Closed This Is A Sneaking Mission

Aine absolutely did not want to be at the Valentine's Feast.

And for all intents and purposes, she wasn't...not really. She'd said she wasn't going because she didn't feel like it and had some work to be getting on with anyway. Which was mostly reading for the sake of her research project (which really was just a fancy way of saying she was reading a bunch of novels and then writing down her findings on depictions of magic within them) but the point still stood. She knew Valerius would be overbearing and treating her like a child while also pushing too much into her space, which she resented. Especially as it gave off the wrong impression. Aine didn't feel that way about him, if she even knew how that was supposed to feel. It wasn't something that had crossed her mind. She did appreciate his friendship, and did miss having him to talk to in class. But she was stubborn, as ever. And she knew Cameron would probably be there, probably with his stupid camera. She had the feeling he'd make fun of the way she looked and while she'd never paid much attention to dressing up or how she looked before there was a dim feeling in the back of her mind that that would somehow be more hurtful than usual.

But she was also hungry. And a little curious about the event in general, just to see what was going on. She'd put on one of her nicer dresses to try and blend in, although she didn't plan on staying for very long. Brushing rose petals off the top of her head - it was a good thing magical cleaning existed, she supposed - Aine placed herself very conspicuously behind a rosebush, peering out from behind it to scope the area. In and out to get some cakes and somehow sneak them back up to the common room. Or if not, to find a nice quiet spot to eat, drink, and then get the heck out of there before she ended up in a painfully uncomfortable situation. She was not exactly quick, or stealthy, but she was doing her absolute best in this situation. Which wasn't saying much, but it had to count for something, right?

Aine had just about plotted the optimal path between rose bushes to get food and get to safety when she was jolted back to earth by a girl who looked to be a little older than her, jumping on the spot and stumbling into the rosebush, then having to take a moment to detangle her hair from it as inconspicuously as possible (which was not inconspicuous at all) while she caught her breath and tried to look much calmer. Her shoulders slumped a little at the assessment - she was obvious, yes. She had absolutely no idea what she was doing. Partially wanting to avoid the party but partially wanting to be involved. It was why she'd actually dressed up, wasn't it? Or maybe to just do the lip service to say she was being involved without actually doing anything. "I..." she started, wondering how best to justify herself. "...would you believe a little of column A, a little of column B? Mostly...the first part." Aine winced. "I'd be lying if I said people watching, uh, wasn't a partial motivation." She quickly turned back to the rosebushes...and let out an 'oh' in dismay when they shifted, completely destroying her potential pathway. Back to square one. She "hid" behind the rosebush again, tensing. "...you, uh, haven't seen a couple of second year boys around, have you? Both a bit on the smug side, one probably has a camera and will probably glare at me if he sees me." Aine scrunched up her face, nerves making her run her mouth again. "Stupid question. Sorry."

Aine looked quite self-conscious for a moment. "Well, technically he works for the yearbook, I think, so he's taking photos of everyone," she admitted, shrinking a little on the spot. Was she just reading too much into this, thinking it was more about her than it actually was? "But he got a bunch of me and my friend - like, probably more than normal? - at the Yule Ball and apparently they all looked weird and I so do not want to deal with that again." Maybe she'd been pretty harsh to Valerius, all things considered, but it was probably good to step back a bit. Maybe he'd stop babying her or treating her like a special case just because she wasn't confident with magic. "He does keep laughing at me when I mess up in class or glaring at me across the room when we have classes together. It's such a pain." Aine sighed, looking at the girl with an almost helpless expression. "Why do boys suck so much?" It was something of a rhetorical question, but this girl seemed pretty savvy and wise, maybe she'd have an answer. Even if it was really something unanswerable.