Holiday at Hogwarts PV Simon Tilia

Astoria took a deep breath, trying to process the information that she had received from the letter her mother had wrote to her. Astoria's mother was very poise and proper, professionalism and mannerly through and through, but she worried deeply over Astoria as she grew up. However, as she began to become more and more independent, Narcissa was able to let go some of that worry. She knew that her daughter was growing up to be a young woman and that she needed to let her go and have some adventures, to Astoria's comfort of course.

Simon had shown the letter to Astoria and immediately she felt as if she had a connection to Simon's mother already. "Oh my! She's so considerate!" Astoria replied, noting that her mother had already had communication with Mrs. Tilia. "Well, look at that, they have met one another! To be honest, I find that a relief!" Astoria took a few bites and Simon had confirmed with her that the two of them would be leaving tomorrow! Astoria was beyond excited at this point, almost as if it was a dream and she was waiting for someone to pinch her to bring her back to reality. She couldn't really tell Simon on who she was more excited to meet in his family, they all seemed to be wonderful!

Astoria took a few bites of her breakfast, her adrenaline rushing to the point she wasn't really hungry. At this point, she'll crash in the afternoon for a quick nap. Oh the joys they will have together! Astoria began to think about all of the things that they could do together. Maybe they could go outside and go sledding or sit in and have a nice cup of cocoa next to a roaring fire. Maybe they will go into town for an elegant dinner or Astoria would have an opportunity to have a family game night with the Tilia's. Either way, it was going to be a great trip! It just has to be a great trip!

Clearing her throat with a cup of water, she took a sip and Simon had turned to her, asking if she could show him how to dance. Her eyebrows lifted and her eyes illuminated. "We can certainly do that! I'm more familiar with the waltz but I also know the the Foxtrot, Paso doble, Samba and others." Simon had asked if they could meet tonight in the ballroom once again and she nodded, "I will see you there tonight and I look forward to seeing your technique! You will be in good hands, I promise!"

@Simon Tilia

During the afternoon, Simon and Astoria said goodbye to their leaving friends, before making an excursion to the Trophy Room, feeling almost like criminals returning to a crime scene. But they found the whole place to be fully restored. Later, they practiced almost every spell that they had learned during their first term, for repetition. They also went on an explorative journey through the castle to find more secret passages, but were unlucky to find any (they only annoyed a couple of portraits when they were pulling the frames to see if there was a doorway behind it).

Later, Simon went back to the common room and started packing his suitcase. Clothes, books, some candy he had left. It was less than twenty-four hours until they would be on the train together to Edinburgh and he was so much looking forward to it. The common room was practically empty. He put a towel over his shoulder and went to the bathroom to take a bath. That was the best form of relaxation he knew, especially on the evenings or late afternoons when it was dark outside and everything was quiet. Then he got dressed for the last night at Hogwarts for this term.

When the evening finally arrived, Simon went to the Ball Room. He was a little early, so he sat down by the grand piano and played a couple of songs, improvising in between with different chord combos and melodies. Then he heard a squeaking noise from the door and turned around. Astoria's figure was in the doorway.

@Astoria Middleton

The afternoon came and gone but every moment was enjoyable! The Hufflepuff common room was starting to empty out and since they had all the time in the day, the two of them wandered the castle, revisiting their encounter within the Trophy Room, seeing it all in it's former glory with cases repaired and trophies polished to best shine they could have. The two of them would explore the many corridors and passages that Hogwarts had, even though they couldn't have found them all since Hogwarts was so huge and there was so much to discover.

Parting for the moment, Astoria returned to the common room and went to her dormitory. She laid on her bed and closed her eyes to get just a few moments rest before tonight. Getting up, she went to get freshened up and change her clothes. She didn't go to dinner that night, busy making herself presentable for Simon. She wanted to surprise him and since this was a dance lesson, she wanted to get in the mindset.

Scaling the staircase, Astoria came to the ballroom and before entering, she could hear the grand piano, enchanting her. Opening the door, Astoria stood their in a blue dress with her hair in gentle curls and wearing matching pumps.

Astoria approached the piano where her dance partner was at, going to the same spot that she was once before and listening quietly to his playing. Simon truly had a gift for playing and she couldn't wait to see what more musical genius he would have in their future. She didn't say anything, she just let her eyes gaze at him.

@Simon Tilia

Despite the already blue moon-like lighting in the Ballroom, Astoria's dress made the rest of the room look pale in comparison. Simon caught himself starring and losing contact with his fingers, both playing slower and missing a few notes, before he completely stopped as Astoria approached him. He was not used to seeing her like that. It was either the school uniform or casual clothings, and there was nothing wrong with her casual clothings. But this dress had him captivated. She looked almost older, but in a good way.

"I didn't know we were dressing up", he said in loss of better words. "You should've told me." He looked down on his own clothes; a dark-red jumper over a white-shirt, and dark-grey chinos with a black leather belt.

What Astoria was wearing felt very appropriate and ceremonial for their last night at Hogwarts before Christmas break. Despite its clear color and shiny texture, the dress itself was quite modest in its cut, yet jaw-droppingly beautiful and fashionable, in contrast to the old traditional Ball Room that they were in.

Simon stood up. "So... You're gonna teach me to dance?", he said, feeling nervous again from all of a sudden. "I've gone through the records to that Gramophone over there and there are both Waltz and songs with regular 4/4, if you wanna do Foxtrot. So what's it gonna be?"

@Astoria Middleton

Clearly, from Simon's expression, Astoria had thrown him for a loop appearing in the dress that she had but she wanted to surprise him at the same time. Plus, dressing up put Astoria in the mindset of dancing and she wanted to enjoy every moment she could! Simon's fingers skipped a few notes as he gazed, no, flat out starred at her. It made her chuckle, "I know, but I decided this at last minute, plus I thought it would help out with the practice. To see what your dance partner could be dressed in." Astoria then added, "Plus, it's nice for me to dress up like this because it puts me in that dancer's mindset." For Simon, she wanted him to be comfortable and he certainly looked like he would be comfortable!

"Yes, that's correct!" She answered him with confidence. There was a gramophone with waltz music and songs that would reflect the Foxtrot. She smiled, "Let's start with the waltz. Focusing on your coordination is key and timing. The waltz is a slower pace where you can focus on rhythm and timing especially with a partner." Astoria took Simon's hand and led them off the stage to the middle of the ballroom.

She left him in the middle of the ballroom and went to the gramophone to play some music. She put a record on the gramophone and went back to the center of the dance floor to meet Simon. "Are you ready?" she asked, a smile across her face. "Now, first we must place our hands. With your right hand, you will take my left. With your left hand, you place it here on my waist..." Astoria took his right hand in her left, and used her left hand to place it on her waist. She then placed her left hand on Simon's should. Looking at him, she asked "Now, ready to begin?" She reassured him through her eyes that he can do this.

Music: You Raise Me Up
@Simon Tilia

Astoria seemed quite self-confident when it came to dancing. Simon had only danced at school discos before. And that was the only time he had danced with a girl, but that was different. Dancing when you are about 7–8 years old is not the same thing as dancing when you are older, he thought.

As Astoria went over to the gramophone he looked at her dress once more. It was hard to imagine that this was the same girl who a couple of nights ago had used a trophy to knock an armor statue over, before kicking its head off.

Astoria returned to the middle of the room as the music started playing in the background and he listened to her instructions carefully.

"Now, first we must place our hands. With your right hand, you will take my left. With your left hand, you place it here on my waist..."

Before he had a chance to react, she took his hand and placed it on her waist. He felt his body become stiff as their bodies met, before he forced himself to relax. It was one thing to dodge water balloons and tumble around on the floor together, or run around in secret passages, holding hands and pushing each other in the right direction. But standing this close to each other, for this particular purpose, was another. He noticed that she had some kind of mild perfume that reminded him of lavender. It actually helped him relax even more.

"Now, ready to begin?", she asked.

"Okay. I'm ready", he said, smiling, trusting that he would do alright.

With their eyes locked in each other's, they took their first steps, trying to coordinate their movement to align with the beat of the music.

@Astoria Middleton

Astoria smiled, she could sense by the touch of his shoulder that he probably wasn't expecting her to be so forward about placing his hand on her waist but then again, that's how we dance! He confirmed that he was ready and his eyes locked immediately with hers.

"We will start simple with the three-step." she said, "With your left foot, take one step forward, then slide to the right with your right foot. Bring your left foot to your right, then take your right foot and step back. Bring your left foot back, then step to the left and close." Astoria guided him slowly so that they would make their first three-step round. "See? That's all that you need to do! Let's try it again, and then one more time."

Astoria followed with her stepping, taking her time to give Simon an opportunity to get the rhythm down. The music echoed through the air and she was so happy to finally have someone besides a cousin to teach how to dance. At Beauxbatons, Astoria's cousins attended there as students. They were required to learn how to dance as balls were always offered at Beauxbatons. Actually if it wasn't for her, her cousins would be able to show themselves at a ball! Some of those boys had two left feet!

After three rounds of three-steps, Astoria asked "Well, how do you feel? Soon you will be able to twirl me and we will be able to do more!"

@Simon Tilia

It was hard at first because he was not used to the 3/3 beat. He rarely played waltzes on the piano, but soon figured it was not so different from a regular 6/8. Thinking about the music as a super slow 6/8 made it easier for him to get a hang of it. He was not entirely sure he was doing it right, but at least he could keep up with the beat and tempo with his feet. Being a pianist probably helped in this regard.

At one point he was so caught up in the moment, almost forgetting where he was, and with who, so when he looked up again to meet Astoria's eyes, he got distracted and stepped on the tip of her shoe. "Sorry! Sorry. Let's go again."

"Well, how do you feel? Soon you will be able to twirl me and we will be able to do more!"

Simon laughed a little. "Yeah, maybe. Well, it feels alright. Just a bit unused to Waltz. But with such a good teacher I feel like I will be able to progress in no time. How am I doing so far?"

A giggle was heard from the doorway and they turned around. Two older Slytherin girls quickly closed the door.

“Don’t mind them.” He rolled his eyes. “They are only jealous because two twelve years old can do better than them", he said jokingly and smiled.

@Astoria Middleton

The two of them waltz, seeing how Simon would take to it. When Astoria had first learned to dance, she was told she had two left feet. That was because she couldn't dance for the life of her. To be honest, when she first learned to dance, she ended up breaking one of her dance instructor's littlest toes! Simon was doing beautifully for a beginner with also seeing a bit of fumbling. With the move of his foot, Astoria's shoe was slightly stepped on but it didn't bother her. "You're going to have to try harder than that if you want to break my toe." Astoria jested with a teasing voice. She was expecting this would happen.

"I'm not a very good teacher." Astoria laughed, "I have one cousin who tries to upstage me because she thinks that she is pro but if that's what she believes then she can do so!" Simon had asked how he was doing, she kept noticing that he was looking down at his feet constantly. "You are doing great! Just keep your eyes up, the more you try to focus on your stepping and coordination, the chances are you will end up breaking my toe before we leave tomorrow. If you have trust in your partner, then you won't have to worry about our toes." Astoria's eyes glittered in the feint candle light.

Distracted, Simon's attention was taken towards two girls that were in the doorway. Huh, to think there were students staying at Hogwarts over break! Of course she knew that, but just the idea of how quiet the school was, it was hard to believe! The comment that Simon brought up about their ages took Astoria a moment to process. To be honest, she wasn't actually twelve. She had left Hogwarts for some time to process her grandmother's sudden death, a horrific family feud, and falling into a depression. "Well, to be honest, I'm actually thirteen, going on fourteen in March. I was absent for some time and I didn't return to Hogwarts until recently due to...well, umm...some difficult times..." She had hoped he wouldn't criticize her. It was hard for her to get caught up, imagine, a fourteen year old as a first year.

@Simon Tilia

"Well, to be honest, I'm actually thirteen, going on fourteen in March. I was absent for some time and I didn't return to Hogwarts until recently due to...well, umm...some difficult times..."

Simon looked Astoria for a couple of seconds, trying to comprehend this new information. He did not fully understand why, but learning that Astoria was in fact two years older than him made him feel a slight sting in his stomach. Her age explained a lot though; her manners and her mature look, as compared to the other girls in their class. But what did that mean for their friendship? Would she really be interested in being his friend in the long term? In about two months time, he would turn thirteen, but that year Astoria would turn fifteen. Almost without noticing, he had straightened his back a little so that he would look taller, despite already being much taller than Astoria.

"Wow. I didn't know that", he said and gave her a small smile.

And why did she leave Hogwarts? Simon had a friend from Edinburgh who left school because he was very ill. That boy had to stay at a hospital for almost a year. But what could possibly had made Astoria leave for so long? His mind was spinning and he was considering whether this was a good time for him to ask her about it or not. Eventually he decided he should.

"Why didn't you return to Hogwarts...? If I might ask?" 

The gramophone was quietly scraping on the LP in the background.

@Astoria Middleton