The Winter Ball room 1

Delfina had to let her eyes sweep the crowd four times before she'd even spotted one ally. Thankfully, Lizzy Miller had stayed true to Hufflepuff values and gone in a yellow and black ensemble. She kind of looked like a bumblebee. Great! All the easier to convince the masses that there was some sort of costume party theme going on and Hufflepuff had been the only house to prepare properly. Eat your heart out, Ravenclaw; looks like you don't know everything.
Then Delfina noticed the upperclassman's dance partner. Or, rather, dance partners. Lizzy was talking to two young men and appeared by all means ready to take them both on. That is, until the taller of the two gentlemen had offered his hand and brought them both into the fray of dancing couples. The remaining boy was a Slytherin Delfina recognized from Ancient Runes, which led her to believe Lizzy's dance partner was also not from Hufflepuff.
It was understandable, though. However inspired their Badger co-leader in the battle for the house cup was, Lizzy couldn't possibly be expected to notice the difference between the houses when no one would wear their blasted colors. It would be up to Delfina to save the day and right a wrong before terrible mistakes were made.
She had only taken a few steps away from one of the refreshment tables before pausing to think. Maybe...maybe Lizzy knew what she was doing! Being a 6th year, surely the senior Hufflepuff already knew that it was incredibly difficult to discern one student's house affiliation from the next while at this ball. Anyone could belong to one of the rival houses.
That made anyone, and everyone, an enemy.
This was a perfect use for Lizzy's high energy: dance everyone to death exhaustion. Judging from what Delfina could see from her position, Lizzy's plan was already in action. There was only so much high-speed, carousel-esque spinning that dance partner of hers could take before he'd have to call it a night. Eventually, Lizzy would cycle through and take down various dance partners without breaking a sweat. Some of those people could even be rival Quidditch players!
Lizzy Miller was a genius!
But all great plans come with a back-up, even if they're never needed. Should Agent Bumblebee fall, it would be up to Agent Goldfish to pick up the fight. Delfina began to move again, intent on getting to Lizzy's side of the room should her fellow Hufflepuff need her assistance.

(I think I just failed at rping-- I'M SO SORRY)

(No, no, you're doing quite fine Fushica~ owob)

A pair of arms engulfed the small Slytherin, the senior student smirking a bit, "Hey, where d'ya think yer goin'~?" The cousin to this idiotic oaf sighed lightly in exasperation as she stepped from out of the shadows as well, "You know full well where she's going, cousin. Don't play stupid, please." Ares rolled his eyes a bit and scoffed, but he made no reply (because honestly? He didn't know that his girlfriend intended to go back to the dorms, but he wasn't about to let Artemis win one over him just yet.) Both Chinese cousins were dressed formally, in the same dress robes as the previous year and in the style of their Asian heritage. [Just you people wait until I draw them in their outfits |D; ]

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Meanwhile, the apprentice healer lead his date to the Great Hall, bowing deeply as he asked, "Shall we dance, Claudia...?" He was fit from head to toe in white dress robes with red trimmings and only the rod of Asclepius on his front left breast; which revealed that he was staff and not a student.

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The other professors (namely, Kevin's father Professor A Wong, Professor J Wong and Professor Tarrot) were mingling among the students, keeping watch over the entire event. The Arts teacher had reserved one dance with his cousin (she insisted that he dance with her once) and had otherwise wandered to and fro breaking up couples and keeping everyone about 3 feet away from their partners. The Care of Magical Creatures professor pulled one of the taller students into a dance (if trying to knock other people down could be called a dance, then that was what she was doing with the unfortunate 7th year female student). As for the Transfiguration professor...well, he missed his husband, but the man needed to watch the infirmary (he could always get a few dances in the later half of the ball~).

As for the librarian, well...he/she was fighting off three Ravenclaws that had drank just a wee bit too much punch. [ Don't forget everyone! Pranks WILL happen at this ball >D ] Joyce was trying to keep Nicolas AWAY from the professor all dressed in a black tuxedo, "Nic! Don't fall for the trap!" she muttered. Joshua and Nicolas both were trying to glomp the freakishly tall librarian: the three 4th years should have known better than to take the cups with a strange and yet enticing aroma...

The Slytherin felt a familiar embrace and smiled recognizing who it belonged to , though she still looked confused. "..Ares?" she asked just to make sure , even if she had recognized his voice.

"O' course it's me," Ares replied, "Who'd ya think I was~?" Artemis refrained from making any obvious movements, but her twin was doing enough of that on the other side of the world: facepalming from Ares' stupidity (and gaining more than a few curious and strange glances towards him).

She gave a small shrug not replying and kept her simple smile on.

Genevieve Montpassant entered the ball room.
She didn't know why she had. She didn't wanted to go... or at least that was what she had told herself.
And yet she had entered the ball room. Alone. She would most likely stay that way.
So, wearing her dress, she walked off to a table far off in the room. A secluded place near the far end...
And she sat.

The Gryffindor watched the transfer student from Beauxbatons seat herself far from everyone else. Blowing his bangs out of his eyes, he approached the girl slowly (that is, he tried to make it appear his destination was not near her, but he wasn't trying very hard in this). Ignoring the librarian's cackle as he/she drifted off to tease other students that had fallen prey to the punch's potion, Set gave Genevieve a short wave, "Hey." He half wondered if he needed to give his name, since the other girl knew full well they both shared the same...'condition', so to speak.

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Alan entered the Great Hall, huffing and panting revealed that he had been running. Yes, he was late and he knew his date would be yelling at him for it.

But oh well.

Spotting his dorm mate Faelan, he approached him, hoping that his own partner (a girl in his year, named Dani) had not taken notice of his late entrance. "Fae..." he panted, "Y-You aren't dancing?" It seemed a bit strange to him that Faelan would show up to the ball: the first year didn't seem like one to socialize in such a large event as this.

Genevieve looked up. Great... it was one of those guys... one of the other werewolves... Great...
She gave him a bored look, as though she was being bothered. Or rather he WAS bothering her. She didn't bother wave at the Gryffindor... What was his name again? Pfft... like if it mattered...

"You could say, 'hello' or 'bonjour' back, at least." Set blew his bangs out of his eyes again briefly before sitting beside the other werewolf, "Set Tam, 4th year, in case you forgot, Gen." He huffed at his bangs, looking out at the dance floor again, before remarking, "I didn't think you were one to wear a dress."

He didn't know what buttons he was pushing.

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"So yer leavin' already? We haven't danced yet." Ares kissed the back of Bianka's ear, trying to sound offended.

"Its only fair I dance with you considering I already danced with Gage" she teased , chuckling a bit as she placed her diadem back on her head. One more dance and then she would leave , she was getting a bit tired.

Oh, this was getting ridiculous! It wasn't THAT hard to see and avoid a 5'1 girl in yellow. Sure enough though, Delfina had found herself more often than not buffeted by various couples as she tried to cross the sea that was the dance floor. Honestly! Did magic favor the vertically-advantaged? Why was everyone at this school so TALL?
The crowd had almost become a sort of obstacle course, one that Delfina was not faring too well in. It took timing to move forward, when a gap had opened up for even the briefest of seconds. You couldn't wait forever for the right moment though, lest you get hit where you stand. One had to keep moving and make the right choices to find a successful path. Delfina hadn't been so lucky.
Which led to one short-compared-to-others Hufflepuff 2nd year finding herself stuck between a pair of backs, their shoulder blades nearly taking out an eye or two.
Tony had always told his younger sister that if she kept her height she'd eventually get squashed like a bug, but Delfina had never thought she would be pressed to death horizontally. How embarrassing and shameful it'd be for her and Hufflepuff house if Delfina were to be found on the dance floor, without a date! But as far as the night was going, she'd either be buried alive or drown in the masses.
She should have just gone home again for winter holidays like she did her first year at Hogwarts. Lizzy Miller would've been able to hold her own in her dancing crusade.
And Delfina had been so close to making it off of the dance floor, too...

"Hm, ya sure? Ya sound kinda tired...~" Ares took her hands in his, "We could dance 'nother time, ya know~" Artemis had chosen to walk back to the Great Hall, although chances were slim that she would dance with anyone. Without her boyfriend and brother around, she felt...very lonely, actually...

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Sir Lionheart found himself/herself bumping into one of the younger students and looked down to see Delfina being compressed by Nicolas and Joshua (two Quidditch NPCs). He/She offered a hand to pull the Hufflepuff out from the two Ravenclaws, asking, "Now now, how are you Ms Rossi~?"

"...thats because I am....But one dance shouldn't hurt." Hey she had made it out alive dancing with Gage , surely she could do well with her own boyfriend.

As irony would have it, someone a full three feet taller than Delfina had actually noticed her. Upon realizing who her rescuer was however, she decided she'd have preferred the quick death that the crowd would've given her. She couldn't quite look at a jellyfish without twitching an eye yet.
Thankfully, Delfina's encounters with the eccentric librarian had been few and far between, and surely in this crowd he wouldn't dare try to start one of his weird games.
Now came the matter of getting away in one piece.
"I'm, uh, doing just fine, Sir," from where she stood, Delfina couldn't spot Lizzy, and it would've been too obvious to try looking around Lionheart. Best she not let the librarian know anything about her plan.
She tried to smile, straining her neck to face the taller individual, "And yourself?"

Grinning, Ares let Bianka lead them into a dance in the corridors; without the usual mass of students hurrying to classes, the area was actually quite spacious.

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"Oh, I be a bit bewildered by all these love confessions from the students." He/She bent down closer to the Hufflepuff and whispered loudly, "I'm over the age of 50 and I have prepubescent teenagers after me, it's frightening you know!"

Of course, Lionheart wouldn't admit to knowing about a certain prankster setting up the traps in the Winter Ball.

And that would be because he/she himself/herself had helped to make sure it was a success~

The girl waited for him to take the lead , she still considered her dancing a horror beyond horrors. Then again she always thought less of her own skills.

Death take her now. After, of course, it'd visited all of these "prepubescent teenagers" who seemed to have a death wish by confessing to Lionheart. Please let the librarian be lying; it was too creepy to think about otherwise.
This left Delfina in a bind, however. What was she supposed to say in response to hearing such news. Why couldn't Sir Lionheart just obey the scripts of a normal conversation so she would know how to end it and get out of there.

After a few steps, he drew her close; not bothering to do a waltz or something of the sort. Just moving together slowly, in a slow dance of sorts...

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"Well, at least it seems you aren't doing anything!" With a chuckle (it might've sounded like an evil cackle to some people), the librarian straightened up again to full height and bent low, offering a hand to the Hufflepuff: it was an offer to dance.

She moved along with him in that same slow pace. It was such a peaceful moment , kinda like a vivid dream. A dream she wished would never end. She did her best not to drift off , but the slow movements and the warmth of Ares only tempted her to do so.

That wasn't the way Delfina wanted the conversation to end. Not at all. In fact, it was the complete opposite of the desired conclusion, mostly because it wasn't a conclusion at all.
It was the beginning of Hell.
She stared at the hand for a few full seconds. The options were clear: accept the offer and face an unknown (but most likely horrific) fate, or try to make it to Lizzy and get spun to death before she'd have to face a much worse consequence. The answer was just as clear; there was no way Delfina would be able to get through the crowd quick enough.
And so, while starting to go over in her mind a list of potential quotes to go on her upcoming tombstone, she took Lionheart's proffered hand.

Slowing the dance to a complete halt (gradually, of course), he smiled and kissed Bianka's forehead gently, murmuring into her ear, "Want me ta take ya back ta the dorms?"

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Inside his/her mind, Lionheart was rolling around in laughter! The second year Hufflepuff must be humouring him/her; the three feet of height difference would make this dance together a difficult challenge.

But he/she liked challenges.

And with a grin, he/she began by twirling the much younger student around.

He/She didn't know how to dance "properly", so this should be interesting!

It took her a moment to process his words , she was very spaced out. "....hm?...." she shrugged a bit. She blinked a few times to keep her eyes opened. "...maybe..?"

Delfina's reach could barely get to the librarian's shoulders and Lionheart didn't seem to be leading them in any particular dance step, so they spun around in circles. With them joined at the hands and their arms outstretched, the pair took up a large space with their spinning, knocking aside and bowling over various dancers. The wake of destruction left behind was prominent, and it gave Delfina an idea.
If she could act on it before succumbing to dizziness, and for her to take the lead wouldn't be too strange when Lionheart was already dancing unconventionally...
Using what little physics she knew, Delfina began to direct their orbit towards where she last believed Lizzy Miller to be dancing, clearing her own path in the process.

Kissing her forehead, he chuckled as he said, "I'll take ya back, alright?"

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Raising an eyebrow in amusement, the librarian watched as the Hufflepuff changed their path (of destruction) towards another Hufflepuff. Towards Ms Miller? Curious and curiouser!

"Pft....I can last longer" she muttered being the stubborn girl that she was. Yeah Bianka was dead tired at the moment but she wanted this to last more.