Help Me Be Brave

[Emilia Manning]

Emilia had been surprised to receive Derek's rose. Not only had it been pink, but the note had been very nice and he had asked her to hang out with him at the ball. She had known she'd had a great time at the yule ball, but she hadn't been so sure it had been as much fun for the Slytherin boy. Rather than dancing on his own and having fun, he had spent so much of his evening helping her and making her feel at ease. Afterwards she had worried she had ruined plans he'd had for the evening, but it seemed like he had enjoyed himself too.

Unfortunately, Emilia had only packed one dress she really liked enough to go to dances in. She hadn't really expected to attend the Valentine's dance. More than the yule ball, it had seemed for couples in her mind. So here she was in the same dress, hoping no one would notice or comment on it. She waited near the entrance to the Great Hall, her gaze darting around as she waited for Derek to show up. There were so many students that it was hard to find anyone in the crowd, especially as she wasn't very tall compared to most of them. She hoped Derek would find her soon.

 

[Derek Tahana]

Derek had enjoyed watching the celebrations for the valentines day. He had unexpectedly received an award which had of course been nice. But in his rose to Emilia he had invited her to the dance, a purely platonic move, he liked the other girl she was a nice person and he got the feeling that she was a little nervous about things. It certainly seemed the way, and Derek was looking forward to spending the night with her. He had gotten dressed in the spare suit he had brought to Hogwarts with him, on the off chance that he might dirty the first, not knowing then that there would be two dances that would require suits.

The boy arrived at the great hall and glanced around trying to find Emilia. It took a while, with so many people in the crowd he was weaving in and out of, but eventually he spotted her. Derek waved as he approached, "Hey Emilia!" he greeted her warmly, "Did you like the rose I sent you?" he asked with a grin, figuring that she did if she had agreed to meet him here. He held out a hand to her, "You want to find a little corner where we can dance?" he knew she wasn't particularly confident dancing in front of others too much, so somewhere a little away from all the couples and other people would be best!
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[Emilia Manning]

The anxiety in Emilia's stomach eased slightly when she spotted Derek wave at her. She smiled at him and waved back. "Hi." She said shyly, her hand moving up to play with her hair as she usually did when she was nervous. "I did like the rose. It was pretty." She said softly. "Did you get the one from me too?" It hadn't been pink, nor had it had as nice a message she thought. But she hoped Derek appreciated it anyway. Her smile grew as he suggested they went to dance. It had been really fun last time. "Yes, please." She said with a nod. "That would be nice."

 

[Derek Tahana]

Derek nodded, "I loved it! I've never gotten flowers or even a rose like that before so it was nice" he told her clearly happy with the rose he had gotten, clearly unbothered by the fact that his rose for Emilia had been pink and hers to him had been yellow. In his mind it didn't matter, pink was a colour that suited her better. It was a better rose colour for others. he was more than happy with his yellow rose, and she could be happy with hers. It was just the thought that counted. He had it in a glass by his bed, proud of his rose and happy to have gotten one. Even better was the fact that she wanted to dance, Derek smiled and lead her away from the crowd at the entrance of the hall and through until he found a spot they could dance in, "Remember what I taught you?" he asked with a cheerful and playful expression as he began to dance with her, it wouldn't matter either way, dancing was easy once you let yourself just enjoy it, even if Derek really wasn't a great dancer. In any case, this night like other celebrations was about having fun, if she wasn't having fun they would do something else, he wasn't having fun he'd ask to do something else. But dancing was fun and dancing with a friend was even more fun.
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