To whoever wants me!
 

Patroclus was late.

Beyond Fashionable late, however it was the price he had to pay for wearing such tight pants. It had taken quite a while to get everything comfortable.......

In his Traje de luces and with his red cape dragging along in his hand, Patroclus entered qucikly into the Ball room, the lights of the dancefloor glittering off his suit, making him feel really cool, like seriously glowing cool. Deciding that due to the fact that he was alone, that the food table would be the best place to bump into somewhere that's where Patroclus headed.

However under the realisation, that despite the fact he was already a thin kid, if he ate too much, he would have to be cut out of his costume.......

Adam noticed many people coming to Kurumi's aide, but why in the world why wasn't he there first, he had no clue. Rushing over to her , Adam grabbed her hand forgetting everything he had thought about them two dating with the age difference. "Kurumi, are you alright?"He asked her.

Kurumi looked down at Adam and tried not to laugh. "A-A-Adam, that's not my hand...that a chicken finger," she said looking a little closer at him. She felt her cheeks flush. Did Adam really have to see her when she looking like a magical girl version of Godzilla?

"I'm sorrryyy..."He said not sure on handling the situation properly. Still he was too small to grab her hand, and he had no clue of any antidote that would return her to her regular state. He flapped his arms like a wing- now he really wished he had gone to potions or charms class. "Kurumi....What do I do?"

oh my! didn't see you until now!
 

Kurumi began doing what she always did when she was embarrassed: hide her face in her hands. At least she wasn't crying anymore. "Um...Grayson has some shrinking solution," Kurumi mumbled pointing to the Ravenclaw girl dressed like Alice from Alice in Wonderland. Oooooh...so that was why.



"Um...Grayson, this is Adam," she said awkwardly introducing the two before putting her hand on the ground for whoever was willing to climb on to. "So, the plan is to pour the vial in my mouth and then I set you all down as quickly as possible, right?" Just to be safe, maybe they should summon some cushions...

Adam shook Graysons hands, maybe she could help him out with Kurumi. "I'm Adam Burn...Anyways, put a vial in your mouth,,,you want me to climb onto your hand- isn't that weird, even in this situation?"He asked more than confused.

Kurumi tried not to show fear, but the fact that her eyes were as large as the castle's windows made that a very difficult feat. Slowly, and nervously, Kurumi nodded as she set her hand down as flat as she could on the ground. "You don't have to..." Kurumi said nervously. Truth was, she was afraid that she may drop him.

thinking of flying in the suit but remembered Sal is a lousy flier lol!
 

Salander kept his face sympathetically pleasant, bracing himself as Kurumi's little finger clouded his vision. He knew it was as gentle as she could make it, but it still felt like a couple of massive pillows fell on him.

His eyes shifted between Grayson and Giant!Kurumi as he watched their exchange I knew asking Grayson for help was a good idea the Slytherin lad patted himself silently Oh look she even has shrinking potions with her! At a costume ball..... Huh. She's really taking the whole Alice in Wonderland thing to heart aint she?

He didnt even notice another boy join them until Kurumi started speaking with him. The lad glanced at the boy with a curious frown on his face. So he's offering to ride Kurumi's hand and pour the potion in as well as Grayson. But then how quickly will that all take effect?

He looked at his armour. He had a strange feeling it really does work, and for a split second had thought of flying one of them up to Kurumi's mouth so they can pour the potion in. But then again he recalled his highly successful attempts at flying classes. Better not risk it. With my skill I'll end up flying straight into Kurumi's nose.

So when all things fail, Salander resorts to that one charm that he has managed to master this year, given how many times he's used it. He pulls up a chair and regards the other fellow first (Adam) "Thanks for offering dude, but I think since this is Grayson's potion we're trying out on Kurumi, it would be a good idea to have her take it up. She could control just how much Kurumi ought to take." Makes sense right?

He takes the chair and places it beside Grayson, the seat facing her and its back facing Kurumi ''I can Wingardium you up to Kurumi with the seat, use the back of the chair as a brace so you wont fall forward when you give the potion." Will he be able to support the weight? He hopes so, because using Levicorpus may not be such a great idea-- not when Grayson was in a (very pretty) dress.

"Yeah. I know." Carter said. Could she have really forgot that he was at her house over the summer? "If you want I can help you find things about him to watch." he suggested. It wouldn't take much effort on his part. In fact, he was sure that his family owned a few Sherlock Holmes shows.

Andddd that's what he was afraid of......

She'd grow outta that phrase soon, right?

"Umm... not too bad." he said. "They do float, if that's what your worried about." And knowing Destiny, that was what she was worried about.

Carter reached over and handed Destiny the bowl. A slight worried feeling came over him. Hopefully him giving her chocolate wouldn't come back to haunt him. No... that could get dangerous.

He then followed Destiny's pointing to some girl in a black outfit and the guy with her. Were they dressed up like the kids from Grease? Yes. Carter had seen that movie. Was that... Marie? Well, obviously Lexi was right. Marie had gone out of control. "Are you, umm, okay with that?" he asked.

He still cared about Marie. And seeing her dressed like that all over some guy worried him a bit. She didn't seem to be the girl that he fell for, but then again, maybe he just didn't know her well enough. Maybe that's what the real Marie was like. Or maybe Marie was fine and that guy was fine, they were just both in costume for the costume ball. Either way, he wanted to know.

xD How'd we end up here? (hehe Grayson in Wonderland)
 

Before her discussion with Giant!Kurumi could continue, another boy had suddenly ran up and started fussing over the giant little Gryffie. Grayson stepped back half a step, before stifling a giggle at the chicken finger thing. Seemed this boy really got points for being observant. But she didn't want to judge, especially as now the attention was back on her. "Um, hi," she said hesitantly as her hand was shaken. "Nice to meet you Adam." Lets get back to shrinking Kurumi, why don't we? Grayson nodded at Kurumi as she repeated the plan. "Well, half of the vial for now. But yeah. Lifting up, then setting me down before anyone gets squished." Or dropped from really high up. "I can do it," she added, to Adam, as he tried to step in. She wasn't sure how well it was going to work anyway, so it was better she only risk herself.

Then Salander had spoken, and she turned to look at him gratefully. At least he agreed with her. Even if it could sound sort of wrong. Like he would rather she be at risk than Adam. But she wasn't about to think that. "Exactly." Too much potion and Kurumi might end up mini!Kurumi. All her instructions would just be easier if she was following them to begin with.She looked askance at teh chair, though. "So you'd levitate the chair?" She didn't exactly know how that would work. Or if she was supposed to stand on the chair or sit on it. Although at least, as long as he could hold long enough, she shouldn't have to worry about Kurumi shrinking while she was still on her hand. Either way, it was dangerous and scary. Luckily that didn't keep her from doing things most of the time. She just wanted to make Kurumi all better.

Adam, Grayson and Salander
 

Kurumi looked back and forth between all the tiny people still with her hand lying as flat as she could manage on the ground. She sure hoped that this vial Grayson had would fix things, because she couldn't take being called Kig Kurumi, Kurzilla...or other horrible names. Flashes from childhood came flooding back and that meant waterworks too...No, that clearly was not going to help the situation and, besides, the tablecloth was still soaking wet and wouldn't be soaking up anymore of her bucket sized tears.

"So...I guess you climb on?" she said weakly to Grayson. "And you focus on the chair?" she asked turning to Salander.

Staaaaaaaare.

Destiny couldn't help but notice. The person walking towards the food table, not only had a rather shiny outfit on, but his pants were super tight. She wondered how in the name of Merlin's own tight pants was the boy walking, but she would not ask. She didn't even know him!

But, he had a cape thing, so he was automatically cool.

Blinking through the shininess as the boy came closer and closer, she continued to stare, only to recognize him when he passed her. SWEET MERLIN! It was Patroclus! Her mouth hanging open slightly, she turned to him when he stopped at the table, "Patroclus? Your costume is super shiny!"

She would resist the urge to look at him through her magnifying glass. And it was a strong urge to fight.

Riiiiight, he knew she had a muggle box. Destiny didn't know KNOW if he remembered. She had no idea how love potion worked and for all she knew, it could have affected his brain where he forgot important things like someone owning a muggle box. Hmm, he was going to help her find moving pictures about this Sherlock character? "Sure." she said, before holding the magnifying glass back to her eye. "It'll be elementary, my dear!"

Bahaha! She had no idea if she was using that phrase correctly, but she liked it and would now use it ALL the time.

Carter created a monster!

A surfboard expert monster! Nodding her head, she listened to him explain that the boards would float. "Good. I didn't want to be swimming with the dishes." Or fishes. She didn't know that muggle saying.

A chocolate surfboard expert monster was now created since he had handed her the bowl of chocolate. Snatching it away from him before he had a chance to change his mind, she laughed evilly before placing it under her arm. Evelyn couldn't steal it now! Where was she at anyway?

After stuffing a few pieces of the chocolate in her mouth, she glanced back towards Marie and the Violator. Was she okay with that? With what exactly? Sure, their outfits were a little old fashioned, but she could not deny, the Violator had some awesome hair. Not swishy like the Hufflepuff Champion, just awesome. The dancing they were doing..that was another story. They were too close to eachother. "Not really 'okay' with it, but you know how Marie is. She wouldn't listen to me if I told her that."

Because if Marie did listen to her, she would have taken the advice of staying away from boys.

Everyone knows how that worked out.

Hmm, she didn’t know she could make anything either. Heck, she thought the outfit was horrible! But then again, the Vikings outfits WERE horrible, so it was perfect either way. "Because I suck at making clothes, that’s why." Picking up a cherry tomato, she stared at it for a moment before looking back over to Rae, an eyebrow raised. "Like I said, you would not believe what I went through to make it." So many books to look through. Okay no, one book and she stared at it for hours. At least the costume was staying up.

Fletcher? Flippy hair boy? Or whatever Destiny called him… "Really?" Well, that was unexpected. Or maybe it wasn’t, Evelyn couldn’t decide. "Wow. Big honor. Date of the Tri-Wizard Champion." Giggling slightly, and deeming the tomato worthy and not poisoned, she popped the thing in her mouth before glancing around. That is, until her eyes landed on the crown upon Rae's head. It was rather pretty. no, she wasn't jealous!! "Where is he?"

Dates were supposed to be together right? Which, she was supposed to be doing now. Get food, then get back to Josh.

Still... Making clothes, how cool.. "Well you should make some more clothes! It would save us money, more for furniture that we haven't gotten around to yet." Like that dusty couch she ended up covering with a sheet to make it look better. Not that they couldn't afford furniture, but it would be nice to save money from clothes, and anything else.

"Big honor? I uh... Didn't think of it like that I guess." I mean seriously, they were best friends, just cause he won it was an honor? Well maybe to anyone else, like one of those fangirls it was an honor. "Well I guess it is. He's still Fletcher to me." Just Fletcher with a lot of money. Hehe, he knew Rae when she was poor and now she has a lot of money too. Where is he? Rae glanced back to the dance floor to see him still with the librarian, which she again thought strange but didn't mind. "He asked a teacher to dance." They did arrive together though, and she did plan on spending most of her time with him tonight.

"Are you here with... A certain gryffie?" Rae took a guess, though she already knew she was right.

Patroclus was so happy to hear a familiar voice, as he reached the food table....the table of food that was over flowing with goodness, goodness that he could not eat, for fear of splitting his pants!

"Thanks", Patroclus blushed adding more red to his mixture of shining gold, and blue. He was truly light up now by the room, brushing away his shyness he took in Destiny's Costume
"Detective Destiny, I presume?" Patroclus played along, in a rather penisive voice, the boy had the instant urge to play a game of detective, cops and robbers". Breaking into a smile, "Wicked cool costume!" he added giving her the up and down.


"Anything good to eat?" Patroclus was just having to get his friends to describe the taste to him.....or perhaps vanish it from within his own stomach!

---


Tearing his eyes from delish food, Patroclus realised who Destiny was chatting too,
"CARTE-" Patroclus went to cry out, in his most Matador-ish way, before he realised whether the Surfer and the Detective were starring at, a leather bond couple dancing.

"Wow." 0_0

He sighed. She almost giggled. Almost. She managed to just about hold on to her sad face of longing.

Until he spoke. And his lack of remaining will. Her lips wiggled, fighting the smirky-smile that was threatening to spread across her lips. He looked cute with that sad smile, and she just wanted to go 'Awwww'. Apparently though, she now had him completely for the rest of the night. Then the smile appeared in its entirety.

"Wasn't that...kinda, the plan?" she questioned with a wink. "But I'm certainly not complaining. Now you can't leave me to be a wallflower for some pretty girl later in the evening." Not she thought he would do that. But she could tease. Heheh.

"Well...I guess you could," Nia said, starting to pout. If she'd taken his will, then it didn't matter now, right? "You imply I can see what you're thinking." She couldn't. Not properly. She could make informed guesses. But how accurate it was, with very little other information to go one, she couln't tell. "Would you truely want that. No temptation and remaining resolve?" She raised an eyebrow.

His fingers tickled slightly as he moved them through the fabric of her dress. It was as if he was trying to hold on her, and Nia snuggled in closer. Since her nervousness after the first task, she'd grown to love his hugs. Even if she was aware he could probably feel her heart beating in her chest.

She listened, her ear on his shoulder. And as he wented quiet, she rubbed his back - maybe for encouragement, maybe for comfort, or maybe because it just felt right to do so. "It can be hard," she said softly. "And weird. Not knowing what to do. Or what's right."

Nia chuckled. "In thoery, yes. But have you tried aiming over your shoulder with a spell and getting precise results?" She had. This very evening. And she'd found HARD. "It's far easier if you have someone to help." She gave a nod. Someone like a Raiden to make them flutter all pretty. "I'd want to fly straight, let's put it that way."

She swallowed slowly, as he pulled away. He was studying her, and she didn't know whether to look nervous, or pull a pose. She opted for a cute look, running her fingers over her chin to mock his thoughtful face.

Nia wasn't expected his choice of words. She'd be thinking he might get his own back. And now she didn't know what to say. Her stomach gave a nervous lurch, and though she wanted to disregard the comments as biased, a small part of her wouldn't. Instead, a(nother) blush came to her cheeks.

"I..err..." Hmm. Speak, Nia. Words, yes? He'd just described her like that, and all she could do was open and close her mouth like a gormless fish. "I knew you'd exaggerate..." she finally managed to get out. "And I'm me. Normal. What is so fascinating about that?" Yes, she'd probably just opened a whole new can of worms without even realising it.

"I could let you wander off, I suppose." She looked around the room, as if searching out for girls she should tell him to avoid. "But I don't think I could tire of your company. Not when it is as good as tonight." And to be honest, the other times she'd spent with him. She wasn't sure she'd had a bad day with him yet. Even through the stress of the tournament. She hoped she managed to brighten up his day - as talking to him did hers. "Was there anyone else you did want to spend time with tonight?" He hadn't mentioned anyone - but that'd been earlier when Raiden had been far more tense. It was only fair she should let him go off if there were others. She was extremely lucky to be on the arm of a Champion, after all.

"If I have, then I'm just too polite to use it..." Nia returned with a smile. What would be the fun in knowing other people's thoughts exactly? Sure, it might make some things easier - but more often than not she'd be willing bet it'd make things more complicated. "Can you read me then?" she countered. It was an interesting thought. What would he think if he could? She gave a mischievious smile, licking her lips as he mentioned liking the idea of temptation. "Trouble with whom?" she asked, smirk on her face.

She bit her lip, glad that he couldn't see the momentary pensieve look in her eyes over his shoulder. "Time can be a good healer..." she murmured. "I'm glad it got less awkward." Feelings. Such awkward, painful things. Occuring at the wrong moments, ready to wreck things. Or just evoked other emotions that were worse.

As he shook his head, Nia rolled her eyes. "Really not worth the hassle. Not to get it just right." Which, of course, Nia would. Perfectionist. End of.

"Well...it's something..." she said defiantly, her face glowing. Of course he wouldn't lie...but then? "And, yes, I'm normal." She gave a curt nod, unsure what else to say or do. Or, for that matter, how to feel. Her heart and head were saying different things. It was just...too much positivity towards her in one lump sum. She wasn't sure what to take from it. It felt odd. But nice. And she knew that it was only Raiden that would ever say something to her like that.

...and he was probably one of the only people that would actually mean it too.

She fiddled with her dress, looking down at her ballet shoes almost nervously. As if she was trying to hide away from it. "That's because I'm not amazing," she said, as she slowly lifted her head. Her fringe fell in her eyes. She blinked through it, the hair tickling her face. "You're just...mistaken. That's it," she added softly.

Walking over to the food table Carsons stomach growled and he smirked to himself and at himself. He was dressed as well, Prince Charming. He looked at the table and sounf nothing to eat, or at least nothing he wand so he looked around for someone to talk to.

Carter laughed. "You know, you're getting pretty good at that." he said. So good that it was bound to bug people by the end of the night. Not that that bothered him too much because after the ball she'd be going back to the Slytherin common room with Marie and Evelyn.

"Swimming with the... dishes...?" Carter asked confused. "Ohhh... I think you meant fishes." he said. You know, since dishes really don't swim.

He watched as Destiny snatched the chocolate bowl away from him. He did another quick check for Evelyn. Yeah... he'd rather her not find out that he was the one that gave chocolate to Destiny...

"Yeah..." Carter said slowly. He knew what that was like. He'd been on the receiving end of her stubbornness before. "Well... whatever makes her happy I guess..." he said looking back one last time.

Carter looked up. "Oh, hey mate. Nice costume." he said to his fellow Gryffindor.

And now Patroclus was staring at Marie. Yeah... hopefully he wouldn't bring that up. Carter wasn't really in the mood to talk about that.

"So. Did you happen to bring a lucky lady tonight?" he asked looking around. Someone had to have shown up with a date, right?

As she stared looked at Patroclus, Destiny wondered if he needed help putting on his pants. Marie did and her pants did not look nearly as tight as his. But..guys were different, right? Surely, they wouldn't help eachother like that. Whoa!

Shaking those thoughts from her head, she grinned at his noticeable blushing. Must. Not. Giggle! Destiny Shepard does NOT giggle! "You're welcome!" she gave a thumbs up, that might have looked weird considering all the things she had in her hand at the moment.

"INDEED!" she exclaimed, holding her magnifying glass back up to her eye. "Detective Destiny, at your service." Or something like that. She, once again, had no idea what she was talking about. She resisted the urge to giggle once more as he looked her up and down, but the topic of food being brought up saved her.

"I haven't eaten anything..except for the chocolate." But he wasn't going get any of that.

Darn straight she was getting good at it. Soon, she might even be able to use it correctly. "Of course I am."

Wait for it..

Wait..

Wait!!

"It's elementary my dear!" Like he didn't see that one coming!

She wondered if she was annoying him with that phrase yet, but she was sure if he was, he would either tell her to shut it or just walk away. She preferred, if he was going to do something, the latter. It was just the nicer thing to do.

Swimming with the fishes? What!? "Why would I swim with the fishes? Some of them have teeth and bite. I would rather swim with the dishes. Or..you know, not swim at all." After last terms History of Magic class, she did not want to be in the water again. What were those things the Professor said she had in her hair?

Rolling her eyes, she glanced back towards Marie and the Violator. She resisted the STRONG urge to slap Carter upside the head, but he was sweating so badly that she didn't want to smell like him. "I'm sure she would be happy if YOU talked to her."

Or..even a wave.

Jeez!

Carter laughed again. "You know. I bet you could give Sherlock a run for his money." he said. "We just need to find you a mystery to solve now." he said. But what mystery?

"Most fish don't bite." Carter pointed out. "But dishes on the other hand..." he began. "There's forks and knifes... and things could break. Anyway, it's much safer to swim with the fishes if you ask me." Or, you know, not swim at all. That was an even safer option.

"Why would I talk to her?" he asked looking at Destiny. "She's on a date." Seeing your ex while on a date with someone else probably wasn't a good idea. "I don't think she'd want to see me. I mean, think about it. Would you like it if I showed up trying to talk to you while you were in the middle of a date?" he asked.

Plus, talking was the farthest thing from his mind at the moment. He would much rather do something else. Something like throwing wool bombs at the guy next to Marie.