BlossomFest The Learning of an Art

Mariah blinked as a girl stepped forward and offered to dance with her. Or rather she asked. It was splendid. She mentally kissed her invisible partnet goodbye and held out her hand for the other girl to shake.

"Mariah," she said. "Mariah Menstil." There she went again, introducing herself in the same exact way time and time again. She probably needed to shake it up, but that was impossible when she didn't make an effort to try.

"I would love a partner," she went on. "As it happens, Enrique the Invisible Pirate is horrid at keeping step." She grinned at her own joke, but maybe was a little serious because how would he know the boy parts of he wasn't even real? After shaking the girls hand, Mariah positioned her arms out so the girl could step forward to take her own position.

"I could be the boy," she offered. "I'm pretty quick at picking up things like that. Something about my brain just gets step by step instruction."

The truth of the matter was, Mariah didn't want to take the girl part away from her new friend. She found it rude to automatically jump to the conclusion that she deserved that part, whether she wanted it or not.

She had spent the past five minutes scowling at the forms of her dancing friends. They could of at least bothered to include her somehow. Adam was dancing with Serena, and Siege was going to kill him soon. That was evident. Rosie and Anatole were lost in their own world. If cooties were real, they'd be dead at this point. Cel was muttering with Mariah about Max, which brought a smile to the red-head's lips. Mariah then started to dance on her own, but Eris was still muffling a giggle. She couldn't wait to tell Max that there was gossip circling around about him, he would probably find it just as amusing as she did.

Leaning against the wall, as her eyes scanned the room, Eris couldn't find Max or anybody else. Sighing, she contented herself searching for somebody to dance with, but ended up finding herself side tracked with watching Adam and Serena step on each other's toes. They really sucked at dancing. it was funny really.

Looking away from the failing couple at the sound of footsteps, Eris smiled at Max. Her smile faded away, as Max swept into view, acting a gentle man of sorts. Suddenly aware of her raggedy clothing and unbrushed hair, compared to some of the girls in dresses with fancy roses and brushed out hair, Eris raised an eyebrow. Talk about an eccentric boy.

When he bowed, Eris snorted out loud. Smirking at her partner in crime, the girl opened her mouth to speak, only to flush until her face turned into a bright shade of crimson. Had he just almost kissed her hand? Reminding herself that cooties were fake, Eris coughed loudly and abruptly, trying to get into the spirit of the moment.

At least she wouldn't be dancing with a stranger, or on her own like Mariah. "My good sir, I would be honored to dance with you." That was the right thing to say right? Identical grin of mischief spreading over her red face, Eris smirked. "You may rise." Normally, she wouldn't of been this outspoken. But Max seemed to bring out the mischievous, outspoken nature rooted deep down in Eris.

Winifrey's eyes were drawn to the new voice. Seeing that it was Mardella, she smiled, "Hey Della! It's ok," She shrugged, brushing her feet against the ground as she sat next to Asteria and Aurelia. "And yah, I guess. I mean I don't mind, but these two," She grinned mischievously, lightly touching the elbows of Asteria and Aurelia, "would love to dance. Don't you guys?" She asked the two, giving them each a look. If they came to dance, they should dance.

"Oh!" Winifrey started, sitting up slightly, "Asteria, this is Mardella and Aurelia. I'm not sure if you guys have met yet," She shrugged lightly, grinning. "And guys, this is Asteria. We met during the first night after the sorting ceremony," She smiled, brightly.

Her blue eyes wandered back to the dancing. The small brunette stood from her seat, turning her back to the dancers so she could face her friends. "Maybe we should just partner up? Take turns being the guy and the girl? Sounds fun," She suggested, smiling lightly before intertwining her hands behind her back.

She had learned some dancing from her father and had enjoyed it quite a bit. She just wasn't sure if she would go to the ball yet. She had never been to one and Winifrey was sure that if it was taking place at Hogwarts, it would be one to remember. It all depended who went.

Elsie felt a little out of place here. She did want to learn how to dance. Dancing was one of those thing she had adored watching but never had the courage to learn. Well until now that is. Even so, as couples began to break off the more Elsie could feel her courage beginning to fade. She stood quietly close to the wall. She only knew a small handful of people at this school. Who was she supposed to ask? 'For someone who wants to try to make more friends you've done a lousy job.' she silently scolded. As she watched the other students dance, Elsie nervously tucked a strand of hair behind her ear.

She selfishly wished that someone she recognized would ask her to dance. Or just talk to her at the very least. Her dislike for crowds was starting to show. 'So much for learning how to dance.' she thought before giving an anxious sigh. What was she even doing here? This was out of her comfort zone. She'd be much more comfortable in her common curled up with one of her notebooks. But a part of here was still quietly encouraging to stay. Although debating it, Elsie chose to go with her gut and wait a while longer. Who knows, maybe she might know someone after all.

Cel grinned as the matter was taken out of her own responsibility, mentally sighing in relief. Honestly, she didn't want to converse... with anyone. Except maybe her bubbly Hufflepuff friend, who had paired up with another girl. It was one of her introverted days, it seemed.



As the two girls were each taken from another, she eyed the crowd, looking for an opening. As soon as she found one-- a spot between two attempting-to-dance partners that let to more space-- Cel slipped forward, easily disappearing into the mass of people stepping on other peoples' toes.

Muttering "pardon"s and "excuse me"s, Cel made her way to the opposite side of the room, carefully walking towards the less cramped corner opposite the entrance. She began to seize up as she entered the squishy crowd, her insignificant claustrophobia acting up again, but exited it before the fear could get that bad. It offered a little more free space than the side of the wall, with one of the round tables of the Ballroom pushed against the two walls to provide space for dancing, so she gently settled herself on the edge of the table, watching everyone else dance.

Learn by example. Actually doing it was impossible for two reasons, the first being no partner and the second being not wanting to interact with anyone and therefore killing her chances of getting a partner. When she couldn't do it, she would watch and take notice of every detail. It calmed her in the midst of so many people, the calculating state of mind, as she noted the steps, the posture, and the probably not on purpose stepping of toes.

As the girl introduced herself, Amadea's nerves calmed slightly. It seemed like she had chosen well in her dance partner and she happily extended her hand, shaking Mariah's. "I'm Amadea," she told the girl. "Amadea Campbell," she added, since the other girl had offered her own surname.

She laughed along with Mariah at her joke. She seemed like a positive upbeat person from what Amadea could tell so far, though she wasn't the best as judging character. Plus, Amadea added to herself, she shouldn't even be judging anyone in the first place. Making assumptions only led to bad places...she shivered at thought, not wanting to remind herself of the past. Realizing that there had been a long gap of silence after Mariah's question when Amadea spaced out, she quickly answered. "Oh, yes, um, sure...I mean, if that's what you want," Amadea stuttered.

If she was being completely honest, Amadea had never learned to dance quite like this before. It wasn't like she went to many fancy parties when she was in London and she had never seen a reason to learn how to waltz with someone. It was probably better if Mariah lead the two; she was probably more experienced than Amadea. She glanced over to where the professors were waltzing, trying to copy the graceful way Professor Barrows held herself.

It seemed slightly weird to Amadea to be dancing but not talking, so she decided to make some conversation. "Have you danced before?" she asked. "You seem fairly good at this." Promptly, Amadea accidentally stomped on Mariah's foot. Amadea jumped back, horrified. "Oh my gosh!" she exclaimed quietly, hoping not to cause a scene. "I'm so sorry....in case you couldn't tell, I have never done this before!"

Mariah laughed good naturedly at the Amadea's clumsy step, bending down to dust of her black flat.
"Don't worry about it," she said, taking her position once again. "I'm not really a ballroom dancer kind of gal."
Mariah always thought that this sort of dancing gave a stiff atmosphere. The only people who could do it well were people who spent the majority of their lives perfecting it and Mariah thought there had to be something more interesting than square dancing your life away.
"I've never had much practice with dancing," she admitted. "Mum wanted me to join ballet, but I've managed to fight tooth and nail not to be sentenced to that. People think its sweet and pretty but reality is you can only dance like that for so many years without reaping permanent damage!" She wriggled her nose and then her face smoothed over to a smile.
"Are you looking forward to the ball?" Mariah asked. She kind of was, hence why she was subjecting herself to learning to dance. She liked the idea of walking around in a gorgeous dress, maybe actually braving heels because who could wear a ballgown without heels? Naturally, she would kick them off as the night wore on, but that would be after the stiff coat part was all over and the kids were allowed to let loose.

The Hufflepuff watched the Deputy Headmaster and his partner demonstrate the next moves. They were instructed to do a series of footsteps, moving together as though they were one. There was a rhythm that they were expected to keep to. This was looking harder and harder. However, Serena knew she had to do her best. After all, she did not want to make a fool of herself or worse, make a fool of Adam. The kind boy had saved her from being alone.

Moving her gaze from the Professors, she looked around the room briefly. A lot more people had arrived. They had partnered up and were doing so well. It was good to see. Serena had no idea of the altercation taking place between her two Gryffindor friends in the distance. When she glanced over to make sure the pair were playing nice with each other, they seemed to be gazing longingly and passionately at one another whilst dancing. It was as though it was a match made in heaven - or perhaps hell, given the two in question.

In all honesty, she was a little nervous about this dance. She always tried new things but there was that sensation she could never shake that she would be terrible at it. Dancing was something she was particularly worried about. Her mother was bound to force her to start ballroom dancing on occasions as she grew older. She really did not want to trip over and make a fool of herself in front of her family. It was bad enough to do that in a room full of strangers. Doing it in front of her family, who held their reputation over her happiness was definitely not going to be pleasant. 

She focused on taking deep breathes to help calm her nerves, following the rhythm. Luckily, Adam seemed to know what he was doing. He helped lead her. Looking up at the taller boy, Serena smiled weakly in response to his expression, masking her true emotions behind it. He looked happy. The best she could do was to try and look happy for him. In a way, they were both trying not to worry their partner. 

Serena shook her head in response to his words, "You're not bad at all!" She replied, feeling slightly bit relieved that he appeared to be worried about the dance too. Counting three steps in her head and talking seemed to be a bit more difficult than she had hoped. However, she was picking it up quicker than she expected. Luckily for her, the best way for her to obtain any knowledge was by doing it. Serena picked up practical skills a lot faster than reading information from books or listening to lectures. This made her terrible in most classes, as she struggled to focus on the teacher's words and refused to do extra reading. However, it did help with dance. "No no, I'm not good. I'm just following the instructions!" Serena replied, shaking her head. If there was a defining characteristic she had, it was that she really could not take a compliment. Especially not now. Not after everything that had happened. For a moment, a look of sadness crossed her face despite her best efforts not to. 

The recent campout had taken a lot of confidence away from her. Her eyes flickered down to the locks of her long hair. It was a few inches shorter than it had been only a week ago. The tips were slightly burnt too. Serena bit her lip, hoping it was not noticeable to everyone. She had tried to cut them off but missed a few. She was definitely going to have to get a haircut it seemed...

"I haven't, no, but I attend functions a lot. So I've seen people dance, I guess." She explained to Adam as he asked her if she had ever danced before, glancing back up and replacing the weak smile on her face. Secretly, she hated these social gatherings she was forced to attend by her mother. However, Adam did not need to know that. He did not ask for her life story. Spending those events, standing on the side and trying not to make eye contact with people was paying off. She had spent time watching the ballroom dancing, whenever the function allowed for the occasion to arise, which was perhaps the one reason she seemed to be able to pick up this a little faster than she had expected to. 

One, two, three. Serena held Adam's hand gently and smiled more genuinely up at him, "You're pretty good at this, you know?" Hoping to ease his tension a little and speaking the truth. They were doing a lot better than she had anticipated. Adam seemed to have a handle on the rhythm a little better than she did and was leading her well. Perhaps they were doing better than some of the other couples on the dance floor.

Marissa stood there awkwardly, waiting further instructions from the professors. She glanced around, seeing people couple up even more. She smiled as she saw Rosie and Anatole enjoying their time together, it seemed as if dancing was their way of bonding. She glanced around again, seeing students that shes never met before. Some seemed nice, they were joking around wih their friends of preparing the dance with their partner. Marissa felt slightly underdressed in her baby blue dress, seeing all the other girls wearing real ball type dresses. This dress was just a simple summer one that Marissa had packed with her when she first came. She looked saddened for a moment before the professor started to speak.

Mari listened and watched intensively as both professors began to dance together elegant as well as explaining what they were doing. Marissa shuffled awkwardly as she realised that soon enough, she and James would have to dance along as well. Marissa looked nervous as the professor said to begin dancing. She looked back up to James with a nervous smile and tried to dance along with him. She found it helpful that he started slow, she nearly stepped on his feet a couple of times and stumbled over her own feet.

Marissa glanced around one more time before fulling lutting her attention onto James and the dancing. Still tensed slightly, Marissa continued to dance along with James as she tried not to step onto his feet. She did not want to embarass herself now, in front of all of these people. It would definitely be embarrassing in front of the professors.

"I suppose there aren't that many,But it's still fun to watch," Asteria heard Wini say, trying to make her feel better about coming."I think it's very elegant the way they glide along the dance floor. Plus, I find it funny to see the boys' nervous faces." Asteria giggled, she lowered her book once more and said. "Well, you are right about that." Asteria agreed seeing the nervousness on some of the boys faces was amusing to say the least. "I may not be keen on dancing but I agree it is elegant," Asteria went on. "It's just that my grandmother, my dad's mum, used to practically force me to learn to dance and well... I went from liking it to not liking it in no time." Asteria explained as not so happy memories flooded her mind. "She would always try to make me into this 'elegant young lady'." She went on with an air of irritation in her voice. Asteria found that since her silent vow to herself that she would open up a small, itty-bitty, bit more on her first night at Hogwarts, she has been feeling a bit more relaxed. It wasn't easy and sometimes she held back her feelings still, but it helped.

"Yes, I was just telling Asteria that it is still fun to watch." Asteria watched as Wini explained their conversation to her friend."And maybe we can just go as a group instead of finding a date," Asteria's raised an eyebrow slightly at the idea. She wasn't so sure about dancing still, the thought of humiliation was still strong in her mind."My parents used to dance like that, when my dad was home," She hear Wini say. Asteria's heartfelt like he flopped straight into her stomach at the tone in her voice. She wasn't sure why, but it felt as though something was wrong.
"Hey," said a new voice as it arrived next to them. Looking away from Wini, Asteria's sight was met by a tall, gangly young girl. She had hazel eyes, freckles, and a head full of dark hair."Sorry I'm late? " she said seeming to not notice Asteria's presence." Having trouble finding partners?"I don't mind dancing the boy parts, probably taller than most of the boys anyways." she continued with a shrug. "Oh," she said, finally seeing Asteria. "hi, I'm Mardella. Their roommate." The girl name Mardella stated. "Hi Mardella, my name is Asteria. Nice to meet you"  She introduced herself with a nod and a smile. So these were Wini's roommates, Asteria thought to herself. After finding out their dorms, Asteria wondered which dorm room Wini had gotten, but she was so caught up in her studying they hadn't been able to talk until now.
Asteria returned her book to her bag as Wini greeted her friend and introduced both of them to her."Maybe we should just partner up? Take turns being the guy and the girl?" Wini had asked with a smile. "I don't know," Asteria said unsure. "Despite the unwanted  pre-Hogwarts lessons, I was never any good. I'd probably fall on my face." Asteria chimed in nervously. "Plus I don't even have a partner for the actual ball, so my chances of going are slim." Asteria fiddled with he dress as she said this, who in the name of Merlin's beard would go with her anyway?!