God save the prom queen

[Ottaline Moody]

God save the prom queen

Teenage daydream

Just another dressed up heartbreak

The most terrifying aspect of the evening was over. She had descended the stairs, and given her first dance to her brother. She noted with some envy Artemisia had given her first to Mr Lestrange- how nice to have your future so secure, and not have the threat of the convent and obliviation hanging there!- but she still had enough relatives to occupy her first few dances. For Tilly, however, this was it.

 
She hovered at the edge of the dance floor, feeling slightly lost. She wanted to do her Mother proud- she was out now, she had crossed the rubicon- and the threats were all so much more real now, but as the initial adrenaline was fading, the effects of the calming potion were becoming apparent. Ottaline had spent so many nights imagining the endless witty conversations she would have with the most interesting people, but now it came down to it, her tongue felt like lead and she felt awash in a sea of faces she didn’t know.
 
The debutante took a deep breath, and smoothed her skirts for the upteenth time this evening. She glanced around, and met eyes with a gentleman. Breath catching at the thought of having to talk to someone, she forced herself to give what she hoped was a demure smile in encouragement.

Open to a MCPB or UCAB gentleman of hurlable age!

  

[Endymion Dempsey]

Having done his duty of giving Lycoris a dance, Endymion had made his way to the punch bowl and filled his goblet, surveying the scene with a practiced eye. Endy was well aware that he was not the ideal catch in the eyes of most of the girls' parents here: a cursebreaker and a second son of a decidedly unusual family ; and he wasn't particularly interested in trying to change anybody's mind on that front. Those same girls whose parents gave him the evil eye, though, were more often than not quaking in their slippers about this night; wondering if they'd have any dances or worrying they'd trip on their skirts or any number of insignificant things. A suitable suitor he was not, but Endy knew how to make a girl smile, and so he scanned the Great Hall for a debutante in need.

It didn't take him long to find one. Though the brunette smiled, she had that look about her, the one a little like a puppy that's the last of its litter to be taken home. Endymion grinned in return, leaving his empty goblet behind as he made his way over to her. 

"Congratulations, miss," Endymion offered genially. "And does it feel like you've entered a whole new world?" Personally, Endy found it all a little overwrought, but far be it from him to rob anyone of that illusion. Everyone was entitled to a little bit of poetry in their lives.

  

[Ottaline Moody]

Was it relief or more anxiety that flooded her system as the man made his way over? The witch struggled to piece together a reading of the man- she didn’t know him, which was only saying that he wasn’t a cousin, he was taller than she was, which was as little revealing as the first statement, and looked wealthy, which when at a ball, also didn’t shed much light. He was, however, male, and had no ring on, which was the most important information she could garner of a gentleman.

Tilly gave another smile, hoping they all looked sincere and that that was what she ought to do. “Thank you, sir.” She said after a pause. Thanks in return for a congratulations, that was right. “In some ways, I suppose- I still feel like me,” -quite unfortunately- “but this is all so unlike anything any of us can have seen before.” The witch added. Attending in other years was quite a different experience. Then they gasped in awe of the transformations of their housemates into elegant young ladies, like the sudden hatching of a butterfly, and laughed with yearmates and played at being adults. Now, though… had the ball always been so full, the air always so wrought?

Quite lost in her thoughts, it took her a moment to realise she was still staring at the man’s face, and forced herself to look away, blushing a bit as she did. “Have you been to many of these balls?” She asked, remembering one of the lines she had practiced with the other girls, a safe way to determine if an unknown man was of eligible age.

  

[Endymion Dempsey]

Endymion smiled sympathetically. The girl was clearly still nervous, despite having descended into adulthood without incident. Perhaps her family was the overbearing type to harp on the importance of this One Night; he supposed it was important, in a way, but it was also a party. It was simply tragic for a girl to be so anxious about her coming out that she didn't get to enjoy it!

"A fair few. Eight or so, I suppose it must be. Merlin, that makes me sound ancient, doesn't it?" he said with a self-deprecating laugh. "This is the last time I'll have a sibling to cheer for, though -- Miss Lycoris Dempsey, from Gryffindor." Lycoris had been much less anxious than this girl, Endy thought, but then again the Dempseys were hardly a baseline for what was normal.

  

[Ottaline Moody]

Tilly’s eyes lit up slightly with recognition at the mention of a yearmate’s name. And this was Lycoris’ brother, then- how many did she have? Had her mind been less clouded she probably would have known the man’s name from his hints alone, and whether he was heir or due to inherit a windfall or not- all single and suitable men were marked men, as far as her mother was concerned- but she couldn’t quite piece it together. “Ah, I know Miss Dempsey!” She smiled, glad to have a little something to cling to. Miss Dempsey was rich, so her Mother couldn’t smite her for speaking to her brother, surely? She couldn’t remember hearing Lycoris had any disowned siblings, at least.

“End of an era, then I suppose.” She added. “I’m the youngest of all my sisters- I’m not sure what Mama will do with herself after this!” Hopefully not send her to a convent in handful of years.

  

[Endymion Dempsey]

"If she's anything like my mother, graduation is only the beginning," Endymion replied with a chuckle. "I swear my mother is like a general riding into battle when she takes my sisters out for the season -- it's really best to just keep out of her way." That none of them had shown much interest in marriage was irrelevant -- Lowri Dempsey would not be denied!

"I'm sure it's nothing Lycoris won't be able to handle -- or any friend of hers, for that matter," he added, flashing a grin at the girl.

  

[Ottaline Moody]

“Neither of us have much choice in the matter.” Tilly replied, before realising how bitter it sounded. She gave a smile a fraction too late to soften her words. “But I am lucky, I suppose, to have an elder sister not wed-” Two, she mentally corrected, “to show me the ropes, if not to help with the pressure.” The emphasis was on Tensy to get married next, at least, which until they both began approaching their mid twenties meant that Tilly could hide under her mother’s radar. “All mothers seem to turn quite militant when it comes to seeing their girls settled.” Hers more than most, apparently.