Blossom Ball Dancefloor Event Closed

Rosie watched the ensuing, though temporary chaos with Edwin's trip and the impassioned speech about running away from Edwin. She had already taken a step back and turned to look at him... studying him. Her eyes narrowed in thought. Those green hues flicked back and forth from the giant Edwin to the girl in front of her.

”Tripping me and then demanding that she run off with you… does not seem like a very safe or normal thing to do,”

Her eyes again flicked to the girl that was trying to "save" her from a young man that had been nothing but nice. "He's just being nice... I'm looking for someone. Edwin's going to help me look for him..." She gave her attention back to the boy as he spoke.

”Get behind me, I don’t know what this girl is up to but I doubt it is for anyone’s good,”

Likely, much to the other girl's chagrin, Rosie obliged. Poor sweet, innocent Rosie. Aldin might have been trying to feign interest in the girl, but all she saw was someone that wanted to help her. Someone that could be a friend. Clearly, she didn't get out much. Even less so since the last time she'd been at school. If she had thought he was interested... she likely would have ran the other direction.

So there she stood. After a moment, she reached out, as boldly as she could muster, (which wasn't very), and tugged at his shirt. "I'm ready, Edwin."

Raine stood there staring at the girl in disbelief. Did she truly believe this half-giant...giant...whatever he was, was truly safer than her? Boys were dangerous on a regular day even if you knew them as they had the tendency to rely more on their baser instincts rather than their brains and think logically. But boys who were unknown and worse, unpredictable, were the worse kind of people. You never knew what would happen. And yet this second year Hufflepuff was going to go along with this veritable stranger?

Damn Hufflepuffs and their need to give people the benefit of the doubt. She thought with an internal groan. When Rosie moved behind the boy, declaring she was ready to go, Raine felt at a loss. What was she supposed to do with this situation? It wasn't like she could draw her wand and knock the boy around. She barely knew any spells and she was quite positive that she read somewhere that giants, even half giants, were pretty much impervious to most offensive spells. Why was Rosie being so naive? Why couldn't she see that this boy was dangerous? Didn't she wonder why she was so willing to give him information or why he seemed to suddenly take a "friendly" interest in her?

Maybe she didn't know about the spiked punch. He also probably didn't ask her too many questions that would give her the suspicious feeling that she was being too loose with her lips.If that were the case, it would definitely make convincing the girl much harder. But Raine didn't have time to try to convince the girl to leave with her. The giant was definitely going to take Rosie somewhere and it could be dangerous. If anything happened to the girl and Raine knew that she could have prevented it, or tried to prevent it, that pain and guilt would live with her for eternity.

The couple began to turn from her and Raine allowed her body to react without thinking things through first, yet again. She knew that this was going to be a foolish move, but she had to try. The boy might be impervious to magic, but he was still a boy, wasn't he?

Sorry, Arc. I know you told me not to do anything reckless or stupid. she apologized to her friend in her mind. Taking a deep breath, Raine called to the couple. "Hey!"

The giant boy turned around with a sneer and looked at the small Gryffindor. With a smirk of her own, Raine looked at Rosie and said, "You're coming with me whether you want to or not." The minute the boy was facing her, Raine aimed a hard kick at the boy's private area.

If the kick connected, Raine would attempt to kick him in the chest to knock him over before picking Rosie up over her shoulder and running with her toward the castle.

Been a week, for those still in here: gentle poke. Will give this several more days.

Anastasia had arrived a little more than fashionably late. The Blossom Ball was nearly over and the young Gryffindor had apparently missed a fire among other things. She had resolved to be fashionably late, but then she had gotten sidetracked and that had turned into nearly missing the entire event. She did hope Hugh didn't think she had stood him up. Bloody hell, that would be awkward...

She wasn't certain how she felt about him (she was but she wasn't willing to admit it), but she considered Hugh a good friend, so she'd hate to lose that. Although, him asking her here... Did that mean he felt something more? Anastasia shook her head to clear her thoughts. She couldn't dwell on silly ideas like that. Hugh was an eleven-year-old boy, which meant it was probably ages before he started to notice girls.  Even if Hugh did somehow like her as more than a friend or something, she was far too young for that and didn't have the time. Right now, she needed a friend, no matter how she might have felt about Hugh.

Her red dress was a tad more on the formal side, based on what other students were wearing, but it wasn't even her most over the top option. She figured as a Gryffindor prefect, red was always a good color, and it didn't hurt that she knew Hugh's favorite jumper was red. 

She searched the crowd for Hugh's unusually tall form, trying not to seem too obvious. She turned her head as she reached the edge of the dancefloor and ran smack into the very person she was looking for. She couldn't help but light up, despite the fact she had just run into him. "Hugh! Fancy running into you here!" she said teasingly, unable to help the face-splitting grin from appearing. "I was actually just looking for you."

The big guy’s answer gave Arc a chuckle, “Oh, Calvin Klein? Really? That’s an interesting name.”

Apparently, the guy wasn’t affected by the Veritaserum as Xailah had said. Who would name their own son Calvin Klein?! It was alright, though. He didn’t need his real name, only the affirmation that he wasn’t actually using his real name. Sweet.

“You’re cramping my style kid,”

The guy departed the party and went towards the school. Arc stood aside and let him go away. Another thing was vying his attention and much more important than this guy. Raine Sage. Things were going south for her. Arc had been dividing his attention, trying to have an eye on Sage’s quest and it seemed that she was not doing a good job with it. Antagonizing the guy was not the smartest thing to do. The boy had only walked a few steps towards them when Sage done the stupidest, most reckless thing in the world. She tried to kick the huge boy…in the nut?

Arc rushed to the scene. They needed a different approach to this. He would arrive to the scene with a panic face and whether or not the kick landed he would stand in between the two group, facing Raine, as if he was not on her side.

He would then say, “What are you doing, girl? What’s your name again? Raine, is it? You don’t go off and try to kick a man’s sacred jewel! What had gotten into you?!”

Arc hoped Sage would understand what he was trying to do and went along with his plan.

“Ah, and are you alright, dude?” Arc tried to pat the much bigger boy. “Wait, you are…Calvin Klein, right? Your friend right there,“ the lanky boy pointed to the boy’s friend that was fleeing to the school, “told me so. That was an interesting name.”

Arc would look to Rosie as if he didn’t notice her before and feigned a look of realization.

“Ah, you must be Rosie, right? @Rosie Turner?” It was time lay down all his cards. “What a coincident! A boy was looking for you earlier this evening. He looked really distraught. I believe he went to the school. He got in trouble with our Headmaster very early in the Ball.”

Arc gave a chuckle before he finished his lie. There was some kind of irony in all of this, but his mind couldn’t care less. “To be honest, he might need some help.”

Hopefully, this would be enough to stop Rosie from recklessly going away with this troublemaker. Hopefully.

INTERACTIONS: n/a

Mentions: Eris Fawley & Professor Griffith

The fire had long since been put out by the time Adam pulled himself up from the ground and out behind the tree.

He'd been hazily aware of the proceedings that had occurred since he'd taken his cowardly refuge. He was pretty sure he'd passed an adult on the way over, someone that knew what they were doing. It had been Professor Griffith, hadn't it? Yes, he was capable of handling the fire -- at least, Adam hoped so. The school wouldn't hire someone incapable of diffusing danger, would they? Maybe that was something to look into later, when he was out of the area. Anyways, it looked like Griffith had put out the fire and taken the injured or shaken students to safety. The drenched tablecloth was still discarded at the scene, but there wasn't much of a crowd around it anymore. The trouble was over.

Where had Eris gone? Turning in a circle, Adam looked around the dancefloor for any sight of the redhead, but came up mostly empty. She was probably off helping take care of the first-years. That was something she would do, that her bravery extended to. The more Adam thought about it, the more convinced he was that his best friend was definitely off doing the heroic thing and making sure everyone was okay. Either that, or he was still so shaken that he had looked right over her.

What had happened to Adam in that moment? He had always thought of himself as a hero type, maybe not so much as someone like Captain America, but at least with the potential to get there. In the moment of truth, however, he had been unable to cope. This was the first real danger Adam could say that he had faced at school, and he had been useless. Call it a panic attack, or fear, or just plain cowardice, it had marked him as someone that couldn't be counted on. If no professor had come to save the day, would he have been able to muster the strength to turn back and help? Or would he have watched helplessly from the sidelines while his classmates burned?

A small voice of reason threaded through his trembling thoughts, reassuring him weakly. You did your best, Adam. You're only a kid. You're allowed to be scared. That voice, however, was easily defeated by the guilt amassing in his heart and his brain like an army. He was more than only a kid -- he was a Prefect, a leader of his house. He'd given up his right to be scared when he'd taken that job, hadn't he? That was his understanding of it, at least. Being a Prefect should have meant being one of Ravenclaw's rocks in times of trouble like these. Some rock he was. If it had been Dean in his place, his brother would have emerged a hero. If it had been Kaegen, he might have at least fired a few stones at the fire to try and help. If it had been Eris -- well, it had been Eris! She'd helped immensely! When it came down to basics, it was Adam at fault for his own immobility. That was something he wasn't sure he could come to terms with.

Taking a few nervous steps away from the dancefloor, Adam was painfully aware of how little right he had to be reacting like this. He had no problems in life, not like any of his friends or classmates. Eris hadn't had a family for nearly twelve years of her life. Kaegen was....something had clearly happened to him. The most Adam had to worry about was a runaway father that had still sent him a Christmas gift this year. He was making something out of nothing, and he knew it could stop, and yet at the same time it couldn't. He had to do something or he'd implode for one reason or another.

Walking steadily towards the school now, Adam set a goal in mind to be his first step towards fixing whatever inner problem the fire had just awoken. There was one inarguable takeaway from today: he had to resign from his job. He couldn't be counted on in a crisis, which means he couldn't be counted on at all. And Hogwarts deserved Prefects it could count on. He'd do it sometime soon, within the week perhaps. Next would be coming up with an explanation for doing so, both for his family and for his friends. Everyone would want to know what was wrong, what had happened.

If only Adam knew for himself. Cowardice, shame, and fear haunted him like specters as he left the party behind and pushed back through the doors into the castle. He'd started the night afraid of messing things up with Eris, and now he was just plain afraid. In all likelihood, it was the same swirl of panic that plagues every teenager, no matter how small the problem -- but to Adam, it felt like Judgement Day was on the horizon, and he was on the wrong side of the scales.

He had a lot to figure out.

Interacting with @Erin Ryan.

Elijah nearly balked at Erin's rather blunt statement, quite at a loss for words in the face of her cutting honesty. Was he really... odd? He had never thought himself to be odd- at least, not in comparison to Erin herself. Perhaps compared to others, yes, but on the whole, he strived to be as boring, normal, and un-odd as he could possibly be. Being odd meant that you stood out, that people noticed you, and was exactly the opposite of what he wanted to be. How on earth could Erin possibly think him to be odd? Surely, he wasn't what she thought he was. He had never met someone who had raised as many questions as Erin did now, and to be completely honest, he didn't mind it. Not at all. Sometimes, a little change was needed every once in a while, and maybe Erin was here to show him that.

What would it be like, to be able to introduce yourself as a relationship to another person? He tried to imagine himself saying curtly, 'Elijah Huang, Celestine's brother', but firmly decided that it would've sounded ridiculous. Although, in his mind, Celestine had the status of a celebrity, he knew that not many other people actually knew her by name. After all, what was the likeliness that they had older siblings who talked about the genius Ravenclaw chaser who graduated five years ago? Only Scott would know her, and that was only because his older brother had dated her, once upon a time... No, this method only worked when you were related to someone who was currently attending Hogwarts, he decided, and already had a bit of a reputation. Whereas he might've been merely odd, Erin was downright strange, if her brother was Geoffrey. "It's a pleasure," Elijah said dryly, with just the barest touch of sarcasm lining his words. "Elijah Huang, at your service."

He couldn't imagine a world where alcohol and girls by lakes were 'dull', but maybe Erin just had a more interesting life than he did. Or, maybe she was like him and didn't find alcohol or girls by lakes interesting in the slightest. Maybe she was a spy- it would certainly explain away her off-putting behavior and blasé attitude. Really, it wasn't that big of a leap to imagine her as a violet-haired James Bond; he could already see her coolly lowering a pair of sunglasses and hissing, "The name's Ryan. Erin Ryan." He watched as her gaze wandered over to the forest, too, and he idly wondered if there was a convenient centaur in there she was secretly having an affair with. He didn't know her very well, but it seemed incredibly on-brand for her.

At the mention of the dungeons, Elijah raised his eyebrow once more. Of course, it was incredibly against the rules to go down into the basement- especially considering that he was a first year student. Erin might’ve had access to the elusive danger of the dungeons, but Elijah certainly didn’t. Besides, he was almost 100% sure that it was off-limits to all students, regardless. But… the danger was tantalizing, as beautifully sweet as the grapes that had taunted and teased Tantalus himself. Hadn’t Celestine always told him to be more adventurous, to try new things? Maybe this was his chance, his opportunity. It was almost as if fate was pushing him to do this, presenting him with Erin to be his guide into… well, metaphorically, he’d be brash enough to call it hell, but maybe it was literal hell, considering it was the dungeons, and all.

"Lead the way, Miss Ryan," he said quietly, tilting his head and offering Erin the smallest of smirks. "If this is how you make all of your friends, I can see why you're such a popular soul."

𝐞𝐱𝐢𝐭 𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐣𝐚𝐡 (𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐧)

What could possibly go wrong? 

Famous last words some could say. The dance was finally coming to an end. The fires extinguished, the drama and the terror wrought by the fire had abated. The rich oaky scent of the fire still perfumed the air, and wisps of silver grey smoke curled and danced their way through the thick, hazy air dissipating mere meters beyond the dance floor. Some students such as @Adam Harrington and @Elijah Huang were departing the scene of such disarray mere minutes earlier, onto new traumas or perhaps new adventures. Little did Elijah know, Erin was taking him someplace to meet someone. Their adventure was just beginning and terrible circumstances were about to bring together a number of these students in ways that they had not anticipated.

@Rosie Turner was in search of a one @Howard White and she had accepted the help of an older boy who had obvious ulterior motives. The girl was probably not entirely foolish, she would recognize that he had some sort of interest in her, otherwise why would he have approached her in the first place? It appeared to an extent to be natural, a boy finding a girl at a dance and trying to make her happy so that he could enjoy at least one dance with her. Perhaps the part-giant suffers from some sort of nice guy, white knight syndrome, an ailment a few Gryffindors such as @Hugh Lowe suffer from. Of course there were a few curious adventurers that already knew better, that knew that part-giant and his allies were up to no good and that luring a young woman into the forest would only lead to disaster. 

Enter our unlikely pair of heroes @Arc Perscivious and @Raine Sage. They knew that there was something wrong with this situation, Arc was sharp enough as to note that the name provided by one of the young men was certainly a spurious agnomen and when coupled with what Xaliah had overheard the situation was disquieting. Raine had tried to intervene, to slow down two-eyed polypheme by falling in the path of their egress. Raine tried to reason with poor Rosie but she appeared to be nothing more than a crazy person, maybe even a jealous ex trying to cause a problem before their former paramour rebounds with this second year. There were logical conclusions that likely from @Rosie Turner's perspective seemed more likely. 

Raine was forced to use her last resort attack. A move that had probably been passed down through the generations, woman-to-woman for at least a century. Yes, it was the dreaded ball-buster kick. 

Accuracy: 2 (just roll better than a 10 for a success)

Raine would shoot her foot up, Arc would attempt to defend the part-giant from Raine's potential lunacy or conceivably save Raine from her misguided attempt at heroism. Raine was brave as well as foolish. She would have missed the part giant anyways, like most men he had a keen sense of protecting his future progeny and would have evaded her pelvis-bruising attack. "Dude what is your problem!" He shouted, the scene would not get the attention of many considering the altercations already witnessed as well as the fire they had just survived. Still, it gave him witnesses, an out.   

As for Arc, his sacred jewels were almost turned to gravel. Had the girl's reckless kick went a millimeter further, it would have been Arc curled up on the dance-floor sick to his stomach potentially clutching the remnants of his future bloodline. Arc had a different plan, he was going to play on what Rosie wanted rather than use violence to topple the behemoth. Apparently he knew where Howie was. It was a white-lie, one that he might be forgiven for in the future after he pulled the miscreant off of the young redhead. He let out a sigh as the nerd said the name Calvin Klein, which was in fact his 'name'. It, like the name he had given Rosie was an ananym. Wizards in their tight-knit, sheltered lives rarely venture into the muggle world -- making a nom de plume such as  Edwin “Buzz” Aldrin or Calvin Klein easy for him to remember and for these ninnies as easy one fail to recognize. He half smirked at the Ravenclaw wonk, was he onto him? Maybe. "Name is Edwin Aldrin," he continued to claim. "But Calvin does sound cooler," he commented as he tried to keep his cool. There was a part of him that wanted to rip Rosie from the ground and just run off with her. He was certain he had the strength to overpower her, in fact he knew it. The problem was -- there were way too many witnesses. He could not rely on his brute strength alone, he had to utilize his mediocre wit. 

He looked down at Rosie. "Babe, these people seem real interested in taking you off my hands," yes the cad had already forgotten her name but he was not going to admit it. "If you want to go with them, I won't stop you -- but I am concerned for your safety," he feigned concern. Let the girl doubt her saviors. In an altercation, he might win but not without exposing himself. If he failed here, he would just have to try again. His grip on her hand tightened slightly as if he was beckoning her to come with him, not enough to hurt but enough to silently insist that she should come with him. He would start to walk away, with or without Rosie.

Edwin/Calvin leaves the ball with or without Rosie.

If the party successfully talks Rosie into coming with them, they now have control of this thread. Talk to her. Kidnap her. Bring her someplace else. If she goes with Edwin, I will make a fresh thread for her. The reveal is he is attempting to feed her to some hags in exchange for some power. That will also be revealed in a few other threads. The adventures here will continue in terms of a story.

Elijah, you are meeting hags for a different reason in a different place. Good luck, god speed. 

Chaos. That was the only way to describe what was happening. Raine had unsuccessfully sent a kick flying towards Edwin's crotch. Then the other boy accusing Edwin's name of being false and attempting to persuade her that Howie had been looking for her. As soon as the lie came out of the boy's mouth, Rosie knew something was wrong. Howie didn't even know she was back at school yet. He wouldn't be looking for her. No, the search as it was, was, at current, only one way. "That's not true." Green eyes were wide as she looked at the boy and girl that were trying to pull her from Edwin. Slowly, she began to back away.

So far in this situation, the only seemingly sane one was Edwin. Of course, had Rosie had a better education outside of home, she might have known Buzz Aldrin's first name, but alas, she had no idea. And so, between the three, she trusted the giant the most. Epic mistake.

"If you want to go with them, I won't stop you -- but I am concerned for your safety," So when Edwin squeezed her hand and started off, Rosie followed him. She cast one last glance over her shoulder so give the others a last look before leaving with Edwin. "I'm coming, Edwin"

Raine couldn’t believe it. She watched as Rosie walked off with that...that...

“Fucking half-giant, smooth talking, BASTARD!” She said in disbelief, screeching the last word as her anger took over her senses. If her mother were here, she would have had her mouth washed out so fast, but at the moment, the twelve-year-old could care less.

She was frustrated. She was disappointed. But most of all she was angry. Angry at herself for being so weak and not being able to help a girl who she knew was in danger. Angry at Rosie for being so damn naive and trusting toward someone who’s aura reeked of evil and distrust. Angry at Arc for stepping in her way, though she couldn't exactly blame him as he was most likely just trying to help and save her. Angry at the Headmaster and the teachers for not being around to supervise this event. Headmaster Lear may have been here earlier on but it didn't take that long to escort a couple of teenagers to the castle and return! It also didn't take a long time to send a Patronus for another teacher to come to take his place! Leaving a bunch of kids to take care of themselves?! That's why the fire started! But even though she could go on and on about how irresponsible the teachers were, there was only one person that Raine was absolutely furious with.

That damned half-giant.

"DAMN IT!" Raine fell to her knees, staring at the retreating back of the people leaving her and Arc right where they stood. "Damn it..." Tears of frustrated anger filled her eyes and spilled over and Raine roughly wiped them away. They continued to fall.

Turning to her friend on her knees with the tears still streaming down her cheeks, the young Gryffindor gazed at him with a fierce expression. She wasn't giving up, but she was too angry to think clearly right now and she needed Arc to be her brains. She wasn't sure how he felt about all of this, but he was usually the one to stay calm in these situations...not that they've ever been in a situation such as this before.

"She left, Arc. She fucking left with that fucking half-giant! I don't want to give up on her, Arc. I know...you know that something bad is going to happen if we leave her. But she just left and it's not like we can force her to come with us and there are no teachers around to help us and...and..." Raine stopped for a moment to breathe, swallowing the large, thick lump in her throat that was blocking her airways.

"Doesn't she know the danger she's putting herself in? I don't..." another inhale and exhale routine, "I don't want to give up on her, Arc. I can't. We can't. I also can't think straight right now. You're the smarter one out of the two of us. You think things through and are more logical than I am. What should we do? We can't just leave her to her fate." Raine wiped at her face again, sniffling to try to stop her nose from running as well.

She was desperate...and determined, and she waited for her friend to give her some sense of direction.

They were going to save Rosie Turner.