Sunset Ball

Outfit
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and other outfits, click here.

They had been working on this for weeks, Anicka and @attie had been making sure that this was all going to go off perfectly smooth, and she was sure of it. There weren't going to be any unforeseen problems, she wasn't going to have to worry about that. No one was going to be able to get onto the Estate without their invitation, she had had Athena help her with that. They were charmed, and they were protected. No one that shouldn't be here was going to get in, and even then she was sure that there could be trouble. The way that she had phrased it, The Minister's Sunset Ball, meant that she had had to invite people that she would have normally looked right over. She could do this though, Anicka had spent all day assuring herself that she could do this. Because this had been her own idea, and her present state did very little to reflect that. It had sounded like a good idea in theory, and now that it was here she was hoping that @malcolm  wouldn't get too far away from her. Her sense of security in her own home was a little lacking, but she would be fine. This would be fine, and everyone was going to have a good time. They needed something like this, they needed a sense of tradition, of formality, and there was nothing more formal than a black tie Ball. 

She knew that most of her children were still in the house, that they would be making their entrances to the tent when they were ready, but she thought that there was nothing ruder than a late hostess, and so she had been out here for the majority of the afternoon with the elves, and with Esmeralda. The maid had been particularly useful in the last few days, and she knew that she would be utilizing her skills again when she set something very similar up again in a few weeks for Ellanora and Elliot's wedding. Somehow Anicka didn't think that it had fully sunk in that her daughter was getting married yet. She knew that she was, there were pieces of a white dress in the sewing room that were there to make a dress that she thought that her eldest was going to look wonderful in. Her eldest was getting married in a matter of weeks, and her youngest... Her hand brushed lightly over her abdomen thinking about the secret that she had told Malcolm the other day... Six weeks. As of yesterday she was six weeks... And this, this Ball, was making her nauseous. Or perhaps not the Ball itself, but the fact that there were going to be far too many Death Eaters that she didn't trust with access to her home. Anicka looked across the tent and smiled at Theodora Lillian Mountbatten . Her daughter had been a tremendous help with all of this, and she thought that she was rather good at this whole party planning nonsense for being the tomboy of the lot. 

Looking just past her daughter her eyes trailed over the other Manor and she watched the backdoor, if she was going to have to go and get Issadora May Wentzell herself she would, but she thought that her brother might just be able to convince her to come outside on her own. Having her entire family here was something that was nice, it wasn't often that they were all in the same place at the same time anymore, and she thought that it was a nice change of pace. She knew that her children were still adapting to all of the changes in their lives, and they had taken to Malcolm, and to Pippa, a lot better than she thought that they would have. Now she hoped that that was login to last once they found out her secret. Their father had been gone for less than a year, and yes he had been a monster to her, but he was still their father, and now she was carrying another man's child... Shaking her head Anicka tried to focus on anything else, because the last thing that she needed was to make herself sick worrying about something that she had no business worrying about tonight. If she was going to play her part as hostess she knew that she was going to end up talking to quite a few people this evening and she was going to have to do so with a smile. 

As people began to file in, and mill around the grand tent that they had used to cover a part of the back gardens she thought that this could be far worse. Nodding over to the band she thought that they may as well start playing. There was an open bar in the opposite corner, and there were seats for everyone. Food was set throughout, and she had done her best to make sure that everyone was going to recognize the dishes that they put there. If it hadn't have been for Athena's input there she was sure that she would have put out things that other people weren't going to touch. This was not a Czech royal dinner party, this was an English magical ball, and it was time that she started acting like it. She had invited plenty of people that there was sure to be a buzz of conversation, and there were sure to be those that did and didn't get along, but she wanted to hope that they could diffuse any tension before things got too bad, if the need arose. "Here we go..." She crossed the tent back to Malcolm when she was sure that there were other people arriving that she wasn't related to. She had to hope that he wasn't going to be upset that she wanted to be next to him, but he made her feel safe, and she thought that there were going to be plenty of people here that she didn't feel particularly safe around this evening... 

OUTFIT

Athena had to hand it to Anicka; everything was looking good. She hadn't thought that planning such a social event would take so much out of her, but there had been late nights and plenty of tea drunk- and she had opted for something a little stronger occasionally. She wasn't the biggest fan of things like this, little events that were so nitpicking in context and invitations. Of course, she knew what this ball meant to them all, and she knew that it had to happen, but it was all so stressful. She was a witch made for politics, not for subtle things, and although she was trying to get better with the more socialite items she knew that she was far more masculine in her lifestyle. She knew that this was because of her father, but she wasn't bitter. Everything she was involved in was far more interesting than getting dressed up and being paraded around a room. She knew that she had to look at this like a science. They had to plan out each moment, and everything was orchestrated. It was either a waltz or an experiment, and she hadn't yet figured out which idea was better suited to the event. She supposed the latter might be more apt; this was a ball for the Ministry specifically, so that meant that there were a great deal of people invited that she knew she needed to charm.



That was fine, she was comfortable knowing it. Athena and Anicka had charmed the estate so that nobody could enter without an invitation, so there would be no gate-crashers, nobody who hadn't been selected to attend. She knew that there were people that might like to swoop in, but she had her eye out, and she was prepared. Nobody was going to ruin this for her. She was going to maintain the carefully forged relationship that was slowly building with Anicka, and she most certainly wasn't going to allow anyone to break through the little threads she had been trailing around. She knew that the women were where she had not branched out to, and she wanted to make sure that she had a solid political backing for her brother. Nothing was going to waver, not when the entirety of the country was at stake. They were staying in power this time, and she was going to make sure that it happened. They were going to keep a strong hold with the rest of the Death Eaters, other purebloods, and... Well, some of the halfbloods too, despite how annoying that sounded. She needed to make sure that they all seemed to get along well, that they were on friendly terms, because politics was a slippery slope.

Athena toyed with the rings on her fingers as she waited, looking around for @ares. He must have known that she and Anicka had somewhat mended their difficulties, but she hadn't had the proper time to gloat during work. Now that everything was put together, it was time. She knew that she stood out in  her green, and that had been the plan. Green for Slytherin, and green because it was set out along the gold and white. She knew that it looked good; it had cost a lot and had been tailored to fit exactly. She couldn't remember spending as much on a dress. Even at the other galas, she had simply bought something that looked nice, because she wasn't hosting, so it didn't matter. She knew it must bother her mother to no end, but Athena was always more focused on the game. Now, though... Now the game meant that she was supposed to be wearing something perfect. She wasn't going to let anyone try to ruin this evening, and that meant setting her dress with the perfect attire and jewelry. Her eyes flickered as they ran over the many relatives, some slightly extended (and not blood), some more annoying than others. She still didn't have a relationship with her nephews, and she didn't suppose that that was going to change any time soon. She really didn't care, but she knew she was going to have to put on a better face now that she was around the others. Casting a small glance over to where @anicka was moving to stand with @malcolm, her lips quirked into a little smile. This was going to be amusing.

Outfit

His sisters were better at this, and @anicka more so than @attie, but that was beside the point. They were both a good deal better at it than he would have been, and despite the fact that he was sure that he didn't want anything to do with them, he knew that he had to be here. He had to be here and he had to do this, he had to charm the people that worked at the Ministry, he had to follow his sisters' example and he had to do all of it, without really thinking about it. He had to do it the right way. This was the part of him that had been born royal that was going to need to come out. He was cut out for this, and he knew that he had to prove that he could do this the same way that he had had to prove that he knew what he was doing when it came to foreign policy... There were a few people that he wanted to just curse and be done with it, show them that this was his Ministry, and that he knew how to be polite enough to other cultures to not provoke them. He had had the Egyptian Minister to his home back in the beginning of the spring, and they were still on good terms with Egypt. Just because he had taken the country forcefully didn't mean that he didn't know what he was doing. There was an art to politics, and he knew that he had learned it. Because it was indeed a learned skill. Politics was a learned skill and he liked to think that he had it...

Taking a deep breath Ares checked his watch and called up the stairs for Issadora May Wentzell again. "If you don't hurry then we are going to be late to this party... In our backyard..." He chuckled at that, because it would be them that were going to be late to their own party. Well... He supposed she had good reason to be nervous, but he didn't think anyone would make a fuss tonight. If they did they would be asking for trouble, and he didn't think that anyone was going to go there. It wasn't worth the trouble really. There were plenty of things that they could fuss over that weren't the blonde woman on his arm three months after his wife had died. You didn't go to Balls alone. Not in this family, and he was pretty sure that none of them had actually come alone. They were pairing off nicely, even if they were just friends, he thought that they were doing what they were supposed to. He knew that @lasimir had left to go and get the girl that he was taking... Bringing? Ares thought that it might be bringing when it was here... Balls at home were meant for palaces and he knew that that was what Anicka had grown up with, but this was England, and not Prague, and Prince or not he thought that this was extreme.

He knew why they were doing it though, and so he thought that they were going to be just fine. Since they weren't leaving the Estate he had Maličký watching the baby, and if she needed him for anything he was just in the backyard. He didn't think that anything was going to go wrong. They had just put him to bed early, and he would be up early tomorrow, but they could handle that. It was Sunday after all, he didn't go to the office on Sundays unless he had to. He had gone into the Ministry this morning to try and get some things squared away before he knew that they would have his head if he didn't show up on time. And he had come home and he was now waiting on Issa... He thought that they would get out there eventually... And by eventually he meant at least once there were people out there. Opening the back door to glance and see who was already gathering he was glad to see that there were indeed people starting to appear. And there was a path of lanterns leading to the tent that were already glowing, even though it wasn't yet dark... His eyes scanned the people and easily found who he was looking for. @malcolm was easy enough to find, and he knew from reading Issa's mind how worried Anicka had been lately... She was there at his side, and Attie was not far away, easy to pick out in green... They were going to do this. They could do this... It was theirs for the keeping after all.

OUTFIT

Public appearances were not really his thing. Jameson was a very, secluded man. Or had been the past year or so. Jameson had always been used to hiding in the shadows, but since taking the Head of Auror Training job, Jameson had been trying harder and harder to make more parties, more balls, more things that he may need to do to represent the Ministry. But this was different, in a way. This wasn't something he had to come too, this was something that he wanted to come too. Jameson Creed was more than a man of secrets and he needed to show that he was a people person.

But a simple appearance was not all that he needed to do. For the past year, his secret relationship. The thing he had been hiding from his children, all but Natalya. She was the only one who knew, he needed to be forward with her, he needed not to take her by surprise again. He revealed his secret to his eldest and she took it well. Then she revealed to him that she had been talking to her ex husband, Jagger Selwyn. Jameson wasn't thrilled that his daughter had been seeing him once more, not that he disliked Selwyn, he just didn't want to see her heart be broken when he could not marry her again.

Jameson adjusted his red bowtie as he then pulled on his white jacket. Pansy had told him she loved the color on him, that it suited his face. Snapping the OMEGA watch around his right wrist, he checked himself in the body mirror once more. He turned to his fiancee @pansy and he smiled at her; she was stunning as always and he kissed her before extending his arm, offering to escort her to the Sunset Ball.

They appeared outside of the gates and they presented their invitations and were allowed in. Jameson had never been to the Ministers home. They had brief conversations in the past, but Jameson couldn't call the man a good friend, perhaps tonight he could get some time to speak with him, after all the Minister did call upon him to storm Hogwarts when the Lockdown was initiated. Jameson nodded to a few others guests making their way to the backyard, he glanced to Pansy and smiled; ”None of them compare to you, my love” he said as he kissed her once more.

Upon rounding the path to the tent, Jameson nodded in appreciation of the decoration. Ladies @anicka and @attie had out done themselves. Jameson usually prided himself on knowing people, he had to deal with them for so long; but he could not say that he honestly knew nor really spoken with either of the women. Jameson escorted his fiancee and scanned the room and saw Lady Anicka standing with @malcolm and he nodded to the pair as he approached them both, ”Everything looks lovely, my lady” he said to @anicka; before turning to his date and introducing her; ”Lady Pansy Parkinson, this is Lady Anicka Wentzell” he said as he turned to see Lady Finley In another location; ”I wont linger long, it is fantastic to see you once more.” he said as he and Pansy walked to @attie and did the same; "It looks lovely, Lady Finley, and this is Lady Pansy Parkinson. I regret that we have not spoken before tonight, both of our positions demand our attention I suppose.”

Jameson scanned the room once more; he knew that Jagger Selwyn was coming as well, Natalya had told him that they would be arriving with one another, but he did not see his daughter, nor did he see the Selwyn boy. Jameson smiled as he grabbed two drinks from a passing waiter and handed one to Pansy.

OUTFIT

She might have been the tomboy of the family, but Theodora Mountabatten certainly knew how to clean up when the occasion arose. Her dark hair was pulled tightly back into a small bun — all that her short hair cut would allow — a few tendrils had escaped, framing her face and giving her a softer look than she would have liked. She wasn’t like her sisters…she never had been. No, Thea preferred things dark and edgy. She saw the world differently than all of them. Looking down, she toyed aimlessly with the rings that encircled her fingers before she was offered a glass of wine by one of the servers. “I'll take that,” she spoke softly as she grabbed the nearest. Pressing the glass to her lips, Thea looked around, carefully scrutinizing every detail of the tent before the guests arrived.

It was some of Matka’s best work, yet. The party, the decorations, the delicate draping on the ceiling of the tent. All of it screamed posh…all of it screamed superiority and richness. She caught her mother’s eye from across the tent and raised her glass before she returned the woman’s smile. It had been nice, the pair of them working on making everything perfect for the ball. It brought Thea back to a simpler time…a time when she didn’t have to worry about who was around the next corner, or what political heist her family was going to pull next. She watched as each person entered the tent, her eyes passing silent judgment on each of them. 

She polished off her first glass of wine and caught the arm of the nearest server, placing it into his hand as she walked towards @anicka and pulled her camera up to her eye. “Matka, smile,” she commanded, hardly waiting for her to oblige before she took the picture. Pulling the camera away from her eye, Thea gave her mother a smile. "You, too, Mal," she turned her attention to @malcolm, who she was now commanding to join in her photo.

OUTFIT

This was an important night. He had worked hard the past few months, making his father proud, making his Minister proud. Felix Avery was still young, but he had done more than most people his age, and helping his father usher in a smoothly operating department, was incredibly important to him. Felix had been on the frontlines, Felix went into Hogwarts and took children from the school. Felix captured and tortured the mud blood Lachlan; Felix did what he had to do, he threatened whom he had the threaten; and along with his distant cousin Jules, they worked well gathering those whom were running, gathering those who tried to rebel. Were there some that escaped their grasp? Sure, but Felix was working on locating them.

He had gotten his invitation to the Ministers Ball; to say he was surprised would be an understatement; he was excited that not only his name, but his work had not gone unnoticed; he had told his wife to go and buy the nicest dress that she could find, because he of course, was not going without her. Things had gotten a bit better for the couple; he took a few days off to spend with her, and they never left the manor. It was important for the two to have their own time; but Felix also knew that that the time together was needed to keep their relationship strong and united; which is what a marriage was.

Felix knocked on his wife’s personal walk in closet door and chuckled ”Love, you look perfect, we don't want to be late” he said as he leaned against the doorframe. He could have unlocked the door, walked in and apparated them to the Ball; but he wanted her to feel as if she had to get ready, when in reality, she could walk out with no make up and just a shirt and shorts and still be the most beautiful woman at the ball. When she finally opened the door, Felix smiled and kissed her and didn't let up until they were at the front gates of the Wentzell home.

Walking past the gates with their invitations, Felix laced his fingers between his wife's and led her to the tent that was the setting of the event for the evening. Felix saw many faces in the crowd that was starting to gather; ladies @anicka and @attie; the Head of Auror Training and former mentor, @creed and his date @pansy whom was sacred twenty eight as well. However, his eyes scanned for his brother in law and his own father. He wanted to speak with Jagger about the owl that he had sent and that he took his words into consideration; he smiled to his wife as he watched her; following whatever she wanted to do.

OUTFIT

Eleanor had told Cora it was impolite to refuse an invitation.

When the letter had showed up, inviting her to the Minister’s Sunset Ball, Cora had thrown it off, basically writing it off as another pureblood function that she didn’t want anything to do with. It was another opportunity for her mother to dress her up in some awful dress and parade her around like a puppy on a leash. It was Henry who had actually managed to convince her to go. As much as Cora disliked her mother, Henry had a strange softness about him that she didn’t mind. He was thoughtful — dark and contemplative (Cora was fairly certain that he had killed people in his past) — but not entirely emotionally abusive and manipulative like Eleanor. He reminded her that sometimes, we did things not because we want to, but because we have an obligation to ourselves. He had reminded her that she hadn’t known about who she was until a few months back and she owed it to herself to see all of this through…to see if this was the life that she wanted.

There were no strings attached to his words — no ultimatum that came along with them. It was just a simple request, for her sake: Find out if this is who you want to be, Cora.

For months, she hadn’t known who she wanted to be. She knew she didn’t want to be Lady MacGuffin — plus, apparently that title already belonged to Eleanor and her cousin, Lucy. But did she want to be a part of all of this? Did she want to claim her parents as her family? Cora still wasn’t sure.

She supposed the one thing that made all of this bearable was that she had been allowed to bring a date. @dawson had been the obvious choice — every since that night a few weeks back, they had been practically inseparable, picking up exactly where they had left off…and maybe even going a bit further. Cora blushed at the thought, though there was no reason. All of their friends had given them the ‘about time’ speech a few times over.

Cora wrapped her arm around Dawson’s, her heart causing blood to rush through her veins at an uncommonly fast rate. “You know, we could always…call it a night here,” she said, before they were within ear-range of the tent. “I wouldn’t mind. We could go grab a burger at the pub…” She turned to look at him, that familiar look in his eyes and in that precise moment she knew that Dawson wasn’t going to let her get away with running from her past.

Outfit:

They had coordinated their outfits to go well with each other, while not looking irritatingly enough like a matched set that younger couples found adorable, but at their age looked rather more sickeningly sweet and codependent. Natalya had foregone any and all rings, to quell any false impressions. While Jag might be escorting her to the gala, they weren't about to leap into marriage again, or into any sort of formal relationship. What they had worked, worked until they found someone, worked for her to see Matt, worked for her to still be there as his second mother.

She knew her father worried about her heart, knew he feared she'd be heartbroken and vengeful when Jagger remarried to a woman with a pure bloodline. What she worried about most would be if his new wife wouldn't like them being friends, or disapproved of her relationship to the boy she considered her son, the boy who might be the only child she could ever call herself the mother of.

But that was a future, not the present. In the present, she was going to an exclusive, invitation-only gala, escorted by @jagger , who was both part-time lover and friend alike, and she was here as not only his date, but as a representative of the Creed clan, the former golden woman who had vanished for six months and came back tanner and more serious, more self-aware,
more likely to take chances as they came, and (not, of course, that many would know this) in touch with her emotions. Her father had noticed, Sabrina and Markus might have noticed, and Jag and Alessia had.

She put her arm on top of his, a smile spreading across her red lips. "Are you ready to set tongues waggling, Jay?" She resisted the urge to press her lips to his cheek, marking him in the same way she had Matt. The boy had wiped it off, claiming he was too old for that, and she'd ruffled his hair, and pretended to shove him away.

They twisted away, arriving at the Estate. Like her father, Natalya hadn't visited either before or after it had been changed, but she'd studied what pictures were available as not to seem like a gaping Mudblood, amazed at splendor. Jagger presented his invitation, and Natalya smiled, made some appropriate small talk. Jag escorted her to the backyard, her arm still lightly upon hers, what light there was clear on fingers that were conspicuously bare and without the lines of long-worn rings.

She gave a smile to some of the various guests that she vaguely recognized milling around, a wide grin to her best friend and her husband, and an elegant nod to her father and Lady Parkinson. It was up to Jag to greet the hosts first; she was only the guest..

Outfit

If there was a ball that was going on with the best people within the magical society then Alessia was there. Like any pureblood witch she had the best when it came to fashion and she loved to show it off. Of course this was the first major event that she and @felix would be attending as a married couple, their wedding had been another event all together but this was her supporting her wizard and showing that she was a hundred percent behind him when it came to his work on the front of ridding their world or muggleborns. Those kind of people were absolutely abhorrent. Alessia only tolerated them for the sake of keeping up an image with society. Few people, including Felix knew how she really felt about them and tonight was about showing a united front on the cause.

It was necessary that she and Felix attend to keep up with what was going in the upper echelons of magical society. Alessia had grown up in that world, coming from a sacred twenty eight family and she had married into one and she was not about to miss out on it either. She had rolled her eyes affectionately when Felix had prompted her to hurry up and reassured her that she looked amazing. She didn’t doubt him of course, he always knew to appreciate her appearance in a way that was enjoyable for the both of them. She was happy that Felix had decided to prioritise their relationship over his work. However she would not want him to take too much time off as she knew how much trust his father placed on him and just how much the older man needed his son.

She had great respect for him and as such expected to see @juliusavery at some point this evening. She knew that there was no way he would miss out on the ball, just like herself and Felix wouldn’t. She of course was not sure who else would be coming tonight except of course anyone and everyone who knew the Wentzells. Alessia had not had the pleasure of meeting the minister himself but she knew he was a busy man and who not want to distract him from more important tasks than meeting her.

Alessia let Felix apparate them to the front gates of the Wentzell estate, she hardly minded just how affectionate he had been on the way over. It was a welcome change. She smiled politely to the attendant checking their invites. She kisses Felix’s jaw before she took in just how spectacular everything looked for the ball. The setting was simply beautiful and she knew that no expense had been spared.

The witch scanned the area seeing who had already arrived and she saw that Felix had seen some colleagues of his from the ministry and that prompted her to look out for her brother, knowing that he would be here as their parents were looking after his son this evening. Her brother had been annoyingly coy about who he would be attending tonight with. When she saw that he was with @natalya she had to pause for a moment. She knew that her friend and her brother had been married, though it had been a short lived marriage. Their appearance here as a ‘couple’ would promptly bring about more questions. ”Shall we go say hello, my love?” she nodded to where her brother and Natalya were.

Attire

Receiving the invitation in the mail had come as a surprise to Samuel. He wondered how he had gotten it really. Was it because Anicka Wentzell had met him during the lockdown or was it because he was engaged to @cali and his fiance had known the older woman since she was a young girl and had envied her for the longest time. Either way, he was in two minds about it again, following the events of recent months, he didn’t want to stray to far from his family. He hated being away from his son more than was necessary. It was not necessary for Samuel to come tonight. It would only show that he was changing sides or was on his way to doing so and was going to support the cause for the Death Eaters. That of course was the furthest thing from the truth. Though Samuel thought he had mastered the act of putting on a mask and playing whatever part he needed. It was not a sign of his weakness, at least Samuel didn’t see it as such but rather he saw it as sign of just how strong he really was. He may have his weak spots but he was human he could only hope that it was what he needed to get him through the ball and the rest of summer.

Samuel didn’t know what he would be faced with when September 1 came around again in just over a fortnight but he knew it would be challenging for him on a personal level to leave Cali and Jeremy and go back to Hogwarts. He knew he would have to but he would be returning each evening to London to be with them. The man was also dying to see his mum, he missed her so much and he knew that going to the ball this evening would be contradicting what she was facing being a muggleborn herself. On top of it all, he hated that his sister was not here. Surely she had heard what was going on in British Magical society but no, there had been any sort of communication from her at all. She had left her brother to deal with all of it, as per normal it seemed. Samuel was no stranger to that after all.

Though arriving at the estate he felt like stranger from the first minute he approached the gates and showed them his invite. He and Cali had planned to arrive together but after they had dropped Jeremy over with Tiwaz and Sophia he had started to fuss and it seemed it would be awhile before he would settle. Samuel felt bad for coming ahead of his fiance but she had told it was okay with her if he went ahead without and so here he was. She would come by shortly, the man hoped. Samuel wasn’t sure how long he would stay without Cali here, She had looked amazing her dress and it was a shame she was not able to show it off here. But then again their son took priority above all and he understood that. He would have stayed to help out with Jeremy but even Tiwaz had assure him that he needed to go or else there would be questions. If there was one thing that Samuel knew from being around so many Death Eaters at Hogwarts, it was that they questioned everything. That had definitely been his experience with @sebastian. He wondered if the man in question would be here tonight.

Samuel made his way to the tent where the ball was going to be held. It seemed that most others had arrived here with their partners and he was here on his own but then again there were plausible reasons behind it. He looked around for a familiar face, having only seen @anicka but he was not about to approach her, she seemed busy anyway and Samuel took his usual position to the side and made sure to keep an eye out for a familiar face.