May 31st — Hogwarts Coming Out Ball — Great Hall

So if you're lonely, you know I'm here waiting for you
Ben had come tonight fully intending to leave the events of the past few months behind him. He'd gotten himself into a fair bit of trouble during the time that he'd been back in England, which wasn't his usual modus operandi. He enjoyed the social season because it gave him a chance to meet people, flirt harmlessly with giggling girls, dance with pretty women, have some drinks that other people paid for, and then flit out and get back on with his life. Somehow he'd gotten derailed time and again, first with the Princess (who had gotten him exiled to Canada and then disappeared in a puff of indignant smoke after he'd returned) and then with the little Rebel, whose latest bit of drama he was still recovering from.

Luckily, he hadn't seen either of them tonight. He hadn't expected to see Miss Scrimgeour, with everything that had happened, but the lack of Miss Pendergast was more of a pleasant surprise than anything. He was looking forward to getting back to his old casually flirtatious and entirely harmless ways — except that before the ladies even came down the stairs and the party truly began in earnest, he'd realized that while neither of his dramatic former affairs were in attendance, his older brother Aldous was. Ugh. Did that mean he had to behave? He was hardly looking to get any disapproving glares during the dance from the oldest Crouch, or worse, a talking-to afterwards about whether it was wise to lead impressionable young girls on when he had no intention whatsoever of marrying them.

Ben wasn't sure whether Aldous was here to make sure that he didn't get into trouble (which sounded paranoid but was entirely possible, given everything that had happened recently) or whether he was here because he actually was looking for a wife, but the idea of either made him rather uncomfortable. The one thing he wanted to do less than sit through a conversation where Aldous chastised him was overhear a conversation where Aldous tried to flirt with some poor girl.

Objective number one, then, was avoiding his brother at all costs throughout the course of the event. Objective number two was finding some not-unpleasant girl to have some fun with, so that he could shake off the dust and ashes accrued by the trouble with Ellory and Bella of late and get back to his old self.

Aldous was, to the best of his knowledge, at the other end of the ballroom, which was about as safe as Ben could be for the moment — the lack of girls he'd gotten into trouble with before, while ultimately a positive, did mean that he didn't know any of them well enough to talk them out of the main room and out onto the front stairs so early on in the night. He was perusing the crowd for the sort of girl who looked like she might eventually be inclined to head in that direction, when his attention was drawn to one particular woman — and, in particular, to her ankle and calve, which were momentarily exposed as she swirled her skirt back to walk by him.

It could have been an intentionally flirtatious gesture, or she could have done it entirely by accident, but either way, it didn't seem to be working out in her favor — just as Ben glanced down at her exposed tights, her shoe fell off. Not a very graceful attempt at seduction, if that was what it was, particularly given the way that she half-hopped, half-stumbled as her now bare foot (save for her stocking) came down on the stone floor of the Great Hall. "Forget something?" Ben asked with a teasing grin, stooping down to pick her shoe up from the floor.

Open to a youngish (15-25) woman at the COB (or anyone nearby and inclined to involve themselves).

  

---

MJ made this <3

At this point in time, there was little pressure from her parents to marry immediately, or even within the next season or two — assuming Marlena didn't find herself married this season, that was. There were many perks to being the youngest daughter in the household, but one of them was decidedly not her marriage prospects.

Sure, she was the youngest and would always be touted as the final hope in the event that her elder sister didn't manage to secure a beau, but Helga might be forced to wait Marlena resigned to spinsterhood to have her mother's attentions focused on her! Still, her one saving grace was her close friendships with two of high society's debutantes: Miss Lucille Flint and Miss Nora Abercrombie. Both were from well-respected families, but unfortunately for her... neither had opted to attend the Hogwarts Coming Out Ball with her that evening. Boo.

It still wasn't awful; a perk to that was not having to stand in their shadow, even though some might see it as being a compliment to her own status and character to have been befriended by two very eligible debutantes! Helga was not, however, the best experienced in maneuvering through conversations without coming off as a bit too enthusiastic, and as such she was quite certain she'd scared off more than one potential suitor. Double boo.

She eventually decided subtle flirting might be the best way to capture a gentleman's attention — if only she could have been more subtle! In an attempt to catch a (particularly handsome, might she note!) gentleman's eye, she managed to lose her shoe. The initial shock and embarrassment was lost when her lost slipper was scooped up by the gentleman in question offered a debonair grin and reached to scoop them off the floor.

Biting her lip in a failure of an attempt to avoid a smile, Helga nodded sheepishly.

"I suppose a night of dancing loosens them up a little," she responded with a girlish giggle.

---

  

---

— set by MJ! <3 —

"I suppose that would tend to happen," he agreed with a grin. It was nice, he thought, to just be talking to a normal girl and having a normal conversation — not something where the emotional (and sometimes physical) stakes were higher than the ceiling of the Great Hall. No, he'd learned his lesson, he thought. No more melodramatic girls with a laundry list of problems and hang-ups that he'd have to feel as though he had to get involved in fixing. No more trouble; he was back to harmless, fun nights of flirting with girls he wouldn't see except for once every three or four dances, and whom no one would have cause to wag their tongues about.

"Busy night, then?" he asked as he handed the shoe back to her, averting his eyes up towards the starlight ceiling so that she could slip it back on without showing him half of her leg in the process. Not that he was opposed to seeing, but he didn't want to be caught looking, particularly in such a public arena. "You must have been quite popular to have danced yourself right out of a shoe."

  

---

MJ made this <3

Definitely a charmer, she decided as she swiftly (and luckily, much more gracefully than she'd been before) slipped her shoe back onto her foot. Some men might look at her with disdain—losing a shoe, of course, was a sign of lacking poise—but this gentleman had only teased, and in a good-natured manner, too!

"Not popular enough to have danced with you," she rebutted, her smile widening. "I suppose it's been the ebullience of my dance partners, rather than the number, that's caused my worn shoes."

---

  

---

— set by MJ! <3 —

She seemed nice enough, even if she was using words like ebullience. Who said something like that in casual conversation? Ben certainly didn't, but judging by the lady's age he supposed she wasn't too many years clear of Hogwarts, and she might still be involved in some sort of education at a finishing school or even something slightly more academic, so maybe it made more sense for her. Maybe she read a lot of books — or maybe she was just the sort who wanted men to think she did. Ben wasn't the sort to be impressed by a large literary appetite, since his own interests and talents tended more towards the athletic than the academic, but he wasn't put off by it, either. Particularly since she was still smiling at him.

"Well, you've certainly set a high standard," he joked. "Will you find me horribly lacking if we take a turn on the dance floor and I'm not able to knock one of your shoes loose?"

  

---

MJ made this <3

Her smile didn't falter as she straightened her posture at the offer of a dance.

"I would certainly enjoy a turn on the dance floor!" she replied cheerfully. "And there's no need to worry—I suppose another lost shoe might result in a rumor or two." And she definitely didn't need rumors of lacking grace! She waited patiently for him to offer his arm.

---

  

---

— set by MJ! <3 —

He'd only said it as part of his joke, but she had apparently taken it as an invitation, and Ben couldn't really claim to be opposed. He was here to have a good time, after all, and to dance with silly girls, and she fit the description well enough. He bowed obligingly and offered her his arm, though he did add with a smirk, "The typical order of these things, I think, is to exchange names before I knock your shoes off. Whom do I have the pleasure of escorting to the dance floor?"

  

---

MJ made this <3

Helga grinned up at him and curtsied in response before taking his arm. "Miss Helga Scamander," she responded with a smile. He was charming enough to keep a smile on her face for a while - and not so tall to where she might feel awkward on the dance floor. While losing a shoe might prove an embarrassing memory when the night was over, it would definitely be a story to tell Lucy and Nora!

---

  

---

— set by MJ! <3 —