Touch Me

[Amaryllis Loncar]

Amaryllis still truly didn't understand the fascination with the Yule Ball, it had been much the same hype as it was at Hogwarts Scotland right there at Hogwarts New Zealand, yet she still wasn't enthused about it all. It seemed as though all of the girls in her dorm room were getting all dolled up and talking in that irritating squeal that Amy swore only dogs could understand about the boys they were taking and helping each other with their hair and make up. It all seemed a little too fake. She didn't quite know why, perhaps she was feeling bitter because she hadn't a date to go with to the Yule ball. But she hardly thought that was the case, the sixteen year old had been asked to go by a few boys but had rudely declined each request, admitting to herself that she was pretty, but not yet admitting that she thought she liked girls, the reason she had declined the offers she had received. The Slytherin girl had heard that her new, and only friend Jenn was going to be attending the ball alone, and so Amy had reluctantly agreed to go, not as her date, but to somehow meet up once they both got there. So Amaryllis Bella Loncar had pulled on her best LBD and ran a comb through her hair and threw on some shoes, it was obvious she wasn't taking the event as seriously as anyone else around the castle.

Escaping the high pitched squeal of the Slytherin dorms, Amy bounded down to the Great Hall, her long and slender legs carrying her quickly, quicker than she would have liked, and she desperately hoped that Jenn wouldn't be late, she didn't fancy being left to her own devices, no matter how confident she was. Noticing a few people that she recognized as Jennifer's friends, Amy smiled, not wanting to seem rude, but not feeling as though she was in the mood to make idle banter with any of them. So making her way towards the punch tried to walk to the beat, and move her hips just a little, not noticing that she looked rather awkward dancing on her own. Seeing the couples, the boys in their suits and the girls in their long and flowing dresses Amy had to laugh a little, if only at herself because of what she had chosen to wear, but she wasn't worried, in fact she was sure that her Hufflepuff friend would be wearing something different to the norm also, if her normal outfits were anything to go by. Nodding her head as a more dancy track came on, Amaryllis danced with herself and tucked a strand of her brunette hair behind her ear, hoping nobody would approach her and tell her how stupid she looked all on her own.

Before long, and luckily enough for her, Amaryllis Bella noticed the strikingly white blond hair that belonged to her new friend and gave a little wave to Jennifer, motioning for her to come over to her. She found herself blushing ever so slightly, and a feeling in her stomach seemed to change as the beautiful seventh year came closer to her. Straightening her dress Amy smiled, her body was trying to tell her something, but for now she was going to ignore it. Boy, being a teenager was hard.​

 

[Jennifer Wilkonson]

Throughout the castle of Hogwarts New Zealand, there was a buzz about a certain event. This event was a big one each year to most students. The girls would get the perfect dress, shoes, hair and make up to impress the boy that they were going with while the boys would only be going to please the aforementioned girls. This event was the twelfth annual Yule Ball. However, there was one person who was not nearly as excited for this as the rest of the school seemed to be. This person was Jennifer Lydia Wilkonson. She had been to many during her school years and she was never graceful on the dance floor and she hardly ever had a date. Not because she did not get asked, but because she did not want to go to the ball with boys she barely knew and were certainly not interested in. It was why she almost had asked Scorpius to come with her but knew that it would probably be uncomfortable for the two best friends to try and deflect any speculations as to what their relationship statuses really were. This was why she told her new friend, Amaryllis, that they could go together as friends because the Slytherin was new at this school and only knew a first year who Jenn assumed to be her sister and Jennifer, herself. Jenn probably would have spent the night with her dormmate, and future flatmate, Riley and a few of their friends and she probably still would but with the Slytherin girl by her side so she could meet some new people. Jenn knew that it was difficult to be a transfer student due to her days at Salem but she had Jessie to help her out and she decided that Amy deserved this treatment too.

The fair haired Hufflepuff looked into the mirror one last time and smiled to herself, pleased with her own reflection unlike many girls who would have their wands at the ready for any fly-aways or zits. Jennifer, however, did not care as much as the rest of the girls. She had just straightened her long hair with a spell that had learned and put make up on after she slipped on her dress and cropped blazer. Although aware of the somewhat informality of her outfit, Jenn did not care. She was comfortable and looked good and that was all that mattered to her. With this fleeting glance at herself, Jenn waved Riley good bye and told her that they would meet up later, before she walked calmly and confidently down to the Great Hall, although she was a bit of a mess internally due to extreme anxiety. For a reason that Jenn did not completely understand, she wanted to impress Amaryllis and was not sure if she would be able to because she did not know if Yule Balls were a big deal for her or if she, like Jenn, did not care and was just going to have fun.

As the Hufflepuff reached the Entrance Hall she looked around for the Slytherin and smiled, a little too brightly and happily, when she saw Amaryllis. Quickly, Jennifer was standing before her and said, "You look great!" As the compliment tumbled from her lips, there was a scorching feeling on her cheeks and she knew she was blushing but she did not know why, just like she did not know why she felt her stomach flutter as she looked into her friend's eyes. Just trying to ignore the feelings, she waited for her friend's response to the over-eager compliment.​

 

[Amaryllis Loncar]

Both girls seemed to be blushing with the comment that Jennifer had uttered, though it seemed that neither of them were all to certain why that was. Hormones probably, but more likely that somewhere along the road of their friendship (which hadn't been all that long) their feelings for one another had changed. But Amaryllis didn't know what she was supposed to do about it all. If she was wrong about the way she was thinking about Jenn, she might hurt her, and the last thing she wanted to do was to ruin the only friendship she had since transferring to Hogwarts New Zealand, with the exception of her sister, she didn't count her, they had been friends right since Azolla had been born. The Great Hall was buzzing with excitement, boys and girls dancing, even kissing, and other groups of friends just dancing with eachother and having a great time. But Amy was stood looking Jenn in the eye with an uncertain look upon her face, and a butterflies-in-the-stomach kind of a feeling. She had hardly noticed that almost a minute had gone by and the air head still hadn't replied to her friend's compliment. Quickly finding an answer amidst all of her confusing thoughts she replied "So do you! I love your jacket" and she meant it in the nicest way possible, Amaryllis was fashionable, but not as much as Jennifer was, and she had to admit she would love to own some of the pieces in her friend's wardrobe.

Looking around her and letting her fingers fiddle with the hem on her short dress, Amy wondered what she was supposed to do next. All of the people around her seemed to be dancing, and some students that she recognised at Jennifer's friends were close by. Her cheeks grew hot and she moved toward Jenn a little, biting her lip. "Looks like all of our friends are dancing." she said, stating the obvious truth that was surrounding the couple of friends. She wondered whether they should dance, just as friends of course, so they didn't look like complete losers for being the only ones standing still and not having much fun. "Perhaps we should too?" she said, voicing her inner thoughts, secretly hoping Jenn would say yes, because there was much to be explored with their freindship, Amy was almost certain there was something more to it than what was in front of her eyes. Over the past few weeks Amaryllis had become sure that she was interested in girls, and though it pained her to admit it, perhaps she was interested in Jennifer. She was scared to make the move though, what if Jenn only liked boys? What if people had something against gays? All of the 'what ifs' shouldn't have mattered to the seventeen year old though, her mother had always told her to do what made her happy, so without a second thought, Amaryllis put her arms on her friend's shoulders and started to dance with her, just as friends, the only way she knew how. ​

 

[Jennifer Wilkonson]

As the compliment was returned, Jennifer became even darker. She had not blushed this much since she had first kissed Sam or Matthew. And those were completely different situations. This was just a compliment, one that anybody could have given to Jennifer and just meant it to be polite. The Hufflepuff felt her stomach churn and she wasn't sure exactly what was wrong and why she had these butterflies arrive now. "Thanks," she said with a nervous chuckle as she looked away from Amy briefly and to the crowed when she heard her friend's observation about all of their friend's dancing. This was true, they were. She even spotted Sam and Indi kissing as they danced together. For a moment she glanced at them before looking back at Amaryllis, feeling very nervous as her mind played her an image of them kissing. And then she was asked if she wanted to dance...

Jennifer Wilkonson stunk at dancing. She had always known this and as the offer came up to have her dancing with Amaryllis she became very anxious and her palms were clammy. She did not like the idea of embarrassing herself in front of her new friend... and in front of the rest of the school just made it sound so much more appealing. But she had come to the Ball, balls entailed dancing and she knew this so she shouldn't have been so unwilling so when the Slytherin girl pulled her onto the dance floor she could do nothing but accept it as her cheeks burned hotter and hotter. Her awkward body moved just after the beat when it should have been with it and she felt like she was going to trip over her own heals. It really was a mess to see the long limbed girl dance when girls were supposed to be able to dance and to entrance members of the opposite sex with their dancing.... or their own. Whatever floats their boat. The blonde did not have this talent and it only made it worse when she stepped on her friend's foot. "Oh my god! I am so sorry Amy. Are you okay?" she asked quickly, hoping that she and her clumsy footing had not hurt her friend badly.

It was then that the fast pace music became a melody of violins, cellos and harps and the groups of friends that were all dancing together separated to their actual partners or sat to the side, watching as the couples danced. Jennifer had always thought those girls were rather pathetic so she looked at her friend and shrugged sheepishly, hoping that she could do something because it really wasn't fun to be stepped on but also knowing that to stick it to those pathetic girls she would dance, very carefully, with Amaryllis because you could dance with another girl to a slow song. It really wasn't a big deal as long as both parties knew it was only a dance. But this was the same with male and female partners or same sex dance partners. There were boundaries friends had to know about and if you were comfortable enough, why did it matter as long as those boundaries were not crossed?​

 

[Amaryllis Loncar]

As Amaryllis gazed across the crowd, and Jennifer's eyes followed, it was plain to see that all of the people they knew, seemed to be dancing, their bodies pressed close together, their lips even closer. It made all of the feelings Amy had inside even worse, it was like a tornado of hormones washing over her. Glancing once more though, the sixth year noticed that there weren't any same sex couples in the crowd, only boys and girls, something that made her feel quite uneasy within herself. Amaryllis was good at dancing, you could even say she was great, but no matter how well the Quidditch cheerleader could move, it wasn't going to stop the stares that could come with her dancing with another girl, a beautiful one at that.

Balls were for dancing, there was no doubt about that. And it wasn't as if Amy was bad at dancing, but she was nervous, and she began to feel sweaty in her palms as she looked back at Jenn, were they going to embarrass themselves in front of their friends, in front of the whole school, if they danced together? Surely two friends dancing because they didn't have dates of their own wasn't all that peculiar. Throwing all caution to the wind, Amaryllis Bella Loncar pulled her friend onto the dancefloor amidst the heat of the crowd and began to move her body, more awkwardly than usual, in time with Jennifer's. Her heart began to race, and all she was concentrating on was her own feet, trying to keep them in time, her eyes never straying to look up at her friend's face, she didn't want her to see how red her cheeks were burning. All of a sudden Jenn's foot was pressed against her own and a rushed apology spilled from her lips, but Amy hardly noticed, there was far too much adrenaline pumping through her veins. "No, really, its fine." she assured her friend, placing her hands on the Hufflepuff's arms.

The music change came as a surprise, and not a nice one at that. Amaryllis was a cheerleader, not a ballroom dancer and she certainly didn't know what to do, but her hands were still on Jennifer's arms as she lightly shrugged her slim shoulders, and Amy wasn't going to deny her this dance, mostly because she didn't want to have to stand off awkwardly to the side as all of the couples moved in as close as possible to oneanother. Moving in closer to Jennifer, Amy blinked her eyes, concentrating so carefully on her feet moving slowly and surely, not wanting to have another stepping incident like before. They were just friends, really one dance wasn't anything to make a fuss over, surely all of the girls sitting off to the side could have danced with eachother, just a boy and girl who were best friends would dance, it didn't have to mean they were dating, or anything more than that. Somewhere in Amaryllis' head that was what she knew, but she was overcome by emotions and hormones, the seventeen year old could not do anything more to contain them, so with a quick head peck move, her plush lips collided with Jenn's and her eyelids closed, her hands trying to find somewhere else to be. ​

 

[Jennifer Wilkonson]

The dancing, as expected, was awkward and they were both paying more attention to their feet than talking to each other but that stopped when Jennifer's lips were pressed upon unexpectedly. The shock caused her feet to plant themselves and she didn't move her lips, she just let Amaryllis kiss her before she moved away from the younger Slytherin. Her mind flashed back to so long ago when she had joked with her best friend about becoming a lesbian and for a moment her words echoed in her ears and how she and Sam had both dismissed it because they both knew that Jennifer had never been attracted to girls. But as she looked into Amaryllis' eyes, the same feeling that had come to her when she had looked at Matthew or Sam or even Scorpius. Through the blank stare in which the friends were caught in, Jennifer's mind was swirling around and her stomach began to knot. She shook her head softly, it was all so much to process so she heaved in a breath before exhaling softly and looking down at the floor and back at Amy and stepping closer to her impulsively, with the rashness that youth allowed her. "Let me just see something..." Jenn mumbled to her friend as she wrapped an arm around her waist and put another on her cheek before kissing her friend.

Teasing had never been something Jennifer Wilkonson paid attention to because she just didn't care about people's opinions so she really didn't mind that she was kissing a girl in front of everyone and, in all likelihood, would be talked about for it. But Jenn owed it to Amaryllis to see if there could be anything there because she knew that it was likely. People at Hogwarts weren't exactly accepting... Although as the Hufflepuff and Slytherin kissed her thoughts were elsewhere. Parting her lips from Amaryllis', Jennifer was even more confused because she had liked the taste and feel of her friend's lips meshing with her own. A blush found it's way to the pale cheeks of Jennifer as she smiled nervously, there was a spark there but she didn't know what to do with this.

Jennifer had a reputation for being extremely unlucky with love and had since kept her heart barred away instead of on her sleeve as it had been for most of her years. What she and Sam had was years at working at a friendship and knowing each other more than they knew themselves so she couldn't just dive into anything with a friend without some serious thought and discussion. But that did not have to be tonight, so she smiled once more before pecking Amaryllis' lips with deep anxiety. You would have thought that Jennifer and Amaryllis were doing something extremely scandalous judging by the hue of the fair haired girl's cheeks. It was all just a little overwhelming so she said softly, so her voice was only just heard, "Amaryllis..."
​

 

[Riley Mauven]

It was Riley's last year at Hogwarts and anyone would have thought that her last Yule Ball would have been a bigger deal to her, but like always, the Hufflepuff was taking everything in her stride, especially after a scouter had contacted her about being accepted to play Quidditch for a professional team. Of course the night of the ball hadn't just been like every other night, but it had seemed far more relaxed than usual, although quite a few of her seventh year friends had proper dates, Riley found solace in the fact that her dorm mate Jennifer was going with Amy as friends, at least Riley wasn't going to be the only one who wouldn't be out slow dancing with all of the other couples. The seventeen year old had however bothered a little with her appearance, she had curled her blonde locks delicately around her pale face and with the help of Jenn once more, she had dared to wear makeup. The finishing touch came of course with another full length dress, chosen by her mother, Frances, something she would never admit to, but she actually quite liked it.

She hadn't hurried down to the hall, but when she arrived the blonde smiled and waved at a few people she recognized, until she reached what she knew as her group of friends, loving the upbeat tempo she moved her slender body to the beat, laughing as she threw her head back. She was without a care in the world, except perhaps the back of her mind reminding her that she may not see all of these people again after they graduated Hogwarts. Which reminded her of the party she and Kalani had been planning since the middle of the year, a time for all of them to get together and have fun before they went off and started life as adults, and started jobs all over the world. At least the Hufflepuff knew that she would still see Lani and Jenn, they had decided not long ago they would flat together after school, she wanted to leave her mother and Tamas alone, frankly it had been weird having him around so often, and a little independence never hurt anyone. Riley wanted to remember this night forever and ever, because despite the party and her future room mates, she knew it was going to be hard to keep in touch with everyone, and just have fun like they were now.

Little did she know, but Riley was about to have no trouble whatsoever remembering this night. The seventeen year old began to search the Great Hall for Jenn, she wasn't getting out of there without one dance from her friend, but as the sound of violas rang through Riley's head she seemed a little disappointed, she wasn't going to slow dance with Jenn, but perhaps she could pull her aside for a chat about how lame all of the couples out on the dance floor were. But just as the thought crossed her mind, she saw what she was sure was Amy and Jenn dancing, which was sweet, they had become such good friends lately, and Riley felt for Jennifer having to leave Hogwarts whilst Amaryllis was still a year behind. But upon closer inspection, it looked as though Jennifer had her hands on Amy's hips. It couldn't be what Riley thought it was, could it? But just as the flustered young woman turned to storm off, her eyes caught her two friend's lips locking, and then the blushing faces of the friends turning to look at her.

Riley was in no mood to to assess what had been going on, and she certainly wasn't ready to have that conversation with Jenn, it wasn't as if she was homophobic, she had just never seen something like this at Hogwarts, especially out in the public. So with a quick turn that sent her curls up in the air, the seventh year proceeded to hold her dress from the ground and run straight out of the Great Hall, not entirely sure where she was running to. ​

 

[Amaryllis Loncar]

At first it seemed that Jenn was hesitating, which worried Amy, she had never felt rejection before, was this what it felt like. She truly didn't want to know. But the words that her Hufflepuff friend mumbled were a positive, but Amaryllis hadn't expected what was coming next. In all actuality, Amy had prepared for the worst. She knew that Jennifer liked boys, but all the time she secretly hoped she was curious like she was, and it seemed as her hands moved along Amy's body that she was. Her cheek grew hot underneath the seventh year's palm but she had the sense to close her eyes as a kiss was planted across her plush lips. The feeling in the Slytherin's stomach changed drastically, it was a good feeling. The sort of feeling that she, Amaryllis Bella, could only confirm mean that she was gay/homosexual/lesbian/whatever they wanted to call her, she didn't care. The feeling she felt with Jennifer's hands all over her was one she wanted to feel again, she didn't like boys, that was for sure. Moving her palms to rest on either side of Jennifer's waste she kissed her back tenderly, completely ignoring the fact that half of the school was probably staring by now.

But little did Amaryllis know that so far it seemed that only one pair of eyes were fixed on the girl/girl pair. The eyes of Riley Alexandra, the eyes of her friend. Of course it would be hard for people to accept at first that they were both lesbian, but Amy hadn't fully considered how it might affect her friendships just yet. Would girls still want to be friends with her when they knew that she 'batted for the other team'. She didn't know, but she was sure she was going to find out sooner or later. Her name fell from Jennifer's lips, but her partner's name was not immediately returned. Because as the sixteen year old opened her eyes to the Ball, she was met with Riley's hazel irises, which looked upset, confused. Exactly what the Slytherin girl hadn't wanted. "Jenn..." she replied a little uncertainly, but not in pleasure like her name had been spoken, she was trying to alert her friend to the fallout that was about to take place.

But it seemed her effort was much too late, because as she stood and pulled her hands from around Jennifer's waist, the brunette watched her blonde friend swiftly turn and do what she could only describe as storm out in a huff. "Riley wait! Stop!" she pleaded as the music screeched to a halt and the door to the hall slammed in front of them. As they stood in silence she thought, perfect timing, not. Looking back at Jennifer her eyes asked for the answer of what they were supposed to do, were they supposed to go after her. She wasn't practiced in the fallout of teenage girl friendships, she had watched her friends back at Hogwarts Scotland fight over boys before, but she wasn't familiar with any of this. "What do we do." she said in a pitiful tone. Amaryllis was more concerned with fixing things with Riley than addressing her feelings with Jenn. ​

 

[Jennifer Wilkonson]

Jennifer hadn't expected her name spoken by Amaryllis like it had and she was nearly offended for making her act like a fool in front of the whole school who were probably starring and whispering now. However, there were only one set of eyes watching the pair - Riley Alexandra's. She frowned as she saw the blonde girl run off and tried to think of what her next course of action would be because she clearly couldn't stay with Amaryllis now. So she tried to run after her friend to talk everything out because Jenn was confused and she was sure that Riley was too. She didn't want their friendship to end because of this, especially when they would both be playing on the same Quidditch team once they graduated. But now she was starting to wonder if Riley was homophobic because while it would be a surprise it didn't exactly grant her the right to judge or run away from the Slytherin and the Hufflepuff like they were diseased. With a cringe she imagined what this would mean because Riley and Jenn were great friends, they clicked just the way she had with Sam but if this was Riley she wasn't sure if she wanted to be her friend.

The fair haired girl's run halted abruptly as the music did and all eyes landed on hers. She looked to the crowd and smiled sheepishly before she looked away as the music began with a new song and everyone seemed to go back to their partners or friends or whatever they were occupying themselves with on this eventful yule ball. "I should go find her," Jenn sighed heavily as she tried to muster up some courage to confront Riley about what Jennifer had just done. It would be a very uncomfortable conversation and a large part of Jennifer wished that she could put it off for as long as possible just like she could put off talking to Amaryllis like adults about what had happened between them and what each had felt - she was not placed in Gryffindor for a reason after all. Jennifer Lydia lacked all types of bravery or courage that might be presented to a person through the many hardships that occurred during a person's life. It was not a secret that there was no shortage of those in Jennifer's young life but she had never actually confronted anybody but her mother and even that was done with a clear essence of weakness.

"I'll talk to you later," Jennifer said before turning as gracefully as her doe legs would let her. The Hufflepuff knew that Riley could be anywhere, she could have gone to her home or Brightstone or she could be back in their dorm but still the confused girl trekked out to find her. Leaving Amaryllis, the loud music and the nauseating feeling in her stomach behind Jenn walked out of the Great Hall and made her way up to their dorm room. If she was going to look for Riley she would have to be wearing something somewhat comfortable first.


laaaame so sorreh babes.​