Badgers at the Ball

[Liam Adams]

Liam had been looking forward to the Yule ball after he received a crash course in what it was from one of the older students. There was only one person he thought to ask, his friend Bryony. The two had attended the Halloween feast together in a couples costume and they had a lot of fun together so it made sense that they should attend the Yule ball together as well. Liam stood in front of the mirror in the dorm messing with his tie to make sure it was straight before he pulled on his jacket and fastened the buttons.

Bryony had agreed to meet him in the common room so they could walk down to the Great hall together, that was one of the benefits of asking someone from your own house, he didn't have to traipse to another part of the castle to meet up. Liam reached the common room still straightening his tie, still not happy with how it fell against his shirt. "Blasted tie," He muttered as he leaned against the sofas in the common room while he waited for his date.

 

[Bryony Woods]

Bryony had no idea what a 'Yule Ball' even was but since Liam asked her to it she felt obliged to go with him. Secretly, she was excited. She had so much fun with Liam at the Halloween Feast and enjoyed dressing up with him in a couple's costume so much that she could hardly turn this opportunity down. The school had so many random and strange events to attend, Bryony wondered how many more of them there were to come. She had spoke to a couple of the girls from her dorm and they had tried to explain to her what the Yule Ball was like and she had tried to dress accordingly. She fixed her hair and smoothed her dress down one more time before walking down to the common room where she agreed to meet Liam.

She quietly made her way down the steps and entered the common room. She saw Liam leaning against one of the sofas while muttering something under his breath. Bryony walked towards him and tapped him on the shoulder "Hey Liam! she said smiling at her friend "you're looking smart!". She saw that he kept messing with his tie and she decided to offer her help. "Here, I can help" she said while standing on her tiptoes as she reached for the knot in his tie. Bryony rearranged the way the tie fell and smoothed it down over his shirt. "There, is that better?" she asked.

 

[Liam Adams]

Liam smiled brightly when he saw Bryony appear in front of him. The girl wasted little time before she took over playing with his tie only she managed what had so far eluded him, she managed to make it straight. Bryony must have a magic touch that he himself lacked. "Bry, you look beautiful," He smiled at her returning her compliment though perhaps with a little more enthusiasm than was needed. "Yes, that is much better thank you," Liam added looking down at his tie. He returned his gaze to his friend and he knew that the two of them were going to have a lot of fun, as they had at the Halloween feast.

Cautious of the time, Liam stood upright and took his place beside Bryony and offered out his arm. "Shall we?" He asked and winked at his friend. Everything with Bryony always seemed to come so naturally, the two always had fun together and it had been that way since they first met in the common room on their first night in the castle, their share experience of being fish out of water had bonded them instantly and they had been near inseparable since. "Let's get going before all the space on the dance floor is taken by the seventh years,"

 

[Bryony Woods]

Bryony smiled at her fellow Hufflepuff when he complimented the way she looked. She shrugged and did a quick twirl and giggled. It was nice to be able to dress up in something other than her usual school robes and it was good to see her best friend dressed in his nicest suit too. "Good!" she replied to his confirmation of his tie. Truth be told, she didn't know what she was doing all that much, she just copied what she saw her dad doing in the mirror and seemed to have worked out well. Bryony took his arm and laughed at his comment about the seventh years. She nodded her head and followed him out of the common room towards the Great Hall. She could hear the music before she even saw the ball and she felt butterflies in her stomach. Why was she nervous? She held onto Liam tighter as they walked closer into the hall.

Once again the Great Hall was decorated magnificently, even though it was summer outside you would never had known it inside. Instead of a bright blue sky there was a snow white sky with... real snow? Bryony shot Liam a quizzical look, this was incredible. Already there were many students on the dance floor and she pulled Liam onto it to join the other students. The music seemed to slow down as they stepped onto the dancefloor and Bryony blushed. She cleared her throat and stammered "s..so, I suppose we should dance li... like they do in the movies?" she managed to finish with a small smile. She couldn't hide behind her hair tonight but she wished she could.

 

[Liam Adams]

Liam wasn't really sure why but he knew that Bryony was nervous by the way she tightened her grip on him as they got closer to the Great hall. What was there to be nervous about, they were two best friends about to have a great night at the Yule ball. Liam squeezed her hand to reassure her as they entered the hall. Liam noticed the look she gave him when she noticed the snow, it was almost enough to make a person forget it was summer outside. Bryony seemed especially impressed with the snow. Liam held out his free hand to let a few flakes fall through his fingers, it felt real but they both knew it was magic of some kind, even if they didn't quite understand it.

Liam laughed as Bryony pulled him out onto the dance, as expected there was already a large number of students on it and most of them seemed to be older though Liam wasn't sure if any of them actually were seventh years or not. As they got out on to the dance floor the song changed and the new music was much slower, couples around them pulled in close to each other to dance. Liam could tell which of the couples were friends and which were more than friends, a concept that still felt strange to him but he was coming to learn to spot it. He also noticed that Bryony's cheeks had turned a deep shade of red, he smiled at her as she suggested they dance like in the movies. Liam loved having a best friend who knew what movies were, silly as that may sound it was a rarity at the school. He stepped closer to her and placed his hands on her waist and began to dance along to the slow music.

 

[Bryony Woods]

Bryony saw the snow fall around them but she couldn't feel it, how she wished that she could feel it. Christmas always seemed magical when snow was around. She was grateful for the effort whoever had put in to this event with the decoration, it was definitely something extraordinary. Made all the more special sharing something like this with her best friend. She looked up at Liam and smiled at him, it was invaluable to have someone who understood what it felt like, being thrust into a new situation like this. With his help, and with help from the other friends she had made since being at the school, she didn't feel like such an outsider anymore. She actually felt like she could belong in a place like Hogwarts.

"I think i'm really starting to like this place" she said sighing while looking around the hall. "At first I wasn't sure how this would work out but it's been enjoyable actually" she continued smiling at Liam, wondering what he thought about his experience so far. Bryony took his hand and twirled beneath it, her dress swishing around her, before she returned to her original spot.