October 27th, 1890 — The Great Hall, Hogwarts

Deanna surveyed the ragtag group of younger teens with a critical air. She tried to gloss over the fact they were all dressed in uniform, telling herself it was for the best since they were simply practicing. At first, the young gentlemen and ladies had been separated, but she had made quick work of pairing them up as she saw fit. Unfortunately, for some, they were landed with less-than-ideal partners. While others, whom she favored, saw themselves with more suitable matches.

"Now, today we shall be shifting our focus from group dances to partner dances. We shall begin with the waltz and then shift to the polka in a fortnight. Pay particular attention to arm placement and where one's feet should land."

A bit of giggling graced her ears, and her attention quickly snapped to the pair responsible. "Do remember, your final exam shall be in the form of a mock ball, so I do hope you take this seriously." Complete with fancy attire, dance cards, and victuals.

"And a one, two, three, begin," she stated. The music started up, and Deanna began to weave between the 'couples.'


Gentlemen: Sirius Black Abraxas Crabbe Elon Wildsmith Elijah Urquart
Archer Belby Paxton Fudge Dunstan Ruskin Sebastian Urquart Cameron Gillenwater Edison Moony
Ladies: Flora Mulciber Sybille Lukeson @"Claire Benet" Holly Scrimgeour Camille Scrimgeour Meta Lestrange
@"Emma Binns" Alcyone Slughorn Madeline Bell Sloane Bixby Sisse Thompsett Maxima Goshawk Calla Potts Hestia Fairchild Cassia Fawley Idunn Fraser
Joella Wood Alice Dawson

Deanna has matched you rather randomly, so please go ahead and make the most awkward pairings you can think of. Unfortunately, we don't have enough boys, so you may need to either have a pairing with a random NPC OR with another girl. Both could be equally hilarious.

The following is just for me to get a general idea of how harsh her commentary should be, along with the content of your posts:

Code:

[b]Social Class:[/b] Working, Middle, Upper
[b]General Grasp of Etiquette:[/b] Uncultured Little Gremlin, Eti-what?, Okay, Generally Well-Mannered, Great Aunt Mildred Would Be Proud
[b]Confidence in Social Situations:[/b] nononono, meh, average, fairly confident, "I am a rolemodel."
[b]Dancing Skills:[/b] Goodbye Toes, Drunken Demiguise, Acceptable, Pleasant Peacock, Graceful, Professional

  

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Social Class: Upper
General Grasp of Etiquette: Great Aunt Mildred Would Be Proud
Confidence in Social Situations: "I am a rolemodel."
Dancing Skills: Graceful

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Cad wasn't sure who he had been hoping to be paired with, Miss Bixby would probably not have been his first choice, a former team mate, a close friend of Gilly's, a halfblood, and not exactly his social equal he was unlikely to pick her out as a dancing partner but opportunities to annoy Gilly were always to be taken, and he could fake civility with the best of them. He had never been out and out hostile to the girl as he had been with Gillenwater - she was a halfblood girl, of a lower social station - she hadn't warranted his notice.

'Have you done much dancing Miss Bixby?' he asked stifly, playing the part of the stiff gentleman well, although he was looking over her shoulder at some distant point in the room. He was still only a boy and looking down at a girl from this proximity felt a little too intimate.

Sloane Bixby

  

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Behold the Awesome of Stefanie!

Social Class: Middle
General Grasp of Etiquette: Great Aunt Mildred Would Be Proud
Confidence in Social Situations: "I am a rolemodel."
Dancing Skills: Graceful

For the most part Sisse felt she had been rather successful in avoiding Sloane and Cam for the past few weeks without letting on to what was up. It had, of course, been the most miserable three weeks of her life, but she had put on her best smiles and focused on spending time with Calla and Alice. Her schoolwork, while never having been neglected in the first place had never seen the fervor that she had bestowed upon it in the past weeks since her and Sloane’s fight.

It seemed, however, that her luck was over as Mrs. Benwick pulled Cam in front of her. Sisse’s first instinct was to balk, but she knew that Sloane and Alice would certainly be looking up and she did not intend to give anything away - or for that matter (especially with Sloane’s attention on them) to seem as if she were enjoying herself either. It would be a fine line to traipse, but she had to prove to Sloane that she could keep a secret, that that was what friends were for.

To hide her confusion and discomfort Sisse swept into a curtsey, she looked up with a smile that she felt was perfectly normal for her to give Alice, not the bright open one she had given Cam before she knew what was going on.

While she knew that Cam wasn’t the best dancer Sisse intended to make up for it as they took their places and stepped together. “I’ll pretend you aren’t trampling my feet.” She assured him in a weak attempt at a joke, although her gaze didn’t meet his as they found themselves much closer than they had ever been before, instead she focused her gaze on a spot around his temple that would look like she was being polite but really she didn’t have to look at him and worry if she was blushing. It was going to be much more complicated than that though because Sisse could feel his hand on her waist and in her own hand and couldn’t help thinking of how Cam’s hands were probably on Sloane like this all the time and how very much it made her feel uncomfortable. Not to mention the fact that up until only this summer she had so wished for just this very thing and now she had desperately hoped she might manage to be paired with Ned. The whole situation was so very confusing.

Cameron Gillenwater

The following 2 users Like Sisse Thompsett's post:2 users Like Sisse Thompsett's post
   Elsie Kirke, Fallon Gillespie

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Thank you Bee <3 Your magic has made Sisse bloom

Social Class: Middle
General Grasp of Etiquette: Uncultured Little Gremlin
Confidence in Social Situations: average
Dancing Skills: Acceptable - Sloane is pretty graceful, but doesn't apply it often

If there was a class Sloane detested more than potions, it was etiquette. All the simpering and manners and everything else that she had tried so hard not to learn in life forced in front of her face. Needless to say she was miserable— and it was about to get worse.

Dancing. Great.

Partners were to be chosen, though even if she'd gotten to choose, she would have apologetically shot straight for Ned. Ned was the safe choice, though obviously not her first, there was no way she and Cam could get through a dancing lesson without getting too comfortable in front of a room full of their peers. Dancing with Ned was like dancing with Wally or Harry, which coincidentally were usually the victims of her mother's few attempts to previously educate Sloane in such practices.

She was not so lucky however, as she found herself staring up, way up at Selwyn. It had to be a whole foot of distance that separated them surely. It was a predicament she was familiar with, but for a wildly different reason. She cast Cameron a helpless glance. Though they were currently at odds with Sisse she was at least better than Selwyn.

"Oh a little." And she wasn't terrible at it either, but he didn't need to know that. Today she would very slyly play the part of ungraceful duckling; she was going to make him work for this. "And yourself?"

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Social Class: Upper
General Grasp of Etiquette: Generally Well-Mannered
Confidence in Social Situations: fairly confident
Dancing Skills: Drunken Demiguise

As a boy of his social standing, Elon had already received dancing lessons at home. He didn't like dancing. It required a certain amount of self-expression and being able to wrinkle yourself and Elon was too awkward for that. He also couldn't keep up with the music.

"Have you thought about what you are going to wear at the ball?" Elon asked his dancing partner as they began. Talking really wasn't the wisest move from his part, seeing that it would only further distract him from the task. However, he felt awkward dancing in silence and potentially making eye contact with the girl.

  

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He was going to vomit. It was not a new feeling in etiquette class, but it was an especially potent feeling today. Dancing was not too bad on its own, not for fun; but for a grade, and with Sisse, he almost would have taken the automatic 'T' and called it a day.

Sisse wasn't a horrible partner on her own. A month ago, he might have begged to partner with her in this activity, knowing it was one of the only way's he'd score a passing grade. Then she'd walked in on Sloane and him, and then Sloane had figured out that Sisse liked him, and now he didn't know how to look her in the eyes without thinking of Sloane's tears. And the worst part? He was sure his feelings were written well across his face.

His hands touched her waist like it was a dangerous foreign object, like an overheated potion cauldron or a mystery plant in herbology class. It was the right placement, he made sure, just so he wouldn't have to continuously slide his hand across her waist and cause either of them undue embarrassment as they fell into step. He glanced up to see how Sloane was faring at Selwyn's side, and for a moment—a brief moment, and one he'd never admit to—he felt a little jealous at how easy the whole posture came to Selwyn. Stupid snobby psychopath.

"What did you say?" he asked Sisse, dragging his gaze away from Sloane to look down at Sisse. He stepped on her toes then and grimaced. "Sorry," he mumbled under his breath.

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Social Class: Middle
General Grasp of Etiquette: Okay
Confidence in Social Situations: Fairly confident
Dancing Skills: Drunken Demiguise

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Sisse hated repeating herself, but as he stepped on her toes for the first time Sisse kept the annoyance and grimace off her face and actually repeated what she said. Had he not stepped on her toes then she would have let the matter drop entirely.  "Only that I'll pretend you aren't stepping on a toes." She replied neutrally with a tighter smile than she intended never taking her eyes off his temple. It was going to be a long class.

  

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Thank you Bee <3 Your magic has made Sisse bloom

Social Class: Upper
General Grasp of Etiquette: Okay (she breaks the rules but she was also raised in good society, so I assume some etiquette-y things come naturally to her)
Confidence in Social Situations: fairly confident
Dancing Skills: Graceful

With all the family weddings that had occurred over the summer, Meta had gotten plenty of practice with dancing. It was also once of her favourite part of etiquette classes because dancing was something she was naturally good at. She preferred the livelier dances, though, like the polka.

She also preferred to dance with taller partners.

They had been assigned partners randomly and Meta was given Archer Belby, an unassuming Ravenclaw in the year below her, who was also much shorter than her. Perhaps Professor Benwick had partnered her with him as punishment for her excessive giggling in the previous class?

"This is kind of awkward, isn't it?" Meta asked the younger boy. "Some aunt told me I might struggle to find a husband if I keep growing."

  

Social Class:Middle
General Grasp of Etiquette: Generally Well-Mannered
Confidence in Social Situations: nononono
Dancing Skills: Graceful, if confident

Archer was actually a fairly good dancer, and, much like singing, it was an activity he enjoyed. Among family. Or alone. Surrounded by his peers was a completely different monster.

"Y-yes," he agreed with Meta's assessment. She towered over him an entire eight inches. Was he meant to tilt his head back the entire time in order to see her face this close? The poor boy was stood on his tiptoes already as it was.

Merlin, some of the first years were taller than him.

Was he being punished for being dreadfully nervous? Though, who wouldn't be when the woman practically breathed down his neck each class. Nothing made him fumble over his words and actions more, despite the fact he was incredibly polite.

"I-I don't think y...you're that tall. I-I'm just--" Well, he would allow Miss Lestrange to fill in that blank. He started to lead her through the moves, as was customarily, but he was a bit less graceful than usual due to the need to dance upon his toes. Thankfully, it wasn't likely he would trod upon her.

Meta Lestrange

  

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MJ is the best!

Dancing was not her finest skills, but that didn't stop her from enjoying the class. Camille was utterly nervous of not appearing graceful enough, it had felt like forever ago since her last dance. But she calmed soon after as the dancing begun. It felt like being a fish set loose in water. "Hello, Mr. Urquart." She greeted her dance partner.

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Social Class: Upper
General Grasp of Etiquette: Great Aunt Mildred Would Be Proud
Confidence in Social Situations: Average
Dancing Skills: Pleasant Peacock She's better at needlepoint, she promises

Elijah Urquart

  

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Magic by MJ

Cameron gulped as she spoke, noting that he'd never heard her speak in such a stiff voice with him. (Granted, they hadn't spoken much at all since The Incident, but Sloane had said that Sisse had acted completely out of character.) Maybe her true character was hidden underneath her prim and proper façade. He hoped that wasn't true, but he couldn't bear to look her in the eye after she'd made Sloane cry.

He waltzed as best as he could, but Cameron was far from a graceful dancer on his own, let alone with a girl he'd rather not be standing this close to. He stumbled as they turned into a spin, nearly knocking her into a nearby pair. Merlin, he hated this. He mumbled an apology and cast a sideways glance in Sloane's direction.

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The following 1 user Likes Cameron Gillenwater's post:1 user Likes Cameron Gillenwater's post
   Daffodil Grimstone

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This was certainly a good and proper class for a young lady such as herself. She was ready for these sorts of classes. What she wasn't ready for was to be paired off with Mr. Ruskin. It was a sort of discomfort that made her skin crawl,
but she did try to keep her self good and properly under control. "How was the remainder of your summer, Mr. Ruskin?" She hoped her voice sounded both polite and respectable.

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Social Class: Middle
General Grasp of Etiquette: Great Aunt Mildred Would Be Proud
Confidence in Social Situations: "I am a rolemodel."
Dancing Skills: Graceful

Dunstan Ruskin

  

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Magic by MJ

It was hard for Paxton to take Etiquette seriously though thanks to his familys resort, he had danced a few times before now at kiddie balls. That did not mean that he was particularly talented at it - but being social came easy enough. He had the great luck to be paired with his teammate and a girl he casually tended to think of as being a friend.  "I promise to try to not tread on your toes too much," he remarked teasingly.

Social Class: Middle
General Grasp of Etiquette: Generally Well-Mannered
Confidence in Social Situations: fairly confident
Dancing Skills: Acceptable

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Calla Potts

  

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set by Bee!

Aw, the boy was struggling to get a sentence out and Meta felt somewhat bad for him.

"We're both freaks, that's all," Meta commented. The boy was struggling to dance with her height, but Meta didn't really notice. When it came to dancing, she found it hard to let her male partner lead the way and not put some... force herself.

"I'm sure there's some potion made out of a giant's tooth or something that makes people tall," Meta chatted as they danced. "Or maybe you'll be the one to discover it and make so much money that women won't care you're short."

  

Proper, societal dances were not something Joella thought that she would ever need to do. Maybe at her Coming Out Ball i she even made it to her seventh year. Which wasn't likely. She paired up with another student and most of her focus was avoiding toes being stepped on - her partners and especially her own!

Social Class: Working
General Grasp of Etiquette: Eti-what?
Confidence in Social Situations: meh
Dancing Skills: Drunken Demiguise

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mj is a graphics goddess

Social Class: Middle
General Grasp of Etiquette: Generally Well-Mannered
Confidence in Social Situations: Fairly confident
Dancing Skills: Graceful

The tall, pale half-vampire retained a cool poker face as he was paired with one of the many people in the school who was frightened of him. Maxima Goshawk had plenty of virtues — she was courteous, ladylike and very pretty — but Dunstan had spent time with her at his father's wedding, and concluded that she did not like him in the least. This would be a test for them both.

"Fine, thank you", he responded coolly to the small-talk, having neither the time nor inclination to share the truth about his Summer. "I hope you have been enjoying the sunshine."

He had not.

Maxima Goshawk

  

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