Dancing on my own

[Lyra Potter]

Lyra Potter walked in to the Great Hall with a smile on her face and her twin at her side. She just loved parties, and the Yule Ball was the best party of the year. She had been anxiously awaiting it for the last month. Her red dress swished gently at her sides as her green eyes surveyed the room. It was as lovely as it always was. Christmas was The Gryffindor girl looked around the room once more, trying to find any of her friends. She hoped Falon would be here somewhere. Link had walked down from the Gryffindor Common Room with her. She rolled her eyes at him now as he gave her a squeeze in a rare public gesture of affection. Who knew what he was off to do. Lyra was sure he would tell her all about his night later. Briefly, she wondered if he was meeting a girl, but then thought better of it. He would have told her that. There wasn't much he kept secret from her. The Gryffindor girl made her way to the punch table to get a drink.

 

[Twyla Rothery]

While Twyla had trouble taking her eyes off all the decorations in the Great Hall, all the preparations and dancing she'd already done had worked up a big thirst for her. Luckily, there was a punch table she could meander toward! On her way there, she got distracted by a floating decoration, her wide eyes looking in the opposite direction of where she was actually going - and the redhead ended up bumping right into some other girl who was already at the punch table.

Twyla's eyes snapped back round to look at the girl and discovered she'd managed to run right into a Gryffindor. "I'm sorry, you were in my way. Were you getting a drink?"

 

[Lyra Potter]

Lyra was thanking the professor at the table who handed her a drink when she felt a shove from behind her. The newly poured drink in her hand spilt and went all over her dress and shoes. The petite brunette made an exasperated noise as she quickly grabbed napkins off of the table. The Gryffindor turned to face the girl who had knocked in to her. The girl's words annoyed her. Lyra had been in her way? More like she hadn't been paying attention to where she was walking. "Obviously, I was getting a drink, but now I'm wearing it." she said, her annoyance clear in her voice. She looked around the hall for her Aunt Cyndi. Maybe she could do a spell to clean Lyra's dress for her. "You really need to pay more attention to what you're doing." Lyra told the girl in a bossy voice.

 

[Twyla Rothery]

Twyla couldn't help but giggle at the mess she'd accidentally made, even though she probably shouldn't have. The girl's dress had ended up a mess because of her, after all. But at least it wasn't her own dress that had punch spilled on it, right?

Her last comment replaced Twyla's giggle with defensiveness, and Twyla put a hand on her hip. "If I paid any more attention, I'd be broke." With her free hand, she reached for the cups to get her own drink of punch. "Anyway, it's not like anyone will be able to tell once it dries. They're the same colour, after all."

 

[Lyra Potter]

Lyra rolled her green eyes at the first year girl. It was clear that she didn't have a clue how much the Gryffindor girl's dress had cost. Her unapologetic response really got under her skin. "It's silk. Of course, it will leave a stain." she said, irritably. Not that leaving the stain was really the point. Magic could probably get the spot out. Looking around the room, she didn't see her Aunt or any other professors in the nearby area. What she did see was Felix entering the room with his girlfriend.

Lyra turned around and put the napkins down, picking up a new drink. Without really thinking about it, Lyra intentionally bumped in to the other girl, spilling the drink in her handl. "Oops. Sorry. You were in my way." she said, feeling satisfied. It was a little petty for her to do, but she wasn't someone who always thought through all of her actions. She turned to walk away from the girl before she could get herself in to any real trouble.
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[Twyla Rothery]

Twyla gave an overdramatic gasp as her drink spilled all over her hand and the front of her dress. "How could you! I said I was sorry, you know." Her face went from a glare to a ridiculous pout as the other girl turned away from her. "I just wanted a drink and to say hi...hmph!"

She got another drink with a shaking hand and drank it all in one go. Then she sank down in front of the table until she was fully on the ground, her pouting face looking at the girl's back. "I didn't mean to run into you, it's not my fault the decorations are so pretty..." Her voice had turned from a sarcastic hiss into a regretful little whine, hoping to make things right in her own way.

 

[Noah Kingsley]

Noah was in awe of everything he saw in the Great Hall. The decorations, the dancing, the music, the other students all created a beautiful picture. His mother had told him stories of the ball, but it was nothing compared to experiencing it for the first time. He looked around for any familiar faces, mostly the faces of his cousins. They were really the only friends that he had at the school. He spotted Lyra talking to a girl in his house and his year.

Noah had almost reached the two girls when he saw Lyra throw a drink at the girl. The Slytherin boy raised his eyebrows at the uncharacteristic action of Lyra to be so directly mean. "Ly!" he exclaimed. "What is going on?" he asked diplomatically. "Please excuse my cousin." he apologized to the girl before turning back to Lyra. "What if mum saw you? You know she would tell your mum, not to mention taking house points." he said rationally.

 

[Twyla Rothery]

Twyla looked up at the boy who'd come to her defense. A Slytherin of her year! She smiled through her pout at him. "I didn't know she was there, I just bumped into her by accident."

His reprimanding of the girl she'd bumped into made another giggle temporarily replace her pout. She watched the two of them intently, almost hoping for them to start fighting. That would make all this worth it for Twyla.

 

[Eduardo Orbon]

Enjoying his evening thoroughly, Eduardo knew the students should be feeling similarly so as he looked around he was nothing short of happy for them all at least that was until he looked over at the drinks table where there seemed to be a growing spat between two young girls and perhaps a boy. Drinks being thrown could easily escalate so the man sighed, and excused himself from his company briefly to handle the situation. He approached and cleared his throat behind the boy who seemed to have the most rational out of the lot of them. "I would listen to Mr Kingsley." Although the boy was not his student yet he did make a habit of knowing his bosses children should they ever get into trouble in his company.

He looked over at the girls, ignoring the younger ones explanation because he felt it unnecessary and that her reactions were not the best for the situation and said, "You are both witches, I suspect you know there is a spell that can fix this?" He looked at them with an arched brow before flicking his wrist twice so both dresses were clean and dry. He looked at them harshly now and asked, "Now should I put this all down to the stress of exams or will I have to remove house points and tell you both to return to your dorms immediately?" He suspected he knew their answers and would expect an apology not only to him but to each other so they could all continue with their evenings although he would be keeping an eye on the two.

 

[Twyla Rothery]

Twyla's eyes went gratefully wide as her dress and the other's were magically cleaned up in an instant. She stood up and leaned against the table, one hand awkwardly cradling the back of her neck. "...just first year stress, Professor..." she mumbled at him before turning to the girl. "It was an accident, you know? I'm sorry. We should just both have fun tonight, yeah?" She offered an apologetic glance to her and the professor as well.

 

[Lyra Potter]

Lyra ignored the girl's excuses. She could tell that she wasn't actually sorry, and she really didn't care that she messed up Lyra's pretty dress. The witch rolled her eyes as she heard her younger cousin intervene. He was much more of a peace maker than Lyra. She supposed had to be ever since Uncle Cameron was elected Minister for Magic. "Leave it alone, Noah." She told him, knowing that even though she was older, he wouldn't listen to her. Noah was right. She didn't want to hear her mother's nagging over the holidays that she needed to be a better student. Not that she would ever admit to Noah being right. She had a stubborn streak that was family signature trait.

The Gryffindor girl was now in a foul mood and she wanted to say something else spiteful to the annoying first year girl when a professor interrupted. The Professor knew who Noah was, and likely knew her as well. One of the many disadvantages of having a noteworthy family. As long as he didn't summon Aunt Cyndi she could talk her way out of it. The third year put on her sweetest smile. "Thank you so much for correcting our dresses. The exams can make the best of us a little crazy." She said apologetically.
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[Eduardo Orbon]

Professor Orbon nodded at the two girls and was to accept the explanation he had offered the pair of them but just before he allowed them to continue on he said, "Names and houses, please." He didn't know either but he expected they were both quite young, perhaps both first years along with the young Mr. Kingsley. Either way he wanted to have this information so he could better keep an eye and ear out for any trouble that they might cause throughout the rest of the night. They were skating on thin ice and unfortunately not in the sense that the professors had wished when they'd all decided to have a rink in the altered great hall.

 

[Twyla Rothery]

Twyla tried to act like she wasn't offended by Lyra ignoring her apology, putting on a happier and more polite face instead. "I'm Twyla Rothery, sir. Slytherin House. Is that okay?" While it was easy for her to get into fights with other students, she always did her best to make authority figures around her happy and get on their good side. "Tonight is for having fun, not causing trouble. I know that. I'll be on my best behaviour for the rest of the night."

 

[Lyra Potter]

Lyra looked up at the professor as he asked for the names and houses of the two girls. He clearly knew who Noah was already. The Gryffindor waited as Twyla answered the question first. "Lyra Potter, Gryffindor." The brunette answered concisely. She was tired of this altercation and wished to go do something with her friends. Or go find Link and tell him about what happened.
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[Noah Kingsley]

Noah sighed internally as he heard a professor say his name. He shouldn't be surprised that he was recognized. He kept the annoyance off of his face. It was a blank slate. He saw the other girl stammering and babbling while Lyra was cool and silent. That was to be expected. She had years of practice at hiding her emotions. Also, Lyra was an excellent liar. He had watched her lie on multiple occasions to the adults in their lives. Noah waited patiently, with his mouth shut, to see what would happen.