Yule Ball (3rd years and up)

"No! I refuse!" Casey knocked Alex over, though she was careful to make sure he didn't smack his head on the floor, and sat on his stomach, tickling him. "Tell me!!!!" She grinned in amusement as he wriggled, trying to escape. "When you wrestle with my sister for as long as I have, you learn a few things. Like how to keep the advantage. You are not getting up until you tell me who you came with." She planted her knees firmly on either side of him. "Now tell me who she is!!!!"

He sighs out of breath "i asked ruby moon...." he pants laughing a little between each breath "now stop people are staring"

Casey grinned at him. "See, was that so hard? Now we're all happy. And I never have and never will care when people stare. Life is so much more complicated when you care what other people think." She got off him and stood up, offering him her hand to help him up, then, as though there had been no pause, started dancing again. "Cause that's just how I roll," she explained to a laughing Alex.

He laugghs harder "youre so great donohoe." he dances with her. a slow song starts and he blushes and goes to sit down again

Casey laughed too. "You're not so bad yourself Bloodbayne," she teased back. She was enjoying dancing with him when a slow song came on. She scowled at the DJ, then stomped over to where Alex was sitting and flooped down next to him. She gazed moodily over the swaying couples with her arms crossed. "We need our dates," she muttered.

Alex bites his lip "maybe not....we could dance together...you know as friends." he stands p and holds out his hand "so what do you say mila=dy. may i have this dance?" his voice is joking

Casey grinned up at him and stood. She curtsied, then took his hand. "Why yes, milord. You may." They walked to the floor with its twirling couples and joined their number, standing close to each other. "If they have a problem with it, I'm going to tell them that they weren't here and we were bored. Also, Liam does not own me, and I can dance with my guy friends if I want."

Alex grins. he liked her defiance. it made her seem more human than others. "yeah and ruby and i arent dating so i can do whatever i really want to wth anyone and shell have no say..."

Casey grinned up at Alex. "Yay! Rebellion is fun, isn't it? I love it." She spun out, and back into Alex's arms. "That is so much more fun than it should be," she informed him, spinning in a circle before returning to his arms.

Alex frowns "what do you mean? i dont understand?" did she have feelings for him? why did love have to be confusing? he sighs, lost in thought

Casey cocked her head to the side. "Rebellion? Or spinning? Rebellion is fun because it gives me a really big rush to be kind of reckless. I'm doing something that people would frown upon, so I'm basically saying 'I'm my own person and you do not control me.' And spinning is fun because it's spinning. Spinning is just awesome."

"oh i thought you meant the dance not the spin" he blushes and thinks 'god im so stupid! hy am i so needy?! im a bloodbayne for merlins sake.' he sighs "sorry for my impudence"

Casey hit him lightly on the arm. "Don't go all formal on me now. Who under the age of 50 still says 'impudence'? There was nothing impudent about it, you were just confused. I don't always say exactly what I mean. Oops. Anyway, I'm having fun with the dance too, yes. You're having fun, right? I'm not boring you or annoying you or anything?" She looked at him, suddenly worried, thinking she might have been acting obnoxious.

He shakes his head quickly "no im sorry youre wonderful and i was raised to be formal...my muggle aunt had me sent to charm school when i lived with her... she was dreadful"

Casey made a face. "Ugh. Sounds horrible. My parents basically accepted the fact that there was no turning me into a lady and didn't even try. I'm too blunt. I say what I think before I give the words permission to leave my brain. It gets me into sticky spots more often than it gets me out of them. I really need to work on that, but it takes so much effort!" She grinned at hi. "It wouldn't be me anyway."

He laughs "aunt margot wouldnt accept that. shed beat me if i spoke out of turn, was rude, or stupid.. my life was hell until i escaped.....she would call me horrible things....they haubnt my nightmares at night." he sighs

Casey patted Alex's shoulder sympathetically. "I'm very, very sorry for the loss of any sort of worthwhile childhood." Suddenly, she got an idea. Her face lit up and her eyes danced with a mischievious light. "You know what? Since you didn't get to act like a child when you were a child, I'm totally schooling you on how to be a little kid again. I will give you the childhood you never had and it will be awesome." She nodded decisively. "So it shall be!"

He blushes ans backs up "h-how will you do that milady?" his hands are clasped behind his back and his posture is perfect. he shakes slightly. and thinks 'how could i be a little kid...im thirteen and almost a perfect adult.....'

Casey grinned. "Easily. If you wanna ditch the Ball and start now, that'd be awesome. Actually, start like this." She stepped forward and took his hands out from behind his back, pushing on his shoulders until he slouched just a little. "Not saying good posture is bad, I'm just saying it's not comfortable at all." She grabbed his hands and started jumping around as a new fast paced song came on. "Come on, let loose! All you have to do is stop caring what other people think and allow yourself to have fun. Later, I'm totally taking you to the Forest and teaching you how to climb trees. An old favorite pasttime of Lyssa and I!" She laughed. "Oh, we used to go up trees and pelt people with sticks and stuff. They never knew what hit them."

He smiles at her as he thnks 'so childish....but fun none the less' he laughs nervously "we can go to the forest as soon as possible.... i want to have some fun...."

Casey nodded. "Good. Having fun is the most important part of being a child. I'd say we could go right now, but I'm in a dress..." she trailed off, examining her dress. Sighing, she continued, "I don't want to ruin it. It's pretty. Also, it's rather cold outside to be waltzing around with no shoes." She stuck her foot out from under her floor legnth skirt, revealing bare toes. "Yet another childish thing I do." She smiled widely. "I refuse shoes."

Alexander looks down at his shiny leather dress shoes and sighs "guess youre right...any other tips i could pull off now?" he sits down and folds his hands on the table only unfolding to take a drink of butterbeer.

Casey shook her head. "Nothing really. It's just living life more than anything else. When you're a kid, you don't have to care about how you look or what eveyone else is doing. You march to your own tune and whoever doesn't like it doesn't get to share your sand box." She grinned at him again. "Growing old is inevitable. Growing up is optional. I opt not to be mature, and I love every minute of it."

He looks down and sighs "but what if its too late for me? i was only childish for the first 5 years of my life... how could i remember what that was like" hewrings his hands sadly and stares at the floor

Casey sat down next to him. "It's ok. I'll help you remember, and together we can give you a childhood for real. I'll help you, Lyssa and I were too childish for our own good. I sometimes wonder if angry neighbors contributed to us leaving America." She smiled at him, inviting him to share the joke. "But don't worry. We all have at least a little bit or child left in us no matter what age we are."