Don't Look Now

[Andi Forstrom]

The valentine's dance was less formal than the yule ball, but still an event where Andi found her herself feeling out of place. She wasn't sure why she continued to try and dress up, knowing for sure that it wasn't in her nature to make so much of an effort nevertheless wear heels by choice. But for some reason unbeknownst to her she felt the pressure to at least try her hand at looking nice a second time in the spirit of valentine's day. Ironically enough in this plight to celebrate the spirit of the holiday reserved for couples she went to the dance without her boyfriend, the red rose he sent and their previous attempt at attending a school event together the premise for her attending the dance solo rather than with him. She felt a sense of guilt knowing neither her or Aodhan really wanted to go to the yule ball that year and didn't want their night together to be ruined again after the effort of getting ready, when they could simply cozy up together later on after she returned to the common room. Attending solo was a choice she felt confident in, though as the evening progressed and she realized how alone she seemed the temptation to leave slowly crept up on her.

During one of the many slow songs that played in a row was when Andi finally decided to leave the hall and get some fresh air, procrastinating her return to Gryffindor house for a little while for no other reason than she dreaded ascending the grand staircase when her feet were sore from her heels. Her break from the dance lead her to the courtyard and she moved to lean against one of the pillars, bending a leg to remove each of her shoes and quickly discarding them on the stone nearby. With her feet now bare and her height lowered by a few centimeters Andi crossed her arms and sighed, staring to the night sky above her and losing herself in thought.

Outfit​

 

[Rory Fergusson]

Rory had put on his formal outfit and headed to the valentines day ball. He didn’t have a partner nor did he intend to really seek anyone out. He would dance if the occasion brought it up but as the night had gone on he hadn’t. In the end Rory had decided that he should at the very least apologise to the girl, Andi whose night he had possibly ruined at the yuleball. He had spotted her when she’d walked in the hall, he’d been unable to not at least spot her in the room. The beautiful red dress, her entire self made his heart beat in a way he’d never experience before. Was this what actually having a crush on someone felt like. The slytherin hadn’t felt this way about anyone. Anabelle had been because of convenience and he had liked Therese, but just not like this. It was a pretty pointless crush, he knew his parents likely had someone for him. He turned seventeen this year, and by the end of next he’d be graduated, so there was no sense in getting involved with anyone now. However despite saying that Rory decided that he at least wanted to be on good terms with Andi. Or at least where she didn’t hate him quite as much.

The slytherin had thought about doing it now, but it seemed a bit much to do it as the event around them continued, and he had easily lost track of her in the crowd. That was until he spotted her leaving. This seemed like as good an opportunity as ever to chase after her and take the time to apologise, after all, seeing her between classes or around the place was more difficult. He spotted that at least she wasn’t heading back upstairs but in fact out to the courtyard. Rory followed her and realised she was just looking up at the sky. He cleared his throat loudly, alerting her that he was stood there. ”Andi,” he said a little tentatively, he didn’t want to overly startle her and he just wanted to take the opportunity to apologise so hopeful she wouldn’t lose it with him so much.
​

 

[Andi Forstrom]

The sound of someone clearing their throat didn't scare Andi as much as it bothered her to know she wasn't alone. It didn't help that the sound of her name or more the recognisable voice behind her name belonged one of the last people she wanted to see again on the night of a school event. Really all she wanted was to take a moment to herself away from the crowded great hall and give her feet a chance to recover from her shoes before she ascended the stairs to her common room. Finding herself interrupted wasn't ideal and especially so when she was being interrupted by Rory Fergusson. Nevertheless she tried to mask some of the bitterness she was feeling as she looked over to him, keeping any insults running in her mind at bay. Though it wasn't impossible to remove the slight frown taking over her features knowing he was trying to speak to her again. No matter how bitter she still felt over having her yule ball ruined and the worry suddenly appearing that her valentine's was about to be ruined as well, it had occurred to her that the out of context 'sorry' note that accompanied one of her roses that day might have been from him, and if he was going out of his way to fully apologize now she did not want to ruin it before it happened. "Rory." She regarded in response, trying to sound as neutral as possible. It also wasn't lost on her that he had learned her name which was a step in the right direction, if nothing else. "What do you want?" It seemed smart to her to ask why he was there and clarify if he was about to apologize or not because otherwise she would be wasting her time talking to him.​

 

[Rory Fergusson]

The relationship he had with Andi was tense to say the least, but he knew his behaviour in the last few months had been born of some deep frustration with how he felt towards therese and knowing it would never come to anything, now being on the other side of that, he knew that ruining her yuleball hadn’t been a good reaction to her being mean towards him. He kept his gaze on her as she turned to look at him, and he could tell that she was probably not happy that he was taking the time to speak to her, barely hidden bitterness being expressed towards him from her. The slytherin looked at her and shrugged, ”I just wanted tae apologise,” the boy said, ”I’m sorry,” Rory made sure to actually say the words, he spoke sincerely. ”I was frustrated and shouldn’t have taken it out on ye and yer partner,” Rory didn’t want to say anything more, he was almost sure that she wouldn’t accept the apology, that she’d assume he was doing it for his own gain, and maybe he was crushing on her a little, but he did genuinely feel bad about how he’d been acting towards her. He couldn’t admit to most people when he was wrong, mostly, Rory knew he wasn’t wrong, but he knew that towards Andi he had been acting wrong.​