Marcelle had sat alone at dinner again, but for the first time she hadn't minded, even though the taunts had been a great deal worse than usual since she's lost the first task.
There's going to be a ball! She squealed inside her head. She was dancing inside. I am SO excited! Marcelle knew she would be alone going to the ball, there was no way anyone would ask her out, but she would look so beautiful at the actual event that everybody would ask her to dance.
As she walked back down to the Beuxbatons carriage she fantasized about the night, arriving alone, a strong, independent woman, but still getting asked to dance by almost everyone there. Distracted by these thoughts, she tripped and fell over a large rock sitting on the grass. Looking up, she was startled to see someone bending down to help her back to her feet. Smiling weakly, she accepted his hand.
"Thank you," she said graciously with her strong French accent.
"You're welcome," he grinned awkwardly, running a hand through his mop of curly brown hair.
"Who are you?" Marcelle asked, noticing his Durmstrang robes.
"I'm…My name's Radko. You're Marcelle Alix, right? The Beuxbatons champion?" he stuttered nervously.
"Yes," Marcelle replied, taken aback.
"Yeah…I wanted to ask you…would you like to come to the Yule Ball with me?" He said quietly, staring at his feet. Marcelle's mouth dropped open.
"I mean, its fine if you don't want to… I just thought I would ask because... you know…" his voice trailed off disappointedly.
"No, no, no, absolutely, I'll come," Marcelle assured him. "Of course, I'll go with you,"
He grinned goofily, running his hand through his hair again.
"I'll meet you at, say, quarter past 7?" She asked.
"Yeah, that's fine… I'll see you there, I guess," he replied. Marcelle smiled.
"Goodbye, Radko."
He smiled and they both walked off, Marcelle to the carriage and Radko back to the castle. As she collapsed in to bed, Marcelle finally managed to process what had just happened.
Somebody…asked me….to the ball. It seemed like sitting in that stuffy little room waiting for the first task to start was an eternity ago. What a day, Marcelle thought as she drifted gently off to sleep.
On Christmas Eve, Marcelle got up early to prepare herself for the ball. She planned to spend all day beautifying herself in preparation. Casting a disillusionment charm on herself, she tried on her dress robes quickly before she got dressed in to her fraying school ones. Beaming as she reappeared, Marcelle packed her beautiful creation back in to her suitcase. She had done up her mother's only pair of dress robes, which had been white, but she had cleverly fitted them and sewn in the curtain that had once hung around her four-poster back in France. Now they were ice blue and sparkled brighter than the stars.
Throughout the day she applied almost every lotion, serum or cream she knew. By 5 O'clock she looked like a goddess. She spent the last few hours before the ball sitting in the corner of the carriage, applying makeup and doing her hair in an elaborate bun hairstyle. Eventually, after she had applied all of her makeup and done her hair, she cast a disillusionment charm on herself and slipped in to her dress robes, twirling excitedly while no one could see her. She carefully stepped down in to the middle of the carriage and removed the charm. Immediately girls started whispering and giving her dirty looks, their extravagant dresses now looking bland in comparison. One of the girls that shared her dormitory, Giselle, looked close to tears, furious at being outshone by someone with no money when she was swimming in it.
Marcelle elegantly walked down the stairs of the carriage and out in to the crisp air, where she found Radko waiting, wearing a smart pair of black dress robes and a blood red waistcoat, his mouth hanging open in awe. She smiled as he offered her his arm, still gaping, and they walked up to the main doors together, the gentle sound of pianos and violins floating out from inside. Marcelle waved graciously as she saw Pyotr and Jane standing together just outside the pool of orange light spilling out from the doorway and adjusted her hair slightly, then, grinning, she turned to Radko.
"Now for the fun part," she whispered gleefully to him under her breath, and they entered the hall arm in arm.