Is this bold enough for you?

[Athena Zhefarovich]

This ought to show him, Athena Zhefarovich thought to herself as she looked in the mirror that was beside her bed. Pulling a brush through her hair, the Slytherin seventh year had a smirk on her face as she considered the reaction that the boy who would be accompanying her to the dance might think once he saw her dress. It might be enough to strike the boy speechless, a feat she hoped to accomplish before the year was through. Already, Athena had heard some sharp whispers from her dorm mates when they suspected she wasn't listening, and she could only imagine they would get worse once she stepped out, which she would just as soon as she slipped into her kitten heels. With one last look in the mirror at the front of her dress, Athena decided against any jewelry. The dress was more than enough. Turning so she was glancing through the mirror from over a shoulder, the Slytherin admired the back of her dress and the tattoo that covered her entire back. Satisfied with the entire look, Athena put on her shoes, grabbed her clutch and left the door, her head held high. Even before the doors fully closed, she heard one of her fellow seventh year girls say in a scandalized voice "Did you see how low that dress went? What a ---." The smirk on her face widened as she walked away from the door.

As she walked out of the common room, the girl was glad to not run into her date. She wanted to get to the Yule Ball ahead of him so she could take it all in. It was her final Yule Ball, and while her siblings told her that certain parties became infinitely more interesting when they were celebrated outside of school rules, Athena still wanted to enjoy this party. She hoped her date was on the same page because, if he wasn't, he would have to get there quickly. Lifting her dress as she climbed up the steps, Athena spoke to only a few people. She could already hear the music coming from the Great Hall, a tune that she recalled hearing while she'd shopped for the dress with her younger brother. She had hoped to have Kamaria go with her, but Elijah's input had actually been pretty good, for once. Athena couldn't wait to tell him what other people thought about the dress that they'd finally settled on.

As she stepped towards the doors, Athena paused. Was she supposed to meet her date at the door? Inside? She'd never attended with a date and didn't know the protocol? "Whatever" she muttered to herself and slipped just inside. Even the icy, rich Slytherin could find little to fault with the directions. She rather liked the enchantment that had been placed to make it look as if it were snowing. It reminded her of her father's home country.

 

[Benjamin Chase]

The strong scent of cologne wafted through the dormitory of a certain Slytherin who was getting ready for the annual Ball. He wrinkled his nose at how much the older Slytherin males were putting cologne on themselves, like it was already meant to be their bath. A little exaggerated, but that was how Benjamin Chase thought of it. He had a little cologne on himself as well, however he had it subtle and smooth. The scent was strong and rich; one of his favorites that his father recommended back when Benjamin first entered adolescence. He took a deep breath and thought of the doomed night ahead of him whilst he took in his reflection that was presently staring back at him with narrowed eyes. In his arrogant opinion, he thought that he did not look half bad. What he was wearing was the traditional suit, with his hair styled back to add more taste. His choice of garments was rather simple yet they were designer brands of the wizarding world. His date would know this, since she was also raised surrounded by magical world. A full smirk curled on his lips once he felt content with how he looked like. Instead of looking like his age, he felt as if he appeared to be slightly older. The assumed opinion that fluttered around his mind assured him that he can maturely deal with tonight's event. He can, can't he?

Benjamin covered the distance between his dormitory and the Great Hall swiftly. Not aware that both of them had the same objective to arrive first, Benjamin eagerly planned what words he would tell her if she was late to arrive or worse, did not show up. Chicken ass. The intensely rational side of his mind though quipped that Athena Zhefarovich would never reject a challenge. The sole image of her in a dress with killer heels made him flinch since he was shorter than the elder Slytherin by perhaps two and a half to three inches. Thanks to his shoes though, he was an inch taller than his normal height measurement. But with his date who had a height of 5"11, he did not even doubt that the additional inch was useless. As he swaggered his way to the Great Hall, he did not catch a glimpse of his date making her own way to the venue of the said event. He frowned for a moment but amused himself by looking at the people who passed by in their own formal robes. Some looked absolutely stunning whilst the rest were either alone or awkward looking. A boost of pride suddenly flooded in him as he remembered the designer labeled garments he was wearing. Only the best for him.

The Great Hall itself spelled out magnificence with all the decorations and enchantments that were cast upon the place. The illusion of real snowflakes were falling and it just made the place extra lovely. His eyes roamed around the place and stopped on a tall, female figure that was just nearby. With a blink and a slight gawk, the fragments of small realizations formed something entirely shocking. The lady who he had his eyes on was the prefect whom he challenged and now, what she was wearing made him want to flush cherry red. Not that he was the male prude of the whole castle - nope, that was not him. Rather, he felt as if he was subjecting himself to talking to a much older woman whose maturity level was far more enhanced than his. Benjamin cleared his throat and urged himself to be his normal smooth yet cocky and arrogant self whilst walking towards his date. Instead of feeling normal, awkwardness and speechlessness seeped in through his own system, leaving him clueless with how to even say that she looked utterly foxy. The adolescent knew that he was not a cheesy person, so acting all clumsy may be his only option. Dear Merlin, just no.

Stationing himself at her side, Benjamin lifted his chin up as he faced the direction she was facing as well. He let his eyes scan the whole place before him whilst intoning the only words he first thought to announce his arrival. "Ah, you came." Simple, wasn't it? It had a lot of meaning behind it though. The meaning itself Benjamin could not quite make out, yet he knew that behind that statement he wanted to say something quite similar. Giving her a sideways glance and knowing that his cheeks must have had a pale pink hue to it, Benjamin breathed before carefully choosing his words to address her garments. Its material was surely one of a kind and the way it clung to her slender figure left him speechless to the gut. Yet, he managed to comment about it without too much awkwardness. "Nice, er, dress. Suits you, honestly." It was rather hurried, but he was already quite sure that she caught that compliment. How he wished that Kialla was here with him, to help him out. Kialla and Athena were both females who could most possibly start a conversation with the help of some "female language." Not knowing anything about that, he stopped himself from shifting his weight from one foot to the other. That was indication of awkwardness and he did not want to show. He was here to prove that he would not back down from her.
​

 

[Athena Zhefarovich]

After admiring the decorations for several moments, the Slytherin turned her attention to checking out the outfits of the other females that entered the room. It had been a habit of hers for as long as she could remember, though tonight it was not born out of a concern that someone would have an outfit similar to her own. Athena and her brother had searched far and wide for the outfit that she was wearing today. It had been the only one in the store, and she was sure that many of the students in the room could not afford what she had shelled out for the dress. The Slytherin didn’t bother to turn as she felt someone sidle up beside her. It wasn’t until he spoke that she even registered that there was a person there. Athena had grown quite used to ignoring what she didn’t want to deal with, and more often than not, she chose not to deal with the students in the school. “Ah, you came.” Athena heard the words spoken and immediately knew that they were meant for her ears. “Of course I came. Did you seriously think I would chicken out?” A smirk appeared on the teenager’s face as she slowly turned her head to the side, the smell of cologne reaching her nose, her silver eyes taking in her date’s appearance as he appeared to do the same to her. The blonde knew that the only reason to wear a dress such as the one she was wearing was to garner a reaction of some kind. The teen was in the throes of adolescence, pushing boundaries wherever she could, and she damn well knew that this dress was doing just that. That didn’t mean that she was used to such attention though, and as he continued to look, Athena could feel the heat rise in her cheeks.

Athena wasn’t sure what she had been expecting, but seeing Benjamin in this suit was certainly not it. She had been half expecting him to not show up. She had already begun mentally writing a note to send him, giving him a piece of her mind for standing her up and being a chicken. The other half of her had expected him to show up, but to show up dressed in his normal clothing or in something decidedly ridiculous to prove that he was indeed bolder than she was. The Slytherin prefect’s eyes widened for a moment before she remembered herself and forced her gaze to return to normal. She didn’t want Benjamin to think that she was too impressed, though she actually was. It only took her a moment to recognize his suit as being one of a collection from one of her brother’s favorite designers. Sometimes, Athena forgot that Benjamin’s family was also well off. The suit fit the Slytherin well too, making it clear that he’d had the suit tailored. And, with his hair styled as it was, it was almost easy to forget that the boy was a few years younger than she was. Almost. And, although she still had a height advantage, dressed as he was, Benjamin seemed much taller than usual. It was a rather good look for him, and gave Athena a glimpse of what the boy would look like when he finally became a man. When Benjamin spoke once more, Athena’s eyes narrowed as she waited for the snide comment to hit home. Their friendship, if it could be called that, was based more on him being annoying and her belittling him than it was on anything else. She was used to that from him, but this – complimenting her- was different. It was what she had been going for by wearing this dress, but she had still expected Benjamin, of all people, to say something snide.

When nothing else came, Athena was forced to the realization that perhaps, just this once, Benjamin was actually being nice. That was the word he had used too. She eyed him suspiciously as she spoke, “Oh. Well thank you. You look… you look handsome this evening.” The words came out slowly as if she half expected him to interrupt her with something that would make her regret her words. With a small blush, the teenager looked down for a brief second, a tiny smile as she noticed that he was even wearing dress shoes, before she looked back up. Needing to say something to return them to some semblance of normalcy, Athena spoke once more. “You’re still a jerk though” she stated as she gave him a small push on the shoulder.

 

[Benjamin Chase]

If given the option to instead freely explore the Forbidden Forest (without any harm happening) without feeling any guilt afterwards, the teenager must have chose that activity for this evening without hesitation. He complied to his arrogant self just to show that he was not one to back down to a petty challenge like this. So what if he had to dress up and feel awkward for the most part of the night? All he had to do was to keep up with their verbal sparring anyway, right? Mentally, Benjamin braced himself not to even mind what Athena's choice of clothing was since the distraction was not worth it. A smaller smirk compared to his date's teased the corners of his lips as he immediately thought of a response that was enough to at least irk her. "Yep. Why do you think I was surprised?" Aside from her gown that was. The fact that his teenage mind already filled him awkward thoughts, he was glad to know that he still had this cocky side to keep up with. At least, this little section of his mind was functioning properly, enabling him to behave with the least of normalcy he had. The countable times Benjamin stationed himself next to an older girl for the whole evening of a social event was embarrassingly few - in fact, he could not remember the time he lasted a night just talking to that kind of person.

He felt the eyes of Athena quietly judge his apparel and with the situation at hand, he felt a mini boost of pride and confidence seep in thoroughly. Perhaps it was only to his conceited imagination but, he felt Athena radiate vibes that were of approval to his choice of garments. Suddenly he felt grateful towards his mother for she delivered his formal robes on the right time before the Yule Ball. He recalled writing her a letter hurriedly, his handwriting almost unreadable with the accompanied erasures. The content was simple. He directly stated that he was to attend the Yule Ball and he needed formal robes. It was not long before Isabela wrote back with the proper arrangements, along with the line; What made you want to attend the event? This line struck him hard and up to now, he even avoided thinking of even making up a response letter towards his mother. Given that he only wanted to be in the Ball because of some petty challenge, he resulted to thinking that it was better not to just write to his mother for the next few days. It was already bad enough that she thought he was antisocial - what more would she feel if she wondered if her son was already shamelessly flirting with a Slytherin prefect? Their heated exchanges were not what he would label as flirting.

The suspicious look that was cast unto the blonde's face made Benjamin narrow his eyes slightly back at her in question. What had he done wrong this time? He could not help but to already shift his weight from the left foot to the right as he watched her formulate a response in the hopes that it would be civil just to start the first few seconds of their night right. What caught him off guard were the words Athena verbalized cautiously and he listened with open ears. If he did not feel any natural clumsiness, he must have smirked smugly at her already - just the thing his normal self will do. Benjamin felt himself shrug lamely, whilst his green eyes witnessed her expression become flushed. It was cute however Benjamin did not really know the difference between the cute blush and the embarrassed one. As he felt a minor force being applied to his shoulder, he swayed just a wee bit before regaining his stillness again. "I know. You're still cranky too." He offered, as he helped her return the normalcy they had most of the time which was all about the harsh bickering. He gave her a small smirk as it to challenge her to even deny that statement of his. True, her temper reached out to the younger Slytherin however, Benjamin had no idea whether it was only to him or to others she thought was a waste of her time. Most possibly it was the latter. "Happy that you went to your last Yule Ball? Merlin Athena, you're definitely getting older." That meant graduation and finding a job. Benjamin knew that he had a part of his future planned out for him, whilst the untouched part was solely up to him. Thinking about it terrified him, however, he was glad that the spotlight of the future was on his date. "Tsk, not a good thing."
​

 

[Athena Zhefarovich]

Trying to answer his question was impossible. Athena knew that she couldn't even begin to think of what might have surprised Benjamin. He was a difficult puzzle to solve, and try as she might to figure him out, she never seemed able to do it. It could have been the dress which would have been understandable, it could have been seeing her tattoo which she wasn't sure he had ever seen, it could have been anything. This was Benjamin, after all. With a slight shrug, Athena spoke. "I told you that you had no idea how bold I could be. Surely, I had to show up to prove it to you." The older teen smiled. How exactly they had gone from arguing to them meeting at the Ball to prove that each of them was more bold was still beyond her. She had given up trying to figure it out. Athena had nearly mentioned it to her sister to seek her advice, but she had been afraid that Kara might have gotten the wrong idea about this all. Sure, Benjamin wasn't terrible looking and he was a pureblood, but she absolutely did not like him. She didn't. At all. And she was sure that Benjamin felt the same way. There was no need to make it anything bigger than it was, which would happen if her family found out. It was bad enough that she and Benjamin would probably be married off by the writers of RHI in the next issue. That would be bad enough without her family finding out everything. Her dad had never mentioned marrying her off, but she didn't want to put any ideas in the man's head. And, if any of them mentioned to her dad or Levi, how she was dressed, Athena knew it would turn into something huge.

When Benjamin called her cranky, Athena knew that things had gotten back to normal between them. She gave him a sarcastic smile. Here was the Benjamin she knew. "Am not" she retorted. She wasn't normally cranky. Quiet, yes. But she only grew annoyed when people were idiots which happened a lot in this school. Just looking out on the dance floor, she could point out a couple of people. There was the guy who was busy doing a dance that was at least ten years old, the girl who somehow didn't get the memo that her dress looked like something a grandma would wear and the first years who were trying to get on the dance floor without getting trampled. It was all ridiculous, and she would miss it all. Rolling her eyes, she began to nod her head. She was glad that she was attending her final ball. Despite her cold demeanor, Athena was rather sentimental about certain things. That this would be her last ball was one of them. The Slytherin couldn't wait to leave the mudbloods and the mudblood lovers behind, but she would miss the castle itself and the parties.

Listening to the rest of what he said, Athena whipped her attention back to Benjamin. "Are you calling me old, Benjamin?" she asked, her silver eyes narrowing as they gazed into his. " I'm going to pretend that you aren't because I did not show up to just stand around and argue with you all night. Surely, we can dance around and argue all night or eat and argue all night. So, what'll it be?" By the time she had finished, Athena's hands had made their way to her hips. Her crankiness was coming out and as she recognized it, she had to take a deep breath and attempt to joke it away. A flush came over her at how easily Benjamin had been able to peg her. Was she that simple to figure out? "Or you can just admit that I win and we can go our separate ways." Her eyebrow lifted as she finished. The great hall was growing more full by the moment and Athena was eager to do more than just stand around.

 

[Benjamin Chase]

Immediately, he produced a snicker as he felt his own words create a mark on her. He wanted to childishly point out how she was acting right now however, he would not want to break the deal with himself which was act as maturely as possible. His words left her irritated, just like the word he used to describe her. He felt as if she would bite back with a remark that was similar to his. What would that be, he had no idea. He was conceited, clever, a little manipulative and vain. All those words gave little effect on his ego - a small scratch, it was. Before, he was trained to be rather proud of everything about him. He was a pureblood, with a family who could provide a hundred more things that what he needed. Truly, the teenager was a lucky bastard with an attitude that he had to improve on, especially on some people that he was brought up to dislike and look down upon. The brief thought of having her call him a brat was highly possible as his thoughts wandered aimlessly in his mind however, what she did next was something he did not think she'd say right now.

With her hands on her hips, she looked positively sexy yet with the words that came out of her lips, Benjamin was easily distracted off. A dance? With her? He'd rather pig out since eating was the best option for a growing, adolescent boy. Giving a quick glance to the table of food, he let his green orbs linger there for a moment or two. The food looked to be mouthwatering from afar, and seeing several people eat near the table made him want to just go there and check out what the elves decided to serve for this special occasion. The sane part of his mind reminded him though that he dared not to just offer to eat for the rest of the night. The thought embarrassed him and so, he thought that he would just go with the rest the latter of the choices. Benjamin scanned the dance floor and saw people either nailing it or, simply an embarrassment to the whole school. Inhaling, he reminded himself that he was not a bad dancer to begin and he would love to see his date move with the beat. He grinned, almost slyly, and extended his palm to the blonde. "Okay, dance with me," Benjamin uttered. He felt glad that he was losing his initial awkwardness, yet a part of him knew that he would still feel clumsy whilst just giving his date a serious and profound glance. Beckoning his head to the dancing bodies, he led her and started.

Minutes later, he knew that he had warmed up to the rhythmic steps. It took some time to let his stiff body adjust to the beat and music. When he settled in though, he took his time to let his head nod and the rest of the body sway with the fast paced music. The rest of the people dancing around him seemed to be having a good time though and even with some clumsy first years accidentally bumping into him whilst moving their feet with the beat, he ignored it and focused on just the tempo and Athena. Speaking of Athena, he watched her move as well and even offered his hand for her to twirl a few times. As he saw other Slytherins move to the floor, he ever wondered if Kialla was going to attend. He never bothered to ask because this "date" was just instantaneously planned. Gradually ceasing his movements until he was left to just nod to the music, he felt rather heated in his suit even with the cool temperature in the room. But with the bodies gathered all together to dance, he wondered if they should still continue or not. Again, green connected with silver pupils as he faced Athena. "Not bad." For the second time of the night he did not even realized that he had offered her a compliment. He would not want to upset the Slytherin prefect though and make a whole argument whilst dancing. The energy that he'll lose there would have to be restored by eating, and he doubted they'd be eating in the next five minutes. "You tired yet?" The fast, upbeat music was so loud that Benjamin almost had yell over. All the movements were making him feel literally hot.
​

Out of Character:

yeahp.