Mysteries abound (~Layla)

[STEVE TYLER AMETHYST]

Steve was slicking back his hair as was unusual for him even, but he decided to give himself a practical look that would make anyone thing he was much older than he really was, but he had that kind of face. Especially since his debut after he had been a very important part of the school faculty by not incinerating anyone with his potions, but even that wasn't enough to keep him away from attending this ball. Oh yes, he had received the invitation and was planning to make the best of it. Even right now, there were more important things like choosing out the right outfit as he tossed a side-ways glance at the mask that had been with him throughout the years. Having found a good excuse to use it now, many would not be expecting to even consider wearing one of those fancy short hats that gave him a suave look to his appearance. Now his green eyes stared at the mirror was he was tugging on the light blue shirt underneath, and put on a black tie as a black jacket covered his top half. Then he wore black dress pants with black dress shoes, and finally was just touching his face a little.

Letting his facial hair grow out a little bit, as stubble was usually the best way to attract attention at this, and as he didn't want anyone to recognize him, it was time to act like a prudish snob. Practicing his scottish accent in front of the mirror, and was hoping his partner wasn't going to be doing something as crazy as him. Although, he was going to be serious the whole time, and not joke at all. Always attempting to say, "Are you mocking me?" without showing a joking tone at all. Of course, he didn't want to make anyone cry, but he could normally tell if it was a guy or girl he was looking at. That much was too obvious, even at this point, and now he took up the number in his hand. Noticing the intricate design of the ball, and finally made his way over towards the table he was assigned. What other way was there to get the attention of someone to serve him, but he was glad this was beginning. Even as their table was silent, he was silently awaiting the arrival of his partner.

Rubbing his hands in anticipation as he shifted his mask slightly, and it looked much like a silver with bright sparkles on all sides of it with little owl wings on the left side, covering his nose as well, but his mouth was visible. Not that anyone really paid attention to that, but he was smiling the whole time.

[/blockquote][/blockquote][/blockquote][/justify]

[LAYLA ROSEMARIE BAILEY]

She was already regretting going to this thing, especially after the dress she had agreed to get. Molly had insisted that the dress looked great on her, but that didn’t make it any less uncomfortable. Layla was always more comfortable in jeans, but now she was in a strapless gown and she was even wearing high heels. In all reality she looked nothing like herself, which was kind of the point of this evening. After all they had randomly paired students up, and they had to sort of guess who their partner ended up being. In all reality, Layla knew that it would be hard for anyone to believe it was her. She was wearing makeup, something she only wear small amounts of on a daily basis, her hair was out of her face which meant that there was less to distract from face. Of course the fact that her mask basically covered her whole face was a plus, it would make things more mysterious. She was also wearing jewelry something else she rarely wore, if you were perfectly honest there was no way anyone would think it was her. The mask, which had been set with ribbons was tied securely to her face and it fit perfectly which meant there was no risk of it falling off. After Molly gave her the okay, as she had gotten ready with the older girl, she left the dormitories and made her way to the great hall where the masquerade was being held.

She was nervous because of the whole being randomly partnered up because she had no idea who she’d even be paired up with. With her luck she would be paired up with someone who was a complete jerk and she would spend basically the whole evening doing her best to ignore him or her. Obviously she was being sort of pessimistic because she could be paired up with someone awesome, though she knew it would be neither Jayce nor Molly who would be sitting at her table that night. She walked pretty well in heels, luckily for her, so she made her way towards her designated table to find her partner already there. She had no idea who it could be, and of course this was just going to eat at her. Still she felt some satisfaction in knowing that no one would know it was her either, some people were going to pretend to be completely different people but that wasn’t her plan at all. She would be her normal self, there was no need to pretend to be someone else after all it seemed like a rather ridiculous concept. Either way she took a deep breath before walking the last few feet to her table to take a seat. She set the bag that contained her wand, and other things (stuff that Molly had put in her bag) on the table before she took the only other available chair. It was a weird set up, but she knew the school had done it in an attempt to make it easier on the pair of people. Deciding that it would be rude of her to not say something, she did her best to sound calm and not nervous about this whole situation.

“Hello” she said, as she put her hand on the table.

[STEVE TYLER AMETHYST]

[/justify]Steve was looking across the table from where he was sitting, and was almost tempted to reach over to feel the woman's face. Or at least that's what she reminded him of in that beautiful dress, and her hair was done up. Wait, didn't he know this person? He could have sworn he had seen her somewhere before, but he rarely could recognize faces. Not that he knew it was Layla to begin with, but something was definitely familiar, just couldn't put his finger on it. As, he was usually used to looking at a frizzly look, so gazing at his partner through his mask's eyes, it was time to begin the game. Sure, this would be a stale conversation while waiting for the food to appear. Oh wait, it had already been prepared, now he had to oblige by answering finally, but Steve wasn't going to make this easy for the other person to guess who he was. Deciding to do something he normally was too afraid to do in the hall way, he was going to take a chance here.

"So, you're my date huh?" he teased lightly, but he spoke in a rather sophisticated, suave tone that was unusual for him. Yet, his joking nature had taken a toll just then, but he didn't care. Even if it was Layla, he was actually dressed up more than normal, considering this was a rather formal occasion. Well, Steve deemed it so since this was rather easy to handle, but he couldn't handle if someone pulled up like four other tables towards theirs. Then he'd have a problem and have put up a hissy fit to the point his mask would fall off. Luckily, no one was going to be dumb enough to do that to theirs at least. Quite content with just living life as is with a nice comfortable space between him and his partner. Obviously she was female, as he had taken the time to actually look into her eyes, but they were soo familiar. Not that he stared into womens eyes all the time.

That would have labeled him a creeper, "But in all seriousness, hello there, I'm your dream come true, I mean after all you must have come straight out of heaven looking as beautiful as you do," he continued in that suave voice of his, not even saying hello first. Then nodding his head, "Okay, so my lady, how are you faring this lovely evening?" he asked softly to her. This was his time to make a good first impression, but honestly if they were being judged. Steve would try so much harder to make this more entertaining.[/size][/blockquote][/blockquote][/justify]

[LAYLA ROSEMARIE BAILEY]

The accent was unfamiliar but the teasing nature really wasn’t. But of course that didn’t surprise Layla, half of the males at Hogwarts were basically teasing everyone at all times of the day. She really wished she would at least know who on earth she was paired up with. But given that the accent was completely unknown it was likely she was paired with someone she had never paid much attention to. Well that could basically be half of the sixth year class, along with the whole school. Still it felt awkward to be with someone that she didn’t know, and of course she would be expected to talk to this guy for the rest of the evening. It helped that at after this she probably would never speak to him again, and well he probably had no idea who she was either. After all she looked nothing like she normally did, her hair was done up and she was wearing more make up than usual. The mask covered up most of her face, and well just as long as she didn’t outright smile she couldn’t give anything away. She doubted she’d even smile, this guy seemed to be one of those that hit on anything that walked, which meant that this would be an extremely long evening.

“I’m not your date, we just happened to be paired up together for this thing” she noted.

Really this guy was border line ridiculous, and it wasn’t like Layla had much experience in the flirting department. She wasn’t really all that good at flirting, maybe inadvertent, but never purposefully. She was pretty certain that she would fail at it, so why even give it a try. But just the fact that he was very much staring into her eyes, it was disconcerting. She wasn’t used to people staring at her this long, yes she was all for eye contact, but that only happened for a few seconds at a time. But still the fact that he was staring at her, and she couldn’t help but stare back. His eyes were nice, but the words that came out of his mouth made all redeeming qualities unnoticeable. She wasn’t used to being this close to another person, well she could count three people who had been this close to her, but all of them were her friends. Molly and Jaycen were her best friends, so she had a lot of close time with them, and with Steve helping her out in class, well she had been pretty close to him at times too. Sure said times had been embarrassing and she had always managed to turn red if they got too close, but still that made this all the more awkward. Either way she was in between two reasoning’s right now, her normal personality was definitely not buying into all of the compliments. The more idealistic and romanticized version of her brain, the one that she hardly used, well that was thinking that it was nice to be complimented. But still it wasn’t like she was going to openly enjoy it, she had no idea who this was, he could be a complete creeper and that was not good.

“You don’t seriously speak like that at all times, do you?” she asked, “But fine, I’ll play along. I’m faring well, thank you.”

[STEVE TYLER AMETHYST]

Steve knew fully well that his partner wasn't used to his antics, and it only goes to show that he wasn't about to continue this charade for long. Considering what he had been told about the Masquerade ball from the secret letter, and now hoped he wasn't with just a prissy woman. None the less, he couldn't blame her for doing that to him as he normally didn't act like this around -anyone- at all. It was amusing to him that he even bothered to consider the possibilities even as raging hormones told him this girl was into him. Although, he soon just stopped talking altogether, and then looked at the ceiling as if he was purposely acting like a shrewd noble that didn't want anything to do with the person across from him.

Looking positively hurt as he feigned it, after all, it was what he was good at for the time being. Right now he just went along with it, since there was just too much to lose now. Of course, he couldn't picture the voice, but it sounded vaguely familiar, now starting to talk like normal. Finally not being able to restrain himself any longer, breathing normally as he laughed a little. "I seriously can't hold up that accent for much longer," he finally breathed out. Of course, he wasn't talking how he normally did still. Just a little bit different, now it was a French accent, "I'm sorry if I was a little brash there, mademoiselle, I'm afraid it couldn't have been helped though. So...guess we're stuck with each other for the rest of the night," he said plainly.

It was just like Steve to state something so plainly, but the mask hid his face well. Surely, the woman across the table would be even more wary about him. Yet, Steve was thinking of changing his accent or demeanor every time she said something negative about it until he found one she'd like. Of course, this was just all a ruse to mislead her into thinking he was just having a good time and playing a joke on her. In Steve's case, he was the entire time, and even before he had sat down he had planned most of his night out.

[/blockquote][/blockquote][/justify]

[LAYLA ROSEMARIE BAILEY]

She really was starting to wonder how she would survive this night. For some reason she wished that they would allow them to switch tables, just because this guy was not being very nice. First he was blatantly hitting on her, and now he was looking away. She suddenly felt like she was back in her kid days when boys pulled girl’s hair when they liked them. But of course that was a rather ridiculous notion because he wasn’t pulling her hair, he was just ignoring her. The only thing that made her happy was knowing that if she grew annoyed enough she could just excuse herself for the rest of the night. There was no rule that said that you had to stick around for the whole event, maybe he could try and ignore someone else. He might not even realize that she was gone, given that the ceiling was now of more interest than she was. Either way she put her chin on her hand a she looked at nothing in particular herself. She was kind of hungry, but she wasn’t sure when they could summon up the food. This was a new kind of system, not the traditional sending up of all the food, but still she was kind of hungry. She was just appreciative that the dress was not tight at all, or she probably wouldn’t have been able to even eat a nice dinner.

For some reason his demeanor was remind her of Steve, just because he seemed like a rather large goofball. But she very much doubted it would be him, because she didn’t think that he’d actually do that. Then again the more she thought about it, the more she could actually find it a plausible idea. But really she wasn’t going to be able to figure out if she was right or wrong until midnight. She realized a lot of people were pretending to be other people, changing not only their appearances, but their attitudes. Layla would have never been able to pull that off, she wasn’t sure how she could even try to change her attitude. She was normally a very calm person, very polite unless she was annoyed and then she started getting testy. Just like she was in this situation, especially when this guy changed his accent again. Oh he was French now, how wonderful for her. She really was going to have a small chat with whoever assigned tables, and ask them what she had done to deserve mister ten million accents over here. She was pretty sure that at least the compliments made her feel a little better, because his last comment made it obvious he wanted to be here as much as she did. She let out a sigh, as she turned her attention to him. She wasn’t sure what to say, I don’t want to be here either or I think I preferred your flirting better because at least he was somewhat interesting. She decided to just be open with what she was thinking, it could only help the situation.

“So you are French now, does that mean you are going to turn even more suave in your comments?” she asked, “Or are you going to choose to be rude to me? Because I think I’d prefer polite over rude, it makes for more charming company”

[STEVE TYLER AMETHYST]

Steve was now considering that his partner was rather lame and too serious for her own good. There was just a lounging suspicion that he knew who it was as he snapped his fingers making his food appear and was attempting to think how he could make this turn around. "Alright, sorry, mademoiselle, if I may say, your dress brings out your eye color more," he said in his suave, french accent. Smirking at the same time, obviously very confident in his abilities to please women, but he knew this wouldn't work on this girl. There was something odd about her, and perhaps if she knew who he was then that might make things a little better. Or even more awkward, but he was still reminded of Layla each time she had talked to him so far.

Was it odd that he was having second thoughts about his whole demeanor and was tempted to just throw the mask off to reveal who he was. Not wanting to stop her from eating he soon gestured towards the table, as he then started to bow politely. Now eating his food with the finesse of a noble-man, that would stop him talking for a bit. Surely, his partner was thanking the five hundred witches in the skies that he had shut up for now, but he was going to remain silent until she said something in return to him. After all, Steve was hungry and he honestly didn't feel like continuing to talk further until he got that food out of his system. Even so, the masquerade ball...was a BALL, so there should be some dancing mixed in here at some point. HELLO?!? That's the point of a ball sometimes isn't it?

Steve fumed over that for a few minutes as he started eating more like a teenage boy would with those growing hunger pains that threatened to tear him apart inside out. Stretching out slightly, he then finished off his first plate, but not once did he look up at the person across from him. "Sorry, I was hungry," he said, accidentally letting his accent slip out, forgetting completely about it, just deciding to stick to his normal English one. After all, he was sure that she'd have found out sooner or later.

[/blockquote][/blockquote][/justify]

[LAYLA ROSEMARIE BAILEY]

For some reason she found herself annoyed by his attempt at doing all the different accents. She understood that the whole mystery thing about the masquerade was the idea of being someone you weren’t. But Layla believe she already looked the part of someone else, no one would really believe it was her behind the mask. Given that she hardly ever put on this much make up, or did her hair as elaborately as it was done now. She was usually more of a relaxed person when it came to her looks, but of course she had to go all out for the masquerade. Plus there was no guarantee you could identify the other person by voice alone, sometimes people didn’t pay particular attention to the voices, they only really focused on what was said, not so much the voice who was giving out the information. She was pretty sure that if she didn’t know what Molly looked like in her masquerade outfit she wouldn’t even know her own best friend. Either way she was hungry, and that was probably the reason why she felt even more annoyed she didn’t do well when she was hungry. She turned her attention to her companion, and she listened to what he said, he complimented her dress and well that was appreciated.

“Thank you, I think” she said, unsure if she should even be thanking him.

She was thrown off though when he gave her a little bow and then proceeded to start eating. She really wasn’t sure what she wanted, just because she hadn’t really given it much thought. She just wanted some food, preferably food that wouldn’t require her needing to take off her mask to eat because it was messy. So soup was probably out of the question, and in all reality she was losing focus because of her table partner. He had started eating pretty refined, probably part of the act to confuse her, and well he slowly seemed to be turning into a teenage boy which seemed to be more fitting. She had finally decided on what she wanted and it had appeared before her, she happily picked up her fork and was about to grab some mashed potatoes when he spoke. Now she really couldn’t say that she knew the voice, it was familiar but she was around so many people at Hogwarts that it was hard to connect voice to a face. But the fact that this voice had been unaccented, made it obvious that his little charade had not been able to continue for long. He had obviously been starving, given that he had basically devoured his complete meal, when he had started off as pretending to be a noble and ended up eating as any other boy did at Hogwarts. This amused her slightly as she stuck her fork in her mashed potatoes and she brought them to her mouth. She needed food in her before she started to get crankier and made this situation. Once she felt a bit better, she turned her attention to him still trying to figure out who he sounded like.

“You sound familiar, I think I know you” she said, “But then again, I can’t be sure. But please tell me that’s your regular voice, and that you will be using it for the rest of the night”

[STEVE TYLER AMETHYST]

Steve scoffed and choked up a little as he laughed at her thinking she knew him. Of course he wasn't going to really tell her until the end of the night and it seemed to drag on by this point. Of course it was really hard to focus on anything else as he had scarfed down his food like it was nothing, and even using his own polite table manners. Then he froze when she realized that he sounded familiar, but he made it look like an involuntary shudder that rocked his entire being at the moment to make it look like he was cold on the spot. Unable to stop himself any longer he soon just got up for a moment to scratch his back all crazy-like as if he was insane.

Surely he didn't need her looking in his eyes as she'd surely recognize him then, DAMNIT STEVE, keep your damn cool, what happened to that suave French gentlemen? he thought to himself. Obviously this inspired him to actually revert back to it, but then stopped himself since she sounded like she was getting annoyed by his many accents. Not that he had even touched the million ones he could think of on the spot, now he soon sat back down. Now his attention was on Layla, or the mystery girl he was still trying to place at the moment and really couldn't. That voice was certainly a mocking one indeed. Of course now he had to be mr. sly guy and try to ease his way away from the table.

Even the night was still young, but he had to ask her just this once, taking this chance to stand up again. Now bowing politely as he knelt down with one knee almost touching the floor and his left arm sticking out, then his other making a circle motion in the air while he bowed over looking towards her with serious eyes. "Would you care to dance mademoiselle?" he asked in his normal voice again, not emphasizing the mademoiselle at all. Now he was certain that she knew who he was, but he didn't care, as long as he got to hold her.

[/blockquote][/blockquote][/justify]

[LAYLA ROSEMARIE BAILEY]

She ate quietly, being pretty quick about eating because she had been hungry. She was feeling a little happier now that she had food in her stomach, she really needed to make a mental note to eat something the next time Molly said she was going to fix her up for some school event. It had taken hours to get ready for the masquerade, and Layla hadn’t had anything to eat after lunch and that had been rather light. Her lack of food had played in her crankiness as her partner’s change of accents, even if she still found it irritating it wasn’t as bad as it had been earlier. She was curious as to who it would be though, his personality was familiar but she couldn’t really place it. After all she was around a lot of pranksters, and jokesters on a daily basis so he could fit the bill for so many of her classmates. She wasn’t even entirely sure they were in the same year, she wasn’t sure how they arranged the tables. Hogwarts was a rather big school, so the possibilities were endless, which was what made this situation about a hundred times more irritating, because there were so many possibilities. He looked away from her, not meeting her gaze as she took a sip of her pumpkin juice. She was feeling definitely more cheery and she could actually smile now that her hunger was satisfied.

Her gaze left her partner momentarily as she scanned the room, everyone looked like they were enjoying their evening. Many people were eating and talking, sharing a few laughs which meant that the night had potential. A smile graced her lips, as she tried to look for Molly, she had seen the other girl’s dress and mask so she could probably find her easily. She then realized that looking away from her partner might be considered rude, so she stopped her search and focused on him once more. She wasn’t sure what to ask, because she had a feeling that there were only a few things they could talk about that wouldn’t completely blow their identities. He was looking at her now, and she felt nervous because it felt like he was trying to place her, it seemed that both of them were in the same situation. She wanted to know who he was, he wanted to know who she was, but they wouldn’t find out until the masks came off at midnight. But of course she didn’t really get to open her mouth to say anything because he had already stood, which was weird because she hadn’t been expecting that. She was even more confused as she watched him, because she could never say that she had been asked to dance quite like that. Well if she was honest she had never been asked to dance period, but hey there was a first time for everything. She could dance, she had a few lessons, so she knew that she would run no risk of stepping on him or something, and it really wouldn’t kill her to dance.

“Sure, I guess I would” she said, “But is it time for dancing yet?”

[STEVE TYLER AMETHYST]

Steve finally glanced at his partner once more, this time he was curious as to how she was reacting, but he really didn't mind at all. Since right now, he was more pre-occupied trying to determine how to impress her without acting too much like a show-off at all. Having let his accents slip back to normal, but now it was easier to tell who he was even if his voice was familiar. Just like his partner's, and this whole guessing game was actually getting to him. Not really wanting to waste time even as he had been watching her eat for a moment, letting his attention stay on her own eyes. He felt slightly attracted to them and didn't know how else to react really at the moment. Eagerly stepping up and taking her hand he grinned towards her even as the music started. The night was just young, but it was at least now nine or so, but it was only a few hours later that he would be able to get this damn mask off.

Curious about his partner, and dancing around blindly was definitely not his style. Being off his game kind of upset him a little to the point he wanted to actually keep his hands to himself right now. Just, something felt right with this girl at the moment, but he could tell by her physique that he was almost reminded of Layla despite all the clothes she wore to hide her curves. This dress, it was gorgeous and he was almost drooling, luckily he caught himself before anything happened. Plus the thought of that over Layla almost amused him, but he was blushing at the same time. What the hell was wrong with him? Was he love-struck? Or was it just the way he acted around pretty girls, considering the fact he wasn't used to her quite yet. Since they had just met this year after he had started to teach her how to get better at potions, although he had always had a secret, and silent strong crush on her.

Right now was no different, even if he was fraternizing with another women, this really meant nothing to him considering he was just putting up a constant charade and pretending to be someone else. Even as he held out his hand and the music started playing when they stood up, but time always flew whenever you had these awkward conversations, putting his hand around her waist as soon as she accepted his. Pressing close to her, well at least within a reasonable amount of space too as slow music started playing, and he was glad since it was the easy music to dance to. "Have I mentioned that your eyes are like the window to your soul, I can't help but get lost in them every time I look at you," he said, and this time it was obvious it was actually from his heart for a change. Now that wasn't something cheesy Steve would ever say to an actual girl, but he realized how much heart he had put into it. It was on accident, but he didn't want to break this girl's heart, he would have to reveal himself soon.

[/blockquote][/blockquote][/blockquote][/justify]

[LAYLA ROSEMARIE BAILEY]

To say that she was relieved that he had dropped the accents would have been an understatement. Yes she understood that the whole point of tonight was the whole mystery ordeal, but there was a limit. Either way she was trying to make the best of this situation given that she had to be with him until midnight and the masks came off. She was curious as to who he was though, she just hoped he didn’t end up being a complete jerk that would just pretend they didn’t spend time together here at the ball. She was actually a bit surprised at the fact that she felt a little more comfortable now that she had eaten, she didn’t find the dress at all suffocating. Probably because she didn’t mind dressing like this, sure Layla loved casual but she didn’t mind dressing up either. She took one more sip of her drink, feeling very content now and not really caring what would happen next. She had sense that he had been staring while she had been eating, he was probably trying to figure out who she was. Obviously there were defining features that made her, her, her eyes and of course if she smiled fully her teeth would obviously give her away. But as of yet, he probably had no idea who she was and vice versa.

She still couldn’t get over how familiar he seemed to be, and this curiosity was just eating at her. Stupid rules, if it had been up to her she would have already taken off the mask and introduced herself. She wondered for a moment, if she would get in trouble for just admitting who she was. Yes it would kill the mystery, but sometimes that was overrated, and it sometimes made her nervous. Dancing sounded okay, just as long as there was no stepping on each other’s feet. She wasn’t sure about his dancing ability, but she could basically waltz around the room without stepping on anyone’s toes. Still she couldn’t be sure, but she could kind of see that he was blushing. Probably something he thought, given that she hadn’t said anything that could be remotely embarrassing. She took his hand, and rose from her chair as the music started to play. She felt a little weird when he put his hand on her waist, probably because she wasn’t used to this type of contact with anyone she didn’t know really. The butterflies she usually got around Steve stirred slightly, and she scolded them. There was no way she would allow herself to get all nervous around him, because she had no idea who this guy was anyway. They swayed to the music, it was easy enough and he seemed to know what he was doing. She wasn’t sure she could say the same for half of the male population at Hogwarts. She blushed at his words, just because they sounded so sincere, and once again the feeling of familiarity hit her because of his voice. Why did it sound so familiar? She really had to start paying attention to people’s tones, because this night was teaching her how much she had taken that for granted.

“You said something along those lines earlier, but the comment is still appreciated. Thank you” she said as she tried to find something else to say, “You are a really good dancer”

[STEVE TYLER AMETHYST]

Steve wasn't going to miss this night at all, especially since he was sure his mystery dancer was just as suave as he was or something along those lines. There was something very familiar about the way she said those words, but he couldn't quite place it, just going with a feeling. Soon he just whispered into her ear softly, "Would you like to know who I am, my beautiful princess?" he asked her curiously. Just letting his breath linger on her ear-lobe as he twisted her around underneath his arm, and yes his game of accents had stopped for now. There would be much more time for that later, but as the music progressed he had to switch his dance style with each one.

Sooner or later he would notice that she was faltering a little and then he would carefully guide her back on to the dance floor with ease so that she would keep her balance. Never placing her hand on her behind as that would have been rather rude and would have earned him a quick slap to the face. Funny as that sounded to him, he'd rather not chance it. Seeing as how she was really trying to figure out who he was, and he was amused by this fact. Talking really wasn't going to help him, but the way his lips moved surely made it that much easier, however, when he watched her talking he had caught a hint of those teeth.

Something just jumped out at him screaming that he was actually with Layla, funny as that may sound, but he shook his head at that thought. It wasn't like he paid complete attention to her all the time, but suddenly the clock struck midnight after about two hours of dancing. Steve's feet were immensely sore, and he realized that time had gone by a little too fast. A sudden booming voice resonated across the floor as he looked for wherever it came from, but he knew that it sounded much like the headmaster's. "It is now midnight please remove your masks!" as this was said Steve had his hand on his mask.

Surely, this would be a surprise for whomever he was with, and expected a bit of drama to unfold, hoping by golly that it was one of the few people he had actually hit on when he had been in Slytherin. Seeing as there was now clue on to which house she was from as he took off his mask and hat, smiling politely before her. "Name's Steve, and if I can make an attempt at guessing who you are, I bet your name starts with an L.." he said as he still had his arms around her waist using just one to take off the mask his lips just a few feet from hers.

[/blockquote][/blockquote][/justify]

[LAYLA ROSEMARIE BAILEY]

He definitely knew how to sweet talk a girl, which of course didn’t help at all because she was starting to find it charming. Oh no, that definitely meant that she had been hearing him too long anyway. But yes she definitely did want to know who it was, and it was just killing her that he sounded so familiar. But really why did the school like to torture them this way. Masquerades, without even letting you know who was who, she really saw no point in this whole charade. Then again it was supposed to be fun, but Layla found it frustrating in so many ways. She would have loved to know who on earth she was speaking to this evening, to just explore the possibility of making a new friend. But just the idea that maybe they already knew each other, well it made the whole experience a bit moot. Nonetheless she was enjoying herself, especially since he had decided to drop the silly accents charade, which of course made her happy. It helped things a lot, not having to guess if he was playing some sort of elaborate prank on her again, because she was sure that’s what the whole accents ordeal had been. His attempt at being both mysterious and funny which of course had only managed to irk her.

The night passed, she faltered at some points just because she wasn’t used to dancing in high heels. But she was growing accustomed to them, and her partner was doing a good job of helping her whenever she did. They kept up chit chat, and she actually let out a small smile though she wasn’t sure just how much he had been able to see. Of course her teeth were a huge hint, but Layla wasn’t at all conscious of them anyway. She was completely fine with the way she looked, and she wouldn’t change anything about herself. She felt relief though when the clock finally did strike midnight because it meant she could finally take off the mask which was starting to annoy her a bit. She was pretty sure that if she had kept it on any longer, it would have completely smeared all the makeup that Molly had put on her, and therefore screw up what her friend had worked so hard to achieve. She turned to look for the headmaster because he would be the one announcing that the masks could come off. She smiled when she heard his powerful voice, announcing that they could take them off. She was just about to take off the mask when her partner beat her to it, and something got stuck in her throat when she realized who it was. Oh this was some very twisted form of irony and she knew it. Steve had been her partner, how could she not have known that. She was suddenly nervous yet mad at him all at once. Deciding it would be best to take her mask off as well, she undid the ribbons that were tied and took the mask in her hands. She fought the lump that had formed in her throat, and she wasn't surprised that her words came out sort of shaky and not at all mad, even though she should have been. It was probably the proximity of his lips to hers, this was the closest they had ever been and well that was making her a bit nervous.

“Very cute Steve, really” she said, “I swear if you knew this whole time, and were just messing with me, I will be hurting you because your flirting was very believable and it would not be okay at all for you to mess with me like that”

[STEVE TYLER AMETHYST]

Steve was reveling in the fact that he had knew who it was from the first step of dancing with her and since he had been glancing her over, he had known. Was he really going to tell her the truth and make her mad at him for the whole charade he had put up for her? Normally he would have revealed himself right away if he had known it was her, and this would have made it less awkward. An awry smile came onto his face as he tried to think about how he could go about trying to answer her honestly. Steve really was bad with stuff like this, however, he could easily weasel his way out of this mess he had set himself up with.

Amusing was by far the correct word to consider her reaction to his own words, but he had it coming in the long run. After the fake accents he had used there was really no surprise or any other words he could say to alter this course of action. Suddenly he just went with it, staring into her eyes as he held her close hoping she'd let him kiss her as he had been wanting to do. After all, she looked incredibly stunning in the dress she wore in front of him, and he really did like her. A lot more than he thought he did, but suddenly her maturity stopped him a little as he then soon stroked her cheek softly with his hand. Leaving it there for a moment, and decided to speak the truth.

"Truthfully, at first I didn't know it was you, but I could almost tell as soon as you told me to stop playing around, which I did. I was fairly certain when when we were dancing though, I can never look away from your beautiful eyes, Layla. I have to admit, I've liked your for a while, but I never knew how to speak my feelings just always kidding around. Would you like to go out with me sometime? Or would this count as one date already," he asked her politely. "Sorry about the strange accents, I truly thought it was someone else at first, but will you forgive meeee?~" he pleaded.

Even as his other hand was now placed over hers, looking into her eyes, and found himself wanting to get lost into them once more.

[/blockquote][/blockquote][/justify]

[LAYLA ROSEMARIE BAILEY]

This really was some sort of twisted joke, because she wasn’t even sure how long he had known it was her. She had made no real attempt at hiding anything about herself, she hadn’t started the night with that intention at all. She had just hoped that it was a stranger, and therefore they wouldn’t make much of a connection. But Steve had been around her a lot, so she was curious to know just how long he had known her identity. Now she felt rather stupid too, because how could she not have guessed that it was him, after he started talking properly. She really did need to start paying attention to people’s tones now, it was funny how much you realized that you took advantage of when you were put into these types of situation. She now had a major respect for all the muggles that knew how to identity another person just by the mere sound of their voice and nothing else. She should have been able to do that, and of course there had to have been hints about who he was. But she really couldn’t remember any, other than his attempt at making her confused with his game of accents.

She was very aware of their proximity and it was clouding her judgment majorly especially given the high possibility that he could end up kissing her if one of them moved closer to the other. She was also starting to feel nervous, even more so when he put his hand in her cheek, she hadn’t even realized she had dropped her mask, probably just because she was very focused on him right now. He chose to answer her then, and well she wasn’t sure if he was still playing around or if he was being completely serious. There were two ways this could end up going and she very well knew it, he could have been playing a very elaborate prank on her, which would probably end in her hexing him into the new millennia, or he was actually being very serious with her. The part that wanted to believe him, that was the loudest one at the moment, was telling her to tell him yes. She liked him too, it’s why she acted like such a girl around him, and she was very aware of that fact. It was one of the reason she looked forward to their little meetings, and it wasn’t just because he was helping her with potions, she liked spending time with him. But for some reason there was the other little voice that was telling her that Steve was known to joke, but she really didn’t think he was. She let out a small laugh when he said, if this had counted as a date, and if she was honest it did sort of resemble one. Though she wasn’t sure if it really should, given that she hadn’t known it was him and it was always a good idea to know who you were on a date with. At his last comment, she looked down for a moment, knowing that she really couldn’t be mad at him over the accents thing, and she looked up at him again.

“I do forgive you for the accents thing”she said, “As for the going out, I’d love to”

[STEVE TYLER AMETHYST]

Steve just couldn't do this to her, at one moment he was serious, the next he was joking and he was having an internal conflict with himself...not. Knowing fully well what he wanted, and he was going to take it , no questions asked. Layla was going to be his, but he didn't want to let that thinking get him into trouble. So he scratched that thought and soon focused on a lighter one that wasn't so clingy. Sure, he could be greedy, but how far did that go? Just keeping her all to himself would surely make most of her friends rather weary of him, but he really didn't care what they thought. This was Layla's decision not theirs, and he was bound to meet them eventually.

Finally smiling when he heard her answer, realizing she wasn't joking with him either and suddenly notified himself that she usually didn't joke all that much. Being as serious as she was it was hard to tell if she was joking at times, but his face instantly beamed as she told him she wanted to go out with him. Feeling the butterflies that were in his heart flutter around a hundred times faster than normal as his arms wrapped around her waist bringing her so much closer to him. Watching her full lips move as she spoke just so he could sneak a peek at her bunny teeth showing a little more than usual.

Terribly cute, that was what he thought about her, and now was his chance to express his joy at this notion. Without a second thought, Steve didn't answer, but in a different way by pressing his lips to Layla's as he felt sparks fly beneath his eyelids that were now closed. One part of him was telling him to keep going until she could respond...so he did.

[/blockquote][/blockquote][/justify]

[LAYLA ROSEMARIE BAILEY]

Really she hadn’t thought that the ball would have this type of effect on anyone. Yet here she was accepting to go out with Steve, it was different. But still she knew she wanted it, after all she wouldn’t have said yes otherwise. But still she hadn’t been expecting it to be him, she had been expecting some really goofy Gryffindor or hufflepuff, sometimes they liked to joke. Sure Steve did the same thing, but still she had not been expecting it to be him. But all of his earlier comments came to mind, and it made her a bit embarrassed to realize that he had told her all those things without even knowing it was her. She wondered just how different she looked in this dress, sure it was something different for her, but there were some things that made it blatantly obvious who she was. That was probably how he had figured it out, before she even did. He was better at catching the details, apparently, and she was a bit jealous of that. She probably would have played around with him a little more if she would have known it was him though, just because it would have made the night a little more fun. Not that she minded the way it was turning out, she was perfectly fine with the turn out. She was waiting for some sort of reaction from him concerning her answer but his reply was just to kiss her.

Yet another thing she had not been expecting, and if she was honest she was pleased with it too. Her mask completely forgotten she allowed herself to get lost in the kiss, just because it was something she wanted as much as he did apparently. Her hands had been at her sides, but in response to the kiss, she brought them to his shoulders again, in an attempt to get closer, as if it were possible. She realized just how the kiss made her feel, it was different and the butterflies were going crazy. She really could at least say that all those girly recaps of how a kiss was supposed to be, were definitely spot on. She had been kissed before, but it didn’t compare to this at all. Maybe it was just because it had been mostly because of a stupid game, but this was just because he had wanted to kiss her, and she wanted to kiss back. This was how a first kiss was supposed to be like, not just some expectation by a group of people. She had even forgotten that they were technically in the middle of the masquerade and that they might get in trouble for this, but she really couldn’t bring herself to care. She was basically throwing herself into this kiss to make the most of it, though the little nagging voice in her head was telling her that now was a good idea to stop, because air would be a good thing, but she couldn’t really bring herself to listen to said little voice.

[STEVE TYLER AMETHYST]

Steve was just as enthralled by the kiss and as enchanting as he felt, he soon had to let go of all of his feelings for just a moment. Reeling backwards a little from this situation in his mind, and then finally just submerged into a nice euphoria that flooded his troubles with a calm that no one but him would know. Essentially he was glad that there was much more fun to be had with Layla, but he had made the move now, almost right before the first date. Why did this feel right then? What was holding him back the whole time he had been hiding his true feelings for her? Probably the same urges that always held him back, speaking from deep within his mind. Not wanting to reveal his secret love for her.

Finally he soon pulled out of the kiss, managing to keep his eyes locked on Layla's. A grin formed on his face as he looked into them, but he wasn't going to say just kidding to ruin the mood. No words were needed for romantic intimate moments such as this, and soon his hand was caressing her face soothingly. No worries, he thought to himself and now he was gazing at her lips that he had just kissed. Wondering exactly how she had felt and almost commented on the kiss. Steve thought that would ruin the moment just as much, but his heart told him what to say.CHEESY

Steve suddenly stabbed his mind for thinking that one word, but he let his lips move in the right angle. Just to prove what he meant, and the silent words echoed into her ear as he brushed up against them. Soon lightly nibbling on her ear just once as he whispered into them, "Layla, I don't want you to ever change, you're the right person for me, and I never want to give you up to anyone else at all," he said to her. Although admitting that was like they had already gone out on a date, but he didn't want to tie strings around her already. Even the way they always hung out alone seemed rather odd to him.

[/blockquote][/blockquote][/justify]

[LAYLA ROSEMARIE BAILEY]

She knew that everything she was feeling currently was basically the definition of a cliché. But she really couldn’t bring herself to care, just to think that he felt the same way about her as she did about him, well it opened up so many possibilities. Never would she have thought that she’d be in this situation with him, yes he flirted with her but she took that as just the way he was. She never took it too seriously because she didn’t want to read into things that weren’t really there. Sure there were certain actions that he did, certain things that should have hinted at it, but she had never truly seen the hints. But here she was, feeling about every single cliché described in romance novels over one kiss with him. She really didn’t even bring herself to care that they could get in trouble for kissing in the middle of the masquerade, because it felt right to kiss him. It made her happy, and giddy and so many other things that she couldn’t bring herself to find words for. All she knew was that it was probably the best event she had at Hogwarts since arriving and that somehow it was all okay now. When he pulled away, she could breathe a little but still it was different.

“Wow”she said, not really sure what she was commenting on.

She could have been commenting on the kiss, or just the fact that the situation had been unexpected. She had a feeling that Molly would throw a fit if Layla didn’t tell her about this as soon as she found her, and that her best friend would basically hound her for details. It took her a minute to realize that they hadn’t moved, and that her mask was still on the ground. She knew that she should have picked it up, but she felt very comfortable in his arms, and she had no real desire to move. Her added height had proven helpful in this situation because he didn’t have to lean down to whisper in her ear, and of course she felt funny as he did that. It sort of tickled and she wanted to laugh at the feeling, but she knew that it would seem overly girly and that wasn’t something that she generally did. Still she didn’t move, she just listened to what he said, a small smile on her lips as she listened to him. Some people would have called it cheesy, but she thought it was sweet and it made her happy to hear him say those things to her. She had never been one to be adept in the romance department, she was pretty inexperienced, so she wasn’t sure just how things worked, at least not by experience she was more aware by watching. Still she knew that if she allowed her answer to be completely serious it might not sound appropriate, but if she said something in a joking matter that might not be appropriate either. She knew what she wanted to say, that she wouldn’t want to be with anyone else either way.

“I wasn’t aware you were planning on sharing me in the first place” she teased lightly, “But in all seriousness, I don’t want to be with anyone else. Only you”

OOC: My god that sounded cheesy too. SORRY