It's the greatest time of year...

[Thomas Smith]

Every year seemed to come in quicker and quicker. The Ravenclaw third year found it hard to believe that it was once again time for the Yule Ball, something he quickly realised as he found himself taking out his best suit (he always preferred the muggle way) and polishing his best black shoes. In his third year he found this process easier to do, unlike his first year when he couldn't even do his tie.

Leaning against the banister of the marble staircase Thomas watched as people made their entrance into the Great Hall. But his eyes only looked out for one person, his girlfriend. A smile spread on his face as he thought of her, he still found it hard to believe that they were officially going out now, even though it had been like this for a few months now, but with the way they started out - it all just seemed for surreal. As he waited for Isabella to arrive he set down her corsage on the banister behind him and fixed up his tie.

He wanted tonight to be as perfect as it could be, he knew that this time of year, especially this event, held bad memories for his Slytherin girlfriend. So he wanted her to be able to enjoy herself tonight and he was willingly to do whatever that might involve.

 

[Isabella Chaos]

Isabella would be lying if she said she was thrilled for the Yule Ball. For the past three years, it had been her favorite time of year, first because she got to flaunt her best dress at the occasion, and secondly because immediately afterward came the holiday break so she got to go home to Italy to celebrate Christmas, and on January first, her birthday - however this year the atmosphere was completely different for her. On the outside she wore an excited smile just like the majority of the student body, well those who had dates or didn't mind going alone, but on the inside, she couldn't help but be a little anxious and sad because this was the first year anniversary of her mother's death, on this very day.

She had slowly been coping with her mother's death and often times she felt completely repaired, but as this time of year approached Isabella had slowly been pulling away from everyone again, keeping herself busy with her fashion designs and Quidditch instead of homework or socializing. Her grades had slipped tremendously after Halloween, and she feared that she would be on academic probation or at the risk of repeating the year, but it was only the first semester so she hoped she still had time to bring them back up.

The one thing that did manage to cheer her up throughout this all was her boyfriend Thomas. Last year, only a month or so after her mother's death, she had first run into him in the dungeons, which had sparked the flame between the two, she had found comfort in him immediately, even then when he was just a friend, she felt comforted by him because the two had gone through the same thing, and just the thought of him alone was enough to cheer her up and make her wear her black and white floral patterned strapless dress with pride and excitement. She slipped her small feet into bright coral pink shoes to give her a splash of color, and did her hair up into a complicated but easy looking chignon, with an elegant pearl headband weaved between her brunette locks. She wore a simple necklace and ring as jewelry for more touches of elegance and by the time she was applying her nude lip gloss, she was nearly as excited as the rest of the school.

Isabella twirled around happily in the mirror and headed up the steps of the dungeons, her heels clicking away happily as she bustled through the crowd in search of her boyfriend anxiously, the good anxious. As soon as she spotted him, it was as if no pain had even been plaguing her all day and her heart skipped a beat happily. She grinned brightly and walked over to him smoothly, where he was leaning against the banister. “Hey there, handsome,” she greeted him with a flirty smirk.

 

[Thomas Smith]

As Thomas fixed up his tie he scanned the crowds for Isabella, she should be arriving soon. As he nudged his tie one last centimetre and got it as close to the middle as he could he saw a familiar face coming though the crowds. Smiling as she approached him he leaned and kissed her softly on the cheek, "Hey yourself gorgeous." he said with an equally playful smirk that dawned his girlfriends features. Turning his back for a second he took the corsage he had gotten her off of the banister. Opening up the box he took out the delicate flower. "Shall I?" he asked her as he held out the corsage.

 

[Isabella Chaos]

[Nooo my entire post erased haha]

Isabella beamed brightly as Thomas kissed her on the cheek, then replied in the same playful manner she had greeted him with. She felt as if she hadn't seen him in a while, though really she they hung out regularly as she did with her friends, though not as much as she normally would, she just seemed distant. Of course it was her own fault, she was making herself distant due to the time of year, but she knew it would pass.

The Slytherin girl squealed with delight when Thomas pulled out a corsage that seemed to match perfectly with her dress, as if he'd known she was going to wear it. Of course that was impossible, because not even Isabella had known which dress she was going to be wearing tonight until the last minute. As usual, the fashionable Slytherin had too many options to choose from so that was her problem. She was glad that there was now a Valentines Ball (well, at least she hoped it would be a recurring thing from now on) because she wanted to be able to show off two dresses a year as opposed to one only. In the end, Isabella had decided on the strapless dress she was wearing now because it was now summer in New Zealand, so she didn't want to be wearing a long or heavy gown, yet she still wanted to look more than just 'casual', it was a ball after all.

Isabella nodded her head eagerly as Thomas held out the corsage and smiled at him, quickly pecking him on his cheek in thanks. “No one's ever gotten me a corsage before!” Isabella said with realization out loud, thinking of her previous Yule Ball dates in her past, Theodore, Aiden unofficially while Mike was her official date, Mike again, and now Thomas was the first to do so.