PG:S Mission: Dancetraction

[granton]

This party was going to be one of the best house parties Hogwarts had ever seen. With all the well connected students in Slytherin there was no shortage of outside parties to call upon when the planning requested a little more… spice, be added to flavor-up the night. While the Slytherin’s had always been known to sneak people in from the outside, tonight was taking that to a whole new level.

For these students, a party wasn’t just about cranking up some music and getting everyone into the room at the same time. No. It was so much more than that. It required carefully planning and preparation, with every tiny detail tweaked and perfected until the plan was flawless.

To walk into the Slytherin common room on a normal day, one would expect to see luxury and dark woods, a dimmed, green-tinted lighting, and lots of low backed, black and green sofas. The atmosphere of grandiose is unmistakable. But for this particular party, that was all going to change.

When the password is spoken, a door appears that leads into a narrow passageway, which in turn leads to the main body of the common room. Walking through tonight the usual candles had been blown out and the normally wood paneled walls covered with thick black velvet, with matching floor and low ceiling. There was no light in the passage at all making it feel like walking through a black tunnel of nothing with the ending nowhere in sight. That was part of the plan. And the reinforced silencing charms? That gave it the extra layer of eerie that the Slytherin’s loved on a night like this.

Once you got through the next door you were into the common room itself. Through the door there was a widened area with steps from wall to wall, maybe 10ft in width, before opening out into the rest of the large circular room.

At the top of the steps though, many of the tables from the room were placed along the walls and over flowing with the best, most expensive kinds of alcohol available. Men dressed in black shirts and emerald waistcoats stood next to these tables, being brought in to serve the drinks and mix cocktails, and being paid extra to not ask questions, and to ignore age. Who was the hand behind their wages? No one would know.

The common room is low ceilinged, and tonight it is more obvious than usual. Thick black drapes cover the walls and windows, and some others hand from the ceiling made from the finest silk money can buy, frayed, the edges there to brush silky fingers over sensitive skin and draw you in. To see these though, you’d need to be standing right by one, because it’s hard to see anything past the thick, heady atmosphere of the room.

Smoke hides a lot, and a spell it induce it creates a layer across the ceiling that won’t fade with the night. For now though, the smoke eases off around head high so visibility isn’t overly affected. What will affect you though, is that intense, spicy scent that hovers at your nostrils, there when you least expect it but gone when you want it. But then, who really knows what is in the incense that is burning?

The usual sofas and armchairs have been moved to the walls, arranged to provide the most room space as possible. Yet they are still arranged for comfort, seduction, and deception. And the rest of the room? That’s where the bodies will be. Thick, erotic melodies string thought the air, coming from everywhere yet nowhere, almost a physical thing in itself as the slow notes seem to wrap around you, fill your senses, draw you in to their embrace. This is the night to lose yourself in the moment and let instinct take control.

[granton]

Granton made his way through the dungeons, wondering exactly how the party had come together in the end. Of course he'd played his part in the initial organizing of the event -he'd even called in some of his own contacts, but as far as the pre-party set up? He hadn't been around for that. Slaving around setting up for a party was not the way that he'd wanted to spend his day. And while yes, some of the other students would want to over see the proceedings, there were people to hire to do the dirty work. Granton wasn't doing it for them.

As soon as the wall opened up Granton was met with darkness ahead of him, and a heavy silence that seemed to engulf him as the wall resealed itself behind him. He stood for a few seconds taking it all in, fingers reaching to brush lightly over the walls. He gave a satisfied nod and continued along the familiar tunnel. This part of the planning had turned out well at least.

Granton stopped in front of the next door. Now for the moment of truth.

Sound hit him like a stone wall the second the door opened and it almost made him stumble. Whoever had cast the silencing charm sure knew what they were doing. Usually when the sound was as loud as this there were serious flaws and fluxes in the strength of the silencing charm, and it was very hard to find someone skilled enough to weave a complicated charm that would hold, especially one that would reform itself every time the door opened and closed again. Impressive.

Someone stepped towards him as he moved into the room and Granton's eyes shot to them. The emerald waistcoat was the first thing he noticed, followed by the polite bow. Eyes flickering to the drinks table to his right and the bottles and cans that stood there, Granton nodded towards something on the front. The man gave another nod before collecting the drink in question, handing it to Granton, then stepping away again.

Frowning, he let his eyes travel around the rest of the room, mentally going through a checklist in his head of everything that they had planned for this. No matter what he thought of it all seemed to be there... so why did he still get the feeling that something was missing?

Shaking his head he made his way into the thickly growing crowd, being enveloped by the smoke. Now that he was here, he might as well go and hunt out some people he knew... They'd all be here somewhere. Maybe Elena was here too?

[yumeko]

Never before had she ever witnessed any organization more disorganized. Sure, there was quite a bit of organization set out to prepare the event, that was obvious, but the common room was chaotically filled with people, young and old (so to speak), wandering about in the mass that was Slytherin. There were so many rules being broken that it seemed futile to even attempt at stopping one of them. Not only would it be a major buzz kill for everyone around her – resulting in a massive amount of people disliking her – but she really wouldn’t stand a chance against quite that many people. Sure, she had plenty of faith in her ability to offend and defend, but this was too much to even consider it. At least, this is how she justified it. It was good enough justification for her to have a little fun without an ounce of regret.

No, Yume instead allowed herself the liberty of simply watching…and well…partaking in a glass of alcohol or…five… If you can’t fight ‘em, join ‘em, so they say. Usually this was not a mindset she would agree to, but today it just seemed appropriate. After cautiously finding her way through the dark entrance, she had emerged upon the rowdiest party she had even been witness to. She had quickly found a seat, claimed it for her own, and sat back. She was approached for drinks as soon as her bottom met the seat… Now, she was only on glass two, sipping down (rather quickly) a glass of the fruitiest concoction she could come up with to order.

Oh, how the air reeked of sweat – then strangely…sometimes of something very different. Something much more intoxicating. Her ears were pounding to the pulsing beat of music magically turned up just a little too loud. The air was so smoky that from her position she could not see quite as much as she might have wanted to. What a stiff she had become. When did that happen? Why did all of this matter? Who cared about being perfect, for crying out loud?

Yume leaned back against the table she had made her perch, ignoring the couple near her that was locking lips with a ferocity she couldn’t fathom. She was turned around in her chair, sitting on her feet with one hand folded in her skirted lap. It was actually amusing to her how fun being foolish was, even though she was probably the most mild participant of the entire party.

By the time Yume recovered from her over-analytical thoughts of the costs of participation in the current events, she had finished her drink. That flavor… It was so delicious. She was left now to stare down at the emptiness of her cup in disappointment. ”Oh fooey,” her voice rang in a somewhat childish tone, though it would never be heard over the ruckus that was the Slytherin House Party.

[elenahaworth]

Hard grafting wasn't Elena's idea of a good time, sure she'd help out with the parties her house threw, but she was more the one who'd sit on the sidelines pointing out things that other people needed to do. Actually she found it somewhat fun, not that she'd admit it too much. Although when things would start to get busier as the day rolled on, Elena made sure she was out of the way, either locked up in her dorm painting her nails or outside the Dungeon doing whatever.

Elena had actually gotten herself dressed in the Prefects bathroom after indulging in an hour long bath. Surprisingly she'd gotten back to the Dungeon without being caught by any of the teachers who were likely to give her a hard time yet again over her outfit. Stepping into the dungeon she found herself engulfed in complete darkness, and arched an eyebrow a playful smirk playing on her lips as she pulled out her wand from her boot and stopped just in front of the next door and turned. Muttering a quick spell Elena aimed her wand towards the center of the room, summoning cobwebs that stretched from wall to wall and ceiling to floor.

Whoever walked in next was in for a nasty, sticky surprise...

Chuckling to herself Elena tucked her wand into her boot again, turned around and pushed the door open into the converted common room. The volume of the music surprised her somewhat but she loved it, music was only able to be appreciated when it was this loud, and that silencing charm had worked brilliantly, hats off to whoever cast it.

Elena eyed the boy that approached her dressed in an emerald waistcoat, and before he could open his mouth to ask her which drink she wanted, Elena nodded towards the table, her smirk widening somewhat. The boy passed her the drink before returning to his origional spot, and Elena paid him no attention her eyes resting on the sole figure stood on the opposite side of the table.

Granton

Their last night together began replaying on her mind, making her smile widen and her entire body hum slightly. Maybe later on tonight she could convince him to sneak away for their own private catch up.

Lifting the glass to her lips, Elena quickly downed the burning liquid, not once turning her eyes off Granton. Taking a step forward she nodded to Yumeko sat on a chair, moved passed her and silently snuck up behind Granton. Her body moving in close to his but not touching as she leaned in "Evening hot stuff..." she whispered into his ear, nipping at it slightly before she moved back, resting her hands on her hips as she waited for him to turn around and face her...

[evanrosier]

On any normal day, Evan Rosier would not have bothered to turn up to a silly little party thrown by the heads of house. But tonight was special. As he stood in in the corner, looking out the faux-window towards a projected image of the lake, the party began behind him. His eyes flicked from the image towards the raucous happening behind him and he spied Granton from across the room.

Granton. His partner in crime for this evening. Evan rolled his eyes and huffed as Elena moved towards him. Shaking his head, he made his way over to the drinks table and bumped into Yumeko. Evan nodded in her direction, choosing not to say anything. He picked up a similar drink to hers and turned around to wait for when Elena would move away from Granton, so the two of them could start their tyrade on the Ravenclaw common room.

[/justify]

[aliceagain]

Narcissa had been given little choice but to help with the preparations throughout the day, and for the most part she hadn’t minded. She hadn’t been involved in too much of the planning stages so she was enjoying the surprises of seeing the unknown plan unfold before her eyes. That is, until outsiders started being escorted into the common room from only who knew where, and then she wasn’t most impressed.

Well, okay so some guys in waistcoats serving drinks were hardly going to be a problem, but those girls who vanished towards the dorms? Who the hell were they? But, no matter who she asked or how she asked, she still didn’t get an answer from anyone about them.

As the work load had picked up she’d stopped thinking about the woman and the contents of their bags, and had been kept busy with the set up. Eventually though, she found the time to escape and get dressed.

Narcissa being Narcissa, she wasn’t about to make a half-ass impression, and as usual, was going all out. She just wished she’d been able to find Elena. The two of them might have completely different tastes in… pretty much everything, but Elena still knew how to give a good piece of fashion advice when Narcissa needed it. But, even without her help, Narcissa had settled on a dress and, if she did say so, looked pretty damn stunning in it.

Heading back out into the party some time later she was surprised at just how wild the rest of the Slytherin’s were acting. They were drinking by the gallon, making out in all corners, and dancing in ways that Narcissa didn’t even know it was possible to dance in. Wow… well, it was certainly true what they said. The Slytherin’s really didn’t pass up on a chance of a party.

It took a while but eventually the atmosphere of the room began to calm her (or maybe it was something in the air), enough that she even made her way over to get herself a drink. The glass that was handed to her held something vaguely green in color and she had absolutely no idea what was in it. But, it didn’t taste too bad so she kept a hold of it.

Across the room Narcissa could make out Granton and Elena talking, and knew that talking to her was now out of the question… who else was there? She could see Yumeko and Evan. But where were the rest of her roommates? Alecto? Maddi? Even Elisabetta? Maybe they just weren’t here yet. A thought struck her and her eyes shot around the room again. No Amycus yet either. Thank god! After what happened at Halloween she’d been trying to avoid him at every chance she got and wasn’t about to change that now.

Something behind her caught her attention and she turned sharply. She’d forgotten about the young women who’d been escorted in and to the dorms, and now she was reminded. What the hell were they wearing? Not a lot, that was for sure. Hang on a minute…

She watched as the women moved off into the room and started interacting with people –namely the guys. Were they… strippers?

Narcissa’s jaw fell open and she looked back to the way that they came in. Oh, wouldn’t you know it. The usual suspect came into sight.

[aliice]

Georgina smirked as she headed back into the common room for the party, following behind an entourage of scantily clad women. It hadn’t been her who’d brought up the idea of strippers, but she’d been more than willing to help them out and take the credit for them being there.

There were a dozen women in all and they’d all spent the better part of the afternoon since their arrival preparing for the night. They’d even taught Georgie a thing or two which she was rather impressed with. She’d even magiced an inch or two off her already too short dress. Now these girls really knew how to party.

All eyes turned toward the women as they strutted their way in, diving straight into the heat of the action. Jaws fell open, some from awe, some from horror. And their was Georgie at the back with the smuggest look on her face. Well, maybe this wouldn’t be too boring night after all.

Her eyes searched the room, eventually settling on where she could see Elena talking to Granton and she smirked at her, remember her little… threat that she’d made not so long before. Hmm, she’d have to do something about that soon…

[aliali]

Setting up parties? Not really his thing. He’d leave that to the people who wanted to do it, but Reg? You wouldn’t see him anywhere near the common room on a party day. He just knew that his cousin would somehow manage to drag him into helping out if she sighted him in the room. For that reason, he’d packed some dress clothes in his bag before heading out for a day on the Quidditch pitch.

Showering and dressing in the Slytherin changing room wasn’t ideal, but he’d settle for it since the alternative was worse.

Being totally honest, Regulus didn’t see himself as much of a party type at all. That wasn’t to say he didn’t enjoy loud music and alcohol, he just wasn’t a fan of the over-the-top wildness that often came with the parties that were thrown in the common room. Tonight, he left it until well after the time it started before he arrived.

Muttering the password he slipped inside the short corridor and was engulfed by darkness. He faltered for a second while his eyes battled to adjust to his new surroundings, but once the wall sealed behind him there was no light at all to penetrate the small space. Not that it should matter, Reg had walked it so many times over the last few years that he didn’t need light to know how much further he was till the next door.

Something surrounded him, touching his bare arms, his face…everything. He stumbled backwards, arms flailing wildly and he tried to battle against the unseen enemy, simultaneously trying to wipe at his face and arms while reaching for his wand at the same time. Catching his footing wrong Reg stumbled sideways into the wall, sinking to the floor. Somewhat dazed and confused he eventually managed to slip his wand from his waist band.

”Lumos!”

His eyes scanned the darkness, wincing at the bright light that now blinded him, and trying to locate the source of his moment of terror.

His eyes settled on the remaining strings of sticky cobweb that hung down the walls and from the ceiling and he shuddered involuntarily. Cobwebs… he couldn’t think of anything worse.

Placing his wand down he pulled his shirt half over his head quickly, using the inside of the material to scrub at his face again, still unable to shake the feeling that it was still on him, no matter how hard he tried. Urg… now he could really use a scalding hot shower and a fresh change of clothes. So long as he was in these and unwashed, he’d never be able to shake the feeling that the retched stuff was still touching his skin.

Reg knew enough to know how to vanish the rest of the damn stuff, and so did just that. It wasn’t because he was thinking of the next person who came through, not siree, it was because he’d stumbled backwards away from it, which meant that he still needed to get pass it. And call him a wuss if you would, he just really couldn’t stand cobwebs- real or fake.

Finally, Reg made it into the party with a much worse mood that he’d hoped. The first thing he noticed was the counter of drinks and he made sure to tip three off the small glasses of whiskey into one glass before trudging his way through the smoky room so that he could get to his common room. Any excuse to get out of here for a while.

Hands reached for him but he pushed him away, paying little attention to the fact that the room was filled with scantily clad women who were dancing around provocatively. Right now his mind was on one thing – the hot shower that awaited him.

[granton]

let's move to the music and swallow the night...

Granton had been relieved to find Elena early on in the evening, and for a while they talked, they drank, they danced a little... they may even have kissed. A lot. They'd received a few funny looks from other students but Granton paid no mind to them. He couldn't give a toss what any of them thought was going on between them. First and foremost, they were friends. Whatever else they shared came after that. Their friendship was the most important thing.

It had been impossible to miss the shock of stillness that swept the room as all eyes turned in the direction of the dorms. A dozen women strutted into the room, with none other than Georgina Parkinson behind them. His eye caught on her for a few moments, wondering just what it was that his old friend was up to. The smirk on his face, however, was completely to do with the strippers.

He knew about them, of course. He also knew where they came from. But they were looking better than any of the party planners could have hoped for.

Was he distracted? Yes. For a while. But even through that he didn't leave Elena. That is... till she left him. Granton had no idea where it was she had vanished to but, rather than stand around alone, he headed in the direction of two friends of his.

"Boredom, boys, needs a cure." he said as way of greeting, flinging his arms around the shoulders of Evan and Stefan and looking between the two of them. "Are you in? Or are you out? Final chance to back out."

They had plans for tonight, and it was more than late enough to get things swinging into action.

[yumeko]

Staring at her empty cup in disappointment, Yumeko lost herself for a moment. Her mind danced with wild thoughts that seemed to have emerged from absolutely nowhere. She was not prepared for them, nor did she want to be here when it occurred. It caused a new wave of disappointed to wash over her and drive her expressions from something that could have been seen as sarcastic to something quite a bit more mournful. It would be ridiculous to think it was for a lack of alcohol in her cup, but that was certainly what it might look like.

Her thoughts were interrupted by a rather tall individual bumping her arm. At this time, it was actually a good thing that her glass had been empty, or it would have been all over her. All that she was given in apology was a nod, but it did not shake her resolve. She could hardly be angry when no harm was done. The only thought she had now, was obtaining another cup of ‘make-me-happier’.

Without wasting another moment, Yume hopped up from her seat with the goal of finding a server carrying one of those beautiful trays… Unfortunately, she got to her feet just a little too fast. The moment her feet hit the ground, it felt as if her head aspired to do the same. She swayed for a brief moment, disoriented in thought just as much as she was physically, then leaned into the direction she had chosen. She was determined. She wasn’t drunk, not yet… Just dizzy.Her eyes fell upon a suited man with a tray half-full with drinks and B-lined. Or, well, did the best she could with all the people that happened to be in her way!

It was actually quite surprising how few people in the over-crowded room she actually knew. It wasn’t only the people brought in to work the party, but it was Slytherins too. Sure, she knew the faces, but names now failed her. How many of these people could she actually name?

“Regulus Black,” she uttered aloud as her eyes fell upon the first person she could name, who also happened to be currently try to push past her in the opposite direction. She said the name with an odd sense of pride, as if it was some sort of feat she had overcome. She beat the game! She knew someone… And, he wasn’t in her year. That made the accomplishment seem even greater, for it was far easier to remember the names of those she shared a dorm with and those she shared her classes with.

Yume giggled in spite of herself.

[aliali]

All Regulus could think about was getting back to his dorm and getting his much needed shower. He was paying little attention to who else was at the party and who he passed on his way through. That is, till he heard someone say his name, followed by a giggle.

He spun around to see Yumeko standing there looking at him. Was she swaying slightly? Reg just raised an eyebrow as he looked at her, noticing the empty cup in her hand. "How much have you had to drink now?"

She was probably the last person he'd expect to find drunk, but then, maybe this was more to do with whatever was in that smoke that was causing that funny scent- ah. Yes. He should have known. He'd recognie that spicy scent anywhere now. No wonder she was swaying. It had nothing to do with the alcohol in her hand, he was sure. It was starting to get to his head now too.

[yumeko]

Yume’s amused giggle escalated into an embarrassed one. She felt dizzy alright, but she was definitely noticing the difference in her current actions and thoughts to her usual. This was simply peculiar for her. She had only had a few drinks and she nearly felt out of control. Though he had been in a hurry, the person whose name she had called stopped and turned to her. She was pleased to have gotten his attention, though she could not say why.

What was worse than her inability to understand herself at this moment was how childish she suddenly felt. Laughing then felt so good. So…relieving, that when he asked how much she had to drink she could not help but to laugh even more. She was not drunk, but she certainly had a serious case of the giggles and it was difficult to tame.

Trying to swallow away her chuckling, Yumeko looked up at the 4th year almost guiltily. ”I have only had…” she paused to think, “three.” She looked down at her cup with a strange look caught between confused and happy. ”I was considering another, but now I-I’m thinking I shouldn’t.”

The atmosphere of the room was doing its work on her, for sure. With all the noise and bodies swarming around it was hard to tell what the next course of action should be. Bed sounded like the best. Hastily, she pushed the empty cup toward the only person she had spoken to since arriving. ”Get it away from me,” she half-shouted. ”This room is poison,” she complained before beginning to move past him, hoping he would take the cup from her hands as she requested.

[aliice]

Georgie had been enjoying the night, drinking and smoking and hovering over the incense that she knew had an opium base. She'd wandered the crowd several times taking note of every one there and what they were doing in the way she usually did. She found her gaze on the strippers more than once or twice and it was impossible to miss the reactions that various from the different students.

As the night drew on, Georgie noticed that Elena and Granton were no longer attached at the hip, and in fact Granton had moved to speak with the likes of Evan and Stefan. Which left little El nicely on her own. Perfect. A slow smirk spread over her face and she headed in the direction of the blond.

"Enjoying the party, little El? Where's lover boy tonight?"