"Ready?" Pansy asked, getting up from her chair. I smiled at her, dapping a finger along my lower lip as I checked my face in her mirror. "Ready."
We headed out of her dorm and into the hallway. "So," she started, "have you decided?"
She let the unspoken words linger in the air. I knew exactly what she was talking about.
I sighed. "Maybe."
Pansy squealed in excitement and eagerly started to pull me with her down the hall.
We walked towards the Slytherin common room together. The music was loud and a lot of people had already arrived. When we walked through the entrance, the first person I looked for was Lorenzo.
He wasn't that hard to find. He was standing in a corner, talking to Theodore Nott. Theo looked rather drunk already and he was slightly swaying from side to side with a wide grin on his face. He noticed me and motioned for Enzo to turn around. There was a large wet spot on Theo's black shirt and the almost empty cup in his hand indicated what had happened.
Pansy started walking towards them and I followed her. "Ladies!" Theo exclaimed, wrapping his right arm around my shoulder as I joined his side. I laughed at him, grabbing onto his wrist to steady him. "Theo," I tried to stop myself from laughing, "how much have you had already?"
He leaned a lot of his weight on me and shrugged. "Too much," Enzo chimed in, grinning at me. His white button-up was neatly buttoned and his black pants were to no one's surprise neat and perfectly fitted.
"I'll grab us something to drink," Pansy said, looking at me before wandering off. I stayed with Theo and Enzo, making small talk with the two of them.
Not more than a few minutes had passed when Lorenzo excused himself. "I have to go. I'll see you two later."
I nodded at him and turned my gaze to Theo who didn't even seem to know what was happening around him. I glanced down at the wet spot on his stomach. "What happened?"
Theodore started rambling on about someone bumping into him.
Shortly after that, Pansy came back from her adventure to find us something to drink and handed me a cup.
This seemed to spike Theo's interest and he immediately composed himself and let go of his grip around me. "Time to party," he grinned and grabbed both Pansy and I to pull us towards the music.
I was dancing with Theo and Pansy when I saw them out of the corner of my eye. Lorenzo was sitting on one of the many couches in the common room, talking to a girl in our year. I guessed her to be a Ravenclaw, but I didn't really know.
I tried not to think much of it and continued dancing. I glanced over again, noticing how she was leaning into him while laughing. I clenched my jaw. I turned to Pansy who was laughing as she looked at Theo who was practically falling over at every step he took. I patted her shoulder and pointed towards my best friend and his new companion.
Pansy looked puzzled, but told me to wait it out. I sighed and exited the crowd to grab some more to drink. I had already had a few and I could feel it getting to my head. My face was red and hot as I slowly but surely made my way to one of the tables with bottles of fire-whiskey and beers of all sorts. "If it isn't the midnight reader," Mattheo said, laughing as he stepped beside me to grab a drink.
I glared at him and took a large swig of my cup. "Hello stalker," I mumbled, stumbling a little from side to side.
Mattheo noticed immediately. "A bit lightweight, are we?" He asked, raising an eyebrow at me.
I scoffed. "No."
This didn't seem to convince him. "Are you certain?"
I narrowed my eyes at him. "Leave me alone, Riddle." I placed a hand on his grey shirt and pushed past him to try and find Pansy again.
Once I did, I found her with Theo, Lorenzo and the girl. I slowly made my way towards them. The girl was clinging onto his arm. Her fingers were wrapped around his bicep and she stood there talking, as if nothing was happening. I felt the pit in my stomach grow. Theo noticed me approaching and his face lit up. "Hey! You're back." He once again wrapped his arm around my shoulders and pulled me into his side, just like he had done earlier.
"Yeah," I said, failing to hide my lack of enthusiasm.
"Are you okay?" Lorenzo asked, looking at me in worry. I glanced at him, then looked away. "I just ran into Mattheo. It's nothing," I lied, shifting on my feet.
Of course he was the first to notice.
Pansy then noticed my discomfort. "Come on Scar," she said, reaching for my hand.
I wiggled my way away from Theo who frowned but stayed by Enzo and the Ravenclaw. "What are we doing?" I asked Pansy, who pulled me towards an empty couch.
She sat me down and grabbed a bottle from the tiny table beside her. "We're having fun," she shrugged and put the bottle to her lips, chugging as much as she could. I stared at her in awe, my mouth falling open. "Merlin," I laughed. She handed me the bottle and dried her mouth off with the back of her hand. "Your turn."
I knew I needed to get my mind off of what was happening with Enzo, and I believed that Pansy was trying to do exactly that. I grabbed the bottle from her and took a large sip, sealing in the unfortunate destiny I would soon endure.
I rubbed my eyes as I let my back slide down the cold stone wall behind me. I made it to the floor, letting my legs spread out in front of me. I leant my head back against the wall. I could already feel the headache approaching.
"Are you alright?"
I opened my eyes immediately, and to my surprise, Lorenzo was crouched down in front of me. He was alone this time, no Ravenclaw in sight.
He reached his hand out to touch my forehead. "You're very warm," he stated, "maybe it's time you head to bed?"
I stared intensely at him, grabbing his wrist and yanking his hand away. "Piss off Enzo," I spat, too drunk to keep my emotions in check. I was angry at him, but he wasn't really supposed to know that.
He seemed shocked by my reaction, leaning back a little to give me space. "Scarlett," he tried. His voice was low and sort of shaky.
I groaned. "Leave!" I turned my head away from him and pulled my knees up to my chest. I bit down on my lip, forcing myself not to speak another word.
Lorenzo sighed and stood up. He looked at me like he wanted to say something but no words left his mouth. Then he walked off.
I closed my eyes and let out a shaky breath. I was too wasted and tired to deal with all the emotions in my head.
"That was painful to watch." Mattheo walked towards me and sat down next to me. "Really painful," he added.
I snorted out a scoff, turning my head away from him. "Quit stalking me, stalker."
He laughed and licked his lips. "Don't flatter yourself, I wasn't stalking you," he said, "but I have to say, watching you force yourself to push Berkshire away was quite amusing."
I finally opened my eyes and looked at him. "Stop talking." I ran a hand down my face, feeling really embarrassed that Mattheo had noticed all of that. I would have gotten angry at him, if I wasn't completely out of my mind from the amount of liquor I had consumed these past few hours.
I didn't expect him to actually stop talking, and I had to peak at him to check if he had simply left. Unfortunately, he had not. He was still sitting next to me, and he looked rather deep in thought. I narrowed my eyes at him. It was quite unusual for Mattheo to be at a loss for words.
"You know how you said you didn't think you could get Lorenzo's attention?" He said suddenly, staring straight ahead. His knees were pulled up to his chest like me, and he fiddled with his fingers.
I looked at him in utter shock. Did he really just ask me that?
Before I could say anything, he spoke again. "What if I told you I knew a way you could definitely get his attention?" He turned to look at me, waiting for any kind of reaction.
I wanted to tell him how stupid he was. I wanted to ask him how he even dared speak to me about these things. Instead, I let out a loud sigh. "And how exactly would I do that?" I asked, feeling too tired to pick up a fight with him.
Mattheo cleared his throat. "I'm not saying you'll like it but-," his voice trailed off. I watched him in anticipation. "What if you and I pretended to be together?" He asked. All of the confidence he usually had was gone and all that was left was an uncertain mess. I don't think I had ever seen him so nervous before.
I was quiet. I didn't know what to say.
I opened and closed my mouth a few times. "Why would I ever agree to that?" I questioned, looking at him and then ahead at the wall across from us. Was he really that drunk? Why would he suggest this?
The hallway was eerily quiet. "Because then you could finally figure out whether he likes you back or not," he said with a shrug.
I swallowed the salvia in my throat. "What's in it for you?" I asked, turning my head back to face him. I picked at one of my nails. "I can't imagine you'd ever propose this idea if you didn't want anything in return."
Mattheo sighed and closed his eyes. "My father won't stop pestering me," he scoffed, "it's ridiculous, I know."
"I don't think he believes I'll ever settle with someone. I assume that's why he's in such a rush." He took off one of his rings and twirled it between his fingers.
He was silent for a moment, then he took a deep breath. "Well," he paused, "I figured that if word starts to spread about you and I." Mattheo looked at me, explaining his well-thought plan. "—and with you being a pureblood from a respectable family, I hoped that the news would reach my father and eventually he'd stop bothering me about it."
I looked at him with my mouth hanging slightly open. I scoffed, feeling as though this whole thing must be a joke. "What about the fact that I'm a Gryffindor?" I smirked, looking at my hands.
I had a lot of trouble taking this seriously. My mind was spinning and I knew my state wasn't ideal for this conversation.
He rolled his eyes. "Are you in or not?" He asked instead, looking at me with his eyebrows slightly raised.
He looked at me like the proposal he had just made, wasn't the most obscure thing either of us had ever heard. I thought about it and then realized that no matter what my answer would be, I would come to regret it the second I had sobered up from tonight's events.
I sighed loudly, clasping my hands onto my things and making an attempt at standing up. I succeeded. I had to lean myself against the wall behind me.
"You're ridiculous, Riddle."
A/N
Alright listen, I'm not too proud of this and I didn't know how to write this 'proposal' without it being too cringe and weird but this is what I'm going to settle on.
I know this probably wasn't what you guys expected from me but hey, let's see how far this'll go before I (hopefully not) end up giving up.