Open; The Quidditch Gala

[daphne_x]

Getting back into the swing of things at work was exactly what Daphne Greengrass needed to put her time in the cabin behind her. It was always easy to get lost in color schemes and floral arrangements, the dark secrets of her past and present just fading into background noise

Comments

[daleysabrina]

The day after the full moon was always rough, though it somehow got easier over the years. Sabrina suspected that was mainly because she knew what to expect, learned how to move so that her limbs ached a little bit less and figured out what to eat to rebuild her muscles the quickest.

But this particular day was rough for a very different reason.

It was the night of the Quidditch Gala, an event that she actually found herself excited to attend after so many weeks of dreading the outside. Not everyone had been as open minded and polite about her return since the article had come out, the evil glares not unnoticed as she walked through the streets (on the rare occasion she found herself in the public eye). But it was at an event similar to this, just perhaps not quite so formal, that she had run into Dean again and shared their first kiss. It seemed romantic.

It took her hours to get ready, the perfect dress sitting in her closet for almost a week after having it tailored perfectly to her shape. Martha had actually found a way to
tame her wild curls and frizzy hair into a sweeping updo and added just enough makeup to bring out her eyes.

And everything was perfect - up until she found herself at the museum steps.

"WEREWOLF!"

"MONSTER!"

"SHE STARTED ALL OF THIS!"

Everything happened so fast that Bri barely had enough time to react before something came hurdling through the crowd, cold and sticky milkshake hitting her square in the chest and dripping down the silky material of her gown.

With wide eyes she stumbled backwards, hurrying inside and out of view from the wicked crowd. There were tears in her eyes now as she searched for the nearest bathroom.

[deantom]

Though Dean's initial instinct had been to offer to skip the event, despite the fact that it was all anyone at the Ministry with any kind of vested interest in Quidditch and the upcoming finals (read: everyone) had been talking about for weeks, Sabrina's enthusiasm and excitement had been enough to keep any concerns he might have had, relating to both the post-moon day and the current political tensions, under wraps. These days, anything that made her smile, or helped her forget, or at all lifted the weight that seemed to have settled on her following the were-related news disasters was a thing he would get behind.

The parallels between this evening and that one night all those months ago that had swept his life upside down certainly weren't lost on Dean either, and he was rather looking forward to finding some excuse for a sort of repeat performance, for sneaking away from the crowds and reliving that moment of public seclusion.

He hadn't even thought to consider how the dress code would play into it until he saw other women sporting all manners of formal wear, and his imagination kicked in to help fuel his anticipation despite himself.

He had dropped by the manor for a quick check-in that morning before leaving Sabrina in Martha's capable hands, busying himself with some 'paperwork' (alternating between work documents and a fresh sketchbook and a new set of charcoal pencils) for most of the day, then slipping into his suit at somewhere close to the last second before heading out to meet Sabrina at the approximate time they had intended.

He had been hovering near the entrance, small-talking with an acquaintance from the Obliviators' office, when a flash of movement caught his eye, and before he could even process the sight or offer any kind of excuse for his sudden exit, he was rushing across the entrance hall to catch up to Sabrina's (sleek dress and tamed hair or not, he would recognize her from a mile away) scurrying figure.

"Bri- hey- wait- what's-"

He caught up to her before being able to probably voice a question, catching sight of her panicked, teary expression, then of the sticky dripping mess accenting the front of her dress, and he simultaneously felt his stomach drop and his heart squeeze up then start to race with muted panic and a boiling sort of anger he immediately clamped down on.

"Hey- okay, come on, it's fine-" he said hurriedly, maneuvering himself out in front of her to halt her frenzied scramble, taking her hands in his and turning her away from the bulk of the crowd, reaching to pull his wand out of his sleeve as he spoke.

[daleysabrina]

The last thing that Sabrina wanted was for Dean to see her like this, her dress all smeared with sticky ice cram and the perfect lines of her eyeliner already starting to run as a few stray tears fell from her doe eyes. She must have looked like a little girl, all dressed up in clothes that weren't quite right for her and ended up just messing the entire thing up.

She shouldn't have come at all. This was all a mistake.

"No, no. I can fix this-" she said, her lips and voice trembling as she shook her head.

Dean was already so tense about this whole issue, ever since her name had popped up in the paper. She didn't want to ruin his night or see him storm off to 'make it right'.

But when she looked up him she felt like collapsing right there into his arms, cheeks burning with embarrassment and insides tugging into terrible knots. It was all so overwhelming.

[deantom]

Dean stopped himself before his wand had properly slipped back into his hand, the quiver that shook her voice clawing at him, tearing him between wanting to systematically sweep in and fix everything he could, because even just one more second of torment was more than he could even witness her handling, and stepping back to allow her that bit of self-controlled independence she deserved-

"Hey-" he muttered again after letting a few drawn out breaths slip by. He slipped a hand to loosely drapped around the back of her neck, his thumb sofltly nudging against her chin to urge her gaze up to meet his. Between that flare of anger and the confusion of concern, it had only taken hearing her speak to put the former on the backburner.

"It's okay. You can fix this. Yeah?"

[daleysabrina]

Sabrina felt her heartbeat start to slow and the room settle back into place as she looked up at Dean, his warm hand coming up behind her neck in the most comforting way. He grounded her, always, when she found herself like this. It was overwhelming and scary and numbing but it was never this bad.

Nobody had ever thrown anything at her before.

There were still tears in her eyes and she was choking back a sob as she fumbled with her bag for her wand.

"I um- I know this charm-" she mumbled, mostly for herself rather than anything else.

She did, didn't she?

But her mind was a mess.

[deantom]

"Yeah, you do-" Dean reaffirmed her shaky acknowledgement with a firm nod, keeping his hand loosely curled against her neck, a light steadying pressure.

"Take a deep breath-" he added, sweeping his thumb up to catch the tear pooling at the corner of her eye. "It's okay-"

[daleysabrina]

Her cheeks were on fire but not in their usual way. Sabrina felt like she was going to burn up and turn to dust right there in the middle of the lobby, in Dean's strong, supportive hands.

It was all so humiliating.

"I don't- Dean, I don't want you to see me like this," she told him, looking down at her feet, which suddenly looked ridiculous to her all crammed inside the black pumps she had bought. It had taken her days to walk properly in them, practicing whenever she had the chance or could stand it.