Confrontations (Noah, open)

[laura]

Laura leaned against the stone wall as she surveyed the sparsely populated corridor. She had just come from Gryffindor tower and so far had no luck finding Noah. For all she knew, Noah could be in the Slytherin common room right now burning Roman's shoe. Closing her eyes, Laura banged the back of her head against the cold stones at that thought. There were hundreds of students in the castle at the moment, and finding Noah amongst those hundreds would be like finding a needle in a haystack- to borrow a muggle phrase. She groaned as her head came into contact with a particularly sharp stone, and stopped long enough to rub the back of her head. Today was turning out to be a very unpleasant day.

[Noah Malfoy]

"Do you believe that to be an intelligent thing to do, love?" Noah asked as he strolled by.

The girl had just smacked her head against the wall, and made a small noise of discomfort. He had chuckled, thinking that Hogwarts castle had many tricks up its sleave. He didn't intend to stop, and was actually very bored. He didn't have anything to do, already finishing sending a letter to his friends in Italy, and it would take a while for them to respond. Maybe he could find something to cheer up his day, if not pull it out of the gutter a little. It was still early, and Noah couldn't wait until the night was out, then he could view the comet that was supposedly out tonight.

[laura]

Laura glared at the smirking figure that had just interrupted her thoughts. It took her a few moments to register that he was the solution to her current problem; and he was getting away! She pushed herself off from the wall and hurriedly followed behind him. "Hey, wait!" she called after him impatiently. Students were beginning to file out of classrooms and the corridor was becoming quite crowded, but she refused to lose sight of the white blonde head bobbing amongst the crowd of people.

[Noah Malfoy]

Noah heard the girl call out to him, and slowly veered off to lean against the wall, much like she had. Students made a small bubble for him to walk around them. It was beginning classes, and most students didn't want to have to deal with a tall Slytherin elder boy. Noah couldn't think of a time when he hadn't taken advantage of that.

As she caught up to him, he raised an eyebrow, without saying anything. He didn't know the Gryffindor, and he wanted to see what she had going through her mind, talking to him. Not many people had that courage.

[laura]

With a wave of relief, Laura saw that Noah must of heard her and broke off from the flow of students. When she finally managed to navigate her way to the wall where he was leaned up against, she realized how ridiculous her request was going to sound. It didn't help to see that his face was void of any friendliness. She looked up towards his face- he was quite tall, and cleared her throat. "Hi, I'm Laura Callaghan," she introduced herself. "I'm a friend of Roman's. She told me that you had a shoe of hers, and I'd appreciate it if you'd give it to me." A little politeness couldn't hurt, could it? She hoped that he would hand it over with no questions asked and even apologize for not returning it on his own. The more she thought about it, the more she realized how unlikely that was of ever happening.

[Noah Malfoy]

Noah couldn't help that the corners of his mouth curled up into an amused smile. She really believed that he would just give the shoe over like it was a baton in a race? Although her politeness would make him seem like a jerk for not obliging, he didn't mind. Perhaps he could make something out of this situation. This is exactly what he was looking for, something to cheer him up, and she seemed just right.

Noah looked down at her and crossed his arms, deciding not to say anything. He was going to get her a bit more flustered before saying anything.

[laura]

As he crossed his arms and remained unresponsive, Laura could see he wasn't going to make things easy. Refusing to let him intimidate her with his silence and obvious height advantage, she narrowed her eyes and stated, "A response would be nice." She hoped that he wasn't expecting anything in return for the shoe, because after all Laura was just acting as a representative for Roman.

[Noah Malfoy]

Noah was a bit impressed by her offensive manuever. He took a deep breathe and flipped his hair out of his eyes, then looked her very deep in the eyes, "I have a pink pointe shoe, but I couldn't be sure it was this girl's you happen to be talking about. I don't believe I know a Roman Jetter." Noah gave a small shrug. "What a kind favor you are doing for her, going up against a big bad Slytherin. Why in the world would you do that? Was she crying?" Asked in what would sound like curiosity to most, but they both knew what his true intentions were.

He anticipated her answer, this conversation was only just beginning and he could see all the fun he could derive from it.

[laura]

"I don't think there are very many girls missing one pink shoe," she retorted cooly. After hearing Roman's account of the day by the lake, Laura knew Noah was playing stupid. His question threw her off a bit, she couldn't tell if he was concerned or amused, either way she wasn't going to answer that question. Why would she willingly tell him that Roman had been upset about the shoe? "She didn't want to face you, and I can't exactly blame her. So I offered to do it for her, after all I'm not intimidated easily." Laura had hoped to have the shoe by now and to be on her way back to the tower to relax a bit before dinner, but it appeared that Noah had other plans.

[Noah Malfoy]

"Well, I haven't taken a poll recently, so I wouldn't know," Noah said casually, deciding to continue the game of playing dumb for a bit longer. "But how do I know if this Roman girl isn't trying to steal some one else's shoe? And you're correct in saying you aren't intimidated by much. This may seem like I think I'm a celebrity, but do you know who I am? Do you think it's wise to accuse me of stealing poor Roman's shoe so harshly? You're hurting my feelings, love."

[laura]

"Well I'm not dense. You're Noah Malfoy," she responded with a roll of her eyes. "And since the accusation is justified, I'm not too worried." If he thought subtly threatening her with the reminder of his surname was going to make her disappear, he was sadly mistaken.

"Let's just make this easier on the both of us. Give me the shoe and I'll leave you to your business. What do you have to lose?" The answer of course was nothing, for how could he benefit by having a woman's shoe lying around his dorm?

[Noah Malfoy]

"Well, I;m sorry, but I don't know who you are. I thought by reminding you that you know who I am, you should probably introduce yourself. It's only polite, and you demonstrated such beautiful manners ealier, darling. I wouldn't be surprised if you're a proper lady who doesn't associate with big bad boys. Or are you?"

Noah had heard briefly about Devin's escapades with a Gryiffindor girl named Laura in the common room. It wasn't anything too horrible, but it would be fun to tease a little, due to Noah's somewhat disdain of Devin. They hadn't gotten along in the past.

"And I don't have much of any reason to have pink shoes lying around in my room. I don't believe I would want my dorm mates to see ballet shoes in my posession. I keep it in my pocket."

Noah wasn't lying right now, and he infact did have it in his pocket. He had intended on having his owl fly it to her when the owl had returned from it's flight tonight. He was tired of carrying it around, but decided not tell Laura that little fact.

[laura]

"Well perhaps if you had listened to me earlier, you would have heard me introduce myself as Laura Callaghan. And who I associate with isn't really any concern to you." She secretly hoped that he didn't know Devin very well, and that Devin kept his personal life private from his house mates, otherwise she was in for some taunting.

Laura could feel the beginning of a headache coming on, whether it was from thumping her head against a wall or from this irritating conversation, she didn't know. "So if you keep it in your pocket, you must have it now. Why don't you just hand it over and be done with it?" She seriously considered just grabbing it from his pocket, after all he was right in front of her and her hand was at level with it.

[Noah Malfoy]

"I was just making sure that you actually were Laura, love. In which case, I shouldn't be using the pet name." Noah raised an eyebrow. "Am I correct?"

He slowly put his hand over his pocket, and fumbled with the opening, as if he was pretending to contemplate taking it out or not. He was, but not to actually give it to her. Maybe hold it above his head for a while while she cursed him. Bringing her wand out would ruin his game, and he certainly wouldn't give the shoe back after that. Not to Laura, at least. He'd probably fly it to Roman as planned.

[laura]

"If it means getting the shoe back, you can call me whatever you like," Laura muttered as she crossed her arms. Her eyes followed as he began to fool around with the opening of his pocket. For a moment she actually thought he was considering giving the shoe to her, but she realized that seemed too easy.

The last class before dinner would be over soon, and students would be pouring out of the classrooms eager to eat. She didn't feel like fighting with him anymore, and seriously considered just turning around and going back to the tower; but knew that Roman would be disappointed, and she couldn't stand having others disappointed in her.

[Noah Malfoy]

"Well, don't get snippy with me, poppet," Noah smirked. "I just heard that a few people saw you with a certain Devin Sheppard? Is that his name? Or am I mistaken? DId I pronounce it incorrectly?"

He slowly dipped into his pocket and pulled on the light pink ribbon, just so you could see the corner of it against his deep black robes. He knew Laura could see it, and it was perfect if he need to shove it back in or not. He knew to plan carefully, because he was unsure of what Laura would do, if she was anything like Roman.

[laura]

"Yeah that's his name," she retorted, feeling anger build in her chest. "So what? I spent some time with him." He probably didn't realize it, but Noah had struck a nerve with his remarks. Laura knew it was foolish, but she had found herself starting to care for Devin, despite the fact that he wasn't one to commit himself to one girl.

Her eyes darted back to his hip as he let a ribbon from the shoe poke out, and Laura wondered how good his reflexes were. Her chances of grabbing the ribbon were slim, and she wasn't really willing to make a fool of herself. She hoped once he had his fill of teasing, that he would get bored and find no reason to continue carrying the shoe around, but again she couldn't be sure.

[Noah Malfoy]

"Well, then my sources are correct. And I wouldn't be too sure of getting close to him, poppet. He's a heartbreaker. And your pretty little face wouldn't want to have tears running down it, now would it?" Noah gave an innocent expression. "I have seen many girls in a bad situation after Devin was finished with them. But perhaps you're different. Devin and I aren't best friends these days..."

Noah decided she wouldn't go for it, after watching her eye the ribbon. He wrapped his hand around the small slipper and brought it out, examining it with a curious expression. "Have you ever wondered how ballerinas can wear these? It takes incredible strength. Do you believe you could do it?" Noah was actually a tad bit curious. He had seen people ruin their lives with these shoes, by breaking or rolling an ankle. He wondered why people gave their lives for it.

[laura]

"Thanks for your concern," she laughed humorlessly. "Maybe I am different. But in any case, I think I know what I'm doing." Really, she knew she wasn't any different than the other girls, who were foolish enough to fall for him. The rumors circulating around about him and numerous other girls were most likely true, but Laura had a hard time remembering them when she was in his presence. He just had that effect on her; and countless other girls no doubt.

"Dancings not really my thing," she replied as he pulled the shoe out. "My balance is horrible." From what Laura could gather, ballet was a popular sport among muggle girls, but Roman was the only witch Laura knew that that danced competitively. Her legs began to grow tired from standing in the same position, so she mimicked Noah's stance as she leaned against the wall. The top of her head barely came up to his shoulders.

[Noah Malfoy]

Noah shrugged at her response to his statement about her effect on Devin. "I see Devin is a touchy subject, and I am one to know. I'll end that conversation. But truly, I don't understand why she dances. I am willing bet she's put up against a ton of tall, thin girls in her auditions. I wonder what it does to her ego, watching herself get rated and judged on appearance. That's what dancing is, correct? A complete evaluation of appearance."

Noah was staring the shoe, taking his mind off tormenting Laura for the time being. He had cousins who danced, and he had seen the backstage. Tons of girls had been crying, and they usually ended up crying on his shoulder. Of course he didn't mind, tons of pretty little females pressing up against him for the evening, never to be seen again. But he had worried about the littlest cousin, who had lost out to some German dancer who looked like she starved herself to fit the description. She had cried for so long that even Noah had worried and hadn't used his usual advice of 'no pain, no game'.

Laura, who had to be close enough to Roman to understand her, could maybe give him some insight on why anyone would do that to themselves.