Forever Younger, Growing Older [Lucy]

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He'd actually done it. He actually agreed to step away from his work to come to this thing. He wasn't even one for the whole 'formal attire, dress up' social event. He was here though. In a suit. He'd been approached, of course, by Headmaster Longbottom to be a chaperone for the ball as a Head of House. He wasn't exactly sure why considering the fact that there were many ministry guests here as well and with many of the ministry guests being the parents of many of the students, he didn't think anything that bad would happen. They were teens of course so you would have the regular teen shenanigans, a couple breaking up here or there, a loud argument that would need to be broken up maybe. He didn't think anything really bad would be happening tonight though.

Being that he wasn't expecting anything bad to happen, he was rather bored. Walking around the Great Hall turned ballroom was only proving him right. There were many children mingling, ministry guests doing what they normally do, networking or one upping one another. Some of the children who's parents were prominent members of the Ministry were even networking with the adults, trying to set their future's in stone more likely. Or trying to get their parents ahead. He didn't know. It was as loud and lively as it could get though when it came to making connections. He was never one himself to want to be connected with the Ministry, though in the past he had been approached to become an Arithmancer for them. It was too stuffy a job and had to many restraints for him. He liked being able to write and finish when he wanted to. Like now, if he would have been working for the Ministry, they would have demanded his book ages ago. That probably wouldn't have been a bad thing...

He had to admit, the Great Hall looked fantastic. They'd gone all out for the Yule Ball, as expected, and they ceiling was charmed and there were Christmas trees spread out everywhere decorated from top to bottom. Whites and silvers and golds were spread out in the form of a variety of decorations. He stood up against the wall, a drink in his hand and a hand in the pocket of his suit watching over the ball with care and half a mind on his work. A quick check of the time told him it was just after 10:30pm. Only an hour and a half before the night ended. Now all he needed to do was make it through without anything exceptional happening.

Tag; open

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Asa had let her know that they were going to be excusing themselves for the time being, but Lucy knew that she couldn't just stand around the Yule Ball and wait for her partner to get back. That seemed a little bit desperate to her, so she went to look for Ondina or Theodosia or anyone else who was entertaining enough to keep her company.

The ball wasn't a small event, and, realizing that there was always a chance that she could end up running into Anna instead, Lucy began to grow frustrated. She didn't have much in common with her twin sister, and that Anna was the Hogwarts Champion didn't help. The night might as well have been about Molly Annelise Weasley.

Sighing in frustration, Lucy found a spot against the wall, where hopefully she could go unnoticed while waiting for Asa to get back. “Bloody f**king…” she groaned under her breath. How hard was it to find something to do? She knew that she looked like such an idiot now.

When she turned her head to the side to see who it was who was standing beside her, her feelings of being an idiot only intensified. “Professor Riveras!” she gasped, hoping that the man hadn't heard her foul language under her breath. To save face, Lucy tried to act as though his presence hadn't shocked her in the way that it had. No; it was just a happy surprise. She made a casual smile come over her face. “How are you, Sir?”

@dominick

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He was enjoying the music that was being played and watching the students and ministry officials move to the dance floor. He didn't bring a date himself but had mingled with the other professors and a few of his old classmates who now worked at the ministry. He sort of wished he had someone to come with, just to have the companionship and to be thoroughly distracted by a beautiful woman. He was too into his work to even find a girlfriend right now.

Somewhere in the middle of contemplating his love life out of jealousy and enjoying his drink, he noticed from the corner of his eye a student with bright red hair approach and lean up against the wall. Her hair gave away her lineage immediately and he couldn't help but be amused and admire the strength of the Weasley genes. While Lucy Weasley wasn't in his Arithmancy class, he knew of her and her triwizard champion twin sister Molly Weasley just based off of the fact that they were in the Weasley clan. And the fact that they were students at Hogwarts of course. Just being at the school guaranteed you would know most of the students' names and faces before they graduated.

She didn't acknowledge his presence and he was okay with that so he didn't want to bother her and force her to have conversation with a professor. That was cruel. At that age talking to the professors was the last thing he wanted to do. So he casually continued to sip on his drink and watch the ball. That is, until she swore vehemently, almost low enough that he didn't hear it. The sip he was taking decided to go down the wrong hole then and it took everything in him to not go into a horrible coughing fit out of shock. Instead he cleared his throat a few times right at the moment she noticed him standing next to her. He found himself patting his chest just a bit to restore some balance.

Once he got over his fit, his eyebrows furrowed as he looked at her. She was smiling at him, pretending that the words he'd just heard hadn't come from her. That or she didn't care he'd heard and was just curious about how he was. He couldn't decided which one was odder. "Ms. Weasley, what has caused such harsh language," he asked simply, a small frown on his face. He could be upset with her about the swearing but he knew it wasn't just coming from anywhere. She was an older student as well and would be out in the real world in a few short months so who was he, really, to judge her? He'd been her age before.

Tag; @lucy

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The sound of the professor's clearing his throat had led Lucy to believe that it had been directed towards her. “Ms. Weasley,” he began, “what has caused such harsh language?”

“It wasn't intentional, Professor, I can assure you,” Lucy answered smoothly. She wouldn't have used that language with a member of school staff around, had she known that he was standing there. All that she needed was for someone to hear her and spin it into a headline about Anna Weasley's twin sister's foul mouth. “I apologize.”

Sometimes, she did intend to make a scene, and, because Professor Riveras was Head of Ravenclaw House, Lucy imagined that he was aware of it. Just as information spread around the student body, the staff must have kept one another updated on who was in detention when.

As long as she could talk her way off of the subject, Lucy knew that she would be golden. “Are you enjoying the ball?” she wanted to know, hoping that the question could to some small talk. “Personally,” she offered, “I think it's wonderful to see so many different people cooperating with one another.”

@dominick

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Dom listened intently as she gave her excuse, saying that it wasn't intentional and that she apologized. He gave a little shake of his head in amusement, though none showed on his face. His frown did disappear though before he gave a quick once over of the ball. He had to keep up his chaperoning and such. "Intentional or not, definitely be more aware of your surroundings if you are going to use that language,". Taking away house points wasn't something Dom did often because he simply didn't care to. If that made him a bad Head Of House, no one had said anything. He'd much prefer to talk to a student about any misdeeds rather than pure punishment.

Lucy Weasley had the reputation of being a bit of a troublemaker and a smooth talker, if what other professors said could be believed. In just this short interaction he could see what they meant. She attempted to look innocent and completely faultless but he knew kids. Know how troublesome they could be and knew teenagers thought they could get away with most things. Of course, by choice, he would let her move along and think she was distracting him away from the fact that she'd just sworn like a sailor in what sounded like utter annoyance.

He nodded in agreement of her words, hiding his snicker with a sip from his drink. "Yes, the ball is quite lovely, I am enjoying it thank you," he answered. "How about you? Why aren't you out there mingling with your classmates or your prospective employers, if you aspire to that, I mean? Of course, if they'd heard that language they may have been a little more hesitant to hire you," the last part came out jokingly but knowingly, an eyebrow raised as he looked back over the ball once more.

Tag; @lucy

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“Intentional or not,” scolded the professor, “definitely be more aware of your surroundings if you are going to use that language.” As if he hadn't ever used that language before, Lucy thought, holding her tongue to avoid further punishment that would ruin her night.

Really, Professor Riveras appeared almost amused, the way he suddenly took a sip from his drink. Lucy knew better than to comment on it to his face—particularly after she had just escaped a deduction of House Points—and she tried to keep her facial expression perfectly neutral. He said that the ball was “quite lovely”, then went on. “How about you?” he asked. “Why aren't you out there mingling with your classmates or your prospective employers, if you aspire to that, I mean? Of course, if they'd heard that language they may have been a little more hesitant to hire you.”

Somehow, Lucy didn't think that one slip was going to ruin her chances of a Ministry career—not when she was sure that some of the other students must have been trying to make it across the Age Line for alcohol. “It's been wonderful,” she said, and she wasn't exaggerating; she meant it. Her night with Asa, so far, had been like something out of a fairytale—although mention of the ugly twin sister had to pop up and ruin it every so often. “My partner just needed to step out for a minute,” she explained, feeling awfully tempted to emphasize that she was in a relationship.

She would have preferred that she had found anyone other than a professor with whom to converse, but mentioning that she didn't want to be speaking with the person with whom she was speaking—while something that she might have done to a fellow student for a certain impact—didn't seem wise when she was speaking with the Head of Ravenclaw.

@dominick

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She sounded genuine when she said that she'd been having a wonderful time at the ball. Nothing like the innocence she'd played at. He gave a sincere smile as she mentioned that her partner had stepped out. He couldn't remember seeing her with anyone since he'd arrived but then again there were many people there at the ball that night. He must have missed her; he didn't think she was lying about it. It was also entirely possible that he wasn't doing this chaperoning thing very well either. "Good I'm glad you're enjoying yourself. It's nice they were able to put this together for the students." Let's face it, the ball wasn't for the professors and it definitely wasn't for the ministry workers. They just so happened to be here this year and even if they hadn't been he was sure the ball would have been just as decorative.

The silence stretched just a little bit as he surveyed the room once again for any odd activity. He was still aware of her and taking a look at her he could tell she didn't want to talk with him any longer. He didn't blame her. "You know, you are absolutely not obligated to stick around and converse with me Ms. Weaseley. Please, you're welcome to go have some more fun," he didn't cover his amusement this time as he snickered before looking over the crowd again. "I know us professors are the last people you'd want to talk with when there's so much to do."

Instead of sticking around and waiting for her to say something that seemed even more obligatory, he nodded to the young Slytherin and smiled. "I hope your evening gets better Ms. Weasley and please watch your language," he said with a smile before heading off through the room to do more chaperoning.


Tag; @lucy
(Finished~~~)