Just before 9:00, Great Hall.


After the feast, Aileen had watched the Champions dance with a slight smile, content to keep her thoughts to herself, though her smile did widen when Abby glanced at her from around Sasha's shoulder. It was nice to know that for once, she could turn the tables on the girl and play matchmaker. Of course, once her mother heard about Abby's date (and Aileen going dateless), there would be howlers to ring in the holidays, but by that time the two sisters would be home with ear plugs. Tonight would be a magical night. At least for one of them.

Mingling and dancing in this environment came easily to her. So far, she'd been able to avoid McGonagall's disappointment (or what she imagined to be disappointment) at her lack of a partner. Yet after only a short time, she wondered what she'd do until midnight. If she'd attended with someone, she could have at least gossiped over the outfit choices and avoided the smug looks from a few of the other purebloods.

Another dance began. Aileen took a breather, stepping off to the side near a line of young girls, who chattered with each other as they slid glances at the boys. Hunched over one of the tables, the only glances the boys sent were furtive ones.

Snap! Went the card game. Oh no, she was going to pretend she hadn't heard that.

She weaved around the tables to the other side of the Great Hall. The refreshment area. There was something a little sad, a little heartbreaking about the boys and girls hiding behind their goblets. Aileen held back a smirk, understanding how they felt this evening. Dressed in a blue Renaissance-inspired gown with an updo to match, she was realizing that there was something even sadder about it as an adult.

But at least she wasn't alone. There was Tapendra over a full plate of food, not hiding very well with his height, or in that nice suit. Shaking her head, Aileen headed over to greet him.

"Tapendra," she smiled, not bothering to hide her amusement.

Aileen took one of the goblets and raised an eyebrow at the icy concoction inside. She took a sip, surprised to find it warm.

"Standing guard over the appetizers, I see," she glanced at him. "Very noble of you."

The Yule Ball had, so far, met exactly with Tapendra's expectations. The decorations were astounding, the Great Hall filled with sparkling ice sculptures and fake snow (which terminated well above their heads, but still). Everyone was dolled up - with a few exceptions that he had chosen to leave as someone else's problem - and naturally the food was also excellent, which had been his focus.

When dinner had ended he'd executed his perfectly planned...plan, and slunk away to the refreshment table and taken a seat against the far wall next to it. Ostensibly, he was keeping an eye on the table (the occasional stern look shot at an overeager student was enough to make this excuse plausible, in his mind). In reality, he was just going to eat and watch the ball and hope no one really noticed he wasn't making much effort to participate.

The suit Darian had made for him was something of an issue here, of course. This night saw him eating and drinking with far more care than usual. Stain and dust repelling charms though the suit might have, the damn thing was white - it was just asking to get stained and dirtied within seconds.

Still, Sasha and Abby seemed quite the pair, which he was glad to see. He'd worried Sasha would get nervous and be somewhat bowled over by Abby's energy, but in practice the two of them seemed to sync up nicely for the Champion's dance, and Abby seemed happier than he'd ever seen her. As well as much fancier. He wondered how much time Aileen had had to spend just getting Abby to sit still.

Aileen herself had the good timing to arrive right as he'd sat back down with a plate of...well, he wasn't sure what the proper names for half the things on the plate were. Little sandwiches and the like, anyway, and a goblet of butterbeer. He returned her smile, unable to stop himself from looking her up and down. She was...well, the dress was stunning, he had to silently admit. The fact it fit her extremely well helped, of course. She...well, she looked good in it, he finally admitted to himself. Surprisingly, that fact wasn't as difficult to live with as he'd expected.

He returned the smile, his turning into a slightly playful smirk after a moment. "Well, someone has to," he said. "How else are we to stop the students from wrecking the delicate artistry of the sandwich stacks?"

Still, he moved the plate away from him a little bit, clearing his throat and winding up with his elbows on the table as he crossed his arms atop it. "You look nice," he added after a moment, reaching up to adjust - well, it would have been his tie. It was whatever the proper name was for the handkerchief or whatever it was stuffed around his throat.

Aileen caught the look he gave her, and didn't even raise an eyebrow. She'd spent hours getting ready; she should look good! Still, his glance made her feel a bit better about going all out for an event like this. Otherwise, she was just a peacock among pigeon-children. It was not an observation she'd ever admit out loud.

She took a seat next to him. Perhaps he could be her snarker in crime this evening. Delicate artistry indeed!

"Thank you," she nodded. "So do you."

And she wasn't just being courteous.

"I must admit, I've been wondering if you have a section in your closet labeled 'fancy clothes with which to confuse the Runes professor'. As opposed to your usual preference of jeans."

Though she said the word as if it were abhorrent, Aileen smirked at him playfully.

The flush was automatic and uncontrollable, and he could thank his dark skin for the fact it wasn't obvious...well, color wise, anyway. Tapendra was one of those people who blushed with his body language as well as his cheeks, so the momentary fluster was in display before he was even consciously aware it was happening.

"Thanks," he mumbled, looking down at the suit for a moment - before looking back up with a laugh at her comment. He ought to have that drawer, perhaps; in reality that section was probably just labelled 'Libertine'. These last few months were really the first in a long time that he'd both really cared about his appearance and had the money to do something about it.

A pity about the hair. He resisted the automatic urge to tweak his long, shaggy bangs; his hair was only tamed tonight by a combination of potions and spells, and he only gave it an hour before bursting from its shackles.

"Would you feel better if it was on purpose?" he asked, with a soft laugh. "And really, Aileen, you mustn't forget the t-shirts with words on them," he added wryly, sipping from his goblet. "One can't wear one without the other, you see. Otherwise you're not wearing the look properly."

It was fun to see him so flustered over a simple compliment. Aileen raised her eyebrows, waiting for him to come up with a retort. Perhaps this was why she treated him nicely every once in a while - compliments frazzled him more than teasing seemed to.

"Oh, of course. And the more obscure the reference, the better. Like the blue phone booth," she waved her hand in the air. "Or the cats."

She knew he was fond of his pets, but he didn't see her walking around with the image of a Sha emblazoned across her chest. Not fashionable. Not fashionable at all.

"What do they say? I can has-" she paused. "Have. I can't even say it, Tapendra," she shook her head and stifled a snicker. "It's not proper grammar."

One might wonder why she paid this much attention to his t-shirts, but in her defense, they were so ridiculous she couldn't look away!

Aisling had, as per her husband's advice, decided to not spend the entire evening dancing. This allowed for the occasional visit to the refreshments, something as much intended to allow her to interact with others as to provide sustenance. It wouldn't be appropriate of her to eat too much, after all.

And it seemed that two of the Professors were guarding the table. Aileen and, ah, that flustered man would have to be Professor Trishna. Aisling had done her research before the event. This seemed such a perfect opportunity.

She smiled as she approached them, and concealed a bit of amusement at the topic of their conversation. Aileen, making quips about Muggle clothing of all things. "Professor Reid, you look lovely. A pleasure to see you." A glance towards the other professor, one which politely ignored the rather full plate near him. "Ah, and you must be Professor Trishna. I've been enjoying your writing recently, though I fear that I may lack the knowledge to truly appreciate it."

A slight pause as she stepped out of the way of a young wizard headed towards the table. "I have been told that the answer to that question is 'cheeseburgers', as well, though such is not something I have tested."

Tapendra had had an answer prepared - ready, as always, to attempt to explain the mysteries of the muggle world to those who did not know of its secrets. Admittedly, this was one of those cases where even he couldn't explain what these things were. They just...existed. Muggles seemed to like them, and he had a good chuckle at a few of them. But as to what purpose they served, why they were funny...that he truly couldn't answer.

And then, before he could utter a word, a woman approached. Tapendra straightened up, glad he didn't have food actively being eaten, and made an attempt to seem formal and refined. Unsurprisingly, this wasn't very effective.

He smiled as she greeted Aileen. The woman was older - beautiful, in a refined and collected sort of way. A lot like Aileen, really. She looked vaguely familiar, but he couldn't really place her. Then she promptly supplied the answer to Aileen's question, and he gave in - his eyebrows rose in surprise.

"Er, yes - it is. Though I've never noticed a particular interest in cheeseburgers from any of my cats," he added, as an aside. He adjusted his ascot - that was what it was called - and sat up more fully. "I am Professor Trishna, yes," he said. "I assume you know Professor Reid?" He glanced at Aileen, hoping she'd provide him with a name.

Aileen straightened as well, surprised to see Aisling Knight appear at the table, and slightly embarrassed by the topic of their conversation as the woman revealed that she understood the odd references.

She politely offered a thank you and a compliment in return. Her dress was exquisite, though she'd expect no less from the Chief Warlock's wife.

And Tapendra didn't realize who she was.

"This is Aisling Knight," she introduced the woman with a gesture. "She works on the Muggle-Worthy Excuse Committee. Her husband, Tarron, is Chief Warlock of the Wizengamot."

Aileen left out the key fact that Tarron was family. She did so not to insult Aisling, but simply because it was a delicate matter. When Tarron had married the muggleborn witch, Aileen had been in the middle of her divorce with Oz, and had almost felt grateful that the scandal had detracted from her own. Her mother had said terrible things about Aisling, and still did, but refrained from public condemnation since Tarron had been promoted to Chief Warlock four years ago.

If Cullodena Reid's tirades had bothered Aisling at all, Aisling had never taken it out on Aileen. In fact, she'd gone out of her way to treat Abby kindly since she'd started at the Ministry. Aileen kept this at the front of her mind.

"Unfortunately, I've not had the pleasure of reading his books," Aileen nodded at Tapendra, having caught Aisling's comment earlier. "Yet."

Who knew, it might give her new ways to embarrass him.

"I'll depend upon your review," she smiled at Aisling. "Though I have no doubt it is positive," she added without any sarcasm. After seeing Tapendra teach the younger years in November, Aileen had been rather impressed by the way he'd run the classroom.

Aisling responded to both of their comments with a slightly less formal smile. It seemed that her knowledge of muggle subjects had somewhat surprised Professor Trishna, though with the mention of her work such surprise seemed likely to fade away. And to be introduced by her work, rather than merely by Tarron's position, well, she could allow herself to find a bit of comfort in that.

"Quite positive, yes, though I only made it through two of the books before I found myself absorbed in attempting to research the various theories referenced. The others will have to wait until after the holidays, it seems." She waved a goblet over with a flick of her wand and took a sip before continuing. "And my daughters seem to be enjoying their Astronomy class as well, though they've written surprisingly little about school given their excitement about attending."

They'd also written about some more interesting incidents, including, apparently, a time where their teacher had become some sort of winged horse. Something which Aisling had not passed on to Tarron. She turned more towards Aileen. "Sophia is also terribly disappointed that she cannot yet take Ancient Runes. It seems you both sparked a particular interest in the subject for her."

Not that either of her daughters needed an excuse to be more intellectual. They had both asked, among other things, for books for Christmas. Even if such books were on rather different subjects.

"Delighted to meet you, Madam Knight," Tapendra responded, when Aileen introduced the lady. So not only was she a member of the Ministry, she was an important member of the Ministry. Just his luck! At least the job explained why she knew about lolcats....had she ever had to use that as a coverup?

He should have stood up. Proper greeting etiquette demanded that he rise. But he'd bungled it by that not being his first instinct - where did he pick up with it now? He chose to follow Aileen's lead, in this case, but she didn't seem to be standing up either, so...

He looked at Aileen and smiled, the smile quickly turning bashful. "Really? Well...um, thank you," he said. People in the wizarding world rarely took an interest in his books. Aside from the rather controversial ideas presented within, most people just couldn't follow them, or found them dull. No one at Hogwarts seemed to have taken an interest, so it was difficult not to be flattered - and more than a tad touched - that someone had. And at Aileen's comment.

"They're not much," he murmured, having to restrain himself from fidgeting with the tablecloth. "Just some theories, really..." It was odd of Aileen to praise him, albeit indirectly. He glanced at her again, wondering where that had come from.

He cleared his throat. "I'm sure they will find the Runes courses quite fun," he said. "My daughter takes the course and has praised it highly." The urge to fidget was almost overwhelming. He settled for resting his hands in his lap, fingers intertwining.

"I'm glad to hear it," Aileen smiled politely at Aisling's mention of Sophia, trying to remember the girls and what they were like.

She vaguely remembered twins in the moon letters class she and Tapendra had taught the first-years in November, and then of course the dance lessons class she'd been stuck doing with Kesali. She hoped Sophia still wanted to take Runes after that debacle.

Tapendra was acting like he wanted to crawl underneath the table and hide, and Aileen couldn't be sure if it was because of Aisling or because of the attention on his books. Aileen arched an eyebrow at him. Aisling Knight was important, yes, but at least she was pleasant and inoffensive.

Kids and students were generally safe to talk about, so Aileen followed their lead, curious if it would calm Tapendra at all.

"The fall project didn't scare her off?" She joked lightly, glancing at him. "I suppose I'm doing something right then."

Aileen looked back at Aisling, taking a sip from the goblet. "Your children must be enjoying the ball. I'm certain Abby will swoop down on them with hugs before the night is through. Fair warning."

Professor Trishna seemed, unfortunately, to be growing more flustered rather than less. Since the introductions were over, Aisling took a seat and set her engraved goblet on the table next to her. The juice swirled inside a bit, then settled. "You're quite welcome. I only wish that I had more time to read. Never quite enough." She twirled the eagle ring on her right hand as she spoke.

The mention of Abby brought a particularly warm smile, if one half-buried behind the goblet as she took another sip. "I'm certain they would welcome hugs from Abby. From their letters, they were even more delighted than I was to hear that she would be attending. If anything, I would worry about her and Rowena beginning a duel of hugs. "

Which might be an interesting sight, even if Rowena's hair had already begun to run amok as always. "They would be terribly embarrassed were I to hug them in public, though. As much as I miss them." And they would be home so very soon. Home to devour sweets and beg for pets and to set their father sniffing about seemly behavior.

Tapendra contented himself with sipping from his own goblet as the two talked. There did indeed seem to be some familiarity there, though how much wasn't really clear. Neither seemed eager to answer his earlier question, and so for now he'd have to let it lie and stave off his curiosity.

"Children do tend to protest public displays of affection, once they reach a certain age." And their peers were around, of course. That tended to damped spirits considerably. "With mine in their teens, I've found I have to make do."

Admittedly, Georgiana wasn't his daughter, but she certainly counted in a general sense...even if their relationship had been under some strain recently.

He smiled slightly at Aileen. "I'm sure Sasha can handle her wanting to say hello to her friends," he said, frowning at his goblet. The damn thing was empty. "No doubt she'll want to dance with a few of them, too."

It did not surprise Aileen that Abby and Aisling's daughters had grown so close already, even from afar. Her younger sister had a way of hop-skip-jumping into people's hearts when she tried. Of course, Aileen was biased.

She refrained from commenting that Abby was more prone to embarrassing her with a hug than the other way around.

"She'll want to dance with the entire room," Aileen predicted. "Which is a good thing, I'm sure. Sa-" She paused, threw Tapendra such a look. Curse him and Abby! The last thing she wanted was to pick up on his habit of calling the boy by his first name in public.

"Mr. Schlagenweit will likely need a break at some point, and escape over to this area."

Aileen raised an eyebrow at Tapendra, putting on an innocent expression that spelled certain doom for the man. "What about you, Professor Trishna? Will you require a break from your goblet at any point during the evening?"

She glanced at Aisling, surprised that they were getting along with little awkwardness so far (Tapendra excluded), and curious if she would share in her amusement.

Aisling raised an eyebrow slightly at Aileen's comment, then caught her glance and responded with a smile. Professor Trishna seemed a rather awkward sort to take dancing, but perhaps there was something more behind Aileen's request than professional camaraderie. Though Aisling did find herself hoping that if so, Aileen would be a bit more prompt regarding such topics than Tarron had been.

"Ah, youth." She took a sip from her goblet as she looked over towards the younger dancers, attempting to distinguish particular figures among them. "I hope to join in some of the dancing later, but I doubt that I could keep up with  it all night." Or at least not if she wanted to retain any energy after the ball.

"It's pleasant to see them enjoying it. Such a rare event really should be taken full advantage of."  Despite all the concerns, fears, and politics attached the the Tournament, the Yule Ball, at least, was a lovely occasion.