Hogwarts Yule Ball - All Welcome

Charlotte watched everyone introduce themselves to Charity and she was glad that so far she seemed to be coping rather well with being in this situation surrounded by quite a lot of people, seeing Haley come over Charlotte was glad to see that she seemed to be a little happier today, to what she had been in the weeks following the attack.

"Hey Haley, you don't look too bad yourself." she joked lightly "It's nice to see you, I didn't think that you were going to come!"

As soon as she felt Charity grab her hand Charlotte resisted the urge to say 'ow' after all she did grab her hand pretty hard, but she took this as a sign that she might need some space, so Charlotte smiled softly at the group, squeezed Charity's hand as spoke;

"Do you want to come and get a drink with me Charity?" she asked, knowing that she might need some distance for a few minutes from the rest of the group.

Briony looked up and she saw Lucia coming over to her, and immediately her gaze softened slightly, she had missed conversing with her friend over this period, and it would have been her influence that would have prevented her from making the plans that she had created for her own magical development...

Of course now she would never imagine telling anyone what her plan was, not even Richard. She knew that they would be all too keen to stop her and then swiftly have her head examined.

"You look lovely tonight Lucia, as you already know this is Doctor Florence Nettle, Highmaster of Durmstrang, and this is Leon Becker, Gott Des Assisstenten." she introduced, the last one a little bit harsher than she perhaps should have made it.

"I'm glad that you were able to make it." she smiled gently.

Othala hopped into Hogwarts and she looked around the large hall, oh it was lovely, much bigger than the hall at Durmstrang and she really didn't know what she was going to do while she was here, all of the Hogwarts students would probably not talk to her, and she would be left alone all night.

But Florence had asked her to come, so she hoped that he would at least dance with her some of the night, seeing him in the distance she walked slowly over to him blushing as she felt some people looking at her, but when she reached him she hugged him around the waist.

"Florence!" she giggled before blushing a little bit and addressing Briony and Richard "Thank you for letting me come to the ball Mr. and Mrs. Romain, I be on best behaviour."

It only took a few seconds for Charity to realise how tightly she was gripping Charlotte's hand - and not wanting to cause her only friend pain, she slackened her grip slightly but was glad when Charlotte seemed to pick up on the fact that she was highly un-comfortable and needed a moment to catch her breath.

She smiled softly as Charlotte asked her if she wanted to go get a drink, and she gave her head a sharp nod, standing up with Charlotte and - still holding her hand - letting the Slytherin lead her along. "Thanks, Charlotte," she said in an almost sigh sort of tone. She felt much better being away from all those people.

"You're very popular," she said softly to Charlotte, smiling at her. The smile she gave Charlotte was as close to genuine as it had been before her parents turned on her for being a devil. Charity's tail was hung low, but she managed to keep it in it's curled position so none saw it. She was a little timid about letting anyone see her tail.

Aquila waited patiently for Lucian to arrive. Even if they hadn't discussed it, she knew he would come to Britain for the simple fact that she had. It wasn't that he was over-protective or anything, but rather that he just wanted to make sure she was safe. The Brit's weren't a bunch she really felt secure around.

As if on cue, just as she wondered, 'Oh Lucian, where are thou?' He walked through the doors and he immediately started to walk towards her. He looked dashingly handsome - but then, when didn't he? And devilishly sexy - again, when didn't he? - which made her bored expression turn into a grin.

However, her grin easily turned into a frown as he stopped stock still, eyes fixated on Leon Becker. Why the hell was he so interested in him? Sure, he was their minister and all but the look in Lucian's eyes - well, it frightened her. She closed the gap between them and grabbed his hand. "Lucian? What's going on?"

Ophelia had realised that she definitely had time to go the Yule Ball that Cain had invited her too, but wanting it to be a surprise she'd owled him saying that she definitely wouldn't be able to make it and she was awfully sorry. She'd saved up some money and quit her job as a waitress so she could pursue a career at Hogwarts. Her arrival had mostly only been spread among the students, so hopefully that would be a surprise to Cain too.

The money she'd saved up had been to spend on this magnificent dress she'd found that she hoped Cain might like. Hours had been spent perfecting her hair, before she slid the flower in place and cast a charm on it to keep it perfect. Once satisfied, she quickly made her way down to the Great hall, a slight spring in her step. She was surprised she didn't stumble in her heels.

A gasp escaped Ophelia as she stepped inside the hall. Briony really had out-done herself, it looked magnificent. Her eyes narrowed as she spied the German's and she grit her teeth - why Briony had let them into the castle she wasn't sure. She shook her head and smiled as she saw Cain, hurrying up behind him and slipping her hand into his. "Surprise," she grinned at Cain, before looking at the woman he was talking to. "Hello there!" She exclaimed cheerfully.

Charlotte smiled softly and she lead Charity over to the drinks table, she knew that she would need just a little time to catch her breath and she was all too happy to let her have that time, but she didn't want her to feel like she was abandoning her, so she had come with her.

"It's not a problem at all Charity." she smiled lightly "Things were getting a little too crowded for you huh? Just let me know if you need some air again, I'll come with you." Charlotte smiled gently, picking up a glass of orange juice and sipping gently.

Flushing a little bit, Charlotte shook her head; "Nah I'm not popular, everyone's just very friendly here, Im sure you'll be used to these guys in no time." she reassured with a squeeze of Charity's hand, before she returned her gaze to the people in the Great Hall.

Lucian saw Aquila coming over to him and he knew that she was afraid of the look in his eyes, taking a deep breath he decided that was a fight for another time, there was no point in allowing himself to be drawn into a fight that would ruin the night for everyone else here, despite how much he wanted to.

Squeezing Aquila's hand with a soft smile on his lips, Lucian gave her a soft kiss, smoothing her hair gently as he did so, before giving her a brief eskimo kiss.

"You look beautiful tonight Aquila, not that you don't always." he greeted "Oh, nothing that should be spoken on this happy occassion, such dark topics should be banned for tonight, I'll tell you tomorrow." he promised.

With a grin on his lips he teased; "Glad to see your hatred of Britain hasn't stopped you coming tonight."

Cain blinked when he heard someone heading over to their area, maybe it was someone who actually knew who he was, but when he felt someones hand slipping into his own, and the voice that spoke to him, Cain beamed and he felt so happy to know that after all Ophelia had managed to come to the ball this evening!

"Ophelia!" he gasped happily, squeezing her hand softly, managing to keep himself from throwing his gentlemanly apperance to the wind and hug her tightly to him "You managed to come after all, oh how wonderful, I was sure that you had written telling me you were unable to come."

Now, as he looked over her attire and her hair, Cain smiled softly, brushing his hand against her cheek;

"You look radient Ophelia, now I wish I had put more effort into what I was wearing this evening." he chuckled lightly.

Humphrey was running a bit late for the Yule Ball. He'd decided to take a catnap, but he was more tired than he realized and slept too long. Rushing to get into his suit and tie, he hoped that Senium wasn't going to be too upset with him for running late. Finally, he reached the great hall and walked in.

The decorations caught him off guard, they were beautiful. Headmistress Romain always outdid herself, it was amazing. Looking around, he surprisingly didn't see Senium. He did see Haley, Melody, and Airen gathered though, and decided to walk over to them. "Hello, how's everyone doing?" he asked.

Senium wandered down the steps from the Ravenclaw dorm to the ball, it had taken her longer than she had thought to get ready, she kept thinking that you could see her bandages very faintly through the charm that she was wearing, but after a few applications of it, she was happy and ready to go down.

Her hair was in gentle curls that just rested on her shoulders, they bounced when she walked, and surprisingly her silver kitten heels didn't make her wobble as she walked, as soon as she got into the hall she smiled widely, oh it was beautiful. Giving Master Richard a happy wave, Senium walked towards Humphrey, he looked very handsome tonight and she blushed lightly as she waved shyly at the rest of the group.

"Uh, hi." she greeted nervously, having met none of them before "Hey Humphrey, you look lovely tonight, I like your suit. I'm Senium by the way," she introduced herself to everyone else.

Humphrey spotted Senium, and his breathing stopped for a couple seconds. He couldn't believe how beautiful she looked tonight. With her blue dress and her hair in lovely curls, she was stunning. A light blush crept up on his cheeks as she walked over. Hopefully she wouldn't mind meeting some new people, he wasn't sure if she'd met any of his friends before.

"Hey Senium, you look absolutely amazing." he said honestly, smiling at her. "This is Haley, Melody, and Airen." Humphrey told her, pointing out each of them in turn.

"Hi Senuim,"Melody greeted.It was nice to see Senuim and Humphrey again.

When Charlotte pulled Charity away, Airen could tell that she was just looking out for her friend. He smiled at how thoughtful she was. He turned his head to the others. He nodded at Humphrey in greeting.

"Hey, Humphrey," Airen said simply. He sipped at his water, watching everybody chat amongst themselves. He was more of a quiet person when it came to large groups, but in a one-on-one conversation, he could feel free to talk more.

"If you'll excuse me," he said, getting up out of his seat. He walked over to the refreshment and picked up a grape. Popping the fruit into his mouth, he chewed on it while simply enjoying the calm of the ball. He was waiting for the music to start. Hopefully, Charlotte would be willing to dance.

Deciding to not be Mr. Too-Cool-For-School, he went over to where Charlotte and Charity were talking.

"Sì, sono nato in Italia (Yes, I was born in Italy)" he said when he got to where they were.

Ophelia grinned at how pleased Cain seemed to see her. She was glad she'd kept her coming to the ball a surprise now - it was even more fun to see the happiness on his face. She squeezed his hand lightly and grinned at him, a cheeky glint in her eyes. "Do you like my surprise?" She asked softly.

Ophelia laughed lightly. "I'll always have time for you, Cain, I made sure I could come but told you I couldn't so you'd have a surprise, see!" She sounded very pleased with herself. "Besides, i'd never miss an opportunity to see your awful dancing." She joked lightly.

Ophelia bit her lip and looked down as he brushed his fingers over his cheek, immediately causing them to tinge pink.

"Don't be ridiculous, you always look wonderful," not wanting to be rude, Ophelia faced the other person. "I'm Ophelia Zabini, it's a pleasure to meet you." She held out her hand.

(That's your cue, Vilde! )

Charity smiled back at Charlotte, though her expression was doubtful as Charlotte claimed to not be popular, just that everyone was friendly. "If you say so," she smiled at Charlotte, not wanting to disagree with her friend in fear she would abandon her.

"Again, thank you. I really appreciate you leaving your friends to make sure i'm comfortable." Charity couldn't help but smile widely at Charlotte. She completely trusted Charlotte, for she'd done nothing but be wonderful to her.

Charity looked up from pouring herself a glass of orange juice and stared at Airen with hesitance for a moment. As he spoke Italian though, it relaxed her once more and she found herself giving him a small, hesitant smile. "Mia madre cantava in italiano. Mi ha insegnato."

[[My mother used to sing in Italian. She taught me.]]

Lessi wore a sleeveless dress in the colors of her house.She liked wearing team or in this case house colors.She spotted Briony and walked over to her.
"Hi Briony,"Lessi said cheerfully."Cute baby."

Christi sighed as she followed the others into the Great Hall of Hogwarts. It was her first time here, and she wasn't very much excited. With the war going on, she wasn't too sure, and she wasn't about to let her guard down.

Her hands fumbled at the flower prints of her dress. It wasn't very much her type, but her mum had thought it was pretty, so she made Christi wear it.

She sighed once more and scanned the place. Like in most balls, she didn't like interacting with people. She didn't have many friends, so she couldn't go and talk. The only people close to the term 'friends' was Ivan Borislaw, a Geschick; Othala Thormund, a Risiko; and Dmitra Diamante, a Muhe. Then there was Lars, who was in her dormitory, but she didn't see him. Or any of the others.

Christi muttered things in German under her breath and walked over to the corner, still scanning the room for people she knew.

Lucas sighed as he entered the ball. He didn't want to go in the first place, because he didn't like dancing much, but he decided to go anyways. After all, he didn't want to make anyone grumpy. And his mum would have killed him if he didn't wear his new suit. Not that he wanted to wear it.

Tugging on his necktie, he looked around and continued walking, making sure not to hit anyone who's dancing around, and found himself sitting on an empty table.

Lucas breathed heavily and drummed his fingers lightly on the table, not even bothering to hide the fact that he was bored to death.

Brianna smoothed down her dress and held out her arm, immediately watching as Polly fluttered over and landed on her outstretched hand, hurrying up her arm to perch comfortably on her shoulder. She grinned and let her arm drop to her side, going over to investigate how she looked. She would've twirled, but that wouldn't've been nice for Polly.

"What do you think, Polls?" She asked her bird, who squawked her approval and bobbed her head. Brianna giggled and sat down on the bed, slipping her ballet flats onto her feet. She then stood up and went over to her pillow, stroking her tarantula before she made her way down to the Great Hall.

Brianna smiled as she walked in - it looked wonderful, if not a little bit dull. To anyone else, it was magnificent, but Brianna preferred a unique look. This was just to classy to be considered unique at all, but it was wonderful nonetheless. She saw a group of students gathered, and then three by the refreshments table, but she didn't feel like large groups so she walked over to the lone Gryffindor and beamed at him. "Hello there, I don't believe we've met before! I'm Brianna Pierce," she held out her hand for him to shake.

Airen and Charity seemed to be having their own private conversation but Melody didn't really mind.
"How have you two been?"she asked Humphrey and Senium she hadn't seen Senuim since Valentine's Day last year and she doubted that she remembered her.

Lucas blinked as someone walked over to him. He cleared his throat and shook her hand. "Yeah, um, I'm Lucas Woodham. You're new to Hogwarts? I don't think I've seen you in my classes."

He had noticed she was from Hogwarts; there was nothing German about her at all. Lucas looked around and noticed the decorations weren't as... - how do you say it - ...grand. Unlike before, the place was only decorated with some flowers and things. He figured Hogwarts wouldn't use too much money just for a Ball.

Lucas turned to Brianna and waited for a reply.

Brianna sat down beside him and frowned at Polly as she squawked at Lucas. "Oh hush, you, i'm allowed to make friends." She snapped, much to Polly's disgruntlement.

"Actually, i'm not! We're not in the same house and I never really came to any of these social thingies the school holds before, so we probably haven't seen each other around. I'm also in second year, and i'm assuming you aren't?"

Lucia smiled at Briony and then the two other people from Germany when they were introduced to her. "Hello, I'm Lucia Henley, healer here at Hogwarts," she said kindly, that being the job she most used to introduce herself.

She then gave another smile to Briony. "Thank you, you look dashing yourself," she said happily.

She turned a bit more serious at the next statement. She had been very busy as of late and it wasn't a very good busy. She wished she had been more able to talk with Briony and other teachers, getting to know the new ones. She felt a bit behind on that. But she'd catch up.

"I'm glad I could make it too," she said, her smile back on.

Airen had left to go and talk with Charity and Charlotte, which didn't really surprise him. "We've been doing well, thanks for asking. How have you been, Melody?" Humphrey asked her. He was looking forward to the music starting up, but as of yet it still hadn't. "I can't wait for the music to start playing." he muttered to himself.