Open Valentines Is A Hoot

[Lysander Summers]

While Lysander had paired up with Alec for the Yule Ball, he'd asked someone else to accompany him to the Valentines Dance this time. It seemed weird to ask his best friend to be his date when there was so much love and stuff in the air, and he didn't think of her that way at all. Kissing was kind of yuck, and he was much happier not doing any of that with any of his friends. He didn't want to go alone though, so he brought along someone else he loved a lot to keep him company. Dressed in the same suit he'd worn earlier in the year, the boy entered the Great Hall with Fuzzfeathers perched on his shoulder, the two of them wearing matching bow ties for just the occasion. The snowy owl was freshly groomed, Lysander having had spent more time brushing his feathers than his own hair, and he was quite happy having him along. He enjoyed showing his animal companion around the castle whenever he could, and the hall had plenty of space for him to stretch his wings if he wanted to. He'd probably enjoy flying through all of the falling petals. Ruffling the birds feathers, he walked on over to the snacks table, and looked around to see if there was anything his bird friend could nibble on while they waited to see if anyone he knew would show up.​

 

[Freya Song]

Freya had planned to skip the dance and take a nap while the dorm was empty, but somehow found herself wearing a dress that could have been a picnic blanket in its past life and wandering down to the Great Hall alone. Valentine's Day was a curiosity to the young girl, who usually only bothered to acknowledge the day after when all the chocolates were on sale. She hadn't considered what she would actually do at the dance, as she didn't have a date and couldn't see anybody she knew well enough to approach. Food was always a good idea, she decided, and made her way over to the snacks table.

She stopped for a second as she saw an owl perched on a boy's shoulder, momentarily forgetting she was among wizards who kept pet owls like it was normal. She smiled when she saw the bow tie the owl was wearing. Too cute. "I think your date's the best dressed out of everyone here," Freya said to the boy as she surveyed the food in front of her.

 

[Lysander Summers]

Lysander didn't know if owls could drink punch, but he poured himself a rather full cup of the strawberry-flavoured liquid in case his friend wanted to dip his beak in and try it out himself for the first time. He held his cup up to the owl, but had to withdraw it before the avian could even think about leaning its head forward, startled by the appearance of someone else at the snack table. The boy beamed proudly at hearing the compliment for his friend. The girl hadn't said anything about his own outfit, but he was the one who had dressed Fuzzfeathers, so he was happy to take credit. "I think so too! It took me like, twenty minutes to get his bow on but I'm pretty sure it was worth it." He told her. His owl was not the most cooperative. "I like your dress. It looks like one of the ones I saw a house-elf wearing." Sander told her with a friendly smile. He'd intended it as a compliment, he loved the elves, but the fact of the matter was that they did wear rags and tea-towels.​

 

[Freya Song]

Freya swished the skirt of her dress as the boy complimented her. "It has pockets!" Freya beamed. She reached for a plate of cookies and took a couple, shoving them into her dress pocket to demonstrate. "I asked one of the house elves to be my date to the dance, but they're all busy tonight. So now I'm gatecrashing and snatching," she said with a grin, grabbing another cookie to nibble on. It would have been cool if she had actually been able to get a house elf to accompany her - they could have matched! But, Freya was content with 'stealing' as many snacks as she could get away with. She looked at the boy's owl and wondered if it liked cookies. "Definitely worth the effort. He's the fanciest owl I've ever seen."

 

[Lysander Summers]

Pockets were definitely a plus when it came to dresses. It was one of the complaints a lot of his friends had had, and it was always so weird to him that they rarely came with them, when all of the boy's clothes had plenty. He was sure his jacket alone had at least three. "That's so cool!" He told her, thoroughly impressed by her unique pocketed dress. The boy followed her example and took a biscuit for himself to shove in his breastpocket. The baked good stuck out in the spot a handkerchief was meant to occupy, but he wasn't fussed. "Gatecrashing?" He asked, not really knowing the term. He had a rough idea of what it should mean, but there were no gates around, or crashing to be done. "It sucks that you didn't get a house-elf to come. You could always ask again next year, I'm sure you could get one who isn't too busy if you ask early. They'd probably love it. I think I saw one refilling the snacks earlier, so you might be able to ask one of them for a dance, maybe." He told the girl, almost certain he'd seen an elf wearing feathery cherub wings. If she didn't ask one to dance, he thought he might take the opportunity. Just for one song, at least. It sounded fun. "Fuzzfeathers is definitely the fanciest. He's the best owl in the whole school. And the fastest." Sander said matter-of-factly. There was nothing to back up the claim, but Fuzzfeathers had been in a race one time and he was sure none of the others had, so that definitely made him the fastest in Lysanders mind.

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[Freya Song]

"Like, sneaking into the party?" Freya explained. She knew that she wasn't technically gatecrashing as the dance was intended for students, but she liked pretending that she was a spy infiltrating a super secret event. "It's more fun when it's a crime," Freya said conspiratorially. It made her a little less uncomfortable surrounded by people in formal dress, at least. "Maybe," she echoed, looking around to see if she could spot any house-elves. She didn't trust her own dancing skills and the last thing she wanted to do was embarrass herself, but it might be fun if she had others to dance with her. "His name is Fuzzfeathers?" She loved this owl. He was the best owl she had ever met, and she could definitely accept he was also the fastest. The boy was pretty okay, too. "That is a fantastic name! Mine's Freya." Her own name wasn't bad, but hearing the owl's moniker made her consider changing it to something cooler.