Relaxing in the Gardens (Mary & Victoria)

Victoria was exhausted, to say the least. She'd danced from literally the moment the ball had started until the late hour that had grown now. She was hot, but everything Charlotte had achieved with her hair and light dusting of makeup had stayed in tact due to some charms the witch had been reading up on. It was in that knowledge that Victoria had retreated to the gardens, it was cooler out in the gardens, and there were very few people out here.

Couples, mostly, Victoria reflected, though she kept to herself.

The witch moved towards one of the closer flowerbeds, feeling the slight warmth in her cheeks from the small amount of champagne that Jake had allowed her. A secret, he'd told her, but she knew they were celebrating the year being over, and Jake's step in to a new life. The thought scared Victoria a little, of Jake moving off to be an Auror, but that was life, and he had reassured her on more than one occasion that Quidditch was just as dangerous.

Thinking through all these things made Victoria blissfully unaware of her surrounding as she crouched down to smell the beautiful roses in front of her. Closing her eyes at the smell, the witch's smile grew a little more. Tonight had been perfect. Nothing could compare... and she still hadn't thanked Mary for everything she had done!

She would find the witch though, even if it meant more hours on her feet, she would not go to bed until she thanked the Head Girl properly! 

Victoria's Dress:

Victoria's Hair Style:

Victoria's Tiara:

To say that it was an interesting night would be an understatement. There were so many people to meet, to talk to, to dance with... It was amazing, fascinating, magical, exhausting. Mary was certain she'll never see most of the people ever again and if she would, she probably wouldn't remember their names. They were all lovely, but it was just too many. Of course, not everything was perfect and she's had to break up a few fights, take alcohol from quite a lot of young students and tell several couples to please, get a room.

Every couple she saw reminded her of Lydia and it wasn't really painful, it... it made her feel nostalgic. She had broken up with the other girl about a week ago, they had agreed they were better friends than a couple and said they'll stay friends. Mary wondered how long that will last.

It was odd, really. In every book, movie, what have you, it's said a breakup was supposed to make you feel said, hurt, angry and every other bad feeling you can think of. It was different for Mary, though. She felt a bit sad, but planning this event was keeping her busy most of the time, so she hadn't really had time to focus on anything else but the Ball. And now that she had time to think about it, she decided it was for the better. Both Lydia and her were intelligent young ladies with a bright future ahead of them and they would try and remain friends, so this wasn't really monumental. Not that she hadn't cared for Lydia when they were together, no. She loved the girl, but perhaps only as a friend. Yes, she thought the other Wormwood was cute and hot and funny and they've made some great memories, but their relationship had ceased to be romantic.

To think of all this and mull things over, Mary went outside and took a stroll through the transfigured gardens. She loved what they did with them, it all looked like something out of a fairy tale and if she was being honest, she liked the gardens the best. Her feet had started to hurt about an hour ago and the witch was finally free to take her shoes off and just walk around barefoot. She ignored the couples and they ignored her and she could feel the small amount of alcohol she had consumed and everything gave her a warm feeling in her stomach.

As she finally reached the conclusion about her and Lydia, deciding that she would refuse to be sad about it, the Head Girl saw a crouching figure near one of the flowerbeds. Approaching the person carefully and quietly, Mary was ready to grab her wand at any moment - Victoria. It was Victoria. Mary sighed in relief and smiled fondly at the younger witch.

"Like the fairy lights?" she asked softly.

Mary's Dress::

"Do they smell good? I completely forgot to check..." Mary said, suddenly panicking over the smell of the flowers. She caught herself soon and shook her head, exhaling in frustration at herself. Did it really matter how the flowers smelled? No, not really. She was sure no one besides Victoria would take the time to smell them and the young Wormwood had something nice to say about everything. 'It's not necessary to panic about everything, you know...' she reminded herself and sat down on a nearby bench, listening to Victoria talk.

She chuckled at the comment about fairies and nodded. "I'm quite proud of that one, yes." the witch said, eying the dancing fairies fondly. "Thanks." Mary smiled warmly, reverting her gaze to the younger witch. "I'm really glad that that many people helped. I thought it was just going to be me and Tess, but the Professors really stepped up. And you, as well!" she added gratefully.

"Is everything okay?"

"Hmm? Yeah, sure. Everything's great." Mary replied, maybe a bit too quickly and too enthusiastically. "No, actually, things really are okay." she added in a calmer tone and a reassuring smile. She wasn't lying, not really. Sure, things weren't ideal, but they were okay.

"Am I missing part of the event?"

"Not that I know of..." the Head Girl replied, giving Victoria a confused look.

Mary grinned and shook her head when Victoria said she could have done more. "It was more than enough, honestly. Next time, maybe you'll be in charge." she chuckled, half teasing. Victoria was one of the more competent students in Salem and Mary had no doubt the younger Wormwood would be perfect at something like this.

As Victoria moved to her side, Mary smiled gratefully and squeezed her hand back. It was really nice having a friend like that and the Head Girl was missing her already for next year. Just the thought of not seeing the cheerful girl every day brought tears to her eyes. Literally. She blinked them away quickly, as she didn't want Victoria to know she was crying over something so silly. She swallowed through the lump in her throat and when that didn't work, coughed. "You'll... you'll write next year, right?" the witch asked in a thick voice, still trying very hard not to cry. This was all so silly, but the Ball made Mary realize that she was actually, truly done with Salem. She was done with her exams, having taken them early because of the Ball and, when she thought about it, there was nothing keeping her there anymore. Oscar was dead, Lydia wasn't her girlfriend anymore, her cat was currently angry because she couldn't pay attention to her all the time and the classes were finished. Salem was her second home and... well, not it wasn't anymore.

"The hostess isn't supposed to sneak out, you know?"

Mary chuckled lightly. "Tess can handle being on her own for a few minutes." she replied, smiling. "It is relaxing, isn't it..." she said, taking a deep breath while looking around. "I'll miss this place." she added quietly. She was getting so sad all of a sudden and she couldn't work out why exactly. The Ball was a happy occasion and even though she was leaving her school, she didn't want to feel sad.

"Do you think so?"

Mary nodded, but didn't trust herself to actually reply. She could feel a lump forming in her throat and tears were threatening to spill out. What was happening? Ten minutes ago she was fine, she was happy and content and a little bit tipsy and now all of a sudden she just wanted to cry. Maybe listen to the Muggle singer Taylor Swift... well that's never happened before.

And then Victoria was promising to write and hugging her, asking not to cry and Mary let out a shaky chuckle, doing her best to keep the tears at bay. She shook her head and hastily wiped the tears that broke out before hugging the younger girl back. "I think it's the stress and everything catching up with me." she offered as an explanation in a thick voice.

She followed Victoria to the bench and thought about how nice it was to hold her hand... No. This was Victoria, for Merlin's sake.

"You can come and visit me, and everyone else, Professor Finn won't mind."

Mary nodded and smiled gratefully. "That'd be nice. On one hand, I can't wait to live with Gavin and get a puppy and go to the University... On the other, it's really scary. What if I won't be good enough or, or our dog gets sick and we don't know what to do? What if I have a fight with Gav and then where will I live?" Deep down, the witch knew all of those were silly questions, but she couldn't help it.

Until now, she hasn't really had time to think about all that, what with exams and everything and it was all hitting her now. Has she even thought the whole thing through? No. She was just mainly focusing on getting into Uni and didn't even think about actually getting through it.

She closed her eyes, trying to calm herself down. This was neither time nor place to have a panic attack. This was a time to be happy, to just hang out Victoria and have fun. However, tears were now running down her cheeks and for a few moments, she didn't even notice. Oh, it was all so embarrassing and silly and she wiped them away. "Sorry..."

Victoria was talking about something and Mary focused her attention on the younger girl instead of her thoughts. "Just imagine someone yelling at the younger years and it'll be like I'm there." the witch laughed through her tears. "Merlin, I must've been a nightmare this year..." she shook her head. "I just snapped at everyone and barely gave them the opportunity to explain. In my defense, though, I was really stressed and the Head Boy was practically useless." She knew she probably shouldn't complain, but it was the truth.

"I'll make sure to send you lots of letters to know what's been going on though, promise."

"Thank you." Mary smiled at Victoria and squeezed her hand. "Enough about me, though. How are you?"

As Victoria had a solution for every situation that could go wrong, Mary couldn't help but grin through her tears. She was definitely going to miss the optimism that was practically glowing off of Victoria. It also made Mary realize that her would-be problems were all solvable and she nodded at the girl, muttering a quiet thanks.

"You did absolutely fine this year, everyone knows the Head Girl's job is very hard. We couldn't have asked for a better representative! Not to mention you were the first Wormwood Head Girl, ever!"

The witch smiled slightly as Victoria moved her hands to her cheeks, wiping away the tears. It was so nice and comforting to have a friend like that and Mary was so incredibly grateful for her. She moved her head to tell the younger witch just that, but then Victoria was kissing her. After a faint moment of confusion, the Head Girl kissed back, as that seemed the best possible option.

As Victoria moved back with a very surprised look on her face, though, Mary started thinking it wasn't the best option after all. In fact, it was probably one of the stupidest things she's ever done, right up there with telling her Aunt about the attacks in the wizarding world. She stared at the girl with her eyes widened in horror and a million thoughts running through her head.

The kiss itself was very nice and the floral scent of Victoria was still lingering around her and she could still feel her lips on hers. She watched as the younger witch touched her lips where Mary could see a faint smudge of her own red lipstick and then Victoria was laughing, happily. The Head Girl smiled faintly, trying to figure out what the other girl was feeling and thinking.

Would she hate Mary now? Would she be embarrassed and avoid her at all costs? Would she be disgusted and shocked and wouldn't want anything to do with her again?

"Mary... Would... you be offended if I asked you...-"

Here we go. Mary felt the lump in her throat again and she felt so unbelievable horrible and stupid and -

"-could we do that again? Please?"

"What?" Mary blurted out, feeling so stupid. Then the words caught up with her and she felt overwhelmed with happiness and she smiled, leaning in to Victoria. "Of course" she whispered, reaching up with her hand and caressing the younger girl's cheek before pressing her lips to hers once again.

It felt so different from kissing Lydia. She was familiar with Lydia, knew how she tasted and how it was kissing her and with Victoria... it was all new and so, so nice and all the feelings of embarrassment and shame and stupidity were slowly leaving her mind as she kissed the young witch.

The fact that the way Victoria was blushing was incredibly adorable passed through Mary's mind, but then again, almost everything Victoria did was adorable. She kissed her gently and slowly, not wanting to scare the younger witch or go too fast too soon. She had no idea what this would become or what it was, but kissing the other Wormwood was amazing, so she didn't dwell on the not-knowing too much.

She felt Victoria's hands take hers and Mary smiled into the kiss, ignoring the tremble that was coming off of the younger girl. She was nervous, understandably, as Mary herself was as well. Moving her lips gently, she ignored her own nervous feeling in her stomach and focused on making the experience as good as possible for Victoria.

As the younger witch moved away, the Head Girl smiled and squeezed her hands reassuringly.

"That's the first time I've kissed somebody like that..."

The whisper was so soft that Mary wondered for a second if she had only imagined it. Then she realized Victoria had actually said it and the older girl nodded slowly, mostly because she didn't know what else to do. She could still feel the now dried out tears on her cheeks, her lips were still tingly from kissing, but surprisingly, her heart was quite calm.

"That's... That's okay. Um... Did you like it?" As soon as the words left her lips, Mary was yelling at herself in her mind. What kind of a question was that? Dear lord...