The Hogwarts Hocus Halloween Hextravaganza, Before Midnight.

[pumpkinpatchsir.livejournal.com]

((Okay, the party will be divided into two parts, one taking place before midnight, and one after the Halloween spell is starting to work. This is the first part, obviously. The other will be posted immediately afterwards but takes place roughly five hours later or so, in game time. Remember, this post is for partying only, and no people-turning-into-their-costumes crack!))

ASK NOT FOR WHOM THE BELL TOLLS, IT TOLLS FOR THEE

Jack watched the words that were magically carved above the door to the Great Hall, in plain view of everyone entering it, and he smiled secretively. Everything was set. Tonight was going to be interesting. Who would have known magic could prove to be so useful? He made a mental note to investigate this even more for next year. Now that Sally was here, he'd be able to discuss it with her at great length. She always had such lovely ideas.

Since Jack was not exactly a beginner in the scaring people business he had carefully checked out the atmosphere of Hogwarts and gotten a distinct impression of what was considered frightening here. Outside the Great Hall the lights were out and shadows lurked in the corners. At irregular intervals (but always when one was least expecting it) the mad cackle of a deranged evil clown echoed through the Entrance Hall. Small cats black as midnight stroke around the walls, not speaking to anyone but constantly smiling evilly at anyone passing them, showing gleaming, pointed teeth. Also, because Jack never had it in him to resist the absolute classics, bats were hanging upside-down near the ceiling.

Inside the Great Hall, it was less dark and spooky, but still obviously Halloween. Cool white mist was trickling along the floor. Jack-o’-lanterns hovered in the air around an area cleared for dancing. Along one wall stood a large table with various Halloween treats: pumpkin pie, candy corn, toffee apples, hot cider, mini-cakes and a large bowl of punch.

The Halloween party could begin.

Comments

[polite-sinner.livejournal.com]

Hakkai smiled warmly to her (in a way that showed-off his false fangs, though he wasn't really aware of it), happy to see someone he knew. "Oh, good evening, Miss Daae," he said as he bowed to her, swishing his cape a bit. "It's been a while, hasn't it?"

He laughed shyly at the compliment and murmured his thanks. "I'm afraid I didn't pick the costume myself, since I left the choice to a friend of mine (http://community.livejournal.com/hogwarts_hocus/957289.html?thread=47813737#t47813737)." He glanced over her costume and gave another slight bow, saying pleasantly, "Ah, but if you don't mind my saying so, I think you look quite lovely tonight."

[every-daae.livejournal.com]

Christine laughed and curtsied. "You're too kind. Jack leant me the costume." A bit belatedly, she held out her free hand to Hakkai. "I am delighted to see you again, Monsieur. How you been well since we last met?"

[polite-sinner.livejournal.com]

"Oh, is that so? It suits you very nicely." He briefly took her hand and bowed again, this time lower, as if to kiss her knuckles, and with more of a theatrical sweeping gesture with his cape. Hakkai smiled winningly as he stood back up and let go of her hand. "It's wonderful to see you, too," he said brightly. "I've been well, I think -- relatively, anyway." He shrugged a little, as if to pre-emptively dismiss the topic and to say, It can't be helped. "Ah, and how about yourself, Miss Daae? Are you enjoying Hogwarts?"

[every-daae.livejournal.com]

Christine laughed, delighted by Hakki's theatricality. "I have been doing very well. Hogwarts is wonderful and everyone's been so friendly! It's not at all like any other school I've been too."

She wondered vaguely if it was too forward of her to ask him to dance. There was music playing, and she would have enjoyed it, but modesty and timidity won out. Christine settled for glancing happily around the room. "I must say, I've never seen such decorations for Halloween before. It's quite lovely. Did they celebrate Halloween much where you lived beofre Hogwarts?"

[polite-sinner.livejournal.com]

"It's certainly very different," he easily agreed. "I'm happy to see you adjusting so well! I'm personally still trying to get used to some things -- the talking and moving pictures, for one. And the student body is quite diverse, from what I've seen, wouldn't you agree?"

At Christine's prompting, Hakkai looked around at the room as well, giving the decorations more attention than he had when he first walked into the room. "It's all really quite amazing, isn't it?" And he did look honestly impressed, especially by the floating Jack-o'-lanterns. "It was never really celebrated quite as extravagantly as this, back home -- well, that's as far as I know, anyway. I suppose you could say I never really had the time to celebrate very many holidays in general, so I'm not really used to such large parties."

Hakkai directed his attention back to her, smiling softly. "Oh, but if I recall correctly, you worked at an opera house, didn't you? Did you attend these sorts of gatherings often? The gentlemen must have been asking you to dance whenever the opportunity arose, I'm sure!"

[every-daae.livejournal.com]

"Yes, to the first, no to the second set of questions," Christine admitted, with a laugh and a blush that managed to show even though she was wearing white face powder. "The school is extraordinarily diverse. It's something out of a fairy tale. My father used to tell them to me so frequently I cannot look back on my childhood without thinking of them."

She looked down at the flooor a moment, tugging uneasily on one of the ringlets in her wig. "I wasn't half as happy or open-hearted at the opera as I am now. I did... attend... galas while I was there, because the managers always insisted upon it, but I do not recall ever being asked to dance. I suppose it was partially because my voice teacher made me return to my rooms very early, so I wouldn't be fatigued at my lesson the next day." Christine then found the courage to look up and smile at Hakkai. "I used to be quite terrified of large parties, too, which is also why I didn't really dance. There were too many people. I suppose I'm getting used to it, but I still find crowds somewhat unnerving. At least when I was on stage the lights were off and I could pretend that the audience wasn't there."

[polite-sinner.livejournal.com]

"Your father sounds like he was a very kind man," Hakkai murmured gently, not entirely sure how to broach the subject, or if he even should -- the loss of a loved one was never an easy thing to talk about, and that was a fact that Hakkai knew all too well.

He blinked a few times, seemingly in surprise. He had somehow forgotten about Christine's angelic tutor -- though how anyone could forget such an. . . interesting topic for conversation was a mystery even to himself. "I see," he said a little awkwardly, but when she looked back up at him he smiled warmly in return and all traces of his discomfort were gone. "My, so does that mean you've never been asked to dance before? That seems like a crime, somehow." Hakkai looked thoughtful for a moment, before saying a bit shyly, "Well, would you like to--" He trailed off and laughed softly. "Oh, but I'm afraid I haven't done much dancing, either, so I'm probably not very good at all. . ."

[every-daae.livejournal.com]

A bit wistfully, Christine murmured, "He was a kind man, and no, I don't think I've ever been asked to dance before." She paused and tilted her head to the side to think on this. "Well, there was Raoul, when we were both thirteen, at one of his aunt's dinner parties, but that isn;t really being as to dance, simply because he's Raoul, and a 'Let's go join everyone' doesn't really count as being asked."

She smiled politely at Hakkai until she realized that he'd asked her to dance. "Oh!" Christine blushed and pressed her hands to her lips. "Oh, I should love that above all else!" With a much warmer smile, she held out her hands to him. "I'm sure you are a much better dancer than you give yourself credit for. Besides that, I'm not very good either. If we make fools of ourselves, we won't be alone!"

[polite-sinner.livejournal.com]

Hakkai laughed and nodded, taking Christine's hands and leading her over to the dance floor. "Then we'll keep one another company, I suppose," he teased, before listening to the music for a moment. He hesitated before taking her left hand into his own and placing his right hand gingerly at her waist, as if expecting her to pull away. He led them into a slow, careful waltz, starting stiffly and uncertainly at first, then very gradually easing into it--

That is, until he tripped a bit on his cape and stumbled a few steps. Thankfully, he managed to not step on Christine's toes or to send them both tumbling to the floor. "Oh! I'm sorry about that. It looks like I'm getting a bit of an early start on making myself look foolish." Despite his light tone of voice, the faint reddening of his cheeks betrayed his chagrin, and Hakkai stopped for a moment to move his cape out of the way. As he held his left hand out for her to retake, he asked, "Was Raoul a childhood friend of yours, then?"

[every-daae.livejournal.com]

Christine smiled gently at Hakkai. She found his embarassment very endearing. "Oh, please! Don't blame yourself at all! You were doing so very well before that."

She took his hand and placed her other hand on his shoulder, settling into the waltz frame very comfortably. This was quite nice. She wished she'd tried to do it sooner. "Hm? Oh, yes. Raoul rescued my scarf when it blew away out sea I was... eleven, I think, at the time. He joined the Navy when I went to Conservatory. I just met back up with him recently, actually." Christine paused a moment to consider it all. Raoul occupied a very private place in her feelings, and she missed him quite a lot.

Christine smiled brightly at Hakkai again. "You're not giving yourself enough credit, though! You dance wonderfully. See how well we're doing now? Even professional ballerinas fall. I should know; they complain quite indignantly about it back-stage."

[polite-sinner.livejournal.com]

Hakkai led them in another waltz, being a bit more mindful of the limitations of his costume. He laughed softly at her remarks about the ballerinas. "My, that seems like it would be a little amusing to hear about, actually. Ah, but you're doing quite well, yourself! It's fortunate that I have such a graceful partner to make-up for my own clumsiness."

He smiled cheerfully to her. "It seems like you and, ah, Mr. Raoul must have been very close friends, if it's not too forward of me to comment. It must have been nice for you both to see one another again, after all that time. Did he watch you perform at he opera when you worked there?"

[every-daae.livejournal.com]

Christine laughed. It was a light, trilling sound, that made her sound as if she was singing very quickly. "That is very kind of you. I've had to dance onstage from time to time- whoops." She stumbled on the hem of her dress, but righted herself quickly enough to stay in tempo.

Blushing and smiling in embarrassment, she added, "I suppose that we are perfectly matched in clumsiness, now. Ah, yes. Raoul was... is a very good friend of mine. He was the best friend I think that I have ever had. I do not... oh! Yes, he did see me perform. Once he realized I was singing at the opera, he came every night." Conscientiously, she added, "His family owns a box, you see."

[polite-sinner.livejournal.com]

"Oh, careful!" Hakkai paused briefly when Christine tripped to make sure she was all right, and was a little relieved when it seemed she was fine. Even if he could heal sprained ankles (http://community.livejournal.com/hogwarts_hocus/948218.html?thread=47038714#t47038714) now, the last time he attempted it left him feeling drained and light-headed, and he would have been forced to excuse himself earlier than intended from the party and go straight to his room to sleep it off afterwards.

"Well, at least we'll be able to keep each other from falling -- or I should, hope, anyway." He laughed a little bashfully. "So his family was a patron of the arts, I gather? It seems like it would be reassuring, knowing that there is someone in the audience supporting and encouraging you in pursuing something you enjoy doing."

[every-daae.livejournal.com]

"If not, we can both fall together," Christine added, with a laugh. "Yes, they were. I was... well, I was too busy working with my tutor to see him at first, but I was glad of his company later."

[polite-sinner.livejournal.com]

"Well, it's good that you found the time eventually, which is the most important thing." The song began to wind down to its end, and when it was finished, Hakkai took a step back and bowed a bit, chuckling softly. As he righted himself, he said lightly, "My, that was fun -- and it looks as though we made it through a song and both managed to stay standing. That's certainly a feat worth praise, I think."

[every-daae.livejournal.com]

Christine curtsied in turn and smiled up at him. "We did inded! Thank you very much for the dance, Monsieur. I quite enjoyed it."