Take Our Time

[Corrine Lagos]

Corrine looked around the Entrance Hall for a moment before surreptitiously wiping her hands on her dress again. She hoped it wouldn't stain the material even as she really hoped she'd stop sweating. The Gryffindor had hoped the worst of her nerves were over, the asking already done with Cullen answering in the affirmative. But nope, as she had put her dress on, Corrine couldn't help but wish she had more everything to help the dress she had chosen fit just a little better instead of hanging as it did. And her hair wouldn't sit where she wanted it to, and her shoes felt too tight. Everything felt wrong and the teen knew she could have done with a pep talk from her friend, Xena. They'd only become worse as she had made her way downstairs to meet Cullen.

Glancing around again, Corrine hoped she remembered right. What if they'd agreed to meet in front of Gryffindor house and she'd come all the way down here? That would be terrible. What if he doesn't show at all? the demon of anxiety whispered into her mind, her biggest fear coming to light. Well, one of them. If he did show up that fear would simply give way to others more suited to a first date. Corrine couldn't believe how crazy she had been in asking Cullen to the Yule Ball when they'd never really hung out before. Who did that kind of thing?

 

[Cullen Yeong]

Cullen wasn’t one for the dances of Hogwarts, he understood they were meant as a time for celebration but he’d always felt too nervous to ask any of the girls he thought were cute. Which meant he kept going alone, plus he hardly really knew anyone from his year to speak with once there. The dances had been lonely affairs for him so far and as such he hadn’t really been planning on making it to this Yule Ball. But Corrine had come up out of nowhere and asked him to go with her. He had been surprised and more surprised when he heard the word yes come from his mouth. Wasn’t this the odd girl who sat in trees and liked to scare him when he walked by? She was nice to him though after those moments but he didn’t really know much about her. He’d consider her a friend and it would be nice to see a dance from the point of view of being there with a friend so he agreed.

Waiting in front of the Great Hall doors long before the dance had even begun Cullen grew more nervous about the night than he thought he would. He knew it was obvious to all the people now heading into the ball he was waiting for someone. So if she never came he wouldn’t be able to come in, they’d know he was stood up. He saw Rose waiting nearby and passed a wave towards her. She was one of the girls he thought was cute and also friendly. He wondered if it was a Gryffindor trait to be friendly. She was dating Charlie who he was sure was in his own house. Cullen was happy for Rose, hoped that she was happy. Looking back around he spotted Corrine on the stairs making her way down. She hadn’t seen him yet it seemed but he certained spotted her. The dress was silvery and made her eyes and hair stand out boldly, he wasn’t sure he’d ever noticed how bright her eyes wer before. He thought the dress also showed off other parts well. “Cor-Corrine, over here!” He yelled out trying to get her attention after taking a moment to recover from his jaw-droppedness.
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[Corrine Lagos]

Hearing her name break through the murmurs of the crowd, Corrine looked in the direction she thought the voice had come from and eventually spotted Cullen. She had never heard his voice so loud before, so she hadn't really recognized it. But now, she knew it was him. Taking the last few steps slowly now that she knew he had spotted her, Corrine made her way to him. Cullen's suit made him look very handsome and she found herself smiling as she wiped her hands on her dress again.

"Hi" she said as she finally reached his side. "You're here" she added before realizing what she had said and blushing. "Not that I expected you not to be here. I just couldn't remember if this was where we were going to meet..." she trailed off, managing to cut herself off way too late to save herself some embarrassment.

 

[Cullen Yeong]

Cullen was glad Corrine had heard him and moved over to him. He let her talk and fill the silence in the conversation. She seemed nervous which made him also feel nerves start to pulse through his veins. "Here, we meet here," Cullen finally said cutting into her ramblings. He paused for a moment glad to know that he wouldn't be going into the ball alone this year. "Your looks is good," Cullen said trying to get his grammar together through his mind was racing in his native Korean language making it hard for him to translate. He was excited to go to the dance with a date but he didn't really have any guy friends he could show her off to in a way like, look I got myself a date and you didn't. But he wouldn't have come without one either way. Cullen was glad Corrine had asked him. He hoped she wouldn't decide to climb up on things tonight. "We enter now?" Cullen asked pointing towards the door wondering if she was ready to eat and dance with him for the evening. He also wondered if any of her friends would come up to them during the evening, that would make him more nervous.
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[Corrine Lagos]

Corrine was grateful when Cullen spoke, nodding her head as he confirmed that this was their meeting place. She knew that, of course, but her nerves were getting the best of her. As he continued and complimented her looks, Corrine ducked her head, her cheeks reddening slightly. She wasn't used to getting compliments from boys and found that they felt very different from getting compliments from her parents. Very. "Yours too" she smiled, meaning it. She thought Cullen looked quite handsome in his suit.

Nodding again as he asked if they should enter, Corrine boldly grabbed onto his arm before she could think twice about it. "Let's go" she smiled, walking when he did. "Did you have parties like this at Mata- your old school?" she asked, giving up on pronouncing the name. She could see that it was snowing and smiled. It made everything seem more festive.

 

[Cullen Yeong]

Cullen smiled when she returned the compliment patting down the front of his suit to make it look neater. Though it really had no wrinkles in it anyways. He was surprised when she took his arm again and pulled them into the Great Hall. He had to say the decorations really did fit the theme, although it wasn't cold outside as summer was approaching, so the icy decorations did not make sense to him. It snowed in some areas of Korea in the wintertime and he knew from his family still there they were getting a bit of the icy coldness of winter already. "Thank you," he replied.

"Mah - hoot - o - koh - ro," Cullen said pronoucing the name of the Japanese school he had attended. He had liked the school for the small numbers and also the strictness he was forced to follow there. Though he enjoyed the new castle and country he now called home. "No, we did not really have parties like this. The youngest students were only there during the day, 7, 8, 9, 10, year old childs. It was strict and the Quidditch most important activity outside of classes," Cullen said though he hadn't ever been one to enjoy flying on the broom. He liked that Hogwarts offered more clubs, though he still had yet to really join one.
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[Corrine Lagos]

Corrine mouthed the syllables as Cullen spoke them, but knew she would still mess it up if she tried. So she didn't. Instead, she simply listened as Cullen spoke about his old school, a bit surprised to learn they allowed schools so young. She didn't know much about his wizarding school. "So you've been in wizarding school since you were seven?" she said, her blue eyes widening. "I had to go to school kind of when I was seven but it was more like..." she struggled to think of the word in English, her own native language Greek. It wasn't a word she used often. "Like...etiquette?" She bit her lip wondering if it was right. Her parents and some like minded adults had hired a private tutor to make sure their children would be proper witches and wizards when they grew up.

"They wanted me to be a lady" she rolled her eyes, giving Cullen a mock curtsey. "But it means I did learn to dance. Do you?" she asked, hoping he did. She rather liked dancing even though she wasn't as great as she was making it seem. Shed had the classes but had fooled around a lot in them.