Ch 17: Yule Ball

                                    

                                          
The night had finally come, the night every girl in the school had eagerly awaited with excitement since McGonagall first announced it; The Yule Ball. Snowfall had started trickling down the couple days prior, giving a perfect winter wonderland feeling outside that mixed well with the ball. Hermoine and the others had already gotten dressed and had started leaving waiting for their date, everyone was eager to head to the great hall, curious what they had turned it into.  
As I finished putting my h/c into place, pushing back a small strand of hair I examined myself. I felt that having my hair down with simple elegant curls to them had been a lovely touch to the whole ensemble. I had no idea originally what to do with my hair, so this was a good alternative. Letting out a deep sigh, I brushed off anything that might have gotten on my dress and walked towards the common room entrance. Nikolaus had told me a month ago that he would pick me up at the painting to our room, hopefully he had made it there alright.  
Opening the door out of the common rooms, I nervously looked around to see if he was waiting nearby; others spilling out of their dorms with their dates with bright smiles. The painting closed behind me, and I continued to look around, he hadn't been in vicinity of our dorm room, so maybe he had been waiting not too far away or got whisked away by the changing staircases.  
I didn't have to wait too long before I saw Nikolaus walking up the steps. He wore a deep red buttoned up jacket with loops that buttoned the middle section to his shoulder and collar. A black belt wrapped around his waist, with a silver squared clasp in the middle. Hanging onto his torso from a belted sash that went around his chest was the same color of red shoulder cape, its edges surrounded with a tan fur, it reached just below his kneecap. He wore deep brown dress pants and deep black leather boots that reached just below his knee.  
When he noticed me at the top of the steps, the look on his face brightened as he grinned jogging up the steps, I met him halfway and grabbed his arm as he held it out towards me escorting me down the steps once more.  
" I'm sorry if you had to wait at all, your schools' stairs are rather confusing" he laughed "It changed on me mid walk"  
I let out a small chuckle "Our staircases tend to do that a lot, it's always best to hurry up the steps since they can change at any time"  
"Well, that's most unhelpful" He joked grinning looking down at me. 
"It can be sometimes" I chuckled as we continued walking forward "In my first year, I was always late to my classes for the first month, I grew up in a non-magic household so the idea of such confused me. They constantly changed"  
"You're a muggle born?" he asked curiously.  
I nodded smiling "yes, it was a small shock to my family when they received my letter, but I'm happy that I found out. I've enjoyed my time here" I looked up and around me wistfully; countless other couples walked alongside down the halls towards the great hall.  
"I'm happy too, if you hadn't been born a witch, I wouldn't have been able to have you as my date and see you in such a gorgeous dress" He looked down at me complimenting.  
My head swiveled up, my cheeks bright pink as I looked at him in shock. I wasn't entirely used to the experience of someone complimenting me in such a way. I've been told about my smarts and my aptitude for classes, but this felt different; it brought butterflies to my chest.  
I looked back down before he could notice for too long the blush that crept across my face "oh, um thank you" I stumbled over my words trying to find the right thing to say "My friend's mother chose this one for me since she wanted it to be a surprise"  
"Well, your friend's mother has excellent taste then" He chuckled, in the corner of my eye I watched him grinning at me before looking forwards.  
We continued walking down the hall for a few minutes before Nikolaus raised his hand and began waving to a few other Durmstrang students ahead of us. I looked over at them and watched as they looked at him and then myself and grinned giving him supportive thumbs up and waving their hands back at him.