Pyotr waited outside the grand front doors of Durmstrang for Jane at 7 O'clock as promised. He was wearing a very dark burgundy suit, almost black, and a crisp white waistcoat. They were the best clothes he owned, and he had very much enjoyed picking them out from the store a year ago when he bought them. In truth, fashion was one of the things Pyotr weirdly enjoyed, along with creating new spells to achieve every odd and end. He had been working on a new one recently, actually.
Just as the music drifting out from the hall stopped with one reverberating note so the band could change to the next song, Pyotr caught sight of Jane walking up the hill towards him. It was all he could do not to gape. She was wearing a mint green satin dress with no frills or beads or embroidery like all the other girls. The light, flowing sleeves reached all the way to the ground, with slits on either side for her arms. The dress material came all the way up to her neck, where the only embellishment on the dress lay in the form of a sparkling neckline lined with pearls. Her hair was swept up in to a neat bun, fastened with another string of pearls. While all the others blended together by being 'extra', Jane's plain dress stood out like a beacon, and she was getting a few envious stares because of it. The only part of her outfit that was out of place were her ugly oval glasses. Pyotr grinned. Old habits die hard.
Jane smiled as she approached him.
"Hello," she said timidly. Pyotr swallowed.
"You... you look stunning," he stuttered.
"Thank you," her face turned the same colour as Pyotr's suit and pushed her glasses back up on to her nose. Pyotr frowned.
"What is it?" Jane asked, concerned.
"Close your eyes,"
"What?" she said, taken aback.
"Trust me." Jane reluctantly closed her eyes. Pyotr slid the glasses off and produced his wand from a handy pocket on the inside of his jacket.
"Horom visus," he muttered under his breath, pointing the tip of his wand at her face. Jane opened up her eyes, and almost toppled over.
"I…I can see," She gasped. Pyotr grinned triumphantly. "How…how?" she asked, shocked.
"It's a spell I invented," Pyotr struggled to keep the pride out of his voice. "Now you don't need to wear glasses anymore,"
Jane gave him a deeply impressed look. "You invented it?"
Pyotr smiled and nodded.
"It's not permanent, so you might want to keep these," he handed her back her glasses. "The spell will wear off in around a month."
"Thank you," Jane looked truly grateful. And now she wouldn't have to suffer the humiliation of wearing her horrible glasses to the Yule Ball. Pyotr grinned in amusement as he saw Marcelle and Radko walking up the hill together, Radko practically drooling in the presence of Marcelle and her gown, by far the most sparkly thing he had ever seen. Jane waved to her, and then turned back to Pyotr.
"Should we go inside? We're supposed to open the dance," she asked.
"Of course," he offered her his arm, and they walked inside.
Pyotr was glad they had entered the hall right after Marcelle and Radko. All eyes were on them -well specifically Marcelle and her ridiculous glittering dress- and Pyotr and Jane were barely noticed, which was just the way they both liked it. When they entered the hall, they were immediately met by Headmaster Gagwilde.
"Oh, there you two are, I've been waiting for ages! You're at least..." he checked his watch. "Three minutes late!" he fussed. The small rectangle tables in the hall had been covered with snow white tablecloths and large floral bouquets, and a space had been cleared in the middle of the hall for dancing. The Headmaster ushered them over to a round table at the very front of the room, where Radko and Marcelle were already sitting. Pyotr noticed there were two extra seats.
"Of course, we catered for two extra people," The Headmaster said, glancing at Pyotr and Jane. "But since you two decided to come together…"
They both sat down, and when the headmaster hurried off to go attend to some other important matter Jane glared at him for a good two minutes. For around fifteen minutes they sat and made small talk with Marcelle and Radko while all of the students came in. I still can't believe they went together. Pyotr smiled to himself. Of all the people.
After what seemed like an eternity, Headmaster Aleksandrov rose from his seat in the centre of the high table, commanding silence.
"Welcome to the Yule Ball! As is tradition, our champions will start the dance. Hit it Randolph!" He said, pointing to the conductor of the orchestra. He nodded, and they started playing a waltzy tune. The champions all got up and made their way to the centre of the dance floor. After the song (in which Pyotr was able to successfully not step on Jane's toes) ended, all of the other guests joined them on the dance floor. Jane and Pyotr stayed for a few more songs, then made their way back to the table. Several important looking people came over and introduced themselves to them, and with each new one Jane began to look more uncomfortable and exasperated, especially after every one of them seemed to know who she was.
"Are you okay?" he asked after yet another stuffy businessman had come to introduce himself. Why do they even invite people like this? Isn't this ball just for students?
"Yeah, I'm fine," Jane sighed. "Do you want to get some fresh air?" She looked up at him with a pleading expression, and he understood what she meant. I need to get out of here, her eyes told him. I will murder the next person who comes up to talk to us. Pyotr nodded and they discreetly left the hall. Nobody noticed, almost everyone in the room still under the spell of Marcelle's dress, which was casting reflections across the room as she danced.
Pyotr and Jane both headed in the direction of the roof without a word. He could see the relief on Jane's face when they finally stepped in to the cool air. Pyotr sat in his usual spot and Jane positioned herself on a crumbling stone brick next to him.
"I was wondering," Pyotr said. "How did everyone in there know your name?"
Jane sighed.
"My parents…they're very wealthy. They're quite well known for being stupid and cruel." Pyotr smiled bitterly.
"Families can be tough. I know you're neither of those things," he said consolingly. Jane blushed.
"But I have to ask," Pyotr continued, "If your parents are wealthy, why did you enter in the Tournament?"
"It's a long story," She stared awkwardly at the ground. "My little sister… she's a squib. My parents prejudiced pure bloods, and they hate her. They treat her like some kind of animal," Pyotr could hear the suppressed rage in her voice. "If I win the money we can run away from home, go somewhere they can never find us, and she can grow up away from all that. Maybe go to muggle school. Start a normal life,"
Pyotr nodded grimly. He understood. Jane heaved a sigh.
"What about you?" She asked. "Why did you enter the Tournament?"
Should I trust her? His mind was racing with things she could do if he told her. No. It's not fair. She told me her reason for entering. So he started telling the story.
"My father has always hated me because… when I was younger, my mother died from a Chimaera attack," he took a deep breath. "She was Greek and we went back to Athens, where she grew up. We were having a picnic in a forest and I wandered off. She followed me and dived in front to protect me before the Chimaera killed me. I was just a toddler, but my father always blamed me for it. Hunting magical beasts is his job now," Pyotr looked up in to Jane's horrified face.
"That's horrible," she muttered, shocked.
"I do little things to try and impress him, to make him care a little. I thought… I thought if I won the Tournament, and that thousand galleons, he might be proud of me for once," He said quietly. Pyotr wiped his eyes.
Jane checked her watch, cleverly disguised as a pearl bracelet, and yelped.
"It's 9 O'clock already!"
Pyotr looked up and smiled.
"We should go back down," he said. Jane nodded, and they stood up.
"By the way, I love your dress," Pyotr said. Jane blushed and stared at the ground.
"Thank you. It's the only one my mother's ever bought me that I actually like." She said.
"Pink?"
"Yeah," She grinned. "And frills,"