As it turned out, I needn't have worried about Ginny missing out, because she ended up being asked to the ball by Neville. It was with great excitement that Ginny wrote to her mum to ask her to send her best dress to her, whilst Hermione and I had sent a dress order from a catalogue I'd requested. I'd decided to splash out a bit with some of my savings, so the dress I'd gone for would definitely be something I was looking forward to wearing. In the meantime, I still needed to actually find a partner. Even Lee had someone, so I was determined not to be the only one without. It was a matter of pride now, and I'll be damned if all I had left to pick from were Slytherins.
Thankfully, all of my problems melted away when a rather handsome Durmstrang student who I knew to be close friends with Viktor asked me to go. His name was Ivan and we'd talked several times and we got along well, as I did with most of the visiting students, and I happened to be talking to Fleur at the time as she was asking me about the boy she had accepted an invitation from, the Ravenclaw quidditch captain. I'd seen him walking up to us, making to pause for a moment with a quick word to Fleur in order to say hello.
He'd then smiled a smile which set off his neat pearly teeth and liquid black eyes nicely before offering me a snowy white rose, which took me by surprise. The long stem had been removed of all thorns and the petals glittered like they had been dipped in powdered crystals, the flower opening and closing to release a different scent every time, each of them gloriously pleasant and I was so stunned that I barely managed to actually reach out and take it. Ivan then took my hand, bowed and asked for the honour to escort me to the Yule Ball, and after I recovered from my astonishment, I had smiled and accepted.
"Good, I vill see you then, Mia." A little spell bound, I watched Ivan walk away with a certain swagger before then looking at Fleur who was desperately trying to hide her broad smile.
"Well, how about that?" We then admired the rose, both of us agreeing that it was a beautiful expression of magic and marvelling at how well it was accomplished as we guessed what each scent was as it came. There were all kinds of different floral scents, but also other things that such as mint, chocolate, strawberries, caramel, butter popcorn and a load of other things. Fleur giggled lightly with a shake of her glossy blonde hair as we continued to talk until all of a sudden, Ron appeared.
He looked like he was in a complete daze, staring at Fleur intently whilst his cheeks were practically the colour of beetroot. We both looked at him and Fleur frowned slightly, not recognising him at all and was about to ask if she could help him with something when it all came tumbling out of his mouth. "Will you go to the ball with me?" My jaw dropped and I think I made this weird squealing sound of shock as Ron then seemed to snap awake, realise what he'd done then bolted before Fleur could even politely refuse.
"Why did 'e run away?" She asked me in confusion, utterly bewildered as she shook her head. "Of course I would 'ave said no, but zere was no need to run, in fact it was very rude."
"I apologise for him, he's not very good with talking to girls who aren't relatives or he hasn't grown up around." I explained to her, now cackling with laughter and already looking forward to telling Fred and George all about their brother's latest humiliation. "I'm sure he meant it as a compliment, he does think you are very pretty, but he must have surprised himself just now and decided to bolt." Fleur clicked her tongue and muttered something about English boys having no backbone, to which I couldn't exactly disagree. Half these idiots wouldn't be anywhere if it wasn't for us women, and that was a fact.
Fleur invited me back to the Beauxbatons carriage for afternoon tea, and so I walked back with her to the carriage where I put a warming charm around us both and melted the snow to make a clear path so that she wouldn't ruin her silk shoes. "Ah Mia, you are so thoughtful!" She chuckled before drawing out her own wand to help me. Madame Maxime was also there but she welcomed me warmly after I stepped into the carriage which suddenly turned into a very charming and rather extensive…palace. There was no other way to describe it.
Everywhere I looked there were silk hangings and draperies, the central room arranged with silver tables and chairs with teacake stands all carrying dainty little bite-sized cakes, teapots floating and refilling empty cups as I was greeted with general pleasantness. Madame Maxime swooped down and kissed me on both cheeks, greeting me and inviting me to join them all as a guest to tea, insisting that I come inside and warm myself from the cold. To be honest, I never thought I would like the Beauxbatons students as much as I did, seeing as the girls were rather prissy and girly, unlike me.
However I soon realised that although well dressed and used to the finer things in life, they were exceedingly polite and charming with a great deal to talk about. They were fiery and intelligent, speaking on a great number of topics which I found myself completely invested in until I suddenly realised that I had been there for nearly four hours, meaning that dinner would be starting soon. So I went back to the castle with the Beauxbatons students in tow, however this time those who I had become particularly friendly with followed me to the Gryffindor table in order to continue our discussions, much to the excitement and eagerness of many of the boys.
And so my days passed contentedly, the thick streams of snow buffeting the windows of Hogwarts in a seemingly endless blizzard, though in the moments of reprieve those who were not completely overloaded with homework would go out to enjoy the crisp bounty of the snowstorm to participate in snowball wars, ice skating and numerous other winter festivities which filled the grounds with laughter and joy, perfect for this jolly festive season.
