Finn didn’t know why he was bothering with this. He hadn’t been to one school event since he’d arrived his first year at Hogwarts, and he had no idea why he’d start now. They weren’t worth his time, really, as everyone just drank their ridiculous butterbeer and dressed up for no bloody reason. At least if there was firewhiskey, it would be slightly worthwhile. However, Finn really just wanted to see just what Mila would be wearing… he was sure that once he saw her outfit, they wouldn’t be lasting long at the ball to begin with. Really, he supposed it was just an excuse to laugh at the stupid people that went to this school, eat food that was better than normal food served at meals—not that he was complaining about the meals in the slightest, since it was far better than what he ate at home, which was normally nothing, and see Mila in a more shaggable outfit than usual. Though, he was always apparently tempted to shag her regardless of her outfit, but this should be particularly interesting.

He didn’t exactly have what anyone would consider dressed up enough for a ridiculous ball, but he gave it half of a shot. Well, he’d really just put on bloody whatever he could find, not much caring about what it looked like. Finn just wanted to get this over with and move on with the more interesting part of their nights. But when he finally reached the Great Hall, he could see pretty quickly that Mila wasn’t there yet. Hoping that she would show up soon, or he’d just bloody leave, Finn went to grab a butterbeer, no matter how much he would have preferred something stronger, leaning against a nearby wall as he wanted for his… whatever she was, to walk in.

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She had no idea how a term that had already been on a downward slope to awful could go to shit this quickly. When she’d started receiving letters from her father, she had thought that the situation was pretty bad. After all, her father being a Death Eater was something that Cecilia could justify hiding for a while when she hadn’t spoken to him in years, but she knew she could hide it from Roman or Isabella for long now that he was trying to get in contact with her. It had been something that she had been putting off knowing that it would certainly end her relationship with Roman, which was probably the last thing she would ever want to have happen. But then, miraculously, a shitty situation did manage to get worse, as Trey had somehow found out about it. If there was one person at the school who would figure out just about the worse way to use information like that, it would be that particular Slytherin. And she’d been right on that respect, having to choose between Roman hating her for her father being a Death Eater and Trey telling him about it, or breaking up with Roman to apparently date Trey until he was bored of irritating Roman with that. Either way, it ended with Roman hating her and their relationship ending, and Cecilia couldn’t recall a time when she had ever been put in a more horrific situation.

But she’d agreed to it—really, with only one bit of logic behind it. She would rather Roman hate her for this, then hate her for her father’s choices. At least this would be her fault, though that hardly made her feel any better about it. Of course, she was still stalling and was planning on doing so until the last possible second. Cecilia was about to have to break up with her boyfriend of over a year who she was quite sure she loved just at the whim of his clearly sociopathic cousin. Obviously that wasn’t something she was going to up and do the second he told her to. No, instead she’d put it off, avoiding just about everyone, and now she was going to the dance frankly because she didn’t think Roman or Trey would be there. One more night of avoidance, she told herself, and then Roman can hate me tomorrow.

Hating her for this was far better than the other option… that would be what she’d continue to tell herself until this situation was over. But who bloody knew how long she was supposed to ‘date’ Trey? She nearly groaned at the thought, finding that she certainly hated him more than she’d hated a lot of people—not quite on par with her father, or the radicals that had killed Isabella’s family, or others that were awful on an entirely different level. But on a lower spectrum, Cecilia bloody hated Trey more than anyone else. But it seemed that she’d been correct in her assumption that this evening would be a good way of stalling the inevitable, as neither Slytherin seemed to be in sight. Instead, she saw her friends, and contemplated if she should even go over there in her current mindset. She walked over to them slowly, as if trying to convince herself to turn around and head in a different direction. Faking being in a good mood was going to be rather challenging as well, and she was surprised she’d even managed to focus on getting ready enough to look even mildly presentable. “All of my favorite people in one place,” she stated, finally reaching the group with a lukewarm smile. “Have I missed anything interesting yet?” Cecilia knew that it was only a matter of time until @isabella called her out, as she had made it clear to her best friend that she wouldn’t be in attendance to the ball, and she knew that @evan had been aware of this fact as well. @ruby and @ezekiel wouldn’t have known that, so she did hope that she was acting normal enough for them to not notice anything amiss.

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It was clear to anyone in his house that Caleb didn’t want to go the ball. He saw no purpose in showing up. For what? Some butterbeer and pumpkin pasties and to stand to the side the whole night? No it was not happening for him. Atleast that’s what he thought until Kiki convinced him otherwise. Maybe she had her own reasons for going, maybe she had a date for the night and hadn’t told him. He was a bit speculative if she was going with a boy to the dance. Of course Caleb would be happy for her but he didn’t trust anyone around her. Even if they weren’t related she as still his sister.

After they had taken all the necessary pictures she spoke of him taking photos tonight, he arched his brow. ‘Why am I taking photos, that’s your thing’ was the sole thought in his head. As he made his way to the Great Hall his suspicions grew that perhaps Kiki did have a date tonight or maybe there was a boy she fancied and was going to dance with him the whole night. On one hand Caleb didn’t mind being on his own tonight at least it allowed him the opportunity to keep an eye on this boy of Kiki’s.

When they stepped into the he could how exciting the girl beside him was by the expression on her face. “I’ll say” was all he could say, albeit it a quieter tone than Kiki’s. He saw some of the staff at the front, no doubt they were going to keep a close eye on everything. Then he saw @ezekiel and beside him was…..@ruby! She looked stunning, this was not going to be easy for him. Of course he would want to talk to her but couldn't if her brother was there. Fuck! He swore in his head as he looked at her again. The Hufflepuff shook his head and looked around to distract him from his thoughts. He nudged @kiki. “Fancy sneaking out with some butterbeer and heading to the greenhouses” he joked, alluding to their recent joke about getting the plants drunk.

He noticed a change in her, she was nervous, she was really very nervous and then he looked up and saw why. His eyes narrowed as he spotted the Gryffindor boy. “Care to explain why you suddenly went quiet?” he asked in a whisper.

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Cadence was a nervous wreck, this was the first ball ever that she'd been to. The young lion hurried in, despite her nerves. The dress she was wearing had been a gift from her adoptive mother and she was thrilled at that. Cadence peeked around the room and saw her head of house and she waved at him brightly, her smiling widening a little. After a few moments she spotted Ezekiel and nibbled on her lip a little. She and the older boy had a brother sister type of relationship but, as she watched him sat with people his own age she was nervous to go over, she needn't have worried though because when Ezekiel saw her he stood up and walked over to her before offering her a piggy back and going back to the table.

Cadence wrapped her arms around his neck tightly as he gave her a ride to the table and she giggled, feeling slightly more at ease. She dropped down when they reached the table and peeked past him a bit, "Hi Ruby." She said shyly, sure she'd spoken to Zeke's sister before but it still made her nervous, "You look really pretty. You all do." She addressed the girls. Cadence was about to speak to Ezekiel again and looked up at him and saw that he was looking over her head and had a funny expression on his face. the first year followed his gaze and saw a pretty Hufflepuff girl walk in with her friend.

And it didn't take long for her to put two and two together. She smiled with amusement before moving to a seat where Ruby had moved up for her, so that now she was sat between the two siblings. "I'm Cadence." She introduced to everyone else at the table. Secretly though she was terrified that she was at the 'big kid table' and she started to contemplate going off on her own.

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"No I don't." Ruby said to @isabella "I decided it would be something fun to try out tonight. And someone I know may be coming." She admitted, a small blush painting her cheeks. She was glad that Ezekiel showed up when he did because it meant Iz couldn't question her and make her openly admit that she was hoping a certain Hufflepuff would show up.

It wasn't long after Zeke appeared that @evan arrived, she hadn't spoken to him much but he made Iz happy so she would willingly try to befriend the boy. When he greeted her she smiled politely, "Hey, Evan. Nice to see you here. How are you?" She then turned to Isabella and gave her friend a little smirk, "Now I know why you're here though." She teased with a grin. She was confused when her brother walked away but she smiled brightly when he reappeared with Cadence, "Hey missy." Ruby greeted the small first year warmly, she moved up a seat so that Cadence could join them, but no doubt she would try to shoo the first year away if the language between their group got a little - adult.
It wasn't long when @cecilia showed up as well and Ruby picked up quickly that her Gryffindor friend didn't seem herself but she decided not to pry, she'd speak to her later on that night if she hadn't gone back to her old self again. "Hey Cecy." Ruby greeted with a gentle smile, "I'm quite surprised you're here too. I'm glad though. It gives our little group chance to spend time together, which we haven't done for a while. Maybe with a few new ones in our group." She said giving a smile to Evan and then side hugging Cadence.


She continued chatting to Cadence who went quiet for a second and Ruby picked up the reason why, the atmosphere around Ezekiel had changed, the Ravenclaw looked up at her brother to see him staring at the doorway, with a look of warmth and affection - something she hadn't seen for a long time. Ruby looked over to see what had caught his attention and she gave a very Slytherin smirk when she saw @kiki, sure Ruby had seen her around but now she had the chance to change the roles between her and her brother and tease him for once, "Zeke, is something wrong? You look a little red?" She asked sweetly, "Is my big brother crushing on someone?" She asked boldly, "Maybe you should introduce us." Ruby was about to continue her teasing when her gaze fell on the Hufflepuff beside Kiki and she herself became a little lost for words. Beside the Hufflepuff girl that had managed to claim her older brothers attention just by being in the room was another of her newer friends. And she had to admit @caleb looked quite dashing in his suit.

Ruby decided to kill two birds with one stone and moved from the table they were all sat at, she inhaled deeply and made her way to the two Hufflepuff's, "Caleb, hi." She greeted giving, the Hufflepuff boy a small hug to try and appear fine - which she was far from. "And you're Kiki, right?" Ruby asked, "Zeke has mentioned you." She said, and gesturing to her brother, slightly referring to the fact that this was the famous Kiki he wouldn't shut up about when they were together, yet had currently rendered him speechless.

"Do you want to join us?" She asked.

Ezekiel smiled at @isabella when she said he didn't look to bad. "Thanks, I guess." He replied with a playful smirk. When @evan arrived and started to speak to him he nodded and smiled, "You too Evan, I've seen you around, obviously. It's nice to finally speak to you." He said earnestly with a slight smile. Ezekiel looked over at Ruby as she and Evan spoke before scanning the room again and looking over the decor. he glanced to the door when he saw a familiar small figure and he smiled warmly at Cadence. He approached the Gryffindor who he'd taken under his wing at Christmas and crouched down, letting her climb on his back as usual. He held her securely as he carried her over to the table, memories of doing this with Iris filling him.
When he reached the table he let her jump down and ruffled her hair affectionately as she sat beside Ruby who hugged her, he could tell his sister felt the same way about the younger girl who was now between them. When @cecilia arrived he smiled at her but noticed that she seemed a little off, he shuffled over to her when she greeted them, "You alright?" He asked in a low voice so that only she could hear him.


After a moment he glanced over her shoulder and froze when his gaze fell on @kiki, she looked breathtaking in her dress and he bit his lip, trying to restrain his thoughts from wandering as he looked at her. He eased a little bit when he saw another boy with her and he felt a surge of jealousy, but his emotions were soon pushed to a side when he saw Kiki staring at him and he gave a small smile. It didn't take long for Ruby to pick up on his feelings - the joys of being so close. When he began to tease he turned and glared at her with a scowl before swiping at her playfully but she ducked so missed. It didn't take long for Ezekiel to get his composure back and he grinned wickedly when she went quiet, "Oh what's the matter, does my little sister have a small crush?" He mimicked her with a grin, even though deep down he was hoping that wasn't the case. He almost instantly regretted his words because as soon as he spoke them, Ruby gave him a smirk that any Slytherin would probably be proud of and walked off to greet them, he cursed under his breath and shrunk back, turning his attention to Cecilia again, giving her a small 'are you sure you're okay' look.

This was bloody ridiculous and they never should have made the rash decision to come. However, rash decisions were all she ever seemed to make, not really caring to think about future implications. Now, she was stuck going to some stupid ball filled with the people she tried to avoid all year round. At least the dress code at the balls wasn’t as stringent as the daily dress code, though she still couldn’t wear what she preferred. She hadn’t started to get ready until fifteen minutes before the ball had started, finding no need in rushing to some ridiculous school function that she was bound to leave within half an hour anyways. Stepping into the ball, her eyes moved around the hall for one purpose and one purpose only. She really didn’t care to see the decorations or whatever setup was decided, looking only for reason she agreed to attend.

It didn’t take long before her eyes set on Finn Elliot Harlow, keeping her face disinterested as she sauntered over, her body moving in the utmost of confidence. When she reached him, she let her eyes run over him slowly before smirking as she brought her gaze back to his face. Having grabbed a butterbeer along the way, she took a long sip, leaning against the wall next to him. Merlin, they had the strangest of relationships, not that she would bloody know that as ‘relationships’ wasn’t her thing. Unfortunately, which she found irritating, their deal would be off soon and this…whatever the hell this was…would be ending, something she really didn’t look forward to. Everything about this was irritating, she noted as she took another sip of her drink.

Outfit

Isabella watched as the professors were congregating around the room, rolling her eyes slightly. To her, it really didn’t seem like too much fun could be had with so many professors lurking about, but hopefully they’d be distracted doing whatever professors did. Waiting for Evan was making Isabella antsy, wishing she had just stayed in the dormitory until he was ready. Maybe it wasn’t too late to feign sickness, she contemplated, before realizing the ridiculousness of that. It wasn’t that she didn’t want to be here with Evan, she just didn’t really want to be here. Going to balls was never her thing, something her brothers only ever did. They had tried, and failed, at convincing her to attend, though she saw no point. She preferred avoiding people, not putting herself in a situation where she would be surrounded by them. It was still slightly a mystery why she and Evan had come to this, though she supposed a part of her wanted to do it since she could practically hear her brothers begging her to go in her head.

Now that she was here, she found that she felt out of her comfort zone. It wasn’t that she couldn’t dance, or that she had never dressed up before, as both things she had done. It was merely because this wasn’t her scene, though she would put forth an effort to enjoy herself. Isabella had wanted to ask @ruby who this someone was, rather protective of her friends, but @ezekiel had just joined and she figured her friend would NOT want to deal with a protective brother. Soon after Zeke arrived, she saw @evan walking in…finally. The Slytherin smiled at Evan’s compliment, kissing him back briefly. “You don’t look so bad yourself,” she answered, letting her eyes briefly check out his outfit...it was definitely different seeing him all dressed up and not in a school uniform. Isabella laughed at Ruby’s reply, shrugging slightly. Evan was definitely the reason she had come tonight and he knew it.

Isabella watched as Zeke left the table, coming back with a younger student, smiling at the girl as she complimented them. “Thank you,” she replied to @cadencerose. “You look pretty, as well,” she continued. “My name’s Isabella,” the Slytherin introduced to the younger student. Before the conversation really progressed much further, Isabella narrowed her eye in surprise as she spotted @cecilia. “Other than you showing up, no, it’s been pretty…ball-like,” Isabella responded to her friend. Isabella glanced back towards Evan briefly, still wondering just how long they should remain at this function before they could leave.

He had no damn clue why he had even dressed up in the slightest for this ridiculous thing, though he didn’t look half as stupid as the ponces in their bloody suits. Finn didn’t even own a tie, and he wasn’t about to buy, steal, or borrow one for something this unnecessary. If his clothes weren’t formal enough for the staff at this school, then he would bloody leave and be glad to do it. Apparently he was going temporarily insane for even thinking that this was a good idea. Just as he was trying to decide if it was worth standing there any longer looking like a damn fool, @mila showed up. All right, he thought, perhaps seeing her in this outfit might make this ball a little bit more worth it—even if they were surrounded by their idiot classmates. This was a hell of a change from seeing her in the school uniform or casual clothes, although it wasn’t his favorite look for her. He much preferred when she was wearing far less clothing, but that couldn’t be helped quite yet.

Finn gave her a slow once-over as she leaned against the wall, knowing that this would be the one and only time that he’d probably ever see her in something like this and that he certainly planned on taking advantage of that later. This ball did signify that the end of the year was almost upon them and that meant that this relationship, or whatever the hell it was, was almost at its end. Obviously this meant that they had to take every chance they had to shag until then, finishing checking off rooms from their list. They had shagged in nearly every place they could at this point, a task that hadn’t been easy but had been extremely bloody worth it. “Mila,” he said, with an amused smirk, before taking a long gulp of his butterbeer, as he contemplated why he hadn’t snuck in any firewhiskey.

Davina simply loved the end of each school year, as it was a culmination of a year of students’ seven years of work finally coming to a close. She always hoped that they would go out and find something marvelous to do, but she did know that it was harder said than done. At present, it seemed that their students would be entering a society that was at the edge of something terrible. Situations were simply becoming dire, in her opinion, and the idea of any of her students having to enter into the rest of their lives at such a point was worrisome indeed. But she had every expectation that they would be successful, and she’d simply have to hope that nothing too awful would happen this summer. It had seemed like a rather slow boil, or a situation that was taking a while to fall over the edge—surely it could hold off a bit longer. In her opinion, it would be the actions of the Minister himself that would send them into whatever horrible situation came next, finally coming up with something that the Death Eaters wouldn’t taking lying down. She didn’t have to be in contact with her family to know that if the Death Eaters were to do something against the Minister, her father and Blair would be apart of it.

That was simply another problem that always came up in her thoughts at the end of every school year. Davina was busy enough at Hogwarts that she could keep her thoughts off of her family—at least, for extended periods of time. She stayed at the castle, after all, she was busy teaching, working with her Hufflepuffs, and brewing potions in her spare time. Apart from that, she was always willing to volunteer her time to anything that Minerva needed done. It was when she was unoccupied that she started to think about them, and there was always a lot of time for that over the summer months. Particularly since it was the anniversary, for lack of a more appropriate word, of the deaths of her fiancé, child, and mother. Davina shook her head at the thought, grateful that she had just made it to the door of the Great Hall. Chaperoning and mingling with her colleagues would help to keep her mind off of those dark thoughts for a while longer.

She smiled brightly as she took in the décor, finding that she never stopped being impressed by the work the house-elves could do on a room. There were only so many ways a room could be decorated, or that had been her opinion as someone who didn’t have the mind for such activities, and the house-elves always proved her wrong on that. Every event she’d been apart of had such differing décor that she was beginning to wonder how they possibly came up with it all. The room was already filled with the light-hearted atmosphere that only a dance like this could hold, and her gaze moved to see where @minerva was standing with @samuel, and the woman that she’d ungraciously forgotten to introduce herself to.

“Minerva, every time I think the house-elves cannot possibly improve upon their own talents at décor, I’m proven wrong,” she stated, laughing as she approached, before moving to look at both Samuel, “You all look lovely, or handsome, I suppose, Samuel,” Davina added, and she finally looked over at the new professor and head of Ravenclaw. She had heard that the woman's name was @daisy, but other than that she had heard hardly anything at all. How on earth had she been so preoccupied to not have introduced herself yet? “I apologize for not welcoming you to the school properly, particularly since I’m sure we’ll have to deal with each others’ troublemakers on occasion. I’m Davina McCrae,” she said, lightly, offering her hand for a shake.

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