Closed Daisies

[Norton Gillespie]

Norton was in slight disbelief at the fact that this was his final yuleball. He had been to every single celebration since arriving at the school and it was pretty sad to him that this was the last one. He had of course asked April to the fance with him, feeling the importance of actually asking her to the dance rather than just assuming they would go together. Norton wanted nothing more than to spend the time with her, and had declared to himself that he would do it lie it was their first dance together. He had arranged a time to meet her at the great hall so they could proudly walk in together but he had gotten there ahead of time, he had wanted to be able to show how much this event meant to him and how much he loved these events with her. The one year it had been bad, being the point where he knew he needed to be honest about how he felt towards her. He had brought a daisy for her, preserved by magic to always be in bloom. She had once said that if she were a flower she would be daisy, and he was more than willing to give her all of the daisies in the world, but for now, at this event just the one. He had it in his pocket and would give it to her once she got there. But he was early and would have to just wait in impatience for his beautiful girlfriend to arrive. ​

 

[April Ward]

April's heart hurt whenever she remembered that this would be the last yule ball she would ever have, and it was difficult to stop thinking about it. So far, April had done a pretty good job ignoring the reality that her time at Hogwarts was coming to an end, but somehow the yule ball was harder to ignore. She had had so much fun at these events over the past years, but especially the last few years with Norton. Dressed in what had to be her best yule ball dress to date, April headed over to the great hall where Norton would be waiting for her. At the sight of him, the sadness of the night seemed to fade away a little. He looked as handsome as ever, and she spotted the daisy in his hand which made her heart do a funny little jump. She remembered the conversation about flowers they'd once had, where they had compared Norton to a sunflower herself to a daisy. She took Norton's hand and squeezed it. "Hi..." She said softly. "Is that for me?" It was perhaps a bit of a silly question. "Are you ready?" She added, wondering if Norton was feeling nervous too about their final yule ball.

 

[Norton Gillespie]

Norton smiled at her as she walked down the steps and he couldn’t help how wide he felt the joyful smile go. He loved her so much. She was so beautiful, her goodness so evident. He held out the daisy out for her and nodded. ”You’re my daisy,” he grinned at her and quickly tucked it behind her ear, ”As the king of flowers, I have to make sure my queen looks the most flowery,” he told her with a little laugh. But at her question he shook his head, ”Not really, this is the last one,” he motioned to the hall but he knew it was just a silly nervousness about it. He loved how it looked, how she looked and how much fun they would have together. ”Do you think if we stay out here they’ll let us stay?” Norton joked. Norton would miss a lot of aspects of the school, but he knew at the end of the day he would pretty happy about leaving, it was just doing the last of things that was a little nerve wracking. A little sad but he knew there was no one he would rather face it with that April. ”I do really want to dance though,” Norton squeezed her hand lightly and began walking towards the hall, they would have a good time, a good final ball. ​

 

[April Ward]

Norton tucked the daisy securely behind her ear. She was going to save this one forever. "You're so sappy." She told him, though she was secretly very touched by the gesture and his sweet words. She nudged him gently. "Don't make me cry, I'll look terrible in all the pictures for the yearbook." She joked, though she then took his hand and entwined their fingers. His question made her smile, but she shook her head. "I don't want to waste the night. Besides, don't you want to see if Professor Alicastell finally changed the decorations?" She joked lightly. They headed into the hall and April laughed. "Nope." She said, looking up at the snow fondly.

 

[Norton Gillespie]

Norton grinned as she called him sappy, he didn’t mind that, as long as April always felt like the most special girl in the world, he would always be happy to be sappy. ”You’d always look beautiful to me,” he told her with a little grin, ”Well, so long as there’s no snot coming out your nose,” he added laughing lightly. He let her lead them into the hall, and laughed as the decorations remained the same as they had been at all of the events that they had attended. He looked at the room with a found expression, even if it was always the same, he wouldn’t mind it, ”Next year we could go to a yule celebration with actual snow,” he said looking up at the snow. The freedom that the next year would bring was nerve wracking but he couldn’t help but think they would be just fine, ”Come on, they’re playing our song,” Norton joked as he pulled her out on to the dance floor where some nondescript pop song with a fast tempo was playing. Where their dancing could and had always excelled. ​

 

[April Ward]

April stuck out her tongue as Norton said the comment about snot. She giggled too, it made her feel more at ease to talk jokingly. "I do look beautiful when there's snot coming out of my nose, you're rude." She insisted, but then she kissed his cheek. April's happy expression faltered as Norton brought up what they would be doing next year. The year after graduation was a scary unknown to her. "I guess." She said, feeling a bit uneasy. "But that would mean we'd have to go somewhere that is not in New Zealand, where it's winter..." She said, her thought trailing off. She was going to ask him more about this idea, but as Norton pulled her onto the dance floor the thought was forgotten. April's smile came back to her easily as she moved to the music, spinning and twirling happily with Norton.

 

[Norton Gillespie]

Norton could understand her tone as she talked about where they could be next year. He knew it was it hard to think about, Hogwarts had been such a constant for so long that it was odd to think about when they wouldn’t be at it, when it wouldn’t take up most of their lives. He couldn’t wait for elements of it, like the freedom of not having exams, the freedom to always cook for themselves. He wasn’t sure what April’s plans for after school were, they hadn’t really discussed it. It had always seemed so far away and they liked their little hogwarts bubble. But this last Yuleball was not the point to discuss it. Instead it was time to have fun, to enjoy their last yuleball together, so of course he just went to dance, taking April with him. The happy grin on his features wouldn’t fade as he enjoyed his time with her. Just jumping around, dancing in the uncoordinated fashion that they always had done so. He wouldn’t have wanted to spend this yuleball with anyone else. He could happily spend the whole night happily dancing with her. ​

 

[April Ward]

As they danced. April grinned at Norton and grabbed his hand. They usually did whatever moves came to mind, jumping around and spinning and generally taking up what was probably more than their fair share of room on the dance floor. April pulled Norton closer and stopped moving as wildly so she could press her lips against his. Here, on the middle of the dance floor, she wanted to let him know she loved him and wanted to stay with him. April was never the best at putting those things into words, but she thought Norton probably understood what she meant.

 

[Norton Gillespie]

Norton was always so happy when they danced together. He loved the feel of the music with her. They were always able to dance so easily, so in tune with their crazier movements, they would’ve never been able to dance slowly, that just wasn’t their style. The teen was pretty happy to just enjoy these moments with her, enjoy how they made him feel. How perfect it was with her. He smiled at her as she pressed her lips to his and he smiled at her. He knew that they would face the future together. He kept his gaze on her with a little nod, leaning in and kissing her back, showing to her that he agreed with her. That he loved her too. Loved her a whole lot and more than willing to do so much for her. The teen pulled away and just held her face in his hands for a little moment, pressing little kisses all around her face, making sure to be gross and embarrassing as he did so. He pulled away and booped her nose with a finger, laughing after. ​

 

[April Ward]

As they kissed, April held on tightly to the front of Norton's jacket. She could feel the smile on his lips as their lips pressed together. They kissed for a while, and when they pulled back Norton had her face cupped in his hands. She grinned at him, then laughed in surprise as he started pressing kisses all over her face. "Norton!" She called, giggling. She pushed at him weakly, but didn't really try very hard to push him away. It was a bit sappy and embarrassing, but cute too. She gasped in mock horror as he booped her nose, and quickly did it in return to him. "You're weird." She announced, but she was smiling. "Are you trying to win most embarrassing couple? I don't think they give an award for that."

 

[Norton Gillespie]

Norton grinned easily at her as she booped his nose quickly in return, breaking into easy laughter when April told him he was weird, ”Hey, you love this weirdo, so doesn’t that make you even weirder?” he joked with her, light laughter in his tone as he said it. He loved her so much and he’d always be crazy for her, dance madly for her, be a weirdo for her. He shook his head, ”You missed it, but before you arrived at the Hall, they announced that they’d have a competition for the most grossly cute couple, one time only, and I want that prize,” Norton said to her. He was obviously kidding, his tone, lacking the real seriousness it needed to even begin the pretending for it. He was looked at her, and seeing if she at all bought what he’d said, though he knew that if such an award was real, he could definitely help them win it. ​