Let Me Be Invisible

[linders]

Linda really had no use for balls, but she did what was expected of her. No matter what the cost. This time, it would be her sanity. Men could wear whatever they wanted to a ball as long as it wasn't garishly out of style or some hideous shade, but women had to spend meticulous planning out of what they were going to wear. It was insanity at it's finest and Miss Snape really wasn't quite a fan of it. She was sure her whole family was waiting on her to go, but she didn't know what she should wear. Finally as her mother walked in, asking the girl to lace up her corset she was reprimanded for still not being dressed. "I'm sorry, mum," she apologized. "I still don't know what to wear," she remarked, crinkling up her nose in distaste. In the end she decided upon this little number thinking it would do well enough. She pulled her long black hair up, she would much prefer it down, but she figured it would be cooler to keep her hair up. Less sweat, well it kind of worked for her. Annoyingly, her mother had to decide to curl her hair, as well.

The Slytherin bit her tongue, however. Her mother insisted that her hair looked charming like that. Linda thought it looked everything but. She pulled on this mask since it was a masque ball, after all. Her mother made a comment about all of the black she wore. "Oh, black is a charming color, I'm sure father would agree," she insisted. She wasn't going to wear a charming little dress infused with color and life. No, she wasn't exactly keen on colors, in the first place. She slipped her feet into black slippers and thought she was done. But no, her mother had to put golden accents of jewelry in her hands and insisted that she put it on. "Being a woman is oh so tedious," she muttered under her breath. If she had the choice, she would much rather unsex herself. Men had it so much easier in innumerable ways!

However, she was finally finished and her mother looked like a painter quite proud of it's masterpiece. She was a little less enthused. Yes, she knew that she looked beautiful, but she didn't want to go. Why couldn't she feign ill and tell everyone how terribly sorry she was not to be there? From the expression on her father's face she could tell that he felt the same way. Poor father, they seemed to agree on a lot of things and yet no one normally saw it their way. Oh, the annoyances of doing things the pureblood way. She noticed her mother fussing over Leonidas and Archibald and took this opportunity to fix her father's tie. "Pity we have to go, isn't it?" she asked with a small sigh and he merely nodded warily, but Linda's mother hadn't heard her. She spoke in little more than a whisper, like her father. Her mother had the tendency to be louder than she could ever dream of being unless very furious for whatever reason.

Sighing, the girl grimaced when her mother announced that they were already to go. She also grimaced at the gauzy shawl that her mother had thrown around her shoulders, shaking her head. Hadn't her mother realized that the style of shawl she had been wearing had gone out years ago? Evidently not, but Linda could tell her father and brothers noticed. She loved her mother, she truly did, but sometimes her mother could drive her crazy. For all her fashion sense, sometimes she messed up and royally. Like right now. She was embarrassed and didn't even want to be seen with Matilda, but Linda also knew that this wasn't a possibility, so she clung far behind making idle chatter with her older twin, Leonidas. Archibald often annoyed her with his arrogance and halfheartedness. She much preferred talking to her twin. It made life so much easier.

She had to admit that the cool air felt good on her bare flesh. She loved the scent of ginger and apples as they walked to the Malfoy Manor. Despite all her viciousness, she was very attune to nature, sometimes, and today would be one of those days. It almost made walking with a fashion woe and her shawl of doom. Almost being the operative word. She sighed once they reached the Malfoy Manor. It was vast, looming and very frightening at first glance. She felt herself reach for Leo's arm, but he pushed her away. Seemingly because he didn't want to be seen with his sister clutching his arm. How rude! She was his twin sister for Merlin sake. Sighing, as a family collectively the Snape's entered and she hated that. All the introductions, the gossip mongering, and stupidity of it all annoyed her. She much rather be curled up in a ball at home, reading.

She stole away from her parents and her siblings for some fresh air. Linda needed to get away from all the ludicrous conversations being spouted about all around her by people who didn't even know what the hell they were going on about. She strolled into the ballroom quite accidentally. She only had one thought going on through her mind, Let Me Be Invisible. She didn't want to be fawned over and she didn't want to be at a ball to begin with. What was with these purebloods and their galas? She leaned against the door, obviously quite bored. She doubted that there was anything that could light up the evening for her. Sighing, the ebony haired maiden bit her lip, and gazed all about her. The mood of the evening was no doubt to be whimsical, fun, perhaps even seductive. But all the Slytherin could muster was cold indifference at the whole affair.

[arthur]

»» He didn't like being here. The classy music playing for the adults to waltz to, and the girls all dressed up like a child's doll; it made his skin crawl. Even worse were the mothers hawking their daughters for marriage while the fathers' of the grooms looked them over like broodmares. Truly sickening. It made him ecstatic that he had Ambrose as a buffer between him and rest of the pureblood society. Everyone wanted the heir to the Foxx family before the poor second son. Evane was all on her own though. His poor sister being looked over by lusty old men imagining her in their bed as they put her in their son's. A twisting feeling in his gut made Jason look away from his older sister to stare down at his shoes. Vaguely, he wondered when his father would begin looking for his second daughter-in-law. Ambrose was already in the final stages of picking his first wife. A Goyle girl, or a Carrow, or maybe a MacNair were all in the running along with some strange russian or german pureblood family who were infamous for backing Grindewald in his day. Frankly, Jason didn't care. As long as he was able to avoid most of the snoots at this party, particularly the mothers, he'd be able to tolerate the Malfoy's ball. Annoying family.

»» But where the hell was the booze? It was the only real reason that he'd showed up. That and his father's rediculous claim to disenherit him if he didn't. Bullshit. But, it had been worth it showing up at his father's house dressed in muggle clothes. The way Nicholas's eyes had bugged out had been priceless. Of course, the spell that had smacked him upside the head hadn't been so great. But still, with that expression fixed in his mind, what did a little pain matter? His dress robes were a little tight across the chest, adding to the natural stuffy and out dated style. Elegant black with a classy dark emerald cloak that was currently where ever the cloaks and coats were taken. It had been the only piece of his clothing that he'd actually liked, and it was gone, leaving him identical to the rest of pureblood males in the room. And gods how he hated all of them. Snobbish bastards.

»» With a start he realized that an annoying older woman was headed toward him. A mother who'd had a son in school with him or an ugly daughter she needed a suitor for. Casting a quick look around, Jason moved away from the wall he'd been leaning against and headed purposefully toward a younger girl. Although she looked like a "young adult", Jason had the feeling she was just barely old enough to be attending. All the better. If you went by his mental age, then HE wasn't allowed to attend. Actually, he'd tried that one and Evane had slapped him upside the head for it. Casually he stopped next to the door, leaning back against the wall to watch the couples who paraded around in rediculous 'dances'. She looked like a gothic princess, and was probably treated like one at home. Although he wasn't sure if she was really that skinny or if her dress was just so constricting she couldn't breath. "Why do people insist on throwing these things? Stuffy clothes, crappy music, and people who secretly hate each other. Who in the hell thinks thats fun?" For the first time he turned to look at her directly since coming to stand next to her. Dark hair pulled up with curls escaping and sharp blue green eyes staring from behind the black and gold feathered mask. Personally, he'd wanted to come in a muggle's gas mask to protect himself from the stink of the bullshit dished at these things. Instead, he ended up in a zoro style strip of black silk across this eyes with slits for his eyes. Briefly he wondered which daddy's little girl this was before glancing away.

»» She had to be at least three years his junior if she didn't have slobbery, inbred pureblood heirs hanging off her. Then again, most young girls would be so excited to be at a big ball such as this. So maybe she wasn't so much as bored as feeling dejected that no young stud had offered her a dance. Tough luck. Anxiously his eyes scanned the ballroom for the annoying old hag, relief washing through him as he found her picking on Ambrose. Bastard deserved it for helping their father shove him in this monkey suit. No, it was really Evane who was getting the worst of it. Attached to a shorter red head boy with bad acne as he moved them across the dance floor looking like a baboon with a stick up it's butt. Chuckling a little to himself at the sight, Jason half turned to the girl, about to point it out when he releazed he didn't know her name. Well, wasn't that the point of a masked ball? To not know who you're talking to? First names? Or, in his case, middle names. "I'm Jason, you?" Not exactly the smoothest, but he was a couple years older. He couldn't exactly hit on her, even with his record.

count; 884
current; done
actor; Matt Czuchry
notes; first post with him, little rusty

[linders]

She half-thought her plan was working. Becoming invisible, that is. It seemed that most people here were in the mood for dancing. She could understand why, what with this being a dance floor and all. She was an exquisite dancer, but Linda wasn't in the mood for some pureblood lug to drag her around the dance floor for she seemed to have the worst luck with dance partners in the past and to be quite honest she had only danced with them so that her mother would be pleased. The seventeen year old was luckier than most girls. Most girls her age, she reckoned would be arranged with someone to marry. She was lucky enough to escape that fate, fortunately. For that would be the only thing she could never forgive her father for if he ever agreed to that insanity.

But she knew her father well. If anyone would protest against that, it would be him. Her father and brother together were terrible. They had to be the most protective gits that the world had ever seen combined. She was glad that no one had flung one of their ugly sons in her direction and expected her to be appeased by entertaining the idea of an arranged marriage. Perhaps, it was the fierce, indifferent look on her face that was scaring people off. Or maybe she really was invisible. She snorted at the thought. She knew that really wasn't true. But a girl could dream, couldn't she? If only, if only. She shook her head as she noticed Leonidas dancing with some blonde bimbo. She seemed most displeased. Probably because her brother couldn't dance to save his life, which of course, she found amusing. Probably the only amusing thing of the night, she predicted with a small sigh escaping her rosemary lips.

She turned when someone addressed her. Damn! was the one thought that crossed her mind. Apparently her mastermind plot of staying invisible hadn't worked. She'd have to be the proper lady. She'd have to be social. She inwardly groaned. People weren't exactly her forte, but she supposed that she could be nice. After all, wasn't that what all good little respectable pureblood girls did? Make up idle chatter thus not boring their male counterparts. Not that he was insinuating that he wanted to dance, thank Merlin, but all the same she was expected to be delightfully chatty and gossipy. That's what she hated about being a woman sometimes. There was so much presumption to one's character and not enough digging for one's true character, in her opinion.

"I suppose they do it just to prove how wealthy they are," Linda scoffed, in agreement that this ball was stupid. Now a good little pureblood girl would have probably been offended by Jason's remarks, but not she. She was as bored with this whole affair as he was. She never understood the point of these ridiculous balls, either. "Not that the Malfoy's exactly need to prove how rich they are. I was going to try to get out of it by feigning sick," she remarked with a chuckle. "But that would never do. Daddy and Lucius are best friends, so it would seem. If they're not lovers," she joked darkly, with a wry smirk. She didn't honestly think that, but it was odd how close the pair of men were at times. She didn't think her father swung that way, but she couldn't honestly say for sure and she wasn't going to try to figure that out.

"I wouldn't know who thinks that these things are actually any fun. Except frivolous people like my mother. I'm surprised she hasn't marched right over to me and pawn some hideous boy on me and demand that I dance with him. But you're right. It's not like any of them come because they like each other. It's about who can outdo the other in their attire or presence and to gossip monger and create scandals if they can. Because they're all so incredibly vapid and shallow like that," Linda sneered, a clear look of distaste of that thought on her face. Her blue green eyes took in the appearance of the person standing before her. He had blue eyes, blonde hair from what she could see of it, and hazel eyes. She was wearing flats, but she vaguely realized that they were the same height. She wondered if he found that intimidating or not. Some people found tall women to be alarming, which she found all the more amusing. The Slytherin knew that wasn't nice, but she never exactly claimed to be, either.

Linda noticed his eyes fall upon the dance floor. She wondered if he had any relatives here. Likely, most purebloods were related somehow if only distantly. Which, of course, she found a little ailing. Because the idea of incest was a scary one. "I'm Linda," she answered. Her voice was light and airy, as normal. She spoke always in soft whispers, that sometimes made her sound out of breath and usually more often than not had a cynical or sarcastic edge to them. She couldn't help it. It was in her nature to be sarcastic. "I feel bad for that blonde," she remarked, pointing out a girl that was beautifully dressed. "She's dancing with my brother and as you can readily see he has two left feet," she pointed out with a snicker. It really was quite pathetic on Leonidas' part. She wondered if her brother realized that.

[arthur]

»» Yes, she must young if she thought that playing sick could get her out of a Malfoy event. Once you were of an appropriate age, nothing but your death bed could get you away from Pureblood society. Well, that and being a blood traitor. She didn't look close to either. Vaguely he wondered if she had purposely dropped the 'best friends' comment to show her family's status, or if she was just making conversation. Ever since Draco had been given the task of killing Albus Dumbledore, the Malfoys had been on the rise. A brief stab of sadness pierced him at the thought of the powerful wizard's death. Had there really been no way to turn that old fool to the pureblood cause? From what Fox had read, the professor had been incredably intelligent. Someone who could teach a lot to the new generations of Death Eaters. That was probably the problem though. The Death Eaters and how they used their knowledge.

»» Jason pulled his thoughts from the gutter and focused on the younger girl again. Like most teenagers, she had a strange fondness for excessive talking. Which was fine with him since he wasn't very good at small talk anyway. The pure disgust in her voice about the other people here was intriuging though. From far away the other party-goers must think he was asking her view on the treatment of mudbloods. Not that she wasn't right. Stupid, shallow, vane creatures who stopped to stare at themselves in any mirror they passed. Softly he chuckled to himself at the picture she painted. Yes, every high class pureblood loved a good scandal to gossip about. It was their favorite past time beyond scaring muggles senseless and torturing the mudbloods. He wondered how many ripples his father's sex life had created among these very families. He wondered how many even remembered unless prompted.

»» Linda. It was a nice enough name. Not the usual dark sounding pureblood crap, but also not the flouncy boring muggle muck. He liked it. Casually he followed her gaze to see his sister and monkey she was being dragged around by. Really? Her brother? Pathetic. Evane had changed her hair color for this event, so that it would go better with her dress. Usually it was a soft red brown with streaks of blonde, but tonight it was like spun gold. His sister, the spoiled princess. Jason hide a laugh with his fist as he tried to change it into a cough. "Thats your brother? He's ... amusing." Again he tried to master his laughter, turning to look at her instead of the dancefloor in an attempt to stem his giggles. Had hogwarts never taught dance classes? Did her family not have the money to pay a private instructor? Suddenly he wanted to see how well she danced. Although he wasn't sure what type of partners they'd make. He was average height, but considered on the shorter side for a guy. His personal preference were girls around 5'4" simply because then even with heels they were a comfortable fit for him. Fox didn't mind tall girls though. They usually had great legs.

»» The boredom that plagued these balls was starting to eat at him. It really wouldn't be so bad if he could find some whiskey or other alcohal. Naturally, the booze was no where to be seen. If the Malfoys really wanted to impress then they'd have it flowing from their fountains. Knowing his luck, they did and he just couldn't find them. Probably a good thing. Once purebloods started to drink, all their dirty little secrets came oozing out. Then again, this party needed a little bit spice. Getting everyone roaring drunk may not be the way, but how could he make things interesting? Obviously it had to be things that couldn't be traced back to him. His siblings would guess, naturally, but the rest of these uptight snoots? No, they wouldn't look to him. Maybe they'd think the Malfoys had screwed up in their party planning. Now that would be a delicious joke. Suddenly eager and no longer bored, Jason glanced slyly around the room. Where to start? A test first? Slipping one hand into his pocket and grasping his wand, Jason focused on his brother and 'thought' of a subtle tripping hex. Ambrose, having found a semi-decent girl to dance with, stumbled forward, nearly nocking his partner to the floor while his nose got dangerous close to her half-exposed breasts. Jason snickered and turned to look at Linda again. Wanna have some fun?

count; 700 something
current; done
actor; Matt Czuchry
notes; blah ...

[linders]

Well, she hated balls. That was it. Simply she couldn't be bothered to care about them. They were burdensome and tediously tiring. It was as if everyone was either dancing well or dancing very much as if they had twigs up their butts and this disgruntled her. Why couldn't anyone break out of the mold and try something new? Why were they all so obsessed with looking perfect all the time. No one looked perfect forever nor all the time. It was quite silly, really. But to think that people wanted the world to think of them as perfect highly amused her. Because no one was perfect. Who could be? They were all human and thus they were all flawed. Fools. Thinking that they were so brilliant when they were nothing. Humans were mere vapors making imprints. That was all.

She hated the vanity of purebloods. Now, she was a narcissist, herself, but she wasn't stupid enough to delude herself into thinking she was the most gorgeous person out there. Nor would she ever openly allude to that. She was a bit more subtle than that. Thank Merlin, for her subtlety, it seemed a lot of people were lacking that these days which was quite disgusting should one ask her. Like the motives of people should be known at all times. She wished people could be less obvious. She hated it when people weren't subtle. It was really rather annoying. Would it kill them to actually use their brains instead of wagging their tongues? Apparently it would. She snorted, rolling her midnight eyes.

Her attention, however, returned to her brother, however, as he almost fell on his butt. She tried hard to not to roll her eyes. Really, would it kill her brother to be a more graceful figure? She thought he was a disgrace to the Snape name simply because he hadn't bothered dancing properly. At least she could. The pale, dark haired young woman turned her blue eyes upon Jason when he began speaking again. She usually made eye contact with people unless she hated them or didn't want to pay attention to them. But he seemed to think a lot like her, so she would tolerate him and what he had to say. For she wasn't about to find someone who was so sympathetic with her views elsewhere, she reasoned. They'd all tell her off and tell her parents how horrible she was and she shouldn't even be a pureblood since she couldn't appreciate their society.

"Oh, there's no need to be kind," Linda said with a devilish smirk crossing over her full lips. "You can say it. He's completely and irrevocably useless and horrible. I don't know why he can't dance," she remarked, shaking her head. "But it wouldn't surprise me if he wasn't paying attention to the dance instructor. My mother tried to correct his ineptitude at dancing. Poor dear, I hope that he doesn't crush her feet while they're dancing. She doesn't seem to be enjoying herself. Maybe I should hex him and put her out of her misery so she could dance with someone else," she suggested with a mischievous smirk. "Then again, he is my twin, and I don't expect that would be proper pureblood conduct," she remarked, rolling her eyes.

Linda smirked at Jason. "Of course, I'd like to have fun. What exactly did you have in mind?" she queried arching her brows above her blue eyes. She wondered what had crossed his mind. But anything other than standing around here watching her idiot brother dance about with some unfortunate girl would make her night. She sighed at the girls misfortune. Poor thing really did deserve a better dance partner. But her attention returned back to Jason as she awaited a response. She vaguely wondered how old he was. He seemed a bit older than she was, but she couldn't place his age exactly.

He was attractive, well, for a blonde. She normally didn't like them, but he seemed to pull it off decently. Which was good for him. She wondered why he was there alone. Seemed almost improper. Surely, he'd have a fiance or girlfriend latched to his arm. Though, judging from his attitude on the ball, perhaps, he had ditched her? She couldn't say that she blamed him. If she had a date to the shindig she would have lost them as quickly as possible, too. However, she couldn't help but notice as her brother fell flat on his back and onto a servant. Laughter spilled out of her lips before she could stifle it. She noticed people looking at her with narrowed eyes, apparently she was being rude. But how could they not think that was funny?