MASS THREAD: The Débutante Ball

“The gloves are itchy.”

The petulance that the face of Cerelia Avery wore was unbecoming of a girl of such prettiness. Yet it was an expression that was rapidly replaced with one of contentedness in the face of the contemptuous glance that her father had swept in her direction. The blonde haired Ravenclaw dropped her gaze to the floor and allowed herself to be led by the arm into the ballroom but only lifted her head at her brother’s hiss to do so. She brought her eyes around the room that sumptuous in ivory and gold and suddenly felt overwhelmingly underdressed despite meeting all of the specifications her grandmother had detailed and expected. She was one of the better dressed young ladies in the room, that was to be sure, but she could not help but feel incredibly inferior in the place of the women that were in many respects far more beautiful than her.

The young Ravenclaw sucked her bottom lip between her teeth as she breezed past a group of squabbling girls and a band of guffawing young gentlemen that looked rather dashing but oh-so-boyish in their suits. Cerelia glanced down at herself again but this time looked up without need for a prompt from Caius. She glanced up at her father who looked more regal and put together than she ever remembered him being. She managed an optimistic smile for him when he looked round to meet her gaze and he merely grunted in response, uninterested.

Cerelia sighed steadily and stopped walking in time with her father who had found a suitable place for them near a relatively empty table. She dropped into one of the chairs like a bucket in a well and reached down to look at her feet that had already grown red with exertion. The shoes were hopeless. Looking up again, she found the gaze of her step-sister who gave her more than enough glares before sweeping off arm-in-arm with her mother to begin the charade. Cerelia swallowed tightly and pinched the bridge of her nose before looking over at her brothers who stood rigidly either side of their father.

The Avery girl found herself looking around again but this time for a family that was more familiar to her, at times, than her own. She searched the room fruitlessly; it felt, for a flash of familiar dark hair or the Irish jingle of laughter that seemed to float behind any and every Rookwood. She thought for a moment that she heard the London twang of Athena Rookwood but again, it was fruitless and Cerelia began to wonder whether she’d heard completely wrong. Athena had every and any accent, though. The Goyles weren’t exactly famed for their roots.

Rising from her seat, Cerelia strode past her brothers who balked at the sight of their sister going off without them and she threw a smile over her shoulder before turning back around and moving through the crowd, determined that she would find Katarina before the proceedings began. She couldn’t put up with the farce without her.

Wally would have fought her parents harder, but her mother was being absolutely horrendous and the Ravenclaw girl was already a tad worried that her parents might find out about her 'career.' She thought it best to lay low for a few months - after all, she had spent her first thirteen years of her life complaining - so if things became public, she had a good record before her to curb a punishment.

Fortunately, she was young enough to weasel out of the whole debutante thing. That had been a feat in itself, too. Her mother, though halfblood, had been raised almost solely by her pureblood mother, and her pureblood stepfather. So, though not pureblood by blood, Phyllis Matthews had been raised as a pureblood. And she had intended to raise her children similarly. Larko and Elise had come about perfectly - it was Wally that Phyllis couldn't properly mold.

Her mother, though strict on the pureblood upbringing, was also a great champion for propriety. She thought it was a bit presumptuous to introduce a girl of fourteen to society, and Wally had quickly agreed. So she was allowed to get away with wearing a simpler dress and was able to avoid the large group of sexually charged teenagers ogling each other.

Even if she had no intention to dance or socialize, she did have one goal in mind. Inside her small little bag was a nice little stash of the drugs she was meant to be dealing. If she had to be here, she thought it was best to expand the empire. Her brother and sister moved towards the throng of people, both being introduced to society themselves. She, however, found it more prudent to seek a source of drink.

"Why?" the question had been muttered under her breath many times as she had gotten ready for the first ball of the pure blood social season. And, once again Cecilia murmured it to herself as she stepped into the great ball room which resided in the ministry. Looking timid and shy Cecilia looked around the room not sure what to do. Spotting her brother she moved away from where he stood and over towards one of the many round tables that circled the dance floor.
Cec had no desire to find a husband while here and was sure none of the teen aged boys would find any interest in her if she were. So she had come to the decision of putting on a simple dress in a pinkish-orange color with simple accessories and the one thing she regretted most out of the whole thing, a simple pair of slip on heeled sandals. Unfortunately the Dress drew even more attention to her large midsection making her feel rather uncomfortable.

"Stupid bowtie.."

Pulling at his collar to loosen the bowtie around his neck, Kaiden Poliakoff walked into the ballroom within the Ministry of Magic, accompanied his his younger sister who had grabbed onto his arm rather tightly. She was nervous, he could tell, and in all honest he was a tad bit nervous himself. It wasn't like he'd never been to a gathering like this, same goes for his sister, but the two of them were rather nervous for some reason.

Of course being the type of person he was, Kaiden refused to show his nervousness at all and he walked in with his sister calmly. He pried her hand open ans removed his arm from her grip, rubbing it a bit as the pain from her grip finally set in completely. She was pretty strong.. he shook his head and told her to sit down before walking off, wanting to see who he could find. Maybe he should look for Andrei, he was really the only one he got along with. Or Audrey. One or the other was fine.

His sister watched him as he disappeared among the people who were there and those who were arriving. Kaiden felt a little bad for leaving her on her own there, but he wasn't going to stick around her the entire time. Besides once she found her friends, she would be fine. It happened every time. Once he found Andrei or Audrey, he would be fine too. He just felt a bit odd being there right now, without anyone he knew. Well.. anyone he actually liked.

If there was one thing that confused Keith more than anything about Magical Britain, it was the obsession with Blood Purity.

In America, it was much simpler - you just had to be white-looking, and also straight, and you were pretty much in the clear. But over in Britain, you had everyone scrutinizing your family history the second you walked through a door, which in Keith's mind wasn't too bad, per se, but could be incredibly trying to one's patience.

Keith wasn't exactly "Pure-blood" in the sense that it was meant when many people thought about it. Though all four of his grandparents had been magical, none of them had been Pure-blood - three were muggleborn and one was half-blood - meaning he and his sister were currently the only ones of the Nicholas family line to be Pure-blood. And with his dearest sister currently attending school in France (shudder), it was up to him to represent the "long" and "noble" Nicholas line at this ball thing.

Keith hated fancy dances. The clothes by themselves were enough to send him into almost incoherent fits of rage, and he tugged awkwardly at the starchy white shirt as his eyes darted back and forth amongst the various throngs of people gathered.

"And pregnancy rears its ugly head," he muttered to himself as he passed Cecilia Krum. Note to self, never be a father.

"Hey Wally," he said, sliding up next to his best Australian friend. "You're stuck here too, I guess."

The sad part was, there were a ton of secret reasons Penny might have enjoyed this ball, and a million other realities that destroyed all potential for a good time. On the plus side, any time she was given an opportunity to dress nicely, she anticipated the pre-show shopping spree, and the girl time spent with Audrey to prepare. She liked wearing expensive fashion. And there was always the potential for meeting a nice boy - that could not be exluded.

But then for the list of negatives : she always felt fat in whichever outfit she picked ; she was always self conscious while dancing ; she was always afraid she wouldn't know anyone ; she had to wear white, deeming her someone to be watched ; she hated being watched ; she was supposed to look for potential husband tonight ; she was terrified of marriage ; she was in a room of people who violently believed in something she quietly repressed ; and did she mention she was afraid her arse looked big?

So, by the time she arrived, she was a bumbling mess. In the arrival sequence, she somehow found Shadow separated from her mother, father, and herself, leaving her to arrive alone between the impressive figures of her stoic parents. She attempted to fit in the picture, raising her chin and squaring her shoulders - but some young man looked up at her and the illusion dissolved as her chin dropped and her shoulders collapsed and her cheeks burned red.

Just don't trip, just don't trip...

outfit

Wally had been sure the evening would be spent in solitude. The odd thing was, that had almost bothered her. Before she had returned to Australia, she had sought out solitude as often as possible. But once there, she had a mission to do - spreading Keith's creations as far and wide as possible. The girl had become accustomed to company and had been sure nothing would change on returning to Hogwarts.

It had, though. Her return, though initially surprising for those who knew her, had been quiet. People had assumed the only changes had been on the outside and she had been left alone. What would have once been a relief was now a disappointment. Even Eva, her dormmate who had always been intent on getting her to open up, had decided against her social conquest. Wally's months back in Hogwarts had been incredibly lonely.

So, to say the least, she was surprised to see the approach of the one person she had best been able to consider a friend before she had left. Before, he would have teased her for her attire. However, now that it was finally befitting of her, she supposed he would be too embarrassed to look for something to tease - which was a bit of a shame, really.

"Hello, Keith," she said. "Yes, only by force could I be dragged her, and my mum had plenty of that." She smiled. "I'm very good at finding practical reasons to be anywhere, though. I thought it would be nice to sweeten this ordeal."

For some inexplicable reasons, Andrei still hated wearing a tie and formal attire. One would think that by time he would get use to these things, but that wasn't the case here. He shuffled uncomfortably in his clothing as he felt every inch of the fabric was restricting any natural movement possible. And what was it all for? So he could stand in place and watch awkward debutantes flock the room. He might as well be suffocated by a pillow in the process, to add to the whole festive atmosphere in the room. No one wanted to be here, that much was clear. And yet ironically, everyone was here. He scanned the room quickly and found many familiar faces, although not one he would actually want to talk to.

He was here mainly to accompany his sister, who was a debutante, a tittle that she had not accepted very eagerly. He could already imagine her pulling on the large white frock that was supposed to look like a appropriate dress, in shoes she wouldn't be caught dead in. His sister owned quite a collection of heels which she loved to wear and show off. None of those however would be appropriate for this occasion. Instead, their mother had insisted on a dull and simple colored shoes, which were probably too boring for Liesl's taste. On that note, she was supposed to be here already. Merlin only knew were that girl was.

He caught a glance of Kaiden in the corner of his eye, standing around a group of people on the other side of the room. With a grin, he walked towards him, glad that he at least had some decent company in this mad house. "Boy am I glad to see you", he said with a chuckle as he stood next to the boy. "These events just get more and more amusing. I guess I'm supposed to pick a wife now. Perhaps if they all stand in line it would be a lot easier", Andrei said with a teasing grin and a muffled laugh. He always found the whole pureblood marriage idea ridiculous, but he did want to get his parents off his back. Doubtful that he would be one of those people rebelliously in love enough to marry a mugged born or any girl in fact, he had other plans. Marriage just wasn't very high on the list of his priorities.

"I'd say pick a quiet one. Silence is marriage's best friend", he said turning back to Kaiden and patting him on the back. "So how did they drag you here? I was blackmailed and manipulated into going. You would be surprised how good my mother is at arguing her point across. And at realizing the value a little bonus money has on the whole deal."

Jude felt at ease in these situations. He was in his home turf, he was looking incredibly good, and he was surrounded by beautiful women who were looking at him as a potential suitor. Sure, he was not exactly keen on the idea of marriage, preferring loose relationships, but soon he would no longer have the excuse of building a career to keep him from marrying. And these women were young, vivacious, and beautiful. He was looking forward to meeting the one that could properly tame him.

He was dressed to impress, with a strict adherence to the dress coder that showed his affinity to stick to policy. A lily had been pinned to his lapel to advertise himself as a potential suitor and he looked slick in the black tuxedo, his white bowtie perfectly straight. He found his way towards the front, nearby all the other Ministry officials. He approached Elijah Krum, holding a hand out for a shake. "It turned out magnificently, mate. it'll be a great night." He smiled at him.

He was going to have to begin his search for Cerelia soon, but he thought it best to allow her to find him. Besides, he wanted to establish a presence so as to give himself a proper alibi if needed.