It was Valentine's Day, which Xander guessed was supposed to be an important holiday that put people in a good mood and made them feel all warm and fuzzy inside. Xander Perdue, however, did not currently feel warm or fuzzy. What he felt was stupid. Really, really stupid.

As a Ravenclaw, this wasn't exactly a usual occurance for him. At least it didn't have anything to do with his actual intellect. Nope. Xander was putting all the blame on the suit his mother had sent for him and commanded him to wear that evening. It was uncomfortable and scratchy and just... ugh. Stupid.

Plus, he really wasn't sure what to do with himself. It was a dance. Xander didn't know how to dance, and even if he did he wouldn't be caught dead dancing with a girl. Which was what seemed to mostly be happening - that, and people dancing too close so prefects and professors had to blast them apart with red sparks. Okay, that part was actually kind of fun to watch. The faces the couples made were just... heh. It was amusing. But other than giggling over that occasionally, the first year was feeling kind of lost and bored. He stood around in a corner of the tent, occasionally going up on his tiptoes to see over the heads of older students. Finally spotting someone his own age (Xander didn't even care who - just that they weren't likely to be as mush filled as, say, the fifth and seventh years), the Ravenclaw waved his arm in the air in an attempt to attract their attention. "Oy, you! Over here!"

Tynan was honestly a little confused by this dance. At home dancing meant....well, dancing. It was like the Halloween ball all over again - noisy music, women dressed like peacocks with half the feathers torn off and the boys dressed in black while they...gyrated.

Seemed like something his older brothers would be in to, really. He found himself with little interest in the proceedings.  He was beginning to wonder why he'd bothered coming down here at all, free drink and food aside. He suspected Eirene and the other girls would be running around worrying they didn't have dates or something, since every other girl seemed to be worried about that. Except for Mairead, and good thing too, 'cause he'd be afraid for whoever she chose.

Xander's voice over the crowd caught his attention and he looked around for a moment before he spotted the blonde.

"'ello, Xander," he said, realizing the other boy was alone as he walked over. He shrugged and offered him one of the cups of pumpkin juice he'd made off with. "Whaur's that reid-wuid brither o' yours? I thocht for certaint 'ed be trin' tae ta git a boat on the lake while nae one's looking." *

---

"Where's your crazy brother? I thought for sure he'd be trying to put a boat on the lake while no one's looking."

Standing amidst the massive crowd of highly intimidating older students, some of which were in bad moods and others were positively in love (sister included), Serenity Lee became instantly aware of how small she really was. With a mouse-like "eep!" as someone tried to trod on her in their rush to greet another friend, the ickle firstie hurried out of the thicket of expensively dressed teenagers. She was half-way through the crowd, pleading inwardly for someone to save her, when she heard someone calling.

"Oy, you! Over here!"

She had to push at the thigh of a sixth year to be able to see around him at whoever was calling whom. It was one of her fellow housemates calling over another first year where it was apparently safe out of the way. Immediately, Serenity Lee began to weave her way through the crowd towards the two boys which wasn't easy considering all of them were managing to push and shove her around quite easily. "Excuse me, sorry, thank you, 'scuse me," she muttered to everyone she passed. Finally, she reached Xander and Tynan and doubled over with her hands on her knees to catch her breath.

"That...That was awful! I don't want to do that again."

A deep breath allowed her to recover and she stood upright with a timid smile hidden behind that usual curtain of dark hair. It was then that she noticed how fancy Xander looked in his tuxedo. She giggled, quickly covering her mouth with her hand.

"Xander, you look like a boy! I mean, like an older boy!"

It wasn't like she had any right to talk, of course: she was in a cute little outfit that made her look like a girl. She was always trying to wear dresses, weather permitting, but there was never a way for anyone to convince her to pull her hair out of her face. She preferred it this way: a veil of dark brown hair between her looking at people and people looking at her. This way, nobody could see her face or her hazel eyes or her rarest and more magnificent feature: her grin.

"I know how you feel, though, but I wish I had something prettier to wear. This dress was Elle's when she was my age..."

Her voice saddened a little and she turned her head to look at all the older girls wearing gorgeous dresses, admiring them as they walked like graceful Veela across the floor to prepare to dance with their partners. One day, maybe, she would be able to be pretty like that and oggled by first years. It wasn't much of an ambition as it just was a thought. As if realizing she was daydreaming, the small Ravenclaw girl quickly returned her attention to the boys and, noticing the pumpkin juice in Tynan's hand, directed her question to him.

"Did you see any chocolate frogs or candy over there? I'm hungry. I wish they'd let us before these things started."

Outfit
Harper gave a loud squeak as some of the older student whirred by her in a swirl of sequins and laughter. She scowled. She didn’t want to go to the stupid dance, but her mother would have had a heart attack if she hadn’t gone. The elder female O’Malley used to be a party queen back in her day and expected her introverted daughter to follow in her footsteps, much to Harper Alice’s chagrin. She wanted nothing to do with parties and glamour. If she had it her way, she would have stayed in the castle painting. But no, here she was. All she felt she was doing was getting in the way of other people. She was dressed without a hint of flash, opting for a simple blue dress and a white pair of flats. 

A few more people pushed by the sprite-sized girl, who was only 4'8", making her doubt her decision of loitering by the entrance. So ignoring her instincts, she ventured further into the party-area. She looked around for a quiet corner to people watch in when she saw three other first years milling around, looking just as bored as she was. Two were first year Ravenclaws while the third was a Gryffindor.

She smiled shyly at the three and asked politely. “Can I join you here? I'm getting fairly run over everywhere else.” 

Clothes

---

Keegan wondered if there was something wrong with him. Last year, if you had asked him if he was going to a Valentines Dance, he would have snorted and muttered something about a cootie farm. But something about this year made him very curious indeed. Perhaps it was all the older girls prancing around in the dresses they were going to be wearing, their bosoms covered in glitter and flowers and form fitting fabric. Or perhaps it was the chance to finally see famous bands that his classmates raved about day in and day out. Or maybe it was the bottles of love potion he had smuggled into the dance in the inner pockets of his jacket. He was pretty sure the last one was the real reason he had mustered together what only he could call his 'formal wear' and was pushing his way through the crowd.

He was admittedly saddened to see that Mai didn't seem to be there anywhere, since he had been looking forward to doing this prank with her. He hated to admit it, but the last couple of months had seen him actually trying to focus on his studies. Ever since the discovery that not only did he have a father but a magical one at that, Keegan had actually found himself putting forth the effort to prove himself a worthy son. Naturally this put a damper on his pranking and lately, he and Mai hadn't been doing much of anything fun together. But tonight... he was determined to show he was still the prankster prince. He just needed a trustworthy accomplice.

With Mai no where in sight, Keegan was about to give up and do the damn thing himself. As he looked for the punch table, he was pleasantly surprised to see a small group of first years standing awkwardly off to the side, the tallest of which bore the tell tale scars of MacFusty. It was true that Keegan hadn't gotten much of a chance to spend quality time with his mangled housemate, but he knew the boy was a kindred spirit. If Mai wasn't there to spread some chaos, surely Tynan would make an excellent replacement. A wicked grin spread across his face and Keegan made his way over to the group, pushing through the dancing crowd with less difficulty then the diminutive Harper.

"Oy... MacFusty..." Keegan yelled over the music as he approached the group, "Got a minute?" Arriving at the gathering, he glanced at the others huddled together. Harper and Xander he knew by face alone, and for that each got a slight nod of hello. Serenity, however, was much more acquainted with Keegan. Considering that their relationship, as it were, was a secret, Keegan only curled one corner of his mouth up into a smirk before greeting the tiny Ravenclaw "Whas'this Ren? Ye look like a girl..." To an outsider, this would seem like an insult, but those who knew Keegan knew that it was probably the highest compliment he could offer a girl.

(To be clear, Keegan and Serenity are not a couple but secret study buddies. This is of course something that can be misconstrued easily )

Pippa was dragging her feet. She did not want to go to this stupid thing. It was bad enough that she had to wear a stupid skirt every single day of the bloody week; now she had to wear a frilly dress and a white sweater and clicky clacky shoes with dumb hearts on them. She was rather proud if the Valentine her mother and father had his - a ring and necklace set of a very interesting looking octopus. She would explain to them later that she was going to marry the Squid not an octopus - but they at least tried to understand. That was more than a lot of people.

When she made her way into the tent she first looked for Ren, but couldn't spot her; then she looked for Pax on account of he was excited about selling flowers or something and maybe if she had something to do she would not feel so utterl ridiculous in this stupid outfit. Of course she couldn't spot him either but she did see Xander - even if he was with McFussy and a bunch of other people. Without much thought she rushed toward the first years and threw her arms around Xander, "DID YOU GET THE CHOCO FROGS FROM NANA??"

She was mostly hoping he hadn't because it would confirm her happy suspicions that she was the chosen one favorite. She was standing there tugging on his arm when she shifted her ees to Ty; "You look...well you don't look awful!" and gave him the brightest smile like she'd told him he was handsome. Pippa really was hopeless

Harper, Keegan, and Pippa had all joined their little group and Serenity Lee felt an unexpected surge of happiness and excitement. There were times when the first years got together, like these, where she felt that despite their differences, they would all be inseparable. Her mind drifted into the future and, with it, her hazel eyes lazily shifted to the fifth years in their pretty dresses...

One day, she would be wearing a pretty dress with lots of jewelry she made from clocks and pieces of junk in her father's muggle garage. Someday, a boy would walk up to her, bow, and ask her to dance. She'd find herself lost in his eyes like her sister always described and twirling happily around on the floor with him, not even noticing the world around them. One day... Maybe...

"Whas'this Ren? Ye look like a girl..."

She looked at Keegan and blushed in embarrassment. For now, she had to deal with these ugly hand-me-downs that were stained, tattered, faded in color, and almost thread-bare in certain areas. Her mother had done her best to hem them, but her worn-out shoes remained an unrepairable disaster. Her hair easily hid the flushing of her cheeks at his compliment, but she didn't feel pretty or like a girl; she felt like a rag-doll.

"I need some juice," she muttered almost inaudibly.

The Ravenclaw glanced at Keegan sheepishly before rushing off away from the group to visit the refreshments table. Why had she agreed to go to this stupid thing? It just meant that she would be wearing ugly, ancient dresses again! By the time she got to the table full of delicious snacks and beverages, she was doing her best to fight back tears. Being too poor to be able to afford nice clothes like what Pippa and Harper had been wearing was infuriating and humiliating!

Cyhirae was in high spirits. Tonight was a good combination, she got to dress up prettily and she was going to see Dolly for the first time in a while. Dolly wasn't here yet so she was just wandering around, admiring the booths and people while she waited. Georgiana had disappeared with a group of her friends and with her father was talking to Professor Storm she had no one that she could obviously hang around with.

Heading over towards the refreshment table, she caught Serenity emerging from the crowd, obviously upset about something. Glancing in the direction Serenity had come from, Cyhirae found a large group of her fellow first years. Cy frowned, the group was made up of Serenity's close friends, why would she be upset? And yet she was.

Cyhirae lightly bit her lip, even though they had been in classes for several months now it was slightly embarrassing that she really didn't know them very well. How Serenity would feel about her presence when she was feeling as she was even more of an enigma. Smoothing down her dress nervously Cyhirae glanced once more in the direction of the group of her fellow first years to see if anyone was following Serenity. Seeing no one, she took a deep breath and weaved her way through the crush of people after Serenity.

Stepping up beside the girl Cyhirae placed her hand on Serenity's shoulder, "Serenity? What's wrong?"

Tynan was a bit surprised at how quickly the small group grew, and he nodded in greeting to Serenity and the others, his grey eye half-closed as he finished off his cup of pumpkin juice. Normally he stuck his chin up when it came to clothing; but he was definitely feeling a bit under dressed in his normal white wool shirt, black pants and his leather boots  - even Keegan had something dressy on, by Merlin.

He felt really poor for a moment, though the alternative was having his mum send him his 'formal clothing' and as much as he might beat Keegan's face in for it, the other boy would still call Tynan's kilt a dress. He knew it would happen - so best avoided, really.

"Ay, I've got some time. Whit do ye need?" he asked Keegan, only to be interrupted by the arrival of Pippa. That comment made him feel much better about his appearance. He tried not to roll his eye. "Thanks, lass. Ye look like a cake," he said in return. "An' Harper, you're welcome tae stay, I dinnae think anyone's gonna mind." He looked back to Keegan, looking between the smaller boy and Serenity as the girl fled.

"What's wrong with her?" he asked.

First years were kind of like bees. If one of them did that 'Hey! Look! Over here! There's honey!' dance (or, in this case, the 'Hey! Look! Over here! We won't get crushed/dragged into mush' dance), the whole hive sort of flocked over. It seemed that almost as soon as he'd waved Tynan over, Xander found himself surrounded by his classmates. Which wasn't a bad thing - strength and safety in numbers and all that.

And it had taken him half a year, but he was getting pretty handy at figuring out what Tynana was saying. Which was kind of cool, if you think about it. Like decoding a secret language or something. "I dunno where Carter went," Xander shrugged, standing on his tiptoes again to look around for his piratey twin. "I haven't seen him yet. But he said he'd be here. He probably just lost his eyepatch or something, and won't come to the tent without it." Pirates had to represent, yo. That's why Xander had his own eyepatch on him. Granted, it was in his pocket (the strap kind of squeezed his head and got uncomfortable after a while), but it was there!

He grimaced sympathetically at Serenity. The older students were awful sometimes. Were the first years really that invisible, just because they were smaller? It was ridiculous. But then Serenity complimented him, and Xander was thrown completely off course. His eyes widened and he felt like his cheeks were on fire, so he knew they'd turned fire engine red. "What? I do? Um. Oh. Er... Thanks." He didn't really know what to say in response to her next comment. The dress looked all right to him. You know, for a dress. But then, he was a boy, so what did he know?

Fortunately he was saved from answering her as a fresh wave of first years approached. "Sure, Harper. I think we've all been in danger of getting run over. We need traffic lights in here or something." Those would come in handy, and provide safer intersections for the first years to cross. "Hi, Keegan." He greeted the other boy with a nod, feeling a stab of jealousy. Keegan got to wear jeans. Why couldn't he? Mums. They sure knew how to put a damper on fun.

"Ahh!" Xander flailed as he found himself attacked by his pipsqueak cousin, stumbling back and almost falling over due to the unexpected nature of the hug she'd trapped him in. The blonde boy suppressed an exasperated sigh once he'd regained his balance, and returned the hug. "Don't yell in my ear! I'm gonna go deaf. Geez." He said, disentangling himself and tugging at the bottom of his jacket, shaking his head. She was still tugging on his arm, though. Here was hoping she didn't yank it off. Pippa was strangely strong for her size. "No, I didn't get choco frogs. She sent me jelly beans. I like them better."

The first year raised his eyebrows, watching as Serenity detached herself from the group and made her way over to the juice, seeming dejected. He shrugged in response to Tynan's inquiry. "I dunno. She seemed fine a minute ago. But girls are weird," he pointed out, before remembering that there were still some present - like the one still yanking on his arm. Oops.

Serenity turned so red at his comment that, for a moment, Keegan wondered if she was ill. Perhaps someone had slipped some of the Weasley Fever Fudge onto the treat buffet. Why didn't he think of doing that? It would have been such a perfect prank, especially considering what its effect would be on all the insufferable lovey-dovey couples around them. That aside, he considered asking her if she needed a drink or something when she suddenly blurted out "I need some juice," and ran off. Staring at her as she pushed her way through the crowd, Keegan shook his head. No matter how much time they spent together, the girl never ceased to confuse the hell out of him.

Apparently he wasn't the only one she left bewildered, because seconds after she dashed off Keegan's confused gaze was joined by both Tynan and Xanders.

"What's wrong with her?"

"I dunno. She seemed fine a minute ago. But girls are weird,"

Shaking his head, Keegan simply agreed with Tynan and Xander with a shrug of his shoulders. "No idea..." He said simply, considering his options. No one knew that he and Serenity were closer then they appeared in class, and he wasn't sure he wanted them to know. So he didn't know if he should run after her and see if she was okay, or if he should just pretend it didn't happen and talk to his friends. Thankfully, Trishna took off after her before Keegan could make up his mind. Turning back to the other boys, and the one clingy girl, Keegan grinned "... Anyways... Ty... Check out what I boosted from one of the 5th years..." Glancing around to make sure no one was watching, Keegan opened his jacket and showed Tynan the bottle of love potion nestled in the inner pocket "... supposed t' be the good shite too..."

Awkwards silence of Serenity's departure over, Tynan raised his eyebrows at Keegan's find and smiled, slightly. "Guid find," he said, though part of him did wonder what a 5th year had had planned with...that. Still, it could certainly liven up the dance from 'boring' to 'dangerously interesting'. Which was, of course, how Tynan liked it.

"So - what do ye wannae do with it?" he asked, crossing his arms loosely. "Mess with the older years, or with the teachers?" He liked the idea of messing with the teachers, personally; especially with how annoyed many of them looked to be at the ball. Admittedly some would be easier to get than others...

"Ye sure ye ken how tae use that?" he asked cautiously, having thought for a moment. "Can be dangerous, that. Ye don't wannae mess it up and have it backfire."

"Serenity? What's wrong?"

She turned, teary eyed, to face Cyhirae and suppressed a sob. They were bustled momentarily by one or two older students, but the sight of a first year crying seemed to disturb them, so they moved on. Serenity gave a quick sniff, brushed her hair into her face to make sure her tears were hidden, and tried to nibble on a cookie. The sugar wasn't as good as it would have been if her mood was happier.

"I-I always have to wear these ugly rags," she stifled her sobs. "Look at them. They're ancient! I hate being poor."

It wasn't usual for Serenity to complain about her family's lack of money; in fact, no one had heard her speak of it all year. However, this was her second ball and she was feeling awful being in such an old-fashioned, tattered dress with shoes so worn-out that the soles were starting to come apart. She couldn't help but burst into a fit of tears.

That was when a much older girl stormed over to the pair of them. Her pretty, blond hair had been woven into a pretty french braid decorated with red and white ribbons. It was clear that her dress was also old-fashioned and had a faint smell of mothballs, but she had stitched up what small holes were in it by hand and added one or two new decorations to make it look more stylish. With her hands on her hips, she stopped and glared at the two girls. Serenity looked up, whimpered, and hid her face in her hands.

"Serenity," the girl started with a harsh tone, but when the first year fell into a further fit of tears, her entire expression lightened. Slowly, she crouched to her sister's level and moved the curtain of hair out of her face. "Listen, I know it's hard living with hand-me-downs, but--"

"No you don't! You don't know anything about it! You're the oldest girl in our family, Elle, you didn't have to wear hand-me-downs!"

"Think so, do you?" Elle's blue eyes burned with ferocity. "I had to wear mum's old dresses and you know what those look like! She even tried to get me to wear Gran's old Hogwarts robes, but I wouldn't! If you want to look pretty, you can always come ask me, y'know."

The sobbing and crying slowed down gradually at this statement. Whenever Serenity looked up again, tears running down her cheeks, she tried to find some sort of hint that her sister was lying. Elle, arms akimbo, simply raised her eyebrows expectantly.

"Do you want help or not?"

"I-I didn't know I could..."

"D'you really think I'd let my sister walk around feeling ugly?" Just as the first year opened her mouth to retort, Elle snapped, "Don't answer that. Boys at your age don't care about fancy dresses, Serenity. They never did when I was a first year, either. Just have fun, scheme, and don't look at me like that," (Serenity had given her a 'what are you talking about?' look) "because I've heard what your classmates get up to. Just be careful. Mum would storm Hogwarts and humiliate you if she thought you were the one doing anything...extreme."

There was a call across the tent of "Elle!" and the fifth year spun around, waved at someone, and looked back at the two first years. She briefly played with her younger sister's hair, muttered something about "really need to pull it back, can't see your face", and smiled.

"Look, I have to go. Malcom Notting's asked for a dance and I said I'd do it." She rolled her eyes. "Just don't even worry about looking pretty right now: you're too young. Go have an adventure or something! Do...whatever Ravenclaws do! And don't you dare tell mum I was the one that threw those Dungbombs at the Potions Professor's office door!"

With that final threat, Elle turned on her heel and left Serenity in a state of shock. The last person she had ever expected to comfort her about her ugly dress was her sister. After all, she and Elle had been fighting since Serenity was born! Could someone be responsible for the change in her sister? Or did she feel somewhat responsible for Serenity now that she was a first year at Hogwarts? Whatever the case, Serenity Lee actually felt a lot better. She smiled weakly at Cyhirae, gathered a couple more cookies on a napkin, and lead her housemate by the hand back over to the group.

"I'll be fine, Cy," she assured her while trying to squeeze around a thick fourth year. "I mean, maybe I can get Elle to help me fix up some of these dresses later so that they're not so...ugly."

When she returned to the group holding Cy's hand, her hazel eyes focused upon the love potion in Keegan's hand. She beamed, deciding to take her sister's advice.

"Ooh, who is that for?"

Anything Cy was going to say to Serenity was interrupted by and older girl who looked a lot like Serenity. The following speedy family argument and make up fest left Cy's head spinning.  Whatever had happened it had cheered Serenity up so that was good.

Serenity grabbed her hand and began leading her back to the rest of the first years. "I'll be fine, Cy. I mean, maybe I can get Elle to help me fix up some of these dresses later so that they're not so...ugly." Cyhirae smiled bemusedly, squeezing Serenity's hand. "I'm glad you're okay. And you're outfit isn't old and ugly, it's cute." 

"Ooh, who is that for?"

Following Serenity's gaze, Cyhirae eyed the bottle in Keegan's hand. "What are you guy's going to do? Spike the drinks?"  She cocked her head, "What is it anyway?"

Pax was, so far, and rather startlingly for a twelve-year-old boy, having rather a nice time. He was the sort who didn't mind dressing up a little and looking nice, so he wore the smart, slate-grey suit his parents had got him quite happily. He had even attempted a polishing charm on his black dress shoes. (It hadn't worked. He'd ended up doing it manually.) Forgoing the Hufflepuff-yellow accents on this occasion, he wore a satin Valentine-red tie that he thought went quite well with his black shirt, and the red flower from the SAWS booth that he'd asked Fauna if he could borrow to put in his blazer pocket. And of course, he had a couple of SAWS badges pinned to his lapel. He had a cause to support, after all!

He knew the other first-years on the whole wouldn't be terribly impressed with his willingness to play dress-up, but it had gone down well with some of the older students. Pax had been advertising for the SAWS booth, and it definitely paid to make a good impression. Some of the teenagers had even bought flowers from the little tray he was carrying around! It made him feel a little like a street vendor at a market, except occasionally getting compliments on his attire. It was a nice feeling, actually doing something productive for SAWS and getting a little self-esteem boost at the same time.

Still, he was missing the other first-years a little. He wondered how they were doing, and if they were enjoying themselves. So when a gaggle of sixth-year girls moved away from a refreshments table and Pax caught sight of Serenity and Cyhirae, he grinned and wove his way through the crowd towards them.

When he reached them, he was pleased to find that they weren't the only two who had gravitated towards this particular corner of the tent. Pax offered a shy smile to the group at large, hoping they didn't think his dress clothes made him look ridiculous. 'Hi guys!' he said. 'Heh, anyone want to buy a flower?' He held up his tray with a sheepish grin, but became distracted when he noticed that Tynan, Serenity and Cyhirae's attention was drawn towards something Keegan was keeping in his jacket pocket. 'What're you all looking at?' he asked curiously. Please tell me it's not something that's going to get Keegan in trouble... Pax did like to keep an open mind, but there was only so much he could deny the Gryffindor's track record.