Dora's Got Nothing on Us

There was something about being in houses that were possibly haunted that Natalie loved. She loved the mystery of it all, as well as the possibly impending doom that could meet her at any moment. The Shrieking Shack was no exception.

She stood outside the house's gate, waiting for Landon. She'd sent him an owl telling him to meet her there and she was excited for him to arrive so they could explore. She'd heard stories about this place and she wanted to see if they were true or not. While she waited, she did a little dance and sang quietly to herself. She had to keep herself occupied somehow...

Natalie jumped as Landon snuck up on her. "You scared me!" she said, blushing slightly at his greeting, his kiss, and her reaction all at the same time.

She turned around and hugged him tightly. It didn't matter how long or short of a time it had been since she'd seen him, it always felt like it had been a million years. She gave him a short kiss and grabbed his hand. (By now she was well aware that most best friends didn't act like that, but they weren't exactly "most best friends".)

"We're exploring today," she said happily. "I want to go in the Shrieking Shack. What do you say?" she grinned.

Natalie gave an exaggerated pout at Landon for teasing her, but she quickly gave in and laughed at herself before kissing him again. "I just like them, that's all," she said sheepishly. "You like them, too; don't even try to deny it. You know you love exploring with me," she stuck her tongue out at him.

Even if he didn't particularly like exploring, he still let her drag him around everywhere, which was as good as liking it in her book. She gave his hand a small squeeze then started to tug him towards the shack. "Can you try not to carve something into the walls here?" she teased, since he seemed to like to do that at the 'haunted' house that was near her own.

"Well then, who's to say that the whole thing's not just a set-up to give me an excuse to hide in your arms and kiss you?" Natalie asked jokingly as she pulled him closer to the house. She rolled her eyes at his refusal to commit to not defacing the property. She didn't particularly mind that he did it; she just hoped he would remember that it was far more likely that someone from their school would see any carvings he did here, whereas the ones by her house were just for them, since it was unlikely that anyone else would happen upon them.

She tugged him straight to the front door which turned out to be locked. "Damn," she said quietly. So much for an easy entry. "How do you propose we get in?" she asked. She was fully prepared to break a window and climb in if that was what it took.

Natalie rolled her eyes at Landon's comment. "I know I taste good. I'm a girl, I'm supposed to taste good. You, on the other hand, taste like a boy," she teased.

She groaned at her own momentary stupidity. She should have been able to come up with such a simple solution as to try the back door. She returned his kiss happily, since it made her feel like less of a fail.

"You know, this is why I bring you along. I was ready to throw a rock at a window and then climb in," she said as they walked to the back of the house. He really was essential to keeping her grounded at all times, sometimes even literally.

Taking the handle, she gave it a turn. "It's stuck," she said. She could feel it starting to turn, but pure age was keeping it from moving all the way. She applied more force, probably more than was really necessary, considering the handle broke off the door.

"Oops," she looked at it with wide eyes, then handed it to Landon. She nudged the door with her foot and it slowly swung open with an eerie creak. "On the plus side, it's open now," she said cheerily, though she could feel her nerves starting to set in. The first step was always the hardest.

From the doorway, she could see stairs the went down to the basement, which was dark and ominous looking, and a few stairs leading up, which presumably led to the main floor of the house. "Up looks like a good way to go," she said. "What do you think?"

"I didn't say that boys tasted bad," Natalie replied. "Plus, that would also mean that you don't get any kisses either. You wouldn't punish yourself like that, would you?"

His game of the day seemed to be "tease Natalie," not that she minded much. It was playful, not malicious. She wasn't sure if she was hearing him correctly after the teasing though. "Downstairs?" she looked back down at the spooky, dark area. Her adrenaline started to kick in. As much as she wanted to go down there, it was still very scary.

She squeezed his hand tighter, completely unaware that she did it. "Are you sure?" she asked. If they were going down to the basement, he was going down first.

Natalie didn't bother to dignify his comment with a real response, settling for sticking her tongue out at him once again. She knew he'd miss kissing her if he stopped for some reason, just like she would miss kissing him.

She hardly even noticed where Landon was touching her; she was too busy slowly becoming petrified at the thought of going down there. She didn't even know how to do Lumos properly for goodness sake.

Still she wasn't going to let it stop her. She took a deep breath and started down the stairs; she was slightly calmed by the knowledge that, if something did go wrong, Landon was there. She bit her lip and kept going, further down into the darkness. She stopped at the bottom; she couldn't see a damn thing.

"Lando, this is really creepy," she said, trying to get her eyes to adjust to the lack of light.

Natalie was only aware of how Landon had been touching her once he had moved his hand. She didn't say anything about it, but she had kind of liked it; it gave her the feeling that he might actually be a little bit attracted to her, and not just in a friend way. Or a friend-he-liked-to-kiss-sometimes way.

She squeezed his hand again, unsure of why she was quite so scared to go in there. His kiss surprised her, for she had not been expecting such a long kiss, but she found she quite liked it. "Yeah," she gave him another short kiss before stepping into the darkness.

She stayed close to his side, just in case, although if there was something murderous down there, it probably would have killed them while they were kissing, before they even saw the room. Her eyes had adjusted enough that she could almost see where she was going. Almost.

Her foot connected with an unseen object, causing her to stumble and latch on to Landon for support so she didn't tumble to the ground. "Stupid thing," she mumbled. "I still can't see a damn thing," she sighed.

Natalie wasn't sure how to react at first. One second her mind was blank, the next, it was in overdrive. Oh my Wizard God, this is not a friend kiss. This is not a friend kiss! she thought. As she fretted about what to do, she was completely unaware that her body was already responding, her arms reaching up wrap around his neck as she returned his kiss, longer, slower, and more deliberate than their previous kisses.

When the kiss ended, she didn't pull away immediately, instead resting her head lightly in the crook of his neck. She slowly began to comprehend what had just happened. "We should do this more often," she giggled softly. It was different than the sort of relationship they'd had before. She knew they weren't dating or anything, but she still sort of felt like he was hers.

Natalie smiled and nodded, though he probably couldn't see it because it was still rather dark, though her eyes had adjusted a little more to the light, or lack thereof. There was dingy furniture scattered around the room, torn, sometimes even completely shredded. Whatever had done that was not a happy creature.

"Don't touch it chairs," she warned. "They might be infested with Blumpets," she said gravely. She didn't want him to be bitten, after all.

With her hand safely tucked in his, she continued along, feeling infinitely braver (which could have been due to the kiss, or due to the fact that she could really see now). She spotted something on the wall and went to investigate. It was a painting, though it was a muggle one, since the subject (an old man with unruly white hair) was completely stationary. "Not much of interest, is there?" she asked, feeling rather disappointed.

"Come on Lando! Where's your sense of adventure?" Natalie dropped his hand and skipped further back into the room. She didn't even bother to tell him what a Blumpet was; he didn't really want to know. She'd just have to save him if one tried to bite him.

She ran her fingers along every non-cloth surface she could, trying to find anything of interest in the basement. She tried to pretend like his attitude wasn't bothering her a little. He was normally very sweet with her, but he was being a little rude and she didn't like it. She did like the affectionate bit though, that part could stay. She just hoped that he got over whatever was making him act like this.

As she got lost in her thoughts about what could be making Landon act like that, something bit her. Hard. "Ow!" she said loudly, her eyes almost instantly filling with tears. She didn't do well with pain, even the slightest bit made her liable to cry. She kept in the expletives that wanted to leap from her lips so badly. She pulled her hand back to inspect the bite, more closely, but it was difficult to see. She wiped away her tears with the back of her other hand, then tried again.

Natalie's tears quickly faded away, but she gratefully accepted the hug. Hugs reminded her of her Landon. Not this new snarky Landon. When he pulled back, she looked up at him. "Maybe a little, but not consciously," she replied. "Consciously, I just would have hugged you and not let go."

She hugged him and stretched up to kiss him lightly again. "Do you want to be done now, or do you want to have a look upstairs?" she asked, the pain in her finger hardly bothering her anymore.

Natalie was happily dragged out of the damp dark basement and up the stairs to the main floor. "Landon, where are we-?" her question was cut off by their arrival at a musty couch, which they sat on.

Before she could ask what they were doing sitting on an old couch, Landon's lips were on hers again, and she didn't mind. Not one bit. She closed her eyes and kissed him back, slightly less gentle than he was with her.