James looked at the girl and laughed, "Nope, most definitely not your boyfriend and you're not my girlfriend. Wrong hair color." Look at him using his observation skills. Though...Vinnie could have dyed her hair but though the voice sounded familiar it sounded nothing like Vinnie's. "I can pretend to be for the night though since I can't find my date anywhere," he said with a grin.

"Muggles ARE interesting." Thanks to his dad he got to spend a lot of time doing things like a muggle would. It amused him greatly though he still hadn't figured out why his dad was like that. Oh well. "Well it wasn't exactly intentional. And I still do crave chocolate chip cookies and stuff but it started when I got with my girlfriend. Maybe it was something that I was doing to fill something missing in my life?" He didn't really know but that sounded very good to him. Maybe he should be a Psychologist instead like those muggles on television. "Who is your boyfriend? If you don't mind me asking."

Haha, this one was the comedian. Lux liked him already, and laughed. "Not many people have my hair colour, so that's not surprising really." Being a redhead was amazing and she could never understand why Willa would dye her hair blonde, but she did look amazing as a blonde. Her sister was always gorgeous though. "Oooh, well I hope she wouldn't mind that. I don't want you getting into trouble." Joking really, as she knew the boy was being silly with her.

"My parents have muggle businesses!" she added proudly. And Lux wanted to follow in their footsteps in being an entrepreneur even though she wouldn't have muggle clientele. That would be impossible while working with potions.

Hmmm, chocolate to fill a void. Lux had heard about that before. "Well, I'm glad to hear that you are in a nice relationship now." Seemed that his girlfriend filled the void and that was always nice to hear as people should be happy in life. "Oh, his name's Bay. Well it's Victor, but he goes by his last name." It always felt weird saying his real name because she had always referred to him as Bay.

Noticing someone wave to her, she smiled and returned the gesture. "Hello! Who are you?" She hoped it didn't sound like a rude question, but she honestly had no idea who this boy was.

"My best friend is a red head. Well..my second best friend I suppose since V is my number one," he grinned and stuck his hands in his pockets. "Oh I'm sure she'll be find but don't kiss me or anything," he said with a laugh knowing full well that with a boyfriend the girl would be keeping her lips to herself thankfully.

"Really? What kind of business?" That was fascinating not many people he knew were interested in muggle things. "My parents are just tired of magic I suppose. They do everything the hard way it seems but they were Aurors so I guess it makes a little sense."

James nodded and looked as the line moved again, "I am too. My first was nice but it didn't seem right." Yup. He loved Zoe to bits, though she wasn't talking to him right now, but it seemed...weird. "Bay?" Red hair...boyfriend with the name of Bay...HA SOMEONE HE KNEW!!! "LUX!!!!!!" He yelled and gave her a big hug picking her up. "Someone I know! Yes!"

You know what? This event sucks.

Ethan felt lost and confused, plus the fact that Josie stood him up was the worst. This...date thing really wasn’t cut out for him too, yeah? Sighing, and rolling his eyes in disgust, Ethan headed towards the opposite direction when he saw the spooked girl about to fall on the ground.

He did manage to jog towards her, but then stopped when another boy reached out to help her.

Wait, what did he say? Is he flirting with her now? Ethan just stood there and watched with annoyance. He did blink under his mask and wondered why he was feeling irritable. Was it because of the confusion? Probably.

“Pssh.” Letting his exasperation out, he finally turned and walked away from the group.

He needed his Watson, ASAP.

As Kace was hearing some mutter Lux. He knew that name. He KNEW THAT NAME. He turned around and noticed a girl with flaming red hair. He grinned and knew who it was. "Well isn't it my fellow Lux.." he chuckled at her. Wait a minute she didn't know who he was. "Well I can't tell you that...you have to figure it out.." he grinned slyly. He was going to be playing her just a bit. He wasn't gonna give the answer right away. PSH that is absurd.



As Kace caught the girl (Josette) and she was still stunned with embarrassment, he noticed one dude was coming up towards him. He didn't even know the dude but he seemed to be his date. "Oh dude I am sorry..is she yours?" he asked letting her down. He didn't mean to flirt with her I mean he was making a joke to make her feel better.

"Look man it isn't what it looked like!" he called after him. Jesus why did he act that wayy?

Wait, what? Ethan paused in his tracks and slowly turned towards the masked boy. Did he hear him right? The Slytherin can feel his face turn red. The boy’s choice of words did not help his situation at all. Ethan caught himself struggling as he chose his next words carefully. He did not want to start a fight. Not when he can’t think straight, his head full of confusion. Hands balled, and stuffed inside his trousers’ pockets, Ethan approached the boy carefully, his eyes giving him the looks.

“You might want to rephrase your question, mister.” He said as he looked from the blonde bloke, then to the girl on the ground. “First off, she’s not mine. Second, do not address her as if she’s an object. She’s a person.” Not that he was being chivalrous, but his thinking and principle are deeply rooted from past experiences. His eyes then shifted from Mr. Blondie to Ms. Spooked Girl. “At this point though, I don’t really care if you are flirting with her or not. Clearly, it’s not my business. Thanks for pointing it out.” Ethan stepped away and turned his back for the nth time.

Definitely, definitely not his night.

Something was amiss at the Masquerade. There was certainly drama looming in the air and the boy didn't particularly want to have to deal with it tonight. He had perfectly enough drama in his life at the moment and more wouldn't be an ideal mix for him. Simon could feel it in his bones. As he left the buffet line, he headed towards the Muggle photobooth for he figured that perhaps a walk would ease his mind.

He saw two fellow gentlemen get really, really close to each other as they discussed something. Neither one of them appeared to be happy. Simon was about to turn around and head back to the buffet to escape whatever teenage angst lay before him when he sudden felt compelled to help out the situation. That boy (Ethan) in the mask was almost dressed like Shelock Holmes himself. Meanwhile the other boy (Kace) was tall and blonde and had a very familiar build. Was that... His blue eyes darted to the girl. She (Josette) even looked slightly familiar too.

"Now let's just take it easy, gentlemen. Both take a deep breath. I'm certain that either one of you doesn't want to lose house points. I certainly don't," he said sternly to both parties. "I don't know what happened but this is a Masquerade and it should be fun."

HE AGREED THEN? GOOD. At least she didn't have to argue with him over that then.

Also. The weird talking? It had stopped. Hehe. Her methods were very effective it seemed. Well, OBVIOUSLY they were. Maggie knew what she was doing after all. Yes. Hehehe.

The props though. They WERE pretty cool. Maggie picked a gold crown (duh!) and held it up. Now. Why was he still in the photobooth with her? She SIIIIIIIIGHED dramatically, CLEARLY bothered by something.

She was really hoping that no one would have seen her very embarrassing tumble, but of course she was wrong. For not only did the second boy catch her, there was a girl who had even seen it, & before she could even react the first boy was back. Josette's face at this point was a deep red & she knew it, for many reasons. One being that her savior had apparently told her she had fallen for him. She raised an eyebrow & looked puzzled. "I-I'm not...s-sure...what you m-mean...I-I fell....b-but I-I don't think there...had be an intention to f-fall for you.."

Josette was very confused by what he meant. How could someone deliberately fall for someone? Actually, why would someone want to deliberately make themselves fall like that? Weren't they at least concerned about being physically injured from falling? Next thing she knew the first boy was standing by them & she heard the second boy ask him if she was his. And that apparently had upset the other boy.

Things were getting very....very uncomfortable.

All she wanted to do was run away at this point, mainly to go & find Ethan. But that didn't seem like it was going to be happening any time soon, for now there was THIRD boy arriving. But it seemed like he was here for a different purpose, which was apparently calming down everyone. Everyone except the fourteen year old, because her face was probably the deepest red it had ever been before & this night was just, falling apart.

....Merlin, Ethan where are you?

Puck turned to Kace again and raised her eyebrow. She grinned over to him and nodded, “yeah that’s good at least you know that you feel that way” she laughed and grinned over to him. Wait. Did he say Emmy?

KACE! She beamed over to him, “Emmy? Marcel’s niece Emmy?” She asked and beamed over to him. “Are you…Kace?” She asked carefully and then saw Red walk over – “hey Red…and guy with Red” she grinned and then watched as Red’s name was thrown out by the stranger…..”Lux?” Puck asked and grinned over to the two and squinted a bit at the other unknown guy. She didn’t really know him that well…or at all and the girl and wait was that? Chivalry?

Oh….Kace.

Oh merlin this was a disaster! Where were the prefects to help this out….riiiiiiiiiiiight she was one of them. Okay. Duty calls? She groaned and forgot for a moment about revealing her own identity to these people. “Please lets remain calm” Puck spoke up her voice growing firmer as she stood there. “Uh…sir?” As she didn’t know his name, “I’m sorry for what he,” she indicated to Kace with her hand gently, “said I’m sure that Mr….Lecium?” She furrowed her brow as she wasn’t certain that it even was him. “meant to offend now, I do have to thank you for your chivalry and the fact that you came to our fall friend’s aid.” Then….another guy was there acting like a Prefect?

“Ah….are you a prefect as well?” She asked furrowing her brow at the guy and tipping her head to the side…his accent was a bit off certainly it wasn’t Banner because well…he didn’t sound rigid. “I want to thank you for helping with the set up and well, for trying to remind us that we should have fun,” she grinned at the group. “Now, if you all would like to join I think it would be a wonderful idea to take a group photograph and then get on with this lovely idea of having fun….that well…Sherlock and Watson have given us?” She offered grinning at the two. Heck for all they knew she could've been the Hufflepuff or Slytherin Prefect.

"I'm sorry if this has made you uncomfortable," she quietly spoke over to Josette as really. She felt sorry for this, why? Because she was a nice person in general.

Dante was not going to leave until she told him outright to leave. Since she had not done that yet. Here he was. Sure she pushed him. But really that might have been because she wanted to. Who knows what girls think.

"My queen"

Dante said bowing and grinning when he saw her pick the crown. Why he was doing this he had no idea. Yeah. Though come to think of it. The only person who would pick a crown and sigh like that. Would be Maggie....Nah. It could not be her. This would be sooo awkward if that was true.

No, absolutely not.

Smiling, Lux thought it was interesting that he was best friends with a redhead since there weren't too many at Hogwarts. V? Hmmm, she was pretty sure that she knew someone who referred to their girlfriend as V but she couldn't place her finger on who that could be. "I'll try to resist the temptation so as not to get into trouble with my boyfriend or V, but I can't make any promises," she joked back. Haha, as iffff she would kiss another boy. At least he knew she wasn't the type.

"Oh, a restaurant and a car dealership. Typical muggle stuff." Bless her parents, she loved them dearly. Having a mother who owned a restaurant was a nice thing, that was for sure. "Your parents are Aurors who like doing things the muggle way? That's something you don't hear every day." Laughing, Lux shook her head. But really, an Auror had to be an exiting job.

So he had another girlfriend but it hadn't been a nice fit. Lux supposed that happened a lot at Hogwarts though she hadn't experienced it before. "I don't have an ex, I've only had one relationship..." EEEP!! That was when she was suddenly pulled into a hug. Surprised, she blinked and tried to work out who she was talking to when it suddenly clicked. ""YOU'RE JAMES!!!" Eagerly she hugged him back, happy that she had managed to figure it out.

This boy, however... Who was he?

Clearly someone she knew because he was talking to her as if they were friends but he was being mean and wouldn't say what his name was. Pout. Some people just liked to be silly and looked like he was one of them.

Hmm, she would have to figure out who he was.

Furrowing her brows, Lux stared at him intently but was still drawing a blank. "Can you give me some hints? Maybe we could play 20 Questions?" Come on, help a girl out a little

Hearing her name again, Lux was surprised to see that it was the girl from earlier on at the buffet.

If she knew her name, that had to mean that she knew her...but how?? Confused Lux was confused. "I'm sorry, but who are you?" Trying her hardest, she could not come up with a name for this girl, but she did remember that they had danced together earlier and that had been a lot of fun.

'Me queen'

Maggie blinked, then smiled, then blinked some more. The whole queen thing made her think of Dima. But then again EVERYONE should consider her to be the queen so you know. It was definitely appreciated. Hehehe.

Maggie held out to her hand for him to kiss. That was what queens did yes?

He knew that red hair from somewhere. He just didn't know where though. She did look oddly familiar. He still observed and stared at her. He shook his head and got back to reality. Could he give her hints? He chuckled and would help her out. "Suree we can.." he said. He remember playing twenty questions. That was a muggle game. He loved games. Alright I guess he goes first? He nodded and thought of a question.

"I'll got first. First question. Which house are you in?" he asked. Let's get that out of the way.



He saw the dude become rigid when he called him out. He seemed to be mad and as soon as the guy turned around he noticed he said the wrong thing. He furrowed his brows and he gave him a quizzical look. He started with mister? He raised a skeptical brow? Who in the bloody merlin gives him the right to talk to him this way? He couldn't help but laugh at this whole situation. This was a whooleeeee 180 than what he wanted. "It seems like she is yours if she is talking to you but apparently you walked away when she wanted to talk to you." he replied cooly. He wasn't gonna be nice if he wasn't.

He even retorted back, "Well you know if I only I knew her name then I would address her by her name but seeing I have no memory at the moment that is quite hard.." He surely should know that. "Actually it is your business if you are talking to me this way.." he replied cooly giving him a taste of his own medicine.

Jeezzz what was this dude's problem!?



As soon as this dude (Ethan) and his fight started, he heard a familiar voice and he turned around. Now he KNEW that voice. He shook his head and laughed, "Don't worry, we aren't fighting. It is just this dude needs to take a chill pill. This girl who I don't know her name was trying to run after him and she fell..." he said telling the story. No need to make assumptions.



As soon as he was explaining the story to the guy (Simon) who thought they were going to be fighting which was unlikely because he didn't wanna lose house points. He looked down and noticed the girl was beat red. He released her and asked if she was alright. "Are you okay?.." he asked her. "Were you looking for someone when you almost fell?" he asked.



Kace smiled and was glad this girl (Puck) was understanding him. He furrowed his brow when he mentioned Emmy and how did this girl know this? "Ermm yeah..." he said slowly. Did she ask who he was. He smiled widely and nodded. "Yeah I am.." he said quietly. He didn't want everyone knowing who he was. Now onto figuring out who this girl was. She could be ANYONE.

As the fight between Ethan and him was becoming tense pretty fast, he saw the girl (Puck) but in and take over the situation. I guess she was a prefect right? Maybeee not. She used his last name and obviously she was a friend. He nodded and said, "Yeah I didn't mean to cause any harm. Honest.." he said holding two hands up in the air. She mentioned the photograph option but I don't think it was a good idea right now with THIS type of situation. He remained silent and see what the others had to say.

Was this dude trying to make himself look good in front of EVERYONE? Ethan scoffed beneath his mask and crossed his arms arrogantly. “Get your facts straight. I was the one talking to her, and not the other way around. And just so you know smartypants, I was standing there,” he said gesturing his head over to the spot where he waited for Josie, “looking bewildered as to why she was so flustered, and ran away from me.” Seriously? Why was he even there trying to clean his own name? He’s clearly wasting his time.

He also took note of the dude’s last name. Lecium. With the spell clouding their brains, he can’t, for the life of him, remember WHO Lecium was. But just like a budding detective, he noted the guy’s moniker. Can he also just point out that the Lecium guy SHARES the SAME hair colour as him? UGH. Bad reputation for blondies, eh? “How about using some manners next time then? Addressing her with a ‘miss’ will suffice. Did you know?" SMIRK. "I guess not.” Ethan kept himself steady as he felt his neck tense up. The confusion was really getting the best of him.

And no, he does not wish to lose house points, thank you very much. Ethan turned to see another boy (SIMON) being prefect-y and whatnot. The Slytherin gave the newcomer the benefit of the doubt and decided to play his cards safely. Then there was another girl (PUCK) trying to calm everyone down. Now that looks like a prefect to him...or...maybe she’s acting like one to get everyone under her control.

Clever.

Photobooth? No thanks. He has no intention whatsoever to remember the night. Josie already stood him up and that’s enough reason for him to sulk in his own common room. Ethan simply watched the boy (KACE), and the girl (PUCK) interact. The Slytherin simply smirked under his mask and took out his Masquerade invitation. Obviously, the blond boy was guilty. The sixteen year old decided not to voice it out and just let Kace's guilt eat him up alive.

Ethan quickly went to the voting table, and borrowed one of the quills to write down something on the card. It didn’t take long for him to return to the group, and faced the brown haired boy (SIMON) squarely. “You seem to be a smart chap. I hope you don’t mind a challenge.” He said as he waved the invitation in front of him. “Find Watson for me, and give this to him.” He said and slammed the invitation on his chest.


Should the invitation end up in the wrong hands, all the person will see are lines of gibberish. If it did end up with Simon, he will know what to do. With a pleased grin, Ethan took a side step, and began to make his way towards the castle. Merlin, he hates it when his brain is being tricked CONSCIOUSLY. When he can’t think straight, and is aggravated, all forms of his rationale are thrown out of the window, and HE.HATES.IT.

Mid-way through his dramatic exit however...he realized something VERY important. The girl who stumbled? The spooked girl (JOSIE)?

SHE STUTTERED.

She just gave a chunk of clue out in the open, enough for the budding wizard detective to solve WHO she really is.

OOC :: SHAN! The code says : 'Meet me at the Slytherin Common Room.' :-)

Simon blinked at second girl there who asked him if he was a Prefect. The didn't know who he was so he could have possibly gotten away with lying and said that he was a Prefect. The boy had the opportunity to live dangerously and he decided not to take it. He had evaluated the risks and decided that impersonating a Prefect was not worth the loss of points. Also the likelihood of getting caught out was way too high. Simon had thought this through. "Oh, no... I'm not one. Just someone trying to avoid house points being lost," he explained to the Prefect. She certainly wasn't Beverly or CB. So she had to be either a Gryffindor or Hufflepuff one. Anyway, he gave her a kind smile and then refocused ont he situation at hand.

The tall, stocky blonde boy (KACE) calmly explained the situation to Simon. He nodded a couple of times, making mental notes in his head. Alright, so there wasn't a really bad situation occurring here. Things would be good. House points wouldn't be lost. Brilliant. "Oh, from an outsider, it sounded like something was going to explode over here. Glad that nothing bad happened," he said, flashing the guy a quick smile and thumbs up.

Then the sandy blonde hair kid wrote something down on an invitation and slammed it at his chest. Ouch. Merlin, this boy had anger problems now didn't he? Simon rolled his eyes. People could be so strange. Then the boy left. "Wait!" he called out; however, he had already made his exit. Squinting his eyes, he tried to see where the upset boy had gone.

Find Watson.

He had to find who-? Watson? As in John Watson, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's famous character in the Sherlock Holmes series. Why in Merlin would the boy want him to find-? thought Simon as he looked at the message written in a secret code. His eyes widened. He knew that code. His mate, Ethan, had taught him that.

Meet me at the Slytherin Common Room.

ETHAN! HIS MATE WAS UPSET! SHERLOCK WAS IN TROUBLE!

He gaped. If that was Ethan, then he assumed that the stuttering brunette girl was Josie. It was all a hypothetical solution but perhaps he was right. Turning to the group that he was with, he bowed out. "Excuse me, sorry, but I must be on my way. My presence is needed elsewhere. Enjoy the evening," he said as he quickly made his way for the exit.

Now he had to go back to his common room!

Wait, what? Why was he asking her questions when he already knew who she was? Lux was soooo confused. Was he doing this on purpose to mess with her for laughs?

"You already know who I am, silly." Laughing, she shook her head. Boys could be so weird. Well, besides Bay. Bay was always normal though he could be silly at times. "So I'm gonna ask what House YOU are in." Hah!

Kace raised his eyebrows at this dude's (Ethan) tone. He swears he remembers hearing that voice. He narrowed his eyes and he scoffed when he used smartypants as an insult. "Really smartypants?" he commented on that dryly. He shrugged and didn't wanna cause any more drama that already has been done. He let it go being the person he was. "Whatever mate." he replied. Alright the next comeback he couldn't ignore. He scoffed and chuckled at it shaking his head.

He had to give this dude a taste of his own medicine. "You know what dude, I do have manners actually. I made a joke because obviously she was so embarrassed by her action I was defusing the situation. So don't go making assumptions. Because you know when you assume." he smirked even deeper. "I actually do know how to treat a women right, I have a girlfriend unlike you apparently.." Yeah he made the low blow. He hoped this wasn't someone he knew because this was getting heated.

As Kace was talking to the girl (Puck) he saw the dude (Ethan) looking at him. He gave him a what are you staring at look. He rolled his eyes and went back to what he was doing. Now onto the cool dude (Simon) he nodded and shrugged. "Nothing is going on actually. It is just this guy needs to take a chill pill.." he pointed to the angry guy (Ethan). As soon as the guy gave him the note, he left. Welp nice meeting you too I guess?

He turned to the girl (Puck) and said "Welp I guess we won't have our photo like we planned.." he shrugged and gave a half smile. As soon as the guys left, he walked over to red haired girl (Lux) to try and guess who she was. "Do I know you..?" he asked. He look at her red hair. Nooo it can't be. He muttered..."Cucumber Lux.?" he asked. He hoped he was right!? He HAD to be. "I am in hufflepuff.." he replied to her first question. "You have nineteen more questions.." he smirked.

From the stage area...

It'd been an evening filled with unearthly music and living interaction...but it was nearly time to disperse for sleep and dreams.

Midnight drew near.

Lifting his bow off the cello strings, Bergerus moved forward; indicating that a hush fall over the captivated crowd. The other members of the Quartet also ceased in their playing.

"It's been a pleasure playing for you all this evening." They weren't quite finished yet...but they had been asked to remind the party-goers of a bit of business in the back. "Do remember to vote for your 'Best Dressed' choices...A dashing boy and a lovely girl each, please."

...and just like that, the music began once more.

OOC: PM this account with your votes!

DING-DONG!

Hear the clock strike midnight;
it's time to see if your guess is right.
The Cinderella spell has been lifted;
now you can see to whom you drifted.
Unmask yourself and look around.
The best costume will win a crown!

Puck was itching at the edge of her mask when she heard the voices around her talking again. “Oh, well…you seemed like one” she admitted with a laugh. As she spoke she could feel the fog of her brain lifting just slightly. “Oh…right I should probably vote for someone,” she muttered as the ghost quartet spoke up. “Well if we like each other we’ll have to take a photograph together after this charm ends?” She proposed to Kace and grinned.

When the ghostly voices stopped she could feel it. The itch of her mask, it was almost as if she wanted to remove it from her face. And that, was just what she was going to do. She sent Lux a bit of a wink as she simply peeled her mask from her face her grey eyes sparkling mischievously as she stood there.

Revealed.

Really, Ethan would have had a good gauge on her if he had suspected that she'd have pretended to be a Prefect. Somehow she had fooled people into thinking she was reliable, brave, and chivalrous. She was just a snake in lion's clothing.

From the stage area...

After a selection of songs to close out the night, it was finally time to announce winners for this Best Dressed affair. As for the votes...just moments before, the enchanted birdcage stuffed to the brim with folded bits of paper, had completed it's voyage to the stage. The student leaders had made quick work of counting them. Once. Twice. Thrice...just to make sure!

Calling for a cease in the music, Bergerus stepped forward once more and struck a chord on his cello. Did he have everyone's attention?

"...and we have winners! How exciting..." Being handed a piece of parchment, the old ghost cleared his throat. More of out habit and excitement than necessity. "Ms. Ruby Banner, Ms. Sophie Brown, and Mr. Tobias Fuller-Thompson." Lifting it gaze, he trailed it over the captivated audience. "Congratulation are in order for those two lovely young ladies...and that very dashing young fellow."

Applause? Everyone could applaud now!

OOC: Siggies are in! Congratulations, lovelies!