Re: MASS THREAD: The Débutante Ball

[Kaiden Poliakoff]

"Good to see you're here too Andrei."

Kaiden turned his attention toward the other Slytherin boy as he approached and started talking about finding a wife. Kaiden felt himself wince a bit and he wrinkled his nose slightly. He'd almost forgotten about that. Taking a glance around at the debutantes around the room - and the other girls too - he shrugged and chuckled.

"Women are fickle. I really don't even want to choose a wife. All they do is complain about something."

Typical thing for him to say but there was one girl who had caught his eye. Not that he would mention anything though. The boy tugged at his collar again and sighed. Howbhe hated these stupid clothes. Only a few hours, if he could just make it through the few hours he had to spend there he would be free and he could change into whatever he pleased. Not that it would make much difference at that point.

"Oh you know. Clara and mum. They got better at blackmailing. Especially Clara, who knew a Hufflepuff could be so good at something like that?"

The sixteen year old ran his hand through his hair, moving his bangs to the side and sighed. He hated that his sister had gotten so good at blackmailing him. Either way he would've had to come because it was expected of him. Being a Pureblood and all was a pain, sometimes he wondered what would've happened if his family hadn't been a pureblood family. But it was a horrible thought if he thought about it too much.

He glanced around again and his gaze fell on a girl not far away from the two of them. He recognized her and a smirk crossed his lips. He put his hand on Andrei's shoulder and turned him in the direction of the girl, who had a white dress on. So she was a debutante? That should be fun.

"Isn't that the Gryffindor d'Eath girl? Must be horrible to be pretty much the only Gryffindor in her family and she's a debutante this year too."

He smirked as the girl made her way toward a table, she sat down and Kaiden looked at Andrei with an eyebrow raised.

[Liesl Dolohov]

Liesl could not believe her insane mother wanted her to debut this year. She was only fourteen for Merlin's sake. Her family was impoverished, her father couldn't show his face in this building and she didn't exactly know how arranged marriages worked these days but she certainly hoped dowries weren't involved any more.

Fortunately, her dress was not totally awful. Apparently, Daddy had not completely forgotten about his little girl and she would probably be the only débutante wearing a dress adorned with stolen Belgian lace.

Her shoes, on the other hand, really were disgusting. Liesl's shoes were her one indulgence. She had them in a whole rainbow of styles and colours. Every colour except white. So of course her mother had gone and bought her a pair of dull white slippers. They looked like ballet shoes. Not even a tiny heel and now Liesl was forced to enter the Ball looking and feeling even shorter than she normally did.

Ah, there was Penny Mcnair blushing furiously. Liesl didn't know why, it wasn't like her parents were penniless. But still, it would make her look better by comparison.

"Hey Penny," she said, sweeping over.

It was really the only way to walk in these long dresses.

[Destrey Ashcroft]

Marriage. It was not a position to which Destrey aspired.

She'd been somewhat shocked to hear her parents had other opinions, actually. Well, it was mostly her father, but that was not surprising, since her father was to blame for most of her screwed up life. Mother, however, had been surprisingly enthusiastic about the whole idea.

For once in her life, Destrey was worried.

However, those worries had been pushed to the back of her mind among the flurry of shopping that had happened in the weeks leading up to the Deb Ball. She had dragged Shylock out to hold bags and give opinions and had eventually settled on a cream linen ruffled skirt affair with corset and slashed sleeves that showed just a hint of green, for house pride. Never mind that this was what mummy and daddy wanted, Destrey was going to be the most prettiest girl at the party, okay?

She entered the affair on her older brother's arm. Monroe was considered the steady one in the family and it would make her look good to be seen next to him for once.

[Elijah Krum]

There had been a secret worry that Elijah had harboured and he had found himself wondering whether the event would go down well at all but at the sight of witches and wizards of all ages in their finery, all of his fears were laid to rest and Elijah began to relax, busying himself with greeting those that had ventured up to the upper balcony to meet him.

When the undersecretary made it, Elijah shook his hand firmly and smiled an expression of utter relief at the other man. At least now, with Jude there, Elijah would have less of a clamour for conversation and he could actually focus on opening the evening.

“Merlin, I hope so.” Elijah told the other man with a rueful smile before bringing his hands to the front of his suit. After straightening his clothes, Elijah made his way back to the balcony and raised his eyebrows at Jude briefly, muttering “wish me luck” under his breath before gripping the balcony railing.

Removing his wand from his pocket, Elijah shot a beam of bright light over the heads of the people. The light exploded into a firework of multiple colours and lingered in the air before eventually fizzling out. Elijah allowed a small smile to take his lips upwards and he cleared his throat and brought his wand to his throat, using a spell to increase the volume of his voice.

“Good Evening ladies and gentlemen!” He announced himself. “I would like to take this opportunity to welcome you all to the Debutante ball that has been, since the very beginning, the event that has marked the start of the Wizarding social season and this year is no exception!” Elijah paused as people tittered and he swallowed briefly before continuing. “I shall make this brief,” He smirked. “Because I know you’re all eager to begin. On behalf of the Ministry of Magic, I, Elijah Krum, hereby officially open the Wizarding Social Season of 2026.”

Elijah brought his wand from his neck and tossed another ball of light. The light connected with the chandelier and the candles were lit with a rather over the top burst of flame. The band below started up immediately and Elijah smiled, opening up his arms and gesturing for the ball to begin. He gave a quick applause and moved from the balcony edge.

Finding Jude again, Elijah seized the man’s upper arm and brought his lips close to Jude’s ear. “The Averys have arrived. I suggest you go and find the girl. Do be quick about it, Shaw. A lot rides on your success.” Elijah made to move away but rethought it and looked at Jude seriously. “If anything happens to her, I will hold you personally responsible – are we clear? And believe me, I am the least of your worries.”

That said, Elijah left Jude’s side and continued to greet people as he descended the staircase which took him down into the main ballroom where he himself was in search of someone: Katarina.

[Monroe Ashcroft]

As they walked into the ballroom, one of his arms was looped through Destrey's. There was a pause while the Deputy Minister opened the ball and Monroe reached across with his free hand to grip her forearm tightly. If his sister was going to make a scene, now was her opportunity.

However Destrey was suspiciously compliant this evening. A glare from beneath magically extended eyelashes was the only response he got.

"Whatever you're planning, don't," he warned her through smiling teeth as he steered her onto the dancefloor, "or I'll make sure father finds the perfect match for you."

[Shadow Macnair]

Ok... Shadow didn't hate that she was here, she loved balls she just hated that she was here on her parents account. Now here she was in a elegant white dress that her mother picked out for her. It was a very beautiful dress but it didn't fit Shadow, it was to white and pure. Shadow sure wasn't no angel, she was rebellious and had a bit of wild side to her and was a troublemaker. But now she had to put that part of her to the side and act matute for her parents sake.

Strolling into the room Shadow realized that she probably didn't look like her normal self, her mother made sure of that. Her mother wanted her to look as angel like as possible but Shadow simply hated it. "It makes you look so beautiful Shadow and guys love that!"her mother quoted simply when was doing her hair and make-up. Shadow simply wanted to do it herself but her mother stated that she was doing it as she did Penny's as well. Now she was in a elegant white dress with diamonds on it with her white cloak over it. Her hair was pulled back in a nice bun with little curly bangs framing her face. Her make-up was light and angel like but alittle dark around her eyes to make them stand out she was wearing white gloves and pearl necklace with matching earrings.

Walking around Shadow looked and smiled when she saw a very familiar face in the crowd. Walking over towards him she smirked at hm. "Well... well... look who cleaned up nicely!"said Shadow laughing. Her and Andrei crack up all the time on how they look, but he honestly did look different to her. Turning to see Kaiden she smiled at him. "Hello Kaiden, fancy seeing you here I thought these types of balls weren't your thing?"Shadow asked him smirking.

Shadow's look

[Cosmo Barbary]

Penny finally managed to get out of the entrance flow, where women swirled in, proud to be noticed, and men looked around as impressively as they could. Her parents spoke in hushed tones as they commented on who had arrived as they suspected and those who had surprisingly arrived despite their obvious family shame. Penny tried to seem at ease in such a conversation, but she simply could not.

They paused as they reached the main congregational area. Vivienne Macnair turned to her daughter and said, "We're going to join the other adults. Enjoy your night, do not do anything foolish, and please watch your sister, make sure we're not embarrassed. This is one of the most important nights of your life - try not to make us worried."

With that terrifying expression left to their daughter, the Macnairs swept away. She remained rooted to the spot, staring forward with anxiety. A voice roused her and she turned jerkily, facing the leader of the Dark Followers. "Good evening, Liesl. How are you tonight?" she asked faintly.

[Liesl Dolohov]

Penny did not look happy to be here. Then again, Penny hadn't been looking happy a lot lately. Maybe someone had died.

"Perfect," Liesl sighed happily in reply to the girl's perfunctory question.

"See this?" she plucked at the lace on the bodice of her gown.

"Don't tell anyone, but my father stole it especially so my dress would be unique," she shared in lowered tones. "Isn't that absolutely brilliant?"

She sighed again, this time more wearily, and suddenly her face morphed into a look of mock concern.

"Are you okay, Penny? You haven't been yourself lately. It worries me."

[Cosmo Barbary]

Penny looked about, and a waiter walked by, holding a small tray of tall champagne glasses. Penny stood on her tiptoes and snagged a glass, taking a quick little sip of the drink to steady her nerves.

Liesl drew her attention to the stolen lace and Penny stared in confusion, honestly have nothing to say in response. "Um.... yes, that's really interesting."

Liesl asked a more personal question and Penny swallowed in surprise. "Wha- I'm fine. There's just... a lot of... of people here. I feel a bit... er, faint."

[Oliver Olawale]

Elijah took his hand, expressing the stress he had surely had over the entire organisation of this event. From what Jude had heard, Elijah had taken a lot of the responsibility of this event on his own shoulders. Naturally, the rest of Ministerial team had handled tons of paperwork over the whole thing, but Elijah had handled most of the real management issues surrounding the ball.

"It'll be great. You have an easy crowd," Jude said. Elijah scampered off to make his announcement, and Jude gave him an easy going thumbs up and smile. Jude liked Elijah. They were similar, and Elijah didn't seem to be a threat, simply because he did not want to be. Jude found a tall glass of champagne and held it aloft.

Elijah approached Jude afterwards and assured him that now was the time to seek out Cerelia. A bit surprised at Elijah's involvement, Jude rallied an expression of assuredness, downed the drink, and set the glass down. He smiled at Elijah and made his way through the crowd.

He found Cerelia, but he made no move to approach her. He paused, remaining at a distance, but keeping his eyes on her, ready to make eye contact with her to signal their departure.