everything blooms..flowers,love,teenagers...

[.RORY KAY BLAKE !]

If anyone had ever told her she'd one day spend nearly an hour trying to do something with her hair she'd have laughed right in their face. But then again if they'd said she'd have looked forward to getting ready for a dance.. that she'd be nervous and giddy and for once not mind so much having to dawn a dress...she'd have called them stark raving mad.. and yet that was the case. Because try as she might over the past many months not to let it..as much as she feared what might happen to their friendship if things went south..(and chances were high of that right? ..she was only fifteen..) still, she couldn't deny the fact that a bit at a time the crush she'd developed on her best mate towards the end of last year had been growing rather than going away. And as if that hadn't been resolve weakening enough..she'd become pretty sure over the past few weeks that Al liked her back. Small things.. a hand on her back and buying her drinks in Hogsmead.. the fact that his eyes would linger on her a bit longer than usual when he glanced her way..he'd even bitten his tongue more often, refrained from giving her a good chewing when she knew she'd earned it.. just subtle differences that went beyond his usual already awesome best friend attitude around her. Then again he'd acted a bit odd over the last week leading up to the dance.. like he'd been afraid for her to touch him almost.. what that was about she couldn't venture to guess.. maybe she'd upset him by failing so badly to be able to concentrate on morphing at her last lesson as long as he was in the room? She frowned at that notion. But he was still taking her to the dance yeah? And he seemed okay last night in the common room.. so whatever it was that was getting to him, maybe he'd gotten past it? Even if they were only going as friends, he'd been the one to suprise her by asking her to go with him in the first place.. really she didn't 'get' guys.. they were like a different species all together when you factored in any thing to do with girls in the dating sense.. even Al..whom she'd thought she knew like the back of her own hand, was proving to be a rather baffling mystery to her at times lately.

So here she was having morphed her hair to a mix of reds, whites, blond..and brunette all in a random streaking of shades.. and though she'd decided weeks ago she really liked the look of it..along with the layered style cut she'd morphed it to.. she'd also discovered that it was hard as hell to hold the morph when distracted. So much so that her trick of subtly adding the ghost colors of makeup with morphing as shed done for the time warp was out. She'd had to use a charm.. one she wasn't exactly skilled with and had her worried that the eye liner came off as being to dark.. or the daft eyebrow shaping part of it had given hers a freakish arch rather than a subtle one..or the blush on her cheeks might be a bit excessive.. Uncharacteristically she bite at her bottom lip..thankful as an after thought that the charmed gloss on them wasn't apt to be messed up by her doing so. Her head turned first one direction and then the other as she stood before the mirror.. the simple folds of her white silk dress hanging in a subtle frame that just outline her form without actually clinging to it. A breeze drifted in through the window that one of her dorm mates had left opened and she shivered slightly as the gust ran across her bare shoulders.. maybe she should have gone for the version of this dress with the sleeves.. frilly or not.. but then again that would suck.. she didn't like frills and they'd have had her tugging at them self consciously all night. No, the simple narrow straps of white silk were the better choice.. even if she would have to shake off a chill now and then.. maybe they wouldn't be out of the great hall much.

She frowned at her reflection..noting not for the first time that the strands never stayed the same. She'd managed..after weeks of practice.. to get the cut and general array of colors to cooperate and stick. She'd made sure of as much by having morphed it before the stomach churning and mind engulfing process of getting dressed for the dance.. what was with that anyway? ..why did she feel absolutely sick at the idea of going down stairs? It was just Al for Merlin's sake! .. she shushed a small voice at the back of her mind as it remind her that the boy waiting below was also one she now felt differently about.. one she wanted to have like the way she looked.. shut it. Right.. back to her hair.. while she could hold the colors they wouldn't stay on their originally intended strands.. shifting and readjusting in an interesting variation of pattern and rotation of colors.. at one point it might have a large amount of red and white streaks that curved to frame her face and streak a bed of auburn that hung board straight at the tips and the next moment it would have faded slowly..before her eyes over to a bed of copper with streaks of gold that curled ever so slightly at their layered tips of their own free will. The change was subtle enough.. slow enough that if you hadn't seen her within the last few moments you wouldn't know it had changed at all.. and it only seemed to happen every few minutes or so... but the constant changing was there all the same.. a trade off for being able to keep the length and set range of colors in place. She could settle for a basic cut and a solid or maybe even just two toned look.. and be able to keeps it steady, unchanging, while distracted.. but she found she liked the multiple colors. They were different.. unique.. and helped her to not feel so much like she was loosing herself in all the silk and makeup and over the top girly emotions that seemed to be assaulting her lately. It was like taking and adjusting a small part of who'd she been, who she was comfortable with, to fit in with this new person she was slowly changing into..someone that she found both interesting and frightening all at the same time.. figure that one out..she couldn't. Anyway..if shifting colors and curls was the price to be payed for the security blanket she'd found in the look.. then so be it.. she only hoped Al wouldn't think it weird.. or get put off by it.. ..she shook her head in frustration at her own thoughts.. he was Al..he wouldn't care.. he liked it when she fooled with her nails after all yeah? ... so why was her stomach in knots over it?

Her gaze lifted to glance at the time and her eyes widened..Merlin! the dance had started what..fifteen.. twenty minutes ago?!?! by the time she got to the hall she'd be a half hour late at least! Great bloody date she was.. cursing in a stream of words that far from went with her delicate outward appearance, she grabbed her wand from the bed, spritzed on her daisy perfume as an after thought and rushed from the dorms. Hurrying out of the vacant common room and down the staircases.. brushing past a few other late stragglers she stopped just short of the top of the grand stair case.. trying to still her nerves in the shadows. Months before she'd been afraid he'd take the mickey out of her for her appearance.. she felt the same way now but in a different way.. one much more intense that had her hanging back..reluctant to take the last few steps out of the shadows and into the lit staircase she knew Al would be waiting at the bottom of. She wasn't able to shake the vivid yellow that had flooded her eyes.. but after a few moments she did manage to force her feet into motion.. uncharacteristically placing her hand on the railing.. more to keep her nerves from rattling her off balance than anything else..she started down the steps. Her eyes locked on her feet for once as she made the decent least she trip on the hem of her dress and end up kissing the entrance hall floor. She felt like a bloody leaf in a wind storm.. and hoped to Godric she didn't look like one as well.. how embarrassing would that be?

[mgirl03]

He was a big, nervous wreck. Honestly, he didn't know when the last time was that he had this many different worries churning, all leading up to making him feel vaguely sick. He felt daft for feeling so scared about all of this, but there it was. Grant it, he imagined there was some good reasoning behind why he was feeling so bad, but honestly, it had been months...

The Time Warp Dance was still on his mind, no matter how much he tried to forget it. The cold eyes of a Death Eater while they laughed at your through their mask, or Bellatrix's evil grin, weren't things a person forgot so easily. Still, they had more protection now, and he shouldn't have been worrying about the Death Eaters crashing through Hogwarts. Aunt Hermione was a teacher, Neville had became headmaster, there were new protections and Aurors stationed all around the grounds. He knew all of these things, and yet it didn't stop the bundle of nerves in his stomach to twinge occasionally at the thought.

Of course, the last Dance was a major reason that he was nervous (and paranoid), but what really had his nerves going was much less vital. Really, he was just being dumb, but it was because he was...he was taking Rory to this dance. Grant it, as a friendly date, as he had told her, but still as a date. She would walk into the Great Hall with him, and they would dance together, and it would be she that he spent his night with. Yet, this had him a bloody wreck. What if he messed up something? What if he embarrassed himself and she found herself laughing silly, never to consider him anything more than just a friend? What if the whole night ruined everything he had tried to do, and everything he was going to try and do over Christmas break? He knew he was being ridiculous and irrational, but he couldn't help it; he got it from his mother. Not to mention, what about the way he had been acting lately? The incident in the common room, with the love potion...

"Merlin, Albus, pull yourself together," he mumbled under his breath, reaching up to tug at his collar. He looked around, at all of the boys in their different colored dress robes, and couldn't help but to smile a little. Barely anyone looked comfortable in what they were wearing, and he couldn't really blame them. He wasn't a fan of dress robes himself; people said they were just like regular robes, but the collars were tighter, and they hung about your body oddly. Thankfully, he had been able to convince him mum that he just wanted plain black dress robes, because Al didn't think he could handle wearing some obnoxiously bright color. She had only been pleased by the fact that he got a subtle green trimming around the collar and sleeves.

Shifting, Al glanced at the staircase in front of him, feeling the nerves begin to grow again. Rory had been up there getting ready an awful long time, and that just wasn't very...Rory. Not usually. Maybe it was the fact that she had had to dry off first. A small smirk made its way to Al's face as he thought back to earlier that day. He had known when he woke up that he would be filled with anticipation and nerves about the dance all day, so to keep the thoughts at bay, he had suggested innocently enough to Rory, and most of the common room at large, that they go out for a bit of a snow ball fight, since there had been a fresh snow fall just the day before.

The result had been large battles strewn all about the grounds, with high energies at the thought of the Yule Ball later. The boys were trying to get out their energy now, since they would be trapped in dress robes later, and the girls seemed to enjoy the thought of beating the boys, so they were quite the match. Al and Rory had managed to get each other so many times, that by the time Rory had said she was going inside to get dried off and start getting herself ready for the dance, they were both drenched as if they had cracked a hole into the lake and jumped on in for a swim. He had went inside about the same time she did, although he had spent his time by the fire warming up before running upstairs to get ready quickly.

It had bugged him a bit while he got ready about what took girls so long to prepare for things like a dance. For a bloke, you had to dawn your dress robes and comb your hair. He probably spent more time than most others on his hair, trying to get it lie down flat (he hadn't succeeded). At most, it had taken Al a half an hour to get ready. Girls, though, could spend hours. They had to put on a dress, he knew that, and then they had to fix their hair up, and there was a lot more of that then boys had. He also knew that they had to put on some make up--yet couldn't they do it in under three hours? Thank Merlin Rory wasn't the type to spend hours on her appearance...although it had been at least an hour, probably more than that...

Suddenly the doors opened behind him, and Albus turned to look as most couples began to file in. Music was already spilling out, and he could smell the strong scent of the punch they had around some of the tables. He turned back to the staircase with a large frown on his face now, not knowing whether he should feel worried that she was taking so long, or irritated because she was late. The minutes pasted and he continued to stand there, shifting from foot to foot, with only a few other people who were waiting for late arrivals. C'mon, Rore, the dance started twenty minutes ago...

Just as the nerves in his stomach began to make him feel ill (he was equally irritated, he decided, but he couldn't really be mad in case something happened and then he'd feel guilty), he thought he saw a bit of movement in the shadows at the top of the stairs. Slowly, a girl began to walk down the steps, her eyes on her feet, her hand on the rail, and Al blinked, green eyes peering up at the girl in confusion. He didn't recognize her, but as he watched, he felt his eyes begin to widen--and widen, and widen. She was wearing a shapely white dress that seemed to ripple as she moved, and it looked...great. Bloody brilliant. This girl was very, very pretty, but as Al watched, he felt his jaw begin to slacken more and more, until he was afraid it would fall open.

It was the hair that told him who it was. It was an array of white, red, and blonde, and while it looked great, it didn't always look the same. The girls' hair, as he watched, seemed to shift, as if there was a little more red than before, a little less white. When had it became so hard to breathe? And her eyes, he could see now, were a bright yellow, a yellow that he had seen so many times he knew it on the spot. Merlin, did his heart always beat this fast? Was that make up? No, no, this was just...this was too much. His heart was thumping wildly, his stomach was long gone, his jaw was slack and his eyes were wide, and all the while his mind seemed unable to think anything but the fact that this was Rory. This was Rory, and she was morphed in a way she had never done before, and she looked...bloody. Beautiful.

"Godric," he breathed out, and Al took a step forward as Rory made it off of the stairs. He stood in front of her, looking down a bit, and he felt his cheeks stain a bit. She...she looked...and he...He couldn't even think coherently anymore. "Er...I..." He trailed off, closing his mouth, not sure of what to say. How could he say anything without making a fool of himself? She just looked so amazing, and different and...girly! Al sucked in a deep breath through his nose, trying to will himself to do or say something. "You look beautiful," he blurted, and while it wasn't exactly the way he wanted to say it, at least it was an honest statement.

"You're...uh...you're late," he said, trying to get things back onto solid ground. Why couldn't he think? This was horrible, the whole night was going to be a failure because of his lack of brain power. Yet, despite that terrifying thought, a large grin began to form on his face as he looked at Rory. She looked amazing, and she was his date. "I see what your...surprise was." There, the words were flowing better. Turning a bit, he offered one arm, thinking through each step slowly. He could do this. He could handle this new Rory. Even if every time he looked at her he found it hard to remember his name. "C'mon. Shall we?"

[.RORY KAY BLAKE !]

Lost in her focus on her feet and trying her best not to trip and land in a heap at the bottom.. her first glimpse of Al came as he stepped up to her at the foot of the stairs. His temporary loss of words nearly failed to register as her gaze drank in the boy before her. At the Time Warp dance, as Godric Gryffindor.. with red hair and mock stately robes from another era.. he'd been handsome.. she remembered thinking as much however guilty it had made her feel. She'd been there with Soren after all. But if she'd thought him handsome then how was she supposed to word what she thought of his appearance now? Was there a word for it?.. It was more of a feeling right? A feeling able to make her happy and giddy and ill and nervous all at the same time as embarrassment over ogling him, appreciation for what she saw and nerves at realizing just how good looking she really did find him flipped over one another in the pit of her stomach working its way up into her chest. The feelings caused her throat to tighten in a way that had her finding the need to swallow and her heart tripping as it picked up speed. He was dressed in simple yet still very formal black dress robes.. with a trim peeping out at the collar and sleeves that complemented his eyes.. brought out the bright and deep green of them that she'd always been so drawn to.. even more so here of late. Even his head of unruly black hair..whose locks were still stubbornly going their own way, though she could tell he'd made an effort to tame them.. lent to the over all fact that she was seeing her best friend in an entirely new light tonight.

Rather than the often wise cracking, playful bloke she'd grown up next to, the one she'd come to think of as being rather cute.. in front of her, looking down at her with what could clearly only be a pleased flush at her appearance, stood a heartbreakingly handsome young man instead. Heartbreaking to her at any rate.. because when he did finally find his train of thought the complement he gave her sent a vivid blush across her cheeks and actually had her dropping her gaze shyly for a moment, a pretty smile gracing her lips as she murmured... " erm.. thanks.." As if it wasn't bad enough she'd had to finally admit to herself that she cared for him as more.. much more than a friend. He had to go and make her, at least for the moment at hand.. not care about what it might mean in the future. That lack of concern was dangerous.. she knew it was.. but at the moment, here with him tonight she was a bit to happy to worry over it..she was setting herself up for a whole nest of problems shed thought up over the last year and Al's 'heart breaker' good looks?.. yeah, they had a great deal to do with that let down of her defenses.

At his mention of her being late an apologetic and rather sheepish expression over took her features. Judging by his grin she rather doubted he was upset with her for it, but still.. of all the things to be running late from..primping? .. her? ..it was bloody embarrassing. " Yeah, sorry 'bout that, right? ..sort of..err.. lost track of time.. " Her cheeks reddened ever more if it were possible and she shrugged at his comment on her 'surprise'. Reaching up at his invitation, she slid her own arm through his, which placed her rather close at his side.. and Godric.. did he ever smell good.. that combined with how he looked.. right,.. they were only here as friends. Don't forget that Rory.. get it together.. she bit her lip slightly and focused instead on the comment he'd made.. "yeah.. nothing stellar right?.. just a change in hair color.. " she laughed softly her nerves still obviously a bit on edge.." can't even get the daft stuff to stick right.. keeps shifting.."

Setting off at his side she grinned on entering the great hall. Those who had decorated had outdone them selves..The normal spell placed on the high celing that gave it the appearance of matching the weather outside was still in place.. but it had been strengthened or something. Allowed to reach lower into the room so that the 'snowflakes' that drifted down came within a few inches of the tallest of the guests heads, sparkling in the lighting before fading out of existence. Bright icicles hanging in mid air at different levels all over the room glittered and shined with the the reflection of colors cast off from a dozen or more Christmas trees lining the room. Each decorated in its own way with everything from living fairies to self color changing garland. Pristine white cloths covered the small round tables ringing the wide dance floor and happy couples were already lost in the sway of dance to the cords of a slow song that could only be about love and romance or some such.. It was beautiful really.. if they were going for the muggle fairy tail theme with this dance they'd managed it brilliantly.. though for her they needn't have bothered she thought as she glanced up for Al's reaction to the room.. she was already arm in arm with Prince Charming. " So.. ermm.. want to dance..or something? .. " ..as soon as the words had left her mouth she felt utterly and totally daft and dropped her gaze from his.. the yellow of her eyes brightening with the fresh wave of nerves.. this was a dance.. but not 'just' a dance.. it was a bloody formal 'ball'! Sure she'd been the one to ask Soren out onto the floor at the time warp but wasn't that different?? Blokes were suppose to do the asking at the more formal versions of these things...at least she thought that was the case.. weren't they?? ..Merlin.. if this was how the night was going to start for her... drawing an aduable breath of nerves and embarrassment she murmured.. "...sorry.. your suppose to ask, right?.. .. umm.. or are you? " Blanching she glanced up more at his chest than his face.. to embarrassed to really meet his eyes..her gaze flickered up to his, not wanting to be rude on top of daft..but it quickly settled lower again. She was total rubbish at these things.. give her a tree and she could tell you just where to grab the next branch and have it hold your weight without cracking.. but this!?.. There went that lip.. getting chewed at again.. when had she started doing that nonsense anyway?.. turning it lose her mouth tugged into a small frown instead.

[mgirl03]

It was going to be an interesting night, quite different from the dance that had happened near the beginning of the year. Al remembered the nerves that had been attacking him viciously, as he worried over people finding out about him and Cissa; come to think of it, that never really did get around. He remembered the the jealousy he felt upon seeing Rory there with Soren (after seeing how great she looked); he remembered the start of his feelings growing for her. Of course, he mostly remembered the ugly scar on that night, the capture, the saving, the pain...

Blinking hard Al focused again on Rory, finding himself at a loss for words as he watched her, thoughts of the Time Warp gone. His compliment had her blushing and smiling, and he felt as if he had landed on another planet. He had always known, as her best friend, that Rory was a pretty girl, and of course quite amazing. However now, with these new feelings inside him and a 16 year old mind, he couldn't get over how bloody beautiful she was. The blush and the shyness wasn't exactly like her, but she was growing up after all, and it was...fitting. Besides, the blush was awful cute...Breathing deeply, Al half smiled and answered quickly, "You're welcome."

As he relaxed, the apology Rory gave him just made his grin widen, and he shook his head dismissively, not bothered at all by their tardiness to the ball. The dances and parties he had ever been to were always boring within the first thirty minutes anyways; by the time they got into the Great Hall to dance, things would be in full swing, and they wouldn't have a problem with staying occupied. "Don't worry about it, really," he said, still grinning as he watched her cheeks redden more. By Godric, if this wasn't going to be a good night.

When Rory took his arm and played down her surprise and her hair, Albus rolled his bright eyes and scoffed, still grinning as he pulled her closer, their arms linked. "It's much cooler with it shifting," he said honestly with a nod. "And it's amazing, Rory. Quite a great surprise." Leaving it at that, he set off towards the Great Hall, relaxing his shoulders as he entered, feeling a silent triumph at walking into the dance with Rory as his date for the whole school to see. Of course, they were just here as friends; he had specified as much when he asked her to the Yule Ball. That was to not scare her off the idea, though, see as he had every intention of charming her throughout the night to set up for his Christmas surprise. Hopefully he would be able to pull it off.

Blinking his eyes hard, Al forced himself to focus on the here and now, deciding that when it was the right time to do something (shamelessly flirt, for example), he would know. At the moment he craned back his head and peered around the room, the grin staying on his face as he looked at all the decorations. They had talked about what the hall would look like in the prefect meetings, but the endless descriptions of what would be done didn't give the actual picture any justice. The life like snow, the icicles, the Christmas trees, all added together to give the Great Hall a fantasy look (funny how he would think that, being a magical person who was surrounded by forests that held unicorns).

While he was preoccupied with looking around the halls, eyes searching out the different people that he knew (no costumes made that a lot easier) and checking out the smaller details of the hall, he didn't notice Rory's glanced at him. In fact, for a moment he was able to force himself back into a normal state as he focused on the room, and didn't turn his head back to Rory until she spoke up. Her words at first didn't register as anything odd, but when she dropped her gaze and he saw a flash of a vivid yellow, he began to realize that she must have said something odd.

Feeling confused, Al paused their stroll through the hall, eyes on Rory questioningly. He only had to wait a few more moments before she was speaking again, obviously embarrassed. Finally the problem made sense, and Al's confused look was replaced with an amused expression, as she barely met his gaze and stumbled over her words. Only Rory would ask a bloke to dance at a ball and then realize her 'mistake' afterwards. Honestly, as if he would really care that she asked him instead of allowing him to ask her first.

"You know, I think I am supposed to ask you," Al said slowly, smiling widely down at her. He slipped his arm from hers and held out one hand, palm up, so that she could take it, all the while watching her in amusement. "But don't worry. I won't tell anybody that you asked me. Because it's quite a big deal, what you just did." Just the right amount of teasing, he thought, so not to move on and become more serious. His face softened a bit from the amused almost smirk to a genuine smile, hand still out. "Care to dance with me, Rory Blake?"

Still smiling, he didn't even wait for an answer before reaching out and taking Rory's hand in his and tugging her towards the dance floor, his dress robes flapping around his ankles. With ease he manuevered his way through different spots in the crowd until they were at a descent spot, not too far to the side but not too far in the middle. Turning to her, Al raised one eyebrow slightly. "You do know how to ballroom dance, don't you, Rore?" he asked with a tiny grin.

[.RORY KAY BLAKE !]

She envied him..she really did. Listening to Al gently take the mickey from her for fretting over having asked him to dance first she had to wonder, where had her best friend gone? Well.. not literally... obviously this was Al standing in front of her, but the confidence? Where had that come from? For that matter where the bloody hell had all of hers gone? Al had always been the one to trip over himself..a bundle of absolute nerves where girls were concerned.. while she..heh..well shed actually had the never to ask out a seventh year a few months ago. So why then was she such a wreck now in the presence of the guy she'd shared all her child hood secrets with.. the one she'd spent years playing along side of and watching grow up as he'd done the same with her?

The answer in her mind was simple enough.. Al had asked her here as that friend he was so very comfortable with.. while she.. right, her heart couldn't slow its beating enough after each glance into his eyes to allow her to to think clearly and keep from making daft comments, let alone leave her able to throw about her usual sassy comments and smug comebacks around him. She was falling ever harder into that trap she'd been fending off since the end of last year and it was so so not a good thing.. so why did it 'feel' so damn right?

Managing a nervous smile she hadn't even time to answer as he offered her his hand and asked her to dance, because in the next heart beat he'd reached out for hers and was leading her onto the floor. As they ducked between couples..Al as her guide all she seemed to be able to focus on was the gentle pressure of his hand and the warmth of his gently teasing voice still silently echoing in her thoughts. It hadn't been the sort of picking that had always been common between them..his words had been meant to playfully reassure her rather than get her riled. How she knew that she couldn't say it was just something in his tone.. something that had her chest feeling as if she'd managed to breath in one of those winged fairys on the trees without realizing it.

If anyone took note of them as they passed she couldn't say, truth be told she thought she was making quite the accomplishment not to trip over her own feet given the insanely distracting array of feelings bombarding her tonight. When Al drew her to a stop and turned her towards him she bit her lip at his words. He was joking with her.. she could tell that. The thing was he wasn't all that far off to ask. 'Could' she ball room dance? ..Yeah.. sure.. she'd learned the steps for the more upbeat dances..sort of... and knew where to put her hands during them. Was she good at it? ... right. Casting a nervous smile up at him she gave a small shrug.." ermm.. you've got thick shoes on yeah? .. if you do then we 'might' be ok?" Flushing pink she lifted her hands hesitantly and rested them on his shoulders. At least this first song was a slow one right? ..not a lot of steps to it.. no steps really..just shift your feet and turn in place mostly.. it didn't really have a 'beat' so to speak.. just a soft and sweet tone that hinted at finding your self in love and being with that perfect someone.. Her eyes locked with Al's and as she stared into his bright green eyes she swallowed.. um...maybe it would have been best for the first to be a fast one after all.

[mgirl03]

Gryffindors and Slytherins would never admit it, but Al knew that they did have some things in common. While many of the snakes looked as if they could keep their cool even if you were in their face shouting insults about their mum, Albus knew they all had tempers in some way, just like Gryffindors. More so than that, though, was the confidence. Slytherins had arrogance, according to the Gryffindors, and he was sure that it was the same the other way around. The point of the matter was, both Houses were equipped with students who could pull off confidence usually at the worst of times.

Al had never been the most confident bloke, especially when it cames to girls, but as he pulled Rory along onto the dance floor admist the rest of the couples there, he felt a confidence in him that he knew had been swelling lately. Maybe it was the fact that he knew now, with his dad training him, that he was becoming a good wizard, a better person. Maybe it was because he was following through with this plan. Maybe it was because he had talked with Sebastian, or that his Gryffindor blood was fully maturing, or maybe he was just plain tired of being less secure than other blokes his age, his House.

Whatever the case, he found himself feeling almost...almost at ease as he turned to Rory, his voice teasing and light as he asked if she could dance. He was dancing with his best friend, the girl he was falling for, and all that he felt was a nervous twist in his stomach. No sweaty palms, no panic attacks, no stumbling over his words. Was he just getting better at this, or was it because this all had to do with a girl he had known for a good chunk of his Hogwarts career? The inital shock of seeing her, so beautiful in her dress, so different in her hair and the surprise of the make-up--that had all subsided, and he was counting his lucky stars that in his place he was feeling as if this was any other day together, back before he began to like her. With the extra add of a fast beating heart and a tightly balled stomach.

At Rory's words he couldn't help but to chuckle, glancing down at his shoes (which did happen to be rather thick). Looking back up at her, Albus placed his hands on her waist lightly, which made his heart flutter strangely in his chest and his stomach clench, and waited until she had her hands situated on his shoulders before beginning to slowly sway to the music with her. Their gazes connected, and his own eyes traced a trail of different colors that zoomed from one iris into the other, yellow catching his own eyes the most. Al smiled gently, ears tuning in on the love song that he and Rory were dancing too, before he focused on what she said.

"I"m sure you'll be perfectly fine. And so will my feet," he said reassuringly, chuckling again as he watched her cheeks burn that pretty pink color again. Maybe laughing wouldn't make her feel any more comfortable, but he wasn't going to pretend that it wasn't vaguely amusing. Rory, the normally confident, bold and brash one, was being rather shy and acting very embarrassed. As Al fell silent again, swaying with her to the music, he found his mind wandering. Why was she like this? Was it possible that maybe...but no, he wouldn't get his hopes up. He would find out at Christmas anyway, right?

Blinking his eyes back into focus, he realized he had been staring into space at a point right above Rory's head and felt his own ears flush. Thankfully his hair was covering it; he hadn't ever said he was perfectly confident to the point of arrogance now. Sliding his eyes back to Rory's, he smiled at her again, and before he even thought about it, tightened his hold on her waist and pulled her a little bit closer. Oddly, the only thing that he felt was a slight tightening of nerves in his stomach. He couldn't believe how well this was going now.

"So," Al began, his smile settling into more of a smirk as he glanced around them. He lowered his voice to keep undetected, and make sure he didn't distrupt the music for others. "How many of these couples do you think will last the whole dance?" He raised both eyebrows and let out a soft laugh.

[.RORY KAY BLAKE !]

Al's eyes had met with her own and he was so close..his bright green gaze focused intently on her own. What did he see? what color were hers? Surely still yellow for the most part..she could flat out feel that much.. but their had to be others to right? Maybe the blue he seemed so fond of? Because she was definitely content as well despite her nerves..and that smile of his.. there it was again.. she'd seen it countless times over the last several years. It had basically become a comfortable and expected part of just about every day of her life. Yet over the last few few weeks it had changed somehow without really changing at all..in a way she was at a complete loss to try and explain even to herself.
All she knew was that it was capable of making her very happy and yet blowing her brash nature right out of her all in one go. It flat out turned her insides into jello it did.. in an oddly pleasant way. With Soren she'd had to work to get to that point, and it still hadn't been like this.. yeah he'd been handsome and sweet in his own right, and she'd started to grow some fairly serious feeling for him towards the end.. but she'd always found herself having to beat back thoughts in the back of her mind around him.. Thoughts that were no longer a problem as they'd been about the boy she was currently dancing with.. and which shouldn't have been a problem anyway because said boy was 'only'..could 'only'..be her best friend..then and now..right? So why was her stomach flipping and her cheeks heating up at his warm chuckle when she should be taking the mickey right back? ..and when had she started to be ok with that fact?
Her personal silent thoughts were interrupted as Al tightened his hold on her waist and pulled her closer to him. Causing her to have to rest her arms to the elbows against his dress robes and tuck her hands further about his neck in the limited space..and then that smile again.. and he smelled so bloody good..the familiar warmth of it enveloping her with their close proximity. A strong overwhelming urge hit her to lean forward and lay her head against his shoulder as so many of the other girls around them had with their dates and she bit her lip rather hard to dispel it just as Al spoke and distracted her. She grimaced as her teeth bit in just a bit to much and let out a soft noise of discomfort as she focused on his question. Glancing about the hall she smirked lightly.. "Probably most of them with all the chaperoning professors and Aurors.. though I'm sure they wont be happy for it."

[mgirl03]

He remembered dancing with Rory once, just for fun. They had been fooling around, like best friends always did, and they had barely gotten close to each other at all. It wouldn't have been a problem if they had, but it would have been odd; two best friends at a young age didn't want to smush themselves against each other. As Al watched Rory as they spun slowly, the room revolving around them, he thought about how different it was now. Everything in the past year had changed dramatically, as if his life had been put on fast forward.

He was newly confident, with lessons and a determination to be a better wizard like his father. He had horrors and experience under his belt from a dance gone wrong. He had a girlfriend whom he had liked for a time, and then suddenly had met jealousy for the first time, landing him in a spiraling situation where he was falling for his best friend. It was absolutely mad, all of these changes coming so fast for him; yet exciting at the same time. Had somebody told Albus last year that he would become a bold sixteen year old who could actually flirt, he'd have laughed in their face. Now though...

Keeping Rory close with his tight hold on her waist, Al took a deep breath, the perfume Rory was wearing and the shampoo she used combining for an intoxicating smell. Swallowing, he barely caught the way she was biting her lip, and while the music covered the actual noise of pain, he did notice that she seemed to bite down a little too hard at one point. The smirk that had been on his face widened a bit more, thoughts of how much things were changing leaving his mind as quickly as if they had been banished.

Her answer made him laugh and give a small nod, his eyes quickly sweeping the edges of the dance floor and along the walls. There were adults stationed at strategic points, whether they be teachers or aurors it was hard to tell from this far back. Briefly he wondered if he knew any of the Aurors here, whether or not they were in disguise, but he didn't really want to think about safety and protection, so he turned his eyes back to Rory. It was much easier to smirk vaguely and watch her hair shift from one blend of the colors to another, or watch the brightness of her yellow eyes intensify and dull again, battling for dominance with the content blue that he was so fond of.

"I reckon a few will get out," Al finally said, tucking his chin down a bit to better look at Rory, bringing their faces closer. He felt his heart jump, and the smell of her washed over him again, but he played it off casually, smirking innocently (as innocently as a person could smirk) at her. "Maybe slip out seperately, and meet up somewhere." He paused and his smirk settled into an amused smile, as his eyes picked up on a couple that were already situated in the corner. "I think some of them won't even bother to leave before getting down to some good snogging."

At the word snogging, Al dipped his head a fraction of an inch lower, barely noticable, before lifting his chin again to a normal height. He hadn't broken stride yet, and Rory hadn't stepped on his feet, both of which he was happy about. Of course, if she did step on his feet, he'd be able to laugh and take the mickey some more, but he didn't want to spend the whole night joking and teasing, making her an embarrassed and nervous wreck. The point of this was to...well, flirt, and try and push her towards the idea of them dating. To set them up so that come Christmas and his birthday presents he would give her, they would be able to move on from the best friends stage.

"Whenever you want to quit dancing, let me know," Al pipped up after a decent amount of silence, in which he had focused on her face again, looking away occasionally just so he wasn't staring. He smiled pleasantly, and made sure to keep his voice low, both to not disturb anybody and to make it more...appealing. "We could go get drinks or whatever. I imagine your feet will hurt before mine." Smiling still, he readjusted his hands on her waist, sliding them a bit lower so that they rested comfortably on top of her hip bones.

((meh. it's up. not sure i like it.))

[.RORY KAY BLAKE !]

Dry.. her mouth had gone so bloody dry as when answering her he tucked his head down till they were only a very few inches apart. Her insides knotted and she was at a loss to guessing where the nerves ended and the hope rising in her began.. hope that shed fought so hard and for so long to keep at bay but which was currently forcing its way to the for front of her emotions. If he'd just lean down only a bit more.. that thought had the blush on her cheeks well fed and as he continued to speak she found herself hesitantly meeting his eyes, her own seeking his out again after darting away in nerves as he'd tucked his head down towards her.

Was he being? ..'suggestive'??.. HER best friend?.. Mr. panic at the idea of holding a hand or even talking to the opposite gender as anything more than family or friend? Surely not.. she was reading that into his words right? The confidence he seemed to radiate on saying them..the mild smirk on his face.. it was all spawned from the daft and uninvited hope welling in her at their nearness right? ..And then he glanced over at a couple in the corner and on commenting about them dropped his face just the slightest bit closer as if to emphasis his last word. Yeah.. definatley suggestive.. her teeth latched onto her lower lip and she ducked her head a bit as he lifted his own to its usual height. She hadn't looked down out of nerves though.. rather shed done it because at the moment he'd dipped down like that she had 'so' wanted to rise up.. use her toes to close the distance that had to have been less than an inch between them ..at least it had seemed as much.. and press her lips to his own.

Bloody hell, this..'going as friends' thing? ...yeah.. not as easy as you'd think! Keeping her head ducked for a moment to allow the heat to settle from her cheeks, mind focused on the daft move she come so close to doing just then, she caught his words but failed to really process them. Glancing up a bit distracted and out of sorts she murmured. "hmm? ..my feet? .." ..and then his hands had slipped.. in an obvious way that suggested he was very much in control of and intending.. to rest at the curve of her waist and hips.. and her heart lept so bad..and yet in such a thoroughly good way that she stumbled in her simple, circle shifting stride and stepped squarely on his foot. Her balance was thrown off a bit and as she was already all but in his arms to start with she had no where really to fall but right snug up against him.

Her cheeks flushed madly even as she drew in the scent of him and found herself smiling at the warmth of his chest against her, the feeling of her cheek brushing against the space of fabric just bellow his collar bone. Godric.. shifting back a bit she kept her gaze from his. " yeah.. drinks..right? might be good.. " Even snappy comebacks couldn't find purchase in the tumble of painfully pleasant yet embarrassed feelings rolling about inside her.. "reaching down, before she could clear her head enough to reason herself out of it, she took hold of one of his hands. Her own gave it a light and affectionate squeeze as she lead him back through the crowd of dancers to the side lines. Punch bowl..punch bowl.. right.. there was one.

Reaching the table she dropped his hand and dipped out a cup.. sure that the shaking of her hands would have her sloshing it all over from the ladle before the cup was ever reached.. luckily her hand wasn't shaking nearly as bad as it felt it might be.. the liquid made it to the cup..minus the grace as it rocked treacherously in the ladle on the way and then trembled in the glass. Well.. grace wasn't exactly her strong point anyway yeah? maybe he wouldn't notice.. she could hope, right? Pulling the cup to her lips she took a sip.. and made a face. She eyed the contents.. bit bitter for punch yeah? not badly so..just..a bit off.. shrugging a bit she tipped the cup up again.. taking a generous gulp before glancing around the hall.