Holy Night

[Tybalt Archer]

The Yuleball rolled around once more, but for the young Gryffindor, it didn't feel like such a merry time. This term had been hard for him, for some reason he couldn't quite understand. There were difficulties that he had not faced. He'd been pretty sick for some of it, and following being sick his motivation had just been drained from within him, to the point where he hadn't gone to the remaining classes of the semester. It hadn't been all too positive, but it was too late now. In the new few days he would pack a small suitcase and head to his family for these holidays. Christmas. Though it meant a lot less to him now for some reason than it had before. He didn't know what it was about this term, about right now, that just had taken most of the fun out of everything that the boy had once truly loved. Well, he was still excited to see his family, his little sister, his parents, his cousin, but with it, it brought a strange twinge of sadness within the young teen. That being said, he was still going to the Yuleball. There was no need for him to be sitting in the dorm when he had nothing to do in there, so he got dressed into what was not overly formal, but, just enough to make it look like the Gryffindor was making an effort. He hopelessly attempt to fix his hair, but failed miserably, it sat at odd angles, with no sense of real style, just a mess. Though, it suited him. He ran a hand through it, and gave a little sigh, grabbing, the fake rose that his mother had pack for him, and placing it in the pocket of the blazer that he was wearing. With a final smile, the teen left the dorm.

The last Yuleball, he had met B, and that had been incredible. But, due to the nature of their relationship he couldn't be with her at this Yuleball, not until there was no one else left. Which made him feel a little more than alone, on this most joyous of nights. Glancing at his shoes as he made the final walk to the great hall, the boy took a deep breathe, sighing slightly, before gathering up his strength and looking forward to the entrance of the Great Hall. Rubbing his eyes slightly, he waited a few seconds at the mouth of hall, letting his eyes get adjusted to the amount, or lack of light within the Great Hall. He smiled to himself, though he'd never see the true beauty of the hall, he could just tell even with his eye sight that it was incredible. With a growing smile, he made his way to the snack table, and picked up a drink. Downing it in the one, before taking another. Drinking more slowly this time, he let himself glance around the hall, blue eyes jumping from person to person, never really settling on one person, or thing. Letting all his thoughts just sort of drift away and just enjoy the moment, the scene in front of him. Ty had always loved christmas, well, he loved spending time with his family, so, this was the precursor that he'd gotten used to. It felt good. It felt right. It was in the most simplest of moments that Tybalt usually found those strands of happiness and motivation that he felt he had lost over the last term. The smile on his lips became more real, and he relaxed a little more. Even if he couldn't spend this night with B, he was happy to at least be there.
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[Preston Paine]

Donning the tailored suit he had picked out with his father some time ago, Preston was pleased to see how well it fit. His father had asked the tailor to leave it an inch long on the hunch that Preston would grow some, and he had been right. The Slytherin bid farewell to his roommates since he'd likely not being seeing most of them until after the break. Although he'd spent the past several Christmases at home with his parents, Preston was no stranger to spending the holidays at school. He had done it half a dozen times when he'd attended boarding school. This year would be his first holiday in the castle, and he found himself with mixed emotions over that fact. Staying at the castle while his parents went on a relaxation cruise was a no-brainer though. If it was meant to be quiet, Preston knew he wouldn't be able to have any fun. At least no one in the castle would mind if he made some noise.

Entering the Great Hall, Preston stood in the doorway for a moment, taking in the awesome decorations. The interior of the room resembled an ice castle, but without the chill that would make it distinctly not fun. The room was as warm and welcoming as it ever was. Stepping in more fully, the teen looked around for his girlfriend. Having not spotted her, he went to grab a drink and a snack. The line was plenty long, delayed, it seemed, for a young blonde girl who seemed to be gorging herself on cupcakes. Preston chuckled to himself as he heard a young Slytherin ask her to save some for everyone else. Sidestepping the cupcakes entirely, Preston grabbed a few gingerbread cookies and then poured himself a glass of what appeared to be egg nog. Taking a sip, a smile crossed the teen's face. He glanced around and walked over to Tybalt as he shifted the cookies around so he could take a big bite of one the limbs. "Hey Tybalt. Merry Christmas!" he greeted the guy. He knew it made Indiana pretty happy that the two guys were hanging out more. "If you're thinking of eating a cupcake, you should grab one now. The blonde girl at the table seems quite fond of them" he added with a laugh as he bit off another leg, or was it an arm? He couldn't tell, but it tasted divine.

 

[Tybalt Archer]

Not sure what to do with himself, the young teen wondered if he should just go out to the dance floor and just spend some time dancing. He wasn't sure if that would be a good idea. He was alone, and that often didn't lend itself well to that sort of thing. He was happily just listening to the loud music, and letting his eyes drift around the hall. Watching the people dance. Ty was hoping that this christmas, spent with his family might just be what he needed to get back on track and be ready for the next term, when it did roll around. He was feeling just a little bit nervous about it already, but that was just because of how he had done during this term. His parents would support him, they wouldn't mind. Well, they might. Just a little bit, but not enough that they felt the need to punish him, or anything like that. He was looking forward to spending lots of time with his sister, running around, teaching her more and more about flying, about Hogwarts, it was soon that she would be going, and Ty could hardly believe how much she had grown in that time. The young Gryffindor wouldn't mind what she did, what house she got into, just as long as she wouldn't mind being shown slightly around by her big brother. Tybalt was looking forward to that, it would be nice. Just to have her around a little more during the years that they spent at the school together. He didn't think the same way about his other Archer cousins, or the cousins on the other side. While Tybalt was very pro family, and loved his family. The ones he really wanted to spend time with were happily the only ones who lived in New Zealand.

Tybalt ended up getting so distracted in his thoughts, he began to simply forget where he was, and was startled back to reality, when someone spoke to him, wishing him a merry christmas. Ty looked round and saw that it was Preston. Giving a small smile to the boy, Ty contemplated that it was funny that they only really spoke at school gatherings. "Merry Christmas Preston." He greeted warmly. He lifted the drink to his lips and took a small sip as he looked over to where Preston was talking of cupcakes. "I think you might just be right Preston." Ty smiled at him, though, he wasn't entirely in the mood for a cupcake, that girl did seem very interested in them. "I'll be right back" Ty said with a smile, before heading to the cupcakes, and grabbing two and walking back over to where he had left Preston. He took a large bite from one of the cupcakes, and offered the other to Preston, swallowing the bite he'd taken. "They're good. How've you been? How's Indie?" he asked this, since Ty was pretty sure that Preston saw her a lot more often than he did. He had been out of it, in sorts, but he had also been spending a lot of time with B. Well, some time. Which was nice, since they didn't actually get to spend a lot of time together, so any time was treasured. "This term has just flown by. Don't you think?" The boy added as he took a further sip of his drink. It was nice to have a ball like this to relac at after a tricky term. Plus, Ty had to admit, there was not one girl in their year that didn't look stunning at every ball.
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