Pretense Unmasked [Elinora]

Posts : 10 Join date : 2017-08-19

Beginning of 4th Year

Fourteen was not a fun age to be. While the part of her that was ADHD wanted to have fun and enjoy the world, the side of her that was a Pureblood first and foremost had responsibilities, and she was expected to put aside immaturity and embrace Life. And there was simply no fun in that. Besides, it wasn't as easy as just ignoring the voice inside her brain that told her to do things, or the bursting urge to talk about things at speeds Usain Bolt would be envious of, and while she did try, most of the time she could only behave for an hour or so before the real her shone through.

This was, perhaps, the reason her parents had accepted invitations on her behalf to multiple balls; they hoped to practice away her unPureblood ways of living. Or, rather, they hoped to lengthen the amount of time she was able to fake it.

The dress picked out by her parents was, at the very least, decent, and Nora pulled the outer layer into her fingers and fiddled with it as she stood beside them, waiting to leave. Her brother had been dallying, having forgotten ... something (Nora wasn't quite sure what) ... and she'd been standing by the fireplace for the last five minutes and already she was getting anxious.

Finally -- finally -- he appeared, and Nora all but sprung forward, grabbing a fist of Floo Powder and tossing it into the fire before her parents had a chance to say anything. Clearly speaking the name of the place, forcing herself to speak slowly (she'd learnt the hard way that speaking too fast meant her words were jumbled, and that could sometimes lead to her appearing in some random stranger's house), she let the flames envelop her and transport her to the location of the ball.

Stepping out, she nodded at the servant there to greet her, waiting only a moment for her family to follow. Smiling at the servant, she let him lead them to the ballroom, eyes shining as she surveyed the location. It wasn't too bad, and with the lack of tables that meant it was going to be a dancing one, which was much better than being forced to sit for hours.

Already leaving her parents behind, she approached the crowds, doing what was expected of her and mingling.

Posts : 3 Join date : 2017-08-25

Another day, another ball. Eli loved balls, predominantly the social aspect of it. The music, the dancing. It got him out of the house for a good few hours, that was the main thing. With the exception of perhaps Carlotta (who'd recently been incredibly busy with potioneering... Although that did lead to some rather interesting experiments that he knew his parents wouldn't approve of if they knew), everyone in the house was quite dull. At least there was more of a chance of something exciting happening, even if he was the root of it, outside of the house.

Another reason was the fact that he got to dress up. Essentially, he chose whatever would outrage his parents the most. The looks on their faces when he strolled downstairs, dressed in a paisley suit with thongs, well, he wished he had a camera. Certainly one of the funnier moments he had with his parents.

They'd arrived at the ball as it had began, on time as per usual. And it was gorgeous, gloriously lit, with plenty of people he could get lost amongst. Upon arrival, he'd wandered in, not bothering to look back to see where his parents had gone, nor even where Carlotta had undoubtedly wandered off to (she rather disliked balls, they were far too formal in her opinion).

The glimpse of a blue dress caught his attention in the crowd. He turned to further look, eyes finding the girl who was wearing said dress. A rather pretty blonde girl, who had to at least be roughly his age. With an air of confidence that was just so... Eli, he decided to approach her.

"Lovely dress you have there...." he paused "I'm sorry, I haven't got your name,", a smirk spreading across his lips as he spoke "But yes, anyway. Looks slightly like a cupcake. But in the best way possible. Eli, by the way," he held his hand out for her to shake. Was that the proper greeting for a girl? He had no clue, nor did he care too much. After all, regardless of whether it was proper or not, he could do, and had done, far worse things to offend people. If she reacted negatively, well, improper conduct was just the beginning.

Posts : 10 Join date : 2017-08-19

Flitting from group to group, person to person, Nora made her rounds. For some, the social aspect was the exhausting part, the having to make small talk -- but for Nora, it was the highlight of the whole ordeal. At least, this way, she got to meet people and make friends, even if they didn’t think the same of her. Besides, it was fun to see their reactions and see them falter when she bounded over (or tried to walk gracefully and failed) and talked a mile a dozen. She’d just left one such person who’d done the whole ‘nod-and-smile’ thing and was just getting herself a drink when someone familiar came towards her.

She recognised him, somewhat, from around school. Gryffindor, if she wasn’t mistaken. And her year? He was a Pureblood, obviously (he wouldn’t have been there if he wasn’t) and yet she didn’t seem to be able to recall that ever being really mentioned among the Pureblood groups she hung out with (purely for image), not that she really paid attention anyway.

From what he was wearing, she could tell she’d probably already like him; he didn’t seem normal or boring.

His introduction made her raise her eyebrow. In the back of her mind, she could hear her mother uncultured, improper, bad example, and made it her mission to befriend Eli; she took the hand. “Eleonora, but it’s a mouthful and a posh name. I prefer Nora. Most people call me Nora, anyway; I mean, mother naming me Eleonora is kind of ironic, cos it’s so posh and I just look like a -- what did you say? Muffin? Oh, right -- cupcake. I’m not allowed cupcakes often. Too much sugar. I get more hyper.”

Pausing, she didn’t bother to hide her taking in his suit. “And you look like a carpet. The ones my mother tried to buy last year but father said was too drab for our halls; I actually agreed with him for once. I think it looks nicer as a suit. It provides… oh what was it my tutor said? Character. It gives character.” She shrugged, smiling, seeing nothing wrong with her words; if he could say she looked like a cupcake, she could say he looked like a carpet. Right? Tilting her head slightly, she added, “And I’ve seen you around. Hogwarts, right? Gryffindor? I’m a Hufflepuff. Fourth year; and you?”

Posts : 3 Join date : 2017-08-25

"Ah Elenora, what a coincidence!" he replied, not missing a beat "Eli, is short for Elinara. I know, posh and too much mouth movement, am I right?" he winked. Nora seemed, well, normal. Down to earth, and yet more his speed than other people. And part of him was relieved, that he wouldn't be told off by some stuck-up snob who thought being called a cupcake was offensive, or having to explain to his parents why another pureblood family thought low of them because he supposedly lacked manners.

"Oh I agree, you definitely don't need anymore sugar. You seem sweet enough as it is," he replied to her not being allowed to eat cupcakes. Oh gosh what a drab existence! If anything, he thought it'd be because her parents wanted her to watch her waistline, not that she needed to of course. Not in his eyes anyhow. It seemed that was a thing, to try and look pretty and slender, at least with his parents and Carlotta. Eli could eat whatever he felt like, but Lottie on the other hand, man it must be difficult being a girl.

He'd realised a moment later, after those thoughts had passed by that she'd replied with a quip of her own, and he liked her already. Beauty and humour. She was like, the complete package "Oh man, carpet? Really?" he pouted, evidently over-exaggerating "I was going more 'expensive Persian rug', y'know?" he replied, unable to keep the smile creeping back onto his face "Of course though, everything looks better on me. Even drab carpets,"

She was like a rocket, jumping from subject to subject, and it was purely wonderful. So many people would spend ages and ages discussing the weather, or the taste of caviar or other things. Nora got straight to the point "Gryffindor I am, fifth year. I suppose I would have known you already if I was in your year, I wouldn't be able to concentrate with you in class... I mean, not that I pay that much attention to begin with, but it'd be like supermegahard rather than just megahard, y'know?" he replied grinning "What brings ya' here?"

Posts : 10 Join date : 2017-08-19

She raised an eyebrow, almost missing the meaning assiociated by the wink. That would've been embarassing, if she'd taken him seriously. Merlin knew more often than not she was so caught up in something -- be it the environment, her own thoughts, their outfit, pretty much everything else -- to realise they were joking, and took them at their word. It led to some very awkward situations that she had to then explain her way out of. "Oh, I don't mind calling you Elinara," she said, smiling as innocently as she could -- which wasn't very well; she couldn't act to save her life.

His comment made her raise an eyebrow and giggle a little. She'd been taught to recognise flirting -- after all, she needed to know which Pureblood males were interested in her, and which weren't -- but she never took well to those lessons, and still could never fully tell. Eli(nara) was either being friendly and joking around, or he was flirting. Either way, she didn't mind or care; he was nice, a difference in the world of poshness, and she enjoyed it immensly.

"Believe me," she said, grinning at him, "I'm not always sweet. I might look like a cupcake, but pis-- anger me, and I'll turn nasty. Mother says I have a temper." Comes with the ADHD, she added mentally, but managed to keep from saying aloud. It wasn't proper for people to know about it, wasn't right apparently, and she was to keep quiet about it if she could. Of course, that meant that many people knew about it, since keeping quiet was not a strength of hers.

She giggled at his comment, then made a show of looking him up and down again. "No," she said, almost thoughtfully, "I've seen expensive persian rugs. You're more like an arabian carpet. Maybe you'll start flying." Not realising she was referencing something not many Purebloods would get -- she had her muggleborn friends to thank for this -- Nora merely grinned again. "Oh, I never said it was drab. I liked the carpet. I found it different, like me, and I like different things, but our halls are brightly coloured -- don't ask why, mother likes it -- and it was too dull compared. I wanted it for my room but apparently it clashes with the blue walls and blue carpet already there and blue... well, everything." She paused. "Blue's my favourite colour, can you tell?"

She nodded at the information. "Yeah, I don't pay attention in many classes, either. It's only cos of my tutors that I even pass boring things like history or theory." She scruched up her nose. "Ew, theory. Honestly, it's like they asked what the most boring things were and put them in a textbook. What's wrong with teachers nowadays? Where's the interesting stuff?"

Gesturing around, she shrugged. "I'm a Pureblood. This is a ball. I have to be here."