A First Date

[Indiana Night]

Indiana bite her lip as she tried fixing her hair, it was the first year she had to really do this getting ready thing on her own. Her older sister had graduated from Hogwarts and left her in Gryffindor alone and unsure how to do anything. Through letters the older sister did help prepare a dress, a simple black jumper with a golden shirt underneath. She paired it with black tights and black shoes to match. The girl wasn't overly girly to begin with so she didn't feel the need to stand out in the crowd. During her first year when she went to the Halloween festivities as an angel she hadn't felt her most comfortable in the white dress, although she did look pretty in it she thought. This outfit was much more to her taste. She did even manage to put on a bit of makeup herself as well. Mostly just around her eyes and on her lips as her cheeks seemed to be rose colored in excitement already.

The young teen was going this year to the Yule Ball with her friend Preston Paine, a Slytherin. She wasn't quite sure if it was meant to be as something more or if they were just friends. But she was happy either way, as she felt like she didn't get to see him very often. This was a nice chance to spend more time with the teenager. Of course, she had been hoping her best friend Tybalt would of asked to go with her but he seemed as though he was preoccupied with studying for classes and Quidditch practices. But she thought it worked out nicely for her despite her best friend not asking her to the Ball. Finally getting her hair to stay pinned back enough that just her bangs were in her face the girl headed down the stairs to meet her date outside the Great Hall. Her nerves were kind of all jumbled inside of her, this was the first time she had really been asked to anything by a boy. And Preston was certainly a good looking boy which made it even more confusing for her young mind to handle. She wasn't ready to have a relationship more than friend's with anyone quite yet, but she had the feeling that she was getting to that point in her teenage life that she would be.

 

[Preston Paine]

Preston was one of the few people in his dorm room who actually knew how to put on a tie, so he spent a few moments after he was ready helping his roommates. It was one of the rare occasions where he had one up on his housemates as no one seemed particularly versed in any charms that would help them tie a tie without choking themselves. Preston was eventually able to break away from his roommates and he quickly put on his suit jacket and then left the room confident in how his suit fit him. His dad had taken him to the same person who tailored his own suits, and father and son had shared a nice outing of picking out a suit for Preston to wear to the dance. Leaving the Slytherin common room, Preston had a very short walk to the Great Hall where he was meeting up with Indiana. The boy didn’t know what had come over him that day that he’d asked Indiana, but he was glad that he had and even more glad that she had agreed to be his date. As soon as the words had escaped him, the boy had been expecting an apologetic expression to come over his face as she explained to him that she was going with Tybalt. The guy always seemed to be just one step ahead. In the moments after he asked, Preston had already been thinking about who he might ask if Indiana said no. But it wasn’t necessary. Preston couldn’t help but be pleased that he had, for once, beaten the guy to something.

With his hands in his pocket, Preston watched some other students entering the Great Hall in their formal attire. Most of the guys were dressed like him, but the female students’ outfits were as varied as they were. Preston couldn’t help but admire how pretty some of the girls looked. As people met up with their dates and slipped inside of the Great Hall, the music growing loud for the brief moment it took people to slip inside, Preston could feel his palms grow a bit sweaty. He wiped them off on the inside of his pockets and then removed his hands from his pockets to let them breathe. He didn’t know why he was so nervous all of a sudden. Since asking Indiana to be his date, Preston hadn’t been very nervous at all. He and Indiana were friends, after all, and they had fun together. Now that the time was here, though, he was beginning to second guess having asked her in the first place. He blamed his doubts on the older guys in the common room, talking about what they planned on doing both during and after the Yule Ball. Preston had tried his best to play it cool as he listened, but some of the things that the guys had been discussing were things that Preston had only thought about but hadn’t done before. He wasn’t entirely convinced that he was ready for any of those things either. He felt more confused than ever now and hoped that he and Indiana would just be able to have a good time. Looking over at the steps, Preston glanced at everyone who rounded the corner, hoping that the next person would be Indiana.

 

[Indiana Night]

The young teen knew it was a long haul down the stairs to the Great Hall from the Gryffindor Common Room, which was why she opted for shoes that barely had a heel. Plus the fact she was nearly the same height as Preston at the moment it didn't seem right or very comfortable to be wearing shoes which made her twenty times taller. Once she reached the top of the last landing of the staircase that went right to the outside of the Great Hall, Indiana spotted Preston. She knew up here he wouldn't see her, she still had to make her way down the last staircase and around the corner. A smile grew on her face seeing the teenager in a suite and tie. He looked pretty spiffy and a lot different from the devil costume he wore to the Halloween Ball two years ago. Remembering something he said the night about him seeing her everyday but her not seeing him, the girl wondered how true that was now. They had classes together nearly everyday now that there wasn't a split between houses for taking classes. But did she really see him? Looking at him now it was a wonder she even recognized him he was a lot more grown up than the first year she had met in the bookstore.

A red hue added itself even more now to her cheeks as she came down the stairs and then towards Preston. His dark looks were something she had always noticed about him, Tybalt being the opposite, and she couldn't choose who thought was better looking. With Tybalt it was more about comfort, he was always there, always her friend no matter what. Preston on the other hand almost seemed like the forbidden fruit, a Slytherin, the hated enemy of the Gyrffindors for centuries. As she made it to level ground all those thoughts of a Romeo and Juliet like world disappeared. Smiling she made her way over to Preston. "Hello Preston," she said speaking first. Of course, much like her elder sister, Indiana wasn't very shy, she was only shy when it came to much older students odd considering her two older siblings. But now she was feeling a bit nervous as she looked up at her friend. Be a bear, strong confident Bear, oiskwanyë'ta'ë:' nyakwai' the girl said to herself in her head using her Native American name, Brown Bear.

 

[Preston Paine]

When Indiana finally rounded the corner and made her way down the steps, the Slytherin could not contain the smile that crossed his face. He saw Indiana nearly every day now that they had most of their classes together, but seeing someone when they were all dressed up was always a different sort of 'seeing.' As she drew closer, Preston struggled to come up with an adequate word to describe how nice he thought she looked. 'Nice' seemed lacking, for some reason that Preston couldn't explain to himself. The guy held up a hand, his limbs suddenly feeling awkward and gangly. "Hi Indiana. Wow...you look..." he said, glad when a word came to his mind, "great. Yea, great." Smooth, the boy chastised himself taking a moment before he spoke again.

Clearing his throat, the boy took advantage of the door opening and the flood of sound that poured out. He made a grab for the door and gestured for Indiana to enter before he entered behind her. As the boy looked around at the decorations and the snow that was falling, he was giving himself a pep talk. This is just like the other Yule Balls you've been to. Don't make a big deal of this, Preston reminded himself wondering why he needed to do such a thing at all. He looked to his Gryffindor friend and smiled. Indiana was just his friend, wasn't she? He was making too big a deal of all this, right? Even Preston wasn't sure anymore. He shot a glance at one of the older Slytherins who walked in, hating that he had stayed and listened to them talk. The guy turned at that moment and gave Preston a wink as he saw the girl beside him. Preston pretended he hadn't noticed as he turned to Indiana. "Um...do you want to dance first or get some food?" he asked, eager for them to have something to do. Maybe then he could shut his inner voice up.

 

[Indiana Night]

Indiana glanced down at her black ensemble and golden sleeves as her date complimented her outfit. She thought it was a bit dark but she was glad she managed to get one of the Gryffindor colors in her outfit as well. As always Indiana was probably the most proud Gryffindor in her year, it was a tradition of following her older sister into the house and becoming one of the brave lions. She loved her house and the people in her house that she was friends with. Without Gryffindor her and Tybalt never would have met that first morning they were in the castle. Her sister wouldn't of been able to be her mentor during her first year and would have been her second year if she had been there for it. She was glad Preston hadn't resented her for her absence during second year. The young girl hadn't meant to miss the entire year, it was mostly her father's fault and his distrust in magic. "You look spiffy," Indiana replied to Preston a smile on her face. She hadn't ever seen him look nervous, and despite feeling nervous herself she managed to hold in the nerves and use them to propel her forward. They were just friends after all, she wasn't getting butterflies in her stomach when he looked at her it was just the excitement from all the other people, right?

Walking to the Great Hall she smiled at the sights, it looked so much like it did two years ago at her first Yule Ball. The moment took her away from any nerves that were in her stomach, she liked Preston, they were friends and she enjoyed being with him. That was how it was, she didn't know if they'd ever be more and it didn't concern her much she was just a third year. He was a good looking guy, she had always thought so and she had to admit that to herself. But there was apart of her that loved her best friend Tybalt too. She thought about the boy a lot and was with him most days. Tybalt was a part of her life but all the new emotions coming to her through getting older made her unsure how much she wished he was apart of her life. She had been disappointed as the days got closer to the Yule Ball and her Gryffindor friend never asked her. But then there was Preston, it was true she had to admit, when Tybalt was around she saw no one else the way she saw him. Tybalt was like her older sister in a way, someone who she looked up to, someone who proved they were a true Gryffindor even if he didn't know it himself. Looking at Preston with her smile on her face the girl took his hand in hers. "Let's dance," Indiana said as she started off towards the dance floor.

 

[Preston Paine]

” Thanks” Preston said with a grin as Indiana called him ‘spiffy.’ He liked that word and it made him less nervous than he had been a few moments before. Propelled by the fact that Indiana was acting like everything was normal, Preston was able to force himself to behave in the same way. He knew that they were good friends, and he didn’t want anything, especially not the comments by the stupid guys in his house, ruining the night for them. “Lead the way” he stated as the Gryffindor girl reached for his hand. Preston let her lead him onto the dance floor, perfectly happy with her taking the lead on things. He didn’t have much experience dancing, but he didn’t think it could be too difficult. He was able to maneuver himself around the crowd, being sure to keep his hand in Indiana’s slightly smaller hand as he walked.

Before long they found the most empty space they were likely to find on the dance floor. The song that was playing was pretty fast, one that he didn’t recognize. It was probably from one of the popular wizarding bands. That was the only area that Preston knew he’d never be able to overcome if someone wanted to call his bluff about being from a wizarding family. He didn’t own a wizarding radio, so Preston had no access to the music that was popular among his wizard peers. It wasn’t too difficult to keep up with the beat and after a moment or two, Preston felt that he was doing a decent job of keeping up with the music. “ Do you know this song?” he asked, eager to keep the conversation on things that he have easily spoken with Indiana about on any other day. Preston could see over the girl’s shoulder to where a couple of older students were dancing. Happily absent so far was the face of Indiana’s best friend. Preston could only hope that the boy had decided not to come to the dance, though he knew that nearly everyone in the school showed up to the Yule Ball.

 

[Indiana Night]

Indiana smiled at Preston, he seemed to relax more once she broke the tension between them. She was taken away by how nice he looked but Indiana managed this time to stay calm despite nerves causing her to freak out inside. She felt so under dressed as she looked around the room. Indiana even spotted one girl in a full on ball gown, the floral design on it made the dress stand out even more, but it was something Indiana would never wear. Though she did promise herself to try to wear more girly clothing, she'd have to get used to the uncomfortable way they looked to be when wearing. Shorter shorts and tops that were almost as tight as skin, maybe then she wouldn't look so out of place among the girls at the school when they wore muggle clothing. It hadn't taken long for a spot on the dance floor to have enough room for them both to dance in to appear. Stopping there her and Preston began to dance.

The girl was glad that Preston wasn't so far away that she couldn't hear a word he said, but also that he wasn't on top of her either in the way some of the older students seemed to dance. Listening to the song as Preston asked if she knew it she shook her head. "I don't know any wizardry music," the girl admitted but knew better than to ask him. She didn't know if any of the students around them were Slytherin but she did know better than to bring up the fact that her Slytherin friend was Muggle Born. She too had been brought up practically as a muggle, once her siblings came here to Hogwarts she had been left with her father who knew next to nothing about magic and her wacky Grandmother, Nana, who was a witch, yes, but also a nut case. It was during that song that Indiana spotted Tybalt dancing with a shorter girl. She couldn't recognize the girl but she was surprised to see her best friend there. Looking down at her shoes she ignored the fact Tybalt was there, she was there with Preston and she saw the other boy every other day. That night she was content spending her time with Preston, even though she felt nervous about it for some reason.

A slower song came on and a blush hit Indiana's face. She hadn't been prepared for a slower song and her nerves were beginning to show. "Want to keep dancing, or eat dinner?" Indiana asked her friend, glancing up to look the boy in the eyes. Part of her wondered if she even knew how to slow dance but another part did want to stay on the dance floor and continue dancing with the cute boy in front of her.

 

[Preston Paine]

Preston was only slightly surprised that Indiana didn't know the song. He had forgotten that despite being wizard born, she had, in many ways, grown up in what could be considered a muggle-born home. The boy continued to move, awkwardly looking around as the fast song transitioned into a decidedly slower one. Fast dancing was one thing, but he wasn't sure he would be able to slow dance with his friend. The Slytherin brushed the back of his hair as Indiana asked what they should do. He considered the options - staying to dance and having to figure out where to put his hands or heading off the dance floor where any of the Slytherins who saw them would call him a chicken. Did he want to keep dancing with her? Preston knew that the answer to that was sort of. He was certainly intrigued at the idea of being that close to Indiana.

Just as he was about to chicken out and lead her off the dance floor, someone jostled into Preston, pushing him closer to the Gryffindor. It seemed a waste to go off of the dance floor now. "Maybe just one more?" he asked as he moved in close enough that he now had to figure out how to maneuver his arms in place. It was likely a hilarious moment to everyone but Preston, who couldn't help but blush as he settled his hands gently on her waist. He tried to move a step, following the lead of the guy next to him. Unlike the guy, Preston stumbled, almost stepping on Indiana's foot before he regained his footing. His face flushed a deep red. "Sorry. I've never really done this before" he stuttered, "maybe we should just go eat." Preston didn't like to make a fool of himself, but it seemed too late for that. The boy could only hope that he didn't actually step on Indiana's foot.

 

[Indiana Night]

Indiana glanced around as she waited for an answer from her friend. Suddenly someone pushed him forward and it seemed to also get an answer from him, keep dancing. Smiling, she nodded in agreement and moved her hands to his shoulders. Though she wasn't sure if she should hold her hands behind his neck like some of the other girls who were dancing were doing. Lost in the argument in her head she didn't even notice Preston almost stepping on her feet until he stumbled and his face appeared before hers all red. Indiana grinned knowing it was evil to laugh at something like that. But she had to smile at his face, "You're as red as the Gryffindor flag, Preston! Relax, just move one foot at a time, it'll be easier that way." The Gryffindor shook her head at his suggestion to eat, he had already made his decision to dance anyways and the song didn't seem like it would last forever anyways.

Looking up, past the red cheeks, Indiana gazed up to her friend's eyes. They were dark and dare she admit smoldering, or whatever it was her older sister said about the guy on TV and his eyes. Never had she been this close to Preston for this long before, usually they were only close when she would hug him, and typically any contact between them she was the one to start it. Looking down the girl looked at Preston's shoulder as it was just below her eye level. The two seemed to manage the slow dance then but Indiana wasn't worried about that anymore. More so, she was concerned with why there were butterflies floating around in her stomach. "You know you do look rather handsome all dressed up, I wasn't joking," Indiana told her Slytherin friend in case he had doubts about her wording. She, herself felt under dressed compared to all the other girls at the ball. But she really wasn't one for wearing pretty dresses, the Balls during her first year were an exception because it was a dress her sister made her wear. And though she liked it she didn't fit in the dress anymore and it wasn't like she could wear the same outfit again after wearing it twice already.