Beauty and the Beast

[Aspen Jones]

Aspen walked into the Great Hall, and stopped dead in her tracks. She knew Halloween was big at HNZ, but this far exceeded her expectations. Almost everyone was in costume, some of them scary, some of them really cute, and some of them really... creative.
Pushing her way through a group of older students, Aspen walked around the edge of the dance floor to the tables. She surveyed the array of food. Avoiding the things she'd never seen before, she grabbed a handful of lollies, before turning back towards the centre of the hall to admire the decorations.
Aspen was, by this point, feeling very happy that she had decided to dress up for tonight. Her mother didn't believe in Halloween; she'd never had a chance to celebrate it before, let alone in costume.
She turned back to the table to grab herself a drink, but walked into someone else's chest.
"Oh, I'm so...rry..." she let out a little gasp. "Kit? Oh my god!"
Kit Hartley, one of her closest childhood friends, stood in front of her, looking slightly awkward in a blue military-style suit and a huge furry hat.
Aspen giggled. "What are you meant to be?"

 

[Kit Hartley]

Kit looked around the hall in wonder. The decorations were absolutely amazing, and it was all he could do to avoid standing there with his mouth open like a fool. He couldn't see anyone he recognised, but then again he only knew a few people so far. Standing there empty-handed, Kit felt very awkward.
He was just about to go to the table and get a drink when a girl whirled around and bumped into him. When she said his name, his face broke out into a smile. "Aspen! You're a witch??" Kit shook his head in surprise, the grin still on his lips.
He saw her take in his outfit and laugh. "I'm the Beast, of course! What are you?"

 

[Aspen Jones]

Aspen ran her eye up and down Kit's costume.
"You don't look much like the Beast, to be honest..." she smiled. "But I guess we're a matching pair. I'm Belle. Y'know... I'm the Beauty, you're the Beast."
She reached up and pulled the furry monstrosity off of Kit's head.
"There. I think you make a much better Prince Adam," she laughed.

 

[Kit Hartley]

"Oh, I see... cool!" Kit grinned upon hearing that he and Aspen matched. What a strange coincidence...
When she pulled his big hat off, he laughed along with her. "At least I don't look like the Beast without it. Then I'd be a bit worried." He looked back up at the ceiling and its adornments. "Aren't the decorations amazing?"

 

[Aspen Jones]

Aspen glanced up to where Kit was looking.
"Yeah," she said. There wasn't really much more to say; Kit had described it all with 'amazing'. "But the food's even better." She gestured towards the tables.
"You still have a fetish for lollies, right?" she laughed, stuffing the remainder of her's into his mouth before Kit could reply, scurrying off behind a group of Hufflepuff Fourth Years.
"Catch me if you can!" she yelled back to him.

 

[Kit Hartley]

Kit barely had time to laugh and nod before Aspen darted off back to the tables. He yelped indignantly, taking a moment to gather himself before making his way through the crowds to the tables, where he found her again.
"So what would you suggest, seeing as you're the expert?" he asked with a wry smirk.

 

[Aspen Jones]

Aspen turned and flashed Kit a grin.
She pointed at a bowl of brown sludge. "Well, considering I'm not too sure what that, or that" (another point) "or that" (and another) "is, I'm sure we can be safe with a nice goblet of pumpkin juice."
She handed him a sturdy brass-coloured goblet filled with the liquid before pouring herself one.
"So..." Aspen took a sip of her drink. "Whatcha been up to?"

(ooc text me if you have any brilliant ideas as to where this is going and I shall edit. I think we are getting awkward silences. )

 

[Kit Hartley]

Kit looked at the things Aspen had pointed to warily; he had no idea what they were either. It seemed a safer idea to just stick with things he recognised. He accepted the goblet of juice with a smile. "Thanks! You can't go past this stuff." He sipped at his pumpkin juice happily.
"Not all that much... Still drawing everything I can." Kit grinned. "And meeting new people..." He blushed slightly, but tried to ignore it. "What about you?"

 

[Aspen Jones]

Aspen nodded as Kit listed what he'd been doing. She noticed he blushed as he mentioned new people, but decided to ignore it.
"About the same, really. Trying to keep my fitness up so I don't get out of shape for gym," she smiled. "I tried out for cheerleading, but I haven't heard anything back. Oh, and I turned 12 last month. I didn't make a big deal of it, though, because I didn't really have any friends here. Mum said she'd send my present through at Christmas time. So, really, a pretty dull couple of months," she laughed. "Well, as dull as they can be at a school for magic."

 

[Kit Hartley]

Kit's eyebrows shot up and his eyes widened. He grabbed Aspen's arm in excitement. "Oh my god, your birthday! I knew someone's was around then, I just couldn't remember whose... You should throw a party, it'd be totally cool!" he enthused, a wide smile spreading across his face. "Have you thought about any themes yet? I reckon American could be pretty awesome," Kit said excitedly. He realised he was still gripping Aspen's arm and dropped his hand with an apologetic grin.

 

[Aspen Jones]

Aspen smiled as Kit's enthusiasm bubbled over.
"I like it," she said. "All Things American - An Celebration of Aspen's 12 Years." She spread her arms wide as she spoke, as if marking the outline of a huge banner. "It sounds good."
Her face fell.
"But where would we have it?" she asked. "We can't have it in the common room, because then I could only invite Gryffindors. And we can't really have it in one of the classrooms, or the Great Hall. Where would be big enough, but private enough not to have gate crashers?"

 

[Kit Hartley]

Kit laughed, nodding. "Exactly, it'll be great! I can draw a big Statue of Liberty or something if you want."
He frowned. "Good point... Outside could be okay, but if it rained or was too cold we'd have to move it inside. Where we have no place for it. Oh dear..." Kit's face screwed up in thought, and he crossed his arms. "We could ask someone who's been here longer, they might know of a place."

 

[Aspen Jones]

Aspen's face was screwed up in thought too.
"Yeah... Who would know everything there is to know about the castle?" she mused. "If there is anyone! It would be almost impossible - Hogwarts is huge, and doesn't always stay the same..."