Near the Entrance

Pansy followed him in, her hand still on his arm. She tried to avoid meeting eyes with anyone there, anyone who disliked her, would have something to say about her being here with a guy other than Draco, or would just want to be giggly and girly talking to her. None of those she was particularly interested in. "Strange being here without Draco."

Marco turned to look at Pansy, keeping his eyes on her face rather than the dress, though he found it a little difficult. It did look good on her, sorry Draco, you know it's true though. "I do wish I knew where Katie has been. I've not seen her in quite some time." He sighed, she sighed, and after a moment he turned to her again, extending his hand to her. "Well it is a ball after all. Dance with me?" He smiled as she placed her small hand in his and led her out to a corner of the floor, one of his hands holding hers, his other resting on her waist as they swayed back and forth, chatted a bit about school and friends and Draco or Katie and how their Christmases had gone. After a while their moods had improved and they were smiling and laughing and she had put her arms lazily on his shoulders, his hands holding gently to her waist.

Draco had had a very long and trying week with the death eaters and was pretty miserable but he was more excited to finally be back at Hogwarts, away from his parents and ready to see Pansy. He dropped his things off downstairs and saw that there was no one around before he noticed the sign on the board by the door announcing that night's ball. Pansy had to be there, probably with Dee. He quickly changed into a suit and headed up to the great hall. There he looked around the edges for a bit and didn't see Pansy but then he saw her. Dancing with Montague. His hands were around her and they were laughing. Immediately without thinking he crossed the dance floor, walking through couples if need be, straight over to them. He stopped next to them and put a firm hand on Pansy's shoulder and pulled her away from the italian, "Well isn't this a pleasant sight to return to."

Pansy blinked as she felt a hand on her shoulder and had turned to scowl at whoever was pulling her roughly away. Before she could start shouting about someone waiting their turn and learning not to be rude, she heard his voice and realized who it was, and she didn't even listen to what he said. She was too busy leaping up to put her arms around the blonde's neck. "Draco!" She held onto him like she never wanted to let go again. It had been a very long week without him. 

Marco glanced away from Pansy's smiling face to see a quite disgruntled Draco pulling her away. His smile fell, ready to tell Draco he ought not be so rough with Pansy, there was no need of it, but luckily he decided to stay quiet until he was addressed again, a slight smile returning to his face as he saw Pansy's excitement at seeing Draco again. She hadn't shut up about him all night, and here he was. Sure, Marco was disappointed to be left alone at the ball now - he was no fool, he knew Pansy would leave him to be with Draco - but it was nice seeing her so happy. 

Draco was shocked and very pleased when Pansy threw her arms around his neck but that didn't stop him from glaring at Montague over her shoulder. His arms automatically slid around her waist and he couldn't stop himself from pressing his nose into her hair for a moment. Then he pulled away from her a little, "Pansy, come on, I want to talk." His arm still around her waist he gave Montague another look before turning to pull Pansy away.

Pansy kept her arms around his neck in a tight hug a little while longer before she let go of him, her hands resting on his cheeks instead. She looked up at him, momentarily not noticing his displeasure. She leaned up on her tip toes despite her heels to kiss him, not caring who might be looking. She just missed him an was glad be was back and seemed to be perfectly fine. She nodded as he said he wanted to talk, finally picking up on the tension in his voice. She leaned close to him as he put his arm around her, turning to glance over her shoulder with an apologetic smile to Marco as she followed Draco to the door. 

Marco noticed the dirty looks, both of them, and he didn't blame Draco for them. He was after all dancing with his girl. He dipped his head to Draco as he stepped away. Though he thought about speaking up, but decided better of it and left silently, smiling back at Pansy for a moment to let her know he had no hard feelings about her leaving with him. It was only right.

Draco had to smile a little when she kissed him but that didn't stop him from walking her out of the great hall, his arm still tight around her, and over go a little alcove. There he stopped and just looked at her for a moment, taking in the beautiful dress and his beautiful girlfriend. The beautiful girlfriend who had just been dancing with Montague, and that thought soured his mood right away. His hands were now resting just above her hips as he met her gaze. "So what was all that?"

Continued here: http://averagewizard.omgforum.net/t1201p400-a-hidden-alcove#285763

And poor unloved Marco, left alone, eventually wanders back to the common room.

SUCKS TO BE YOU
LOSERRRRRRRRRR

I almost feel sorry for Marco...BUT THEN REALIZED I'M POSTING THIS FROM SCORP'S ACCOUNT.
For some reason...Scorp doesn't like Marco or that Bell girl.

Good for you Scorp.
*high fives*

As Miela stepped through the doors into the Great Hall, she was met with four long tables filled with students. The smell of roast lamb and stewed beef rose through the air towards her enticingly, and she took a deep breath. As much as these food smelt heavenly, it seemed like too much of a luxury. Even after she left the life of a slave, the food at the Hyakki Manor had been made with the basis of "Simple, Healthy and Fulfilling". All the roasts and stews before her eyes now, though very much appealed to her taste buds, she knew that she could not over-indulge herself. Moreover, she had no idea as to where she should sit. She just arrived at the castle and though it was of utmost importance to look for the Headmaster, food seemed to be a higher priority at the moment.

With a sigh, she quietly whispered "Sanshi. Look for the kitchens."

Her shadow flickered in response and when Miela saw that her shadow had became lighter she knew that Sanshi had gone to attend to her request. Looking around the Great Hall once more time, she tried to look for Adelia, but the huge amount of students made it impossible and Miela gave up. She turned and decided to just follow Sanshi's trails and look for Adelia later. After all, she was here for good.

Bea was wandering through a corridor when she heard music and the hum of conversation. "What's this, hm?" she said to herself and stuck her head in the doorway. 'Oooh. People!' she thought excitedly and skipped in. This looked like fun.

Sirius has been put on his best behavior. Sirius has been drinking long enough to know how to act sober. Sirius grabs more punch and heads over, knowing that if he fucks this up, Cat will saw his head off with a toothbrush. "Hey se - Um, hi. Punch?"

Bea was immediately greeted by someone she didn't know. There were a surprisingly large amount of people she didn't know here. "Hi there!" she chirped before glancing down at the cup of punch the boy held in his hand. "Um. Okay," she said, smiling innocently at him before she took the cup from him. She wasn't super thirsty, but she didn't want to be rude.

Sirius has "forgotten" that he spiked the punch. Yeah. "Forgotten." "Haven't seen you around. New to the party circuit?" He's lightly bouncing on his feet in time to the music. Sirius is kind of just a few steps away from tying his tie around his head and taking his shirt off. But Cat has demanded that he keep it together to at least talk to Bea for a while.

Ari says that Be can go talk to other people if it's necessary. Bea nodded her head. "I guess so," she said. "I mean, I've never been to a party here, so I guess that would mean I'm new to the... 'party circuit,'" she added, feeling strange being out of her element. Bea says that she'd be amused by Sirius with a tie around his head. Ari headdesks.

"Rule number one: Don't talk about fight club. Wait. No. That's not right. Rule number one: Drink lots of - punch. Excuse me for a moment." He took his uniform tie off and just kind of held for a moment while Cat fought with him most violently. Then he smirked and tied it around his head, making his hair stick up in funny places.

Bea giggled, not noticing how out of it he sounded. "I don't know if I can comply with that rule," she said. "I don't hold my punch very well." Ari would like to point out that Bea is making a small bladder joke and not referring to the spiked-ness of the punch as she is currently ignorant of this fact. Her grin widened as Sirius undid his tie and refastened it around his head. "Now don't you look silly," she laughed.

Sirius starts talking over the word silly, perhaps because he saw it coming and wanted to preserve his ego. Perhaps because THE WORLD MUST KNOW WHAT HE HAS TO SAY. "Rule number two: Look like a badass." He strikes a pose, hands on hips, purposeful gaze into the upper left area of the room.

Bea shook her head though she was stifling laughter. "Silly, silly, silly," she repeated. "And I don't do... bad ass," she added, pulling a face as she tried to picture herself looking the way Sirius (who hasn't really introduced himself now that I think of it) did.

"Well then I guess you can't party, then. Wait a second, I have an idea." He ties his tie around her head instead, and leans back and looks at it like a movie director or something. You know what I mean. "It's a start," he declares

Aidan caught up with fee near the entrance of the . Panting, he doubled over, leaning his hands on his knees. "Guess, guess I'm a flobberworm, huh?" He looked up at his new friend, who, inexplicably, looked perfectly unfazed by their race. He stood, taking in their surroundings. Taking a sniff, he said, "Wow, that smells really good. Who does the cooking here?"