Margo's was crowed again. Tracey hadn't been in her favourite coffee shop since the night she'd asked Theo to move into the Park. The possibility of having her favourite Raspberry Frappuccino made properly and not by her house-elves had nearly forced her into showing up much much to early to meet with River. As it was, she was right on time and she couldn't help but smile when she saw River there waiting for her.

Tracey softly patted River's shoulder as she walked past her friend to place her order at the counter. When she made her way to the table she noticed that River was hastily putting away several pieces of parchment. She made a mental not to ask her what she was up to later.

"Hello, Riv. You haven't been waiting long have you?" she asked as she sat down.

River felt a bit guilty at hiding the papers from Tracey, but it was all notes and plans for the location of Greg's new school and she wasn't sure if he had told her about it yet. She didn't want to spoil the surprise. Still, she pulled up a smile and shook her head, forcing herself to relax. "No, not long at all. Good to see you though...I hope you're doing well."

Or at least better than the last time we were together, she finished silently.

Tracey smirked at her. She may not have been the most devious Slytherin of the bunch, but she could tell immediately what her little friend was alluding to. "I'm doing well, thank you. So is Theo. You were wondering, I could tell." River had at least the good graces to flush a little as Tracey went on. "The invitations for the ball looked brilliant, by the way. I think Simone will be really happy with them. Well... she got hers this morning with the rest and I haven't got an owl yet, so they must have been acceptable. Great job."

The other girl nodded in thanks, smiling despite the faint color still in her cheeks. "Seeing as I haven't been able to help you as much as I should, it was the least I-" she cut herself off there, an odd look on her face. "...I take that back, saying it was the least I could do really does not fit there. But you know what I mean. How go the rest of the plans?"

"Things are shaping up quite nicely, actually. Simone supplied me with the guest list and in a round about way I told her that you and I were coming too. I'm taking Theo, and you can bring a date too, just so you know." Tracey added with a sly grin, hoping that perhaps River could take Val's mind off that Katie Bell person who didn't even have enough courage to write back to her livid owl. Some 'Gryffindor' she must have been, Tracey thought bitterly.

River, too, immediately thought of Greg and flushed the slightest bit more. Going to the ball with Greg? She really wouldn't mind. She'd bring it up the next time she saw him for his school plans, but she didn't want to get her hopes up yet. "I will see what I can do with that, Trace...what else needs to be done for the ball?"

A very obvious change of topic, but River couldn't think of anything else to move away from her date that quickly.

"There's the music. I'm at a loss on who to invite to perform. It's formal, but do we want to go with the Hogsmeade Philharmonic? Or a Chamber Ensemble? And Decorations, what are we going to do about that? Snow? Perhaps transfigure something like the ceiling at Hogwarts? What are your thoughts?"

"I like the snow idea," River replied after a moment's thought. "It is a winter ball, after all, and nothing says winter like snow. It wouldn't be too difficult to keep it from melting, but if we wanted to use it liberally, we'd most likely need to find some way to get rid of the cold as well. There has to be a charm for that...as for music...well, which would you prefer? You could go either way with your two options, I think."

"Hmmmm. I could always ask Theo about the charm. It wouldn't do to freeze us out of the Ministry Atrium with falling snow. I wonder if he knows how to conjure up a Hogwart's ceiling in as large a place as the atrium. With ice sculptures, you think? Perhaps a running theme of winter while keeping it all completely classic. Well, why don't I leave the music up to you then and then tackle the decorations myself? The only prerequisite is that it's formal and we can dance to it." Tracey said as she took another sip from her cup.

The younger witch did a quick mental tally** of all the work she had to do for Greg and how much time she could spare before nodding. Choosing and booking the music was something she could handle, she had the time for it. "I'll let you know as soon as I get anything set, Trace," she added.

"Excellent. Then, I think we'll be set. I'll owl you next week, we can set up a time to go down to the ministry together and do the final touches, but everything else will fall into place as time goes by." Tracey smiled.

"Now... about this date thing... any ideas what Greg's doing on the first?" she asked River with a glint in her eye.


(Summary: Tracey touches base with River on plans for the hottest Ministry event of the season.)