Welcome

[nemo]

The school staff had done a splendid job of decorating the Great Hall for Halloween night, the events of which differed from the usual, somewhat dull, Halloween feast that was presented year after year. But Halloween should have been celebrated with something more than a meal; it was the one night of the year that actually approved of witchcraft and wizardy, spirits and monsters - even if the idea of it all happened to be ridiculed in the muggle world. Muggles hadn't the slightest clue as to what was really going on in their own neighbourhoods, but for the students of Hogwarts, witchcraft and wizardry was an obvious reality.

The banner above the large double doors read Welcome Students in bold lettering that glittered black and orange. Streamers hung down from above the entry way and had been charmed by one of the staff to scream giddily whenever someone stepped past them and into the room. Bats flittered about in groups of dozens, weaving effortlessly through the maze of floating candles. There were some annual decorations that couldn't have been left out, candles and floating pumpkins included. There were pumpkins that sat on the ground as well, scattered throughout the room against the walls. Their angry faces glared menacingly, grinning one moment and scowling the next while the multi-coloured flames flickered spaztically within.

There was a much darker ambiance to the Great Hall tonight - literally. The candles, it seemed, weren't able to shed much light and thus the room was dim at best. The Hall had been arranged without the four House tables or the single staff table; instead there were countless smaller, circular tables spread out to allow a space in the very centre of the room that was meant to be used for dancing or socialising. Halloween costumes weren't required [although they were perfectly welcome in any case] but the staff had stressed that the event tonight was intended to be a semi-formal occasion. Students had been reminded countless times in the last week to wear something 'proper' or 'tasteful' that highlighted their respect for themselves and their peers. To be presentable wasn't a bad thing - tonight it was expected.

Very faint music echoed throughout the room without a discernable source. In some areas, however, it grew louder, yet faded altogether the closer one went to the doors. A dinner menu had been planned, but all the same a slim table had still been set up against the wall, complete with a punch bowl, goblets, and tiny pastries and Halloween candies. There was already a crowd milling about the table, girls in their dresses and boys standing awkwardly [some not so much] at their sides. It was to be an enjoyable evening for all students of the school. They had roughly four hours until curfew was in effect - but who was actually going to call it a night after eleven?


ooc; This will serve as a general thread for characters to make their arrival. After you've found a date or a group of friends you're more than welcome to create a separate thread to carry on your role play, or if you'd simply like to use this one that's fine too.

[Dorcas Meadowes]

Dorcas walked into the Great Hall, her hands clamped together nervously. In no way was she trying to be conceited, but she felt like she was up to par in the looks department tonight. After all, whenever you spend more than an hour getting ready you had the right to say you were at your best, but that was not why she was nervous. Blind dates were not known to work out well in real life. Maybe in novels they happened perfectly but this wasn't a novel. Her pumpkin earring shown brightly in the lighting. Dorcas had borrowed a roommates pumpkin stud earring earlier. They were actually pretty shiny by itself but she assumed that they had some sort of paint glaze on it.

She was wearing a dark gray, almost black, halterneck dress. The dress stopped right at her knees and the skirt of the dress flowed easily when she walked. Her bare back was covered up by her hair. Though she didn't cut it the style it was in tonight made it appear a few inches shorter, just enough to see an inch of her back. Her hair was down but was in large waves with a bit of the hair that was normally in her face was pulled back. The rest of her bangs were in in her face, parted on the side. Begrudgingly she borrowed a pair of heals from the same roommate that she borrowed the earrings from. The only reason she agreed to it was because apparently it was suppose to be the heel version of a boot. It did appear to be similar to the boot that she was so comfortable with it. In order to match the dress it was made out of a dull gray leather. The only jewelry besides the earrings that she was wearing was the silver necklace that her parents with the butterfly and snitch charms.

Dorcas sighed and looked around. Nerves were getting to her and she wasn't sure how to approach her date. She didn't exactly have the best track record when it came to men. She nibbled on her lightly glossed lips. Before she could freak out anymore than she already was Dorcas took a breath and let out a sigh. Feeling a bit more relaxed she began to look around for pumpkin cuff links.

[Benjy Fenwick]

Although Benjy was usually quite confident in his appearances, tonight he was nervous. He has dressed accordingly - simple, dark dress robes and a freshly pressed white shirt. He had found pumpkin cufflinks, and slipped them through the buttonholes of his outer-robes, feeling as if some otherworldly force was scrutinising him for his decision to use the Blind Date service. He hope his date wouldn't instantly hate him and walk away to find another guy to dance and talk with. He didn't know what he would do if that happened. Benjy had had a date for every banquet and ball. Some had been platonic and others had been romantic. But of course, that was the fun of this - meeting someone you didn't know, someone completely knew.

He walked into the Great Hall, and ran a hand through his hair, sighing faintly. Now, just to find the girl with the pumpkin earrings. Benjy scanned the groups, and the crowd on a whole, and then spotted a flashed of orange. Wasn't that the girl he had met in the Owlery the other day? Dorcas Meadowes. He coughed, and swallowed nervously. Wow, she would probably be quite disappointed with the date services match. He smoothed out his robes and his hair, and walked over with a small smile, squeezing between people, excusing himself for bumping shoulders, walking around groups of decidedly arrogant looking Slytherins, and a scary looking Hufflepuff. Sliding past a table, he grabbed two glasses of punch, and grinned to himself as he spotted a Gryffindor girl in his year pulling a large flask from her robes. It no doubt contained a large dose of fire whiskey or vodka for the punch bowl.

Benjy didn't know what else to to, so he lifted up his cuff and showed her the pumpkin cufflink "Surprise...!" Oh God, couldn't you have said something more sophisticated a cool? You're such a nerd Benjy!. He swallowed again and smiled "Hello Dorcas. You look beautiful..." he smiled a little shyly and held out one of the glasses to her "I bought you some punch"

[Dorcas Meadowes]

Dorcas nibbled on her lip. Each moment that passed made her more and more nervous. What if he didn't like her? What if she didn't like him? Even though she had been happy with her appearance earlier, that feeling started to wash away. Her brunette eyes scanned the crowd. Cuff links were rather hard to spot for the mere fact that hands tended to move or be below waist level, making it harder to catch view.

Dorcas hadn't actually been paying too much attention when Benjy walked up to her. So when she heard his voice she jumped for a second and her eyes widened. Her face blushed at the realization that she hadn't been paying attention enough that he was able to sneak up on her. It took a second after that to realize that she knew her date. Dorcas put a hand on her heart and smiled at the Gryffindor.

"Surprise, yes in more than one way. I was so deep in thought that I didn't even notice you walk up to me. Sorry if that sounds horrible, I guess I was just nervous about my decision to use the dating service."

Dorcas babbled for a moment or two more before shutting herself up. Great way to start a date Meadowes, babbling on about stupid stuff. Her eyes widened when she heard his comment. The blush that had almost completely disappeared came back with a vengeance. She quickly took the punch offered to her.

"Uhh, thank you. You look handsome tonight yourself."

She was pleasantly surprised with who the service paired her up with. She knew him well enough to know that he wasn't annoying but not enough to feel like there was no point to the date. This way she could possibly find out about him some more and, since this was a date, if there was something there.

[Benjy Fenwick]

Benjy smiled "Oh no, it's fine, really. I was a bit nervous myself. I planned on saying something really charming and cool, but....it didn't go all that well" he gave a lopsided grin and then looked down at the floor when she commented on his 'handsomeness'. Of course, Benjy didn't think he was all that good looking, but if Dorcas though he was, he would trust her judgement. Benjy, suddenly a little warm, took off his think dress robes to reveal a simple back, Muggle suit. He wore no tie, but he looked quite immaculate, shaven and ironed. Benjy cleared his throat and put the glasses down on a table near them. Was it too early to ask her to dance? Normally, Benjy managed to dance all night, but he knew some people weren't as energetic as himself. He chewed on his lip and decided he would go ahead.

"Um...would you like to dance?" he caught her eyes and then looked away with a small, warm smile and blushed very slightly. His confidence was growing a little. He noticed that her eyes were brown, and quite pretty and then looked away again. After a moment of awkwardness, he went to the table, picked up his glass of punch and drank a large helping. At least he would be sober. That Gryffindor girl has already tainted the punch bowl no doubt, and he had scooped up some before the booze took its affects. Though a room filled with drinking students would be funny to see. Until a Professor found out and spoilt the fun, of course,

He couldn't place his finger on the music, but at least it wasn't that awful Car Wash song. In the summer holidays before his seventh year, Benjy had gone to a Muggle friends party and had managed to get drunk. Shamefully he had also managed to do a drunken disco dance to that song. Benjy shook his head at the thought and grinned to himself. Now disco style dancing here tonight. No way.

[I'm sorry, it's so rubbish!]

[Dorcas Meadowes]

Her eyes ran over his form once more when he took off his dress robes. Personally she liked muggle suits more that wizarding robes. Suits and dress from muggle fashion tended to fix the wearer better. Dorcas did note that this was a case where the suit did wonders. Not that he was bad looking with the robes, she just felt that he was much more appealing without them.

Dorcas nodded when she heard his offer to dance. Even though she had bouts of clumsiness she was able to dance. Her grandparents saw to that. It was one of the things that they insisted that she know how to do. Her mother's parents always wanted her to grow up a sheltered, privileged life. Instead she grew up in the countryside and was able to grow up the way she wanted to.

Just as Benjy did she took one last sip before setting her drink down. She hadn't seen the girl put anything in the punch but from experience she knew that some time that night the punch would be spiked but she figured that what Benjy gave was too early for it to be spiked. Once she put down the drink she grabbed his hand and slowly pulled him through the crowd. The bad thing about standing by a table was that they were always surrounded.

"So... do you dance? I, well, I can do formal dancing but I really don't excel at other types."

It was true. Unless the dance had a specific movement Dorcas really had no rhythm. One of her secrets was that she would listen to her music alone and dance around her room. That is if you considered jumping up and down around her room dancing. Sometimes she was jealous of people who could dance because they always seemed that had such grace or confidence. Other times she had no preference.

[Rabastan Lestrange]

Rabastan stood just off from the entryway with a perfectly vacant expression on his face. He adjusted the knot in his tie every now and then while he observed the slow but steady trickle of students making their way past the streamers and into the Great Hall. Faint giggles and shrill screams echoed around him every time someone went in or came out - it was almost comical to watch, though truth by told he was quiet intrigued by the idea. Perhaps he would have to learn the spell himself and put it to better use, such as charming his bedroom door to scream were someone to enter the room without his permission. No one really went into his bedroom though . . . So maybe it would be better to use it at the school. In his dorm. On his trunk. Every so often he'd been noticing the disappearance of socks, ties - even a shirt he was fond of. And he wasn't messy guy either. He suspected it was someone else in his dorm.

But anyways. His mind seemed to wandering down every road to no where tonight, though nothing on his mind was really of any importance. He was standing here all dolled up in a casual collared and buttoned shirt, silver-stripped tie accenting the faint grey pinstripes that ran down his trousers. His shoes, as usual, were polished and shiny and just to his liking. Hopefully he was to the liking of Andomeda, too. Not that he was necessarily trying to impress her . . . Hell, he didn't have to impress her. They were supposed to be married one day - they probably had no less than two free years to go - so whether he was a slob or not she would simply have to take him. There were no ifs, ands, or buts.

Someone bumped him rudely from behind. Bastan threw a look over his shoulder but the guy who'd stumbled into him with a beauty on his arm hardly seemed to take note. He was far too busy drooling over his date. Bastan gave the girl a once over and had to concur; she was extremely attractive despite her house. Hmm. Maybe he'd stalk them the entire night and wait until the poor soul dumped her back at the entryway to her common room. If Andomeda was alright with it, of course, but Bastan couldn't believe she'd say no. They acted along the lines of friends rather than a romantice couple. Bottom line - they weren't romantic at all.

He sighed and straightened his collar, checking his tie once more. He was beginning to think he looked like an idiot just standing there with no one at his side.

[Benjy Fenwick]

Benjy manage to drink the rest of his punch before Dorcas led him into the crowd. He coughed and shifted nervously on his feet when they finally found somewhere free of people. Well, free of a whole crowd of them, anyway "I can dance generally...but I can dance formally, quite well.....hopefully" he grinned and took her other hand, and then held a hand in the middle of her back and looked down to adjust his footing. He still felt quite nervous, not really wanting to look nerdy or stupid in front of Dorcas. He bit his lip and felt slightly awkward about his large feet. Perhaps all that eating went into making his feet grown, because nothing else ever seemed to. He rolled his eyes at himself and looked up to her, noting that a perfect song had come on - not too fast, not too slow.

He began to sway, and adjusted his footing appropriately when the rhythm changed and smiled a little "I'm sure you have danced with...far better dancers than me. Is this okay?" he inclined his head and rose his brows, his expression gently questioning, his voice direct but soft "I'm afraid I might step on your toes" he was very worries about hurting her if he did. His large feet sometimes got in the way of dancing like this. He wouldn't blame her if she kicked him, if he did. Benjy was so clumsy sometimes that it was quite unsettling. There must have been potions for that...perhaps 'Un-clumsy Potion' or something. He shook his head.

Looking around them for a moment, he noticed Rabastan Lestrange walk into and looked back to Dorcas again. It took quite a lot of will power not to grimace or make a rude remark under his breath. Then he noticed how many of the Slytherins looked haughty and up themselves. Of course, he had chatted with one or two of his Slytherin friends as he had been walking to the Great Hall, but now they had to keep up appearance in their own corners. He didn't blame them entirely - he had seen how some Pure-blood families treated their children. It was really quite backward and old fashioned, and often very harsh indeed.

[Dorcas Meadowes]

Dorcas placed her free hand on his shoulder while her other hand was grasping his. They were in an area where there were less people. After all it was pretty early and most people didn't like to start dancing until later, generally due to nerves. Said nerves tended to calm down after someone spiked the punch. Drunken dancing lead to other things that teachers didn't approve of. It was the cycle of life for dances. Should said circle come about in the real world, it might just end up with a nasty morning after and a little surprise months later. which was always a humorous story to hear. Though Dorcas expected that the situation happening to her had to be in the negatives.

"Better dancers yes. Company? I'd say you're right up there with my dad. Sadly most of the people I've danced with are instructors that my grandparents thought a proper young lady should learn from. My grandparents are pureblooded. Actually my dad was the only person I've danced with on my own accord."

Few people liked dancing with someone they didn't like. You had to stand so close to them in order to properly dance that if you were not comfortable then you probably wouldn't be able to dance. Dorcas had been forced to do so at a few of her grandparents' parties. It had been so uncomfortable dancing with 'proper American wizarding boys' like a 'proper young Rowena lady' should. Luckily her mother got annoyed with her parents trying to turn both of them into proper ladies. After that their visits to America were significantly shorter.

Before she could comment on his mention of stepping on her feet, he did. She winced slightly before flashing a smile. It didn't hurt a lot, the shoe was actually pretty stiff and made it harder for any pain to get to her foot. God knows how many guy's feet she stepped on in her time dancing, and that was only counting the accidents. Dorcas had stepped on a few feet on purpose. Apparently American pure bloods were just as stuck up as European ones.

"Its okay. My feet are rather large targets anyways. Besides quidditch and occasionally dancing, I'm quite the klutz. I have a few scars to testify to that."

Her entire body concentrated on the movement of the dance and her body swayed almost perfectly to the music. Though her body was concentrating on the dance her mind was free to wander. It was a dance that she had learned before so she was confident of the movements she made. When songs and dances she was unfamiliar with came up she would tend to slow down and stare at her feet. That way her partner always knew when she felt uncomfortable.

"So... we really didn't get too acquainted last time. Tell me something about yourself.

[Andromeda Black]

Had Andromeda been raised in a household that was not The Most Noble House of Black, she would have been cursing her face off. As it was, the sixteen-year-old was not cursing her face off; at least, not aloud. In her own little head it was a finely trained symphony with big drums and trombones and even a little man dressed in a very nice tux with coat tails and everything conducting. Andromeda paused in her frantic shoe putting on and envisioned the idea, giggling slightly at the mental image she gained from her thoughts. Her knee-length (at the longest parts) dress was a rather flattering mix of yellow and orange, and was, as she had promised her dearest Bastan, covered in sparkles. Her shoes were not sparkled, but they were a shocking shade of orange that would, she was sure, not go with anything but the dress she was currently dressed in. As was customary for those of female gender, Andromeda had spent nearly an hour and a half on her hair, curling it to perfection and making sure ever last sparkle was lying in exactly the right space.


Andromeda Black had not been trained in the art of walking in three-inch heels, so as soon as she stood up, the sixteen-year-old wobbled the teensiest bit before gaining her balance and making her slow way to the Great Hall. It took much longer to get from the Slytherin Common Rooms to the Great Hall because of her shoes, and Andromeda blamed them entirely for her being late. As she came upon the large dining hall, her breath seemed to vanish from her lungs. It was gorgeous, every last thing. Everything from the outstanding spells to make it seem creepier to the simple presentation of the snacks made Andromeda gasp in delight. True, she had grown up around magic and she had been at Hogwarts for a good six years, but still. Andromeda was still overwhelmed by how amazing the witches and wizards who worked Hogwarts were.


She spotted Rabastan looking quite posh on the outside, but she noticed how he straightened his tie and pulled at his collar, even the way he looked around for her. She stifled a giggle at her friend’s anxiousness, no matter how slight. Making a valiant effort to quiet the clop of her heels, Andromeda attempted to sneak up on her nearly required date. She had to stand on her tip-toes, even in three-inch heels, to cover his eyes and placed her chin on his shoulder.
“Guess who.” Andromeda whispered, a smiled dominating her face. The poor girl couldn’t keep a straight face with this much happiness boiling up inside her if she tried.

[Benjy Fenwick]

Benjy blushed a little, and smiled "Thanks" he shrugged, and nodded. His grandparents had made him dance properly "My gran and granddad were Muggle, but they still made me dance the waltz and...everything else. But it seems to have come in handy. You dance well" and it was no amiable lie. She was stepping and swaying and managing not to look too awkward, in his opinion anyway. Benjy continued to move the best he could to the music and then, to his horror, he stepped on her foot. He looked up with an apologetic expression and shook his head "No...no it's okay, your feet are...small. I'm so clumsy, I'm sorry" he gave a half-hearted smile and still held onto her whilst making sure he didn't step on her feet again. When another, similar song came on, he sighed at the fact that it wasn't anything too trashy and thanked whoever had picked the DJ, silently.

"Something about myself?" his voice had a tone of surprise, but he forced it back. Usually people would know a lot of stuff about him now, just because he was one of those guys who chatted about current events and shock horror - his foremost feelings. It was maybe because he was a little shy around Dorcas, that he hadn't done that "I'm into Healing...I can't remember if I told you that before? I'm aspiring to become a Healer or at least a Mediwizard. I also like horror films, and the cinema" he smiled slightly and tilted his head "What about you?" in fact, he had asked Dumbledore for a television in the Gryffindor common room, but the Headmaster had declined his request of casting spells so Muggle stuff would working the castle. Even when he had sent the old wizard a Christmas card (although, he had done that since his third year, without the intention of bribery). What did it take to blackmail people around here?

He realised he felt a little more at ease about his clumsiness now and coughed "So, d'you have anything sorted out for graduation? I mean...I'm going to get an apprenticeship at Mungos, but I haven’t thought further ahead than that" he was actually quite nervous. People said if you didn't last the three years of apprenticeship at Mungos without being puked on, you were as good as rejected. Benjy had been vomited on, and bled on more than he could remember, so he figured it was a good sign. The Gods had a funny was of diving peoples futures.

[Dorcas Meadowes]

"Well I know that is a bold faced lie. I have ginormous feet but I take it that you were being sweet."

She was quite happy with the music being played. If it was more 'club' type music she wouldn't know where to begin. Slower music was uncomfortable due to the closeness needed in order to dance properly. Dorcas nodded slowly when he reiterated her question.

"Sounds like a good plan. The world can always use more Healers. After all people are stupid or unfortunate and need help. Merlin knows how many times I've needed the school nurse to help me out. What type of healing do you want to go into?"

Dorcas remembered for a fact that he did mention movies before. She couldn't remember if he mentioned what type of movies he liked but she remembered that she had thought about her preference of books at the time. Her father may have been a muggle but he was too interested with the wizarding world to bother with the world he left behind at age eleven. That meant that even though Dorcas had half muggle blood she was more in touch with her wizarding heritage. Televisions weren't exactly all the rage with the wizarding society in Britain.

"Me? I want to be an auror. Weird as it might seem I want to fight in this stupid war. Maybe not forever but for a while. Until I can saw that I've done something valuable with my life. At least if I know anything I know that I have the ability to fight."

Her eyes darkened and she growled softly. It was almost inaudible but she muttered something about Evan Rosier. Realizing that she was starting to get annoyed she bit her lip, blushed, and apologized for the change in attitude. She hummed the music that sounded around her. Music was always enjoyable, well at least when it was a good genre.

"Oh and as Ravenclaw cliched as it is I prefer books over most things. Though I am not the greatest fan of non fiction work. Mainly I like DADA books or fantasy. Muggle fantasy.

It was always interesting to see what muggles thought about the 'impossible.' Many of her books were romanticized tales of vampires, werewolves and dragons. Dark creatures with the unique being that had the heart of gold. Generally they would have to fight against horrible odd yet come out on top and generally unscathed.

[Kamiel Dolohov]

It was like some sort of duty that after the older then old hat was placed upon a new first years head and it spoke its thoughts within your ear that once its booming, screeching voice announcing what house said student was supposed to be placed in, that said house welcomed them; with much applause that could have been over done as well a cheers. In the meantime, amidst all that shouting and clapping, said student would suddenly feel there nerves leaving them as they happily got off the stool and made there way to the awaiting arms of there new ‘family’. Most of them did anyway; there had been a few whom seemed uncertain about the house they were placed in.

However this wasn’t the welcoming feast of the start of another new year that had happened almost a good two months prior. But it was that sense of duty again that had Kamiel slowly making her way out of the Ravenclaw common room and down the stone stairs in the direction of the much anticipated Halloween Feast. Instead of the normal, and rather boring, feast that only included floating pumpkins and candles, and loads of ghoulish looking food, the staff of the Witch and Wizarding school had decided to spice things up a bit by adding a dance – add a semi-formal dress code.

This was where that sense of ‘duty’ had come into affect. With the way the Professors had gone on, and on, and on, about proper decorum at such an event, that was sure to be a spectacle anyway, Kamiel felt like it was her father informing her of important dignitaries coming to dinner. Even if this was simply a school function and the Professors didn’t want the students to make a fool of themselves with what they wore, which is hopeless to hope in the first place with some of the fashion sense Kamiel found herself around. The Ravenclaw female didn’t do formal at all, the closest thing coming to that would be her school robes, and semi-formal was what she wore when she wasn’t in the black robes.

Now all was left was the ‘formal’ title, which varied within itself – formal, very formal, and extremely formal, and meet the Queen formal. It hadn’t taken much time to find something to wear, a quick trip into Hogsmead at the local Seamstresses shop to gather some needed fabric and a few flicks of her wand up in her dormitory that created her assumable for the evening; a high neck halter top black dress that twisted slightly in the back revealing tantalizing skin patches, and a slight bubble skirt that formed around her mid-thigh. The dress also had various hidden silver sequin like lines splash across it having a slight effect of a spider’s web.

Her long ebony locks had been curled, and then pined up with a few strands to fall and caress her cheeks, while make-up was simple black eyeliner and mascara, silver eye shadow, and a soft rose for a blush. Jewlery was a simple white gold and diamond teardrop shaped necklace with matching wristlet and anklet, while her shoes were strap, two inch silver heels. Making her five foot two appearance that of five foot four. Something she was pleased about and once again silently prayed to the person who invented such a thing.

A soft sigh caused her glossed lips to part slightly as Kamiel finally stood at the wide-open Great Hall doors and looked on with her sapphire blue irises at the decorated Hall. She was slightly impressed with what she saw, although her face didn’t show it much, but the school had for once out done themselves to the best of there abilities. ”Now to find someone I know…” But as her eyes scanned who was already present, no familiar – friend worthy form came into her sights. ”Fantastic!” Was what Kamiel and breathed out before her form then too became lost in the crowd.

[Benjy Fenwick]

Benjy arched a brow, but said nothing, letting his expression denote his disagreement with her comment on her huge feet. She was rather pretty indeed, and he would feel incredibly guilty if he started a friendly argumentative banter, which turned into a bitter argument about her feet being large or small. Dorcas seemed like a very nice girl, and he didn’t want his overly nice attitude and forte for complimenting to ruin the pleasant conversation they had going. He smiled. The idea of nursing Dorcas was warm and light in his mind. Then his mind was filled with more alluring images, and he had to blink to will them away "Oh yeah...I would like to become a general practitioner in the healing arts...I'm content in helping heal all ailments and wounds" he rose his brows, quite proud of his pronouncement. Many Healers just wanted to become versed in one type of Healing. He would fashion himself as a magical GP. It was slightly arrogant to feel pride over that, but he rarely allowed himself pride.

"An auror is a good thing to be. My father is an Auror...Artemis Fenwick. I think you would make a good auror though...you seem to have a strong air about you" he smiled a little, and then caught her mutter "Evan Rosier?" Benjy’s expression darkened considerably. He scowled and thought that the atmosphere may have thickened a little. Not quite butter. Perhaps soft cheese. When Dorcas mentioned her love of books, he was thankful for the lighter distraction. He smiled brightly and shrugged "Stereotypical it may be, but your taste in fiction is good. Have you read Dune by Frank Herbert? It's more a science fiction epic, but it has some elements of fantasy. And The Hobbit is rather good" he flashed a grin. Muggles views on magic were amusing, but he knew they wrote fiction on subjects that they didn't understand.

"So...what's your favourite colour?" it may have sounded like a random question, but a favourite colour could tell a lot about a person. He personally favoured the colour blue, and sometimes purple. Actually, he had a pair of striped socks in blue and purple and a pair of boxer shorts with weird, blue and violet patterns. He smiled a little ruefully at a thought that came into his head. Showing Dorcas his boxer shorts would no doubt be a bad idea. The thought had been entirely innocent, but things could always get a little out of hand.

[Dorcas Meadowes]

"That's pretty good. Too many people become healers, and aurors too, to become famous. Not for good reasons. My father was an auror. He was muggleborn and to him it the greatest sort of adventure. He wasn't exactly the happiest with his 'boring' muggle lifesyle.

She could feel the change in atmosphere around them when she mentioned Rosier. That was the way it was whenever she mentioned the guy. Whether it was because she had the reaction or whoever she was with had the reaction, whenever she mentioned his name or even just thought about him, it ruined her day. How he managed to get that sort of control on her emotions baffled, infuriated, and humiliated her.

"Sorry, I've gotten into a few fights with Evan Rosier and he just grates my nerves like no one else I've ever met. Just being in his presence infuriates me."

As she spoke of the Slytherin she unconsciously dug her fingers into his shoulders and hand. Her eyes brightened when she came out of her thoughts. Realizing what she did, Dorcas silently yelped and stopped dancing. She grabbed the hand she had dug her fingers into and inspected it, wincing when she saw the nail marks in his hand. Dorcas bit her lip with guilt at the site of it. She had the tendency to repeat certain habits in certain circumstances.

"I'm sorry Benjy, its just, a few days ago we got into another fight. So even thinking about him makes me want to kill him.

Dorcas ran her thumb over the marks and watched the marks even out. She offered him an apologetic look. Of course she didn't mean to do that but in the end she did. He was lucky that she didn't have long nails, long nails left her with a weird urge to cut them down as far as possible. If she did have longer nails she would have left larger marks.

"Wanna sit this dance out? It seems to be getting faster. And I've read The Hobbit but not Dunes. I find it amusing that the author thinks that elves are like that. They're more like what the older English people thought of elves rather than the tall, beautiful people of Tolkein's imagination."

His question was actually surprising to her. Dorcas had trouble being decisive when it came to trivial type matters. Should the matter be life altering then she would have an easier time deciding but it was almost the fact that the less important the issue then the answer was less important. Made her mind less willing to pick an answer.

"I dunno. Maybe, red or silver. I'm not really decisive about these things. All I really know is I don't like pink or yellow.