The Yule Ball

Belle laughed and gave him her hand as he lead her out into the dancing bodies. "You are always sweet to me Andrian and for that I love you even more. I am glad then that I went with this dress, of course it doesn't show nearly as much as the one from the night we met." She said with a wink and a smile.

Elijah felt confident about the necklace. He knew exactly what it would and wouldn’t do but it was the wouldn’t part that had him a little worried. The necklace would come in handy he knew it would but he couldn’t help but wonder what would happen if it was completely useless. Elijah would most likely completely loose it but he doubted it highly seeing as he’d already checked. Pretty little thing, one that no one would suspect to be stupidly valuable. He’d paid mere Knuts compared to the millions of Galleons it was worth. That was what his forty-five Galleons was worth next to whatever it was worth - a lot more than that at least.

“I hoped you’d like it.” he smiled a little and looked down at his shoes. “I mean I found it and I was just, uhm, well, Merry Christmas I guess.” Eli chuckled.

Elijah took Amelia back inside and his eyes zeroed in on Shacklebot who seriously looked like his beard was on fire. He was seething and that only meant one thing - he’d began questioning about the alcohol. Eli swallowed and made his facial features seem as if he could have honestly cared less about what was happening.

However that wasn’t the case underneath. He wondered if Rosalie or Julia had gotten in trouble yet. He wouldn’t have minded taking the fall for them at all. It wasn’t as if a detention would faze him. He just didn’t want the girls in trouble. They had a future, he would limp along but wouldn’t get up to much was a sad fact.

Eli swallowed once more and wrapped an arm around Amelia’s waist. He kissed her temple and walked back over to their table. He pulled the chair back out for Amelia before sitting down in his own seat. Elijah rose the goblet to his lips and took a long drink of the rum and coke inside.

“I pity you poor prefects.” Eli smirked, putting the goblet down. He began to twist the onyx ring on his finger with his other hand and wondered where he’d picked it up. It was probably some random Christmas present but whatever it was it was now on his finger.
“Shacklebot must treat you like lapdogs.”

Elijah stretched a little and felt Nachash leave his skin in one quick movement. She jumped onto his arm and slithered up onto his shoulder. She hissed into his ear and Eli caught a little bit of it. He scowled momentarily and looked up over at Shacklebot who was indeed looking fairly pissed off. Bless him.

“He’ll be alright, Tash.” Eli said, fondly stroking the snake. “He was due a shave anyway sweetheart.”

Nachash hissed in agreement and Eli laughed at her. She slithered down the back of his chair and he saw her slink off towards the punch table. He smirked to himself and drank from the goblet again.

“I swear that snake gets herself into more trouble than I do myself.”

(Merry Christmas.. lol)

Belle Fey wrote:Belle laughed and gave him her hand as he lead her out into the dancing bodies. "You are always sweet to me Andrian and for that I love you even more. I am glad then that I went with this dress, of course it doesn't show nearly as much as the one from the night we met." She said with a wink and a smile.

Andrian smiled and dragged her, carefully onto the dancing floor. "I try to be," he smiled at her when she said for that she love him even more. "I love you too, sweetie," as he put one of his hand on her hip while the other one locked through her fingers as they both started to dance, slowly to the song. When she said that she was glad that she went with that dress, which wasn't as perfect as the the one when they met. "It doesn't matter what you wear, you look beautiful in any dress. It won't stop me from loving you."

((Merry Christmas to you too!))

Amelia was pleased to see that at least she wasn’t the only was feeling a bit shy about the whole gift exchange. Elijah, though he had initiated it, seemed for once not to know exactly the right thing to say or do. His smile was still visible, even as he looked down to his shoes, and Amelia let go of a bit of nervous laughter as they both became interested in their feet.

“Merry Christmas,” Amelia said quietly, darting her eyes back up to Elijah’s. The fact that he had gotten her a gift meant she was obligated to reciprocate, but gifts had never been her strong suit. Like so many other social formalities, Amelia had little practice in doing it correctly. Giving gifts to her parents had always been superfluous – they could afford anything they wanted, so there was nothing left to supply. Raoul was always difficult, claiming he wanted “world peace” for Christmas, so Amelia inevitably ended up giving him something practical, like books or new violin strings.

She had never put much thought into the gifts she gave, mostly because they didn’t matter that much. Raoul had just about everything he needed – he was a minimalist, despite their parents’ attempts to shower him with finery – and her parents likely wouldn’t notice if she gave them gifts or not. They always thanked her for the gifts she did give – a Christmas ornament, a new spell book, a piece of jewelry – but she had the distinct feeling that they never really held the meaning that gifts were supposed to carry. Elijah’s gift had been much more than just a necklace, though she hadn’t yet figured out what the other part entailed. She could tell from the way he presented it and his sheepish nature now that there was more to the gift than a pretty decoration for her collarbone. She just didn’t know what yet.

What do you get someone who you do not fully understand? Amelia mused as Elijah escorted her back inside, her mind already coming up with and then immediately dismissing different ideas. Despite the amount of time she had spent with him over the last week or so since she met him, Elijah was still pretty much a mystery as far as Amelia was concerned. Which made what she was feeling toward him that much more questionable and unreasonable.

Stop! her mind demanded, rattling her brain but not her exterior, [/i]We are not going to attempt to explain this tonight. Tonight, we are just going to enjoy it without destroying it by overanalyzing. Got it?

Got it.[/i] Amelia conceded, glad she did when Elijah’s arm snaked around her waist and his lips touched her temple. Because she had pushed rationality aside, she was able to relish in these actions instead of questioning every detail of them. Amelia took the seat Elijah provided for her, looking down at her glass when she saw Elijah lift his to his lips. Although she seemed to remember the glass being half full, when she peered into the goblet she found that it had been emptied of its contents. Shrugging slightly, Amelia replaced the glass on the table and pushed it away from her. Considering all that had happened tonight, she didn’t know that she needed anything else clouding her mind than the already numerous things which were creating the fog.

When Elijah’s comment came seemingly from nowhere, Amelia’s eyes were drawn back to him from where they had been watching the dancers. While some were still graceful in their dancing, others seemed to have partaken a bit too heavily in Elijah’s secret stash and were now less than steady on their feet.

“Shacklebolt’s not that bad,” Amelia responded, scanning the room quickly until she spotted the headmaster, looking in a tizzy from what she could see, “He’s stern and may sometimes seem as though he doesn’t know what it is like to be young, but he treats the prefects fairly well. He knows that without us, his plan to infiltrate the student body would be lost,” she joked, a smile tugging at her lips. She understood Elijah’s distaste for the headmaster – she knew from eavesdropping on conversations that many students felt the same way. But Amelia also knew that Shacklebolt had the best interests of the school at heart, and that whatever crazy antics he was up to, it was likely all part of a larger plan to improve Hogwarts or its inhabitants.

As she finished, Amelia saw a ripple beneath Elijah’s shirt and then watched as Nachash left his skin. Although she had seen this before, she was still fascinated by the event, but who wouldn’t be? It isn’t as though watching a reptile break from the skin of a human being and then have a conversation with him was an everyday occurrence. At least not for most people.

Elijah whispered something in parseltongue to the snake, something Amelia couldn’t and wouldn’t ever understand. A small part of her was jealous that Elijah had a companion upon whom he could so thoroughly rely because their relationship was mutualistic, but this tiny emotion was soon quashed by the memory of the room of requirement and the example of the way his relationship with Nachash was not always so symbiotic.

Amelia laughed aloud at Elijah’s statement after the snake had slithered off to Merlin-knows-where, not expecting to have such a vocal response and immediately controlling her laughter after it had escaped her.

“Sorry,” she said automatically as her out and out laughter subsided to a muffled smirk, “But from what I have heard, that snake has nothing on you,” Amelia added, raising an eyebrow at Elijah. Of course, Amelia did not know the full extent of Elijah’s past or present, but she was not completely ignorant. Nearly everyone from the lowliest first year to the head girl had a file in Amelia’s mind, filled with whatever she had managed to pick up from observing or overhearing. And when it came to trouble, Elijah’s file was not at all empty.

Eli shot Amelia one of his more charming smiles as scenes of ecstasy on his part shot through his mind like bullets. He shuddered involuntarily and smiled to himself. A past like that wasn’t worth all of the gold in Gringotts. It was everything during his Paris visit that seemed to make everything fall into perspective for him. As much as he loved the pastries and, well, the women, it just wasn’t worth it all in the end.

Having your mother pull you out of a bed one day after a comfortable year out and about wasn’t the greatest thing he could have experienced but after loading at least 10,000 Euros into Antoinette’s bank account his mother finally let him go. Antoinette wasn’t particularly happy with Eli’s departure but as far as he was aware she would be attending Beauxbatons with her sister so it wasn’t as if she’d be alone.

Eli often wrote to Antoinette but just as his letters became less frequent so did hers. A mutual abandonment on both of their parts. He knew his studio was empty and he knew a lot had changed since he’d last seen her but that was beside the point now. He had plans for that place and drawing them up in his mind he knew he could go back there. He did now. He could do it without taking a drink.

“Trouble..” Eli smiled. “I have a knack for it but it’s one I embrace…unlike some other things I’m rather talented in.” Eli chuckled. “I think if someone was to use Veritaserum on me and ask exactly what I’ve done and seen then they’d be quite…shocked to say the least.”

Eli did honestly worry about what would happen if he went dark or anything of the like. If he was to be trialled or anything of the like then there was a lot that the Members of the Wizengamot didn’t need to know if he was honest. However, he didn’t plan on going crazy anytime soon so that would hopefully be avoided unless Shacklebot wanted to question him with the serum.

“I think I’d rather stay out of the trouble I’m more accustomed to.” Elijah said with a shrug. “I don’t believe it to be of any use now seeing as I’m in Britain and this place is a lot more… dark I guess.”

Elijah hadn’t really thought about it too much but this nation seemed to be the one with all the problems. Dark Lords, Crazy Animagi and a rubbish Ministry with corrupt prisons among other things. Next to the Pureblood Mania the rest of it seemed pretty low key. What his father saw in the United Kingdom and more explicitly Hogwarts, Elijah would probably never understand but he’d found something much better than any magic and wonder the school might have once held.

“Everyone seems to always be on edge as if they’re waiting for someone to drop dead. I don’t understand the need for it. If someone is pointing a wand between your eyes then you have some due cause to be panicking but…” Eli drifted off and smiled to himself. “the English confuse me greatly.”

Nathan? Nikki said, nudging him. Are you there? Nikki asked. It'd been a while since she asked him something, and waited..and waited patiently. She was asked to dance..or did she ask him..and she put her chocolates and flowers down at a table. Are you okay? Nikki asked, worried.

Mariana was a little late for the ball since she was thinking whether to go or not,but decided to come anyway since Christmas was her favourite celebration.She walked down the stairs looking for Arthur who konvinced her to come the night before.The great hall was full of people that she couldn't destinguish anyone in particular.

My dress:

Spoiler:

Arthur went down the stairs, wearing his elegant black suit and a robe over it. The robe, if Mariana was late or anything strange happened, would be an excuse to avoid dancing. He just disliked it. He knew how to, but he did not like to.

He was in front of the door leading to the great hall. He opened it. So much people. If Mariana had not accepted his invitation he would not have even exited the Common Room. He looked around for Mariana, for her beautiful, long, red hair. He the noticed her.

He sneaked from behind and then appeared in front of her, bowing slightly. ''Mariana, you look beautiful. I know all boys say that, but you truly do. That dress looks wonderful on you'', he said.

Mariana didn;t see Arthur approaching so she slightly snapped when she saw him in front of her bowing. "There you are.| she smiled with her bright white teeth and did her lady bow which she used rarely. "Thank you.I tried to be natural this time.And which boys say that besides yourself?" she said smiling as she took his right hand and started to walked gently and gracefully towards the crowd.

He was a little surprised when she grabbed his hand. He had not been used to that, but he was happy, extremely happy. ''Well, don't all? I mean, some say it out of politeness, I say it because it is true'', he said. ''Tell me, what about the dancing part of the evening?'', he asked.