Shhh, it's a secret! [Ginny Bellrose] on Transfiguration

Marcus Crosby

October 21, 2014 9:16 PM

Shhh, it's a secret! [Ginny Bellrose] by Marcus Crosby

Marcus was nervous, to say the very, very least. The ball was coming up so much faster than he realized, and he had not yet done anything. The asking process was pretty much null since he was obviously going with Melanie (though he had presented her with a nice bouquet and formally asked, just to be safe). He knew people generally got nervous about that kind of thing, but it wasn’t the pre-ball stuff that was worrying him.

It was the actual ball. Melanie was Head Girl, and the he was incredibly and beyond proud of her, but that meant that she was among those who had to lead the opening dance. Which meant he had to dance with her in front of everybody. He imagined that Melanie probably had some sort of picturesque dream about that moment, the two of them gliding gracefully across the floor under a sea of admiring (and probably jealous) eyes.

Marcus did not share that vision. That was because he happened to be…. well, less than graceful. Balls and dancing were a fairly integral part of pureblood society, but he had never taken to it when his parents placed him in lessons, and after years of no improvement or enjoyment from it, they had reluctantly withdrawn him. Never before had it really ever mattered or come up, but now Marcus’s parents’ mercy was coming back to haunt him.

His two-left feet would, he knew for entirely certain, completely embarrass Melanie if he did nothing about them. But he did not want her to actively know about his social ineptitude, although she might vaguely recall from the prior ball. Still, he wanted his improvement to be a surprise, so he could effectively sweep her off her feet. After all, the ball was their last hurrah as madly in love Sonora students; they’d be husband and wife pretty soon.

At first he didn’t really know where to turn. After half a term of thought, however, he finally reached a decision. Ginny Bellrose was a Crotalus two years below him with whom he had a distant familiarity (after all, they’d been in the same relatively small school for her entire school career), and he knew she was not only a dancer but an excellent one if she actively taught people as president of the dance club. Marcus had been too embarrassed to join the club and learn that way, in front of that many people. But she seemed like a nice girl; maybe she would help him.

So he sent Ginny a letter asking her to meet him at six o’clock in the Transfigurations classroom. He worried about running into Melanie in a more conventional place like MARS, because if she saw him with Ginny, she might think things actually worse than finding out the truth. To relieve that risk, he had secured permission from Professor Skies to utilize her classroom in the evenings.

And there he now sat, waiting for Ginny to hopefully show up. It was really, really weird to be alone in the classroom, especially as it used to be his aunt’s. When she had initially been replaced, Marcus had felt repelled by her replacement, but he had grown to really like Professor Skies. Sometimes he still really missed seeing Aunt Lilac around school, but she was so happy now with a family of her own. These thoughts occupied him as he waited, and he was almost glad to feel lonely because it distracted him from the worries of if Ginny would show.

OOC: Permission from Professor Skies was in fact provided by her author.

12 Marcus Crosby Shhh, it's a secret! [Ginny Bellrose] 225 Marcus Crosby 1 5

Virginia Bellrose

October 26, 2014 10:12 AM

I don't like secrets. by Virginia Bellrose

This year was not going very well for Ginny. She had known at the start of it that she would gain the Prefect badge because she was the only one around to take it. But she also knew that she didn’t deserve it. She was not top of her class. She did not stand out in any way. She was not popular. There was nothing to show why she would ever deserve it. And because of this, she felt the badge more a burden than a gift. And now that it was also the year of the Ball, Ginny felt even worse. Even though she was the only one who answered truthfully amongst her friends (and looked like a fool for having done so), it was something that was a constant on her mind. Francesca’s encouragement only made it worse. She had said the very thing that upset Ginny most. ‘You’re pretty’. Ginny was so tired of that being the only thing people cared about. Yes, she was genetically blessed, but that wasn’t something she could have controlled. Her parents often reminded her that she only needed to be pretty because that was all that mattered and now her best friend confirmed it. But in a school full of pretty girls, that meant nothing.

Her friends could find dates easily. Adam just had to smile and he was set. And even though Francesca didn’t see herself as pretty, she was. Plus, she hung around all the boys due to Quidditch. They were comfortable around her. She would be able to secure a date easily. But Ginny? Ginny only had a pretty face and nothing else to offer. Her friends even said so in not so many words. She would be a laughing stock of the school. She had already decided that she wasn’t going to go to the ball. She would feign illness and not go. It wasn’t like the school would make her if she wasn’t feeling very well. Stress of the exams wore her out and she was recovering.

It wasn’t really so farfetched. Her midterm had been spent inside with a tutor during the day and then pranced around in the evenings to be introduced to Canadian families with status. Her Head of Family expected all Bellrose girls to make connections to the proper sort and since Ginny did not have prospects at Sonora, it meant they had to make sure she had one by other means. She did meet some males who seemed alright, but one meeting didn’t really say much. She was expected to keep in touch with said males and have casual meetings with them over the summer. Whatever that meant. She was so exhausted from her midterm that she wanted another vacation. Unfortunately, being back at school just meant more work.

She was tired. So tired. She spent most of her free time in her common room studying. Her mealtimes were spent in her House, missed and forgotten. Sometimes a Prairie Elf would leave her a plate if she remembered to ask. She didn’t really hang around her friends anymore, deciding it best to just keep to herself as much as possible. She was their weakest link and it was only a matter of time before they dismissed her completely from their group in favor of someone else. The only thing that had remained the same was her Dance Club and that was only because Ginny would feel guilty for cancelling it when there were people there to learn.

When a letter arrived for her, Ginny assumed it was either from her parents or from one of the boys from the parties, but was surprised to find it was from Marcus Crosby. What did he want? Ginny knew it wasn’t anything like him asking her out. He was dating the Head Girl and Ginny was certain they were set to be married. She didn’t really know him aside from when they took classes together two years ago. Why was he reaching out to her? Ginny didn’t want to go. She had so much going on. But she couldn’t ignore it either.

After eating a quick meal that the house elf left her, Ginny put her books away and headed to the Transfiguration classroom. It felt like a weird place to meet. Ginny was not as skilled in it as she was Charms, but she doubted he was asking her for help with his studies. Walking into the classroom, Ginny spotted Marcus. She was only a couple of minutes late, having paced herself slowly to keep from having to face him, but she was here now. “Erm… Marcus?” She asked in a sort of greeting. “You wanted to see me?”

6 Virginia Bellrose I don't like secrets. 0 Virginia Bellrose 0 5

Marcus

November 10, 2014 6:36 PM

Oh, um, well, it isn't secret to <em>you</em>. by Marcus

In all sincerity, Marcus was kind of surprised that Ginny came. After all, she barely knew him and certainly owed him nothing. When he heard her voice--“Erm… Marcus?”--he instantly felt completely certain that she had come out of the kindness of her heart, and this confidence reassured him, neutralizing most (but not all, of course) of his anxiety about the meeting. “You wanted to see me?”

“Yes!” the seventeen year old beamed happily as he faced her. His fingers felt fidgety, and a subtle glance downward verified the matter. Awareness of their awkward ballet did little to nullify them; it took a conscious effort to keep his extremities still as he spoke. “I’m really glad you came, Ginny,” he confessed.” I didn’t know if you would, since, I mean… We don’t know each other all that well.”

“And because of that,” Marcus continued, “I feel really bad asking this, but… I need your help.” He paused to let that idea settle in with her for a moment. “See, my girlfriend is Head Girl, so she has to dance the first dance at the ball I guess, which means I do too, and… Well, I’m just not a very good dancer.”

His facial expression was a hybrid of desperation and hope. “But you,” he went on, gesturing to her with both arms. As he went on, his words began to pick up a bit more speed. “You’re president of the dance club! And I probably could have just joined that, but I was kind of embarrassed to be seen by any more people than completely necessary, so instead I thought maybe…” Marcus stopped to catch his breath, then proceeded at a more normal speed. “Would you mind teaching me how to dance?”

With the words free, the Teppenpaw dropped the eye-contact he had been trying to maintain. In a low voice, he added, “I just don’t want to embarrass her.”

12 Marcus Oh, um, well, it isn't secret to <em>you</em>. 225 Marcus 0 5