Minerva was sure that after this summer things would be different. Her students would be subjected to things no young person should have to be. It felt like the impending doom that preceded Voldemort’s return though not as large as that had been. Then again everyday she was starting to doubt that assumption. She kept very up to date on everything going on outside the castle walls through the auror now positioned at the school. The woman seemed very well informed, but Minerva had been double checking through her former student, Harry Potter.

Either way the students deserved to have some fun before they were thrown out into the chaos she was sure would break loose soon. Obviously fun that didn’t involve rule breaking, but even during this time she couldn’t see herself getting her feathers ruffled over minor offenses. This was a time to temporarily forget about all of the mayhem that awaited them.

Minerva walked into the hall, pleased with the grandious that awaited the students and staff. The house elves had really outdone themselves this time. There was no doubt in her mind that this night would go well and that she would be able to give her students a proper send off for the summer. She made her way to the front of the hall as she awaited the students’ entrance into the hall with a rare albeit slight smile on her face.

((OOC from Admin: Please write as if the hall has already filled with students and faculty, so as to not prolong the process until the ball starts! As in, you can have your character walking in, but write as if there are already people there))

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(((Hall decor)))

Nearly six years had passed and she had successfully managed to never get dragged to one of these blasted events. Well, she wasn’t really dragged, but it was supposed to be something to do, she supposed. However, then this meant she had to go buy a bloody gown, which was a stress in and of itself. It would help if she actually liked shopping, which she never did, causing her to grab practically the first gown she saw. Now here she was, entering the ridiculous room she was supposed to dance in. She really hoped they had delicious food to make this worth it, and Evan better come soon so she wasn’t by herself much longer. They had decided to meet her, she thought, anyways. Well, really, she couldn’t even remember talking about where they were going to meet up so she just assumed they’d meet at the ball. She supposed she and Evan really needed to work on this dating thing, or perhaps they worked just great this way.



It wasn’t like dances were new to her as her parents seemed to be very interested in this sort of thing, forcing her to go to them when she was at home. They were dull and unentertaining, a useless activity. Though, a part of Isabella was…excited, she supposed…to dance with Evan, just to see if he really was as good as he said he was. Maybe the dance wouldn’t be so bad after all, she mused as she looked around the large room, before making her way to a chair by a table, letting her eyes look around the well decorated room. There seemed to be a good turn out thus far, she supposed, but she was already bored. Yes, @evan better show soon, she thought to herself, tapping her fingers impatiently on the table.


Outfit

Ruby was relatively eager to go to the end of year ball, it was a chance to spend time with her friends and brother and just have loud, easy going fun. It would certainly be something to keep her mind of Iris. Her only disappointment was that the young Ravenclaw didn't have a date but at the same time she really didn't care, all she need were her friends, they were more important than any date could ever be. She'd spent a little while getting dressed, simplistic hairstyle and minimum make-up, her dress was what she cared for most, her brother hadn't seen it and she knew full well when he did, Ezekiel would double up his protective mode.


Ruby walked into the Great Hall and wasn't surprised to see it relatively empty, when her gaze fell on one of her friends. She noticed that Isabella was sat at a large table, and so she decided to join her. Instead of sitting beside her, the Ravenclaw sat across from her, brushing her dress a little as she sat, already relieved to not be walking in her heels - she really hated heels. "Hey Iz, how are you? I'm surprised to see you here." Ruby said with a smile.

Dress
Hair
Shoes

Ezekiel wandered into the ball a little more eager than he would have like, he was hoping deep down that Kiki would come, he'd since grown quite fond of the Hufflepuff girl and he was excited at the chance to see her again, after their conversation about dancing he also wanted the opportunity to show her that he could actually dance, even if it was one small slow dance he would be able to show that he can do it and wasn't just saying it.


When he walked into the Great Hall he saw it empty apart from the Headmistress, his sister and Isabella. Ezekiel's jaw dropped a little when he saw Ruby, she did look stunning and so grown up - he didn't like it. He had an urge to give her his jacket so no guys could potentially eye her up but she seemed content so he bit down on his protectiveness and strode over to the pair, he dropped into the seat beside Ruby and smiled, "You both look lovely." He said earnestly. He decided that if a guy even gave her a leer type look, he would but his suit jacket on her and make sure she didn't take it off.

So much for not being overprotective.

Outfit

The professor was actually looking forward to tonight. The end of school year ball was very welcome in his opinion. Though they were all the way up here, in Scotland that didn’t leave them immune from what was going out there in the wider magical world. He only hoped none of his students got affected it by it. But then again he was no idiot; he knew that some of them were part of if either willingly or reluctantly. However, for now he wouldn’t think of it. No, tonight he would enjoy the festivities and made sure the students did the same. Samuel had spent most of his day in his office, classwork for his classes or marking essays. He preferred to spend his days here even weekends rather than his flat. Samuel kept telling himself as the hours passed he wasn’t here just because a certain other professor was here. He knew that the fact he was being recluse for a day meant he had no chance of seeing her. However, he very much hoped he got to see her at the ball.


Dressed in his suit, the man left his office and made his way downstairs to the Great Hall. He stepped inside and took his time in admiring how beautifully decorated the hall was tonight. Looking around, he saw that some students had congregated in their little groups. He sincerely hoped that there wasn’t any trouble where they were concerned tonight. That was the last thing he wanted to deal with at what was meant to be a happy event. Samuel ran his hand over his left hand where his wand was stowed in its holster on his opposing arm as he walked further into the hall. He spotted headmistress @minerva at the front of the hall and his way over to her. “Good evening Headmistress, it is nice to see you” he smiled as he approached her.



Outfit

Nothing could contain Kiki Barlow’s excitement. For her. the end of the year ball was the event that she looked forward to the most. It meant that summer was coming, where she would do all of the things she couldn’t do while she was at school. It also meant that she was finally able to have her fair share at dancing here at Hogwarts. Sure, it wasn’t the girl’s preferred style of dancing, but she would take the more formal style over nothing. No, this was about as perfect as Hogwarts could get and there would be no way that she was missing it.

The Hufflepuff had spent quite some time getting ready, deciding to make her curly hair look a little more formal and play tribute to her house through her outfit. She had spent all afternoon getting ready and making sure everything was perfect. In the midst of her dolling herself up, she would often yell up to the boy’s common room to make sure @caleb was getting ready as well. The girl practically had to twist his arm and remind him of all the sentimental stuff, such as how he would want to say “bye” to his friends, he would regret it if he didn’t go, how she needed someone to go with to entertain her, and a whole bunch of other things until he finally, begrudgingly, agreed to go. Once he stepped down from his dormitory, Kiki gave a happy gasp. “Caleb! You look so handsome! Here let’s take a picture together!” The Hufflepuff grabbed her camera from a nearby bag, and held it out in front of her and her friend so the lense was facing them. She counted down through the gritted teeth of her smile before snapping the shot and placing the camera back in the bag to take with her. “Oh, Caleb, feel free to take any pictures you would like on my camera tonight, okay?”

Kiki arrived in the great hall, practically dragging the Hufflepuff boy behind her. “Wow,” she exclaimed as they entered. The room had been beautifully decorated to the point that if it wasn’t in the same location, she would have never believed that this is where she ate all of her meals. It never failed for the young girl. Every year at these balls, she finally had the time of her life and wanted to stay at school. It was always sad that it took an event at the end of the year to remember how great this place actually was. It would be this event that made her not want to return home and spend the first couple weeks of summer sulking in her room.

As she took in the decorations, she started to notice the people around too. There was @isabella near a table. She looked like she was waiting impatiently for someone. Kiki waved in her direction. Perhaps if who she was waiting for didn’t show up soon, she would go introduce Caleb to her. She wasn’t sure if the two had met yet or not. She also saw the headmistress and the favorite professor of Caleb and herself, Professor Copeland. Upon seeing him, Kiki frowned just a little. It was a shame that they never got to talk to him about the basketball court. Oh well, maybe next year.

One final scan of the room resulted in Kiki’s eyes landing on @ezekiel. A smile crossed her face, but she looked down at the floor to keep from blushing. Truth be told, she enjoyed the company of the Gryffindor. He had always made her feel special, but that in turn made her feel embarrassed and nervous, two things which the dancer never was. She wrung her hands together nervously. Kiki had no idea if she should approach him or not. Usually, her friendliness didn’t allow her to question it, but this was different. She stayed put with Caleb, almost sure that he would comment on her unusual demeanor.

Outfit

It was tempting to just leave the ball already. Silently, Isabella calculated just how long she would have to stay at this ball before it was considered acceptable social behavior to leave. Deciding that half an hour for socializing and talking with friends, a few songs to dance to in order to see if Evan really was bloody good at that too, and then a few rounds of picking at the delicious looking food and drink that seemed to be about, an hour and 13 minutes was the winner. Though, that time couldn’t start until Evan arrived, who was apparently being a bloody princess and taking his sweet time to arrive, she grumbled to herself. Thankfully, she saw as one of her friends walked in.

“Hey @ruby,” Isabella grinned widely, already feeling a little less awkward in such a grand room. “Yeah, me too,” she laughed. “Do you go to these things often?” she asked, looking about. “Love your dress, by the way,” she added on. Shortly after, she saw @ezekiel walking over, smiling in acknowledgment. “Thank you, Zeke. You don’t look so bad yourself,” she replied. Isabella took a moment to glance around the room again, catching her friend’s eye. She smiled and waved towards @kiki, noticing that there was another Quidditch player from the Hufflepuff team with her. Picking up a glass from the table, Isabella took a sip, noting that it was butterbeer, a drink she had avoided for the longest time simply because of its name. Fortunately for her, Evan had convinced her to taste it and now it was quickly becoming one of her favorite drinks.

Stupid, piece of shit, dress. Daisy had been tugging at the skirt of her dress for the past half an hour. She was positive that it was way too short. The woman gave a frustrated sigh as she looked at the mirror. Daisy Lowry had always hated these sorts of things and she had avoided them in her years here as a student. However, now as a professor and the head of Ravenclaw, she would have to attend these sort of gatherings. Just how I wanted to spend an evening: in a dress that doesn’t fit trying to step in and control the raging hormones of teenagers. Professor Lowry did enjoy her job. She loved the teaching aspect of her job, and she enjoyed her students, even if Miss Odell had been causing some issues lately. Still, her job had its downfalls, and going to some formal ball was one of them in her opinion.

Admitting defeat with her skirt as she really had not much other formal wear to choose from, she set out to the great hall. Once she entered, she was suddenly a little upset with herself for never attending the end of the year balls when she was a student. The setup was absolutely stunning. Wow, this is just spectacular. Daisy had never claimed to be artistic or understand intricate interior design, but she could always appreciate it. The seating was even something to marvel at. Cushions compared to the normal hardwood seating that both staff and students had grown accustomed to was a godsend.

Looking around, she saw that some faculty had already arrived and were seated at the front of the hall. Among them were McGonagall and @samuel. She made her way towards them navigating her way through the students that were already there. “Good evening, headmistress,” she said nodding at @minerva. “Hello, Samuel,” she said nodding at him as well. She looked at him and couldn’t deny that he cleaned up well. “You look nice,” she smiled at Samuel then looked back at the headmistress rather quickly, “You both do, actually.” Her smile carried with her as she looked at Professor McGonagall, but she shifted her eyes back to Samuel. Daisy had wanted to tell him about the recent trouble she had with Sutton, but thought it would be better to accuse the man of jinxing her when their boss was not around.

Outfit

The school balls were just about the only mildly interesting events that even happened throughout the school year. It was a time for blokes to get marvelously dressed up, and for bints to primp for bloody hours and still look ridiculous for the most part. Sutton found that very few witches in this school actually knew how to look halfway decent when given the opportunity, so it was always amusing to watch them try. It wasn’t that she had been looking forward to the dance, as she knew that even it would more than likely be a bit dull for her tastes, but it was better than nothing. A chance to watch intriguing interactions and hang out with her sister, at the very least. Her new head of house had apparently actually had tried to take away this marginally interesting evening, and though Sutton wouldn’t have acted even slightly put out by that at the time, she would have certainly been irritated by that… though, she probably would have showed up anyhow.

Regardless of all of that, apparently she had a detention, of all things, even she decided to actually attend it. There was a reason that she didn’t take Care of Magical Creatures, and Sutton had done fantastically at keeping away from any dirty and ludicrous creatures. But that was a problem for another day, as she planned to enjoy herself as much as she could. The end of the school year really couldn’t come fast enough. Shaking her head at the thought, Sutton strolled into the room, her eyes taking in the scene before her.

It looked all right in there, she supposed, finding the decoration to be at least average, though no one that was there yet looked interesting enough for her to bother with. Instead, she headed over to grab a butterbeer, noting that her irritating head of house was already present. Merlin, she hoped that @tinsley showed up soon, or she was going to get bored rather quickly.

Outfit

Evan was used to going to these types of dances. There was one at the end of every school year, after all, and he’d taken bints to them in order to get a shag out of it. If it was one thing he knew, it was that getting any amount of action from a witch after an event like this was nearly guaranteed. It had been the only reason he’d even bothered with them before this year, after all. And if anyone had told him this time last year that he’d be going to any ball with someone he actually gave a damn about, Evan would have thought they were absolutely insane. He didn’t even remember the name of the bint he’d gone to the end of the year ball with last year, or the year before for that matter. Clearly, back then, he wouldn’t have thought that what was happening this evening was a remote possibility.

He still didn’t quite know how to do this dating for real thing, hence why he just realized that it was probably a bit bloody ridiculous that he was meeting @isabella there when they were coming from the same dormitory. Really, Evan wasn’t even sure why they were going, except he certainly wasn’t going to turn down an opportunity to see Isabella in a dress, no matter what kind she was wearing. That was incentive enough to make an appearance, however brief. He assumed her aunt would be making an appearance, so he was hoping that nothing would happen as far as that was concerned. Isabella had seemed to be good enough at ignoring the woman, but this would be an opportunity for something to go wrong, clearly.

Stepping into the hall, Evan took a glance around, hoping that Isabella was already there as he already regretting getting there so early. Finally, he did see her across the room, though he immediately cursed under his breath as he headed over there. How was he supposed to stay at a bloody dance and be appropriate when she bloody well looked like that? This was going to be a true test of strength, apparently. “You clean up nice,” he stated, smirking, leaning in to kiss her briefly—in order to bloody stop himself from doing more, before moving his gaze to the people she was speaking to. Evan wasn’t exactly the friendliest of people, in fact he was sure he’d not spoken to either of the two in front of him, though he supposed he knew their names simply from paying attention. “Ezekiel, right? Nice to meet you, mate,” he stated, offering his hand for a handshake. Focusing on other people at least meant he wouldn’t be focusing on his girlfriend’s outfit and how much that he really didn’t feel the need to be present at this ball for any extended period of time. “Ruby,” Evan then said, smiling slightly. @ezekiel, he knew he'd never spoken to before, and he could think of perhaps one time he'd talked to @ruby before but that had only been for perhaps a second. Dating Isabella made him marginally friendlier, he supposed, but not by too much.

Outfit