Chapter 6: Dance

A/N: It's been a while…kind of glad to be back! This chapter's all about the Friday night dance, I think it's kind of short but you'll just have to live with it. Gosh I suck at romance…remind me to never write an attempt at that again. Especially with first-years. Happy reading! Lunar Luna!

Stella, Tory and Neville did their Arithmancy and History of Magic homework for the next hour. They wasted a bit of time exploring the Hogwarts grounds and went to the library to look at quidditch books. At 5.00 they went to dinner (Shepard's pie and carrots) and then split up to get ready for the night's dance.

Stella arrived in her dormitory to see Ellen, Holly and Jocelyn brushing their hair and such. Stella went to the bathroom to take a quick shower and came back to get dressed. She put on a medium – length brown skirt with a three-quarters sleeved bright blue shirt. She finally decided on black shoes that matched the edges of her shirt. By that time Danielle and Abbie had come in together and Abbie wanted to do Stella's hair. Stella let Abbie brush her fluffy blondeish-brown hair and pin it up. She then helped Ellen pick out her things.

By the time everyone in their dormitory was ready, it was nearing seven o' clock, so they all went down together, Stella talking to Ellen. Ellen was going to the dance with Jude from Hufflepuff, so they split up in the common room to find their dates.

Stella saw Gil and made her way over to him, smiling. She greeted him with a quick 'Hi' and slipped her hand into his. They talked for a while on the way to the Great Hall, mostly about Hogwarts and trick staircases. She found he looked very handsome in his long dark blue dress robes. She was happy to be going with Gil.

When they got to the Great Hall, it was amazing. Magical streamers of every colour were all over the place, thousands of candles lit the hall, the tables were draped in something shimmery.

'Should we go in?' asked Gil.

'Wow, I guess,' Stella answered. When they were only a few steps in, loud music sounded out – an odd-looking band began to play on a stage. There was a space cleared out in the middle and many teachers were waltzing already (Professors Lovegood and Flitwick among them). Stella kind of looked at Gil and then said,

'Well? Come on!' and led him to the dance floor. They danced for a long while to all sorts of music – salsa, rock, everything the band played. Stella saw Tory and Neville dancing and waved to them. They both looked like they were having fun. She noticed that although Neville was a little clumsy-looking when he walked, he was a fantastic dancer. His feet seemed to never touch the floor.

Gil wasn't the best dancer ever, but then again neither was she and they had a lot of laughs stepping on each others' feet. It was wonderful dancing with him, laughing in surprise as he spun her on the fast songs, looking into his eyes as they danced to the slower ones. He really had beautiful eyes, all brown and warm-looking.

They took a break and went to have some punch, which tasted like millions of fruits all blasted together. They sat down at an empty table and talked.

'I'm so excited for this year and all of them. It's going to be so much fun at Hogwarts. I'm glad I met you, Stella.'

'Me too,' Stella said. 'It's amazing here. I can't wait for the quidditch. Are you going to that first-year team thing tomorrow?'

'Ha, I don't think so. You don't want to see me trying to fly. I love watching quidditch, just not playing it. Do you think you will though?'

'Yep, I'm going. My mum teaches quidditch, so she lets me ride every once in a while. I'd really like to be a Keeper. Mum makes me be Keeper when she practicing with her Quaffles.'

'Cool,' replied Gil. 'Would you like to dance some more? I hear they're having a competition."

'I'd love to,' smiled Stella.

They went back to the dance floor and attempted to tango. They watched Neville and Jaimie Effonfeather glide around and win "Best First-Year Dancers". Neville looked so proud and Stella and Gil cheered him on happily.

The night seemed to go on and on, wonderfully. Stella met Jaimie and her sisters, finding them really amiable and fun to talk to. She introduced Gil and Ellen to everybody and said hi to Jude, Ellen's date. Tory and Ike met everyone else and the huge group (Stella, Gil, Tory, Ike, Neville, Jaimie, Jackie, Justine, Ellen and Jude) settled down to have a snack.

Stella laughed with all of the others, chattering away about everything and anything. The night finally drew to a close and the dance ended. Stella made her way back to the common room with Gil. He stopped her at the bottom of the staircase and handed her something, blushing a little. It was a miniature package wrapped in brown paper and tied with a ribbon.

Stella unwrapped it to find a beautiful necklace. It was bronze twisted into a chain and had writing on it if you looked closely. "Amāre", Stella read. She looked up at Gil in admiration.

'Oh thank you,' she said, fastening the chain around her neck. 'Where in the world did you get something this beautiful?'

'Owl order,' Gil grinned. 'Can I give you a kiss goodnight?'

'Of course,' Stella answered. He hugged her for a minute and then kissed her. He said goodnight and walked off to his dormitory.

Stella closed her eyes and smiled widely. She stumbled up the staircase in a daze, got ready for bed and flopped onto the sheets. The last thing she did before sleep was to hold the necklace and put it in the front of her bedside drawer. Tiredness came and Stella slept.

A/N: Well, that's it. Next chapter's gonna be better, it's all about flying! Which make me happy. Good to be back writing, hopefully good to be back getting reviews:) Until later, from Luna!