||RAIN&&brooms,,

[tanith]

Tanith felt her grumpy, uncertain expression slip whenever Caradoc mentioned that she wasn't a last resort as a date. It was like he'd read her mind. That was what Tanith liked about having Car as a close friend, he seemed to know exactly what she was thinking most of the time, and he understood a lot of what she thought without her having to articulate it. Which was handy for Tanith, because whilst she was book-smart to a certain extent, she wasn't particularly articulate, and found explaining things, especially her feelings and emotions, pretty awkward. She was also grateful that Car didn't know exactly how she felt all the time, or else he would know that she sometimes thought of him in more than a friendly or 'brotherly' way. Then they might not be able to talk at all, and she would lose her best friend. The thought scared Tanith deeply, and she thought of it as somewhat of a certainty. After all, what were the chances that Caradoc would feel anything more than her than a 'little sister'? Zero percent. He had said it himself, Car wanted to go to the Ball with Tanith because he wouldn't have to give her what he would give any of the other 'many' girls that had asked them. It was totally platonic.

And Tanith could have been whiny and morose about that platonic relationship, but that would be ungrateful. Truthfully, the more Caradoc asked her about the Ball the more her uncertainty dwindled. After all he was sort of right - if Tan was going to go to the blasted thing with anyone she'd want it to be Caradoc. So there might be more awkwardness than he expected - Tanith still might jump when he got to close, and if he asked her to dance she'd probably turn the shade of a tomato and trip over her feet - but at least she'd know where she stood. And there wouldn't be any awkward ending to the Ball where a goodnight kiss was never certain. Tanith was absolutely certain that Caradoc would not want to give her a goodnight kiss. Unless it was one of those 'brotherly' kisses on the forehead that still made her stomach squirm. She felt herself squirm slightly as Caradoc teased her about wanting something more from him too. For a split second Tanith blinked and stared at him dumbstruck. Had she finally become transparent. Shit! Should I just deny it, what if -

But as soon as the panic had arrived it subsided, and Tanith elbowed Caradoc, rolling her eyes. He was only teasing her, as usual, in his own infuriatingly appealing way. "Oh give over, you're not that irrestible Dearborn" Tanith was smirking as she said it, her heart-rate slowing again, content that her best friend was utterly clueless to how close to the truth he was. "Oh... Oh for goodness sake alright then, I'll go" Tanith finally conceeded, laughing slightly at Caradoc's puppy-dog eyes and pushing him back playfully. She couldn't help but snort with laughter as he added that she didn't have to wear a dress. She'd certainly be happier and more comfortable in jeans but somehow Tanith doubted going in 'nothing all' to a 'friendly' date with Caradoc would suffice. "Merlin, I wouldn't like to inflict that on the other students" But Tan was only joking really, as she often did with Caradoc. And if Valentines Night was going to be filled with joking with her best friend then maybe it wouldn't be as bad as she thought. Providing she stayed away from the alcohol and the gossip.

[caradoc]

Caradoc studied Tan's face while he was still waiting for his answer. Any other girl would have jumped and said 'yes' even before the words had properly exited his mouth, but not Tan. Even though they were friends, great friends, she seemed to weigh everything out. Of course, there wasn't too much she needed to consider. She'd have a great time, he would make sure of that, at least he'd tried. Now the only problem that could be heading there way was the numerous gossip Rita Skeeter no doubt would spread all over Hogwarts. He hadn't been in many of her features yet, but that was probably because she knew she'd better kept herself at a friendly base with him. Or just the fact that she would probably just want to get in his pants, and knew that if she wrote anything nasty about him, he'd never glance at her again.

Of course he wasn't too sure if Tan would be spared of Rita Skeeter's nasty comments. She was in slytherin, and normally they didn't generate their mock at people of their own house, but Tan wasn't like any normal Slytherin in Caradoc's eyes. She should have been in Ravenclaw, or perhaps even in Gryffindor if you asked him. To today it still remained a mystery to him why the Sorting Hat had chosen to put this young Malfoy in the house that was most known to produce dark witches and wizards. But well, he knew that if Rita dared to write anything nasty about his best friend, he'd have Tan's back. She didn't deserve it, she deserved so much more, but it seemed that too little people really knew that.

"So, that's great, it's a date then.", he smiled at her while pulling her closer and kissing her forehead. "What about I pick you up right before it starts at the Slytherin Dungeons? We can go together, so we won't have to enter alone, and then we'll just make a terrific night out of it.", he beamed. Yes, it would be amazing, for once all the lovey-dovey stuff didn't need to be thought off and he could just have fun with the one who was always by his side even if things got hard.

Standing up, Car shook his head again. He'd forgotten it was still raining but he was - there are no other words to say it - soaked. He leaned against the seat of the row behind him, his muscles flexing involuntarily as he braced himself against them. "Listen, I need to be going. Going to take a quick shower inside the castle so I can wash the sweat.. well, more like rain off me. But if you want, I can accompany you back to the Castle." He held out his hand for her, smiling while small drops of water fell from his hair. "Unless you'd rather sit here in the rain and catch an even worse cold." He was grinning at her, hoping she'd take his hand and they could walk the way back together. He liked being around her, she never made things uneasy or complicated. Tan, was just that special girl he could truly be himself with. She understood him, though she did not always approve of his actions, he knew that, certainly when those actions included a lot of girls. See, she was just so sweet that she cared enough about other people not wanting to see them get hurt by a male like Caradoc. Or at least that was what he believed...

[tanith]

"A date" Tanith repeated quietly to herself, and then scoffed after a pause. "Merlin, I hope that's not what people will think" She wasn't aware, obviously, how close to Caradoc's thoughts her own worries about Skeeter and the other gossips were. Naturally, most of the time Tanith feigned a cool indifference to her room-mates and acted as she didn't care what they thought of her. She had been doing the 'cold-aloof-pureblood' act for most of her life and at sixteen she was quite good at it. And most of the time Tanith didn't care what Skeeter and the others thought, which was usually over something trivial like the latest Marauder prank or the best new hair product. However admittedly sometimes she didn't care, particularly when the rumours and gossip came close to the truth. The accusation in the gossip page that she was a 'Muggle-lover' Tanith could just manage to laugh off after a few months, but she doubted that she could treat accusations that she did indeed think of Caradoc as more than a friend as lightly. Naturally, Skeeter, who was always somehow ahead of the game, was already working at this angle, as well as pairing Tan with Regulus Black - a fact that Tanith was still blissfully unaware of thankfully.

But as usually happened Caradoc's enthusiasm was comforting and it soothed the rather morose Slytherin's worries. She even managed a lopsided smile as he kissed her forehead promising that they would have fun. Tan wasn't as optimistic as Car. She knew that she probably wouldn't have fun, she would find it awkward and filled with drunk lecherous teens and hating alcohol, she would rather stay well away from that. But Car would have fun, and hopefully his enthusiasm would wear off on Tan. Plus, unlike a 'real' date with a 'real' boy, Tanith knew that Caradoc wasn't likely to abandon her half-way through the night if she was being a wet blanket (well, unless he had pulled, and Tanith sincerely hoped, with a familiarly disconcerting stab of jealously, that he wouldn't). His promise to meet her outside the Common Room promised just that, and Tan nodded, grinning gratefully. "That would be great, I don't want to look like some weirdo on my own" She laughed slightly at the idea and allowed Car to half-pull her up off the stands, trying not to dwell on the mental image of Caradoc in the shower. That was just.. wrong, right?

Right, Tanith reminded herself as she ducked next to her friend, wrinkling her nose as the cold rain dripped onto her pale skin and made her shiver. "No, wouldn't want that, I might catch flu and have to stand you up for the Ball. It might teach you a lesson the amount of girls you've stood up" She grinned playfully at Car, although really she would loathe to stand him up, even if she was slightly dreading the event. Instead she elbowed Car in a typically platonic way that revealed none of her recent troubling feelings and jerked her head towards the castle. "C'mon" She called, trotting ahead to get out of the rain, and already worried about Valentines Day.