The Main Hall & Ballroom

Nilla did not usually attend these sorts of events, balls were not her style. But as a masquerade, she found the idea rather appealing. Of course, there was no way they'd get her into a dress even for an occasion like this, and she wasn't about to fawn over her appearance like the other girls. No, Nilla was quite content to stand out just this once by being herself. Her costume was a masterpiece, if she did say so herself. Entirely black and menacing. No heels, partly because her prosthetic doesn't allow heels more than an inch, but mostly because she simply doesn't like them. Her mask is something she's immensely proud of. With a last tug to situate the hood of her jacket, she sauntered out of the common room and down the stairs.

She arrived in the ballroom with a swagger, and frowned briefly at the absence of people. No surprise to her, though. Considering how much more time the other girls must be spending on their outfits, they were likely to be a while yet. Nilla meandered about the room, taking note of the decorations--the cobwebs looked eerily real, and Nilla grinned at the thought of a spider accidentally landing on one of the prissy girls in their frilly dresses. With a sigh, she slumped into a chair and awaited the real start of this shin-dig.

Dan was so excited for this. An opportunity to really dress how he liked. His suit was among his favored items of clothing, being leather and black. Under it was a simple button down and a leather bow-tie. His pants were tight, black denim trousers held up by black and white checkered suspenders. The mask...well, the mask he found was possibly his most favorite part of the whole ensemble. A cracked, victorian-esque affair with silver accents covering the right half of his face and across his entire brow. Briefly he had contemplated donning leather gloves as well, but dismissed the idea after viewing himself in the mirror. Dan rather liked how mature the outfit made him look.

He shrugged the suit jacket into place on his shoulders and straightened his tie one last time before he strode out of his dorm and up to the main level. When he arrived, he noted the presence of only one other student, and the Headmaster. Hopefully more would show up soon and he could begin receiving compliments on his masterful appearance. After all, what was the point of dressing up if not to show off?

Spoiler:

Emi was quite shocked to be invited to the Hogwarts Masquerade Ball, in fact, she was excited, beyond excited even. She had owl'd Mummy and told her all about it, before realising that a schoolwide event meant tons of people and if it wasn't for having her parents push her, she would've never went. Fear gripped her as she moved out of her bed and begun getting ready. Her hair had been blown dried the night before and now stood poofed up, so she slowly worked on it. Teasing the top ever so slightly, she pulled it back, leaving a piece of her fringe down and clipped it with bobby pins, being sure to hide them as best she could. Next, she took her fringe, and draped it loosely across the side of her face clipping it behind her ear.

When the curling wand had grown hot enough, she began to curl all the loose hair in ringlets spiraling down her back. When she was completely finished her hair, she began applying makeup. Despite the fact that she'd be wearing a mask, she carefully traced on eyeliner and mascara as the eye holes would be large enough to see the area around her eyes. However, that was the extent of her eye makeup. She applied a deep red to her lips and splashed a hint of colour onto her cheeks, causing the natural rosy colour to shine red.

Careful not to mess up her hair, she shrugged her dress on from the bottom up. It was beautiful, though at the time of picking it out, she second guessed it. The top was strapless and fit rather snug like a corset would, which she wasn't fond of, but it was her favourite dress and her mother wouldn't allow her to talk herself out of it. The dress was a lavender one, the top adorned with swarovski crystals placed perfectly creating a genuine amount of bling without overdoing it.  The dress had a piece of tulle that was traced in silver glitter that draped down along her right hip. The bottom, had a satin piece that laid against her skin, while tulle laid over it, giving it the poof effect. One of the girls in her dorm helped her zip it up and after, she gave it a little test spin, smiling. She loved dresses and this was by far, her favourite.

She tied on her mask careful to not ruin her hair or makeup and stared at herself in the full length mirror. The mask was a swan shaped Venetian one that was a metallic silver colour. It took up half of her face, with the swan part taking up the left half of her forehead. Around the eyes had purple glitter and there were purple, white and silver flower and swirl designs on it. It was attached to her by a thin satin purple ribbon. She slipped on a pair of lavender coloured ballet flats, and hooked a crystal necklace around her neck before leaving her dorm and heading to where the Ball would be held.

He tummy was turning in fear of socialisation, but when she arrived, there were only two other students. A girl and a boy, both of whom she believed she'd seen in classes. Her form looked even smaller in her dress and as she entered, her dress gracefully swept the floor around her. Se felt the anxiousness go away and moved to gather near to them, not wanting to be standing alone all that much, however she didn't speak to them, instead she nodded and gave a slight curtsy.

When a girl from Dan's own house entered the room, he turned and grinned. Happy to have a familiar face. She didn't say anything as she moved to sit near them, but Dan continued to smile and admire her dress. A fabulously brilliant affair it was, not too flashy, but certainly girly. Almost the complete opposite of the other girl in the room who appeared to be hiding under her drooping hood. "Darlin', you look absolutely marvelous," he commented with his best southern charm. It was true, really. Gay as he was, he could still admire a beautiful girl every now and again and this young lady certainly fit the bill.

She looked a little nervous and he wondered how such a lovely lady could possibly be nervous, but he wasn't about to make it worse my moving suddenly. Slowly, he slid into a seat next to her and cocked his head curiously. He nudged her shoulder gently with his own, "Hey," he whispered softly. "You're in a mask," he stated. "You can be anyone you wish to be. That's the beauty of it. Just for tonight you're not whoever you usually are, you're a princess, or a grim reaper," at this he gestured towards the other girl. "Or a fabulously dressed, modern-day Phantom," he paused briefly for dramatic effect, because if Daniel Gjerstad was nothing else, he was dramatic. "Who'm I kidding. I'm always fabulously dressed," he added with a grin.

When Hailey had heard about the Halloween masquerade ball, her top priority was finding something to wear that matched her obsession with aliens. Since the rumor of aliens being green, Hailey thought that green would be her go-to color. And green matched her skin complection perfectly. But the hard part was just beginning. Not only did she have to find a dress, but pick the right shade of green, and mask that went with it. Hailey's mother sent her over magazines of dresses and she was told that there was know price limit and she could pick what ever she wanted. She was a little spoiled after all.

So after a numerous amount of nights looking through her selections multiple times, she finally found a dress. It was a darker shade of green. It had a heart shaped neck line, and didn't have the princessey poof that everyone expected from an eleven year old girl. It flowed down, and had a layer of tool over the silky green fabric. Her shoes were ballet flats as she couldn't stand to walk around in heels all night, and didn't want blisters. They were the same shade of green as the dress, and had a petite bow on the toe of the shoe. Hailey decided to straighten her rough textured curly hair that was normally kept in natural bongy curls.

After numerous hours of looking for a mask, Hailey finally found the perfect one that would hopefully complete the alien look that she was trying to portray. She found a gold mask, with the same shade of green lining the eyes as her dress. It had a gold silk ribbon to hold it in place so she wouldn't have to worry about loosing it throughout the night. The mask had white detail, and sparkled when the light touched it. When Hailey looked at her completed look she smiled at herself in the mirror, and took the picture that she promised she would send to her mother.

Hailey hadn't really been social through out the term. She supposed it had something to do with her outburst in the ice cream parlor over summer. But she didn't mind being alone. When one was alone, it created less drama. So, being alone, Hailey skipped the hallways to her destination of the main hall. She smiled when she looked around. A few people had shown up. Who they were she didn't know. But that was what the fun of a masquerade ball was right? She wondered silently if there were going to be aliens in disguise here that night... But, if she were to meet one, she would never know right? It would be a mystery...