Closed Oh, Here We Go Again

[Vanity Mettlestone]

After the yule ball, Vanity hadn't honestly wanted to go to the Valentine's Dance with Holden, but to her surprise he had seemed to assume they would go together. She hadn't corrected him, mostly because it was better to show up with a crappy date than with no date at all. She did remember how the last dance had made her feel and she vowed not to let him hurt her again. She would keep her expectations low and just enjoy the attention she got from showing up with him again.

But even with lowered expectations, Vanity couldn't help being disappointed when she met up with Holden near the Great Hall. She frowned as she took him in. "You're wearing the same thing." She told him bluntly. The outfit had been horrible last time, but to repeat it too. Vanity had to admit she tried a little less this time around, but she still looked like she put in ten times as much effort as than Holden had, which was annoying.

 

[Holden Marshall]

Holden wasn't really sure he was doing this 'having a girlfriend' thing right, but Vanity hadn't killed him yet, and it was a definite distraction from his haunting thoughts about how cool Milo had looked catching the snitch. If he did turn out to be gay, that would be fine, he supposed, but he wasn't going to let Milo Frogg be the one who made him gay. And it might just be a temporary insanity, anyway. He was young, there was plenty of time to try things, and there was nothing wrong with trying out dating a girl before he tried dating guys. Guys who weren't Milo.

He hadn't hung out with Vanity on the holidays, but with the Valentines dance coming up he figured it was a pretty good time to have their second date. He hadn't thought to get a better suit or whatever over the holidays, but it was whatever. He wasn't a suit guy anyway, Vanity knew that. And this date would be better than the last one. It had to be. That thought died in the back of his mind when Vanity greeted him by immediately commenting on his outfit, and Holden wasn't dense enough to miss the annoyance in her tone. He shrugged awkwardly, glancing down at himself. "I don't have a suit." He said, stuffing his hands in his pockets. "You're- you look nice. Kinda surprised you didn't save the pink dress for Valentines though." It would make more sense to him, certainly - a black dress at the Yule Ball, and a pink one for Valentines. Colour coding the holidays, or whatever. "Should we go in?"

 

[Corn Seymour VII]

This was a crime. An injustice. Proof that girls were much too forgiving of brutish idiots if they happened to have a particularly nice jawline. He almost didn't want to bother anymore. But Vanity was unlike any girl he had ever met, and to see her shackled to an imbecile for the second holiday running was more than he could bear. Cornelius didn't think he had ever been chivalrous in his life, but he was beginning to think there was a possibility that that was exactly what he was doing.


The hawaiian shirt hadn't been the best stealth choice but he didn't own anything particularly nondescript, so he did his best to just keep his distance as he watched over Vanity and Holden. He had one hand on his wand, ready to step in at any second if there was any sign of the Gryffindor troglodyte hurting her. He hadn't even bothered to dress up, standing around in a sloppy t-shirt next to Vanity's impeccable dress. Anyone who didn't put in the effort to find a suitable outfit definitely didn't deserve to be on her arm, as far as he was concerned. For now he would watch from a distance though, and at the slightest hint that Vanity was unhappy, he would swoop in and dispatch the idiot, for her protection.

 

[Vanity Mettlestone]

Vanity frowned at Holden's excuse. She sighed. "Well, you had a whole holiday break to buy one." She snapped at him, even as she offered him her arm. She rolled her eyes when he then commented on her herfashion choice, like she wasn't outshining him in every possible way. She started to head into the Great Hall, assuming he would follow. "You don't get it, if I want to stand out in these decorations I shouldn't wear pink. Professor Ward always goes way over the top, black looks better with that backdrop." She told him. "C'mon, let's go inside." She added somewhat impatiently.

 

[Holden Marshall]

Holden had also had a whole holiday break to forget just how frustrating Vanity had been on their first date, and he was immediately questioning if this whole girlfriend thing was worth it. Why did it matter what he was wearing? It wasn't like anyone was even going to be looking at him, with Vanity standing next to him looking like a movie star. He just shrugged, withdrawing one hand from his pocket to join arms with her awkwardly. Everything felt just as uncomfortable as last time; like there was a person Vanity expected him to be that he just wasn't. Was he supposed to magically become this mushy romance novel guy overnight? Was he supposed to bring flowers? Should he be holding out chairs for her. He wasn't sure, and he didn't want to look like an idiot, so he just didn't. Not that it mattered - he was profoundly certain that Vanity just didn't want to be here. Not with him. And for whatever reason, Holden kept catching glimpses of that freak Corn completely failing to be subtle in his stupid bright shirt, glaring daggers at the two of them. All things said, it was a relief when towards the end of the night a profound distraction caught Holden's eye. "Is that your brother?" He said in disbelief, watching as one seventh year boy got down on one knee in front of another. He wasn't sure if this was a good thing or a bad thing, but either way it was something for Vanity to focus on other than their disasterous date.

 

[Corn Seymour VII]

The longer the date went on, the more determined Cornelius became that he was going to find a way to kick Holden's arse. Not that he was sure what that way was yet - Holden would definitely beat him in a fistfight, and if Cornelius tried to duel him honourably, there was no doubt Holden would immediately throw the rules out and turn it into a fistfight anyway. He was a dullard - slow and awkward, and completely blatant about the fact that he did not want to be there with Vanity, for whatever moronic reason. He wasn't even looking at her - he was pointing her attention to someone on the dance floor doing something pointless, when Vanity Mettlestone was right in front of him. A complete buffoon.

 

[Vanity Mettlestone]

As the night progressed, Vanity couldn't help but notice Cornelius watching them. She tried to ignore him, feeling judged by him for going with Holden again after she had confided in him about how bad their first date had been. Maybe she deserved some judgement, because today really wasn't an improvement. By the end of the evening, she was in a pretty bad mood and sort of wishing she had just come alone. She frowned when Holden asked her about her brother. "What?" She asked distractedly, turning her head to follow his gaze. Then she gasped as she saw what was happening. Raawhiti was proposing. From the look on Emery's face, he was as surprised and dismayed as she was. It was like watching a trainwreck in slow motion. Across the room she caught Marama's eye and knew immediately they felt the same way about this development. What was he doing?