Open One Final Yule

[Jerara Tapsell]

Jerara hadn’t bothered to get himself a date to the yuleball, he hadn’t thought he needed to. This was his last one and he was confident that being alone was just going to be his path in life. Sure he had watched the stuff with Tristan and the other boy go down in the great hall before and though he’d kind of reached out a little without actually saying anything, He hadn’t done much more, not sure if he should have to be the one to do something, to be the one to make the first move when Tristan had really been the one annoyed at him. Time would tell, but regardless of that, he knew that probably aside from Ellie - who hopefully would still want him at the end of the year - he was going to just have to be alone. That wasn’t a bad thing. He was fine with that, he worked better alone anyway. The boy was dressed formally of course, though, less so than he had in the prior year when Fleur had made him go get changed. Jerara walked into the hall and was graced with a familiar sight of the place, many a good memory had been made for him here. He would be sad to see it go, but at the very least he’d be able to go to other events with other adults when he left school which would be as fun, if only because he’d heard alcohol really ramped up the ante with events like that. He found his way to the drinks table and got himself a small glass of butterbeer choosing to spend a little time just look around the room and savour this last ball.​

 

[Tristan Collins]

Tristan had no idea what he was doing here tonight, but he had gone almost automatically. He had waited until Vivian had left before getting ready, then walked to the great hall quietly. The past week had been miserable for him, and there was a large part of him that wanted to just stay in the dormitory by himself. But he hadn't missed a yule ball since his second year, and it felt wrong to miss the last one. Besides, there was a tiny part of him that was hoping, just secretly, that he and Vivian could... make things up tonight. The yule ball had been the whole reason this had blown up, and he knew now that he wanted to be with Vivian no matter what people thought. His reputation was shattered now anyway, so why would it matter? But as he entered the great hall, he didn't spot Vivian. Instead, he spotted Jerara right away. His stomach clenched, but he knew what to do. As his world has shattered, there had only been one person who had been by his side. He took a deep breath, then walked over to Jerara. "Hello." He said softly. "I... meant to thank you, for the other day." He muttered vaguely. He hoped no one was looking at him, though he knew everyone know who he was now. And not for the reasons he wanted.

 

[Jerara Tapsell]

Jerara couldn’t help the light surprise cross his features when he noted that Tristan was walking towards him, even more so when he spoke to him too. He raised his eyebrow a little but it quickly faded at the nature of what the other boy said. Admittedly he hadn’t thought anything would come of his gesture that day in the great hall, they’d both been harsh to one another before, so to him it just didn’t seem likely even with his gesture that they would ever speak again. He had resigned himself to being alone, come to terms with it even, but it seemed that the gesture had helped some of it. He didn’t feel nearly as frustrated with Tristan as he had been. He nodded at the other boy, giving a quick small smile, ”Course,” was what he said, there wasn’t much more he thought he should say or could say, what kind of gesture he could make to help this further, if he needed to. Jerara could see that Tristan was struggling a bit, if only because his former friend was now talking to him again, a little. His own words when they’d argued had perhaps hit a little close to home with all of this going on. ”I ehh know a few curses if you wanted to get your own back?” Jerara was hinting a little at the books he read but largely his words were just empty, an empty assertion that he would be on Tristan’s side doing it in his own way as he always did. They had once teamed up before to get back at someone so the offer would be there now too.​

 

[Tristan Collins]

Tristan had been ready to end his friendship with Jerara only a few weeks ago, but now he understood that Jerara was the only person he had left on his side. He knew Jerara could still reject him, refuse to talk to him, but deep down he knew that he wouldn't. So he gave the boy a weak smile and stood near him. He felt less adrift with his best friend here. His next words made him blink, the idea of cursing Vivian was so far removed from what he actually wanted to do that he laughed a little. "Thanks, friend... but I'm not trying to hurt him more." He said, his voice soft. "I... I don't think curses would help me." He added, still shy about revealing how much he cared about Vivian, even when it was a lost cause now. Though his gaze was drifting around the room hopefully, he had to see Vivian even for a moment. "Have you seen him?" He asked, knowing that Jerara would understand who he meant.

 

[Jerara Tapsell]

Jerara couldn’t help but appreciate the fact that Tristan was the one that used the word friend first. Jerara wasn’t sure if they were suddenly friends again, since they hadn’t really talked he wasn’t sure but at the very least with what Tristan said they could maybe worse on being friends again. The head boy gave a little shrug to his response, he got the impression from his words that the relationship with the boy had been more than what he might’ve thought with the outburst. He had known Tristan to date but he’d never really cared deeply to see how much the other boy cared for his partners. It had never mattered to Jerara. ”The cheering charm might,” Jerara let the light joke, a reference to their duel slip out before he could stop it, but there was a light smile on his own features, maybe Tristan needed cheering up. Jerara wasn’t sure he was the friend for that, he wasn’t a particularly good friend. At the question he shook his head, ”No, but I haven’t been looking,” he replied honestly, he was sure that Tristan remembered how little cared about the drama and relationships of others, he stuck to his few friends and ignore most others. But, when he asked Jerara glanced about the hall, just a little. ”Are you hoping to speak to him?”​

 

[Tristan Collins]

The outrage he had felt about not being head boy seemed almost silly now. And Tristan was glad that Jerara seemed to be accepting him back despite his behavior. He smiled weakly at his comment about the cheering charm, but Tristan hadn't felt much like laughing lately. He nodded when Jerara said he hadn't been looking, which wasn't a big surprise. He turned his head, nodding. "I guess. I mean, it's not like I have more to lose. And I miss him." He murmured, admitting as much to Jerara felt almost like a weakness, but he knew the boy wouldn't use it against him.

His breath caught when he saw Vivian, and he automatically took a step in his direction. He looked... incredible. And he immediately knew he had to go talk to him. "I'll be right back." He said vaguely to Jerara, taking another step. But before he could do more, he noticed that Vivian was talking to someone. Talking closely with another boy. His heart constricted when he noticed it was Shane, and he knew exactly what was going on. That didn't stop the hurt he felt when he saw the younger boy lean up to kiss Vivian, and Tristan could only stare silently for a moment. Finally, he tore his gaze away and stepped back to Jerara's side, sure that he had seen it too. Tristan tried to smile. "Nevermind." He said, but he was clearly shaken. His gaze darted to the two boys, though the sight of them clearly pained him. "Actually... I'm not sure why I came here tonight. Maybe I should go." He tried to keep his voice light, but there was a slight tremor in it. He swallowed to get rid of the lump in his throat, though it didn't work. He blinked a few times rapidly, and ran a hand over his face.

Spoiler: his expression in a gif

 

[Jerara Tapsell]

Jerara let himself feel a little surprised at the openness that Tristan was being towards him, they had never really been those friends, there was a certain openness but definitely not to this extent. Not to where he was actually surprised by the words Tristan was saying. He felt a little sad for Tristan knowing that this situation was not playing out how the other boy had probably wanted. It didn’t matter to Jerara what role tristan had played for it to had ended up as it was now ending up. There was obviously something that had happened. He looked around the room a few times before nodded when Tristan said he’d be right back. Jerara watched as his friend walked away and towards a couple who were standing pretty close. He recognised the older of the two, that was Vivian wasn’t it? And oh, he was kissing someone else. Jerara felt his sympathy grown slightly, that could never been fun to watch. Jerara looked at Tristan and could see how he was only barely managing to keep it together, Jerara reached out and placed a hand upon the guy’s shoulder. ”Yeah? You want to go to the prefect’s room and just chill there?” Jerara had no problems with leaving now, he didn’t particularly want to leave Tristan alone, but wouldn’t force his company upon him so he’d make sure the offer stood, that he showed that despite everything that had happened between them, he would be there, if tristan wanted him to be there. ​

 

[Tristan Collins]

Tristan swallowed a few times, trying to dislodge the lump in his throat though it seemed to have found permanent residence there. To his embarrassment, his eyes filled with tears. Roughly, he ran his hand over his face again. What had he been thinking, that the air was now cleared between them so he could get together with Vivian now? After the boy had made it clear he was done with Tristan? How could he be so stupid? Tristan nearly started crying in earnest as Jerara put his hand on his shoulder and realization hit him that he still had his friend, even if he had no one else. Only years of practice of keeping his emotions in check stopped him from causing an embarrassing scene. He shrugged a little. "I... I want to leave, but you don't have to." He said weakly. "Jerara, it's fine, you've done enough... you should enjoy your last yule ball." The offer was so nice that Tristan didn't really know what to do with it. Every kind gesture from Jerara only made him feel worse about how he treated him earlier. It also made him realize that, despite his anger and frustration, maybe the headmistress had made the right choice. That was painful to admit.