Gilded Halls and Sneaking Out
and Sneaking Out
𝓦hile Leo could think of many other ways he would rather spend the beautiful summer evening, today he was forced into acting as the perfect son once again as his parents hosted a dinner party at their home. The grand estate was filled with important guests of all kinds from the most prominent and wealthiest families in the wizarding world. His parents, of course, coached him on how to act again before the guests were slated to arrive, despite giving the same speech before any event they held or attended. It truly was tiring to listen to them drone on about manners and how to properly act in front of the men and women who would be attending.
His parents did request for him to play piano for a little while tonight to entertain the guests as they mingled throughout the large dining hall. Leo enjoyed his piano lessons and playing it freely in his free time but being forced to sit there and smile while playing in front of these strangers was excruciatingly boring. The adults in the room were scattered around sitting at tables or standing in the empty area in the middle of the room between the tables laughing and talking. There was a handful of children there, mostly staying beside their parents or sitting at tables waiting for food.
Once he had finished his third song everyone clapped for him as he stood up from the piano bench. “Thank you Leo, that was beautiful.” His father said, Leo giving a small nod in his direction before his father turned his attention back to the men he had been chatting with. Leo finally had the chance to escape the party for a little while and quietly snuck out of the room into the empty hallway. He glanced at the paintings that lined the walls as he walked towards the doors to the garden area, throwing open one of the tall, glass doors and quickly closing them behind him.
He walked over to the edge of the terrace and leaned his elbows on it as he stared up at the sky. The sunset going down over the trees was calming as he took a few deep breaths in and out. Truly he hated when his parents would drag him along to parties and events but at least when they were at his own home he could escape to other parts of the house for a little while. His brother was somewhere inside mingling with guests at his father’s request to ‘help him make good impressions’ on those who had power and wealth behind their names. His sister on the other hand had luckily escaped tonight’s engagements for an event she had already promised to attend. He wished he had a friend to spend the night talking to but sadly he wasn’t well acquainted with the other kids that were there.
ooc notes: backdated to pre Hogwarts and taking place at a party at the Noxley Estate
stats: sta. 5 - eva. 5 - str. 5 - wis. 5 - arc. 5 - acc. 5 —————— ability: metamorphmagus
LEO NOXLEY ———————— ANNELIES DE VAUCLAIR ———————— NADIRA BAKARI
STA. 6 — EVA. 6 — STR. 7 — WIS. 5 — ARC. 5 — ACC. 8 ———————— METAMORPHMAGUS
STA. 6 — EVA. 6 — STR. 7 — WIS. 5 — ARC. 5 — ACC. 8 ———————— METAMORPHMAGUS
Gilded Halls and Sneaking Out
banner by the amazing julia evans<3
location ; Noxley Estate. wc ; 670
—YOU CANNOT CHANGE THE CARDS YOU ARE DEALT; JUST THE WAY YOU PLAY THE HAND.
She was not usually keen on any gatherings her family dragged her to. It was painfully tiring, a play performed over a thousand times, and still not a dialogue changed. It was of the same root, a replica that she saw over and over again until she could rehearse it by heart. She never understood why she had to come along with her parents, if it was for the purpose of socializing or patronizing the hosts and guests for an ounce of respect, where was the respect in that? It was a position that she could never allow to stoop down, and not at all for the revolting blood supremacists. Even so, she found herself in the presence of said creatures, with a saccharine smile stretched, and honey spilled words. Like a performance, it was another mask she put on, another role to act. For now, it was the perfect daughter, charming and amiable. When for a moment their heads turned, she would look at her pocket watch again, yearning for it to finally reach the hour she could leave this place. But, it was not happening anytime soon. So, she could only gaze at the manor until she could think of an opportunity to escape the hellish company. The Estate was not a sour sight, no, far from the opposite.
Much like most Manors, it was poetically beautiful. You could see the history of it in each of its halls, lined with portraits of ancestors. Though, she liked their garden more. It was more freeing, the fresh air a sweet contrast to the suffocation she currently felt. Making a mental note to mark it as a future escape plan, she hummed appreciatedly. Excusing herself with some made up excuse that felt fake even on her tongue, she moved towards the destination. Her steps increased in speed, as if she was escaping a life threatening danger of sorts, she scrambled away.
But of course she didn't get away that easily. Her travel was stopped in the form of a piano. Steps freezing abruptly, she looked towards the direction where the music originated. A boy, somewhat around her age, could be seen playing the instrument. Playing quite well, she had to admit. Estella had her lessons on various instruments from a young age, piano being her favourite. If you asked her why it was, she could never say the reason, not knowing it herself. But there was some unexplainable joy in playing the said instrument. Music was one of the things she loved dearly, each note a string pulled by the puppeteer. Music could revive you to a memory you long thought dead, to a person you long gave up. And such, this specific part pulled at her memory, until a face formed in her mind. And with the exact speed, she vanished it, until not even a trace could linger. She almost bumped into someone else in her trance, senses so hazy that it could barely distinguish one from another. And the feeling to leave clashed back with doubled strength, her legs pulling her to whatever direction that appeared first in her eyes. Mumbling an apology barely spoken, to whoever she crashed into, she was scrambling again.
And, found herself on the garden. The effect was immediate, crisp air filtering into her starved lungs. Scents of different flora infiltrated her nose, until that too was insufferable to be around. And she walked again, purposeless in each of her movements. Perhaps it was the portkey that messed her up. Looking up, dusk was spilled everywhere, the tangerines and oranges and yellows and every other warm hues under the sun bled like an unfinished art. Maybe it was the dazed state of hers that allowed her to not sense a presence. From it's appearance, she understood it was a terrace. Her breaths gradually steadied, the quietness of the place making her settle peacefully out in the open. She couldn't stay here for too long, but by the stars, she wished she could.
MENTIONING ; @leo noxley |
crimson gown. ; OUTFIT |
ABILITY ; intuition. |
sta 5 str 5 wis 8 arc 4 eva 4 acc 4 ; STATS |
🂲🃍🂶🂲🃍🂶🂲🃍🂶🂲🃍🂶🂲🃍🂶🂲🃍🂶🂲🃍🂶🂲🃍🂶🂲🃍🂶🂲🂲🃍🂶🂲🃍🂶🂲🃍🂶🂲🃍🂶🂲🃍🂶
Last edited by Estella Cain on 17 May 2026, 08:35, edited 2 times in total.
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❝ 𝐈 𝐫𝐞𝐛𝐞𝐥, 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐈 𝐞𝐱𝐢𝐬𝐭.❞
▪︎ sta 5 ▪︎ str 5 ▪︎ wis 8 ▪︎ arc 4 ▪︎ eva 4 ▪︎ acc 4▪︎
𝐄𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐚 V 𝐂𝐚𝐢𝐧
Gilded Halls and Sneaking Out
and Sneaking Out
𝓦hile Leo was pleased to have escaped the suffocating party for a few minutes, he knew his little bit of freedom would be soon over once his parents realized he wasn’t inside. If he wasn’t playing piano or having dinner he was to join them in entertaining the guests but the boy didn’t quite understand how he was supposed to entertain a room full of mostly adults. He supposed he could entertain the other younger attendees but most of the children there were glued to their parents or were more the stuck up types that Leo didn’t find himself wanting to associate with despite it being something that would please his parents. Although he was sure his parents just wanted to parade him around instead as their idea of “entertaining”. He hated feeling like an object to be shown off to other families but he had to push aside his feelings for the sake of pleasing his parents, that was always more important, making them happy.
As he stood out on the terrace he noticed a blonde girl in a red dress walking from the garden towards the terrace. Thus he knew his alone time was over and it was back to putting on his polite manners. The girl didn’t even seem to notice him off to the side as she walked up onto the terrace, staring off somewhere far away from here it seemed much like he was doing moments before. He wondered if she was wishing this party would be over quickly like he was or if she was more like some other kids he had met that were becoming exactly like their parents in only caring about the money and power their family lines provided them. For what it was worth, Leo appreciated the comfort he lived in thanks to his family but he hated all of these things that came with it and wished more often than not he was not born into this type of pure blood world, or even if he could’ve been born into the muggle world instead.
While the girl settled into a spot, Leo wondered if he should just sneak by her back inside or go over to greet her. He wasn’t much of a conversationalist outside of simple polite conversations. He went back and forth on whether to go over and what to say before letting out a soft sigh and moving away from the edge of the terrace where he stood. As he did that he took a step and immediately tripped, over literally nothing, letting out a quiet ‘woah’ as he caught himself before he could fall. Although he had been quiet the girl would certainly have heard him and now notice his presence now. He let out a soft sigh and tried to quickly regain his composure, standing up straight again and moving closer to where the girl was. “Apologies, I hope I didn’t scare you.” Leo said as he realized he might’ve startled her with the sudden movement and noise. “Are you not enjoying the party?” He asked curiously since the girl had also found herself outside away from everyone else. Now that he was closer he tried to figure out if he had met this girl before but couldn’t be sure if he had or hadn’t seen her at any events before. Maybe, just maybe, he could actually make a friend to enjoy the rest of the evening with.
ooc notes: backdated to pre Hogwarts and taking place at a party at the Noxley Estate
stats: sta. 5 - eva. 5 - str. 5 - wis. 5 - arc. 5 - acc. 5 —————— ability: metamorphmagus
LEO NOXLEY ———————— ANNELIES DE VAUCLAIR ———————— NADIRA BAKARI
STA. 6 — EVA. 6 — STR. 7 — WIS. 5 — ARC. 5 — ACC. 8 ———————— METAMORPHMAGUS
STA. 6 — EVA. 6 — STR. 7 — WIS. 5 — ARC. 5 — ACC. 8 ———————— METAMORPHMAGUS