CHARITY BALL MAIN THREAD

[erinn lacey thomas]

Erinn snorted a bit at Nika's comment. Of course Erinn was fully aware that Nika was a bitch. After all, they'd been something of rivals for the past few years and she'd been on the receiving end of more than a few of her nastier pranks. "Oh, don't worry. I realized that one a loong damn time ago," Erinn commented, giving Nika a bemused look. Despite the bad that had come of that fact, Erinn didn't really mind it much. She kind of liked the fact that Nika was a bit hardcore and a total bitch most of the time, since it kept things interesting. People that were constantly nice just didn't mesh well with Erinn, usually. Mostly because it grated on her nerves, but also because she always felt somewhat inferior to them, since she knew that she could be a bit of a jerk sometimes and she hated that feeling.

When Nika seemed to accept her challenge, Erinn wasn't sure where it was going to go, or where she wanted to go. Sure, she had more or less come to the conclusion that she liked Nika in a romantic sense, but she had yet to accept that. It wasn't exactly something that she had wanted to happen, but it had. Somewhere in between all the fighting and the apparent hatred between the two of them, it had just kind of happened. It just hadn't come out until now and Erinn definitely wasn't too pleased by it at all. She didn't want to like Nika. That was against everything she believed in, pretty much. Nika was a Slytherin, which was obviously bad, and she was a girl, which was also bad. But, so was Carleigh and Erinn had never had a problem liking her before. Perhaps it was just because this was actually happening and not just some wishful thinking.

However, before Erinn could muster up the thought to protest it, her back was up against the wall, Nika's lips were pressed up against hers and she couldn't bring herself to stop it. Hell, she found herself gladly letting it continue. Whatever momentary surprise she'd felt quickly faded and she brought her arms up to rest on Nika's waist. The fact that other people were watching didn't even matter at that point and Erinn couldn't have cared less what they thought or even if they thought she was drunk. Pulling back after a moment, Erinn turned her head slightly to the side before glancing back over at Nika. "Eh, I've had better," she said, shrugging slightly before she dropped her hands from Nika's waist and slipped out of her grip to lean up against the wall slightly off to the side. "Maybe next time," she commented, a sly smirk on her face.

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[gabriella sofia davies]

Gabby regarded her sister with hard eyes that softened as she spoke. It was hard to be angry at someone when all they were thinking about was your welfare. Still, Gabby didn't think that Ari should cut herself from her life completely just because of her accident. She was about to argue this point when Ari stepped forward and wrapped her arms around her in a hug. Surprised, Gabby hesitated a second before she, happily,returned the action. It was nice sharing an actual hug with her sister; familiar and comforting.

Once Ari had finished speaking, Gabby broke the hug so that she could meet her sisters gaze with her own. It hurt a little, to think that they couldn't return to what they had before. Their relationship was one of the most important things to Gabby. It was why she'd been so hurt and angry when Ari had disappeared with no explanation all those months ago. Still, at least now Ari was making some sort of effort to find a way to make things work. It meant that they wouldn't see each other as much but it was something. And as far as Gabby was concerned, something was far better than not being able to speak with her at all.

"Dinner every now and then sounds good." Gabby said finally, a small smile pulling at her lips. "And maybe you could throw in some free Puddlemere tickets every now and then too?" she added innocently, though her smile was a sly one. "I think you owe me six months worth?"

[francesca victoria thomas]

The walk to the Gryffindor Tower seemed to be a long and quiet one, especially since Frankie was painfully aware of Felix's presence at her side. She could practically hear his brain working, probably trying to work through the life changing information she'd just fed him. A part of her wanted to reach out to Felix and tell him that everything was going to be okay, that he didn't have to worry. But what good would telling him that be? Besides, Frankie could hardly tell Felix not to worry when she was a bag of worry and nerves herself.

Rounding a corner onto a set of stairs, Frankie lost her footing on the second step at Felix's question, almost losing her balance in the process. "Uh.. what?" That was the last thing she'd expected to come out of his mouth and it took her completely by surprise. Blinking herself out of the stare she was giving Felix, Frankie continued the climb up the stairs. "I don't know..." She replied and tucked a wave of hair behind her ear with a trembling hand. Talking about naming the baby she'd only just realized she was carrying made the whole situation feel that much scary and real.

They had arrived at the Portrait now, but instead of speaking the password, Frankie stopped and turned so that she was facing Felix. "Everything will be okay.. okay? We'll just... take things a step at a time, yeah?" Biting back on her lip to stop it's tremble, Frankie regarded Felix with a wary and tired stare. There was still a part of her that worried he might make some crazy exclamation that it wasn't his and that he'd having nothing to do with it.

[nika izadora krum]

Nika had Erinn pinned to the wall, their lips locked together. Sparks flew in the girl's green eyes, exploding like fireworks. Nika hadn't really kissed a lot of people in her whole fifteen years of tormenting people. A lot of people didn't like her and Erinn probably didn't either, but the girl seemed to be falling for her. She didn't want to, it would never work out right. Her mind told her one thing as her heart and lips told her another. She deepened the kiss, playing with the girl's chocolate-colored hair as she felt the girl's arms slide around her waist.

Erinn squirmed out of Nika's grasp and stood against the wall. "Why did she have to ruin that?" Nika asked herself. Of course, Erinn had the answer to that question all wrapped up and ready to piss the girl off. Nika's expression changed from one of pleasure and serenity to one of bitter hatred and jealousy. She was quite offended. "You're such an asshole!" Nika exclaimed as she backed away from Erinn. It was taking all of her power to keep from punching the girl in the nose. "What did I do wrong? A guy stood nearby, jaw dropped with shock at the little occasion that he just witnessed. Nika shot him a piercing, bone chilling look. "Zakroĭ svoĭ rot, prezhde chem proglotitʹ vesʹ!" she blurted out, unaware of the sudden language change.

In one swift motion, she turned back around to face Erinn, snatching the bottle of alcohol out of her hand and emptying its contents over the girl's head. Nika's anger cooled and was replaced by a smug little smile. She leaned into Erinn and whispered in her ear, "I think you have a little something-something on your face there, hon. You should fix that before those guys with better lips than mine come strolling in." Her tone was harsh and thickly accented, giving the feeling as if you just bit down on a wad of aluminum foil. Nika was extremely upset though she would never dare to show it, so she bit down on her lower lip trying to contain the jubilee of feelings that were running through her body at the moment.

[ariella evelyn davies]

As Gabby stepped back and looked up at her, Ari was almost convinced that this wasn't about to go well. After all she had done over the past few months, she didn't really deserve a second chance, especially not one that seemed to come so easily. If anything, she should be doing a whole lot more than she was now to attempt to bring some sort of resolution to the conflict that had built between them. However, she was happy to accept that Gabby didn't want to do that. If she wanted to just accept it and go ahead and try to work things out as they were, than Ari wasn't about to complain. Besides, it would be nice to have Gabby around again, even if it was only sparingly. She was kind of the voice of reason in Ari's life, which was probably something that she needed to have around every so often if not for her own benefit, for that of everyone else around her.

Nodding and giving Gabby a soft grin, Ari decided that this was a good place to start. Dinners every now and then were feasible and certainly wouldn't put her in any danger if she picked the days right. "Yeah, we can...do dinner. I don't know...where you like to eat? But, I'm kind of partial to traveling and eating all over the place. Soo, I hope that's okay?" she asked, tilting her head to the side slightly in question. Ari was the type that couldn't settle down in one place for long and tended to apparate all over the globe on a whim, just because she could. It kept things interesting, which was something that Ari needed in her life, lest she get too bored. And, a bored Ari was never a good thing, since it generally led to destructive and dangerous things.

Snorting slightly at Gabby's addition to their deal, Ari shook her head in amusement. "Yeah, alright. I might be able to swing some box seats for you and a few friends. You can join my in the sad little box I'm confined to all season," Ari suggested, a slightly bitter tone to her voice. It was definitely a sore spot for her at the moment and as much as she loved the sport and her team, it sucked showing up to the matches and being forced to sit on the sidelines and just watch. She knew that she was much better than the stupid replacement they'd hired for the season and she didn't see why she couldn't just go play. It wasn't like she was going to spout a tail and fangs in the middle of a match or something stupid. They were obviously just being bitches.

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[felix ian wood]

The closer that they got to the Gryffindor tower, the more relieved Felix felt. It was starting to get more and more awkward between them and it was obvious that they needed to part ways and take some time to let things sink in on their own. However, he didn't want to just leave her while they were still walking around, since he was still quite worried that she might pass out or something. Once he knew that she was safe and in bed, he'd feel a lot better about leaving her to her own devices. Certainly, he needed some time alone to just process everything that she was telling him and possibly go ask someone for advice or..well, something. Really, at that point he just wanted to do anything that wasn't awkwardly standing next to Frankie and avoiding the serious matters that were in front of them.

Pausing when she started to almost trip, Felix rushed forward to help steady her after a moment, stepping back only when he was sure she was right on her feet again. He glanced back over at her when she started to simply stare at him, offering her a slight smile in an attempt to lighten the mood. Though, obviously, this wasn't really a mood that could be lightened with any jokes or grins that he might crack. It was one of those times where it was best to just walk away and come back to it later once they had gotten a chance to think things through. "Uh, right than. That is..for another day," he nodded. The last thing Frankie probably wanted to think about at the moment was giving the baby a name, since that kind of made it a bit more...well, real. If it had a name, then it existed. At least now they could sort of pretend it wasn't a thing.

Stopping outside of the portrait, he looked over at Frankie expectantly, offering her a reassuring smile as she spoke. "Yeah, no worries. It's going to work out fine. Uh, we'll be okay," he nodded. Stepping forward, he pulled her into one last, firm hug before moving back again. "Err, I'll see you around than, yeah? If you need me, I'm just an owl away. So, don't uh, don't hesitate to ask for anything," he added, deciding that this was probably the best thing that he could do for now. He didn't know if he had specific responsibilities, so it was easiest to gibe Frankie the freedom to ask of him whatever she needed. That he could and definitely would do to the best of his ability. For now, however, he needed to relax.

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[erinn lacey thomas]

Considering the fact that she was kind of being a total bitch, Erinn probably should have expected Nika to get mad. It was, after all, something that seemed to happen rather frequently for the two of them and most often because of something stupid that Erinn said. She wasn't good at understanding that for people to like her, she had to be nice to them and that mean comments probably wouldn't work to her benefit. However, there was a part of Erinn that knew full well what she was doing. Perhaps, in a way, she was self-sabotaging the whole budding relationship, since she was quite convinced that it wasn't going to ever work anyways. She didn't want to waste her time on something that had no hope of ever actually going anywhere, after all.

Shooting Nika a rather pleased, but smug grin as she started to yell and back away, Erinn felt like she had won some small victory. She was even more pleased by the fact that Nika was now shouting in her strange language at some kid that wasn't her. That was usually a sign that she was doing pretty well in her quest to make the other girl angry. Of course, she probably should have thought that through a bit more before going ahead and pissing her off, but she'd hadn't. Erinn wasn't exactly the thinking sort and the whole concept of consequences was foreign to her, in most circumstances. Usually when she fought with Nika, it was over the messenger and didn't matter, but this time it was for real. They were actually there together and Nika was completely capable of doing something back.

Which, unfortunately for Erinn, was exactly what she did. For a moment, when she felt the alcohol pouring down her head, Erinn was stunned. That was the last thing that she had been expecting to happen and it pissed her the hell off. To hell with being nice to that bitch. There was no way that Erinn was going to let her get away with that shit. Smirking slightly at what Nika said, Erinn pursed her lips irritably for a moment before responding. "Actually, I'm sure he'd have a terribly good time helping me get it off. In fact, I might just go ask Ty to help me do just that," Erinn mused with a bit of a shrug. She wasn't sure if Nika knew that Tyson was her ex, but she was pretty sure that she wouldn't be too pleased if she did know.

However, before she could go do anything else, she had to fix the Nika problem. Erinn was not the type of girl that could take something and let it go. She was never the bigger person in any situation and for the most part, she was vengeful. If someone pulled some shit on her, they'd get it right back. However, Erinn was also a fail. A very big fail, in fact, and much of what she did often turned out working against her. Grabbing the bottle of alcohol back from Nika, she let it drop to the ground with a slight bit of force, where it proceeded to smash and send shatters of glass out into the crowd, most of which hit her hand and legs, but some of which flung over in Nika's direction. It had seemed like a good idea at the time. Sort of.

"Fuck," Erinn cursed, when she realized that her hand now had a particularly large shard of glass wedged inside of it and was now bleeding profusely. "Bitch. Go get me a fucking bandaid," she demanded, glaring over at Nika as if it were entirely her fault. You would think that, considering the amount of time Erinn spent a bleeding mess in the Hospital Wing that she would get over any fear of blood, but that wasn't the case. It still made her queasy and ready to pass the hell out. So, for a moment, her anger subsided and was replaced with an overwhelming desire to have her hand fixed pronto. Taking care of the Nika problem could wait until later.

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[gabriella sofia davies]

Although a large part of Gabby felt upset that she couldn't be as close with her sister as she had been before, another part of her felt relieved and glad that she could be in her life at all. 'It's better than nothing' she reminded herself in order to dismiss the hurt that was weighing on her chest.

When Ari said that she liked to eat all over the place, Gabby had a feeling that she meant all over the world. Not that Gabby had any problem with that. In fact the idea of it excited her a little. Spending time with her sister and eating out at different places across the world? Mexican food in Mexico.. Italian food in Italy.. It was a double win in Gabby's book. "That's brilliant." she said, a little too eagerly, and shrugged her shoulders as if to shrug off her slight embarrassment. "I mean, yeah, sure. Whatever works for you."

A wide, happy grin pulled at her lips when Ari agreed to get her some tickets. Box seats too. Gabby didn't hide her eager grin or the little fist pump that accompanied it. There wasn't anything Gabby loved more,(besides reading books and watching badly dubbed kung-fu movies,) than Quidditch. If she hadn't been so rubbish at the sport, and she really was terribile at it, she'd definitely be playing for Ravenclaw. It seemed Ari had gotten all of the Quidditch skills though. And whilst she could get jealous at times, Gabby didn't mind all that much. Supporting from the sides was something she only happy to do. There wasn't anything like the pride you felt when a member of your family was a part of the team you were cheering on, the game became that much more important to you then. But Ari hadn't played in what like forever.

This train of thought coupled with the off-tone Gabby detected in her sisters voice at her last comment, had her wondering when Ari would be back on the team playing again. "So, your.. accident is why you've not been playing." she assumed, because of course that was the only explanation that made any sense. Gabby imagined that Ari wasn't all that happy with being made to watch from the sidelines, not if the bitterness in her voice was anything to go by. It was understandable and Gabby thought her sister must have found it unbearable. Quidditch was a very large part of her life, a part of her. It must have sucked not being able to do the one thing you were brilliant at. At least, that's why Gabby thought. "When can you play again?" she asked out of genuine curiosity.

[ariella evelyn davies]

Admittedly, as hesitant as she had been about getting involved again with her family, it didn't seem like it would be all that bad. She'd missed having them around, for sure, so it was kind of nice to know that she'd at least get to see Gabby once in awhile. Certainly, it wouldn't be anything like it used to be, mostly because Ari wasn't so sure she should let it, but it would still be something. Ari still had some hesitancy about it all, just because of the seriousness of it, but for now it seemed like it would be okay. As long as they didn't get too close, it wouldn't matter because Gabby wouldn't be around enough for anything bad to happen. Maybe. Biting at her lip slightly, Ari brushed off the thoughts for now, figuring she could just deal with all her hesitations and fears later when Gabby wasn't around. She didn't want to give the situation another turn for the worst.

Hearing the excitement in Gabby's voice only made it that much more difficult. If she was actually looking forward to seeing her, that would make it a lot harder to keep her at a distance and that sucked. However, at the moment a sly grin appeared on Ari's face as she looked over at Gabby. "Yeah, okay. Try not to get too excited there, kiddo. It's just dinner, yeah?" Ari commented, raising an eyebrow slightly as she spoke. It wasn't easy for Ari to reign in any excitement that Gabby was feeling, but she felt like she had to. Any repairs to their relationship would have to come slowly and generally step by step, which probably wouldn't last all of a few days since Ari failed at keeping to any sort of plan at all. However, she planned to at least attempt to stick to her guns for awhile.

The eagerness that Gabby showed when it came to the Quidditch tickets definitely cheered Ari up a bit. Even if she didn't play Quidditch, at least she was still a big fan of the game. It had always bothered Ari that Gabby wasn't big into playing sports, but there wasn't really much she could do about that one and so she was at least happy to settle for the fact that the girl liked to show up to the matches. Not to mention, it was nice to have someone there to show support and such. Sure, she had plenty of fans, but not many that she knew were there to support her specifically, as opposed to just a celebrity worship sort of thing. Though, she couldn't deny that she loved the whole worshiping Ari thing. She had a bit of an ego sometimes, that was for sure and having a mass of fans hanging around did wonders for her mood.

The smile that she had on her face faltered at Gabby's comment, since it definitely wasn't something that she liked to talk about. Any reminders that she wasn't out there playing with her team every day were pretty harsh and Ari definitely didn't deal well with it. "Uh, yeah. I'm unstable or something," she said with a shrug, as if it weren't that big of a deal. As nonchalant about it as she may have seemed at times, it killed her. Quidditch was pretty much her life and not being able to do what she loved was pretty damn miserable. Not to mention, teaching wasn't exactly the best substitute for the real thing. Scrunching up her face slightly at Gabby's question, Ari brought a hand up to her necklace and turned it around so that she could look at the pendant hanging from it. A set of numbers materialized on the surface, warranting a sigh from her lips. "Erm, a long damn time. Five months, twenty days, seven hours and eleven minutes," she answered with a nod.

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