Finished dressing, Rowan and Tiffany left together first as their dates were already waiting for them upstairs. In the Slytherin common room, they left behind a blushing Regulus and awestruck Terry who with wide eyes studied the figures of their dates, Silvia and Bethanie. As for Severus, he had already left according to Terry to pick up his hot date.
Rowan in a gentlemanly fashion accompanied Tiffany causing Tiffany to giggle all the way upstairs as she held onto the crook of Rowan's arm. The two girls came up the stairs and glanced around at the entrance. Their dates had yet to arrive as no doubt they were still climbing down from the towers.
They spotted Lily in lovely green dress robes that matched her eyes and waved in greeting to Lily and her date, a cute Hufflepuff. Lily waved back before entering the Great Hall. They spotted several other couples such as Pandora and Xeno, Dirk and Dorothy Cabot, Remus and Mary, and others. They all waved at each other in passing as Tiffany let a gasp of dismay causing Rowan to glance over.
Vasco Vespucci looked quite handsome in his dark robes that clashed with those of Tiffany. Tiffany's face stiffens before a polite expression appears on her face. "You look very nice, Vasco," Tiffany muttered.
The dark-eyed boy with fair skin and light hair looks a bit bored, but politely answers, "The same to you, Tiffany. Your gown is lovely."
Rowan must have scowled at him because Vasco turns towards Tiffany and extends the crook of his arm. "Shall we go?" Vasco impatiently said. "We need to find some good seats."
Rowan sends Tiffany a glance that says, "I'll ditch my date, and take you instead."
Tiffany shakes her head at Rowan and flashes her a bit of a sad but determined smile. "Let's go," Tiffany said as she took the offered arm of Vasco, and the two stiffly walked away.
With a cold expression filled with a trace of pity, Rowan watches Vasco lead Tiffany into the Great Hall. It felt sad to see the tragedy unfolding in front of her eyes. They'd all been hoping for the best for Tiffany, but it would seem fate would simply not have it. And though indeed they made a lovely couple at first glance to all, then again, first appearances can be very deceiving.
The oak front doors loudly open as the Durmstrang students led by Professor Vulchanova begin to pour in. Igor Karkaroff was wearing a high-colored velvet dress robes that made him appear like a vicar. The girl at his side was pretty enough though she didn't look happy to be there at all. She was probably a Durmstrang student that had been forced to accept Karkaroff's invitation.
From behind them, Rowan could see that the frozen lawn had been transformed into a grotto full of fairy lights. She instantly winced at the thought of hundreds of actual living fairies with very sharp teeth lying in wait within the rosebushes that had been conjured there. While others fluttered over statuses of what seemed to be Father Christmas and his reindeer.
Following after them was the entourage of Madam Maxime and Hagrid and her students. Madam Maxime looked quite elegant this evening with Hagrid earning dozens of lustful glances. His pine-colored robes gave him an added air of masculinity as if he was bringing the rough earthy forest with him. If Madam Maxime didn't eat Hagrid tonight, then that woman must be a saint!
Behind them was Jean Delacour happily escorting the gorgeous Apolline, who'd one day be his wife. "Rowan?" A male voice said in disbelief from behind her causing Rowan to look away.
Rowan turned around to spot Sirius looking rather handsome in gray-blue robes and James in an olive color of robes that looked good on him. Sirius looked quite dashing with his hair streaked back, but despite James' best efforts, his hair was still as unruly as ever. Though what caused her to stare was his new pair of round spectacle glasses.
Over winter break, Madam Pomfrey had declared that James's eyesight had deteriorated enough for him to need to wear glasses. Which seemed rather strange to Rowan. If Pomfrey could restore severed limbs and save an eye, why couldn't eyesight be fixed?
But then again, it might have to do with the delicate spell required to do so. Or maybe, it had never occurred to anyone to invent the d*m spell! Either way, James Potter looked an awful lot like Harry. Technically, it was the other way around, but who was counting?
"Don't I look good?" Rowan impishly teased at seeing both boys gawking at her.
You look like a real girl!" Sirius exclaimed as James nodded in agreement.
Rowan rolls her eyes and says, "I haven't changed genders that I can recall."
"I know, but you look good!" Sirius sputtered in disbelief, unable to accept the utterly alien concept.
Ignoring Sirius, Rowan asks, "So who did the both of you ask to the Yule Ball?"
"They're both Hufflepuffs," James explained as Sirius still sputtered in the background. "What about you?"
"Oh, I didn't ask anyone, I was asked," Rowan frankly replied.
"Someone asked YOU!" Sirius shrieked in incredulity.
James and Rowan both ignore Sirius as James asks, "Really? Who was it?"
"That would be me, Potter," answered, the clear voice of Barrett Boone could be heard.
Both boys whirl around at seeing Barrett Boone in dark gray charcoal robes that nicely matched and contrasted with Rowan's light silver robes. Sirius's mouth flops open as his brain seems to explode. He just couldn't believe that the Ravenclaw Quidditch Captain had asked Rowan out! James reacted a lot better as he only stared in honest awe.
"Did you wait for me long?" Barrett asked in such an intimate tone that has the tip of Rowan's ears beginning to turn pink.
Firmly reminding herself that he didn't like girls, Rowan says, "Not very long."
"Good," Barrett said as he took out a silver flower hair clip. "May I?" Rowan nods her head in answer and flushes in public for the first time as her cheeks turn a rosy pink. Barrett gently pins the hair clip in her hair as Sirius looks like he is about to faint, while James is fascinated by the never-before-seen sight.
"Lovely," Barrett purred causing Rowan to forcefully chant to herself over and over again, "He likes boys. He likes boys!"
"May I?" Barrett asked again and this time he offered Rowan the crook of his arm.
"Champions over here, please!" Professor McGonagall cried out from where she stood, with her date, a certain older man with a widow's peak, Elphinstone Urquart. It would appear that his courtship was finally successful, then again, the stubborn wizard stuck it out until the end and eventually won the prickly heart of the Transfiguration Professor.
"I believe that is us!" Barrett said as he gently led the blushing Rowan away.
Sirius and James are just left behind in disbelief as Sirius says, "Can you believe that?!"
"Yeah, she looks nice," James ruefully admitted before the two of them turned away and greeted their own dates. Not that the two girls weren't pretty, but they didn't match up to Rowan's surprising standards nor were they Lily.