Open Crowded Corners

[Eutropia Vetrov]

Eutropia was dumb. He knew by the dictionary definition that he probably wasn't but, by any other definition, yes, he was. He and Maggie had a weird and somewhat complicate relationship. Were they dating, weren't they? It was certainly harder to tell than he thought it was that was for sure. They'd had this relationship for almost two years now and yet he still somehow forgot to send her a bloody rose. Clearly he wasn't very intelligent for that reason, surely the least he could have done was write something, anything really. He liked Maggie, a lot, but still it was like he had completely forgotten she'd existed for a moment, or at least maybe he'd forgotten that Valentine's existed, which was the statistically more likely culprit he thought. He walked into the dance and looked around, quickly and quietly tucking himself into a corner. He was here, but he wasn't. Probably for the best.​

 

[Professor Adorah Zumwalt]

Adorah made her way to the dance, solely for social purposes. She didn't have a date and wasn't into the "lovey dovey" thing, but maybe this dance would still be fun without a companion. She walked around the room and made her way into a corner, leaning against the wall. Next to her was an older boy who also seemed to be alone. "Are you having fun so far?" she asked. So far, her experience with some of the older students, other than Mazikeen had been pretty negative.

 

[Eutropia Vetrov]

Eutropia was a little bit caught up in his own world, so he didn't notice a younger student nearby until she was speaking to him. He looked up at first, expecting one of his classmates and then frowned when he saw no one he really recognised. He shook his head then and smiled, hoping he didn't offend the girl by at first frowning at her. "Oh, hello, I'm so sorry, I didn't see you," he explained, hoping she wouldn't be too upset. He didn't really know how to answer her question, but he didn't really want to start spilling his guts to a... how old was she? "Oh, well, I don't know yet, hard to tell. It's really only just started." He said instead, heading her off at the pass. He wondered if she'd come with friends, but had to assume she hadn't if she was in the corner talking to a boy she didn't know. "Have you just come to make an appearance so people can't say you didn't come, or are you here earlier than expected and waiting for someone?"​

 

[Professor Adorah Zumwalt]

Adorah was surprised the boy had talked to her. She was surprised by his question. In some ways, it's how she felt, but at the same time, it was kind of nice to just be around people. Her social anxiety wasn't as bad as it used ot be, but big parties still made her a little bit nervous. "Oh no no no, I'm not with anyone," she responded quickly. "Why else would I be hiding in a corner?" she asked. "Are you waiting for someone?" she asked cautiously.

 

[Eutropia Vetrov]

Eutropia smiling lightly at the younger girl, curious as to what might have brought her over to talk to him. He wasn’t usually someone he would consider the approachable type, head always in a book for the most part, he supposed this was the world he’d been missing out on with his face covered by literature and text. “Well, some people hide in corners to hide from other people. Are you one of those?” He wasn’t usually much of a talker, more a listener than anything, but this was keeping his mind of other priorities he probably should have had. What were he and Maggie anyway? “I’m not. I probably should have been, had I been smart. But you’ll learn as you grow that boys are often stupid.” He shook his head with a small laugh.​

 

[Professor Adorah Zumwalt]

Adorah looked at the boy when he suggested she was hiding. If you had asked her this question a few years ago, she probably would have said yes. However, since coming to Hogwarts, she felt more confident in herself. She still didn't have many friends, but it was better than being moved half way across the world becasue you're viewed as dangerous. "Not necessarily," she replied to the boy. "Are you one of those people?" she asked him jokingly. "I'm Adorah, by the way." She was a little taken aback when the boy started talking about boys. She started picking at her nail beds uncomfortably and just nodded, looking out at the people dancing and canoodling. "Do you want a drink? I think I'm going to go grab some punch."

 

[Maggie Majors]

Maggie had never expected to feel the way she did. For years she'd been happy to take things as slow as Ro possibly wanted her to, although after someone else had asked her to the dance she realised just how little Ro had done for her since she'd first admitted to liking him. Did he even care at all? It wasn't as though they were even a couple or anything, not officially, so why was she surprised that he never seemed to do anything for her? Maybe she was just being naeve. The sixth was wearing a long sheer black dress, walking through the Great Hall as she waited for her date to arrive, when she spotted Ro talking to another girl a little way away. She walked in their direction, but made it obvious that she had no intention of talking to the other Pufflehuff. If he was going to ignore her, well, she could do the same too.​

 

[Eutropia Vetrov]

Ro chuckled lightly at the young girl. She was clearly quite intelligent, he liked that. People who didn’t have any wit were boring. “I suppose I am, after a fashion,” he admitted, shrugging, after all he was essentially hiding from Maggie and her date. He didn’t know much of Noelle, even as they shared a dorm, he didn’t spend any time with his dormmates, he preferred much smaller company, even Maggie had been a big change for him. “That’s a nice name, I’m Eutropia, but you may call me Ro, if you want,” he said, surprised at himself. There weren’t many he allowed to nickname him, but Eutropia really was a mouthful, and it was only Thala who ever full named him, most people either didn’t know his name or called him Vetrov. He raised an eyebrow as she started picked at her nail bed and was about to comment when she asked if he was thirsty. “Oh, yes I suppose I...” he stopped though when he was a familiar Hufflepuff approaching. Was she approaching? She seemed like she was on a set path, walking past to prove a point? “Maggie?” He really did need to talk to her, but was this the appropriate setting for it?​

 

[Professor Adorah Zumwalt]

Adorah was thankful that Eutropia said yes to a beverage when he stopped taking and stared at a girl he called Maggie. The Ravenclaw looked in the direction of his gaze and saw a really pretty girl. She stopped picking at her nails and inserted herself back into the boy's attention. "Umm, I'll get us some punch." She walked over to the snack table and grabbed two glasses while she watched the boy from afar. She usually didn't talk to people, and her anxiety was really high tonight for some reason. If the girl he was hiding from, Adorah thought she might just leave with both glasses of punch to avoid watching an awkward encounter unfold.

 

[Maggie Majors]

When Maggie heard her name, she naturally stood up a little taller than she had been, even though she was already doing her best to stand in a way that would make her dress look the best. The girl he was talking to sort of floated in a different direction as the tension in the air was suddenly more obvious. "What?" she snapped back, turning her head to look straight at him. The boy who never seemed to have anything to say, and yet as soon as she was here doing something for herself, what, he was going to question it? Why should he be surprised to see her here anyway. "Did you think I was not going to come to this dance Ro?" she asked angrily, a heavy frown on her brows as she realised her muscles had tensed up completely as she watched him for a reaction she didn't think would come. ​

 

[Eutropia Vetrov]

Ro was at a loss. He knew there were words he was supposed to say, but all of them would be a lie. He had no excuses for his behaviour and now his actions towards Maggie, or rather, lack of action towards Maggie, had come back two fold to curse him. "No, I-" He looked over to where Adorah had removed herself and shot her an apologetic look. She was holding two glasses, so she'd thought about coming back, maybe, though it was probably wise of her to stay away now, he didn't want her to get caught up in anything she was not involved in. She didn't need to be part of this. It had been lovely talking to her, but he needed to speak to his... whatever Maggie was, now. "Thank you," he mouthed in the young girls direction, though he couldn't be sure she'd be able to make it out, since she was a bit further away than he would have liked for her to be able to read his lips. Assuming she could read lips at all, of course. He looked back at Maggie. "I didn't not expect you to come. That is why I am in the corner, Maggie. I wanted you to enjoy your time here where you wouldn't have to see me... only that hasn't worked and I am very sorry about that." He said, shaking his head. He had wanted to see her in her dress though, because he knew she took this seriously, he just hoped she wouldn't run into him and she did, in fact, look absolutely amazing. "I'm really sorry." She was there with Noelle, not with him. That Maxwell kid he'd heard had recently broken up with his prefect girlfriend. This school was weird.​

 

[Maggie Majors]

As Maggie listened to the excuse that Ro tried to pull out of the air, it hurt more than she thought it would. He was mouthing something to the girl out the way but the Pufflehuff just waited until she had his full attention. He was trying to stay out of her way? “Right, so even though I asked you to come with me to the dance last year, and the ball, you do not ever want to ask me?” She clarified. If he was hiding away trying not to let her see him then that meant he hoped he had come without her. “Fine. I will stop bothering about you then,” Maggie looked down to pick up a drink, more because it hid the fact she had tears in her eyes, and turned and away from the boy who was never going to do anything for her. “Excuse me, my date is waiting,” she said, purely to add a little salt in the wound and walked away from the couple to go and find Noelle. She’d clearly wasted too much time pursuing Ro and now she just felt like a fool, a fool who just wanted a friend.​

 

[Eutropia Vetrov]

How was it that he could speak English and Maggie could still completely misunderstand him? Did he need to learn Korean too? "Maggie, that's not what I said at all," he tried, desperate to get her to understand. He liked Maggie, he really did, but, he wasn't the social type. He didn't think about these activities like other people did. If she hadn't asked him to the dance last year, he wouldn't have attended at all. He'd told her that before she'd asked him. He hadn't intended to go, how could she completely misunderstand him like this? Didn't she know what he was like? "Maggie I don't-" she cut him off before he was able to try and bring the conversation back. She didn't even want to hear him out at all? He slumped against the wall. She knew he didn't have any friends, didn't she? Why on Earth did she think that was? What was it about him that made people think he was good with other people? Can't possibly have been the fact they saw him outside of the library maybe once a month on a really rare occasion. When he wasn't in the library he was in the common room. That why people always seemed to know where he was, because he was a creature of habit and he wasn't good with change. Yet, everyone expected miracles out of him and she had the audacity to hold him completely to blame? He didn't even know if they were dating, she'd never said anything to him. Granted, he'd never said anything to her either and instead of discussing it with him, she'd immediately accepted Noelle's invitation to the dance, with complete disregard to how Ro might feel about it. She wasn't innocent in this, neither of them were, and yet whilst she got to walk away, Ro was stuck frozen to the wall in the corner, the corner that seemed a lot more crowded than it had when he'd first made it here earlier tonight.​

 

[Professor Adorah Zumwalt]

Adorah watched as the older girl and boy interacted with each other. The girl ended up walking away, and Adorah stood with a glass of punch in each hand, wondering if she should even start to venture back over. A group walked in front of her as she decided to at least give the boy a drink like she had offered. As she walked over, she held out one of the glasses. "Uhh, here you go?" she said hesistantly. "Who was that you were talking to?"