Open But I'm Being So Brave About It

[Aine Thompson]

Aine was realizing she hated school dances.

She had known that, of course, considering primary school socials and the like. Everyone having to go to the year six dance and dress up and dance to bad music and judge each other's fashion. It had been awful. And that was just a one off, and she'd just been dreading the semi-formal and formal. Which, thinking about it, next year she would've been going in to year eleven and preparing for the semi, had she still been back at a muggle school. Which her mother would've forced her to go to even though it would've just been depressing. But that was only two events. For some reason, magic school had three events. Per year. Two of which were full on dances.

Sure, they couldn't transfigure up money, but Aine was convinced that there was some shady dealings going on for people to even be able to afford this many outfits.

She'd avoided the events at first, and then mostly gone for the food, but now she was sixteen and people were going with partners she'd wanted to go back to avoiding it. Alas, she was a prefect, and she was required to go to ensure that no Hufflepuffs were up to no good. She'd been brushed with a bit of glitter from some obnoxious first year, and seen some other younger students with snowballs, but none of them were Hufflepuffs so she couldn't really do anything about it other than affix them with her best scary prefect look. Which had not achieved anything. Aine had thought about asking someone, but that itself was just asking for trouble. Besides, nobody would have actually said yes, and if they did, it was probably to do something horrific to her in the ball. So, affecting a completely stone faced look, Aine stared straight ahead at the dance floor from her seat, pretending to observe while not actually paying attention to very much at all.

 

[Felix Carnahan]

Felix wasn't sure if coming to the ball was a horrible idea or not. He had broken up with Molly or taken a break because he needed more time to focus on his other responsibilities and now he wasn't sure if showing his face would make him seem less or more sincere. He wasn't entirely sure where he stood with her and he was too scared and embarrassed to ask. In the end he didn't want to be scared to celebrate the end of the semester. He had worked hard and even had a quidditch win to show for it. But each step felt stiff and he considered dancing but that seemed like a bad idea. Instead he spotted a table with another Hufflepuff prefect and he joined her. "Hey, Aine right?" he asked, out of curtesy. "Fun night." he said with a disinterested nod and a tight smile.

 

[Aine Thompson]

Aine didn't know Felix well, but she knew the name and face - he was well known in Hufflepuff for being the team seeker, of course, and she'd seen him at prefect meetings. The Quidditch part just emphasised how much of a fraud she was, though. The other Hufflepuff prefects were the head boy, Quidditch stars and Heta Omega staff, one of them even being in the latter two categories somehow. And Aine was...Aine. A failure of a person on so many fronts. She raised an eyebrow, giving a small nod in response. "Hi, Felix," she greeted, sounding equally as disinterested as he did. "Oh, thrilling. You should try saying that again and sound less enthusiastic, if that's possible," she drawled, realizing too late she was probably being totally rude. "Sorry."

 

[Felix Carnahan]

Felix raised and eyebrow at Aine's reaction to his comment. He hadn't been expecting that and he ended up laughing, quite hard. The relief of making it through the semester was probably doing a number on him. "Don't apologize." he said and waved off her sorry. "Do I really sound that miserable?" he asked and looked up a bit sheepishly. He hated how much the stress of the past year or so had turned him into a grumpy kill joy. He was starting to sound like Theia which should have been his first sign he was in trouble. "Not really in a festive mood." he admitted, because even if he was feeling a momentary relief he knew he still had his job and actual animagus training waiting for him. His decision with Molly had been the right one but he didn't have to be happy about it.

 

[Aine Thompson]

Aine felt her hand clenching around the edge of her chair, like a sort of reaction to hold on for dear life in anxiety. Like he'd get all offended and walk off because she was being so difficult and awkward. Aine quite liked being dry and sarcastic - she was a teenager, after all - but it didn't mean other people did. Worrying so much about what other people thought was the worst part about school. Not in the least dances. "I can't exactly judge," Aine admitted, shrugging as she looked down at her knees. "As you can see, I am the very model of festivity and joy." She had the urge to fidget with her hair, pull out a few pins and leave them scattered around the place carelessly. "Winter's never gotten me in the Christmas spirit. And neither of us can go putting firewhiskey in the punch to perk things up." She did finally tilt her head up, offering a slight smile. "Sorry to hear, though. I, uh, hope it gets better, and all."

 

[Felix Carnahan]

Felix nodded sympathetically as Aine confessed she wasn't having a good or festive time either. He shouldn't have been that surprised to hear he wasn't alone in his woes, and while it was nice to know he wasn't the only one he did feel bad that he didn't know of any way to make it better. For either of them. He let out a snorting laugh when she mentioned firewhiskey in the punch. "I don't know if Celia would kill us or give us a prize for doing something fun. I really can't get a read on her at all. And I'm too scared to try." he admitted and was quietly glad she was graduating this year so he didn't have to fear for his life quite so much next season. Felix smiled at Aine's small words of encouragement. "Thanks." he said softly. "And same." A slightly awkward silence fell after a moment and he glanced at the dancefloor when the music picked up the tempo a bit. "Do you wanna...dance?" he asked with a shrug, wondering if that might cheer her up.

 

[Aine Thompson]

"She hasn't killed me yet, but there's still another semester to go," Aine replied, dryly. "So, anything can happen." Though Aine knew Celia was clever, and not the kind of person who'd let a petty dislike blow out of control and stop her from achieving her goals. Whatever those were. World domination, probably. (Aine also had to admit she did agree with Celia's last op-ed in the paper, but it wasn't like she could tell the older girl that without sounding like a sycophant.) She blinked a few times at Felix's question, genuinely not having expected that. Surely he couldn't be hurting for a partner that badly, could he? It seemed like he was just trying to be polite, which was probably worse, like she was some kind of charity case. Still, it wasn't like she had anything better to do, so maybe she really was some kind of charity case. "Uh, sure, I guess? If your hypothetical dance card is that empty, then I shall be glad to help you save face," she joked, burying discomfort under sarcasm.