The Grand New Years Ball

Vivienne thought for a moment, raising an eyebrow at Juliette's tone. "There's not much else to do around here at the moment," she said simply, gliding towards the punch bowl and pouring herself a small bit. She raised the plastic cup to her lips, sipping at it before making a slight face, "Eh, it's alright.. not my usual choice, but alright nonetheless."

She nodded to Sinbadds suggestion, walking with him to the punch bowl. When Sinbad greeted Grace, she gave her a small nodd, not knowing how to be around the girl. She had been right after all, but that didn't matter to her right now. She took the punch Sinbad offered her, taking a sip. She could clearly taste the alcohol. She made a face. "You are not going to get me drunk are you?" Shea asked tesingly, making a mental note not to drink too much tonight. She wanted to actually remember this nigh.

Julie walked with Vivienne to the punch bowl.

She then saw Rose's brother walk up with one of the Hufferpuffers. Though she ignored the two as she poured the fruit punch into one of her cups. She had no business with them, so why talk to them?

She heard how Vivienne said that it was alright and nodded at her before taking a sip.

Julie backed away from the others and stood next to Vivi as she made a little face, before just nodding a little.

"Would've liked yours better.. but that means more for us when we go back to our common room." She smirked slightly at Vivi. She took another sip, enjoying the taste of the alcohol. And as she stood there, her eyes gazed around.

Lexi looked on bemused as an array of people took sips of punch, and there faces contorted in surprise. "Think I might be needing some more Vodka," she muttered to herself. She headed back over to the punch bowl, to pour herself a cup. She was going to need a lot of alcohol to get through a night of ball gowns, formal dancing and boring small talk. She grimaced at the group of slytherins that had began to form around the refreshments table, as she approached.

(I am totally open to anyone mean bashing on little Veela Lucie. Like, really, I invite it. XD)

Luciana walked into the ballroom, immediately flabbergasted by the amount of people in the room and the decorations themselves. She moved a piece of hair out of her face, grabbing a bit of her gown to raise it up off the ground so she wouldn't trip and fall. God, that was the last thing she wanted to do.

She bit her lip, seeing nobody she particularly knew in the vicinity. She stood awkwardly by the punch bowl, absentmindedly pouring herself a cup and downing it, making a face and coughing immediately after swallowing. There was vodka in the punch? She didn't drink anything but wine when she was in France.. "What in the hell.." she said, her accent sticking out profoundly as she looked at her cup, swirling the liquid around, "Gross.."

(this is what Lucie's outfit looks like so you can take cracks at that too XD [Only admins are allowed to see this link] )

Gwyneira Baines walked into the Great Hall. It was her first night in Hogwarts since she graduated nine years ago, and she hoped that whatever professor's were there would not recognize her from the past, it would blow her cover. Her Step Mother was still looking for her, and she hoped not only being at Hogwarts would be safe for her, but to have an alias as well. After talking to Dumbledore, she convinced him to let her teach under the name Adela Sinclair - Adela having been her mother's name. Hopefully, she'd be able to respond to it. Tonight would definitely be a test.

Neira's bright red heels clicked on the hard floor. For years, she hadn't had anything to nice to wear, but she made sure to go to Hogsmeade to buy something for tonight. She figured she might as well look nice and make a good impression. To accompany her red high heels, she wore a blue and yellow dress that fell just below her knees. It was a rather slimming dress and was simple, as well. Hanging around her neck was a gold, wishing well necklace that she had seen in one of the town she had been in a year ago.

Her lips were as red as her heels and her short black hair wasn't styled too much. Neira's bangs swept off to the left, falling only slightly in her eyes. She wasn't used to her short hair yet either. Everything was so new to her. She felt like a different person, but she'd still be on the look out. She knew she wasn't completely safe. Any one of these people could be just like her, but working for her Step Mother. Gwyneira would not let her walls down.

Breathtaking. That was really what one would call the Great Hall as it was decorated with enchantments for the New Year's Ball. Everything gleamed lovely in enchanted snow which would make anyone, no matter how long they knew of magic, to feel like they were walking in a dream. But Aileen had no dreams like this. No, she was very much awake and back at Hogwarts to finish her schooling. This was nothing more than the last hooray before lessons picked up again.

And she could do nothing more than keep a calm pleasant smile on her face. Just another perfected mask.

Walking into the festivities with a few fellow Slytherin girls, of which the school had deemed the Vipers (of all the silliness of students who needed to label groups), Aileen took her time glancing at all those who made it there before them. Briefly she wondered why she attended at all. Once upon a time she looked forward to such an event. If nothing more than for a chance to get a dance with a boy who had been able to get her to smile. Really smile.

But that was before Christmas holiday. And now everything was different.

Well perhaps not different. There were still students smiling and laughing, professors looking on with mix amusements and disapproval, the minister stiff as a board. No these things were the same. It was her that changed. To others it was unnoticeable, or perhaps small. But for her it was big.

But this was not the place to think such thoughts.

Walking gracefully among the crowds with the others, Aileen felt her long dress sweep against her legs. It was a good length, reaching down to her ankles. The gown itself was white with a black belt of fabric that wrapped in a bow in the front right under her bosom. It had spaghetti straps that held it up, showing a bit of cleavage but not enough to make it indecent. A white shawl boa, of a slightly see through material, hung over her shoulders and rested on her elbows. The dress itself was sleeveless, so to hide the scar graced upon her, she wore white gloves that covered her forearms. it was a lovely outfit.

Briefly, blue eyes noticed Rose nod to someone, but when the raven-haired girl tried to see to who it was, she could not make it out of the crowd. With a raised eyebrow she looked to the others. Juliette and Vivienne were discussing something about the punch before making their way to it. it must be spiked. she thought to herself, making a mental note to not drink it. She then noticed a familiar figure make his way to it as well.

Without meaning to, Aileen found herself staring at him for a moment before looking to see. A brow was raised upon seeing a HufflePuff student she recognized but she merely turned her head back to Rose. "Such lovely festivities. Is it not?" she asked, her polite smile never leaving her face.

Molly attempted to rush down the stairs. It was rather difficult, and she almost tripped once as she wore rather high, black, lacey high heels, but she loved them too much to not wear them. Heels were dangerous, but Moll would face the dangers be cause she thought them beautiful. On top of that, Molly wore a short yellow dress with a silver peacock feather and flower pattern on the left half. The skirt was slightly poofy and, overall, she loved it!

Around her neck, she wore a faux diamond star necklace accompanied by a matching faux diamond star ring around her left ring finger. She happened to love stars, a lot, as it was present in her surname and she liked to boast that she was a star, in a playful manner though as was her nature.

Molly's long red hair fell down in waves and she had charmed it to not be frizzy. Hopefully, though, it would hold it's body and stay wavy. Perhaps she should have put on another charm to help that. She wore natural colored make-up, nothing too overbearing. Pink lipgloss made her lips shine in the light and, to match, light pinkish-tan eyeshadow covered her eyelids lightly.

When Molly reached the Great Hall, she immediately entered and found her little group of dates - Akasha, Waycca, and little Jane. She had walked up to them, greeted them, complimented them on the beautiful attire. Oh, how she couldn't wait for the fun to begin. Molly watched the Minister talk for a moment before looking around the room, completely disinterested. She wasn't too fond of the Minister, as she was sure many people weren't.

Molly let out a snort at Jane's comment about the snow. "Oh, what a horrible thought," Molly laughed. She then gently poked Jane on the nose. "And that's why I like you kid." People were still coming into the ball, and the dancing had yet to begun. It seemed to be a very slow start, but hopefully it would liven up soon.

Molly smiled over at Waycca. "Thanks! You look fantastic, as always," Molly grinned. "But no, seriously, I love your dress."

Evaine had insisted that she meet Jim inside the Great Hall, so he made his way in alone. Besides, she needed a few more minutes to get ready. Jim laughed to himself. Girls. But Evaine really did look beautiful from what he had seen, so he wasn't going to complain. It seemed like a good number of people had already arrived. The whole room was a sea of fancy suits and poofy dresses. Jim tugged at his own suit, hoping he didn't look too goofy in it. Dressing up wasn't really his thing. He soon spotted Todd near the refreshments though and he smiled. At least he wouldn't have to stand around like a wallflower. "Hey Todd," he said, waving. "Any sign of Brie? Or is she still getting ready? Eva's been at it for a couple of hours now." He gave a chuckle.

Julie slowly watched how a girl with blonde hair, and a expensive looking dress made her way to the punch. Her eyebrow raised as she watched her fill her cup with it. Only to smirk as she watched her reaction to the spiked drink.

"Careful.. you might hurt yourself." She snapped, before smirking more as she took another sip of her drink. She was amused how some girls just couldn't handle Vodka. And their reactions were fair too priceless. Her eyes gazed around the room one more time. Before just finally just drinking the rest of her drink and putting it on the table. She could feel the vodka in her body as she made her drink a shot.

"What else can we do..?"

Angela entered the Great Hall silentely and instantly placed herself toward the back, against the wall. She enjoyed watching people having fun... she just didn't do it herself. She wasn't too incredibly dressed up for the ball or anything, and it was a good thing her parents weren't here to they'd beat her for the fact that she wasn't wearing a ball gown. Instead, she wore a black pair of leggings, a green, army-type, long sleeve dress that fell to her mid thighs with a brown belt around her waist, and her favorite pair of black boots.

Ange's short red hair hung down as it normally did and she was compeltely make-up less, as usual. There was hardly anything different about this night, for her. It was just another crowd that she'd watch and not join.

Angela reached up and tucked part of her hair behind her ear before crossing her arms under her chest. She considered, for a moment, returning back to the Slytherin commonroom to do some reading, but then pushed the thought away. She was already here, might as well have some fun watching people.

For a moment, Angela scanned the crowd for her brother. She had yet to see him, which caused a small pout to form on his lips. Was he late to the ball? Was he preoccupied? She thought too much on it and let out a sigh, looking down at her feet as she waited for something interesting to happen.

Akasha grinned down at Jane, the idea of harassing Jayden sounding quite tempting to her too. "Maybe later, Jane dear, the ball has just started! We don't want to do anything just yet."

Momentarily, the vampire let go of Jane's hand so that she could quickly adjust her dress, which exposed her right leg and stomach. She somewhat felt she was showing too much skin, but Nefertiri insisted that she wear it. Honestly, Akasha was happy that she had worn it; it was something different when compared to what she normally wore in school. It was more 'her'. Her long white hair was brushed to the side, falling over her left shoulder and almost covering her eye.

At Waycca's statement, she nodded and grinned, "Thanks, so do you! I kinda wish I wasn't showing so much skin, though." The white haired woman gave a half-hearted shrug, because if she were to be honest, another reason why she liked the dress was because she wanted a certain Slytherin to see her in it. Not that she would admit it.

John Smith entered the ball with a huge grin on his face. He thought to himself how great it felt to be dressed up for once. Tonight, he wore a nice pair of black trousers, a gray vest with a white long sleeve shirt underneath, and a dark brown jacket that almost reached his knees. However, his favorite part of his outfit was the yellow bow tie he wore around his neck. That was what made him giddy, the fact that just about every male in this room was wearing a bow tie. Bow ties were cool!

Oh, balls were all good fun. Maybe he'd meet some of the new professors who had come to call Hogwarts their home. He hoped they'd be interesting, maybe not as interesting as he was, but interesting all the same. John reached up and ran his hand through his hair, fixing it so that this bangs were not completely in his face.

That was when he saw her. Vanessa floating about the great room. She was little too far away for him to get to, so he stood as tall as he could (which wasn't much of a feat, because damn did he have some long giraffe legs!) and put on a grin, staring at her and hoping that she would see him and come over.

Holiday break and flown by fast and now, Penelope stood outside of the Great Hall. Her heart was pounding and she felt a little flushed. Her palms were a bit sweaty and she twined her fingers together. It was one thing being brought back into Hogwarts alone, without her brother, but to be brought back into Hogwarts and then immediately have to go to a New Year's Ball... it was unnerving. She supposed she could have hid in the dorm rooms, but at the same time she didn't want to be alone. It was really just a no win situation.

Penelope took in a deep breath before straightening her clothing. She wore a navy blue dress that fell just to her knees. Gray stockings adorned her legs and she wore black flats - heels were too difficult for her... if only she remebered the time she enchanted glass slippers for the Halloween Ball; they hardly wanted to stay on. Her hair fell in loose curls, as it often did, and she wore very little make-up; she wasn't too fond of it, to be honest. A blue, heart necklace fell just a bit over the top of the dress... it had been her mother's and, after losing her memory, her father had given it to her in hopes to bring some back. She never took it off now.

Now that she was sure she was prestenable, because she always had to double check, she opened the doors to the Great Hall and entered slowly. The place was packed already and there was a steady noise level that wasn't too irritating. Penelope bit her bottom lip and scanned the crowd. She didn't know many people, and those she may have known were still unfamiliar to her. However, she didn't want to awkwardly stand by the doors. It would draw too much attention to herself.

Pen bowed her head and made her way to the large refreshment table. Maybe a drink would do her some good - hopefully it wasn't spiked, or anything. That could very well be disastourous. Penelope ladeled some punch into her cup and sipped it gently, her back to the crowd. She grimmaced, the punch had a very strong, very nasty taste to it. Perhaps it had been spiked. She let out a sigh and placed the cup down before turning back to the crowd. Maybe she should mingle? She was alone, but she wasn't, which worked for her to some extent. It was good to be around people. Now, what did the rest of the evening have in store for her?

Now this was more like it. Asami smiled to herself as she made her way inside the Great Hall. She always preferred the balls at Hogwarts than the parties her father threw. They were always too stuffy, too formal. They lacked a woman's touch. Of course, he would never let Asami plan a party. He knew all too well how wild she could get. Oh well. His loss. There were a few people gathered at the punch bowl, so Asami made her way over, figuring it couldn't hurt to socialize before Aquata got there. Lucianna was making an "ew" face after drinking some of the punch. But Lianna seemed to like it enough. Curious, Asami tasted the punch herself. "Ah, vodka. Now that's how good punch should taste, am I right?" She winked at Lianna.

Luciana looked directly at Juliette, her expression turning cold as she glared at her. "Yeah sure," she said, making a face at her before whipping her head around, her blonde curls sitting themselves perfectly around her face as she walked away, the girl sighing as she found another spot to stand at by the intricate looking ice statues.

Lucie could already tell this wasn't going to be a nice night by any means, so she took to fiddling with her white tiger bracelet, swaying alone.

A bright grin graced the Happy Hufflepuff's face as he entered the Great Hall and looked about. Everything looked Fantastic. The enchanted snow, the decorations. It was all lovely. Though that wasn't why he was grinning so bright. No, what had him grinning like a happy fool was who it was that was on his arm as they walked inside. "Looks great doesn't it, Love?" he asked as he gazed at his boyfriend of just slightly over a year now. He had to admit, Tony looked wonderful in his muggle suit. What were they called again? tuxedos? Whatever it's called he looked great. It showed a bit of Tony's figure in a way that school robes could never do.

William's own outfit was a bit... old fashioned. It was his father's dress robes that he wore. Luckily the were of the traditional black and not some bizarre color he had seen some poor blokes wear. And no frills either. In a way, muggle tuxedos and dress robes were quite similar. Just the muggle one was less... robey. He was glad that he wouldn't look rediculous in front of the toher, even if his dress robes weren't the latest style. besides, they had been his father's... it almost as if the man was there or giving him encouragement to be with the boy he loved deeply.

When the Minister spoke, Will did his best to pay attention, but he kept glancing over to his date and was too eager for the dancing to begin to really listen. When the ball officially started, William gave Tony a bright smile before holding out his hand. "Would you honor me with a dance, Love?"

Aquata was in her element, the lights, the gowns, the music, it's was easy to get lost in the crowd. Although she hated bein an anonymous face in the throng. From the looks of it the refreshments table was the place to be, so she began making her way over, all the while sending sultry smiles at the males in attendance.

When she got closer to the table she heard Asami commenting on how vodka complimented any punch.

"I'm not so sure Asami dear, I prefer a good Wine over any kind of spirits," she interjected with a grin.

Juliette just smirked at the girl when she glared at her. Completely unharmed of her glare. Though she laughed a bit how the girl walked off.

"Aww.. she couldn't handle my joking.. Oh well." She said as she slowly turned to look at Vivi, before nodding to her as she walked off to Aileen.

Though she was able to catch Aileen's question when she walked straight up to Rose and her.

"It's a bit boring if you ask me." She said as she stood there with one hand on her waist.

Grace smiled at Sinbad and Maggie, faking her happiness. She took another careful sip of punch and tasted the faintest hint of vodka. Someone brought cheap alcohal.

"Hey, and whoever spiked this needs to learn where they can get some decent drinks... its awful." Grace said blandly glancing around, wondering who did it. Not a slytherin, or a gryffindor, they wouldn't dare us cheap vodka. She flipped her hair over her shoulder, realizing that in her heels she was almost as tall as Sinbad.

"Why? You hoping to get little red drunk?" she askd sarcastically, watching Maggie take a sip of punch.

It looked like there were even more new faces than before. Belle had heard that quite a few new teachers were joining the Hogwarts staff this year, but she was still surprised. At least the students were getting along alright, so far. Belle hoped that no fights would break out. She had heard horror stories about boys beating the crap out of each other, girls ripping each other's hair out. Last year's ball didn't have anything that drastic, and Belle hoped it would stay that way. She looked around for a familiar face, thinking she could hang out with a friend for a while before meeting a new face. It didn't take her long to spot Dean. She smiled as she made her way over to him. "Hey there Mr. Wallflower," she teased, grinning.

[[Just realising how packed this room's gonna get ^_^]]

Jessica looked about, a little lost, fiddling with her hands. Everyone seemed to be dotted about in little groups of friends. Prepare for a lonely night, Jess...

Lexi shot Juliette a disgusted look as she walked off; she had a fierce protective streak over fellow gryffindors, and hated nothing more than seeing a slytherin talk down to one of her housemates. She disliked the Vipers with a passion. She walked up to Luciana noticing she was stood alone, "Not very lively is it?" She mused, eyes tracing the students stood akwardly around the dancefloor.

Ambrose shook his head, having seen the little conversation between Juliette and Luciana. Ah, the never ending House war. He was tempted to follow Juliette, but saw that the poor Gryffindor had been left alone. She was joined quickly by Lexi, a girl Ambrose recognised from Quidditch. He walked over, smiling brightly.

"Hello there, my young lovelies. Are we enjoying the festivities?"

Upon hearing Juliette's voice, Aileen turned her head to smirk at her somewhat friend. Honestly Juliette was one of the very few people the girl considered to be a true friend. But she would never tell the blonde that. She'd no doubt have too much of a field day with it. And where would the benefit be for Aileen then?

"Well I suppose you would find it so Julie dear." she said her tone light as her blue eyes twinkled mischievously. "Much to civilized and elegant for your more active nature." A small chuckle that was neither kind nor cruel left her lips, her gloved hand lifting up to cover them as she did so.

"But fret not. I'm sure you'll find some way to entertain yourself. And who knows, maybe some brave soul might have the courage to ask you for a dance."