Open Lone Flower

[Rose Holland]

Rose stepped into the Great Hall, smoothing down her skirt nervously. This was the first dance in a while where she would be without a date, and it very felt strange to attend a ball without Charlie by her side. She hoped she would run into some of her friends tonight or maybe meet someone new she could be friends with. Rose didn’t want to miss the party, but she also definitely didn’t want to spend the entire evening by herself. Despite how sad she was about Charlie, she wanted to try to have fun tonight. And as she looked around the great hall, she felt like just maybe that would be possible. The hall was decorated beautifully as always, and being surrounded by everyone in their beautiful dresses and suits already made Rose smile a little. She made her way to the snack table, getting herself a drink as she scanned the crowd for anyone she knew. Hopefully, this would be a wonderful night even if it was feeling a little melancholy.

 

[Kauri Morales-Tipene]

Kauri didn't really have plans for the Yule Ball this year, and it felt odd. Other than the date with Tristan that sent a shiver down his spine to think about, Kauri had always attended school events as friends with April or Xavier, but now Xavier was off living his life, and April, to Kauri's surprise, had a date of her own tonight. Kauri had about a million questions, but he didn't want to press her on it, simply wishing his friend a good evening when they had talked. That left him alone for the evening though, with nothing to do and nobody to do it with. Never one to stay lonely for long, Kauri had decided to take the opportunity to strengthen new friendships tonight. Whoever he ran into, he would chat with for a while, and just generally spend the time with his friends. So when Kauri spotted one of his fellow prefects on his way to the snack table he made a beeline for her, giving Rose a cheerful smile. He had never really looked at the older girl as anything but a role model before, but seeing her in her dress now, Kauri couldn't help but think she looked quite pretty. "Hi, Rose!" he said cheerfully, getting a cup to pour himself a drink. "Your dress is so nice, are you enjoying the dance?"

 

[Rose Holland]

Rose had a smile on her face, but it was wavering slightly as she stood here by herself while happy couples danced around the hall. Had she made a mistake in coming? She had trouble not thinking of how different things would be with Charlie here, and it was really bringing down her mood. But she had encouraged Diana to go to the ball despite her breakup, and it would make her a hypocrite if she didn't at least try to have a fun time herself. She was glad when she was approached by someone familiar, and the smile she shot Kauri was nothing short of relieved. At least he would be able to distract her for a time, if he wanted to. He was looking pretty nice, though she couldn't help a small laugh at his choice of footwear. Kauri was definitely someone who was himself, and she admired that about him. He seemed very open and honest, and she was pleased when he complimented her dress. "Hi Kauri, your suit is nice too!" She said cheerfully. "I only just arrived, but the hall is beautiful right? Do you want a drink?"

 

[Kauri Morales-Tipene]

Kauri smiled, pleased that Rose seemed happy to talk to him. "Thanks!" He said cheerfully, straightening his tie a little. Kauri had struggled with choosing suits for school events at time, but he found he actually quite liked what he was wearing this year. He nodded in response to Rose's question, looking around. "The snow always weirds me out a bit at this time of year, but it's pretty." He smiled, and nodded when she offered him a drink. "Yes please." Kauri was fairly sure Rose seemed all alone here, but he knew he remembered seeing her with a boyfriend in the past, and didn't want to crowd her if she had other things to do. "I'm not here with anyone, so I'm just sort of bouncing around saying hi to people." He commented, trying to convey that if Rose wanted to step away and go dance with her boyfriend it wouldn't bother him.

 

[Rose Holland]

Rose felt the urge to giggle when Kauri straightened his tie in response to her compliment. It as pretty cute. She nodded as he talked about the snow. "Yeah, it's a bit weird. But my parents are from England, technically I am too, so they do sometimes get nostalgic for the winter-y Christmas stuff, so maybe some of the professors are the same?" She glanced at Professor Alicastell, who was looking quite beautiful in her dress. Then she turned back to the table and started to pour Kauri and herself some drinks. She handed it to him and smiled at his comment. "I'm not here with anyone either." She said, unable to quite hide the sadness in her voice at this statement. Her smile wavered for a moment ,and she quickly looked down at her drink. "I was just seeing who I would run into tonight, you know?" She added, trying to sound casual.

 

[Kauri Morales-Tipene]

Kauri listened to Rose talk, surprised when she said she was from England. "Oh! I thought you had a bit of an accent but I wasn't sure." He smiled. "What's England like? It must be cool being from another country." Kauri had never even left New Zealand other than during school field trips, but through Hogwarts he had met so many people from interesting places, and it made him want to see more of the world. When Rose offered a drink, he took it with a smile. "Thanks." He said happily, taking a sip. Kauri regretted his question as soon as he heard the sadness in Rose's voice, though a small part of Kauri's brain was strangely happy that she wasn't dating anyone. Kauri hadn't thought about anyone this way since Tristan, and it was throwing him for a loop somewhat. It was obvious that Rose was upset though, and even if Kauri had any kind of idea of how to flirt with someone, it was clear that now was not the time. Rose needed a friend, not someone who thought she was pretty, so he gave her an encouraging smile instead, the same as he would for any other friend in this situation. "Well, we've run into each other now, so let's make sure it's a good evening." He said cheerfully. "Do you wanna hit the dancefloor? I guarantee I've got some moves that'll make you laugh."

 

[Rose Holland]

Rose was a little surprised when Kauri commented on her accent, but it wasn't the first time she'd heard that. Rose laughed softly and shrugged. "I don't remember much of it, we moved when I was really young, and my uncle lives in France now so we sometimes go there for family events but I don't have any family living in England anymore." She told him with a small shrug. Rose sipped her own drink, glancing around the room. it was really filling up with couples now, but Rose didn't so lonely anymore now that she was talking to a friend and fellow prefect. Kauri was good company, and his cheerful nature was making her feel better. She smiled when he told her they should make sure it was a good evening. She was a little surprised he asked her to dance, but after considering it for a moment she realized that sounded like fun. She laughed softly. "You guarantee that? I want to see." She said, nodding. "Let's dance. It sounds like fun. I'd like to laugh for a bit." She grinned at him.

 

[Kauri Morales-Tipene]

Kauri listened to Rose talking about her family, nodding with interest. "Oh wow, France must be cool too! That's so awesome. Do you like France?" Kauri couldn't imagine being as well travelled as Rose, let alone talking about as casually as she did. He supposed it must be different for people who had grown up with magical travel as an option, but it seemed extravagant and far-fetched to him, having spent all his life before Hogwarts in the same city. Kauri grinned, relieved, when Rose accepted his offer of a dance, and decided his goal for tonight was clear. He was gonna make sure Rose had a great evening, and didn't have anything to be sad about. "Oh, I'll definitely make you laugh." Kauri grinned, sticking out his tongue and crossing his eyes as he wiggled his shoulders in imitation of an energetic dance. "C'mon, let's go." He smiled, offering Rose his arm to go to the dancefloor together. Kauri didn't know if the gesture would be too much, but hopefully his goofiness had made her comfortable enough to know he wasn't trying to make a move on her.

 

[Rose Holland]

Rose nodded at Kauri's question, but then shrugged as she considered it more. "I haven't seen a lot of France, honestly. But what I've seen is pretty nice. They have good pastries, though the language is impossible." Grace had tried to teach Rose and her sisters some basic phrases, but Rose had never really gotten the hang of it. It was too strange. "Do you speak any other languages?" She asked, as she realized she was talking about herself quite a bit. Kauri assured again that he would make her laugh, and then pulled a funny face that immediately made her giggle, especially with the dance moves he made to go along with it. She took his arm without hesitation, happy to take the chance for a good evening full of distractions. They made their way onto the dance floor, and Rose pulled her arm free to twirl around, then stopped while facing him and grinned. "Alright, you've hyped up your moves, now show them!" She said happily.

 

[Kauri Morales-Tipene]

Kauri nodded, listening as Rose talked about France. It sounded exciting and exotic to him, and Kauri wondered if his life would ever take him places like that. Kauri was content in his home and had never thought much about travelling, but there was a lot of world out there he had never seen, and it was interesting to think about. He shrugged when Rose asked if he spoke any other languages. "Kind of." Kauri commented. "My Mum taught me a bit of Te Reo, but neither of us are fluent." He thought for a moment, trying to construct a sentence he was fairly sure was right. "Ka Pīrangi koe ki te kanikani tahi tāua? That means 'Would you like to dance with me?' I think." He laughed nervously. Kauri wasn't especially confident in Te Reo, but he thought he had gotten that right.

Kauri was glad when his dance moves were able to make Rose laugh, and even gladder when she agreed to dance with him and took his arm. He made his way to the dance floor with her, trying to think of his favourite goofy moves that he and April had made up together at school dances passed. He was distracted a moment by watching Rose twirl around, but quickly affixed a goofy grin onto his face when she asked to see his moves. "Alriiight!" Kauri laughed as he launched into some of the stupidest moves he and April had come up with, waving his arms and legs in all directions. It definitely wasn't anything approaching a dignified dance, but Kauri's only goal tonight was to make Rose laugh.

 

[Rose Holland]

Rose was interested to hear Kauri say his mother taught him a little bit of Te Reo, she had heard a bit of the language in the years she had lived in the country, it was impossible not to, but she didn't know much. As he asked her to dance in Te Reo, Rose grinned brightly. "I believe you, I bet it's right." She told him encouragingly. "The answer is yes." She added, though she had already agreed to it.

On the dance floor, Rose felt a little strange again in between all the couples. But as soon as Kauri started to dance, she started to laugh. He was really trying to be goofy and silly, and Rose enjoyed it a lot. She started copying some of his moves, not caring in the slightest about how silly she looked. She stumbled once, as she wasn't too used to wearing heels, and grabbed Kauri's arm to steady herself. "Sorry!" She said, laughing all the while. Then she got an idea, and held out both her hands. "Grab my hands, we're going to spin!" She called to him after looking around to make sure they had enough room for something like that.

 

[Kauri Morales-Tipene]

Kauri grinned brightly, pleased that Rose had been impressed by his meager language skills, and though he knew the repeated question had been a bit redundant, he was glad that the answer was still yes. Kauri was pleased his goofy moves were able to get a laugh out of Rose, and even more pleased when she joined in.
This was the right way to spend a school dance, in Kauri's opinion, and he was both glad that he had found someone to spend it with, and that he had been able to cheer Rose up. He realised a little late when she stumbled, moving too late to stop her, though she had already steadied herself on his arm. Before Kauri could ask if she was okay though, Rose was reaching for his hands, and proposing something even more fun. Laughing, he nodded and took her hands. "Yeah!" Kauri said happily, beginning to spin in a big circle with Rose.

 

[Rose Holland]

As Kauri took her hands, Rose took a step back to create a bit more distance between them. Then they started to spin around, and Rose laughed brightly as she started to feel like she was flying, but without the added fear of heights. She managed to stay upright even on her heels, and spun circles on the dance floor while holding onto Kauri. She caught his eye and grinned at him, enjoying herself immensely. But after a few circles, she realized she was starting to get a bit dizzy. She slowed down until they came to a stop, then grabbed his arm again to steady herself on her stupid shoes. "Wow. That was funny." She said, then laughed softly. "Holy crap." She added, shaking her head. "Why doesn't everyone dance like that? It's so much better!"