A date to the dance (Andrea)

[Regulus Black]

Regulus situated himself on the couch in the Slytherin common room. There was talk of the dance going on, and Regulus knew that he was going to go, all he had to do was find a date. Andrea seemed to be a great choice. It also seemed that she would do just about anything he asked.

It was time he went ahead and asked Andrea to the dance. He knew that where he went, Andrea seemed to usually show up. Regulus would sit on the couch until she came down.

[Andrea Holmes]

Andrea was on her way back from detention at that moment. She had a bad habit of talking back to her professors, and she had got in trouble for it once again. Not that she cared, or anything. She was much too busy worrying about whether Regulus was going to ask her to the dance. If he didn't ask her, she didn't know what she'd do with herself. There was no one else really worth going with, except maybe Xavier Scotts. But she really wanted to go with Regulus.

As she entered the common room, her eyes were immediately drawn to him, and she inhaled sharply. "Hi, Regulus," she said in the annoying sing-songy voice that she couldn't seem to stop using whenever she said his name. "What's up?"

[Regulus Black]

Once Andrea entered, Regulus kept his relaxed pose and a smile spread across his face. "Andrea," he said with a happy tone to his voice. "I was just waiting around for you. It seems that we never get to just sit around and talk anymore." Regulus wasn't going to just bluntly state that he wanted to go to the dance with her. That wasn't the way he worked. He preferred to casually bring it up. "So, why don't you come sit beside me?"

[Andrea Holmes]

Regulus was the only boy that could make Andrea blush. In fact, he was the only person who could even make her smile. So when he called her over to sit with him, her face turned beet red for a second and she stared down at the floor, trying to cover the smile that spread across her face.

"OK," she said, trying to sound as if she didn't really care. She took a breath, then walked over to him in her usual way. Sitting down across from him, she asked, "So what did you want to talk about?"

[Regulus Black]

Regulus' smile was still on his face as he noticed that Andrea's face turned red. He liked that he had an effect on her. He watched her intently as she walked toward him and sat down. She really was pretty, but she did need to smile more. Regulus was going to see what he could do about that.

Watching Andrea for another long moment, he remained still. "I just wanted to see how things were going with you and if anything has changed. Like I said, we never really get to talk anymore, and we need to change that. Wouldn't you agree?"

[Andrea Holmes]

Andrea's breath caught in her throat. Regulus wanted to talk to her? About what?

She leaned back in her seat, trying to act nonchalant. But really her stomach was twisted in knots and her heart seemed to be doing a funny little dance inside her chest. "Yeah, OK," she said. "What do you want to talk about?"

[Regulus Black]

He was still relaxed as Andrea's face seemed to light up a bit. Of course, he thought it was better when she was this way rather than always complaining about something. Whenever he would walk in, she seemed to stop complaining as badly.

"Well, you know things," Regulus said. "Things at school seem to be a mess, does it not? Especially with this dance coming up. What do you think?" He thought that he would just start the conversation up this way and see her opinion. If she thought badly of it, Regulus felt sure that if he asked her to go with him, Andrea would be more than happy to say yes.

[Andrea Holmes]

Andrea kept her expression calm, but she couldn't help but feel a little thrill as he mentioned the dance. She wanted to go mroe than anything... especially with him. She didn't really think that he would ask her, but she really hoped he would.

"Oh... yeah," she said. "The dance. It'll probably be lame... but I thought I'd go anyway..."

[Regulus Black]

"It will probably be lame, but I was hoping that you would say that you thought about going," Regulus said. He allowed a smile to spread across his face. "Since you plan on going anyway, I don't think that you should go alone, do you? I thought that maybe you would like to go with me. So, Andrea, would you like to go to the ball with me?"

[Andrea Holmes]

Of all the times she had imagined him asking her that very question, none of them could have prepared her for how it felt to actually hear him say the words. Her stomach plummeted down to her toes, and her heart began to beat very fast, while she forgot, for several moments, to breathe. She stared at him, wide-eyed and open-mouthed, trying to make her brain work to the point where she could respond to his question.

Finally she managed to take a deep breath and nod slowly. "Yes!" she squeaked. "I mean... yeah, I suppose that would be OK."

[Regulus Black]

Andrea's reaction was what Regulus was hoping for. He continued to grin as he heard her squeak. Regulus was actually sort of nervous before he saw her reaction, but him being the way he was, he kept a calm look on his face.

"You suppose," he asked. "You know Andrea, there's nothing wrong with you smiling for once and possibly being excited." It was much better to see her smile than just seeing her sulking around for something or another.

[Andrea Holmes]

Andrea flushed bright red and broke into a smile. "I am excited," she said breathlessly. "I mean, the dance will probably be dorky, but I'm sure we'll have fun together!"

She was already thinking about dresses and flowers and how she would wear her hair. Did this mean he really liked her? She was actually so excited that she let out a hysterical giggle.

[Regulus Black]

The red on her cheeks was cute. "Its a lot better when you smile from time to time," he commented. "And we'll have fun together for sure. There will be no doubt about that."

Whenever Andrea laughed, Regulus raised an eyebrow. It sounded a little different, but maybe it was because she rarely laughed or giggled. He smiled at her, at least he did get a giggle out of her. "Its cute when you laugh and smile. You should do it more."

[Andrea Holmes]

Andrea's cheeks felt hot. Regulus liked when she smiled and laughed? She resolved in that moment to do it a lot more, particularly around him. "Th-thanks," she said. "I... I'll try."

She wished she wasn't sitting so close to the fire, because she felt unusually warm. She was also thinking crazy thoughts, imagining the two of them at the dance, like something out of a fairy tale. "I'll tell you a secret, Regulus," she said breathlessly. "You make me want to smile more than anyone else does."

[Regulus Black]

"Good." Regulus liked the idea that he could make her blush. She wasn't as bad as a lot of people thought her to be. Maybe now that she would smile more, things would be slightly better, for her at least.

"A secret? Really?" He leaned up just slightly. The next words out of her mouth was not what he expected, but he did notice the truth in it. Regulus had noticed she smiled a lot around him anyway. He put a smile on his face. "Let's keep it that way then, hm?"

[Andrea Holmes]

Andrea bit down on her lower lip, but was not able to keep from smiling. She had come very close to telling him that she liked him, and he either didn't realize it, or he didn't mind. Either way, it wasn't too bad. And he was going to take her to the dance! She wanted to jump up and down, she was so excited.

"I'll try," she said. "Sometimes school and stuff gets on my nerves... so many stupid rules, and so much work to do. But I'll try to be happier, just for you."

[Regulus Black]

"I can't agree with you more. School does have stupid rules." Regulus gave her a wink. "Looking happier suits you. Seeing you sad or mad doesn't really fit. You look better when you're happy." He knew that the others in students in Slytherin knew how Andrea was and no one was around her because of it. Regulus wasn't quite sure why he ever started to hang around her, but she seemed more pleasant most of the time than people made her out to be.

[Andrea Holmes]

Andrea had always had to hear from people that her attitude was bad and that she should try to be more positive and happy. Her stupid brother, in particular, had said this to her very often. But she had usually ignored him, because she certainly couldn't force herself to be happy if she wasn't. But that had changed for her when she first met Regulus. He made her feel happy in a way she never could have imagined.

"Thanks," she said again, unsure of what to say. "And I think you... well, you're..." She blushed and was unable to speak anymore. She wanted to tell him that she thought he was the cutest boy she'd ever seen... but she couldn't do that...

[Regulus Black]

Regulus' half smile remained on his face as he noticed that Andrea's cheeks turned. He tilted his head to the side in curiosity as she didn't finish her sentence. He wanted to know what she was going to say. Regulus didn't really care about what other people thought, but this time Andrea was going to tell him, and he became curious.

"I'm what? You don't have to be shy."

[Andrea Holmes]

Andrea blushed more deeply. She couldn't tell him what she had been thinking. If she did, there was a chance he would laugh at her. Just because he was asking her to the dance didn't mean that he liked her like that, did it? Could it?

Nervously she bit down on her lower lip and met his eyes. "I just... I really like you," she said, her voice unusually soft.