right there in the moment [ezra]

A party! An out of school party, Wini was excited, but was trying to play it cool. And was epically failing at that. But who cared! She didn't know Janae and Jam that well, but she had heard from a friend of a friend that a get together was happening tonight and didn't want to miss it. Other than the secret parties held in the common room or out in the boathouse at the end of the year, she hadn't been to a ton of parties and considering she was almost in her last year of school, it was now or never. Plus she had heard it was karaoke! What was more fun than that. The thought of it gave her a tingle of nerves and excitement all rolled into one.

She had dragged Marin (who was staying with her for a few days in London) to help her pick out a new golden mini dress that showed off her legs and she had spent extra time curling the ends of the hair, and put on what little makeup she knew how to do. It was more dressed up than her normal everyday look and it made her feel special and eager to hit the town. Arriving at the party with a reluctant Marin in tow, Wini grinned as she looked around and saw a few familiar faces.

Smoothing a hand over her dress, she squeezed Marin's arms, sending him a little smile. "Want to grab us some sodas?" she asked, knowing he might feel more comfortable with something tangible to do. She glanced around, she spied a familiar figure that she could pick out of any crowd. Peering around a few people, weaving in and out, she called out with a smile in her voice, "Ezra?" She waited until he turned around and greeted him a warm hug. "It's good to see you again! What's going on?"

@Ezra Cohen

Ezra was super pumped for this party. He loved his friends and he loved any excuse to go out. It was his best friend and his best friend’s sister’s birthday, and that meant he was planning something. He had already gotten Jam his present, but Janae was harder. He still didn’t know anything about girls or makeup or cosmetology (what?) school. He knew she was pretty into it, though. Maybe he could surprise them with overnight secret radio-play or something. He didn’t know. Maybe Jam had ideas? He should have asked him before now, but Jam had been very busy with his auror training and everyone at the house had been super mean about it, too. Sid, particularly, bought him a giant box of donuts for his first day—which sounded nice to Ezra until the joke was explained to him.

He had pregamed a bit before they left and was feeling pleasantly tingly. He had put drops in his eyes to try to make them a little less obviously red, and thought he looked mostly normal now. He was about to go find the karaoke book when he heard his name from behind.  He turned around and smiled when he saw Wini. She looked so good in her golden mini-dress and curled hair. He smiled widely and hugged her back. “Oh heyyy.” He greeted. “You look great, wow." He stammered. "I’m actually about to look at the songs and pick something. You wanna sing one with me?” He wondered. He liked singing by himself, but it was always more fun with a friend to chill with.

He had seen Wini a little earlier this week and told her about the party. She wasn’t as close with Jam and Janae, but she was friends with him and that made her their friend too. He nodded towards the books. “You can pick and I’ll sing backup.” He laughed. “Or, if you’re shy, I’ll sing and you can do backup.”

His arms around her felt warm and made a fluttery feeling fill her chest, a blush stealing on to her cheeks as he complimented her. She was surprised, but pleased as she glanced down at her dress that was a bit daring for her. Not particularly revealing, but it was shorter than what she normally wore and that awareness made her feel on edge in a good way. "Oh, this old thing?" she said hesitantly, smiling as she tried to make it seem natural, flapping a little wave at him. You know, as if she hadn't practiced that line in the mirror a few dozen times, just in case anyone deemed to compliment her. "Thanks, Ez," she added, looking up at him as the multi-colored lights from the stage threw beams of light over his face.

Ezra had always been a friendly face around the common room, always making someone laugh. Wini counted herself lucky that she had been one of those people a few times last year when they had both been at Hogwarts together. She had been happy to see him last week. At first, it had thrown her for a bit of a loop, seeing him outside of school, looking so effortlessly cool, but had been excited to chat with him and then even happier to get this invite.

"Oh?" Wini said looking at the karaoke book behind him with a tentative smile. She wanted to, and if there was ever a person to do karaoke with, it was Ezra considering she had a feeling he would be amazing at it and all she would need to do was ride his coattails to victory. But in a room full of people, the idea was a little daunting. Still, she had told herself that this was the year of new experiences and new adventures. Well, that's what she had told Marin anyway to get him to come with her to this party. With that in mind, she piped up, deciding before she overthought things like usual. "You sing, I'll do backup. Besides, you have more experience with the singing bit," Wini said with a smile, complimenting him easily, and then scooting closer to look at the karaoke book. "Where do you even start?" she asked with a laugh at seeing how many songs were available.

Ezra didn’t question Wini for a second when the girl brushed off his compliment. He didn’t believe she had dressed up just for the party. Instead, he was always pretty sure she looked that good. She was a pretty girl. He always had thought so. He smiled widely at her as she agreed to sing with him, and began looking through the book for a song for them to sing. He ought to serenade her. He was such a flirt, always terribly flirty but never getting anywhere with it. He didn’t even mind flirting with girls out of his league, most of the fun in the chase itself. He would have probably considered Wini out of his league if he was thinking about it. She as really pretty and very nice. He was kind of weird and dorky.

He furrowed his brow and bit his lip in concentration as he looked through for a duet or something. There were plenty of wizarding songs but lots of muggle ones too. “ooh, maybe a duet?” He turned to the duet section of the book. “You like musicals?” He asked. He saw the song You’re the One that I Want from Grease, and vaguely remembered Grease as something he had seen once. He loved muggle stuff, but didn’t know if Wini was familiar with it. He didn’t know if he remembered how the song went, though.

“This one’s a duet.” He pointed to it. “I don’t know if you’ve ever watched this one, but it’s a muggle thing. Very cute.” He was kind of proud of his knowledge of muggle things. He had a NEWT in Muggle studies, after all. Maybe one day he could watch it with her. They had a lot of live shows of it, it was very popular, plus there was a muggle movie that he could watch with her maybe.

He was looking for some wizarding ones too, that she was more likely to know.

Wini got warm at his smile, there was just something about it that she couldn't quite put her finger on. Kind of felt like it was a smile just for her and that made her feel special. Her eyes roved over the lists and lists of songs, indecision circling her mind as she felt more aware of how close he was standing next to her rather than focusing on what song to pick. She had never done karaoke herself before so it was equally thrilling as it was terrifying. Probably more so the latter right now considering they were in a room full of musicians.

"Hmm?" she sounded as he asked about duets and she found herself looking at that section of the book. "I love musicals!" Wini added before reading the one he pointed to. "You know Grease?" she asked with happy surprise, her eyes lighting up. "My mum used to play it around the house. I think I remember some of the words. Have you seen it?" If she was remembering correctly, and it had been a long time since she had watched the movie with her siblings, but she thought it was the song towards the finale where Sandy comes out dressed in all black and strappy red heels, looking like a stunner. She wasn't close to Sandy stunner status, but she could try?

Then she remembered the line that Sandy gave Danny at the beginning of the song just before they shimmied and sang their hearts out and she glanced at Ezra, a little smile playing around her lips. "Tell me about it, stud," she repeated the line from the movie, a disastrous attempt at mimicking Sandy's sexy husky voice, laughing with a wide smile at the end, not even able to take herself seriously. It felt risky and daring like she was a Gryffindor or something, but Ezra was always making people laugh so she felt safe to try a stab at it herself. "Let's do that one!" she agreed with a nod, taking a piece of paper and writing down their first names and their song choice in her loopy handwriting and then handing it to the DJ.

"It's a little nerve-wracking," she admitted as she looked to the stage, excited but with an edge of nerves. She wondered how musicians did it all the time, getting up in front of crowds who expected to be entertained. Looking to Ezra, she tilted her head a bit. "C'mon, give me your best tips or advice or something," she begged, touching his arm as she laughed.

Ezra was glad that Wini was eager to play along. He loved her attempt at a sexy, husky voice. It excited him even as it made him chuckle along with her. He had never stopped to imagine her as a sexy woman before, but now that he was thinking about it, he was pretty sure she could pull it off. She was really pretty, and imagining her being naughty made him a little excited. He blushed a little bit, looking at her from behind his lashes with a grin. “Oooh, make sure you do that on stage.” He teased, knowing she would most likely never try to say that ever again. “I’ve seen it once I think. Grease is the one with the leather jacket dudes right?” He asked. “I think I remember.” He admitted. “We’re going to bomb this unless you carry us, Wini.” He laughed. “Or maybe you could sing me a few bars? Remind me?”

It was too late to turn back now, though. She had already turned it into the DJ. “I like to imagine everyone in the audience in their underwear.” He joked, though he had been given that advice once. “So really, you’re the cool one. They’re the ones who should be nervous.” He laughed. “I dunno. I just don’t get very shy unless it’s something important.” He was terrible with talking about feelings with girls, for example.

“Also, if you want me to buy you a shot for courage?” He teased, though he would. She was old enough now, right?

His chuckle at her Sandy imitation sent a thrill through her. Sure, it was embarrassing, but at least, he had been amused by the attempt. No wonder he liked to make other laugh. It was a really nice feeling. "No way!" she said, scrunching her nose up as she swatted his arm and grinned. The only reason she had done it in the first place was because it had just been for Ezra, not a whole crowd of people she didn't know. She nodded along, her curls bouncing a little on her shoulder as she confirmed for him. "Yep, that's the one! Where Sandy is the good girl and Danny is the leather wearing bad boy and they fall in love. It's so cute!" It really was a cute love story, complete with romantic ballads and dance scenes. What more could you ask for?

"Oh, you think?" she asked doubtfully as he mentioned they might bomb it. Merlin knew she wasn't much of a 'showman'. It made her smile nervously at him before laughing at his request. "Ok, alright. But you can't back out on me now. Our names are on the paper," she warned him, grinning. She felt the nerves fly up into her chest at the idea of singing a few bars. Almost cutting off her voice, but she pushed through. She wasn't even on stage yet. She hoped she wouldn't get stage fright when she got up there. That would be mortifying! Looking up at him now though, his warm smile made it a bit easier, encouraging her. "Ok, it's like, Danny starts with 'I got chills, they're multiplyinggg and I'm losing control. Something something something, it's electrifying!' You know?" She perked her brows, really hoping her off-key singing wasn't that offensive to him. It was clear that being a musician was not in the cards for her.

Wini started laughing, her eyes crinkling at the corners at his joke, shaking her head. "In their underwear?" She didn't believe it. "That's so strange. But I guess if you say it works.. you're the expert." She couldn't stop smiling, but glancing around, she wasn't sure if that was possible. She had a pretty active imagination and she wasn't sure if she wanted to use that power for this purpose.

Her brows perked up about the shot and she threw a glance at the bar. She had almost forgotten that she had tasked Marin with getting them some drinks. She knew she would answer either way and Ezra would be easy-going enough to not be judgey, but Wini was feeling brave. Between coming to a party where she didn't know that many people, her new little dress that was much shorter than what she typically wore, and signing up for karaoke? She figured being brave was the theme for tonight and why not do a shot too. "Let's do it!" she said with a smile. "Don't think a little bit of courage would be a bad thing," she added.

Though it took a moment to imagine it, by the time she had agreed to a shot, he had decided that she was a very sexy woman indeed. She was really very cute, fun, flirty, and funny. He liked her, he decided, a small breeze of a crush flickering through his chest. It would probably be short-lived, as most of his likings were—but he had a bad habit of falling hard and fast for anyone who treated him with kindess. He smiled wickedly at her, taking in another glimpse of her legs under that short dress, before ushering her towards the bar.

“So, you have any idea what you want?” He asked. “I know they make a few flirty sweet shots I bet you could try. I’ll even try one with you.” He remembered one he had heard of but never tried. “I know a few shooters we could try. Maybe a superman—I remember that one is blue raspeberry and cherry and something yellow, but I don’t remember what. Or, I mean, we could just do firewhisky.” He laughed. He liked fruity drinks and had a feeling she did too.

He got to the bar and looked at her with a grin. “You want one or two?” He asked carefully. He didn’t want to overdo it, but he wanted her to have a good time. He was remembering the song now, her singing giving him a little exztra pizzaz. He was humming the tune under his breath. “Merlin, I’m excited. We’re gonna steal the show tonight unless Janae gets up and does her rendition of Killing in the Name.” He laughed. She usually did. That was her favorite. Of course, now that Jam was a auror-in-training, he wondered if she would still do it. Probably.

"Oh. Hmmm," she sounded as he asked her what shot she wanted to try. She had absolutely no clue. She tried to remember what shot Lip had told her he had tried at the Leaky Cauldron a few days ago, but then just shrugged, feeling a little out of water. "A superman? Like the comic book hero?" Wini asked with a little laugh and nodding. "Let's try that one!" She had heard Lip say that firewhisky burned like a mother and she didn't want to look like a newb choking it down. She was glad that Ezra suggested one for her because otherwise she would have no idea.

"Just one, I think," she answered as she bit her lip and looked up at him, leaning into the bar as they slid their way to the front. Wini noticed how dark his hair seemed, the low bar lights gleaming off of it and how she had to tilt her head back a bit to look up at him. He was taller than she remembered, not Marin tall, but still. And whenever he smiled at her, just a her, it made her feel all warm like it was a hot summer evening. "Heyyy," she noted with a smile of her own, noticing his humming. "You got it now." She bopped her head along, mumbling some words under her breath as he hummed, eager to belt it out with him. Well as eager as one could be when it was still a nerve-wracking, exhilarating experience. She was not one that normally jumped on stage first, but she glanced at the guy up there now who was doing a song justice and the crowd was loving it.

"I'm excited too! You'll steal the show, I'm just your backup," she added. Then with a glance at Janae, she smiled. "We'll just have to go on before her and then that way, we won't have to follow her and disappoint the crowd," Wini added with a grin.

As they approached the bar, Ezra smiled at the bartender who came over almost right away. He ordered the drinks, holding up two fingers in a peace-sign formation to indicate one for each of them. They somehow weren’t asked for identification, despite being just barely of age, but Ezra didn’t notice. He, at least, had been there a few times before. Maybe the bartender remembered? Maybe he didn’t care?

He alternated between watching the pretty girl next to him and watching the bartender mix their carefully layered shooters. He noticed they were being signaled as being next on stage after the current group was finished, and he got nervous and excited all at the same time.

The drinks were put out in front of them. “Well, let’s take these down quickly.” He suggested in case she didn’t notice the signal. “We’re next.”

He watched her, his eyes sparkling mischievously, taking his shot down first. It was pretty interesting, tasty but weird. He wasn’t used to shots that were flavored. Shots usually just got the alcohol into his body quicker. He wasn’t used to them tasting like anything but burning. It wasn’t unpleasant though.

“Your turn, Wini.” He teased playfully, reaching out to touch her hand.