Quote:
Originally Posted by
sweetpinkpixie 
"Oh really? Is that your grand plan, then? Play my knight in shining armour?" She smirked, rolling her eyes but also trying not look to amused by the thought. "I can take care of myself, but you’re welcome to try." Her tone was playful, but there was an unmistakable glint of challenge in her eyes.
At the mention of cinnamon beans, she grinned, tossing a bean into the air and catching it with a dramatic flair. "Cinnamon? Really? You’re the one who’s got it all wrong, Alaric. Cinnamon’s the best. But sure, if you ever find yourself with one, I’ll take it off your hands. I’m such a generous friend." Her voice dripped with mock sincerity as she winked at him, then burst into uncontrollable giggles. As for Maddox, she nodded approvingly and stopped laughing. "Good point. He’s got that whole ‘innocent look’ down to an art simply by looking so indifferent to everything." She leaned back and stretched her arms over her head. "Not that he’ll be fooling anyone for long, though. And hey are you saying that I have the features of a Dark witch? Because I am not sure if that is meant to be an insult or praise." She paused, taking a moment to reflect on her words. It was a strange thing to say, wasn’t it? She didn’t exactly mind the comparison - being a little bit dark had its charm and having an edge was a fabulous aesthetic to have. But there was something about the way she’d said it that made her wonder...With a shrug, she gave him a cheeky grin, letting the moment pass without dwelling on it too much. After all, she'd been teasing him all night. It was all part of the game.
Calliope listened as Alaric started getting all fired up about their first flight, his eyes practically glowing with excitement. She found herself grinning in response, a spark of the same anticipation igniting in her chest. "It’ll definitely be ridiculous," she said, her voice turning a little quieter with the weight of her own excitement. "But it’ll be one for the books, something we can look back on as seventh years and laugh at how dumb we were." She leaned in conspiratorially, the playful teasing still there but laced with the thrill of the adventure to come. "How many laps around the common room you think we could make before we most likely get busted?"
She grinned wider as he asked if she had a plan. "Do I have a plan?" She mimicked his curious look with exaggerated seriousness, tapping her chin like she was deep in thought. "Of course I do. I’ve got the perfect plan." She paused, her lips curling into a sly grin. "And we’re making it up as we go. No point in making it easy, right?" Which, yes, meant that she had no plan at all but she had asked it rather rhetorically and that had snowballed into whatever this was now. Why fight a good thing?
Calliope couldn’t help but laugh at Alaric’s dramatic wince as he bit into the Bertie Bott’s bean. "Serves you right," she ribbed him, her laughter echoing off the windows flanking them as she leaned in again to grab another handful of beans for herself. "You’d think after all this time, you’d learn which ones to avoid." The laughter stopped a mere few seconds after she popped a bean into her mouth, at which point her face contorted as if she’d just swallowed a pile of dragon dung. She gagged, spitting it out with all the grace of a clumsy troll. A mix of droll splattered down the sides of her lips, while a chunk of spit clung stubbornly to her lower lip. Could he find her cinnamon one now? Because that’s exactly the palate cleanser she needed and if he was going to serve as her knight in shining armour there was no time like the present!
Alaric puffed out his chest in mock importance, grinning.
"
Knight in shining armor?" he repeated, his tone somewhere between playful and dramatic. "
Why not? Every great wizard needs a cool title, right?" He leaned forward slightly, lowering his voice as if sharing a big secret. "
But if you’re so sure you don’t need saving, I’ll just stick around to watch you get into trouble instead. Someone has to write down the whole disaster for the history books."
When she caught the bean with a flair, he rolled his eyes, though a small smile tugged at the corner of his mouth. "
Cinnamon? Best flavor?" he said, pretending to gag. "
Alright, alright, you can have all of mine. Consider it my gift to you because I’m so generous." He gave her a mock bow, his grin growing. "
But that doesn’t mean I’m wrong about it being awful."
At her comment about Maddox, Alaric shrugged. "
Yeah, he’s pretty good at looking chill about everything," he said thoughtfully. "
Which works for us, because if we look like we know what we’re doing, no one will suspect a thing. Right?" His smirk softened slightly at her next comment, and he tilted his head as if considering her words carefully. "
And hey, I never said you looked like a Dark witch. But now that you mention it, maybe you’ve got a little of that ‘don’t mess with me’ thing going on. It’s kind of cool, actually." He shrugged casually, though there was a flicker of warmth in his gaze.
Her excitement about the broomstick plan made his grin grow wider, and his voice grew quieter, almost conspiratorial. "
Ridiculous? Totally," he agreed, leaning forward as if they were plotting something grand. "
But isn’t that the whole point? We’re going to look back at this and either laugh or tell everyone it was the most daring thing anyone’s done in Slytherin since... ever."
He tapped his chin, pretending to think. "
How many laps? I say three if we’re careful. Four if we’re fast. But if we make it to five? Instant legends." He leaned back with a big grin. "
We have to go for five, obviously."
When she claimed to have a plan, his eyebrows shot up, but the sly grin on her face gave her away. "
Oh, so ‘making it up as we go’ is the plan?" he teased, shaking his head slightly. "
Figures. But honestly, it’s way more fun that way."
Her reaction to the bean made him burst out laughing, nearly doubling over in his chair. "
Alright, alright!" he said between giggles. "
You need a cinnamon one to fix that? I’ll find you one. Just try not to spit this one out, okay?"
He rummaged through the box, holding up a reddish bean and squinting at it like it might bite him. "
Pretty sure this is cinnamon. Or it’s something horrible, but that’s the risk, right?" He handed it to her, his fingers brushing hers briefly before he pulled his hand back, his grin faltering for a split second before returning.
"
There. Your knight in shining armor has delivered." He sat back, folding his arms proudly. "
Don’t say I never do anything for you."
After a beat, he sat forward again, his expression earnest but still light. "
Hey, when are tryouts for Quidditch?" he asked, leaning on his knees. "
I’ll be there, obviously. Someone has to cheer you on and make sure you don’t fly straight into a goal post from all that confidence you’ve got." He smirked, but his tone was genuine. "
You’re going to crush it. No doubt about that."
As he leaned back again, he watched her closely, a small smile tugging at his lips. A fleeting thought crossed his mind that maybe the best part of the whole broomstick plan wasn’t the adventure itself, but the fact that he got to do it with her. Of course, he’d never say that out loud. Instead, he just grinned and waited for her reaction.
"
Just make sure to save me a good spot in the stands for when you’re Slytherin’s star player."