New Beginnings ((Anyone))

[Cassandra Blackfire G7]

The Great Hall had been transformed from a dreary mess hall to what looked like a lush, beautiful forest. Cassandra knew that tonight would almost be like a dream for most of the students who attended the function. Most of them would blame her, of course. It was all her fault after all. Still, she knew many would have a good time getting to know some of the others that attended Hogwarts. The party would be fun for some and agony for others. It would be nerve racking for Cassandra. Not only did she have to worry about who she had been set up with, she would also have to deal with the repercussions of many of the matches tonight. This was all her idea; so, really her fault.

When the poster on the Gryffindor notice board appeared a week after school started asking for student suggestions for events, Cass couldn't help but put in her suggestions. She had turned in a few ideas ranging from a skiing trip to a weekend in Maui for the Gryffindor quidditch team. (She especially liked the latter!) However, never did she believe that the administration would choose the most ludicrous thing she had decided to write on one of her many slips of parchment that night. A Blind Date Party between the houses with the theme 'A Midsummer Night's Dream' seemed almost dangerous to say the least. It would only take one bad pairing between a Gryffindor and a Slytherin to make the night a catastrophe for everyone. A catastrophe that Cass would inadvertently create.

Students had already begun to congregate waiting for their mystery dates to arrive. Cass stood there in her white dress looking for her husband. Julian had unwillingly agreed to participate in the evening's activities. She had told him it would be fun. It would be nothing more than a lark! The image of the frown on his face still lingered in her memory though as she looked for him. From what she was told earlier, the gentleman would be told who they were escorting for the evening. They would then in turn find their date at the ball, and introduce themselves. Couples already seemed to be gathering on the floor. Many girls looked shocked, and not in a good way, as the boys began to introduce themselves. She cringed as she watched one Slytherin bully introduce himself to a very headstrong Gryffindor girl. Her housemate stared daggers at the boy. What if something like that happened to Cassandra?! What if she got paired with Wynd Lehane, or someone like that? The rest of the evening would be a nightmare! Her stomach tumbled in on itself as she heard familiar footsteps approach behind her. A soft, smooth voice she would recognize anywhere sounded behind her. "Mrs. Fallon, may I have this dance?" She turned around quickly to see her husband standing behind her in a fabulous set of black dress robes.

A huge smile crossed her face. It was going to be a night to remember. "Yes, lets," she said in response. Julian took her small, delicate hand in his, and led her out to the dance floor.

((Everyone, you may reply to this thread, or start your own. Have fun!))

[Sadie Rivers H6]

Sadie had not been so nervous since she had first met Ephraim. She had signed up for this mysterious Valentine's Day Blind Date Ball, with huge hopes that she would get paired with E. She still hadn't figured out what it was about him that she had suddenly fallen for, but it seemed that no matter what else she tried to think of, E was all that was on her mind. She had yet to talk to Adam about this, she wasn't sure how he would feel about it. Since finding out that they were cousins, Adam had began to fill the big brother position that Sadie needed in her life, and of course she always enjoyed company with Sierra. She was glad to have family again. But tonight was about her, she would speak to Adam about this crush on E after the ball. She hoped that the ball would pair the two of them together and that more might become of Sadie's feelings. It was Valentine's Day after all, and after many past Valentine's Day celebrations at Hogwarts, she knew that anything could happen in Hogwarts on Valentine's Day.

Sadie had went shopping recently for a proper gown to wear to the ball. After dragging Sierra through many hours of dress shopping and trying to choose just the right one to go with her hair, Sadie settled on a floor length lilac colored gown. It had simple black spaghetti straps, the end of the straps turned into beautifully intricate lace detail that trimmed off the sweetheart neckline. The bodice was almost hourglass shaped bringing the dress to a flowing length. If not for the top of the dress, it would seem Victorian, but it was exactly what Sadie wanted. It fit in with the theme and give her a modern look all at the same time. It flattered her figure nicely.

"Hair up or down?" She said talking to herself. She couldn't decided which way would look more elegant. She finally decided that with the neckline of the dress and the way it flowed her hair being down with her mother's silver comb holding back the right side where she usually let it fall over her face would be exactly the finishing touches. She had borrowed an old family necklace from Adam, one that had belonged to their grandmother, silver with small diamonds. Sadie decided that with the silver heels that she had purchased, the ensemble couldn't look more perfect. She grabbed the matching wrap, and headed down to the Great Hall.

Others were already gathered in the Hall and many already had paired off into couples. Sadie understood that the gentlemen would know who they were to be paired with, the surprise was to be for the ladies. As she looked around, the butterflies in her stomach began to swirl again, and thoughts of not being paired started to form. Sadie was more nervous than she had been before she dressed. She saw the Fallons dancing together and smiled. Since their relationship had went from scandal to normal, she had always thought of them as star crossed lovers. It seemed to fit as well. Sadie looked around for some of her friends and spotted a few, she began to make her way to them slowly, hoping that her date would appear soon. She didn't want to spend the evening a wallflower while everyone else was paired and enjoying themselves.

[Woodrow Winchester R4]

It was very unwise of him to have gone through with this thought Woodrow. Valentine's Day was not usually a holiday he had really celebrated; oh sure, he had always gotten his mother something, but that was something every son had to do. He had gotten his mother a brilliant boquet of yellow roses today, as well as some of Honeydukes best chocolate. Now however, he stared at himself in the mirror. He was dressed in dress robes the hue of midnight blue with onyx black trim, to compliment his extraordinarily deep blue eyes, with his hair combed as neat as it possibly could be. He had signed up for the Valentine's Day Blind Date Party on a whim, as well as a means to alleviate his shyness around ladyfolk. His plan had backfired though, as he was more nervous than he had ever been, even more nervous than when he had been sorted in his first year. Trying to calm down, he reminded himself that the girl he was paired with could be equally as nervous, and that could be disastrous. He did desperately hope however that he was not paired with, say a seventh year Slytherin girl, for his outlook could be daunting to say the least. Looking at himself one last time in the mirror, he said aloud " C'mon mate, this could be fun." With his nervousness brushed aside for the moment, he took a deep breath, and proceeded out of the boys dormitory, out the Ravenclaw Tower, and made his way to the Great Hall, where the party would take place.

Once in the Great Hall, a small gasp of awe had escaped his lips before he could stop it. He had often wondered what that vast room would look lik when decked out for an extravagant event such as this, and was not disappointed. It was simply beautiful, a word he usually only used when describing a broom stick or musical pieces. Looking around at awe, he barely noticed that the room was beginning to accumulate with other people. Coming out his reverie, he looked around wondering who he would be paired with, and trying to see if anyone he knew was as fool hardy as he and had actually gone through with this. He began to walk around, looking at all of the beautiful girls and the ways they had dressed for the occasion. He knew that soon his date would show up, but for now, he would try to bite down his nerves and talk to some of the other girls there.

( Now Woody will be flitting into other posts, so if Sandy shows up, it will be exactly like looking for a blind date in real life. I hope that makes sense.)

[Aline Le' Fountenelle S4]

Some things in this are French, for the sake of Aline's lifestyle. You will find these phrases in Italics.

"Hou la!" Aline gasped. Aline had never used makeup before the night of the Blind Date event, and now she witnessed the wonders it could do. Her dress was long and white with hints of silver. She knew that her mother would say it was beautiful.

Preparations for such events typically required too much time, but this was a breeze. Now that Aline was excited, she made it to the Great Hall in no time at all.

"Oh Mon Dieu! C'est Beau..." Aline exclaimed, or in other words, "Oh my god! It is beautiful..."

Aline had never seen the Great Hall made up so nicely, and it reminded her of home. Then, she remembered that some people here might know her language. Of course she could speak English, but it was heavily accented thus making things difficult to understand and it took a lot of time to form what she wanted to say. Anybody who could speak proper French was a friend of hers. Soon she was lost in her thoughts, wondering Pourquoi bon Dieu (why the hell) she had even signed up for this.

She absently started walking around until she bumped into something, no, someone with a very hard upper torso, and also absurdly tall.

Forgetting where she was, she automatically started spewing out many apologies.

"Je suis désolé si très! Je devrais avoir fait l'attention! Idiot stupide, Stupide, Stupide! Je promets que cela n'arrivera pas de nouveau et-" Aline said. I am so very sorry! I should have been paying attention! Stupid Stupid Stupid Idiot! I promise that this won't happen again and...

At last it dawned on her who this very tall and evidentially muscular guy was.

She looked up into his face and she realized that they had been apologizing at the same time, and he obviously wasn't done yet.