Chapter Six: "I should have Seen it."
"Lily, have you got the hair pins?" Belle hollered from the bathroom.
"No, Cass has them." I shouted back. I'd been asked to the Ball by a very handsome Ravenclaw fifth-year, Michael Crow.
I slipped my new dress over my head and stood before the long mirror, preening.
Bella appeared, looking gorgeous in a sapphire blue dress, to match her eyes. She had pulled her black curls up into a bun at the nape of her neck. Her date was another Gryffindor, David Baker.
Cassie was going with a Ravenclaw too. His name was Greg Pollard. Cass herself was wearing an amber coloured dress which reached her ankles. It had only one strap and suited her down to the ground. She had left her hair down, like me.
"Girls? Come on, we need to get going!" Bella shouted from the doorway.
"I'm just adding alittle more glitter!" I yelled back.
"Oh no you don't! It took me ages to get that right!" Cassie grabbed the pot out of my hands and put it on top of the wardrobe. This was entirely unfair, seeing as I'm 5'3'' and she's 5'6''.
"Hey! No fair!" I whined.
"Let's go!" Belle strode over to us and pulled us down the stairs.
"We'll see you later Belle." Cass said. She and I continued down to the Great Hall to meet our dates.
"Hey Lily." Michael smiled, looping his arm around my waist.
"Hi." I said, moving away alittle. "Do you want me to wait with you?" I turned to Cassie.
"No. You go and have fun. I'll be there before you know it." She gave me a light push in the small of the back, propelling me towards my date.
We entered, arm in arm. I scanned the room in spite of myself. I didn't know who or what I was looking for until my eyes settled on James. And his date. He had his arm around her and was whispering in her ear, whilst she giggled and fluttered her eyelashes.
'Slut.' I thought angrily. 'He obviously wasn't fazed by my refusal. No, he just swanned off to the next flavour of the week. Well I'll be damned if I end up on his arm, flirting and simpering like a fool!'
"Are you okay Lily?" Michael asked. He followed my eyes and saw James and whatever-her-name-is, flirting and dancing badly. I suppose it's hard to dance with a tongue down your throat.
"I'm fine." My reply must have been snappy, but I felt weird. Like someone had just crushed my chest and I found it hard to breathe. What am I thinking? It's just James and his piece of ass. Why am I feeling like this? "I need some air. I'll be back in a minute."
I almost ran out of the Hall, into Cassie. She was standing alone, looking forlorn and let down.
"What's up honey?" I asked, putting my arm around her shoulders.
"He stood me up." She whispered.
"The pig!" I said angrily. I'll find that guy and nail his balls to the nearest wall. My attention was turned back to Cass when she started to cry. "Hey, hey. What's all this? Do you want your mascara to run? Bella spent ages on that. Don't let her see you; she'll have your guts for garters."
She laughed shakily. "I want to go home." She said softly.
"Will the dorms do? I can't fly very well, so you can't go home." I grinned, trying to lighten her mood.
"Dorms are good."
"Okay. Wait here for a second, I'll be back shortly." I shot off into the Hall again, looking for Michael and Belle. I found Michael, getting on very well, (maybe alittle too well,), with another Ravenclaw.
"Listen, Michael, an emergency has just come up, you don't mind me leaving, do you? I'm really sorry."
"It's okay. I understand." He smiled kindly, and then turned back to the girl.
I didn't let the thought of him and her cross my mind as I searched high and low for Bella. I finally found her, sitting at one of the tables, alone.
"Hey Belle. Cassie is outside. We need to take her to the dorms right now." I said, tugging on her arm to make her move quicker.
"What's wrong with her?" She asked, a puzzled look crossing her face.
"She got stood up." I whispered.
"The… I'll kill him. I'll hunt him down and kill him. I will." She had cold fury in her normally warm blue eyes and her fists were clenched.
"There's tomorrow for torture. Now is the time for Cass. She needs comfort from her friends. Let's go."
We sprinted through the Hall, dodging couples and almost knocking one pair over.
"Sorry." I said breathlessly.
"Evans." A hand shot out and grabbed my wrist. I motioned for Bella to go and take Cassie to the dormitory, whilst I dealt with the moron hanging on my hand.
"What?" I snapped.
"You look… great." James stared at me, his mouth open.
"I never thought you'd notice, seeing as you had your tongue down her throat and your view was blocked by her peroxide blonde hair." I said spitefully.
"Lily… I…" He began.
"Save it. I have more important priorities. It's dyed you know." I added in a fit of temper. I yanked my hand out of his grip and fled for the exit.
~~***~~
When I got to the dorm, Bella and Cassie had arrived and were in pyjamas. Cass had four boxes of tissues infront of her and had already used three. Belle sat next to her, rubbing her back soothingly.
"I should have Seen it." Cassie kept repeating.
"You can't control what you See honey. You of all people should know that." I said gently.
"I should have Seen it." She whispered. Then her eyelids drooped and she fell asleep.