The Forrester Manor has a large ballroom that has been set up for the event, dominated by a large wooden dance floor with buffet tables off to one side, and tables for eating on the opposite side of the buffet.  Marble columns support a ceiling that is decorated by a large number of ornate stone carvings.  Several large chandeliers provide illumination for the room.  There is a live wizarding band is playing traditional waltzes, foxtrots, and tangos.  However, the band will play other numbers upon request. 

The buffet features both traditional and exotic wizarding fair.  Of note, there is steamed devils snare salad, threstral borsch, and spiced dragon meat for those that have more adventurous taste buds.  For those who are not fond of exotic food, a wide variety of traditional wizarding food is available.  Black pudding, tripe, steak and kidney pie, jacket potatoes, steak, lamb chops, cornish pasties, peas, sprouts, carrots, and a wide selection of gravies and sauces are all available in large quantities.  The drinks provided are elderflower wine, eggnog, mead, firewhiskey and pumpkin juice.  Chocolate gateau, assorted fruits, and treacle tart are all available for dessert.  Guests are expected to serve themselves or have a house elf serve them.

In an adjoining room, a poker tournament benefiting The Wizarding Culture Society is being held.  The Wizarding Culture Society is a charitable organization dedicated to educating the populace about wizarding traditions and customs.  The entry fee for the tournament is one thousand galleons.  First place leaves with ten thousand galleons, second leaves with five thousand galleons, third leaves with three thousand galleons.  The fourth and fifth place competitors get their fee refunded.  Everyone else leaves with nothing. 

Liadan had been excited about James' party for quite some time. She had spent a very long time attempting to choose just the right dress for the event, hoping to be one of the most elegant and beautiful ladies in attendance. It had also been difficult to decide whether or not to take a date. Her situation with Christian- whatever that was- still would not allow her to bring him with her. He was a half blood. No self respecting, pureblooded wizard would want a thing to do with her if she was seen gallivanting about society on the arm of an inferior- something she had tried desperately to to explain to Lotte to no avail. Going to such an event without a date, no doubt left a girl open to explore her options- Liadan was certain that there would be plenty of eligible bachelors in attendance. Yet, it also let everyone know that she could not find a date, which would reflect poorly upon her.

So when she had mentioned the party in passing to Gregory, and he had offered to be her date, she had been more than happy to oblige him. Gregory Morozov was a handsome man, and she had grown to detest him less in the last month. His perseverance was endearing, and Liadan loved the idea of a man chasing her- even if it was somewhat half heartedly at times. (Which was her fault, a man could only be rejected so many times before he lost interest in the chase.) Showing up on his arm would give her a good entrance, then he could go drink and gamble while she chatted with the girls and cast him smiles and cute little finger waves throughout the evening.

Upon arriving, Liadan took a quick glance at all of the other guests who were filtering in, hissing quietly to herself. She should have known that at a winter celebration that so many women would be wearing shades of blue. Liadan could not be dressed like everyone else, so she quickly muttered a spell to change her dress to a dark shade of green instead. "You must be on your best behavior," she reminded Gregory. "London society is not like Paris- far more traditional." He rolled his eyes at her while she fussed with the lapels of his dress robes.

"Don't drink too much," she added. "Especially if you are going to be gambling- I do not want your temper to get the better of you." With that final thought added, she slipped her hand into the crook of his arm and plastered on her most charming societal smile and allowed him to guide her through the entrance of the Forrester Manor, hoping that choosing to bring him was not going to come back and bite her in the butt.

William was wearing an extremely fancy set of dress robes.  He had on a dark blue suit with bronze trimmings to show his house pride, and William thought it looked fairly good.  William was standing at the center of the ballroom, ready to greet any guests that may come in.  His brother and his beautiful French date had arrived, and William could not help but be a little bit jealous of his brother.  Though William knew James did not get along with his significant other, he wondered if he should be thankful that she had not gotten over her latest ailment.    It would definitely save some drama between the two of them and William thought that was a good thing.  Noticing the guests beginning to arrive, William walked over to greet them.

James was extremely happy with the date Liadan had provided for him.  Not only did she not speak very much English, she did not speak a word of Russian either so it was difficult to communicate with her.  This suited James just fine.  James thought that both speech and clothes were overrated when it came to relationships.  Communication seemed to make things more ambiguous, and clothes often obscured some of the better assets of the opposite sex.  More importantly, both of them tended to get in the way of the fun part.  As James pondered on the slight communication barrier, he wondered if she would make fun of him in French.  He decided that he did not really care.  She was pretty, she was hanging on his arm, and more importantly – she would make other witches jealous. 

Noticing Liadan and her come into the room, James almost had to withhold a chuckle.  ’Liadan, how can someone so concerned with fashion manage to look like a Christmas tree?’ James thought to himself.  James never really got into the intricacies of fashion, but his mother insisted that he wear something besides his grey dress robes to this even.  So James unconsciously mimicked his brother, and wore a set of dark blue dress robes with a stiffly starched white t-shirt and a black silk tie.  While he did not know nor care what his date thought of the outfit, James thought it was good enough.  Wondering if he should go greet Liadan and her date, James decided not to.  William was taking care of the duties, making sure he saw all of the guests firstand would probably let them greet James after he had done all of the hosting stuff.  For now, James decided it was time to take a trip to the bar.  After his date took the arm he offered, they started ambling off towards the drinks.  James had the distinct feeling that however this night turned out, alcohol would probably make it better.
 

His stepmother had tried to set him up with some friend of a friend’s cousin, but Jasper had finally decided coming to the party alone would be better.  This wasn’t really purely a social even in his mind.  He knew the types that frequented these charity events and the amount of money that would be thrown around that evening.  It was the rich and powerful that would be at an event like this, and those were the same sorts of people who were usually the best clients.

Straightening his tie one last time, and adjusting the jacket of his blue dress robes he forced a half smile on his face.  The evening could be enjoyable.  Of course there were other more lively parties he could be attending that didn’t involve playing on pretenses, but he wasn’t going to dwell on that for the time being.

Entering the ballroom among the sea of blue and white dresses, his eyes instantly fell upon a familiar petite blonde in a striking shade of green and a smirk formed on his lips.  He wouldn’t expect her to simply blend into the sea of blue, and his eyes quickly scanned her date for the evening.  He had met him once or twice at art openings… Gregory Something-or-another.  He didn’t really know the man well enough to pass too much judgment but somehow he doubted the conversation would be terribly engaging.  Still, he would be someone he would need to make an effort to speak to before the end of the evening.

Noticing his host approaching he prepared himself for an evening of superficial conversation.

William noticed Liadan and her date show up, and he put on a show to put Miss Manners to shame.  As he walked up to them, William put on a smile worthy of a fashion model: completely fake but completely believable. 

“Liadan – I love the dress - and this must be Gregory!  How are you two doing this evening?" William stated as the affable host.  Internally, William was racking his brain for information on Liadan’s date, but he only came up with nationality.  Fortunately, he was saved by Jasper walking up.  Wondering what Jasper was doing here without a date, William opted not to comment on it.  This was for a number of reasons, though mainly because he knew very little about Liadan and her date.  He managed to get their names from the invitations, but he was flying somewhat blind.  He knew the painter more through reputation, but William was sure he met Jasper somewhere before on the pureblood social calendar.

“Oh, have you two met Jasper?  He is quite a prodigy with the piano, and quite an artist from what I’ve heard.  Anyways-  Jasper this is Liadán Ó Móráin & Gregory Morosov.  Gregory & Liadan, meet Jasper Marsh.”  William introduced everyone to each other, hoping they weren’t mortal enemies.  Or if they were, they would do the entire political thing and backstab each other where it could not be traced back to them.  Or do the Wizengamot thing and find someone else to screw over and get drunk to celebrate.  

James watched the sea of dresses and dress robes.  He and his date had both taken a drink, and James was sitting down, munching on some of the dragon meat.  Though the meat was kind of spicy, it did taste good.  The quidditch player in him wondered if there would be some noticeable effects from eating such a magical species, but James doubted it.  As he finished with the piece of meat, he offered his arm to his date, and pointed to the dance floor.  She took it, and James began some simple steps, seeing if there was anyone in the room he should try to take home tonight should get to know better.

Liadan removed her hand from Gregory's arm long enough to place it in Jasper's hand, offering him a polite smile. "Good evening, Mr. Marsh." She glanced for a moment, wondering where the man's date was. He was, no doubt, a handsome man, and very successful. Liadan had heard about his artistic exploits from Lothario. He kept an eye on anyone who was worth a damn in that entire world. Liadan wasn't very fond of the arts- not in an appreciative way, at least. Her interest came from her place in society. It was expected of her to know something about music and fashion and art.

Liadan nudged Gregory when he stood without speaking. His attention was diverted by the food, alcohol, and money that was wandering about. He gave an appropriate, albeit gruff greeting, then leaned down to whisper to Liadan before disappearing through the crowd. She scowled after him. What was the point of having a date as handsome as Gregory if she was not going to be seen with him? Liadan licked her lips then put her smile back on. "He cannot resist the gambling," she explained.

"How are you doing this evening, Mr. Marsh?" she inquired, taking a glass of champagne off of a tray as it passed. "I am surprised to see you. One one would assume that an artist such as yourself would have some important concert on an evening like tonight..." Liadan sipped her drink, peering at him over the crystal brim.

Pleasantries were quickly exchanged and conversation moved beyond introductions.  Someone passed with a tray of champagne and Jasper took a glass glancing curiously at Liadan’s date as he wandered off.  He gave a slight nod when she mentioned Gregory being unable to resist gambling.  In his mind he thought if he had a woman like Liadan on his arm, gambling would not be the first thing he found himself anxious to pursue.

“I am doing very well, thank you, Miss Ó Móráin,” he said, giving her a small smile.  “I was rather busy over Christmas play at parties at events, but I had thought it might be a nice change to simply enjoy my New Years.  Besides, I wasn’t about to miss this event.”

He was bluffing a bit.  Indeed he had made the commitment to himself to actually enjoy his New Years, but pretentious soirees weren’t exactly his preferred activity if he wasn’t playing.  The only reason he was here was to try to do a bit of networking.  The moment he felt as if he had spoken to everyone he needed to then he was off.

“I must say, you do look lovely this evening, Miss Ó Móráin,” he added.  “It’s a pity your date seems to prefer gambling.”

"Why thank you, Mr. Marsh." Liadan knew she looked nice, she had spent quite some time choosing her dress for the event. "You look quite handsome yourself. The pink accents are marvelous." And it took a man who was quite confident to pull them off. But he was wearing blue, like many others. Liadan would have wagered he would look far more handsome in white. He had the right complexion for it.

His comment twinged her nerves. He had to have known that it would. In their world, no comment like that was made without a person being fully aware of all the ways it could be taken. You were raised to be a verbal combatant if you were on the upper rungs of pureblood society. The smile she gave him in return showed her displeasure, but her words did not. "I prefer for Gregory to spend his evening at the poker table. There are some cultures that don't breed men who are fit for polite society." Because, in Liadan's opinion, the Russian culture was inferior. Sergei had the same gruffness as Gregory, and at times Liadan found herself seriously concerned by Melanthe's behavior at such events as well.

"But someone has to culture him, and there are few women with my level of patience. Besides, he manages to survive in French social circles, so he has come a long way on his own already." She intended to further train him, and it was evident by her tone.

She took another swallow of champagne, then gave him an uncharacteristically mischievous smirk. One that her girlfriends would swear might have been a tad flirtatious- though Liadan would swear that it was not. She did not flirt, after all. She allowed men to pursue her. (As she was allowing Gregory to pursue her.) And Liadan would continue to allow men to pursue her (and not return their affections for the most part) until she located a suitable husband. "Though I must say, Mr. Marsh, it is a pity you've managed to scare your date off already. One must wonder what that says about your manners."

William was smiling.  His guests were already sniping at each other.  That meant the party was going to be a complete success.  Of course, purebloods defined successful parties by the number of back-stabs and the number of people they ran roughshod over.  Consequently, William thought that Liadan and Jasper were in the celebratory spirit.  Wondering if alcohol would be beneficial or not, William decided that the two of them seemed to be getting along fine.  He then remembered he was supposed to ease tensions and be a kind and considerate host.  Since the two had apparently engaged in the conversation, that left him to go greet the maddening crowd.  Wondering why James could not do this sort of thing, he politely excused himself from the conversation, and went to greet more guests.

---

James was having a grand time.  There was a pretty girl on his arm, and he had an excuse for a long, comfortable, and completely non-awkward silence.  James wondered if girls were prettier when they did not speak.  As he thought about it, and thought about the difference between his date and Liadan, James came to that conclusion.  If he was ever dumb enough to get married, he would have to make sure whoever he spent the rest of his life with did not speak the same language.  That way, it would be impossible to communicate.  James knew his parents made that mistake when they arranged William's marriage, and his brother was still paying for it.  Though his thoughts on his brother's life were somewhat dark, he knew his brother would not have married that %!@#! if he had any say in the matter.  It was decided long before he was born.  For once in his life, James seriously contemplated how much freedom being a 'spare' gave him.  He felt a grateful for it, and figured he should go talk to Liadan after she finished chatting up the young man.  James knew that Liadan could definitely use a man in her life, and James did not want to ruin her chances.