A Sad State of Affairs (ALL STUDENTS, STAFF)

[Katarina Gresh]

Kat gladly took Tim's hand as they left the gloominess of the great hall. Tim was being awfully sweet, she had never blushed so much. "Normally I'd suggest walking outside," she said. "But due to recent circumstances..." Kat frowned a bit, thinking of Katie and the recent Tragedy. "Maybe just around the hallowed halls of Hogwarts?"

[timothy]

Tim couldn't stop smiling, it felt like he was in heaven. He had been friends with Kat but for some reason with the tragedy and all thats been going on, he said things tonight to her that he would of never said before. Now here he was, holding hands with the girl who he has had a crush on since the day he met her and she wanted to walk with him around the school. He imagined he looked quite foolish with his bright red cheeks and goofy smile fixated upon his face. "Um...ya sure."
Remembering something his dad sometimes did to make his mom smile when they went out he bowed to Kat with his arm extended down the hallway. "Ladies first."

[Katarina Gresh]

Kat smiled, even showing her teeth, as Tim bowed her down the hallway. "Why thank you," she said with a laugh, Kat never letting go of Tim's hand. She looked at Tim. His cheeks were red and he was smiling just as wide as she probably was. She knew her cheeks were just as red as his as well. Kat thought it was adorable. She giggled at absolutly nothing except for feeling very happy on such a miserable day. She squeezed his had and they continued their walk through the school.

[timothy]

As Kat and him walked down the hallway Timmy was unsure if he wanted to feint or throw up. His nervousness kicked into overdrive as he began biting his lip and staring at anything but the gorgeous girl walking with him. He was in unexplored territory and he didn't know how to act. Tim realized he should probably say something, walking in silence was boring for some people, Tim on the other hand was happy as long as this gorgeous creature was near him and they were holding hands too! "Um, so what would you like to talk about?"

[Katarina Gresh]

Kat was nervous a bit as she walked with Tim. She never really did this, walked with a boy, holding hands. Kat silently hoped her hands weren't getting clammy.
When he asked her what she wanted to talk about, she shurgged. She really didn't mind if they talked or not, she enjoyed Tim's company either way.
They walked for a bit longer before she finally spoke, "Excited to watch the tournament next week?" she asked, a random topic comming to mind.

[timothy]

"The tournament?" Glad Kat had finally picked something to talk about that he could somewhat be relaxed and talk about with her. "Of course! I hope Maxi wins, it's going to be exciting though even if she doesn't Not to mention all the fun events that come along with it, like the dance......" Mentioning the dance that he had been wanting to ask Kat too he stopped in his tracks. Figuring it was better to avoid the subject for the moment.

[Katarina Gresh]

"I hope Maxi wins too," Kat said with a nod, glad the two fell into a comfortable convorsation. Tim was beginning to talk about the dance when he suddenly went quiet. Kat looked around and squeezed Tim's hand. Did he see something? Her mind went quickly to the great hall and what they just heard about KAtie. "What is it Tim?" Kat asked, slight worry in her voice.

[timothy]

Tim immediately heard the worry in her voice and realized he was being stupid. Poor Kat was probably terrified when he had stopped because he was afraid of the wrong words slipping out of his mouth. Feigning a coughing fit, he looked up at Kat. "Sorry just felt the urge to cough and had to stop the conversation for a moment." Holding her hand once more and continuing the walk he decided it might be best to change the subject from the tournament. "So Kat, um tell me about yourself?"

[Katarina Gresh]

Kat sighed in relief before thinking about answering his question. She hadn't realized how little they actually knew about each other! "Well," she started off. "I think I'm muggleborn. I grew up in muggle london with my aunt and uncle, they LOVE that I'm a witch," she grinned, thinking of her aunt and uncle's reaction the day she recieved her Hogwarts letter. "I like watching Quidditch, especially if my friends are playing. And I'm absolutely horrible at Herbology and Transfiguration." She laughed at the last part. "How about you Tim?" she asked curiously.

[timothy]

Listening as Kat began to talk about herself, he nearly feinted when she said she was muggle born. Timothy didn't mind muggle borns, well he didn't mind any type of geniality but explaining this to his parents was not gonna be fun. If he ever had the chance, he didn't even know if this girl liked him. As she asked him about himself he figured it would be wise to leave out the prejudices certain family members held. "Well, I grew up in wealth. I was taught how to eat properly, dress properly, walk properly, basically if it can be done I was taught to do it properly"

Thinking back to the horrible years he spent before Hogwarts, with tutors and trainers for everything possible he was glad those days were finally over. "I love quidditch, my favorite team is Puddlemere United and I absolutely am horrid in Herbology, but I like Professor Black so my brother helps me study really hard to get passing grades." Realizing for the first time during this conversation that his nervousness wasn't acting up and that he didn't feel the least bit shy at this moment he wondered what it could be, then he made a big mistake and looked back towards Kat.

His moment of glory came tumbling down as his eyes reverted back to the floor they were treading on and he had to fight the urge to start chewing his nails or allowing another nervous habit of his to kick in. "W....W...What about um your likes and stuff or your favorite color? I.....I'm sorry if i'm being nosy but um...I think......your...in...inter...interesting." As the final word finally blurted out of his mouth he once again walked in silence embarrassed of the horrible stuttering.

[Katarina Gresh]

"My favorite color is..." Kat thought for a moment as they turned down anouther corridor. "Blue." she said at last. "She smiled at his stuttering, finally figuring out that Tim would start stuttering when he looked at her. It was awfully cute. "Favorite food is Itallian, favorie muggle film is Romeo and Juliet, favorite holiday is Christmas with my Aunt and Uncle, favorite class is Defence Against the Dark Arts, and favorite book is anything thats classified as a mystery." She smiled and giggled again. "Your turn." Kat said.

"And by that way," she added. "I think you're quite interesting yourself Mr. Scotts," Kat whispered.

[timothy]

Timothy tripped over his own feet as he heard Kat say he was interesting, letting go of her hand he stumbled a few feet and fell. Standing back up he dusted his house robes off and walked back to where Kat was at. "Um, sorry I think...I...I...tripped on something." The minute the small fib left his mouth his cheeks began their transformation from white to dark red. Continuing the walk down the hall, he remembered he was supposed to be talking. "Oh..um..ya sorry let's see.." Pausing for a moment he thought about the questions and began once more.

"My favorite...color...um......green." Lowering his head as the words left his mouth he hoped she didn't think less of him for having the color that denoted Slytherin as his favorite. "My um...favorite food is french, sometimes Mum and Dad takes us to France on summer vacations." Fearing his answer to the next question he figured it would be best to get it out, no matter how long it took. "Um.....well....as..um for...mug....muggle....film.....i....i'm not.....al...all...allowed....to...have...anything...to..do..w.w..wit..with....muggles." Closing his eyes he knew there would be a torrent of shouting he was positive he knew she would figure out his parents were muggle haters. "I...do..don't...have..a..favorite..holiday. Whenever i'm with my family is my favorite holida." Blushing full on now, he was so scared Kat was going to hate him now.

[Katarina Gresh]

Kat bit her lip when Tim stumbled and gasped when he fell to the ground. "Are you okay," she asked. But he got up and walked back over to where she was standing, and Kat took his hand again as he told her his own favorites.

When Tim said that he wasn't allowed to see muggle films, or have anything to do with muggles, he stuttered so much, it took her a few minutes to put together what he said in her mind. Being supposedly muggle born, Kat knew there was a sort of negative stigma about her. She had no problem with it though. Tim's family could hate her bloodline all she wanted, as long as Tim didn't hate her, she was fine.
"You've been to France?" Kat decided to say, genually excited about his travels. "Is it wonderful there? I've always wanted to go."

[timothy]

Timothy was expecting her to yell or call him names for having a family that hated her bloodline and others like hers. As she asked about France his tension eased, Tim loved to talk about France it is a beautiful country. "Not um as beautiful as you." He said in a low voice his cheeks still bright red from embarassment. Reaching inside his pocket he felt the snitch his sister had setup for him, he carried it everyday never knowing if he could get Kat to the quidditch pitch.

"It is a beautiful country, sometimes when our parents are busy i'll sneak out and run in the fields. If you ever get a chance you should go. Maybe I um can t..t..ake you sometime." Realizing that last statement was probably a bit too far he feigned laughing hoping to convinve Kat it was a joke.

[Katarina Gresh]

Kat laughed with ease. "That'd be fun," she said, going along with the joke. She didn't ask another question. Tim and Kat walked through the school quietly, the silence not awkward at all. She squeezed his hand every once and a while. Kat felt very comfortable talking with Tim and her mind had completely pushed away the awful news they had heard only a short time ago.

[timothy]

As they walked in silence, Timothy used the time to bolster his courage with what little willpower he had, deciding it was finally time he closed his eyes and took comfort in the familiar form of the fake snitch. Removing it from his pocket he held his hand behind his back as he activated it, when the wings popped out he pressed the hidden switch and with a small puff of blue smoke, in the place of a snitch was a regular sized bouquet of blue roses.

Bringing his hand back around he presented the roses to Kat. "Um, Kat I was...won...wondering if maybe you would like to go to um the um dance with me?"

[Katarina Gresh]

Kat saw a puff of blue smoke out of the cornor of her eye, and when she turned toward Tim, he was holding a bouquet of beautiful blue roses, which were her absolute favorite flower. He held out the roses to her and then quite romantically, asked Kat to the dance.

"Tim, they're lovely," she said, taking the flowers and smelling them. Then Kat leaned forward and kissed Tim's cheek lightly. "And yes," she said with a wide smile. "I'd love to go to the ball with you."

[timothy]

As Kat's lips touched his cheek, Tim looked almost panicked. His face turned so red he resembled a tomato more than a teenage wizard, his lips were twisted into a goofy looking half grin. Vaguely he heard her say she would go to the ball with him and that was all Timothy could take. He feinted the instant the words left Kat's mouth, coming to as soon as he hit the ground with a thud. Standing up he brushed himself off, his face still red with the new found embarrassment of feigning in front of Kat.

"I...." Was all he that would escape his mouth as he stared hard at his feet.

[Katarina Gresh]

Timothy feinted, but before Kat could react, Tim popped back up again. He was quite red, and Kat smiled at him as he brushed himself off.

"Are you alright?" Kat asked, offering her hand to him again.