Disclaimer: All recognizable characters and elements from the Harry Potter series belong to J.K. Rowling. No copyright infringement is intended.
"Are you sure?" Lee asked, torn between wanting to be a good date and wanting to ask his crush to dance.
"I'm sure," Alicia replied. She pushed him toward the Hufflepuff girl, "Go on. Quick, before her date comes back."
As Lee ambled over to the current object of his affection, Alicia settled herself by the refreshments table and watched her friends. She smiled as she saw Fred and Angelina spinning each other around wildly. Katie and George were attempting the tango, despite the unsuitable music. She laughed softly and wondered what life would be like if the Weasley Twins had been the Weasley Triplets.
"What's so amusing?" an unfriendly voice asked.
Alicia turned her head to glance at the Slytherin. "You, Warrington."
Cassius Warrington glared at her. "I see Jordan abandoned you. And for a Hufflepuff no less."
"Where's your date? Surely there was one girl in Slytherin desperate enough to go with you."
"For your information, no less than five girls asked me to the Yule Ball."
"So where is your date? Let me guess. She got tired of you staring at Cedric and went to find a nice, heterosexual boy."
Warrington ignored her attack on his sexuality and focused his gaze on Cedric Diggory. "He's a Hufflepuff," he muttered. "A Hufflepuff! If he was really smart, he'd have been in Ravenclaw. If he was a reckless idiot - oh, excuse me - brave, he would have been a Gryffindor. He certainly has no ambition so he could never been a Slytherin. I mean, my God, he offered Wood a freaking rematch for no reason. He's..."
Alicia laughed incredulously. "You mean you're jealous because Cedric was chosen Hogwarts champion? That was nearly two months ago. Get over it, Warrington." Shaking her head, she left the Great Hall to get a few moments of silence. She stopped when she heard heavy footsteps behind her. "What do you want?" she asked, turning to face Warrington.
"We all know why the great Potter was chosen, but why do you think the Goblet chose Diggory?"
He sounded serious so she gave him her sincere opinion. "Cedric is perfect. He's intelligent, athletic, handsome, and truly nice. He's everything a person could want." Judging from the scowl on Warrington's face, he didn't like what he'd heard. "I didn't think you were eager to fight dragons anyway, so what's the problem?"
Warrington sighed and leaned against the wall with his arms crossed over his chest. "I wanted the opportunity for the fame. The money would be nice too." He banged his head against the stone wall. "A Hufflepuff cannot be better than me."
"With an attitude like that, it's no wonder the Goblet didn't chose you," Alicia said. Ignoring the way Warrington was glowering at her, she asked, "Why'd you follow me anyway?"
"Boredom," he replied.
"What? Trying to take advantage of the Beauxbatons girls like Pucey and Montague is boring?"
Warrington stared at her; starting with her hair, lingering over the way her robes stretched across her chest, down her legs, and back up. "Those French girls haven't got anything Hogwarts girls don't have," he said finally, looking into her eyes.
She'd have been less surprised if he had challenged her to a duel. She couldn't help being flattered though. Ever since the delegation from the French wizarding school had arrived, most Hogwarts boys acted as though they'd never seen beautiful girls before. "Er, thank you, I suppose," she said.
He pushed himself away from the wall and walked towards her. Stopping way too close for comfort, he raised a hand near her head. Alicia grabbed his wrist. "Relax," he said. "I wasn't trying to hit you. I wanted to touch your hair."
Okay, this was getting stranger and stranger. "It's hair," Alicia said. "Everyone has hair. Pet your own."
Warrington easily freed his wrist and took hold of a lock of her hair. "But you have so much hair. It's so long and thick, and it's really curly right now. And so dark, actually black."
Alicia took a step back. "Were we drinking the same punch? Because I think yours was spiked."
"I dream about how it'd look spread on my pillow," he said, almost absently.
She tugged her hair away from him and took another step back. Warrington took a step forward and stroked her neck with his fingertips. "And your skin," he said. "It's so dark, I can't tell whether you're blushing now. But it glows. I do wonder sometimes how it'd look when you're..."
"That's enough!" Alicia said. She hastily took several steps away from him. "I don't know what's gotten into you, but I'm warning you not to touch me again."
He stayed where he was, but he kept talking. "And that Gryffindor fire," he said. "That really fuels the imagination."
That was way more information than she wanted. She'd never wanted to know that she appeared in Warrington's sexual fantasies. "Look, Slytherin," she said, "Keep your thoughts to yourself. I absolutely do not want to know any of it."
"Are you a pureblood?" he asked. "I know of all the wizarding bloodlines in Britain. Wherever your family's from, are they all witches and wizards?"
She didn't answer him, of course. She was getting nervous and a little scared. This was the most bizarre conversation she'd ever had - as well as the longest she'd ever spoken to a Slytherin male. Alicia kept walking backwards, not taking her eyes off Warrrington.
"Just one kiss," he said.
Alicia tried to run and found herself unable to move. Warrington approached her slowly, looking very amused. "Mistletoe," he said, pointing up. Alicia glanced up. Sure enough, a sprig of mistletoe dangled from the ceiling above her. Damn it. Some people - like the twins and Lee - thought it was amusing to hide enchanted mistletoe around the castle. They thought it was funny when someone was stuck until someone else kissed him or her. Alicia vowed to hurt them later. She closed her eyes and waited for Warrington to kiss her. But he didn't. He was touching her hair and her face and her neck, but not kissing her.
Alicia opened her eyes. "Just kiss me already," she snapped.
Warrington smirked. "As the lady wishes."
She'd never thought about kissing Slytherin boys, but if she had, she never would have imagined it like this. It was good; too good. Alicia realized what she was doing when Warrington's tongue found it's way into her mouth. Her arms had some how ended up around his neck. Mortified with her own behavior and annoyed with Warrington, she shoved him away and ran all the way back to Gryffindor Tower.
"Where did you disappear to?" Angelina asked, as she and Katie entered the Sixth Year Gryffindor girls' dormitory giggling.
"I left so Lee could pursue his Hufflepuff without feeling guilty," Alicia said. She debated whether or not to tell them about her encounter with Warrington.
"Snog any cute French boys?" Katie asked.
"No. Warrington."
"Warrington?" Katie frowned. "What's Warrington got to do with anything?"
"I wish I knew." Alicia sighed.
"You snogged Warrington?" Angelina said incredulously.
"No! There was mistletoe and I had to let him kiss me," Alicia tried to explain. "Of course, that's after he got all weird and started telling me things I did not want to know."
"That...snake!" Katie said furiously.
Angelina started looking for her wand. "What did he say? I'll hex him."
"Well, he didn't actually say anything bad," Alicia admitted. "Just strange."
"Strange?" Katie asked.
Alicia felt her cheeks burn as she said, "He, uh, likes the way I look."
"Huh?" Katie and Angelina stared at her blankly. Then they broke into giggles.
"Warrington has a crush on you?" Angelina snickered.
"No, it's much creepier than that. I'll talk to you in the morning, when you two have stopped giggling like idiots." Alicia pulled the curtains around her bed shut.
To be continued...
Author's Note: This is my first attempt at an Alicia/Warrington fic that I deemed readable by other people. It's also the first attempt written from Alicia's perspective. So if Warrington's behavior seems odd, it's because Alicia herself is wondering what's going on.