Valentine's Day Ball (Open to All Staff & Students)

Guest

Carlotta didn't have a date to the Valentine's Ball, though she didn't see why that would stop her from attending. She could always catch up with friends, have a dance, some food. There was absolutely no shame in going alone to a school wide event. Walking in, she was amazed at the decor. The usually dull Great Hall have been wonderfully transformed- rose petals along the floor, heart-shaped decorations everywhere... And a delightful scent that Carlotta couldn't quite put her finger on, filled the air.

She glanced around, looking for someone she could talk to, or hang out with. Rocking up alone was, of course, different to spending the entire night alone. She was not looking forward to a night spent alone. Her eyes scanned the room, where they fell upon the Slytherin who was sat, out of the way eating. It'd been quite a while since she'd seen him, and honestly, they definitely needed to catch up. She decided to approach the boy, taking the seat beside him.

"Arthur," she beamed "Long time! How are you?"

Guest

Stephanie was no stranger to balls. In fact, it felt as if she spent more than half of her life in one ballroom or another. She knew exactly how to dress, behave, dance, act - everything a Pureblood was supposed to be and do. Therein lay her problem. The Valentine's Day Ball served only to remind her of everything she was trying to make sense of. She normally enjoyed these kinds of things and was even the center of attention. But now she was debating within herself if she should go.

Valentine's Day.

You were supposed to go with someone you liked, who fancied you. Stephanie scoffed at the thought as she sat in front of her mirror, staring at her reflection. Not too long ago, boys chased after her, wanting her attention. She'd receive not-so-anonymous love notes and the occasional flower or sweet. Some of them, really wanting to impress her, would even do things for her. But since word got out that the Muggleborn-hating Stephanie Richardson was now attending Muggle Studies, her admirers abandoned her like animals would a forest fire.

All except Toryn.

Getting off her chair, Stephanie opened her wardrobe, her fingers caressing the many different dresses in them before settling on one. It was simple and elegant, the lace covering the bodice encrusted in pure diamonds. The shoulders and top part of the chest was see-through, ending in the slightest hint of a sweetheart neckline. Below the waist, the rest of the dress blossomed into a full skirt. The back was a wide V, ending near the middle of her spine.

She slipped it on, accessorising with a silver double heart necklace and matching silver earrings. To touch everything up, she slipped on nude strappy heels. Some light makeup went on her face before she left for the Great Hall.

A crowd had already entered and it wasn't hard at all to spot her former friends. She tried to approach them but took the hint when they turned their backs on her a deliberately walked away. Sighing, Stephanie made her way to the food and drinks table, her eye scanning the crowd for one person in particular. Perhaps he hadn't arrived yet?

Arriving at the food table, Stephanie saw that it was decorated tastefully. She reached out for a cupcake and caught the sight of a familiar face. "Hello, Briella," Stephanie greeted, her inner fashion critic repulsed by what the other girl was wearing. The color didn't really suit the fair-skinned blonde-haired Slytherin. She would be better off in something red. Or white. Or black. Or even blue. Anything but the drab and dull thing she was wearing, but Stephanie politely kept her mouth shut.

Guest

Scarlett had been asked to supervise the Valentine's ball. And she was completely fine with that. All she had to do was make sure the kids didn't start up any fights or do anything illegal. And besides, it gave her an opportunity to get dressed up, and have a slight break from preparing classes and doing paper work and preparations for her job as an auror.

She decided on wearing a yellow dress, that was simple and not overly inappropriate (she was after all, a teacher). After getting ready, she made her way to the Great Hall. Upon arriving, she was stunned at how the Great Hall had been transformed, though glancing around, she only saw one other staff member, the man, Caspar, from that one day at Gringotts, standing by, or more accurately guarding, the punch bowl.

She then decided to approach him "Well, you scrub up nicely," she commented. He was dressed very, very well.

Guest

Sophie hated dresses with a passion. They were highly inconvenient and just got in the way of doing things. Jeans and t-shirts were the best way to go, but this blasted ball had a dress code. And on the subject of balls, Sophie disliked them too. First and foremost, she thought they were a complete waste of time. All people did was dance and talk. For pleasure. Why? She didn't understand it. And what made everything worse was that this was a Valentine's Day thing which meant expressing affection for boys. Ewww.

But a few of her friends were going and had cajoled her to come. Sophie - stupidly - gave the excuse that she didn't own any dresses, let alone a cocktail dress (whatever 'cocktail' dresses were supposed to mean). One of the girls offered to lend her a dress, and so, clad in the navy blue nightmare with ruffles down the right side, Sophie made her way to the ball. She'd drawn the line at heels of any sort (why people liked torturing their toes, she didn't know) and had rebelliously put on a pair of black Chuck Taylors - besides, the dress code didn't say anything about shoes. With her feet in heavenly comfort and her body in hellish discomfort, she entered the Great Hall, making a beeline straight for the food table.

Seeing her Professors by the punch bowl, Sophie greeted them. "Hi Professor Loverin, Professor Waters," she said with a smile before peering at the liquid. "What in the world is this?" she questioned, leaning closer to sniff the punch. "It don't smell like punch. Is it safe?"

Guest

Savannah definitely had mixed feelings about the ball. As caretaker, she had loads of work to do in terms of decorations, food, security, then cleaning up. Of course, there were the House Elves, but she didn't believe in making them do all the work and so, she'd been running between the Great Hall overseeing the decorations, and the kitchen, making sure the food prep was going well. By the time she was done, she was hot and sweaty and definitely not dressed for the ball.

Twenty minutes before the start of the ball, once she was sure that everything was in place, she'd rushed back to her room and gotten ready, bathing and blow drying her hair. She'd picked out the perfect dress, guaranteed to make Blake ogle. With her hair dried and slightly wavy, she slipped on the dress and worked on her makeup, focusing on her eyes and keeping everything else light. She slipped her earrings on as well as matching heels and glanced into the mirror, satisfied with what she saw.

Arriving at the ball, she saw that it was in full swing and took a moment to appreciate her hard work. It wasn't all fun for her though as she had to make sure that the food kept flowing and nothing awry happened. At least there were Professor present to help her out with that last thing. Not seeing Blake yet, Savannah made her way to where she spotted two other adults. Heels clicking rhythmically on the floor, she walked over to them.

"Making sure no one spikes the punch, I see," she said with a grin.

Guest

Jerome hadn't come across anyone that he'd even consider taking to the Valentine's Ball. Surely though, he wouldn't be the only one going alone. After all, it was going on right through dinner time, and even single people had to eat. So he dressed in what he considered, well, 'dressy' clothes. Well, they were the best clothes he had. Immediately walking in and seeing all the girls dressed in pretty dresses, and the boys there dressed in suits, he felt, well, under dressed. He felt almost a little self conscious. He hadn't really expected people to dress so... well.

Shaking off that niggling feeling, he walked into the Great Hall, looking to see if perhaps there were any people to talk to. Shoving his hands into his pockets, he made his way across the room to where the food was and started to get something to eat.

Guest

James had been disappointed that he hadn't managed to snap up a date to the Valentine's Day Ball. He really truly did try, it just seemed as though every girl he asked had already been asked by someone else. Was he perhaps a little too forward? A tad too confident, maybe bordering on arrogant? Potentially, was his answer.

Clad in a classic tux he made his way into the Great Hall, amazed by the decorations. He'd made his way to the drinks table, glancing about, trying to see if there was a chance for him to mingle. That was when his eyes fell on a girl sitting near by, wearing a dusky pink dress. And man, she was stunning. She definitely wasn't in his year, must have been older. He took a glass of the non-alcoholic champagne and decided to approach the girl.

"Is this seat taken?" he gestured to the seat beside her.

OOC: In case it wasn't clear, this is directed at Sienna.

Guest

The news of the Valentine's Ball had been both a great piece of news and horrible. Great, because it was a chance to look fabulous and meet up with friends, have fun, party and forget about classes if even for only a short while. However, the horrible side of this Ball was the reminder that she was single.

Now, this wouldn't usually bother Naomi, except... well, she felt like she needed to make a point. She'd almost asked Damien to the Ball just to make that point, but decided that she probably would be pushing the boy too far after leaving him after they'd done the do.

That had been all she wanted, but the Gryffindor didn't know that.

So, Naomi had turned up with a few of her close friends, dressed up in a white cocktail dress that her friends told her made her look stunning.

They had convened around a table together with drinks in hand, giggling and talking about who they were looking to get in the good books of that evening. Thus far, though, Naomi had not seen the boy she was looking for, and therefore did not put her own answer forward. Only time would tell if she was going to get the outcome she wanted from this evening.

Guest

Corbin was not particularly excited for Valentine's Day. It signified commitment, a promise of 'staying with' someone, roses and other romantic gestures that he neither participated in nor enjoyed. However, there were plently of other people attending the ball that wouldn't have dates or were heartbroken and looking for something to take their mind off their problems.

This -- and this alone -- was the reason Corbin stood at the entrance, looking around with a glint in his eyes. He'd not extended an invite to anyone, not that he wanted to, and to his amusement the first few people he saw were ones that he assumed not to have a date, either -- Sienna, a second year Gryffindor (Sophie? Sophia? Something like that; she was too young for him to take any interest in), and a few others here and there. It seemed all the couples had disappeared for now, and that meant he had free run.

Avoiding the Professors huddled in the corner altogether, he took careful note of the layout of the room. Where were the blind spots? He and Lucy had made plans to... provide (at a cost, naturally) alcohol to a few select people, Sienna included. The promise had been made on the condition that the pair of Slytherins were able to find a safe way to do so; if they couldn't, they wouldn't risk being caught.

Spotting a secluded table near the back, Corbin nodded to himself and slipped out his phone, dropping a quick text to his partner-in-crime about it. Across the room, he caught Sienna's eye and then, casually, dipped his head in what would appear as acknowledgement before looking away and at the table. He let his eyes linger on it momentarily before continuing his gaze around the room. He didn't look back at the Ravenclaw, trusting she got his message; she'd pass the message around.

Instead, job done for now, Corbin ventured further into the room, stopping by the drinks table to pick up a fake champaign, greeting his Professors politely. He was, after all, a prefect, and that meant an image he needed to maintain.

Looking around the room once more -- this time to see who he could approach -- he felt a stab of disappointment when he didn't see Elenore before that was replaced by a sense of smug satisfaction. If she wasn't there, that meant he could play without worry of jealousy; women were always... tempremental when it came to emotions, even if technically speaking they weren't together. If nobody knew about it, how could he stay hers sorely? It would be too suspicious.

Besides, the idea of commitment still made his skin crawl.

His eyes fell onto a table of giggling girls and his signature smirk lit up his features. Moving over, casually, slowly, greeting people he knew as he passed, sometimes stopping for a few moments of short conversation, Corbin eventually came to a stop by the table.

"Ladies," he greeted, dipping his head a little. Pleasantries done, he turned his attention to one witch in particular, now ignoring the rest of them entirely. "I must say, Naomi -- you look stunning. Would your date mind terribly if I stole you later for a dance?"

If she had a date or not, Corbin wasn't sure; it killed, therefore, two birds with one stone to ask. If she had one, the permission part would be over. If she didn't, he'd know she didn't.

Guest

Sienna switched between sipping at her drink and looking around, keeping an eye out for a particular someone. Corbin and her had what most would describe as a working relationship. They'd slept together exactly once (more to test the other out than anything) and then decided they were better as people who, on occassion, worked together. They were, however, by no means partners or equal; they simply dealt in different areas of work that sometimes crossed paths.

In this case, he was to be their supplier. In exchange for all the times she had alcohol curtesy of him (and Lucy) she promised a discount on things that they might need in the future -- if she didn't pay for the alcohol now. They came to an agreement after some discussion.

But before Corbin arrived, someone else was approaching her, and she turned her attention to the... it took her a moment to place him. Gryffindor. Younger year. Pureblood.

Interesting, she thought, taking him in. If he'd been anybody else, she'd have written him off as another male merely attracted to her looks and not worth anything -- but he was a Byrne, a Pureblood, and by the way he was looking at her it was obvious he was one of those who were extremely susceptible to her abilities.

She flashed him a smile and winked. "That depends," she said, eyes glinting. "How badly do you want it?" She paused, and let out a slight laugh, then reached out to gently touch his arm. "Of course you can," she said, gesturing towards it. "Please, join me. Nobody else seems to want to."

It was then, across the room, she caught sight of Corbin. They exchanged looks, after which she turned to look at the table he indicated before nodding inwardly. Later, once he gave her the signal, she'd start telling her friends where to get the alcohol from.

» Start of Term Feast (Open to Students and Hogwarts Staff)
» Ditching the Valentine's Ball (Open)
» Here We Go Again (Hogwarts Students & Staff Train to Hogwarts -- Sep 2024)
» Flying Club (Open to All Students)
» Citrus-y (open to all Hogwarts students)