The Yule Ball

OOC: Sorry for the slight godmod, Blaire, but you're late picking up your date! LOL

Khaat arrived with Blaire and after they found a table, Khaat laid her wrap on the back of a chair and sat down while he excused himself to go to the punchbowl for them. This was one of the first times she had been out in public since getting out of Barker's clutches. She had had her mother help her to dress because she wanted help with reducing her bruises, helping her with some makeup, some glamour spells, doing her hair, and making sure she was able to face the public.

She was glad that Angus was there to take care of the girls and the house while Brian was off tonight to Paris. It couldn't be helped. Besides that, she never missed a chance to spend an evening with Blaire. Blaire brought a lot of sunshine to her life and he made her laugh and made her feel safe. She appreciated that. He'd been there for her when she'd been so badly injured and while Barker was on the loose. He'd kept her safe when there was no possible way she could do it for herself. Blaire was special to her.

She remembered she had a gift for Doyle tucked away in her evening bag. She had made mention of it to Blaire a few days ago, and they had laughed over it. He, in fact, had givenher a couple of crafty ideas on how to get it to Doyle. She looked at Blaire and cast him a slight mischievious look to try to be sure that he knew where she was going to slip off to

Spoiler:

Steven walked into the great ball and looked around he was feeling so out of place but he also knew he could not stay at home his mind searched for something to do and this was on . He was dressed in a suit, His outfit smart yet casual , his watch one of his best that Janet had given him and his shoes polished till they shone. His hair was brushed and his beard trimmed and neat as he looked around the room he saw lots of students and only a few graduates but she smiled seeing Khaat with her date choosing to stand back from her so she could enjoy her night better. He didn't want to give the impression he had come just to keep an eye on her.

He saw the wintry, Christmas decorations and smiled at how festive it felt, he'd not been around last Christmas and he felt he had missed a lot being in the coma for so long but now he remembered how they would make afire in the hearth and sit around it laughing as John would open his gifts and play with them as he and Janet would be cozy in front of it while watching. He gave a sigh and smiled shaking his head to rid himself of the past thoughts he had he now had to move forward just as the old year left so would he.

He moved to the refreshment stand and picked up a cup poring punch into it he smelt it first , an old habit he had to make sure it was not spiked . Finding it was not he took a drink finding it soothing to his dry throat as he pushed one hand into his suit pocket as he slowly turned to face the dance floor just wanting to see if any one would ask him to dance he wasn't bothered if he didn't at least one friend was there and he smiled.

Cassidy finished her hair and looked at the dress she had chosen. She had heard about the yule ball and wanted to make a good impression on her prospective employers. Standing she slipped on a red dress smoothing out some wrinkles she found in it , finishing her makeup she then slipped on her shoes and headed for the schools great hall slipping of the red shawl she had used to keep her warm she stepped into the hall and was immediately taken aback buy the decoration since this was her first yule ball she looked around seeing several all busy with there dates.

She saw stood at the punch bowl some one she knew , Steven walker but she also knew to stay clear of him as he was also part of the organization she wanted to make a good impression but at the same time she was thirsty. Taking a deep breath she walked over and took some punch trying not to look at him. Quickly moving away she signed that he had not noticed her but she knew he had.

Moving away she saw Khaat Lupin with her date she smiled as she stood sipping her drink and enjoying the music that played hoping some one would ether ask her to dance or she could just talk to any one.

Miseria turned herself a little, looking at the reflection in the mirror. She wouldn't say that she was perfectly dressed up for the Yule Ball. After all, it was a Christmas party not Halloween. Although, that didn't bother her much – she never cared what others say about her clothing – she felt that this time it would be good to go and make some new friends, not that she actually needed them. For last few months, Miseria has been like a Lone Wolf. But even with that, her bad luck didn't go anywhere.
Few days ago, she had a little fight with a Death Eater, who left her a great scar on her forearm.

Sighing quietly, she took her red lipstick and carefully colored her lips with it. For the first time, she was nervous. Not that the Yule Ball would do anything to her – it was just a ball, a party where everyone had to attend. For a while atleast. She didn't even have a date, not that it would even matter. She didn't give much of a damn about this. Taking a deep breathe, she looked at her long gloves. Though, she knew that the Death Eaters wouldn't be there, she was still careful. It was almost like paranoia now to her. They seemed to be everywhere.

Finally, she shook her head, making her hair look a little bit more messy, and then she left the Hufflepuff's dorm room. Her way to the Great Hall wasn't long. It took only few minutes to her to approach the big doors, and hear celebrating and happy voices. Most of them belonged to students, and when she entered the hall, she could see some graduates. Most of them were familiar to her. In fact, she could count them as friends. Not close friends, but helpers. Family friend is probably the correct term for them.
Looking around, she realized that she's the only one who looked like she escaped from Gothic movie with her red and black dress.

“Oh well...“ This wasn't the first time when she looked like this. It was too hard to say no to Black. Finally, she saw Khaat. She wasn't actually expecting her to show herself this early, but she couldn't help herself but smile, and carefully walk towards her mother. “I'm Happy to see you again,“ Miseria said, sitting down next to Khaat.

Khaat saw Mis come into the Great Hall. It warmed her heart and made her smile. Mis always had a huge part of her heart. Khaat was the guardian for a lot of kids, but, well, Mis was the first kid she had decided to help and Mis was the only one, so far, that she had adopted. She loved each and every one of the kids that she had helped, but Mis, well, that was a bit different. Mis had been gracious enough to choose Khaat for her mother. And Khaat was grateful for that. She had hoped she would see Mis tonight, and she had tucked a very special gift in her evening back for Mis.

"Hey," Khaat smiled when Mis came over to see her. "You look great. I love the dress. It's good to see you. So how have you been? Oh, and I'm sorry I haven't sent an owl to you earlier, but I hope I"m not too late to ask you to join Brian and me at his place for Christmas. It would be a good chance for you to get to know Dakota a little bit, if you want. She's so big. She's crawling now and eating finger foods. And she's starting to say Mama and Dada. She's wonderful, Mis. And she's beautiful.

"I was hoping I'd see you tonight. I...well, I brought you a gift. I wanted you to have this. " She opened her bag and handed Mis a brightly wrapped small gift box. She had bought Mis a one of a kind locket that had, inside, a very recent wizarding picture of Dakota, smiing and laughing. She wanted Mis to be able to have Dakota with her always.

Spoiler:

Spoiler:

She interlaced her fingers and put her hands on her legs. Not like many other girls, she didn't cross her legs nor did she do any other moves that would make her look a little bit more girly. She was already wearing a dress, wasn't that enough?
As the was a moment of silence, Mis shook her head, pushing her sandy brown fringe away from her face.

As for the family, Miseria missed all of them. Even Brian, though, she didn't know the guy much. But Khaat seemed to trust him, and that was good enough for her, although, she wouldn't go around. And most of them – she wanted to see Dakota once again. The last time when she saw her own daughter was a month ago. Or even more. Time flew so fast and she couldn't even do much.
“Thank you,“ she replied quietly, looking down at her fingers. Comments and compliments never were her favourite things. She didn't like when people were telling her such things. They made her feel... Bad. “Oh, it's nothing and I've been...“ She stopped. She didn't want Khaat or anybody else to worry. It was Christmas time, and the last thing what she needed was to plan a revenge. “Busy. School. But besides that, it's been great here.“

“Oh dear God, Of course I will come. Now it's truly sad that you didn't send me an Owl, but doesn't matter. I already have the gifts for all of you.“ Mis smiled. It was always good to hear that. And in fact – it was always good to hear about Your own child. “Hope she's being a good girl,“ hufflepufflian finally managed to say. “I hate being away. I'd want to be there, with her, but I can't. And I hate that.“ But she smiled. It's Christmas! she reminded herself. Be happy, and cheer up. You'll see her soon.

When Khaat mentioned a gift, Miseria raised her eyebrows, and looked at her mother. Actually, she didn't even want any gifts. She'd rather sit with her family, and enjoy Christmas eve and celebrate it happily. She'd rather give presents by herself, not take them from others. She was a Giver, not taker. Carefully, she took the box and smiled a little:“You shouldn't have...“ But this time she couldn't stop herself. She started unwrapping the box, fingers moving really carefully as if she was afraid of breaking the gift. Finally, when she was ready, Miseria put the paper away and opened the box. For a moment, she didn't know what to say. The necklace itself was gorgeos, but when she reached out and took it, and opened it, she couldn't stop but her smile went wider and wider. On the next moment she wrapped her arms around Khaat, whispering in her ear:“Thank you So much! I love it!“

One of the high spots of the Triwizard Tournament, for Anais, was the Yule Ball that Hogwarts was so good at throwing in high style. After all, they'd been doing it for hundreds of years. Anaise was looking forward to going with the Durmstrang headmaster, Headmaster Antanas Zukauskas. She didn't know much about the man, and he seemed to her to be rather formal and elegant. For some reason, he fascinated her, and she had looked forward to this evening for a long time.

She was, uncharacteristically, a little nervous. For all of her lessons she gave about elegance and poise, she found that she herself had a case of butterflies tonight. She had started preparing for this earlier than ususal and had been meticulous in her selection of everything, down to the slightest detail. She had chosen diamond and platinum jewelry, tall silver colored heels, and a silver evening bag.


She had a long black dress cloak that had a flowing train that she draped over her shoulders and fastened with a cloakpin that was a family heirloom. It was a large red oval cuprite stone set into an antique white gold setting. She pulled it around herself to brace against the bitterly cold December night air and stepped outside. She took a deep breath to reassure herself and gather her graceful, peaceful countenance and made her way across the snowy ground to the castle. She stepped inside and when sounds and smells of the season greeted her, she smiled. This had been worth waiting for. A house elf nudged her. "Your cloak, Headmistress?" he asked.

"Yes. Thank you," she smiled, taking off her cloak and handing it to him. He whisked it away to hang it with the others for the evening. She took a moment to look at the other elegant evening wear that the other guests had chosen and then made her way into the Great Hall. The room was even more festive, if that were possible, than the last tournament. It was spectacular. Now all she had to do was to see if her date, Headmaster Zukauskas were here.

Spoiler:

"You are so very welcome," Khaat smiled. "Now you can have Dakota with you wherever you go. Oh, Mis, she's so wonderful. She's a little bundle of energy. She's always on the go--always. She has your love of adventure, that's for sure. She reminds me of you in so many ways. She's just a pure joy to have around. You'll laugh, but right now she has a fascination with following one of the cats. She likes my white cat, Max. You remember him--he was with us in the cottage in Hogsmeade. Anyway, she likes to crawl after him, and he seems to try to get her to follow him. I think they both think its a game. Oh, and she loves crawling behind the sofa for some weird reason. Brian is always fishing her out from behind the sofa." That made her laugh. Dakota always made her laugh.

"And she loves Angus's shortbread cookies. Oh, you haven't met Angus, have you? He's a friend of Brian's that Brian hired to help take care of the estate. He's an incredible cook. Dakota had her first taste of a shortbread cookie last week when Angus made some Christmas cookies. He cut some shortbread cookies into little sticks just for the girls, and Dakota, it seems, has a bit of a sweet tooth. And, no, we're not spoiling her. Well,..." Khaat confessed. "Not much, anyway. I have to spoil her at least a little.

"So tell me about you. Catch me up about you." She didn't want to tell her about her own issues. Not now. It was Christmas. There was plenty of time for that. Hopefully Mis hadn't been reading the newspapers. She didn't want anything to distract her from her schoolwork.

Finally, Miseria drew away from Khaat, sitting back on her chair. It was so interesting to listen about her daughter, Dakota. It seemed that she really is Perfect. She smiled, opening the necklace, and looking down at the picture. Little girl over there was so wonderful. It was hard to believe that she actually belonged to her.
That this little child carried her own blood with her, and some of her characteristics. But it was true. She was still smiling when she listened to Khaat, holding back her laugh. “Oh. Well, actually I don't remember your cat, Max, and I also don't think that I was chasing cats or hiding behind the sofas, but that's what I think. For some reason, I even presume that I've been more horrible as a child.“

If she didn't listen to the orders now, how was she acting as a child? Her parents weren't there to tell her those things. But if they would be there... For a second, Mis closed her eyes. Then everything would be different. She wouldn't know Khaat, she wouldn't be a mother, she'd live in Transilvanya with her parents, and hopefully she'd have a little sister or brother by now. That was her parents' dream for a very long time. Only work didn't allow them to make family grow a little more. “But it seems that she will become a little Joker when she'll grow up. It seems that without even knowing, she can make people happy and laugh.“

Raising one eyebrow, she put her necklace on her thin neck and looked back at Khaat:“So... Angus is now like uhm... personal cook to you?“ She grinned. She had a sweet tooth as well when she was a child. She couldn't remember a day without any candies or ice cream. Without them, there was no Life. No civilisation, because Sweets and Sugar were the things that made people Live. Or atleast these were the thoughts that she had when she was a little kid.

“Well, erm...“ Catch up with her. There was nothing to say what Khaat didn't know already. Mis hasn't changed even a Little. She was the same old sarcastic Hufflepufflian who loved to make fun of some people. It was, of course, little part of being almost sorted into Slytherin. “Nothing much happened.“ She looked at the dancing couples, and wintery decorations which made the great hall look more beautiful than it already was, though, she preferred it wgeb there were candles and such stuff. When it reminded her of Halloween. “So yeah... And what about you? Anything new besides the family business?“ she paused. “You and Brian – he proposed to you, right?“

"I can't imagine that you were ever a horrible child," Khaat said. "Not ever. That thought just doesn't ever enter my mind where you're concerned. I think you were probably wonderful. And Dakota is going to be just as wonderful. But you're right. She does have a good sense of humor already. She makes us all laugh.

"Angus. Well, he's a friend of Brian's who lived in Italy. Brian hired him to take care of a lot of things on the estate. He takes care of the grounds, the stables, the animals, the house, the cooking, all sorts of things. He's wonderful with the girls, and, no, he doesn't even mind changing diapers. I think part of the reason Brian hired him was to have another bodyguard in the house for those times when things aren't as secure as I'd like them to be.

"Yeah. Brian did propose. We're engaged," She said, showing Mis the large ring she now wore on her left hand that was a cluster of diamonds and emeralds. "We aren't making any plans to actually get married, though. I am still married to Rob, so my marrying Brian really isn't a possibility right now. And, really, I think we're both happy with things just as they are. I think, for us, its a promise of stability for each of us. We both need to feel like we belong someplace, and, at least for now, that seems to be with each other. I can't wait til you see our house. Its enormouse compared to that little cottage we used to live in. Did Brian ever give you a portkey to get there?"