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"No." Skye says through gritted teeth. "There's no fucking way."
Trip shakes his head, letting out a little amused yet exasperated laugh. "C'mon, girl. It's not like I'm asking you to marry him."
Fitz and Simmons are uncharastically silent throughout this whole exchange and it makes Skye suspicious. "Have you guys planned this?"
"No." They reply in perfect synchrony.
Skye just glares at them until Simmons breaks eye-contact and Fitz starts to nervously chew on his lip.
Trip sighs and squares his shoulders. "I hate to say this, but a deal is a deal, Skye."
Skye realizes that by now, they have attracted the attention of a few other students milling around the Gryffindor tower.
Some first years, who are supposed to be writing a paper for Professor Hand, are trying to stifle their giggles.
Skye fixes them with a glare and their amused expressions morph into one of terror.
She shakes her head, trying to clear her mind. "So, let me clarify: you guys want me to go down to the Great Hall, find that douchebag and ask him out in front of the whole damn school?"
Fitz actually had the audacity to snicker at her tone.
"Yeah, that's exactly what we want." Trip nods, smirking.
Simmons, however, she looks unhappy. "I just want to say, that it doesn't have to be in front of the whole school. But you have to be nice."
"You've got to be kidding me, Jemma!" Skye's patience is wearing especially thin and that queasy feeling in her stomach, which is not anxiety - nope - is just making it worse.
"To be fair, you were the one, who suggested taking it this far." Fitz says, altogether too casually.
"You told me, if you won, you'd make Trip wear nothing but his underwear during our next Hogsmeade visit." Jemma supplies.
"Which, by the way, I wouldn't have minded." Trip says and when a fifth year girl shouts: "me neither", Trip makes a little bow and winks at her.
"Ugh. Fine." Skye spins around, dumping her bag on the arm chair next to her. "Let's get this over with."
She takes her time going down to the Great Hall.
Fitz, Simmons and Trip, who are on her heels, are thankfully keeping their voices low.
Although, it might not be an advantage right now.
Ever since Skye climbed through the portrait whole, it feels like she's swallowed dry cement and it settled heavily in her stomach.
The bet had started out as a joke, but Skye herself had let it grow to something more serious.
She and Trip got a little carried away and grew a tad too ambitious for their own good.
During one particularly rainy day, they decided that their old routine during quidditch training was too easy.
So, they decided to think of something new.
It was simple really: whoever scored the most goals, wins.
But then it grew complicated, the rain got heavier and heavier, yet neither of them was ready to quit.
By the time dinner arrived, the two of them were soaked to the bones, shivering and beyond exhausted.
Trip had scored two more goals than Skye.
Simmons, who was more accomplished at complicated spells than either Skye or Trip, had helped him out a tiny bit.
Naturally, Skye was furious when she found out and demanded a rematch.
And a rematch they did have.
By that time, people had heard of their shenanigans and a few people from different houses had come to watch them play.
One person, who had showed up late in the game, had surprised Skye so much so, that she got distracted long enough for Trip to score his winning goals.
And that is why she's currently being forced to ask that one particular person out on a date.
Ok, maybe "forced" is a strong word.
Skye hates him.
Really, she does.
From the bottom of her heart.
But she's also had a crush on him since the day she first met him.
Which was like 6 years ago, on their first day at Hogwarts.
The group of Gryffindors finally reaches the Great Hall and before Skye enters, she stops in her tracks and takes a deep breath.
Tentatively, Jemma says, "If you really don't want to, you don't have to do this, Skye."
And Skye is really grateful for that. She smiles and shakes her head. "It's okay, Jems, I'm a big girl, I can handle asking Grant Ward on a date."
With that, Skye set off, walking a brisk pace towards the Slytherin table and scanning the students.
She finds him sitting with three people and when Skye sees who they are, her heart drops.
It's Raina, Kara and a guy, who's name might be Scarlotti, a seventh year.
It's the first one who's making Skye feeling dreadful.
And it's Raina precisely who spots her first.
Her dark, knowing eyes widen at the sigh of Skye approaching the Slytherin table and a knowing smile stretches on her lips.
Somehow, Raina has always crept the fuck out of Skye.
Not just because of her "I know everything" look, but because she actually seemed to know everything about everyone.
"Hello, Skye." She said, a sweet smile playing on her lips.
The other three Slytherins look up at her.
Skye feels like she stands on a stage but forgot what she is supposed to do.
She clears her throat. "Uh, hi." She looks at Ward, and tries not to shuffle her feet. "I was wondering if I could talk to you. In private."
He frowns. Actually frowns at her. As if he isn't aware of her crushing on him for the past 6 years.
"Ok, sure." He says, eventually.
His house members watch the situation carefully and Scarlotti even looks disgusted.
Kara, who Skye got to know a little better during their N.E.W.T.-level potions class, smiles assuringly towards Skye.
She might have (definitely) picked up on Skye's feelings for Ward.
And she might have the same sort of feelings towards the same person.
When Skye asked her about Grant and their relationship, Kara just brushed it off by saying that he saw her as a sister.
Skye tried very hard to forget the muttered "unlike you" but it kept her awake at most nights.
Ward looks a little unsure of what to do, so Skye turns around, hoping he follows her, and leaves the Great Hall.
Once they are away from prying eyes, and there are many, she stops walking and faces him.
It feels as though her heart is hammering in her throat and she has to clear it before she can speak.
She realizes that being sarcastic and getting into arguments with Ward is far easier than to face her true feelings for him.
And they get in a lot of arguments.
Come to think of it, the only time they actively interacted was to argue.
Trip calls it "bickering" and even the first years have learned to clear the corridors when Skye and Ward meet.
Ward slips his hands into his pockets and looks at her.
Skye licks her lips, unsure of what to say or how to say it.
"Um, well, sorry for interrupting your dinner but I just needed to talk to you." Skye starts and immediately regrets talking without having a clear plan. Thankfully, Fitz, Simmons and Trip are nowhere to be seen, so she's only making a fool of herself in front of Grant freaking Ward.
"It's no problem, really." Ward reassures her, a tiny smile tugging at his lips.
Skye's heart jumps. "What I did want to talk about, was actually.. well, you know there's a Hogsmeade weekend coming up and I was wondering if you might wanna go with me."
He just stares at her. His eyes wide, mouth slightly slackened. "But.. but you hate me."
Skye bursts out laughing. She can't help it. She's so relieved that she got the words out, it takes a few seconds for her to understand his words. "Wait. You think I hate you?" She asks, now serious.
He looks sheepish now. "Well, we're always fighting and you keep insulting me."
"Hold on, I don't insult insult you." Skye says, putting her hands on her hips. "Since when is pretty boy a real insult?"
"Ok, that one might not be too bad, but your tone, it's pretty damn condescending. Also, did you forget about Mr. I am so good-looking I can do whatever the hell I want and people are gonna adore me anyway?"
"I did not call you that." Skye protested, fighting off a smile.
"Yes, you did." Ward insisted.
"No, I didn't. I might have said something along the lines, but not those exact words." Skye says, but even to herself her arguments comes across weak. "But, this is so not the point. I don't hate you. And even when I do try to insult you, I'm telling you that you're hot, so..."
They both freeze.
If she just had not said what she just did, Ward's look would be comical.
But she is horrified enough to feel like him gaping is a totally adequate way to react.
"You think I'm hot?" He asks, one finger pointing unnecessarily towards his own chest.
At this point, Skye's mind tells her to fuck everything and just be honest. "Yeah, I do. So, what? You've got nice arms and you're tall as fuck. Also your jaw line.."
She trails off, when her eyes wander to his lips. "You're a stupidly attractive asshole."
He is silent for a long time and when she looks back into his eyes, he's closer than before.
And his eyes - oh god, his eyes - they are darker than usual and are staring hungrily at her lips.
"You really think I am an asshole?" He asks, his voice somehow lower than before. Skye can only nod, too busy being transfixed by the look in his eyes.
"Do you wanna kiss me, Ward?" Skye asks him, and her brain must have left this conversation three or four turns ago, because all she can think about is Ward's lips and how they would feel on hers.
"Yeah." He breathes and before Skye has time to say anything else, he's cupping her cheeks and his lips are pressing against hers.
A tiny, desperate sound leaves Skye's mouth, and then she's got her arms wrapped around his neck and is standing on her tiptoes to deepen the kiss.
Her tongue slides against his bottom lip and he parts his mouth. Skye kisses him eagerly and his teeth graze over her bottom lip.
When Skye starts to feel breathless, she stops the kiss but doesn't quite move her lips from his. They are still touching and they are breathing each other in.
"I've wanted to do this for so long." He whispers and Skye feels like the world could come crashing down right now and she would not care one bit.
"Me, too." She replies and then she pulls him close again and kisses him once more.
They kiss there, in the Entrance Hall for what feels like ages, but also seconds at the same time.
Until a whooping sound causes them to pull apart. Trip's there, a huge grin on his face. "So, he said yes to the date?" He asks.
Skye shakes her head, as her fingers comb through her ruffled hair. "Not yet."
"I thought me kissing you would suffice as an answer." Ward says, his usual frown back in place but a new softness in his eyes.
"No, it really doesn't, pretty boy." Skye tells him with a smirk and both Trip and Ward laugh.
"Yes, Skye, I would love to go on a date with you." Ward says, sounding awfully formal and then he turns back to Trip. "I am assuming you're the reason for this?"
Trip just shrugs, "Yeah, if we let you guys be, you two fools would be in denial for the next fifty years."
"Pfft." Skye just scoffs. "Pot kettle, Trip."
"Hey, I am making my intentions towards them very clear." Trip argues.
Just then, Fitz and Simmons join them and Fitz asks, "Towards whom, Trip?"
Skye let's out a laugh and when Fitz and Simmons look at her questioningly and Trip with a hint of warning, she grabs Ward's hand and tells him, "Why don't we find a quiet place to talk."
Ward follows her, wearing a fond smile, that she's never seen on him before, and it makes Skye wonder why they have been so damn stubborn until now.
Ok, maybe she hadn't been just stubborn. There had been some fear in the mix as well.
To admit that she didn't hate Grant Ward. To admit that she actually cared about him. To admit that she would rather ignore her feelings, then to be shut down by him.
But after getting the hints from both Kara and Trip, she could not stop thinking about this.
Her and Ward.
And maybe, from now on the corridors would clear around them for a different reason.