A/N: Hello everyone! I am so sorry for the delay in posting a new chapter, but finals and a research paper kept most of my attention. Then the holidays happened, and well, now here we are. I also have needed time to consider where this story is going, and whether to change key plot points in the series. There are currently two possible directions this story may go, and both are so appealing to me that trying to consciously decide is proving difficult. Perhaps another story will be in order once I complete this one!
Thank you for all the lovely reviews. I really do love reading them. Keep them coming, and I will keep on updating! And now, on to the story…
The Slytherin Girls Dormitory
"Oh Pansy, you look so pretty! Draco is going to go absolutely bonkers for you." Daphne Greengrass smoothly reassured her nervous friend. A few moments ago Pansy had exploded in to a rage of tears and screams over how her hair looked, and it took all of the grace and tact Daphne's mother instilled into her daughters to calm Pansy down.
"Daphne is right, Pansy. You look stunning." Millicent Bulstrode agreed. Half-heartily, Pansy flashed a smile towards her. She turned back towards the full length mirror the girls shared that leaned against the dark stone wall of their dorm room. Unknowingly to the rest of the Slytherin girls, they charmed it to give fashion and beauty advice when tapped with one of their wands, and for honest commentary on how they looked. Gently, Pansy did just that. Her friends would of course say how fabulous she looked. Not because they were friends, but because no one in their right mind wanted Pansy Parkinson as an enemy.
"Mirror mirror against our wall… How do I look?"
"Beautiful," the immediate reply from an unseen female voice said.
Pansy smirked, and fluffed her hair. "You girls can have a go at the mirror for one final look over. I think I'll reapply my lipstick in the bathroom before we head out."
Daphne waited until Pansy closed the bathroom door to look over at Millicent. They exchanged a significant look with their other two roommates, Gloria Taylorford and Judith Chen. Unknown to Pansy, they had modified the mirror so that she was always complimented. They did not lie to her tonight; she truly looked better than usual in her flaming fire red gown that shimmered in the right lighting, and with a matching red Muggle flapper inspired headband with a white feather that was made with crystals. But they also knew that proper Draco would never look at his date with lustful eyes in such an outfit.
Judith opened her mouth to speak, yet promptly shut it. The risk of gossiping with Pansy so near wasn't worth it. Oh, but how she wished to speak. Judith's date, a handsome Ravenclaw fifth year who came from a respectable family told her that he overheard his dorm mates talking about how Janessa Covery was going with Blaise. Old news of course, yet what made the story so delicious was how her ex, Harris Neiminen, the gorgeous seventh year Hufflepuff keeper, was now taking a third year Gryffindor.
Judith sighed dramatically, standing up from her bed and running her hand down the silky gray material of her gown. Her grandmother had sent it all the way from China and Judith knew she looked exceptionally amazing tonight. The other girls did too, Judith admitted, though she would never openly call any of them a true friend, except for Gloria. The social politics of Slytherin house did not interest the pair, and both shared a mutual dislike for Pansy. She caught Gloria's eye just then, sharing a secret smile.
Pansy might have their house and the rest of Hogwarts fooled, but in this dormitory her insecurity shined through.
"Let's go, we want to be fashionably late but not too late. Mother always says keeping a man waiting for too long does nothing but leave you without a man." Pansy came back into the room, and looked over each girl. Judith couldn't help but be amused that the girl really thought her approval mattered.
Pansy nodded, and twirled around towards the door that led to the girls' dormitory hallway. Judith linked arms with Gloria, dressed in a modest gown that hugged in all the right places but left more to the imagination than not that Pansy and the older Slytherin girls would prefer.
The group walked together up to the Entrance Hall, where they found their dates waiting spread out, depending on house. Judith and Gloria continued past the group of Slytherin boys to their Ravenclaw dates, but not before Judith spotted Draco's look of dread upon seeing Pansy approach him. She giggled, deciding the Slytherin duo would be a great source of entertainment for the night.
Across the castle in another girl dormitory, Hermione sat fidgeting on Ginny's bed as she allowed Cora to paint her face with makeup, and Tallie to attack the frizzy brown nest that she called hair.
"Stop moving or else I'm going to stab you in the eye with eyeliner!" Cora said, exasperated.
"I'm sorry, I can't help it. I'm just so nervous and excited." Hermione admitted, visibly taking a deep breath.
"Well, Viktor will be a fool to not feel like the luckiest man in the castle once he sees you." Ginny smirked. "I can think of a certain redhead who is definitely a fool though."
Hermione's cheeks flushed.
"Ron is stupid, 'Mione. He'll catch on eventually. But don't worry yourself about him tonight. Your date is a good looking international Quidditch star. Have fun and for Merlin's sake, if he goes to kiss you let him." Ginny gave her friend a rather pointed look. Hermione needed to allow herself to be a girl and to enjoy simple pleasures rather than worrying about Ron and Harry for once.
"You think he'll try to kiss me?" Hermione asked, eyes wide.
"Now that we're done with you? Absolutely." Tallie gave her a hand held mirror to take a look.
"Oh!" Hermione grinned. "That's me?"
"You better believe it." Cora twirled her wand and then quickly waved away all the makeup that was spread out around the room. "I have some spare makeup I don't use that I'll give to you tomorrow." Cora slyly looked at Hermione. "You never know when you might need it."
"Ooh, and I'll give a bit of the hair product I used, so you can recreate the look. I also have some stuff that will help manage your hair once you're done showering. No girl should ever struggle in that department." Tallie adjusted Hermione's hair one more time and finally nodded.
"Thank you," Hermione whispered, clearly touched.
Cora and Tallie nodded.
"I think we all look fabulous." Tallie declared, twirling around in her golden hue dress robes. It complimented her tan skin, and shimmered delicately. Her hair, like Hermione's, was up in an elegant bun, though she had placed a jeweled clip strategically to hide the tendrils that wanted to fall out.
In contrast, Cora curled her brown hair so that it fell like waves down her shoulders. Her gown was an emerald green shade, a fashionable piece that the Muggles referred to as a 'mermaid style' dress. Cora always looked at Muggle fashion magazines as inspiration and tonight it definitely paid off. She looked older than the fourteen she was about to turn in two days.
"Harris will be glad I think to have you on his arm tonight," Ginny said. Cora rolled her eyes in response.
"Oh please, he is only taking me because of he didn't want to be stuck with some girl who would fawn over him." She smiled wickedly. "So he settled for me, knowing I would hex him into oblivion for denying me the chance of a lifetime this summer when he begins working for my father."
"I always forget that your family owns – " Tallie began to say. Cora waved her hand, shutting her up.
"Who cares about what my family does right now. All that matters is that we all have the best dates available at Hogwarts." She waved her wand, and four crystal goblets floated out of her open trunk. Each girl grabbed one. Cora produced a wine bottle, pouring each girl a small amount before poofing it away back to the hidden spot in her trunk.
"Now, don't you worry Hermione, this is an extremely light white wine. Just clink your glass with ours and sip it quickly. It'll go down nicely."
Hermione pursed her lips, but did not comment.
"To us, the gorgeous girls of Gryffindor, and to tonight, the Yule Ball. May we have the best night until another one comes along!" They clinked their glasses and sipped.
"It's time to go," Tallie said, looking at the clock. A quarter to eight.
Ginny placed the crystal goblet she sipped out of down on the bedside table next to her. She felt extra giddy, a rather un-Ginny like feeling. Her hair was done in a half up, half down look with the up part braided in a flattering way that framed her face. Since her complexion was on the fair side, Cora did her makeup in light tones with a bit of shimmer in the eye shadow that complimented her red hair.
Ginny's gown had been a pain to choose. Narcissa brought her twice Madam Malkin's for an appointment to sample gowns before deciding it better to hire a French designer witch named Charlotte, who immediately drew up a few designs.
"We need to keep her age appropriate," Molly insisted, at her daughter's side.
Narcissa agreed. "There is plenty of time for Ginevra to wear the more mature gowns." They finally settled on an A-line styled gown with added strapped sleeves for more secure coverage, in a shade of navy.
"You can wear any color, but because of your hair we must be mindful of the shade." Narcissa said at the final fitting. She nodded approvingly as Ginny turned around in the gown. "This shade is all yours." The dress, though age appropriate, made her look older and complimented her figure.
Ginny stood now one final time in front of the bathroom mirror, taking in how she looked. Not bad, she mused. She wondered briefly if Draco would notice at all, or if he would be too busy with Pansy to even bother looking. Ginny decided to not care. Ben was waiting, and she was anxious to meet up with him before the ball started. Without a backwards glance, she headed out with her friends down to the Entrance Hall.
She spotted him easily enough, standing confidently near the marble staircase. His dress robes were all black and fit him perfectly, obviously made of rich material. His dark eyes found her light one's in the crowded area. Ginny took a deep, calming breath and bid her friends good bye for the moment.
"Ginny," Ben smiled, gently reaching for her hand and placing the softest kiss on it. He straightened, but did not let go. "You look beautiful."
"Thank you," a suddenly shy Ginny replied, "you look pretty decent yourself."
Ben's smile grew wider. Before he could say something else, it was time to enter the Great Hall. Ginny let him guide her inside, taking it all in. The ceiling as always was enchanted to reflect the sky outside. The stars shimmered brightly. Other than that, the hall was completely transformed into a winter wonderland. Three giant Christmas trees stood where normally the teachers ate their meals, and all the house tables temporarily were missing. Instead there were round tables that were charmed to look like they were made of ice, with actual ice sculptures placed around the room, and snow that never landed fell continuously from above.
Ben and Ginny found a spot with a view of the dance floor area to easily watch the champions enter and then do the traditional waltz. Across from them stood Draco and Pansy, along with their usual group of Slytherins. Pansy was not hard to miss in her festive red dress. Ginny could not think of anything mean to say about the girl, and quickly dismissed any further thoughts with the sound of the Flitwick's orchestra starting up and the champions coming in.
Hermione really did look beautiful in her gown, twirling around the dance floor with Viktor Krum. Harry looked handsome, but Ginny could see how uncomfortable he was with dancing with his date, Parvati Patil.
Other pairs were now filtering on to the dance floor. "Care to dance?" Ben asked. Ginny nodded, letting him led her to a clear spot, effortlessly falling into sync with the music and each other.
Nearby, Draco stood with Blaise, goblets of punch in hand. They watched the dancing pairs twirl around, both glad their dates currently were nowhere to be seen.
"Someone spiked this with terrible quality liquor." Blaise complained, promptly taking yet another sip.
Draco smirked. "Just be glad someone thought to spike it at all."
"The real party is later down in the common room after this over. Some seventh years nearly bought out Doogal Liquor and Spirits last Hogsmeade trip."
"Clearly wasn't one of them that spiked this punch then," Draco drained his glass, his eyes watching a certain redheaded girl who looked like a strange, adult version of the one he knew.
"Waste it on this crowd? No way." Blasie chuckled. "Probably a Gryffindor who spiked it. That lot is notorious for caring more about being sloshed than the quality of the drink to get them there."
At that moment Pansy flounced up to them, a bit gigglier than when she left a good fifteen minutes earlier. She immediately clutched on to Draco's arm, smiling up at him. "Draacoo, come dance with me!"
Repressing a sigh, Draco placed down the goblet on to the table and gave Blaise a rather dirty look that Pansy missed. His friend simply smirked and saluted him wordlessly with his drink.
On the dance floor, Draco dutifully went through the motions of the waltz. Memorized since early childhood, he closed his eyes briefly to allow a moment of peace. It lasted barely a second.
"Draco," Pansy's grip on his shoulder tightened. He opened his eyes and looked down at her, wondering what the hell she wanted. She loosened her grip slightly, and sighed. "Isn't this such a romantic night?"
Draco inwardly groaned. Merlin, not tonight. Thankfully she did not go down the conversational path he thought she would. Instead she started one of her favorite past times. Gossiping.
"Hermione doesn't look horrible tonight. That Lucy skank from Hufflepuff is delusional though to think that color looks good with her complexion. I can't believe that Cora is here with a seventh year, her mother must be proud of her being so ambitious. Look, Parvarti ditched Potter, I think she upgraded personally. . why that Ben Montague wanted to bring her is a mystery to me.. That dress –" Pansy looked ready to say something highly insulting.
"My mother had a hand in designing Ginny's gown." Draco cut in, bored.
"Oh well of course she did! Your mother has amazing taste after all; I was just about to say…" Pansy droned on and on.
Draco pretended to listen as his eyes found Ginny, taking a break from dancing and talking rather animatedly with her two close friends. Whatever Pansy may think, he thought she personally looked prettier than usual, and made a note to compliment his mother on the design of the gown next time he saw her.
He knew that he was certainly not the only male to notice how she looked tonight. They all looked at her, even if for a brief moment. Her reputation was beginning to grow, and Draco knew very well that it wouldn't be long until a rumor of a boyfriend came about. Not that he cared. She was allowed her fun at Hogwarts. They did not have the luxury to pick their own destiny. Draco would never resent her from enjoying the little freedoms she had while at school. Merlin knows he planned on enjoying every moment of it.
"Draco are you listening?" Pansy stomped on his foot.
"What?" He snapped, stopping their dancing and biting his lip hard. Her pointy shoe did some damage, dammit.
"I said, Blaise is waving us over. It's time to ditch this ball and head down to the after party." Sure enough Blaise stood impatiently beside the rest of their friends, his arm wrapped around a girl who was definitely not his date.
"Right." Draco walked towards his friend, aware that Pansy clutched on to his arm again. Casually he glanced over to where Ginny was, disappointed to see her two friends were alone. He wondered briefly if maybe she also ditched the ball with Montague, before getting distracted by Blaise clapping down on his shoulder guiding him towards the large tall doors and the cheerful bantering of Crabbe and Goyle, both drunk off the punch.
The clock struck midnight and the closing song of the ball softly ended. The real party was just getting started, and Draco would be the first to have a go at the Firewhiskey.
Merlin knew he would need it.