Feelin' the Music

[Derek Tahana]

Derek was very happy that the yuleball celebrations were upon them. Of course he didn’t have a date for the event but he was young, he didn’t need one, he could just have fun. He wanted to just have fun. That was exactly what he was doing, he would have fun at this event, he would be certain of that. The young slytherin had gotten dressed up for the occasion, actually putting on a suit, his grandfather had always talked about the importance of dressing for the occasion and he would do that here too. Which was why he was wearing a suit that was maybe a little big for him and certainly looked a little uncomfortable on him. He was just hoping that the night would progress quickly enough so he could at least lose the tie. Almost immediately after arriving at the great hall, he pulled off the suit jacket and rolled up his shirt sleeves. It was warm enough that he could use that as an excuse. Derek wasted no time and immediately headed out to the dance floor. He would find others soon enough, but he was definitely looking to just have fun.
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[Arielle Marchand]

Arielle was only in first year and she didn't really think she would enjoy going to a dance that much, but going to one was always an opportunity to either meet up with her twins or befriend people and tonight that was exactly her goal, she decided, as she put on her dress and finished to get ready. She shrugged, it was the simplest thing she could find, even though she wasn't sure she liked herself in it one hundred per cent. She arrived to the great hall and she smiled when she saw how many people were here already. Hopefully, nothing would give away that she was only a first year and if it did, Arielle wouldn't mind that much. She went to the snack table, because why not? When she spotted someone else, a fellow classmate, on the dance floor, the Gryffindor watched him, enjoying how carefree he seemed. Well, good for him. ​

 

[Emilia Manning]

Emilia wasn't entirely sure why she even went to the Yule Ball. Now that she was here, she felt like a little girl in a crowd of beautiful adults. Everyone looked so wonderful, and she felt a little nervous as she walked around. The dance floor especially made her nervous. Most of all, she was looking for a familiar face. She mostly wanted to find her cousins, but anyone in her year that she recognized would be good as well. Emilia just didn't want to be here all on her own, crowded by strangers. She spotted Derek dancing a small distance away and hesitantly waved at him, though she had no idea if he would see it. She didn't really want to move closer, as the idea of being expected to dance made her skin crawl.

 

[Derek Tahana]

Derek was easily lost in having the fun he wanted to have, and noticed eventually that someone was looking over at him. He noticed Emilia as she waved at him and he happily waved back motioning for her to come join him dancing. It did appear that she wasn't entirely game for such a thing, she didn't seem to want to join him. He could understand why someone wouldn't want to dance, but he also thought that at an event like this, it was almost silly not to do at least a little dancing. So, instead he decided to walk over to her, maybe that way he would entice her to dance, "Emilia, do you want to come join me instead of staring?" he asked with a bright smile on his face, he noticed that someone else was looking in his direction, a girl from his year group, a gryffindor perhaps. He waved at her too, doing the same wave he had done to Emilia before walking over, "Do you not like dancing?" he asked her, figuring that had to be it, either that or she was embarrassed, after all there was no reason to not have the most amount of fun at this event.
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[Emilia Manning]

Emilia figured Derek would wave back at her and continue having fun on his own, so she was surprised when he motioned for her to come dance. As she was deciding what to do, he walked over to her. She blushed brightly when he said she had been staring, as she hadn't meant to look weird. "I'm sorry." She said quickly. "I didn't mean to stare." His other question about if she didn't like dancing made her nervous too. She looked down at her dress. She really liked it, the long skirt making her feel like a real princess. Nervously, she gripped a bit of fabric of the skirt and twisted it between her fingers. "I don't know. I don't think I'd be very good at dancing." she said quietly, glancing up at him shyly. "You can go on, it looked like you were having fun."

 

[Derek Tahana]

Derek shook his head, "I don't mind!" he really didn't mind, he knew that dancing by oneself was not the most normal thing, but he didn't want Emilia to feel like she'd done wrong by staring at him. He wondered if it was because she wanted to dance or because she was so off put by him dancing alone. In either case he didn't really mind. Derek was surprised that she didn't know if she liked dancing, had she never danced before? He couldn't imagine not having danced, and he didn't think it would matter if someone wasn't very good. "Dancing is easy and it's okay to be bad at it!" he told her, extending a hand to her, "I'll show you!" he offered, keeping his hand out to her. He would of course try and get her to dance even if it was just there and just some swaying on the spot, he thought it was silly to come to this sort of event and not take the occasion to dance, and dance as much as he could. "We can dance right here, no moving into the lime light of the dance floor,"
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[Emilia Manning]

Derek was a good friend, and Emilia couldn't help but relax as he made her feel more at ease. She liked the boy and was happy to spend some time talking to him, even though she felt bad for keeping him away from his dancing. She wasn't sure what to say when he old her it was easy and that it was okay to be bad at it. That was a strange thing to say. People were all around them, if they were bad at it, wouldn't they be laughed at? He extended his hand to her and she looked at it uncertainly. A part of her was reminded of the fairy tales she loved, the ones with balls like this where princesses and princes danced together. Her cheeks heated up and she glanced up at him, briefly meeting his gaze. As he mentioned they could dance here outside of the lime light, she finally nodded and took his hand. "...Okay." She said shyly, flashing him a small smile. "If you want, you can show me."

 

[Derek Tahana]

Derek was pretty sure that he could get Emilia to join him, he might just have to persuade her a little more. He would accept that she didn't want to after a little more pushing, it was dancing, dancing was fun. He smiled brightly as she took his hand, and he knew this was going to be just fine, "It's easy, trust me!" he told her excitedly, clearly happy she had decided to try it with him. He wasn't very good at dancing, there were bits and pieces he could do, but Derek had all the confidence he would need. He kept a hold of Emilia's hand as he just got them to sway nothing too complicated, just finding the rhythm and moving lightly to it, "See, dancing's not too hard," Derek was pretty happy he'd gotten her to dance, "Spin under my arm," he lifted his arm, the one holding on to hers and motioned for her to go under it in a twirl, though first doing it himself to show her what he was asking, simple, fun dance moves.
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[Emilia Manning]

Emilia couldn't stop feeling shy and uncertain easily, but she also felt a little giddy. Derek was being so nice to her, and she didn't think he would laugh at her even if she did something wrong. He might even protect her if anyone else tried to make fun of her, and that thought made something in her stomach flutter. They swayed together and she smiled at him, nodding when he said dancing wasn't too hard. This way, it really wasn't. It was actually really fun. She felt some alarm when he told her to spin under his arm, but giggled as he showed her how to do it first. After watching him, she nodded and did it herself, another giggle escaping her as her skirt spun around her while she twirled. She stopped and faced him again, this time with a more carefree smile on her face. She felt more at ease now, and it showed. "You were right." She said as she started swaying again. "It is easy."