Dining Area
 

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In an adjacent dungeon to the dance floor you will find the dining area. Here you can feast on food, chat with your fellow students or try to befriend a ghost. Several hundred circular tables of various sizes litter the area; all decorated in deep purples and somber blacks without a hint of lively colour. In a vase on each table are wilting, black roses. There are candelabras all over the room, holding candles which burn with eerie blue flames.

OooooOoooOOOOooo! This party was MUCH grander than the one Nick last put on for himself. Grander, indeed! Lexi had been making her rounds waiting for others to arrive when she stumbled upon the dining room... where there were BLUE flames coming from the candleabra. PREEEEETTTTTEEEEEHHHHH! Lexi inched closer to one of said candleabra she stood STARING at the flames wondering if they would indeed burn her if she stuck her finger in one. Hmmm. Perhaps she could get someone else to test it. Heh.

*anyone*
 

Parties weren't really Arya's thing right now, but this one seemed to fit her demeanor, so deciding to attend rather than do more studying, she slipped on something fitting for the event and made her way down to the dungeons.

Merlin, she hadn't been down here for years, with obvious reason. It was so dark and dank. How the Slytherins took living down here, she would never know.

The prefect refrained from frowning as she wandered around before finally grabbing a plate of food and sitting down. Then she just... let her eyes do more wandering and her thoughts drift. The food wasn't appealing, but it was there if she ever got the sudden urge to nibble on some desserts.

Lexi ripped her eyes from the pretty flames and looked about when she heard someone else enter the room. "ARYA! Do you SEE these pretty blue flames?" DID SHE?! GAH. Where was Evelyn when Lexi needed her? SHE would appreciate this even if no one else would.

Again: GAAAAH!

Then Lexi noticed the girl looked a little... down? They weren't really friends in the honest sense of the word, but Sabel was her BEST friend and she knew these two had been having a rough go of things lately. "Arya --- are you... okay?" Stupid question, she knew that, but... it was something.

Arya started, not expecting to hear her name shouting so loudly or excitedly. "Wha..." Flames? She looked around to match up the familiar voice with a face. Oh, Lexi. It took her a moment to pull herself out of her reverie, and give the flames some attention. "They're.... nice?" She looked a bit confused, not getting all the excitement.

It was just magical fire.

A shrug left her shoulders in response, and she immediately decided to give the flames much more attention than they deserved. "...I'm alright." In the physical sense at least. And only so long as the elves food didn't worsen and her appetite decided to come around every now and again. "They really did a nice job, with this party I mean." Not the flames.

Lexi FROWNED at Arya Lovegoods. NICE? The flames were only NICE? Pffffffft. Those flames were GLORIOUS. Not unlike ALL flames, of course, but these were special, magic flames and they were PRETTY.

Then her heart sank for the girl. Inching away from the candelabra, which was VERY difficult to do, she said softly, "You're a terrible liar." She knew what heartache looked like. And Arya had it. Mhm. Perfect somber mood for such somber decor, though. Meh. She wanted to tell him that she had told Sabel to fix things...but she knew it wasn't her business, really.

"Sir Nick always goes all out for his Deathday Celebration. Have you never been to one before?" she asked as she smoothed down the front of her dress and looked about the room once more her eyes pausing on EACH candelabra in turn.

Arya spotted the frown, but what could she do? Flames were flames, and fire was fire. It was nothing she could get excited about. Actually, she looked around and realized, that even if she was her normal self, she still wouldn't be at this party. It was all so... decaying. Death. Blegh.

"It wasn't a whole lie." It wasn't nearly the whole truth either. She kept her gaze on the fire for longer than necessary before turning to the unappealing plate of food in front of her. Lexi... knew. Not everything, not what was going on between her and Sabel she didn't think, but she knew what was up with Sabel, and that was enough not to attempt lying or putting up a smile.

Another glance around the dungeon and she shook her head. "No, this is my first.. there's not much to do that itsn't..." Her eyes lingered on the 'bowling'. "I didn't think it would be this deathly."

"It was nowhere near the truth. It's written all over your face," she said gently. She DID know what was going on with Sabel and Arya AND she knew about Sabel's secret. She was not getting involved in the Sabel/Arya mess anymore than she already had. "I -- I told him to fix it. Whatever it takes," she said really quietly before turning her faze back to the flames. THE PRETTY PRETTY FLAMES.

"Ohhhh of course it's deathly. It's to celebrate Sir Nick's day of death. What were you expecting? An orchestra and some balloons or sommat?" Lexi giggled. She couldn't lie though... she had been shocked at her first one.

Because it was just that noticeable, Arya sulked more, pushing the plate of food back a few inches so that it wasn't all in her face. Maybe she would hide out in the stables for the rest of the term, or the prefects bathroom. "I don't think he'll listen." Not if he was in the same state she'd left him in. "But thanks." She peeked over at Lexi, biting her lip. "Have you... spoken to him recently?"

"I don't know what I was expecting." She admitted, eyes finally going to the blue flames on their own. Pretty. "I guess I'm so used to muggle style death parties, they pale in comparison to this." The faintest of smiles touched her lips. "Maybe some balloons." Black balloons, of death.

Lexi shook her head slightly and smiled. "Perhaps not yet, but give him time. He'll fix it. And you are very welcome," she said knowingly. Well yes, she had spoken to him recently... hence her having told him to stop being a prat and fix the Arya situation. She nodded her head and fidgeted with the hem of her dress.

"Muggles have deathday parties? But... why? They can't come back as ghosts like wizards do can they?" Lexi asked as she inched closer still to the table Arya sat at. "Balloons would be nice I suppose," she said with a smile.

While Evelyn wasn't particularly fond of this event the first time she had attended it back in first year, the Slytherin once again found herself standing in the room, looking around at all the areas such as the food, the dance floor, and...the shrunken head...

Shuddering at the sight, Evelyn gravitated towards the dining area, her nose scrunching up at all the food she spotted apparently for the dead. She was NOT eating anything that sat next to THAT. Apparently though, all the disgustingness had distracted her from the main event!

OHMYMERLIN.

BLUE flames? BLUE candle flames?

That was cool.

While she could stop the millions of questions that swarmed into her head when she realized that Lexi had spoken to Sabel more recently than she had, she could stop them from spilling out of her mouth, biting her lip to do so. It was probably best not to ask.

"Nothing like this, and not all muggles. There's day of the dead to remember lost loved ones." Her voice was just as distant as the look in her wandering eyes, thoughts drifting til she brought herself back to the present conversation. "No, ghosts, but it's still a nice holiday." She supposed it was the same as this minus the actual dead.

And... "None of that either." She motioned to the bowling.

Lexi heard someone else enter and looked to seeeeee EVELYN. Hehehe. She would appreciate the flames as well. Giggling a little bit Lexi cleared her throat and said, "How awesome are THOSE BLUE FLAMES?"

Super awesome. That's how awesome they were.

Lexi turned her focus back to Arya with some difficulty and smiled sadly at her. She could see the wheels turning in Arya's head... she felt terrible for her, but she couldn't break trust with Sabel. She just wanted to give the girl a hug and tell her it would all be alright.

Interesting... Muggles had celebrations for the dead. Sans ghosts. Hmmm. "Those shrunken heads are the most disgusting things I have ever seen in my life. When I was a kid my parents belonged to a league... quite disturbing to open a bowling bag and see THAT," she said with a shudder.

Anyone? ^_^ (If you claim, please VM?)
 

Meep.

Perhaps she MAY have noticed Lexi and Arya over here, but she did choose not to notice them. Can't do that anymore since Lexi was talking to her. Or...Or could she?

...

"Pretty awesome." she agreed, crossing her arms and glancing to the blond Gryffindor out of the corner of her eyes. Did Lexi know how hard it was not to SMILE right now?! "Think they're just bluebell flames? I dare you to touch them."

a bit for you to Rose
 

Arya dismissed the sad smile, and pushed all thoughts of Sabel to the depths of her mind when she noticed the Head Girl and her fascination with the flames. What was with these two? Evelyn got weird looks, mostly because she was Evelyn, before her eyes turned to the flames.

Still pretty, nothing more.

"I don't even want to think about how they got that way." She made a face in the direction of the bowling and people actually touching those talking heads. Then Lexi got looks. "They have leagues?"

Maddy wandered into the dining area, she diddnt want to eat. but she could still visit with her friends. the tables had such nice table clothes on it, she did enjoy the decorations. appart from the wilting black roses, atleast they could have been living black roses, since were celebrating the deathday party. Maddy sat down at one of the tables, without a plate. she was going to rencarnate these dead roses. she wipped out her wand and flicked it at the roses. well what do ya know, it worked!

Lexi wasn't quite as bitter and resentful as Evelyn so she had no qualms about smiling at the flames. "Probably are bluebells I dunno though." She really had NO idea if she was on point with that or not. Heh. She didn't care either... she just wanted to watch the flames flicker and dance.

"I will if you do it first," Lexi said with a giggle. Heheh. "Or we could get a firstie to do it."

"I reckon some magicians get angry with someone and take their heads for trophies or sommat... So I reckon it's all magic. If they didn't yammer on so I would say someone just severed a head and took the skull out, but you know," she said motioning to the pile of smack talking heads.

And what was that look for? Lexi blinked at Arya and shrugged. "Yeah, me mum and dad bowled with a few others in the Jivaroan Jugglers League. Of course... they didn't juggle them..." she trailed off. What? Her parents weren't on the up and up. Weird people, they were.

"What up Majestic Myrtle?" He gave her a wink. Rafe brought came over to the dining area with one of his own butterbeers in hand. He remember some of the stuff that was served at the Death Parties in previous years and didn't want to take any chances.

Rafe knew she was quite the fan of boys. And Rafe thought she was rather cute for a ghost. He might've gone for her back in the day if they were in school together. He noticed that she was looking rather peculiar at a wilted flower. "Here," he took out his wand and pointed it to the black rose, "Formosus vita!" And the rose turned to a crimson red. "A woman of your beauty shouldn't be exposed to something so drab."

Elliot meandered into the hall, wondering what all the fuss about this deathday party was...she didn't quite understand it. Celebrating the day you had died? But then again, Elliot wasn't ghost.

But the person she was now standing next was, and Elliot was very...intrigued. She saw the girl looking miserable, and she knew immediately who this was.

Moaning Myrtle.

But Elliot would not assume that. She simply turned to the girl, er, ghost? and tried not to act at all different. Myrtle was a human, after all.

"Hello there...you look very miserable. Is it supposed to be that way here? Should I be miserable as well? I would hate to be rude at an occasion such as this..." she first year asked the ghost, looking at the girl as if she were talking to a fellow student.

Oh, Elliot could tell this ghost favored boys. How rude! She looked rather offended as she hid behind the other boy. Hmph. Elliot wasn't someone to be frightened of...much?

"I beg to differ...but whatever you say," she replied, simply shrugging coldly. She didn't want to argue with a ghost. Too much time wasted, really.

Wow, Rafe was actually quite flattered. So, she was a ghost, but that didn't mean she didn't have feelings. In fact, she was expressing them in an adorable girly kind of way. "You can call my Rafe, Miss Myrtle." He flashed her a dashing smile. And though he knew he couldn't physically touch her, he made the effort to bow and "kiss" he hand. "It's a pleasure to make you acquaintance."

Next thing he knew her hand was going in and out of his arm. Aww. She was quite sweet. Maybe it was because he'd been single for so long and wasn't used to such adulation, that he found himself blushing slightly. "How are you on this fine evening? I can say mine got much better." Flirting, he still got it.

Whoa! Did this ickle firstie just insult Myrtle!? That was totally uncalled for! And she was acting rightly so.

"Well rude you just were! How dare you insult Myrtle on a night of celebration?!" Rafe was being rather brash. But, Myrtle was still a person in some way and should be respected like anyone else. He stepped to the side, so he could look at Myrtle. "She does not look miserable, she looks quite pretty actually."

Really? This firstie was trying to prove something to two older students. He looked to Myrtle, "Should I defend your honor, Milady?" He already had his wand out, and he simply pointed it at the firsties direction.