If Love is a Game...

"Oh yeah, I really want to electrify Brandon--the jerk who irks--and my parents are going to be so pleased to see that I'm going to impress him--the Durmstrang git," Lorena said sarcastically. "Who cares if I don't like him one bit? No, no, that's unheard of. You have to like him because he comes from a rich Pure-blood family, he's a quick thinker, and he's an idiot. Yes, when you're a Pure-Blood it's only right that the women have to marry prats that practice the Dark Arts. How wonderful is that?" She continued to fumble with the strings behind her back still and walked around the small room.

"I'll be damned if I marry that stupid nark," Lorena mumbled. She tied the string in a bow and took a short intake of breath. "And how am I supposed to breath with this thing so darn tight?!"

"How's it coming?" Mrs. Malfoy called again.

"I'm just admiring the way the dress looks on me before I put on the robes!" Lorena lied loudly. Mrs. Malfoy said something else that she couldn't understand and walked away. Lorena exhaled and let the strings loosen a little. She harrumphed because she had to tie them all over again.

"Need a hand with that?" someone asked from behind her.

"Yes, I--oh my gosh, what are you doing in here?!" Lorena jumped around to see Brandon laughing at her wildly. She gripped the strings behind her back with one hand and had her other hand covering her mouth. She looked at him, shocked. "I thought I locked the door! Get out of here, now!"

Brandon just kept laughing at her. She advanced on him and behind pushing him for the door with her one free hand. However, he had a better advantage on her and grabbed her wrist, pushing her back. She growled and pushed harder. He pushed harder.

"I guess you forgot to lock it then, huh?" Brandon asked with a smirk.

"Get out of here, Hemmingway!" Lorena yelled furiously. She pushed but he wasn't budging. She was the underdog here and she hated it. She stopped pushing and gave in, glaring at him.

"It looks like you can't beat me with one hand tied behind your back," Brandon chirped cockily. He started laughing and failed to notice that he had infuriated Lorena. She couldn't handle his insolence anymore, so she kicked him hard. He groaned and immediately let go of her, falling to the ground in pain. She scrambled to her other robes and fumbled through the pockets.

But before she could find it in the plethora of robes, Brandon seized her from behind. She jumped, startled and angry, and gripped his arm to pull him off. However, she still had one hand clutching the strings behind her back and the dress was not as flexible as her regular robes that lay on the bench in front of her. What a predicament she'd gotten herself into.

"Let's see... you have two choices right now, Miss Fawcett," Brandon hissed in her ear. She doubted if she'd like any of the two choices he had in mind for her. Her eyes scanned her robes. If she could just find that wand of hers, she could shoo him away easily. But where was it? Her fury was making her blind and she absolutely hated it.

"Oh, please do tell me," Lorena said dryly, looking for her wand hiding in her robes somewhere. "I just can't wait to hear them."

"Don't act sarcastic with me," Brandon growled. She was highly fed up with his attitude. He acted just like Marcus and Lucius, her dreadful cousins. It seemed as though she was a magnet for boys like them. She couldn't take it much longer. They always pushed her around, smirking at her, laughing at her, teasing her, thinking they were stronger and smarter than her--she didn't know if she'd snap or what.

"Don't act idiotic with me," Lorena muttered. His grip on her waist tightened, but he couldn't do it anymore because of her fist pressing into his lower gut. Her eyes snapped back; she thought she might have seen the tip of her wand.

"Onward with the choices..." Brandon started. Lorena squinted, scrutinizing the spot where she had thought she saw the tip of her almost black wand. Brandon's voice drawled her back to the reality of why she was looking for her wand in the first place. "You can either loosen up to me by staying by me the rest of the day we're on this little escapade here or you can continue to fight and I'll just continue to push a little harder every time. And trust me, who knows what I might do next, Lorena."

Lorena pursed her lips. She could tell that he had a temper like she did. When you've grown to have a very livid temper for years, you can see the signs in other people. She could also tell that she wouldn't stand a chance in this position without her wand.

"So what's it going to be?" Brandon asked. "Door Number One or Door Number Two?" She grinned when she found her wand. She let go of his arm and relaxed. He grinned and loosened up considerably. She turned around to face him politely with her eyes glimmering. His grin only broadened.

"I see you chose Door Number One, then," Brandon chirped with a smug grin tugging at his lips. "Great choice, Lorena. Now, let me give you a real hand with that." He advanced on her slightly, but she quickly put her finger in the air.

"Actually... I opted for Door Number Three," Lorena quipped smoothly. Brandon stared at her inquisitively and laughed slightly. She dropped her hand to her side and pulled it behind her back.

"And what would that be?" Brandon snickered. She grasped her wand behind her back with her free hand and grinned politely.

"It's the Door where you

Immediately, Brandon shot backwards right through the door and onto the floor. He came to a skidded stop, but struggled to get up, the hex still on him. She stomped to the door.

"Next time, don't be such a narking arsehole!" Lorena shouted crossly. And with that, she slammed the door in his face. He growled and gave up his struggle to wait for the hex to wear off.

~*~

Krystyna snapped her head to her left quickly. As she slipped her hands into the midnight blue robes, the dress underneath it cutting across her shoulders, she stared at the wall curiously, as though she might be able to see right through it. She had heard a familiar voice--or rather a familiar shout. She heard the curse spoken so many times that she could swear that it was someone she knew. However, her thoughts were cut short when someone rapped on her door.

"Are you almost done in there?" Mrs. Melanie's muffled voice called from the other side.

"Yes, mother," Krystyna said back dully. She walked over to the door and opened it. Her mother gasped when she saw her, but Krystyna felt as though she was over-reacting quite a bit. It was just another dress robe on her.

She ushered Krystyna to the mirrors and made her stand on the platform. Marlena was lounging in a chair lazily, reading Spell Binding, a Wizard magazine. Her eyes peered over the magazine to look at Krystyna. She folded the magazine back up and sat it on the table next to her.

"My, my, has someone grown up to have a full figure," Marlena chirped. Krystyna rolled her eyes and folded her arm across her chest. Only when she saw her mother giving her a reproving glare did she unfold her arms and slid her hands casually in the pockets, which her mother did not like either. But she didn't budge from the position. "I never thought I'd see the day when you grew up to be quite a figured woman, Krystyna."

"Oh, I was biding my time to stay a girl," Krystyna replied curtly. "You know, I never wanted to grow up like this." Another reproving glare from her mother and she shut her mouth.

"I think that this is the first time that I have nothing to say," Mrs. Melanie said calmly, glancing at Marlena who nodded her head. "She looks dazzling."

"So... with these new great dress robes, how are you feeling about tomorrow night at the Malfoys'?" Marlena questioned with a vice grin. "Aren't you going to love being with Lucius?"

"It's just going to be so peachy, Marlena," Krystyna said sardonically.

"Wonderful then," Marlena replied with a smirk. Mrs. Melanie didn't seem to catch on to any of their conversation and sighed.

"Well, change back into your robes and we'll pay for these," Mrs. Melanie told her youngest daughter. "We have to get some Christmas gifts of course."

"On a lighter note, I'm going to pick out Lorena's by myself," Krystyna said brightly. "I'll be changing out of these now." She scrambled to get out of the dress robes as quickly as possible. Andrew meandered his way with some black robes. He showed them to his mother.

"Are these good, mum?" Andrew asked boredly. She examined them and picked at them until she finally looked at her youngest son and nodded her head.

"Yes, of course, they look fine for you," Mrs. Melanie noted. "Have you tried them on?" Andrew nodded his head quickly.

"Good, we'll wait for your sister to change out of her dress robes and then we'll pay for them both," Mrs. Melanie explained to him. He nodded his head obediently. "Then, we'll go shopping and have some lunch somewhere near." He nodded his head and moseyed away. Marlena smiled at her mother and they left the room too.

~*~

Remus crawled out of the Gryffindor common room. He had found it empty. Sara had not been there and Peter had not been there. Peter had not been in the dormitory, but maybe Sara was in her dormitory. He would never know until he saw her again. He didn't really know where he was going.

"Maybe I'll check up on Lorena..." Remus said to himself quietly. "I promised I'd owl her since she's horded up with the Malfoys. Yeah, that seems right." And so, he walked back into the common room to find some parchment and ink to write a letter to Lorena. After that, he figured he'd check up on James, Sirius, and Lily to see how their holiday was starting out. Realizing something, he knew he couldn't leave out Krystyna, so he'd write her a letter. Then, he realized that he was writing letters to everybody.

After the letters were written, Remus headed for the Owlry that was high up in a tower. Who knows, maybe he would run into Sara or Peter or somebody he could talk to.