Let the Festivities Begin! [EVENT #1]

[This event is set after all the students have come back from their Christmas/Winter Break, and thus begins the rest of the school year. It's New Year's Eve. Dumbledore had them come back early for safety reasons.]


The Hall was decorated lavishly, snow falling quite steadily onto the floor. There were ample bunches of mistletoe hung around the perimeter of the Hall, and elves were scurrying around, putting the finishing touches on the walls. Albus Dumbledore proudly overlooked the activities, anxiously awaiting the students and staff. On the outside, he was smiling; on the inside, he was very worried.

He had been fearing that the darkness was arising again, and yet, it was. He had been hearing word of deaths over the holidays, though he kept this an absolute secret for fear for frightening the students. Despite his worriment, he stood at his podium with joy, looking at the glob of students that had entered. 'I'd best keep this amiably short..' he thought, rising his hands to quiet them all down.

"Welcome back to Hogwarts," he said with a sense of superiority, "I trust that your vacations were tender and filled with memories to last a lifetime. With that being said, I have organized this event to not only introduce a new phase of the school year, but to finish the holidays with a bang. It is New Year's Eve, after all. Now, we dance!"

He quickly closed his speech, sitting down beside Minerva McGonagall, putting his hands in his lap as he surveyed the festivities.

Professor Dumbledore had finished making his little speech and Gideon sprung up and began moving about. He and his brother both were looking forward to the secret club party, but for now they all had to act normal so they didn't get in trouble before it started up.

After Dumbledore's speech, Lucas rose from his seat at the Ravenclaw table and moved around, looking for some familiar faces. He was keen to get this part of the night over with, so they could sneak out to the club. For the meantime, he would have to endure dancing. He just hoped no one was wanting to dance with him, especially since he had two left feet. He slipped his hands into his pant pockets and watched as some people ventured out and began to dance.

It was a weird thing to think, but Hogwarts felt both familiar and different when Aidan made his way inside. He could recognize familiar portraits from his own schooldays, and yet there seemed to be something a bit newer in the air. Maybe it was all the students stuck in one room, but regardless, he still felt a bit out of place. Social situations often made him feel that way, even if he managed to hide it well. His fingers drummed against his thigh as his gaze went from the other teachers to his children nearby. Seth had managed to find some of his friends, which pleased Aidan. He never had any difficulty in finding someone to hang out with. Lena on the other hand was being, well, Lena-ish and was leaning against the wall, probably hoping she would phase through it. Aidan smiled in her direction, hoping it would ease some of her tension. His daughter had, unfortunately, inherited his tendency of feeling out of place during big gatherings like this.

Lena's hands nervously clasped together, her red face practically clashing with her ice blue dress. Parties always made her nervous. Seth had already run off to who knows where (probably to find his friends. He did have a knack for making more than Lena ever did), leaving her to fend for herself. Well, maybe that wasn't the right choice of words. It wasn't like she was stuck in a pit surrounded by dragons, even if parties made her feel that way sometimes. She spotted her father nearby, who smiled at her. She smiled back, even though it was a bit forced. She knew that he always felt a bit bad for her when he saw her get nervous, mainly because he knew what it felt like. I should put him at ease, she thought. It's his first night as a teacher. He should be getting acquainted with the other professors. She looked around a moment before spotting a boy nearby, Lucas Wright, if she recalled correctly. Although the only reason she knew his name was because he was a Ravenclaw too. Come on Lena, don't be such a coward, she thought. Before her courage could leave her, she walked up to him and said "Hi."

Patrisha walked in the great hall looking at the students, having on a red flowing dress she clasped her hands together feeling nervous. Where was her aunt, she didn't know anyone here and felt weirs being at a place like this. Maybe if she mingled with everyone she might get use to everyone and make some friends. Problem was Trish was a very shy person when it comes to talking. So she just walked around until she leaned up aginst the wall writing in her little palm book.

Piper felt like she was right at home not having been back since she graduated and now teaching. Bringing her niece along since her older sister died and telling Patrisha she was half witch. Walking in with her long brown hair put in a bun, having a black short dress on she tried seeing if their was anyone she knew from years ago but seems like their was not much teachers in the great hall right now. "Oh well." she muttered, seeing her niece by herself writing in her book. Piper sighed rubbing her forehead.

Just when Aidan was wondering if he was going to be watching his kids all evening, he spotted a teacher sitting nearby. Finally, he thought. Sure, she looked a bit younger than him, but she was still a professor. They were practically on the same level now. He noticed that she was writing down in a little notebook. "Writing down observations?" he asked, wondering if she was writing about what was going on at the ball. Some people did that sometimes when they were people watching. Heck, even famous authors did that at times when they were looking for inspiration.

Fabian had been standing side by side with his slightly elder brother, listening to Dumbledore speak. Once the old wizard was finished he looked around the room, really taking in the scenery. He smirked, a bunch of mistletoe catching his eye as he quickly slid from his brother side to snatch one and tuck it under his formal robes. Underneath was a more relaxed pair of clothing but with all the layers it looked as if the scrawny red head had actually put some muscle on during the holiday, a charade he was more than happy to keep going for as long as possible. He scanned the dancing folks for some familiar faces, and found some that he had recognized from being in classes with but none as of yet that really striked him as familiar that he'd know them more than by name. It didn't seem like any fellow Hufflepuffs were nearby which was a shame, but he would be able to find some entertainment later anyway.

(9I don't know if he's talking to Patrisha or not)

Piper looked to see who was talking to her, eyes widening a bit seeing how much he looked so "Are you Aidan?" she asked with a smile. She hasn't seen him in years when again he was older than her, Piper followed him around like a post kitten having a crush on him.

It took Aidan a moment to realize who the woman was. "Piper? You're a teacher now?" That was surprising. The last time he had seen her, she had been...well, a kid at the time, only eleven years old, actually. He had been in his seventh year at the time. It had taken one conversation at the feast at the beginning of the year to get her hooked on him. And it probably didn't help that he was a prefect and could answer every question she threw at him. After that, she always wanted to follow him around, ask more questions, and even try to get him to teach her some spells. He had found it annoying to say the least (you would too if you were trying to ask out a pretty girl and then Piper showed up, asking if Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans really did make booger flavored ones), but after he had graduated, she had barely passed his mind. And yet here she was now, all grown up, and a teacher now. Aidan just hoped that she wouldn't start tailing after him again. "So...I assume you're getting along well," he said, his hands awkwardly shoving into his pockets.

Gideon laughed when he saw he brother pocket some Mistletoe. He always liked to think he was a real ladies man and Gideon would admit that his brother had some skill but it was still funny to watch when he did make a fool of himself.

Piper couldn't believe it was Aidan "well least I know someone from my younger days." she gave out a small chuckle pushing her hair behind her ear. She remember every time he tried asking out a pretty girl where she comes popping out of no where sugar high off sweets and asking him this and that. What spell is what, having the most biggest crush on him and yet still wondered if he knew that. "Yeah i guess you can see that but i see my niece writing in her book as always.' she said glancing over at Patrisha. "So hows life been treating you?"

"Younger being the operative word," Aidan muttered. Piper had been practically pint-sized at the time, and she still looked pretty young. Aidan on the other hand...well, let's just say that Lena kept reminding him that she could start using "old man" jokes on him soon. "You have a niece?" Aidan hadn't even been aware that Piper had siblings. It was like another slap in the face to remind him that she wasn't a child anymore. "Okay, I suppose," he replied. "I've got my kids there. Just took up a teaching position this year, so...I guess I'm a newbie in that retrospect. How about you?"

Piper raised her eyebrow at him, crossing her arms she gave him a look. "I'm not that small little kid that use to follow you around every- well not if i did i would have followed you in the boys bathroom." she said biting her bottom lip. She laughed when he sounded shocked that she had a niece "well I do have an old... did have an older sister but I always followed you around that you just didn't notice and she was in Hufflepuff." Piper spoke pushing her hair away from her eyes again as he spoke about his kids "Oh your married?" she asked. Lucky she never gotten married she took over raising Patrisha. "My first year teaching I took over teaching potions."

"Let's not go there," Aidan said, giving her a look. God forbid if the past started to repeat itself. But it looked like Piper was out of that girlish phase now and moving onto bigger and better things. "Did?" he repeated, noticing her use of the past tense, and what it probably meant. He did the same thing himself many times when talking about his wife. "I was. My wife...died, years ago. Death Eaters. That sort of...thing." His fingers drummed against his thigh again. It wasn't that it was painful to bring up his wife, he just thought it was awkward to talk about. Dead loved ones wasn't exactly a great conversation starter at parties.

Gideon walked over to the punch bowl needing a drink. He didn't notice her at first but accidentally bumped into Narcissa Black.

"Oh sorry, Princess." He said jokingly. He poured her a drink handing it to her.

"Well you better watch out i might start following you around and start asking you question after question." she laughed at the look he gave her. When he repeated what she said she looked down sadly as she sighed rubbing her arm, Piper didn't like remembering how her sister had died, how she took over playing mother father and aunt. When he said his wife died from death eaters she frowned even more 'I'm sorry if i brought up painful memories.. My sister.. was killed by a death eater we well."

"Don't tell me I have to keep you on a leash," Aidan said, crossing his arms over his chest. But he could tell that Piper was just joking, which kind of relieved him a bit. He didn't joke that much with anyone except his kids, which had always gotten him the label of "killjoy" back in the day. He looked up though when she mentioned that her sister was killed by Death Eaters too. "Looks like we've got something in common other than our Hogwarts house now," he said quietly.

Piper gently have him a push "I see you haven't changed. I remember you wanting to lock me in some room so you can have time to yourself." she said, which he never did cause she would bat her big brown eyes at him. Not laughing like this in a long time it felt nice to laugh again, sure their was days her nice could make her laugh but nothing like this. Slowly she nodded her head in agreement "Looks like it,"

"Well, can you blame me? You were like gum stuck on the bottom of my shoe." Aidan wiggled his foot for emphasis. "Look, whatever shenanigans we got into when we were kids, it doesn't matter now, so...let's just let it go, start afresh, you know, all that...stuff." It was the closest Aidan could get to saying "Let's not mention this ever again." No doubt Lena and Seth would think the whole thing hilarious.

"What, you talked to me first.. and you were, well.. cute, so I followed you like a puppy." she said with a small grin. Holding her hand out she smiled. "Alright, fresh start. Hi, my name is Piper Ann Barton.. and you are?" she tilted her head, still smiling at him. No doubt Trisha would think her aunt was flirting and start asking when the wedding will be, are they going to give her a cousin.. etc etc.

Lucas quickly looked away from the dancers, noticing a smaller girl who looked his age had approached him. He smiled, she looked a bit nervous. "Hey there. I'm Lucas" he held out a hand. She looked familiar, but he couldn't put a name to her face. "So, enjoying the dance?" He asked with a smirk.