Open Not a Care

[Aleksandra Kaster]

It was official. Aleksandra was attending her last ever Valentine's Dance at Hogwarts. She'd chosen a black dress for the occasion, to mourn the loss of her education and childhood, well, sort of. It wasn't like she was attending a funeral and really she felt so much better after making the decision because it meant she wasn't forced to live by the rules that were being placed on her anymore. She supposed she could ask her father to continue her education, but really, she liked the idea of being able to travel the world. Ah, freedom. Dropping out had been something that had been on her mind since last year. She'd known all of her friends were going to leave so really it didn't seem like too big of an issue for her to do so as well. The minor fact of them being older than her not withstanding, Aleks had her own goals in life that really weren't to be helped by being in school. It just wasn't the right environment for her at this time. She'd learned everything she was going to and trying to learn more than that seemed inconsequential to her. To everyone else it probably sounded stupid, but she had a plan... or, she would do, when she dropped out. Always have a plan, that was what her mother used to say to her. She stepped into the Great Hall for what what would be the last time with an occasion. Of course she would still eat here every day, but this would be the last time she'd be dressed up. It was a bit of a weird thought, but she was absolutely looking forward to it. She couldn't wait.​

 

[Shane Ackley]

Shane liked valentines day enough, he’d gotten one pink rose, of course unsigned as the roses he got tended to be, but it wasn’t important what he got but what he gave back to everyone else. He liked it because it tended to make people a little more desperate than normal, and that was usually a good sweet zone for him. BUt, this was also the last of these events that Shane would attend at Hogwarts, which did leave him feeling a little peculiar, almost bittersweet. He was looking forward to leaving the school, but it was like this one thing was something that he would miss, and maybe it wasn’t just the one thing. There was of course a simplicity to Hogwarts, to school in general. The hufflepuff didn’t care, he just found himself a spot to look around and see who he could go ahead and flirt with, maybe make this evening more about that than anything else. He didn’t need to be thinking about how he might actually miss the school despite all his frustrations with the place. it was as he did that that he spotted a girl, perhaps in the year below him. She was there by herself it seemed, so he walked over to her, "Can I interest you in a dance?" ​

 

[Aleksandra Kaster]

Aleks had been rather content to simply watch the masses. People watching was, after all, something of a specialty of hers. She'd been homeschooled for so many years and then suddenly thrust into the schooling system only for all of those whom she depended on to up and vacate her presence. It was rather all rather annoying. She had no energy to waste on those losses any more though, because she'd never enjoyed attending school anyway and, saying that, she'd decided that this was her last year. She would not be returning after this. She'd had enough of rules and regulations, this seemed much more freeing. Aleks had never really allowed herself the time to get to know her peers, and so because of that, when she noticed an slightly older boy approaching her, she didn't really recognise him, nor the fact that it was her he was approaching until after he'd spoken. She blinked at him, just a little dumbfounded. She hadn't really expected anyone to come up to her, she thought she'd had some kind of barrier to that, though that was a bit of a silly thought. She recovered slowly though, allowing the shock on her face to give way to a bright smile. "Sure, I like to dance," it was one of the only things she was good at in a group. Most of her other talents were very talenty really, certainly not in other people's company. "Are you any good, do I have to care for my toes?"​

 

[Shane Ackley]

Shane gave a little flirty smile as she agreed to dance with him, ”Dancing is one of my many talents,” he said with a little wink. He held out his hands to her, indicated that he would happily lead them as they danced. He certainly wouldn’t mind doing that with this girl. He hadn’t seen her around much, but she was a little younger than he was and definitely not a hufflepuff so it made sense that he wouldn’t know her particularly well. ”I’m Shane, by the way,” he introduced, with a little flirty tone and a keen expression. It would be nice to spend this evening with someone new and he hoped that she wouldn’t be too interested in him for anything other than this dance. Perhaps the fact he would soon graduate would help this for him, there wasn’t enough time to get attached. He just focused on dancing with her and having a good time at this ball, and happily impressing her with his dancing. ​

 

[Aleksandra Kaster]

Aleks grinned at her new friend, she'd danced with boys that said they knew how to dance before and then they didn't so this would be interesting. "Okay, let's see those moves then," she said, taking his hands happily and following him wherever he led her. He wasn't Jackson, but he didn't need to be, and Jackson wasn't here. She might as well enjoy her last dance. She grinned at him as he introduced himself. She was pretty sure she detected some flirt in the words, but she could have been wrong. "Pleasure Shane, I'm Aleksandra," she told him, returning his tone, "but most people call me Aleks," she added, making sure he was aware that she was perfectly open at the moment. No one really called her Aleksandra anyway, so why should he? She'd not done a whole lot of dancing lately, with others, so she hoped she wouldn't be too rusty, because that would be embarrassing. Still, she was happy to lose herself to the moment, to the music, letting her hair down as it were. She'd been too pent up this year, over everything, not caring enough to do even the most basic of tasks, she'd only come to the dance to get her mind off of everything else, so this would be a welcome distraction indeed. "Huh, I love this song," she listened to it late at night when she was at home, it was her mother's favourite. "Nice song to slow dance to, don't you think?" She asked him with a questioning eyebrow. "What do you say, want to slow dance with me, Shane?"​