Yay For Tradition

[Kate Archer]

Kate walked into her dorm. It was now time to get ready for the Yule Ball. The school had been buzzing all day. No one had paid attention in class and people had just been giddy. Kate herself had been giddy and excited. Her dress and co had arrived last week and she loved it. It was one of her favorite dress. It was probably her favorite along side the red one she wore last year. This one was pink and short,quite short but with the heels it made her legs look much longer which was a bonus because a lot of Kate's height comes from her waist up. She wasn't sure where her Mam had found it but it was beautiful and Kate couldn't wait to wear it with her hair done up and her make up done. She didn't really bother much with her appearance but she put extra effort in for the ball. The balls were the only time Kate would get to wear these sort of outfits. She did have to wear them at the balls and dinners at home but Kate didn't enjoy them much because there was no one really to talk to so she got much more excited about the Yule Ball. She was going to miss Stefan. Even though he hadn't been there last year he was her boyfriend now and she would have liked him to be there but things could not be that way. Funny to think that last year she had been upset over him because he had left the school. Sammy had done a good job of cheering her up though. She hoped to meet up with him again or maybe some of her other friends. The Yule Ball would be no fun if you spent it by yourself. Kate was glad she was not singing this year. Some people cold consider her dress revealing, the back especially but Kate didn't care. She loved the dress itself and she thought it looked good on her so she was wearing it. Not like anything inappropriate was showing.

Kate sighed. She went and had a shower and when she came out fifteen minutes later she could hear the girls getting ready in other rooms. Tara wasn't here yet and she wondered is she was going with anyone and what she was wearing. She had spoken to her best friend in what seemed like years and she really wanted to catch up with her. Towel wrapped around her she got out her various things that she would use to beautify herself. She put some instant spray tan on for a little glow and once she was sure it was dry she put on her dress. She rather awkwardly tied the buttons at the back of the dress,having to do a lot of stretches but minding her shoulder which would sometimes get sore if she did something too hard for it.She sat down in front of her mirror and put on her make up. She didn't put an awful amount on. Only what was needed,focusing mostly on her eyes. Once this was done she tried her hair which was naturally wavy with a slight curl. She put some light curls in her hair and then brought it all over to one side leaving some behind.Her nails were done from the night before so sh put on her shows grabbed her purse and looked at herself in the mirror. She had to say she liked what she saw. She smiled and quickly took a photo with her camera for her parents.

Once this was done she made her way out of her dorm and down into the common room. Kate always felt self-conscience when she first came out in her dress. Everyone was looking at you. She took a deep breath and walked through the common room, smiling at people she knew. Most people were dressed up in the common room so she didn't look out of place. She walked out of the common room and into the fourth floor corridor. There were fellow 'Puffs also walking down to the Great Hall and Kate joined them. There were hundreds of students making their way down. Some were in groups others were alone and some were in couples. Kate felt a pang of loneliness. She wished she could be going with Stefan but she had to put those thoughts aside and enjoy her night. She walked into the hall and smiled at the wonderful decorations. They never failed to impress. Kate smiled seeing a few first years open their mouths wide and gape at the hall. Kate herself couldn't see anyone she knew so she walked over to the food and drink table and got herself a glass of water.

 

[Claire Aurelious]

A ball, Claire knew nothing about a ball. Claire knew that is was supposed to be fun, and that people wore dresses, and that was about the extent of her knowledge. Nonetheless, when Sammy asked if she wanted to go, since she hadn't even heard of it, she said yes. She was a little excited, she had to admit. Most likely she wouldn't dance, she probably would only stand and watch the others, take part in the food, and watch the others dance. Claire could only remember dancing once, and it was a very vivid memory of a daddy-daughter dance that the local school had put on. She danced with her dad for one song, and then had him dance with er cousin, who's father had passed away a few years prior. It was one of those memories that seemed like yesterday, though Claire knew it was much longer ago than that. She smiled thinking of that memory, as she opened the package her mother had sent her earlier in the week. She knew it was a dress, though she had no clue what it would look like; her mother said it was a surprise.

Once the dress was out of the package, Claire grimaced slightly. Claire had never been a dress person, not even as a young child. Claire knew that most girls spent months preparing for a big dance, and she hadn't done anything. She decided the least she could do was shower. Claire loved showering, mostly she liked singing in the shower. She would sing songs from when her father was younger, and before she was born. She sang a lot of country music, mainly she had been obsessed with 'Fast Car', a song from her father's youth. She sang while she washed her hair, and even continued the song once out of the shower and whilst drying off. She wrapped the towel around her body, like her mother had taught her, so that it would stay up, and began brushing her hair. Claire had no clue what to do with the normally unruly waves, so after brushing them she went back to the box that the dress had come in. As she walked past it, something shiny and metallic caught her eye. She reached in, clutching the towel to her, and pulled out a bottle of what appeared to be hairspray. Her mother had obviously thought ahead. She dug deeper and found a little gel bottle in the box as well. it made her smile to know that her mother thought it through that much for her.

Claire went back into the bathroom and read the directions for both the gel and the hair spray. She had never used those things before, and decided maybe it'd be best if she asked someone else. She found someone she had interacted with before, and asked them if they would help her. They took a glob of gel and worked it through her dark tresses evenly, and then sprayed layer after toxic layer of hairspray. Claire felt so silly having someone else do that to her hair. Once they were done, she thanked them and walked back out, the towel still around her. She slipped into the black dress, and then turned to look in the full length mirror. Claire really couldn't even believe it was her she was looking at. This wasn't the normal, rough and tough, silly Claire; this new Claire looked like a beautiful young woman. She took the special camera that she had been given, the one that took the moving pictures, and took a nice one of her for her family to see. She waved at them, and smiled widely. She hoped that was how it was done, since other had taken those photos of her, but she had never taken them herself.

After she figured she was all ready, and with no makeup on, she walked out of her dorm and made her way to the great hall. she stumbled slightly i her heels, having never worn shoes like that before. They were small, only three inches, and black. She smiled though, and waved when she saw someone that she knew. Claire made her way into the festivities with that same big grin on her face. she scanned the crowd for Samual, hoping that he would arrive soon. Claire was only feet away from the other girl whom, unbeknownst to her, Samual was also in a way taking. Claire was not old enough for relationships, so this would most likely not be a hindrance to the night.
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[Samual Kaster]

It was the night of the Yule ball, and once again Samual was was taking a new found friend, Claire. It was sort of like tradition now, and it was cool. Samual loved taking friends to the Yule ball, he couldn't imagine going alone, he'd feel so lonely. He would probbaly spend the night talking to complete strangers, trying to see if he could make a friend with one of them. That'd be pretty boring and he was grateful that he was taking someone with him. Unfortunately, Samual couldn't help but notice that his curls were a little straighter than usual. Hopefully they weren't going away, he loved his curls! Pulling his jacket over his shoulders, the prefect smiled and left the Gryffindor Common room. Claire was in Gryffindor, but he wasn't entirely sure if she had left yet or not. For a few minutes he looked around the common room, but couldn't find her. He asked a few people, but they weren't entirely sure where she was either. Claire was probably already down stairs, so Samual shrugged and made his way to the Great hall, he'd find Claire there for sure, she wouldn't be that hard to spot, she was always so giggly.

Sammy pulled on his suit and looked into the hall. No Claire. With a shrug, he entered the hall and smiled. The Yule ball was always amazing, especially tonight. Nearly everyone was dressed up, even some first years were very well dressed. Admittedly, Samual wasn't as well dressed as he usually was, but this year he wanted a more relaxed approach to the Yule ball, and so skipped out on the tie and super dresses pants. Last year the tie made him feel like fainting, he was sure his room mate had done it far too tie. The decor was amazing, as usual, it never failed to impress. Professor Blaze was speaking and warned off those that wished to spike the drinks. Although that would make the night quite interesting, as a prefect Samual shouldn't even consider doing such a thing, and he wouldn't, he wasn't like half of his siblings, he actually upholded rules on occasion. Sammy sighed and moved closer into the hall, the music was pleasent and everyone seemed to be having a good time. Hopefully it'd prove to be a good night indeed.

Samual looked around and smiled at a very familiar face. Kate Moon. The Gryffindor walked closer to her, he was soon smiling and standing right in front of her. "Kate!" He greeted, giving the Hufflepuff a hug, making sure that he didn't get her drink all over him. Though it'd be easy to clean, he didn't want the memory. "How are you?" The last he saw Kate was when they were up a tree together, and things didn't really end well. He was sure his back was still bruised. He picked up a glass of butterbeer and smiled, taking a sip. He was still on the search for Claire, but didn't want to be rude to Kate. "Have you seen a girl with long brown hair? She's about this tall and usually wears the biggest smile ever." He described, holding his arm out in hopes that Kate could get a sort of look at what she;d look like and help him find Claire.
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[Kate Archer]

Kate was having fun watching the ball from the food table.Her foot was tapping along to the music. If there were some more people here she would probably be out dancing. She had worn heels long enough and had had enough practice to be able to dance without falling over in her shoes.Kate loved dancing and she could easily go crazy on the dance floor. She didn't get a chance to do it much because she didn't go to any sort of dances where you could do that, a lot of her friends from Ireland did and Kate would love to go but she was all the way in New Zealand. The Yule Ball was completely different to what she would be going to if she lived in Ireland. She liked the Yule Ball. The dresses you could wear was always nicer. She was sure it was a nicer experience here. It was a lovely ball and the decorations were amazing as was the food. She was looking out for anyone she knew. So far she had seen a few familiar faces but not familiar enough to go over and chat with them. Kate had finished half a glass of her water. Kate was now singing under her breath. She was enjoying herself but she was getting kind of bored. She was just standing there and must have looked like an idiot.

Kate turned around when you heard her name being called. Kate's face lit into a smile "Sammy!"She said returning the hug. "Hows your back?"She asked, her ankle had been broken again and her shoulder and wrist were still lightly bruised but her legs were mostly healed. She still couldn't believe that they had fallen from a tree. She was amazed that they hadn't been more injured, thankfully they hadn't."Better"She said smiling, she wasn't completely healed but compared to what she had been earlier she was much better. The fact that she was in these shoes proved it. Kate looked around when Sammy explained a girl. The description did sound familiar. Kate looked in the direction she thought she had seen the face and she saw the girl again "Is that her there?"She said pointing to the girl only a few meters away from the two.

 

[Samual Kaster]

Samual stretched his back slightly. It was sore, but mostly it was just show. The internal pain was all but gone, thanks to medicine, the bruising just had to clear up. Since Sammy bruised like a peach, the blemishes would stay for a fair while, but they were covered by clothes, so he didn't have to give them much attention at all. Kate seemed to have healed quite well, she was wearing heels after all, and that took a certain amount of balance Samual was sure. It probably wasn't like wearing normal shoes. Thankfully they both attended a magical school, he couldn't imagine the mundane time they'd both be having if they were muggles, they'd probably have huge casts and be bedridden for ages, and they might have had to take loads of medicines! That sounded horrible. Samual had tried some muggle medicine before, and it tasted horrible. At least with magical medicines, they had to be taken just a couple of times, with muggle ones they'd have to be taken for ages. With a small shake of the head, Samual sipped his butterbeer quietly as Kate returned the hug. Luckily his back didn't hurt enough for a hug to be painful, because it wasn't like Kate was jumping on him, so no pain. It was good.

Samual laughed slightly. He'd just been thinking about his back, maybe Kate was reading his mind. "It's okay. It's still bruised, and if someone slaps my back it feels like I'm hit with a broom. But otherwise it's fine." He explained. Luckily, Sammy didn't know many people that would go around smacking his back, so he didn't have to worry about 'dying' from pain again. "It's good that you're better. Next time we climb a tree, maybe we should build a cubby house or something to sit in, just so we don't break our necks again." He suggested, laughing slightly at the thought of actually building a cubby house in one of the trees. Samual followed Kate's gaze and smirked slightly when he was sure he saw Claire, at first it was difficult to spot her, since she was quite short and other people were taller than her. Sammy gave his drink to Kate. "I'll be right back." He said, walking through the crowd of people, whining occasionally when people brushed up against his back. "Hey Claire." He greeted, smiling. "What are you doing over here? Come on, I'd like you to meet someone." He stated, ushering the younger Gryffindor towards Kate.
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[Claire Aurelious]

Claire loved the decorations. She was a very sheltered child, and had never seen anything even close to this; not even on TV. It reminded her of Cinderella, at the ball when she found her prince charming. Of course, Claire didn't think much about the prince charming part, she was young and naive to what a prince was even for. She had wandered her way over to the refreshments, and grabbed herself a drink. She was still looking for that Curly haired Gryffindor, and wondered where he was. She hoped he hadn't gotten sick, or decided not to come. Claire would feel so lonely at the Yule ball by herself. She looked around and saw other people dancing, and wondered if that was what she would do. She had never danced with anyone other than her Pa, and that was on his feet when she was little. Claire just assumed, at this point, that she couldn't dance, though, there was that old saying to 'never say never'. If someone asked her to dance, she wouldn't turn it down. And she promised that to herself.

Claire was deep in thought when Samual came along. "Sammy!" She exclaimed with a smile. "i was wonderin' where ya were!" Her southern accent, as usual, was loud and proud. She followed him as quickly as possible, trying to stay stable on her heels. It was obvious that she wasn't yet experienced with them. She stumbled over to the skinny, ark haired girl that Samual wanted so badly to introduce her to. With that big, country accent she said, "Howdy, I'm Claire!" She extended her hand, and waited for the girl to shake hers. In that moment, Claire couldn't help but notice how beautiful this girl was. She looked like a movie star in her dress, with her hair all done up. Claire could feel an emotion she had never felt before, but shook away the thoughts of it immediately. She waited for the dark haired beauty to shake her hand and get through with introductions, because Claire had a lot of questions.
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[Kate Archer]

Kate wasn't as strong as she used to be.She had never gone to the Hospital Wing as much as she had this year. She had never been to the hospital as a kid before. She had never injured herself other then simply cut herself from falling over while playing catch or something in school. She had never been a clutz, you never had to worry about her, she had been responsible you could trust her not to fall over a carpet and end up breaking a bone. The bruises from the fall were fading a bit slower then usual and she had had to make sure none of the yellow, green color was showing. Thankfully they were magical because recovering from their fall in a muggle hospital would have been much longer and painful. They would be in casts and probably still in bed. They certainly wouldn't be at the Yule Ball and she would not be wearing these shoes. She would probably be on some painkillers too and things would just be a whole lot more stressful and awkward. Magic was great in terms of healing. It made life a lot more easier. She made sure to not squeeze him too tight in case she hurt his back. She still felt horrible for everything. If she had just looked up they probably wouldn't have fallen out.

"That's good, I still can't believe we actually fell out of a tree"Kate said shaking her head. How many other people climbed up trees everyday or a lot of the time and never fell out. But maybe it was a sign to say that Kate should never climb trees.She wouldn't be climbing another one for quite some time. Kate wasn't even sure about the cubby house. She had a feeling it was to do with the fact she couldn't look down from a height without passing out. "I doubt I'll be climbing a tree any time soon"She said grinning. She did mean that though, she wasn't messing. Kate watched as he walked over to the girl. She was small but she looked lovely in her black dress. She seemed a bit wobbly in the shoes and Kate bit her lip, hoping she wouldn't fall and hurt herself. Kate really liked her dress and shoes. She wasn't expecting the accent but Kate already liked the girl. She seemed bubbly,happy and sweet. "Hey Claire, nice to meet you"She said shaking her hand "I'm Kate"She said smiling widely