Discoveries and Dress Robes

"So, Roo, who's your date for the ball?"

Ruby Harvey looked up from her Transfiguration essay. Her best friend, Nancy had collapsed into the chair next to her, and was looking at her expectantly, waiting for an answer. Over her head, Roo could see Madame Pince glaring at the two of them over her spectacles.

"Nancy, we're in the library."

"I always knew you were a genius," Nancy rolled her eyes, "Now tell me!"

Roo didn't answer, but bent her head over her work. She could tell what Nancy's motivation was. She looked flushed, and slightly smug. No doubt her blonde-haired, blue-eyed best friend had just agreed to go with one of her many admirers to the Yule Ball. Roo had been party to the story of every boy who had asked Nancy to the Ball, and thankfully, the one who mattered wasn't part of the extensive list. Roo had lost count of the number of boys who had come up to the two of them in the past couple of weeks, looking to ask Nancy out. Roo had just had to stand there, while besotted boys told her best friend how beautiful she was. To be honest, she couldn't blame them. Nancy had inherited her mother's long, thick blonde hair that didn't need any styling whatsoever to look utterly incredible. As if this wasn't enough, her eyes were huge, and a sparkling sky blue, her skin was slightly tanned and perfectly clear, and she had a body that any girl would willingly kill for. Roo was quite the opposite. Her hair had an annoying tendency to frizz out, and was a dull ginger. Her eyes were dark, her skin was pale and freckled, and she was short. Small wonder that she was always overlooked.

"Roo..." Nancy raised her eyebrows, "Come on! You can tell me!"

Roo could feel her eyes smarting. Breathing heavily, she shut her book and stood up.

"You know perfectly well who I'm going with, Nancy," she said, "I'm going with the same person that I always go with whenever you're in Hogsmeade with yet another boy. I'm going with the one person who would ever actually look at me, and you know who that is, Nancy? No one. No one's asked me, and you know it, so there's no need to rub it in, okay?"

Trying to stop tears from leaking from her eyes, Roo half ran out of the library. She hadn't finished her essay, but she found herself not caring. She'd had five years of constantly being in the shadow of the two best looking girls in the year, who just happened to be her two of her Housemates. Nancy Foster and Cho Chang. What chance did she have? She was the quiet one. The one that got the good marks. The one that was terrible at Quidditch. The one who stood no chance of being asked to the ball next to those two. She'd always been more focused on schoolwork. On eventually getting that job at the Ministry.

The Ravenclaw Common Room was full, but not a single person looked up as Roo walked in. She ran straight up the stairs to her dormitory, which was thankfully empty. Only then, did she allow her eyes to overflow. She couldn't pretend that every soppy look given to the other two wasn't like a knife drawn across her skin. Especially recently. The Yule Ball was the perfect catalyst for a self-confidence crisis, and boy, was it doing its job. Girls gathered, giggling, in the corridors, swapping gossip even more than normal and comparing outfits. At least it would all be over in a week. That afternoon, Hogsmeade would be overflowing with Hogwarts students buying last minute accessories, cosmetics, and in Roo's case, clothes. Cho had been astounded to find out that Roo hadn't even bothered to buy dress robes, so had decided, against Roo's wishes, to take her shopping. Great, Roo thought, an afternoon of looking in mirrors. Perfect. She hated shopping, preferring to spend the weekends and holidays in various grey baggy jumpers and jeans. She was dreading the afternoon.

Roo's fears were only heightened when she met Cho in the Common Room at one o'clock. Cho had an eager look on her face, and was practically bouncing.

"Roo!" she cried, "Are you ready?"

"Not really," Roo said, trying to muster up a smile.

"Brilliant." Grabbing Roo's arm, Cho half-dragged her out of the Common Room, chattering all the way.

"Did Nancy tell you who she's going with?" she asked.

"No, she didn't."

"Well, she spent ages thinking about it, but she's going with that boy from Beauxbatons. The really good looking dark-haired one."

A boy from Beaxbatons. That was okay. Roo could cope with that. Maybe she could even cope with an afternoon of shopping. After all, it was essentially an afternoon spent with one of her friends. This thought cheered her up as they trooped along the snowy path to the village.

"So who are you going with then?" she asked.

"Guess." Cho said, grinning. There was only one thing that would make her grin like that.

"No way!" Roo's mouth fell open, "He actually asked you?"

"Ruby Harvey, you are looking at Cedric Diggory's date for the Triwizard Tournament Yule Ball!" Cho didn't even stop grinning when a group of girls near them turned around in shock, jealous looks on their faces. Roo and Cho were too busy to notice, however, as they squealed and jumped up and down in the middle of the path.

"So, who else asked you?" asked Roo, when they'd finished celebrating. She hardly dared ask, and tried to keep her face as indifferent as possible. However, at the question, Cho's face fell.

"Roo, I feel really bad," she said, "Harry Potter asked me earlier."

Roo's mouth fell open. "Wow, Cho," she said, "Two Triwizard champions?"

"I know, I know," said Cho dismissively, "But his face when I said no... I hadn't realised." She looked so down that Roo pressed the conversation on.

"He'll be fine," she said, "He's a boy. Was there anyone else?"

If Cho was suspicious, she didn't show it.

"There was another boy - Firmin - from Beauxbatons," she said, "His English wasn't great, but he seemed a nice enough boy. That was it though."

Roo tried not to let relief show on her face. True, he could have easily asked someone else, but at least it wasn't her best friend.

"Roo, we need to get you a partner for the Ball." Cho's voice cut through Roo's thoughts, making her laugh.

"It's never going to happen, Cho." she said. Cho pursed her lips, but knew better by now that to argue when Roo got like this.

As predicted, when they arrived in Hogsmeade, Cho headed straight for Gladrags Wizardwear.

"I can't believe you don't have dress robes, Roo," she said, "You knew you'd need them!"

Roo didn't tell her the truth. There was no way that she was going to tell her incredibly slim and pretty friend that her older sister's hand-me-down dress robes didn't fit her. She'd tried several charms to try and alter the size and shape a bit, but there was no disguising the fact that the pink robes looked simply terrible on her. She had refused to wear it, even though she had no other option.

Madame Mariah greeted them with a huge smile. They were the only customers in the shop - apparently every other girl in Hogwarts already had an outfit.

"Dress robes, my dears?" she asked, leading them over to the half of the shop that boasted an explosion of colour. Roo blanched.

"Just one set," said Cho, gesturing at Roo.

Madame Mariah nodded. "Do you have any idea what you want, love?" she said, her smile widening when Roo shook her head. Cho took a seat as Madame Mariah led Roo to a stool in the corner, behind an ornate screen.

"Right, my dear," Madame Mariah called out, "I'm going to pass you a few sets over. You pop them on and jump out and we'll see what it's like."

Roo sighed. This was going to take a long time. The first set of dress robes that came sailing over the top of the screen were such a lurid pink that they made her eyes water. Quickly, she slipped it over her head, trying in vain to adjust the plethora of ruffles that adorned the neckline. No way, she thought, not in a million year'. Grimacing, she stepped from behind the screen.

Cho frowned, while Madame Mariah simply raised an eyebrow, before allowing her eyes to rove again around the shop.

"Maybe pink's not the best choice,' she mused, 'It's very striking with your hair, lovey, but possibly something in a cooler colour would do better."

Wearily, Roo retreated back behind the screen as another set of dress robes - pine green this time - flew over the top.

Fourteen sets of dress robes later, Madame Mariah clapped her hands in excitement as Roo stepped out.

"That's the one, dearie!" Roo looked at Cho, who was nodding and grinning. Curious, Roo leaned backwards, trying to look into the huge mirror, but one flick of Madame Mariah's wand covered it with green cloth.

"You need to get the full effect, love," She said, "If you were here on your own, I'd let you look, but you trust your friend, don't you?"

Cho was beaming. "It's perfect, Roo," she said.