“Catcher shrugged, refolded the paper, and stuffed it back into his pocket. "Anyone wanna dance?""Oh, Jesus," Mallory muttered."Dance?" I asked. "I could dance. I need to change, but I can dance." I could always dance. My hips didn't lie.Mallory tucked her tongue into her cheek, then gave Catcher a look of mock irritation. "Nice going, Gandalf. You'll rile her up, and I'll never get her tucked in. You wanna give her candy and caffeine while you're at it?”

“Anyone wanna dance?""I could dance I need to change, but I can dance.""Nice going, Gandalf. You'll rile her up, and I'll never get her tucked in. You wanna give her candy and caffeine while you're at it?”

“Do you need to reschedule? There are some other things I could take care of while I’m in town.”Mallory waved him off. “No, today’s fine. It’s going to be on the exam, so I might as well do it.”“Oh, my God, you are Harry Potter,” I said, pointing a finger at her. “I knew it!”She rolled her eyes, then looked at Catcher.”

“Mallory!" Catcher's voice boomed down the stairs.Mallory fixed her mouth into a tight line and walked me into the kitchen. "Ignore it," she advised. "Much like the bubonic plague, it'll go away if you give it enough time.""Mallory! You weren't finished! Get back in here!"I glanced up the stairway. "You didn't leave him handcuffed to the bed or something, did you?""Jesus, no." I incrementally relaxed, until she continued. "My headboard's a single piece of wood. There's nothing to handcuff him to.”

“We shouldn’t be doing this.” “Why,” he asked, “should we not be dancing?” “It’s not real.” “It could be.”

“Who’s Baumgartner?” I asked.President of the 155.” At my blank stare, Catcher clarified, “My former union, Local 155 of the Union of Amalgamated Sorcerers and Spellcasters.”I nearly choked on chicken, and when I was done with the coughing fit, asked, “The acronym for the Order of sorcerers is ‘U-ASS’?”A, seriously appropriate,” Mallory commented, giving Catcher a sideways grin. “B, explains why they call it ‘the Order.”

“Well, " I began,"I've been roped into shenanigans."Without preface, Catcher muttered a curse ,then leaned over slipped his wallet from his jeans, and pulled out a twenty-dollar bill, which he handed to Mallory.”