The Grand New Years Ball

"Yes, it was," Penelope said somewhat quietly, a small smile on her face still. She looked up and studied Brie with her blue eyes. She considered the words she had chosen, such as safe haven. Perhaps her home life wasn't very good. When compared to most other people, she knew her life wasn't all that bad. Yes, she had lost her mother, but she had a family that loved her. Yes, she lost her memories, but they were slowly coming back to her. Those were the worst events in her life, that she could remember at least. Had she remembered, probably nearly drowning in the lake would count as one, but alas it was just a forgotten nightmare.

The conversation seemed to die down a bit after that and Penelope bit her lip, feeling slightly awkward now. She wasn't ever sure what to say to keep conversations going and so she shuffled her feet slightly and twined her fingers together to keep herself busy. "Oh, yes, the big crowds are kind of unnerving. I'll definitely feel more comfortable in the common room," Penelope commenting, returning the smile. She glanced at Todd once more, remembering him mentioning once that he didn't like big crowds himself.

"Well, I'm sure leaving early wouldn't be too much of a problem... if there were a small handful of us who wanted to go back," Penelope shrugged. She was sure that the Professors wouldn't hold them here the whole duration of it... though, by the looks of the Minister, it could very well be likely. He sort of frightened Penny a bit.


(WOOT! Way to go! )

"Oh. Sorry. Just, forget I ever said it." The last thing Jim wanted to do was embarrass Evaine tonight. This was supposed to be a special night and he didn't want to ruin it. "I actually wouldn't mind some chocolate donuts right now," he said, sighing. Punch was good and all, but it didn't really do anything for hunger. Jim blushed a little as he replied "Um, yeah. I did. Just before we left for Christmas break." He smiled proudly as he looked at Evaine. Although he did stare at Valerie for a moment at the question she asked. "Um, is that really a good topic to discuss in the middle of the Great Hall?" he asked, his face turning redder. Although he did nod in answer to her question about dancing. "If Eva's fine with it, yeah. Sure."

Eva couldn't help but giggle at Jim wanting chocolate donuts "Wanna sneak in the kitchen later and get something to eat? I mean spiked punch is okay if you wanna get drunk but they have no food out for us to eat." she said, her hand brushing against his as the fabric of her gloves touched his fingers. She smiled back at Jim when he talked about saying then three little words to her but it was a good thing he didn't say how it happened. Hearing Val asked him if he wanted to have sex with her, Eva cleared her throat as she looked away "Ok no one's looking.' she said rubbing her arm. Turning her head back towards Jim and Val she smiled "I don't mind at all Val.'

"Hey it's not anyone ells is talking dirty so you can tell me the aware to my question Jimmy." she said pointing her finger at him with a smallish grin "Do you Jim Hawkins wanna have sex with Evaine Moonblood. It's just a small little question I'm not asking you to get down on one knee and ask her to marry you."Val shrugged her shoulders, smiling at the two of them. Hearing he said he did, the girl squealed jumping up and down before hugging Jim "Finally i thought i would have to use a spell on you to open your heart!" she said hugging him tightly as she was happy for them to find each other. "You two are meant for each other it's like faith or destiny that brought you two together or something in that order." the girl said proudly like she was cupid playing love mach and is proud of what couple she brought together. "Yay!! Thanks Evie!"

"Definitely," Jim said, nodding. "I'm a teenage boy, after all. I'm hungry all the time." He cracked a smile. Although it seemed like Valerie wasn't going to give up on the sex question. "It's complicated, alright?" Jim said, hoping she would drop it. "We can't exactly rush into something that may end up producing, like, a child or something." This was getting more awkward by the second. Luckily, Valerie was distracted when she found out that Jim told Evaine that he loved her. He had to laugh at her enthusiasm.

Evaine shook her head laughing "Don;t have to tell me twice the way i saw you eating burning Christmas break.". Looked like Val wasn't going to give up until Jim said yes or no "Val Jim has a point their. We're taking things slow, and we're to young to have a child and..." she was going to say more like how was she supposed to take care of a child when her mother abuse her. Eva would feel bad if his parents end up taking care of the kid and what if it gets more of Jim's D&A and turns out a werewolf? How would Jim feel about that?

(OOC: @.@ 17 pages.... -faints- I haven't read all the replies so if somebody interacted with my characters please let me know xD)

Aurora sighed, this party was boring. And to be honest she was glad that she hadn't bought an all expasive dress. But choose for a dress she already had. Aurora stood up. She had no date, and it seemed she had no friends either. So why stick around? She could just go to bed or so...a good nice rest would be a good idea. She walked towards the exit. Still with her head high. She didn't even say hi to her father, or wel.. Sighing once again. It was just a strange feeling..it wasn't that her life was so bad. She probably had many people envy her. But this time she was just slightly upset. Donald wasn't here. He just disappeared for some reason. Rose decided to stick with her new groupie. Leaving Aurora alone. Ah well.. Maybe she could focus on her classes some more. Without all the people around her. Sounds like a good idea. Than maybe her father would be proud of her, instead of flirting with other teachers... Nobody seemed to really care what she thought.
And that was a dammed bad feeling.

Valerie let go of Jim "But you two would have a cute kid together but I see what you mean." she said remembering her birth mom gave her away and she had Val at a young age to begin with. Frowning she shook her head, this wasn't the time to be sad thinking about her birth mom "you two shouldnt have a child at a young age... who would take care of it for you while your at school and stuff. I don't think hogwarts will let you bring the kid with you."

Jim laughed. He remembered. He had had thirds of almost everything his mother had cooked for Christmas dinner. What could he say? A mother's cooking was always something to enjoy. Jim half-wondered if it was his wolf side that made him hungry a lot, but he hoped that it was just the usual teenage-boy thing. "Yeah, we'll save the kid thing for later, once we've got a little more experience under our belt," he said. It wouldn't do the kid much good to have two parents that were so young. Maybe when they were older, and a bit wiser, they could have one.

((I'm off to bed. Good night!))

Sinbad gave Grace a smirk. "Maybe, maybe not." He turned his head towards Maggie. "You just have fun and don't worry about the rest. If you get drunk I'll make sure you don't throw up on my clothes." He joked. He than noticed Aurora leaving and Rose sticking with her friends. A big smirk went on his lips. Seems like he won this. "Exucse me.". Walking towards the exit himself. When he saw Scrimgeour in the hall. "Hey! Scrimgeour! Getting cold feet?" He smirked wickedly. Now she had no Rose to protect her guts. And now she could pay for what she had done with Rose her mind.

Evaine remembered how his mom taught her different things to cook in cause she ever on her own. "I gotta say I'm going to miss your mom's cooking. It's great to have a meal made by a mother than yourself." she said looking at Jim. Her face turned red with what he said. Was Jim saying he wanted a kid with Evaine or was she just imaging it all i her head to make her think that way. She'll ask him that when their alone.

"I'm sure we could go any time if you guys wanted," Todd said, deciding to add a bit to the conversation. He could see Brie's composure starting to slip and was immediately worried. She was usually good at masking her emotions, so he was concerned that something could be bothering her this much. Guilt filled him again and he wanted to kick himself - what had made him think this was ever a good idea?

The tension paired with all of these people milling around was starting to make him a tad anxious, but he tried to ignore that and keep focused with the conversation.

Maggie laughed at his joke. She would stick to drinking something non alcoholic. The last time she got drunk she wasn't so happy about. But then again, it had gotten her and Sinbad together. She was just afraid this time she would end up doing something foolish.

Suddenly she heard Sinbad yell something to Aurora. Her attention turned to Aurora who was leaving the ball, and then to Sinbad who was making his way to the girl. She bit her lip. She didn't want Sinbad to hit Aurora again, and the girl would most likely take it out on her again. She put her cup down on the table, briskly walking to Sinbad. She grabbed his arm, making him stop. "You are not excused mr. I want to dance." She said grinning.

Aurora looked over her shoulder to he guy. She wanted to say something but Margaret seemed to already want to fix the case. Aurora turned her head away from the two. She sighed. Turning towards them. ''Yeah, Listen to your girlfriend Sinbad. Listen to your Hufflepuff girlfriend. And go have fun.'' she spoke her words slow and full of hatred. As she looked at Margaret, Than back to Sinbad. ''How does it taste like? A Hufflepuff? Must be much more tasty than your own hands...''

"I don't think anyone should have an issue with it.. it'd be a different story if it was all of us Ravenclaws.. THEN, I guess the staff would have to intervenw.." said Brie, slipping the turquoise ring on her hand up and down her finger. It didn't mean anything, it was just there.. and she was trying her hardest to not break down into pieces. Brie knew it wasn't going to be good.

'Just hold it together a bit longer, Brie,' she told herself, 'Just a bit longer.. Then you can let it all go. Everything. You've just gotta staple yourself shut and put on a hell of a smile..'

She started to hum, putting her ring back in place before playing with the locket around her neck. She looked around, seeing the faces the people were making while drinking the punch, "Oh, great.. someone spiked the punch. Lovely."

Rose had been keeping a close eye on Sinbad, Maggie and Aurora all night. The three of them were fresh in her mind's eye as she turned away for a few seconds. When she turned back, they were arguing. A dark look passed over her face as she stepped out from the shadows, she had had enough of the childish behaviour from both of them. For starters, they were in a public place and for seconds, they should both leave each other be.

Why she decided to intervene probably wasn't actually to do with that, but instead an intense desire to protect both of them from pain. They were the only two people, besides Vivi, Julie and Aileen, she actually had any thought for. They were the two people she cared for most in the whole of Hogwarts and beyond. So, without meaning to, she didn't hear her fellow vipers last words, slammed her cup down on the table in anger and stood between the two of them.

"You two are acting like children, if you want to continue this debate, at least have the decency to take it outside." Rose spoke in a hushed voice as she shot them both daggers, warning them not to harm the other one, with words or otherwise. Not that she had the intention of allowing them both to take it outside alone, Rose would never leave them both alone for fear they would kill one another. They both meant to much to her to let that happen.

"Why thank you!" Jane gave a small curtsy and grin as they commented she looked lovely and cute, before directing her eyes towards the dance floor.

"And now we are all friends!" Jane nodded happily at the new addition to their group, she fit in well and everyone seemed fairly happy with the recent adjustment of numbers.

"So can we dance?" Jane grinned and took hold of Akasha's hands and gestured to the others.

"Yeah, no one else seems really keen on leaving now that they've got a whiff that there's alcohol," he said, putting his hands in his pockets as he glanced around the Hall. "I've heard there'll be more later, anyway, once the teacher's are out of the way."


"Mm, I noticed. I'm kind of disappointed actually - the punch tastes pretty freaking fantastic on its own, and now I won't get to drink it in its purest form," Todd sighed, glancing longingly toward the punch bowl.

Aurora glanced at Rose when she decided to interfere. It was true though. But she didn't care. As she turned around. ''I shan't be a bother of you than..'' She said as her gaze softened slightly when she looked at Rose. It wasn't her intention to get Rose upset. She just wanted to put Sinbad on his place. Before she started to walked away. She sighed.

The Minister responded to Belle's words with a nod of his head and small smile. She was certainly charming, as was Hogwarts. Yet somehow, the loud cacophony of music and sprawling mass of children ruined the mood for him somewhat. So his fierce and cold demeanor remained to cloud his face.

"So Belle, have you been teaching her long?" Niklaus offered her a glass of punch from the side. "Oh and please, just call me Klaus. I prefer it much more from the Professor's of Hogwarts, I have a great respect for you all." He nodded, genuinely meaning his words. He could never teach some of the children they did, and they also all worked hard for their positions. To a certain extent, once a student at Hogwarts, always a student, and therefore you always have a respect for the Professors. Even as a Minister.

Besides, Belle seemed genuinely pleasant and he wouldn't favour the idea of her being so formal.

As Aurora began to walk away, her heart twinged. She had hoped they may dance later... as friends, of course. She couldn't be so openly loving in public, though, she was unsure Aurora was even aware of the feelings she had for her, despite whatever Sinbad may say.

Shooting her brother a hurt and disapproving look, she decided to leave too, there was nothing much for her here and she could always return later on in the night if she desired. Following Aurora, she left the ball beside her.

"Are you alright? I'm sorry if my brother upset you..." Rose's words trailed off.

[Do you want to move this to the Entrance Hall? xD]

"Well that's fun," said Brie, rubbing her arms as she surveyed the room again, "I don't know what it is, but I don't think I'll be drinking tonight.. need to stay sober for a while, anyway," she said, biting her lip as memories invaded her mind once again.

'You know what it is,' thought Brie yet again, getting really tired of yelling at herself, 'You know you can't keep it in much longer. You're breaking yourself down right now.. and you're letting the happenings around you affect your personality as well. You're losing yourself..'

Brie took to rubbing the bruise on her neck, absentmindedly looking at a spot on the wall, "Y'know, I think I might just head out early.. not much to do at the moment anyway."

Dean raised an eyebrow as the Minister walked over and spoke to Belle with a flirtatious smile. He had to try not to laugh at her excessively formal introduction, for a woman who loved romance so much, she had a hard time realizing it when men were trying to hit on her. Then again, it could be that the minister spoke that way to all women, but regardless Dean wasn’t going to stick around, Belle was an adult and she wasn’t the one here who needed a chaperone.

He nodded in greeting to the minister, then turned to his friend, “I’m going to see if I can’t find any trouble makers.”

“I cannot understand how you can consider that fun,” Aquata scrunched up her nose, the idea of a mosh pit was just revolting to her, all those bodies pressed up against one another, hot and sweaty and just gross.

Of course the same conditions could be quite enjoyable in a different situation, but Aquata couldn’t get anything out of a mosh pit, she wasn’t an adrenaline junkie like Asami.

Serenity was getting confused at the fact people were swarming around the punch.. Was it really that good? She narrowed her eyes a little bit out of curiosity.. Before filling her cup with some more punch.

Though when she took a sip of it, her nose scrunched up as she put the cup down. She could taste the Vodka in it.. something she really didn't like to taste.. It was because the alcohol burned her insides.. It was probably because she wasn't use to it, but it still didn't need to give her that kind of feeling.

She looked to her sister, Genevieve.

"Jenna.. there's Vodka in the punch." She whispered.