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Arthur knew he was going to pay dearly for it. Best-case scenario he’d get hit by a nasty jinx from Bella, worst-case scenario it would be Molly doing the casting. But no matter the risk, it would be more than worth it.
"Five galleons that Bella will trip on thin air at seeing Molly in action and will accidentally kiss her while falling."
"Deal."
It was just Arthur's luck that Frank was as much a thrill seeker as was custom for most Gryffindors. Arthur casually leaned back on one of the pillars surrounding the courtyard where Professor Nit-Wit was planning to host his duel club. It was a train-wreck waiting to happen, and Arthur was quite pleased with his front row seat.
No one had a high opinion about the rotating DADA professors they had had over the years, but the one pretending to teach them this year was truly something else. It had begun with his ineptitude in teaching and controlling a class, and ended with his total lack of knowledge on anything even remotely included in DADA. It was to the point that he gave incorrect information that would actually harm you if you were stupid enough to follow his directions.
It was only because Dumbledore looked slightly constipated every time they were in the same room, or Arthur was going to believe the rumour that the Headmaster had chosen Professor Nit-Wit to create a deadly incident on school grounds. But surely the Headmaster wasn't that stupid, and would have realised that Professor Nit-Wit wasn't smart enough to come up with such a plan, nor would be able to put it into action.
How someone got their Mastery in Defense and was this bad at their job was a complete mystery, but Arthur was certain the Professor was about to entertain with his special brand of teaching once more.
Professor Nit-Wit had gotten the amazing idea to start up the Duelling Club again, after it got shut down in Arthur's first year after a certain incident that was not to be spoken about. To conclude, the Duelling Club was no more because it had proven to be a danger to the student body.
But well, Professor Nit-Wit was so smart and talented with a wand (either one if you believed his talks, which Arthur didn't), that he was certain that under his careful eye no harm would befall any student. Arthur was certain something was going to happen and he wanted to be present to see it.
At the moment, he had his money on several things. One, Bella was going to embarrass herself while trying to catch Molly's eye. Two, someone (specifics were yet undecided) was going to be sent to Madam Pomfrey and almost die on their way there (he was hoping it would be Professor Nit-Wit himself). Three, some wayward spell was going to hit Professor Nit-Wit in the face and give him a nice shiner. No one had been willing to bet against that last one, but Arthur didn't care one bit, he was willing to pay some good money to see it happen, and if he needed to bribe someone to do it, then that was the way to go.
"Now, I expect a clean match. No ugly jinxes and no hexes or curses at all, we are here to learn, not to hurt each other."
The genial smile on Professor Nit-Wit's face couldn't convince a flobberworm of his competence, but Arthur didn't call him out on it. Nor did anyone else of the assorted students, who had come to the courtyard to watch the bloodbath waiting to happen. It was already May and the DADA teacher still hadn't gotten inexplicably hurt, and they were really hoping the DADA Curse got the memo and started working.
"The first duel will be between Margaret Prewett and Bellatrix Black, Gryffindor against Slytherin, and two Sixth Years, too. Almost ready to start their journey away from Hogwarts and among the greatest of our kind in the world."
Professor Nit-Wit was flailing his arms around, clearly trying to impress the collected students, but Arthur could only think about the length of his sleeves that were surely to be caught in the line of fire. There were practical and impractical clothes to wear in your day-to-day life, and then there were clothes that were simply waiting to catch on fire out of sheer embarrassment for being seen out in public. Professor Nit-Wit's clothes were firmly in the department that even the Headmaster wouldn't be caught dead in.
"Now, turn your back on each other and take ten steps in opposite directions. Yes, yes, very well. Now raise your wand and greet your opponent and you can start at any moment."
Arthur tried, he really tried, to keep the shit eating grin off his face as he saw Bella's face redden at the sight Molly made. Oh, this was going to be over embarrassing quickly, and Arthur knew he should start planning his escape route if he didn't want to catch a curse, courtesy of Bella, on his way out. But this was simply too good an opportunity to get some good blackmail on the second Black sister, and apart from that, he needed to support his best friend after his quick triumph over Slytherin.
"Go, Molly, show her what you've got."
Arthur was so glad Molly was friends with him, because he really didn’t want to be on the other end of her wand when she got truly angry. This weak mirror of it was more than scary enough for him already, and he had no idea how Bella hadn't fallen to her knees in awe yet. But that might have something to do with her taste in women, which Arthur didn't share.
Molly, naturally, opened the duel with a well placed Aqua, pushing Bella several feet back before she managed to regain her footing. Bella answered the kindhearted charm with Flipendo that had Professor Nit-Wit go red in the face. Two seconds in they had already stopped listening to his instructions of playing nice. Little did he know that no one from Gryffindor nor Slytherin (and especially these two) knew how to do something as simple as playing nice. It simply wasn't in their nature, and they didn't care enough either to pretend for the time being.
"Now, play nice, please."
Neither of the two girls reacted in any way, shape or form at the words of the Professor, but proceeded to cast faster and nastier curses and jinxes at each other. If Arthur didn't know better, he would actually start thinking they might hate each other. But he knew Molly well enough to recognise her desire to win would always be more important than flirting. And Bella was simply like that the majority of the time that she wasn't trying to get Molly to notice her.
While casting curses at each other, they had slowly, but surely moved closer and were now almost standing face to face. Or in other words, close enough for Bella to accidentally kiss Molly, while she fell flat on her face, when faced with that much bad-ass energy. Arthur had money running on it, and he really hoped his bet would pay out; he needed those galleons. On the other hand, it would also be nice to finally be done with the pining from a distance both girls had going on.
It was over within seconds.
Bella got distracted by, surprise surprise, the light catching the red flames of Molly's hair, and walked right into the Locomotor cast at her. Normally Arthur was quite certain Bella would have managed to keep her footing, but not while duelling the force of nature that was Molly.
Bella went down almost in slow-motion, and as they were standing so close together, actually landed her lips on Molly's in a very unfortunate first kiss. Unfortunate, as Arthur hadn't placed any bets on when it would take place yet, an oversight on his part, as he had heard the prize pot had reached almost a hundred galleons.
The whole situation made it almost impossible for Arthur to not start cackling, but as he valued his life he managed to contain himself. It was truly to stupid to come up with.
Bella had, as Arthur had predicted, stumbled and fallen lips first on Molly, who hadn't managed to keep her footing either. Together they had crashed to the floor and had ended in a heap of long limbs and skirts splayed out on the courtyard floor, with the entirety of their year and several other students as witness.
Molly's face was as red as her hair, and Bella didn't look all that much better. Though both looked too flustered to start casting curses at the onlookers for the crime of existing yet, Arthur was certain it wouldn't take all that long for both of them to pull themselves together and get back to their usual, cast-happy, selves.
"What is this?! I told you not to cast anything dirty nor beyond charms, why didn't you listen to me when I told you to stop?!"
Professor Nit-Wit was tearing out his hair by the roots, and overall made a huge spectacle of himself, though no one really seemed to notice. Too enthralled by the two girls still staring deeply in each other’s eyes. It would be cute, if Arthur wasn't certain that both of them would murder him if he didn't rescue them right now from any future embarrassment.
"Well, what did you expect, allowing them to duel? Now excuse me, but I am certain Madam Pomfrey would love to see them within the next five minutes or she might go after you, sir, for negligence, and we wouldn't want that, now would we?"
And without further ado, Arthur pulled Bella up from where she had been kneeling on Molly's skirt, still flushed after their accidental kiss. Once she wasn't liable to fall over and continue fondling Molly in front of half the school, Arthur picked Molly up too. After a quick check to see if either of their clothes had been torn in unfortunate places, they were ready to flee the scene. But not before Frank placed a piece of paper with a few galleons in Arthur's pocket; he was going to count his winnings the moment he left the girls with Madam Pomfrey, and rejoice in being best friends with such prominent gossip features. It was truly a gold mine of unprecedented proportions.
***
Madam Pomfrey had not been amused when Bella and Molly had entered her Wing, after their sort-of supervised and sanctioned duel in the courtyard. And Bella could understand it from her point of view, but from where Bella was sitting on the hospital bed, nothing really had happened, so there was no reason for Madam Pomfrey to act so worried.
"Really, Madam, there is nothing wrong with me. Apart from some bruising that can be expected when falling on the ground, nothing to worry about."
Madam Pomfrey's pursed lips and creases in her forehead were answer enough and Bella quickly zipped her mouth shut before she could dig her grave any deeper.
"There are so many things wrong with both of you, that if I would have to list every single one of them, we wouldn't be done until the next semester. Starting with the fact that no one is able to tell me which spells were exactly cast and which ones also hit someone. No thanks to Professor Nit-Wit."
Bella was so glad she wasn't Professor Smarmy at that moment. The idiot looked ready to disappear into the collar of his non-fashionable clothes. He didn't even seem to truly comprehend the amount of trouble he had managed to get himself into.
It had been an idiotic idea to start the Duelling Club again without proper supervision (read Professor Flitwick). But to also put two Pureblood students with a known vicious streak against each other was a new level of stupid. If either Molly or she had gotten hurt, the school, and he, would have been held accountable by a group of rather influential and rich people. Not a place you wanted to be.
"Well, I told them to only use harmless charms. It is not my fault they didn't listen to me."
Bella didn't keep the smirk off her face at the truly ugly look Madam Pomfrey shot Professor Smarmy at that. It didn't matter what he might have said or not, he was responsible and should have stopped Molly and her from breaking the rules. And if he was incapable of doing so, then he shouldn't have allowed the initial situation from ever happening to begin with.
"House arrest for both of you, and twenty points from Gryffindor and Slytherin. You are not allowed to leave your Common Room for anything other than classes and attending mealtime."
Bella was ready to protest such a harsh punishment, and so was Molly, but they were cut off before they could even begin to formulate how unfair it was that they were being punished.
"No, you both should have known better, and this might actually persuade you to not act as defiant next time. As for you..." Here she advanced on Professor Smarmy until the end of her wand was pointed half an inch from the hollow of his throat. "The next time you think you're being smart, think again, or there won't be anything left of you for the DADA curse to go after."
When no one dared to move, or so much as breathe, Madam Pomfrey slowly lowered her wand.
"Now shoo, all of you. I don't want to see any of you here until at least next year."
Bella didn't know how fast she ran away from the Hospital Wing, Molly's hand held securely in hers so as to not lose the other girl in their mad dash down the hallways. Only when she could no longer hear the muffled cursing from Madam Pomfrey, did she finally slow down enough to share a look of understanding with Bella. This was not how Bella had imagined their afternoon to go, but well worst things could have happened.
"You can find your way back to the Gryffindor Common Room on your own? Or do you need an escort?"
Molly merely smiled at Bella's words and, after a quick hug that would feature in Bella's dreams for the foreseeable future, was running back up the stairs to Gryffindor Tower.
Not at all how Bella had imagined the afternoon to go, but she couldn't complain. This wasn't exactly how she had imagined to come out to the greater study body about her relationship status, but it was probably easier than to scream for attention in the Great Hall before making out with one of Hogwarts' most eligible bachelors, like Molly’s best friend had done. Now everyone knew Molly was hers, and she was Molly's.
It also meant that they no longer needed to sneak around to avoid the attention of their housemates. Not that they had needed to do that, but well, it was part of the experience. And she had seldom had as much fun as when they had managed to escape the notice of several students and all the professors, while making out in the Astronomy Tower.
***
Andromeda almost jumped from her seat near the fire when Bella finally returned from the Hospital Wing at ten minutes past curfew. She had been waiting for her baby (one year, that was very important) sister to return to the Common Room after her uncalled for duel and subsequent making out with a Gryffindor in front of half the school.
It wasn't as if Andromeda really cared what her younger sister got up with in her free time, but as long as she was still at Hogwarts, she had promised their parents to look after Bella. Which, unfortunately for her, included making sure whoever Bella dated was good enough for her.
And she had almost made it, almost. She had been so certain that neither girl would make a move until at least next year, when it would no longer be her problem. But no, they had to accidentally kiss during a duel that never should have taken place, and had finally gotten their shit together.
This was not good for Andy's blood pressure for so many different reasons, and half of them were a red-headed witch with a penchant for violence.
"You're late."
Bella looked like she had been mauled by some kind of beast, probably a red-headed one at that, and not even trying to pretend she hadn't been out after hours with someone else.
"Well, we left the Hospital Wing some time ago, but Madam Pomfrey put us on housearrest for the next two weeks. So, we were planning to go back to our Common Room immediately, but then Molly found me just as I was to enter the secret passage and told me we needed to make the most of our last free night. And well..."
Andromeda could fill in the rest of the story and would be grateful to her sister for all eternity for not continuing her explanation.
Why couldn't they have waited a few weeks more and it wouldn't have been Andy's problem anymore.
Though, no one was going to write to her mother if she told the others and younger years to stuff it. And well, if Narcissa wrote a letter home next week that Bella seemed to be dating, then well, Andy was no longer there to keep an eye on it.
That was a good idea. Andy slowly nodded at absolutely nothing as Bella had left for her dormitory an hour ago. If she simply pretended not to see anything, and made sure that no one else got any ideas about writing home. It would be out of her hands soon enough.
Tomorrow she would put her plan into action, making sure everyone knew what would happen to them if they even dared to mention Bella and Molly in the same sentence in a letter home. Everything was going to end just fine, and with zero trouble for Andy herself, exactly how she liked it.
***
The entire school seemed to be more subdued as Dumbledore made an announcement during breakfast. Arthur had imagined one of the professors might say something about the duelling club incident, or make snide remarks about certain dunderheads that shouldn't be allowed around impressionable children. But it was neither of those: Dumbledore didn't make a single mention about the duel or Bella or Molly. Instead he announced that an age old tradition would once more be implemented at Hogwarts: an end of year ball.
The amount of noise that erupted from the study body ensured that any fleeting wish to work with children evaporated into nothing. But Arthur couldn't really blame them either. Finally they were going to put all their etiquette classes to use. Only the rich purebloods tended to use them, and even then it was usually only when attending the Ministry Yule Ball. The rest of the wizarding world could only dream about nice sets of robes and dresses made of meters of flowing silk.
Arthur was imagining the way the Great Hall would be transformed and who he wished to dance the night away with, when reality came crashing down on him once more. His family might be old enough for him to have learned to dance, but that didn't mean everyone was in the same boat. Namely, his best friend Molly Prewett.
Molly didn't know how to dance, as had become clear during every single party in the Common Room. Oh, she could move to the rhythm, but anything organised she did not know. Therefore Arthur would have to teach her.
Teaching Molly anything was a royal pain in the arse and Arthur was not looking forward to it. His kingdom for just one day, one day where everything went simply the way it was supposed to.
"Alright, let's meet up in the Common Room tonight and get it over with. I'll teach you the first dance and a few other steps, so you won't stand out during the ball."
Arthur had leaned to the side, so he could whisper in Molly's ear without taking his eyes off Dumbledore, who was still going on about the merits of a good party, but when no immediate answer came, he turned to his friend to see what was going on.
Molly was, unsurprisingly, making eyes at Bella from across the Hall. How they had even managed to get a clean line of sight was a mystery to Arthur, and not one he was keen to think about too much. Some things were better kept a secret.
"Molly."
Still no reaction apart from a flush slowly rising on her cheeks while keeping eye contact with Bella.
"Molly!"
Finally Molly took the hint and gave Arthur some of the attention that he deserved as her best friend, who was offering to help her win over her crush by teaching her how to dance.
"Do you want help for the upcoming ball?"
Arthur tried to hint at Bella without moving either his eyes or head, it wouldn't do for Bella to, rightfully, think they were talking about her.
"Oh. No. No worries, I already have a date. See ya."
And without a single glance his way she was gone from the Great Hall. This was what Arthur got for his great behaviour, nothing, absolutely nothing. Well, when Molly did fall flat on her face tripping over her own dress, he wasn't going to be the one to pick her up, when she was so clearly capable of handling the ball on her own.
No clue whose help she was planning to get to dazzle Bella with her dance moves.
"Now, first of all, there will be an opening waltz. And the only thing you need to know for that is how to follow my lead. At least for now; next time I expect you to lead too."
Molly had sneaked out of the Common Room some time after midnight to meet up with Bella in the courtyard. Not the best hiding place, and they had to run from a patrolling professor twice already, but it was well lit and had enough space to twirl around without hitting a wall.
"Follow my lead. One. Two. Three. One. Two. Three. And again."
Bella pulled Molly in her arms. One of her hands placed on Molly's waist, its heat almost burning a hole through Molly's sweater.
"Eyes up here, darling."
Molly, in fear of tripping and making a fool of herself, had kept her eyes fixated on their feet. Now that Bella had called her out on it, she couldn't use it as a tactic to escape Bella's eyes anymore.
"I am looking at you, but I don't want to trip and take you down either."
Bella's laughter was like the clear sound of a small creek flowing down the mountain, drowning Molly in with its brilliance.
"No worries, I won't let you fall, now one more time before we have to go back."
They danced under the moonlight, slowly swaying to the sound of a silent melody. They didn't return to their dormitories until dawn was peaking from above the horizon.
***
Arthur would be glad when this ordeal would be over. Initially he had rejoiced at the idea of the ball, well, apart from a few administrative problems, he thought it would be a fun idea. But then the true problems appeared.
Molly had found dance classes on her own, so it wasn't really Arthur's problem, but he couldn't help but worry over who she was spending time with. But, when that had finally been over, the agonising on what to wear had begun.
Arthur had sent an owl to his mother who had taken one of her fancy dresses from before her marriage and had turned it into a nice set of robes for him. Molly had also tried to get a dress from her parents, but they didn't have the means to get her a new, or fitting one. When the owl had finally arrived and she had tried it on, Arthur had stared in silence for a moment thinking about a nice thing to say, when Molly solved the problem for him.
"This won't do."
She had taken off the dress and put on her school robes, before returning back to the hallway where she sat down next to Arthur.
"Well, they did try, but I don't think I want to wear that to the ball."
Arthur wasn't really in a position to offer any help either, though he did drop a few hints while visiting the Astronomy Tower with Frank. But in the end, it wasn't necessary, as only a day after Molly's initial dress had arrived, a new package was sent by owl.
When she unpacked the package in her dormitory, sitting on the bed with stars in her eyes, and Arthur leaning against the bedpost, the most beautiful dress he had ever seen was revealed. A tight fitting bodice, flaring out in a long skirt, both in a deep burgundy.
Molly immediately pulled it on to show off the way the skirt flirted with her legs. Now, Arthur had never felt a flicker of attraction for his best friend, but he was of the opinion that he had working eyes.
Bella was going to be insufferable once the ball began.
***
Bella had made a quick owl order when she had heard about Molly's plight. The family seamstress hadn't been too happy to have another order without a lot of time, and without meeting the model even once. But Bella was more than certain she would deliver.
Molly hadn't been willing to show off her dress before the ball, but Bella had been daydreaming about her girlfriend entering the Great Hall for weeks. It was something to live up to, but Molly would certainly not disappoint.
Bella was stuffing her face with the various finger foods provided by the elves in a vain attempt to not fidget while waiting for Molly to appear. Several people had come and gone trying to have a conversation, but her heart wasn't in it. She hadn't seen Andromeda since the very beginning of the evening when they had left the Slytherin Common Room.
"You have to remember that both me and Gideon have claimed at least one dance, but apart from that go wild. Gideon told me they are almost here."
Fabian was moving forward to lean against Bella, but she swiftly evaded him while keeping her eyes firmly on the door. His intel was good, but she was absolutely not going to allow the nuisance to lean on her, Molly's big brother or not.
The doors to the Great Hall had been opening and closing since the ball had started, and though there were many people who were pretending to be fashionable late, the first dance was about to start and Bella was almost vibrating out of her skin in anticipation.
"Oh wow, Gideon wasn't kidding."
Bella had taken her eyes off the doors for one second, one second, and suddenly Molly was entering the Great Hall with everyone's eye caught by her radiance. The dress Bella had bought for her was everything Bella could have hoped for and so much more.
"Oh."
All the air left Bella's lungs as speed walked towards the entrance and, gently, extracted Molly's hand from Gideon's grasp. He could get a dance with his sister later; for now Bella wanted all of Molly's attention on herself.
"You look wonderful."
Bella knew she had a dopey smile on her face, but couldn't bring up the energy to wipe it off her lips. This was Molly after all, the person she was supposed to show how she felt.
"Thank you, you're looking quite dapper yourself."
Bella carefully let her hand slip over her own skirts, they weren't as full as Molly’s but had still quite some volume to them. Bella hadn't been too sure about them originally, but well, if Molly liked them she supposed she could be persuaded to put them on again.
The music had started sometime around Molly's entrance, and not willing to lose a single second, Bella slowly lowered herself in a careful curtsy and brought Molly's hand to her lips.
"May I have this dance, my fair lady?"
Before the duel, Bella never would have dared to be so straightforward in front of the entire school, but now they didn't have to pretend anymore. And apart from that, propriety meant she was supposed to act like this while courting someone.
"I suppose, my fair lady, lead the way."
Bella didn't do a lot of leading, still a little starstruck with Molly's everything. But, that could certainly be overlooked when she decisively pulled Molly into her arms and joined the other couples in the opening waltz.
***
Arthur had no clue what had happened to Molly between the moment Dumbledore announced the ball and the actual ball happening right now. But someone had been teaching her how to waltz, and do it well with the way Bella was leading her around the dance floor for the eight time in a row, and it hadn't been him.
"Do you have any idea what is going on?"
Arthur tried to whisper as softly as possible, while hiding his lips behind his hand, as to ensure neither of the two girls would notice his conversation with Frank. But he didn't need to worry, they were too engrossed with each other to notice a Dementor fly into the room.
"No clue, but I think you are going to lose your bet on when those two are going to finally become official. Lucky me, I bet my money on this week after hearing about the ball."
Frank was a traitor, one Arthur was not going to spend the rest of the night sitting next to anymore.
"Care to dance to keep the nerves at bay?"
"Sure"
Frank also had a very nice face and was a good dancer. Therefore he would be forgiven.
While Frank led Arthur around the dancefloor, he kept a careful eye out for Molly and Bella. He wasn't really in the mood to dance too closely to them but, on the other hand, he was supposed to be a supportive friend here, and it would be in his advantage to get some extra information on their date that he could later use to bet on.
He needed the money; those engagement rings were not cheap.
Suddenly Frank pulled him close and they stopped in the middle of a dance sequence. Something was happening behind his back, and all the hair on his neck was standing up.
Slowly, oh so slowly, Arthur turned around to see what had caught everyone's attention.
Unsurprisingly, it was Bella and Molly. Sometime during the dance they had switched and Molly had taken over the lead. This had resulted in an unplanned dip that had caught everyone's attention.
Now Arthur could easily deal with that. It was good that his best friend was going after someone she liked, and he really hoped to be done with her pining. But this dip had been going on for a bit long now. And shouldn't they continue with the dance now?
It was at that exact moment, that Arthur knew his life until that point had been a lie, and he was never trusting Molly ever again.
Molly, in her infinite wisdom and sense of dramatics she shared with her brothers, had first dipped one of the scariest people in Hogwarts before proceeding to snog her in front of the entirety of Hogwarts.
It was needless to say that Bella very enthusiastically reciprocated, and that Arthur lost a good amount of money in the betting pool.