Open Dancing On My Own

Peregrine didn't know whether to fume or cry. Her mother had always lamented her bad temper, and Peregrine thought she actually kept it in check rather well all things considered. But standing at the edge of the dance floor, feeling hideous in an overly frilled ill fitting dress (perhaps she should have taken the offer at Heta to have it tailored by magic, though she was a little bit nervous by the way the Heta president gleefully and perhaps maddeningly waved her wand around), Peregrine felt awful. Her hand tightened around the drink she held, threatening to either crush the cup or spill her drink everywhere or both.

This semester had been awful, really. Peregrine had been rejected for the Quidditch team in favour of a first year who openly admitted she'd never heard of the sport until being sorted, she hadn't done as well in classes as she would have liked, and to top it all off Nia was at the ball with Felix. Felix who had sent her a pink rose last year and Nia who knew Peregrine liked him. She'd said nothing when Peregrine had gushed over the rose, and now she felt like such an idiot. Had Nia just been laughing behind her back this whole time about it? It was bad enough that Logan had gone to the Valentine's dance with her, and Jono liked her too. She didn't blame any of them for liking her, because she was cool and nice and fun, but it didn't mean it didn't hurt.

The flimsy cup did not survive Peregrine's frustration, and she looked down at the sudden cool wet sensation of juice running down her hand, spilling over from the now crushed cup. She blinked a few times, before stomping her foot and letting out a guttural groan of frustration. Really, this was the last thing she needed.

Ivy enjoyed the ball. at least she thought she did. it would have been more enjoyable if she had a date to go with. or even friends to dance with. but somehow she had managed to get to fifth year without the kind of friendships she had wanted. yes she had her team mates. and Aroha was probably her closest friend. But even she knew it wasn't the kind of ride or die friendships everyone else in her family had had. her mum and Aunt Madlyn, her sister and Maze and Fleur, and her brother and Cas. She had really hoped this year would be the year she would have someone to go to the ball with. But apparently not.
She entered the great hall and admired the decorations. It was always done up so nicely. she couldnt help appreciate it yet it still, somehow still made her feel more alone.
She grabbed a drink from the drinks table and skirted her way around the edge of the dancefloor. She had just reached the far side when she felt a splash on her feet. a loud huff from the girl she was passing, and looked at her, the crushed cup in her handgin of the sticky mess encroa showing the oriching on her toes. "hey, it's peregrine right?" she asked. "Everything okay?" she added. The girl's expression was an amplified version of someion she tried her harde of the frustratst to keep hidden.

Peregrine almost jumped at the mention of her name, especially when she saw who it was. Ivy, one of the chasers on the team. Ivy was really cool, she thought, and Peregrine was momentarily broken out of her self-pity in surprise at the fact Ivy even knew her name. Which then subsided into horror at the fact that she had probably just spilled her drink on her. That, of course, fed back into self-pity, because of course that was something that just made this semester even worse. "Oh...oh Merlin, Ivy, I'm really sorry," she quickly blurted an apology, looking down. There was juice on her own dress now, but it didn't really matter. It was kind of an awful dress anyway, unflattering and almost a size too small. She'd been promised she could get a nice dress for fifth year, but buying anything fancy before then just wasn't something they could afford. She'd have to start working at the shop with her uncle, she thought, if only for the chance to have slightly nicer clothes.

"It's stupid," Peregrine quickly insisted, trying to play down her own annoyance. She knew, logically, her feelings were silly and not a big deal. But she stewed over them enough and it made it all feel worse. "It's like, this whole year has sucked so bad, like seeing your super nice and fun roommate going on dates with the boys you think are cute and who don't even look at you," she blurted, downplaying it giving way to letting everything spill out. "And I didn't get into the team, even though I practiced really hard on the holidays..." she moved her dry hand to wipe her slightly watery eye, only managing to smudge poorly applied mascara on her hand. "And my dress is so ugly," she added, half laughing and half sobbing. It really was kind of ridiculous. "It's so stupid, right?"

Ivy shook her head as Peregrine appologised. "its all good. i was looking for an excuse to take the heels off anyway." she said. kicking them off. "and a charm will clean them right up" she said her eyes shifting from her shoes to the girls dress. "do you want a hand" she asked.
however it seemed perigrine had taken her previous question to heart and was starting to unload what was on her mind right here at the edge of the dance floor. it seemed like a lot on her mind. she put an arm around the girls shoulder as it looke like her eyes were starting to tear up. "you all right. we can have fun tonight. we dont need boys, or even dorm mates. we can have fun together" she said. at the next question she shook her head slightly. "It's not ugly, a little tight maybe, but that happens." she said giving paragrine a slight squeeze of a hug before letting go. She had had a similar problem last year when she had packed clothes at the start of the year, and things suddenly became a lot tighter across the chest. "should we go and get cleaned up?" she asked.

The fact that Ivy was calm enough to just kick off her heels was something that made her even cooler in Peregrine's eyes. Nerves bubbled up a little, feeling like she was humiliating herself further in front of someone she respected. Peregrine grabbed the frills on the waist of her dress, hoping to stop her palms from being so sweaty. She opened her mouth to say something, likely an apology for blurting things out, and was stopped short by a hug. Now she felt like she was going to actually cry, and she bit her cheek and drew in a deep breath to stop herself.

"Thank you," she eventually mumbled, wiping her eyes again. Caught up in her feelings she had forgot about the ability to just magically clean things up, even though it was the most obvious thing. "You...uh..." Peregrine stammered, a little shocked that Ivy would willingly hang out with her, especially when she was having a bit of a moment. "I mean, yeah, great, we can have fun, dance and skate and stuff, that'd be awesome," she nodded, enthusiastically, despite how much of a mess she looked. "Maybe under the tree there's some really cute things that'll make us the most fabulous girls in the school, or something," she suggested, looking at Ivy with a degree of awe.

Ivy took peregrines thanks as consent and took her wand out of the small side pocket her sister had shown her to add into the dress scurgify she said waving it at the dress and then again at her shoes. see easy fix she said letting the younger girl have a moment to wipe her eyes. It seemed like this did the trick as perigee es demeaned did perk up as she suggested they hang out for the dance. they both sound like fun she said she did enjoy dancing. But the thing she had most looked forward to tonight was the skating. who said we are not already the two most fabulous girls in the school?” she said grinning. I think we are. But yeah let’s get a present first before all the good ones have gone she said looking over at the tree. Who didn’t like Christmas presents? She knew she did. And she had a big shopping trip due in the next few days to get presents for her family.