#smokeevent

Han as Horatio sauntered across the Great Hall, munching on a plate of hors d'oeuvres with a kind of casual attitude he didn’t usually. He was here to watch, to make sure nothing seemed amiss, but Han didn’t see why he couldn’t have a little fun in the process. He sniffed a bit, still getting used to the texture of the mustache above his lip. He definitely wasn’t growing his own any time soon, but it was an interesting feeling.

“Hello there,” he said, in the carefully practiced Norwegian accent he’d spent the last hour perfecting. “You look rather lonely standing here all by yourself. Do you always prefer to watch, or can I talk you into a dance? I’m sure we’d make a lovely pair.” And if he could gain some information either from his partner or from people they passed, even better.

While others felt a sense of bittersweet nostalgia, Noah was completely immune to such sentiments; after all, he graduated last year and being in the Great Hall simply made him itch for the leather book bag crowded full of class materials. It was interesting, however, to watch other people gush over the delicacies floating on silver plates or the gigantic Christmas tree or, if cheeky enough, the mistletoe currently hanging nearby like a predator waiting for prey.  Upon the quick disappearance of a flushed face young woman without giving a proper kiss, the plant seemed to emit the saddest, slowest violin ballad he’s ever heard as the man strolled off, trying desperately to ignore the noise. Previously amused, his expression melted into annoyance when the mistletoe seemed to turn and float closer towards him. Assuming a small fire would be frowned upon during such a festive time, Noah turned to walk (slightly hurriedly) towards the next closest living, breathing individual. Perhaps the mistletoe would be satisfied with another target instead. 

After gracefully slamming his toe against the corner of a table, he took a deep inhale and glared at the offensive plant. “Come off it-- there’s plenty of other people who need a snog. Like that one,” he nodded towards the other. 

Henry recognized the surly man from the park so long ago, although he had to do a small double-take. The angry stranger cleaned up nicely, and Henry regretted that he appeared to have forgotten the man’s name. Taking a sip of his drink and grabbing another, he approached with a wide smile, offering the glass. 

“The best defense is a good offense,” he said lightly. “Two handsome strangers alone in this room were bound to run into each other, and I’d rather not repeat what happened last time. Drink?”

Viscum album. Mistletoe. Magically blooming right above her. And also someone right in front of her. 

Bailey was socially inept but she wasn’t stupid; even if she thought the tradition was stupid, she knew what it was. Kissing someone just because you happened to step under a plant at the same time, though? That seemed crazier than anything she’d ever done, despite how people loved to point out her “oddities.”

“Do you think anything will happen if we don’t kiss?” she asked her companion, still looking up at the mistletoe and debating just walking away. This could be interesting data for her new experiment, though...

Nic floated through the room, enjoying himself with a glass of nonalcoholic champagne- how nice for it to be an option, for once!- and watching the various couples with interest. Several social circles were overlapping tonight, and Nic was grateful for the distraction. 

At the sight of Gilderoy Lockhart, however, his joy increased exponentially, and it was of a far less nefarious variety than normal. 

“I was hoping to see you again,” he said, French rolling off his tongue as he approached the man with a genuine smile. There was something easy about being around Gilderoy, not even accounting for the shared language, and Nic couldn’t deny an eagerness to bask in his glow again, if only for a little while. “You look magnificent.”

Fourth secret reason, Marcus Bulstrode was here and so was mistletoe. And here he and Mafalda had been all worried about trying to get Marcus into the Ministry’s function. This one was way more fun and they didn’t even need to plant mistletoe. Shame Benjy wasn’t here to see it.  Though maybe he didn’t want Benjy to see him kiss people that felt weird. Not the point.

The point was that he was at a party and his hair was almost back to normal and he felt okay for the first time all month. If that wasn’t a reason to charm the whole damn castle he didn’t know what was.

“Quite the turnout, isn’t there?” He said, smiling beatifically.