Open All The Fuss

[Zennon Baros]

Zennon had been a bit surprised when he realised he was actually attending the Yule Ball with a partner. Normally he came to these things alone and just saw what happened, after all, he had never been interested in actually attending a dance for the sake of attending a dance. He stood in the common room waiting for Sam. It made sense for them to walk there together given they were in the same house, so why not? He leaned against the wall and practiced a couple of charms whilst he waited. He hoped Sam wouldn't be long, he wanted to experience what the ball was like when one had a partner. When he saw her suddenly walking down the stairs he grinned at her. "Woah, you look great," he looked down at his jeans. "I don't really do suits, hope you don't mind."​

 

[Sam Mackintosh]

Sam admittedly hadn't expected to go to the yule ball with anyone, let alone Zennon. Not that there was anything wrong with her friend, but usually she went to these dances with her best friend Jacob. It was quite sad that her and the Ravenclaw seemed to have drifted apart, and she was desperate to have fun like those her age were. Most girls in her year even had boyfriends, or had had their first relationship already, whereas all Sam could think about was school and her grades and whether she was impressing her father and teachers. It was about time she too started to expand on her social life a bit more. She finished getting ready and when she was all done, letting her hair down, she made her way to the great hall where she suspected Zennon might already be waiting for her. The girl heard a voice addressing her as she descended the stairs, spotting her date for the evening. She tucked a strand of her behind her ear, blushing slightly. "Thanks, that's very sweet of you Zennon," she replied with a smile, then giggled at his words. "Oh don't worry, you look great anyway," she said, trying to reassure him. "Do you want a drink?"​

 

[Zennon Baros]

Zennon grinned at Sam, she really did look amazing, and she looked different to how he was usually saw her, all studious and in uniform and such. Now though, she looked glamours and sparkly, which wasn't usually something he would have associated with his friend. Of course he never considered Sam to be ugly, after all he could tell she was pretty, he thought Analei was pretty too, and Sapphire, and Gwen, he knew all of them were pretty, Jacob was cute, Onyx was also cute, he just wasn't attracted to any of them, which confused him a lot. He didn't seem to really have a type as it appeared. "Oh, I'm very sweet, I know how to compliment people and it's easy with you, you're really pretty!" He told her, though it was not the only thing he observed about her. She was smart too, and kind, since she put up with him so often. "Oh, a drink would be great, I'll get something, do you have any preference?"​

 

[Sam Mackintosh]

Sam was glad she had decided to come to the yule ball after all, and with Zennon it was easy because he was a friend and it was easier to talk to him than trying to make an effort to talk to others she normally wouldn’t really think of socialising with. At first the girl thought her friend was just kidding about knowing how sweet he was, but that turned into a serious statement so she wasn’t sure whether to comment on that or not. Deciding it was best if she didn’t, she again smiled politely at him. "Oh, thank you, again, I don’t usually get told I’m pretty," she said with a laugh. It was nice to hear that for a change though. She was half surprised he offered to get something and she gave Zennon a quick nod. "Yes please, pumpkin juice is just fine." Sam hoped they would dance too at some point but there was plenty of time for that still.​

 

[Zennon Baros]

"Well, you really should, I don't know why people don't tell you that, you've got nice hair and you like really good in this dress too, even your shoes are nice, I like all of it," not that he was expecting her to have dressed up for him, or for anyone, since he'd not exactly dressed for the occasion, though he was wearing a nice shirt, so he was sure that counted. "Besides, I'll tell you all the time if that's the case, because it's true and I'm going to make a decision here to never tell another lie ever again!" His talk with Jacob in the broom cupboard aside, he was turning over a new leaf, and Sam would be the first beneficiary of this. "Alright, Pumpkin juice it is, be right back!" He immediately rushed off to get a pumpkin juice for her and something else for him, though he wasn't quite sure what he actually wanted to get yet. It took him a couple of minutes before he finally got back to Sam and bowed slightly holding her drink out her. "Your drink, My Lady!"​

 

[Sam Mackintosh]

Sam couldn’t help a blush that was presently creeping onto her cheeks. She had never been complimented this way before and she almost felt guilty that it felt nice. She was a bit surprised that for Zennon it came so easily, it was all so natural to give her one compliment after the other. "Thank you...Zennon," she said, still processing the fact that he had called her pretty...three times? "You look really handsome too, in your shirt," she added quickly, not wanting the Slytherin to think she was simply taking his comments for granted. She was dumbfounded though, but tried not to show it on her face too much. She wasn’t sure what else to say but a thank you although she did not want to sound stupid by saying only that in response, so she settled on silence and a nod. Sam couldn’t help but smile when he brought her the juice and she took it, playing along and bowing. "Thank you, M’Lord," she responded with a small wink. She sipped her drink and glanced around, a bit nervous to ask if he wanted to dance. Was it a good idea? "Should we like dance, or something?" she found herself saying. "Fair warning though, I’m not a very good one."​

 

[Zennon Baros]

Zennon was enjoying spending time with Sam, which he wasn't really all that surprised about, since she was a good friend and he really liked her. Why wouldn't he, she was friendly and nice and she helped him study, so she was helping him with his future, which he was really excited about. "Absolutely, Sam. I mean every word." He told her grinning. He rolled his shoulder and tugged on his shirt as she complimented him. "Of course, we both know I'm cute." He said, winking at her. It wasn't exactly something he would normally do, but he just felt really good and the atmosphere was doing wonders for him. He was really enjoying this whole thing and he took a sip of his own drink as she asked if he wanted to dance. He looked out at the dance floor and shrugged. "Sure, let's go for it, we can hold our drinks and dance." It was a slow song at the moment and thankfully, Zennon's father had been a dancer. They'd all taken dance lessons as kids and though it had never really caught on for Zennon, he remembered the basics and he bet he could walk Sam through them. "No worries, my Dad was a dancer, I bet I could walk you through it, come on!" He held his hand out to her with a grin so they could make their way over to the middle of the hall.​

 

[Sam Mackintosh]

Sam sort of hated herself for blushing again at Zennon's words, but she had been truthful when she told her friend she was never complimented about her looks. She knew that appearance was important but not as important as getting good grades and sometimes showing off the smart brains she assumed she had, from always working so hard on school. She giggled at the Slytherin as he mentioned he was cute, and had to agree. "Oh yes, of course we do, on that I couldn't agree more," she nodded, not bothering to hide that fact anymore. After all, she felt comfortable enough around him so she didn't need to pretend like he wasn't cute. Because he was. The girl quickly looked away before he caught her staring. She was enjoying herself, no need to make the night awkward. "Er, yeah, I guess we could multitask," she said, glancing down at her own drink. Her eyes widened slightly, she'd been unsure as to whether Zennon would actually agree with her, but it appeared that he was taking it rather seriously, so she smiled nervously and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. "Oh, okay." She took his hand and let him guide the pair to the dance floor.​

 

[Zennon Baros]

Zennon thought he caught Sam blushing slightly, but he couldn’t be sure because he wasn’t sure what she would be blushing at. Everything he’d said to her tonight was the truth after all. He looked over towards the food and noticed Jacob in conversation with an older Slytherin, though Zennon didn’t quite catch his name. He frowned and grew suddenly confused st the strange feeling in the outback of his stomach as he watched them but turned away before he could overthink things. He looked over at Sam and grinned. “Glad we’re on the same page then, you’re gorgeous and I’m cute, glad we’ve pointed out the obvious”. He teased, leading her into the section of the hall that seemed to be reserved for dancing and immediately pulling her closer to him. He held his drink in one hand and Sam in the other. It was awkward, but he was determined to make it work and so he dropped the hand with the drink to her waist. “Okay, so basically you just have to follow what I do and you’ll be fine!” He told her, winking at her.​

 

[Sam Mackintosh]

It hit Sam then and there that the more time she spent with Zennon, the more carefree and relaxed she felt. He was really easy to get along with and the fifth year was glad they had come to the yule ball together, as opposed to by herself or not having gone at all. She laughed, covering her mouth so that she wouldn’t burst into a fit of uncontrollable giggles. "I don’t know how you do it, but you’re so funny," she said, subconsciously putting a hand on his arm as she did so. The blonde then grinned at her friend as he lead them to the middle of the room. She felt her cheeks warm up once more as he put a hand on her waist, or tried to, with a drink in his hand. She nodded at him, and attempted to do as he said. "Like this?" she asked, as they swayed to an old song, her hands around his neck, and one of them holding her drink. "I apologise if I spill my juice on you," she said a little nervously. As they danced, Sam got distracted and she tripped over her own feet, bumping her head into Zennon’s chest. "Whoops...sorry about that," she said awkwardly, glancing up at a him with an apologetic smile.​

 

[Zennon Baros]

“Oof, that almost sounded sarcastic,” Zennon said, laughing with her lightly. Sam was a good friend, he’d enjoyed his time at the Halloween dance because of her and one of the reasons he’d finally decided to talk to his parents was because of the advice she’d given him along with the advice from Pendleton. He didn’t think she knew how much she’d actually helped him but he was definitely going to tell her at some point. He smiled at her as they began dancing and he watched the way she was moving, getting ready to correct or comment as she moved to address what she was doing correctly or wrong, but she seemed to have a decent grasp on it. “Don’t worry about it, this short and jacket didn’t cost much, and I’ve never been a huge fan of ties so if you do spill I’ll just let my mum fix it.” He laughed. She tripped then, and Zennon stopped to catch her as she bumped her head on his chest and he wrapped his arms around her to keep her from falling. “Woah, hey there clumsy.” The atmosphere in the room had slowly been shifting, and though Zennon hadn’t noticed before, holding Sam as he was and looking down at her the way he was, he suddenly felt the overwhelming urge to kiss her as he looked around at some of the other couples. It was strange, because he’d never felt the urge to kiss anyone and he’d never had a real first kiss before. Should he go for it? “Hey, Sam, I...” she just looked so amazing and she was sweet. If there was anyone he would want to kiss right now, the strange sensation in his stomach told him it was Sam. Without giving her any warning, Zennon carefully cupped her cheek and ran a thumb among it before leaning down and planting a soft kiss on her lips.​