now what ((open))

As usual, Cherry didn't necessarily have a date for the dance, but that didn't mean she could end the night without somebody in bed with her. She was surprised to find out that Lazar had managed to score a date, but that was because he was widely mocked for being as awkward as any other fifth year; the dogpiling was nothing short of bizarre to her. Oh well, at least having her own dorm as Head Girl prevented her from hearing most of the rumors and hearsay that filled the halls of Hogwarts.

She sat on one of the bleachers watching as her peers comingled. For some reason, she was enjoying having to be on duty during the dance.

Louis was glad to be attending the dance with Hazel, although he wasn't entirely sure if things between them were at there best. Of course, he felt optimistic about it, but it was better to know she was happy.

She was talking to some of her other friends for a while, so Louis was walking around doing the same as well. When he came across Cherry sat by herself, he beamed at her.

"Hello Cherry," he said brightly, "You look nice. Are you on duty tonight?"

@Louis Weasley

Cherry smiled seeing Louis; he was attending with Hazel, wasn't he? Now that she thought about it, she didn't think she saw Hazel yet! Then again, once all of her sisters were wearing a certain amount of makeup, they blended into one another. Their genetics were odd like that. "Thanks, Louis! Yeah, I got put on duty. I think Narks is on duty as well, and he seems to be enjoying it more."

Further down the bleacher, Narkissos was messaging his current observations to Faye such as James' extremely brief appearance.

"What about you?"

@Louis Weasley

"Well, I wouldn't worry if you want to go and enjoy yourself a little bit. I'm sure the Professors would want you to have a good time."

Smiling, Louis sat nearby her on the same bench. He thought about what James had said about her night routine being heard through the walls, and that she was doing it on purpose. Looking at her now, Louis couldn't tell that she would do something like that.

"You know you're always welcome to join Hazel and I. She probably would liven up a little with you around." He smiled brightly at her.

@Cherry Darling

"I'm fine just chilling, but I haven't seen Hazel at all. I'm afraid that if I walk up to a similarly slender brunette, it'll either be one of her sisters or a completely different person altogether!" Hell, she could even bump into Cernu the way he's dressing.

"Is she moping over Jovian again? I told her she could just apparate at the altar instead of trying to figure out a scheme to piss off her mom..." Cherry found herself concerned for Hazel a lot lately; she really has let Jovian's general misogynistic attitude get to her. "Not like pissing off her mom is a bad thing or anything..."

@Louis Weasley

"That's good," he said brightly, "I think I could at least tell her apart from Cernunnos."

Chuckling, he listened to what she said next.

"Hmm... She could do that, but I suppose she would need somewhere to disapparate to. Having to keep running away all the time would be quite a sad way to live." Louis smiled at her. "I'm not sure she is happy with our arrangement either though. I do just want her to be happy. I'm sure you feel the same way..."

His face brightened and beamed again.

"Perhaps you and I can think of things together."

@Cherry Darling

Slightly covering her mouth, Cherry giggled as the allure began to affect her. "True... She does have more curves to her..."

"Is-is it bad that I still don't completely understand what got her upset at the party..?" It didn't help that she was still half-asleep when she went five floors up to the Room of Requirement as a result of Hazel frantically messaging it. "Yes, I want Hazel to be very happy..." Why couldn't she try munching a carpet for once? Maybe it'd awaken something...

Together. To. Get. Her.

"Yes, we can..." She leaned towards Louis and batted her eyelashes at him.

@Louis Weasley

Louis smiled at her. Cherry was a good friend to Hazel and always had been. She was always looking out for her best interests, staying close to her, making sure she felt appreciated...

Suddenly, Cherry was leaning over to him. Louis smiled at her. "You're a good friend," he said, beaming. "At the party she got upset because of me. I hadn't meant for it to happen, but she is going through so much right now. Its only natural that she gets frustrated from time to time."

@Cherry Darling

Cherry swooned as Louis reaffirmed that she was a very good friend to Hazel; it was her job being Hazel's bestie after all. Planting her palms on the bleacher. His lips were so kissable that she'd go right ahead and try to give him one if it weren't for not wanting to hurt Hazel. They're besties, they could try sharing, couldn't they?

"From the tex- messages she sent me, it wasn't your fault. She pinned it all on Alayna and Carina."

@Louis Weasley

"That's sweet of you to say so," he said gently, in that soft, lyrical way he usually spoke.

"I just hope we can all be friends again..." Louis was very short sighted by thinking that Hazel, Carina and Alayna were ever friends, or ever would be. "I like talking to Alayna and Carina as well."

He beamed at Cherry.

"I never realised you had some freckles up close. They're really cute."

@Cherry Darling

Her cheeks flushed red as she briefly looked away from Louis' eyes. Although the naivety would normally be a bit frustrating, there was something captivating about him being the personification of "Kumbaya". He was living proof that world peace could, in fact, be achieved. How could one be so pure? So kind?

"I got them from spending my childhood in the Kansas sun..."

@Louis Weasley

"Cansus?" Is that near to where Hazel and her family is from?"

Her cheeks looked rather warm. He was feeling warm too. The gym didn't have a lot of ventilation inside.

"Do you think I would like it there?" he asked cheerfully, beaming.

@Cherry Darling

"No, Massachusetts is far from Kansas."

Louis having as much geography knowledge as the average American was adorable!

"If you don't mind a bunch of farmland and being in tornado alley..."

@Louis Weasley

"Oh I see. Sorry."

He smiled apologetically.

"It sounds very quaint," he said brightly, "Perhaps wizards over there have their way of dealing with tornadoes. I wouldn't know. We don't have them here." Louis chuckled slightly. "I remember when Nanna Molly said about the great wind of 1987. It got rid of all the garden gnomes for the entire year."

@Cherry Darling

"It's okay... You've never seen an American map..."

It was a fairly easy assumption to make, and it wouldn't surprise her at all if it were true.

"I wouldn't know either... Ilvermorny was located in New England, and they're more prone to snow than tornadoes."

The Great Wind? The British had such interesting names for weather phenomenon... She titled her head to her shoulder. "Oh wow..."

He made anything sound exciting.

@Louis Weasley

"I may have once or twice. Dominique, my sister, was showing me places she had been. I was more worried about her going so far away without us knowing where she is, though..."

He looked up at her, smiling weakly.

"Sorry. I didn't mean to talk so much about that."

He beamed at her.

"So do you miss where you're from, or do you prefer it here?" He smiled widely. "You seem to be quite happy. Especially at night time...

@Cherry Darling

"Oh, it's alright..."

Cherry licked her lips. Hm, maybe she could give Louis a personal geography lesson within that little common area between their dorms... It'd be very educational.

"I find England so much better than Kansas as my parents don't know where anything is!" All her parents knew to find was the nearest churches and an Asda. There was far less oversight with her being at Hogwarts too.

@Louis Weasley

"They don't know where anything is?"

A little more context was needed here. He knew that her parents were both muggles and that they had been strictly religious, but he wasn't following why their lack of local knowledge meant something positive. Louis was just extremely naive, and perhaps came across as a little dense sometimes because of it.

"And... you're happy about that?"

@Cherry Darling

"Hell yeah! They won't ever figure out where I'm at, and since I'm a legal adult in the wizarding world, they can't do a damn thing about it!"

Turning that age gave her a new taste for freedom despite still living with them.

@Louis Weasley

"That's great," he said, beaming brightly. "Have you been to lots of interesting places?"

It was funny how he'd never chatted with Cherry before like this. He was Hazel's friend and so was she, but the two of them had never been alone to talk together unless it was something to do with prefect organising. This was nice. He felt a warm, fluttery feeling inside of his chest that radiated through to his exterior: it was something that he felt when he was feeling nice and cosy. Sort of like an inner hug.

@Cherry Darling

"I guess it depends on your definition of interesting."

With how oppressive her childhood was, even a mundane, rundown laundromat proved to be fascinating enough. Too bad she couldn't be pushed around in those carts... That'd be the closest she get to experiencing a roller coaster.

Cherry smiled at Louis; he was such an excellent listener unlike a decent amount of his cousins. Her vague memories of his eldest sister had to do with how loud her voice got; it was amazing how it didn't make her go deaf. "What about you?"

@Louis Weasley

"Well... I'd like to hear of all the places you've been able to visit now that your parents cannot interfere. Have you been to London? The big market there? They have all sorts of interesting stalls and things. I went there with Victoire once before."

He smiled at her.

"Perhaps we could go with some of our friends sometime. I often get confused with the muggle things - machines and things. It would be great if you could show me how they work."

He beamed brightly at her.

@Cherry Darling

"We did a bit of tourism in London as that's all my parents recognizes of Great Britain..."

Americans didn't have the most accurate picture of British people and life in general.

She smiled liking the idea of having to show Louis how to use various muggle contraptions and inventions. "The muggle world isn't all that different except we think every magical creature imaginable is a myth."

@Louis Weasley