You're not my date... ah well.

Ellie has dressed normally. No one would have expected it, and no one would live to tell the tale. Who would guess it was her? She doubted even her good friends would... Not that they would be seeing her tonight. She supposed Judd and Foster were coming stag, if they even came at all. No way would Judd bring a date if Foster didn't have one and if Ellie knew Foster, and she knew she did, he wouldn't have a date.

Ellie wouldn't know what to feel if Foster had a date.

Ellie had taken a few trips to the spiked punch bowl. Darius was supposed to find her, she had told him what she would be wearing after all, and yet she had been there an hour and there was no sign of him. Her spirits were drooping, and a glum expression was beginning to set into her features. She had made such a big deal out of the event, and here she was- alone.

Judd had spotted Ellie right off and mentioned to his friend. They were late, of course, because they were too cool to be prompt. Hudd pointed at Ellie saying, "Hey, mate, isn't that Ellie? Where's that slab of meat, Darius Whatsa-Whoozit? She looks sad." He paused, before clapping a hand on Foster's shoulder. "We'd probably just ruin her fun though, eh? I'm going to grab a drink. I'll bring you back a punch."

Judd walked off and Ellie sighed, finished her third cup of the punch, sighing. He hadn't come... He hadn't come.

Foster wasn't typically good for these kinds of events. He never knew what to do unless someone was with him. The someone(s) that were usually with him were Ellie and Judd for these things. Right now he was there with Judd, neither of them had dates, which pretty much sucked for both of them. It was his fault really. Foster hadn't really wanted to get a date, so Judd had given up looking for one because he didn't want him to feel bad for not having one.

He heard Judd say something about Ellie and he looked in the direction Judd was pointing in and he sighed softly. "Yeah, that's her alright." he said. Foster stared on that direction for a few seconds longer before Judd's hand on his shoulder drew his attention away. "You're probably right. Best not do that, don't want her going off on us here." he said and waved Judd off with a nod when he said he was going to get punch.

Foster didn't know what to sk now. Ellie really did look sad, Darius must not have shown up yet, if he was going to show at all. He knew he had been right to not trust Darius, he was probably off Merlin knows where with some other girl. Foster knew how he was, it was pretty easy to see but he knew why she liked him. He was good looking and played Quidditch, every girl liked a guy like that. Foster sighed.

He glanced in the direction where Ellie was and then looked around. It didn't seem like anyone would be approaching her soon. He swallowed hard and walked up to her. "Ellie?"

Ellie plucked at her dress, summoning another punch and taking a deep drink. Yes, by now, she was on her way to sloshed. She had been unable to do much more than drink, really. Last year, she would have been ashamed, but she was an adult now, and she was an incredibly bored one at that. Rebellion had kept her afloat, as she no longer had her best friends to entertain her. And though Darius was nice to look at, Quidditch talk got boring after awhile.

So, when a charming young man in a mask approached her, Ellie's rebellious spirit and her loneliness (plus the three and a half glasses of punch mixed with vodka) had seriously messed with her powers of reasoning. He spoke, and even so, she could not exactly register that this boy was familiar. Very, very familiar.

Ellie stood, grabbing the boy's hand. "Come to dance with me, finally?" she said, pulling him towards the dance floor. "It's about time."

He was a bit surprised at her sudden reaction to him approaching her, of course then he remembered that it was a masquerade and she didn't know who he was. He relaxed a bit, but then he thought that she knew him and well, so she should've recognized his voice at least. Yet it didn't seem like she had, that was never good. He could almost immediately tell that she wasn't exactly sober right now. He didn't know if that was good or bad ... But this was Ellie, things with her were always unpredictable.

"Er ..." he couldn't even get an answer out as she dragged him onto the dance floor and he hesitated. He wasn't any good for this either. In fact he hadn't even planned to dance that night, at least for most of it. Now, that wasn't a possibility anymore but he still didn't want to dance at all. He just watched Ellie to see what she would say to him, if she said anything.

He was just wondering how long it would take her to notice it was him she was dancing with, if she even did at all.

The boy hadn't been prepared to go onto the dance floor with her. Well, fat luck. She hadn't been prepared to break things off with her best friend. She hadn't been prepared to get stood up by her boyfriend at the ball. The world was full of two types of people - unprepared people who simply suffered through their lot, and unprepared people who made a change of plans for the better.

She led him towards the dance floor, hoping Darius was somewhere, out there, and had seen her. She'd love to have a go at him if he came up and had the audacity to be mad at her for dancing with someone else. She would love to have a throw down, right in the middle of the ball, right on the dance floor, right in front of her masked stranger.

She gave him a quick look. Nice figure. Smelt good too.

She turned to him, smiling. "Alright, then," she said. She placed a hand on his shoulder and grabbed his other hand. "You dance? Or even talk? I'd love the company."