Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter.
Rose looked around the prefect common room at all of the talking prefects. Lily and Lysander were the new Gryffindor prefects (Hugo became Quidditch Captain this year to the pleasure of her father), Lorcan and Emilia were the new Ravenclaw prefects, Adam and Sarah were the new Hufflepuff prefects, and William Nott and Daisy Parkinson were the new Slytherin prefects. Lily and Daisy did not like each other. That much was clear from the way they were glaring at each other from across the room.
Unluckily, Lily had gotten both her mother's stubbornness and feistiness, and her father's ability to be fiercely loyal and protective of his friends. Those traits were a lethal combination. Daisy Parkinson had gotten her mother's annoying voice, her pug nose, and her ability to gossip and talk behind people's backs. And right now, Daisy was bad mouthing both Lysander and Lorcan, the sons of Lily's godmother, Luna.
Lily's eyes kept on getting narrower and narrower as her face got redder and redder. It seemed like Lysander, who was whispering in her ear, was unsuccessful in calming her down. Rose decided that everyone had had enough time to talk, and that it was high time they started the meeting. They really did not need to have a fight in the prefect's common room.
"Ms. Parkinson, do you want to share what you're currently talking about with the rest of the Prefects?" Rose asked in a decidedly cool manner.
Daisy flushed when she noticed that everyone had turned to look at her before she shook her head no.
"Good, because Scorpius and I would like to start the meeting," Rose said as she looked at Scorpius to start. They had rehearsed their speech until it was to their liking.
After their lesson with the Headmistress, Rose and Scorpius had had a serious heart-to-heart. Scorpius apologized for kissing her without her permission, to which Rose responded, "But I did kiss you back." Rose apologized for slapping him, freaking out, and leaving him at the mercy of her overprotective cousin Albus, and her quick-to-anger younger brother Hugo. Hell, even Lily could be a right pain when angry. She was like a miniature Ginny in that sense.
Anyways, they both agreed that they wouldn't talk about the kiss until everything was settled. Rose was still with Hadrian, but she had sent him another rather long letter in which she said that they would be having a long, and serious talk over Christmas Break.
"Alright. Rose and I have some fantastic news. Headmistress McGonagall has given us permission to hold a Yule Ball for all fourth years and older!" Scorpius said.
After waiting for the buzz to die down, Rose started to speak. "As Heads, we were given the green light to choose the theme, type of dress, food, music, decorations, etc. for the ball. We would like to use this meeting to plan all of that. I want each set of prefects to come up with their ideas and put them in the hat up here. After everyone has done that, we'll read the list off and vote on what is the most popular."
"While you're thinking about the ball, we would also like you to be thinking of an alternative activity for the younger grades that would be happening around the same time as the ball. The Headmistress has stressed that she wants the younger years to feel included, even if they are not old enough to attend the ball," Scorpius added.
"Ok, you all have a half an hour to plan for both the ball and the younger students. Any questions?" Rose asked. "Alright, then let's get to work!" Rose said as she waved her wand.
Scorpius and Rose watched as the paper and quills floated to each pair around the room, who eagerly grabbed them and started throwing ideas back and forth. Lily was particularly happy. She loved fashion and balls. This was right up her alley.
"Ready to plan Rose?" Scorpius asked as he grabbed an extra piece of paper and a quill.
"Of course Scorpius. I do have a ton of ideas," Rose said with a smile as they sat down to bounce ideas off each other.
"Ok! Time is up. Would everyone please put their ball ideas in the hat?" Scorpius asked as the hat flew around to each pair.
Once the hat flew back to the front of the room, Rose decided to pull out the first paper. "Alright, our first theme is: Sexy Secret Santas…" Rose trailed off as her eyes skimmed the rest of the paper.
Scorpius grabbed the paper out of Rose's hands to read it himself after he saw how narrow Rose's eyes had gotten.
"Whose idea was this?" Scorpius asked as he waved the paper in the air. When no one bothered to answer, Scorpius decided to read off of the list.
"Alright, maybe this will refresh your memories. Theme: Sexy Secret Santas. Style of Dress: Lingerie for the girls in the different Christmas colors complete with Santa hats, and/or reindeer and elf accessories. Dress robes for the boys. Food: Roast Beef, Lobster, Chicken Cordon Bleu, Chick French, and Shrimp Scampi. Christmas cookies for dessert. Music: The Phoenix Boys. Decorations: Christmas colors and Santa," Scorpius glared at the room once he finished reading.
"Did whoever wrote this really believe that McGonagall would allow us to have a theme called 'Sexy Secret Santas' and wear lingerie to the ball?" Rose asked incredulously.
Lily snorted. "That's a horrible idea! The only things that are salvageable are the food and music," Lily replied. She obviously was not a fan of the lingerie for clothing idea either. I mean, lingerie for clothes was so ten years ago.
"Well, let's see you come up with a better idea Potter. Just because you don't have the body necessary to wear lingerie doesn't mean the rest of us don't," Daisy snapped back obviously offended.
Lily's face turned red as she started to stand up. Rose was about to interject, but before she could, Scorpius started speaking.
"Lily, sit down," Scorpius commanded. Lily surprisingly did as he asked. It must have been his commanding tone. Rose would need to ask Scorpius to teach her how to do that.
Rose was brought back to the present by Scorpius rounding on Daisy. "Nott. Was this your idea?" Scorpius asked. Daisy flushed as she realized her outburst probably wasn't the smartest move. Nott just smirked and waggled his eyebrows. "Well I guess that answered my question. I want both of you to leave the meeting. If you can't be serious and contribute anything positive, then there is no need for you to be here. Rest assured, McGonagall will be hearing about this," Scorpius said as he verbally kicked the newest Slytherin prefects from the room.
After they left, Scorpius sighed. "They didn't even come up with anything for the younger years," Scorpius whispered to Rose who nodded solemnly.
She completely agreed with Scorpius's decision. Prefects were supposed to be reliable and set the example for all of the other students. Daisy and William were obviously not taking their job seriously. Rose would bet all of her Chocolate Cards that the only reason why they were made prefects in the first place was because of their grades. Although they were both prats, their grades were pretty exceptional.
"Alright, let's just move on," Rose said as she went to pick out another piece of paper.
Rose and Scorpius were both exhausted by the end of the meeting. No one had wanted to vote on just a single list. Instead, they had had to combine different aspects of each list in order to make everyone happy. Ironically, everyone had agreed on Daisy and William's food and music choices.
The final list stood as follows:
Theme: The Gift of Christmas- Lily and Lysander had come up with the idea of making the Yule Ball into a Charity Ball. They were going to charge the student body for both their tickets and their dinner, but all proceeds would go towards bringing Christmas joy to all of the families who were not fortunate enough to have a happy Christmas.
Rose had beamed at her cousin with pride when she had suggested that in front of all of the prefects. She could see a future Head Girl in Lily, provided that she focused a bit more on school, controlled her temper, and cut down some of the dramatics. Oh well, she still had the rest of the year to try and convince her cousin to tone it down a bit and become a bit more serious.
Style of Dress: Whiteout- Instead of a black-tie affair, everyone wanted to wear white everything, with the exception of some of the accessories which could be in any Christmas color.
Decorations: While everyone would be required to dress in white, the Great Hall itself would be transformed into a sea of Christmas colors and decorations. All of the prefects would be pitching in to help next Thursday evening to help decorate.
Food: Everyone would be able to choose one of the following entrees which would be prepared by the House Elves in the kitchen: Roast Beef, Lobster, Chicken Cordon Bleu, Chicken French, or Shrimp Scampi. There would be an assortment of appetizers and sides to go along with the entrees. The dessert would be the Christmas cookies.
Music: The Phoenix Boys- They were the most popular band to date, and Rose knew for a fact that 95% of the student population were fans. If they could book them, then the ball would be a success.
Rose smiled as she finished writing the final list. McGonagall would most likely approve of this one, unlike the majority of the list that Daisy and William provided.
Rose was startled when Scorpius came over. That must mean that he was done writing the final proposition for what the younger years would be doing while the older students were at the ball.
"I think that having the younger years making Christmas cookies, and other Christmassy desserts to put into gift baskets is a wonderful idea. It goes right in hand with the theme of our ball," Scorpius said.
Rose nodded in agreement. "The younger years will be down in the kitchens with the House Elves. Hopefully this will be cleared. I'm sure the House Elves and the students would find making the cookies both fun and delicious," Rose said. The younger years and House Elves would be allowed to eat the cookies they made after all of the gift baskets were made.
"Why not add some of the left-over food that we'll have from the ball to the baskets as well?" Scorpius asked.
"That's a good idea. We can also maybe start a clothing and gift guide around school. Anyone who has spare clothes or who would like to buy a small gift this upcoming Hogsmeade weekend could add it to the boxes we'll leave around school," Rose added.
"I'll ask my dad to do that at work. Our company has a lot of wealthy patrons. I'm sure my dad can either convince or guilt them into helping," Scorpius said as he added the changes to his sheet.
"I'll do the same with my Dad. The Ministry should be supportive. Besides, maybe this will help raise awareness about those who still don't have enough in the wizarding community," Rose said as they began to walk towards the Headmistress's office.
Unfortunately, despite the renovations and the relief money that had come pouring in after the war, there were still some people who had not recovered financially. They had only joined those in the wizarding world who had already been living in poverty.
While her mother and Kingsley, the Minister, were trying to raise awareness for the issue, the rest of the Ministry believed that there were more important things to worry about. Before it had been a whole bunch of different issues, but now the excuse was the Brotherhood. Both Rose and her mother thought that the reason why most of the Ministry was denying that people were living in poverty was that they didn't want to acknowledge the fact that WIZARDS could be poor.
Unfortunately, to her mother and Uncle Harry's anger, they were going about this the same way they had gone about with the return of Voldemort. At least they were acknowledging the Brotherhood, which was more than they had done during her parent's and Uncle Harry's time at Hogwarts.
However, acknowledging wizards in need was something that the Ministry turned a blind eye towards in fear of turning into what muggles in America dubbed a 'welfare state.' Rose, her mother, and the majority of her family strongly believed that the state was composed first and foremost of people, and that the needs of the people should be upheld and supported by state-run initiatives. This was especially important to Rose because she knew that her father and her family had struggled financially, and that it was only after the war that they were able to feel financially secure.
Although Rose did not wish to work for the Ministry like her mother, she hoped that taking initiatives while in school could help to prepare her for more serious initiatives after she herself was financially stable.
While Rose was excited about the materialistic side of the ball, she also wanted the ball to succeed so that all families would be able to celebrate and have a happy Christmas.