Figures Dancing Gracefully

[Ismene Swift]

Set at night, after The Black Ball

She had, at first, done needlework in the parlour. With her mother attending the ball (along with everyone else, the brunette had thought miserably), she had an opportunity to work on her projects without Letitia’s critical eye. But no, Ismene had been too distracted by what wasn’t happening to focus on what was, and so had retired early.

Then she had tried to sleep. But her mind had been too full—full of dancing, full of music, full of tiny finger sandwiches or whatever it was they served at balls. While the occasion was not a bright one—Ismene knew too well the sting of loss—it was still an occasion, something the former Hufflepuff had not had cause to experience for some time. Something she was not experiencing now.

Listlessly, the seventeen year old had gone to the windowsill in her bedclothes, half-seeing the garden beneath, half seeing a flurry of silk and tulle whirling about an imagined dance floor. Oh how lucky Miss Carmichael was to be able to attend!

Issie remained at her watchpost until the sound of footsteps downstairs heralded the return of the older Roses, the ones who had already made their debut and so had been let loose upon society for the evening. Hastily, she scurried back under her quilt, closing her eyes as if asleep until the light from the corridor announced her roommate’s return. She rose with a yawn, as if she’d been asleep all along.

“How was your evening?” she asked, the enthusiasm in her voice shattering any illusion that she had not been waiting all night for this discussion.

[Fairy Carmichael]

Fairy tried to stifle a yawn as she and the older Roses crept back up the stairs. She was definitely a morning person and whilst the excitement had kept her up all evening, now the fatigue was setting in. She really needed to look for a new pair of dancing slippers when she got the chance- theses were pinching quite uncomfortably.

She let herself into her room quietly- not quietly enough, it transpired, to not wake her roommate up. “Oh! Sorry- I didn’t mean to wake you!” Fairy replied softly, slipping in and shutting the door. “I suppose it was rather pretty- everyone was rather sad, of course- but the eulogy was very touching.” Fairy draped her thin shawl across the end of her bed and began working on the few buttons at the tops of her gloves that reached the tops of her arms. “Though there was one woman dressed in white that I thought was rather odd.” She added with a slight frown, easing off her gloves and placing them with her filled in dance card on the table next to her bed. “What about your evening?”

[Ismene Swift]

“Oh, do not even worry about it,” Ismene replied, waving a dismissive hand. Her ruse had worked at least, but she was MUCH more interested in Miss Carmichael’s evening!

“White?!” the brunette asked with disdain, having been eagerly drinking in whatever her friend had to say. “How horribly disrespectful!”

Having lost a father to the affair, Ismene did not care to think of anyone being so dismissive of his memory.

“Did you dance much?” she asked, practically in the same breath, decidedly ignoring the question about her own (tedious, lonely) evening.

[Fairy Carmichael]

Well, her roommate seemed thoroughly awake now and was interested, so Fairy felt much less bad about having woken her up. She sat down on the edge of her bed to remove her earrings before beginning to carefully unpin her blonde locks. “Indeed, it certainly caused a stir! Apparently her mother was Indian and it’s traditional there for mourning, but one cannot think it was rather insensitive, especially with everyone else in black.”

She removed her hair comb to free most of her curls from where they were piled on top of her head as she considered the question on dancing. “Not particularly much.” Fairy confessed after a pause. “I danced with Mr Parkinson, but he’s my cousin so hardly counts. I danced with Mr Blishen and a Mr Dedworth and a couple of other gentlemen, but it was hardly an occasion where people seemed to be inclined to do much more than talk.”

[Ismene Swift]

Of all the names Miss Carmichael mentioned, Ismene could only quite put a face to Mr. Parkinson, and that only because his mother had so recently run for Minister of Magic. Cousin or not, Issie thought, her roommate could certainly do worse—he was terribly handsome, especially with those beautiful curls of his!

“I do wish I could have attended—for my father’s sake, of course,” she added hastily, not wishing Miss Carmichael to think her disrespectful. And it was true, to an extent: while her grief had faded with time, it was not altogether gone, and Ismene relished any formal opportunity to truly reflect upon her father.

But mostly she wanted to dance with handsome men who would hopefully propose on the spot and whisk her into a life of opulence.

[Fairy Carmichael]

Fairy gave a sad smile to her roommate. She couldn’t imagine losing her Papa! It was hard enough with him being in America, and she at least had the consolation of knowing she’d see him again. She’d simply fall to pieces, she knew it.

“There shall be plenty of time for balls once you’re out, you needn’t worry.” She reminded Ismene as she sat down on the edge of her own bed. “In all honesty it seemed like some people were trying to outdo each other’s grief. Not to mention crying in public is something I doubt can be rarely accomplished with composure or elegance.”

[Ismene Swift]

Ismene wrinkled her nose at the mention of crying in public. As someone with a particularly unattractive crying face, she was both horribly jealous and horribly judgmental of the women who could do so gracefully, garnering not only attention but attraction in the process. That, and her mother had always made it clear that becoming emotional in public was a sin seemingly akin to murder or wandering about nude in public.

“Still, is it selfish of me to wish my debut was sooner, rather than later?” she asked, sighing. The attraction of the change in schools was the social opportunities that it would bring; Issie had, therefore, hoped for it to pay off in a hurry.

[Fairy Carmichael]

“Not selfish, no.” Fairy replied measuredly. “But that does not mean you cannot enjoy the advantages you have now. After all, you will have had far more finishing when you are old enough to come out than any of us did at your age!” Fairy had gained very little from all her time at Hogwarts- certainly nothing she couldn’t have learnt at Pendergast’s. It wasn’t like she was intending to pursue a career, and really she might have been stood in better stead if she’d had a few more years at finishing school. Alas, age certainly wasn’t on her side.

“I assure you, it will be here quicker than you think!” She gave a smile. “And it is all rather hectic.” After all, Fairy was nearly nineteen. If she didn’t get a move on, she had maybe five or six years before she was written off forever!

[Ismene Swift]

That much was, assuredly, true. Ismene had little regret about leaving Hogwarts early, as, ultimately, being properly ‘finished’ would be far more useful for her in the long one. In fact, she wondered at the fact that so many young ladies—ladies who could afford such an education as this one—chose to stay for their NEWTs at all. What a waste of time, when one year could be spent preparing for society and the other spent in society!

“Hectic is a matter of preference, Miss Carmichael,” the witch pointed out. “I for one shall positively die if not given more stimulation than this!”

[Fairy Carmichael]

“I am sure you will find a way to occupy yourself.” Fairy laughed good-naturedly. “After all, I’m sure next year you’ll be able to take the place of some of the older girls in being taken to events, and with two or three balls to look forward to, your time here will fly by!”

[Ismene Swift]

She did not wish to appear pessimistic, but Ismene was not so sure her lack of invitations was down to her age, rather than her lack of ‘out’ status. Miss Carmichael had had the benefit of a debut prior to enrolling at Pendergast’s, while Issie herself had only finished her sixth year!

“I’m sure you’re right, Miss Carmichael,” she said regardless, “though I cannot help but be impatient! I hope you do not hold it against me.”

[Fairy Carmichael]

“Of course not.” Fairy replied good-naturedly, finally climbing into her bed. “It’s only natural- I remember how excited I was when I was looking towards my first balls.” They’d been daunting, certainly, but when you were raised with a view to attending such things, it was hard not to get swept up in it all.

[Ismene Swift]

Ismene was glad to hear her roommate understand her—that she was not the first girl who had felt this sense of urgency, nor that she would be the last. Knowing that, however, would not make her future come more quickly.