Magical Hogwarts

Isis folded her dress and laid it on top of her dance shoes before casting a water-repelling charm over her bag. It hadn't rained for some time but she was taking no chances with her costume, and she didn't want everyone to see it before the dance display later. Sure, it was only a small part of the Cinco de Mayo celebrations but she and a small group of other students were going to be dancing in front of the whole school, and she was determined not to let herself down. First though, there was food and music and the chance to hang out with friends, and she just couldn't wait!

By the time she made it down to the courtyard the celebrations had already begun, and she had to squeeze through a couple of groups to get to the small stage that had been erected. "Sorry...uh, excuse me... may I..." she gasped as she wriggled past a group of seventh years who were already deep in conversation and enjoying tacos and shots of tequila that had been specially brewed by Professor Cortes to taste almost identical to the real thing but be completely free of alcohol. She made it to behind the stage, stowed her bag, and ran back out so she didn't miss anything. Her initial plan had been to dive straight into the tacos, but then she saw the tres leches cake on the desserts table and her eyes grew wide.

"Oh my..." she said, not even realising she was speaking out loud until she heard her own voice. She grinned and glanced at the person she happened to be standing next to "Do you think it's okay to have cake before tacos?" her eyes sparkled hopefully.

Feasts at Ilvermorny were always special. Yanaha loved the diversity of the school with all its different cultures and she was eager to learn more about all of them during her remaining time at school.

In preparation for the party, Yanaha and Milena had gone to Shackamaxon to buy themselves new dresses for the occasion. Both had liked the identical cut just in different colours. Yanaha’s dress was of a deep burgundy colour while her sister was wearing a dress in a pretty purple shade. Yana wore her hair down and had used a good amount of potion to make it look extra soft and shiny.

Yana grinned at her sibling as they joined the group of people that had already assembled. “At least those who know us a little won’t have any difficulty telling us apart,” she joked. It was an open secret which twin preferred which colours.

“Let’s find some food,” Yana suggested and made her way to the buffet table. There she couldn’t help but smile at the third year student who was apparently unsure if she could start with a dessert. The girl reminded her a little of her own sister and so Yana decided to respond.

“I’d say go for what feels right,” she said. “It might be unconventional to start with the dessert, but I won’t judge you. In fact, the cake looks delicious. Might be an idea to save some now before it’s gone later.”

Half expecting to be laughed at or teased (and thinking that John Henry Bird would likely be on his second slice already) Isis grinned and then realised who she was talking to. She couldn't say she knew the older girl well, but they had both campaigned for student senate the previous year and, as they hadn't been in direct competition had talked a little.

"Okay! Dessert feels right to me" she said, and while the other girl - Yanaha, she remembered, though for the life of her Isis couldn't remember her twin's name just then - suggested saving some for later, she decided that waiting was absolutely not what she felt like doing just now.

"Mama would tell me the same thing. Well, the saving it for later part" she admitted "But I'm dancing later and I wouldn't want to look like I'm hoarding it, y'know?" So saying, she took a slice - a fairly small one, because she didn't want to look greedy either - and smiled happily.

"Were you on the decoration committee? It looks amazing" she said, gazing around as she took a first bite of the cake.

Isis didn’t seem willing to save the cake for later. Yanaha didn’t blame her. If the Wampus was one thing it was tolerant. She tried to never judge a book by its cover or people by their preferences.

“I understand,” Yana said with a smile. She completely got the reasoning of the younger student. Besides, the cake looked too good to miss. For a moment, she considered helping herself to a slice, too. However, she had also already spotted some other dishes a little further down the table that looked tasty and decided that she’d start with something from there.

“Yes, I was,” Yana said, smiling at Isis as she praised the decorations. “I did not help choosing the decorations, though,” she admitted, “just helped putting them up.” Modest as she was, she didn’t want to take credit beyond the point that was justified.

“I’m looking forward to seeing the dancing. Are you performing in a group?” Yanaha liked to watch dancing, but aside from traditional dances of her tribe she had little experience with dancing herself.

She took a small bite, and let an "mmm!" of pleasure escape as the delicious flavours filled her mouth. It was totally okay to eat cake first - people often started breakfast with waffles and maple syrup, right? This was just the same kind of thing. The rest of the food did look good - she saw Yanaha looking further down the table - but that could definitely wait until after she'd danced.

Now that she thought of it, she felt a little nervous. Not in an "I'm going to forget my steps and fall off the stage" kind of way, but a "everybody's going to be watching, I'd better make sure I don't let my team down" way. She was glad of the distraction of the decorations. "You know, I think that's kind of harder than just having the ideas?" she said thoughtfully, licking a sticky finger "Especially those garlands way up there, it must have been pretty hard making sure they were straight." Her costume and the decorations were on a similar theme, and she loved the way everything blended together.

Really, she just loved celebrations, whatever the reason.

"Yes! There's seven of us, and we're doing two dances" she said enthusiastically, though that wasn't quite true because in the second dance she and two other girls took a more central role, but as far as Isis was concerned everyone was equally important so it didn't occur to her to mention it. Instad she glanced down at her cake and then back at the older girl.

"I'm sorry, did you want to get some food from over there?" she asked, gesturing vaguely towards the savoury dishes.

Yana smiled at Isis, enjoying the sight of the girl who seemed happy to be having cake now. While she still thought that it made more sense to leave it until later, she also believed that people should do what felt right for them at the time and for Isis cake definitely felt great at this moment.

She followed Isis’s gaze as the younger student looked at the garlands. She disagreed with her, but wasn’t quite sure if she wanted to voice her opinion. In the end, though, Yana felt she had to say what was on her mind.

“Personally I think coming up with ideas and organising the decorations so they match and fit the theme is tricky. To me, hanging up a garland seems like an easy task in comparison.” She said, smiling softly at the young girl. Isis seemed so full of ideas and Yana couldn’t help but envy the girl’s spirit.

She kept smiling as Isis told her about her dance group, enjoying listening to the enthusiastic little speech. The young Thunderbird seemed so full of life, full of positive energy.

“That sounds really great. I’m looking forward to seeing your performances.”

Did she want to get some food from the other table? Yana glanced at the savoury dishes and then nodded.

“Yeah, I think I do. Do you want some food from there, too?”

The cake was going down quickly. Isis kind of wished she could have had a bigger piece, but she had enough sense not to eat too much before her performance. Never mind it was only in front of her school, she was as excited as if she was performing for all of MACUSA.

She looked up again at the garlands, following Yanaha's gaze and nodding thoughtfully. She wasn't going to contradict the older girl, because now she thought of it, the whole scheme itself had been a big task. Whoever had been responsible really had done a great job.

Isis finished the cake and licked her finger, belatedly looking around for a napkin and remembering she should have picked one up. "Sure! That is... I want to see what there is, for later, y'know?" she paused, and added "If you don't mind me tagging along..?" Isis still couldn't see her friends and assumed they were busy elsewhere, but she didn't want the older girl to have to put up with her if she had other plans and wanted to get away.