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WHO: Roxanne and Melvin
TONE: …Competitive.
RATING: Possibly PG-13? Possibly for swearing and Melvin getting his butt kicked by a girl.
WHEN: 1/20/12
WHAT: Melvin wants help Dueling? Roxanne obliges.

It had been a really long wait until dinner – dueling was something Roxanne liked and looked forward to. She’d spent most of the day after speaking to Melvin fidgeting and waiting – and, okay. Seeing him alone was a perk, too.

After dinner, she’d hurried to the meeting spot – an abandoned classroom that housed no real breakables and was big enough to contain two dueling students.

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Melvin was not looking forward to dueling with the girl he liked. That was just... Strange.

And besides, what if she beat him?

Still, true to his word, he met her after dinner, following her into the classroom and awkwardly looking around.

"Ah, so...."

His awkwardness is rewarded with a grin, and she shuts the door behind them.

"Okay, first off - I know you know the basics like, rules and all, right?"

A groan and an eyeroll.

"I'm not an idiot, Roxanne."

She rolls her eyes in return.

"Okay, okay - just checking. Show me your stance?"

Ah, going through the motions. He could do that, adopting a decently anchored stance.

She only makes minor adjustments - so maybe it's an excuse to touch him. So what?

"Great."

She backs up and faces him.

"Ready? Bow, prepare - then try to disarm me."

Get ready to bow, Melvin. Y'all are going in.

Bowing is his second least favorite part of dueling.

Right after losing.

But he did it anyway, before quickly launching into an attack. "Expelliarmus!"

Predictable? What, him?

She follows suit and -- okay, he's insanely predictable, so she knows exactly when the attack is coming and she dodges it with little effort. While he's still reeling, she retaliates.

"Expelliarmus!"

It could have been worse; he could have been knocked down. Luckily, it's just his wand -- Her aim is good. Damn it.

"Ah. Well, I-- Well done."

She smiled at him.

"Try again?"

She gestured to his wand, and settled back into her stance, head tilted.

He got back up as well, putting perhaps a bit more fight into his next move than he meant to.

"Stupefy!"

She heard that change in his voice and she just grinned. A quick shield charm deflected his spell, and she was on him immediately.

"Petrificus Totalus!"

Oh, damn.

Melvin was locked and fell to the ground in an instant, feeling absolutely humiliated.

"Melvin!"

Damn! She had thought he was going to block that! She scurried over to his side, reaching to gingerly touch him.

"Ah...oops!"

What could be more humiliating than being stuck lying there, motionless, with Roxanne thinking who knew what about him, leaving him unable to even cover his own ass?

Nothing.

"Hang on--"

She stood and frowned, gently waving her wand.

"Finite Incantatem."

"Well, that was lovely..." He mumbled, slowly testing to make sure he could move his limbs again -- And he could.

"Are you okay?"

She fidgeted a little, feeling a little guilty.

"Nothing injured but my pride," he muttered.... But then his expression softened a bit. "I'm fine."

"I'm sorry -- I really thought you were going to block it."

Relieved he doesn't seem overly angry, she relaxed a little, and gave him a once over. He seemed okay, at least.

"I... Probably should've, yeah," he said sheepishly, sitting up and rubbing the back of his neck.

She took a seat next to him, resting her elbows on her knees.

"Okay. The practical approach isn't working. Why don't we look at this academically. What, exactly, do you think your blockage might be? Agility? Remembering the right spells?"

Academically was good, but being the one in need of being taught brought his embarrassment back up.

"Uh... Remembering the right spells, I guess."

She nodded thoughtfully, the reached behind her where her bag sat and pulled it close. Tugging out a piece of parchment and quill, she jots things down as she talks.

"Okay, so we've gone over a couple already, Expelliarmus, Stupefy, Petrificus Totalus...."

Rambling a quite a few more off, she wrote everything down and detailed what they did and when it was appropriate to use them.

"These are defensive, these are offensive."

"Oh..." Melvin uttered quietly when he realized what she was doing. That had the potential to be helpful. The list would be easy enough to memorize, he hoped, and from there he could focus on strategy.

"Thank you, Roxanne."

She finished it off with a flourish, then passed it to him.

"Think this will help a little?"

"I do," Melvin said, taking it carefully. "Thank you."

"You're welcome." She nudged his shoulder with a smile. "Guess we're done practicing, huh?"

"I.... Think that's for the best," he admitted, chuckling lightly.

She starts laughing

"I thought so. Want to go find something sweet to eat?"

"Oh!"

Melvin reached into his bag, pulling out a package of sugar quills and a few loose licorice wands.

"Here!"

"Ooh! I love these!"

She holds her hand out, grinning.

"Thanks!"

"Perfect!"

He handed her a licorice wand, then opened the package of sugar quills and gave her one of those, as well.

"Just... Tell me if you want more!"

"Totally." She scoots in a little closer to him - that's allowed, right? Since they're together or whatever - and chews on her licorice wand.

"You know, before I knew about all this stuff --" she gestures to her candy, "I had boring stuff like suckers and chocolate covered peanuts."

"Same," Melvin said, taking a sugar quill and starting to suck on it. "Chocolate covered peanuts are dumb. I've never seen the appeal of nuts in chocolate."

A beat.

"So... Valentine's Day is next month."

She's nibbling on hers, looking pleased.

"You know what, me either. I don't like them in my brownies or chocolate bars or cake." She bit off a piece.

"...Yeah. It is."

"Excellent taste," he chuckled, smiling at her... A smile that quickly turned nervous.

"Do you want to... Um... Do something? It's a Hogsmeade trip..."

She brightens, and nods.

"Sure, definitely...I'd love to do something with you."

"Fantastic!" Melvin exclaimed, beaming. "I'd love it, too... I-I'll get you things in Honeyduke's. Whatever you want."

She gives him a little nudge and laughs. Really, she hadn't expected this to go so well...

But she's glad that it is.

"You don't have to do that."

Melvin smiled. It was... It was good. This. All of it. He felt so much better lately.

"I want to."

She inched closer, and slid an arm hesitantly around him.

"Well...only if there's no peanuts."

His eyerbows shot up at that, but he grinned, then chuckled at her comment.

"Of course."

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