So...that was a 'No' then? Dylan just looked at her, blinking and all that. She seemed in a better mood now...and he was so glad to see it. Though, the Slytherin couldn't lie. That sassy, I'm-not-impressed look was one of his favorites.

With the realization they were done...and wand back in hand, he just flopped backwards, resting a moment. "I'd like to do this more with you." Really, he would. Them dueling together seemed fun and lighthearted...Yes, there was a chance it could've turned into something serious but between them, that was okay...

The fact that he wouldn't be at the school next year...Nor would he be able to actually duel there anymore wasn't mentioned. It was still a touchy subject with the Slytherin...and one that he was not comfortable with bringing up. It'd be emotional for him, Dylan could feel it...but not right now. He needed to be a man and keep it together.

He slowly got to his feet and gave his girlfriend a look.

"Hungry?"

Oh hey, that one worked too! Dueling was fun when her spells were actually working. 'Course, she was just using spells that she already knew and wasn't trying to master new ones like she would in class, but still, sometimes even those acted up on her. But they were all working nicely today, which she was very pleased with, even if some of them had been blocked with shield charms. Except these last two, but she wasn't sure how long that would last.

Penelope grinned at his comment but tried to keep ready. He was gonna be ready for anything now probably - those two she'd just gotten might have simply been lucky shots - so she couldn't get TOO comfortable...

...Birds? Where had they come from? Oh, crud, had she been thinking too much again-

Asdfghjkl they were coming at her!!

She flailed for a second - or half flailed since her other arm was still tied to her side - and stumbled backward, losing her balance and falling on her bum and then her back trying to dodge the birds. And then she remembered- "Protego!" Wait, it hadn't...WHY WAS THE SPELL FAILING NOW?! Birds were attacking her!! "Protego!" She focused and finally the shield appeared right in front of her, knocking the birds back. Gah, finally. She did NOT like being pecked by birds.

From her place on the ground, she rolled a little so that she could aim her wand back at Dylan and cast, "Rictusempra!" She'd already cast that earlier, but no harm in trying again. Plus she needed a quick distraction so she could finally free herself. Not watching to see if Dylan blocked the Tickling Spell again, she pointed her wand at the ropes that bound her and cast a quick "Diffindo" to cut them off before quickly jumping back onto her feet.

She straightened up and waited for when he was ready to get up. Whilst doing so, Beezus pocketed her wand and drew a deep breath. This duel with Dylan had definitely been good for her.....and yes, she wanted to this more too.....with him. "Likewise." She nodded and actually gave him a small smile.....it wasn't the usual Beezus smile but it was a smile.....something she'd been losing for weeks now.

She eyed him for a moment before once again moving over to help him up. Yep, she was hungry. So he got a nod once more before she took his hand and intertwined it with hers. Her other hand went to his head to fix his hair.

"Mhmm. Food sounds good." Satisfied with how his hair looked now, shr brought her hand down to stroke his cheek for a few seconds before letting it down to her side. Then she pulled him out of there.

For this entire duel Lex had been trying not to scowl because this was Cassia so it shouldn't have mattered who won but at the same time she kept laughing at her. Over the summer she would get every defensive spell book out there and read til her eyes fell out if she had to. Stronger, she was going to get stronger and people would stop laughing. It would start with the shield charms.

CLEARLY there was some problem with those!!!

She looked to Cassia, not in the least bit relieved that her spell worked. More like impatient, impatient for this to end. Now, she had a new resolve. By the middle of her fourth year she would be EXCELLENT at shield charms. No exceptions.

Cassia was moving forever slow. Lex easily side stepped her then took aim.

"Expelliarmus!"

Unless Cassia somehow sped herself up this was a definite hit. It had to be because she was done. Just like with the training dummy and contego. DONE.

Lex was slow to get rid of her antlers, but then again, Mo was slow to get up again after the dancing and bouncing and flying. His legs ached in ways he didn't realize was possible - and in a way that reminded him that he needed to work even harder to stay in shape for Quidditch this summer. Ugh. Sore. All. Over.

He shoved to his feet just as Lex removed her antlers, and Mo held up his wand to block whatever spell she was going to throw his way. Oh, wand... where did it go? Mo glanced around his feet, looking for wherever he'd dropped his wand in all the confusion, before spotting it a few feet away. He felt like a creaking old man as he bent and reached for the wand...

Just as Lex cast her spell. He tried to straighten up and stop the spell in time, but it was no good. Mo took the invisible fist right to the face instead of to the gut. Feet flew over head, and Mo crashed backwards into the wall. Oh, okay... he'd just lay here and take a short nap before they continued. Zzzz.

No. Way.

IT WORKED!!!!!

"Yaaaaay!!! Hey Mo, didja see that??? Didja???? I got you right in the face!!!" She bounced around on the floor again, thoroughly pleased with herself until she realized something...Mo...wasn't moving...

Blink.

Nuuuuuuuuuuu!!!!!! She stopped bouncing immediately and ran over to him. "No no no no!! Please be okay--I win right? Because you're knocked out? That's what we said right??" Yeah? OKAY. "Now come on, get up. You're okay. Shake it off. You're face is still fine. Honest!!" Please don't hate her! They were just getting back to being friends.

>___<

On the plus side...she WON.

Well, needless to say that her attempt of casting Rictusempra in slow motion didn't work. Because Lex wasn't laughing. The lioness looked annoyed. Though she couldn't possibly blame Cassia could she? She was never that slow. But someone had caused it. Hmm...who would it be?!

Since hexing Lex didn't work, Cassia flipped the wand i her fingers slowly and murmured a finite going back to her regular average speed of blinking, breathing, even glaring.

Though, when the snake was shooting a glare at the lioness she saw her raising her wand and.....One second her wand was in her hand, another second it was rolling down on the floor.

"......" What does one say after losing in a duel? YO CHEATED?! Naaah.

Cassia crossed her arms across her chest and the tiniest smile tugged at her mouth. "Well, done," She said to the third-year. "That was interesting," The smile was getting larger. She did enjoy it youu know.

FINALLY.

Lex watched the wand fall from her friend's hand and allowed herself a small smile. Had she won? Merlin she didn't even CARE anymore, the important thing was that this duel was over. She wouldn't be dueling again until she was sure she'd gotten better control of her shield charms. This duel had been an eye opener for her so she supposed she was meant to be grateful? Was that it? Eh.

She levitated her friend's wand for her to take. "Pfft, interesting you call it." Despite her tone, her smile got wider. This was meant to be fun in the first place and there wasn't much reason to be vex. She'd won...as little as that meant to her now.

"You're going to have to teach me some of those shield charms next term.' Lex said with a nod. "Now come on, it's lunch time."

Food, as bad as it would be.

As his birds attacked, Dylan fixed his legs with a quick and precise "Finite Incantatem!" Tracing out the shield-like shape of the motion, his wand tip lit up with red light...and his legs were strong and normal again. He definitely hadn't been lying when he'd told Penelope that had been a good one....

...but the moment he'd gotten them sorted, another of Penelope's spells was soaring right for him...The light it gave off with silvery in nature...and it was by that along that Dylan knew it was the 'Tickling Charm' again. To challenge himself, the Slytherin tried the shielding non-verbally. Using his focus and concentration, he could see the bright barrier clearly...in his mind's eye, of course. He could see the spell hurtling towards it...and bouncing off...

Focus, focus, focus....

With an upward flick, he mentally shouted PROTEGO!

He closed his eyes for a few seconds to see if the spell had worked...and when he didn't feel anything hit him, he smirked. He was getting so much better at the non-verbals, which made him fell really good about himself. They were meant to start mastering them in fifth year...and he'd been so far behind in doing it...So....at the end of seventh year, it was finally getting accomplished. Like a boss!

Anyway....was the Gryffindor seeker ready for another spell?

Dylan tried to think....but kept his eyes on Penelope. She was proving to be a slippery one...No, he wasn't going full out with this duel...but that was mostly because Penelope was so much younger than him...and he was meaning to help...not hurt. So, no underlying intensity for this thing. Not like with the others...

What spell....Hmmmm....

Confundo. That could be a good one....

Right. So...more focusing...He could see her getting confused and cursing herself. Not with anything bad, of course...but something just intense enough that she'd not be able to continue on with the duel. Dylan didn't really mean for her to go that far...but had had to picture something for the spell to work...

Confusion....confusion....confusion....FOCUS, focus, focus....

Confundo!

Because this spell didn't have any light to it...Dylan didn't know if it had worked of not...Had it, though? He kept eyes on Penelope...Would there be a sign?

Now back on her feet and not tied up, Penelope realized he must have blocked her Tickling Spell. Considering, y'know, he wasn't laughing or anything. She hadn't heard him cast a spell after Finite Incantatem, but that seemed a fair guess. So now it was his turn, and she watched carefully again...

...waiting...

She shuddered a little. Ugh. Had something happened? Did she...she wasn't sure. She felt really confused all of a sudden. What was she doing here...? Penelope looked around for a moment then down at the wand in her hand. Why was she holding it? Was she fighting someone? She looked confusedly over at Dylan, trying to figure out why he was over there also holding his wand... Was she fighting him...?

Confusion. Penelope had it.

...Wait...That had worked?

Dylan eyed the sudden panicky looks as Penelope began to look around the dueling arena with confused eyes. He was surprised she hadn't immediately thrown a shield up...She was a seeker with seeker!speed. He knew she was capable of doing so...

Ahem.

"Penelope....we're dueling...Always throw a shield up no matter what..." Yes, the blonde had stopped to help her again. It wasn't weird or out of the ordinary for him to do so...and she needed to know all the things for next term. Penelope would be here with only a select few to protect her...and really, Stark wasn't promising. But that analysis could've just been Dylan over the guys 'I-care-about-nothing apathy.

It was bad to care about nothing.

Assuming she was ready for another spell, Dylan whipped his wand around...focusing extremely hard...He was going to be ambitious for a moment and try and cast the Full Body Bind non-verb. Taking a few really deep breaths...Inhaling...Exhaling...the Captain centered himself. Paralyze...paralyze...paralyze...He wanted her to seize up and not be able to cast anymore spells. No more spells, no more words, no more anything. Just silence and a stiff, rigid body.

Focus, focus, FOCUS...

Dylan whipped his wand around some more, maneuvering it in what he called the 'sideways five'...mentally shouting...Petrificus Totalus! Because the spell had no lights or anything attached to it, he really had no way of knowing if it had worked or not...but would Penelope take his advice and shield, anyway? When in doubt...ALWAYS shield.

He was waiting...

She was starting to figure things out a little as she looked around - this was the dueling arena, which explained why she had her wand out and why Dylan was standing over there - but then Dylan explained more. They were dueling. Okay. That made sense. She shook her head a little to try to clear her mind but nodded a little at his suggestion to always put up a shield. That made sense, of course, and she wasn't sure why she hadn't thought that...which would have only led her to more confusion, but she shook herself again and focused.

Penelope wasn't gonna throw a spell yet as she tried to get back into the dueling mindset she'd started to develop a little before the confusion happened. Focus. Focus. Watch his wand...which seemed to be moving quickly again...

Focus. "Protego!" The shield fortunately appeared instantly, and she waited for a few seconds to just keep it up until she was certain it had stopped the spell. There hadn't been any light like most spells seemed to have, but by now it was surely gone. Thank Merlin. She wasn't sure what it had been but she knew she didn't want to be hit with it.

Her turn now.

Focusing now on trying to get his legs locked together, she jabbed her wand and cast, "Locomotor Mortis!"

Oh, good. She'd blocked...Not that he was rejoicing her triumph or anything...just he liked to see her do well. Just like at the Quidditch match he and Gunter had co-commentated...It had been nothing against Ravenclaw...but his girls were on Gryffindor's team...and there was this thing about loyalty. Slytherins had it, too. In spades, even.

Hmm...

"That was the Full Body Bind...btw." Just in case she'd been curious because Dylan usually was about that stuff. So, to be helpful...not that he'd known whether or not it had even worked in the first place...but here's hoping...Yea...Anyway, back to the drawing board.

Since she was getting fairly good at blocking now...seeing as the Gryffindor had started taking his advice, he figured he could try something a little different. Dylan breathed in deeply...and then released it...Breathed in deeply....released it...He wanted to jerk her up by the legs...and that was different for him because he'd never performed this spell. Like ever...He'd have to say it out loud...

With an upward flick, he shouted "Levicorpus!" With a flash, his magic surged forward...and because of the flash, he'd known it had worked...However, as he was preparing for that spell, Dylan missed that Penelope had also cast again...How had he missed it, the Slytherin Captain wasn't entirely sure...but he had...It was too late, of course. There was no protecting himself from something that was right there...and then hitting him full on...

Blergh!

His legs began to still and seize up on him...and he toppled backwards at once, since he hadn't been on even footing when initially hit...The Slytherin's back hit the floor hard...and for a moment, he thought he couldn't breathe. Like...the breath had been knocked right out of his lungs...

LE GASPING...

The Full-Body Bind Curse? That was what that had been? Yeah, she knew she definitely didn't want to be hit with that one. Not only did it seem uncomfortable, but that would probably mean the duel would end, and that wasn't how she wanted it to end. It wasn't about winning or losing for her here, really, just...being completely frozen and stuff didn't seem pleasant at all and she didn't want to have it end just because she was unable to duel at all.

And Penelope had just sent off her spell when she realized he had already cast another. Gah! What- "Protego!" ...But it didn't show up. Why was it failing her again?! She had to focus- "Pro-" But she wasn't fast enough because the spell hit - and suddenly she was seeing the world upside down.

FLAAAAAAAILLLLLLLLL!!

She wasn't afraid of heights - and it wasn't even that high given the floor was barely even a foot or two away from her face - but being upside down made it feel worse. Gahhh, how did she get down?!?!

And she'd dropped her wand in all her flailing. Good job, Greenwell.

It took several minutes...for him to regain his breath...and when he did, Dylan seen that his spell had in fact hit Penelope head on...Hand still gripping his wand, the Slytherin turned it away from her and onto himself, fixing his legs....AGAIN. What was with all these girls going for his legs? Alice had...Beezus had....and now Penelope had. It was discerning...

"Finite Incantatem!" He retraced the familiar shield motion and felt the tension in his legs disperse. Relieved sigh! It was actually really uncomfortable when one's legs locked up like that...and for someone as physically active as he was, Dylan HATED not being able to feel or move his legs. It scared him, really...

...and how was Penelope still hanging up there?!

Slowly getting to his feet, Dylan approached the small Gryffindor...jerking his wand upward. "Liberacorpus." When she began to fall, he was there to make sure she didn't crash to the floor. No bruising the Penelope...Not on his watch...and most definitely not by his hands. "You did well...but remember in the future to ALWAYS shield when someone is working non-verbals against you. And more than that, usually keep moving...if you can." Dylan would've been moving all over the dueling arena...if with someone else...but it was Penelope...and to be honest, he hadn't felt threatened. She wouldn't have hurt him.

Finally glancing down at his watch, he sighed and gave his companion a look. "It's getting late...and almost pass curfew. Do you need me to walk you upstairs?" You know, since he had a badge and stuff and was less likely to get in trouble...

...and the fact that he was one of the only students that could cast a patronus might have had something to do with it, too...Just maybe...

Okay...okay...if she could stop flailing, maybe she could reach her wand. Her arms were surely long enough to reach it since she wasn't TOO far from the floor. She let her arms hang loose and dangle above - er, below? - her for a moment before stretching and trying to reeeach for her wand. It had rolled away a little since she'd dropped it, but it was within reach if she streeeetched her arm...

...almost...there....it was like barely an inch away from her fingers...she could get it...

Nooooo! She'd nudged it a little and it rolled another inch away. Ugh, luck was not on her side right now. Mean.

But then there was Dylan and he got her down. That worked too. "Thanks." Penelope snatched up her wand again. Stupid thing, rolling away and not casting the shield charm when she wanted it to. Still needed a lot of work clearly.

So she listened as Dylan explained stuff. The moving thing especially was good advice. Especially since she'd actually stretched and everything beforehand for that very purpose. But instead she'd tried focusing too much on relying on her magic...which wasn't the best of plans. She of all people should've remembered that, but oh well. She'd keep that in mind in the future. "Yeah, I'll do that... And thanks for dueling with me." If she wanted to get better at this stuff, Dylan was one of the best people to practice her first duel with. So she was grateful for that.

Was it really that late already? Merlin, time flew when you were dueling apparently. "Sure, if you don't mind." She could walk herself up...but she was more reluctant to go up to the Gryffindor common room nowadays after the time the dementors got in...so she wasn't gonna turn down the offer to have a partner to walk up with just in case.