A/N: This story has been written for the Golden Snitch Forum - Ollivander's Wand Challenge and the International Wizarding School Championship
A/N 2: I do not own Harry Potter. It solely belongs to J.K. Rowling!
Prompt: 1. [Speech] "Give me one good reason why I should wear a dress."
2. Wand Length- 15- Write about a Hufflepuff Character
Theme: Christmas
Word count: 1089
Nymphadora fumbled with the zipper of her dress. She had been trying to pull it for the past ten minutes and was feeling exhausted. Finally, the stupid thing budged, and taking a breath of relief she looked at herself in the mirror. Merlin! She looked absolutely horrid. The pastel blue dress was in total contrast to her funky pink hair.
She caught sight of her husband's reflection in the mirror, who seems to be having a very hard time in masking his amused smile at her current state of distress. If looks could kill, Remus should've been dead by now.
"I look hideous. I'm gonna be the latest joke. Oh, Merlin! Please don't let the twins see me." Her face paled with each passing second; she was petrified. Remus couldn't control any longer and he burst out laughing. For as long as he could remember, his wife was a badass woman - someone who wasn't willing to give up and someone who wasn't afraid of anything, come what may. At the moment though, she looked like a child who was frightened for her first day at school.
"You look beautiful, love. It's kind of a nice change to see you in a proper dress." Remus tried to hug her close in assurance, but it seemed that his wife didn't like his comment because she narrowed her eyes at him. His apparent death was delayed, however, when there came a slight knock on the door.
"Ah lovebirds, now is not the time for chick flick." Charlie's booming voice came and Nymphadora glared at her best friend.
"And look at you." He mocked her, very well aware of what could happen if Dora lost her temper. "Don't you look cute," Charlie said as he sauntered smugly towards her, and bopped her nose.
"I swear, Charlie Weasley, the second I'm out if this," she said mentioning to the dress that apparently wasn't comfortable in the least, "I'm gonna murder you with my bare hands."
"Well to be fair, you can't. You lost the bet, like always, and as per the rules you can't whine or complain. So, my dearest Nymphadora," He put special emphasis on her name and continued, "stop being a spoilsport and let's get down for the lunch before Mum loses her mind again." Charlie grabbed her hand and dragged her towards the kitchen where everyone had gathered. They had all gathered at the Burrow for a nice Christmas lunch in order to take off Harry's mind off his godfather's sudden death. Surprisingly, Charlie had taken out time from his dragon smothering and came when Bill persisted his attendance.
The kitchen was bustling with the clatter of utensils and the usual noise when everyone shouted at each other instead of talking like civil people. Molly though was on the verge of scolding everyone. From the Christmas decorations to the delicious food, everything was just like Harry liked.
The apple pie, cookies and cheesecake had taken more time to be prepared than she had anticipated. And now, Molly was exhausted. But seeing the look of absolute awe on Harry's face, made all the preparations worthy. Nymphadora, on the other hand, wasn't so happy.
"Why do you look like a bubblegum?" Was the first question directed into her direction as they entered the kitchen. Nymphadora's hair quickly changed from bright pink to blue, as she glared daggers in Ron's direction. Everyone was staring at her now, their expressions ranging from confusion to amusement.
"It's your brother's fault." She huffed quite dramatically.
"Seriously though, what happened?" It was Harry this time, uncertainty clear in his voice. He looked at his honorary werewolf godfather but got no answer. Looping his arm around Dora's shoulder Charlie joined the conversation.
Flashback
"Okay, okay. I've got one." Charlie chimed as his turn came. All the Weasley's had gathered in the living room after dinner, to just catch up with each other. Somehow, the conversation had steered in the direction of everyone revealing someone else's secret.
"As you all know, Nymphadora and I have been best friends since we were kids, so we obviously know a lot about each other. Nymphadora dearest here," He patted her shoulder twice, whilst the Tonks' girl was trying to decipher which secret of her's was being revealed, "Loves romantic movies. She even cries when she watches those rom-coms." Remus gasped audibly; that was brand new information.
"Charlie can't handle booze." Dora all but shouted, a menacing glance in her eyes.
"Oh! That is so not true. I can handle my drinks better than you, anyway. Or do I need to remind you of the time when you got all drunk in 6th year?" The game was on, both Charlie and Nymphadora ready.
"A bet then, right here, right now. Same rule as always - whoever loses has to do what the other person demands, no whining or complaining." Charlie knew he had a very good chance at losing, but he wouldn't back away. He was a Gryffindor after all.
"Okay then! If that is what you want. If you lose, I want you to wear a dress for tomorrow's family dinner." The Weasley boy smirked at her.
"Give me one good reason I should wear a dress."
"Because it's Christmas celebration tomorrow, and also I haven't seen you in a dress since you were eight. It's the dress or I would challenge you do braid your hair in pigtails." Charlie snickered seeing her gobsmacked reaction. Finally, he's got her. Dora looked at the others in the room; they were all silent, not knowing what to do.
"Okay. But if I win, you are going on a date with the girl I select for you, and you'll also think about getting married and settling down." As soon as the word marriage came out, Molly gushed at Dora and Charlie narrowed his eyes in annoyance.
"Do we have a deal, Mr Weasley?"
"Deal."
"And Nymphadora here lost." Charlie bragged about his win with puffed chest, whilst his best friend sulked.
"Now dearest, don't act like a sore loser. We have a cake to eat." The metamorphmagus went by to help Molly and try to ignore the snickers.
"Did you seriously win? She's right, you can't handle booze." George whispered as he and Fred cornered their brother.
"How could you doubt me, dear twins? I cheated of course." With that he left, following Dora to the kitchen, probably to annoy her some more before she lost her temper.