The Yule Ball

[This is a mass thread. The purpose of a mass thread is to allow everyone to post in a single topic. However, you are free to create your own topic if you would like to.

The Yule Ball is held in the Great Hall

Graduates and ghosts can attend.]

This…was…the…worst…idea…ever!

Amelia’s thoughts coincided with each time she attempted to reach for the zipper on the back of her dress, each word growing more and more tense as her attempts grew more and more futile. She had already been working on getting ready far longer than she would on any other day, and this was just getting downright ridiculous.

The dress had been her mother’s idea. She had wanted to just pick something out from the numerous gowns she already owned – her parents’ parties and ministry events were often black tie affairs – but her mother never missed an opportunity to shop. Amelia had wanted to go a more practical route, not seeing what all the fuss was about – it is just a ball, afterall – but instead she had spent the better part of an entire weekend being hauled to every fashion house in London.

“Try this one, try this one,” her mother had crooned her fingers whipping through racks upon racks of silk, chiffon, and taffeta. She moved at an inhuman speed, which matched the inhumane number of hours she was forcing Amelia to endure this. If Amelia had had her druthers, the first dress she tried on would have been the last, but Antoinette was having none of it. Instead, she was piling Anton’s arms with long gowns. Her mother’s “enforcer” – which was what he was, though Antoinette insisted on calling him a courier – was the only person in the boutique who had looked more uncomfortable than Amelia herself.

After several days and several thousand dresses, her mother was still not satisfied and had called in a seamstress from one of the most elite fashion houses to design a dress specifically for the occasion. Although she would have liked to have argued about this obnoxiously uncalled for action, Amelia knew there was no point. And thus she had been measured, fitted, corseted, and coerced into the dress of her mother’s dreams, which was now stubbornly avoiding her attempts to get it zipped up all the way.

Who puts zippers on the backs of dresses anyway? Amelia thought, frustrated. She had already attempted to zip it with magic, but her aim was not as good when she couldn’t see her target. Now she was trying to reach her fingers to the tiny gold zipper, cursing under her breath, thankful that her roommates had already left for the ball and thus were not here to witness her struggle.

Got it! Amelia exclaimed mentally as her fingers closed around the tiny metal rectangle and the zipper closed the dress around her. The gown fit like a glove – her mother had explicitly warned her not to gain a single pound before the ball – and Amelia turned to look at herself in the mirror. Although she hated to admit it, her mother hadn’t done half bad. The gown fit her in all the right places, the accents of silk over chiffon giving a nice effect. The color was nearly the same as that of her pale skin – something her mother had called “champagne”. Although still not worth the trial it had taken to get it, Amelia did think she looked better than she could ever remember.

Checking one last time that she hadn’t forgotten any of the accessories her mother had also supplied, Amelia hastily slipped on her gold heels and made her way down the spiral staircase from the girls dormitory. She received wolf whistles from some first years in the common room, their giggling left behind as she awkwardly crawled through the tunnel which would lead to the main corridor. The rest of the trip to the great hall was uneventful, and she soon found herself just outside the doors to what she knew would be an elaborately decorated scene.

Breathe. You will be fine. It is just a dance.

Reassured, Amelia took the last few steps and turned into the great hall. The room was spectacularly lit with candles everywhere, somehow supplying enough light to make everything in the room shine. The house tables had been replaced by small, round tables meant for four to six students, draped in gold and cream table clothes. Atop the tables were more candles in crystal bowls, floating on top of water with gold flecks in it.

Elijah had told her he would meet her here, but Amelia was still just a bit worried that he would have changed his mind by now. She hadn’t spoken to him since last week in the room of requirement, an evening she was still unable to explain fully to herself. She moved to the right of the doors to allow the other arriving guests to step into the great hall, looking around for the Slytherin boy who was to be her escort for the evening.

((OOC: Sorry for the extremely long post to anyone who is annoyed by it. If you want to see what her dress looks like, it is partially shown in the signature and the full picture is in the spoiler beneath it.))

Rosalie sat in front of the mirror gazing at herself. She refuse to put her dress on until her hair and makeup where absolutely ready. She thought about doing the dark eye liner around her eyes, No Rose, that's in the past. This is the new you. She threw the eyeliner away, then gazed at her dress hanging over the bed. She remember the day she got it. It was with Julia. They went shopping together at Diagon Alley. Julia told her that the dress made her look like a princess. "The Princcess of Malfoy Manor." Rosalie smiled. To her the dress reminded her of her mother's wedding gown. She had seen it many pictures.

"I remember that day like it was yesterday. Your mother looked as if she was an angel that came out of the sky. She was perfect. And you my Rose, will be just as beautiful just as perfect."

Her father's words gave her a warm feeling. She then went back to focusing on her hair. There were many ways she thought about wearing it.There were many choices. Up, down, to the side, straight, curly, twist, pinned, teased. Rosalie just decided to do a simple up do. To make it more interesting, she decided to put a feather on the side. Which hopefully make her stand out. She came to a point in her life where she was tierd of being in the background she wanted more people to notice her. Obviously she enjoyed having some attention. She didn't want to be
known as just the girl whos awkward and loves quidditch for a passion.

She gazed at her quidditch book. She laughed. This was a night where the book wouldn't be attached to her hipped. She would have to let it go...for tonight. Then her make up was an issue. She hoped that Julia would help her out but from the look of it, She seemed to be worrying about her appearance too. She decided to just go natural. She then put her dress on. She gazed at herself in the mirror. A different person was looking back at her. It wasn't the same girl that she knew yesterday or the day before. It was someone Rosalie have been wanting to get to know for a long time.

"Your Beautiful Rosalie." a voice appeared in her head. With the memory of her flying on a broom, under the lake. Someone that she had embraced... She quickly flushed it out of her head. She grabbed a red lipstick applying it to her lips. The color reminding her of a Rose.

When she was finally ready. She decided to leave the room. She can hear the music in the distance. She could hear people talking saying , "oh wow your dress looks amazing!' and "Man I this tux makes me look like a-" ending with a word that they didn't have to say.
She breathed in heavily, then walked down the stairs. She couldn't find anyone she knew. She noticed a girl standing by the door. Rosalie remained standing by the stairs.

Spoiler:

Christabelle finished getting her hair and make-up ready for the yule ball. Having never really been a fan of make-up and preferring the look she had been given she opted for as little as possible which was better than most girls would have done. The only thing she had on like that would be eyeliner, mascara and lip gloss. Her hair pulled back in what appeared to be a messy yet classy bun.

Her dress was a deep navy blue with spaghetti straps. She had found it on short notice in her closet at home and thought it would be appropriate for the ball. She stood up from her seat and made her way down to the great hall. There she would wait for her date to arrive before entering.

Spoiler:

Haley sighed, she still had no happy thoughts about dancing, but she was excited to see Hafiz. She had gone shopping with Aminia, she had the hardest time picking out an outfit that she liked, they were either too girly or too blah, while Ami had found the perfect dress. She thought she would have to settle with one of the dull ones, until she found the parcel laying on her bed, her mom sent her a dress that she absolutely adored

She wasn't ready to get dresses ust yet, she had just finished her make up to her likings, her hair was done up, and now she was putting her jewelery on, her diamond earrings were her mothers, the one's she had worn on her wedding day, Haley had loved them, and wanted to wear them one of the times she had to dress up. Her snake ring was the one she got her first year, when her parents found out she would be in slytherin, and her necklace was not of any importance, just one she favored because it was her birth stone.

She sighed again and walked over to her dress, it was dark green, strapless, and just ended at the knees. Haley checked in the full length mirror after putting her shoes and dress on, one last time to make sure she liked what she saw, then she walked down to the common room, unsure to where to meet Hafiz.

Della stared at herself in the mirror as she looked over herself, making sure she was ready for the ball. Her dress was burnt orange color that split at the thigh to show the aqua colored materiel underneath, both rippling down into a train; an attached belt of silver fabric and sequins hugged the top of her hips. Her eyes traveled down from her dress to her feet, which were in the fourth of ballet feet positions. A small smile crossed her face; she hadn't even realized she had been standing that way. Pushing that aside, she examined her shoes. They were open-toed heels that that aqua straps crossing up to the ankle. She then met her own gaze in the mirror. Della had lightly curled her hair and then brushed it out so that it was in soft waves. It was the makeup that Della stared at now, checking for any mess ups. Her eyeshadow mimicked the colors of the dress perfectly and her lips were a red.

Finally she nodded to herself, smiling widely. She was perfect! The brunette turned from the mirror and scanned the room where tons of other girls were getting ready. Gracefully navigating her way through the throngs of females in dresses and heels, she made her way to the Hufflepuff common room, intent on getting out and into the hall. Once she stepped through the door way and into the hall, she started feeling giddy. It was the same way she felt before a performance. A dance. It would most certainly be fun. As she headed toward the Great Hall, she couldn't help but wonder if anyone would ask her to dance.

She had no date to speak of, and that was quite alright with her. She had absolutely no problem with appearing alone; she had never understood why girls got so up in arms about getting dates to dances. It was more fun to not have a date. If you went alone, there was the chance that several people would ask you to dance, and you could accept every offer without guilt. Of course, you also ran the chance of not being asked at all. But that would not bother Della any. In fact, she would be perfectly fine if she had to dance by herself. This whole thing was just about having fun and she could do that with or without a guy at her side.

Della chuckled to herself; she was such a feminist. The thought caused more giggles to escape her lips. She then turned her thoughts to dancing once more. She knew that there would be no pirouettes, no leaps, and no foxtrots that night. No, nothing choreographed, nothing so structured as she was used to. Well, if she was lucky she might get a waltz, but she had the feeling that any partner she had in that would not waltz like she did. Not that she was being cocky or lessening anyone's dancing skills, it was only that she had been waltzing since she was a child. Either way, the girl knew that this night would be a night of freestyle- something she so rarely got to do.

She finally got to the grand staircase and looked around. There were already a number of students milling around, though, no one she was close with was there yet.

Spoiler:

Elijah was feeling bizarrely nervous. Common for teens his age but it wasn't for him. It was an unspoken rule at Durmstrang that if you were nervous you could go and try to drown yourself in one of the frozen over ponds outside. But this wasn't Durmstrang, this was Hogwarts and already he felt out of place here and just a little bit nervous to top everything off.

Eli fiddled with his blazer for a few moments and wondered why he'd gone for a Muggle suit thing. He was devoid of all tie and other such things but he never wore them with the uniform so there wasn't much chance he would do that with a ball either because, Nachash was as good a tie as anything.

He'd gone for a white dress shirt, one of the ones with little embroideries of his snake on but it was the only one that seemed sensible to wear. He'd left a few buttons undone at the top revealing hints of his now scar-less chest and Nachash who had curled herself around his head in a little collar type thing a bit similar to his animagus form when Nachash doubled as a collar then. That was topped off with a tailored blazer, trousers and possibly italian shoes all in black but he didn't know - didn't read the label by the sounds of it.

Elijah decended down the steps into the entrance hall and walked towards the main hall but was immediately floors. However, he was still able to catch himself and not fall onto the floor like a complete ninny. Amelia was stood just inside and she looked...
"Magnificent...." Eli breathed.

Elijah walked towards Amelia feeling, not unconfident but not particularly happy about the situation either. He was nervous and if it got to that then there would be no chance for he and Julia to pull off their little... experiment. Eli spied the kegs hidden behind a bookshelf and smiled slyly before slinking an arm around Amelia's waist and pointing to the Christmas tree in the Great Hall.

"A beautiful sight to behold, one so rare and wonderful that it is only once you see it and forever you want to call it your own."

Eli turned to Amelia and gently cupped her cheeks with his hands. He smiled and blew over her face with is warm breath. She was cold but it wouldn't take long for her to warm up at all, not with him leading her around the room.

"Something I want to call my own." he said quietly. "Your beauty is beyond words, m'lady. I hope you would let your favourite little artist and his snake lead you around this room and show you off to the world."

Elijah's hands moved to Amelia's waist and he smiled slyly.
"I'm feeling rather selfish tonight Mia but I'm feeling lucky because you're my date and I intend to make you feel like a Queen tonight because it is nothing less than you deserve."

Amelia had been watching the other students arrive, some in pairs and others solo. The room was quickly beginning to fill with couples and color, the sounds of conversation and laughter growing. Amelia was accustomed to being alone among her peers, watching from the sidelines instead of playing the game, but the fact that Elijah had not arrived yet was making her a bit nervous. She knew she shouldn’t care if he came at all – after all, it wasn’t as if he owed her anything. Considering the way she had responded to his invitation, she wouldn’t have been surprised if he had decided that perhaps he would be better off flying solo.

Stop panicking, her rationality insisted, If he doesn’t show, this will be like every other dance. You will sit at a table, make your appearance to appease the headmaster, and you can leave after an hour or so. That would give you time to catch up on the reading for next semester anyway.

Sighing, Amelia lifted a hand to brush an invisible piece of nothing off her arm. She was just fidgeting, her nerves beginning to surface despite her subconscious attempts to remain calm. Just as she had decided that she would rather sit at a table and wait, she jumped at the sudden sensation of someone touching her waist, relaxing slightly when she turned as saw it was Elijah. The way he had put his arm around her waist was bold; she knew he knew better, but he had done it anyway.

Well, dances do seem to be an exception to your typical behaviour… her subconscious reminded her, memories of the masquerade ball surfacing before she squashed them. That was a long time ago. She would not raise such expectations of tonight, because expectations usually led to disappointment.

Amelia smiled lightly at Elijah, her grey eyes following his line of sight to the impeccably decorated Christmas trees at the far end of the great hall. The fir was covered in crystal baubles and hundreds of tiny lights, which upon closer inspection turned out to be pixies. Elijah’s words were thick with charm, and although Amelia’s mind told her this was probably a rehearsed line, she let it slide. The words themselves were lovely, and really who was she to chastise someone for rehearsing what they were to say before they said it?

Amelia merely nodded in response, having nothing so profound to say. She found that since Elijah had arrived, her mouth had suddenly gone dry and her nerves exemplified. She found that although she had originally feared he would not come at all, that paled in comparison to the nerves she now felt about how to behave around him tonight. They had left each other on a very undefined note, leaving Amelia without a clear set of guidelines of how to act.

When Elijah appeared in front of her, his hands around her face, Amelia felt a blush rise to her cheeks. The warmth of his breath, smelling like a mixture of coffee and mint, sent chills down her back – or was that his touch? – and she shivered involuntarily. His smile was genuine, his eyes bright. Before Amelia could figure out how to respond to his touch – she was not exactly accustomed to the amount of physical contact he had already given her tonight – Elijah slipped his hands down to his waist and dropped his voice so she had to lean toward him in order to her his words above the bustle of the hall.

Show me off? Amelia’s thoughts echoed, her nerves rising again. Usually, at these events and at nearly all other times, she was more than happy to sit invisibly off to the side. She went unnoticed, but was glad for it. Attention made her nervous, as though people were judging her – which they likely were – or exchanging stories they had heard about her. When one keeps so thoroughly to themselves, the stories begin to circulate. If you don’t tell people things, they start to make them up.

Elijah’s sly smile made her giggle slightly, a manifestation of her nerves. She knew she would rather not be the center of attention, but on Elijah’s arm it was going to be hard not to be. Already he was attracting the attention of several other girls there, and she had to admit she knew why. He looked very handsome in his ensemble, though less formal than some of the other male students in the room. It gave him a slightly rebellious look while still appearing put together; a perfect match for his personality, Amelia thought.

You gave up your right to sit quietly at a table when you agreed to be escorted by him, her mind reminded her, strictly enforcing the rules her mother would otherwise have dished out had she been here, And besides, everyone is too busy looking at each other to be looking at you.

“I am not sure how the other attendants of this gala will feel about you appointing me monarch,” Amelia said, her voice quiet to match his. With the whispered words between them, the situation suddenly felt much more intimate, but Amelia pressed forward, afraid that if she paused here she would not regain the confidence to speak anytime soon, “But I cannot say I dislike the title. I will be honoured to accompany you.”

With her consent, Elijah began leading her slowly about the ballroom, his steps deliberately slow and short in order to prolong the survey of the room. Amelia kept pace with him, careful not to step on the slight train of her dress. She had tried to explain to her mother that even a small train would be inappropriate for dancing, but Antoinette had – unsurprisingly – won that argument as well.

“You look very nice tonight,” Amelia said as her eyes darted over to Elijah, the words slipping out of her mind. She hadn’t intended to say them aloud, but it seemed the combination of low lighting and being so completely out of her element was addling her brain, “I mean handsome. You look very handsome.”

Smooth… her subconscious quipped, dragging out the word to inflict as much embarrassment upon Amelia as possible, colour rising to her cheeks and the exposed upper half of her chest. This dress was not going to provide her much place to hide her blush.

((Sorry for the slight god-mod, but I figured your next move would be to start walking, and I needed to say something more than just accept your offer. Forgive me?))

It had been too long since he’d last seen Amelia. He hated the fact that he was completely unable to preserve a person’s appearance in his mind. The paintings and sketches just weren’t enough. Her picture in his mind was like that of burning parchment in a fire. It was still there but the sides were beginning to curl and wear away before finally the flames broke through the middle and usurped the parchment like a disease that just wouldn’t break before invading another organ, making death slow.

But now Amelia was there with him. She was beside him as they wandered through the Great Hall. Her hand was on his arm, the chill from her hand blending with the involuntary warmth radiating from his forearm. With her by his side the fire had been put out and the parchment was crisp to perfection again. It was if nothing in the world mattered apart from the fact that she was there with him and it was exactly like that. Nothing else mattered, not the war, not his mother and certainly not the expectations that seemed to be pressing down on both of their shoulders.

A beautiful sight to behold. His mind repeated the words that seemed to fall from his lips. He couldn’t quite think where he’d gotten it from or whether he’d thought it up on the spot. The latter seemed most likely and despite it all he’d seemed to have found another talent. Aside from being able to live on nothing but cigarettes, sex, alcohol and pastries for a year he now had some kind of poetic talent that went well with the artistic side of him. It was all a load of rubbish and didn’t know where his mind had decided to wander but it needed to come back down and bury itself in the floor until it could be let out.

Elijah lifted Amelia’s hand to his lips and pressed a kiss to the skin just above her knuckles. He turned her hand over and blew over her palm before pressing a kiss there and returning her hand to his arm. He didn’t exactly know what her reaction would be but he was going on improvisation tonight. He had no idea where that came from and it seemed he wasn’t thinking about anything and was already caught up in the moment. Fool. He heard Nachash comment blandly.

“You would be the most beautiful Queen, Amelia.” Eli spoke with conviction but it had loving tones, not those of which you would speak to a child with but something different. Not far of those spoken when with a lover - the one that means the most to you in the world. “I fear I will loose you tonight. You look much to lovely for the men to leave you alone. Nachash and I will fight them off.”

Elijah smiled and stopped in the middle of the room that had been cleared for dancing. The music was just beginning to play so he held his hand out to Amelia in a gentlemanly fashion, asking silent permission to allow him to dance with her before taking her into his arms and bringing her close to him.

Eli began to move around the large expanse of floor space, leading Amelia around with his eyes permanently fixed on her own. He didn’t even need to count his steps or watch where he was going at all. Perhaps the dance lessons his mother made him take were finally paying off once and for all. He doubted it highly but he continued to lead Amelia around, spinning her around here and dipping her there.

His movements were controlled, calculated. Every move prior to the last had been thought out impeccably and he showed no signs of strain while doing it. His mind was completely clear and he was just letting his feet lead him around now. He wasn’t sure what Amelia made of his dancing but if all else failed he’d stick with his paintings.

“Did I forget to mention how magnificent you look tonight, your majesty?” Elijah smiled a little teasingly but his words were honest and he tried to convey that in his speech. She would make a wonderful Queen if she were the heir to a throne. Eli knew she would be fair and kind to those she ruled over and wouldn’t let petty things like blood get in the way of everyday lives. Then again, something’s like that sounded a little too good to be true. A bit like how he’d ended up going to the ball with Amelia. Too good to be true.

Rosalie walked into the great hall. The beautiful scene caught her off guard. The
great hall looked like it came out of one of those story books her mother use to tell her when she was a girl.It think it was Cinderella." She thought.

Suddenly the memories came flashing back in her head.
"Mother, will I ever be as beautiful as Cinderella?"
"You'll be even more beautiful then you will ever dream of.

She then came back to the present. She looked around the great hall. It seemed that everyone was dancing. She felt bad because of all those practices in the great hall went to waste. She figured it would be better off. She wouldn't want to trip over anyone, or step on thier foot. She would save them humilation and also herself. She wanted to wait for Julia but she figured she was already on the dance floor.

Rosalie then walked up to the dance floor to see everyone in their attire waltzing. She enjoyed it. She thought it was so romantic when two lovers dance together. She smiled, then sat on a bench where she could get a better view of everyone dancing. The bench was decorated with roses. She touched one. It bloomed and opened it petals. "Hogwarts always has their way with magic."
She smiled brightly and picked it up to smell it. When she did a distant memory came back to her again. She had a feeling that she was flying high in the air.

It was only a dreamshe thought. She then put the rose to the side and watched the couples waltz across the floor.