The LeDames Winter Ball

Olexi Volkov is a tall (6'6), slightly tan man in his early 40s. He looks almost exactly like Yasha except with serious brown eyes and a more muscular figure.
Alyona Volkov is also tall (5'10), with wavy blonde hair and green eyes that match her son's. She is wearing a beautiful, flowing green gown and looks rather sickly despite a joyful attitude.

ROLEPLAYING AS BEAUXBATONS iNPC AURÉLIE NATHALIE DUVAL

@EmmaLee LeDames Open to Interactions

sta 6 | eva 9 | str 6 | wis 8 | arc 6 | acc 7 fearless, perfectionist

"french" | "english" | thoughts | "others"

action. the entire Duval family is on or near the dance floor

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Aurélie was glad to hear that her friend was doing alright, though every time the word suitors was uttered in the context of EmmaLee, she wanted to cringe. Aurélie herself was below the age of fifteen, and she was pretty sure her friend was too, it was definitely not the time to figure out a life partner. She was glad her own grandparents did not care for such things, instead just wanting her to find connections in the elite pureblood world. Otherwise, she might've ended up just like EmmaLee, in a poofy white gown on display on a platform.

As she was looking around, she thought she caught a flash of white hair. Her grandfather, Henri, had told her of a little game that went on during the ball, and Aurélie wondered if the flash that she'd seen was part of that game. She turned to EmmaLee, who'd said that she had to go dance with suitors soon anyways. "Will you excuse me for a second?" Not bothering to wait for an answer, or to check in with her overprotective parents, the little French girl made her way towards what she'd spotted. Sure enough, she'd been right, and she found a girl with white blonde hair who handed her a handkerchief.

When Aurélie found her way back to the platform that EmmaLee had previously been on, the girl was already off dancing with one of her potential suitors. Sighing, the girl found her family at the edge of the dance floor. She sidled up to her grandfather Henri again, her eyes watching the handkerchief that he, too, held. "You found a girl too?"

The man, to his credit, did not jump with fright at his granddaughter's reappearance. He just stared at her for a moment, righting himself, before speaking. "Yes, I did, my dear. Now, do remember not to spook your grand-père grandfather like that." He chuckled.

As Aurélie watched, her family all made their way onto the dance floor, swaying to the music and letting their feet go through the footwork like it was second nature. Her mother and father paired up, her grandmother and grandfather paired up. Now she was all alone on the sidelines.

The little French girl sighed... she would dance too, if only she had a partner.

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“Hm, maybe. Probably from camp, I haven’t attended anything else before that.” And, of course, he had been grieving during the autumn ball, though now was far from the proper time to bring that up. Turning to the three other attendees by the girl’s side, he nodded and introduced in a fashion that would probably be frowned upon by the many blue bloods flooding the room, “Nice to meet you; Hans.” First was shorter platinum-haired girl with piercing blue eyes and a dark dress, second was the apparent friend of hers whom he found unassuming, and third was the Aurelie DuVall of Beauxbaton as EmmaLee had introduced her. They acted as one would expect for pure-blood heirs and heiresses, though at least they were kind by shoving down that seemingly generational arrogance. EmmaLee’s reply, though brisk and perhaps distracted, led his attention back to her and he Shrugging when he didn’t exactly understand what EmmaLee was implying to him, he simply smiled and said, “That’s rather unfortunate. Well, hopefully you can get something to eat soon, it wouldn’t exactly be nice if the star of tonight starves, would it?”

Hans was briefly distracted as he caught sight of a particularly familiar boy - the pureblood society, after all, was proving to be a tightly knit web of acquaintances, pleasant or otherwise. With that mop of black hair covering one unsettling eye he was hardly difficult to forget, and much more stubbornly was the memory that clung onto it. To say that he had fun with the few spells he threw was not the most accurate of descriptors but then was a time in his life when he was all too carefree. He had not let the older student affect his summer, and he had no intentions on letting him ruin this “debut” of his. Turning his attention back to EmmaLee just before she was asked for the dance, Hans said, despite being completely uncertain of that fact, “Sure, I’m certain it would be a nice time.” Moving aside for Yasha with almost sarcastic politeness he gestured toward EmmaLee with a smoothly indifferent, “Please, go ahead.” Sparing the Russian boy the barest of glances, he smiled with that usual charming quality, as if having forgotten their unfortunate little meeting six months ago, and gave a final, “have fun,” before he left for the dance floor below himself.

Scanning for his grandfather only to find him nowhere in sight, Hans was far from worried as he was determined to enjoy the night like his elder had instructed. In truth there were little opportunities when most people only cared to engage in smalltalk, but he wouldn’t mind extending some relationships behind the mere basis of names. “Aurélie, right?” He asked as he neared the brunette, then chuckled, “Am I pronouncing that correct?” Grinning seemingly without a doubt in the world, he continued more seriously with an apology for the faux pas he had been too caught up to do much more than brush away, “My name is Hans, and sorry I hadn’t introduced myself properly to you earlier. I’m still trying to get a hang of this pureblood etiquette, though that’s hardly an excuse.” Pausing with that sparkle still in his eyes, he followed her gaze as those longing eyes turned to the floor, “You know how to dance, Aurélie?”

@EmmaLee LeDames (& Yasha Volkov), @Ophelia Northwell as Aurelie DuVall, @Aleksandra FairBairn, sorry for the late post!

ROLEPLAYING AS BEAUXBATONS iNPC AURÉLIE NATHALIE DUVAL

@EmmaLee LeDames Hans Jenssen (@Archer Duncan)

sta 6 | eva 9 | str 6 | wis 8 | arc 6 | acc 7 fearless, perfectionist

"french" | "english" | thoughts | "others"

action. the entire Duval family is on or near the dance floor

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It was as if, Aurélie thought, the world had finally begun listening to her wishes. One moment, she was staring longingly at the dance floor to which her parents and grandparents had just entered, partnering up. The next, there was a boy next to her, speaking to her. Maybe she ought to begin wishing upon a star more often, if this is how quickly they worked.

It took all of one moment for Aurélie to then recognise the boy who'd approached her, her mood souring. It was the one who approached the little circle around EmmaLee. Already, in Aurélie's mind, the boy had become like a walking, talking definition of the haughty pureblood boys her grandparents wanted her to be around. Sure, she hadn't really given him a chance, but she was an excellent judge of character, if she did say so herself, and she was pretty sure this boy was like all the others.

"Yes." She answered in a clipped tone to this small talk, her eyes turning back to the elegant dancing that was taking place. This boy was not worth her attention. "I suppose that's proficient enough."

But moments later, the boy introduced himself again-- properly this time, not the curt one she'd received before-- and that made Aurélie turn back. Fixing mistakes? Figuring out that she cared for such things? Now, those weren't the qualities of someone who shouldn't be approached. And that grin, it said a lot. He knew what she thought of him, and he knew that what he was saying right now, all those words coming out of his mouth, they were piquing her interest. Still getting the hang of this pureblood ettiquette? Whatever did that mean? Unfortunately, being nosy was against those rules that Hans had just so spoken of, and it would be rude of her to ask. She settled for a grin in return.

"Oh, I know how to dance." Her smile changed from friendly to devious in a moment. She was a dancer by heart, by soul, by nature. It was in her blood to move elegantly and gracefully, just on beat with the music. And, since Hans had so generously asked for it, she'd show him how perfectly her little body could dance. "Come, come, let us dance."

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Hans was glad when Aurélie turned back again, truthfully he felt guilty for not having addressed her properly. He knew in a society was a cut-throat as the Wizarding aristocracy, he mustn’t lose himself to the haughty heirs he so detested, careless, indifferent, without a thread of kindness nor empathy in them. There were many reasons Hans thought his grandfather glorious, and one in particular that he had only now noticed was his resilience. It was admirable how he remained unshaken by the class’ pelting expectations, and after having seen how other bloodlines worked their children like nothing more than a sculpture, he was glad individuality was not a sacrifice he was faced to make for a place in the world.

The half-blood was well aware that his behaviour was not exactly the epitome of the well-bred pure-blood heir they were searching for, but if trying to fit in with the socialites at Durmstrang taught him anything it was that there was no reason to even bother trying. Now it seemed ridiculous he thought he could fit in with them, more so that he had wanted to befriend those - and excuse mean language, which he was pretty sure was crossing another line - pathetic excuses of people. If the girl would see a problem in that he could hardly care less; after all his grandpa had instructed him to have fun, a phrase that must have been foreign to these aristocrats, whose socialising never extended beyond tedious networking. Eyes lighting up as the Frenchwomen accepted his invitation, Hans extended a hand with a bow, feigning the traditional greeting. “Perfect then!” Hans exclaimed, then laughed heartily at her devious smile, “I think I’ll have a wonderful tutor then, because I absolutely have no idea what I’m doing.”

Despite the words having just left his lips, Hans pulled Aurélie onto the dance floor. “So, how do we do this, mon- Ma? Ah, ma dame. How do we do this, ma dame? my lady” New experiences, am I right?

@Ophelia Northwell as Aurelie DuVall

Abilities Perfectionist 1 & 2 Evasive Maneuvers Muggle Condition Outfit

Action Wandering around, out of EmmaLee's sight at the moment Open for Interactions @EmmaLee LeDames English || Russian Sta 10 °▪︎ Eva 13 °▪︎ Str 8°▪︎ Wis 11°▪︎ Arc 5°▪︎ Acc 9°▪︎

Stephen was not certain this was a good idea. His father was keen on his attending, but Stephen was also not altogether certain as to why. Yes, his father had told him it would be good for him to get to know his girlfriend’s family better, but honestly, Stephen suspected it had more to do with David Schwartz having the opportunity to “face-time” with the rich and famous of Europe. It was a largely, untapped market for him, and Stephen could have sworn his father was practically salivating when the invitation arrived and discovered exactly where they had been invited. It did not seem to register with his father that his son just might be a little hurt by the whole thing, but sadly, it would have surprised Stephen more if it had occurred to him.

He, himself, was a in a mild state of shock. He had received EmmaLee’s owl days earlier telling him about the LeDames Ball and that, once again, it was all her family’s doing. Stephen believed that, but he also knew he was well and done with her family, the non-nuclear branch of it anyway. He knew he should have responded to her letter sooner than he did, but he had not as he had had no idea what to say. Really. What exactly was the proper response to one’s girlfriend whose purpose in writing was to tell him she was about to be courted, at the tender age of 13, by Merlin knew how many eligible, Pure-blood suitors, for the express purpose of seeking her hand in marriage?

His mind reeled off a number of snarky answers much too quickly.

Have fun?

Good luck!

Choose wisely!

May wuv, twue wuv, fowow you foweva. Not!

Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do? (And that means kissing any boys... or frogs).

WANTED: My Cinderfella!

You’re taking me for an April fool, in December, just to keep me off balance, right? Right?!?

And his personal favorite:

Punctuality is important, so I thought it best to send out my RSVP ASAP as we both know I have a history of slow replies to time sensitive situations.

To Whom it may concern:

Stephen Nobler Schwartz regrets to inform you that he will be otherwise engaged himself (no, NOT to a girl, but in doing such important tasks as counting all the grains of sand on the beaches of Malibu), and will therefore, sadly, be unable (and unwilling!) to attend the wedding of Miss Emmiline LeDames, no matter the date or time, to whomever the fraction of a man is she finds herself betrothed to at the end of this outdated and ridiculously misogynistic custom.

Yours most insincerely,
~Some putz in the States

There were many more snarky retorts that followed, far more than he cared to admit, but when he finally allowed himself the space to stop and think, he calmed his unsteady nerves and turned to look out the window. He wanted to talk to Miles about this. He would surely know about this as a Pure-blood wizard himself, but time was short as the holidays were upon them. Then it briefly bounced through Stephen’s mind to wonder if Miles himself was betrothed? Now that was worthy of knowing, and certainly something to bring up to his buddy, but after the holidays.

EmmaLee’s parents and his father had already started walking into the magnificent palace when Stephen decided with a surety that he would, indeed, enter. It had crossed his mind to stay out with the fountains, but curiosity got the better of him. His father, the real estate mogul, was holding his cool, but Stephen knew he was probably vibrating with the possibilities such an opportunity was presenting him. As for Stephen, he liked little about the whole situation, but Mr. LaChance had reassured him that this was all being done to placate EmmaLee’s grandmother and aunts, and that it meant nothing more than that in the scheme of things.

Stephen liked Mr. LaChance very much, but nothing about this situation felt like it meant nothing. There was a whole lot of something going on here to mean nothing. It had been suggested, by her parents, that they keep his attendance a secret, not only from EmmaLee, but from the LeDames women as well. Having ultimately sent nothing but a three word reply to EmmaLee in response to her letter, he hoped she would not mind his presence at her special Ball. He had said nothing more in the owl than, “As you wish.”

He knew what he meant by it, and she either would as well, or would not, but he wasn’t going to bother to explain it. He wasn’t the one needing to explain anything right now.

When he walked in, the opulence and grandeur were rather lost on him. He was too busy scanning the faces, looking for hers. Her parents got both him and his father past the gatekeepers, and he was finally able to move around freely. He was looking in the wrong places though. Mainly he was looking on the dance floor, and his heart was racing, wondering what it was going to feel like seeing her dancing and laughing and having the time of her life in some other guy’s arms. He already knew how it was going to feel.

Devastating.

As he slipped in and around groups of chatting kids his age, give or take a couple of years, he kept on moving, taking no time to chat. Some of the faces looked familiar to him, and that made his innards twist upon themselves. He did not locate her at all, on or off the dance floor, and that struck him as entirely odd. It was only then that he looked up to see her sitting alone, in a white gown, stiff but beautiful, on a low level balcony of sorts, overlooking the dance floor. She was not looking his way, so Stephen knew she had not seen him yet, and he wanted to keep it that way. Above her was another balcony platform. It was occupied by three women, each with hair as white as EmmaLee’s. They varied in ages, and none were as young as EmmaLee, but the family resemblance was certainly there.

“Well, hello troublemakers,” he whispered to himself. And just then, a tall drink of water approached her and clearly asked her out on the dance floor. This fellow, too, looked familiar. They spent time at summer camp together, thought they did not speak often. Stephen grew still and focused, his eyes never once leaving them. He was not entirely sure he even blinked. He knew this boy she considered a friend only, but what if a real fricking Prince Charming was already here and about to sweep her off her feet and him out of the picture?

What then? What was he prepared to do? What could he do?

Plenty.

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ROLEPLAYING AS BEAUXBATONS iNPC AURÉLIE NATHALIE DUVAL

@EmmaLee LeDames Hans Jenssen (@Archer Duncan)

sta 6 | eva 9 | str 6 | wis 8 | arc 6 | acc 7 fearless, perfectionist

"french" | "english" | thoughts | "others"

action. the entire Duval family is on the dance floor

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Aurélie wasn't a natural rule breaker. It wasn't in her nature to just not do as she was told, that wasn't it. She was just... headstrong. She believed, with all her heart, that she should be able to do what she wanted to do. If there were rules in the way, then... well, they couldn't be that important, could they? Anaïs Océane, Aurélie's beloved grandmother, could be just a bit annoying at times. One particular example of that, was how her grandmother had specifically said she was to speak with only members of high wizarding society, those who were worth speaking to. It wasn't that the Duvals were a discriminating family, no they'd changed to the most recent times quite well, but according to Aurélie's grandparents, she was an heiress, and should already begin to make connections. As if.

If the thought had merely crossed the little French girl's brain before, it was blaring in Aurélie's mind now. Whatever Hans's blood status was or was not, he definitely wasn't of the posh society that her grandparents were so taken with. Either that, or he was new to it, however one accomplished that feat. Aurélie was pretty sure that everyone who was here at EmmaLee's ball had ancestors who'd been to this very ball, years prior.

"You know some French?" Aurélie asked, the realisation more important in her brain than being pulled onto the dance floor by some boy who'd she just met and who obviously had no idea what he was doing. It was only a moment later that she realised that she was supposed to be dancing to the melody that was playing. Ballroom dancing wasn't really Aurélie's preferred passion. She did ballet, mostly. It was a Muggle art, but she loved its grace and beauty, seemingly small and easy, but able to break your legs or hurt them a lot if done incorrectly, just like the girl herself. That being said, the girl did have plenty of experience on the dance floor of a pureblood ball.

She held out her hands in the prescribed motion, looking Hans in the eyes and trying to convey the message that yes, he had to copy them. If he succeeded in that task, she would change her own arms to match his properly. "Unfortunately, this is a slower dance. Good for conversation, and amusement, but it does get boring after a while." She flashed him a grin, then began the movements of her feet. "Its not too hard, you see?"

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"Oh, non no," he said quickly, laughing, "Please don't ask me to. It would be a pity to see you disappointed." Taking her hands in a grand gesture as she held them out, Hans' gaze first scanned the room trying the get a hang of the peculiar art form of waltzing, then allowed his attention to focus solely on his dance partner stood in front of him. Meeting her eyes he copied the actions of the pairs dancing alongside them, satisfied knowing he was correct as his more experienced counterpart followed. Flashing the grin back at her comment regarding the dance, Hans said with a laugh, "I assure you, ma dame, you will be far from bored. I have been told I am wonderfully charming in conversation. How is Beauxbatons? Romantic, I would hope. People say its uh... very different from my school."

Trying to keep up with the footwork he found no enjoyment in the activity in of itself, but Hans was certain that socialisation would spice it up. Though when his chain of thought was broken, he changed the topic suddenly to what he rarely touched on before recently. "Oh! And, I will be transparent with you," Hans stated matter-of-factly, using the slow pace of the dance's rhythm in his favour, "Though I'm being presented as it tonight, I'm not a pure-blood by one generation. And I'm perfectly fine with that, so I hope you are too. Best of both worlds, you know." Raising his hand for Aurélie to twirl, his smile was as casually welcoming as it always was, devoid of any tension, determined to enjoy the night without any care for things as petty as his lineage. Hans had used to evade the topic as if it was hot straight out of the oven, yet after he had seen so much past the chess games socialites all indulged in he truthfully could not care less. There was no longer a society he needed to force himself into and after the talk with Johannes "Non-conformist" Sauer fitting in was the least of his worries. It was a mere disclaimer that felt mandatory under today's blue-blooded circumstances, but he trusted the French girl enough for her not to freak out at the mere fact.

@Ophelia Northwell as Aurélie Duval

ROLEPLAYING AS BEAUXBATONS iNPC AURÉLIE NATHALIE DUVAL

@EmmaLee LeDames Hans Jenssen (@Archer Duncan)

sta 6 | eva 9 | str 6 | wis 8 | arc 6 | acc 7 fearless, perfectionist

"french" | "english" | thoughts | "others"

action. the entire Duval family is on the dance floor

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Aurélie was, unfortunately, just a tad bit disappointed at Hans' response. She'd have thought he'd know more than the tiny bit of French he'd shown her so far, but, oh well. She knew what many foreigners thought of the French language, useless. The thought made her curl her lip with disgust.

Aurélie was pleasantly surprised to the fact that Hans copied the movements well. She observed that he looked not only at her, but at the others in their surroundings as well, adjusting himself to the dance quickly. Once he seemed to grow comfortable-- or, at least, as comfortable as one can get in the middle of a horde of haughty, trying-to-put-you-down purebloods-- Hans began the conversation anew.

His comment complimenting himself on his conversationalist skills received a smirk from the French girl. So he liked to talk about himself, that much was certain. When he said the word romance, a single thought came into her head, and she immediately wished it out. She and Peter @Brookline Quinn were friends, nothing more, even if they did go to that Hogwarts ball as dates. Still, she felt her cheeks heat, which she tried to dispel from her face as quickly as possible, lest the boy she danced with currently believe that the blush was for him. "Beauxbatons is wonderful, I enjoy my time there immensely." Aurélie managed a few words, ready to switch the topic to something that didn't make her think of her friend Peter.

Somehow, it seemed Hans knew exactly what the French girl was thinking, because he obliged. When he told Aurélie, point-blank and direct, that he was not a pureblood by, well, blood, the Beauxbatons student blinked a few times, confused. She'd come to the same conclusion just a few moments prior, but that still didn't explain how in the world he'd made his way into this strictly pureblood only event. Or at least, that's what she believed it was.

"Best of both worlds indeed." Aurélie's voice was soft as she was still processing that information. He'd said that it was by one generation, meaning he was a half-blood wizardling. He had pureblood grandparents then, who'd brought him along, was that it? "You must hate the popular way of thinking here then? That as a pure-of-blood, one is superior?" Aurélie made sure to allow her voice to find its natural cynicism so that Hans would know that she didn't believe in that mindset.

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Popular way of thinking? That caught Hans’ attention enough to elicit a raised brow despite the disparity Aurélie exaggerated in her voice. Although well aware of the existence of blood prejudice he had been fortunate enough to attend a school while polluted with its own population of haughtiness, valued power beyond anything, and that included lineage. Perhaps one could argue that it was thanks to the thick skin that he had developed that their comments could be disregarded as easily as the passing wind, but what your daddy did for a living hardly mattered if you could punch their nose in.

Perhaps the confession had brought bewilderment to miss Duval - that, Hans could assure, was unintentional - but understandable nevertheless, that he had attended an event meant for people, as some would baselessly assume, much out of his league. Yet well, his grandfather would have said that the world made exceptions for certain people, and such was the nature of Otto, believing without the shadow of a doubt that Hans was the extraordinary meant to change the world. As trite as may be, the more time the young, ambitious wizard spent with the rest of his family the more the statement felt not only false but meaningless.

“I do hate it, bien sûr,” he started, though the disgust one would expect to taint his voice was lacking, only pure, uncaring enjoyment. Instead he shook his head and chuckled as he placed nonchalant hands in accordance to the dance moves, “But I also don’t want to give a flying fuck about it. Waste of my time.” Hans lips curled upwards in a lopsided grin, fully savouring his evident rebellion, “… Oh, I’m sorry ma dame,” he continued sarcastically, daringly, voice as indifferently silky as any other heir, “I do hope I didn’t cross a line. After all I don’t believe cursing adheres to your pure-blood etiquette, does it now?”

Before today talk of family had always meant certain aversion, meant ducking his head with enigmatic laughter and gently directing the subject to a smooth transition into his latchkey childhood - which, in truth, had been an eccentric mixture between that and helicopter parenting methods. But since Christmas he no longer felt incomplete to be half-blood nor ashamed of his mother’s distaste for magic. It was a topic he felt comfortable speaking of as any other, after all a tool to further conversation was merely what it was. And their conversation seemed to be getting furthered well enough.

@Ophelia Northwell as Aurélie Duval