one brain cell

“Obviously I didn’t–I wanted her to land on the ground like they did with Marlene.” She shot back with an impatient roll of her hazel orbs, again sulking in anger over the whole debacle. “I don’t need to be put in my place, I’m not the bully. But if you’re here to poke and prod over me being wrong you’re barking up the wrong tree, Davey.” 

“Whoa, whoa, whoa,” he started, placing his hands up as if he were surrendering, his wild grin spreading across his face despite the slight hostility towards him. “Not barkin’ up any tree, Theo, just tryina be fair! We both know Gryffindor and Slytherin tend to be more heated against each other than other houses. Didn’t mean to offend ya, though.” Davey ran a hand through his hair, unsure how to bring himself back from this when words fail him constantly. “Is Marlene good, though, did Pomfrey fix her up?”

Gilderoy tsked and shook his head. If anything, it was further proof that the Gryffindor did not deserve both women. “That’s just sad, innit?” The Ravenclaw vaguely wondered what’s wrong with girls nowadays, always going for “bad boys” who aren’t worth the trouble when there were far better options available - like Gilderoy. Huh. What if I turned into a “bad boy”? Instantly Gilderoy’s imagination started conjuring scenarios of whether rebranding his entire image would be better for his fame in the long run. Luckily, what Davey said next snapped him out of it. “Oh what? Yeah. Writing lines. Torture. True that.” If only they made him write his own name. Then Gilderoy can pretend that he was just preparing for the future, signing autographs. “Anyway, I better be heading off. Is there anything else you need?”

“Yeah, I guess it is sad, but that’s love in a nutshell? If its love was always happy, there wouldn’t be so many songs about heartache.” He found himself shrugging, knowing that he had spent a good amount of time listening to muggle rock bands that sang about love and heartache the same. As he talked about his detention instead of going to the Yule Ball, Davey was too caught up in the story to recognize when someone had stopped listening to him. He rarely noticed and if he did, he wasn’t sure if he’d call the person out on it. It was when Gilderoy mentioned heading off, Davey found himself shaking his head through his confusion. “Nah, you’re good, I’ll talk to you some other time. Thanks for entertainin’ me!” Guess he’ll have to find someone else to talk about his detention with. 

Walden welcomed the alcohol being poured down his throat. Being no stranger to the burn of firewhiskey, he swallowed with ease. He ended with a smile on his lips. His lips moist, Walden wiped his lips with the back of his hand. Pulling Davey Gudgeon turned out to be no challenge at all. He hadn’t really planned on ending the night with someone else when he was first dragged to the party but hey, why should he question the blessings that fall unto his lap?

As he felt the warm shiver the firewhiskey gave him as it hit his stomach, Walden started swaying to the music playing in the background. Step by step, he inched towards the shorter boy. Soon he was close enough that he didn’t need to shout for the other boy to hear him. “If I said it was… Are you willing to leave the party early.” Walden was no dancer but he can at least groove to the music. A little shoulder here. A sway and a tiny shimmy there. Every now and then, his skin would make contact with Davey.

Davey wasn’t the type to dance. Yes, he loved parties and he loved being in places that were full of loud music, alcohol, and people -- dancing just wasn’t something he did often. He was all limbs and awkward movements, preferring to jump around and bang his head to whatever beat was happening. But there wasn’t enough room for that and with Walden dancing against him, Davey definitely didn’t want to dance around like an idiot. 

Especially when it seemed that he won’t be leaving this party alone and that sounded better than making a fool of himself. Davey’s smile didn’t fade, staying on his lips as he watched Walden, listening to his words. He had forgotten that he hadn’t even wished the birthday girl a happy birthday yet. “I’m willing if you are,” he started, looking up at the Ravenclaw with one raised eyebrow. “Which if you’re asking, I take it that you are.” A hand reached out for Walden’s as Davey began moving towards the portrait hole.