Slug Club [December Meeting]

[Professor Horace Slughorn]

The preparations were complete; Horace's office was looking absolutely delightful and was filled with all sorts of gorgeous little decorations and baubles here and there, some dangling from the ceiling and some floating about the tables, upon which there was an almost obnoxious amount of treats and pre-dinner nibblers. Horace was a man of a big appetite, and he naturally assumed everyone else was, of course, exactly like him in that way, be they younger, thinner, or otherwise. What he could really go for now was some candied pineapple, but those were still on order and couldn't be here in time for this month's formal dinner. No matter; next time, for certain, he thought with a little smile. He was so deliciously proud of himself and for the house elves for helping him decorate his room so and prepare it for the small number of guests he had invited to dine with him at his giant, rounded table: having these little selective get-togethers was one of Horace's favorite things to do nowadays, regardless of whether or not Minerva had cautioned him as to how elitist and unfair it was seeming to be. He could care less, frankly, for what Minerva said––even if she thought she had a point, Albus didn't seem to mind and so therefore Horace gave little credence to her opinions n the matter. This was his private business, after all, and if he wanted to hold a small dinner party for his most cherished and hard-working students, by Merlin he would, and he would do a damned good job of it, too. As he always did, of course. Horace prided himself in his ability to chum along with the students and provide them a nice little professional and mature opportunity for the honing of their social skills; really, he was doing them quite a huge favor, was he not? Sure, he didn't want to do the same favor for everyone, because not everyone was deserving of the special attention. But those who were good enough should be treated as such, that was always Horace's philosophy. And then eventually, maybe the underlings would try to improve themselves so they, too, could be included. And that was the point of teaching and schooling, so really, Horace had no idea what Minerva's complaint was even trying to say. Nor did he care. In his mind, this was a huge sacrifice on his part toward the betterment of his students, and that was noble, and therefore he was noble, and he was fairly certain everyone saw him as noble for doing it, too. At any rate, tonight, he definitely looked noble, or at least somewhat regal, in his snazzy black dress robes and pointed wizard's hat. He mingled around with the house elves and making sure the final touches were all made, before seating himself at the center of the room and waiting for his students to arrive. He was giddy with anticipation, wondering who would accept his invitations and what interesting topics they could unearth over supper. Grinning, he reached over to the middle of the table, grabbed a Bertie Bott's, and popped it in his mouth. ...bollocks. Boogies. He swallowed his disgust, folded his hands across his lap, and focused his eyes on the sudden inpouring of students. "Welcome," he said, congenially, his voice booming against the walls, "please be seated at your convenience, and we will start serving the first course!"

[Alessandra De Luca]

A rather extravagant and festive scene greeted Alessandra as she entered Professor Slughorn’s office. She walked in by herself, absent a male presence on her arm. In the past, coming to a party alone would have been a rarity for her, but now it was becoming an increasingly more common occurrence. She would have preferred to have an escort, but she hadn’t put much energy into finding one. She could have come with Fehlandt, she supposed, but he liked to make dramatic entrances, and Alessa didn’t want to draw too much attention to herself, not with things the way they were. At least she had a new outfit to comfort herself with. She’d bought it just for this occasion. Spotting her portly host, she approached him, beaming. “The room looks absolutely lovely, professore¹ Slughorn.” Oh, perhaps she was exaggerating a tiny bit, but she did mean the compliment. “What charming winter decorations you have! And what handsome robes!” Professor Slughorn responded well to flattery, and Alessa never hesitated to compliment him whenever she could. Usually she did so because it was fun and just made spending time in the dungeons more pleasant, but tonight her motivations were a bit more self-interested. Her marks had been slipping lately, and she knew it couldn’t hurt them to get on her professor’s good side. “You received my mother’s letter, didn’t you, signore²?” The letter in question would undoubtedly have been attached to a bottle of the finest Ballantine wine, of which Alessa knew her Potions professor was very fond. After exchanging a few more pleasantries with him, Alessandra looked around the room at the other guests. Oh, there was Imogen Sauveterre. Alessandra had certainly been distracted these past few months, but she had noticed that her best friend Tori had been spending time with Imogen lately. That confused her, because Tori, Kiki, and Skye had always hated Imogen, even though she’d seemed like a nice enough person to Alessa. Well, if Tori was going to be friends with her, Alessa felt that she should be as well. Smiling broadly, she strode briskly toward her. “Imogen!” she exclaimed, injecting as much cheeriness into her voice as she could. “You look fantastic! Molto bella.³” Taking Imogen’s hand, Alessandra tugged gently on it to lead the other girl toward the table. “You’ll sit next to me, won’t you?”

¹ Professor
² sir
³ Very pretty.

[Regulus Black]

Regulus hated these damnable meetings. All his life he had been coddled and cooed at and praised by every single society goon and his mother, and now, the one time where he could actually distance himself from that whole pretentious world, Slughorn decided to bring it to him. It was the same old game, of course, and sure, Regulus was somewhat flattered to be included, and it did give him an excuse to slough off on his homework for the night, but the pleasantries were just something he really couldn't tolerate as much as he used to; it was one thing to endure them over the summer, for which he was prepared, but he sort of let his guard down during the school season, and the thought of someone blatantly fawning over him or anyone else was just enough to make him want to vomit. But oh well, at least these were generally restricted to once a month meetings. Regulus had already resigned himself to the fact that he was going––he only hoped there would be fewer Mudbloods in attendance this year. He really couldn't understand what they could possibly have to offer Slughorn, except for that Spanish girl and her connections to a brewery. That was reasonable, Regulus thought with a smirk––a man needed his alcohol, after all. Speaking of, Regulus hoped to break in to his stock of Firewhiskey later. He'd picked a few bottles up at the last Hogsmeade trip and snuck them back in to the castle, because without them he wasn't sure how he'd make it past his exams this year. He would have liked to meet up with Paris and some of the guys to pal around and have a few drinks instead of going to this stuffshirt dinner party, but Regulus wasn't about to sacrifice his mark in Potions, which was getting considerably low due to his recent inability to care about homework. At any rate, if he didn't start moving now he'd never make it in time, so he took one final glance at his appearance in the mirror and swept out of the dormitories and then out of the Common Room, taking a few quick strides towards the dungeon and Slughorn's classroom. He swung the doors open and smiled politely at his rotund host, choosing a seat as far away from the man as possible. When Slughorn's attentions were diverted toward the very Spanish girl Regulus had thought of earlier, Regulus winked suggestively at Imogen and licked his lips. He hadn't known she was part of this ordeal too. Well. That made things much more entertaining.

[cissy]

Narcissa hastily straightened her dress, sending a glance up to Lucius, who was fastening the buttons on his shirt. "We'll need to walk quickly if we want to make it all the way to the dungeons," she said quietly, reaching her hands up to adjust the bobbypins that held her messy bun up. She leaned down to grab her clutch, which she'd tossed on the floor about fifteen minutes before. Opening it, she rummaged around for the tiny mirror to be sure she hadn't messed up her make-up; luckily, all was well, and with a quick application of lip gloss, she deemed herself ready. Lucius was as well, so they took each other's hands and slid out of the broom closet into the empty hallway, walking toward the dungeons. As they walked, they said nothing; a few times, Cissy looked up to Lucius and smiled, and she squeezed his hand. It was hard to concentrate lately on anything except the boy whose hand she held; Merlin forbid she fall behind in her studies, but she certainly hadn't been putting quite as much effort into her homework as of late, finding that she would rather spend time with Lucius. When they arrived at Slughorn's office, Lucius opened the door for her; she gave him a gracious smile and walked in, her eyes meeting a sprightly atmosphere. 'Tis the season, indeed - her favorite season, without doubt, and the scene before her was a perfect example of why. All the charming decorations and aromas and parties... this was her element. She approached Professor Slughorn and greeted him. "It looks absolutely stunning in here, Professor Slughorn," Narcissa marveled, staring all around. And then closed the space between them, looked him in the eye and said rather personally, "My mother and father send their best wishes to you this holiday season." She handed him a small box and card while she glanced up to meet the eyes of her sister, Andromeda, who stood across the room. She wasn't positive what was in the box, as her mother had sent it wrapped, but she could wager a bet that it was something like antique jewelry. She and Lucius moved around the table to sit down, filling in two empty spots, their fingers still intertwined. She had to admit, she was impressed as she looked around the office. He had improved with the decorating considerably as the years had gone on, this Christmas definitely topping the others. The food that was on the table looked simply delicious, but she would refrain from eating any of it so as to not spoil her appetite. She looked around the table and noted her cousin, Regulus, staring across the table at Imogen - oh. He winked. Always classy, wasn't he, her cousin? Well, that simply was unacceptable. She was certain Imogen was properly able to take care of herself, but a little help couldn't hurt. She raised an eyebrow, her lip curling up with it, and called across the table for him. "So, Regulus," she said, glancing back to Imogen, an apologetic look in her eye, before turning back to him to continue. "How are things on the Quidditch Team?"

[Emmeline Vance]

To be really, really honest, even though Emme was absolutely thrilled that Professor Slughorn had wanted her to be a part of his ‘Slug Club’, meetings like these were always a little awkward, if only because the rest of the crowd wasn’t exactly friends with her. Sure, there was always Rita, but Rita was friends with other people as well, and there were boys she was interested in, and although they were friends, Rita wasn’t always paying a hundred percent of her attention to Emme. There were a lot of Slytherins, which wasn’t surprising, really, since the Professor was the Head of their house, but it came with the trouble that she wasn’t fond of Slytherins at all, especially people like Lucius Malfoy (who, unfortunately, was also the head of the Hogwarts Herald, of which she was a part of), Narcissa Black, his girlfriend, or Daciana Gamp. She almost shivered at the thought of how much she disliked them, and tried to steer her thoughts away. That was the hardest bit; here, she almost had to pretend she liked everybody. Because, really, she was a part of this super exclusive club, and she couldn’t go around making enemies, right? For the first time in her life, Emme kind of preferred to stay in the shadows and not attract much attention. For this particular occasion, Emme had chosen to wear a really pretty dress which her mum had shipped to her along with a couple others for this particular occasion. It was a pale beige colour, and with her blonde hair loose in soft curls around her face, and the really tall black, strappy high heels, she looked simple, and sweet, which was her intention this time. She slung a simple black cardigan over her forearm for later, in case she got too cold when she got back from the undoubtedly warmed room, and made her way down to Professor Slughorn’s office, shivering a little and thinking she should have put the cardigan on to get there as well. She opened the door cautiously and stepped in, looking around, a little shy. Spotting the Professor off to the side, she held out the expensive bottle of mead that she’d asked her mother to buy for her for this occasion, as well, with a red bow around the tip, and smiled brightly at him. “Good everning, Professor!” she chirped, handing it to him. “Everything looks absolutely fantastic, as always. Here, I remember you mentioning it was one of your favourites, and I thought I should get it for you. Thank you so much for having me.

[/color]” She smiled warmly at him again before deciding it was okay to move away now, and awkwardly shifted a little to the right, her eyes searching the crowd for somebody she knew. Gracie was going to be here, she reminded herself. And there was always Benjamin Burke if things got drastic. She bit her lip and made her way over to the food table, looking at the delicious treats laid out and her mouth watered, so the turned her face away. Every single thing on that table would make her fat. Not now, she told herself. Not so close to the ball.[/color][/blockquote][/blockquote]

[luciusmalfoy]

[/color]

Lucius didn’t want to attend another ridiculous Slug Club meeting. The name was hardly flattering, after all, and Professor Slughorn was probably one of the worst examples of a Slytherin to ever come out of Hogwarts. However, he collected students the way Abraxas collected broomsticks, and Lucius figured that it was better to be in the circle than out of it. Besides, it garnered him extra points in Potions. Not that he was suffering in the subject, or any subject for that matter, but the extra credit was there in case Lucius ever needed it. He was certain the only reason the meeting would be bearable was because Narcissa would be there as well, and she looked nothing short of ravishing in her little green dress. In fact, Lucius had not been able to resist tugging her into a closet on the way to the meeting, and had snogged her senseless, however briefly, before they realised they were going to be late. He straightened his tie and smoothed his shirt; he had chosen to keep his attire simple tonight, as it was really only the Slug Club. They walked together, her hand in his, and like a gentleman should, he held the door open for her as they approached the office. Inside was lavishly decorated, and Lucius had to admit that Slughorn knew what he was doing when it came to throwing a party – but that still didn’t mean he was looking forward to it. “Good evening, Professor,” he greeted quietly, reaching inside his inner pocket to take out a small, carefully-sealed box. “Compliments of the Malfoys.” Inside were some rather rare potions ingredients; they fetched a high price, and often weren’t sold at apothecaries because of the dangers faced when retrieving them. He was sure Slughorn would appreciate the gesture. He and Narcissa took a seat at the table, and his stomach gave an embarrassing growl as he stared around at the food. He’d been busy in Hogsmeade today, both with Cissy and without her so that he could buy her a gift, and had entirely forgotten lunch. By now, he was hungry, but he would wait until Slughorn gave the go-ahead to eat. In the meantime, he settled for taking Cissy’s hand under the table, running his fingers over her palm. He eyed her curiously as she randomly asked Regulus about Quidditch, but said nothing about it, choosing instead to raise his eyebrows at his dormmate. Slytherin had lost the first match of the year, and there had been some switching of players on the team lately. He couldn’t help but wonder if Regulus was cracking a little under pressure.

He tried not to smirk at the thought.

[Imogen Sauveterre]

[/color]

It was hard to think you looked good when you were so damn uncomfortable. Imogen couldn’t stop fidgeting, constantly tugging down the bottom of her dress, which she was sure half the time didn’t cover her ass. She honestly couldn’t believe Tori had managed to find this thing. When the invitation to the Slug Club meeting requested “formal attire”, Imogen had nearly panicked. She’d given her only dress away to Isadora – not that she’d wear it anyway – and literally had nothing to wear. She’d gone to Tori for help, but she did have a few specifications: it had to be black (because, for some reason, “formal” meant “black” to Imogen), with a high neck, long sleeves, and she didn’t want to show a lot of leg. Tori had succeeded in meeting every single one, even if the outcome wasn’t what Imogen had expected. Sure, it was a black dress. Yes, it had long sleeves, and yes, it had a high neck. But it was much, much shorter than she wanted. She still wasn’t showing a lot of leg, but that was only because Tori insisted she borrow her boots, which went up to her knees. So while only a bit of skin was really showing, it was enough that Imogen felt totally uncomfortable, and she knew that she would have to cross her legs while sitting down to prevent from flashing anyone under the table. Because, haha, what was more was that since she’d given Tori control over her wardrobe, the boy-shorts and trainer bras went bye-bye, replaced with considerably more-feminine and “grown up” underwear. Even when clothed, Imogen felt all sorts of exposed, and she didn’t like it at all. The only plus side, she supposed, was that she… well, she knew she didn’t really look ridiculous, as much as she felt it. Tori wouldn’t dress her up to look like an idiot. Imogen took a breath, tugging the back of her dress down again as subtle-y as possible to reassure herself that her bum was covered. She felt sort-of awkward and rather out of place at the meeting, especially when she saw everyone else presenting Slughorn with gifts. She’d quickly lied to him, telling him that her brother was working out a deal for summer season tickets to all Falcons’ Quidditch Matches and she’d get back to him after the holidays, and fled before her face gave her away. She’d have to talk to Simon over the holidays; she was sure he could do it, he just wouldn’t be happy about it. As well, Imogen wasn’t entirely sure why she was here. Oh, sure, her marks were amazing, especially in Potions (it was just like cooking, in her mind, and Mathias had taught her how to cook ever since she was little) and she got along well with Slughorn. She was able to make him laugh, and played into his theatrics and asked him all sorts of questions about Potions far more advanced than her current level. But she wasn’t a pureblood, and she wasn’t wealthy, and her family didn’t own a winery, and she didn’t really know why she was here. But, she decided not to question it. It felt… good, in a way, being part of something so exclusive, even if other members were questionable. She glared daggers at Regulus Black, trying her hardest to keep her distance from him. After their last encounter, she didn’t really trust herself not to physically harm him in some way. Fortunately, she was pulled aside by Alessandra De Luca, Aidan’s ex, who had helped her with her outfit earlier that day for the Hogsmeade trip. Her heart leapt into her throat when she felt Alessa’s hand on hers and felt herself being tugged toward the table, and she quickly pulled her hand away before she realised what she was doing. It wasn’t that she didn’t like Alessa, she just… well… she’d met Dyon Rosier in Hogsmeade only a couple hours earlier, and while nothing had really… happened… he’d terrified her out of her wits and she was a little uneasy about being touched right now. She gave Alessa an apologetic look, but followed her to the table and sat next to her. Regulus was a few seats away, giving her a suggestive look, and she wanted nothing more than to take a fork and throw it at his smug little face. To her relief, though, Narcissa Black distracted him, and Imogen merely looked down at her plate. “Oh, by the by, thanks,” she said to Alessa, “For your uh… help with the clothes today.” She didn’t add that Fabian seemed to like them, or that he kissed her. Haha, Alessa didn’t need to know that.

No one needed to know that.

[Benjamin Burke]

To be honest, this was the last place that Benjamin wanted to be. When he'd first been initiated into the Slug Club, he had been honoured, even though it felt like exactly that, like you needed to have some sort of initiation; there definitely seemed to be certain standards that had to be met to get you "in", and each standard that could be met would, in some way, benefit Professor Slughorn. Either you were pureblood and thus had an influential background, like the Blacks and Malfoys, or you were considered incredibly bright and unique in the classroom, or a family member happened to be friends with Professor Slughorn. There was always a reason. For Benjamin, he supposed it was equal parts his last name as it was his abilities in classes; he'd always been particularly good at Potions, and he'd recently found out that he was, in fact, related to the pureblood Burkes and that the fact he shared a last name with another girl in the school wasn't just a coincidence. But he digressed; Professor Slughorn's actual reasons for asking him to join the Slug Club might be completely different (although no less beneficial to the Potions teacher), and, whatever they were, it really didn't matter because, apparently, he had been deemed worthy of such a prestigious club. Since the last thing he wanted was to insult the Professor of one of his favourite classes, he decided he might as well play along. Besides, the meetings were only once a month, and he was sure they wouldn't last that long. Plus, there was promise of good food. He wasn't entirely sure who else would be there, seeing as he hadn't exactly told anyone about him being a part of it, but he hoped he'd at least find someone he could have an interesting conversation with to pass the time. Getting dressed up was charted up as another small draw back, but he supposed it was a bit like Karma - he was avoiding the whole dressing up bit by not going to the Yule ball, so now he was being forced to go through it anyway at this meeting. Now, he wasn't sure how formal "formal" was supposed to be, but he figured he could get away with his dark-blue button-down shirt and black slacks. He hesitated over wearing the matching black jacket that went along with the suit and decided to slip it on; he'd take it off later, with the excuse of feeling too warm. Straightening out the lapels, he half-heartedly patted down his hair and sprayed on some cologne. He was done with twenty minutes to spare; more than enough time to get to the dungeons. Slipping his wallet into his pocket, Benjamin headed out of the common room. It took all of ten minutes to get to Professor Slughorn's office, and he took in a deep breath before he walked in, not sure what to expect. He made a quick sweep as soon as he stepped in, taking in the students that were already present. The majority were purebloods, but he was pleasantly surprised to find Imogen there, too. They hadn't exactly spoken more than two words since the incident at the library; he could tell she'd been avoiding him, and he had a feeling it was because of something Ian had said, but he didn't want to push her too far so he hadn't purposefully sought her ought, in hopes of her making the first step whenever she was ready. Still, all of that seemed to go right out of the window tonight as he found his legs taking him to the chair next to her, pulling it out and shrugging off his jacket before sitting down. He recognised the girl sitting on the other side of her as his ex-girlfriend, and smiled at them both. "Good evening, Imogen. Alessa. You both look absolutely ravishing," he said honestly, accompanying the compliment with a small nod. He searched for Professor Slughorn (wasn't too difficult to locate him, really, he was hard to miss) and, as soon as he'd caught his Professor's eye, gave him a quick nod as a greeting.

[/color]

[Fehlandt Zabini]

Fehlandt Zabini was the self proclaimed prince of social gatherings -- whether people wanted him there or not -- and he was perfectly at peace with having to attend Slug Club meetings once a month, even if there wasn't any hardcore drinking permitted and he had to stomach the presence of a few of his housemates who lacked any measurable amount of class. But! Fehlandt had a certain affinity and appreciation for the heavy set potions professor and there were a few other students who were apart of the Slug Club that he enjoyed the company of. He had, of course, pre-gamed a bit before making the short trip from the Slytherin common room to the potions class. Humming to himself as he strolled down the corridors, Fehlandt smoothed down the front of his royal purple shirt and made sure his bright paisley tie was straight. With a well placed kick, the door banged open in front of Fehlandt. He stepped in with a toothy smile and his arms spread wide apart. "Slug-aaaaay!" he crowed, attention at first going to the professor at the end of the table. Slughorn was by far Fehlandt's favorite professor. The old man was a close friend of his father's, so Fehlandt had known him much longer than just his six years at Hogwarts. Fehlandt walked in as though this was a perfectly normal entrance and walked past the other Slytherin students without so much as a glance and headed straight to the other end of the table. Spotting Alessandra and Imogen, he detoured to the pair. "Alessaaandraaa!" Fehlandt greeted in his normal way of trying to use a ridiculous Italian accent whenever he said her name. This time it sounded a bit Australian. He gave her a light kiss on the cheek before turning to Imogen and giving her a polite bow. "Hullo, Imogen darling," he said with a smile as he looked back and forth between the two. "Good to see this club hasn't completely gone to the dogs," Fehlandt observed casually, placing his hand in front of his mouth in a conspiratorial manner although he didn't bother to say the words even remotely quietly. Okay so he wasn't exactly delicate when it came to expressing his feelings about people he truly didn't like. But he also didn't care. He wasn't afraid of the blue bloods and, really, Fehlandt was typically so easy to get along with! He then turned to professor Slughorn and dramatically dropped his arms to his sides. "Sluggy, you old so-and-so!"

[/b] he said with a tilt of his head and a wide grin. "Ugh, just look at ya'! You stunning old thing, you!" He slammed down a bottle of wine, neatly wrapped in fine dragon hide cloth on the table in front of Slughorn. "Father said to send his regards and to not enjoy it all in one sitting," he dropped his tone lower and added, "Though we both know you will, you old scallywag. And he also said to give that voluptuous rump of yours a good smack, but I shant do something so inappropriate with company present! I'll wait for the others to leave for that bit of your gift."[/color] Fehlandt gave the old man a wink and by some miracle of God managed to not pinch the old mans' cheeks lovingly. He, of course, took one of the seats directly next to Slughorn. Fehlandt kicked his feet out under the table, sprawling out comfortably and leaning back in his seat. He craned his neck around, looking at the food and the guests when he spotted the blonde curls of Emme Vance. A wide smile came upon his face. She was the only Hufflepuff in the Slug Club and he simply adored the young girl. "Emme, darling!" he called to her as he pulled out the seat next to him, the wooden legs dragging loudly across the stone floor. "Come grace me with your presence, won't you?"[/color] For some reason, his voice always jumped up an octave or two when he was speaking to Hufflepuff. Regardless if it were a boy or a girl.
[/blockquote]

[Gracie Marlow]

Trying to make sure that her wavy locks stayed where she wanted them, Gracie sprinted from the Gryffindor common room to the classroom in which the first 'Slug Club' meeting was taking place. Sure, it was slightly uncomfortable to run in the heels and dress she had chosen to wear for the evening, but she was already running about five minutes late... She paused outside the classroom door, trying to catch her breath, and smoothed down her hair and dress one more time before entering the brightly lit, festively decorated room. Rolling her eyes, Gracie wondered why in the world Slughorn had even wanted her in this little club of his to begin with. Sure, she was a metamorphmagus but she didn't necessarily want tat known to everyone. She actually tried to keep it covered up to some degree... Her heart was pounding as she looked around the room for someone she knew to talk to- and spotted Emmeline Vance. "Thank Merlin you're here, Emme! I was so frightened I wouldn't know anybody and I'd get stuck talking to Slughorn the whole time-" she cut herself off as she noticed the person Emme was talking to. It was Fehlandt Zabini, a Slytherin boy whom Gracie had never talked to, but had heard good things about. Not wanting to be rude, Gracie turned to him and smiled warmly. "Hello, the name's Gracie Marlow."

[/blockquote][/blockquote]

[Daciana Gamp]

Another night, another dress, another set of heals, another function as Daciana saw it. Oh, this Slug Club thing wasn’t so big of a deal or a pain really, and her parents practically gushed all over her when she told them about the invitation. They had bought her two new dresses and sent her packages of sweets and bottles of stuff to insist that she give to the potions teacher when attending the meetings. Daciana certainly wasn’t bothered by it; she knew she would end of keeping half of Sluggy’s intended gifts. She brushed a stray hair behind her ears and slipped on her pair of tan stilettos, completing her outfit. She looked in the mirror and turned around, making sure everything was in order, and smoothed the sides of her dress habitually. Well, she looked good. It was only a shame that the outfit would be wasted on only a select number of people. A handful of them actually being mudbloods, so she had overheard. She sighed, knowing full well she would have to spend the evening being absolutely charming (namely around Slughorn himself) while discretely shooting glares at the likes of, well, others. She glanced at the boxes her parents sent her, and a small bottle caught her eye. Grabbing for it, it revealed to be a little bottle of Yeager obviously meant for her to give to Slughorn. Well fuck that – there was no way Slughorn would be getting this. Daciana looked around, making sure no one was lurking around the girls dorm, popped the bottle open, and summoned the shot glass she had hidden at the very bottom of her trunk. One shot would do her some good for tonight, she figured as she tossed one back and waited for a moment before breathing out her nose. It didn’t even burn. She took a swig of her unfinished bottle of pumpkin juice to mask the alcohol on her breath – good to go. Stowing the evidence out of sight, she reached for the closest box of candy to bring, steadied herself in her heels, and marching out. At least half of the club had already arrived when Daciana finally reached her destination, many of which Daciana really didn’t want to talk to. Walking straight up to the potion’s master with the most charismatic smile she could muster, she said, “Good evening sir, love what you’ve done with the place!” Blerg, small-talky jokes. Thank Merlin for the Yeager. She handed him the box of candy and told him, “The newest product from Honeyduke’s – hasn’t even hit the shelves yet.” She nodded politely at the round man, and took a step farther into the room, glancing around. Regulus Black. Well, she'd rather avoid him after that particularly unnerving and not to mention awkward note they exchanged a few days ago. A couple of Ravenclaws she could care less about, Narcissa Black and Malfoy who were a bit too intimidating this early in the night to talk to, and ah! Zambini. He wasn’t always insufferably loud, but – fuck. He was conversing with Vance. She was still much too sober to go there. Daciana rolled her eyes and changed course. There had to be someone….maybe she should have taken a second shot... Aiden! Thank Merlin he had just walked through the door. “Aiden,” she called approaching the other Slytherin, “finally, someone sane I can actually talk to.”

[caoimhemoran]

“Remind me exactly why in particular we’re kissing Slughorn’s over large ass this evening? As tempting as that always is…”

[/color] The words were amused, self satisfied and aimed at someone who shared the same emotions. Caoimhe’s shoes echoed along the corridor as she walked side by side with Aiden (and thanks to the gratuitously high heels now the same height as him), face turned towards him as she quirked an eyebrow as she swung her dragon leather jacket. Despite the girl’s tone, she knew why she was going to this little gathering. Horace Slughorn, as endearingly obsessed as he was with networking with the best of his students (and their families) and as much time as Caoimhe already spent ingratiating herself to him because of who he was connected to, this sort of evening was social ladder climbing one oh one. Simply put, this was not an opportunity she was going to get at some pureblood party. Slughorn knew very useful people in the quidditch world and Caoimhe was hell bent on knowing them as well. “You ready for this?”[/color] With a wink, she pushed the office door open and stepped inside… and a large smirk instantly formed as her pale eyes swept the office. Excellent, without even having to try, Caoimhe would stand out with her crème colored, polka dotted dress in the sea of drab dark colors that the other attendees decided on wearing. And that was even ignoring the fact that she stood a foot taller than most of the girls in that room. With an expertly crafted smile that only a pureblood could accomplish, the red head stepped forward, raising a small glass vial with a golden ribbon before her. “Professor, You’ve out done yourself once again! I don’t know if you’ll need this with your talent, but” Here she pressed the small bottle into Slughorn’s larger hands, “but maybe this potion will serve you some other time?”[/color] It was a small amount of felix felicis. A small amount that took a damned long time and many failed attempts to perfect and would be almost physically impossible to recreate without the expert guidance of Snape standing over her. Really, he was a true friend when it came to helping her suck up to her potions master. As she turned back to Aiden after the required amount of fawning, a flash of annoyance momentarily crossed her pale face as she saw who was approaching them, calling his name. Daciana, oh joy. But the smile for Slughorn was still there, hiding it. "Daciana," There, a nice enough way of greeting her. Her eyes swept over the room once more as the other two spoke, looking to see who else she would need to be annoyed with tonight. As she did, Fehlandt caught her eye. A wide smile reappeared as she raised her hand, modeling the very jacket he had given her last Christmas before blowing him a small kiss. Oh, and there was Regulus behind him. Good, so this party wouldn’t be a total drag if Aiden insisted on fawning over that sullen looking child.

[/blockquote]

[Aiden Neeson]

[will fix code and graphics later]

Like any normal functioning student, Aiden was also not a fan of these little dinner parties. Sure, it was probably a good idea to make nice with all of the other "worthy" students who showed up to this thing and Slughorn was obviously a good person to have at your disposal, but, ugh. It was just so exhausting to make nice with everyone. It's not like Aiden could go around misbehaving in front of the Head of Slytherin house. Bad enough he struggled with potions. And then of course he had the pressure of his parents to make nice with all of the pureblood Slytherin students. He gave an unintelligible grumble when Caoimhe asked if he was ready. Aiden had pulled out the trusty fall back of black slacks, a green shirt and black tie. He wasn't trying to impress anyone anyways. After pushing through the door, he put a complacent smile on his face, even though the skin between his eyebrows was furrowed just slightly. He spotted Regulus sitting at the far end of the table -- smart move, too bad he beat Aiden to it -- and clapped a hand on the back of his shoulder as he passed, giving him a slight raise of an eyebrow to convey the message "sweet-Merlin-if-you're-any-decent-friend-you-will-kill-me-right-here-and-now". But Aiden to go and great the man of the hour, so he followed Caoimhe up to Slughorn and threw her a quick glare when she set down a bottle of felix felicis in front of the professor. That had to be cheating. He smiled politely at Slughorn and set before him an elegantly crafted peacock quill that his mother had forced him to give to Slughorn. Was it just Aiden, or did this seem like some odd sacrificial ceremony that the students had to participate in to please the plump dungeon dwelling professor in order to keep him from going on a cannibalistic rampage through the school? Seemed suspicious. With the ceremonial initiation of the ass kissing out of the way, Aiden turned to Caoimhe with narrowed eyes. "Felix felicis? really, Keev?"

[/color] he asked accusingly. "It's like you want to directly call out the fact that you're a potions mastermind and then I have to toddle up to him afterwards with that damn quill and immediately remind him how I wouldn't be able to brew that stuff if my life depended on it."[/color] He was only half joking. By Slughorn, he could see Zabini, the loud, obnoxious attention craver that caused more of a headache than anything else. Just to prove his point, Zabini chose that moment to shout for Emme Vance. This perked Aiden's interested. His eyebrows flickered upwards and he looked over Caoimhe's head to spot Emmeline across the room. Aiden pressed his lips together in an attempt to keep himself from grinning. Little Lukie's date to the Yule Ball. Catching her eye, Aiden gave her a polite, gentlemanly nod of his head and gave her the innocent smile he saved for professors and unsuspecting Hufflepuffs. He wondered if she was questioning his little brother's inherent kindness yet. Aiden turned back to the rest of the table to find a seat when Daciana called to him. "Oh, Dac, you know I'd never leave you to the wolves," he said in a low tone of voice, slinging his arm around her shoulders momentarily as he pointedly glanced over at Lucius Malfoy. It was no secret that Aiden and Lucius didn't get along. Aiden thought he was dull, stuck up and generally just being in his presence made Aiden want to claw his own face off. He pulled back and grinned at her. Aiden sighed and glanced around the table before looking back to Daciana and Caoimhe. "Shall we then?"[/color] he said, gesturing to some seats closer to the far end of the table by Regulus. He took a seat in between the two girls and absently picked at his thumb nail. Aiden spoke quietly at a register only he, Caoimhe, Daciana and Regulus could hear. "I'll pay someone 10 galleons to turn Lucius's hair blue. A nice periwinkle."[/color] He smirked and glanced between the three. "I'll throw in 5 more if he can't get rid of it for more than an hour."[/color]

[[im guess-timating that Lucius and Narcissa aren't directly by Regulus since Narcissa talked to him from across the table, but I'll edit if need be!]][/blockquote][/blockquote]

[aceline20]

Aceline listened in satisfaction as her heels clicked against the ground, picking up speed slightly, as to not be late. She always liked to make an entrance but, at this point, she figured her arrival was past due and she didnt want to upset Professor Slughorn, especially not after they had so recently reached an understanding. The clitter clatter always calmed her. It reminded Aceline that, attached to those pricey shoes were long, tan legs. And, attached to those long, tan legs, was a lean curvascious body draped in the latest styles from wizarding New York. It reminded her that she was, in fact, Aceline Perezz and she looked good. A nice dress and a little lipgloss was all she needed to conquer any situation and, right now, Aceline needed that little boost of confidence. She felt as though, in recent months, she had been slipping. Hiding in the shadow's, and becoming irrelevent. In the few short months since summer ended, Aceline had blended into the background-too heart broken to make a scene. But those days were finally over. She was back. Entering Slughorn's office, Aceline discreetly eyed those around her. Many faces she knew would be in attandance but some, such as Gracie Marlow and Emmeline Vance supprised her. Aceline's pert nose twitched slightly at the sight of them, yet she still offered a meek smile-knowing Professor Slughorn had his reasons. Whatever they may be. She approached him wamrly.
"Bonjour¹, Professeur² Slughorn." Aceline said, her voice low and throaty with hints of her native accent still present. She offered him a bottle of wine, a deep dark scarlett. Aceline knew he would appreciate it's quality. Her eyes twinkled mischeviously as she doused him in compliments. "I adore these decorations!" she cooed, touching a bauble lightly with the tip of her nail. "You always had thee best taste." Professor Slughorn knew she was full of it, but he himself was a man of great pride and couldnt help but love hearing good things about himself. Plus, Aceline wouldnt deny that he favored her, slightly, as well.
Studying her surroundings more openly now, Aceline smirked slightly at the bored expression on Regulus Black's face. She figured that was how many of the pureblood Slytherin's felt, just another club, just another party. Many of them, if not all, had been doing this since birth. It did get rather tiring, Aceline had to admit. Turning her face from him without any further acknowledgement but the brief flash of recognition, Aceline nodded to Lucius, and Narcissa. While never being the best of friend's, they shared the same house and family circle-it would have been improper if she hadnt greeted them in some form, despite her gesture being small. Searching for a place to sit, she chose a chair close to Fehlandt, despite him already being in conversation with someone else. He was a nice enough person, Aceline supposed, not like she had that many other options though, with many of the seats filling up. Fehlandt had a naturally continuos good nature that became irritating after awhile, yet Aceline still greeted him, her white teeth spreading out acrossed her tan skin.
"Hello, darling." They were the type of friends who really didnt like each other as much as they pretended to. All artificial sweetness, and candy cane smiles. "Have you been hiding from me, cher?³" she teased, knowing that she did not care either way if she saw him or not. It was nice to keep company of somebody of your class though. At this point, Aceline acknowledged Emmeline, staring at her long enough that the other girl was sure to be uncomfortable. "I did not expect to see you here." Aceline's word's were blunt, biting, she did not care if Emmeline was offended or not. She paused for a several seconds then, smiling, introduced herself-since it was only the proper thing to do. Whether or not you know of someone, if you have never spoken before-introduce yourself. It was proper. Aceline turned to Fehlant, resuming her conversation. "It's rather nice that Slughorns adding diversity to our group, you know?" she added, glancing at Emmeline as to not make her feel she was left out of her own conversation. She was here first, after all. Aceline did not even notice that her comment was rather rude but, then again, that was just her nature. She grabbed a Bertie's Bott and was just about to place it on the tip of her tongue, when her attached was captured by a dark haired Slytherin, calling out her friends name. Daciana Gamp. They had never really spoken before, Daciana was much younger then her after all. But Aceline couldnt help but think that she suddenly looked...older, somehow. She brushed the thought aside, placing the bean on her tongue. Yum. Melon.

Let tonight begin.

<sub>1. Hello, good morning, good evening, ect.
2. Professor
3. Dear</sub>

[justin]

Justin had a tendency to show up on time, so the idea that he was Almost running late was surprising. He was finishing his homework when one thing turned to another and before he knew it the dinner was about to begin. He realized the importance of arriving to the so-called dinner and showing up on time and in good attire, so in an instant his parchment was all over the floor in a flurry to get himself dressed. He threw this on and that and since it was mostly not wrinkled he called it good, exiting the dormitory in a flash. The tower of course seemed to have more steps than before, and after those steps came the moving staircase, and finally the steps that led down to the dungeons. You didn’t think how incredibly fit the Hogwarts students must be until you counted the number of steps down to the dungeon. There were, to be exact, three-hundred and six in case you were wondering, from the Raven tower down. Yes, counting the steps considering the hurry he was in was still a perfectly normal thing for Justin to do. Once he had entered the stretch of hallway before Slughorn’s office he came to a halt, caught his breath, sorted himself out, and then entered. Justin was anything if not composed and although he couldn’t put his finger on why he cared, it was very important to him to be that way. There were several students already inside, most of them Slytherins that Justin had never bothered knowing, although he could name a few . There was Aceline for example, who had invited him for surely no other reason than simple curiosity to her house party at the beginning of the school year. Justin prevented himself from grinning at the thought. Isadora had decided to come along and it ended with several of the Perezz’s display cabinets blown up.

He knew some of the faces of the other students as members of the opposing quidditch teams or cheerleaders. This was how he had discovered who this infamous for no apparent reason Regulus Black was. Justin had not brought anything with him to gift the Professor, and he was not added to the group because of his tendency to do so, unlike some of the others. No it was a bit of a shock that Justin was invited at all considering that he was a Ravenclaw, had a child, and not to mention was muggle born. Although on the account of that last fact, he was pretty sure no one actually knew he was muggle born despite his lack of effort to hide it. That was it, really. Justin was rather vague and mysterious as far as who he was, and that intrigued some people. He was also incredibly skilled at potions, paid attention in class, and had a way of making you believe he was being polite even when he wasn’t. “Good evening Professor Slughorn” he said simply as he passed. When Justin saw Benji he walked over to the chair next to him and sat down. There was one bloke who wasn’t going to ask him where the black eye was from. He had a lovely, dark and purple shiner on his left eye. During their last quidditch practice a bludger when ballistic and Justin took one to the face. Being the perfectionist that she was, he really wasn’t sure how Rita was going to react to her date with a mauled face but it couldn’t be helped. “Remind me again how we got in here?” Justin asked in a hushed, amused tone directed toward Benji. After hearing Benji’s greeting to the girls next to them, he couldn’t resist a smirk. “Never mind, I know how you got here.” He made an action by creating a fist with one hand and rubbing it against his nose. Surely this was not an insinuation Benjamin was a brown noser, of course.