my invite was lost in the mail { open }

[DEVON REDWOOD]

Devon wasn't the least bit offended that he hadn't been invited to the dance. After all, to him, dances were wastes of time, events for Ravenclaws and other stuffy people. He didn't care for dancing or standing around swaying and pretending that he knew how.

However, Devon was definitely one for mischief.

He had found out shortly after the invites had been received by all the selected students that his brother had gotten an invitation, as had both Sirius Black and James Potter, two of the older Gryffindors that he looked up to. He knew that it was a very exclusive event, but nonetheless began to feel somewhat slighted that he hadn't been invited. Even when his brother told him it was for duelers, which Devon was not on the best of days, the young Gryffindor was jealous. I can duel, he thought as he headed down the hall, a spare book under his arm. I don't always win, but I can duel.

As he neared the hall where the dance was being home, he set his book down on a bench. It wasn't his, some girl had left it in the common room as she went off with some friends and he had decided to return it to the library. Or at least pretend to. As it was she would be getting an overdue notice and likely have to report a lost book now that it was lying alone on a random bench in the Hogwarts hallways.

He could hear the music of the dance filtering quietly into the surrounding hallways. He knew that if he were caught, he would get into loads of trouble. But maybe he could convince Alastair or James or Sirius to back him up and pretend to have invited him. James would probably invite that Lily Evans girl. Someone maybe invited Remus, to have all three of the closer Marauders there. Alastair wouldn't have invited anyone, though. Surely.

Thinking that the main doors would be enchanted took him to the thought of side doors. But then that made him think that they would be enchanted, for any students who tried to be smart. The main door probably wasn't, unless each invitation brought with it a charm to get each student through unharmed. But that meant that their dates wouldn't have the charm. So, he concluded, the main door was the way to go. He would just have to sneak in without attracting attention. A distraction was what he needed.

Sidling up to the door, he pulled out his wand. He opened the door a crack just to peer in, thinking to rustle some curtains or break a glass with a little spell, just something that would draw attention away from the main door for the second it would take him to get inside and out of sight. It never crossed his mind that this might be too much trouble for a dance he didn't want to be in.

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