Closed A Last Minute Date

[Winnie Marsh]

Despite wishing a prince charming would materialize out of nowhere and sweep her off her feet, Winnie had never attended a school dance with a boy before. She was thrilled that night knowing all of this would change and she was attending with a boy, not just some loser as well, but an actual cute boy at that. It was her who had asked him to the dance, contrary to what she wanted because ideally she wanted to be asked instead, but no matter the journey, the destination was what mattered and she would be walking in to the great hall with a date like she had always wanted. Feeling genuinely confident for the first time in a while, Winnie decided to wear an outfit she thought was cute and playful, tying her red hair into a ponytail to keep it away from her face. She left her dorm happy with her fashion choices, and walked through the castle to wait for Patrick outside the great hall. As she waited she twisted the end of her ponytail between her fingers, slightly impatient for her night to begin. She did not know if Diana or Domi had dates to the dance, but whether they did or not, Winnie wanted to walk in with Patrick as soon as possible to show him off and make them both insatiably jealous.​

 

[Patrick Vernier]

Patrick couldn't believe it. Someone had liked him enough to ask him to the Valentine's Day Dance. The thought of it seemed so surreal and he didn't want to miss out on it, especially since it would be his first time attending. The French made sure to try to look his best, flattening down his hair as much as he could so he didn't embarrass himself. He seemed rather notorious for embarrassment and he just wanted the night to go well as he got to know Winnie more. The boy hoped he wouldn't get stood up as he made his way to the entrance hall from the Hufflepuff common room. He had never done this before and was unsure what to expect as he joined a crowd of people also making their way downstairs. When he saw Winnie already waiting for him outside of the great hall he suddenly felt butterflies. He had never felt this way before and so he took a deep breath as he approached her, hoping he wouldn't mess it up. He cleared his throat. "Hey, Winnie." he said, smiling shyly at her. He wanted to compliment her outfit and tell her how excited he was for the night, but his nervousness got the better of him. Instead, he looked around at the other people that began entering the great hall, figuring they should join them. "Should we go in?" he asked her, wanting to make sure she was comfortable with everything first. After all, it seemed like the most logical thing to ask her first.

 

[Winnie Marsh]

Winnie soon spotted Patrick as he approached her, and her bored expression was quickly replaced with a wide smile. "Hey!" She greeted, eyeing his outfit up and down. He looked cute, and like he had made an effort for their date as well which made her even happier. This night would be amazing and Winnie could already tell, she felt like Cinderella meeting her prince at the ball and moved her free hand to Patrick's arm as he asked if she wanted to go in, nodding in response to the question. "That sounds perfect, hang on." Winnie quickly moved to link her arm with Patrick's, allowing him to lead her into the hall. "Alright, let's go." This moment would be one to remember and she hoped her friends would see her and who she was with and wish they were in her shoes. Patrick seemed like a sweet boy and Winnie's first priority was to get to know him and make her first date worthwhile, making her friends jealous was only a side effect, but she would be lying if she told herself it wasn't something she enjoyed.​

 

[Patrick Vernier]

Patrick felt a bit more comfortable knowing that Winnie seemed happy to be going to the dance with him. He was almost sure that she would ditch him, but that definitely wasn't the case. Instead, she linked arms with him and Patrick was glad for this as it meant she knew what she was doing and he would be able to follow her lead. He smiled at her as he began to walk her into the Great Hall along with all of the others. The Great Hall was decorated differently to the Yule Ball. It definitely seemed like more of an intimate occasion and Patrick wasn't sure how he felt about that. Patrick and Winnie were not dating and were not close like some of the people dancing seemed. It was an unfamiliar situation for the Hufflepuff who wasn't really sure how to act. He walked over to the drinks table, his arm still linked with Winnie's. "Did you want a drink or something?" Patrick asked Winnie as he took a cup for himself.

 

[Winnie Marsh]

The hall was decorated beautifully, Winnie noticed as she glanced around. If it weren't for the fact she was subtly trying to spot her friends she was sure she would have commented on the way everything looked as she walked in alongside Patrick. Though instead she kept quiet, allowing herself to be led to the drinks table and her attention to focus on her date again when they stopped. "I'd love a drink." She answered his question, unlinking their arms to accept a cup as it was handed to her. Shortly afterwards it was her turn to lead Patrick around, walking them both to one of the spare tables where they could sit and chat. Winnie made herself comfortable in one of the chairs, placing her drink in front of her and leaning forward to rest her elbows on the table as she began to query Patrick about his life. "So, tell me about yourself? Where are you from? Are you part of any clubs?" Winnie waited eagerly for an answer, wanting to know more about Patrick. Since she had met him earlier in the day when he delivered her a rose, she had been wondering why she hadn't noticed him around the castle before and she now wanted to figure him out.​