Rohan peered over the crowd, looking for a decent victim.  He had to jump to see anything at all, and really hoped Rod didn't lift him up like he was Jack holding Rose at the bow of the Titanic.  He spotted an oddly dressed young girl in a mysterious mask. 

Hmm.

He motioned for Timmis to follow, and began shoving through the crowd, saying an occasional "Excuse me"  or "Pardon me" as he walked along.  He wore a fedora that was angled so it covered most of his face and a black mask to disguise himself further, and dressed in a completely black suit so the shadows could be utilized as a hiding place. 

Finally, he reached the desired location, and waited for an opportune moment to rip the girl's mask off an reveal her identity.

Rod stood by Rohan as they meandered through the ball, standing a head above most of the guests. He scanned the room, always keeping his surroundings in focus. When the approached the right place, Rod stood in front of Rohan, as though blocking him from view. He handed Rohan his wand, thinking that he was going to use Wingardium Leviosa. Odds are he could remain hidden and lift the mask without being seen.

"Whenever you're ready, Mr. Graham." Rod replied, folding his arms and putting on a stern look.

The current Hexy level is Green

---

Of course, the Yule Ball was bound to be dull. It was the most posh event Hogwarts ever had so things were meant to be classical, not the activity generated around Halloween, where Casey had attended the last Halloween dance invisible, courtesy of one (finally delivered!) expensive Invisibility Cloak.

Casey, who had been dragged from one formal dance to another in his formative years, could not stand to spend another ten minutes at this particular dance decked up like a clover in green dress robes. Really he could have used any excuse to just leave and  call it an early night.

And that's when the thought came...

The thought hadn't originated from his own design although the curiosity couldn't be helped. The girls about the castle gossiped like badmouthing pictsies, issues of Witch Weekly were traded like secret answers to upcoming exams and you couldn't pass by more than two clusters of students in the halls without there being talk about fashion. It was as if a union of tailors had banded together some kind of mind virus to sell ballgowns over the holidays. Couple this fact with one's mother spending days with a needle over a garment that would hopefully be worn at the Yule Ball[1] or sorta-friends asking if you had a date yet[2] and the idea just festered when it was left alone.

But if this was going to be done, it had to be done with specific terms. One specific being a firm pair of slacks no matter the length of dress. There were going to be no repeats of the 'school skirt' incident during the acromantula hunt.[3] That led to dipping into the new favorite part of the castle, the RoR, where the battle dummies where dressed up like shop mannequins (some with dresses that looked more like tents for some inexplicable reason!) in response to the formulating idea. Plus, as Hexy was glad to see, sensible matching footwear that left the soles of the feet parallel to the ground. It didn't take long to accessorize, ending with one unusual but welcome trinket.

The mask. It wasn't like the mask she wore for Gwyllion Fae, being a different color, but it complemented the golden threaded garment she had ended up choosing. Being 'like' Felinae tonight gave her an extra boost of confidence. Masquerade balls weren't unheard of in the wizarding world, of course, if usually saved for Halloween or New Years. Close enough.

After a few minutes, everything was in place, and Hexy ended up attending the Yule Ball. Although not as unnoticed as she had expected, given she was distracted from a pair of older students that found her outfit curious. She felt like a feather duster with the hem of this dress trailing the floor as if she was obliterating footprints in the snow. And people were expected to dance in these things?

1.	An Elf's Work is Never Done
2.	Soulfire - Dec 13
3.	Eight Sides to Every Story - Oct 10

He suppressed a sigh.  Rod always had to hold something of Rohan's and hand it to him, just for something to do.  He accepted his wand, thinking a spell was the best way to remove the girl's mask.  "Excuse me,"  he hissed, wanting a perfect shot without Rod blocking out the light with his mass.

If he aimed too high, he would be lifting a tall student, and if he aimed too low, he would be lifting his victim.  Casting a non-verbal aimed right at the mask while swishing and flicking his wand, he removed it from her face, and threw it, breaking his concentration. 

Though surprised by the mask being yanked away, this was where more experience in and out of Dueling Club had improved reflexes. Hexy's hand shot forward to where the mask paused before its launch. With a lunge she caught it on the edge with her fingertips as it jerked away.

She scrambled to press the mask back to her face, not noticing how quickly she was breathing. That had been removed by spell. Thankfully it hadn't been the wig. The wig was enchanted to not be removed against its wearer's wishes.

Hexy tried to multitask repositioning the mask and contemplating the use of Sticking Charms while she spun about in place, trying to find out who had deliberately cast that spell. Who had done it?

Rod was happy to get Rohan his wand, and then moved aside when Rohan ordered. He stood next to his friend and crossed his arms. He watched as Rohan put his plan into action, trying to lift the mask. However, the girl was quick with fixing her mask, and Rohan seemed disappointed. "It's alright, sir. You can always try again." Rod remarked somewhat loudly, probably giving up their position. Rod went to pat Rohan on the back, before thinking that it'd be weird, and backing up again.

"She's hiding soemthing, sir. And I'll manually take the mask if you'd like me to." Rod asked. He wanted a job so badly.

Rohan was irritated to see that Hexy had thought fast enough to steal her mask back.  He'd have to find a different strategy to ruin her night, but before then he had to escape her line of sight. 

"It's alright, sir. You can always try again."

Rohan was trying to silently shush Rod with a variation of several hand motions as he made his useless remark, but to no avail.  The girl had certainly Heard Timmis' voice.  He tried to shove backwards into the crowd, but ended up falling on the ground, his hat skidding across the floor.  That was hardly the issue, however. 

He crab-walked backwards, trying not to cause a commotion, and clutched his fedora, setting it on his head as it was before and walking off quietly.  He pretended like nothing happened, but the masked girl may have began pursuit.

When Hexy got the mask fixated she heard something over the general din of the Yule Ball. "You can always try again...hiding something, sir...manually take the mask if you'd like..." Why did the voice sound slightly familiar?

She spun to where she thought the voice was coming from. A few feet away, the gap probably wide enough for three dancing couples, was the tall big-eyebrowed boy she would swear she had seen in Slytherin before. A name was coming to mind but she couldn't be sure. This, compiled with the guy behind him falling and trying to scramble backwards, made the whole scene suspicious.

"Hey!" Hexy spoke boldly with a peeved quality to her voice as she worked her way towards them, reaching for her wand. "Was that your doing? What's the big idea?"

Sadly it's too late to veto that accusation for something more clever.

Rohan walked off gingerly, trying to avoid any professor's gazes as he did.  He pretended that he hadn't heard Hexy's question at all, and straightened his hat to make it seem as if he had merely dropped the fedora and had an odd way of picking it up.  He tried to strike up a conversation with a student facing the opposite direction, regardless of their age.  "So, how are you liking the ball?"  He tapped them on the shoulder. 

Hopefully, he had lost the girl, and Rod would be to blame for anything Rohan had done.

Mason was rather nervous, yet excited. He was nervous about getting punched in the face by one of the peopl in the mosh-pit by the stage to a Wrock song about... cleaning a cauldron? He was excited because the music would slow down a bit and he would ask Chloe for a casual dance, trying to help her ego after some jack-ass ripped her dress, Mason had his suspicions and he had looked around for his suspect, but he was no where Sonny could see.

Mase had undone his bow tie and it hung around his neck, being held on by his collar, his dad had sent him his suit he had wore to prom when he was 16, it was been to big, and was more mugglish than the dress robes most of the boys wore. Mason thought he looked fine in the suit and couldn't wait to get into his pajamas and snuggle up in bed. Mason stood near the punch bowl, tapping his foot, and making small chat with a few people.

He turned as a hand was laid on his shoulder. Sonny's eye twitched as he saw who it was. "Get away Graham!" Mason half-yelled, half hissed, twisting his shoulder away from Rohan's hand. "What do you want?"

Rohan couldn't quite place whose voice that was, and he visibly jumped when he saw Mason's face.  In a shaken voice, he replied,  "Sorry, I th-thought you were -- someone else.  But, y'know, while I'm here, uh, what did you get on your arithmacy final?  I got an E.   See, I'm not as good as you are."  He forced out a compliment to throw Mason's game off.  "So, how's... uh... Thea?  We haven't talked in a while, so, yeah,"  Rohan finished lamely, not caring whether or not Mason suspected anything; it wouldn't help the girl catch him anyway. 

Really great cover.

Remi saw the whole scene unfold. Well the part where the mask flew off. Remi could see that Rod with Rohan which usually meant business. Remi began to scramble through the crowds, still trying to catch up to Rohan.

Then he saw the guy that was with Chloe at the fight. It appeared as though Rohan needed help and his main man wasn't there.  Now was his chance to be of use to some one and not just be that silent, unnoticeable. After seeing the quick conversation with the other student Remi could see an angry face pushing through the crowds. Remi ran over to Rohan quickly saying,"Do you need any help? I can clearly see that someone is after you, I can be of assistance... Maybe a distraction or
decoy?" Remi almost was begging Rohan but luckily for him he sounded calm yet helpful.

Mason put his punch down on a table. "Beat it Remi." Mason said to the younger Ravenclaw, "You don't want to get mixed up with Rohan." Mason turned back to Han, "Also, I don't want to talk to you, at all, actually, I've been avoiding you." Mason said, stepping back from Rohan, "I'm going away now, bye, I'm gonna go find Chloe and Heinrich."

Mason really didn't know where he was going, but he said he'd find Heinrich and Chloe, and find them he would.

Recollections came to mind. Hexy remembered that the tanner of the older boys was Rod Timmis, another resident of Slytherin house. Making the student who was trying to keep his hat down and his face obscured that Ravenclaw, Graham. The brains of the operation.

By the time she made her way to Graham's table the other Ravenclaw was edging away from their conversation. She snuck up close to another boy she was barely taller than.

Hexy kept her wand in her hands, just to make it present. That she had it on hand in case he did anything funny. "Alright, Graham Cracker, why are you bothering me?"

"Okay,"  Rohan said, glad Mason hadn't expected anything and still hoping that the girl would've been looking for a boy who was running away rather than talking.  He originally thought that Remi would tip off Mason to what he was doing, but luckily Mason didn't even bother busting Han.  "Thanks, but no thanks,"  He replied to Filder, shrugging him off.  He looked for a crowd to walk into when a voice rang out behind him.

"Alright Graham Cracker, why are you bothering me?"

Rohan paused for a moment, unsure of what to say.  He figured the girl behind him was his attempted victim.  Instead of saying anything, he whirled around, grabbing for the girl's arm.