Kurumi cocked her head to the side. Was he being sarcastic? Sometimes it was hard to tell with his humor and she was utter rubbish at picking up on sarcasm. "Yep, I think so at least," she nodded. She ought to check out her parchment first to double check. How did you know how to divide up each movement into a step? Were things in sequence considered one move? Or were they several? Kurumi knew almost nothing about dance, but at least could keep a rhythm thanks to her piano training.

"You know what," she said with a small smile. "If we add a jump or some sort of hop in here we could call it the Slytherdor Galliard." It had a nice right to it and used both first letters of their houses.

She looked up just in time to see him remove his scarf and place a pocket watch beside it on the floor. Kurumi hadn't seen many people carry such a thing before, so she was a little intrigued. "Wow...an aristocrat from a young age," she chirped. Kurumi had never been to a fancy party, unless you wanted to count the ones here at Hogwarts. Her upbringing had been very quiet and hardly filled with social events of any kind outside of the family. "I wouldn't know the first thing to do at such an event." She couldn't help but giggle a bit as another similarity with their family lives came to light. "My mother made me learn to play the piano, and I hated it too. But, I bet you were popular as a young man performing the waltz at those parties." Probably lots of cheek pinching going on.

Jonathan borrowed the parchment from Kurumi and looked at the dance steps. Oh, so they already have 12 steps. Jonathan was really impressed of the progressed they have created. This was incredible. He was not good at dancing with these sort of stuffs but at least he managed to try it anyway and besides, it's fun sliding and twirling and clapping. Basic simple steps that some people would really enjoy dancing to. "Awesome, we have 12 steps in total!" he smiled as he looked at the parchment before giving it to Kurumi.

That sounds really good "yeah... a hop" he nodded. A hop was always found in the simple basic steps for dancing. Hopping it is. "How many times?" should it be two times as well? or should they add more like 3 hops?

Aristocrat?
Jonathan was quite surprised when Kurumi called him that. Was she referring to his pocket watch? "It's my father's. Well, my grandfather gave it to my father. It's an antique" and possibly, a good luck charm too. he always carry that thing around school. He actually received it on his first year at Hogwarts. "Really, it's nothing" he said. Aristocrat is a large name to fill.

When it came down to parties, Jonathan was really not fond of them but he already knows what to do. "You don't have to do much." he laughed softly. "You just have to smile and bow or curtsy." proper manners were always measure by these people. "it's boring... really boring." he said emphasizing every single word. Ahhh, so she plays the piano too? Jonathan loved the arts. Maybe that's why he liked sketching a lot. "I also play the piano" his father really loved people who could play romantic melody. BUT POPULAR AMONG THE PARTIES??? "Not really." a few girls had asked him to dance but he was never interested. The dance itself was not even fun, let alone dancing it with a stranger.

Kurumi beamed as she accepted the parchment again. Hmm...hope many hops and in what direction? The bunny hop had been forwards and backwards, so maybe they could hop to the side or something. Seeing as they were already facing once another... "How about we hop to our right, then back, then left, then back, and hop turn to face front? That way we will have come back to our starting position and then all you have to do is repeat from the beginning?"

Kurumi leaned in a bit more to take a closer look at it. "It's lovely. Been pasted down from generation to generation then?" Kurumi loved family antiques like that. So much history and so much connection. It was like holding something that made you feel connected to the universe, no matter how small that bit may be.

Kurumi frowned a bit when he continued to talk about the parties. "That does sound rather boring..." and stiff to boot. "However...dressing up and looking all elegant must be sort of fun, just...not if you do it all the time." Kurumi had never done it, so it seemed sort of appealing to her. The most she had worn was a kimono and those could really hurt sometimes with all the ties. Her grandmother was especially forceful when helping her put it on. "Y-You can?" she chirped in surprise when he said he could also play. Well, now she knew her mother would like him...a little.

Jonathan listened to Kurumi. That's a really great idea. "We should try that." he nodded as he stepped into position again. He visualized the dance stepping first and then tried to memorize what she just had said. So what was it again?

hop to the right.
then back.
then left.
then back.
hop to face front.

Now that he's in his starting positioned he tried doing the dance in his head. Super. Jonathan smiled just thinking about it. memorizing dances weren't that hard for him, he's used to his mother giving him lessons about it. He felt more comfortable dancing with people he knows rather than dance in front a couple of strangers. Maybe that's why even though he knows how to waltz, he still don't usually dance it during parties. It's not like he's going to partner up with his mother. His father would definitely give him a girl to dance with. Which is also a stranger to him. So no, thank you.

"My father loves antiques" collects them a lot too. He does have a passion for old art rather than the contemporary ones. His father would usually go to museums and exhibits in other countries just to enjoy it. "Goes to show, you just get boring when you grow old" he laughed. Well, his father is old but not that old. looking at the pocket watch, he put them inside the pocket of his bag.

Jonathan doesn't like partying too much but dressing up was always something he's excited about. And he does it all the time. But he's not going to tell Kurumi that now. It would be embarrassing if he did. "yeah, it's fun to dress up on parties" he nodded in agreement. Hopefully, he doesn't have to attend one this summer break. It will kill him emotionally.

"Since i was five... i think" he said scratching his head. He started playing the piano at a very young age. At first, his father taught him and then when Jonathan became more interested, his father had him taught by a teacher. He rarely plays the piano after going to school at Hogwarts but everytime he comes back, he would always play something for his parents.

Kurumi hopped slowly with Jonathan until she too was back in their starting position. From the top? Kurumi started with their first move, moving slowly at first as she looked at the parchment in her hand while doing everything - could hardly expect either of them to remember what they had JUST come up with. Technically, this was her first proper dance since what she had done in the past had been nothing but awkward practices with Josh in the Astronomy tower for Borr's assignment. Him...and her long coat in the girl's dormitory when no one was looking. Once she completed their steps a second time through, she figured it was time to take a break. They had been dancing for a while now.

"I don't think antiques are boring," Kurumi said, shaking her head. "Those items have so much history to them. A hidden back story that you might know nothing about!" She was suddenly reminded of Professor Scary Face and her brow furrowed for a moment. Antiques fit into that category, didn't they, the category of being links to the past that could help us with the future. Ug...she didn't want to think of him right now. Scary face.

"That's around the same time I started," she nodded. Well, forced to was the proper word really. "I've never liked playing the piano though...mother always forced it on me, like you and the waltz. It was mother's way of trying to keep me from practicing kendo with my brothers."

After practicing one more time, Jonathan sat down and stretched his legs. He hasn't danced like this since he came to Hogwarts. Well, parties were different. It was more of a forced thing on him. So this is definitely another first for him. last term, they also had to dance because of Lord Borr's weird assignment but he didn't do the other parts. He did however do most of it except for the dancing parts. He got lazy at the end of his list. Still, he gained points to some of the things he did. And now, it's break time. Now, he wished his mother baked more of those cupcakes so that they'll have something to eat while sitting down on the floor.

First, she loves books and studying. Now she says antiques are not boring "My father would be very happy to meet you" he mumbled into the air and biting his lower lip. His father usually don't see most girls adoring antique collections. Especially when it looks awfully weird. Well, his mother was more of the pottery style of art. "Father loves talking about those" about history in an antique object. Jonathan liked looking at antique stuffs too but that's just only it. He just looks at them, adores them, compliments, and then walks away. Hahaha.

Oh so she doesn't like the piano. "The piano is something i grew up with. So it's closer to me than waltz." he smiled. "Waltz was just..." a waste of his time "...something my mother thought would be fun to do. She always wanted to have a daughter." he continued. Which explains why she always visited her niece every now and then. Ugh.

"kendo?" Jonathan smirked. Japanese martial arts, right? "Wow, remind me not to make you mad..." he laughed.

Kurumi sat down on the floor and began to do some stretches herself, namely the butterfly since that was one of the more relaxing ones. She didn't close the charmed music box however, and instead allowed the melody to continue to play. The song was just a little too catchy. She had probably listened to is several dozen times since the owl had delivered it that morning, and it was a wonder that she wasn't sick of it yet.

"You say that like it's a bad thing," she replied with a small pout. It really seemed like Jonathan and his father didn't have a very good relationship. Perhaps there was pressure there, too high of expectations, living in the shadow of him...too many comparisons? There were many things that could cause all this.

She wiggled uncomfortably in her seated position while she listened to Jonathan talk about the piano. "Mother would always get mad at me when I played the piano, telling me that had no soul in it," she shrugged. "Hard to put soul into something that you are forced to do, you know?" She laughed a little. "You don't have anything to worry about. Remember, nothing but wands allowed at Hogwarts." She stuck out her tongue to know that she was joking.

Jonathan scoffed but in a not-so-obvious manner. His father and him doesn't really have a friendly relationship. And by that, he means Alexander will be always just his father and Jonathan will always be just his son. No more. Not even a secret handshake or inside joke to reminisce. But Jonathan has high respects for his father. "It's not that it's a bad thing..." how was he suppose to explain this to Kurumi. "...it's just that my father is too formal." he smiled. yeah, that's the right word. TOO FORMAL. Jonathan is closer to his mother than he will ever be with his father. Mind you, Alexander is a very gentle person but apparently he can be often too strict to Jonathan.

"I'd like to hear you play the piano." who knows, she might play it differently for him. Kurumi needs to learn to have one of those poker faces. Jonathan has it on when he attends one of his father's party. It's annoying really. "OOOHHHH..." he laughed as she mentioned that only wands were allowed at hogwarts. "Really?!" rhetorical question. Still, if ever Kurumi did point a wand at Jonathan, he would never fight back.

Too formal? Kurumi had an inkling that she might know what that was like to have a parent that was too formal. Her mother demanded that Kurumi study the traditional arts, always sat in proper seiza position, never had a hair out of place...the list went on and on. "I...think I know what that feels like," she nodded. She smiled at him weakly, not really know what else to say on the matter. Instead, she placed one of her hands over his in a comforting manner. She could say that parents meant well, that they were strict on their children for a reason, but those words would be empty because she didn't always believe it about her mother.

"You would?" she squeaked. Of course, she would play for him if he asked, but she didn't think that he would feel fulfilled by hearing her play. Sure, she could memorize keys and sequences, but she never put much of herself into the melody. Just going through the motions. "Of course," she giggled. "Are you suggesting you want to go to the Dueling Club practice room sometime?" Because, they could, but she was rubbish at dueling. Charms work and Transfiguration spells she could handle, dueling was something she was terrible at.

Probably some kids do have the same experience as he does. That one parent you can never get closer to even though that parent is nice. Jonathan has to admit, his father is a very pleasant person but there has always been that wall between the two of them. Ever since Jonathan was small, he and his father wouldn't talk much. Another reason would be is that, Alexander was always away. "is it your mum?" he asked. Well, he didn't want to ask but Kurumi always felt fear from her mother like Jonathan does with his father.

Jonathan nodded. "of course I would love to hear you play" he smiled. Everyone is artistic in their own way. Kurumi may not like piano but she was good at something else, like baking. Everyone is an expert at something. Passion shouldn't have to be forced.

Jonathan laughed but she didn't answer her offer to duel. Jonathan was up for duelling, most of the time. But maybe not to Kurumi. He would be worried if he ever did hurt her using a spell. Sooooo, not going to happen. To change the subject, Jonathan looked at his pocket watch. He was surprised that the time passed really fast. They met after lunch break, so this really surprising. He looked at her though, she doesn't look like she had noticed the time.

Her body tensed a bit, but not enough to prevent her from nodding her head. She wasn't sure how strict Jonathan's father was on him, but he still seemed to have enough respect for him to want to potentially follow in his footsteps. Kurumi had no intention of doing the same - although she did worry for the kendo school since her brothers had no desire to continue it themselves. "Sometimes...you just feel like no matter what you do, it is never enough, you know?" Somehow, she knew that Jonathan understood.

"Maybe...we could meet in the Room of Requirement on the 14th then? I could play something for you then although...I really want to hear you play too." She was sure that his pianist skills were far superior to her own. He actually enjoyed playing, so there was probably a lot of heart in his music. The opposite of hers. She really wanted to hear it.

Then she saw him check his pocket watch. Oh dear, she had taken up too much of his time again, hadn't she? Jonathan probably had places to go and plans with his housemates or something - he was well liked in Slytherin after all. "Is it...getting late?"

Jonathan would definitely raise a high five for that. Yeah, it will always never be good enough. It has to be PERFECT. Jonathan's father can sometimes really act like a Slytherin with that behavior. A close friend of his mother, who is a muggle did say that probably his OCD was due to his father's strict behavior towards him. But at the end of the day, the pressure can sometimes be a good thing though. It motivates you to be better at least. "Parents knows best" he said as he smiled once more. Plus, Jonathan is used to his father being strict. In a way, it is somehow normal to him.

On the 14th? Febru--- Valentines Day! Jonathan squinted his eyes. He doesn't have a gift for her and if he owls his mother to buy him something then surely the woman would be more intrigued about it. What should he give her? Hogsmead is off limits to students right now. He can't just transfigure something too. "O-okay" he sighed. Maybe he could play something instead as a gift? Really... not good enough. "Okay, I'll play something for you." he nodded. What song?

Jonathan's head quickly focused back to her. She must have noticed when he looked at his pocket watch. Jonathan nodded "Kinda..." he said in a very low voice, almost a whisper.

"Sometimes...I wonder if that is really true," she said with a sort of forced laugh. She didn't really want to get into THAT conversation right now, not after the amazing conversation they had been having. Between just relaxing and making fools out of themselves while dancing and chatting, this had been the most relaxed Kurumi had been in a long time, and she had him to thank for that. "At least, they always mean well...or think they do..." Which was kind of untrue as well.

Oh...dear...what did that sigh mean? Had she said something wrong? Was he busy that day? Kurumi hadn't had a proper Valentine's Day with anyone, so she wasn't sure how to do things properly, so she could have just made a mistake. Was she supposed to just pop out from behind a pillar and surprise him? Make Walnut waddle the corridors with her gift to him strapped to his back? Nothing in the library had anything written about proper Valentine's Day etiquette, so she didn't know what to do despite the hours of research. But then he turned things around a little and offered to play. "I can't wait to hear you play," she blushed.

Kurumi couldn't see the time, but the darkening sky outside was enough of an indicator. "I guess we should get going then," she said matching his low whisper.

Paulie skidded to a halt right before classroom eleven. It was here that he was meeting Tori, and the Gryffindor was quite excited! For some stupid reason, they'd been deprived of each others' company for TWO WHOLE DAYS, and Paulie was beginning recognize withdrawal symptoms. Seriously. He had even specially ordered an exploding lemonade as a midnight drink last night from one of the house elves.

After walking on in to the empty classroom, the boy leaned on some rickety old desk - which may very well break if he continued to put weight on it - and he waited for his girlfriend.

TWO WHOLE DAYS of deprivation from her favorite Lion and Tori was going nutters. The redhead hurried up to Classroom Eleven, smoothing her hair out as she went, and pausing just outside the door to add a few more spritzes of strawberry-vanilla perfume before she went in.

She did eventually enter the classroom, however, and beamed at the sight of Paulie leaning on an old desk. "HIIIIIIIIIIYA!" she squealed, launching herself at him for some mad glomps.

HIIIIIIIIIIYA!

"Tori!" With a giant smile on his face, Paulie was suddenly greeted with lovely Princess glompage. heheh. He could feel the desk beneath him creaking, but he didn't pay much attention to it 'cause he was much too preoccupied squeezing Tori to death. He finally released her so that he could give her a proper kiss. "You smell good." Sheesh, she smelled good, she tasted good..... if any dragon tried to eat up this princess, he wouldn't be displeased!

Seeing as he hadn't seen her in, like, a million years, he had better catch up on her goings-on. "So, what've you been up to, honeybun?"

Awww awwwww. Tori kissed him back and grinned. "Thaaaaanks. It's just for you, cupcake." She tapped him once on the nose and snuggled up to him on the desk, ignoring its squeaks of protest.

"Well you know, nothing to major, just like, winning at Quidditch and stufffff." She nudged him playfully. "What have YOU been doin'?"

Hah! Cupcake. Paulie smirked at the name, then happily obliged her as she snuggled up to him some more. And it was just for him, too! "I'm honored." What a thoughtful girlfrienddd.

"Coooool. So, what's Slytherin's record? And, when's your next match?" 'Cause he had to know so he'd have an idea of when his ginormous supportive sign for her would have to be ready. Hopefully she wasn't playing Gryffindor.. "Nothin' really. Moseying around, I guess," he shrugged. "I DO, however, have something to ask you...." Heheh.

"Well, first we beat Gryffindor --- you guys, you know, I was kinda sad about that one ---" sad for their sake, more like, "---and then we played Hufflepuff, and we TOTALLY beat them, so we're going to the Championships now, and we'll be playing the winner of the Ravenclaw versus Gryffindor game."

So they could be playing Gryffindor again. Ah anyway. "And I dunno when the next game is! But aren't you EXCITED for me?" She snuggled up to rub her nose against his, Eskimo style.

Hehee. "You've got something to askkkkkk meee?" OOOH. "What is it?!"

"Wow, undefeated," Paulie remarked, impressed. It was pretty pathetic how out of the loop he was with his schools quidditch matches, and even more pathetic that he hadn't attended the last two! What a terrible boyfriend he was. "Well! I'll be at your championship match for sure, and I'll root for you. Even if it's against us Lions."

Eskimo kisses! Hah! He grinned as she rubbed her nose against his. All they needed now were puffy, furry hoods. "Yep, totally excited!" Even though sports weren't quite his thing, he was excited 'cause Tori was playing, and that made it interesting. "Just don't, like... get hurt or anything.." Keeper was a pretty tough position.

"Mmmmmhm," he smiled, but still got a little nervous before asking her anyhow. "Well, I was wondering if - ya know, since we're dating and all - if you wanted to go on a proper date or something? My buddy is dating this one girl, and so we were sorta thinking of a double date. But, it's up to you." Any date with the Princess would be a fun date, for sureee.

"Yaaaaaaaaay," Tori trilled happily. She knew he hadn't been at the last few matches but that was okay, cuz they had won and that way he hadn't seen the kiss with Treyen. Hehee.

Right. Don't get hurt. "Don't worry, I won't die," Tori promised, sneaking her fingers in between his. Aww he was so cute when he got all worried.

AWWW! "YES!" Tori swung her legs back and forth eagerly, making the desk squeak all the more. "Is this you're buddy who's obsessed with Helen of Hogwarts or whatever?" OMG she was gonna go on a DAAAAAAATE! YAYAYAYAY!!!

"Mmkay, good." And by not dying, Paulie hoped she meant not getting INJURED, either. But he was reassured by her response and he returned her smile.

SHE SAID YES. Well, she better have, 'cause they were datinggg. But with her response, Paulie's smile still stretched further, coming up to crinkle the corners of his eyes. "Sweet! And yes, that's - " He was suddenly cut off from speaking further as the desk beneath them croaked its final creak and buckled from beneath them. With a dull thud, Paulie landed on his rump and clouds of dust rose into the air like smoke. He coughed a couple times and waved the dust away from his face. Blehh. "Sheesh, tubby - lay off the sweets!" Heheheh.

Sweeeet! Yay Tori was excited too! She turned toward him to hear what he had to say and then... BAM!

The desk had collapsed! Ohemegeeeee! Tori coughed too and flapped the dust away. "Tubby?!" she feigned outrage and reached over to poke Paulie's tummy. "You're the one who's been sneaking exploding lemonade every night!"

Pixxi didn't care that Nessie had used the hate potion on someone she cared about. She was so upset by this person she thought was her friend. No one would do this to a friend. "Nessie you... How could you do this to me?!" She didn't want anyone to see her worst trait, especially not her friend. Somehow, she just couldn't help herself.

"Why would I forgive you?" Pixxi spat angrily to Nessie. "You wanted to see my worst trait, well here it is," She waited a bit to see if Nessie would understand what her worst trait was, but rolled her eyes and answered almost immediately herself as being impatient was another one of her worst traits. "Just for your information," she added angrily, "I wouldn't give a hate potion to someone who is stubborn, has a very big temper and hate to lose an argument like me, Nessie." She was so angry. She wanted to argue with everyone, especially stupid Nessie who just stood there. "I sure hope you're happy, Nessie, and it was worth losing our friendship over some stupid assignment!" Pixxi screamed at her before turning her heels and marching out of the classroom.

OOC: I'm so sorry it took me this long to answer, I've been superbusy with Uni.

Nessie watched in shock over what just happened. She had no idea that she would say things like that. She was hurting inside and there was nothing she could do about it. She was the one who gave Pixxi the potion and She was the one who deserved to be hurting. She felt so guilty as Pixxi stormed out of the room. She just wanted to apologize to Pixxi and make up for her mistakes. She only hoped that she didn't mean what she said. . .