Open Jingle Bell Rock

[Winnie Marsh]

Christmas and the yule ball was one of Winnie's favourite times of year, the opportunity to dress up and show festive spirit always a fun experience for her. Last year's christmas had been disappointing with her father's absence during Mrs Holland's minister campaign, but Winnie was holding out hope and optimism that this year her christmas would be twice as happy to make up for it, so as she got ready for the ball knowing she was a step closer to going home for the break and seeing her parents, she was happy. Her dress was darker and more mature than the previous year due to her decision with Diana and Domi to coordinate black outfits together, contrasting to Winnie's usual style which was colourful and whimsical. Black had been out of the question for her in previous years though in this dress specifically she felt a surprising amount of confidence, the style of it convincing her she was channeling the queen of hearts from alice in wonderland, making her feel positively commanding.​

After adding a last bobby pin to her bun to keep it perfectly in place, Winnie headed down to the great hall with a spring in her step, eager for the night to begin. She paused as she entered the hall and looked around for her two best friends, walking over to lean against one of the far walls when she did not spot them immediately so she could keep an eye out for them.​

 

[Diana Hollis]

The yule ball brought back painful memories for Diana, but tonight she was determined to forget about them. She couldn't keep moping over Edmund forever, especially not with other people's eyes on her. The breakup had been a lot more public than she would have liked, and it had been pretty humiliating. So that's why she had to show her face at the event, and make sure everyone knew she was completely and utterly over it. Diana had been careful to dress the part, wanting to look impressive and cold, and completely confident. She was glad her two friends had agreed to wear black as well, though she was sure her dress would look the best out of the three of them. She had headed up to the great hall with Domi, and the two of them entered the great hall.

It stung a little, not to have a date to a dance. But at least neither of her friends did either. She noticed Winnie and nudged Domi before pointing in her direction. Diana took her in for a moment. She didn't look bad, but Diana thought her dress was a little too busy and frilly. Of course, she wasn't going to say so to her face. She smiled when she headed over to her, relieved to have found her so quickly. "Hey, you look great." She said as she stopped at Winnie's side. "Our outfits look wonderful together." She added, glancing down at her own dress. "Black is classy and mature." She said with a small smile. "Most of the time." She added, raising her eyebrow slightly at Winnie as she was sure she had similar feelings about Domi's dress. She looked around the hall, and froze when she saw a familiar face. This couldn't be happening. Was Edmund here? She had been so sure he would have avoided the event, considering he hadn't been at the Halloween feast. She stared at him for a moment, wondering if perhaps it was his brother. But her astonishment rose when she saw who he was talking to. Analei. That little sneak had been so nice to Diana when she was heartbroken, but now here she was flirting with her ex boyfriend. Or maybe his brother, they really did look identical. But as she caught sight of his expression as he looked at Analei, he was smiling. And it was exactly the same smile he used to give her. That convinced her. This was Edmund, and he was moving on before she was. The sight of the two of them made her blood boil and she couldn't stop herself from glaring daggers at the two.

 

[Dominique Malone]

Domi was the best at everything she tried, naturally, and now Domi was trying moving on. She totally wasn't upset about Tristan humiliating her at all. Everything was perfect, and she was super ready to celebrate the Yule Ball with her best friends as single girls. That was what mattered, after all. Friends supporting each other. They had coordinated an outfit theme, and Domi was pleased to discover when she and Diana found Winnie in the crowd, that they all looked super, super cute together. Perfect! "We look so cute!" She said brightly, echoing Diana's sentiment. What could be more powerful than this, a trio of super cute girls ready for a great party! Before Domi could even propose they get an awesome dance circle going though, she saw Diana's expression sour. Looking across the dance floor, she quickly spotted Diana's weird ex boyfriend dancing with some other chick in their classes. "Ew, who does he even think he is?!" Domi exclaimed, outraged. How could he have moved on so fast after hurting Diana so much?!

 

[Winnie Marsh]

A smile spread across Winnie's face as she spotted her friends, giving them a wave to show where she was standing. She couldn't wait for the night to begin and was pleased to see the two slytherins had chosen to keep with their decision to wear black together. After the situation at Halloween where Winnie wasn't included with Diana and Domi's grease inspired costumes, it had been an insecurity of hers that they would continue to leave her out of things, but now that she had seen them all dressed up in black she was relieved this wasn't the case. Winnie's eyes focused on their dresses as they headed over, looking both her friend's outfits up and down when she could notice more of the details. Diana's dress was simple in such a mature and timeless way, whereas Domi's dress was much shinier and so typically Domi. It was amazing to see each of their individual styles so obvious despite their decision to coordinate colours, even if Winnie agreed with Diana that Domi's choice of dress could have been more elegant. "I think we look the best out of everyone here." Winnie concluded, matching her friends sentiments.​

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The next thing on Winnie's mind was suggesting they all dance together, or get themselves some glasses of punch they could sip from as they discussed the dresses other girls were wearing, but Diana's sudden change in demeanor startled her, drawing her attention to the direction she was glaring. At the sight of Diana's ex Winnie frowned, both because the boy was awful to Diana and also because she thought Analei would know better than to talk to a weird spider boy. Clearly she thought wrong. "Ew." She said simply. "I sort of know Analei, do you want me to see if they're together?" Winnie then added, unable to think of another way to deal with this situation and help her friend. Maybe talking Analei out of being near that awful boy would make Diana feel better.​

 

[Diana Hollis]

If there was any fairness in the world, the glare Diana was sending at the dancing couple would make them fall over, or at least trip a little. But they were looking happy as ever, and it infuriated her. She was glad that Domi at least backed her up immediately, but her betrayed feelings weren't just about Edmund. Strangely enough, she almost felt more hurt by Analei. That girl had stood up for her, comforted her when she was sad, and Diana had actually thought maybe she wasn't so bad. But here she was, showing her true, sneaky face. So when Winnie said she sort of knew Analei, she turned her head slightly. "What do you mean, sort of know. Are you two friends?" She asked, her annoyance clear. "It's pretty clear they're at least here together, don't you think? She's probably trying to get him to date her, and that after pretending to be all comforting to me when I got my heart broken. I never knew she was such a lying little sneak." She noticed the two had noticed her looking, and the genuine fear on Edmund's face was gratifying. She gave him her coldest glare, then pointedly turned her back on him. "If you think you can subtly find out what's going on, you can. Just don't do anything else, if she wants to date that disaster she can find out for herself what it's like to get hurt in public." Diana said simply. And if Edmund or his brother weren't going to publicly humiliate Analei the way they had her, Diana herself would find a way to make sure Analei got exactly what she deserved.