Yule Ball '77

[ambrosia]

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

The look of shock on Luke’s face was enough to make Ambrosia feel guilty for the way she was treating him at the moment. He couldn’t help it that he didn’t know she was feeling like a train wreck on the inside because she had feelings for him and he didn’t return those feelings. There’s still a chance, her mind whispered to her, begging her not to give up hope. But… she thought, he doesn’t understand… She looked into his wide, innocent pale green eyes and instantly felt a stab to her abdomen; as if she already didn’t feel bad enough, the look on his face was just about killing her. No, he doesn’t understand, the voice in her head chided. And he won’t ever understand until you tell him! Ambrosia’s mouth dropped open a little at the suggestion; here she had been in love with Luke for four years and this was the moment where she had to tell him!?

Disregarding his answer about where his date was, Ambrosia pulled her hand away immediately from his grasp when he asked what was wrong and if she was okay. And then, he did it. He used her pet name. This little gesture of friendship made her want to stand up and scream while ripping her hair out; how could he not see it!? They were perfect for each other and she was right there in front of him, ready to leap into his arms whenever he wanted her to… All of this pent up frustration from the last few weeks was beginning to mix together in her stomach with the anxiousness over this whole situation and she knew that she had to say something quick or he would think she was mad at him and he would get up and walk away forever and she would never see him again and her ray of sunshine would be gone forever and-

”I love you, Luke.”

She froze. Had she really just admitted that out loud? She felt like she was going to vomit but there was no chance in hell she was going to run to the lavatory since Emmeline was in there and none of the other lavatories were close enough… She was stuck dealing with what she had just done; the room felt like it was spinning and- man, had it gone up like, a million degrees in this room? Ambrosia pulled at the collar of her dress and planned an escape route; thankfully, there was just enough space between two fifth years that she could squeeze through and disappear away into the crowd. Seeing this opportunity, she took it and made her way so far into the crowd that there was no way Luke would find her... At least, not until the Ball was over.

[/blockquote][/blockquote]

[selene]

Gisele was getting bored.

She'd ditched Sammy a while ago; it wasn't his fault he was no fun, and Gisele definitely felt bad for him because of the break-up and everything, but it was her last night at school before the holidays, and she didn't want to spend it patting her date's back and telling him that any girl would be lucky to have him. So she just slipped away to the loo when he wasn't looking, and just decided to not look for him. She wandered around the Great Hall, watching her friends and classmates, teachers and foes enjoying themselves. Gisele loved parties and pretty dresses and dancing. Growing up the way she did, there wasn't much time to really be a girl. So when she heard about the ball, she was more than excited. As she roamed the perimeter of the Hall, she searched for something to do, someone to occupy her time or something, but coming up short. She stopped for a second, her hand poised on her hip, blowing hair impatiently out of her face. Maybe she should just call it a night; she was tired and she didn't really feel like being on the run from Sammy the whole night---

Jayden.

Jayden was standing just a few feet away from her, his back to her, and Gisele pounced. She'd been meaning to find him all night. Now was her chance. After their encounter with the pictures in the Concourse, he seemed to feel more comfortable around her, and she was certainly taking advantage of that. She stopped just behind him, completely aware of the mistletoe and not wanting to even get involved in that at the moment. Slipping her small hand into his, she pulled him away from the sick little plant and onto the dance floor, sliding her hands up to his neck and finding the rhythm in the slow song quickly. She smiled up at him, coy and mysterious. "Hello, handsome." Her arms tightened around him and she pulled him closer; their bodies touching, one of her hands slipping down to rest lightly on his shoulder. Yeah, she could definitely get used to this.

"You owe me a dance."

[Emmeline Vance]

Emme felt as if her entire stomach had been wrenched into a tight knot and something was pulling it up to her throat, making everything light and feeling like she was floating, and her head was light and a little dizzy as she felt Luke's arms hold her around her waist and pull her up against him, causing her to lift up onto her tip-toes in the heels she was wearing, and she couldn't stop the smile on her face, against his own, making the kiss a little awkward before they pulled away. She stayed there, however, staring at him a little, her face pink in a way that had nothing to do with the blush she'd put on earlier, while Luke leaned their foreheads together to congratulate her.

It was happening. She'd just kissed Luke. Luke, her friend, Luke. Oh my god, she'd kissed him. And he'd kissed back. She was pretty sure that was a good sign. He wasn't over her, he still liked her and he was smiling and everything was perfect--and then somebody bumped into her back a little, and she turned her face, startled, to glimpse the last of the pink dress she'd lent Gabby before letting out a breath, her smile falling a little from her face. She looked... something was wrong. Licking her lips a little, Emme pulled back from Luke reluctantly, still flushed. "I should--I should go check if she's alright," she managed to whisper, her eyes bright, still watching the smile on his face, her heart skipping a beat at that, before managing to turn away to go after her best friend.

The ridiculous, silly smile was still on her face as she pushed through the crowd, breaking out into a soft, girlish giggle of excitement as she exited the Great Hall, going to the bathroom, supposing that's where Gabby had gone. Entering it, face still blushing hard from the kiss, she immediately spotted Vanessa with her, and tears in Gabby's eyes. Her stomach clenched guilitily ."Gabby!

[/color]" she breathed out worriedly, hurrying over to her, grabbing a tissue from the sink and holding it up to her, biting her lip and looking up at Nessa. "What happened, sweetie? Are you okay? Where's Fabian?[/color]" Going over, Emme wrapped her arms around Gabby's shoulders, turning to hold her a little, knowing how much Gabby liked to be held sometimes, trying to figure out what had gone wrong. She met the other girl's eyes as if asking the silent question, and smiled a little at Vanessa, realizing she hadn't said hi to her before. "That dress is so cute, Nessa![/color]" she told her honestly, smiling a little wider. "You look really pretty tonight.[/color]"[/color][/blockquote]

[Jayden Flynn]

'I'm honestly sorry you got stuck under the mistletoe with me.'

The harshness in Gabby's tone made him blink, startled, and Jayden parted his lips a little as he stared at her, confused. And then she was saying something about it not letting them go and before he could process what was happening, she was holding onto his shoulders and leaning up to kiss him, and he closed his eyes, keeping his lips pressed together, feeling like something was clenching at him from inside because this was Gabby and Gabby was kissing him and she didn't even like him like that, and he didn't like her like that and they were best friends and so they shouldn't be kissing because only people who were stupid and did the 'friends with benefits' things kissed and he didn't want him and Gabby to be like that because he cared about her and he couldn't even begin to wonder why she'd sounded so upset because she'd already pulled away and staring at him like she'd seen a ghost and was saying sorry and stumbling away before he could gather his bearings.

Shit, she'd kissed him!

"Gabby!" Jayden called out, swiveling on the spot as to run after her, but two blokes decided to step in front of him at the same moment, and he stumbled back, nearly tripping over somebody's gorgeous periwinkle dress and had to brace himself on somebody else's shoulder so as not to fall, and apologized quickly before snapping his face up, moving around the two guys and turning around, eyes scanning the crowd to look for the top of Gabby's head, but she was so short and he lost her before he could even catch a breath. "Gabby!

[/color]"

Crap.

Cursing under his breath, Jayden clenched his fists and rubbed a hand over his forehead and eyes. Well, he'd royally screwed up now. Gabby probably hated him and she couldn't even bear to kiss him because she'd run away and everything sucked because now he felt like he was either taking advantage of her or something and it all sucked and he just--he didn't want to be here. He was seriously making up half a mind to start patrolling the hall to find her when somebody slipped their hand into his and tugged him over. Gasping a little, startled, Jayden twirled and turned as a girl's hand slid up to the back of his neck and pressed herself up against him. Heart racing from the freight and the holyshitwhat'sgoingon, Jayden stared at the girl--oh.

"Blimey, Gisele, you scared me,[/color]" he breathed out, tensing a little from the proximity and she'd always intimidated him so much, but lately they were more okay than before but not like this and he wasn't very sure what to do. Figuring he'd already upset one girl too many, he decided not to do anything, and allow his hands to fall to her waist into the song. "I-I do?[/color]" he questioned quietly, biting his lip and sliding into the song.
[/color][/blockquote]

[selene]

A little shiver went down her spine as Jayden slid his hands to her hips, the tingling sensation reaching down to her lavender painted toes. Gisele knew she was physically attracted to Jayden, but this... This felt different. Maybe it was because they had never really been this close before. Maybe it was because she'd been sneaking alcohol all night and could feel herself loosening up just a little bit. Maybe it was because he was a boy and she liked to have her fun. Whatever the reason, she turned on the charm, careful of the fact that he probably still felt a little weird around her. Batting her eyelashes just a little, she nodded slightly as he stuttered out his words. "Of course you do. Especially when you look this good," she teased, letting him lead as they turned and swayed on the dance floor. Her lips slid slowly into a little pout as she took in the tension on his face; something must have been bothering him before she stole him away.

Usually, Gisele liked to make guys feel comfortable. Let them know they could talk to her. Make sure they felt like she was there for them. And even though she wanted to do the same for him, it was Yule Ball, and Jayden needed a distraction, and not to talk about whatever was bothering him. Unless he wanted to. But she wasn't going to bring it up.

"Thanks for the pictures the other day, by the way. My mother loved them." She smiled sincerely up at him, wanted to say something more, but not wanting him to think they had to keep up a conversation. She was perfectly fine just dancing and smelling him. Really.

[nessarose]

They were standing in the bathroom, Gabriella folded between Vanessa's arms, when Emmeline entered the bathroom and Nessa felt her stomach drop again. She might've puked if it hadn't been for the fact that her stomach was already quite, quite emptied of its contents. That, and she was willing herself to get over it, because right now Gabby needed her and that was that. She and Emmeline shared a glance and that made Nessa's heart flicker, but not as strongly as it did when Emmeline started speaking. When she called her pretty. The world had just evaporated around her because Emmeline Vance had called her pretty. And now just pretty––really pretty. Vanessa felt her knees begin to soften and her heart begin to race, and despite her poor friend’s plight Vanessa couldn’t help but allow a slow, blushing smile to inch across her face. “Thanks, Emmie,” she breathed rather faintly. “You look so pretty too, you always do, but especially tonight.” While the nausea and the tears still lingered from Emmeline’s earlier betrayal (she supposed she couldn’t rightly call it a betrayal though it somehow felt like one), Nessa felt her mood slightly improve when Emmeline walked into the room and complimented her. Funny, Emme's effect on Vanessa. But this moment was not about she and Emmeline, Nessa chided herself, petting Gabby's head once more. It was about Gabriella and what had just happened to her. She wasn't sure if Gabby was in any position to talk and so she decided she would fill Emmeline in. "She got stuck under the mistletoe with Jayden and he didn't want to kiss her but they ended up kissing anyway and she's afraid things will be weird with them now," she explained softly, continuing to pet Gabby's head in a comforting fashion. "I guess someone put the mistletoe up as a prank. Which I think is really wrong, by the way, and we should tell someone about it," she added with a firm nod. "Fabian should have been with her..." Vanessa mumbled under her breath, shaking her head. She wondered where he'd gone off to and why on earth he wasn't there to wait on Gabriella's hands and feet. It was a ball, for gosh sakes, he was supposed to be treating her like a princess. Anger flared within her and she declared, "I have half a mind to go and find him and tell him how terrible of a date he's been. He deserves a verbal lashing and I know just how to give one," she added, subconsciously tightening her grip on Gabby's shoulders. This frustrated her. It didn't seem fair that boys who could take girls to the dance should neglect them when there were girls who wanted to but couldn't. It wasn't fair! If Vanessa was able to take a girl to the dance as more than a friend she'd never leave her side, never. That wasn't what dates were supposed to do. Fabian, being older, should know that, she thought, fuming to herself. She felt it swell within her and threaten to spill out. She couldn't tell if she wanted to punch something or if she wanted to cry. She was just so... upset, because this? This wasn't fair. She clung tighter to Gabby. "I don't like this, Emmie. This isn't fair," Nessa stated, adding quickly, "to Gabby." Oh, but she was being selfish again, she thought with a sigh.

[/blockquote]

[Luke Neeson]

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

If he had been blissfully oblivious up until this point, when Ambrosia yanked her hand out of his grasp, Luke was succintly informed that something was wrong. And apparently it was his fault. He withdrew his hand back into his lap, trying his best not to look too hurt. He wasn't used to, well, anyone being mad at him (the exception always being his brother aiden), but he especially wasn't used to these hard looks from Ambrosia. And, in all honesty, Ambrosia being mad at him was probably one of the very few things that could pull him down from the cloud he was floating on after Emme kissed him. But Ambrosia was one of his best friends. His eyebrows pulled up in concern and the edges of his lips tugged down in a frown, Luke wracked his brain as he sat across from Amrbosia, trying to think of a possible reason why she would be mad at him. He had accidently spilled ink on her book bag after tripping in class and careening into her desk, but that had been last week and she certainly didn't seem cross with him at the time. Though it could've been that he --

"I love you, Luke."

It took three whole seconds before Luke could move again, and even then, it was just to blink. Okay... what?? He was staring at her, mouth slightly agape and looking very confused. She loved him? Like... like a brother? Like a particularly cute puppy? Or... love love? He opened his mouth a couple of times, trying to formulate SOMETHING to just say to her, but nothing came out and he ended up looking a bit like a goldfish. Maybe she was kidding. Yes, that must've been it. Luke let out an airy laugh with a forced smile and was about to say ha ha, very funny Ambrosia but she didn't look like it was a joke. And the next second, Ambrosia was up on her feet, looking ready to run. Luke didn't know what to say but he did know he didn't want her to leave. He jumped up as well, causing his chair to make a loud noise as it skid back. "Wait--"

[/color] Luke tried to reach a hand out to her -- to stop her, or, something, he really didn't know what the hell was going to do -- but the table was between them and he was too slow and by the time he had side-stepped the chairs, she had already disappeared into the crowd.

And left Luke by himself, looking after her and still... dumbfounded. What in the world... Luke plopped back down into a seat, leaned forward and rubbed his hand against his mouth. Ambrosia... Loved him? He shook his head. What? How?? Luke had woken up this morning with just having one date to the Yule Ball and really no romantic interests, and now Emme Vance, the girl he had been crazy about since he was 12 had kissed him and now Ambrosia, one of his best friends, was in love with him?? How was this even possible?? And how did he feel about it? He had wanted to be with Emme since is second year and now... Well, now it seemed like an actual possibility? But what about Ambrosia? He'd spent so much time distracted b y Emme... Had he never really opened his eyes to look at Ambrosia properly? What if May's plan to get him to forget Emme had worked? Would he have seen Ambrosia as something more than a friend?

And why was this happening all of a sudden?? Luke frowned. His first thought was Aiden. Maybe this was his doing? But then Luke felt bad because he shouldn't expect the worst of his brother all of the time. True, he had been talking Emme apparently just the other day, but, as far as he knew, he had never spoken to Ambrosia. And why would Aiden convince two girls to like him anyways? He shook his head again. No. That made no sense... Well, he needed to do something. Luke leaned back in his chair and looked around. There was no sign of Emme yet. But maybe he should find Jayden and see what his opinion of his... insane turn of events was.

But Melrin help him if Jayden decided to tell Luke he was in love with him too.[/blockquote][/blockquote]

[Julien Cross]

Julien actually jumped when Gracie flew to him and flung her arms around his neck. One, because usually when Gracie made a quick movement around him, it was usually to punch him in the arm or whack him upside the back of the head. And two, because, well, Julien didn't really... hug people all that often. Punch a guy in the face? Sure. Sling an arm arrogantly over a girl's shoulder while walking to class? Yes. But he didn't do a lot of this... affection business. So he was surprised when he suddenly had her lithe form up against his, her arms around him and her head in the crook of his neck. He could even feel her cold nosed pressed against his skin. He froze for only a second, arms out as his sides before they encircled her waist. Even though Gracie was crying, Julien literally couldn't stop a small grin from tugging up the corner of his lips. "It's alright,"

[/color] he said, trying to sound light and casual, pretending like it was a big deal that she was crying. The brown curls of her hair tickled his nose as he leaned his against against the top of her head. When she finally pulled back to look at him, her eyes were teary which made his eyebrows furrow again. "So what's going on?"[/color] he asked, concern clearly written in his voice with a touch of anger at whatever was causing her to be so upset.

And then she told him. Julien's face slid from being worried to a terse silence. He kept his arms around her but he pulled his head back from her a bit. This was a very complicated situation. Julien was used to solving problems for himself and his friends with violence. But, what was he supposed to do when it involved two of his friends? Not to mention apparently Gracie had a huge crush on Cal and it was becoming quite clear that he was not okay with that. Why? Well, because Cal was one of is friends... And so was Gracie. And. It was weird. And not Julien was getting mad with Cal because from what Gracie had told him, he was being kind of a dick. Maybe not on purpose, but still.

The muscle in his jaw clenched. "Hm, maybe I should talk to him..."[/color] He said it more to himself than her, but he immediately knew it was a mistake because Gracie was bound to argue with him and tell him not to, but at this point it seemed a bit necessary. He tried not to let himself get irritated, but he could feel it crawling up the back of his neck. "I don't get why you spend time worrying about him if he's decided to warm up to some little pureblood slag,"[/color] he said in a cold tone. Okay, maybe he was being a bit harsh, but Cal was really fucking up. Not only was he upsetting Gracie, but he was doing it because of a pureblood? Julien scowled. "Looks like he's facing some judgement issues. But, really, Gracie, why bother with him if he's upsetting you?"[/color] Julien was scowling now. He wasn't a fan of illogical life choices. It just didn't make sense to him why she would like a guy that didn't like her back and ran around with the likes of Lovelace. He just didn't understand it. If you liked someone, but they didn't return the feelings, why bother pining for them? "Just move on, don't let it bother you so much."[/color] [/blockquote][/blockquote]

[Gabriella Rivera]

When Gabby heard Emmeline come in, she stiffened slightly and turned, wondering if she was upset about something, too. And then she realised that, no, Emmeline was here and, oh Dios, she was ruining everyone's night with her silly dramatics. Sniffing loudly, she let Vanessa explain her situation to Emmeline and, honestly, when she heard it out loud, it just seemed so stupid. Friends kissed all the time out of a joke, didn't they? She'd kissed Gideon when they were, like, ten years old, but that was because they'd been curious about it. And Paris had kissed her ages ago, but he said that was because he was bored. It just seemed weird that Jayden would have reacted like that, but he had reacted like that, and it had hurt her. She couldn't help how she felt, unfortunately. "No, no it's not Fabian's fault!" she exclaimed shakily, raising a hand to wipe at her wet cheeks. "It's not his fault at all. I'm the one who ditched him. I'm the horrible date. He's probably just sitting around awkwardly waiting for me. Oh, God, he probably is just sitting around!"

[/color] In the light of this news, Gabby suddenly straightened up and gently disentangled herself from Vanessa and Emmeline's grip, moving to the sink to wash her face and grabbing some tissue to dab at her cheeks, attempting to wipe off her running make up. Once she looked somewhat decent, Gabby turned back to her friends and gave them the best smile she could offer, considering how wretched she felt on the inside. "Thank you both, but I really should get back to Fabian now. He's probably so upset that I left him like that!"[/color] She gave them both a quick hug and then, before either of them could protest and she could start crying again, she hurried out of the bathroom and back into the Great Hall, keeping an eye out for Jayden in case she ran into him again while she searched for Fabian.

[/blockquote][/color]

[Emmeline Vance]

Smiling over at Nessa's compliments, Emme kept her eyes on her blonde friend as she told her what had happened to Gabby, and she winced visibly, vaguely thinking about other kisses that had happened lately and her stomach did a little leap at the thought that she kissed Luke before she focused back on her friend. "Jayden's stupid if he can't see how amazing you are, Gabby," she said with conviction, squeezing at Gabby's shoulders and nodding at Vanessa's words. She sighed a little and let go off Gabby as she started saying something about Fabian, and Emme really wanted to gush about Luke but she supposed that could wait because Gabby wasn't having a great night, and she knew that Fabian could make it nice for her again, so she let her go, watching after her as she exited the bathroom before pressing her lips together and looking back to Vanessa with a small shrug. "That sucks about Gabby,

[/color]" she whispered, going over to the mirror and tucking a loose strand of blonde hair around her ear, looking at her face for a moment, cheeks a little flushed from the exertion of being named Yule Princess and kissing Luke and everything, but she looked good. Fresh, alive. She smiled over at Nessa, leaning against the counter a little. "So, how's your night so far?[/color]" she asked her with a smile, reaching over to Vanessa's waist to touch the material of her gown because it sparkled and it was lovely and she really liked dresses, running her fingertips across it before dropping her hand. "I really adore your dress, by the way.[/color]"[/color][/blockquote]

[Jayden Flynn]

Jayden wasn't blind, okay? He knew that Gisele was very, very pretty, and she was...yes, she was hot. He knew that her eyes were really pretty and that dress was kind of stunning. So, he could tell when she batted her eyelashes at him that she was flirting a little, and he was a little stuck as to how to react. It wasn't that he didn't like her, not at all. He thought she was pretty nice, even if she was a little intimidating at times, or, okay, very intimidating. He just didn't...like her that way, and if he was very honest, he wasn't sure whether she liked him like that, which would be really kind of strange because he hadn't done anything that was like-worthy, right? Anyway, she was complimenting him and he couldn't very well be an ass, so Jayden smiled at her, honestly, and slid with her to the center of the dance floor, dancing a little awkwardly, moving his feet to the rhythm of the song. "Thank you. So do you," he replied, nodding his head as he glanced around, licking his lips, turning to look down at her as she brought up the pictures the other day, and laughed a little. "Well, I'm glad, it was no problem at all. I like taking photos,

[/color]" he admitted, smirking a little.
[/color][/blockquote]

[Daciana Gamp]

Tonight, virtually every girl in the castle had spent hours fixing her hair, squeezing into various styles and colors of dresses, and preparing herself for the “night of her life.” Daciana? Wasn’t buying it. Oh sure, she had fixed, squeezed, and prepared but in the end she was wholly unimpressed. It’s not that she was unimpressed by her final look –oh no, Daciana surprised herself every time with just how good she did look- but she was disappointed in her lack of excitement about the Yule Ball. As she sat on her bed smoothing her dress, she went over everything in her head: she’d gotten a date with another good-looking Slytherin pureblood and they would show up fashionably late like respectable wizards should, she had bought a gorgeous new dress just for the occasion, her hair and makeup was basically perfect, and she was still slightly buzzed from the joint she smoked behind the Quidditch pitch earlier. In conclusion, she had done everything right. She should be excited or nervous. She should feel something. She sighed and picked a little piece of lint off of her. Truth be told, she had not been excited about much of anything lately. Well, oh well. So Daciana Gamp would continue to exist, continue to parade around doing whatever the hell she wanted within reason (within the rules) and never really do anything that matters at all. Hopefully someone would spike the punch, at least. If she had room somewhere in her dress to hide a flask, Merlin knows Daciana would spike it or try to anyway. Who knew, maybe the night wouldn’t be another boring blur. Perhaps something would happen. Perhaps the school would wise up and she would win a spot on Yule Court. Perhaps there would be a fight, or some sort of drama would go down, and she would gain gossip topics for note-passing in class. But Daciana was tired of “perhaps.” She was also tired of waiting in the dormitory. Yes, she had insisted on being fashionably late, but now she was getting impatient and she wanted Deaglan to pick her up so she no longer had to just sit there. She stood gracefully in her attire, steadied on her heels, and walked down into the common room to lookout for her date.

It was now at least ten minutes past the start of the dance, and she had already watched both Narcissa Black and Teagan Darrowmere float out of the common room as she stood leaning against the wall. Everyone was dressed to the nines which pleased Daciana as that meant there were fewer eyesores than usual running about. She heard footsteps behind her and thought perhaps it was someone coming down from the boys’ – no, the pitter-patter was of feet far too small. More small girls flitting off to the ball, like it was the pinnacle of their pathetic little lives. She tore her eyes away just in time to see Deaglan coming into the common room. She perked up outwardly and glanced at the clock, “Eight fifteen on the dot.” She smiled satisfactorily as he slipped an elegant looking corsage around her wrist and she linked arms with him. “We look dashing, now don’t we?” She didn’t wait for a response but lead the boy out toward the great hall, because she decided they were late enough. Most of Hogwarts was attending the Yule Ball, so it seemed, and even a few graduates were spotted. They passed Aiden and Caoimhe in their trek into the dance floor, and she gave them a slight wave. In the midst of it all, Deaglan soon turned to say he was going to get them some punch and she nodded at him rather than shout over the music. The band was good, Daciana conceded, but she was still unimpressed with the whole thing. The band in question however, was stopping, and the headmaster was approaching the stage. Was it time for Yule Court already? Everyone’s attention was being drawn to the front of the dance were the Headmaster was now beginning to speak. Duke and Duchess was announced rather suddenly, and the two Hufflepuffs approached the front and – oh. Yeah, he had called Gabriella Rivera didn’t he? And she looked… well. The mudblood cleaned up quite well as it turned out. She forced her eyes to the floor, burning a hole into it rather than the Duchess herself. She took a slow breath in and listened for the next set of titles to be announced (listening in particular for her own name). Sebastian Fleming and Emmeline Vance. Emmeline Vance. “Ugh,” she couldn’t help but utter aloud. Yeah so maybe she was a bit bitter but come on, Vance? How low could the school get? Daciana marched away from the stage then, ignoring the crowning of King and Queen.

She found herself marching toward the refreshment area, where Deaglan supposedly was but actually was not. She looked around, wondering if he had gotten caught up talking to someone or perhaps he had just left the punch to find her. She huffed and scanned the dance floor for someone to talk to or something to do because now Daciana was getting bored and really this was the Yule Ball and she should not be bored. She decided to get herself some damn punch since her date was apparently failing at the simple task. Careful not to spill on her dress, she took a sip and grimaced because no, no one had spiked the punch yet it seemed. Observing the dance floor once more, she was just in time to spot Gabriella Rivera make a mad-dash toward the loo. Curious. She waited, watching a bit longer and saw Vance make her way in the same direction. Curious again. She was done with her punch. Pushing away from the refreshment table, she began her trek through the mob of people currently on the dance floor. She pushed past Lovelace and her Hufflepuff, Aiden and Caoimhe again, and a whole bunch of people she didn’t really care about. Some immature gits were giggling about the enchanted mistletoe someone charmed above people’s heads (that she was mindful to avoid thank-you-very-much), forming another mini crowd for her to shove through. And shove she did, pushing a twerpy-looking forth year out of her path. As she approached the loo, however, Gabriella came bursting out, nearly running her over. She gasped, “Dios!” taken off-guard, she clutched her chest and tried to regain her composure. ”I wasn’t expecting- I mean, what are you doing?” And where was Vance? Could the two “besties” be at odds? Unlikely, but possible. She frowned and couldn’t help but glare slightly, acting like Gabby was blocking her way when, in fact, Daciana was just looking for something to do, and apparently the bathroom was more exciting than the dance floor. Perhaps she would learn something, accuire some gossip. Anything. Merlin, save her from going out of her mind at this snooze-fest.

[Gabriella Rivera]

Gabby barely managed to stop in time to avoid slamming into Daciana, taking a quick step back and inwardly groaning. Dios, out of all the people to nearly run over, it had to be someone who barely tolerated her and, honestly, Gabriella didn't want to be reminded of how much she annoyed the Slytherin. She hadn't seen her since they'd (finally) finished their project a few days ago, but it was obvious that Daciana had been sort-of avoiding her. And why shouldn't she? Gabby wouldn't want to be around herself for an unnecessary amount of time if she couldn't help it. "I'm so sorry, I didn't see you there," she mumbled, fumbling with the tail of her dress because she'd accidentally stepped on it and she wanted to make sure the heel of her shoe wasn't hooked onto a loose thread or anything. Tripping over herself would be the worst thing that could happen right now. "You look really, really nice,"

[/color] she complimented hesitantly, although not insincerely, wondering if she should just leave already. Perhaps Daciana really needed to pee and Gabby was standing in her way or something. Great, now she would be responsible for Daciana suffering from a full bladder. "I'll just...get out of your way. Sorry, again,"[/color] She remembered that she was supposed to be rushing to Fabian because she'd ditched him and she really shouldn't be hanging around when he might be sitting around alone. Then again, he might have ended up finding Gideon. Which could also be bad because she knew Gideon would want to be alone with Jezebel and wouldn't want his big brother hovering over him and possibly teasing him in front of the girl he liked. "Anyway, I have to go, my date is waiting,"[/color] she blurted out awkwardly.

[/blockquote][/color]

[Fabian Prewett]

OMG DON'T READ THIS, IT'S SO AWFUL, I HAVE TO GO BACK THROUGH IT.

Fabian was quiet while Imogen rambled, his stare morphing steadily into a full-on glare. Her date was Regulus Black? If he’d known that earlier, he would have warned her about him. Pulling something like this was right up Black’s alley. Fabian knew a thing or two about his reputation, which seemed to be accurate enough, seeing as how he’d just ditched Imogen for another girl without even having the decency to tell her. The thought angered him immensely; his tightly clenched jaw and fists were proof of that. He didn’t like blokes who played around with girls’ feelings. He frowned, unsure why Imogen was busy thinking about her friend instead of herself. As she went on talking about the girl to whom Regulus was betrothed, he felt a flicker of gladness that his own family valued love more than being “respectable” and would never force him to go through with an arranged marriage. Fabian wasn’t always the best at reading people, but Imogen was obviously upset. How could he forget everything she’d just said? Fabian didn’t believe in letting wrongdoings go unpunished, especially when a girl was the victim. Distracted as he was by his anger toward Regulus, he only realized that Imogen was done speaking when she patted his arm and started to walk away from him. “Hang on,” he called, thrusting his hand out to grab her wrist. “He ditched you! You can’t let him get away with ditching you, even if it is for your sister.” She kept insisting it was fine, but Fabian wouldn’t have any of it. “It’s not fine, how can you say that? He told you he was coming with you, didn’t he?” Fabian didn’t appreciate the fact that Regulus had lied to her and humiliated her to be with another girl. His jaw tightening at the insinuation that he was doing the same thing, his glare turned colder. He was trying to defend her honor, and she was making him feel bad about it.

At least she recognized that Regulus was a complete arsebucket, but she obviously wasn’t about to stand up for herself. So maybe Fabian would. “I’m going to give the tosser a piece of my mind.” (Or more accurately, a meeting with his fist.) Starting toward Regulus, he was stopped in his tracks by Imogen’s anxious tugging on his arm. He tried to pry her fingers off him, arguing that Regulus deserved the black eye Fabian wanted to give him. He didn’t think Regulus ought to be allowed to treat girls like that. Fabian hated when girls’ feelings got hurt because of blokes like him. He felt an instinctual desire to defend her honor. Still glaring in Regulus’s direction, he relented only because of how worried she looked at the prospect of his causing a scene in the middle of the ball. There was still a great deal of tension in his arm that he really wanted to unleash upon Regulus’s face. He almost didn’t hear her suggestion that they get some drinks to replace the ones he’d spilled over the roaring in his ears.

-posting-

[Daciana Gamp]

Before the dance, Daciana had been maybe sort-of avoiding Gabriella. Well, not during the project they had to work together on obviously, but after that. Gabriella annoyed her, not because the girl just was annoying, but because Daciana couldn’t shake her even if she wanted to. Her eyes seemed to automatically seek her out in crowds (despite the difficulty of the task with Gabby being so darn short), and she couldn’t help but want to know all the gossip she could find about the Hufflepuff. If Daciana was being reasonable, these things were probably not actually Gabriella Rivera’s fault. But Daciana Gamp was stubborn and not reasonable, and she especially wasn’t reasonable at times like these. So, she had been avoiding Gabby because she thought that maybe if she did, she would be able to shake her. She had been doing well until she lost her date the dance and was left with little to do. ”Well you should be! Merlin, be more conscientious Gabriella!” She sounded peeved, but the response was more reflexive if anything. She wanted to know where Gabby was going in such a hurry and why, but she couldn’t just ask. An odd feeling washed over her as she realized that she was stuck – she didn’t hate Gabby Rivera but she wanted to hate her, and yet she also wanted to know her but didn’t and couldn’t. All she could do was put herself in situations where she could tell herself that maybe she would get closer to something, while knowing in the back of her mind that she couldn’t do anything. Or, she could avoid Gabby completely, which was more reasonable (which Daciana, again, was not). See? Stuck. “Yeah, I know…but thanks I guess.” She said grudgingly. Gabby was being sincere though, she was being Gabby, and it made Daciana sigh and mumble, “You look good as well.” This was awkward, and it was making them both uncomfortable, and it really was not one of Daciana’s better ideas as she was obviously finding out. So, Daciana pointedly stepped around her, as if to let her go to find her date in respond to the Hufflepuff’s blurt. She took a step away from Gabriella, before feeling compelled to turn and say, “Congrats on the Duchess thing,” as she went to leave.