St Mungo's Charity Christmas Ball, 2016

Since Humphrey's dad worked at St. Mungo's and a lot of people from school were as well, it was kind of a foregone conclusion that he was supposed to attend. He didn't mind events like this too much, but the thing was now that he was starting to notice girls me seeing so many all dressed to the nines...well, it left him a bit of a mess. He was wearing a plain black suit with a light purple dress shirt and simple black tie to go with it. Somehow his little sister Casey had weaseled her way out of attending, so he was on his own for the moment. For now he was content to stand there quietly and sip on a delicious punch that they had made for the ball while observing everyone.

Blake nodded and smiled "Thank you." He looked around and just sighed as she continued to speak. It was hard for him being away, but all anyone seemed to care about was how he affected Hope. He knew he fucked up. And he hated it, but being gone messed him up too. He wasnt the same bright and cheerful kid he was before it all happened. His brother and father had died, and no one really asked how he was holding up. "Im always gonna be there for her." 

Scarlett was starting to grow anxious. She had seen Mackenzie leave in tears which made her a bit worried, she and the girl had grown close over the summer as they had met at a modeling shoot. But she did not go after her, against her want to. But she knew Mackenzie would need time to cool off and calm down. She picked up another drink and took a sip before sighing

Humphrey noticed a girl from Gryffindor who he'd had a few classes with standing off and looking a little upset. Not sure if it would help or not but deciding to take his mum's word that girls were usually cheered up by a dance, he set off in her direction. "Hey, Scarlett is it?" he asked, feeling his cheeks pink up a bit. "Umm, if you aren't too busy would you maybe want to dance?" Now he was closer he thought maybe he should have asked her how she was doing first, but hindsight's twenty twenty.

Scarlett blinked a few times as a Hufflepuff approached and asked her to dance. She wrinkled her nose a bit but then could hear her mothers words in her head of how doing so was unlady like. She gave him a small smile and set her drink down "Sure."

Humphrey gulped when she agreed to it, not having done this much with people who weren't family. Trying to look more confident than he felt he gently took her hand and led her out to the dance area. "How's your night going? You seemed a little...preoccupied over there." he said, deciding not to say the word upset and offend her before his dancing did that all on its own.

Scarlett danced with him and sighed when he mentioned she looked upset earlier, although he didnt use the word upset. "Yeah Im fine. My friend was crying earlier and ran out, I havent seen her come back in so I got a bit worried. But I know she can handle herself. She is a Riddle after all."

Better late than never... Or so the cliche went. Colin straightened his tie and jacket of his black on black, three-piece suit and went up the steps leading to the event. Being a form of healer himself, not to mention frequenting St. Mungo's when a job went array, he was all too happy to not only attend, but offer his own donation to their collection. As the sounds of the festivities reached his ears, Colin couldn't help but smile. Music and good company... Hallmarks of a grand event... Seeing Madame Malfoy swamped by well-wishers, he opted to offer his own compliments to her at a later time. The night was young after all!

Colin approached the entrance and noticed something he hadn't seen at an event such as this before. Standing just inside the doorway was a young girl, dressed simply but elegantly, and seemingly being guarded by a great white dog. Certainly this wasn't a wolf as it was much smaller than any such beast, but it was a beautiful creature. Not sure why the girls wasn't actually partaking in the party, Colin decided to go check on her. Taking the few steps over to the blonde, he bent down so he didn't have to shout over the music, and said, "The party is much more enjoyable further in, Miss. Staying tucked away back here might cause you to miss the excitement." His Irish accent colored his kind words, and a warm smile only added to his pleasant comment. Surely this girl wasn't here alone. Perhaps she was waiting for her friends to arrive. If so, maybe he could get her a table to wait at instead of having to lingered by the entrance.

Humphrey listened but the comment about her being a Riddle and being able to handle herself irked him slightly. "Everybody needs friends, no matter who they are. If you're willing to stay and dance though, well I count myself lucky to be with such a lovely girl." he said quietly, doing a basic spin before going back to the standard back and forth.

Idie had grown bored of hiding in the shadows and made her way over to a girl she recognized from her time in Azkaban "Well well well, what do we have here?" She said as she approached Skylar and Darren "Nice to see you again Skylar." Idie said and moved her hair from her face and over her shoulder "I see you have a friend here." She said tracing a finger nail over Darrens arm which made him shift uncomfortably. The two women began chatting idly leaving Darren as a kind of third wheel. 

Scarlett rolled her eyes "I simply meant if anyone were to try and mess with her she would hex them into oblivion, bring them back, then hex them again." She said a bit insulted that he would think she were that kind of friend. She couldnt help but giggle as he spun her before going back to their normal dance

Harlow felt bad for the young boy, ruffling his hair in order to cheer him up and realised the conversation mostly revolved around Hope, causing her to feel worse. "You'll be alright, you know that right?" She promised him, kissing his forehead and with a quick hand, grabbed another wine glass to relax herself. "Loss of loved ones has always been the one thing I've never learned to handle in my years." She said, having never really spoken of her age that much but always hinted the fact she was incredibly old. One of the gifts of being a Hybrid.

Humphrey chuckled at that, nodding. "Now that part I totally buy. Sorry if I came across kind of mean, I'm sure you know what she needs better than I do." he told her, and as he heard the end of the song coming he carefully did a dip to end it before helping right her. "Thanks, Scarlett. That was pretty fun." he said with a sheepish grin.

Blake chuckled as she ruffled his hair "Yes I know I will be ok eventually. It will just take time. I just wish Hope and I could go back to how we were. She barely talks to me any more without yelling at me for leaving. It gets to be a bit much to handle." He said feeling bad for the words he was saying, but they were true and they were how he felt. 

Scarlett shrugged off his apology, it wasnt really that big of a deal, "Kenzie is a force to be reckoned with, thats for sure." She walked back to the snack table and picked up her drink "So Humphrey, was it?"

Lacey was trying to focus on the music that was playing and tune out much of the rest of the noise in the hall. Really, she just wanted to be invisible, like any other time she was surrounded by people. The party is much more enjoyable further in, Miss... The smooth lilt of the man's voice rang nicely in her ear as he took notice of her. Jumping slightly as she hadn't heard him approach thanks to all the noise around her, Lacey tightened a grip on Shinra's fur. This small action brought the Shepard's head up to look at the man next to his girl.

Feeling her heart begin to race at hearing a voice she didn't know in a place that made her more than uncomfortable, Lacey swallowed hard and answered in a timid voice, "I'm.... I'm al-alright right here.... Thank you." Truthfully, in this moment, right here was the last place she wanted to be. But she was going to try to have a 'good' time for the sake of all the Healers she was growing to know. Maybe if she stayed just a little longer, it wouldn't be rude to leave and return to Hogwarts...

A bit surprised she knew his name, he grabbed his own drink and nodded. "That's me. After some old American actor my mum used to have a crush on." he said with a laugh. "You going to tell me how you winded up without a dance partner? Seems like quite the mystery to me." Humphrey commented, giving her a wink.

Anastasia always found that being late allowed for a better entrance but unfortunately for this event, she hadn't actually meant to arrive late seeing as she had been requested to perform. Even before the carriage came to a halt, Anastasia was hopping out and rushing up the steps into the venue with her violin case in hand. Whilst she was mostly a ballet dancer, her other talent was playing violin, cello or harp. She slowed down as she got to the doors and brushed down her dress with a soft smile, trying to find Astoria within the crowd to thank her for this opportunity. "Madame Malfoy! I just wished to say thank you before I perform. It's an honour to be here." She said softly, keeping her violin case within the folds of her gown.

Anastasia's gown

Anita had firmly decided that she would not go to the ball. It was going to be too difficult to manoeuvre, and unlike at the school, she wouldn’t have anyone around to help her. Apart from Bash, of course. But she had heard from Selene that Lacey was going, and if Lacey had the courage to go, then Anita was going to get over herself and also attend. Besides, St Mungo’s had done so much for her during her recovery, so really she owed it to them. So, with the help of Selene, she chose a red gown before heading to the carriages.

She could hear the music, which wasn’t so loud as not to hear yourself think, but was loud enough that sounds weren’t going to help her get around. Anita gripped Bash’s harness a little tighter as she entered the building, where she heard a familiar voice greet her. “Anita!” Astoria said happily, “I wasn’t sure if you would make it.” The blonde nodded and softly said, “neither was I. It sounds wonderful.” She moved off to the side, and used her fingertips to find the wall just inside the entrance so that she wouldn’t veer off into the crowd. This was the first big event that Anita was attending since her injury, and now she was worried that she had made the wrong decision. Until she heard the voice of the reason she was there. “Lacey?” she asked, not quite able to figure out where the girl was, as the mixture of sounds confused her, “are you managing okay?” The ‘because I’m regretting this already’ was silent.

As the group around them slowly started to break up into their own conversations, Amber was relieved. It wasn’t that she didn’t love her friends, but she did want to be able to enjoy the company of them one at a time. And if she was completely honest with herself, she wanted to offer the first dance of the evening. When Baldwin returned to her, his hand gently on her lower back, she threw Artemis a smile and took his hand. “Dance with me?” she asked, turning to face the man with an even brighter smile, “I promise give you back to your sister soon.”

Lyra was confused, but surprisingly not made uncomfortable by Dinah. She seemed like a nice girl, and although she was a little disappointed that she hadn’t been able to say that she’d heard of her, Dinah didn’t make her feel awful about it. When the other girl pulled her hair back from her face and added the clips that she’d been wearing herself, Lyra wasn’t sure what to say other than, “thank you..” It was a sweet gesture, and by the time the Ravenclaw had been able to articulate a proper respond, Dinah had taken the last glass from her tray and walked away.

“Don’t apologize,” Lyra said, turning her full attention to Jace, “she was lovely.” The brunette blushed furiously at Jace’s comment, as when he said it, it made her feel differently than when Dinah had said it. “Thank you..” she said quietly, truly appreciating the compliment, “your best friend took my last glass, so it looks like I’m ready for that dance.”

Altaïr wandered around the ballroom, talking briefly to people that he knew but otherwise not committing to anything to do for a long period of time. In the end, he figured that something or someone would come along. So instead he went for the food table. He took one of the small, white plates that were stacked on the table and put some savoury food onto it. “Excuse me,” he said with a smile to a brunette girl he recognised to be Macey Pierson from Slytherin, “I can’t quite get to the sausage rolls.”

Tristan wandered around the ball room and noticed her nephew with a girl who smells extremely human. She made a mental note to talk to have about it later, but for then she would let him enjoy the night. She was feeling kind of snacking so she made her way to the snack table and picked up a few sausage rolls. She heard altair Malfoy talk about the sausage rolls and how a girl was blocking the way. She picked up a few and handed them to him "here you go Malfoy"

Macey wasn't really eating much therr anything. She was just standing there near table. She had nothing else to do. Causing trouble at this ball won't be good idea. "Oh, sorry," she said and stepped away when someone wanted some sausage rolls. She decided to let that male have access there to food he wants.

The Gryffindor raised an eyebrow at the girl who approached the table and then placed a few of the pastries on his plate. He smiled his thanks, though really he probably could have done the same as Tristan and walked around. "Thanks," he said, before shaking his head at Macey, "it's no problem. How are you two ladies enjoying your night?"

Lacey had only just finished replying to the man when she heard a very familiar voice. "Headmistress?" she said looking up and in the general direction of the woman. Feeling Shinra shift happily, she knew that what she heard was correct. "I'm doing alright, Ma'am," Lacey replied softly. She was doing alright as she was just staying in one place and not daring to venture anywhere. Sure this was no way to enjoy a party, but Lacey was barely content to be there at all. Still, knowing her Headmistress was there and had happen to find her gave her some sense of complacency. At least she wasn't alone now. "Um... What about you? I..... I didn't think you would be coming," Lacey asked politely, trying her best to be sociable. Having conversations with people was still painfully difficult for her, but seeing as she and the Headmistress shared their inability to see, it was getting a little easier for her to at least talk to her.

Colin was a little taken aback by the reaction of the young girl. She didn't look up at him at all when he spoke to her and her reply seemed somewhere between shy, uncomfortable, and possibly afraid. As he was about to ask her if she was alright, a female voice he knew caught his attention. Looking up, he spotted Anita and Bash navigating the wall as she spoke to the blonde next to him. Seeing the girl, Lacey as Anita addressed her, respond in a way that was different from how he was addressed caught his attention. Extending a hand and catching her arm to guide her to them, he commented, "Madame Moore. Bash. Was not expecting to see you two here. However it is nice to see you venture out a bit. You look lovely this evening." As a member of The Order, Colin was more than familiar with Anita's condition.

Making sure Anita was in a position to converse with them and hopefully not feel as is she was in the way, seeing as she couldn't see if she was, Colin furrowed his brow ever so slightly as he took in the similarities between the two. Both had canine companions, both seemed a little out of their element, and Lacey was reacting as is she.... Pausing mid thought, Colin felt his jaw go slightly, though not noticeably, slack. Was this girl just like Anita? Unable to see?

Macey didn't really expect there be some other girl. She didn't really know her well either. She realized she barely knew anyone really well. She has never been really into making friends that much. She smiled there for a second. "Not so much really. I don't have much to do here. Everyone else seems to have more fun than me," she said honestly how she did enjoy it there. There was no point to lie.