Closed Ladies Night PV Finley & Tala

It was a bit strange, getting ready for another Hogwarts ball. Granted, Finley's last time attending one was over a decade ago, but something about the buzz of energy around the castle brought her right back to her memories as a teen. She was grateful for Farron's idea of a ladies' night to get ready for the ball. The Hogwarts caretaker was mostly ready, carrying only her accessories and a few items of makeup in her hands as she made her way up to the Astronomy Tower. Slung over her shoulder was Fin's newly-purchased electronics-free camera, starkly out of place with the rest of her costume. Not that she minded, she was just excited to have something that really felt worth preserving in photograph form. Fin hadn't given too much thought to her costume, but something about the prince-ly attire just felt correct. Maybe it was because Finley wasn't the most extravagant of people, or maybe it was because the costume was comfortable enough to last the whole night, or maybe because it was black and easy and Finley didn't know what else to wear. Who knows.

What she found the most exciting, though, was the fact that Finley was finally going to have some time with Tala. The two had gone to Hogwarts together, though Fin was a few years her senior, and while they weren't the closest of companions, Finley was confident that she fit squarely in the "friend" category. With the sheer amount of work, acclimation and adjusting that Fin was going through on a daily basis, there hadn't been much time for spending time with people. Maybe the two could re-forage some of the old walking trails that had grown over.

Finley made her way to the top of the tower and gently rapped on the door before opening it. She found her breath catching as she stepped in, witnessing the light of the night sky bounce around the room, casting the most delicate of shadows. Farron quickly made her way over, wrapping Finley in a friendly embrace. "Hey, Farron! This is an awesome idea." A large plush mushroom cap sat off to the side. "Oh my god, are you going as a mushroom?" She smiled, "I never would have thought of that."

Permission attained for slight god-mod of Farron

Outfit Reference:

Reducio

October 8, 2022 ☼ evening-time
@Finley Greer ☼ @Farron Horne

Tala Takagi had always loved balls when she had been a student at Hogwarts, and if she were being quite honest, the idea of dressing up and spending time whirling around with her (albeit quite a bit older now) mates in the courtyard under a starry night sky, barefoot and thumping to the beat of a twanging lyre or soft violin, and then stuffing her face full of undoubtedly enchanted food had really been quite a large perk that had attracted her to take the Care of Magical Creatures professorship, which she now held, in the first place.

Except Méabh, Tala's best friend who had taken the Potions professorship at about the same time as Tala's own hiring, was busy; as such, when the Astronomy professor - a gorgeous redhead with a smile that could melt even the steeliest of hearts and the same stars in her eyes that were so often on her clothes - had suggested a ladies' getting-ready night with the two of them and Finley (another lovely lady, although this one, at least, Tala knew from her years at school), well, Tala hadn't been about to turn that down. The late-twenties Gryffindor wasn't quite sure exactly what her best mate was up to, but she'd just been told that Méa would see her at the ball itself. (Tala was unsure of quite how much time she'd get away from that magical-creatures station the students who were planning the ball had dreamt up, but she was certain that she would get some time, at least, to see Méa and her sure-to-be-nothing-short-of-fantastique costume.)

Speaking of costumes, Tala's was - well - it was beautiful, to put it simply... the moment she'd heard of a faerie ball, it had gotten into Tala's head to go as some kind of nature-esque fae, almost sort of like a pretty version of a Bowtruckle (prettier, that was, for Bowtruckles were already such delightful creatures in the professor's opinion). Thus, she'd custom-ordered the costume from a little Muggle tailor shop in London - and what a pain it had been to figure out how to get it back to Hogwarts, but oh, it had been worth it. Foresty fabric draped across Tala's chest in two swaths, coming together into a thick leather halter neckline but coming apart to expose her stomach, and then disappeared into a gauzy green A-line skirt that swished and swirled as she moved up the stairs to the Astronomy tower. The edges of the skirt's fabric draped upwards in a sheer green cape all the way to her wrists and elbows, where it connected to leather cuffs studded with silver, making the skirt move as her arms did, even if she were standing perfectly still otherwise. And, of course, the whole thing was covered in soft plastic leaves, which crinkled slightly if touched but otherwise looked perfectly realistic. As for the crown, which Tala currently carried under one arm so that she could do her hair during the girls' night before placing it atop her head, that was a Tala original - a pair of Jackalope antlers that she'd purchased from a wandmaker (after, of course, ensuring that the Jackalope had died a natural death and had lived an organic, cage-free life), decorated with ferns and leaves; charms of moons and stars hung from the antlers in different places and clinked together as Tala clambered up,

up,........................................
up.

But just as gorgeous as the dress was, it was also equally a nuisance. Just as she reached the last step right in front of the door to the Astronomy office, Tala's bare foot caught on the skirt as she moved; just as she felt soft gauzy cloth under her toes, rather than the cold stone of the stairs, and it registered that perhaps she should not try to move forward, she was already moving, and the effort sent her tumbling forward - falling right into the door, which swung open with a hefty bang. Thinking fast to protect her face from making contact with a hard rock floor, Tala twisted her body to the side and landed flat on her back, which drove all the air from her lungs in one fast, wheezing exhale.

Talk about making an entrance...

Were those stars always on the ceiling, or was she just seeing them?