Oh my gosh, I haven't updated in over a year. my greatest apologies to all of you! I would've gotten this up way sooner, but a lot has happened in this past year and I hope you understand. Anyways, I'm going to try to get another update out by November at the latest (more apologies to the lot of you if I can't). Many thanks to aasiya333 and Hannah-Kiwii for your lovely reviews! Oh, and thank you all for bearing with me! Now, on with chapter 9!
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After finishing their meals and thanking Hannah and Harry, the four friends walked out into the cobblestone streets of Diagon Alley.
"Erm, Luna...where exactly are we supposed to find me a dress that will be ready for tomorrow? Madame Malkin's is always so busy..." Ginny trailed off, starting to worry about her outfit for the upcoming ball.
Instead of Luna, Draco replied with a scoff. "Madame Malkin's? You would never find anything suitable to wear to a Malfoy ball in that place. We'll be taking a look in Twilfitt and Tatting, much better selection."
"Twilfitt and Tatting?! Everything there is so expensi-" Ginny tried, but was cut off by Draco.
`Don't fret Ginevra dear, the owner knows my family well. I'm sure she'll be willing to give you a very good discount once she sees that I'm with you." He smirked, always happy to talk about his family's importance.
Ginny looked over at Dean, who was walking beside her. He looked at Draco and back to Ginny, shrugging as if to say some things never change.
"Oh look, here we are." Luna said as they approached the highly fashionable display in the window of Twilfitt and Tatting.
Ginny looked at the long, silk robe on one of the mannequins in the display, astounded at the quality of the clothing in this store. She herself had never been inside before, as the clothing was much too expensive for her family's budget. Hoping that the money she had saved from Christmas and her last birthday would be enough, she walked through the door that Dean held open for her.
Wow. Ginny mused. The clothes in this place looked really expensive. Classical music played from somewhere within the store as she turned her head and scanned the long, shimmering dresses that seemed to be in every colour imaginable, before looking over to the classy suit jackets and ties hanging on the opposite walls. I hate to admit it, but Draco was right.
"Draco, darling! How's your mother doing?" A drawling voice spoke, startling Ginny out of her reverie.
A tall, slim woman walked up to the group, going straight to Draco and kissing his cheeks. Her dark hair was pulled back into a loose bun and she seemed to be in her early 50`s, Ginny assumed, due to the graying strands left around her face and the slight crinkles around her mouth and eyes.
"She's fine, Matilda, and you?" Draco replied, walking further into the store and taking a look at a golden coloured gown that reminded Ginny of the dress she had worn as a bridesmaid to Bill and Fleur`s wedding.
"I'm great, thank you dear." The woman, Matilda, spoke back. "Ah, you've brought some friends with you! Is this the lovely Luna that I heard about from your parents?" She gestured to the blonde girl who had taken interest in the flowered hair decorations next to the dresses.
"Yes, it is." Draco smiled at his fiancée, who seemed to be unaware that she was being spoken about. "But the four of us are here to find a dress for our friend Ginny" he gestured to the redhead "to wear to tomorrow's ball. Sorry for the short notice." Draco didn't sound all that sorry, Ginny noticed, but Matilda grinned nonetheless.
"Ah of course! Come here darling, let me take your measurements and I'll pull some outfits for you to try on." Matilda said as she gently pulled Ginny over to a pedestal behind the racks of dresses. Draco walked over to where Luna was standing and Dean took a seat on one of the armchairs by the dressing room, next to where Ginny now stood. He smiled at her as Matilda flicked her wand, making a measuring tape float over to where she stood.
Ginny felt her heart skip a beat when she saw Dean's smile. This is going to be a long afternoon. She thought as she raised her arms so that the tape could tighten around her waist.
...
After Matilda had gotten Ginny's measurements, she had scurried off to get some dresses that would suit Ginny's "lovely red hair". She had picked out three, all variations of a floor length gown. A burnt orange one with cap sleeves, a forest green one with longer lace sleeves, and the last was burgundy and strapless.
Ginny had asked about the prices of the gowns first, and surprisingly, none of them were out of her budget, so Matilda must've included the discounts firsthand. As much as she hated to admit it, Draco could be sort of useful at times.
The burnt orange and burgundy ones were nice, but as she tried on the green dress and looked at herself in the dressing room mirror, Ginny found that it was her favourite by far. She stepped out of the dressing room for the third time and spun.
"I like this one!" She exclaimed, looking down at the trim of her long dress, surprised at how good she felt in it. She wasn't usually one for dresses.
"Go with that one, it covers all of the freckles on your arms." Draco snickered, earning a glare from Ginny.
"I think the colour looks lovely." Luna said with a dreamy smile.
"Yeah, that one looks really nice Ginny." Dean chimed in, smiling at her again.
"Thanks! I'm going to go with this one." Ginny smiled as she turned to face Matilda.
"Very good choice, my dear, I was hoping you would choose that one. It looks wonderful on you!" The older woman stated.
Happy with her decision, Ginny walked back into the dressing room to change.
...
The group walked out of the store after thanking Matilda again, who would be attending the ball the following evening as well. They wandered around the other stores for a while, merely window shopping.
Later on as she looked at her watch, Ginny noticed that it was already six in the afternoon.
"That took a long time! What, about four hours?" Ginny exclaimed, time had gone by a lot faster than she thought it would.
"Time flies when you're having fun, you know." Luna piped up from behind her. "I do believe that it's time we all went home now, would you all like to come back to my house for dinner?"
Remembering the note her mother left her, Ginny realized that she should probably go back to the Burrow to show her parents the dress she had gotten.
"I'd love to, Luna, but I should probably head back and show my Mum the dress. Make sure she likes it and all." Ginny smiled, knowing that her mother would, in fact, love it, simply because she'd get to see something so ladylike on her daughter.
"I should get back too, I've got to make sure my suit's clean for tomorrow. I'll see you all then, okay?" Dean said as he gave a friendly hug to both Luna and Ginny, and gave Draco a nod before he apparated away.
Taking Dean's lead, Ginny hugged Luna, but proceeded to give Draco a sneer. In the friendliest way possible, of course.
"I'll see you two tomorrow evening!" Ginny called out, before feeling the familiar pull of apparition squeezing at her, taking her back home.
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Ugh. So, I'm sort of happy with this chapter? It seems kind of rushed, but that might just be me XD Anyways, please review and tell me what you think about this chapter, it really makes my day to hear your feedback!
