I bet you look good on the dance floor (Idella)

The week went by just like any other, long periods of anxiety interrupted by tiny bursts of happiness and then passing out. The happiness was mostly false and caused by over-drinking, but it was all Helen got and it was better than nothing. The days came and went, along with the old drunks, yet there was still no word from Clement. Helen was trying to convince herself that there wasn't anything to it, the man was just busy, is all. Luckily, she had the thought of her upcoming date to distract her from the doom.

She had a feeling this wouldn't be just one of her usual hook ups, I mean, the woman taught young wizards and witches at an orphanage. That was just pure kindness and Helen didn't know how to feel about it. Of course, there was the option that Idella was lying and had a conniving plot to... to take over the bar, to capture and torture Helen, to take her family's money or, or something. The former Slytherin was aware that her ideas were far-fetched and didn't really believe them, but she didn't know what scared her more; that the other witch was actually as kind and nice as she said she was or being the potential victim of a weird plot.

Saturday came along and Helen was telling herself that, for the love of Merlin, woman, calm down, it's just a date. If it even is a date, she wasn't particularly sure about that. Yes, Idella was probably flirting with her, but she could have misread the signs.

The whole thing was tiring and the barkeep told herself to just shut up and stop being nervous. Never in her life has she been nervous for a date and she wouldn't start now. She also told herself that it was probably a consequence of being almost killed and not the fact that she liked Idella.

She was leaning against the counter, only half listening to the old man who was going on about goblins or something, and was instead sending glances to the door every few minutes. She was wearing her usual attire; jeans, a tank top and a leather jacket and her hair was tied behind her head in a pony tail.

With grading done and out of the way and all the student's photos returned to them Idella was glad to see the weekend. While heading to the Hog's Head she was whistling one of her favorite tunes. The best part, no students' and she got to see the cute Landlady of the pub.

Since it was getting colder Idella opted for a brown leather jacket over a long sleeved black t-shirt, with flared Jeans and heavy brown boots. She left her hair down with a simple headband to keep her fringe out of her face.

It had just started to pour down outside so she ducked into the pub quickly and cast a drying charm over herself before approaching the bar, waving to Helen. "Hello there miss, come here often?" She grinned, leaning against the bar. "How's your week been?"

"You could say it's like my second home." Helen mused, referring to the pub. Now that Idella was actually here, she didn't feel nervous anymore and she grinned at the woman. She gave Steve, the old man another glass of ordinary beer, ignored his muttering and moved closer to the Hogwarts Professor.

"Nothing special, but I'm not complaining. And yours?" The witch pulled out a bottle of Ogden's Firewhiskey and held it up. "D'you want something else?" she asked as she poured herself a shot. She wasn't necessarily trying to get the woman drunk and she wouldn't mind if Idella wouldn't drink, but a little alcohol never hurt anyone.

"Just the one shot for now lovey, I like to remember the pretty faces I see during a night out." She grinned back teasingly. "Not been too bad, the kids keep out of my hair and I let them get on with it unless it's grossly against the rules. Hardly followed the rules myself as a kid but they don't need to know that." Idella tapped her nose and took her shot, downing it in one. "I swear Ogden did not have people in mind when he invented this stuff."

"Live and let live." Helen nodded in response and drank her shot. The alcohol burned her throat and she grimaced involuntarily. She laughed at Idella's remark and could still feel the burning. "Or he didn't mean for humans to remember anything when they drink it."

The old man at the bar was still going on, getting louder and louder and Helen took out her wand. Rolling her eyes, she muttered, "Silencio" under her breath and the man fell silent. Apparently, he didn't even notice, for his mouth kept moving and the barkeep had to look away before she started laughing. Idella was a much better sight, anyway.

"So, if we're not getting drunk, what did you have in mind?"

Idella nodded in agreement then snorted at the old man rambling on to himself even silenced. "I was thinking perhaps a change of scene. Sure Hogsmead is a fantastic village but really aside from the Hog's head it caters to the kids a bit much for my liking. Back home is pretty much the same." She grinned mischievously. "Think you can handle leaving the bar for one night and join me in London for the evening. I can get us into a neat little muggle club, if you don't mind some noise." She offered, straightening up again.

"Think you can handle leaving the bar for one night and join me in London for the evening. I can get us into a neat little muggle club, if you don't mind some noise."

As Idella explained her plans, Helen's smile grew into a grin and she gave a nod. A night off in a tightly packed muggle club, with loud music, booze and the Hogwarts Professor sounded perfect.

"Sounds good. Gimme five minutes to get rid of these old jokes and then I'm all yours." Helen said with a wink and moved from behind the counter. Luckily, the drunk old men were quite far gone already and bought her story about there being rats in the bar. In a few minutes, her and the blonde were the only ones left in the room. Trying not to think of the possibilities presented in the moment, the witch focused on the promising evening she was about to have.

Helen walked over to the door and held it open for Idella. "Unless there's someone passed out in the bathroom, we should be good to go. I guess we're apparating there?"

With a grin Idella nodded and waited patiently for Helen to evacuate the building, and had to admit she was impressed with the efficiency of the woman, clearing out all the old buggers. When they had the place to themselves Idella offered her arm as they walked out and after Helen had made sure all was locked up nodded again. "Aye, there's a back way in for us specially, always clear for apparating." She explained then turned and pulled Helen close, which was all the warning she gave before twisting the two of them through space and landing neatly in a small, paved back alley. A quick check and she let Helen loose so she could take her arm again.

"All good? Nothing missing?" She smiled and gave the woman a once over, satisfied that she'd managed not to splinch her partner for the evening she lead her to the door where a large burly looking doorman stood, clearly a wizard, his wand poking out from his beefy, folded arms, his beard nearly engulfed his face, making him look remarkably like captin caveman. "Evening Marcus, busy night?" He grunted in response, eying the two of them before opening the door for them. "Such a gentleman, say hello to Toby for me." She waved over her shoulder at him after stepping inside.

The noise inside was deafening but a well places muffling charm made conversation possible while still listening to the music. The place was packed with, mostly same sex couples dancing, with some tag alongs who were either awkwardly nursing a drink at the sides of the club and some more open minded ones dancing in groups or by themselves. The wizards and muggles were difficult to differentiate from, which was nice to see, Idella thought. "You must try the house special cocktail. Very refreshing with a nice buzz." She offered, turning to look at Helen.

After she locked up and muttered the protective charms, the blonde pulled her close to her, something that Helen wasn't opposed to at all. Just as she started to grin and made to comment, she felt the familiar pull of Apparating. A few very uncomfortable moments later, they were standing in a dark alleyway. Helen inhaled deeply a few times, getting rid of the terrible feeling in her stomach. Apparating was definitely not one of her preferred types of travelling.

"All good." she confirmed and managed a grin. She knew she'll be fine in a few minutes, especially in such good company. The witch took in the massive doorman and let out a low whistle. "I need to get one for Hog's." she whispered to Idella as they made their way in the club. It was more than obvious the blonde witch was a regular in the club and for some reason, it made her even more attractive.

Helen looked around and nodded appreciatively, before sniggering at the few people for whom it was painfully obvious they were straight. She turned to the other woman, studying her face as she was looking at the people. It was fascinating, watching someone watching people, especially if that someone was as hot as Idella was.

"I certainly will." she replied, smiling and didn't even attempt to hide the fact she was watching her. As she thought about it, she might have come across as creepy, though, so she averted her gaze to the crowd instead. "Later, though. Come on." Helen said and pulled her by the hand, walking in the middle of the dancing couples. She wanted to dance and to be completely honest, being close to the blonde seemed much better than alcohol.

It was always good fun to watch the dancers first to get a feel for the sort of crowd was in. She felt eyes on her and knew full well Helen was staring, she didn't mind, it wouldn't be the first time, nor the last. she happily smiled to her companion and then followed her to the middle of the floor. The song quickly changed to something with a drum beat that no human could possibly hope to achieve and bass so deep one could feel it putting pressure on the eardrums, well they would if they couldn't put up a muffling charm around them.

Idella happily danced, jumping about with the beat and bringing Helen with her in spins during the guitar solo's and going back to the jumping and body popping that the song called for. Some of the other dancers did so in groups, synchronizing their moves, showing off tot he crowd.

The music was good, Helen had to admit, it was good, loud and gave you that overwhelming feeling of happiness. She danced with Idella, going along with spinning and jumping about and basically just having a really good time. They weren't perfectly synchronized in their dancing, unlike some of the show-offs near them, but they sort of completed each other individually.

Sometime in a slow song, Helen's arms found themselves wrapped around Idella's body and were quite happy there, given Idella wouldn't mind. The song only lasted a short while and something with a fast beat replaced it, but Helen enjoyed the few minutes that her hands were exploring the woman's body.

After a while of dancing wildly and happily, the witch grew thirsty and she leaned in to Idella, asking her if she would like a drink. Because of the Muffliato charm, she wouldn't really have had to lean in and whisper, but it was so much more fun that way. She motioned towards the bar before setting off amongst the crowd.

Perhaps it was the wizarding world's old fashioned ways rubbing off on her or maybe it was the woman rubbing against her that found Idella thinking she much preferred slow songs to the heart thrumming fast songs. She grinned down at her date for the evening and indulged in a little star gazing, fascinated by the club's lights playing in her eyes. She was quite enjoying the witch's hands on her and was feeling quite bereft when she set off to get drinks. "Of course." She replied and followed Helen to the bar.

"Two Lover's twists please love." Idella shouted over the din to the bartender who nodded and was almost dancing herself behind the bar just to get other people's drinks to them in a timely fashion. The two glasses were slid over the bar for Idella and Helen and she accepted the card Idella offered and swiped it before handing it back.

"How are you enjoying the evening so far?" She asked Helen once she handed over the glass and took a sip of her own, licking the citrus foam off her upper lip.

Helen smirked at the name of the drink Idella ordered, but she refrained from commenting, given the pub's loud atmosphere. She was about to reach for her purse when the other witch paid for their drinks. Helen leaned over, whispered thanks and planted a light kiss on the witch's cheek.

She took her glass from Idella and tried the drink. It was delicious, but she was momentarily distracted by her date licking her lips. Grinning, Helen decided she liked the sight quite well and the world was a little bit better because of it. "You make for good company." Helen replied, taking another sip of her drink. "And I like this pub, it's... fun." she added, looking for the right word to describe the pub and their date.

"Come here a lot?"

Well if there was more of that Idella figured she'd happily pay for every drink Helen could ever want. She grinned back and listened while Helen told her she was having fun. "Thank you, I do try. It's a good place to let loose yeah?" Another sip and cleaning of foam then Idella leaned her hip against the bar, looking at Helen with a sly smirk. "I come here once a month or so, mostly during holidays when a break is most welcome." She answered, taking another sip of the drink. It was one of her personal favorites and could never make it last too long, not that she minded. "Want another dance miss?" She asked, giving a mock bow and offering her hand, much to the amusement of a few of the closer people who were in earshot.

Idella licked her lips again and this time, Helen knew the other witch knew exactly what she was doing. Nobody smirked like that just because. Helen also realized she was completely smitten with the woman and the news were quite alarming, especially because she didn't want to get attached to anyone right now. She pushed the thought away and just focused on how hot Idella was, leaning against the bar like that.

"I come here once a month or so, mostly during holidays when a break is most welcome."

"I figure this is much better than being around teenagers." she nodded and took another sip. It really was a good drink and she made a note to thank Idella later.

Helen let out a laugh, curtsied and took the witch's hand. She downed the rest of her drink in one go, ignored the staring people and led Idella back to the dancefloor. Once there, she started dancing again, but this time, she was much closer to the other woman than before and let her hands wander.

The witch knew she was being a tease but it seemed to be working so she didn't feel the least bit guilty. Once on the dance floor again she was containing her excitement, just barely, having the slightly shorter witch's hands all over her, was a very promising turn of events. Probably best not to rush in too much, no sense spoiling it before they had a chance to explore this some more. She kept her hands in safer areas but often let her fingers just so slightly tease Helen's exposed skin, enjoying the shiver of anticipation. 

Between a couple more drinks and the pounding music winding down for the night Idella had thought about perhaps pursuing something more with this adorable witch in her arms, and when the club began to empty out she looped an arm around Helen's shoulders ready to escort her home. "So, did you enjoy your night off love?" Idella asked, grinning down at her.

Forget the lip-licking, the real teasing began as they danced. Idella's hands teased her relentlessly as they brushed over Helen's bare skin every once in a while, sending shivers all over the witch's body. Helen didn't really mind and was actually looking forward to these moments and judging by the way Idella was looking at her, she knew exactly what she was doing.

The night was filled with moments like that and by the end of it, Helen's head was pleasantly buzzing with alcohol and something that felt dangerously like happiness. She couldn't remember when she last had fun like this and to be quite honest, she didn't care, as long as the Professor's hands stayed where they were.

"Very much so." she replied, sneaking her arm around the blonde's waist. "Want to come in for a night cap? I think I might have a little something at home." Helen smirked. The night was still relatively young in her mind and she definitely didn't want it to end. If Idella decided she wanted to be an even bigger tease, however, Helen would play the game.

Feeling the arm go around her waist Idella tried not to look too smug about it and looked down at her companion. "Very tempting." She answered, taking a moment to check the time and smiled. "Why not? I don't need to be back at the castle for another hour or so." With that said she pulled Helen close to her and apparated them back to the Hog's Head, near the front entrance. Once she had her bearings, and making sure neither of them had splinched she grinned and had yet to remove her arms from Helen. "I hope we can do this again sometime, this has been the most fun I've had in a long time."