Someone Solo Finished

Go tell someone what you wish I would've done...

Precisely twenty-five minutes before the commencement of the fall ball and the gathering of students at the Lost Pearl shipwreck down by the lake, Aly Salinger was making her way not out to the shore but rather to the entrance hall. A rather recognisable golden statue had been designated, by powerful forces outside of her control (read: her grandmother), as the day's meeting spot for her and her assigned arm candy date, one Sir Barnabas Vidal "of the Valencia Vidals". The seventh-year Ravenclaw had no idea what Barnabas Vidal looked like, nor how he would act, or even if he would be tolerable - after all, if she was expected to hang around him all night and pose for potentially nonexistent cameras, Aly hoped he was at least fun. Then again, that may have been to much to ask for when it came to someone from a rich, famous, and probably ancient pureblood family - though Aly did, too, and she liked to think she was at least mildly enjoyable to be with.

She gathered her skirts as she arrived to wait underneath the Architect statue, staring up at its golden glory here in the entrance hall. How many times had she passed by this metallic visage since her Sorting long ago, never really quite noticing him again? He clutched a scroll in his left hand, a miniature version of Hogwarts in the other, his long curly beard giving way to a patterned robe. As her eyes roamed over the cast gold, she noted the four Hogwarts House mascots hiding in various places over the statue that loomed so large over her: a lion by one foot, the snake and eagle on his hands, and a badger by the other foot. Even now, hundreds of years after his death, the Architect was still surrounded by not only the metal mascots but also students representing them, as well-dressed children from eleven to eighteen flitted by him all gossipy and gussied up for an evening of fun and dance. Aly herself would normally have been one of them, not giving the statue a second glance as she headed down to the lake with her friends, chittering excitedly rather like a jobberknoll at the end of its life; today, however, she was different. This year, she was different. S'pose it comes with the territory of being introduced to a whole nother world, the Ravenclaw mused, one slender finger tracing the nose of the golden badger by the Architect's foot. After all, even now it sometimes did seem that her pureblood family lived in a completely different life than did the humble abode in which she had grown up, or her down-to-earth friends here at school. She wondered which life Barnaby's feet would be planted in - up in the sky, or on the ground, where they could dance together.

Aly couldn't lie: she was certainly excited to have a proper date to this ball. After all, it was her seventh year, and she hadn't had a proper relationship in, well... ages. And that was if you could even count one short-lived third-year dating that had ended so badly the Ravenclaw had considered her ex-boyfriend, as well as any girl he'd ever laid eyes on, her enemies for years after. She had certainly had her share of dalliances since, kissing everyone from Quidditch teammates to her boss at the Headliner, but it had definitively been a very long time since she had shown up to a ball with an actual person on her arm who wasn't one of her best mates. Someone with whom she could flirt and laugh and dance, maybe even escape early and find some secluded place for a light chat and some snogging. If all went well. But Aly was the type of person to dream, and what better thing to dream than of a cute little setup with a handsome Beauxbatons boy? After all, if two of her closest friends (@Dealla Prince and @Haven Bohannon) could find international boyfriends, well, then, so could she.

Speaking of Dee, Aly couldn't help but wish she could have had her best mate by her side for this. She would have much preferred a double date with her bestie and Madhup than to approach this alone, but her summer tutor's words had rung through her head: A lady and her escort must arrive alone and make a grand entrance. Others shall only clutter your appearance. Though Aly hardly deemed Dee to be clutter - in fact, she was the exact opposite, an emotional rock and a shoulder to lean on in hard times - she also knew she wouldn't hear the end of it if she did go in a group with her mates rather than accepting the arranged date her grandmother had clearly worked so hard to arrange. That was why she was here, nervously twisting fancy French lace between her fingers, instead of heading down in a laughing cluster of friends... and she already felt so out of place, especially giving that just fifteen minutes ago she had been clustered together with her closest rocks in the Ravenclaw dormitories helping each other get ready. She had assisted Dee in getting into her dress, for instance, and Dee had returned the favour in doing Aly's hair, which was now piled on the crown of her head in a precarious curly bun. A single pearl hairpin was the linchpin to it all, matching the strings that looped now around her slender neck and dangled prettily from her ears. And, of course, there had been the shoes - since Aly's dress was so puffy, so many layers of tulle and fabric all piled on top of each other like a multi-tiered wedding cake, she couldn't reach down to pull on the strappy heels. Dee had been kind enough to crouch and tie them on, and Aly was sure that Dee would likely also be the one helping her take them off at the end of the night. What she would do without that girl, Aly had no idea.

Here, now, though, she was without her. Alone at the feet of the Architect, awaiting an oncoming Vidal who had about thirty seconds until he was about to be la-

"Miss Alyssa Livingston, are you not?"

Aly whirled around, and by Lear's tears, there he was: a vision in brown silk, a ruffly white pocket square on the left side of his chest that seemed to be cut from the very same fine lacy cloth as Aly's marshmallow gown. A jawline that could cut glass and a sharp, long nose adorned his face, along with high cheekbones and dark shadowy eyes hidden underneath a strong, protruding brow. His lips pursed together in a pout that almost seemed frustrated, but despite it all, he was incredibly attractive; Aly found her palms moistening, her freckly cheeks warming with a blush. She almost didn't mind that he had gotten her name wrong - people that hot could get away with things, sometimes. Plastering her most practiced smile on her face, she extended a hand and dipped into a small curtsy, just as Lady Prudence had taught her. "Indeed, that's me. You must be Barnabas," the Ravenclaw said, watching as he took her hand and gently brought it to his lips for a kiss with a small bow - a true gentleman, going through the practiced steps, just as her training had taught her to do. "You can call me Aly, though. Everyone does."

His handsome face wrinkled into a frown. "Ali? A nickname, no? Rather... common of you." Barnabas' eyes raked her over for a moment, and then he extended an elbow. "You may call me Barnabas, or Sir Vidal. If you are able to walk in such a dress, I have been called to escort you to the ball for the evening."

To say that Aly was taken aback would be an understatement; she simply blinked at him for a moment, mouth parting in shock. She might have expected a pompous pureblood, hoped for someone a bit kinder than the norm, but she had not seen this coming: two thinly veiled (if veiled at all) insults and being told that she could call him Sir all within his very first few sentences to her. She managed to sputter out, "Er - well - yes, I know. My grandmother sent me a letter, and I'll have you know I have practiced walking in this skirt, so I should be quite fine." Gingerly, she took his arm, settling her fingers gently into the crook of his elbow; he stiffened as she did so, as if he were unused to human touch. One side of Aly's lips curled up in a mildly annoyed sneer. Still, she attempted to break the ice: "Have you, er, ever been to a Hogwarts ball before? Or here to Hogwarts?"

They set off, arm in arm, down towards the doors at the bottom of the stairs. As they did so, Barnabas shook his head. "I am not interested in visiting your school. It is..." His free hand brushed against the railing of the stairs, and he grimaced, pulling the fingers away as if they'd been burned and rubbing them together. "With so much grime. But my grandfather says I am to accompany a lady to the ball, and so I am here. We will be the centre of attention, I am sure. Simply ensure you stay here by my side, and we will visit several of the other heirs, and..."

Barnabas began to talk, on and on, over Aly when she tried to interject, about the plans he had for the evening. It sounded rather like a watered-down version of her debutante ball from the summer, and after about thirty seconds of this, Aly suddenly had no interest in spending any longer with him. When her grandmother said she had assigned someone to be her date, she really hadn't thought this someone would be just the perfect combination of dull and exasperating... but he was here now, and so now she would just have to find an excuse to get away from him. Maybe then the teenager would actually be able to have some fun tonight, at her very last Hogwarts Fall Ball.

The Entrance Hall | October 4^th, 2025 | outfit | #C47DDB