Open Before the Curtain Closes

[Poppy Perkins]

Poppy had been excited for the Valentine's dance. She knew she would be going once again with out a date but she didn't mind. There were plenty of different kinds of love to celebrate and she wouldn't dare miss her last school event. She sighed wistfully as she stood off to the side, watching people dance and only sometimes getting distracted by the flower petals falling from the ceiling. It was an awfully romantic atmosphere. For a moment she thought of Shale but brushed it away quickly. The older girl was likely way past thinking about her and Poppy knew she should do the same. Without thinking too much she put down the cup of punch she had been holding to keep her hands busy and went out to the dance floor and started to dance even though she probably looked a bit odd dancing by herself.

 

[Chloe Thompson]

Admittedly, Chloë had been enjoying today a lot more than she would've expected. It wasn't that she had thought she wouldn't have fun but she had imagined Sully not being there to put a bit of a damper on the day. Which it had, just not as badly as she thought it would. Which was a welcome surprise. She still missed him, especially while walking into the dance on her own for the first time in a while, but knowing this would be her last dance at the school made it easier to push that thought away. All she needed to do was have fun and, on paper, she didn't need anyone else to do so. When she spotted Poppy on the dancefloor by herself she didn't hesitate to make her way over though. "Hi!" Chloë grinned at the other girl. "Mind if I join you?" Not needing anyone else to enjoy the dance didn't mean she couldn't have even more fun with someone else after all.

 

[Juniper Zumwalt]

Juniper couldn't believe this was her last dance. This semester was full of lasts, but she hoped to soak all of it in. As she entered the hall, Juniper quickly noticed her roommate and friend across the way. Seeing as they were all likely here solo, the seventh year strutted over, giving a big twirl once she reached the two girls. "Well ladies, shall we make this a night to remember?" she grinned, quickly picking up a beverage from a nearby table and taking a sip, making a face at how sour it was. She wasn't sure what it was, but she did not like it and quickly set it down. "Unless you already have plans, we could always cause some last minute chaos," she added jokingly, thinking back to how mischevious she was when she first arrived at school. Plus, she knew Chloe had a reputation to upload, and since they were all leaders in some way, that would likely be a no-go.

 

[Poppy Perkins]

Poppy brightened as Chloe joined her. "Hi!" she said excitedly, glad to run into her again. "Of course!" she laughed and made room for her. It felt like only a second later Juniper twirled over to them. "Wow, you look amazing!" she gushed over her roommate's beautiful red dress. "Yes!" she answered immediately. "I can hardly believe it's nearly the end." she said whined. She didn't want to dwell on it tonight but it was important to at least acknowledge it so they could really make the most of it. "What do you have in mind?" Poppy asked with a giggle when Juniper hinted at something mischievous.

 

[Chloe Thompson]

Chloë smiled when Poppy seemed glad for her company, laughing when Juniper made her way over to them as well. With style, obviously. "I'm sorry you both look gorgeous." She added after Poppy complimented Juniper on her dress. Honestly, she would wear both of their dresses in a heartbeat. She was glad she had opted against wearing a red dress of her own though, three in a row might've been a little too much. "Definitely." Chloë confidently agreed, suppressing a chuckle when Juniper had a little too much faith in picking up a random drink. She nodded when Poppy refered to graduation. It was something she was excited for yet she couldn't help but to feel it was a little daunting as well. At least now she finally understood why Sully had never been too keen on discussing graduation. "Yes, please enlighten us." She laughed when Juniper mentioned causing some last minute chaos. She knew her friend was likely joking but she had to admit it would be fun. Her first year self would've loved to do something exciting, something that would make people remember her. Her seventh year self still did but was well aware of the title she held and what that meant.

 

[Juniper Zumwalt]

Juniper blushed a little as they all complimented each other. "We all look amazing. Everyone should be jealous," she teased before looking around for another snack table to steal another beverage to wash the taste out of her mouth of the previous. "Hmm, not sure. Nothing dangerous. We could use some of the makeshift glitter bombs I've been creating for a special project. Throw 'em up and blow 'em up. Or we could use this time to plan a real prank. Get some other seventh years in. Could be a good time." She knew they were all very busy with NEWTs and whatnot, but it would be to at least leave their mark in some way.

 

[Poppy Perkins]

Poppy waved off Chloe’s compliment and laughed as Juniper chimed in too. They all looked nice, it was true. None of them had turned down a chance to dress up in the past and this was no exception. She laughed again as Chloe seemed just as eager to maybe get up to something. It was nice that even as Head Girl she didn’t take things too seriously. But it wasn’t like Poppy had ever taken being prefect too seriously either. She listened as Juniper listed off some ideas. Glitter bombs sounded fun but she felt a bit unprepared. The idea of planning some kind of proper prank intrigued her. “I could be persuaded.” she said tentatively but grinned. “Tell me more about those glitter bombs? How many do you have?” she asked, wanting to know more. “And where are they? They’re not in our room are they?” Poppy added quickly, suddenly worried.

 

[Chloe Thompson]

Chloë grinned when the compliments started flying around, mostly just happy she had found perfectly nice company to spend her last dance with. She listened as Juniper started talking about having created some makeshift glitter bombs, incredibly curious as to what project her friend had even managed to create those for. Maybe she had originally planned to throw them at a dress or what not. The idea of planning a solid prank intrigued her. She wondered if it was something she could pull off but if they'd plan it at the end of the year like students had done before them surely they wouldn't be able to get into a lot of trouble. Right? It wasn't as if an innocent senior prank would strip her off her head girl title. At least she didn't think it would. "I reckon you better check under your bed twice tonight." Chloë laughed when Poppy suddenly seemed worried about the idea of glitter bombs being stashed away in their dorm, shaking her head as she did. "For now, I'm just going to pretend you didn't just tell me about your makeshift glitter bombs though." She said, making a point in jokingly looking the other way before eventually turning her head back to look at the girls. "Although lanning a real prank does sound interesting.. As long as you mean something at the very end of the year."

 

[Freya Song]

Freya had never put so much of an effort into her appearance as she had for her final school dance, but it had been fun to pretend she had an actual reason for attending. There weren't many occasions she could wear an elaborate fluffy dress and she wasn't about to waste it just because she didn't have something as silly as a date. She wandered the dance floor, not quite sure what she was even looking for until she saw the group of girls from her year and felt a brief spike of nerves at approaching them, before she locked that right away. Her self-imposed tradition of bothering Poppy at events had extended to involve Juniper at the last ball, and now she figured she should collect Chloë as well, just for the sake of it. She stifled a laugh as she eavesdropped on their conversation, amused at the idea of glitter bombs. "Mm, you can't just all disappear into the aether without a dramatic farewell." Freya grinned mischievously as she crept up to the girls. "Love the glitter bomb idea, especially if you added a permanent sticking charm." she joked.

 

[Juniper Zumwalt]

Juniper snickered at Poppy's comment. "They may be in our room but are certainly not intended for any of you," she laughed. It would be a good idea to make some sort of harmless, memorable prank. "I mean, throwing glitter bombs all over the Great Hall would really leave an impact. You can't really clean that stuff up ever." Even with magic, glitter seemed invincible, and Juniper thought it was hilarious. When Freya joined them, she gave the girl a wave. "I mean, if you're all in, let's plan something. We can be strategic about it, and we won't get in any trouble. We're 'good kids,'" she said, giving a big laugh.

 

[Poppy Perkins]

Poppy's eyes widened at Chloe's joke. She had never considered what kind of secrets her roommates might be hiding in their room. Most of her things were in plain view like the flowers she strung up the other day to be dried above her headboard. She did have a box full of rocks and unidentifiable bones she found by the lake under her bed but she didn't think that was the same thing. She tried to laugh off her concern as Juniper insisted they weren't meant for her or Iris. She nearly jumped when Freya joined them, somehow not surprised at all that they had found each other. The idea of a permeant sticking charm made her nervous but Juniper did have a good point. Even without it, all the cleaning charms in the world wouldn't get it all free. Poppy chewed on her bottom lip as a plan seemed to be forming, unsure of just how involved she wanted to be but in the end she nodded in agreement. "If we do it at the end of the year feast, there really isn't anything they can do at all." she pointed out.