Lose Yourself In The Music ** (OPEN!)

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open !
Dressy!
<3

These children were all going to go nuts. She could already see it happening. That could be a good thing or a bad thing. But as of right now, it was in the middle. Unfortunately, Draco could not be here on this night and was at home watching Lyra. But she thought that was for the best, it would give Astoria more time to pay better attention to her students; which, after what happened in the broom closet with Dusti and Albus, she obviously needed to watch them more.

Astoria was not currently dancing with anyone, just sipping some of her drink and watching. Eyes dancing among students and faculty, she leaned back in her chair and crossed her legs. The dress she had chosen to wore that night was stunning, sparkly and petite, just as she was. Her hair was in a tight bun, and shiny earrings fell from her lobes. Her eyes gazed across her son and she smiled. He looked so handsome, and Rose looked beautiful. Currently, everything was going fairly well, and she hoped it stayed that way as the night went on.

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Natalie was attending the Yule Ball on her own tonight. She wasn't planning on going at all, actually, but then she accepted that job as the Hogwarts Librarian starting in January, so she thought she may as well come around and get to know the kids, at least from a distance. She wore a nice dress, did her hair up all fancy and was ready to go. Charlie wasn't able to come, especially since she had actually decided to appear last minute.

The Ballroom looked beautiful, and so did all the people. She felt bad that she only recognized some of the kids... her nieces and nephews, her friends kids, but there were way more that she didn't know. So, she searched the crowd for something to approach...

She saw Ondina, dancing with a boy she didn't know. That was just as well, she didn't expect to know what was going on in her daughters life. She didn't see Harper, assuming that her eldest decided not to come. She couldn't find Xavier, either, but that was all right. He didn't seem the type for parties anyway.

Then, her eyes found Astoria Malfoy and she grinned widely. She loved Stor! And their kids used to date.. a few times, it seemed. Natalie crossed the ballroom to meet her friend. "Stor! You look incredible, oh my gosh," she mused.

@jill
(I'll find a dress later, my internet is too slow for pics right now)

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@natalie
<3

Astoria's gaze from her son was interrupted by Natalie Weasley. Natalie? Her eyes widened a bit but she stood up from her chair and smiled, gesturing with her hands to Nat's dress. "As do you! I love this color on you!" Her smile was genuine. Astoria hadn't seen Natalie in the longest time. Their children, Scorpius and Ondina had dated off and on quite a bit, so through that, as well as different functions, they had met multiple times. Astoria had never had an issue with Natalie, and she hoped the same was reciprocated.

"How are you? And your job, is it treating you well?" It had been quite a long time since they had seen one another and Astoria was genuinely interested in what her life had been like. She glanced around, an eyebrow raising slowly. "No Charlie? Draco wasn't able to make it either, he's at home with the baby," Astoria motioned to Ondina, "I see Ondina is quite friendly with Mr. Thomas. His father is Dean, mother is Padma Patil-Thomas? I assume you've met them?"

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Nat giggled as Astoria complimented her as well, "oh, you do dote on me, Stor," she said, grinning. Then Stor was asking how she was, her job and where Charlie was. "Charle's busy, tonight. And I'm doing great! The job is well, but I'm switching to part-time soon," she said, grinning conspiratorially and leaning in toward Astoria, "I'm going to be taking the Librarian position here next term!" She squealed happily, glancing over at the kids in the crowd as she said it, trying to get a glimpse of her kids. She found Ondina as Astoria mentioned her. "Awe, yes, well I don't really know much about her goings on at school," she turned toward Astoria and raised an eyebrow, "I hope she hasn't been giving you a har time?"

At the mention of Padma's son, Nat cocked her head to the side, "Hmm... not sure if I have met the boy, no."

@jill

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@natalie
<3

Astoria listened to Natalie and her eyes widened slightly, a large grin appearing on her face. She was going to be taking on the librarian position! "That's great, Natalie! I'll be excited to have you here!" Tori kept her voice down low, as it seemed like this was something just decided and the children possibly didn't know. "How do you think the kids will take it?" She smiled gently. Scorpius was great with having Astoria here, and sometimes she felt like he liked it more than she did. Natalie spoke of Ondina giving her a hard time and she shook her head, "Oh, not at all. She's great, Natalie."

Her eyes widened and she laughed. "His name is Daryl, he's a Gryffindor. Quite a gentleman, if I do say so. He's a sweet boy, from what I've heard he doesn't really enjoy school all that much, but he's a wonderful artist just like Dean." The Patil twins always had great things to say about him, and his parents were both actually here that night.

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"Right!? We're going to have such fun together, Stor. These kids won't know what hit them," she giggled. At Stors next question she shrugged, "I think they'll be... indifferent. They've both always been so independent. They've never really needed me around so I think that they'll just go about as usual. How's Scorpius?" she asked, looking around for Astorias boy. Then she turned back to Stor as she confirmed that Ondina wasn't giving her a hard time. "That's good. I do worry about her, though. I'm glad to know she has people she knows, like you, here," she said. She wasn't sure that Ondina would really GO to Astoria for help, though.

"So... does he know my daughter well, then?" Natalie asked, in reference to this 'Daryl' fellow. Aw, he was Deans son, yes, yes. "Well, I'd love to see his art some time. Maybe he and I will bond as the time goes on. We'll see, I suppose."

@jill

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@natalie
<3

Astoria nodded her head. "They definitely might! There came a point in time where Scorpius didn't really want me around at all, but eventually he got used to the idea of it. But don't feel offended if they try to avoid you at all costs, it's normal...I think." She laughed quietly, and then Natalie asked about Scorpius and she smiled. "He's great, doing well in school still which is a plus." Astoria had tried not to delve into her son's life very much; she knew there was a level of space needed and that he also would go to her if he felt necessary.

'They've got classes together, but I'm honestly not too positive on how they became so close." Astoria didn't talk to Ondina much, or Daryl for that matter, but from what she could tell they were just friends...who got quite touchy. She rose an eyebrow as she watched them, and from what she could tell it seemed like they were flirting. "You could, yes! I'm sure you'll enjoy what you see."

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Natalie nodded at Astorias advice to not worry if her kids avoided her. "I expect it," she admitted. Of course Scorpius was doing well in school! "That's good," Nat said with a grin.

Natalie simply shrugged and reached over to grab a drink from the table, taking a sip and watching her daughter for a moment. Even after all these years it still felt strange to think of herself as a parent... she turned back to Astoria, "and the others kids in your house? I hope it hasn't been too crazy?" she chuckled, because really, crazy was fine by her.

@jill

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@natalie
<3

Astoria hoped that Natalie's children didn't take to it too horribly. She couldn't imagine what that might feel like. Her experience of it all was much easier, since when Scorpius had received his letter and prior, he already knew that Astoria would be at school and had worked there for quite a while.

The Slytherin kids were always crazy, but Astoria had learned ways to deal with them, especially the more difficult ones. In general, the majority of the house had respect for her and listened and did what needed to be done. But there were times were some of the students who came from families that disliked muggles and muggleborns, also disliked Astoria. Not only because of her own bloodline but also because she was now a Malfoy. "No, not too terrible. They have their moments."

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Natalie nodded, "I'm glad that it's not bad. Excuse me," she said, gently moving behind Astoria in order to look at something on the other side of her to get a better view, "it seems my son is dancing" she exclaimed in surprise, gasping slightly and then giggling. She turned back to Astoria and shook her heads, "our kids are all grown up aren't they? It's nice, then I don't have to worry about them anymore. Well, aside from your baby," she said with a little giggle. She was still young but she was not planning on having any more babies. She wasn't that great at it the first time, so it wasn't really something she wanted to get into again. Especially since her youngest was a year and a half from graduating. She was almost home free. She hoped they'd all find big kids jobs and move out. Not that she didn't love them, but she wanted them to do their own thing.

And partly because she didn't want to take care of them all the time...

@jill

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@natalie
<3

Astoria tilted her head as she watched Natalie move behind her more and giggle. Her eyes followed her peer to where she was looking as she found Natalie's son and Astoria smiled. It was definitely sweet to see, your children growing up like this. More so bittersweet, at least to Astoria. But thankfully for her, after the one child she had, she was graced with a beautiful baby girl and it was all her and Draco wanted. Thankfully, they knew Scorpius loved her and that was also important to them. "Yes, definitely aside from her. She's quite the easy baby, much easier than Scorpius ever was." Astoria laughed. Scorpius was a crier, but Lyra was almost always calm and giggling.

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Natalie nodded, smiling, "well that's good. All three of mine were difficult, or maybe that was just me," she laughed. She really didn't consider herself to be the mother type, but it was her own fault that she had the kids. She loved them anyway of course but she was also sure that the could have gotten someone much better. She was young and careless, though, not really calculating her time with Charlie enough to prevent it. She didn't mind, though. She didn't regret it, just knew that she could have done better.

"Have you danced with anyone yet?"


@jill

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@natalie
<3

Astoria laughed. That was definitely true. All mother's had their own difficult times, and sometime's their infants also had troubles. Astoria recalled quite a few times that Scorpius had given her a run for her money. Thankfully Draco had also been there in her bad times with their son, but she had grown into getting used to it. As Scorpius got older he became much easier to deal with, though his toddler years were the worst. "I haven't, no. Mostly been watching the students dance and mingle." She smiled. Tori wasn't sure if Draco would be too happy if she danced with anyone, even if it was just a coworker.

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"Then let's dance!" she suggested, raising her eyebrows at Astoria, "that is, if you'd like! If you'd rather just watch I'm sure we can continue discussing these silly kids and whatnot," Natalie had a feeling she would be gossiping A LOT when she was working here at the school. As a student she did but... well, she was usually too drunk or stupid to remember any of the stuff that was said. She didn't really care about people, and now she was more interested in listening to what they had to say and knowing about their lives. It came with being a mother she guessed.

@jill

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@natalie
<3

Astoria rose her eyebrows back, but she nodded and downed the rest of her water before standing up and smiling at Natalie. She knew they had plenty of time to gossip, especially if she was going to be working here soon! Astoria wasn't one to gossip a lot anyways, so it might be a bit unusual, but she was sure Natalie would be a great friend. "No, dancing sounds great! I need to get out some of my energy anyways." Astoria walked through a few people to the center of the dance floor and began swaying her body to the beat of the music, smiling widely at Natalie.