Daniel looked in his costume in the mirror. Despite his twin sister's mockery, it turned out to be incredible. He didn't mind Diane's judgement, though. At least she didn't judge the theme he chose. Why he had to pick a theme and plan the Yule Ball, out of all the students at this school, he had no idea. He'd just hoped that everyone thought it was as brilliant of an idea as he did. He grinned as he studied the minute details of the costume, from the rusting on the armor to the engravings on his boots. His brother Phoenix begged to help design the costume. Considering Phoenix's art skills, Daniel wasn't about to argue.
"You're going to be Ares, huh?" his brother had asked, wiping tears from his eyes, holding his stomach, a smile carved onto his face. "You of all people?"
Daniel raised an eyebrow. "What's so funny? Ares is the god of courage and battle. I think he'd be a good choice."
"A Hufflepuff being Ares? That's hilarious enough on its own. That Hufflepuff being you is the icing on the cake!"
"I have a lot of courage, and I practically go into battle every single day as an athlete. That's more than you could say for yourself, hmm?"
"Oh please, baby brother. I've known you since the day you were born. Ares is the last Greek god I would've imagined you being," he grinned, spray painting the shadow on the "chest plate" they had been making a few days ago. "But that's beside the point. Who's going to be your Aphrodite?"
Daniel narrowed his eyes at Phoenix, searching Phoenix's eyes for any tell as to what he was thinking. With Phoenix's rare ability of seeing across time, he couldn't tell if this question was prompted by something he saw or something he'd come up with all on his own. That was the trouble with his brother. The other problem was he liked to keep everyone that knew about his power on their toes, so no matter what, we'd never know it was a vision until something happened. But, like Phoenix had said, that was beside the point.
"I don't think I need a date. I planned it. I feel like putting on a costume should be more than enough." He didn't want to say the hard truth behind that statement.
Phoenix did, though. "Why not ask Bethany Lupin? I mean she's pretty enough to play the part I feel."
"Firstly, you take that back. As someone studying the history of magic in ancient Greece, you shouldn't say someone is even close to Aphrodite's beauty-"
"So Beth is ugly?"
"I never said that. Beth is very beauti..." he could sense Phoenix's smirk and decided it was best to not continue that sentence. "Secondly, I watched some Ravenclaw ask her the other day. Diane said they're going as Andromeda and Perseus."
Phoenix scoffed. "That's a choice. I think when you go to pick up Diane after her potions class this afternoon, you should ask the third girl you see to the dance."
"Is this another one of your premonitions or one of your schemes?"
"I guess you'll just have to find out."
That afternoon, committing to the bit, Daniel decided he would ask out the third girl he saw coming out of Diane's class. The best-case scenario was that she says no. That way he could leave early and not have to watch the girl he's loved for years dance with another guy the whole night. He didn't expect who this girl would be, but he couldn't back out now.
Before he knew it, he was face to face with none other than Anastasia Rosier. He's known her for quite a few years, but never insanely well. They knew everything that happened both in and about the school and the people in it. They would occasionally check in with each other to make sure they were both up to date on everything. Since Nott's fiancé moved here, they hadn't spoken in a while. He wouldn't mind taking her at all.
He watched her eyes widen in response. "Carter! I haven't seen you in a while. Here to pick up your sister?"
"Yeah. Is she in there still?"
"Yeah. We've got an exam coming up and she wanted to talk to set up a meeting with the professor," she sighed, her hand on her hip. "Anyways, how have you been? I heard they got you in charge of the yule ball. Great theme, by the way."
Daniel rubbed the back of his neck and shyly smiled. "Oh, thanks. I felt it was an obvious theme since I'm getting my degree in the studies of Ancient Greek magic." This was it. This was the moment to ask, Daniel.
"Hey, I was wondering, do you have any plans that night?" They were friends, but the thought of asking someone to a dance made his heart pound.
She raised an eyebrow and softly chuckled. "Carter, if you're planning on asking me to the dance, you're going to have to do better than tha-"
Before he knew it, he was on one knee, taking one of her hands in his, the other using a transfiguration spell to create a bouquet of roses. "Anastasia Rosier, will you do me the honor of being the Aphrodite to my Ares?"
There was a sparkle in her eyes. It wasn't a sparkle that he'd seen most other girls wear in this sort of situation. It was a look he had just seen in his brother.
A sparkle of mischief.
"An opportunity to be the goddess of love and beauty? How could I pass up such an opportunity? And the gesture? 10/10," she grinned, pulling him to his feet. "Thank you, Carter. I would love to go with you. But why roses?"
To be honest, Daniel Carter hadn't thought about a single thing. In truth, he had caught Beth out of the corner of his eye. He had always associated Rosier with roses. Maybe it was because it was similar to her name. Maybe it was because she was such a beautiful person, but she had thorns put in place to guard her true self.
He'd known her for a long time, since they both attended Hogwarts together for their undergrad. They were merely acquaintances for as long as they'd known each other, but he was sure they would've been good friends if given the chance. Maybe Phoenix knew that. There was no way he could've known she would've been the third person to walk out of that classroom, right?
Now as he stood in front of his mirror, he had mixed feelings. The main thing on his mind was the yule ball itself. He hoped everything had gone well in the set up. He had specifically hoped the lavender garlands that he'd wrapped around each of the columns were wrapped tightly. He then remembered the string lights hanging off the ceiling, some in the form of various constellations. He wondered how Beth's curious eyes would glitter with their reflection.
He caught the clock in the reflection of his mirror. He had to pick up Anastasia right this moment or they wouldn't make it on time. Both Phoenix and Diane had been trying to tell him something on his way out, but there hadn't been a single word that got through to him. Daniel's mind had been racing since practice with the Arrows this morning. There's no way a few words from his siblings would stop him in his tra-
"I think you're forgetting something, Arrow Boy," a voice called to him. His eyes were met with a pair of rose gold heels and red fabric. His breath was caught in his throat as his eyes traveled up.
Rosier was the definition of beauty and grace. He was speechless. They had picked out matching colors, so their capes were the very same pastel red. All of her jewelry was rose gold, same as her body glitter. On each piece of jewelry, there was a scarlet heart, same deep blood red as her dress. Her wavy hair was put half up, her curls draped over her shoulders. Underneath each eye was a painted red heart. She was the goddess of love alright.
"Speechless? I know. We'd better get going before you're late to greet the guests," she smirked.
If there was anything Daniel knew about Anastasia, it was that she knew she was gorgeous. She didn't need anyone else to tell her that. As they arrived to the ball, though, it was almost as though she belonged there. Every element perfectly captured her elegance and grace. He was so grateful she'd said yes to him.
The night seemed to blur by. It was fun for Daniel, catching up with Rosier as she filled in all the gaps to the rumors he'd heard. He'd been so curious as to the mystery surrounding Lillith Hemlock and her relationship with Theodore Nott. He'd noticed him around throughout the years. Since his masters program overlapped with Nott's, he'd seen him around a lot. Recently, something changed about his demeanor. Now, thanks to his date, he knew why.
Rosier had been begging Daniel to flirt with Hemlock for about 15 minutes when he noticed a familiar figure walk through the door. It was almost like he could sense her before she'd even walked into the facility. There stood Bethany Lupin, his childhood friend whom he'd been in love with his whole life. There with another man on her arm. Watching her stand in awe of the decor... he could've watched her forever. He had been watching her forever. He continued to watch her and her date disappear into the crowd.
"Carter, hello?" Rosier snapped her fingers in her date's face. Apparently, Hemlock had long since gone from the conversation. Daniel could only nervously chuckle.
"I'm sorry, Rosier. I've been so worried this whole thing would fall apart that I've been distracted. I promise, I'll pay more attention to you from now on."
"Good. Here have something to drink," she pouted for a moment, passing him another drink. "Anyways, like I was saying, you've met Fontan before, right?"
Daniel's ears perked up. He could sense there was a story here. Now that they both were on their 3rd drink, things were about to get interesting. "Achilles? Yeah. Since he's studying with my brother, they've worked on a few school projects at my place. Nice guy."
She scoffed. For the first time in their whole evening, her elegant image began to crack. "I mean sure. What's his deal, though? He talks in riddles basically."
He could only shrug. "You know my brother. I think it's in the Divination class description to be odd. Besides, we're in the same house, so I do see him occasionally. Seems like a real gentleman. Why, have you heard something?"
She looked away, taking another swig. "Well... no. That's what's suspicious. This boy comes out of nowhere, charming as ever, with his French and whatnot, with no backstory? I don't buy it. There has to be a story here."
Bingo. "Why the sudden interest? There are plenty of other students that probably fit that description. Why specifically Fontan?"
She blushed, trying to bury her head in her drink. "I think I'll have another. You? Oh what the hell. I'll get you another."
After about 4 rounds (and about 4 times Rosier had thrown up), Daniel decided it was probably best if he stopped drinking. At this point, Daniel had stationed a garbage bin right next to them. That didn't stop Anastasia though. "Well what about you?" she asked, her words beginning to slur together. "I've noticed you've been distracted all evening. And I don't think it has anything to do with your little party here."
"I think you've had a lot to drink tonight, Rosier, maybe we ought to get you home-"
She slammed her glass down on the bar they were sitting at and looked up at Daniel, tucking a piece of her hair behind her ear and leaning forward. "If you don't confess to your mystery dame, Carter, you'll have to kiss me instead."
He could only shyly chuckle and look away, his face becoming red. "Only if you confess to Fontan."
"Really? You think me an Fo- ugh-" she started before gagging. Daniel had already moved his hand to her back as she keeled over.
"So this is the 5th time-"
"I've thrown up, I'm aware," she said, head still in the bin.
"Maybe you should lighten up on the drinks," he said, rubbing her back and holding her hair up.
"Not a chance!"
He sighed. "Okay. I'll tell you who my mystery dame is if you promise not only to stop drinking, but to also confess that you at least really like Achilles."
She raised her head slightly, a determined look on her face. "Fine," she said sitting back on the floor. "You first though."
He leaned forward and whispered words he'd never spoken aloud before. "I'm in love with Bethany Lupin."
Her eyes widened. "You're kidding! No wonder you were always trailing after her. I thought it was because you were looking after your sister. Oh this makes so much sense!"
"Okay, now hold your end of the bargain up, Rosier."
She gave a mischievous smile. "You know, I'm actually incredibly tired. I think it's time to turn in for the night," she said before yawning and passing out, her head resting on her arm on the stool next to her. Even though she didn't hold to her end of the deal, he couldn't help but notice how different she looked when she was sleeping. Whatever facade she had when she was awake was gone.
"Everything okay here?" a light voice behind Daniel asked. He turned around to find Achilles Fontan in the flesh.
"Oh, hey Fontan. Yes, everything is fine. Rosier partied a little hard. Maybe I'd better get her home with my sister."
Achilles' eyes seemed to linger for a moment too long on Rosier before he curtly nodded. "Very well. Excellent job planning the Ball by the way, Carter. It's fantastic."
"Thanks, Fontan. I'll see you around."
As he watched Achilles walk away toward the direction Beth was in, he knew a few things about tonight. The first was that Rosier is a light weight. As she was carried over to her place later that night completely knocked out, that was very clear. The second was that despite all of his fears, the ball went off extremely well.
Finally, he was determined to confess to Beth. Just as determined as he was to make sure Anastasia confessed to Achilles.