#quae

Most of the fifth years were on the dance floor. She had to admit that the planning committee had picked good music, but she didn't feel like humiliating herself by trying to dance. No, the snack table was where she'd be all night. Maybe Rowan and Ben's offer to 'not go' together was still available? Watching them play chess in the library or something had to be better than standing here sweating her ass off.

Quinn grabbed a cup of punch, telling herself that if Tonks wasn't back in ten minutes, she was gone. And she was taking the plate of chocolate pretzels with her.

"Want me to spike that?"

Punch went down the wrong pipe when Quinn jumped. Jae smacked her back as she coughed, laughing out an apology. Oh fuck, that was so embarrassing; that was not cute at all and now he probably thought she was even weirder.

Jae leaned against the wall next to her after she caught her breath. "You seem tense," he observed.

"Y-yeah," Quinn said, checking that she didn't cough any punch onto her dress.

"Not a party fan?"

"Nope."

"Yeah, me either," Jae said. "I'm mostly here for the snacks. I was serious, by the way. If you want something to take the edge off, I've got a little firewhiskey. Free of charge. Looks like you need it more than me."

She really did consider it, but Quinn shook her head. "Too many professors. Not worth the risk."

Jae smirked. "Ah, yeah, I forgot: Slytherins are cowards."

"Excuse me?" Quinn demanded. "Who's the one who's closed three damn Cursed Vaults? 'Cause it wasn't a fucking Gryffindor."

He nudged her arm, smug. "There ya go."

Quinn frowned. "Huh?"

"Not nervous anymore, are ya?" Jae clarified, and Quinn felt her face heat up.

"You did that on purpose," she accused.

Jae snatched a handful of Bertie's off of the snack table and carelessly tossed a handful in his mouth before saying, "Guilty."

Quinn hated that not only had she fallen for it, it had worked. She still didn't want to be here, but he'd distracted her enough that her nerves were much less erratic. It was only a matter of time before she said something stupid or did something stupid and Jae walked away to never talk to her again, though, and the night would be back to being a bunch of bullshit.

She toyed with a ruffle again, staring at her own nails against the fabric. They'd never been painted before because she was worried it would make her fingers look stumpier, but the shiny black polish actually looked nice with her skin tone just like Skye had said. Skye had been very invested in getting Quinn to the ball once it had been announced. It was one of those experiences, she'd said. Quinn had to go. Well, here she was, and this experience wasn't feeling worth it.

Jae passed her a plate full of chocolate pretzels.

"Those are your favorite, right?"

Shocked, Quinn just blinked at him.

"Tonks made sure to tell me," he said. "She was insistent I come check on you."

Bitch, she thought. Meddling fucking bitch.

"Nice dress," Jae continued. "I don't think I've ever seen you in pink before. Suits you."

Nerves were back.

Quinn gulped. "Thanks. Skye picked it out. I like your robes."

"Thanks. Tonks practically made me buy these, for some reason. She insisted they'd look good on me."

Jae really did look good. He must have gotten the robes customized; they fit him perfectly despite the fact that he shared her unfortunate height situation. Being short had never seemed to bother him, though. She wondered if he truly didn't care or if he was just good at hiding it.

Her eyes narrowed. His robes had pink accents that matched her dress.

Oh, those conniving fucking bitches. Skye and Tonks were trying to set her up - and Tulip was probably in on it too, getting Tonks away from Quinn so that she was alone when Jae came over. Fucking hell.

Jae's eyes narrowed, gears turning in his brain as he reached a similar conclusion.

"Clever," he said.

Quinn huffed. "Not what I'd call them."

He laughed, nudging her arm again. Despite the terrible betrayal, Quinn found herself starting to smile too. Jae's laugh was contagious.

"Hey, you want to dance?" he asked. "I think it'd make them lose their minds."

Bad idea. Very bad idea: she didn't know how to dance. But you know what? Fuck it. Jae probably didn't know how to dance either, and it would absolutely make Tonks freak out.

and the anime one bc why not

they arent super accurate but I love them anyway!

ALSO ALSO i may have gotten carried away making more accurate edits of them