A WELCOMING OF ALL. || SW thread

[ASTORIA GREENGRASS]

Astoria giggled as he explained to her where he got it. ”I give you points for originality, that’s for sure.” She had to. He was the only person he knew that would wear something like that at a school like this. One where people judged you for what blood status you were. Everyone knew he grew up in the muggle world. She knew she was going to get utterly confused by most of the things he had to say. Maybe a good thing would come out of this. She would learn the muggle ways. Not like she wanted to, but maybe the inside information could possibly help someday.

Shaking herself out of her thoughts, she realized she was moving into the Great Hall. Taking a deep breath, she stepped inside the doors. The place looked beautiful, but that was no surprise. With magic, everything could look beautiful. The first people they approached where his friends Ron and Hermione. They didn’t even recognize her! Of course not. She was two years younger and in the house they hated. She smiled anyways, knowing her house would know exactly who she was with. She saw her sister and turned back to the two in front of her. She would deal with Daphne later. ”Hi. It’s fine. I didn’t expect you guys to know me. I am in Slytherin after all. I’m Astoria Greengrass.” She inwardly prepared herself for the reaction to come.

Maybe they wouldn’t judge her. Maybe they would trust the judgment of their friend. Her house would judge her. If only they knew though. It was then she wondered where Draco and Blaise were. At least she’d have people to back her up. Even though there wasn’t much they could do without being judged themselves. She would just have to go with the flow and let whatever that was going to happen, happen.

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[harryjamespotter]

[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=style, width: 500px; height: 400px; background-image: url(http://i165.photobucket.com/albums/u62/King_Giana/Harry%20Potter/harry_potter_bgbw.jpg); -moz-border-radius: 250px; border-radius: 30px 30px 30px 30px; border: 0px solid #414141] A Welcoming of All Harry grinned at Ron, amused by his friends persistent issue with indoor voices, and said, "That's great," in response to the fact Ron was having a good time. "I'm pretty chuffed, myself," Harry added, admittedly quite amused by the 'lets have an impromptu ball' Dumbledore had swung together. When Ron seemed to think the Headmaster had granted Harry a heads up, the 'Chosen One' shot his brows up high enough they were almost obscured by his hat. Hermione hopped in rather quickly at that juncture, causing a grin to spread across Harry's face. "No mate, Dumbledore didn't tell me a thing. I was just lucky enough to bump into a friend of mine outside the Hall who was willing to say yes, right Astoria?" Harry added, with a grin to the younger Slytherin girl. He had noticed the way Hermione had initially looked at her, thus why Harry chose to introduce her as a friend first. Astoria stepped in herself then, and happily threw down the gauntlet. Yes, Astoria was a Slytherin - time to see how his two best mates would take that tidbit. Giving Astoria's hand a slight squeeze where it laid under his hand upon his arm, Harry hoped things would go smoothly, though he predicted turbulence. He wasn't too fretted about it, as he was used to riding the waves here at Hogwarts, but that didn't mean the same could be said for his newest friend. Tag: Astoria/Ron/Hermione/Open Outfit

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[ron]

Obviously Hermione had been hit on the head and did not remember last year at the ball where he only asked a girl so he did not have to attend alone, would only ask a girl who looked pretty enough, and then proceeded to stare in jealousy at the girl he fancied while completely ignoring the gorgeous girl he brought to the ball. But still, he appreciated the comment. It made him almost feel like Hermione would not have minded if he asked her, as friends only, of course, “Thanks, Hermione.” He smiled brightly at the girl, then looked around and spotted one of Malfoy’s cronies, “Bet I’m better than Crabbe or Goyle. At least I’m capable of talking to a girl,” There, once again, Ron pointed out that he realized Hermione was a girl. If he was given a galleon every time he did this, he’d be on his way to being a rich man indeed. Ron made the mistake once of making it seem like he did not understand Hermione’s gender. He would never do that ever again. He would mention it in every conversation if he had to.

Ron really had no clue how to take Hermione’s comment. Did she mean that she thought Ron was interesting or that she came to the dance to talk to someone more interesting? Should he let her go talk to someone else? She talked to Ron every day (when they were not ignoring each other), so maybe she wanted to use this event to talk to someone else. The smile she gave him made him wonder if maybe she was complimenting him. Why were girls so complicated? Why could she just not say, ‘Ron, I find you utterly enthralling and I want nothing more than to spend my entire evening with you.’ Or ‘Ron, I’m bored with you and your jokes. I’m off to find a real man.’ He hoped she would say it a bit nicer than that though. He smiled, a bit half-heartedly, not quite sure how to respond to her. If he knew she meant it nicely, he would have grinned. If she meant it as a way to get him away, he would have no idea how to respond, so he settled for something in the middle. Thankfully, Harry and his date’s arrival saved him from any unwanted awkwardness.

“What?” Ron said innocently. He knew Hermione’s warning tone very well after all of these years, but that did not mean he always knew why he received the tone. He rolled his eyes, but with a grin still on his face. He made it this far without fighting. He was not about to give up yet. Slytherin? SLYTHERIN? “Slytherin?” Oh wait, that one made it out loud. Perhaps he now deserved Hermione’s warning tone. Still, that was not the thing he was concerned about now. She was a Slytherin! Did Harry know? Did the Slytherin ensnare him with her evil ways? Had she Imperiused him? She probably just started batting her eyelashes and Harry innocently talked to her, not knowing she was a sneaky Slytherin. Girls could be so cruel.

“Harry, did you know she was a Slytherin?” Ron asked, not even thinking to filter himself. He had to save his mate. Although, when Harry called her his friend, he thought it might be too late. The snake had already clutched him with her evil ways. When Harry called her his friend, a small part of Ron became upset, “I thought we were your friends,” His eyebrows furrowed in confusion. Were he and Hermione being replaced with Slytherins? Was Harry about to get all buddy buddy with Malfoy? There was no way, in a million years, Ron would ever be nice to Slytherin scum. They were Slytherins! Slytherins and Gryffindors were enemies for a reason. Slytherins were evil! Did Harry not know this? Did he not remember all the problems he had with Malfoy? Perhaps Ron should pull him away from the girl who obviously dumped some love potion in his drink when no one was looking.

[HERMIONE GRANGER]

Hermione thought the situation was rather strange. She and Ron were standing making small talk, actually getting along well for once, and it was strange to her. Of course her and Ron had their cheerful, pleasant moments, but never for so long, in such a slightly strained manner, where it almost seemed as though they were fighting just to keep conversation. Ron's eyes showed to Hermione that he seemed to be hiding something, but then again, Hermione never knew how Ron truly felt. A light laugh escaped between her rose petal coloured lips, and she smiled at the fact that Ron felt it good to joke around with her about being a good date. From what Hermione heard in her dormitory room that night from Parvati and Padma (or what she'd somehow overheard), Ron had been a terrible date. But Hermione did not let that slow her down from continuing her conversation with him. She was not going to base her judgment from the people she had heard the stories from; they were not as good of friends to her as Ron was, despite the many fights. "You would be a better date than Crabbe or Goyle for sure. I don't even think they can read, much less dance." Hermione said, her light laugh still evident in her speech.

The situation that arose between Hermione, Ron, Harry and the new girl was quickly falling through like sand between Hermione's fingers. Ron's blatantly yell of WHAT? had caused even Hermione to be a bit startled. Hermione had to save the conversation, and was trying desperately to grasp at words that she could not find. Her voice ended up coming up shaky and nervous, as though afraid of what Ron might shout out next. "Erm, p-pleasure to meet you Astoria." Hermione managed to choke out, attempting a smile but giving more of a pitiful look at Astoria. Ron began to speak again, now directing his words at Harry. Hermione was even a little taken aback by what Harry was doing. Harry, from the start, had been the one to always point out the wrongdoings of Slytherins (if Ron did not jumped to it first), and even though Hermione had some feeling and acknowledgement that not all Slytherins were evil to their core, Hermione knew a lot of them were or were making themselves seem that way. "Ron.." Hermione repeated again in warning after Ron mentioned in question about Astoria being a Slytherin, but that time Hermione didn't even sound so assuring in her warning. She looked at the floor for a moment, unsure of what to do, and then Ron happened to ask Harry a question that caused Hermione to avert her eyes to him. "Ron, i'm sure we're not Harry's only friends." Hermione was a bit scared of Ron's sudden anger. It was not towards her, so she did not know how to react to it to try and calm him down. "Right, Harry?" Hermione needed Harry's help in on the matter to calm Ron down before he exploded in front of the crowd, causing unnecessary drama. What happened to the three of them being good friends all year?

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[MICHAEL CHITTOCK]

A ball? Really? And little to no time to get ready? Well, he was a boy. Sighing to himself, Michael left the Hufflepuff table and headed to the common room to get something nice on. His mom packing some dress pants and a black button up shirt was the best random thing she ever did it seemed. Came in handy alright. Shaking his head, he changed into the clothes and ran a comb through his hair. He had been debating on cutting it, but never really got around to it. Whenever he had spare time, he forgot about it. He looked himself over once more and nodded. Not like anything special would happen anyways. The only thing social events got him was a one way ticket to being bullied by the Slytherins. He was a muggleborn Hufflepuff, their favorite target.

He made his way to the Great Hall and stepped inside. For such little time, they did a really good job on decorating. Smiling to himself, he made his way to the punch bowl. On the way, he passed the Golden Trio plus one. It seemed one of them was mad, one was trying to calm him down and Harry was being calm and collected. Michael didn’t know how he did it. With all that was going on. He shook his head and got some punch. Looking around, he didn’t see anyone he really knew, so he would just wait there until he someone to talk to walk in so he could start a conversation.

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[harryjamespotter]

[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=style, width: 500px; height: 400px; background-image: url(http://i165.photobucket.com/albums/u62/King_Giana/Harry%20Potter/harry_potter_bgbw.jpg); -moz-border-radius: 250px; border-radius: 30px 30px 30px 30px; border: 0px solid #414141] A Welcoming of All Harry had anticipated Ron's reaction well enough to not be instantly infuriated with him. Instead, Harry was mildly miffed and a tiny bit amused. "Uh, yeah Ron, I was sort of aware that her school crest had a snake on it when we met," Harry drawled a bit, before wincing - he hadn't meant that to come out as rude as it sounded. Changing his tactics quickly, the ever-in-a-mess Harry started over. "It was a bad day mate, but she came over and brought me out of it. That doesn't mean you and Hermione aren't my friends - you'll always be my best friends, mate," harry added, a slightly amazed tone touching his voice, as though he had no idea how Ron could possibly think anything different, and grateful for Hermione's support in that matter, even if she sounded a bit confused herself. "But Astoria's not like...most Slytherins we know. Trust me, alright?" Harry added, placing a bit of a pleading tone in there in hopes of soothing Ron a bit. Looking to Hermione, Harry smiled to show he really was glad she was at least trying to take this with grace. He did love that about her. "Astoria and I met a bit after my first blow-out with Umbridge," he explained to the more reasonable of his two friends. "She and I had a few words to say about the Prophet and Ministry's stupidity, and after that...we just got on, I guess." Looking to Ron again, Harry included both his friends as he spoke as reasonably as he could. "I know she's a Slytherin, guys. Trust me, I know how much I'm asking when I say you give her a chance - Slytherin has been nothing but hell for all three of us. But Astoria's not a part of Malfoy and his lot, and...she's not like them. Slytherin wouldn't be a part of Hogwarts if it had no redeeming features, right?" He added, looking to Hermione again. "Astoria's just an example of Slytherin's better side." He stated simply, hoping this would appeal to Hermione's better and more logical nature. Tag: Astoria/Ron/Hermione/Open Outfit

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[ANGELINA JOHNSON]

as she stood outside the great hall with alicia, more and more people began to enter for the dance. angelina was feeling a little anxious, yet she didn't know why. maybe it was because this marked the first real event of her last year. or maybe she just wanted to get this night over with. or maybe she was hoping some guy would come over, swoop her off her feet, and never leave her site all night. she shook her head at the thought. angelina had no expectations to be with any guy, in more of a romantic way tonight. if it happened great. but angelina was just excited to get to spend the night with friends. looking over at alicia again, she smiled and laughed lightly at her friend's small joke. angelina looked down at her own self. yes it was a very different style for her, for the both of them she figured. angelina was the outdoor, quidditch type. it was a great change. she looked over alicia again. her friend did look very lovely, "you look great. this going to be fun." she added quickly. angelina peered quickly through the large doors of the great hall, examining the inside. a smile grew at the site, it was just as beautiful as last year. angelina leaned back away from the door. she fixed some loose curls so they were draped neatly over her shoulders. she sighed, why bother. angelina's hair always got very messy quickly, no doubt by the end of the night her up hair do would be drooping down. that would be a site to see.

fixing her dress by smoothing it out, the young brunette turned toward her blonde next to her, "you ready to go in?" she asked, her voice surprisingly low and full of eagerness. she had been slightly curious as to why alicia had been lurking outside the great hall. maybe she was nervous. angelina opened her mouth to say something but stopped when her gaze met to familiar red heads; the twins. she smiled at the two identical weasley brothers and gave a small wave toward them. the two looked rather handsome. she rolled her eyes when george winked at them but despite herself, laughed. they were definitely up to something, she could tell. angelina would be more surprised if they decided to not pull a prank. but she had known the twins almost seven years now. they would never miss a chance to pull a prank, especially with this opportunity. there were so many people around to get. she tore her eyes away from them, once again glancing at alicia, "they're up to something." she stated and figured alicia knew what she was talking about. as long as the twins didn't get her, let them have their fun. she had always found their pranks amusing. angelina let out another loud sigh. she began playing unconsciously with the ring on her finger, a present given to her for her sixteenth birthday, eyes fixated inside the great hall.

[FRED WEASLEY]

mentioned in this post:
George Weasley
Ginny Weasley
Ron Weasley
Alicia Spinnet
Angelina Johnson

Anxiously waiting for the explanation, Fred nodded vigorously. Of course, I'm sure. Now tell me before I go mad! The impatient twin watched as his brother seemed to drag out the moment best he could. He couldn't just explain. He had to greet Alicia and Angelina first. Fred began to slightly rock back and forth as he waited for the few seconds that seemed like hours. George wasn't supposed to be the one with the short attention span. Okay, so they were both pretty ditzy, but George had a tad more focus most of the time.

He couldn't hold back a chuckle as he watched his twin obnoxiously greet the two girls. 'Ey! Over here! Out with it! And finally, he had George's attention again, just as much as George had his. And boy, did George really have his attention. A smirk grew on his face immediately. You , my handsome friend, are absolutely brilliant. Ron will be so peeved.. He subtly glanced over his shoulder to look for the youngest Weasley male, only to find his sister walking into the room.

Now that annoyed him. She looked pretty..beautiful.. and she'd probably be busy with her boyfriend later. It was a subject that Fred absolutely despised as much as George, and even Ron. Where do ya suppose she got that dress? Bloody hell, that girl.. she's got Mum spending all her galleons on her.. she surely doesn't need to look fancy in order to snog Michael Corner. After his muttering, which was done suspiciously while looking in Ginny's direction, Fred's eyes returned to the bottle that his twin held.

ooc: this was kinda really bad..i'm sorry xD

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[ASTORIA GREENGRASS]

Astoria just kind of stood there as his friends made their outbursts. She felt bad in a way. She felt as though she was taking him from his friends, and that’s. Well. That’s what she was supposed to do. For some strange reason, she felt really bad about it. She was taken aback when Ron asked Harry if he knew she was in Slytherin. It then dawned on her how much her housemates actually hurt others with what they said and did. They were just having fun. Or at least, she was just having fun.

Sighing, she gave a little smile to Hermione, who was taking this way better than her red haired friend. ”You too.” She knew the girl was the more reasonable of the two, so she wasn’t too afraid to meet her. The Weasley girl one the other hand, now that was going to be fun.

When Harry stood up for her, she almost had tears in her eyes. That was the best thing anyone had ever done for her. And she was going to rip his heart out in the end. She was starting to feel bad about all of this, but knew it had to be done. ”Thank you Harry. He’s right guys. I don’t like how Draco treats people. I think it’s rude. Unless I have a valid reason, I don’t mistreat people.” She really didn’t know what else to say to them. She decided that she would let Harry deal with the rest of it as she just stood there.

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[tonks]

Mentioned in this post:
Fred and George Weasley
Angelina Johnson
Alicia Spinnet

there's a fire starting in my heart

reaching a fever pitch and it's bringing me out the dark

[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=cellSpacing,0,true][atrb=cellPadding,10,true][atrb=style,background-image: url('http://i53.tinypic.com/wb98wn.jpg');,true] ROLLING IN THE DEEP ! Nymphadora looked at the twins. She knew deep inside that they were up to something, but then again though who was she to truly bring done there fun. Then again could anyone truly bring down there fun? She looked at the two girls that were with them. She knew Angelina but she didn't know the other one. By the way she looked though she guessed who she may be. "Alicia Spinnet? Pleasure to meet you. I've heard so much about you from these two." she said pointing at the twins. "That is a beautiful dress. Sorry, haven't introduced myself yet. Tonks. Nymphadora Tonks but I prefer to be called Tonks." she said and then looking back at the twins. "Well, I'll let you get back to your fun. By the way. Before I forget, I'm been stationed at Hogwarts for a while. So I'm sure you'll see me around. Molly made me promise to owl her telling her what goes on while I'm here. I'll see you all later then." She said with a mischievous smile as she gave the twins a wink and walked away with a bit of a hop in her walk. If there was truly anything that could scare those two it was there mother. She just wanted to see what would happen if she did threatened them with their mother. That would be plain hilarious. She doubted though that that would really keep them from pulling anything tonight or any other time. She continued her walk around the Great Hall. She kept to the sides where she wouldn't really be seen. Later on in the night she would mostly likely head out to the halls keep watch out there. When she stopped to look around an idea pop into her head. Along with the idea came the voice of Sirius. It was his suggestion about changing her appearance. She was actually considering it. She couldn't believe herself. The fact that she was considering a ridiculous idea from her cousin, that could get her into trouble was complete madness. She smile though, that's what made it so tempting to do. She sighed in defeat. If Sirius found out about this he would never let her live it down. She looked around, she was in a secluded spot where she wouldn't be seen. She turned around and quickly start changing her appearance, mainly her face but some of her body. Her hair became longer and brunette. She looked like a seventh year. Since no one was wearing their house colors or anything she would blend in perfectly. She had to loose her jacket though. That would be a dead giveaway. She placed her jacket in the pocket of her dress. She came out of her little hiding spot and went to walk closer to the students. She just gave a few smiles here and there as she walked. It didn't take long for a boy to approach her. Oh Merlin. She will die if Sirius finds out about this. 287 WORDS , TAG:Open , OUTFIT , Click: "She looked like a seventh year."

table by california dreaming @ caution 2.0

[ron]

Why were things always changing? Ron hated it. He heard Hermione try to reassure him that they were not Harry’s only friends, but she seemed to doubt it herself? And why was that? Maybe, oh, because for the last four years, it was Ron and Hermione who helped him through everything. Where was this Astoria girl then? Where was she when they were fighting Dumbledore’s insane obstacle course? Where was she when Hermione was Petrified and Ron and Harry had to try to save Ginny? Where was she when Harry needed help preparing for the tournament? She was probably off with her Slytherin mates, wearing those stupid Potter Stinks badges or just generally making fun of him. No, Ron did not trust her, nor would he trust her. Slytherin were scum. He was now a fifth year at Hogwarts and not once had he met even a slightly decent Slytherin. Why should that change all of a sudden? She was pretty, Ron would admit, but that meant nothing to him. If Harry wanted to act crazy and befriend someone who had probably spent years making fun of him, let him. Ron would have no part in it.

Ron turned his head as Harry tried to explain. He wanted to make it seem like he did not care at all what Harry had to say, but still, he listened. He tried to listen for some sort of reasoning, but every excuse Harry gave seemed flat. However, when he stopped talking, Ron could not help but laugh. It was not his usual joking laugh, but one that seemed cold and did not suit him at all. He was livid. He had promised that he would not explode at Hermione for any reason, but he did not include anyone else in that promise, “Slytherin’s better side? What better side does Slytherin have? Go on, tell me,” Not letting Harry answer, Ron continued, “Harry, what are you thinking? There are a reason you don’t see Gryffindors and Slytherins palling around. They hate our guts and we hate theirs. And up until recently, you knew that. Name one decent Slytherin,” Again, he did not let Harry say anything, “You can’t. There’s a reason for that. There aren’t any. If she wasn’t as evil as the rest of the lot, she would be a Gryffindor, or even a Hufflepuff or a Ravenclaw. Any of those would be fine, but she’s a Slytherin for a reason.” Ron did not care that he was being ruder than he probably had ever been before. He did not care that the girl he kept insulting was standing right next to him. He knew that she was up to something. She did not trick him.

When finally she said something, Ron turned to face her, laughing that cold laugh once more. He looked her up and down, trying to give his scary prefect face to intimidate her, “You don’t like how Draco treats people? You think it’s rude?” Both questions he asked mockingly. The laughter left his face and he glared at her, “Then why didn’t you ever say something? Do something? Did you ever try to stop them? Did you ever try to get them to see things your way? Did you ever say, ‘Hey, that Potter kid and his friends haven’t done anything to us. Let’s let them alone.’? No, you were probably joining in with them. Don’t expect me to trust you. I have no reason to.” Ron clenched his fists, feeling his anger boiling over him. He hardly ever became this angry. It took all his self-control not to scream. Was everyone being stupid? They were in the middle of the war. Those Slytherins would sell out any information Harry gave to them willingly. They would run along to Mummy and Daddy who would run along to You-Know-Who. Anything to give them a chance to win.

Turning away from the girl, Ron knew he had to get away from her before he said something worse, or did something worse. He looked at Hermione, the one person near him that he wanted to be with. She would be able to calm him down, “Let’s go, Hermione. Harry doesn’t need us.” He paused for a moment, feeling his anger temporarily leave him. What if she wanted to stay? What if she too was swept away by this Slytherin? “Hermione?” He asked, less sure of himself. He could not stand it if she chose the Slytherin over him.

[DAPHNE GREENGRASS]

Kids were filtering in quickly and soon the hall was filled with dancing, hormonal teens…. Fantastic …. Not only was she alone in this swell of puberty but she couldn’t find her sister. Daphne quickly made her way over to the nearest pillar and anchored herself there as to avoid any sort of contact that wasn’t needed. Even though she wanted someone to come ask her to dance she wasn’t going to let anyone know that.
She had begun to settle when a noticeable “WHAT?” rang out. Looking toward the source of the noise she saw the trio of Gryffindors’ and her sister?! Not only was she talking with them, which that ALONE was odd, but she had her arm crossed through the Potter boys. To say Daphne was confused was a complete understatement.
With a sigh, she pried herself from her spot on the wall and inched closer to the group, not yet sure if she was going over to drag her sister away or to eves-drop; either way she was going to get answers. The sea of bodies made it quite difficult to get anywhere, but knocking a few people over sure gave them reason enough to move though some of them had a few choice words after they thought she was out of ear reach. ‘Bastards.’ She sneered in her mind, her lips making a hard line. She’d have to deal with that later for now all she could do was hold her shoulders back and prop her head up high.
“ASTORIA!” She shouted, hoping her sister would hear her over the crowd.

[neville]

Rumors, excitement, and anticipation had been swirling around Hogwarts for weeks already, and now the night of the ball had finally arrived. Neville originally had no means of going to the dance. He had gone to the Yule Ball last year. He'll admit it; he did have a great time. Ginny was very nice about going with Neville to the ball, and he had even discovered that he had a knack for dancing. Still, he'd rather spend the night curled up next to the fireplace in the common room, pleasantly chatting away with his fellow Gryffindors.

The only problem was that there were no Gryffindors left in the common room. Neville sat in his favorite red chair, watching as everybody got ready for the ball. It was mad chaos in the common room. Boys were desperately trying to fix their robes while the girls all gathered into little groups to frantically apply makeup to their faces. The more he watched everybody, the more gloomy he got. Why on earth was he not going? Everybody already looked like they were having a good time, and the dance hadn't even started yet.

Neville was still rooted in his chair as the room slowly emptied out. Soon he realized that he was the only one not dressed up and attending the ball. It made him feel strangely hurt, even though this was his own fault. He hadn't told anyone that he wasn't going, so of course nobody was going to stay here and keep him company. Neville now desperately wished that he could run downstairs and join everyone, but he didn't buy any dress robes. He couldn't just go in his Hogwarts robes, he needed to dress up.

And that's when a horrible thought came upon Neville. He did have dress robes, actually. He really really really didn't want to wear them, but his desire to attend the dance was too strong. Sighing, he heaved himself out of his chair and quickly climbed the steps up to the boys dorm.

He made sure nobody was in there before making his way to his bunk. Kneeling down, Neville pulled out his trunk from underneath his bed and flung it open. He started throwing his clothes and other possessions behind him onto the floor, digging deeper and deeper into the trunk until he pulled out what he was looking for.

Grasped in Neville's hands was a a hideous pair of bright green frilly dress robes. He dreadfully thought back to last summer, during his birthday. His Gran had given him these robes, declaring that if Neville wore those then he and his Gran would match. And it was true, actually. His Gran often did wear a bright green dress. He hated to think how much he would resemble her at the dance tonight. But he really wanted to go. He didn't want to be left alone in the common room all night. Sure, he was probably going to get bashed on by the Slytherins, but his friends would back him up. Hopefully.

Neville changed quickly and strode over to the mirror, staring at his reflection. He looked awful, but at the same time fancy. It would have to do. Neville quickly scurried downstairs, running his fingers through his hair during the process. Adjusting his collar and trying to smooth down the frills on the cuffs of his sleeves, Neville pushed open the entrance and walked out into the corridor.

Luckily, the Fat Lady was too drunk to noticed how pathetic he looked. If she had seen him while she wasn't intoxicated, she would have had a real good laugh. Neville hurried through the castle and toward the direction of the dance, hoping that he would quickly find his friends and maybe have some fun tonight.

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[GINEVRA WEASLEY]

[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=style, width: 440px; height: 600px; background-image: url(http://i52.tinypic.com/154wnc8.png); -moz-border-radius: 250px; border-radius:100px 100px 100px 100px; border: 3px solid #ffffff;] against the grain Ginny sat for a few more minutes, trying to wait as patiently as she could for the arrival of her date. She couldn't help but figure it should have been the polite thing for him to show up outside the Gryffindor common room and walk her down. Perhaps he was waiting outside of the room for now? Ginny was not going back up all the stairs to the room to check, especially not in heels. He would come down when he figured she was already down here. Or maybe Michael was just running late. But then again, all boys really had to do for this dang dance was put on a nice shirt and tie and be off. There was none of that fancy hair doing or makeup or jewlery. She figured he got caught up with friends on the way there. Why was she being so paranoid? Gin never acted like this. However, this was her first boyfriend, and she didn't really know how to be a girlfriend. One last time, her eyes swept over the crowd that was growing larger by the minute. Her eyes immediately fell to Hermione. She was wearing a beautiful dress, something Ginny never would have imagined her wearing. It was good that she got out of her jeans and uniforms for the occasion. Mione looked gorgeous. Gin's eyes fell to the red head with her. Ron, of course, looking a bit flustered, or nervous perhaps? Watching them interact, she barely noticed when a fellow Gryffindor came up to her. Meleny, her name was. A very nice person, she was. "Hello, Meleny." She said, giving her a quick smile and searching for others that she knew. And of course, there were several people there that she was well accustomed to. Tonks looked...well Tonks. she was wearing a funky outfit that only she cold pull off, and her hair was her usual bright colors. Gin waved quickly to her and surveyed the others of the room. Fred and George both looked rather dashing in their dress robes and ties. She was surprised to see them like that; Gin had figured they would wear something obnoxious or just come in regular clothes. Though, she had a fleeting suspicion that those two were up to no good, like usual. It would be a perfect time to pull a prank with everyone in one area such as this. When Hannah came up to Meleny, she decided she needed a bit more space. "Hey, Hannah. Scuse me." Gin gave them a quick nod before walking out to the dance floor. She felt awkward in her dress, but felt even more awkward at the heels and how much height they gave her. Instead of being five feet two inches like usual, she had grown to five feet five inches. It was almost like magic. It felt strange to be at everyone else's height. In the midst of walking around the dance floor, heading over to the punch, she saw Harry with that Slytherin Astoria. Of course they would have gone as dates. It made Gin jealous, but not overly jealous. She was happy with Michael...pretty much. Although her mixed feelings about Harry at the moment, she couldn't help but chuckle to herself as she saw Harry wearing a fedora. It was such a random article of clothing, but he somehow pulled it off. Strange. Her eyes left the two of them and found a girl looking nervous. Gin would have to go talk to her later; they cold bond over the fact that neither semed to be dance type of people. Near her was CJ, a good friend. Ginny waved to him, hoping he wold see her through the mass of people. He was always interesting to talk to and be around. The whole talking to CJ plan was killed when she saw Lavender running over to him. Lavender was nice and all...but talked much too fast and was a little too hyper for Ginny's taste. Parvati followed Lavender, those two always seemed together. Parvati was very nice as well, they talked a bit last year and this year as well. Her twin sister Padma was smart, and very focused on her studies, as she learned from hanging out with Michael. She made it to the punch bowl and grabed a cup to pour herself some. Again, her eyes focused on Ron, who was wearing regular clothes (comon, you couldn't have dressed up in those lovely dress robes?) He seemed to be freaking out at Harry about the whole Astoria thing. Good, someone who was on the same page as her. Hermione seemed calm and nice as ever. Gin guessed someone had to be. The twins were talking to their 7th year friends near her, and she could't help but notice Fred staring at her. Was her hair messed up or something? She patted it down self consciously. Nope, that wasn't it. He eyed her as a whole. Interesting...Gin realized they probably weren't used to her wearing dressier things. Or having boyfriends. Gin walked over to him. "What was that about mum spending galleons and snogging?" She said as she walked over, knowing full well she heard exactly what he said. Gin tried not to trip over her shoes. She now came up past Fred's shoulder, to her amusement. Maybe she should wear heels more often. Her eyes followed Fred's down to Geore's hand. A bottle of something. She knew it. "Whatever is in there, better not be affecting me." She kenw right away it was part of their little prank for the night. Ginny saw her good friend Neville walk in just then. The poor lad looked awkward and out of place. But then again, when didn't he? Not to be rude or anything. Gin loved her Neville. She wasn't done with her conversation with Fred, so she didn't want to walk over to Neville just yet. She waved and gave him the one minute sign, indicating she'd be over to him soon. The one question on her mind was, where was Michael? Words:A lot. Mentioned:Fred Weasley, George Weasley, Ron Weasley, Harry Potter, Hermione Granger, Neville Longbottom, Parvati Patil, Lavender Brown, Michael Corner, CJ Kennedy, Meleny Aldridge, Molly Weasley, Hannah Abbott, Tonks, Astoria Greengrass there can be only one mikey! of caution 2.0

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[lavender]

“Why thank you, CJ!” Lavender adored compliments, they were pretty much her favourite thing. Who didn’t love them? They made everyone feel warm and fuzzy. “You’re looking pretty good yourself!” Lavender smiled warmly at her friend, before shifting her attentions to the rest of the Great Hall. Perhaps she would see Seamus and Dean, and could wave them over. Or Padma. She was less fun, but she might come with some cute Ravenclaws! Ravenclaws were smart, and would know how to dance! Unfortunately, it was not to be. Lavender’s smile faltered as she spotted Dean and Seamus chatting up two unknown girls. ‘Probably Hufflepuffs,’ Lavender thought uncharitably. Her eyes narrowed in their direction, and Seamus, spotting her, waved. Hmph. The nerve! Lavender snorted and turned away, immediately spotting Ron with Hermione and Harry, and that Slytherin. Hermione had, rather forcefully, insisted that Harry was perfectly sane. Well, he certainly didn’t look sane! Consorting with Slytherins! Sure, some of them were fit, like Zambini, but one didn’t befriend Slytherins unless they were purists. It didn’t look good, especially if you were a Gryffindor. Not when terrible people like Pansy Parkinson and Draco Malfoy were in the house!

What Lavender really wanted to do was approach them. She could talk to Harry, see how sane or not he was, and maybe Ron would be funny! She privately thought that Hermione was so hard on Ron! Always complaining about how he never did his homework. As far as Lavender was concerned, homework was a group event! Lavender didn’t mind helping Parvati with her History of Magic essays, and Parvati was a great Charms tutor! Hmm. Maybe Ron would dance? No. She glanced longingly in the direction of the group before refocusing her attentions on CJ and Pav. Parvati wouldn’t want to go talk to people who weren’t going to dance with them. And chatting with Hermione about house elves or homework wasn’t high up on either girls’ list of acceptable dance topics. But, maybe once Parvati was having a great time dancing with someone, Lavender could approach them? Yes, that would be okay!

“Sure! We love punch, right Pav?” Seamus and Dean already pushed to the back of her mind, Lavender smiled at her friends. “Do you like to dance, CJ? Pav here is a great dancer! She loves it. Don’t you Pav? Have you learned the new dance to that Weird Sisters’ song yet? My cousin taught me over the summer, and Pav and I have been dying to try it out!” Lavender was already moving in the general direction of the punch table. Hydration was important at these functions! It let you dance longer!