The Junior Magizoology New Year's Ball (Mimosa)

The conversation moved back to the boring topic of Mimosa's life and the grand expanse of the Palace, and thing Nikolai had absolutely no interest in only moments after Mimosa rejoined them. The ploy to get out of the conversation whilst still looking to be a part of it was easy with Mimosa around, and it allowed Nikolai to retreat in to himself to worry about what he was going to say in the upcoming round of speeches he was about to give.

His lack of interest or participation in the conversation went unnoticed as it always did, and only when the announcement that the speeches would be starting soon was made did the boy come back to the moment. The anxiety he'd felt before only intensified in that moment, making Nikolai's face turn a little ashen at the thought of getting up on stage in front of so many others.

Mimosa's excusing of them both reminded him the witch was still there, and his attention tried to keep that in mind as he looked nervously to the stage, the slow war of his insides waging almost painfully as they knotted tighter together, building up the bile that threatened to assault his throat if he did not get a handle on his nerves.

"Okay, you have to pay attention now,"

Nikolai's eyes found the shorter stature of the witch before him, barely registering her small hands in his own that felt numb even now. The words meant something, but the nerves had made it so that Mimosa could have been speaking another language and he wouldn't have known what she'd just uttered in that moment.

The smug face of Jaime Zeverai was enough to bring Nikolai back to his senses, though, and the nerves subdued just long enough for the distaste of the foreign twat to resonate through Nikolai's system. Mimosa dealt with him swiftly, though, and as her lips graced his cheek, the boy couldn't help but feel smug at the look on Jaime's face as he not so subtly took his leave.

The final words of confidence made Nikolai nod his head slowly. He knew the witch did not believe in him, truly, how could she when she didn't believe in the creatures he planned to talk about? But, she was trying to be supportive, and that was about all he could ask for in that moment.

As the gong sounded, Nikolai looked up to the stage, wondering how this was going to work. They didn't have to wait long, either, as Jaime's date for the evening was called to the podium for her speech. The witch did so elegantly, commanding the stage as if nothing in the world could stop her. Natalia greeted the crowd in both English and Ukrainian, before launching in to her speech on why she hoped to be joining the leagues of the junior magizoologists in the room. Her research, as Natalia put it, was not focused on the obvious -- apparently people here were likely to believe she would be solely focused on dragons and the Ukrainian Ironbelly, but they would be wrong. No, her research was focusing on finding how the magic of Thestrals and their ability to only been by wizards who had seen death could be replicated, or else removed so everyone could see them. Why, Nikolai didn't quite understand, but the notion of understanding what it was that made the creature invisible to almost everyone was an interesting one.

Natalia left the stage to an eager applause well past her five minutes upon stage, and rejoined Jaime with her dazzling smile before looking across at him. Nikolai's eyes averted from the witch almost immediately, his cheeks warming slightly under her scrutiny.

"Nikolai Kessler!"

The sound of his own name quickly dissolved the heat in his cheeks, though.

Nikolai's head turned back to the stage, to see if he'd heard right, and when no one else seemed to move...

The boy moved forwards shakily, pulling at his suit subconsciously as he did so. His mind was not being any more helpful as he traversed the steps up to the podium and took his place. The room was much too full as he looked out across all the faces that were staring back at him expectantly, and it didn't... seem to want to focus entirely either.

"H-Hi..." Nikolai managed in to the microphone, his voice coming out faintly despite the magnification. Clearing his throat, he tried again. "H-hi, I'm Nikolai." He continued, looking across to the announcer who didn't look to be too confident in what was coming. Nikolai looked away, fearing the judgement of the adults in the room, before they found Jaime Zeverai. The boy was already looking amused, whispering something to Natalia that made the witch lightly swat at his arm and then motion to Nikolai on stage. The Slytherin moved his gaze away once more, instead settling upon Mimosa.

"I'm not very good... at speeches." The boy admitted, and a laugh -- mostly of politeness -- filled the room in that moment. "And I can't dazzle you with another language." A softer laugh left the audience which showed he wasn't doing too badly. "But I can tell you that I am passionate about what I do.

"I have been studying at Hogwarts for four years now, and from the first day I went to the school, I have been itching to understand the legend of the Giant Squid in the lake," Nikolai continued, seeing Mimosa's face fall as he mentioned the animal that she had told him not to. "Nobody has ever done research on it, there are so many unknowns about it, and there is just so much we could learn from it. The Squid has been there for longer than any other documented animal in the Northern Hemisphere, and I truly believe something like this should be investigated, understood, and if possible, utilised to bring this to more species that are dying out both in our world, and the Muggle world, due to our own decisions that affect the Earth."

The boy would continue on for the minutes he was given, explaining the research he'd done to date briefly, before explaining that the Junior Magizoology society would allow him to broaden his research with the knowledge of his peers. The boy was doing well, he believed.

But was he interesting enough...

The sea of faces looked interested, but they didn't... look enthused.

"Also..." the boy managed, feeling his nerves creep in more in that moment. "I'd like to prove to my girlfriend, to Mimosa Harrington-Clement, that uh... well, the Giant Squid and mermaids are real."

With that finished, Nikolai looked awkwardly to the announcer who moved back on to the stage, ushering Nikolai back down to the crowd. The congratulations on his speech were short lived before the next name was called, and all Nikolai could hope for was that he had, somehow, not bored the whole room in to a stupor.

And that name dropping Mimosa would be enough to secure him what he couldn't secure himself.

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As much as she had pretended for Jaime Zeverai, Mimosa wasn't at all sure her companion had understood any of the tips she had tried to give him so last minute. And she couldn't give him any more seeing as they were still technically within earshot of the Austrian noble. No, the blond could never get the satisfaction of knowing that her date was not the finest specimen out here. In these circles, Squid Boy was part of her accessories, and Mimosa's accessories always outshone everyone else's.

The fist to go up for Jaime's date, but Mimosa didn't have any attention to spare for Natalia Whatever. The second person too was of no interest.

Until she felt Squid Boy moving away from her.

It was sheer practiced decorum observed life long that kept the young brunette from calling out to him. He must have been really nervous to go up when someone else's name was called.

"Nikolai Kessler."

The model cringed inwardly, waiting for the real Nikolai Kessler to approach and politely brush past Squid Boy onto the stage. He was probably one of theirs, suave enough to brush it off with a chuckle and make her date look really awkward in the process. Mimosa held her breath as the tall Slytherin ascended the stage.. and then he must have realized his mistake because he covered it up well.

"H-hi, I'm Nikolai."

The teen witch let out a discrete breath of releif.

He wasn't Nikolai but now if the real person came, he would look silly, not Squid Boy. A decent save.

But her date wasn't done messing up yet. Despite Mimosa having warned him not to speak of the stupid giant squid, that was exactly what her fellow Slytherin did. He admitted how he thought it was real and that they should do research on it. He went on to say something about biomes which Mimosa neither understood nor cared to, her blue gray eyes fixed on stage as the whole hall grew quiet. It would be just like Jaime or Dareon or someone to "good naturedly" laugh and set the entire ballroom off. But for now, no one was laughing.

In fact, Natalia seem to be listening quite intently. Did the poor girl actually believe the Giant Squid was real too?

"Also... I'd like to prove to my girlfriend, to Mimosa Harrington-Clement, that uh... well, the Giant Squid and mermaids are real."

This time, the laughter rang.

But not the unkind one Mimosa was expecting. In fact, the laughter was infectious, slowly wingspread and turning into applause. Really, really good applause.

A booming laugh from the announcer put a stop to the applause and the loud voice rang out once more. "Convincing girlfriends 'eh, a noble and most dangerous quest. Well, the claps were plenty but lets take a formal vote anyway. Nikolai Kessler for our esteemed society?'

More thunderous applause and "Ayes" rang around the ball room as a scroll containing Squid Boy's name and research levitated up to e shelf where all members' researches rested.

"Congratulations young man. I wish you luck on both your quests."

And with that, Squid Boy descended the stage to smiles and cheers, proving once again that even after he had messed up so much, he was still the best one here.

Because he was with her.

And Mimosa Harrington Clement made everything around her glow.

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The Junior Magizoology New Year's Ball (Mimosa) - Page 2 Rsz_mi10

The Junior Magizoology New Year's Ball (Mimosa) - Page 2 Rsz_ja12

The Junior Magizoology New Year's Ball (Mimosa) - Page 2 Rsz_rs13

» A Study in Mimosa, Part Two (Mimosa & Open)
» E-mails to Mimosa (Mimosa and Loni)
» The Main Ball
» The Christmas Ball
» A Ball to Remember (Delia)