Closed Just friends

[Ten Layton-King]

Ten was a little bit peeved with Ned. She barely saw her best friend / aunt these days and whenever they hung out something felt different. She couldn't even pinpoint when exactly things had changed, only that since Ten had been knee deep in soil in the greenhouses and focuses more on her own life than anyone else's, almost everything else had fallen away. There weren't many people Ten had bothered to keep in touch with purely because it was both exhausting and a waste of time, but someone she had been keeping an eye out for was Veronica. They'd always been friends, even if at times they weren't very close, but as the months had continued to roll by the redhead was finding herself more and more invested as to what Veronica was up to. She was just, interesting, she supposed. The fifth year didn't think she had much to offer her, at least not beyond the occasional chat, so when Ten had asked her to attend the Valentines Dance with her, strictly as friends of course, she was surprised when she'd said yes. She waited near the entrance of the Great Hall for Veronica, who probably some sort of important job to do as prefect before she could come down to join her.​

 

[Veronica Walden-Cade]

It had been a hot minute since Veronica had attended a school dance, but when Ten had asked her to go as friends she couldn’t say no. Her fellow Gryffindor was one of the few people, outside her family, that she could still tolerate at Hogwarts and her presence had been sorely missed by her during her time in Scotland. Veronica hoped they could make up for some of that lost time and maybe, spending time with someone she liked would make her feel less bitter and resentful about the world in general. She was late getting ready due to having a patrol but she was able to get ready and made her way down to the great hall to meet Ten who was waiting at the entrance. “Hi sorry, patrol ran long,” She smiled at her. “I love your dress, you look amazing,”

 

[Ten Layton-King]

Ten had taken to fiddling with the front of her dress when she saw Veronica bounding round the corner, looking more cheerful in that moment that she could have sworn she'd seen her in recent months. "Oh, no that's fine," she hadn't been waiting long after all. "I.. thank you," Ten glanced down at her dress, removing her fingers from the section in which the skirt met her torso, and instead opened her arms out as if to show it off. "It was my aunts," she added, trying to imagine Leda in wearing it. She was as tall as her aunt these days, although Ten wondered if she had any more growth in her at all. "You look amazing too," she replied, unsure why she was feeling more awkward than usual. Perhaps it was just because she was so unaccustomed to seeing them out of robes or casualwear. Veronica could pull off a lot of colours, but the monotone made her look more grown up, too. "I should warn you, I'm not a dancer, especially in heels," she tried to brush it off and hoped that Veronica wouldn't be too disappointed if she couldn't convince her to get onto the dance floor with the others. "But I'm glad you said yes to coming with me, you know, as friends. I think it will be fun."​

 

[Veronica Walden-Cade]

There was no reason for Veronica to blush, Ten was simply returning the compliment she had been given. There was nothing to read into, she was just being silly. It was nice to see Ten in something other than the same Gryffindor robe she herself wore, they both got to wear something a little more them, the fact that Ten was wearing something of her aunts was cute, she didn’t have that in her family. Her dad was so used to having money that they bought everything new, which was a privilege, but they didn’t value things the way other people did and sometimes that made her sad.

“Yeah there won’t be much dancing in these things,” Veronica motioned down to her own heels. “Bailey is a lot more graceful in heels than me, I don’t know where she gets it from,” She shrugged, there weren’t many things she envied about her older sister, but she did think she was prettier and overall more graceful than she was, and while Veronica didn’t always care, sometimes it bothered her. “There’s no one else I’d rather be here with, shall we go in?”

 

[Ten Layton-King]

Ten had never made anyone blush with a compliment before, and seeing the pink tinge to Veronica's cheeks was cute. She gave a small chuckle when Veronica suggested there wouldn't be much dancing, because at least that meant they'd be on the same page. They'd dressed for the event, and perhaps to make sure the other didn't feel overdressed beside them, but they were probably only going to be chatting in the corner of the room like friends did. Ten didn't know Bailey very well, but she did think that even if was did happen to be more graceful, that didn't mean Veronica didn't have qualities Bailey was probably jealous of too. "It's hard to be compared to a sister," Asphodel was also no doubt considered miles more attractive than Ten would ever be. She'd never really told anyone she had an older sister. There may have been students that knew about Felix, but Asphodel was a different ballpark. "But, I don't doubt that we're much more capable of doing things in our dresses than they are," Ten smirked, feeling as though in comparison they were much happier to get their hands dirty.

Was Veronica just telling her what she wanted to hear when she mentioned there was no one else she'd prefer to be with? It was true for Ten too, but that was only because she didn't really have any friends. Veronica however was so involved with so many people, that even if she clashed with the majority, she probably had a line of students wanting to take her to the dance. "Me too," Ten nodded, leaning her head forward to awkwardly gesture through the large doors. She wasn't sure what else to say, at least not without feeling like she was going to cringe. She took a few careful steps into the decorated room, "It always looks so different in here during special events."​

 

[Veronica Walden-Cade]

Ten spoke like someone who understood what it was like to be compared to an older sister, but she had never heard her talk about having one herself, it occurred to her that there might be a lot about her friend that Veronica didn’t know and while that was okay, she definitely wanted to rectify that. “Do you have an older sister? I’ve only ever heard you talk about Felix. It was still weird to her that Ten’s younger brother was ‘dating’ her half sister. It was weird to her that she had a new half sister, two in fact, that she hadn’t learned about until they showed up at school. The previous year really had been a sh*t show for so many reasons.

Veronica hoped Ten wasn’t just returning her compliments out of obligation, she’d rather not be complimented at all if that was the case. “I think I prefer the Yule ball decorations, I like the wintery theme even if it is seasonally incorrect,” She laughed. While wintery Christmas was what she was used to, it was odd to step out of the great hall during the ball for it to be warm. “But it is pretty tonight, but too pink for my liking,”

 

[Ten Layton-King]

"Mmmm," Ten hummed with the implication of someone who was debating how much information to offer. "My dad has another daughter, she was already our age when my mum came onto the scene." Ten had never really been close to Asphodel, although she was told that she'd defended their family when their grandmother had tried to settle her mum's will. Pho was hitting her thirties now, and so she'd always been closer to Leda than any of her siblings. Ten resisted the urge to ask Veronica about her younger ones, and whether she experienced anything similar when it came to how Felix felt about Ten, but she didn't want to dampen the mood.

"Is Christmas your favourite holiday?" Ten asked, walking through the Great Hall slowly. It was only then that Ten realised she didn't really have a favourite one herself. Everyone in her family were always so busy off doing their own things with their family that no matter where she went, she felt like an outsider. Sure, perhaps she'd be invited to stay with her aunt over the holiday at times, or perhaps her cousins, but she wasn't sure whether that was just because they'd feel guilty knowing she wasn't doing any special. Her dad more or less kept to himself, working on whatever it was he had going on next, so it wasn't uncommon for Ten and her little brother to attach themselves to others as the years had progressed. Ten had to agree with Veronica's comment of the room being too pink, it wasn't exactly her vibe either. ​

 

[Veronica Walden-Cade]

Ten didn’t seem like she wanted to elaborate any further about her sister and Veronica wasn’t going to push her. It seemed like she had a different relationship with her older sister, Veronica loved Bailey and she knew that she always had her back, it just occasionally frustrated her that she didn’t always measure up to her parents first born. The crossed the threshold into the Great hall and Veronica took it all in, recoiling at the overused valentines colours and turning to look at Ten as a way to distract herself from all the pink. “Yeah, it’s a weird time at home because its my dads birthday and theres this big family event every year, but yeah Christmas is the best, do you have a favourite holiday?” It felt like an awkward way to keep the conversation going, Veronica didn't know why things felt awkward, usually talking to Ten was easy but this, this felt different.

 

[Ten Layton-King]

Ten was more focused on what Veronica was saying more than the decorations in the hall. She couldn't imagine having a family as large as hers. Even when all of Ten's cousins and siblings and extended family combined wasn't enough to fill a small room. Veronica probably had more just within her immediate family. "It must be nice though, to have everyone under the same roof for once?" she offered. Ten shook her head at the Gryffindors question, "I don't think so, we don't usually do much. Sometimes I'll watch the triplets enjoying something like Challenges all for the biggest easter egg, but I don't really have a favourite I enjoy for the event." Leda and Mervyn were weird but at least that meant they put on a good show. Ten wasn't really sure if Nic knew about the triplets either in all honesty. Ten caught sight of her little brother, dancing with a blonde girl. Ten had never been introduced so she didn't even know the girls name, but she found it weird Felix seemed so, relaxed these days. "Bit weird isn't it?" She nodded her head toward the couple. "They're so young." Ten didn't know how anyone was supposed to be romantic at school, but apparently even those who were the school babies were more emotionally mature than she thought possible.​