Getting Ready For The Ball- Part 1
AN: Hey guys! Happy Valentines Day! Hope you enjoy this chapter. The next? A Ball!
" Poor Sapphire and Amy. Every time they find a minute, that's the time when they begin it. Saph and Amy, Saph and Amy," Neville ground out.
"Saph and Amy!" Screamed the stepsisters, as Neville, scowling, shut the door firmly.
"Saph and Amy, Saph and Amy, night and day, it's Saph and Amy. Make the fire, Fix the Breakfast, Wash the dishes, Do the mopping'"
Three female mice, Lavender, Ginny, and Penny sang, "And the sweeping and the dusting, they always keep them hopping."
"They'd go around in circles till they're very very dizzy," sang Neville, his eyes going around in circles. "Still they holler, keep them busy, Saph and Amy."
"Yeah, they sure do keep them busy," said Neville, kicking one of those things people wear on their fingers to avoid getting pricked with a needle when they are sewing. Zach sat down on it, looking glum.
"You know what? Sapphire and Amy aren't going to the Ball," Said Neville, looking at the two dresses, and the others stared at him in indignation.
"What?" Asked one mouse.
"Not go?" Asked another.
In unison, the others asked, "What did you say?"
Theo ran to Neville, who said, "You'll see. They'll fix them. Work, work, work. They'll never get their dresses done." He didn't notice Molly, a female mouse wearing a yellow dress, who was sitting on a cotton spool, look back and forth between the design and the dresses.
Theo trembled a little, and his face fell. "Poor Saph and Amy."
Molly took another look, then an idea came to her.
She smiled, and said, "Hey! We can do it!"
The others looked at her, a little more hopeful, and interested in what she had to say.
"We can do it! We can do it! We help our Saph and Amy. We'll make their dresses pretty, there's nothing to it really.
"We'll tie a sash around them, put a ribbon through them. When dancing at the ball they'll be more beautiful than all, in the lovely dresses we'll make for Saph and Amy. Hurry, hurry, hurry, going to help our Saph and Amy, got no time to dilly-dally, we got to get it going," sang the mice.
"I'll cut them with the scissors," said Zach.
"And I can do the sewing," said Neville, but Molly had another job in mind for the two mice.
"Leave the sewing to the women, and you go get some trimming," she said. Neville grinned at that, and as the others sang, "And we'll make some lovely dresses for Saph and Amy," He led Zach out of the room through a hole in the wall, and they sang as well.
"Follow me, Zach. I know where to go," he said as they scampered down the insides of the walls of the house. "Those dresses are going to be so pretty. They'll be surprised." he said, as they slid down a spider web strand.
"Yes, very surprised, indeed," agreed Zach as they ran along. Finally, they reached an opening in the wall, and Neville pushed it open.
"And this, too, Sapphire, my slippers," Said Millicent.
"Amy, take my dress." said Pansy.
"Here, Sapphire, mend the button holes," Said their stepmother.
Sapphire and Amy had their arms full of clothing, and they were staggering a little.
"Press my skirt and mend the ruffle," said Pansy.
"And girls?" Said their stepmother.
"Yes?" They asked.
"When you're through, and before you begin your regular chores, I have a few little things," she said.
"Yes, Stepmother," they said, walking away.
"Mother, I don't see why everyone else has nice things to wear, and I always end up in these old rags." said Millicent, tossing down two ribbons. A green one and a pink one.
"These sashes! I wouldn't be seen dead in either of them," she complained, and the two mice grinned.
"Hmm! You should talk! These pieces of jewellery, I'm sick of looking at them." She tossed down a silver necklace with a pink heart charm, and a necklace of turquoise beads. Zach and Neville were delighted.
"Trash! Oh, I hate this!" They grumbled, before heading away.
"Come on and be careful," Neville told Theo, and helped him down.
"Yes, of course," Zach agreed as they walked under an ottoman. However, that was easier said than done, especially when you have a big cat sleeping on said ottoman. Marvollo was sleeping as the two mice made their way to the ribbons. Neville folded up the green one and Zach folded up the pink one.
"We can use these,' whispered Neville.
"Pretty," said Zach.
"Shhh. Look out. Marvollo," said Neville, pointing. They took their ribbons across, just as the cat woke up and two other mice joined them. Marvollo looked down in time to see the two ribbons go under the ottoman. They unravelled, and when they reached the hole, the mice were exposed. Marvollo raced towards them, but they shoved the ribbons in just in time, and the cat was rewarded with a square-shaped face.
He watched the hole with a hungry smile, but the mice were too clever for him. They just opened another hole in the wall, and Neville pointed out the two necklaces.
"Beads! Pretty beads!" Shouted Zach, and Neville shut him up. Marvollo, seeing where they had been looking, went and promptly sat on the necklaces. Neville wasn't deterred by this though, and whispered a plan into his friend's ear. Marvollo watched them with a cold look. Then he clenched his claws as Neville came walking past him, and bit some black buttons from a purple dress. Marvollo came towards him, dragging the necklaces as Zach came towards him. Then he loomed over Neville, who decided to play tiddlywinks, and flipped a button into the cat's face.
Enraged, Marvollo chased him into a pile of clothing, and the other three mice went and grabbed the two necklaces. Two grabbed the pink one, and Zach grabbed the beads. Marvollo searched for Nevile in the washing, but the mouse was clever, and was hiding in the fur on top of the cat's head. Neville glanced over at Zach and saw that he was struggling with the beads on his own. He crashed into the wall, and Neville placed his paws over the cat's eyes quickly before leaping to the floor. The cat got stuck in a white nightgown, and slid across the floor as the two mice placed the beads on Zach's tail and in his hat. As fast as they could, they worked together, but Marvollo was also sliding towards them, intent on a mouse treat. However, just as he was about to catch them, Neville and Zach finished with the beads, and Neville pulled him to safety.
PAGE BREAK
Back in the girls' room, the mice and birds sang "A Dream Is A Wish Your Heart Makes" as they worked.
Zach did the cutting, and others did the sewing, attaching the materials to the dresses, and adding collars. They soon had two beautiful dresses, just as the clock chimed eight. At Hogwarts Castle, the carriages were leaving, and one pulled up outside the chateau. The coachman looked up, and Sapphire, at the window, looked down. She rapped on her stepmother's door
"Yes?" Alecto asked.
"The carriage is here," Sapphire said.
"Why, Amy, Sapphire, you're not ready, children," She said.
Amy wanted to roll her eyes and say, "No, because you made us work on purpose so we couldn't go, you cow," but she didn't.
"We're not going," Sapphire said.
"Not going? Oh, what a shame," she said, and behind her, her daughters smirked. "But, of course, there'll be other times."