Open That Summer Feeling

[Gwen Goodwin]

Open after Emzies posts with Leonardo

While the way it had gone was a bit strange, Gwen was pretty excited to have a date for tonight. She had decided to meet up in the hall, and she was glad for that. It was nice to see the decorations and watch some of the older students while she waited. Apparently things had changed, she heard a few older students talk about the change in decorations. Gwen thought they were pretty nice this way, though she was mostly curious what sort of presents they could grab from under the tree. Gwen smiled as she watched a glowing light float by. She reached up to touch it, but it avoided her hand. Gwen sighed, then looked around for Leonardo. He should be here any moment.

 

[Leonardo Orr]

Leonardo had been surprised when his method of getting a date to the ball had actually worked. He hadn't really expected it to but it had and he was actually going to have a date to the ball. He'd written to his grandfather immediately about it, and he'd been sent a long list of things to remember. Leo arrived at the hall and straightened out his suit. It was his suit, not a hand-me down from his dad, his grandfather did intend to make it grow with him for as long as it would stay together, but all that meant for now was that it looked a little big on Leo's young frame. He glanced around and spotted the girl, Gwen, and felt even a little undressed comparatively. He was a bit curious as to why she had said yes, but he knew it owuld be rude to question it when it was obvious a nice thing to have done. "Good evening Gwen," he said with a polite and serious tone with a little bow of his head in greeting. It was overly formal perhaps but he just wanted to do this right. ​

 

[Gwen Goodwin]

Gwen smiled as Leonardo approached. He was dressed properly at least, which was something. She noticed that his suit was a bit big on him, though. But she said nothing about it. Gwen smiled brightly, biting back a laugh as he bowed to her. He seemed like a very proper person, which made Gwen curious about his family. She decided to go along with it for now. Having a date would make her look more mature to her classmates, she was sure. In response to his little bow, Gwen did a small curtsy with her dress, an amused smile on her face. "Good evening, Leonardo." She said, polite as he had been. Though there was a slight joking tone to her voice. "You're looking very fancy tonight."

 

[Leonardo Orr]

Leonardo was a little surprised as she gave a curtsy, having not really expected that despite the little bow he'd given. He gave a little frown at her statement, "That's the point of tonight..," he glanced around in case he'd gotten it wrong and this wasn't as fancy as his grandfather had made it out to be. But it was, even Gwen was dressed fancy. He wasn't quite sure if he'd just misunderstood what she'd said. "Would you like to dance?" he asked, since that appeared to be what couples did at this event. He wasn't very good at dancing but he would do it for this. ​

 

[Gwen Goodwin]

Gwen bit her lip at the frown Leonardo shot her way. She was trying hard not to laugh, as she guessed he wouldn't take that very well. But he was so serious, and seemed to be a bit touchy. Gwen smiled. "I know, it was a compliment, silly." She said, tucking her hair behind her ear. She looked around the room for a moment, then looked back at Leonardo as he suggested the dance. She hadn't expected that, but it did seem fun. "Sure!" She said, holding out her hand for him to take. "I'd love to dance."

 

[Leonardo Orr]

Leonardo gave a little oh at her words, "Sorry," he said quickly with a embarrassed expression on his face. But at least he'd recovered quickly by asking her to dance. He nodded and took her hand, feeling more than a little awkward at it. He was sure his cheeks were bright red. He went to where others were dancing and wasn't sure how he should dance. Asking how to dance seemed like a bad idea, but he figured really he could just watch what Gwen did and then copy it. If she wanted to waltz or something or some other form of dancing he could do that. ​

 

[Gwen Goodwin]

Gwen was glad the boy said sorry and then moved on. She smiled as he took her hand, though it did feel a bit weird. She looked around, wondering if anyone had noticed they were here together. It would be pretty nice to be mentioned in the paper, and Gwen was going to try to make sure they had a nice place in the yearbook. Gwen followed Leonardo to the dance floor and then turned to him. He seemed a little unsure of what to do, which surprised her. He had seemed determined to have a date to the dance. But she supposed he hadn't thought this far ahead. "Alright, what if we just copy them?" She said, gesturing to a few nearby couples. She guided his hands to her waist and put her own hands on his shoulders, swaying to the music. "That would be fine, right?" Gwen asked. "And we'll dance differently when there's a faster song." She told him.

 

[Leonardo Orr]

Leonardo looked around at the other dancers and then nodded. He let his hands rest extremely lighty on her and began swaying to the music. it wasn't quite the formal dancing that his grandfather had taught him to expect but it was far easier. "So..," he then said as they swayed. Admittedly, though he was here with her, he didn't actually know that much about her. He knew her name, that she was a slytherin and in his year group. But coming up with anything to talk about was hard so he just kept dancing. Perhaps she would have more to say or something to ask. ​

 

[Gwen Goodwin]

Gwen swayed slowly to the music, copying what she saw older girls do with their dates. But she quickly realized it was kind of boring. She kept smiling, but glanced around, wondering if she could spot anything more interesting happening nearby. Leonardo spoke, and it was clear he had no idea what to talk about. "So..." She repeated, tilting her head slightly. "Why did you think it was rude not to bring a date?" She asked. "From what I can tell, tons of people are here by themselves."

 

[Leonardo Orr]

Leonardo grimaced, he didn't know what adults found interesting at events like this, since all adults seemed to like them to some degree. He glanced at others, noting there were a number without dates. "My grandfather said so.....," Leonardo said, trailing off a little at the end, "He's a bit old school," Leonardo hoped that might explain it but really he had no good reasoning for the why of a date. He had never thought to question it. "He said it would be impolite to turn up to a formal ball without a date," he knew he was repeating it slightly but it was all he could say. ​

 

[Gwen Goodwin]

Gwen nodded as Leonardo said it was his grandfather that had said so, she wondered if his grandfather had also gone to Hogwarts or if he had meant different kinds of formal balls, like proper ones for grownups. "I see." She said. "Well, I'm sure you'll find someone for the next dance if you're truly so against going alone." She told him. "I'm not sure if this counts as a formal ball though since we're all kids and there are sweets and barbecue and stuff." She added with a laugh. It was a relief when a faster song started playing. Gwen took a step back from Leonardo and started moving to the music, spinning a few times to make her skirt spin around.