[OPEN/MASS THREAD] Valentine's Day Party

[Julian Kapur]

It had been half an hour

and no one had shown up.

Julian sat slumped in a chair in the room of requirement, music playing from an old record player. The room had all the trappings of a party but absolutely none of the people. He had tried the "keep it small" trick, telling only a few people about the party and hoping it would spread. Apparently, he had divulged the secret to Hogwart's best secret keepers.

He sighed, deciding to give up and stood, crossing for the door. As he reached out, the door swung open, revealing the infamous pair of Margo Richards and Molly Weasley. "Julie!" Margo squealed, throwing her arms around him and pulling him into a hug - let's be real, he needed that. He managed a muffled greeting to the girls when Margo gasped, pushing him away and saying, "Where is everybody?! Did they cancel?"

"No, I-"

"Did you change the time?"

"Thing is-"

"Is there another room-"

"Margo." It was Molly's quiet voice that finally made Margo realize what the deal was. She took in the party and then squared her shoulders.

"No matter. Molly, you-"

"Got it. Out."

Margo grinned and turned, grabbing Julian's hand and dragging him out. "Look. Go. Change into a black button up, black trousers... You got a bow tie?"

"Aren't bow ties lame?"

"Not on you, it'd be endearing. Red bow tie, red sneakers. You'll be a picture. I'll go stir up trouble with my people, you announce that Molly's got some stuff in the Room of Requirement, and make sure you emphasize stuff. People will follow." He opened his mouth and she answered, "Molly's giving the room a makeover. It'll look awesome. Okay, go!"

Half an hour later, Julian had dressed as Margo commanded and made his announcement. To his surprise, the common room burst into a mess of excitement. Peter asked Julian to wait up, but Julian trusted his instinct and called out, "Can't! Ladies are waiting."

When he slipped into the Room of Requirement, he was shocked at the transformation. It had a home-y look, with couches and beanbags littering the room, and a table full of snacks and bottles of alcohol. Molly was smoking in the corner, talking to someone in her house, and Margo abandoned a pair of Hufflepuffs to drag Julian in. "You look precious! I mean, manly. Very manly. Look, Molly and I were able to collect some drinks, get some food, and she totally made over the vibe. There's a closet for whatever," she said, giving a devious look, "and we'll start drinking games if people get bored.

Julian mouthed in shock before finally croaking, "Blimey, Margo! This is... I mean, it's... It's an actual party."

Margo smiled a sugary smile. "It's what I do."

((Sorry for the wall of text. Your character can either show up or already be there. It's just getting into full swing and you bet the girls anticipated your character's every hedonistic need. Go wild!))

[Clair Sauvage]

"Oh my god."

Clair gazed around the Room of Requirement in disbelieving awe. Just when he thought this school couldn't get any worse, someone proved him wrong.

"This place looks like it's straight from the nineties," he continued, looking both amused and horrified at once.

He could see what they were going for. Tryna make it look romantic and not romantic at the same time. So now the place looked like an end of year party at someone's house. Which was, like, totally acceptable when you weren't in the Room of Requirement. You could ask the Room for anything you wanted, though. They could have asked it for dark corners and a disco ball, a dance floor and some heavy beats. Clair totally would have.

[Margo P. Richards]

Margo heard what sounded like a disapproving voice, which just wouldn't do. She turned abandoning Julian as her eyes fell on Clair. A smirk flickered onto her lips and she reached out, grabbing two cups before heading over towards the other Ravenclaw.

"It's vintage," Margo corrected, quirking an eyebrow. "Here. You like rum, don't you?"

She lifted her own cup to her lips and took a deep drink. After all these arrangements, she figured she deserved a drink more than most of the people around her. She glanced at Clair in her peripheral. She had always drawn a parallel between him and Molly, both with their grunge-punk aesthetic. She doubted either would be keen on the comparison.

She tilted her head and glanced over at him. "No date then?"

***

[Cassiopeia Cheshire]

Cassiopeia did hear somewhere that there was a party for Valentine's Day. To be honest she wasn't that much of excited about this party but same time she decided to go and check it out. Seemed like a good idea to do.

She had even put on red dress and well some other matching things with it. She didn't really plan to stick around very long time but you never know things might changes.

She soon arrived at the Room of Requirments. She walked in there and looked around a bit there. It seemed actually better than she imagined. "Hey," she said simply to everyone who was there basically. She saw there was alcohol too, she really wasn't sure if she should drink it but same time it would be more fun with it.

[McKinley Westbrook]

When word got out about a Valentine's Day party going on, McKinley couldn't help but groan. She knew that she would need to go if she wanted to keep up on the latest gossip and maintain a healthy social life, but she considered most of the parties thrown at Hogwarts to be childish and lame. They were nothing like the fancy galas she was used to attending with her parents, and they were mostly filled with loud, and often times vomiting, teenagers.

Reluctantly, McKinley slipped into her sky blue dress and made her way up to the Seventh Floor. After what seemed like seven minutes of walking (seriously, why did the seventh floor have to be so far from the dungeons?!), McKinley at last arrived at the entrance to the Room of Requirement. She took a deep breath and pushed the iron door open. She had only barely made it inside when she gasped in surprise.

The room was littered with couches and beanbags, and the whole setup looked like it may have been decorated by an imp. The tables were disgustingly tacky and contained bottles of well liquor that McKinley's father wouldn't even feed the dogs with. Of course she wasn't expecting diamond-encrusted champagne glasses, but she certainly wasn't expecting this.

Still wanting to make a good impression, however, McKinley quickly pushed away her disgust and plastered a huge smile on her face instead. "Oh, this looks marvelous!" she gestured towards the bean bags with a squeal. "It's so quaint and charming! Who put it all together?!" She glanced around expectantly between the older students.

[Anabelle Mulciber]

Parties sooooo weren't her thing. Not at all, nope.

Yet.. here she was. But it was all a certain Freyja Podmore's fault for her being there. Freyja had gotten wind of the party quickly and was determined to go (and take Hit with her). It went without saying that Hit felt awkward since it wasn't her scene at all. She could barely make conversation with people as it was, what was she supposed to do at a party where conversation and hanging out were big things?

She sighed, running a hand through her loose hair, throwing it back over her shoulder. Freyja had already been making herself basically at home, talking to any and everyone that appeared near her. It was typical of Freyja though, to be that open toward other people. Hit admired that.

Not that she'd ever admit it.

"Are the boys coming?" Hit asked Freyja, her eyes darting around the room for any sign of their twin friends.

"Dunno, Cronis said he'd probably show up. No clue in what Evander's planning, though." Freyja responded with a shrug. Another sigh escaped Hit's lips, she'd have much preferred seeing Evander than Cronis.

Just as she was about to ask her friend something else, the girl's attention was drawn away by the entry of Julian Kapur. Freyja grinned and walked away, leaving a slightly frustrated Hit by herself.

"Oi, Kapur! Nice party you got going on. Didn't know you had it in ya!" Freyja teased the boy, clapping a hand on his back.

*

[Apollo Zabini]

Surprisingly, perhaps, the Zabini twins did acthally arrive together. Christian had been more uninterested than his brother, but Apollo had made his goal for the evening blatant. First, he had to make sure the rumors about him went away. He was just sick of dealing with his classmates. But more than that, he had walked into the Room of Requirement with an aim to get a bit of revenge on a certain student. And Christian wouldn't get in the way of that.

So although they walked in together, Apollo immediately sought out Molly and crossed the room to see her. He didn't mind the smoke, but he merely lifted his arm to set it on the shoulder closest to him. "Hello, darling," he greeted as he leaned towards her. A slow, casual smile lifted his lips as he looked over at her housemate as well. But he was curious. "You or Margo?" He asked, gesturing towards the gawky room.

Christian, however, was trying to find someone he knew besides Julian. As much as Christian had always stuck up for her Gryffindor, nothing had been more offensive than the conversation during the study session a while back. It wasn't all Julian's fault, but it was nice to finally know the truth: that people just didn't appreciate those who did things for them.

Christian didn't need them to appreciate him. Eventually they would recognize that he was helping the most bull-headed Hufflepuff in ages, and if they didn't appreciate him for trying and for being 'good,' then they would appreciate her for all she was doing. Where was Ace, anyway? Perhaps he would look for Charlotte or Nicole. The second year wasn't likely to show up or even to have heard of something like this, but it was early yet.

So Apollo called a drink to him as Christian peered curiously at the food to try and decide if he trusted it.

[Clair Sauvage]

"And tonight we're gonna party like it's nineteen ninety eight?" Clair suggested.

Was Margo a pureblood? He didn't know. Even if she wasn't, she probably wouldn't get that joke. She wasn't the brightest wand in the box.

Rum. Gross. But then, that was why it was here. It was probably the cheapest stuff they could get. People like Margo and her friends went for quantity, not quality.

For a few moments there was silence, at least in their conversation. The party itself was getting louder as more people crowded into the room. Clair watched Freyja Podmore skip towards Julian.

"Don't be stupid," he snorted. "Dating's not my deal."

[Molly Weasley]

Molly really hadn't been in the mood for a party.

Which, considering her history, was a bit of a plot twist. Few had noticed the subtle shifts in the Weasley girl's personality over the year, with only Margo making any sort of mention - which showed just how few people Molly had actually extended herself toward, seeing as Margo was one of the most unobservant people she knew. She would have preferred to stay in, to catch up on Potions, to get drunk and party on her own terms, rather than at the juvenile and (frankly) innocent levels of her classmates.

But Margo wanted to do something fun, and Molly owed her one.

So she had recreated Jamie's basement out of laziness, figuring they had just as much fun there as they could here. It required people to get creative, to fill the gaps.

And if they didn't, cool. An early night for her.  

Derek was boring but he was good enough company until someone more interesting came along. Or so she had thought. But he was regaling her with stats of his favorite Holyhead Harpy, the second-string Beater, which was an absolute shame because she was the best chance that team had-

Oh god.

Apollo arrived just in time. He had barely asked his question before she pulled on an insincere and almost devious smile for Derek, saying, "Sorry, Derek, Zabini owes me a drink." She caught Apollo's elbow and turned him around, walking towards a nearby table with drinks, her smile gone and the cigarette quickly abandoned in a nearby ash tray. "I did it. Molly wanted a party vibe. Last party I was at was in a basement." She reached the table and began pouring some vodka into cups - it was that rotten, cheap vodka, but it'd do the trick. "Planning on getting into trouble tonight?" she said, her eyes lifting briefly to his, a knowing glint behind them.

**

[Clytemnestra Lux]

Thank Merlin she'd never been made a prefect. Clytemnestra had been a little anxious that Professor Thorfinn might send her that badge ever since that meeting last year, since it was obvious that she was the only Slytherin Senior Student with a functioning mind. But, he hadn't.

Maybe he'd realised her talents were more useful elsewhere. Like in mentoring his brother. Not that Thorfinn had asked her to do that. It was just the obvious course of action, to anyone with a functioning brain.

Right now, Baby Thorfinn was tucked up in his bed, or so Clytemnestra assumed. She didn't care whether he was actually asleep or having a party of his own with his dorm mates, so long as he didn't show his face at this party.

Across the room, Apollo was trying to chat up Molly. Clytemnestra rolled her eyes but made her way towards the other twin.

"Your brother sure has a thing for those Weasley girls," she said.

sopretty