Closed Practice Run

[Louis Alcott]

Louis had put on a suit for tonight, though he felt a bit uncomfortable in it. He wasn't very used to wearing formal clothes like this, but it seemed to fit the evening. He didn't have a date for the yule ball, instead, Louis had found a few of his classmates to hang around with. Both René and Caleb were by themselves as well, and Louis had made sure they were all standing close to the snack table. He glanced at his friends, then at the dance floor. "I think I preferred the winter decorations last time." He admitted. "Felt more fitting." Louis knew he had a different viewpoint of Christmas from growing up in France, and it took some getting used to the idea of Christmas being a summer holiday instead of a winter one.

 

[Caleb Thorne]

Caleb was relieved that blind dates weren't a thing this year. He had a fine time with who ever his date was last time even though he couldn't even remember her name. He was much more excited to spend time with his friends. He was also excited that no date meant he didn't have to dress up, or at least not that much. But he still wore his suit jacket just incase Lila spotted him. Hopefully she would just see the jacket and leave him alone. "Yeah, but the fireflies are a nice touch." he said in agreement with Louis. Like Caleb he had grown up in Europe and was used to a cold Christmas. It had been a while since Caleb had had one for himself but in his heart that's what felt right. "And the food smells really good." he added, and rubbed his stomach.

 

[Rene Tofilau]

René tried not to fuss with his tie as he surveyed the hall with his friends. Despite Sully showing him at least three times, he still wasn't confident he could fix it if he messed it up, so he compensated by just shoving his hands in his pockets, chewing his lip as the others talked about the decorations this year. Privately, René liked them a whole lot better than last years but he guessed Europeans were just weird like that. Sure the snow had been cool and stuff, but it felt all wrong with the late sun still in the sky half the evening and how hot it was outside. This was more what René thought of when someone said Christmas - or 'Yule' was what wizards said, he supposed- but Caleb and Louis both seemed to disagree. "I didn't realize they changed it every year," he chimed instead. "Are they fireflies? I've never seen those before," he added, standing on his tiptoes to try and get a better look at a passing light. He thought he'd heard a girl say they were fairies and he'd been pretty excited to get a closer look at one, but fireflies were neat too, even magical ones.

 

[Louis Alcott]

René said he hadn't known the decorations changed every year, and Louis shrugged. "Me neither, my uncle never mentioned that." He said, eager to remind them he had more important connections at Hogwarts than they did with their older brothers. He shrugged as Caleb said the fireflies were a nice touch. He looked up as René questioned if they even were fireflies, squinting at one. "I just see a light." He said with a shrug. "I'm not sure." At least Caleb agreed with him. Louis nodded when he mentioned the food, grinning. "Yeah, the food is great." He said. "What do you guys want to do?" He glanced at the dancing couples and laughed. "Dance?" He asked jokingly. "I guess next year we'll all have dates, right?"

 

[Caleb Thorne]

Caleb just shrugged as the other boys talked about whether or not the decorations changed. Even with his two older siblings he didn’t know. Not that Simon would talk to him and he would rarely listen if Lila started going on and on about something. Besides, he didn't really think it mattered. He made a humming sound as he thought about Louis' suggestion. Dancing sounded fun but it looked like it was mostly couples so far. But before he could answer he was distracted by Louis' next question. "A date?" he repeated curiously and considered it. A date sounded nice but it seemed like a hassle to have to deal with one person the entire night. He guessed you could still hang out with friends but that was starting to defeat the purpose of even having a date. "Do you even know how to ask someone out on a date?" he teased and bumped into Louis with his hip without answering the question for himself.

 

[Rene Tofilau]

René joined the others in looking around the hall for what to do next. The dance floor did look fun, but intimidating at the same time. René could see how easily he'd stand out with his height and unlike Sully, he didn't trust his dance moves to make that a good thing. He hummed noncommittally, even more so when Louis mentioned dates. "Yeah, do you even know?" He asked Louis with a grin, glad to jump in on teasing Louis. René couldn't even think who he'd ask next year, let alone how you're supposed to do it. "Do you have to like get them flowers or something?" He offered, regretting the suggestion immediately.

 

[Louis Alcott]

Louis nodded as Caleb questioned him about bringing the dates. "Sure, all the cool kids must have dates." He said, gesturing to the older students. He scoffed when Caleb asked if he even knew how to ask someone on a date. He rolled his eyes when René joined in, shaking his head slowly. "Of course I know." He said. "No flowers necessary." He paused, then grinned. "I'll show you." He then said, clearing his throat. He turned to Caleb, moving closer to him until they were face to face. He put on a confident smile, running a hand through his hair. "Hey, I like your jacket." He said. "Looks cool." He paused, meeting his eyes. "Wanna go to the dance together?" He then asked, as if it just occurred to him. "I think it could be fun, no?" He added with a slight shrug.

 

[Giulia Alcott]

Giulia had felt uncomfortable and out of place ever since arriving in New Zealand, and it just never seemed to get easier. Her grasp of English was definitely improving with more exposure, but the culture shock just never seemed to wear off. And now she couldn't even have a normal Christmas. The room was way too warm, and the surfing birds on the tree just looked silly. Miserable as ever, she made her way over to where she saw Louis with a few other boys, pulling slightly on his sleeve. "Louis, I don't see anyone I know..." She complained, hoping she could at least hang around her brother for a bit.

 

[Caleb Thorne]

"And you're cool?" Caleb asked with a laugh, unable to resist the urge to tease Louis. He always made it easy and his reactions were always priceless. He appreciated that Rene backed him up when it came to questioning Louis' experiences with dates. Caleb crossed his arms as the other boy turned to him. "Well flowers wouldn't hurt." he muttered to himself before meeting his gaze. He let a smirk pull on the corners of his mouth as the Gryffindor ran his hand through his hair and Caleb hated to admit that it did make him look particularly handsome. He tried to keep a straight face as Louis got through his question but soon his lip started to quiver and a moment later he burst out laughing. He felt a little bad for laughing but he couldn't help it. "I think you're trying way too hard." he said once he caught his breath. He was going to offer to try next when a random girl came up to Louis and started speaking in French. "Oh bonjour!" he said excitedly and gave her a dramatic bow. He knew a little French from his cousin but he wasn't that good. "Who are you?" he asked bluntly.

 

[Rene Tofilau]

René shuffled his feet when Louis casually mentioned ‘cool kids’ having dates. Easier said than done, he thought glumly. René had never had to ask anyone to anything more important than a sleepover and next year he wouldn’t even have Sully around to ask for advice.

He perked up when Louis volunteered to show them how to do it, snorting at Caleb’s assessment. “Maybe a bit… Is the compliment necessary-“ René started to to ask when they were interrupted by a younger girl René had to assume was Louis’ sister. He knew Louis had one and only so many people spoke French at school.

 

[Louis Alcott]

Louis laughed as Caleb asked if he was cool. "Of course." He said easily. "We all are," he added as if that was obvious. He grinned winningly at the Slytherin, but his grin fell when he laughed at him. He frowned, crossing his arms. "No, you just don't want to play along. Anyone would have said yes." He turned to René. "You would have, yes?" He asked him directly. But he sighed when he questioned the compliment. "Of course it is, everyone likes to get compliments." He said. He stepped over to the Hufflepuff to try on him, sure he could more easily impress René. But he was distracted when he suddenly heard Giulia. He whirled around, frowning at her. This was the worst timing. Had she seen Caleb laughing at him? "Giulia," he hissed in a lower voice. "Go away, I'm with my friends. Go find one of your classmates or something." He hissed at her in rapid French. He gestured for her to go away, making a shooing gesture with his hand.