“Ah.. My favourite quiet place.” Emily smiled. She loved the whomping willow but hadn’t been out there much since it became so cold. She looked over at James again. “You’re welcome to come.” She said with a genuine smile. It would be rude not to ask the boy.



ooc: Do you want to post at the willow first?

"Secrets are hard to control, now that I think on it" James stood up and shook his head around "Hi Emily, I uh...better...uh...go. You seem to need...uh...privacy" he said walking quickly to the other side of the entrance. When he got there, he sat down and wrote down something on a note. His secret would be told, but he had to make certain that someone didn't pick it up. Even the person that it was talking about. It read:
I was going to ask ______ to dance because...
Even if someone picked it up, they would not know who it was to or from and they wouldn't know what the next words were. He hid in the shadows, dropped the note, and ran back at the talking of inviting him to go "only if you want me to, I don't like to get in peoples way"

Ellie smiled “I know it is! I like it too, I like to observe him and his bad humour!”

ooc: I post.^^
Ellie looked at Emily then walked to James and said to him “You aren't getting in anyones way...still I'll talk to you later…” she looked him in the eyes and started walking with Emily then while she was walking she turned to James and put her point fingers together in the shape a cruise then kissed them “Promise!” she didn't knew if the boy the knew what that mean, but she turned to Emily and made her away to the The Whomping Willow.

Looking rather snazzy and spiffy in his new, black, dress/tuxedo robes, Ryan spotted Rapunzel. She hadn't seen him yet, so he worked his way around the crowd to end up behind her. He tiptoed up right behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist.

"Hey, you," he whispered, delivering a delicate peck on her cheek.

Rapunzel was had just about abandoned all hopes of seeing Ryan at the Sock Hop when she suddenly felt someone sneak up behind her and softly kiss her cheek.

She spun around to confront whoever it was, not knowing what to expect but sincerely hoping it was NOT the makey-outey-assailant.

And instead, Rapunzel was surprised to find her dearly beloved boyfriend all jazzed up for the dance.

"Oh! It's you!" Rapunzel exclaimed, delighted to see him. She wrapped her arms around his neck (which was waaaaay up high for her) and gave him a kiss back. "Don't you look handsome," she whispered with a twinkle in her eye. Rapunzel then took a step back and did a fancy little twirl to show off her golden skirt and dancing shoes. "I'm so glad you made it......because I just can't wait to dance....." Rapunzel raised her eyebrows and deliberately let her sentence trail off.

Rapunzel nodded, grinning, and didn't say a word. Instead, she skipped off to the dance floor behind Ryan.

Kayla pulled away from him slightly. "Okay we won't dance this time, but I will get you on the dance floor one of these days" she said smiling. "I'm just full of surprises, keeps people on their toes but if you don't like it then I'll try very hard to tone it down" she leaned up against the wall. Maybe she should let him make the moves she thought.

Ben sighed. "If you really want me to dance, I will," he said. "I was just warning you to watch out for your feet." He grinned mischieviously. "I can do surprising stuff, too." He shook his hair out of his eyes and took her hand, thinking, I even surprise myself. After a pause, he added, "For example...just a few days ago I read a chapter of a book." It was true. He had finally caved in to his sister's urging and read. Josey did not know that, of course, and he had not enjoyed the chapter he had read, but he had read it. Ben did not expect to read more, however. The evil aardvarks were too evil.

Kayla laughed. "And how did you find reading Ben, was it as horrible as you thought?" she looked down at his hand and smiled. "And I'm not going to pressure you to dance...not tonight anyway. Besides I'm enjoying this more" Kayla said.

Ben nodded solemnly. "Yes, it was as horrible as I imagined. And worse," he said melodramatically. He let out a sigh of relief; she was not going to try to trick him into dancing. He laughed at what Kayla said next even as he fought to keep the color from rising to his cheeks as it tended to do. "Me too," he said.

"Okay so we're at that getting to know each other stage. So what is your favourite colour, your favourite food, favourite subject, do you like Quidditch and do you play?" she asked very fast and then took a moment to catch her breath.

Kate looked at her friend and listened intently as she told the story of her life. Of her father. How he was the kind of wizard who thought that Pureblood Wizards should always remain a top priority. She would never take offense – Willow can’t help who her relations are. It has nothing to with who she is a person. She admired her greatly as she had the courage to stand up against what her father believed in – what a noble thing to say – treating every witch and wizard on an equal level, no matter what their bloodline is. “What about the rest of your family?” she asked quietly. “Your mother? – Do you have any siblings?”

As she listened to Willow’s advice, Kate felt like she was the smallest person alive. Not that she felt belittled by her friend, but when she heard an outsider’s perspective on things she could almost feel the pain Amos had felt when he saw what happened. “The thing is –“ she began. And she knew she was going to sound absolutely crazy to Willow. “But – after it happened. After Amos found out. It’s like something snapped me back into reality and I realized with absolute horror what I’d done. All Amos has ever done is care for me – in a way I thought was never possible. Kissing Josh – It meant nothing to me. I can live easily enough without Josh. But if I were to loose Amos – I’d hate to think of what would happen to me.”

She sighed and kicked at the ground. “I probably sound like a lunatic don’t I?” she asked quietly, then looked back up to Willow.

“I know I’ve never told you this before, Willow – But I value the friendship that we’ve started. It’s something I don’t want to loose either. I feel comfortable talking with you – you’re an easy listener and non-judgemental – You are a wonderful person through and through. I just – wanted you to know that.”

"Okay well I definitely have to say pink although I'm starting to grow very fond of yellow, I'm with you on the chocolate and yes Defence against the Dark Arts is my favourite subject as well. I like Quidditch but I don't play although I love flying I just don't want to do it as a sport. Hmm let's see what else is there to know about Ben Wenride" she looked at him with a mischevious twinke in her eye. "And how much does Ben like Kayla?" she asked innocently.

Ben slowly but steadily turned red as he considered what to say. He knew that he was red, but not why because he did not feel over-embarassed. "Ben likes Kay...more than...a lot," he said lamely. He grinned sheepishly but did not bother to try to explain further. Ben hoped that Kayla would get the gist of what he was saying and not comment too much.

"I did it again didn't I" Kayla said giving his hand a gentle squeeze. "I embarrassed you, I'm so sorry Ben sometimes things come out of my mouth before I actually think about what I am saying" a touch of colour actually spread across her face. "And I like you more than alot too" she brushed the hair out of his eyes. "Anything else you would like to know about me?"

The redness faded from Ben's countenance, and her mustered a smile. "It's ok, Kay," he said hoarsely. He cleared his throat as he realized what she had just said. "I - you - wha - Kay?" he stuttered. So many things to say were running through his head like an assembly line, and he was trying to say each one as it came without pausing the "conveyor belt". He grinned weakly and tried to find something to say.

"I said that I...like...you...more...than...alot...too" she said softly. She felt her face grow warm again. Okay so when did she start getting embarrassed talking to a boy. "Well look at that you've actually made me blush now" Kayla took a deep breath anything to stop the butterflies in her stomach.

"I heard you," Ben said. He grinned. "What, don't you ever blush?" he asked. Even his sister blushed...although only when she was angry. He hoped that Kayla was not angry. He reached up with a tentative hand and touched her cheek. "Wow...you're really red, Kay. Was I that red?" He dropped his hand. He sure hoped that he had not been that red. Well, in comparison. When he got really red, his face looked like a Quaffle.

"Well no not usually, seems you have quite an effect on me Ben and yes you were that red" laughed Kayla. She felt his hand drop from her cheek and she felt a little disappointed, she liked his hand there. "So...um where do we go from here?"

"Uh yeah sure that's what I had in mind too" she said. Well no that's not what she had in mind but she wasn't going to embarrass herself any further. "Well are you looking forward to going home?" Kayla asked looking at the floor not quite wanting to meet his eyes in case she gave anything away.

With the miniature pegasus perched atop his shoulder, Helios approached Kayla, shimmering like gold offset with onyx.

With his cape and fancy dress robes, he looked like royalty for a change. "I have not seen that look on your face in some time."

She looked up at Helios' voice. "No it doesn't happen very often" Kayla replied. "Had enough of the dance?" she asked hoping to change the subject.

"Had enough?" Helios gave a short laugh.

The pegasus on his shoulder, gave a little stomp and ruffled its feathers. "I was just getting started." The prince stood proudly with his hands on hips.

Kayla laughed. "Then what are you doing out here, you should be inside burning up the dance floor" she said still chuckling. "I see you like the Christmas gift I gave you" she pointed at his shoulder. "It seems to like you as well. Have you given it a name yet?"

"What is in a name?" He spoke poetically, pointing to his miniature pegasus. The winged horse nuzzled his finger, causing the boy to smile. "A rose by any other name would smell as sweet."

Helios couldn't help but laugh at himself for that one.

Kayla burst out laughing at what he had said, the boy was crazy at times. "What's got you in such a good mood?" she asked still laughing. "I think you need to go to more dances, they certainly agree with you."

James walked up to Excelsior and said "Look, I know I was the emperor of the the idiot empire and I beg of you to forgive me, though, I don't think you ever met James. You met the boy who...well....as I said before, the emperor of the the idiot empire"

"Will you get me a cheeseburger and a soda pop thingy?" Monica asked softly.

ooc: Next post at the tables?

"No problem," Excelsior said. He walked with Monica and seated her at the tables where he and Sarah were now sitting, the same tables they had been using earlier.

ooc: Yeah, I've gone to the tables.

Delete.Pleasee..

Lilly, who was actually really bored noticed a boy who walked in. He wasn't dressed up like the rest of the kids, or like her. Tugging at her emerald dress, she walked towards him.
"Hi," she said shyly, her emerald eyes glinting, "I'm Lilly."

Ben looked at Kayla, a befuddled expression on his face. "Home?" he repeated. He looked at the floor. "I was wondering...what's so interesting about the floor that we both keep looking at it?" Ben, at least, had never actually looked at the floor when he turned his face toward it, but he guessed that Kayla did. She was clever like that.

Kayla chuckled as she looked back at him. "Well for me I guess I'm trying to hide the fact of what I am actually thinking" this time Kayla did not look at the floor but straight into Ben's eyes.

Ben glanced up. Trying to hide...what? He impatiently pushed his hair out of his face. She was right, he did need a haircut. "Why do you want to hide that?" he asked hesitantly. Did she not trust him? He bit his lip, trying to fathom the meaning of her words.

Lilly grinned back. "Listen, I know you're surprised, but I'm bored that's all." She looked back at a group of first year Ravenclaws. "Besides, maybe those Ravenclaws will leave me alone if they see I'm with a Hufflepuff giant." She looked at him. "So you have a name?" She asked.

Kayla sighed she really did need to stop and think about what she was going to say before she opened her mouth and said it. "Never mind, I've already embarrassed myself twice tonight I don't think I really want to try for a third" she gave a nervous laugh. "It could get ugly."

Jack's eyebrows raised even higher, Hufflepuff giant? Jack was tall but not that tall, surely? He looked at her. "What Ravenclaws and what are they doing?" He asked in concern. "Oh yeah, I'm Jack." He added.

Lilly waved her hand in dismissal. "Nothing that could harm you, so forget about them." Lilly looked up at him. "So tell me about yourself? What's your family like?" She asked kindly. Her family wasn't the greatest so she hoped he didn't ask.


ooc: I gotta go.. nice chatting with you

"Twice? I thought it was just the once...when you turned red," Ben said. "But...no pressure." He really did not want Kayla to get upset. Who knew what might happen then? "So...do you have siblings?" THat's right, he thought, change the subject. Family should be a fairly safe subject. It was for him.

"Thanks Ben" Kayla noticed the subtle change in subject and she appreciated it. "No, I am only child and a spoilt one too" she added grinning. "And I believe you come from a large family, right?"

"Only child? That stinks," he said. Who it stunk for, he did not know, because he sometimes would have liked to be an only child. "That's right, little lady," he added with a half-bow. "Older brother, older sister, more cousins than I can count." His older sister was the weirdest of all. She liked books instead of chocolate...what a rarity.

"Not really, being an only child has its perks. Sometimes on those rare occassions when I was bored I would think that I would like to have a sibling around to talk to but then I would have to share" Kayla laughed. "Don't get me wrong material things I don't have a problem sharing, it's emotional sharing that I have a problem with" she frowned slightly as she said that, thinking about the two people she didn't want to share with anymore.

"Emotional sharing?" Ben repeated. How did one share emotions, he wondered. He, for one, did not mind sharing, but that might have been the result of never having to not share. "What's emotional sharing?"

Jack frowned, looking slightly uncomfortable again. "Erm ... we've been talking for about five minutes and you're going into my personal life." Jack replied awkwardly. "I'd rather not talk about that. Thanks." He added quietly.


Finally, someone his age. A pretty girl had walked over to the odd pair and greeted Jack. "Hey." He replied, smiling back.

Kayla looked at Ben with a smile. "It means being an only child I didn't have to share the love and affection from my parents with a brother or sister it was all for me" she shrugged she knew that sounded stupid but that's how she felt. There was more to be said here but now was not the right time.

Ben laughed. "Oh, right," he said. "I guess that kind of makes sense..." He did not mention that while he had to share his parents' affection, he got affection from others like his brother, sister, cousins...and other people. He grinned, and this time his hair stayed out of the way.

Kayla laughed as well. "I know you don't agree with me on this but our family lives are so different. You know I'd invite you to stay at my house over the break but I think you would miss all the excitment that goes on at yours...maybe one day though." Okay did she just actually say that.

Ben grinned. "That'd be cool," he admitted. "I think I would miss the excitement, though." What a stupid thing to say... "Maybe sometime you could come to mine." Yes, that was better. Wait, had he really just invited her to visit over break? What would his family do? He laughed.

"I think maybe you better square it with your parents first Ben" Kayla said laughing. "But if it's okay with them, I would love to" it would be nice to spend some more time with him outside of school.

Ben shrugged. "True, that," he admitted. "'Course, they probably wouldn't notice you were there if you called them 'aunt' and 'uncle' and acted like you belonged." It was true. His parents were so used to having their nieces and nephews...one new person would not attract too much attention. "Actually...they probably would notice. I'm the blondest in my family except for strawberry-heads, and you're blonder than me." He grinned. "No one would mind company, though. You could play quidditch with us if you wanted!" Quidditch...so much fun with his family. Surely Kayla would enjoy that.

Kayla was starting to get very excited at the prospect of visiting Ben and his family. "It sounds really good Ben and I look forward to meeting your family and spending time with you" she said happily. Especially the part about spending time with Ben. At that precise moment she gave a small yawn, she hadn't realised how tired she was until now. "I think I might call it a night Ben and go to bed. I really enjoyed tonight and I hope we can do this more often" she said truthfully.

She leaned over and gave him a small kiss on the cheek. "Merry Christmas Ben."

Jack smiled and replied. "I'm Jack." He shook her hand to be polite but didn't feel it necessary to be as formal as to see his full name.

Willow pondered a little about her answer and then after a few seconds, she replied, "My mom, had nothing against muggloborns or halfbloods" she said simply, "She just..I suppose she is--was, a little scared of what my father might have thought if he found out that she was hanging out with them". And it was true, her mother had nothing against them. She just didnt talk with them. "Yes, I have two siblings" she said. "Elizabeth and Rilian. Elizabeth is 13, she left Hogwarts and went to a wizarding school in Panama after my mother past away last fall. And Rilian, he's 10 and he'll be attending to Hogwarts next term" She ended this thinking that no matter how much she used to fight with her sister, she truly missed her. "And for his own sake" she said regarding her brother, "I hope he get sorted into Gryffindor, so my dad won't get upset with him, as he did with me when I got sorted in Ravenclaw".
She heard Kate asking her about the rest of her family, "Well, my grandparents from the side of my dad, are the same thing" she said bitterly. "From my mum family..They don't mind muggleborns and halfbloods".

Willow listened to Kate talking about how much she felt sorry for kissing Josh and how she felt bad for Amos. She looked at her for a couple of seconds and finally said, "I hope it's true" she stare at her directly to see any kind of emotion in her eyes. "I hope it's true that you are over Josh. I Hope it's true, for you own sake, and for Amos. Because in the end, if you still have feelings for Josh, you are the one who is going to end hurt the most Kate. And your boyfriend, Amos" She said all of this sternly, yet he voice was calm. She did not wanted to sound as if she was lecturing her. She wanted to make it sound as an advice.
"And no, you don't sound lunatic. You sound a bit confused if you ask me" she said with a little smile.

The young Ravenclaw listened to Kate's words carefully, and she felt her cheeks turning scarlett. She opened her mouth a couples of time through her speech, but didn't manage to say anything.
"You are wonderful person and friend Kate. Don't let anyone, never, to make you feel like you are not" She said at her friend after, she felt her cheeks were back to her usual color.

Jack nodded in return. "Well, there's been dances and stuff like that but I think this is my first Ball .. type .. thing." He trailed off. "Is it yours?" He asked, finally making an effort to make conversation.

Christian laughed at Mallory. "Well, your mom did a fantastic job. I like it. A lot." He said nodding. He was telling the truth too. He looked back at Clark.

"Thanks sir..." and before Christian could say anything else, Fabian had taken off. "He is a very strange strange man...The day I figure him out will be the day..." He paused. "...the day something extraordinary happens." Smooth one.

"So would you like to go dance?" He said offering an arm for her to take and pointed his other hand in the direction of the dance floor. "Or did you have something else in mind?"

Mallory's cheeks were now a very interesting shade of scarlet. I swear, if he doesn't stop with the compliments, I'll probably blush myself to death!

"Thanks" she said again. She giggled at Christian's remark on Clark. "Well that won't be long...after all this is Hogwarts. Lots of weird stuff goes on around here."

She took his hand and pondered on that question for a minute. On one hand, she wasn't really into dancing. Yeah she was forced the lessons, but that doesn't make her a prima ballerina. On the other hand, she didn't know what else there was to do [besides wearing something less pink and girlie...something red with jeans would be perfect.].

"Dancing's fine." she finally decided. Besides, she'd love to see him dance again. That time outside in the snow was fun, counting the snowball fight too, but let's just see how he does in ballroom.

"Alright, dancing it is." He said with a genuine and smile. His mother had hired a dance instructor to teach Christian how to dance. He couldn't anything extravagent, just the basic kind of slow dances and the traditional "sway".

He suddenly realized, Mallory had never seen him dance. Fighting the urge to fight her and make her change her mind, he started to walk forward. It won't be so bad. Just don't tread on her feet and we'll be ok... He smiled and together the entered into the dance floor.

Baffled by the ongoings in the ballroom and by Cora's sudden disappearance, Keith decided to leave the Great Hall before brain damage was inflicted on him as well. His remarkable ability to self-preserve was getting him down the entrance hall and to somewhere outside rather quickly. The handsome youth had hardly any idea where he was going. He just wanted to leave that madhouse.

Suddenlty, he was halted by running into to something. "Hey! Watch where you'r....." He was stopped by the mere sight of her. She looked amazing in that dress. Keith's jaw nearly dropped and he stared at Haley, asking for a little help to regain his sense of speech. "Sorry, I wasn't looking!Erm...wow...you going in?" he blabbered nonsensically, faintly pointing in some direction, but not the direction of the party. All the pride was gone and Keith was suddenly clueless.

OOC: Mah luffly, you spelling Hayley's name wrong *Pets* ^_^

Hayley laughed. "That bad huh?". She thought for a moment and looked at the dance floor again.
"I think that's the easy way out of dancing. Ok" She said, smiling.

ooc:*Eeepeth* I have a friend named Haley, so it's a habit...

"Yes," he replied, his tone suggesting serious horror just because his brain got a work-out. "You know, you really do look great," he admitted, noticing how Hayley was a little unsure of herself in the dress. Well, that was his good deed for the day. Now, Keith's conscience wouldn't bother him tonight.

"Great," he murmured, walking over to her, and, like a gentleman, swinging his jacket around her shoulders. Two good deeds, he would sleep like a baby tonight. "The tree grove is pleasant in the evening," he remarked, offering her his arm to take. "The firsties are afraid to go there because they're afraid of the dark....and...the fact that I go there sometimes is also a possibility."

Keith shot her an innocent look when her face became a picture of shock and suspicion. Keith then held his posture in a gentlemanly way and even ventured to stick his nose in the air for a moment for show. Yet she still looked puzzled. "I told you, it was my evil twin you met that time," he insisted, chuckling and almost believing his own lie. Well, even the best of the misfits could don the black-tie. Keith was on a meek streak after being stuck inside that ballroom for so long.

It was his turn to be surprised when she willingly linked arms with him. Last time they met at Hogsmeade, she was none too warm and Keith was not ready to give up. "A fear of the dark...how silly," he rolled his eyes. "Me...don't be so sure, love, I can be very scary." He lowered his eyebrows to cast a shadow on his impishly sparkling green eyes and cackled a low baritone of a chuckle as he led Hayley toward the door.

((ooc)) Care to start at the tree grove, Wheezy?