Yule Ball '77

[Imogen Sauveterre]

[/color]

Of all the people Imogen could have collided with, it had to be Fabian. Vaguely, she remembered something about him being here with that Gabby girl she’d talked to before, then recalled fully that he was here as her date – purely platonic, of course. Part of her wondered if he was just making sure nothing bad happened to Gabby again, since his brother was preoccupied with Imogen’s cousin (which was still one of the weirdest concepts for her to wrap her mind around). But looking around, she didn’t see Gabby anywhere. Then she noticed the two now-empty goblets in his hand, and realised he must have been getting them some drinks before she barrelled into his chest. “Oh god, I’m so sorry,” she said, noticing the stains on his sleeves. “I don’t even have my wand on me.” She was steady on her feet now, though she could feel her knees beginning to tremble, and she knew it wasn’t just because of her crush on Fabian – which, she reminded herself, she had to get control of, because Benjamin wanted to ask her out, and he was going to after the Christmas holidays, once he had completely moved on from Jordan and they were sure no one’s feelings would be hurt. And she wanted to be with Benjamin, she’d liked him since fourth year. She had swum with him – nude! – and kissed him and felt… felt things going on inside her body that she had never felt before, and yes, those things had scared her, but they’d take it slow and she’d… she’d get used to them. Right? Wait, Fabian was—it was Fabian she’d crashed into thirty seconds ago, not Benjamin. He was offering to clean her up, and Imogen looked down and realised that she’d made quite the mess. Punch had spilled all over her chest, and her dress was slowly getting stained as it trickled downward off her skin and into the fabric. “Oh,” she moaned softly, trying not to sound as dismayed as she felt. Of course, it only worsened when Fabian raised his wand and poked her breast rather forcefully. She knew he probably didn’t mean to – he looked as embarrassed as she felt, and his wand was unusually long anyway – but it didn’t stop the blood from rushing up to her face. As Fabian cast his spell and the punch moved from her chest and dress up into his wand, Imogen raised her hands to her face, covering her beet-red cheeks, until she looked down again and realised this only pushed her breasts together and created far too much cleavage; with a small huff, she lowered them back down, resorting to letting herself pick at the back of her left hand with her right.

She barely even heard his first attempt at telling her she looked nice, but she did catch his second. Her eyes widened a little and she looked up at him, not even bothering to hide her surprise. “I—thanks?” she croaked out, her mouth now feeling way too dry. Too bad Fabian couldn’t save some of that punch, haha. Somewhere behind him, she finally caught sight of Tori, but she seemed to be having a good time and… and telling her about Regulus would ruin it. She sighed, wincing slightly at a sharp pain from the back of her hand. “What?” Once again, she’d been too in-her-head to pay attention to Fabian, but his question finally clicked in her head. “Oh. I… you could say that, yeah.” She continued to pick at her hand, her breath growing shakier as pressure built behind her eyes. Oh, no. No, she was not going to cry, not over something as stupid as this. “Um, I mean, he’s kinda… busy. I just. I was supposed to… I mean, I don’t even like him, at all, but he surprised me – Regulus did, Regulus Black – he surprised me when he asked me, and I guess I said yes because I just… I dunno, I could have said no, but no one else asked me and I dunno, I didn’t need a date but I guess it kinda would have felt nice to have one, to be asked, and he asked even if he didn’t—he’s here, but he’s not with me, he didn’t even—he’s here with my sister, he took my sister instead, and I was just… I was just trying to find Tori, to apologise for even… even saying yes, because of course Regulus is a fucking jerk who would pull something like that, but he and Tori are… they’re betrothed, and Tori doesn’t want to marry him at all and I have to help her get out of it, somehow, but I… I guess it’s… it’s not fair to her that the man she’s supposed to – no, wait, not a man, he’s a fucking child – sorry – it’s not fair to her that he didn’t ask her at all but could ask two different girls instead.”

She took a breath, realising that she’d just spilled way too much information and poor Fabian’s head must have been spinning. “Sorry,” she tried again, speaking slower, “I mean… yeah. I just… I had a date, and he decided to find someone else, when the person he should be going with is his future wife – even though she doesn’t want to marry him anyway.” She glanced around, spotting Vivi dancing close to Regulus, and looked away. “He’s an asshole, but I’m not going to bug him about it tonight. He’s here with my sister and I’m not going to spoil tonight for her.” Finally, Imogen forced herself to meet Fabian’s eyes again with her own. “I shouldn’t have um… I’m sorry for spilling your punch and… er… spilling all that. Listen, don’t… you don’t have to do anything, all right? I’d actually appreciate it if you just… completely forgot everything I just said.” She reached out and patted his arm before she noticed what she was doing and pulled her hand back, but not before she had time to realise that his arm was really as firm as it looked (and he wasn’t even flexing!). Imogen swallowed with some difficulty, given how dry her mouth was, and looked down again. “Anyway, I was just… I was going to say sorry to Tori, but she’s having fun, so… I’m just going to go. I didn’t even want to come to this silly thing anyway. But... have a good time, yeah?” She forced a smile and looked around for her best path by which to exit. It was hard to say, since the Great Hall was so crammed with dancing students. Finally, she saw a way around, but she noticed with a clench of her stomach that it would require her walking uncomfortably close to Regulus and Vivi. Well, if she wanted to leave, that was pretty much the only way out. “See you around,” she said to Fabian, then started on her way. All that was on her mind now was getting out of this stupid dress, pulling on her pyjamas, and disappearing under the blankets until the Christmas holidays were over.

If only it was that easy.

[Calixto Elias Bailer]

AND THE STRANGE THING,
YOUR LIFE COULD END UP C H A N G I N G
WHILE YOU'RE DANCING THROUGH !

Calixto stood above his bed, looking down at the plastic container lying innocently on top of it. He knew what a corsage was, and he knew how they worked and stuff because he had been to the Yule Ball before but. He didn’t know if Serena would prefer hers to be given in the original box or if he should have it ready in-hand to slip on her tiny wrist. He scratched the side of his head (where he wouldn’t mess up his hair, because he had actually fixed it for this occasion); Cal didn’t have this issue last year because a friend had helped him conjure a simple yet elegant corsage. It seemed like a silly dilemma, but the packaged arrangement looked so nice, he was hesitant to disturb it. It was a soft pink corsage, very pretty and very girly. It was accented by a prim white ribbon and the leaves, the leaves had glitter. Cal was fairly certain most all girls liked glitter. Hell, even he sort of thought it was neat, it being always shiny and all. It was a nice touch, he thought, and nodded to himself. Perhaps he should present it to her in the box (to make sure she saw it in its pristine original condition) and then take it out and give it accordingly. But…then what would he do with the box? Did they have disposal bins near the dungeons? He could shrink it with his wand to make it fit in his coat pocket but oh, what was that spell again? He could not for the life of him remember. Well, he could figure it out after he was finished getting ready. He buttoned up his white collared shirt that had still been open, and pulled his pants up from their place at his ankles, effectively tucking his shirt in and belting his pants. Being clothed – check. He turned away to rummage through his drawer for his ties. He had a green necktie that maybe the little Slytherin would like, but what if it didn’t match her dress? He never did ask what color she was wearing, and he had assumed the pink corsage he bought could go with anything. Better play it a bit safer with a more neutral color – luckily most all his ties would go well with the deep, dark gray suit he was going to wear, he just had to find the right one. No, not dark blue, not orange, not the bright yellow bowtie…maybe… Cal picked up the maroon necktie that he had bought back in October because of its autumn-y color. This would go with a lot of different colors, and it had a nice subtle pattern. He held it up against his shirt and studied his reflection in the mirror. Yeah, that looked great! He swung the tie around his neck and used his reflection to guide his movements, although doing a tie had become something habitual for him.

His fingers busy, Calixto recalled the past few hours, making sure he was not going to forget anything for this night (it was still a test, after all). He had made sure the suit he had lent Julian was alright and had helped him with his bowtie earlier, before going back to his own dorm to take a shower and get ready himself, and he had been constantly reminding himself that he could not in fact be the teensiest bit late to meet Serena. He had been somewhat distracted however by the memories of his recent Hogsmeade trip with the Marlows. When Gracie had told him of the awkward position she had gotten herself into, his heart had sunk because it wasn’t something he could really help her with, and he was probably going to make it worse. He would have taken Gracie to the ball, of course, if she had said something much, much earlier before his conversation with her blonde rival. Merlin’s beard did it crush him to see the small girl so disappointed though; Cal had never wanted to be the cause of something like that in his life. It was just that by the time Gracie had informed him of what happened, he had practically already asked Serena to the dance given he had promised her that he would pass her test (and pre-test) or at least do his best to do so. He so desperately wished there was something he could have done, but Gracie and Serena were both his friends and it seemed that disappointing one of them was inevitable when trying to please the other. He sighed as he tugged at his tie to tighten it. It was a great mess that he never wanted to get into, but he would find a way to make it up to Gracie after the dance. Perhaps he could even just save one dance for her, if Serena would allow it. Still, Cal knew Gracie would have a good time at the ball regardless – she was resilient and could have fun anywhere. She probably wouldn’t even be thinking about this, and Cal knew he probably shouldn’t be either. He should just put it out of his mind for the night and enjoy this event with Serena. Sure, the guilt would be there somewhere, but he wasn’t going to focus on it or he would feel guilty for dwelling on it while he was at the ball with Serena. Besides, he needed his attention to be on being the perfect Yule Ball date because, well, that was his test wasn’t it? This was the big one, or it seemed like it was shaping up to be, and it was a lot bigger than just figuring out that Serena wanted him to ask her to the dance (and he had gotten help with that).

Slinging his suit jacket on and stepping into his shoes, Cal studied the (still boxed) corsage. He bent to pick it up carefully and inspect it closer. Well, flowers were sort of delicate right? And if he took it out of the box now, he would get glitter on his hands. Right. So, present to her in the box, take out, place on wrist, worry about box later. Good plan. Fully dressed and finally ready to go, he marched out the common room corsage in hand (in box, of course) looking quite dapper if he did say so himself. Luckily, he was a bit early arriving to the dungeons as he hoped he would be. Early as he was however, there were students dressed to the nines and ready, already meeting or having met up with their dates and heading toward the Great Hall. As he came to stand outside what he knew to be the Slytherin common room, he noticed that yes, that was in fact a waste bin nearby for him to dispose of the plastic box when he needed to. At this, Cal let out a small sigh of relief, and turned to focus on the Slytherin common room enterance. He was happily surprised to see Teagan walk out with Narcissa Black, and he waved and greeted them cheerfully as they walked by. Hmm. Teagan never told Cal she was planning on going to the ball. Well, he should have assumed as much really – it was Teagan after all. The room opened up once more, and there Serena was, looking quite adorable. Cal grinned widely when he saw her. “Good evening to you too,”

[/b] he replied pleasantly, “and you look absolutely lovely.”[/b] It was true; Serena Lovelace looked like a little doll with her flaxen hair, porcelain skin, rosy lips and cheeks, and her bright white dress. He smiled to himself and glanced down to his hands – the corsage would go very well with her attire after all. ”For you,”[/b] Cal said gesturing to the box in his hands. He then gently popped open the lid and, carefully, pulled out the flower inside and slipped the band around Serena’s tiny wrist. “There. Pretty nice, yeah? Looks good on you,”[/b] he said good-naturedly, disposed of the unneeded wrappings and then held his arm out for her to take. The ball was awaiting them after all, and he was excited! Calixto loved any sort of party because there were just so many people to comingle with and have fun with and there would be dancing and punch and- “Right. Your ball awaits, Miss Lovelace.” [/b]

Whoever was in charge of the decorating and coordinating the dance, well, they had outdone themselves this year. Everything looked spectacular, and it made Cal feel anxious like a child on Christmas – heck, it might as well have been Christmas – everything was Yule-y and everyone seemed to be having a merry time. It all made him want to dance and go greet every one of his friends at the same time. Oh oh was that Emmeline with Luke? Calixto hadn’t realized that Serena was leading him until he had passed two of his friends. Where she was leading him, he didn’t know (and didn’t very well mind either) but he saw many more familiar faces, people still entering and oh there were the refreshments on that table over there… “Everything and everyone looks fantastic,”[/b] he murmured mostly to himself but then after a second thought said, “But I think we look outstandingly fantastic.”[/b] A loud beat of the drum drew him to the music, and he looked at his date who was in fact looking at him expectantly. It reminded him of his note with Benjamin Burke, who suggested that perhaps Serena was going to improve his dancing skills. Looking at the blonde though, he figured that this was not the case, but it was okay because he thought his dancing skills were pretty good. Well, he would find out, wouldn’t he? He smiled because he had a feeling he could do this, he could pass the young girl’s test, expectations, and yeah, they were going to have a good time. "Miss Lovelace, may I have the honor of this dance please?”[/b] He smoothly held out his hand for her to take so he could (hopefully gracefully) sweep her onto the dance floor.[/color]
[/blockquote]

[Julien Cross]

[graphics and code when i get home]

Julien wouldn't say that he had been deliberately looking out for Gracie. He had been caught staring off a couple of times -- but who didn't zone out every once in a while? -- and he did crane his neck when he saw a girl from the back who was about the same height as Gracie and had brown curly hair, sure, but i wasn't like he was going out of his way to find her or anything. That was a stupid notion. If anything, he just wanted to see who this guy taking her was. Okay so he already knew Noah Orchard, they were in the same house but they didn't run in the same circles. So he didn't really know know the guy, so, really, he could be a total weirdo creeping on Gracie and that just would not be permitted. He was just doing his job as the... older friend/quidditch role model/brother type. Hogwarts didn't have a huge student population so Julien couldn't understand while after an hour of dancing with May and planting some tricks here, and sabotaging some punch there, he hadn't seen Gracie yet. Sure, the dance floor was very crowded so that would explain it, but, still. This was Gracie so he was convinced she had to be in some color shade that made her stand out so why couldn't he see her?? Julien frowned as different prospects of where Gracie and this Noah kid could be drifted through his head. Luckily, May always proved to be quite the amusing distraction. The two of them had just staggered back into the Great Hall after jinxing some corsages to start gnawing on their owners' dresses. They were cracking up, practically falling over each other from the looks on the two Slytherin girls faces.

Julien had been wiping tears of mirth from his eyes with the back of his hand when he glanced toward the dance floor. He had caught sight of bright purple, which cause him to do a double take. Her back was to him and her hair was up, but Julien could definitely tell that the girl taking a seat by the edge of the crowd of dancing students was Gracie. If nothing else, Orchard standing next to her was also a good giveaway. Julien caught May by the elbow and told her he would catch up with her in a little bit. He wove in and out of tables and dodge couples who were walking around, tilting his head this way and that to keep his eye on Gracie while he tried to get over to her before she decided to disappear again. The closer he got, the wider the grin on his face became. They had already agreed that he owed her a dance and, really, he just wanted to get her away from that kid, who was dressed like a butler, by the way. Who does that? Anyways. The music set had changed and a slower song was just started to drift through the Great Hall when Julien finally got to Gracie.

Placing his hands squarely on the back of the chair she was sitting on, Julien leaned forward and said into her ear, "Where have you been all night, Miss Marlow?" He laughed before standing up and walking around to look at her properly. Julien crossed his arms over his chest and let his eyes drift down and then back up again. "Nice dress. Could show some more skin though,"

[/color] he nodded, the left corner of his lips curling into a smirk. He was joking, of course, because she did look amazing. And she didn't need to be showing anymore skin. Especially with Mr. Jeeves as her date. At this point, his eyes flickered over to Noah, but that lasted only a split second before his full attention was back on Gracie and he ignored the other male Gryffindor's presence entirely. "So,"[/color] Julien said. He bowed forward in an exaggerated show of regality and held out his hand to Gracie. "How's about that dance?"[/color] he asked, looking up at her and raising an eyebrow expectantly.

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[Gracie Marlow]

Gracie was having a great time with Noah, sure- but she couldn’t help looking around for Jules. In fact, she had been craning her neck to look over the mass of sweaty bodies ever since she had entered the Great Hall. Of course, Jules was here with May, which didn’t make Gracie feel any better… But, thankfully he had promised her a dance so she was looking quite forward to that. And he better keep his promise… she thought, glancing over the crowd once more to try and find her best friend.

Sadly, however, he was nowhere to be found- and that made Gracie stomach do a little flip in a nervous way. What if he was off with May doing… things? She shook her head and assured herself that there was no way they would be doing anything like that because Jules didn’t see May in that sort of way… How do you know[/i}? The little voice in her head interrupted annoyingly, Has he ever said that to you out loud? Her eyes widened and she told that little voice to shut the hell up.

As she sat next to Noah, she suddenly felt pressure on the back of her chair. But, glancing at Noah, he didn’t have his hands anywhere near her… Could it be…? she thought, before hearing Julien’s voice in her ear. The feeling of his hot breath on her neck made her gasp in surprise for a moment before blushing slightly. Why did he insist on doing things like that…? As he bowed in front of her and asked her to accompany him on the dance floor, she looked at Noah to see if it was alright with him. He was her date, after all. However, she figured it would be okay sinc he was gawking at some other girl… Isabelle Laurentine from Hufflepuff House, she believed. Shrugging her shoulders, she stood and took Julien’s arm, letting him take her to the dance floor. ”Thanks for finding me- I’ve been looking for you everywhere! How is your evening?” She ignored his comment about her not showing enough skin because she knew that, in Julien’s mind, that was a good thing and that it meant she looked good. ”You look really great, Jules.” She blushed lightly, knowing that it was Cal’s suit he was in, but not caring in the slightest; she was blushing because she meant what she had said. Julien cleaned up really nicely…

Note: Sorry this is so short, but I'm sick right now and just really wanted to get at least some of a reply out!

[Emmeline Vance]

The beautiful corsage wrapped around her wrist felt almost like it was weighing her down, as she walked arm in arm with Luke to the Great Hall, listening to him talk animatedly about hunting down for the previously mentioned flower for her; him and Jayden—one of his best friends, wasn’t he? Also Gabby’s. It wasn’t the first time Emme had thought to herself that she probably should get around to knowing the guy, if so many of her friends liked him—and they had finally decided on this one, and a similar one for Jayden’s date, who she had no idea who it was, because Gabby was going with Fabian, and she didn’t know the guy well enough to know who else he was friends with. Besides, she didn’t really care tonight, like she might have any other night of the year, because tonight, she was here at the ball looking beautiful in her pink dress and here with Luke. The smile seemed to be frozen on her face as she took everything in—it was a feeling of raw happiness that she hadn’t felt in so long, and excitement and honest-to-god butterflies in her stomach as she tried to contain everything in and not just squeal about tonight and everything it could mean. Because last time she’d been here, she’d been here with Kieran Sullivan, who had been her boyfriend. And they had kissed for most of the night, and danced the rest, and it had been thrilling, from what she could remember, even if Kieran and her barely spoke nowadays. And now here she was, with Luke Neeson as her date and it was honestly kind of ridiculous how much she would have never imagined being with him here because he was just—he’d always been friend material, and it was crazy how much things had changed since then. Looking up at him as he spoke again and told her she looked amazing, Emme pressed her lips together a little through a smile, a blush creeping up her cheeks at the compliment, and let out a soft laugh, more nervous than anything, as she couldn’t resist the temptation and sunk her teeth down on the corner of her lower lip. “Thank you,” she replied quietly, taking a deep breath and looking at him again, at the detail of his suit and he looked so good and handsome and she couldn’t help but nod. “You’re right there with me, putting Christmas trees to shame,

[/color]” she returned with a small wink, at his really kind of weird compliment-of-sorts that was adorable and entirely Luke.

But then he turned to hold his hand out to her and ask her to dance, and Emme felt like her chest was expanding a hundred times a second before she let out a soft breath through her lips and smiled, if possible, even wider, up at him. “Yes, of course![/color]” she replied excitedly, taking his hand, folding her fingers around it and lowering them back between them before following him towards the dance floor. She took the opportunity to look around at the other couples, eyes darting around everywhere, trying to get a glimpse of everybody she knew and every dress the girls were wearing and what the best-looking guys looked like tonight, and if anybody was kissing, and who else was dancing and the teachers were there as well. As they made their way over to the centre of the ball, where, indeed, some people were already dancing to a moderately-paced song, couples in front of each other, smiling and talking, or even singing along to the song as they danced, Emme managed to spot Gabby in her pink dress, leaving Fabian as he went to the drinks table to fling herself at—oh, was that Stefan? And that other—hold on. She actually jerked a little on Luke’s arm as she froze on the spot, mouth falling open in shock as she took in the sight of her cousin holding onto Lyle Malarkey’s hand. Together. Together. What the—was he gay!? “Oh my God, he’s gay,[/color]” she whispered, catching her breath and making a face before turning around again, shaking her head to clear her thoughts out of that. Gross. What was he, his boyfriend? Who did he think he was, coming to the Yule Ball with a boy!? Oh, God, she really needed to talk to him, except—again, urgh. Why did he have to be so weird? Realizing she’d probably just made an unnecessary scene, Emme blushed apologetically and took a deep breath, clearing her mind again before turning to her date and squeezing his hand. “Sorry. That was...[/color]” she trailed off mid-excuse and shuddered, shrugging somewhat, tugging on his hand again, instead. “C’mon, let’s go dance.[/color]”

The Whozards, a new wizarding band that was all the talk at the moment, was playing their latest hit, and Emme led Luke this time, to the middle of the dance floor, getting back into the high of actually being at the ball and now she got to dance and her heart skipped a beat a little because he was so handsome and grinned at him, giggling a little nervously, still. “I still stand by my claim that no Wizarding band can ever surpass The Beatles with their awesomeness,[/color]” she had to talk a little louder over the music, not quite sure how to start dancing with him. A girl she didn’t know next to her was clinging onto her boyfriend’s neck—she knew that because she’d definitely seen them holding hands in the hallways before, even though she wasn’t sure what her name was—next to them as they swayed to the music, while another couple was simply moving along to the beat in front of each other; another one was holding hands as they swung each other around, and behind Luke, a drunk-looking couple jumped like crazy and pumped their fists into the air as they yelled out the lyrics. Biting her lip again, Emme turned to look at Luke instead, deciding to let him make the first move, actually—he was the boy after all, and he had asked her here, and honestly, with the way her stomach was twisting at the sight of him, she would probably be perfectly happy with anything he wanted to do tonight.
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[Gideon Prewett]

[/img] [/img]
icons later[/center][/color]

Gideon was nervous.

He’d been staring into the mirror in the Hufflepuff dormitory for the past five minutes (okay, forty-five seconds, but it felt like five minutes) trying to get his stupid tie straight. Every time it looked okay, it was too tight and he felt like he couldn’t breathe. But when he loosened it, it got all stupid and crooked and it looked dumb and he was not going to look dumb for Jezebel, Merlin help him. It didn’t help that the stupid mirror insisted on telling him “a little to the left” but scolded him whenever he moved it to his left, or that it told him to fix his hair or that his shirt was getting untucked the more he fiddled with his tie. Some of his dormmates had already gone down, but he could hear Milo snickering quietly to himself as he buttoned up his shirt. He sighed, about ready to give up with the mirror barked at him to “Straighten out your trousers, boy, you look like you’re lopsided!” This time, Milo couldn’t hold in his laughter, and Gideon glared at his reflection as he tugged his slacks to one side. “Oh, shut it,” he muttered, not knowing or caring if it was to the mirror or to Milo. The mirror told him to find new socks, and when Gideon looked down he realised there was a large hole in the right sock and his first three toes were sticking through. Ordinarily he wouldn’t care (he didn’t know how to sew, or any sewing charms, and he couldn’t really afford new socks all the time anyway) but… Well, even though Jezebel wouldn’t even be looking at his feet, he knew he’d feel guilty if he didn’t look good everywhere. He went over to his bed as Milo took his spot in front of the mirror and pulled out his trunk, opening it on top of his bed and setting about searching for any black sock that didn’t have a hole in it. He let out a triumphant, “Aha!” at finding one, pulling it out and slamming his trunk shut before tucking it under his bed again.

That was when he felt the tug on his neck and heard the horrifying sound of tearing fabric, and suddenly the neck-tugging sensation was gone and Gideon had only half a tie, the other end poking out innocently from his now-locked trunk.

Of. Course.

“Dammit!” he growled, slamming his fist down on the bed before violently pulling the remainder of the tie off. Milo looked over reproachfully, as though offended at Gideon’s swearing (and to be fair, Gideon didn’t swear much anyway, so the look was definitely not appreciated). Before Milo could open his mouth and say anything, he explained, “I just ripped my tie.” And, given that it was the only one he had, it meant he was in trouble. So much for not looking stupid for Jezebel. He put the pieces of the tie together and took out his wand. “Reparo,” he tried. The pieces of the tie moved together, as if attempting to fuse themselves back together, but nothing happened. Repairing fabric must have required a special spell, just like he’d thought. He let out a small groan, at times wishing Molly could just Apparate to school whenever he needed something like this done. Not that he just used his sister for all the work like that, but it was still handy that she was good at those things when he wasn’t. Letting out another sigh, he tossed the tie aside and set about changing his sock. Milo moved away from the mirror, and Gideon went in front of it again. “Open your collar,” his mirror suggested, and Gideon grumbled but obeyed, opening the first two buttons of his shirt. It didn’t look too bad, and he wasn’t sure Jezebel would mind too much. Still, it was the Yule Ball and it didn’t really seem like an open-collar event, but he didn’t have much choice now, did he? Well, if Jezebel asked, he’d explain about the trunk incident. He was sure she’d understand.

“See you down there, mate,” he said to Milo after he laced up his shoes; the other boy was still trying to flatten his hair. He grabbed the chocolate rose he’d gotten for Jezebel, holding carefully by the stem so he didn’t melt it, and headed out of Hufflepuff and toward the Gryffindor common room. He knew where it was, given that pretty much his entire family was in Gryffindor (which was still a bit of a sore spot for him) and Chace had dragged him up there numerous times in the past. He was meeting Jezebel outside the entrance to help her walk down to the hall; well, or just accompany her. He wasn’t sure if she’d need “help”, per se, unless she wore shoes with massive heels. In any case, he was definitely there for her to hold onto on the way down (and all night, if she wanted – er, to dance, not… not anything… risqué. … Unless she wanted that too – no, dancing). She wasn’t out yet when he finally reached the portrait hole, and a passing Gryffindor informed him she was on the way down when he asked if she knew Jezebel Sauveterre. His heart started to pound and he quickly fixed his trousers again, nearly dropping the rose but managing to keep his grip on it just as Jezebel stepped through the portrait hole. Gideon’s breath caught in his chest as he stared her up and down, completely transfixed by how… how… (ravishing?) beautiful she looked in her red gown. “Wow,” he heard himself say, though he wasn’t completely sure he’d made himself say it. … That didn’t make any sense, but he didn’t care. Unthinkingly, he offered her the rose, his smile lopsided as she accepted it. “Thanks. You look… Wow,” was all he found himself capable of saying again. He let out a nervous chuckle and rubbed the back of his neck. “I mean, you look amazing, Jezebel. Really, really amazing.” He stared at her a few moments more before he found his head and offered her his arm. “So uh… Shall we?”

They made their way down to the Great Hall with other students, smiling and waving greetings at friends they recognised. When they got there, Gideon was pleased to see that Fabian had decided to come with Gabby. If Gideon hadn’t been going with Jezebel, he would have asked her himself; he wanted her to have a date, but he also wanted her to stay out of trouble. Given the messes she’d been getting herself into lately, her date would have to be someone Gideon trusted, and at the moment? Pretty much only Fabian fit that criteria. (He did trust Chace, really, but he had a date too with that Fiona girl, and well… Chace was harmless, but he could probably get handsy if he was having too much fun.) But Gabby knew Fabian well, and he had no doubt they’d have a ton of fun together – though he hoped Fabian didn’t run into Lizzy or anything. He shook himself of the thoughts and realised he needed to pay more attention to his current date. Turning to her, he grinned broadly and held out his hand. “I’m not that great of a dancer,” he admitted, and it was the truth, “but um… D’you wanna? Dance? I like this song.”

He’d just try really, really hard not to crush her toes.

[Alice Prewett]

"Livs, have you seen my mascara?"

"Yeah, it's right over there."[/color]

"Over where?"[/color]

"Over there! Next to your wand, Allycat."[/color]

"Next to my - oi, Livylove, where's my w-"[/color]

"Oh dear Merlin, here, you numpty."[/color]

A black tube was suddenly thrust into her hands and Alice smiled sheepishly, realising it had been on her nightstand all along. "Thanks, Livy,"[/color] she mumbled abashedly under her breath, unscrewing the lid and leaning forward to apply a thick coat on her eyelashes. Once she was done, she passed it over to Olivia and inched out of the way so that she could use the full-length mirror (they really needed more; how could they expect a dormitory with five girls to have just one full-length mirror?) and squinted into her tiny, hand-held mirror, tucking stray strands of hair behind her ear, annoyed that pieces were already starting to fall out of her coif. She was sure that by the end of the night, her entire 'do would be ruined and her hair would be down, seeing as she had plans to dance her butt off until her feet were aching. She'd wanted to keep it down originally, but her friends had pointed out she'd look so much lovelier with it up, and she'd eventually agreed and allowed to at least sort of pull it back. "You look lovely, dear," her reflection told her, buffing her nails against her shoulder rather broodily. "Careful with that dress, though. Wouldn't want anything important to pop out now, would we?" Alice made a face at her reflection. Granted, the neckline of her dress was rather daring, and when she'd first bought it she'd been a little weary because Merlin knows that, with her luck, she'd end up flashing everybody by the end of the evening when she danced a little too rigorously. Rolling her shoulders, Alice snapped the mirror shut and snickered to herself. "At least I have a nice set for people to ogle,"[/color] she murmured optimistically to herself, and she was positive Lucy would agree. Thinking about what Lucy would say only made Alice want to laugh harder, and she was already running a little late on her date -- yes, she had a date. Sort of. Except she wasn't exactly, technically dating her date (hah, try saying that ten times fast). They were just going to the ball together because Alice couldn't bring herself to seriously go stag, especially since it was her last year and, well, it was just kind of sad to go dateless during your very last Yule Ball. And besides. She happened to adore Kieran Sullivan to bits, even though he could be a bit of an arse, but he didn't mean to be, and that kind-of made it better. Plus, he was super handsome. And they were exes - it had ended well, Alice had known it wouldn't last long anyway because by sixth year Kieran didn't have the best track record with long-term relationships. And yet, she'd agreed to go out with him anyway and be his girlfriend, because did she mention he was incredibly handsome? And that accent of his did things to her. Ah well. And did she mention they got along swell? And that he was incredibly entertaining? Which was fantastic because Alice planned on making this a very fun night indeed, and adding Kieran into the mix would just insure that she had an amazing night ahead of her.

At the very least, Alice thought as she walked down the stairs into the common room, she'd be going with one of the most handsome boys in seventh year. Grinning at the suit-clad Kieran, she did a little twirl and giggled when he let out a playful wolf whistle. "Thanks, dahling. You clean up pretty good yourself, Mr. Sullivan."[/color] she leaned up (not as high as she usually had to, thank Merlin for the inventor of high heels) and idly patted down a stray strand of hair, rolling her eyes when it stuck up again. "And I dare say I'll be goin' wit' the prettiest lass at the ball, eh?"[/color] he said suavely with an exaggerated wink, bending down to kiss the back of her hand; she awarded him with a roll of her eyes. "Seriously? You used that line? Merlin, Kye, you're getting rusty,"[/color] she teased, prodding him with her as they walked out of the common room together. He immediately let out a pained gasp, grasping his chest and staggering as if she'd just hexed him. "Oh, darling, ye wound me so! Tha' was me best stuff!"[/color] She let out an unladylike snort at that and he grinned, deep brown eyes twinkling. Sweet Circe, he was handsome. If she wasn't against recycling boyfriends, she would have asked him out again in a heart beat. But, alas, they'd had their run, and plus they were better off as friends, anyway. "But honestly, Alice, ye look stunning,"[/color] he stated, and her own blush caught her by surprise, because she didn't blush easily. Huffing slightly, Alice shoved him gently again (well, she didn't want him to trip and bring her down with him), she told him off for being a flirt and he only laughed and kissed her cheek before tugging her along faster, insisting that they were going to be late if they didn't hurry up. What exactly they were going to miss if they were a little late, Alice had no idea, but she figured it'd be better to just go along with him rather than argue and she picked picked up the edge of her dress, mindful not to trip over the end. She wished there was some sort of anti-tripping spell, but she had been unable to locate one thus far, so she'd actually have to watch her step all...muggle-like.

They weren't late, of course. At least, not that late - too early to be called fashionably late, anyhow. Alice recognised a few of her friends already - she swore she saw Fabian, and recalled her conversation with Frank, who'd told her both he and her cousin had been invited. She couldn't see his date, but he'd come with Gabriella Rivera and, considering how tiny the girl was, it was no surprise that Alice couldn't see her among the taller individuals. Not spotting anyone else that she recognised on the spot, Alice grabbed Kieran's hand and tugged him onto the dance floor, throwing a "C'mon, Prince Charming, let's dance,"[/color] over her shoulder, not waiting for a response from him. Alice wanted to dance, so Kieran would dance with her. Besides, they were at the Yule Ball, he was bound to realise that dancing was on the agenda. At any rate, he didn't seem too unhappy with the prospect, if that smirk was anything to go by. If anything, he seemed to be actually enthusiastic, because he grabbed her waist, cocked a challenging eyebrow and led her into a quick dance. Several songs later, Alice practically had to beg him to give her a rest, because her feet were seriously starting to ache, and not in a this-is-an-I'm-having-so-much-fun-let-me-dance-some-more way, but in a dear-sweet-Circe-my-feet-are-about-to-fall-off-and-I-need-those-things-to-walk-with-you-know? way. She was flushed, sweat had begun to trickle into uncomfortable places and her hair was probably a complete mess - she could feel strands sticking to the back of her neck, but she was having a swell time. Even so, Alice still needed to rest her feet - and find her partners in crime. So, she sent Kieran off to get her some drinks and half-limped, half-strutted her way off the dance floor, searching for Lucy or May. Surprisingly, she spotted the latter first - surprising because, out of the two of them, Lucy was kind-of much louder and thus easier to locate. Grinning despite her throbbing limbs, Alice made her way around tables and tapped her friend on wolf-whistled once she was within ear-shot. As soon as May turned around, Alice's grin widened and she winked. "Look at you, Maylene Bell. Bloody hell, you look bloody gorgeous. If Julien's not careful, I may have to steal you for myself tonight. He shouldn't be wandering off and leaving lookers like you behind, girlie."[/color] Smirking, she linked her arm through the Gryffindor's and cast her gaze around the room again, briefly admiring the gorgeous decorations (the staff at Hogwarts really did go all-out with these things) and then focusing on finding her real target. "Have you seen Luce anywhere by any chance? The couples aren't lookin' nearly cozy enough for my tastes, and I figure it's about time to start our mischief seeing as mostly everyone's here and all."[/color]

[/blockquote][/blockquote][/color]

[Julien Cross]

Julien was a bit too pleased with himself when Gracie looped her arm through his. She didn't even bother asking her date if she could disappear for a while -- or the rest of the night. Julien wasn't too inclined to let her go back but then again he did have his own date to look after... May and Lucy could only be left to their own devices for so long before something terrible was sure to happen. Or, at the very least, a small fire. Julien tucked his arm around her's and started leading her toward the dance floor, only looking back over his shoulder to give the kid with the greased back hair a cocky smirk. Damn right she would choose him over that guy. He was distracted from his own internal gloating when Gracie pulled him back to earth with her words. "You were looking for me all over, huh?"

[/color] he asked for clarification. The words were a bit on the gloating side, but there was a more genuine smile on his face than the arrogant smirk that usually took up residence. He wasn't sure why he felt so self-important to know that Gracie had been thinking about him, and, yes, he had been thinking about her too, and looking for her, but certainly that all could be attributed to his strong sense of territory he had over his girl friends. Especially Gracie. Because she was like s little sister to him, of course. Then a thought occurred to him and Julien frowned and stop mid-step. "Or is there a reason you were trying to find me? The butler wasn't misbehaving, was he?"[/color] Julien asked, his tone a bit more sharp and he was already craning his neck back to catch a glimpse of that kid. He could feel the familiar burn at his neck and the tightness in his jaw that usually flared when his temper spiked. Julien had beat the consciousness out of a guy for much less than treating a girl like Gracie Marlow badly.


He was distracted from plotting the kid's long and painful death if he wasn't making Gracie's Yule Ball anything but perfect when she spoke again and brought him back to attention. Julien looked at Gracie in her purple dress -- they were now standing in the middle of the middle of the dance floor -- and he grinned at her, maybe a bit timidly. "Not too shabby, huh?"[/color] he asked, gesturing to himself and looking down at his borrowed suit. He felt slightly embarrassed that he wasn't able to afford his own suit and that he was wearing Cals (who Gracie had a crush on apparently, for Merlin's sake). He knew Gracie didn't care, and he pretended he didn't care as well, but still... "You're just too used to seeing me in quidditch gear,"[/color] he told her as he stepped closer to her. Julien took her hand in his and then pulled her too him, placing his other arm around her waist in a fluid motion until they were face-to-face. He sighed heavily and shook his head at her and he started the move the both of them to the slow beat of the song. "Clearly you need to let me take you out more often," Julien said with an expectant raise of his eyebrows.

[/blockquote][/blockquote]

note: short, blah... forgive me, i havent posted in like a month haha

[Gracie Marlow]

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Gracie couldn’t believe the sights and sounds of the Yule Ball- everything was so festive and it was so great to see everyone (even the teachers) in such high spirits, what with everything that had been happening the past few months. For three years she had dreamed of finally being old enough to attend and now that she was, she was glad she had. A few of her friends had decided to stay in the dormitory, either because they didn’t have dates or because they were just being stubborn, and now she could see that they were just being foolish. Even if I hadn’t found a date, I still would’ve wanted to be here, she thought. Thankfully, she had found a date- even if he was just her friend and was a little too distracted with other girls to pay much attention to her. At least she had Jules to swoop in and rescue her from becoming too bored. Because really; if Julien is involved in something, you know you’re not going to stay bored for too long!

Walking arm in arm with Jules felt like the most casual thing in the world, although she knew that a few of her friends that smirked at her as she passed would be asking her about why she was with Julien instead of Noah in the morning. But for now, she thought, screw ‘em. Grinning cheekily, she glanced up at Jules and replied. ”Of course I was looking for you! You promised me a dance; I wasn’t about to let you shirk off your duties, Mister Cross.” Her eyes widened slightly at his next question. Then slowly, a playful smile crept onto her face and she turned to look at him. ”Why, Mister Cross, is that… jealousy I detect?” She feigned shock, almost as if she were a southern belle in one of those old western-style movies her mother occasionally watched. Laughing, she continued, ”Noah was being the perfect gentleman, Jules; give him a break. He didn’t ask me to be his date tonight because he was planning on anything fishy, he just wanted to cheer me up- isn’t that what you would have done?” She patted his arm lightly, trying to calm him down a little.

Suddenly, they were in the middle of the dance floor and, although they were surrounded by a mass of sweaty bodies and the entire room was pounding with music, it felt as if they were the only two there and it was dead silent. She grinned back at him as he repeated the compliment she had given him. She had a slight ringing in her ears as Jules extended his hand toward her, asking her to dance with him without actually saying anything. All at once, Gracie was swept up into the arms of her best friend and she felt herself being held securely against his warm body. Is he… nervous? She wondered, feeling her ears turn slightly red, hoping that she wasn’t unconsciously using her metamorphmagus powers. Not tonight, she thought, not in front of Jules. Thankfully, it didn’t seem as if anything strange was happening with her face because Jules just began swaying with the beat. She followed suit and they danced for a moment before she realized what he had just stated. I need to let him… take me out more often!? She wasn’t able to fret about what he might’ve meant about that for too long; dancing close enough to wear she could see them out of the corner of her eye was a certain Mister Calixto Bailer and a Miss Serena Lovelace. Her heart felt as if it were stabbed for a moment, but she hurriedly looked back toward Jules, hoping he hadn’t noticed her pain. Although she was trying, she still wasn’t quite over Cal and seeing him with her mortal enemy made it worse; plus, she figured the fact that they were dancing so close to her was Lovelace’s idea…

Gracie tried to let it go; tried to let him go once and for all, but she just couldn’t bring herself about to actually do it. She dropped her arms from Jules’ and backed up quickly. She scrunched her eyes tightly together for a second, trying to clear her thoughts. It wasn’t working. ”I’m sorry, Jules… I can’t be in here any longer.” Quickly, she ran to where Noah had been sitting (who knows where he went when she left) and grabbed her coat from the back of the chair. She pulled her heels back on and slipped through the door leading to the courtyard outside. Even though it was snowing lightly, it wasn’t nearly as cold in the air as she thought it would’ve been; although she figured that might have something to do with the fact that she was numb all over. She couldn’t believe that Cal had actually gone with Lovelace, and what’s worse was that he had this stupid grin on his face while he was dancing with her; almost as if he was legitimately enjoying himself. The tears came suddenly, burning trails down her cheeks. How could this have happened? She thought. Why couldn’t I just let him go?

[/blockquote][/blockquote]

[nessarose]

i'll light you up and smoke you down
and watch the rings go round and round

[/color][/font]

She looked good.

Vanessa stood in front of the mirror in her dormitory and flashed her reflection a smile. Her smile was pleased but not overtly so––happy, but nonplussed simultaneously. Something was missing but she was not sure what. Vanessa's arms lay limply on either side of her as she looked at her reflection. Her heart was beating rhythmically against her chest in a rapid melody and she felt as though she needed to occupy herself, but even so, her arms remained still at her side. What was missing, she wondered? Her beautiful dragon-scale dress, courtesy of her date Fehlandt Zabini, complemented her blond waves––her make-up was applied quite expertly according to a particularly useful article in Witch's Weekly, a vivid shade of red assigned to her lips––her heels matched––her waist was neatly cinched in––so what was wrong? Nessa tilted her head to one side and let her lips hang slightly open to reveal her crest of even white teeth. Fehlandt would certainly be pleased, right? And she should want to please him, her date. And yet she couldn't help but desire to elicit the pleasure of another. Emmeline's chiseled white face flashed behind her eyes and she let out a small sigh, wondering just how beautiful Emme was going to look tonight––so beautiful, but not for Vanessa to appreciate. Anger clenched at her gut. Anger and jealousy. And for a moment, she felt her balance sway. Perhaps she needed to sit down. She should be happy. This was going to be really grand, she was going to go and dance and look pretty and even though it wouldn't be for Emmeline, it would be... for herself. Yes. For herself. And that was okay because in the end, Vanessa should be looking out for herself. It was against her basic nature to do that but perhaps tonight she could turn over a new leaf. After all, now would be an opportune time to do it. Because she looked good. And looking good usually constituted feeling good. Did she feel good? Well, she didn't feel bad. How could she, in this dress? Oh, she supposed that was shallow of her. But it's true! She felt like a princess. A pretty blond princess in a pretty yellow sparkly dress. Vanessa smiled again and grabbed her clutch from her bed. She didn't want to keep Fehlandt waiting, since he said he would be here soon.

Before leaving she gave herself a casual glance in the mirror, still asserting that something was off but not quite being able to pinpoint it. She hoped Fehlandt wouldn't detect the whatever-it-was that was off. She wanted to please him with her appearance, even though they were only friends. A bubble of warmth soared through her chest at the thought of him. There was something about Fehlandt that was distinctive to Vanessa from her other friends; this was, of course, that he was simply hers. She wasn't friends with any of his friends and none of her friends were friends with him, so... so he was sort of hers, there was a sort of ownership that she had over him, in a strange way. And Vanessa didn’t have too many people like that––who were exclusively hers. She supposed Daciana was like that too; hers. Since she didn’t think anyone else was friends with her either. Nessa smiled. She couldn’t wait to get to the dance floor and see what everyone was wearing. Well. Almost everyone. The thought of Emmeline looking perfect, as usual––so perfectly out of Vanessa’s reach––gave her pause. Her heartbeat increased a little until she finally willed herself to think of nothing but meeting Fehlandt, and that was what got her out of her dormitory in one piece. Everyone was starting to leave and add the finishing touches to their appearances, Vanessa observed as she reached the Hufflepuff common room. They all looked so wonderful, she thought, her chest swelling with pride at how well her Housemates cleaned up. She hoped none of them would be upset about her taking a Slytherin as a date. But then, why should they? Yes, many Slytherins may usually be sort of scary but not all of them were, and the Hufflepuffs, Vanessa had learned much to her joy, did not make assumptions about their character. And Fehlandt was a good guy, certainly someone as magnanimous and cheerful as he had a reputation around the school for such. He was a good guy. Everyone had to know that.

And Vanessa looked good, so she would match him. He was so wealthy and fabulous and extravagant, she mused with a giggle, so he must look absolutely dashing. She had to make sure she looked good on his side. He was polite so he’d tell her she looked amazing even if she didn’t, but it was okay because tonight––tonight, Nessa knew she looked good. Maybe not as spectacular as Fehlandt was surely going to look, but good enough to stand beside him. Curiosity bridled inside her and quickened her pace until she was standing outside the common room, breathing in the fumes of the kitchen as she awaited her date. She hoped he’d get here soon. Oh! No, you see, she was very patient, only she really just wanted to know what he was wearing. And here he was, coming up the hallway! “Fehlandt!” she called out, waving her little hand and grinning broadly at him. Of course, he looked breathtaking in the only way that Fehlandt could. She latched herself onto his arm and the two small-talked all the way to the Great Hall, exchanging pleasantries about the other’s clothes and chatting about the evening to come. Vanessa was mostly looking forward to the dancing, she told him, since it came so naturally to her and always ignited a fire in her being. At one point on the way she was fairly certain she was just blabbering on and on about nothing. Hopefully she wasn’t boring him. Luckily, the walk wasn’t very long, and when they reached the Great Hall, Nessa’s spirit lit up. Everyone looked so happy, and so fancy. She couldn’t help but laugh from the sheer joy of it all. “Fehlandt, every day should be like this,” she exclaimed in silent wonder. It seemed like everything was forgotten, all the drama, the sadness, the fears, the stress––all was wished away on the stars for just one night. Vanessa did not hesitate for very long to join the crowd. Unfortunately she ran down without checking back to see if Fehlandt had followed her initiative, but hopefully he had. She really just couldn’t control herself when she got this excited, her impulses becoming more directive than her more lucid thoughts. With only veiled consciousness of it, Nessa began to look around for Emmeline. She knew Emme was here with Luke. And. Well. Vanessa liked Luke better than she liked Gideon, for Emme’s sake, anyhow. Or maybe that was just her jealousy talking, since she knew full well that Emmeline didn’t have feelings for Luke like she did for Gideon. Or well. She hoped that was how it was. Anyway, she really wanted to see Emmeline, because, well––she looked good.

Vanessa looked good and she wanted to share it with someone.

now i don't know what went wrong
thought you would get away with it

[/font][/center]










^{ooc: we're not ever going to talk about that one time fief posted this short piece of crap mk? mk.}

[Jayden Flynn]

After inviting Ambrosia to the Yule Ball—an event which had been quite successful, if you asked him, given the fact that it had been incredibly romantic and she’d said yes (which was always a plus)—Jayden had considerably relaxed as to the event, in comparison to Luke, who was still freaking out on him a little some times. He supposed it marked the difference between going with a girl whom you considered a good friend, and one whom you’ve fancied since you were twelve. Which wasn’t to say that Jayden wasn’t excited about going with Ambrosia—she was ridiculously beautiful, and she could handle herself and she was funny, and sweet, and everything a guy could wish for in a date. But he didn’t actually fancy her. However, seeing as Jayden didn’t really fancy anybody right now, Ambrosia was kind of perfect for him. Point was, the ball was quickly approaching, and you could all but feel the excitement in the air, really. And this time, Jayden was on the girls’ team. He had been planning his outfit since last week, when he’d invited Ambrosia. And yes, it was true that the guys had a very narrowed-down limit to what they could dress like, since it was a formal event and thus didn’t allow for much creativity, like girls’ dresses did, but it was still extremely important to pick the right tie, and the right shirt, and everything. If the fact that Luke had actually asked him whether or not he could wear a light blue suit was any indicator to the factor, guys could go wrong. Scandalized, Jayden had all but dragged Luke over to buy himself a new suit—the guy rolled around in money, and he could afford a new suit—and all but shoved the black ensemble that he insisted would go well with his blonde hair, and it was simple, yet elegant, and stylish, and he had a feeling that Emmeline—even though he didn’t actually know her personally, he knew what kind of girl she was—would like it. Luke had (grudgingly, if he was honest) agreed to it, and was a rather good spot when it came to the tie. The skinny black one he chose was perfectly acceptable, and Jayden had just had to shed a few fake tears of pride at his friend’s choice.

Then there was also the corsage that they had to get the girls. Him and Luke had headed into Hogsmeade to buy something appropriate, going by the girls’ personalities to see what they might like. The lady in the shop had been extremely helpful, and Jayden had spent the better part of an hour discussing shades of orange—a tulip corsage which the lady insisted was tangelo, and Jayden insisted was burnt orange instead, while Luke somehow managed to appear with a flesh-eating flower corsage that was blue and red of all things—“No, Luke, even if this was a non-carnivorous flower, red and blue do not go together with flowers. Ever.”—but finally steered him towards some acceptable girlier flowers off to the right side of the shop for him to ogle while he continued his debate with the florist. “I just don’t see how this is crimson. If you compare it to this one,

[/color]” he pointed to another flower to the right. “It’s darker.[/color]” Almost half an hour later, the lady was ready to kick them out of his shop, fuming and cheeks flushed from arguing, and Jayden had had to step down a little and ended up picking a bundle of a vermillion-toned tulips with a thin band for the wrist. He wanted it to be stylish, and attention-grabbing, but not to distract from her face. Also, he’d asked Ambrosia what color dress she was wearing, and she’d said black with a lighter shade of red heels—which, personally, he thought sounded really sexy—and thus the flower choice. Either way, they’d both managed to leave the shop with acceptable corsages before evening rolled around, and they had Luke’s suit, and a new tie Jayden had bought to match his suit and shirt—a skinny red tie in a hue similar to the corsage, and Ambrosia’s shoes, to go with the slightly purplish-gray shirt he was going to be wearing, under a black coat, and it really did work well. It was just the right amount of colour and style and youth, and still formal. He was thrilled.

Finishing doing up his tie in front of the mirror the night of the ball—Luke had gotten ready faster than he had, and gone down already—Jayden adjusted his glasses a little, licking his lips and nodding at himself. He looked good, he supposed. It would have to do. Grabbing the small box with the corsage, he finally made his way out of the boys’ tunnel towards the common room, where some people were still gathered around, though he couldn’t spot his best friend or his date—they must have gone out already—and turned to find Ambrosia over to a side. Raising his eyebrows a little, Jayden grinned and nearly tripped over somebody’s dress, having to jump back to the side rather dramatically in order not to fall, he slid over to her as smoothly as he could, given the circumstances. “Someone looks stunning tonight,[/color]” he called out as he reached her, reaching over to take her hand gently in his, raising it up to his lips with a bow, pressing them to it and, still holding her hand, took out the corsage to slide it gently around her wrist. “Truly, Ambs. You look wonderful. Ready to go?[/color]” he asked her, waiting for her response before taking her by the arm, sliding it around his own and leading her outside of the Hufflepuff Common Room. There was music coming from somewhere in the castle, and he chatted with her animatedly about anything that he could come up with as they walked towards the Great Hall, where the ball was being held. Jayden’s eyes skimmed the corridors, the entrance hall, taking in the boys’ suits and ties and the girls’ dresses in awe, pointing out those which he liked best to Ambrosia—“Red suits Jezebel so well,[/color]” he muttered as they passed her and her date—Gideon Prewett—while they walked into the Great Hall, looking around. Jayden licked his lips, letting out a laugh and winking at Ambrosia. “Dance with me?[/color]” he asked her, smiling at her charmingly before letting his arm drop hers in order to hold her hand, and lead them over to the dance floor. On the way there, he passed Lyle with—a boy. Oh, okay. And there was a girl with them in a pink dress that made him to a double take because the flow of it, and—

“Gabby!?[/color]” he exclaimed, stopping for a moment, squeezing at Ambrosia’s hand to let her know he was pausing for a moment, eyes wide as he took in his best girl friend, looking—wow, she did not look fifteen. His mouth was a little dry as he grinned at her, leaning over to press a kiss to her cheek, nodding at Lyle and the other boy a little. “You and I are going to dance before the night is over. That dress is the second most gorgeous thing I have seen in my life,[/color]” he whispered, mouth curving up to the side in a smile. “The girl wearing it is first.[/color]” With that, he blew her a kiss and continued over to the dance floor with Ambrosia, lifting her arm above her head into a twirl, before setting his hands on her waist.
[/color][/blockquote]

[Professor Albus Dumbledore]

As far as Albus could tell, the ball was a smashing success. Students were dancing and laughing and looking like they were having a great time, and even some of the professors had let loose a little (some more than others, he chortled at Hagrid and Horace). The refreshments remained untainted by the influence of alcohol; the food remained ordinary rather than “special”; the atmosphere of the ball gave off the air that Hogwarts was a school free of the weight of the drama that accompanied growing up. Albus knew this wasn’t the case, of course. Hearts would continue to be broken (perhaps even on the floor) and others would continue to grow. A relationship, a spark, could even be starting right there in the Great Hall. A magic no book could explain tended to happen around this time of year, and Albus was glad he had been around long enough to witness so much of it, and even more glad that he still didn’t understand it. Without the mystery, he feared it would bore him, and a boring life was not a happy one to live. Alas, he digressed. Time had flown, and as the hour grew later, it came time for the Yule Court to be announced. There would be a King and a Queen – winners from seventh year – as well as a Prince, Princess, Duke and Duchess from the younger years. The votes had been cast and counted, all separated into scarlet envelopes with silver seals, ready to be opened and read aloud to the students. Albus signalled to the band, letting them know that he wished to speak after they wrapped up their current song. As it drew to a close, he moved to where he’d addressed the students before and spread his arms, drawing focus upon himself. “Ah, music and dance,” he said warmly, looking around at his students. “Nothing else quite gets the spirits up, does it? You may return to your festivities in a few moments; for now, it is time to announce the Yule Court. If your name is called as a winner, please make your way up to the front.” The first two envelopes flew to his side, opening as he spoke:

“Your Duke and Duchess are Calixto Bailer and Gabriella Rivera.”

Applause and whispers broke out over the Great Hall, along with some loud hollers and cheers from friends of the winners (the loudest, Albus recognised as the Prewett brothers, whom he knew to be friends of Miss Rivera). Albus waited until he saw two figures making their way toward the front before he summoned the next two envelopes to him.

“Your Prince and Princess are Sebastian Fleming and Emmeline Vance.”

Again, Albus waited through the burst of applause, searching for the winners to be sure they were on their way, before he summoned the final two envelopes. He paused (for effect, admittedly, a move he was sure would greatly amuse Horace) and silence descended upon the Great Hall. The envelopes opened, and Albus read the names upon them and smiled before clearing his throat and addressing the Great Hall once more.

“Your Yule King and Queen for 1977 are…” He had to pause again, secretly delighting in the tension that filled the Great Hall. ”… Theodore Tonks and Rita Skeeter!”

This time, the applause was loudest and longest. Albus smiled and clapped with the rest of the students as the winners of the Yule Court (miraculously) found their own ways to the front of the hall and stepping up onto the platform. He shook each winner’s hand in turn before they moved past him to Minerva, who was bestowing their prizes upon them. When Theodore and Rita had received their crowns, Albus stepped aside and swept his arm outward. “If the King and Queen would like to say a few words before the dance, the floor is yours.”

[Maylene Bell]

Let it never be said that Maylene Bell didn’t know how to clean up well.

Sure, she might not particularly like dressing up or being presumptuous on a daily basis, but in occasions like these, she wasn’t going to turn down the opportunity to show off, just a little. After all, she might not like to make a fuss about it, but she knew she was relatively pretty, and she had a good body. All that Quidditch and beating must have to pay off somehow. Clad in a simple one-shouldered white dress with a cut up the leg, she let her newly regrown hair loose and applied some make-up on before she deemed herself ready. She’d forced herself to wear a pair of black strappy heels—the most comfortable pair she could find—for the occasion, and was one of the first girls to be finished, before she came down the stairs to meet her date in the common room. Julien was standing near the fireplace, and spotted her almost immediately, as he approached, making a show of adjusting his cufflinks, which made her laugh, punching him lightly in the shoulder when he was close enough. “Apparently occasions such as these turns us all into different people,” she said, raising an eyebrow at him questioningly as he took her hand to press a kiss to her knuckles. She had to resist the urge to snort. What the hell was he doing? Pressing her lips together, she scrunched up her nose and winked at him before taking his arm. “Had to live up to the grand expectations, didn’t I? It’s my last Yule Ball, after all. Not all of us are sweet sixteen.

[/color]” They walked towards the Great Hall, chatting loudly and animatedly with each other, May actually allowing him to take her by the arm the whole way—something which she, on any other occasion, would have condemned herself for—until they were there, and nodded at the scenery as Julien dragged her immediately to the dance floor. Falling against him, taking his hand as Julien set them up for a dance, May laughed and wriggled her eyebrows back. “Just you wait, Mr. Cross. I’ve got it all figured out,[/color]” she told him over the music, grinning as he spun her around into a fast-paced dance, and laughed.

They danced for what seemed like ages, and May had to admit that Julien was kind of a splendid dancer. And if there was something she loved doing, it was dancing. They danced until her feet were sore and she needed a drink, and they both agreed to step off to the side to spike the punch while the teachers were elsewhere. Giggling to themselves and sneaking around, they managed a couple of tricks—including jinxing the corsage of that blonde Slytherin girl and her friend who were exactly the type of snobby bitches they both hated so that they gnawed on their owners arms, much to the dismay of the girls—until Julien leaned over to say he’d catch up with her later. Nodding at him and waving him away, May sniffled back a couple more tears of laughter and turned around to go find the next entertainment of the night. It took about ten seconds for the entertainment to find her, in the form of Alice Prewett, and a wolf-whistle. May turned around, eyebrows raised, until they fell upon her friend, and she laughed, leaning over to link her arm through hers as well. “You’re the third person to call me Maylene tonight, Al. The fourth will regret it,[/color]” she called over the music, grinning. “You look every bit as gorgeous as I do, darling. As usual.[/color]” They walked among the tables idly for a moment, taking in the people, May’s eyes scouring for the third member of their little trio as they went, and grinned mischievously. “You think we should start the shenanigans now, then?[/color]” she asked, whipping out her wand from a little pocket under the slit of her dress, and twirling it around innocently, batting her eyelashes at Alice. “Come on, let’s find Lucy and get going.[/color]” That wasn’t a very hard feat by itself—Lucy Murphy tended to make her presence very much known wherever she was, something for which May adored her, and honestly, didn’t know what she’d do without her girls. Apologizing profusely to Will, May grabbed Lucy by the wrist and tugged her over as Alice linked her arm on the other side, chaining the three of them together as they leaned in a little to be able to talk quietly over the loud music. “I say we charm the mistletoe right now, and wait until after the Court is announced to start springing them on people,[/color]” May suggested, raising her eyebrows at Alice first, then Lucy in turn, to check for their input.

They sneaked out of the Great Hall and summoned as much mistletoe as they could, before sliding into the first empty classroom they could find to start charming them. May was beaming from ear to ear, stomach twisting in excitement and anticipation for the mischief. “Alright, girls. This has got to be dirty, and it’s got to be good,[/color]” she announced, winking and taking her wand out, pointing it at the little leaves and muttering the incantations, letting Lucy and Alice start each on their own batch of the berries. A couple of minutes later, they could hear sudden cheering from the Great Hall, which meant that the Court had just been announced. Perking up a little, May wondered who would have won the Prince and Princess, before straining to listen to the King and Queen. She could barely make out the two names before rolling her eyes. “Rita Skeeter?[/color]” she muttered, glancing at her friends with a heavily skeptical eye. “I’m half-convinced she rigged the scores,[/color]” she teased with a small snort, finishing up with her batch of mistletoe, admiring her handiwork. They’d each pre-recorded themselves saying a lot of dirty, encouraging things to couples, and part of the spell was making the mistletoe replay it—complicated seventh year magic that apparently they were very good at—until they were ready. May took a deep breath and set her hands on her hips, smirking up at Alice and Lucy. “Ready?[/color]”

[/blockquote][/color]

[Gabriella Rivera]

Although she shouldn't have been so surprised, Gabriella was actually having a smashing good time. Fabian had returned soon enough with their drinks (although it had taken him longer than usual and Gabby's only consolation had been that Lizzy was within eye-shot and she was busy dancing with her date, so there was no way he'd run into his ex-girlfriend), and once he returned and they'd had their drinks, she all but dragged him onto the dance floor. The significant height difference between them, she found, ended up being quite the hindrance, but it didn't make the dancing any less enjoyable. Still, she declared that she would find someone more her height so that she didn't have to reach up on her toes so high and ended up borrowing Lyle from Stefan for their promised dance. While Lyle wasn't exactly short (Stefan was shorter, at least), he wasn't as tall as Fabian, so she didn't have to reach as far. She was back to dancing with Fabian when Professor Dumbledore suddenly called for everyone's attention and she squeezed Fabian's hand excitedly when she realised he was about to call the names of the Yule Court, like he did every year. She really hoped Emmeline would get Princess or Duchess or something this year, because she knew how much she wanted it and, really, who else would get the position but the most popular girl in Fifth year? (Okay, so Gabby was a little biased, but whatever, she was allowed to feel biased about her best friend!). But, honestly, who could deserve it (or want it) more than Emmeline Vance? And then he started by announcing the Duke and Duchess and Gabriella automatically started clapping, the girl's name not quite registering with her, mostly because she knew that there was absolutely no way it could be her, and only realised it when she suddenly heard someone squealing her name and Fabian lifted her up, causing her to squeak in surprise. And then Emmeline was jumping up and down and hugging her and then nudging her in the direction of Professor Dumbledore, where Gabriella walked dazedly towards Calixto, still not quite comprehending that it wasn't another Gabriella Rivera who happened to be at Hogwarts, but it was actually her. People had actually voted for her. The moment the message had finally sunk in, Gabriella felt her face split in half with a radiant smile and her cheeks turned red with pleasure, lowering her gaze to the floor because she wasn't quite sure how to handle all the attention, crossing her arms behind her because she didn't know what to do with them. She was glad when the cheering died down and Professor Dumbledore started announcing the Prince and Princess; it gave her time to fan at her face, although in vain; the blush just wouldn't go away.

Thankfully, she was distracted by the names called out next, and she beamed when Emmeline won the title of Princess. It would have been awful if Gabby had won something and Emmeline hadn't; not to mention it wouldn't have made one bit of sense. How Gabby had won in the first place was a mystery in and of itself, but she was too happy for her friend at the moment to be confused over something as silly as that. Still grinning, Gabby reached out to hug Emmeline tightly as soon as she was in front of her, and then pulled back and squeezed her hands tightly. "I knew you'd be princess! Who else could it be?! Congratulations, lovely!" she squealed, and then grinned at Ian Fleming, who'd been announced as Prince. She clapped hard with everyone else when the King and Queen were announced, and moved with everyone else to accept her prize, convinced her cheeks would somehow fall off from the amount of grinning she was doing tonight. Once she'd gotten her sash from Professor McGonagall, Gabby moved to the side to listen to the King and Queen's speeches, clapped happily afterwards, and then started to make her way back to the dance floor. She met Jayden's eyes as she hopped down from the raised platform and smiled, starting towards him. He met her halfway and, unexpectedly, lifted her up and twirled her around and she squeaked in surprise, clutching his shoulders tightly. It wasn't that she thought he'd drop her, but she hadn't exactly expected him to pick her up like that. Giggling joyfully, she waited until he put her down and leaned forward to hug him. "You never stuck around long enough for me to say how handsome you look, too!"

[/color] she accused with another giggle, stepping back to fully admire him, because he really did look quite dashing.

[/blockquote][/color]

[Emmeline Vance]

Jayden wasn’t exactly an excellent dancer; not to say that he didn’t have the rhythm for it, or the enthusiasm or intention—in fact, that was probably one of his makeup traits. The problem was that he wasn’t very swift on his feet. He tended to trip over his own feet or bump into people, etc. Luke sometimes called it spastic movements more than anything, though he had nothing to say for himself, since they were both similar in that area. And yet, even so, Jayden loved to dance. Alone, with girls, to slow music or fast music or jumping up and down. He loved it. He spent the better part of an hour dancing nonstop with Ambrosia, who turned out to be a good dancer as well, and he still couldn’t quite wrap his mind around how beautiful she looked in that dress, until Dumbledore finally stood up to announce the Yule Court, and they had to take a breath, Jayden going over to the drinks table to bring a glass of water to her before going over to where Luke was with Emmeline, nudging him a little and grinning. “Oi,” he muttered, as Dumbledore introduced the speech. “Having fun tonight, I gather?

[/color]” he asked him quietly. They seemed to be holding hands, and Emmeline’s face was flushed from dancing—or so, he supposed—before there was sudden silence as people waited for the Duke and Duchess to be announced.

“Your Duke and Duchess are Calixto Bailer and Gabriella Rivera.”

There was a moment in which his heart leapt and he sucked in a breath, eyes widening as he whipped around to look for Gabby in the crowd, face lighting up with a laugh, hands coming together, clapping loudly. Finally, he spotted her, looking dumbstruck as she climbed onto the raised platform, and Jayden cheered along with everyone else for her and Calixto. Emmeline, in front of them, had all but flown over to where Gabby was to nudge her in the right direction, and was still jumping up and down as her friend took Dumbledore’s hand before the Prince and Princess were announced.
[/color]

‘Emmeline Vance.’

Her face froze at the words, and she dropped her mouth as she sucked in a hard breath. Emmeline—oh my god, that was her! Clamping her hands to her mouth, she let out a loud laugh of excitement, feeling it bubble up into her chest and spread, making every edge of her tingle with euphoria as she quickly detached herself from where she’d been gripping somebody’s arm—she wasn’t even sure whose—in nerves, before trying to make her way over to the raised platform as smoothly as she could, given the fact that everybody was looking at her because she was Yule Princess—ohmygod. Oh, God, oh, God, oh, God, and there was Ian Fleming and she didn’t think she’d ever spoken longer than a couple of words to him but he was so handsome and he was in sixth year and she’d won, oh my god! Reaching the other winners, she took Dumbledore’s hand, face pink with happiness before turning to Gabby and wrapping her arms around her best friend tightly, squeezing her and letting out another excited laugh. “We won!” she exclaimed, jumping a little, before letting her go and sliding her hand into hers, squeezing it, and looking back into the crowd where the entirety of Hogwarts was, watching them.

Yule Ball Princess.

She was going to die. Emme barely managed to gather herself enough to listen to the King and Queen when she heard Ted and Rita’s name, and yelped again, laughing freely now, completely absorbed in happiness, as she clapped loudly for her friend and her ex-boyfriend, cheering along with everybody else, feeling like everything was right in this world and it had paid off. Everything had paid off because she looked gorgeous tonight and she was Yule Ball Princess and Gabby was here and Rita was here and there was Luke, in the middle of the crowd, clapping for her and smiling at her and she didn’t think she’d ever felt this good or happy about herself in her life, and it was like a little bubble of amazingness was spreading through her, consuming her, until all she wanted to do was laugh from the absolute giddiness of it all.

They moved down for the King and Queen speeches, and even though Rita was her friend and Ted was amazing and she wanted to listen to what they had to say because there were probably few people in the world that inspired her more than them, she raced down the little steps, picking up her dress a little so she didn’t step on it or trip or anything, and squeezed her way through the crowd to where Luke was, still looking absolutely dashing in his suit, and smiling back at her, and hers, and before she could think about what she was doing, she reached up to hold onto his face, cupping his cheeks and tipping his face down as she fell into him, to press their lips together.[/color]

And there was Gabby, coming down along with Emmeline, and Calixto and Sebastian, and Jayden caught her eye, still grinning, and moved away from Luke to meet her halfway, sliding his hands almost automatically around her small frame, never having felt prouder, and the look on her face was enough for him as he took hold of her and picked her up, turning around on the spot and lifting her onto a twirl before he set her down, hugging her tightly. “You won!” he exclaimed, squeezing her again before letting her go. “I knew you would, Gabs. Congratulations![/color]”

The King and Queen finished their speeches, each, and Jayden was still holding onto Gabby tightly, letting himself be selfish for a moment before she undoubtedly left to go be with her date, and her other friends, he supposed, for the rest of the night, but pressed his lips together for a moment, turning to her as the music started up again and the crowd dispersed into the previous atmosphere. Smiling at her, cocking his head, Jayden took her hand in his. “Dance with me now?[/color]” he asked.[/color][/blockquote]