Closed A Change of Heart

[Rosalind Lockwood]

After much debate, it had been decided that this was a good idea. Rose had carefully gotten dressed, before heading down to the ball alone. She scrunched her nose as she saw Lily with her boyfriend. Ugh, he was just some tall, gangly clutz who didn't deserve her sister. Rose stopped and took a deep breath. No, no, she had promised to try and play nicer with her sister's 'friends'. She rolled her eyes, but stood at the edge of the dance floor, feeling a little out of place and swaying softly to the music.

 

[Arthurian Taylor]

Arthur had planned this night perfectly. After their stunning success with their last prank on Rose- and the way she had screamed when the frog jumped out of her bag- he knew they needed to do it again. And on a much, much larger scale. He had snuck in with help from his best friend, hiding the box skillfully from anyone that wandered too close. "There she is," He murmured to Apollo, noting the good spot she was in. Not only would he get Rose, he would get a fair amount of other people, too. He grinned wickedly, eyes scanning the ball as he tried to find a good spot to drop the box.

 

[Apollo Bixby]

Apollo didn't know if pranking Rose tonight was such a good idea but helped his best friend carry the box into the Great Hall nonetheless. Their prank on her with the frog earlier had been funny and really just a harmless prank, but dropping a whole box full of frogs and lizards on top of her, even he couldn't see the fun in it. And with all the professors around, including Mitchell, they'd get caught for sure. Still, the boy didn't want Arthur to call him a coward for backing out at the very last minute. ''You'd better hurry up, there are too many teachers around and I don't want to spend any time in detention tonight,'' the Gryffindor told his best friend.

 

[Rosalind Lockwood]

Rose was completely unaware of her impending doom. She swayed softly to the music, blushing as a boy came close and trying not to feel too dejected when he didn't even notice her. She kept her head up, too shy to ask anyone to dance but hoping maybe- just maybe- someone would ask her if she could just keep smiling.

 

[Arthurian Taylor]

Arthur looked around, trying to think of a way to get Rose into the crowd more. "Not yet," He waved Apollo off. "This isn't about her," He glanced to his friend. "Not completely- everyone takes the ball so seriously, we need to get her into the crowd a bit more somehow. Really disrupt things..." He mused. He snapped his fingers. "I've got it. Go ask her to dance. If you're in the middle of it, you'll be free of blame when our favorite professor inevitably catches me," He grinned.

 

[Apollo Bixby]

Apollo didn't really understand Arthur's fixation with pranking and publicly humiliating Rose and found it hard to believe that this was not only about her. Half of their pranks this year had been about her. Suddenly dropping a box full of icky animals into the crowd didn't seem that fun to him any more. So, ignoring the slight flutter of his heart when his friend said that he should go and ask to dance with her, the Gryffindor slowly made his way over to the girl in the hope that he could steer her away from the crowd. Not really knowing what to say to her as he approached her, he just simply waved at her and smiled.

 

[Rosalind Lockwood]

Rose was surprised to see Apollo approaching her, of all people. She tensed a moment, almost worried he had only come to tease her some more, but Jasper had been talking to her about trusting people more. She took a deep breath, letting herself relax. "Hi, Apollo," She blushed a little, tucking her hair behind her ear. She tried to seem open, ignoring how nervous she was.