"I wish they didn't make everything mandatory," he mumbled, shifting onto his heels and pressing his arm up against the wall. He was glad that his friend felt as uncomfortable as he did. At least he wasn't miserable alone. Misery loves company, right? They could sit there and be grumpy together, and maybe they could find some sweets. At least they didn't have to worry about trying to find dates, now that Donnie had confirmed he hadn't brought one either. It was awkward, sometimes, to see how far they were falling behind their peers. A lot of their yearmates were talking about dating, whether or not they were mentioning girls or guys. Perry didn't think that they had gotten to that point, yet. He hadn't thought that he wanted to ask someone out like some of the older kids. Besides, he thought that they were rushing things. Why couldn't they just be young and focus on other things?

Like Quidditch. Quidditch was important. It was actually worth worrying about, most of the time. It was definitely more important than worrying about girls, especially with how he was hoping to get off the reserves next year. He didn't really know if it was possible, but he was hoping so. He knew that he had gotten faster and his dexterity was better, especially since his racing times had gotten better. But making the official team wasn't up to him, it was up to the captain, and that position was going to change next year. 

"They're so much more intimidating if you want to ask them out," he continued, shaking his head. He still wasn't sure if he wanted to do that, but it was something to keep in mind. "But I don't even know if we're at that age yet. Dating seems too forced."

She had spent a lot of the past few days crying where nobody could see, and she was done with it. Lizzy wanted to be happy, now. She wanted to celebrate the silly little holiday and pretend like Chinese New Year had passed happily. She wanted to pretend like she could still stand the sight of her brother, even if she was attempting to ignore him. He wasn't very good at comfort. She wondered, idly, what Atha thought of that. She knew that she could ask Amelia if she could corner her, but she thought that Amelia was acting weird too. Basically, Lizzy had spent yesterday looking at all of the older students before promptly deciding that she did not want to grow up. 

Her Ah Ma was right. Older kids were stupid. She didn't know what happened to make them act like that, but it was something that seemed to be happening just as soon as they entered their fourth year. She didn't want that to happen to her, too, or either of her two best friends. They had to make sure that they seemed smart. They had to make sure that they never got as silly as the older ones. That, to her, started with making sure that she dressed nicely for the event. 

After putting on one of the carefully picked out dresses, Lizzy had dashed rather excitedly to wait in the Great Hall for her friends. Once they had all connected, she pasted that rather shaky smile on her lips and continued to hold up the air that nothing was bothering her at all. Maybe they could get into some mischief instead. "We'll be great," she insisted, aware that her self-preservation was likely not at its best for the moment. She could deal with that later, though. "Let's go. I'm hungry!"

((OOC: Dominics Outfit ))

Loud was one word that could be used to describe what Dominic was wearing, an eye sore another, a crime against fashion possibly. All of those could be accurate descriptions of the garish outfit that the 11 year old was wearing. Maybe one could admire his sense of fashion for being so fearless, or just be totally horrified at the state of him. Regardless the Gryffindor liked what he was wearing, he thought it made him look smart, he thought that it would stand out in a crowd. It was something that was certainly unique in any case

The young lad ventured towards the Great Hall. If he was being entirely honest with himself, he wasn’t realty interested in Valentines Day. It seemed all rather icky to him. Asking girls or boys out on dates, all very yuck. Besides most people didn’t know the true meaning of the holiday, where couples would get together to fend off the evil Lord Val and Tine by collecting all the chocolate and leaving it for the duo on the bed of roses. The couples would then spend a final evening together having a candle light supper, in case the chocolates where not enough to appease the dark lords. If they were appeased, they would leave them be until next year. If not, they would remove peoples’ hearts. Hence why there are so many heartless people around.

He shook his head as he walked, glad those dark days were behind them. Or at least all in his over active imagination. Regardless Lords Vale and Tine would not be coming back, not unless someone dared speak the cursed love song, backwards, while standing on their head. There was very little chance of that happening, which in Dominic’s opinion was a good thing. After all no-one wants the festivities spoil by two long forgotten villains now do they.

Besides, to Dominic the whole point of the holiday was not to show off to people you fancy, or fend up dark lords, No, it was about meeting up with friends and eating food with said friends. With that in mind the blond haired boy bounced into the Great Hall, adventurous suit and all. He scanned the room to see if anyone he knew was there. He saw his cousin, Donald, hanging out with some other boy. He wondered if he could join them? Maybe, if he couldn’t find anyone else about.

He walked further into the room, scouting the place and grinned as he saw his “very very good” friend Henry James Blanchet , his housemate and friend @lizzy and another student, what was their names? Something like Carin(a) Rowan Flint ? He thought that sounded about right. He didn’t know them very well but he knew Henry and Lizzie. The Gryffindor lad was sure that they would not mind him joining them, right? That is what friends did after all.

He struggled his way towards his friends and year mate. ”HEYA” Dominic called over to them breathlessly. ”How are are are you guys?” he asked them looking to each of other, jittering about a bit excitedly. He was glad that he had company to hang out with. This was going to be a fun evening. He could feel it.

Outfit

It had taken all of Ruby's willpower to bring herself to the ball, she'd always thought of Valentine's as a stupid holiday that was made just to spend money, that's why whenever she'd been in a relationship for Valentine's day, she'd not really celebrated it, it was a waste of time and money. She shouldn't need a special day to give her partner attention and they shouldn't need a special day to give her attention. If you need to be prompted, then you had serious issues with that relationship. She'd decided to go simple today, she didn't want to make too much effort considering she only planned to be there for an hour or so, just to say she showed her face or else she'd be getting a scolding off her brother for secluding herself if Hazel ratted her out. 

She flipped her hair over from her left shoulder to her right as she strolled up to the Great Hall, pausing outside the large doors and peering in, it was already busy and the red head tried scanning the place to see if she recognised anyone she could spend time with for a bit, or if she could even find some lonely looking guy and take them back to a dorm for the night. That wasn't even her main aim today, but if she was going to be at the dance, she may as well take full advantage of being here and being single for once. 

Her gaze fell on @lizzy and she smiled warmly as she watched the first year with her friends, she made a note to go over to her and see how she was doing later, she'd been rather quiet lately whenever Ruby had seen her in the corridors and it was causing some concern for her. Her maternal instinct was kicking in and she wanted to check on the girl and maybe  comfort her, should she need it. Ruby rolled her shoulders and entered through the doors, holding her head up as she made her way over to the drinks table and poured herself some punch, leaning on the table and starting to nurse it, her gaze going over all the potential companions for tonight, whether it be intimate or just friends. 

So he was toeing the line. It was likely too much over, considering the current staff populous and the rules, but he hadn't exactly outrightly disobeyed either. This to Jay, was fairly formal. And he wasn't wearing trainers. It was easier to hang about and lounge against walls when you weren't endeavouring to look better than anyone and didn't have to worry about creasing or ruining your suit in the process so at least he'd be comfortable tonight. Not to mention if someone lost his shit again then it was easier to run out of the way when wearing jeans and boots than wearing tailored trousers and dress shoes. He'd manage it either way... but that was hardly the point. He'd save the suit for the final ball of his school career. If he was going to die, he would rather die before it was nearly time to go home, when he was dressed comfortably- if he died in a suit then he would be living as a ghost looking too dressed up for the rest of existence. Because he would come back. No one got rid of him that easily.

Besides, donning the shirt ensemble his mormor had sent him meant he'd have been subjected to PDA in the dorm for much longer too. @ujin and @bluebird had no concept of containment, really. Jay supposed he was happy for them as their pining had arguably been far more irritating... but he could have done without seeing pawing to that degree. The minute he'd laced up his boots he had grabbed his jacket and left, all but running away from the pair he had left behind in the dorm. Spotting @dion , he had leaned over the back of the couch the boy had been sleeping on and gently smacked his chest to rouse him then procured a box of cigarettes to lure him out. Smoking alone was great... but attending a school dance alone was not. At least Weaver was fairly predictable company and Jay could rely on being fairly entertained for the next few hours. Falling asleep in the middle of Flint's Valentine's ball would be suicide really... and he was rather attached to his extremeties. He refused to go out as a ghost with perpetual missing limbs.

Glancing at the decorations as they finally 'arrived', his expression twisted into a scowl, which only deepened the longet he took in the terrible jokes that he didn't quite understand and the level of pink and silver. Valentine's was just an excuse for mass PDA. Which was glaringly apparent with the couple groups dotted around the room. Flicking his gaze to the older Wizard beside him, his brows rising as a smile all but shoved the sourness from his face. "I am never going to miss this."

---

Outfit

Clio had come alone, as was her custom, and she was quite glad of it. She didn't really mind Valentine's Day, not at all, and she thought that it was a rather fun holiday to receive candy. It was, of course, capitalism at its most ridiculousness, but the day after candies went on sale. She liked the idea of being able to celebrate the ones that you loved a bit more than normal. She tried to celebrate with her siblings, but her brother was off being a prat and her younger sister was harboring a crush on one of her peers and was refusing to cooperate. Clio had been forced to interact with her yearmates instead, and after crinkling her nose at @octavian for something ridiculous that he had said (which she couldn't remember now) she had decided to start out for the ball on her own. She was still grumpy from winter break, what with her mum and her Aunt Gwenog continually arguing with her about what she should try to do once she graduated. 

Her aunt still thought she could pursue Quidditch, but Clio knew otherwise. She wasn't good enough and Gryffindor wasn't playing well enough. The odds were just stacked outside of their favor for the moment, and she hated it. She wanted to be able to win. She wanted to be able to do something with her team, but that wasn't happening. She was stuck trying to fight and make them worth something, but that was all she could do. Clio was defense. She wasn't the one trying to get to the goal posts, she was just lopping bludgers when she could and trying not to scream loudly when they continually failed. She knew she wasn't good enough, but Aunt Gwenog thought that she was almost there, that she just needed to apply herself. She had heard that too often though, and she knew that applying herself wasn't going to do shit. Her family had bills to pay and they couldn't afford the new broom that she would need. They barely could afford to get her the new gloves that she had wanted.

Clio looked across the room with a sigh, looking for a face that was worth talking to. She didn't see anyone she could stand, not yet, and since she had abandoned Octavian and some of the other Gryffindors she didn't even have a group she could stand around with. Where was Violet Gertrude Stroud? Maybe she could hang around with her. Clio scanned the area past the Ravenclaws, then arched a brow when @regulus came striding by. He was the one who had lobbed an animal skeleton at her, another loner. She lifted her chin at him in acknowledgement, standing silently nearby as she continued her scan for Violet.

---

outfit

((OOC: Amy's outfit))

Amy was loathed to admit it, but she had been avoiding her brother. The Welsh girl did feel a bit guilty about it but she had a good reason for it. Well, at least in her opinion it was a good reason. The 14 year old had gotten herself a boyfriend, Elwyn Rowlands, a fellow 4th year who was a Gryffindor boy. She found him a very sweet young lad, a Welsh boy from Lampeter in mid Wales, which was very nice. He was someone who respected her and that was one of the most important thing to have in a boyfriend, or indeed girlfriend, someone who respected each other and knew how to treat each other.

The Hufflepuff was initially hesitant to go to the Valentine Day’s ball but she was re-asurred when she realised that Donald probably would not go there. As far as the 4th year was aware Don didn’t have a girlfriend, indeed she didn’t even think he was interested in girls nor boys come to that. Amy was pretty sure that her brother would be hold up in the library, or the Ravenclaw common room, maybe out in the quidditch pitch practising his flying. It was not that he was ashamed of her brother, nor of the boyfriend, but she knew that if Donald seen her with her boyfriend he would tease them. She didn’t really want that.

The Welsh witch didn’t bother wearing a dress to the dance, she didn’t see the point to it. Her boyfriend liked her and she didn’t see why she should dress herself up or put on make up for any boy, not even her boyfriend. He should like her for what her personality was, for how she looked normally. If Elwyn found that offensive, which to his credit he didn’t, then he wouldn’t deserve to be Amy’s boyfriend. She didn’t want anyone to be that shallow. Instead Amy wore a green jumper, a long black skirt, some black tights and a pair of studded shoes. She felt they where probably suited this better than her biker shoes or high ankle riding boots.

The young witch entered the Great Hall with her boyfriend, dressed more in a tuxedo and looking considerably more smart than she was, by her side. The 14 year old did not feel self-conscious about her she was dressed, she felt everyone else was dressed a bit too overly smart. If she was being honest with herself. Talking of being overly dressed, she noticed her little cousin, Dominic, dressed in a rather interesting and loud outfit. She wondered if he was wearing that for any strange reason, like to fend off flying frogs of doom or something. Or maybe she was just wearing that outfit because he was a decidedly odd little 11 year old. Either way it was heartening to see him with Henry, a young girl and another Hufflepuff person she saw around the Hufflepuff common. She wasn’t sure what they were called though.

Amy did not notice her little brother being a wall flower as she entered further into the Great Hall.

outfit

Valentine's was shit, as always. He hated it and he refused to think about the last valentine's 'party' he'd gone to. It'd been in the psych ward in St Mungo's, and that said enough. This year, he'd just come back from London where he'd grovelled after making his Not Boyfriend think he was dead for an entire year. Not his brightest moment, admittedly, and it'd left him in a far worse mood than he usually was. It was worse because he was now because he was painfully aware of every second that he passed away from London, that Bryce passed in the muggleborn apartments. He really didn't want to think about it, but since the other boy had refused to take out all his anger on Dion, his brain had found no better thing to do than punish him by reminding him of their respective locations every waking moment. Predictably, he'd taken to drinking a lot and smoking even more. Not great for his health but it got him through the days. The point was that he couldn't suffer from a hangover if he never got sober, right? A constant light buzz under his skin did wonders to keep him mellow, to stop him from getting into a fight. That was important, after all, because there was Death Eaters everywhere and getting them pissed at him was a great way to lose his tongue. Or so he'd heard.

"It's bullshit," he muttered in response to @jay's words. The other student had coaxed him out of the common room and to the ball with a packet of cigarettes, which he now had open and one of which was hanging between his lips. He took out his lighter and pressed the flame to the tip and stuffed both the lighter and the packet in his back pocket. After a long drag, he exhaled through his nose and passed the fag over to the other boy, eyes still scanning the decorated great hall. Pink and silver with damn fucking puns everywhere. He groaned aloud and reached into his other pocket, drawing out a flask and taking a swig. Rum. Great. Extending his hand to take the cigarette back, he handed the flask over instead. On top of everything, he was not going to get laid in four months. Not that he was tempted to... was it called cheating if they hadn't put a title on it? Whatever. He wasn't tempted to it, but it still did make him keep a tension under his skin. "I always thought I'd kill myself out of pettiness, not to avoid little floating fucking hearts."

Octi had been a bit up in the air, lately. The school year wasn't going as terribly as he thought it would, his studies were passable, and he had sort of an idea of what he wanted to go study. Art, probably, or music. Or both. He likes the idea of both, really, because he's always liked painting and drawing and going to museums, but he also like music because he's played the guitar ever since he can remember. He would go out into the fields for hours and hours with Rufus at his side and just figure things out for himself. All in all, he thought he had things mostly figured out. It'd been hard, really, to move on, because his close friend had died some time ago. Not so long ago. Kit had been a bit more than a friend at one point, before the other boy moved on and fell in love with someone else and they went back to just friends. Sometimes staying in that level at Octi's insistence. He just missed the older boy, he'd been a comfort sometimes. Oh, he still had other lovers, of course, but he kinda missed seeing him. There was @lily and @jay, still, and he wondered if he'd run into either of them tonight. Not that he was actively looking for anything, he'd planned on just spending it with friends. That was, until @clio had up and ditched him as they were getting ready.

As he'd been finishing his buttons, he'd spotted her nail polish and wanted to try it too. It also fit his outfit, so he'd asked for it. She had, of course, shared, but then she'd left while he'd been talking to her. Admittedly, he'd been telling her about how Rufus had a very clear opinion on his music taste, but it made sense! Rufus, for her part, was padding right behind him as he entered the great hall. She had separation anxiety sometimes, it was all right. She'd get bored and leave soon enough. He should find other company, though. Maybe @kitty or Athazaz Acanthus Bones or @zoee, but he figured Atha would be with Nick and Kitty might be with @cyrus and Zoe tended to be with with her pureblood friends out of pure obligation. She hated it, he knew, but he also knew that some people didn't have as much freedom as others. He wondered who he should look for first. He was bored and he was hungry and he really hoped someone had spiked the punch already. Please. He would've brought some flowers to light up later, but he very much doubted the Headmaster would be all too pleased. He didn't want to lose his tongue. Maybe later on, if he had pleasant company, he'd offer to go fetch some.

outfit

OUTFIT


Kitty swept into the Great Hall feeling like Cinderella and hoping that she looked at least a little like her. Usually, she didn't make such an effort for school dances- obviously she did her best to make herself look nice, but makeup was usually out of the question for the Hufflepuff and even now, she was not completely convinced that she didn't look like a total idiot. Well. Any more than usual. Though looking  more of an idiot than she usually did was a difficult feat, and she would be impressed to meet anyone who could manage it. All in all, though, the blonde was really rather pleased with how her outfit had turned out. Since it was a Valentine's dance, she had decided that she really ought to wear something pink, and since Kitty owned only one pink dress, that had rather limited her options. But since the single pink dress was rather a formal one, that had meant that she had had to up the standard of her whole outfit. It had meant jewellery and makeup and posh shoes and she really felt way overdressed for a school dance. Not to mention how shocked she was at the revelation that she only owned one pink dress. Pink was like the best colour in the world; how could she not have more?! She had pink t-shirts and she had pink skirts and she even had pink tights, but she had no more pink dresses. And that was an appalling state of affairs which she intended to rectify as soon as possible, but for now this would suffice, and anyway, she rather liked the dress. Admittedly, Kitty had had to wear heels in order to be tall enough to bring the hem of the skirts off the ground, but she'd got the hang of them, more or less, over the last four years or so.

Hopefully, she wouldn't fall over too much.

The blonde never actually planned to meet anyone, per se. It tended to just happen without any conscious intervention on her part, which was the benefit of being the kind of person who made friends wherever she went. And so as she walked into the room, she paused briefly just inside the door, looked from one side to the other, spotted a familiar face and made her way over to @octavian as quickly as she could contrive without falling over in her shoes. "Hi!" she exclaimed, just a little too loudly, wrapping the boy in a sudden hug. "You look great!"