new beginnings {nix}

[sterling]

Sterling had dressed in the hunter green dress robes his sisters had insisted looked the best on him and actually went through the effort to make his hair lay properly- he normally just left it to its own devices. But tonight was different, not just because it was the Yuletide Ball, but because he had asked someone to go with him. That someone was Nix Night, a spunky redheaded Gryffindor who happened to be pregnant. Sterling, though, had only asked her to go with him as friends, he had had a feeling she would turn him down otherwise. Secretly, he did like her quite a bit, though wasn't going to say anything, not just then.

She would likely get all stubborn over it, to Sterling she seemed pretty insistent on him not worrying himself over her baby. But Sterling couldn't help it, the girl needed help, anyone could see that, he had made up his mind that he wasn't going to let her push him away unless she didn't like him. Even then Sterling might have a hard time accepting it, he couldn't just stand back and watch a seventeen-year-old mother raise a baby on her own. That wouldn't sit right with him, it wasn't something good people did.

Sterling waited just outside the doors to the Great Hall where the ball would be held, owing to the house difference it seemed to be the more logical place for them to meet. At any rate, Sterling would spot that bright red hair of hers right away, it wasn't a common trait outside of the Weasley family. In the meantime he attempted to collect his thoughts, Sterling wasn't completely awkward, though he had never been much of a romantic, how was he even supposed to say what was on his mind? He didn't have much time to think on it, however, as he spotted a head of beautiful red hair coming down the stairs...

[nixnight]

Nix felt so conflicted. She had made such an effort to actually look good for the ball and she'd even enchanted her dressed to make her bump seem smaller, the baby was due in only three more months now so it was getting harder and harder to hide the bump but atleast she could make it seem smaller. She'd tamed her hair for the first time ever and it was now loosely curled around the side if her head and she was in a dark green dress, the dress came down to her feet and covered them just enough so that she could have carried off being bare foot again but she had chosen to wear a simple pair of grey shoes that had a little golden stitching on them. She even had a lily pinned in her hair.

So many of the other girls in her house had spent hours on their dresses and outfits and nix had been ready in only half an hour and was already earning glares from other girls and raised eyebrows from males. She found herself over-joyed that she had already agreed go to with someone, but at that thought her heart skipped and she stumbled a little. She had been asked by a ravenclaw that she'd only met recently but who was so sweet and kind and caring that she just couldnt say no to his offer, no to mention that every time she saw in the corridors she felt her skin go warm and she grew butterflies which just confused her.

She walked across the hall as she spotted sterling and her heart beat a little faster as she moved before she stopped in front of him, he'd been watching her move already and she excepted some sort of comment on her stumble now. "Evening" she said in a voice that showed how odd she felt about being so dressed up and being noticed in a way that meant people seemed to like her

[sterling]

Sterling smiled when he saw Nix more fully, she looked gorgeous. Not that she had ever looked unattractive to him before, but with her putting that effort into the way she looked she had gone from pretty to breathtaking. He didn't even notice her stomach, the evidence of the baby that was there, he was too busy looking at her face, at her hair. Truthfully, that hair of hers had been one of the first things Sterling had noticed about her. He liked the long, slightly unkempt look that it normally had, though these curls were nice too. Really, he wanted to be able to touch her hair, run his fingers through it.

Sterling had reached about halfway forward when Nix stumbled, though she thankfully regained her composure. He had read somewhere that pregnant women often developed temporary clumsiness, something about the growth of the baby effecting their center of gravity. Sterling stood there a moment with his hand awkwardly extended halfway before straightening up once more when he was sure that Nix was all right. "Evening," Sterling echoed, "you look fantastic." He added a small, though genuine smile. He didn't even care about the other people around them, they didn't matter.

Sterling offered Nix his arm, a gesture he felt was a little cheesy, though he wasn't the only one doing it, so he figured that it would be all right. Now with the evening ahead of them, Sterling now felt that he really wasn't adequately prepared. He had never really attended something like this before. He decided he would allow Nix to lead, let her dictate where the evening went and what they were going to do with it.

[nixnight]

Nix felt her face go warm at the comment from her date and she attempted to mumble some thanks but her mouth went dry and she failed, "nobody will notice me next to you, your far too well dressed for me to seem "good looking"" she said with a little smile before she paused. Sterling had held his arm out for her and while her paused was only short, it was long enough for her wonder what she was meant to do for the rest of the night.

She knew the ball would mean food and punch and dancing, (which she wasn't looking forwards to), but she had no idea how she was meant to act. She wasn't one for dancing and dresses and balls. She gave a quick sigh and then lifted a hand and took the arm she had been offered and then felt a small warmth grow in her chest, she felt safe in someone company. It wasn't a feeling she had allowed herself to have in a long time. "lead the way sir" she said with a smirk that actually filled her face as she watched the other couples head towards the main hall

[sterling]

"Nonsense," said Sterling, really Nix looked gorgeous, she wasn't giving herself enough credit. He supposed that he only dressed well because his sisters insisted on it. Sometimes it seemed at least one of the four subconsciously knew when he planed on going out to get new clothes and would tag along, uninvited of course, to critique his selections. Sterling didn't really mind, though at times it felt like they were treating him like a child, like they didn't trust him to be able to dress himself. He was eighteen now for goodness sake, not eight. Though he was generally laid back and not confrontational about stuff like that.

Sterling smiled when Nix accepted his arm, he had thought that she might reject the offer, though he still felt that it was within the "just friends" territory, regardless of how much he would rather not be there. Surprisingly to him, Sterling wanted to protect Nix, provide for her. It was an odd feeling, he had never felt that way before. "Certainly, Miss," said Sterling, still smiling and lead the way into the hall. It had been spectacularly decorated for the occasion, it hardly looked like the place where they ate everyday anymore.

[nixnight]

Nix smiled as she was addressed as miss and she tried not to laugh while they walked in to the hall, there was silver everywhere and nix couldn't help but grin. Everything was so bright and looked so good and she found herself laughing at the idea of her having eaten breakfast in here only a few short hours ago, it seemed so odd to think that.

She looked around at the smaller round tables that were dotted around the room and then nodded to a empty one and then waited to see if her date would agree with her want To avoid as many people as she could, her bump was one reason for this but another was her natural dislike of people looking at her with admiration. It made her feel odd and out of place

The idea of sitting next to sterling in this dress in this room made her skin feel warm and she shook her head softly sending curls all over her face and she sighed at herself, she had to try and keep her mind in check tonight, as best she could.

[sterling]

Sterling couldn't help but mirror the smile on Nix's lips, he liked seeing her happy- not the way he had seen her when they first met in the tower. Truthfully, he almost got angry when he saw her upset, not angry with her, but at whoever or whatever had gotten to her. It was a strange feeling, one that even Sterling with his usually impressive vocabulary wasn't quite sure how to describe. But he did know that it felt good to have Nix on his arm, even with the occasional odd glances thrown their way. Sterling figured it was fairly surprising to his peers that he had shown up at all, much less with a date.

He typically wasn't a dance or party sort of guy, but Sterling had felt that Nix needed some sort of fun in her life- to bring out that smile that he liked seeing so much. He nodded when she gestured toward an empty table, he didn't mind being off on the sidelines as long as Nix had a good time. Sterling of course, wasn't one to be the centre of attention either, he had skipped out on that trait frequently associated with the youngest children in the family.

Sterling pulled out a chair for Nix at the table, feeling the need to be very gentlemanly at an event like this. Maybe it was just how spectacularly the hall had been set up, or how nicely everyone was dressed. But whatever the reason, he felt more formal behaviour was necessary. Sterling smiled again at Nix before seating himself, wondering what they might talk about- before deciding he would let Nix lead the conversation.

[nixnight]

Nix found herself smiling again as sterling pulled ot the chair for her to sit down and she made a point of sitting slowly and then reaching for a napkin and spreading it over her lap like a "real lady" should. The smirk on her face grew wider at the that idea before she watched her date sit down beside and then looked his face over, he seemed a little bit out of place amoud all the decorations and dancers but nix kind of liked that look over him because it made her feel a little less alone.

And she was really sick of feeling alone at the moment. She had spoken to some teacher about making a meeting for girls in her situation and they had said it was a good idea but so far, none of the other students would admit they were in the same situation and it annoyed nix to be trying to help when no one would stand up and admit they needed it

[sterling]

Now that Sterling had sat down he wasn't quite sure what to do or say, he was a complete stranger to settings like these or even any party, really. His idea of a party was sitting around talking with a couple of friends and eating good food. He didn't really socialize in this kind of environment, didn't do much dancing. Thankfully, Nix didn't appear to know much more about this sort of thing than he did, so they could be, in a sense, outcasts together at this event. Truthfully, Sterling would be content even if they stayed at their table the whole time talking.

"Kind of strange," Sterling commented after a pause, "seeing everyone like this, I mean, all dressed up." He looked around a bit at the steadily filling hall, guys looking uncomfortable in restrictive dress robes, and girls in elegant gowns appearing as if they spent hours on their hair and makeup. Sterling himself preferred the way Nix had done herself up, she looked amazing, but not overdone like some of the girls that were attending. He found himself wishing that he had something to do with his hands, it might make him feel a little less awkward.

[nixnight]

Nix smiled softly at sterlings comment and then rolled her eyes ,"I just think it's good to give you guys a reason to dress up, the girls are busy looking as good as they can all the time". Nix felt her skin crawl at the idea of being like one of the other girls and spending months picking and buying a dress and then hours on hair and make up. She herself had bought her dress because she happened to like it when she was shopping only a week ago and her hair was just an easy potion fix and it gave her a chance to bump up her potions effort with her teacher to so all was well there.

She shook her head to stop herself wandering and looked towards the dance "floor", it was more of a White flat surface where people were beginning to gather. She felt a bubble of fear grow under her ribs at the idea of having to dance, and to that the fact that she was a seventh year and so was sterling so they would be expected to dance atleast enough to get he you her years involved and her face just began to feel warm. Now she really could do with having a drink and apparently she wanted some chocolate fudge cake too, dammned baby cravings.

[sterling]

Sterling chuckled after Nix spoke, brining his gaze back to her as he had been halfway watching a group of people that had just come in. People-watching was a favourite pastime of his, especially at events like these when a good number of those in attendance were out of their element and attempting to figure out how to conduct themselves. Sterling had found that a lot of people could get away with only pretending that they knew what was going on, though there was a fair portion (himself included) that weren't quite so skilled at acting and had the potential to create some funny situations.

"Maybe," said Sterling with a shrug of his shoulders, truth be told he never saw much of any reason to dress up. Sure, he liked to put a skinny tie with his signature button-down shirts, but he didn't really could that as "dressing up." He never did anything to his hair, except perhaps take a brush to it if he slept on it wrong, and while he liked to be clean Sterling never spent much time getting ready in the morning- not like some girls that he knew. He looked at the dance floor a minute before turning his attention back to Nix. He wondered if they would be expected to dance. He knew how, of course, and would go along with it if Nix wanted to- but he would prefer not to.

[nixnight]

Nix smiled at her dates little comment and then she nodded towards the dancers and took a deep breath ,"shall we save that until the sugar rush from food and punch has kicked in?" she asked as she noticed his eyes watching the people walking over towards the dance floor and she found herself not wanting to go over there until she was atleast a little unsure of her actions. Even if the idea did make her chuckle a little.

The other tables around them were beginning to fill up now and people were starting look towards the staff table which nix assumed meant they would be telling who was playing the music for the night and what they would be eating but nix knew she herself would pay much attention to teachers. This was not a lesson therefor she had no reason to really listen to them, that was her reasoning.

[sterling]

Sterling blinked a moment, he wasn't one that was often asked what he wanted to do. Given his status as the youngest of the family he had sort of gone along with what everyone else was doing. Not that Sterling was ever lost in the shuffle, his being the only boy of five kids made sure of that. Though he had always been content with going along with his sisters' wants, as he did have a little bit of a reputation for indecisiveness. "Whatever you want is fine with me," said Sterling, now really wanting something to do with his hands.

Not that he was ever an antsy, unable-to-sit-still sort of person, though he wasn't quite sure what to talk about. Sterling had never really been awkward before, though now... Something about Nix made him want to do everything just right. Needless to say, he did like her quite a lot. Sterling, though, wasn't sure what, if anything, was going to come of it.

[nixnight]

Nix watched sterling for a moment before she figured out slowly, he wasn't used to being someone who had all the control and could pick what would happen where so he didn't know what to do with the power. The idea made her smile pull at her face again but she wouldn't allow it and then just looked up at staff table, they were all done with speeches and had sat down now and were whispering words to their plates only to have food appear. Nix raised an eyebrow before looking at her own plate and considering, more carrots would be bad and she was not eating fudge cake first at an event like this which left normal food. And her baby seemed to have a thing against her eating like a human being now.

"this is so irritating, I can't wait to just be able to eat how I like again" she hissed sourly before she rolled her she's at herself, she was just having another temper spike. That was else she hated, people thought she was being bratty when she really just couldn't control her emotions. She put her accepting this date from a guy she really liked down to that lack of control too though.

[sterling]

Sterling observed the teachers seemingly giving orders to their empty plates and receiving what it was they asked for- he was fairly impressed. Surely it meant a lot more work on behalf of the house elves, but Sterling knew better than to be concerned by it- they were helpful little things, and would much rather be working hard than just sitting around waiting for something to do. His mother had many times expressed her wish that they had one or two to help out around the house. Their family, of course, wasn't old or wealthy enough to have even one- nor did they live in one of swanky manors that elves often came with.

Sterling smiled sympathetically when Nix said in a frustrated way that she couldn't wait to be able to eat the way she wanted to again. He assumed that she must still have cravings thanks to her baby, the poor thing. "You don't have much longer," said Sterling, hoping this would at the very least cheer her up a bit. That was essentially the point of the whole evening, he thought she deserved to be happy.