Dress Swap ! Girl's Night Open Group Closed

Interacting with @Catriona Staverly

"A bomb?" Asteria's eyes went wide at this. No one had told her that these events would actually be exciting. She had been to holiday parties with her dad, sure, and those were always dull - just a bunch of adults networking and complimenting her on how big she had gotten. She despised them (the parties that is, not the adults - although the adults were fairly irksome as well). "And Hogwarts has a... history of them? Or at least like, disasters?" Asteria was leaning in closer now, absolutely fascinated. Obviously, knew more than her about this, and her head immediately swirled with more questions. What had happened? Did know anyone who had been to these parties, were there even disaster parties, or was she just jumping to conclusions again? 


And then asked her to the dance. Asteria flushed even pinker now. She hadn't been planning on going with anyone, but that was mostly due to circumstance. There was no one she knew or wanted to go with, really. And it would be nice to have someone to chat with and point out especially over the top outfits with. "Uh- Yeah, yeah, sure! I'd love to. Um, do I need to tell you what my outfit looks like so you can find me or? No, wait, I have it with me, I'm sure I can show you later tonight." She ran her hands down her face; why was she so frazzled all of a sudden? (That was a lie. She had been frazzled all night.) Her face still felt warm, and with all the nervous playing with her hair she had done it began to fluff around her face in a messy halo.

"And the library and me haven't really gotten along in the past, but I'm sure you can make me like it again? I really would like to like it. Now. Back to the history of 'this sort of thing'? I didn't know that Hogwarts had any kind of reputation like that." 

Interacting with @Asteria Kurokawa
Mentioning no one
RPing as Catriona Staverly | text color #8d7cc2

So what if Catriona felt her face heat up yet again? Asteria looked just as nervous as she felt, so it was fine and only a little bit embarrassing. At least that's what she told herself. "I— yeah! We'll see each other's outfits today, I guess. I'm sure yours is great. My mother sent me one of her old, fancy ones... I haven't even tried it on yet." In a rare moment of mother-daughter bonding, Catriona's mother had taken her dress shopping over the summer. It didn't devolve into an argument, or worse, a loaded silence, which was surprisingly nice. But they ended up not getting anything, her mother promising instead to send over one of her own dresses from when she was younger. The sentiment was surprisingly nice. It was odd thinking about her mother as someone young... Sometimes it felt like she'd popped into existence already perfect. Star quidditch player, social butterfly, perfectly coiffed hair. She'd never thought about her mother's childhood before. But now wasn't the time to either.

Catriona grinned at Asteria, letting her voice drop to a dramatic whisper. "I heard that last time, someone set a disco ball on fire. And apparently Professor Bercegeay was slipped a love potion. Pretty sure that's why they don't do communal punch bowls anymore." Lamik had told her all of this one night and Catriona could scarcely believe it herself. She left out the part about the murderous Ravenclaw boy, though... Real explosions were much worse than party pranks. She didn't want to think about the implications of such a thing either.

Interacting with @Catriona Staverly

Watching Catriona blush again slightly, Asteria felt remnants of fluttering in her stomach. There was a buzzing in her, like she was nearly going to burst out of her skin, a frantic energy she could only get out by bouncing one leg and tapping her fingers frantically against it. It wasn't a bad feeling exactly, just a new twist on the nervous energy she always had these days. It was as if she was a hive and had been shaken, and the bees within her were swarming, trying to return to their rightful state of calm. 

Whispering back to Catriona, the dam on her questions began to crack. Only a single drop for now, but there was always the threat that the dam would fully burst and she might overwhelm the other girl. "If that's what happens, then why do they keep hosting them? Not that I'm complaining, mind you, but oh my god, where there's a will for chaos, people will find a way. But now we have to go!"  Having a companion for these things was always better than being alone, and now that she had someone, the ball seemed less daunting somehow.

In a fit of enthusiasm, she grabbed one of Catronia's hands with both of her own. For her, it was a casual display of affection, something she did constantly when dragging a friend off to see a pond or to help find her dad's half-feral pet cat. Immediately afterwards, though she realized where she was and who she was with.  Catriona was still an acquaintance - one who seemed like someone she would like to get to know better, but not someone whose boundaries she knew. Dropping the other girl's hand quickly, she scratched the back of her neck sheepishly. "Uh- sorry about that. I just- I got excited. About the ball, y'know?"

Interacting with @Asteria Kurokawa and @Allison Howard
Mentioning no one
RPing as Catriona Staverly | text color #8d7cc2

Everything Catriona was going to say left her mind the minute Asteria grabbed her hand. She could feel the other girl's pulse beneath her fingers, fluttering there like a steady reminder that they were alive. It was gone in moments, snatched back, and Catriona found herself missing the warmth almost immediately. She was tempted to take Asteria's hand back, but courage had never been Catriona's greatest skill. She was much better at being brave when she was defending someone.

She smiled at the other girl nonetheless, shrugging at her (an action that would probably make Will grimace). "I don't mind. It's nice actually, when people get excited, I mean. Show's they care, you know?" She playfully knocked her shoulder into Asteria's, as if showing her that she didn't mind the touch.

Catriona had never been an especially touchy person, but all that changed when she met her friends here. It was hard to stop when she was so used to the casual affection between people. You couldn't really be lonely when people were constantly hugging you, could you? Her life at Hogwarts was so starkly different than the life she'd led before. For the first time, Catriona realized how little she actually wanted to go home. How ironic was it that just a couple months earlier she'd been dreading coming here?

She was startled a little when a new voice entered the conversation, shattering the little bubble of intimacy she and Asteria shared. It wasn't unwelcome, but Catriona couldn't help but feel a bit disappointed. When she actually heard the girl's words though, her face heated. "I—" She winced, settling on "I know it's okay. But um... thanks for checking?"

"I mean, you look like you like her and she looks like she likes you. So, why not? It should be fun, right?"

She peered at Asteria out of the corner of her eye, as if to gauge the other girl's reaction. "So!" she said, the sound coming out a bit louder than intended. "What about you? Do you have a date?" She scooted closer to Asteria unconsciously, as if trying to negate her discomfort by moving towards the most familiar thing in her vicinity. Being near Asteria was a bit like being close to Gem, in a way. Comfortable. It was nice.

Interacting with @Catriona Staverly and @Allison Howard

There was tension like ice for one fateful moment as Asteria stared back at Catriona, awaiting her reaction. Had she let herself burn a bridge that easily? But the girl's reaction only alleviated her worry. The bumping of their shoulders, the easy way in which Catriona stated her okay-ness with the whole thing, filled her with a soft warmth, like being draped in a fleece blanket on a crisp autumn day. 

And then another girl interrupted. As she talked, Asteria half payed attention, instead focusing on the fact she had already forgotten who this girl was. What was her name again? Was it Alana? Alexa? There were so many people here now, she was beginning to loose track. But as she began to process the other girl's words, Asteria felt herself shut down. That familiar snapping in her chest, the thing that was all her and yet all alien, the faulty filter reined its head. She bit her tongue. Hard. Every fiber of her screamed at her to snap, to ask the girl why it was her business at all, but she pushed the words back down, begging them to stay put. She wasn't dumb^[1]. She knew girls could take girls to things, either romantically or platonically. That wasn't what was at stake here. She wasn't sure what was, only that there were formless feelings she could not quite grasp, could not even begin to verbalize, and so she said nothing.

Her face through the whole, short discussion was placid, an icy indifference that seemed ill-fit for her normally expressive face. As Catriona scooted closer, she shifted nearer as well, taking the initiative to rest her head on the other girl's shoulder, remembering the earlier assertion that she was okay with touch. She was deeply thankful for the Catriona taking the initiative with the conversation, something she suddenly felt incapable of.

1. Actually, she was. Quite. Especially where her emotions were concerned. Oh, sure, she could describe them in words, but there's a difference between description and understanding.  Ask any high school English teacher. 

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interactions @Allison Howard
mentioning ALL
word count 616 | text colour #274E13
wand ref here
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"Hi. Am I late? I'm Allison. I was told to come, but I'm new so don't really know anyone yet."

Astrea could hear the doors open and shut once more as she made her way through rug-covered floors and pillows, an unanswered voice drifting loudly over the clamour of the girls at the circle. From where she was facing, she couldn't see 'Allison's' face, nor even guess if the blueblood knew the other. Hm. Now that she thought of it, Astrea figured that perhaps she should speak to others more, gain more connections. It was only logical.

"I brought candy, does that help?"

Candy- The Slytherin heard the word before in passing, hadn't she? Mostly in regards to muggle hard sweets, or perhaps even chewy treats, right? Brushing away a lingering phantom sweetness suddenly appearing in her mouth, a taste mimicking the creamy ruby chocolate cake she had indulged herself in last year in attendance of Lord and Lady Todoroki's marriage, she proceeded to cast her spell with a flick. The spun design of her wand resembled that of a French caracol, all smooth wood and hollow base.

"Oh. That's more than I've managed. Can you do it again? I would appreciate a more localized instruction."

Astrea startled, both in regards to the attention placed upon her and the sudden inclusion of 'Allison' into her personal space without warning. "Oh-" She looked over the other thoroughly with a quick up-down motion, taking in deep brown eyes and Kentucky birch hair with belated interest. "Are you a first-year?" It was only logical that Allison would have been a first-year, considering that the Levitation Charm was among one of the first spells taught to a first-year after entering Hogwarts. Yet it was understandable that Astrea would have been mistaken as a firstie as well, considering her impressive full height of 4 feet 5 and 1/4 inches and generally petite body.

The pull of magic came easily to Astrea- a pool of potential so intermixed with the purity of her blood it seemed outrageous to live without it and buzzing steadily under her skin to be tapped into with the ease of swirling water. It was this ability to take potential and manipulating it that drove the blueblood blanking when it came to trying to explain the charm without generally taught methods.

"A 'localised' method?" She gave a 'hm' sound at the thought, though she once again adjusted her wand in her hand and curled into the Levitation Charm's smooth motions gracefully, keeping the motion deliberately slow enough to be seen clearly, and yet just enough to be validated with magic. "Wingardium Leviosa." With the repetition, her satin-wrapped box of attire rose up once more from where it was seated and followed the left-right testing motions of her wand tip. After a few seconds, she lowered the box once more and held fast upon her wand in idlement.

"Apologies, I don't know how to explain it without what was taught." She gave a sheepish look at Allison as she faced the first-year, her perse grey eyes and sooty lashes dark against porcelain skin framed with midnight tresses.

"What kind of wand is that?"

"Ah." Astrea held up her wand to show to the curious other, careful to keep her grip just loose enough to properly show off all the curves and dips that her wand boasted. "25.9 centimetres, fairly flexible. It's a cherry wood and dragon heartstring mix. Sir Ollivanders claimed it was given to him to offer as a wand by a friend in Japan." The fine light grain and the spiralling base was still as beautifully unique as it was when Astrea had first purchased it a year ago at the beginning of her first-year, yet there was a hint of sheepishness blooming in the Slytherin when called upon to display her tool of use.

"And yours?"

used Wingardium Leviosa