My candy girl

[Xavier Jeffreys]

Xavier was surprised to be asked to the yule ball. Especially by Zara, who cornered him as he was digging near the forbidden forest earlier that week. She had shouted "BUG BOY, GO TO THE BALL WITH ME." and nothing else, not posing a question, nor giving him an option to answer so he could not do anything but agree. He didn't mind it too much because he quickly returned to his task of digging for worms and thought nothing of Zara's demand until he was due to get ready for this 'ball' and got dressed just to wait for her outside the great hall where it would be held. He stood there, unsure if his attire was appropriate as the note she gave him that morning asked him to be clean, and suited up. His hands, shirt, face and hair were free of any dirt so he hoped it was enough. He twiddled his thumbs awkwardly as he stood against one of the pillars outside the great hall, waiting for his persistent Ravenclaw date to arrive.
​

 

[Zara Cohen-Knight]

After the Slytherin boy, Asaiah, had asked Zara to the Yule Ball and she’d denied him she had panicked because she had no good reason not too. She knew many a girl had admired his Quidditch talent (which hardly bode well for him in her case anyway) and would call him “cute” but before she had thought on it she’d denied it and after the longest two seconds of her life she had decided to lie and tell him she already had a date. She couldn’t tell anyone her troubles of this lie, this silly lie, nor go back on her denial of the offer so she went to the only person she could think of that would surely not have a date. Bug Boy. She was in such desperation that she didn't even mind the idea of going with him. The witch called out to him, demanding he attend with her and that was it. She was sorted for a date. It was only when she was getting ready that it had occurred to her that he might show up in a pair of gum boots and with worms in his pockets so she had demanded of him one more thing that a sensible, clean person would call common sense.

With that worry out of her head, Zara proceeded to prepare herself for the night. She put on a light blue dress that she knew she couldn’t trip on like many other girls might because a mix of heels and a long gown was a little daunting to the sensible girl and prepared her hair. She wanted to look nice for photos, even if Xavier might let her down as far as looks were. Why she’d turned the nice Slytherin boy down who had stargazed with her was well beyond her. Now the Ravenclaw walked down to the Entrance Hall and smiled in approval as she saw Bug Boy dressed less like he was ready to dig for worms and more like they could have a nice time. At the very least Zara could respect that he didn’t support Quidditch which was more than she could say for most people at this school. The girl greeted him with a smile as she approached and said, “Bug Boy, you look… very clean.” She hoped he realized this was her approval of him for the night because it really was appreciated.

 

[Xavier Jeffreys]

Anyone else would have taken the 'you look so clean' comment as an offense, but Xavier was not just anyone. He put effort in that night, more than any effort he had put in even for family affairs to meet Zara's clearly high standards. It wasn't because he thought of her as anything more than a friend, as some might see it that way. No, it was because he considered himself to be one of Zara's friends, and because he knew how much the yule ball meant to some girls. Xavier did not want to let his usual standard of cleanliness disappoint her. He smiled widely at the comment and looked down at her dress, searching for an equally kind compliment to give back to her. "Your dress has nice flowers. I wish there were bumble bees, but it's still great." He said, continuing to smile. He was tempted to link his arm with hers and lead her into the hall as he saw many other boys doing that with their own dates as he waited for Zara to show up. But Xavier hesitated from doing so in case she was still paranoid about his usually dirty although now clean hands. "Do you want me to lead you in the hall now?" He asked, scratching the back of his curly head as he waited for the Ravenclaw to answer. ​

 

[Zara Cohen-Knight]

“Thanks…” Zara smiled piteously at her Hufflepuff companion as he complimented her dress, not because she was ungrateful for it but because what he had added afterwards. An unnecessary comment but really he wouldn’t be Bug Boy if he had just been normal and at the same time she probably wouldn’t have felt comfortable enough to allow herself to ask - or well tell - him to go to the Yule Ball with her. It wasn’t the way things normally were done so she had hoped no one would ask as it was likely shocking enough that he had a date just as it might be that someone perceived to be as annoying as she was would have one too. As he asked if it was alright for him to bring her into the Great Hall she looked at him curiously, she was very capable of walking in through the doors herself as she’d done so on many other days but then it occurred to her that several couples around them were doing that exactly. Her dark hair couldn’t hide her red cheeks as she nodded her head at Xavier. She wasn’t blushing because of his company but instead for a reason she couldn’t pin point and so like most feelings, identified or not, she ignored it. “I uh… Do we link arms or hold hands or something?” she asked aloud, herself more than him because she felt certain he would be just as clueless as she was. Not just because of their shared youth though. He seemed clueless about how most things in society were run which was why he spent his days with insects instead of people. Still the Ravenclaw didn’t wish to be entirely insulting so she would allow this until they’d made it through the foyer and further into the Great Hall before she freed herself from his side. Perhaps she could speak with a few of her friends or pass judgement on whoever Lennon might be attending with as there was little else for the girl to do this evening. She heard rumours of an ice rink and she had left her skates in her other dress so that was a no-go and she didn’t imagine he would want to dance, another great perk of the mop-headed boy’s company.

 

[Xavier Jeffreys]

Xavier continued to scratch his head at an absence of anything else to do with his hands before he shrugged at Zara's response. He was as clueless as ever about if they were supposed to hold hands or link arms but he figured it was the latter as holding hands seemed to be a display of affection for people who were a couple. Not people who were attending the ball as friend dates, or even as a 'demand' date in Xavier's circumstance. So he opened his mouth to say as such "Let's just link arms." It seemed more practical anyway as his jacket covered his arms so no matter what, they wouldn't be touching. It relieved Xavier probably as much as it relieved Zara. At least he assumed it would considering the fact she seemed repulsed by his pastimes, both when they initially met and in the way she still referred to him as 'bug boy' despite knowing his name. He smiled regardless of that thought however and stepped to stand at Zara's side, linking his arm with hers. He then lead her into the great hall with his shoulders squared and continued walking with her until they eventually broke apart, going their separate ways to different sides of the room. ​