Quidditch Stands || Secret Blossom Ball Event

Interacting with @Sean Hearth

The sun was finally departing and Margo smiled slightly at the decorative lighting around the pitch. The moving bodies on the dance floor were lit spectacularly, and she’d never tell anyone, but this was an occasion where she didn’t mind being another face in the crowd. She shivered slightly in the cool breeze, suddenly thankful for her long sleeves, and turned to look at Sean. Had her hearing completely forsaken her or had he just avoided her compliment? Were her valiant efforts at politeness being overtaken by Sean’s need to be modest? Margo couldn’t quite decide to be awed or affronted. The thing she knew for sure? He would not be getting away with it.

“I was talking about you, ya know?” She nudged the boy playfully. Her tone hadn’t been nearly as stern as she’d planned, but perhaps it was for the best - she was complimenting him, after all. “I don’t have any other kind, hardworking friends... well, not amongst the organisers anyway.”

Had she really just said that? Gosh, maybe they had swapped personalities for the evening. He’d put effort into organising a rule-breaking, secret party and she was here smiling and complimenting him. She felt a little like running into the Forbidden Forest to insult some trees so that she could ensure that she was still Margo White - stupid ‘fearless’ and sarcastic. Not that she’d waste a perfectly good gathering like that. No, she was at the ball to have an excuse to talk to Ruby and have fun. It didn’t matter if people judged her.

She decided that didn’t care what Sean thought of her when she held up her ‘burger’ (for that was what it was called). Nobody could be expected to be knowledgeable about the entire wizarding and muggle worlds at the same time, surely... then why was Sean looking at her strangely? She was certain she could detect a distinct amount of peculiarity in his gaze. Maybe it was because she’d been so strangely nice. But no, that couldn’t be it. She was always weirdly non-spiky when around him. He was probably just hungry, Margo decided as she looked down at the burger, her stomach grumbling loudly. She took a big bite, and could honestly say that she did not care what Sean thought... this time. Some people had an issue with consuming large amounts of food, and whilst Margo didn’t want to undermine their problems, she didn’t really understand the need to seem a delicate eater. Everyone ate food, no exceptions... so what was the big deal?

“It’s surprisingly good, the strange meat sandwich.” She told Sean happily. Unfortunately, one small burger was not enough to satisfy a hungry Margo, and she started to stand, stretching her arms skywards. ”I’m gonna go sample some more muggle foods.” She told the boy, too afraid to state the invitation in her eyes. Hopefully her open amber gaze would make it known that she would not be averse to company, should Sean wish to replenish himself as well. A second scary thought in the way of the jewellery pouch in her boot scratched dauntingly at her calf as she walked. Onwards! To the food!

Left thread towards Main Area

Reducio

Margo’s outfit

Dances were stupid, he was certain of this. Granted, Charlie Cutting had never actually attended one before, but he knew they were dumb. A group of kids making complete fools of themselves as they swayed awkwardly to repetitive music while teachers watched from the corner? Where was the fun in that? That's why at his old school, he always elected to sit out on dances - not that there were many - and instead stay home to play video games. And while there were no video games at Hogwarts, he had planned to find something else to do instead of attending the Blossom Ball. Perhaps he could learn how to play that marble game he saw kids playing, he surely couldn't have been the only Ravenclaw who would rather not attend. This was all before learning that the Ball was to be a secret that professor's wouldn't know about, and this new knowledge was all it took to turn him right around on the idea. He still hated dances, but he loved breaking the rules.

There were plenty of students already at the Quidditch Pitch when he arrived, and Charlie adjusted the straps of his suspenders awkwardly before filing in behind a group of older students in much fancier outfits. There were six of them in total, three couples, arm-in-arm with their dates. Charlie didn't have a date, being barely the age of twelve, but it didn't mean he wouldn't necessarily like to have one. There were plenty of pretty girls at Hogwarts, but the thought of dating made him a bit uneasy. The couples in front of him split off in different directions. The first, a blond boy and his even blonder girlfriend, went straight off to the dance floor. The second couple, two girls with matching pink dresses turned in the direction of the snacks. The third and final couple chose to sneak away into the shadows, leaving Charlie alone. Of course, he had technically been alone the whole time, as he wasn't with them. They were all older than him, and therefore cooler and more mature, but that didn't matter to the young Ravenclaw, as he had his own group to find that night.

Slowly over the course of the year, Charlie had begun making friends. It started with Lilia and Aly, and slowly expanded to Kaden, Liv, and a few others. But where any of them were, he wasn't sure. There were too many people for him to make anyone specific out of the crowd, so he decided he needed higher ground. Climbing the stands higher and higher, he found smaller groups scattered about in the stands, until finally lying his eyes on two girls: Liv and Haven... and Haven's stapler cat.

"Well don't you two look beautiful," he smiled as he approached before clearing his throat. Had that been a dumb thing to say?

Interacting with @Haven Bohannon and @Charles Cutting

What did a person do at a ball, anyway? This entire thing was confusing and all she had gathered thus far was that balls were designed for people to shout at one another - at least, the interactions she had overheard in the changing rooms led her to believe that was the case! Also lots of waiting around and twiddling her thumbs. It was distinctly not fun in the slightest. Liv was cold, bored and wondering why she hadn't waited for Haven and come down together. The chances were, if she had they would've been caught by a teacher just waiting to send them back to the Common Room, and throw them in detention. She managed enough detentions for losing focus in classes and forgetting to do homework assignments. The last thing she wanted was to accrue a detention for something she wasn't trying to shirk, especially when there was an opportunity to have a night of presumed fun with her friends. At least, she anticipated having fun. Assumedly they couldn't make too much noise so as to not alert any professors, though it hadn't stopped those people earlier.

It was impossible to miss her friend even if she had wanted to. Haven was a vision, in a periwinkle blue, a flower crown affixed to her head along with something big and black. It wasn't til the redhead came closer that she could see the thing she had adorned her hair with. A stapler? A plethora of questions came to mind as she tried to find a reason for the chosen attire, though she knew posing them to the other girl would result in a lengthy conversation consisting of a thousand different topics and likely no concrete response. Or it would be a simple, 'why not?' which still brought her no closer to answering the question at hand. "I'm not sure I got a memo about adding stationery to our outfits!" she smiled, hoping she hadn't upset the other girl It was just, she had never seen an item of stationery fashioned into a hair accessory. Maybe she was behind the curve and she would encounter lots of others endorsing this trend too? So far it was just the other girl, unsurprisingly. Haven did like to put her own twist on a look.

Rather than throwing her arms around the other girl she stood back and admired the overall look, though was unprepared when her fellow Hufflepuff pulled her in regardless. "Oh my goodness, Haven, you look amazing. I didn't know people wore staplers these days! You even dressed yours up." she exclaimed, admiring the pretty flower crown while she was already staring at her friend's head. "You'll have to teach me to make those crowns one of these da-- Charlie!" While she had hoped to see the Ravenclaw tonight she wasn't sure a formal dance was truly his scene however much he might try to pretend otherwise. Still, he might have a lot of fun with their friends and dance to some good music however that was happening without muggle technology and without raising it to a level that might alert their professors. "Don't you both look amazing! I'm so glad we complement one another with our outfits and don't clash. Can you think of anything more embarrassing! What do you think it'll be like once we go in there? I'm surprised no teacher's rumbled us all yet! Do you think they can do a mass school detention if we're sprung?" Liv was choosing to believe that it would be too many students to discipline all at once should they be caught, but she didn't know whether or not there was a precedent for this sort of thing. "Do you think there's ever been a secret ball before? How have we gotten away with it thus far? Do you think the others are coming?"

[font=Times New Roman]

Interacting with @Ivy Bellamy

A light smile rested on his features as he looked upon Ivy once more as he held out the corsage. "I suppose it does go there," he said as he let his hand slip the band over the wrist that she had held to him. "Actually, when I owled' my moms' to tell her of taking you to the ball after I rushed off the other day, she sent this over," a blush once more coming to his face, "She thought it'd be nice... as did I" he relented after he had placed the roses upon her wrist. Dropping his hands to his side he offered a small shrug and a slightly more embarrassed smile as he gazed upon her.

It wasn't his idea, but, he was pleased to have something to offer to someone like Ivy, she was kind to accept his invitation to the ball, and he was still a little embarrassed from the last time they had met and he'd rushed off. Looking beyond her for a moment he still saw the gathering of the others in the direction that they had come from and he was quite keen on getting out of this area before it became more populated.

As she looked over the railing, he peered over once more and looked over the scene that lay below them. Eyes slid back over to the girl beside him and he felt extremely lucky at the moment and couldn't help but become a tad bit more excited for what the rest of the night held. "Brilliant it is, hope they play some killer music to dance too," he'd reply to her. Turning back to her then, he'd hear the suggestion and gave a firm nod, "If you can keep up, I'd be impressed." he teased, a little wink coming from him in a playful manner.

Moving to the girls' side then, he'd let a hand out in front of him and did his best to be polite, as his mother had taught him to be. "After you." he'd say as he would allow her to lead them. As he'd let her lead, he'd look over his shoulder so he could see if he'd spot the boy, Dmitri, who had decided to stick within the stands for a bit longer. Unfortunately, the area was too dark where he had moved and Zyk wasn't able to give a final farewell before he and Ivy exited towards the festivities.

Outfit

Exiting the Stands to Pitch with @Ivy Bellamy

-

interacting | n/a, but open!

mentioning | Cecily Quinn

Cel never really liked balls all that much. In fact, you could go as far as to say she violently disliked them—something always went wrong in gatherings of people, for some reason. That was the reason she hand't attended the Masquerade Ball, and the reason why she had been thoroughly considering not attending this one, especially considering that it was held under the professors' noses—and even with the professors here, at least some of them had suffered injuries that they weren't able to protect them against. Who knew what could happen now that it was only students here?

Unfortunately, Cel also really sucked at resisting bribery and also telling herself it was okay to disappoint someone, so when Cecily begged her to go with her and said that there would be cupcakes, how was she supposed to say no?

She'd walked down the Ravenclaw tower with Cecily, but then Cecily had to run off to find Adam somewhere on the dance floor. Now without anybody to awkwardly follow around, Cel had resolved to climb the stairs to the Quidditch Stands, where there seemed to be fewer people and less loud noises, if you discounted the wind.

She hadn't stopped by the changing rooms. Changing rooms sucked in general. No, she'd simply chosen to wear a more casual-looking dress, dark blue with a simple bow on the waistline, to avoid being noticed. The hemline had been a little too long for her liking, but some scissors, thread, and a bit of bias tape did wonders for shortening the skirt to mid-calf length. She had made up for the formality with accessories, easily put on after she'd gotten out of the castle: a gold arm band decorated with leaves but no flowers, unfortunately, and a matching anklet. Shoes—not really her thing, especially heels. If nobody made her wear formal shoes, she wouldn't wear them. Instead, she'd gone for a pair of comfortable slip-ons, definitely a little out-of-place, but it was too dark to see anything anyway and she honestly just did not care at the point.

Sighing, she propped one of her arms up on her elbow, leaning over the edge of the rail to stare at the tiny people below. Cecily had promised to bring her cupcakes later, which was the only reason, of course, that she was still there. Not a week after she'd returned to Hogwarts, and there was already a ball! Classic. She hoped her brother was all right back at home... there was so much potential mischief he was missing out here.

She hadn't even been allowed to bring a book, and now she was bored. Fiddling with her wand in her hand wasn't quite entertaining enough to take up her time, and neither was worrying about professors catching her. A year ago she would've been worried out of her mind, yes, screaming at herself for even being here, but she'd just gotten back from a year of sickness, and frankly, there were better things for her energy to be spent on than fretting. She was already here, after all. Might as well get cupcakes.

didn't go to the changing rooms

-

Entering from quidditch stands

Alexander walked up the stairs towards the quidditch stands. As he did so his left hand slid along the banisters. To hold himself if he lost his balance and because it felt nice. He looked to his right where Aida was now walking and as they climbed the stairs Alexander thought about the questions that Aida had asked him. Mainly pertaining to his family.

"Well I moved here from the Netherlands. It's a small country just to the East of Britain. If you know geography well you'll probably know it. The move was about....." Alexander exhaled some air as he calculated in his head how long he had been in England. "About 3 or 4 years ago. As for any ties there? Well, I didn't really have any very close friends though I do technically have some family there. Though ties are quite strained/non-existent."

They were now about halfway up towards the stands. Alexander would think again for a moment before continuing to speak. "Well before I found about magic I wasn't that much of a craftsman. Mostly just read books, still do now honestly. But now I find the ideas of crafting far more interesting since they can be enchanted magically and anything like that. Like magical smiths in fantasy books " Alexander then stood still for a moment before gaining a small humorous smile.

"Ï suppose I should be careful not to create one ring to rule them all, one ring to bind all others in darkness " Alexander could not help but make the reference.

"Though I am afraid there is not much of crafts I can teach you yet. Since I don't know that much myself. Though I suppose I am able to do basic things, like drive a nail into a piece of wood. But most of my crafting skills stop there."

Alexander could not help but smile as Aida mentioned strategy. Though as with several days earlier it had a sad quality to it. "I generally like to play strategy games at home for quite some time. As well as reading about history. It helps give perspective. and thank you" At the end Alexander's smile gained a soft quality.

The two were now leaving the stairway and making their way onto the stands themselves.
"Well my parents are my parents. They are kind, support me, and just are........." Alexander said. Not entirely sure of how he could put his entire relationship with his family into words.

"My family is quite small. Just my dad, mom and if you stretch the meaning of it our dog Bruno" Alexander then twisted his thumbs a little before continuing to speak. His frown gaining a slight resentful? quality.

"As for the Etymology of my name. It is a sort of merger of two other last names."

He would then stare down into the quidditch pitch down below before continuing to speak. "The first name is 'Van Leiden' this translates to 'from Leiden' a city in The Netherlands. That is my father's last name."

He would then put his hands behind his back and look further off into the distance.
"The second part is Möller which translates in German to Miller. Then they mismatched the words and came up with something that sounded nice. As for why they made a new family name. " Alexander let out a pensive sigh.

"Explaining that will take quite some time."

"What about the other nine hundred ninety nine thousand powers?" She asked imagining a list in her head as she checked off what Lamik could do. See in the dark. Done. Exceptional Quidditch player. Defnitely. Handsome. They had just established that thank's to Elenas fumble. Whatever this Binding Mark thing was, she was positive it woud catch her off guard..just like the hundered other times she had interacted with the boy. This time was sort of different though..she felt more at ease. Relaxed. Despite her inside voice screaming at her to literally just crumble out of sheer embarassment at certain thing she said, the girl was actually surprised at herself for keeping a cool head..for the most part. That could change very quickly depending on how certain factors went..now if only the entire Ball could go like this..that would be amazing. That ever-lingering doubt still hovered around in the back of her mind.

She stared incredously at the Gryffindor as he launched into his explanation,well he had done it again. Elena had never heard of such a thing. "It's literally that easy? You just like..touch someone and bam, you get like mind communcation and all this stuff." Elena was briefly reminded of how her parents had dabbled in the context and origins of the Dark Mark which was in essence the same thing but still different in nature. "Does it hurt? I mean, when you put the Mark on someone?" It felt a bit like branding someone, placing your classifaction over them which left Elena feeling a bit odd. Though, she assumed like all good things, it could be twisted into something evil and as far as Lamik was concerned, he was the closest thing to a pure soul she had seen.

Elena wondered about her own self. In comparsion to what the boy had going for him, Elena had no particular magical skills, nothing that well..was unique to her. Violin was such a common norm these days and drawing..well,again quite the common thing. Maybe she just hadn't found her calling yet. "All of these skills and you decided to hang out with a dud like me? Shocking." She said half joking yet curious to see what his reply would be. Elena wasn't exactly most people's go-to option in terms of friends or interacting rather be that her personality or something else, she just wasn't that much of a social butterfly yet she had somehow mananged to make her mark here with some of the more alluring indviduals.

Those who knew Kaden well knew that there were few things he loved more than dancing and flowers, so the idea that he wouldn't be present at a Blossom Ball was simply unfathomable. That being said, Kaden was also incredibly meticulous about his appearance, so changing down at the Quidditch Pitch simply wouldn't do. Not with how long it would take him to make his appearance absolutely flawless. Straightening out his collar and his sleeves when he was finished, Kaden gave his reflection a wink. Sometimes he just felt like he could stare into the mirror forever, entranced by the beauty of his own reflection, and yet, now was simply not the time! He needed to hurry, but first, he needed to add just one final touch. It simply wouldn't do not to have a single floral adornment to go with this sky blue suit! A single white rose boutonnière pinned to his left side completed the look Kaden was striving for. He'd likely be far overdressed compared to most of his peers, but that simply meant he would be turning more heads, which was perfectly fine with him. Throwing a large flowing robe over his outfit, Kaden quickly snuck out of his common room and out to the Quidditch Pitch.

Once Kaden arrived on the pitch, his eyes went wide with delight as he saw the large open field had been turned into a giant dance floor! And the music! Kaden could hardly wait to get to dancing, but first, he'd need to find a dancing partner. Perhaps one of the cute guys he'd been talking to lately would be here. Indeed it didn't take him long to locate one of them, standing with two of his other friends no less! Beaming at the three of them, Kaden rushed to the group and greeted them excitedly.

"Haven! Your flower crown is so pretty! And is that a cat stapler? How cute!" Kaden exclaimed. He truly loved Haven's unique sense of style, and wearing a stapler was certainly something he'd never witnessed. "And Liv! You look gorgeous! Are you a bit cold though? If so, let me know and you can wear this." Kaden pulled the long robe covering his outfit over his head and stuffed it into his bag, posing in his new outfit with his hands on his hips and letting out a small giggle. That was when he turned his attention to Charlie next, his bright green eyes lighting up at the sight of the cute Ravenclaw. "Charlie! You're looking as dashing as ever. Care to dance with me?" Kaden extended his hand towards the boy who had deemed himself 'average' upon their first meeting. Whether that was the truth remained to be seen.

Location: Underneath the stands, hidden from view.

Interacting: @Erin Ryan

"Erin, wait up!" Oliver panted. He didn't want to jog because he didn't want to sweat in his attire. He had followed her out of the changing rooms, across the stretch of grass and as she passed by the outer side of the Quidditch Stands, Oliver called for her. He leaned against one of the wooden beams, looking up in curiosity at the maze of timber that held the stands up. The fabric covering the stands separated the two from view of the Secret Blossom Ball. There was small holes and tears in the house coloured coverings that let in some of the parties light.
Oliver didn't hurry when chasing after Erin cause he wanted somewhere private, like here. It was quiet, the parties music could be heard faintly on the other side of the stands. It was also quite dark so they couldn't be seen together. The last thing Oliver wanted was someone from the party seeing Erin and deciding to take her possible crying moment as a chance to attack.

Atmospheric Music

Oliver looked at Erin. This is weird. She wasn't someone that could just be hugged and told not to worry. Or was she? The Ravenclaw was not prepared for this situation. Nothing in life could prepare him for this. He had paid attention in the changing rooms enough to at least believe he knew why Erin was leaving the ball with watery eyes, which was a good starting ground. She had been tricked into thinking someone was her crush. Or boyfriend. Oliver wasn't sure who Paracelsus was to Erin, he didn't hang out with her on weekends so their personal lives didn't intermix. How could she fall for just a resemblance though? Oliver figured she had been charmed by one of those Valentine treats, or something similar. The boy would never be able to comprehend any other reasoning. His desire for Dymphna was not on that level, he barely even knew her.

"Sorry that you were tricked by that guy... you know, I don't really know what's going on in your life, You-" Oliver choked on his saliva. He was extremely nervous, his fists were clenched trying to get this out. "You mention giants and people disappearing and I'm always like, y'know, I start talking about a comic or something cause I don't know what to say. But that's wrong of me and I'm sorry!" He yelled. "Oops, sorry, didn't mean to raise my voice, heh... Anyway, I care about what you have going on. You're my pal, my only pal. And I won't let you just sink into the mud. Y'know..." Oliver paused, was he talking too much? Maybe, but he had some stuff on his chest he needed to get off," y'know, we're not that much different. We're placed on the outside," Oliver pointed to the party that they were literally outside of," and we're left there. You and I... we're burning up slowly and nobody cares. We're on fire and there's no way to put it out... and people like us have to stick together... they want us to be alone so we're easier to bring down," Oliver wanted to cry so badly but he was clenching up just to keep a strong front. It was Erin's turn to be upset, he didn't want to take it from her, lord knows she needed it,"But not us! I've got your back, I swear I do. As long as you have mine, we can win. We can come out on top..."

Oliver looked Erin face on, her intimidation usually lingered inside of him a fraction even though he saw her as a friend. Right now though it didn't, for once he wasn't scared of Erin. He truly felt he needed her. But none of this was anything to do with romance, he didn't see Erin in that way. A friend was more than what Oliver could ever ask for. Also her veela charm on Oliver faded out likely around the first time she wedgied him. He didn't want any complications either. All Oliver ever wanted was a friend he could rely on, nothing more, nothing less.
His words were were true to him, although Erin was a lot more messed up than Oliver. She had been the victim of murder attempts and been caught up with evil hags. Did that balance out the bullying Oliver faced daily? Probably not, but to Oliver he could not imagine a more insufferable pain than what he'd experienced at Hogwarts.

Entering from main area.

"What do you think you'd like to make next? Maybe I can help. I like making things and the feeling of accomplishment after a job well done." Aida's voice showed genuine interest but she seemed a bit sad now. All this talk about family was getting to her. She considered trying to conceal her emotions but remembered the decision she had made about Griffith's lesson. Though Aida didn't know how she was going to accomplish it without dangerously bottling up her emotions, she decided to try to not bring Alexander down. She wanted them to have a happy evening, even if hell was about to break loose. At minimum she wanted them to grow from the experience, so she decided to focus on the objective.

"I like it up here. Maybe the high ground makes me feel safer, even if it means we're more isolated. I think I saw someone flying around up there." Aida gestured at the sky. "I wonder if he is safer that way or if he is making himself an easier target through his isolation. There's just so much I don't know about the threat. Do we know anything about it?" Aida was getting sadder despite her efforts to change the topic. She was half speaking about her own self-isolation despite the apparently mundane topic. Talking about her own problems metaphorically concealed inside of other subjects, such as external Hogwarts situations, was becoming a habit. She was able to express her pain this way without having the risk that someone would learn of her situation, even if it meant she may never find real resolutions or interpersonal connection. "I bet he's lonely up there. I wonder if his quidditch friends will come." Aida's tactic was failing. She had to change the topic again.

"So, we've got some rope and a knife. Do you know any spells?" Aida tried to focus on the objective but she was succumbing to a downward spiral. "I'm not even sure why I'm here... I don't know any spells. I don't think I'm magical at all. There was clearly some mistake. I have never even cast a spell in my life." The girl could see that she was failing terribly to create a happy atmosphere. She looked back over at Alexander and tried to focus on the positive. "You look very nice today." She leaned in towards Alexander's jacket to smell the bluebells. She wanted to go back to those joyful moments they had just been having only minutes earlier.

Interacting with @Alexander Varellion.