Let the Ball Commence! on Cascade Hall

Headmistress Powell

March 19, 2010 4:46 PM

Let the Ball Commence! by Headmistress Powell

The Cascade Hall was suitably adorned with an assortment of glittering and shimmering decorations, with the usual large tables replaced by a collection of smaller, candle-lit tables, a buffet table to one side of the room, and a stage erected where the staff table would usually be placed. Once it seemed as though most of the students (if not all) had made their way into the hall and had started to find seats, Sadi made her way up to the stage. It was peculiar, but she felt anxiety akin to stage fright. She made speeches all the time to her school, but then she was in headmistress mode, in her earth-tones plain robes and her hair tied back neatly. Now she had her husband with her, and was dressed as the Romanian witch known only as Maria, who was a dedicated Healer of children in the mid-eighteenth century. It felt different, somehow.

Nevertheless, standing viewing the students in their costume and finery, Headmistress Powell raised her wand to her throat and cast the sonorous charm. “Welcome everyone, to the Midsummer Ball!” After a moment, when the noise had subsided, Sadi resumed speaking. “In a moment you can enjoy musical entertainment from The Sisters,” Sadi made a grand gesture to introduce the musicians, and again paused for the cheering to diminish, “and food from the buffet table. However, firstly I would like to make a small announcement.” The air seemed to clear as the students hushed, waiting to hear the news. “I am pleased to congratulate next year’s Head Girl Lutece Anthony, and Head Boy Talen Dupree.” That another student representative had been selected from Sadi’s previous House, Crotalus, was just a bonus.

“Without further delay,” Sadi began again after the applause for Lutece and Talen had died down, I invite the prefects to begin the ball with the opening dance.” That was enough talking for one night. As The Sisters began to play, Sadi retired to rejoin Toma at a table occupied by other staff and their guests.

0 Headmistress Powell Let the Ball Commence! 0 Headmistress Powell 1 5

The Sisters

March 19, 2010 4:49 PM

The Dance Begins by The Sisters

Though the Nowhere Men had performed for most of Sonora's midsummer events over the last four years, the four men who made up the group were not those readying instruments for this year's ball. The four brothers were present for the event, but they were mostly responsible for the carrying and set-up of the instruments the group playing in their stead would be using. The four women - who called themselves 'The Sisters' though not a one of them was blood related to any of the others - were the wives of the more contemporary pop band that had played at Sonora's last ball and bonfire.

This year's ball was somewhat more formal, however, so the women - far more suited to classical elegance than their heavily Beatles-influenced husbands - had be chosen to play at it instead. Once the harp and piano were reassembled and placed on the Cascade Hall's temporary stage, Paul, George, and Ringo Anderson had all slipped back to spend most of the evening in the kitchens, playing cards and relaxing. Only John stuck around in the Hall to watch the performance, and that was mostly because Yoko - his four year old daughter - wanted to see her mother play the piano and maybe get in a few 'wallsies' on the dance floor before John made her get some sleep.

Grace Anderson, a small woman with some Asian blood in her family tree, took the microphone first once the Headmistress turned the floor over to the musicians. "Thank you, Headmistress. Good evening to all of you. I'm Grace Anderson, and I'll just take a moment to introduce Elizabeth on the Harp, Erika on flute, and Lacey on viola." She herself would be playing the piano and singing the vocals on the few songs in their set that had them. "We are the Sisters, and without further ado, we'll begin the first dance. Could we have the prefects and the Head Boy and Girl on the floor please?"

Elizabeth plucked a few rolling scales on the harp's strings while the requested students detached themselves and their dates from the crowd and moved onto the dance floor. Once it looked like no other couples were trying to make their way out, Grace nodded toward Erika who began the first few measures of the waltz's melody as Elizabeth seamlessly eased her scales into a flowing counterpoint. On the fourth measure, Grace and Lacey joined in together and the dance had begun in earnest.

0 The Sisters The Dance Begins 0 The Sisters 0 5

Elly Eriksson

March 19, 2010 5:29 PM

Last ever Sonora prank! by Elly Eriksson

Elly had spent a long time getting ready – possibly even longer than for the first ball, when she’d been a tiny third year. Saul’d had a genius idea of trying to freak out old Tavarius Mims, and the thought was so delightful that Elly knew he had to run with it. She had then just to find her own historic figure to mimic, and who better than Georgette? With no surname, Georgette had a portrait on the third floor, between the now empty divinations and ancient runes classrooms. A little known fact about this particular portrait was that when Georgette opened the door at the back of her painting, the wall itself began not so solid. Elly’s back-then best friend Meredith lail had been trapped behind the wall in a secret room while Elly and Echo had pleaded with Georgette to let her back out. Ah, the good old days.

Having studied the painting thoroughly (Georgette had seemed quite flattered by the attention), Elly thought she looked scarily like her inspiration. Her hair was charmed into glossy brunette ringlets, and she had a large red flower clip keeping the front curls back from her face. The rest of her outfit was a dark green dress with tight bodice, short sleeves and a ruffled skirt in stiff satin, and a red lacy scarf draped around her shoulders. It wasn’t really very Elly – she didn’t even have her signature red hair – but what better way to say goodbye to Sonora than to imitate one of its more permanent inhabitants?

When she was ready, a little before the ball was due to start, Elly went down from the commons to meet Saul. Spying her friend (identifiable because he looked just like grumpy old Mims), Elly bounced over and gave a hug that was more like herself, and very unlike her character. “How’s it feel to be back?” she asked Saul. “The halls look smaller now?” She wasn’t sure what that really meant but it was an old phrase she’d heard people say when they returned to a place. Mostly in movies.

“So I’ve implicated this marvellous prank,” she whispered, linking arms with Saul as they made their way into the Cascade Hall. “At random intervals, the waterfalls will emit fireworks and sing the Hallelujah Chorus,” she smirked. Truthfully, it might also make people’s drinks sing a little bit, or any other liquids in the room. Somehow she couldn’t get that part of the charm to remain in one location.“So, what’s new with you?”

0 Elly Eriksson Last ever Sonora prank! 92 Elly Eriksson 0 5

Tobar Brishen

March 19, 2010 9:32 PM

Dance Party! by Tobar Brishen

The school year was ending and Tobar was excited. He was dressed in a pair of bright blue shorts and a bright yellow vest that showed off his tan chest. He had braided his black shoulder length hair and intertwined beads and feathers into it. He wore a pair of sandals just because he did not want to be barefoot in the hall. He was going to the ball as Marius the first gypsy wizard in the world. He entered the ball just after the perfect dance and was surprised to see all the variety of the costumes. He smiled at a Professor as he walked in glad that they did not say anything about his lack of a shirt.

He bobbed his head to the music as he grabbed up a glass of punch. He was sad that the school year was over but glad he was going back to the caravan. He missed the gypsy people and their ways. Heck the school had not even had a winter or summer solstice party. He drank down the punch and smiled at another passing person. He knew he looked odd to others but he did not care he loved being the odd one. He had not asked any of the girls to the ball because he didn’t enjoy the pressure that would put on him. Thankfully, the music was fast so he made his way onto the dance floor.

Tobar loved to dance and did not care if anyone wanted to dance with him. He felt someone bump into him and he turned around grinning. “Woops! Sorry about that.” He cried over the music with a grin. “I hope I didn’t hurt you at all.”

0 Tobar Brishen Dance Party! 152 Tobar Brishen 0 5

Josh Santoro

March 22, 2010 8:50 PM

One last chance before we say goodbye. by Josh Santoro

It had taken Josh a long time to decide on what to do for his costume. He really didn’t like the costume idea in his seventh year. It would have just been so much easier on him had they just been able to wear dress robes. Of course, he probably still could have, but since he had to lead the dance with Elly and the other Prefects, Josh didn’t feel right not being in costume. But, he wasn’t going to force that on Danae. If she wanted to wear dress robes instead of a costume, she was well within her rights to do so.

After many conversations with his brother, Josh had finally settled onto a costume. Figuring out how to make it work had been a breeze too. Pictures of the man he was going to represent were in so many books, that the design had been pretty much handed to him. With the help of his sister, Sofia, who had a seamstress on hand for her modeling career, Josh had the costume just in time for the ball. It was a historical costume, designed to look like many uniformed robes of the 1400s. Over a regular t-shirt, Josh wore a red robe over black slacks and heavy black boots. On his shoulders was armor that reminded him of what Knights who did the jousting. Around his waist was a thick brown belt, a helmet on his head, and an axe on his side.

Charming his hair to be a light brown and a goatee to shade onto his face, Josh was set to be the look-a-like for Gifford Ollerton.

Now sitting in the Hall with Danae next to him and Matt close by, Josh couldn’t believe that this was the last of it. This was their last moments together at Sonora. R.A.T.S. were over. Classes were over. And now they were at the end of the year festivities. What happened to the last seven years? It was really strange to think about now and thankfully he didn’t take long to think about since The Sisters were calling them to the dance floor.

Standing up, Josh held out his hand for Danae to take much like he had done over Christmas break after he had proposed to her. “Ready to dance, Danae?”

0 Josh Santoro One last chance before we say goodbye. 0 Josh Santoro 0 5

Oliver Abbott

March 24, 2010 6:55 AM

With a girl on each knee by Oliver Abbott

Naturally, Oliver had consulted with Hannah about costume ideas before he just went ahead and ruined her whole evening. His girlfriend hadn't been particularly vociferous on the subject, though, so Oliver had opted to come in costume as renowned potioneer Trivius Drummond. As such, he was wearing elaborate dark green robes typical of the wizarding elite from circa 1900. They weren't too fancy, but just enough so it looked like he was in fact wearing a costume, and not dressing like a moron.

At the beginning of the evening, Oliver met Hannah down in the corridor before the Hall. He couldn't help but smile when he saw her. She was beautiful, as always. He'd always thought she was the prettiest girl at Sonora, and in six years his opinion there remained unchanged. It was a total mystery to him that she'd ever agreed to be his girlfriend in the first place. "You look stunning," he told her, kissing her hand like a real gentleman, but then kissing her lips afterwards because he could, and he was taking full advantage of that fact. Also, he was feeling a tad on the gulity side for what would happen a little later.

He had done it at the time to help out a friend, and he was positive that any decent human being in the same position would have done the same thing. Lutece had just been so upset about having to lead the dancing with the other prefects, and having no partner to dance with, that Oliver had selflessly offerred to dance just that first dance with her. Because that's what friends were for, and so she didn't look like a total loner or have a complete emotional breakdown.

In hindsight, it might not have been the most brilliant plan in the world. Oliver wasn't vain enough to think that Hannah would miss his company for that short space of time, but he did think that he would mind if someone else danced with her. It wasn't that he didn't trust her with anyone else, but she was his girlfriend. He wanted to spend as much time with her as he could. Besides, he'd look like a real idiot if she went off to dance with someone else, leaving him sitting there alone. Hence the guilt. However, it was done now (or it very soon would be), so Oliver decided to spend the rest of the evening being as devoted to Hannah as he could. Nothing but the first dance would be about Lutece.

Leading Hannah to a table, Oliver pulled out her seat for her before seating himself next to her. They seemed just in time, as Headmistress Powell started speaking just moments later. It was the announcement of the Head Boy and Girl for next year. With a wink (trying to give the impression he wasn't as bothered by this as he really felt), Oliver took Hannah's hand in anticipation: both their names had been on the ballott. Yet within seconds, Oliver heard they may as well not have been, because the Head Boy position was given to Talen (really? Talen?) and the new Head girl was Lutece. Oliver blinked. He'd been suprised when she'd been announced prefect; somehow this was actually less of a shock.

"Well, that's that over with," he said to Hannah, releasing her hand and the breath that he'd been holding. He smiled, trying to mask his disappointment. If he'd been named Head Boy he would have been able to prove to his family once and for all that... well, never mind. Hannah wasn't voted in either, and this evening, he reminded himself, was about her.

Ah, but that was the intro music to the first dance. Sheepishly, Oliver said, "Um, that's my cue. I'll be right back." Kissing her shoulder as he passed, Oliver crossed the room to where he could see Lutece standing. With the music already starting, there wasn't much time for conversation. Unfortunately, with the Head Girl announcement still so fresh in his memory, all Oliver could think to say was, "So, congratualtions?" Then he placed his hand on Lutece's waist and began to waltz.

0 Oliver Abbott With a girl on each knee 99 Oliver Abbott 0 5

Jethro Smythe

March 24, 2010 4:22 PM

Looking for Rachel by Jethro Smythe

Social situations were really not Jethro's forte. He didn't really understand them, and there were often far too many people about for his comfort. Take tonight, for example. Lots of students, lots of not-students, too, and a whole lot of dancing, with food on just one table instead of on all of them. It didn't seem like a good idea. People dancing might bump into people carrying the food, and then food would be on the floor, which was almost never a good idea. That was just one concern; there were lots more to be had.

Top on Jethro's list at that moment was that he was dressed in costume as a medieval magi. In case you didn't know, that was in sturdy, weather resistant robes and carrying a magical staff. Historical magi tended to have long, flowing beards, too, but Jethro had decided that if he was going to be eating then a beard was not a good idea. He did have a long, pointed hat though, which matched his robes.

As soon as he made his way from his dormitory to the commons, Jethro had a very different concern. Rachel Bauer was in his classes, and Jethro had said hello to her whenever he saw her since Cynthia said they would be going to this ball together, but he didn't really know her very well. He had asked what they should wear, but he'd forgotten what she said, so he wore his magi costume because it seemed silly to ask twice - he might forget again - and he wanted to dress this way.

When he approached Rachel in the commonroom, Jethro said, "Hello. You look nice," (which Cynthia had told him to say). Then he walked with her out of the commons and down to the Hall. He couldn't think of anything spectacular to say on the way so he didn't try to initiate any conversation. Yet when they got to the Hall, it was all different, and Jethro's usual seat wasn't there anymore. Without sitting in each seat individually he couldn't possibly be sure of where would be best. He asked for a second - or was it first? - opinion. "The seats have moved," he said to Rachel. "Where do you think would be best for us to sit?"

0 Jethro Smythe Looking for Rachel 146 Jethro Smythe 0 5

Adelita and Dulce Garcia

March 24, 2010 9:10 PM

Let the games begin. by Adelita and Dulce Garcia

Adelita had decided to let Charlie be Charlie and left her to be the date to James Anthony. Lita had yet to decide what to think of the boy (mainly because she had never so much as had a conversation with him), but he was a bit stiff and Lita didn’t feel like being the third wheel in the group. So, instead, she’d be going with her sister, Dulce. Even though they were very different, they still had fun together. Besides, there was no point in the both of them going alone.

She had decided to go as one of the magical ballerina’s she had seen on the stage when she was a little girl. They were the group that her mother had been a part of before becoming a mother and sometimes when they were in San Francisco, her mother would take Lita too see them perform. They were obviously dancers, but they used magic to make their performances all the better. So, Lita decided to dress as one of her idols.

Wearing a very vintage ballerina outfit, Lita met her sister outside of the hall. Lita’s outfit was heavy to wear, but she felt very beautiful in it. Her long dark hair was pulled back into a traditional tight bun. The costume itself consisted of lacy sleeves that puffed out at the shoulders, her torso was a heavy corset that held pearls in an detailed design across the front of it, and the tutu was the length of her knees and held heavier material than just lace like the new tutus held. The color of the outfit was cream, but bits of soft pink hues were sewn into the material to give it a more feminine look to it. Her mother had put it together using old photographs and books of the first ballerinas and she had done a splendid job.

Dulce’s outfit was completely different, nor was it really within the theme of the night. Well, at least not the magical part of the theme. But Dulce didn’t care. She wanted to be a historical person who she admired because of all that he had accomplished. She envied him and his creativity. And anyone who really knew the first thing about anything should have envied him as well. She wasn’t creative in the same way that he was, but she could appreciate how he could bring laughter to a world that was being defeated by horrible oppression without having to need his voice. What he did for silent movies, Dulce hoped to do with the piano, violin, and even the drums.

She met her sister, who look as girly as they come, wearing a man’s black suite, a black mustache, a top hat, and a cane in hand. She even wore black eyeliner around her eyes and had her long dark waves pulled up and out of the way. When Lita met up with her, Dulce took off her top hat and bowed.

“I bet Mama threw a fit having you dress as a male.” Lita commented, though the smile she wore showed her approval.

“Think anyone will get the reference?” Dulce asked.

“Possibly the muggleborns and maybe the halfbloods. But I doubt those of only magical background will have a clue.” Lita commented before leading the way to an open table for the girls to sit at. “Which is too bad, really. How anyone could not know who Charlie Chaplin is, is really sad.”

“Mama did a great job on your ballerina costume. It looks authentic. Very you.” Dulce complimented, though she still held that usual dullness in her voice despite being genuine with her thoughts. Lita smiled just the same.

“Will you dance with me later?” Lita asked. She hadn’t danced to regular music in a long time and this ball just made her miss the family parties all the more.

“Only if they play the Cha-Cha Slide.” Dulce joked.

“Dulce!”

“I’m kidding. Yes, I’ll dance with you. How could I refuse?” Rolling her eyes, Dulce looked out at the crowd of students. “Did you want to sit with your friends?” Dulce didn’t have any friends, but she knew Lita had practically her whole year as friends.

“If they want to sit with us, they can. But I don’t want to interrupt them. They all have dates with each other and it’s a little weird to know that we’re not just ‘hanging out’ but that they’re ‘together’ and I’m just with them. You know?”

“I guess.” Even though she really had no clue what her sister was talking about. “We should dance with our Tios later. That will be fun. I wonder what they came as?”

“Who knows? It’ll be a challenge trying to figure out what everyone came as.” Lita said, sounding excited. “We should so make a game of it!”

“You’re giving me a headache, Del.” Dulce complained.

“Oh, stop being a party pooper, Dulce!”

“Fine fine. Where to start?”

“How about with that one?” Lita pointed to the person approaching from across the room.

“Alright. Let the games begin.”

0 Adelita and Dulce Garcia Let the games begin. 0 Adelita and Dulce Garcia 0 5

Rachel Bauer

March 25, 2010 10:41 PM

The one and only. by Rachel Bauer

When she had gotten back replies to the letters she'd sent home about the ball, Rachel hadn't been terribly surprised with most of the reactions. Momma had written pages, going back and forth between how wonderful it all was and making dead sure Rachel knew trying to lead in a dance was almost as bad as talking like Kate (Katespeak hadn't yet divorced English, but the separation was growing firmer every day). Dad had mostly ignored it, only breaking his usual remarks on the family and her studies long enough to warn her that he would be most displeased if she eloped. The others had, for the most part, fallen into line with her parents. The one major exception had been Kate.

Kate had surprised her. She'd expected to hear about how an arranged anything was icky, possibly that boys overall were icky, and definitely something about the progress Matilda's girls were making on her dress, but she hadn't gotten that. Instead, Kate had chosen to fixate on their names.

Jethro and Rachel. It sounds old and grandparentsy. Are you a nice gramma-thingy or Naomi Junior?

Rachel had decided to ignore the content and focus on what was wrong with the term 'gramma-thingy', though she'd made sure to remind Kate that she could take her any day of the week if she got too fond of drawing comparisons between an utterly wonderful, gorgeous, intelligent big sister and an individual in any way, physically or mentally, bearing the faintest resemblance to Naomi Bauer.

Matilda - or whichever apprentice she'd handed the job over to - had done a good enough job with her ball robe, though, that Rachel thought the odds of anyone thinking she was the Heir of Naomi were low. She had decided to come as the poet Persephone Hayes, the first witch to make it into the major American magical literary circles - or, at any rate, one of the first, the first Rachel had heard of, and one of a very few intellectual historical witches Rachel had been able to find who had blonde hair. Her other main option had been to come as Laura Callahan, the Charms researcher; Rachel found her hugely admirable, but she'd been a little unstable, and Momma didn't think research was a proper field for a Proper Young Lady to express knowledge of anyway. The only problem Rachel had with Persephone was that her most known portrait involved fairly simple dark blue dress robes, though, given who she was going to be dancing with, she supposed it might be a good thing that she didn't have as many ruffles as she might have liked.

That supposition almost became a solid fact in her mind the moment she saw Jethro in the common room. She looked like a nineteenth-century aristocrat, and he looked kind of like a Young Gandalf. She smiled automatically, wondering where it had all gone wrong, when he complimented her. "Thank you."

She didn't really attempt conversation on the way down. As good as her mind was in some areas, it was weak in others, and one of its weak spots was with conversation topics. It drove Momma crazy, especially since Alicia gave every sign of having been born able to wrap anyone around her fingers in a matter of seconds, but even scripts hadn't worked out all that well. "This looks like a good place," she said in response to his question about seating. "Unless you have a problem with it."

16 Rachel Bauer The one and only. 154 Rachel Bauer 0 5

Thyme Barrington

March 26, 2010 5:20 PM

Arriving (Jae) by Thyme Barrington

As she entered the dance, Thyme couldn't help but feel a bit nervous. She had never been very outgoing, never been much for socializing and since her sister died, she'd only been more withdrawn. (Changing schools twice hadn't helped either.) Aside from Jae, Thyme wasn't very close to anyone at Sonora either. She didn't really speak much to her roommates or anything.

Thyme was glad though, that since she was going to be there, she was going to be there with Jae. If he hadn't asked her, she honestly wouldn't have gone. Who knew what Thyme would be doing right now? (Though she had an idea of what, and it was really better to be here with Jae.)

She liked her dress too. Thyme and Jae had decided to come in Elizabethan garb and Thyme just loved her outfit. It was beautiful and she was especially glad for the long sleeves. She had taken care to do her hair in an Elizabethan style as well, though Thyme was certain Jae's hair would be less historically accurate. However, that was just fine with her. Jae was wonderful the way he was. He was kind and sweet and he actually seemed to care about her, which was more than Thyme could say for most people.

Another thing about this whole costume theme was that Thyme felt like someone else for awhile and she liked that, really really liked that.

11 Thyme Barrington Arriving (Jae) 101 Thyme Barrington 0 5

Daniel Nash II

March 31, 2010 1:38 PM

Square One by Daniel Nash II

After putting off asking anyone for too long, Daniel Nash arrived at the dance alone. Honestly, he didn't really mind. He's was coming off a very confusing Whatever with Charlie and didn't really want to start another one with somebody else. (And it would be confusing, because, obviously, there would be a date, just like there had been with Charlie that first time, and then what? Did that make you dating? Or was it just a one time thing? Daniel wasn't really sure he was up for either Dating or being a One Time Thing sort of guy.)

Flirting was better. He could handle flirting. No commitment, no expectation of commitment, no confusion, and no One Time Thing because One Time Things were kind of crass really, when you think about it. So, really, going by himself was so much better than having a date.

Still, he did kind of want to dance with somebody, and with the ratio of guys to girls that Sonora had, he figuring finding one willing to do so wouldn't be that hard. Like . . . right over there was Adelita and wait, no. Daniel frowned for a moment, trying to figure out who was with her. Had she found a date after all?

After a moment, though, he laughed as he realized it was her sister. Perfect. He headed over to see both of them. "Wow, you two make a handsome pair," he told them, smiling equally at both Garcias. "Very nice ballerina," he told Adelita, wondering if he was supposed to recognize the production, but he wasn't really up on his classic dancers in the muggle world never mind the magical one. He could probably recognize Nutcracker and Swan Lake costumes, but anything other than that was quite beyond him.

"And you," he added turning to the younger sister whose name he could not remember for the life of him though he was sure Charlie or Adelita must have mentioned it at some point. "Wow. You look really sharp. Can you do the Charlie Chaplin walk?"

His own outfit wasn't nearly as impressive. He was an actor, not a costume designer, and the costume designers he did know were all muggles and completely unfamiliar with historical magical styles. Daniel had settled for dressing in a Devore suit with a vest, a fedora, and a skinny tie. He was mainly going for 'old fashioned dress clothes' but if pressed he might claim he was aiming for the Frank Sinatra rat pack look. Not that most wizards would know who or what that was, but he hadn't had a lot to work with given his family's limited ability to get their hands on wizarding style clothes.

1 Daniel Nash II Square One 130 Daniel Nash II 0 5

Quentin Melcher

March 31, 2010 4:59 PM

Waiting for Marissa by Quentin Melcher

Quentin had breifly considered coming to the dance-which was still more accurately dances-as his ancestor Jeremiah Melcher who had founded their family's school back in the mid 1800's but he had decided it was better not to come as any member of his family. Quentin was not feeling too kindly towards them at the moment. Or any of the moments leading up to the dance.

He supposed it would be more accurate to say he wasn't feeling kindly towards his parents, grandparents and direct ancestors. Quentin wasn't feeling angry or disgusted towards any of the distant cousins that were here at Sonora nor did he towards Kirstenna or her father. His ancestors were typical purebloods and primarily typical Melchers and Quentin did not want to be that way. Sure, he wanted to be intelligent-he couldn't help it that he was anyway-he just didn't want to be as stuck-up and judgemental as they were.

So he had decided not to come as Jeremiah. Instead, Quentin had looked for someone else to come as and discovered that, basically, most famous wizards had dressed in whatever had been the fashions of the time period that they had lived in so Quentin simply came in old-fashioned dress robes.

He stood outside the Hall, waiting for Marissa to arrive. Quentin no longer felt that nervous. Instead, he was looking forward to spending time with a friend.

11 Quentin Melcher Waiting for Marissa 129 Quentin Melcher 0 5

Marissa Stephenson

April 01, 2010 9:51 PM

Wait no more. by Marissa Stephenson

In theory, finding a historical figure to dress up as for a ball was fun. She had been forced to get creative to do it, but she had even managed to bring her girlfriends in on the fun. If their letters, forwarded to her by her mother, were anything to go by, they had accepted the "Muggled" versions of the stories she had sent them without question and had a ball of their own arguing about which one was best.

In reality, being Muggleborn made the process of obtaining dress robes ridiculously complicated. Her mother's ability to sew a little was the only thing saving her from wearing an incredibly awful cheap Anne Boleyn getup, and she would be vacumming all summer to repay all the effort it took to take a dress and convert it into something resembling what the first witch elected to a major public office in the US might have worn. It shouldn't, given the gender ratios she saw at Sonora, have surprised her, but magical society had gotten a clue in that area a little earlier than had their Muggle counterparts, even if that election had been nearly overturned by angry pureblood patriarchs.

Home sewing or none, though, she thought she looked pretty. Marissa's romantic interest in Quentin was hovering at zero and unlikely to rise, but that didn't stop her from wanting to look nice, both for the sake of her own reputation and - well - so Quentin wouldn't regret asking her.

She had been worried about never finding him in the crowd, but her date appeared relatively quickly. Marissa decided, on balance, to take that as a good sign for the evening as a whole. It helped that she could actually remember all of the stuff from waltzing class. "Hi," she said cheerfully, walking up to Quentin. "Ready to go in?"

16 Marissa Stephenson Wait no more. 147 Marissa Stephenson 0 5

Juri Dahlgren

April 02, 2010 8:37 PM

Should be interesting (tag: Pippa) by Juri Dahlgren

When Juri had been in fifth grade, there had been a farewell dance held for them. The school had transformed the cafeteria into an elaborate scene of streamers, balloons, and the like. So, when he walked into Cascade Hall, Juri wasn’t expecting to be surprised in the slightest, but then he forgot that the school had magic at its disposal, which completely changed the terms. At seeing it, he was glad he had actually taken some time on his costume. After a bit of research into historical wizarding bands, a source untapped (and shamefully so) by him before, he decided to be Dason DeAngelo, guitar prodigy who had been slain by a drumstick. It really had been an unfortunate accident of irresponsible magical use, but boosted the man to an irrevocable legendary status.

To imitate him, Juri had purchased a set of dress robes for the base of the costume. From there, he had made the rest of the alterations himself. Dason never wore the traditional pieces that went along with the robes such as dress shirts, ties, and the like so Juri did the same. He wore a pair of worn jeans, a green shirt with the name of another band on it (something Dason often did as a tribute), and his Vans. The robes, with added dashes of white, were left open. The finishing touches were a necklace and a couple rings since his hair was already a perfect fit. But would Pippa be? He wondered what she was going as. Would their costumes be compatible where everyone would think them a good match? Well, whatever she came as, he wouldn’t know until she showed up.

Once Pippa arrived at the appointed meeting place, Juri told her that she looked beautiful and lead her into the dance just in time to listen to the announcements. He clapped politely along with everyone else for the newly appointed Head Boy and Head Girl. He didn’t really know either one, but he assumed since they had been voted for, they would do a good job, and therefore, deserved some recognition. Once that was over, he held Pippa’s hand and walked over to one of the available tables, somewhat close to where Adelita was sitting. Sitting down next to Pippa, he frowned when he noticed Daniel Nash II coming up to talk to Lita. His mouth twitched slightly. Suddenly, he turned to Pippa. “Would you like to dance?”

0 Juri Dahlgren Should be interesting (tag: Pippa) 127 Juri Dahlgren 0 5

Adelita and Dulce Garcia

April 02, 2010 9:45 PM

Square Two? by Adelita and Dulce Garcia

Adelita smiled when Danny came over and greeted her and her sister. “Why thank you!” She exclaimed at the compliment that they looked like a handsome couple. She ignored the fact that he was referring to herself and her sister as if one took it out of context, it might be a little strange. Dulce only gave Daniel a nod of her head, of which she had seen many other males do to each other by way of greeting. Dulce didn’t know the Aladren other than what her sister had told her of him. Which, was that he was/had been dating Lita’s best friend and was somehow famous in the muggle world.

Adelita’s smile grew wider as Daniel went further and complimented her costume. “Thank you.” Lita said with more passion than the first time. Her hands gently touched the pearls on the heavy corset that covered her torso. “My Mama made it for me. This is from one of the very first magical Ballerina’s and, the very reason why I have always wanted to dance.” Lita explained, looking admiringly at her costume as she did. “But, it’s really hard to breathe in it.”

Dulce’s light eyes fell onto Danny when he turned his attention onto her. Dulce wasn’t used to people actually addressing her. She always fell into the ‘invisible’ field within a crowd. Of course, he was probably only being nice because he was friends with Adelita. But, the fact that he knew who Charlie Chaplin was had Dulce seeing Daniel in a whole different light. She rolled her eyes at his question. “Please.” She stated, standing up and moving around so that he could see her properly.

Pointing her toes out, light did the shuffle almost perfectly to what Chaplin had done, even doing the little skip that had always made him look like he was tripping and twirling her cane as he often did. “Cake.” She commented, taking her seat once again. Her voice as dull as ever.

“Charlie Chaplin is her idol.” Lita explained. “I only know of him because of her. Her piano teacher is a muggleborn and when Dulce was what, three?” Lita half stated, half asked, looking to her sister for comfirmation, “Her teacher played his silent…um…picture box things to her.”

“Movies, Del.” Dulce input, rolling her eyes. Dulce had more experience with muggle things only because of her piano teacher, but Lita wasn’t so bright on the pick up.

“Right, movies.” Lita said with a nod, “Anyway, she’s been stuck on him ever since.”

“Smile was the first cover I ever did.”

“Oh, it was so good too. I swear Daddy was crying by the end.” The thought of their father being moved by anything Dulce could do had her face red of embarrassment but she otherwise ignored Lita’s statement.

“Okay, I give.” Dulce said to Daniel. “What’s your costume?”

0 Adelita and Dulce Garcia Square Two? 0 Adelita and Dulce Garcia 0 5

Edmond Carey

April 05, 2010 10:42 PM

Escorting Miss Cassie by Edmond Carey

Edmond supposed, from a certain point of view, that it was reasonable for him to be mildly anxious about the ball. He had learned to dance years ago and had been aware that not all behavior was appropriate for formal events for as long as he could remember, but he wasn't nearly as good at just carrying on a normal conversation, and he was almost bound to have to do so at some point in the evening. There were, of course, always the scripts, but he found he didn't want to use those.

His social skills had improved since his first few weeks at Sonora. He had, to his delight, learned enough slang to not end up as the second coming of Quentin Melcher. All in all, though, he still had to consider himself among those people who were a little clueless about how to get other people to like them, and his problem was that he very much wanted for Cassie to do so. It was irrational - how Cassandra Kerrigan felt about him had absolutely no bearing on how he would do as patriarch of the Savannah Careys, and that was the place he had been born and specifically raised to occupy - but he couldn't help it, and he was legitimately worried that he'd make an utter fool of himself.

At least the family had approved. They had never heard of her personally, which was a major point in her favor when dealing with Carey men, and North Carolina had apparently declared the Kerrigans to be "all right." Julia had taken care to mention that the North Carolinians had odd ideas, at best, about what was "all right" and what was not, but Edmond had decided to ignore that part. It meant one less worry to deal with.

He had been afraid Julia would throw all subtlety out of the window and dress him up as one of his own ancestors, but he had underestimated her; instead, he was bearing a very marginal resemblance to the first Cabinet president not helped by his flat refusal to wear a funny wig. That was going too far in the name of a gimmick, and he could not help it that very few tall, plain, red-haired people had made themselves historical. If people weren't overly familiar with the official portrait robes, he'd tell the story and that would be the end of it.

Because he had read it was polite, he made sure to be in the common room fifteen minutes early, without a book to read. That one was in his pocket was incidental; he felt wrong being without one in reach even though he wouldn't read it tonight and had deliberately picked something he didn't like to reduce any possible temptation. Jane made fun of him for doing that, and he knew there was no good reason to do it at all, but since no one else knew about it, he didn't see the harm in it. When Cassie arrived in the room, Edmond smiled only a little awkwardly and - he had no idea how this didn't seem nearly as ridiculous in lessons with Jane as it did here - offered her his arm.

"You look lovely," he said. "Shall we go now?"

The Cascade Hall was more chaotic than Edmond had ever seen it, though part of that could have been the sudden increase in clothing variety. Not everyone wore the official uniform robe all the time, but neither did they walk around dressed as members of various professions, countries, and eras from history. Some didn't even seen recognizable. "I must say, I didn't think of how much variety there was going to be," he said. He was sure he was winning awards for creativity just now. "Would you like to sit?" he asked, his hand hovering a little above a chair to hold for her if she did. There were advantages to his lifestyle, and one of them was that being able to not think about how to behave properly so his brain could remain focused on how not to sound like too much of a moron. "I think the prefects have to dance before anyone is allowed on the floor."

0 Edmond Carey Escorting Miss Cassie 143 Edmond Carey 0 5

Pippa Brockert

April 06, 2010 3:44 PM

In a good way, I hope by Pippa Brockert

Pippa could not help feeling a little nervous about the dance. She had never been to anything like this, in fact, she had never even been to one of the pureblood balls that her parents attended. Pippa had always been too young before but it was likely that this summer, she would start going along with them. She was anxious about that as well.

There was also the fact that her family had not seemed thrilled with her date. Her grandmother was absolutely livid over it and her parents had not seemed to pleased either. Pippa didn't really care that much if Juri was a pureblood herself, but she hated disappointing her family. She wanted them to be proud of her and she hated the tension that this was sure to cause. Pippa had never been the cause of trouble before and didn't want it to start now. She had briefly considered cancelling the date with Juri but she wouldn't have wanted to hurt his feelings and lose a potential friend.

At least someone had asked Tawny and Pippa was less worried about her sister being mad at her. Well, okay, Tawny always seemed mad at her but at the moment it was just her normal anger and not the kind that led to the younger girl acting out. She spotted her sister, who looked both beautiful and happy. It was wonderful seeing Tawny happy and it not being at her own expense.

Pippa had worked hard on her costume, making it herself. She'd done this by choice, not because her parents wouldn't pay for one. They still would have but Pippa loved making stuff and had wanted to do it herself. It fit really well, and Pippa was proud of how it had turned out. She had chosen to come as Andromeda Kramer, a pureblood artist who had fallen for a muggleborn and been disowned, yet gone on to be sucessful in art and have a happy and wonderful marriage anyway. Juri had even told her she looked beautiful, which had made her blush.

They arrived at the dance, and taken a seat, listening to the announcements of Head Boy and Girl. Pippa was unfamiliar with both, though she knew the name Dupree, both because it was a pureblood one and because there were several at Sonora.

“Would you like to dance?”

Pippa nodded. "I'd love to."

11 Pippa Brockert In a good way, I hope 132 Pippa Brockert 0 5

Cassandra Kerrigan

April 10, 2010 9:09 PM

Arriving with Mr. Carey by Cassandra Kerrigan

Gloss or no gloss? Cassie held the tube in her hand as she stared in the mirror. She really couldn’t decide. One would think that it would be quite simple since it was only lip-gloss, but it was a rather important on in her opinion. It wasn’t as though one went to a dance every night and it certainly wasn’t as though one would ever have their first date ever again. At least, she thought it was a date. It felt like a date, but maybe she was reading it all wrong, but Edmond had asked her to the ball and everyone else that was going with someone else was talking about their dates. So, assuming it was indeed a date, she wanted to look nice.

Well, more than nice. She actually liked Edmond and was glad that he had asked her. He was one of the only people that she could actually imagine having a good time with, because he was rather intelligent among other positive traits. She couldn’t imagine going with someone who didn’t understand a word that she uttered, because then it would just be an incredibly boring night instead of the fantasy it was supposed to be. With that in mind, she had chosen a fitting costume, one very unlike her. For one night, she wanted to be like a princess.

Since they were to pick some famous wizard or witch, she had decided on Princess Analayla di Constella. She had been a muggleborn witch who had attempted to bring forth revolutionary ideas such as muggles and wizards being able to live in peace with one another. She wanted to be able to merge her two worlds. For a while it had worked until her husband had turned their country on her, forcing her into exile. It had been an arranged marriage and once she was in exile, he was able to seek a divorce. He then married another to increase his land. He had been quite a bastard.

Analayla had been strong though and had continued on in her struggle. They had been realized in a small African village where the magical and nonmagical were able to live in harmony and work together. Cassie wanted to be the type of woman to do something extraordinary like Analayla had done, which is why she was picked. She had opted for the before being exiled stage. She was wearing an off the shoulder gown. The bodice was tight until the waist where it flared out into layers of taffeta. The entire thing was a soft green with a shimmer added. She had pulled her hair up into a twist and added a tiara. She only hoped that she wasn’t making a fool of herself as she added the gloss.

Finished, she left her room to meet Edmond in the Commons as agreed upon. Seeing him, she thought he looked rather dashing. “Thank you,” she said with a smile, glad that he didn’t think she looked ridiculous. Taking his arm with a gloved hand, she nodded, “Yes, let us be off.” She picked her dress up a bit with the other hand so she didn’t trip on it as they walked. That would have been incredibly embarrassing to do.

Entering the hall, she was amazed to see how different everything was from the decorations to the people. “It is almost like a masquerade,” she replied. She sort of wished they had masks, but she felt that might have made things even more confusing than they already were with all the choices milling about. “That is quite all right,” she said as she took the offered seat. “I would like to try and guess what time period each costume is from. Or maybe even whether they are muggle or wizard.” This was said as she looked to see a girl dressed as a male in obvious muggle clothes. “What do you think?”

0 Cassandra Kerrigan Arriving with Mr. Carey 144 Cassandra Kerrigan 0 5

Jaeven Dimitri

April 11, 2010 9:35 AM

A little late by Jaeven Dimitri

So the whole dressing up thing had been a little bit problematic because according to the history books Jae looked at, with the moving pictures and everything, nobody had dreadlocks or blonde hair, which were basically his two defining features. Since Jae kind of didn’t trust himself with a wand, he had gone old-school on the costumes, and made them out of Muggle things. He had a knack for hands-on things like crafts and Aunt Marla had taught him to sew years and years ago. It wasn’t too long before he had made himself a period cap to tuck his hair up in, and turned some too-small robes into a more-or-less semblance of Elizabethian Court Robes. Complete, Jae was pleased to note, with the funny shoes and the tights.

But as it turned out, he’d sewed the entire thing to his bedspread and now he was running late to the ball. He hoped Thyme wouldn’t be mad! He’d even done a little beard like in the history books. Granted, it was painted on with Magic Marker, but...it wasn’t bad!

Latelatelate. The green-eyed sixth year arrived at the Ball finally and looked around for Thyme. ThymeThymeThyme...there! Jae practically skipped over to his Official Ball Date. She looked so pretty, like a princess. She even looked not-so-sad as she usually did. Jae wasn’t quite sure why Thyme was sad all the time, but it made him sad too because she was very pretty and she seemed smart, and it wasn’t fair that she didn’t have very many friends or smile very often. He gave her a huge hug when he finally reached her.

“I sewed myself to my bed,” he said very seriously, still hugging her. “And you look like a princess!”

0 Jaeven Dimitri A little late 104 Jaeven Dimitri 0 5

Juri

April 11, 2010 10:39 PM

Certainly not bad. by Juri

Once he had Pippa’s agreement, Juri led her on to the dance floor. He put his hands in the appropriate places and then began the appropriate sow. Thankfully, dancing was not much of a problem. Between the lessons they had and his natural rhythm, the steps came easily. And while Pippa wasn’t the best dancer, she wasn’t the worst partner he could have had either. They fell together easily as he twirled her around the room. The repetitive motions allowed him to keep an eye on Lita while paying attention to Pippa. He knew it wasn’t really fair of him to allow any of his attention anywhere other than his date, but he was only a fourteen-year-old boy.

Though, admittedly his date was pretty and it was only fair that he should give her the respect she deserved. Inwardly sighing, he forced himself to look at Lita no more. He didn’t like it, but here was nothing he could do about it at the moment. As they danced, he began conversation, “You’re costume is nice, but I’m honestly not sure who it’s supposed to be. Care to elaborate?” He asked trying not to offend her, as it seemed girls tended to take a lot of offense to most things said. He didn’t really understand why, but he didn’t think getting in trouble with his date was a very good idea. All females were experts in holding grudges.

“My costume is based on Dason,” Juri elaborated. “He’s everything I want to be. He was this guitar prodigy. He probably would have been the biggest name in music history if his life hadn’t been so short. A drumstick killed him. How twisted is that? One night he’s performing and this rogue drumstick just slays him right through the heart? So, now he’s still a legend, but definitely in a morbid sense.” Juri paused for a breath. “I’m talking a lot, aren’t I?” He was normally a quiet boy so to be talking so much was unusual for him, but he was really excited about what he had learned about Dason.

0 Juri Certainly not bad. 0 Juri 0 5

Daniel

April 13, 2010 2:44 PM

Square Three, now. by Daniel

Daniel nodded in understanding as Adelita told her about her costume then offered a sympathetic smile when she said it was hard to breath in. He'd been fairly lucky so far in that he'd never had to wear a costume that bothered him, and hoped that the trend would continue, "Well, you look very nice," he said again, because you were stuck in an uncomfortable outfit the trouble had better to be worth it, and a second compliment surely couldn't hurt.

Dulce's choice of clothing clearly had no such difficulties because she performed a very impressive rendition of the Chaplin walk. Daniel allowed his eyebrows to raise to show how impressed he was and added a round of applause and a smile to it as well. "Very good."

As Adelita explained how they'd become familiar with the muggle actor/dancer, Daniel was reminded how different their world was from his by the simple fact that Lita couldn't remember the word for 'movies'. It hadn't been Daniel's first word (which was either 'mamma' or 'dadada' depending on which of his parents was asked), but it was up there. He could barely comprehend a normal muggle's existence, where a movie was just a thing you went out to see on a Friday night. Not being able to even remember the word for one was blew his mind.

Fortunately, distraction came a few moments later, and Daniel looked down at his own suit. "Uh, Frank Sinatra," he said, deciding to go with the specific person rather than the period, since Dulce was someone specific and even Adelita was from a particular ballet troupe. "He's a muggle singer and actor from the forties. By the time I found out about the theme, I didn't really have any access to a wizard tailor."

"So," he looked out toward the dance floor, and then turned back with a smile and offered a hand about midway between the sisters, "Do either of you care to take a spin around the floor? I promise, I'm well versed in ballroom and won't step on anyone's toes."

1 Daniel Square Three, now. 130 Daniel 0 5

Quentin

April 14, 2010 3:58 AM

There's no reason to. by Quentin

Quentin smiled when he saw Marissa. "Hello," he replied, not sure what else to say. He was not going to say that she looked nice. Nice was a personality characteristic not a physical one. A person could be well dressed and attractive, which was usually what someone meant when they said someone looked nice, but not be nice at all. There were plenty of examples of girls like that around Sonora. The correct thing to say was, "You look very pretty." Quentin blushed a little. Of course, he'd never said that to a girl before but it was true. He probably wouldn't say it if it weren't. Quentin tended not to lie very much. It would be saying something inaccurate, and he detested being inaccurate.

“Sure,” He turned to go into the Hall and lead Marissa to a table. “Are you all right with sitting here or would you like to sit somewhere else?” Quentin asked. It really didn’t matter to him and he wanted Marissa to enjoy the evening. He would likely move to wherever she would want to sit. Pretty much anything Marissa wanted, he would do at least as far as the dance went. There were things that Quentin wouldn’t do, generally speaking, but he didn’t mind if Marissa chose what they did or where they sat. He didn’t mind dancing, truthfully, he could dance fairly well. Like many people from a wealthy and completely magical background, Quentin had been taught how to dance when he was younger. In fact, his dance teacher had often been less irritated with him than his other teachers, probably because the dance lessons didn’t require Quentin to speak much. Nor did it make him ask much for questions because it was less intellectually stimulating than an academic subject, such as history or potions.

However, the Aladren could say-he wouldn’t out loud but if he wanted to, he could say it and it would be true-that he would not step on Marissa’s toes, unlike Daniel who was worried about such a thing to the point where he didn‘t even ask anyone to go with him. Quentin didn’t think he should be upset about it. There were much more important things in life than being a good dancer. In fact, while his family wanted him to be able to dance well enough for social events, they viewed those who danced professionally-or did any other sort of performing professionally, such as acting, singing or being a trapeze artist in the circus like Kirstenna’s mom-very poorly, believing there was almost no career was worse and the ones that were, weren’t exactly legal. Being intelligent-as presumably Daniel was, being that he was an Aladren-was much more important. Quentin would rather have a conversation with someone intelligent who couldn’t dance at all than someone like Charlie Abbott or Adelita Garcia, who were good dancers, but seemed rather vapid.

Quentin smiled at Marissa again. “So, who are you dressed as?” He asked. While he’d be happy to dance with her, at the moment he was curious about her costume. It was likely that he would recognize the name but he didn’t really know what a particular historical figure would have worn

11 Quentin There's no reason to. 129 Quentin 0 5

Edmond

April 21, 2010 8:08 PM

Displaying my woeful lack of socialization by Edmond

Edmond couldn’t help looking slightly bemused at the suggestion of trying to distinguish Muggle from Magical costumes. He had never seen a Muggle, nor had it ever crossed his mind that any of the students might choose to dress in a manner reminiscent of one. Of course, it was logical enough, there were plenty of Muggleborns in the student body who would either not be familiar with the more interesting bits of magical history or feel the need to display their own culture in a public setting, but the idea had just never occurred to him. He recovered his composure quickly, though, and nodded.

“A fine suggestion,” he said. It was like a trivia game, of sorts, and Edmond liked trivia. It was one of the things he was very good at. When he connected the amusing parts to the important parts, humanized them, they became easier to understand. Jane was even better at it than he was, though he wasn't sure even she was fully aware of that. People never did seem to think that happy people could actually be highly intelligent. "Is what Mr. Nash is wearing a Muggle outfit?"

Not, of course, that Edmond was unhappy. He usually wasn't much one way or the other, or at least not as strongly one or the other as other people - by which he meant 'close relatives, loosely defined' - seemed to usually be. He was usually merely content with his situation. Tonight was an exception, as he was actively pleased with it.

0 Edmond Displaying my woeful lack of socialization 0 Edmond 0 5