RP: The Autumn Ball Begins

[rar_andromeda]

Date: Saturday, October 15, 1998
Characters: Too many to name
Location: Ballroom, The Morgana
Status: Public
Summary: The Autumn Ball begins
Completion: Incomplete

Comments

[rar_wayne]

The Morgana was a bloody posh place. Wayne looked around curiously as he and Roger entered the lobby. There were people everywhere, all dressed up fancy, and he couldn't help but smile. There were formal robes walking beside Muggle dresses, men in spiffing suits and women in gorgeous robes unlike any he'd ever seen before. Hair up, hair down, and a few even in between.

"Bloody hell," he murmured to Roger, shaking his head. "Would you look at this place?"

They followed the crowd inside and to the left before they arrived at what must be the ballroom. He straightened out his suit coat, pleased that he'd gone with his impulse to choose white. Not many men would wear it, he knew, but he looked good in it, so why not? They had Aurors standing around the doors doing security, it seemed like, so it took a few minutes to get through that and enter the ballroom

[rar_roger]

"I'm looking," Roger said, lifting his brows as he took in the sight of the huge ballroom, which looked as if it it really could hold the whole of the Wizarding world inside it, nearly. The spellwork to get it to this size had to've been impressive. And it was just about as fancy a room as he had ever seen. And everyone looked fantastic. He took in the sight of all the women in their dresses and their robes, looking like a million Galleons from where he stood.

They walked through the security detail, which he supposed was necessary at such a public event, especially these days, and he noted that the room was split off. One side for dinner and another for dancing, which was where he hoped to spend a big part of the evening.

His suit was new; it had been a very long time since he'd had occasion to wear something so formal, and a long time since he'd gone out to buy something he didn't particularly need. Sometimes, though, you had to splurge. It wasn't any fun making money if you could never spend it on something frivolous. Besides,

[rar_wayne]

"Sounds like a plan," he said. "Drinks then table. If they don't show soon, we'll find us some birds and start dancing."

He spotted a bar not too far from where they came in and headed in that direction. It was good to see that they had water and juices to balance out all the spirits. "Glass of water, please." He reached into his pocket to get out a few knuts for the drink but was waved away.

"Bloody hell. Free drinks?" he muttered to Roger. "Shall we make bets on how many people get pissed in the first hour?"

[rar_roger]

Roger laughed at Wayne's comment, deciding to start with water as well. It'd be a long night, after all. "We can place odds on that, yeah. Whomever's closest to the total buys the other a drink next time we go out somewhere they're actually charging, yeah?"

Drinks in hand, they headed over to a table. "You think this might hold everyone? I figure there'll be at least ten of us when it's all said and done."

[rar_seamus]

Seamus had to be the luckiest lad in attendance this evening. Lavender looked bright and gorgeous in her orange dress, with heels that made her legs look as though they stretched on for miles. Bloody throat had closed right up when he'd seen her at the door, at first, and he'd been on the point of suggesting that they stay right at home.

Least he thought he looked like a lad who might belong at her side. He'd managed to find a decent outfit on the fly when he'd gone out with Dean on Thursday, and he reached up to straighten his tie as he walked into the Morgana hotel with Lavender, his hand resting at the small of her back as he led her inside. At least he'd been here before, not two days previous, so knew his way round the place well enough

[rar_lavender]

For the first time in a long while, Lavender genuinely felt beautiful when she put on her orange dress. A couple of glasses of wine while she had been getting ready helped, but even with all her scars from the battle on display she didn't feel quite as intimidated as she had thought she would. With her hair up, there was nothing to hide behind. She kept telling herself that the scars were a badge of honour - that was what her friends kept telling her, so she had to believe it, even if just for one night.

She'd never been to the Morgana Hotel before and it was stunning. "It's beautiful," she murmured, hearing the music floating out from the ballroom.

She nodded, smiling at Seamus; the feel of his hand on the small of her back gave her confidence and a feeling of protection that she needed. "You scrub up pretty well, too," she teased. There was something about wizards in formal wear that made her melt a little inside. "Seeing as you're offering... want to dance a bit first?"

[rar_seamus]

"It is, at that," Seamus had to admit as he looked around and listened to the music. He grinned cockily and stood a bit taller when she told him he scrubbed up well. "Thank you, Miss," he said, inclining his head and letting his hand slip along her waist and finding her hand.

"You never need to be asking me that," he told her, and led her over to the dance floor -- a very long walk indeed, given how big the room was. "I'll twirl you round the floor until you can't stand up." In truth, he'd not done this sort of dancing since fourth year, and might be as likely to tread on her feet as anything. But he stepped closer to her and placed a hand on her waist -- low on her waist -- and lifted the hand he held. He'd give it his best and they'd see how it went.

"Shall we?" He waited to see if he couldn't catch on to the beat before starting to dance.

[rar_lavender]

"Come on then, gorgeous," Lavender said, taking his hand with a grin. It was best to get some dancing done now while her feet weren't aching and she wasn't too tipsy. She'd already spotted a couple of people glancing in her directions and she was probably right in her suspicions that they were looking because of her scars. How many of the guests were likely to be disdainful purebloods? There were bound to be a few who thought the same of her as Draco Malfoy.

She hoped she didn't run into him tonight.

The music was lovely and Lavender stepped close to Seamus, her free hand on his shoulder. "Yes. Let's."

[rar_eloise]

Eloise and Susan made the last minute decision to attend the ball together as neither of them had escorts. They got ready together at Eloise's flat, and even though Susan convinced her she looked fine she still felt nervous. She wore a gown her mother helped her purchase a year or so ago, and even though it was fairly tame compared to other dresses she'd seen people wearing she felt a little Exposed. Tucking a long strand of curly hair behind her ear, she moved into the ballroom, astounded at how elegant everything was. She gave Susan a small smile, and together they headed in to see who else had arrived.

[rar_draco]

Having arrived early, Draco did what he always did before the doors opened on social functions; he found a quiet place where he could sit quietly and think, and watch the goings on around him without being roped into preparations.

He'd settled on the glass courtyard, sitting at one of the tables with a caraffe of water and a glass, and just waiting. After the arrival of the stallion this morning, he was exhausted. Tomorrow he'd be going back to make sure that the horse had settled in, and see that he was indeed as rideable and well bred as his Bedouin contact insisted.

When people began to arrive, the number of those passing the glass chamber began to increase too, and so when he rose to his feet, carefully brushing his robes back into place, and returned to the hall, it was already bustling with the conversation of those that had arrived early. And it was going to get much, much busier than this

[rar_neville]

Neville offered Ginny his arm with a smile. She looked so lovely in her pale green robes. His dark green dress robes and trousers with the vest went well with what she was wearing. He could see that even with his more modern styled robes, they were far more traditionally dressed than most of the couple their age he saw.

"You look really beautiful and grown up in those robes, Gin," he said softly near her ear. He was incredibly lucky.

[rar_ginny]

Ginny couldn't have been prouder than she was to be here with Neville. He looked incredible, and she did feel quite grown-up all of a sudden. It was nice to be away from school, and he didn't feel as hesitant as he usually did. In fact, he felt more relaxed with her than he had since the day McGonagall caught them snogging.

His soft breath in her ear made her tingly in a way that wasn't entirely about ticklishness. She gave him a warm smile and held on to his arm more tightly. "You look amazing, Nev," she replied. "So...dashing." It was the only word for it, really.

"What shall we do first, do you think?"

[rar_neville]

Neville didn't know if it was possible for him to actually be dashing, but he certainly felt it. "Parvati helped me get the robes just the way I wanted. Good thing, too. Wouldn't want you to be embarrassed by me." He grinned to show he was kidding.

"I think we should see if Luna and Greg are here, and say hello to other friends while we make our way over to get a couple drinks. Does that sound okay?"

[rar_ginny]

She gave him a playful shove. "It's highly unlikely that you could embarrass me. Actually, I wanted to tell you how proud I am of you." Ginny felt suddenly shy, and looked down at their intertwined hands.

"I'd love to see Luna," she said, nodding. "Let's see if they're here." The crowd was growing, and it was getting difficult to see just who was here. She held onto Neville's hand tightly as they wove through the throng.