looked like earlier. But she had. And Gemini Delmar was not one to forget a face. Even if she hadn't seen his true colours, however, she would have rejected him. Now that she knew what he was like...
On the Slytherin table, Theodore was grinning as if it were Christmas. When Daphne asked him what had made him so unusually expressive, he answered, "Someone's in deep trouble," And he sipped his pumpkin juice.
Gemini's eyes took on a look of unrelenting wickedness. This would be interesting. But her subsequent actions were something that no one in their right mind ever expected her to do. With the entirety of the Great Hall watching her, she slowly plucked the rose from his hands.
Graham and Malcolm's faces fell. Theodore nearly spit out his pumpkin juice. The Gryffindor's demeanour brightened for a split second; had she agreed?
Gemini, never one for roses, twirled the stem between her fingers, examining it. And then, with a pointed look, allowed the flower to slip from her hand callously. It dropped to the ground with a whisper-like thud of rejection. "Oh, look!" she gave a soft gasp of derisive mockery, "I dropped it." The words were paired with a haughty smile.
If being rejected was bad, it was nothing compared to being rejected publicly and ridiculed by the very person one had proposed to. The boy's face turned violet in a mixture of anger and embarrassment. The Great Hall became filled with the hissing, hooting, and laughter of students. Most of it was directed at the Gryffindor, but there were a few (majorly his fellow housemates) who were scorning Gemini for dismissing all the efforts that had been put into the extravagant proposal.
Not that it bothered her in the least.
She lowered the volume of her voice so only the presence in front of her could hear, and tucked her hands in her pockets, leaning her head down to look him straight in the eyes. Jeering disdain coloured every inch of her cold, beautiful features, "Devil, was it? In serpent form? You were begging to be hissed at, then."
As she pulled back, her grey eyes rose in sparkling amusement to meet the pleased faces of Graham and Malcolm staring at her. She offered them a wink and started towards the table, moving past the still kneeling Gryffindor, as Dumbledore's voice boomed over the volatile mess of sounds, requesting silence.