Closed Prepare the Preperations

[Solomon Tofilau]

"Seriously, you've been at school for two years, how do you not know how to tie a tie?" Sully said incredulously as he yanked the tie in question back away from René, looping it around his own neck so he could tie it for him. There'd been a lot of begging and hand wringing that lead to this point, and as irritating as it was to try and get ready for the ball in the Student Lounge, Sully had to hide an amused grin as he finished tying the tie, loosening it to lift it over his head and chucking it at René with a sigh. "Can't believe you're wearing a tie anyway," he added, shaking his head. "You look like an egg," he said, cackling as René glowered at him and looked around for something to throw back at him in retaliation. Years of being an older sibling had honed his reaction time expertly, so when René finally chucked a pillow at his head, Sully was well ready to duck out of the way. "See if I help you again next time," he shot back, shifting around to put a couch between him and his brother.

 

[Rene Tofilau]

"One and half years," René groused, swatting at Sully's hands as he pulled at the tie, though he let out a relieved breath when Sully continued on to tie it himself. School events were starting to become less daunting now that René had hit his second year, but formal wear was still well out of René's depth. Thankfully, he still had Sully around to help for at least one more year, a thought that made René s guts twist up with a mix of excitement and dread at the thought of being the only Tofilau at school after this year.

He scrunched up his face when Sully teased him about his outfit, glancing down at what he was wearing and glowering when Sully called him egg. "You're an egg," he snapped back, glancing around the room to look for something to chuck at his brother, grabbing a nearby pillow and huffing when he missed. "I wanna look nice," he muttered, barely managing to catch the tie that Sully threw his way, relieved that he could slip it back on now it was tied. He'd managed to get his school tie tied once and had just never had the guts to undo the knot and now he intended to do exactly the same with this one.

 

[Caleb Thorne]

Caleb pulled on Simon’s sleeve and tried to get his brother to walk faster than a streeler in winter. “Come on.“ he groaned before quickly giving up and racing ahead into the student lounge where Rene was waiting with his older brother. They had agreed to meet up and get ready before the ball and when Rene had mentioned Sully being there he hadn’t wanted to be overlooked and he begged Simon to come too. “Wow you’re looking sharp.” he said with an over dramatic wink before laughing at himself. Caleb hadn’t dressed up nearly as much since he didn’t have a date to impress which probably meant he didn’t need to come but he wasn’t about to get left out.

 

[Simon Thorne]

“You’re going to wrinkle my shirt.” Simon hissed as Caleb pulled on his sleeve. He wasn’t sure why he had agreed to go help his brother’s little friends get ready for the dance. They were second years and perfectly capable of getting dressed. But when Caleb had mentioned Sully would be there with his little brother, he caved. He let out an exasperated sigh as the younger boy ran off. A few seconds later he joined the rest of them in the student lounge and waved to Sully as he entered. He was supposed to be meeting Knox soon and he hoped this wouldn’t take too long. “Are you feeling underdressed now? At least he’s wearing trousers.” Simon said irritated when he saw Rene. He had been mortified when he saw Caleb’s outfit for the dance and knew their mother would throw a fit if she saw him now.

 

[Louis Alcott]

Louis had heard René was going to get ready in the Student Lounge with his brother, and Caleb might join too. He didn't have a cool older brother to bring, but that didn't mean he was going to miss out. He was wearing a suit and was pretty much ready already as he headed into the Student Lounge. He spotted the group quickly and headed over with a grin. He laughed at Caleb's outfit. "Why are you wearing shorts?" He asked the Slytherin. Then he waved at René, then at the older boys. "Hi." He said, slightly intimidated but determined not to show it.

 

[Solomon Tofilau]

René’s little friends had all arrived now and Sully was begrudgingly glad that Simon had come along as well so it wasn’t just him stuck with the tween squad. “Shorts are where it’s at, man,” he said to Simon with a grin, nodding to Simon’s little brother in approval. Though Sully would never let René hear the end of it if he tried wearing shorts to the dance. No one wanted to see those knobbly knees. He vaguely recognized the French kid René hung out with too, giving him a nod hello too as he moved to surveying René’s outfit now that he had his tie on. “It’s too stuffy,” he decided promptly, pulling out his wand. “Accio my leather jacket,” he said, tapping his chin thoughtfully with his other hand as he waited for the jacket to arrive. Hopefully it didn’t take out anyone on the stairs on the way down. “There we go,” Sully said happily, snagging the jacket as it shot into the room and holding it out to René. “Much cooler. Though if you get food on it I’ll stick cockroach clusters in all your socks,” he threatened as he handed it over.

 

[Rene Tofilau]

René could feel his face heating as his friends (and Caleb’s brother) filed into the lounge, trying to look unaffected even as he fumbled to straighten his tie. “Yeah why are you wearing shorts,” he said to Caleb, chiming in with Louis and ignoring when Sully came to his defense. Thankfully, Simon seemed to approve of René’s outfit, at least more than Sully did, though René wasn’t going to turn it down when Sully offered him his jacket, taking it fervently and hoping he didn’t look too eager as he slipped it on with a quiet thanks. He was pleased to see it actually fit alright, if anything it was too tight around the shoulders and René stood up a little taller at the realization, glancing around the room to see if his friends also thought it looked cool. “Oh, Louis, do you need help getting ready?” He asked as he glanced at Louis, noting he didn’t have a big brother to lend a hand. Or tease him. Either way.

 

[Caleb Thorne]

“Because it’s cool.” Caleb insisted as everyone started to point out his shorts. He rolled his eyes “Everyone there is going to look all stuffy in their suits, at least I’ll be different. ” he said , crossing his arms across his chest defiantly. “Thank you!” he said excitedly when Rene’s brother defended his choice. He was wearing a jacket which should have counted for at least something. He ducked out of Simon’s reach to avoid his fussing as Rene put on Sully’s leather jacket. “That looks cool.” he said in agreement with the older boy, but he made a grossed out face at his threat.

 

[Simon Thorne]

Simon’s shoulders sagged in defeat as Sully encouraged Caleb’s decision. "I still think you look ridiculous.“ he said dryly. “Did you even comb your hair?” he asked suddenly, noticing the unruly way the curlier parts on the back of his head looked. But his brother ducked away before he could try and straighten it out. That was when he noticed the third boy. He had seen him hanging out with Caleb before and around the Brotherhood room. “And who are you?” he asked curiously since he didn't seem to be here with anyone else.

 

[Louis Alcott]

Seeing the way Sully gave René his leather jacket made Louis feel strangely jealous. He wished he had someone like that, a cool older brother to help him out. Sully was absolutely awesome, like one of the coolest people in Gryffindor. René was so lucky. Louis shrugged at René's question, shaking his head. "Nah, I'm ready." He said. "Just waiting for you nerds." He said with a slight smirk. "I can actually dress myself." He added, unable to resist the little sting at him. Served him right for not appreciating his cool brother. Caleb was even worse, though, and Louis was glad other people joined him in making fun of his shorts. Even his brother seemed to think he looked stupid. But then he asked who Louis was, which made Louis frown. "I'm Louis." He said. "I'm like, your brother's best friend." He said as if that was obvious. It might not be entirely true, but he hoped Caleb wouldn't deny it in front of these older boys.