Oliver laughed and then shrugged. He was so used to being slaaaaapped now for his antics that he hardly felt it anymore. “I wont step on your feet.” He assured her confidently, cos this Snake!Boy had awesome co-ordination and spacial awareness. Heh.

Looking around, he spotted Sarah in the corner looking lost, and felt a bit bad for leaving her alone. He nodded at her – where was her fella? Oliver was beginning to think that this Ryder was a figment of the prefect's vivid imagination. Heh. Bonkers. Oh and there was Digzy looking nervous. Oliver sent a nod of acknowledgement his way, prepared to be ignored because he was unsure if the kid was still blanking him completely. Sigh.

He and Brody actually gelled together pretty well as they sailed across the dance floor. This was nice, but why was Brody here if she didn't need lessons either? Maybe she was secretly a bit of an extrovert like he was and siezed any oportunity to show off with both hands. Anyway, he liked this side of Brody Summers.

They passed Cameron and Torin and Oliver shot the redhead a bit of a blank look. Torin was showing her how to waltz? He watched the pair for a few moments but Brody's words caused him to look back at her, wide eyed and open mouthed. How could she read him? HOW!? Where had his Slytherin Shifty vanished to of late? Maan, he wanted it back because this sort of thing was so so so so uncooool. “Pffft.. I'm not jealous of him.” He said and rolled his eyes. Why in Merlin's facial fuzz would Oliver be jealous of Torin Kane? Oh yeah.. because of the charm and the looks and his oh so laid back likeable persona. “She looks like she's going to crush the poor guy's foot at any moment.” He whispered and smirked. “Why would I be jealous of that?” Nope.. not jealous.
Pet names? So she noticed that too. “Cammy.. it's short for Cameron." Obviously. "She's just a good mate.” he said seriously and looked straight into Brody's eyes.. 'so end of?' Yeah, his Slytherin Shifty had gone AWOL but he could still lie like a pro.

Kate saw a girl that was in her same situation..without a partner. She approached and said "Hi, I´m Kate, and you? Since nobody seems to want to dance with us, how about talking? at least, we are not going to get bored..." And added "Are you already picked your ball dress?"

Lysandra saw a girl come over and introduce herself. I'm Lysandra and sure, I'll talk. She answered Kate. And no, I haven't picked my dress yet, but probably sometime soon. You?

Melanie slowly moved a few steps from her spot against the wall, watching other students with partners turning this was and that as they danced to an "uptempo waltz", as professor Vindictus called it. It was quite interesting to watch. Melanie had never really danced before, nor had she had a dance lesson, so naturally she was curious. She was still nervous, but some interest had been sparked in her, at least.

On the bright side, she didn't have to pick her partner... But what if no one picked her?

Was it Chris or did Gold look even prettier in here than normal?! Perhaps it was the way she spun around when he twirled her, or the way she was looking at him like that, or perhaps it was how understanding she was at helping hit to dance. He knew he could do this with her there.

"Thanks." he whispered quickly and then took her right hand in his left and then slowly placed his left on her waist. With a nervous look at their feet, he spoke up again, "Of course I know the steps Awesome!Gold, I haven't lived under a rock." he chuckled as he took his first step forward. He was not going to tell her of course that he had learned the steps from his mother after many failed attempts to try and teach him how to dance.

Ok so he took the first step and then turned in the countercloskwise direction ever-so slightly. Ok good so far, Gold's turn. If he could keep himself from drowning in her green eyes and keep himself on this floor instead they would be ok.

Great! at least I have someone to talk to...

"I´m on that, I can´t choose between my house colors or one with nothing like that at all...like black with something...And then it´s the matter about the length..short or long...what do u think?" She loved dresses, all of them!

Rhea had been busy debating with herself whether to leave or stay and frantically wishing that she could disappear and go somewhere far away until this dance was over when a familiar voice brought her out of her inner turmoil. Good thing she wasn't crying and having an uber not good runny nose pity party. She fixed her best Rhea smile on her face and raised her forehead from her knees. Placing her feet firmly on the ground she gave him her hand.

"Just so you know, I've been dancing before I could walk." She managed a usual smirk and got to her feet, but since they were practicing being formal she figured she should give him a formal answer.

"I mean, sure Mr. Chevalier, I would love to dance."

It seemed like all those cocktail parties she was forced to attend because of her parents socialite life style was about to pay off, plus that ball last summer was an excellent brush up on her skills.

Okayy. Delilah was getting bored. Yes, bored. Maybe she wouldn't be having a problem if a little more guys came to this thing. Whatever. She tucked her red hair behind her ear and put her head in her hands. So bored...

Lysandra smiled. she finally had something to do besides not dance. She really didn't wear dresses that often but she knew a little about them. Well, she started I would go with something that rather fits my personality or fits my hair and facial features. As for length its between long and medium.

Clark was there. With his blue hair. And without a care. He was a dancing bear. He swept up to Millicent, his best friend in the whole wide world, who was the second best pudding slinger in the world. And she was alone! No that couldn't be. Just couldn't be. "Hello, Millie!" he waved to her. "Do you wanna dance with me?"

Platonically, of course. His heart belonged to Shana. Whose heart belonged to Jake. Whose heart belonged to chocolate. "I'm really good at dancing!"

At least Oliver appeared to be - enjoying himself? Although truthfully he looked a little distracted by who Torin was dancing with.Sarah was surprised poor Brody had any toes left.

But WHO was that with Torin? Straining on tippy toe to get a better look, Sarah skirted around a couple of people to see.Oh, oh, oh.This must be the mysterious Cameron she'd heard about, when stalking Twitter conversations.Hehehe, was old Ollie jealous? Maybe she'd have to ask him later....

But for now she returned his nod with a little wiggle of the eyebrows, and went about acting the loner. "Ohh Ryder, why couldn't you save me from this..."

Okay. So really, Kel had no idea what he was doing here. He did not dance. At all. Sure, he knew how to, of course. His mother had made sure of it. And, in his opinion, he was pretty good. But he just wasn't the kind of person to walk up to a stranger, ask her to dance, then hold her hand (pretty much, that's what you did), and lead her around the dance floor. He just didn't do it.

But he was here. So, he would dance. One thing, though; he needed a dance partner. He started scouting around, looking for a girl that was alone, who looked like she wanted to dance.

Miranda was still waiting to hear what Brant would ask her...and she was starting to get nervous. This was taking too long. Hehe. She noticed Sarah looking her way, waving, and she did the same while giving her a broad smile. Where the hell was Ryder? Kick butt mode - for sure. But Brant's comment made her frown and focus back on the boy. Like, what? Guys lining up? Bahaha, yeah right. She was ready to silly-slap his arm again for that, but didn't. Hehe. Silly boy.

Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeep!
"Oh..." He was blushing and now she was blushing. They blushed together. Sigh. Hehe.
She opened and closed her mouth, trying to figure out a way to say YES, but stuttering wasn't something she wanted to do...

...though she didn't get the chance to as Professor Vindictus toterly separated them. "Oh, um," STUTTTTERRR! Tell him later? Yes, totally. She nodded with vigor, and sort of looked like a fool as her brain told her to move to the right but her feet wanted to go with Brant. Snort.


Okay, listening to the Professor....righty-o.

...

OoooooooooooooooooohhOHOhooooo. Oh noooooeees.
Personal grooming? Miranda dropped her head and put a hand to her face. Gosh...why did that sound so wrong?
Hah, and the Professor wasn't even finished.

Nope...he had to mention 'accidental' grabbing of bodyparts. Yep.
At this, Miranda slumped her shoulders, let her head roll back to stare at the ceiling like a goon. Merlin.


But oh! Music starting! People getting paired up!
Freezing like a deer caught in headlights, Miranda's head turned to search for Brant. Oh oh oh, where had he gone too? If she paired up with him he could make them both look good, hehehehe.

Scanning...scanning...scanning....

There he was!
Sighing in relief, she made a beeline for the boy and tapped him on the shoulder. "Care to share this dance, good sir?" Hehehe. Oh, and curtseyng ofcourse.

"Aha...mmm" Kate meditated "So I would go with a long dress, probably red or black or both colors...and with a loooooot of layers" She was forming the design of the dress in her head "..and maybe some embroidery and sparkles" She looked at Lys "What do u think?"

She waited for Lys´reply while scanning the dance floor...still no partner...and no lonely guys??

Her eyes yelled "HEY! I´m here! Talking! I want to dance!" And a partner for my friend too...obviously

Noir looked around she saw the students practicing how to dance.."Ok this is so stupid..why I am here anyway" she thought..She know how to dance..Merlin knew how long that her father and mother insisted her to learn how to dance..

"Oh well..maybe I should take a seat and watched the dance..at least I bring my novel to read when I get bored watching people dancing.." Noir thought

CLAAAAAAUDE!

Melanie could have hugged him she was so happy to have been asked! But she wasn't the type to hug randomly. That was Cadence's forte. So, instead, Melanie satisfied herself with an over enthusiastic two-handed wave, sidling over to join her friend.

"Hi Claude!" she grinned. "Sure... I can be your dance partner!" she agreed with a small nod. Annnd Melanie wasn't quite sure what to make of his next comment, but she chose to look on the bright side. "Well, I suppose it's a good thing you can, because, to be honest, my experience is scarce to none..."

Dun dun duuuuuuuun.

Giving up Mr Silent as a bad job, Emmy turned away, and almost bumped into an older boy who was clearly looking for a partner. "Oops! Sorry! Didn't mean to walk into you! I'm Emmy, by the way - d'you want to dance?" she hoped the nerves didn't show in her voice - he was quite handsome...

Iris looked around the room as they were told to find a dance partner. No Aaron. No Jimbo. Not even an Evan. GREAT. She sighed loudly. Iris wanted to dance! She looked through everyone, hoping to find someone, ANYONE, who didn't have a partner.

Iris stopped scanning the room as she saw a boy who looked a few years older than her. He was also partnerless. Unless his partner was invisable. The Slytherin looked over to him awkwardly, trying to decide if she should go and ask him to dance or not...

Then she watched as a smaller Hufflepuff girl went over to him and asked him to dance. Never mind, eh? There HAD to be other boys in the Hall... Not even waiting to see if the older boy declined the Hufflepuff's offer, Iris carried on looking for a partnerless boy in the Hall.

Kel stumbled slightly as he was bumped into, hoping against everything that it was a girl that had bumped into him, so that he'd have an excuse to ask her to dance. But, as it turned out, she asked him... Which, honestly, made him feel kind of stupid. But whatever.

"I'd love to," he answered, smiling softly. The girl looked kind of young - he wondered what year she was in. He held out his right hand, looking around quickly at the other dancers, making sure he remembered how to waltz right. Yup, he did. Of course. He'd been doing the waltz since he could walk.

"Oh, and it's nice to meet you, Emmy. I'm Keltan."

Avery had arrived at the lesson. She was looking forward to this. Learning how to dance...we actually she already knew how. Her father had put her in as many dance lessons as he could untill she left for hogwarts. From the moment she could walk she was able to waltz and tango. She knew how to Salca and quick step and Jive to. But Avery wasn't one to brag. She walked into the Great Hall looking to see if any of her friends were there and who she could dance with.

Lysandra listen to Kate's description of a dress she would wear. When she asked for her opinion, Lysandra smiled again and said It sounds like it would fit you perfectly. When Kate yelled, Lysandra felt her face redden and she tried to muffle a laugh but it came out anyway.

Clark nodded. That silly girl, she didn't even know his name. At least her name was easy to remember- Millicent Keyliver. Whatever. He bowed to her charmingly *coughcough* "May I have this dance?" he asked her. That's what you were supposedtuhdo, right?

He let out his hand and pulled her up.

And immediately froze up. GIRLS. Girls were weird. Even though Millie was like, his bff, she was a girl. He tried to hide the growing blush on his face as he twirled Millicent around. "I lied, Millicent. When I said I could dance, that's not what I meant. I had lessons once, but I just went. I didn't pay attention, it was my mum's fault I was sent." He stepped on her foot for the first time of many.

Oh, of course. If he knew the steps, WHAT was the problem? That meant he only needed practice. Gold had always thought you were only pretty bad off, if you didn't know the basics. Because she had always been able to pick up the finer points, and practice to her heart's content, from there.

So she looked up at him, with a pretty, little smile, and cheerfully allowed him to lead the dance.

"You're doing perfectly alright," she said, as she complemented his step, with perfect ease. The waltz = easy. Though the foxtrot = of course, the easiest. Gold actually only had difficult with a few, subcontinental dances that required very complicated movements of the feet. Other than that, she could dance with complete grace. So yes, this part of the ball wouldn't be a problem. Neither would choosing a dress, or finding a partner.

Because she already had a partner.

Bottom line?

She had no reason to not look forward to the Alumni Ball. Except, she did. She did have a reason not to look forward to it.

"Oh. You're lucky I believe you Captain." Brody smirked, as giggled a little. She really didn't want to have to slap him, so it was pretty good that he wasn't going to step on her feet. From what she could tell anyway he was pretty good, and she would have rather danced another dance with him, due to fact that he had a feeling that he was probably good at all types of ball room dance, and she was Brody Summers so that meant she must be good at them.

She follow his gaze, before smiling at Sarah, her puffpuff friend. "She looks lonely." She commented with a little frown. She didnt want her friend to be lonely when they were all having so much fun. Hehe. "I hope she gets a partner." Because if not she'd make Oliver go and dance with her. Hehe. Because she was mean like that.

"She better not crush his feet." She pondered, glancing back at her boyfriend, because the girl wouldn't like her much if she did. Hehe. She then watched him. It was so clear he liked that girl, he was looking at her like he had looked at her before, and he had liked her. "I think it's cute that you like someone Oliver." She nodded, giving his hand a squeeze, as she smiled at him. "Surrre....thats how Torin and me started." She gave him a look before giggling. Oliver was cute most definetly. "So...." She mused changing the topic of conversation. "You got a partner for the ball?"

Trixie stood up and looked around for a partner. Okay so now she was just lonely. Where in Merlins name was Milo? She wanted him. He'd have to show her how well he could move before the ball. And she wanted someone to show her skills to. But there she stood alone. Siiiiiigh! When everyone else was having fun. Ergh Milo! Where are you? she thought to herself.