A/N – The Dress is a 5 part story with an additional After The End chapter. Updates will be Tuesdays and Thursdays. I should also point out that this is not a story for Ginny fans as she is portrayed in a less than flattering light in this story. But for everyone else, I hope you all enjoy this story.
It was a gorgeous day in early September as Ginny Weasley and Lavender Brown arrived at the new, and rather pricey, wizarding shopping square, just outside of Edinburgh. The reason for their visit to the picturesque square of shops was the presence of a bridal shop – Beautiful Brides. The previous month Ginny's boyfriend, Harry Potter, had proposed and ever since then Ginny had been gripped with wedding fever. Even though no date for the wedding had been set, she'd jumped into researching everything she would need for the perfect wedding. She was already eyeing up luxury venues for the ceremony, and now she wanted to check out wedding dresses.
"What if you see the perfect dress?" Lavender asked with an excited squeal.
She was just as excited about the wedding as Ginny as the redheaded witch had included her in everything so far. Ginny had even asked her to be chief bridesmaid, and she'd promised her she could pick whatever dress she wanted. One day Lavender was hoping to have her own wedding to Ginny's older brother, Ron, to look forward to, but she knew that she and Ron didn't have the sort of money Harry and Ginny had, so for some of the more luxurious trappings of the wedding, this would be her only chance to experience that sort of luxury.
"Then I'll buy it," Ginny replied with a grin.
"Even without a date for the wedding?" Lavender checked.
"I'm going to need a dress no matter when the wedding is," Ginny answered with a shrug. "Besides, we might not even have to wait that long. I've got several venues I want to check out, and I'm hoping one of them will have a space sooner rather than later. Especially some of the pricier venues as surely they're going to have more openings as less people can afford them."
"A quick wedding wouldn't leave you with much time to prepare," Lavender said cautiously.
"Then it's a good job I've got you to help me out," Ginny retorted, linking her arm through Lavender's as they made their way towards the bridal shop.
Reaching the bridal shop, Ginny and Lavender paused outside to take in the dresses on display in the window. Beautiful Brides boasted that each of their dresses were unique, and that they were happy to make any alterations the brides desired.
"I love that one," Lavender said with a dreamy sigh as she admired a stunning ballgown style dress, with a lace design running around the skirt of the dress and a bodice decorated with hundreds of sparkling crystals.
"It is gorgeous," Ginny admitted, thinking the dress looked like something a fairy-tale princess would wear. "But I think I want a slimline dress. I want to show off my slender figure."
While Lavender knew her dream wedding dress would be large and floaty, she understood Ginny's desire for something more fitted as since she was a professional quidditch player, she had a slender, but well-toned physique.
Entering the shop the two witches were greeted by a pretty young witch, who was sitting at the front desk. The witch in question seemed slightly flustered by Ginny's presence, but it was something Ginny was used to since she was famous. After admitting that they didn't have an appointment, they were shown into a viewing area where they could look at the dresses on offer.
"Madam Rosa will be through shortly," the young witch said as she offered them both a glass of champagne. "She might be able to fit you in today if you wish to try some dresses, or you might have to make an appointment to return if you see something you like."
"That's no problem," Ginny replied with a smile as she and Lavender began to peruse the dresses on display.
Each dress was absolutely stunning, and despite her initial desire for a form-fitting dress, Ginny found herself contemplating several different styles. She had no idea how she would ever pick a dress as she'd already fallen in love with so many of them. Chances were it was going to be a long process and would require multiple visits to the shop to find the perfect gown.
"I think I've died and gone to heaven," Lavender giggled as they checked out another princess style dress, this one a pale pink colour.
Ginny was just about to agree when a door over the far side of the room opened and a statuesque older witch with black hair styled in a sophisticated twist emerged carrying the most stunning wedding dress Ginny had ever seen. The dress was a gorgeous slim line number, with a delicate design of diamonds around the neckline, and a matching pattern running around the waist of the dress. As the woman moved, Ginny caught sight of the back of the dress, and found that the pattern continued around the back of the dress, which was cut out to reveal the bride's back.
Withing thinking, Ginny approached the woman, who was hanging the dress onto a nearby hanger. Closer up it was even more beautiful than Ginny had initially thought.
"That is a gorgeous dress," she breathed, forcing herself not to reach out and caress the silky looking material.
"It is one of the nicest dresses I've worked on," the older witch, whom Ginny was guessing was Madam Rosa, admitted with a smile.
"How much is it?" Ginny asked, convinced she'd found her dress.
"I'm afraid it's not for sale," Madam Rosa replied with a shake of her head. "I have just been making a few adjustments for the witch the dress belongs to."
"Oh," Ginny muttered, unable to tear her gaze away from the dress in front of her.
"I do have dresses of similar design," Madam Rosa said. "And of course, I can make any alterations you desire."
"So you could make me a dress exactly like this one?" Ginny asked hopefully.
"No, because each of my dresses are unique," Madam Rosa replied. "The bride who owns this dress suggested some of the alterations herself, so some parts are uniquely her input. However, I could find a similar style dress and turn it into something similar if that's what you would like."
"Not really," Ginny admitted. "I want this dress, exactly as it is."
"I'm afraid that is impossible," Madam Rosa replied with a shrug as she summoned a garment bag and stored Ginny's perfect dress out of sight.
"What about if I pay you double what you sold it for?" Ginny asked.
"I've already sold the dress, it's not mine to resell," Madam Rosa said, frowning slightly at Ginny's suggestion.
"Then can you tell me who owns the dress? Maybe she will sell to me," Ginny suggested.
"I will do no such thing," Madam Rosa replied, this time sounding highly offended as she picked up the dress. "I am happy for you to take a look around and make an appointment with my assistant if you wish to try any dresses on. But I am afraid, I am busy right now as I have another witch due in any minute for a fitting."
Clutching the dress tightly, as if she thought Ginny was going to snatch it, Madam Rosa swept back through the door at the back of the room, slamming it firmly behind her. Ginny watched her go in dismay, hardly able to believe that she'd found the perfect wedding dress only to have it snatched from under her nose. Now, it didn't matter what the other dresses were like, they couldn't compare to the one she'd just seen and fallen in love with.
"I have to have that dress," she whispered to Lavender, who had been silently watching the entire thing.
"How? It's already sold, and Madam Rosa made it clear that she wasn't giving you any details of who owns the dress," Lavender said.
"Maybe I don't need her," Ginny said with a sly smile as she turned her attention to the young witch who had greeted them upon their arrival. She was busy with some paperwork, and Ginny was betting that she hadn't heard exactly what had been said between her and Madam Rosa. "You keep watch for that old bat returning."
Leaving Lavender to keep an eye out for Madam Rosa potentially returning, Ginny made her way over to where the young witch was working and introduced herself. The young witch stammered a reply of her name, Bethany, and admitted that she was a big fan of Ginny's.
"I could give you an autograph," Ginny said, finding a piece of blank parchment on the desk and signing her name with a flourish and handing it over to a starstruck Bethany. "Madam Rosa is regretfully too busy to deal with me today, but she did ask me to ask you to do her a massive favour. Did you see that dress she just put away?"
"Yes, I know the one you mean," Bethany replied with a nod.
"I have a few questions for the witch who owns the dress and Madam Rosa said she would give me her address so I could speak with her. But as she's busy, she wants you to get it for me. That wouldn't be a problem, would it?"
"We're not supposed to give out details of our clients," Bethany said, biting her lower lip.
"Madam Rosa has already said it was fine," Ginny said, flashing Bethany her most dazzling smile. "Besides, what am I going to do? You know me, Bethany, you can trust me."
For a moment Ginny thought the girl was going to falter and refuse to give her the information she required, but another dazzling smile had her melting, and she retrieved the address of the woman who owned the dress Ginny wanted.
"Come on Lavender, let's go and get some lunch," Ginny called once the address was tucked safely away in her purse. "I'll be in touch later to arrange an appointment to view some dresses," she said to Bethany. "And I will make sure that Madam Rosa knows how wonderful you are."
Leaving a thrilled Bethany to cherish her autograph and the compliments, Ginny hurried out of the shop with Lavender. Given what she'd just done she decided it was unwise to stay where they were, so Ginny suggested they head back to Diagon Alley to grab some lunch at The Leaky Cauldron.
"That girl could be in so much trouble," Lavender remarked as they arrived back in London.
"That's her fault for being such a sucker," Ginny snorted. "I really shouldn't have been able to get an address of one of their clients through pure flattery. The girl is a liability."
"I'm still not sure you should have done that," Lavender muttered as they headed into The Leaky Cauldron. These days it was a wonderful place to have a meal thanks to its new landlady, Hannah Abbott, who had really turned the place around and was making a huge success of the business.
"But it was the perfect dress," Ginny argued as they took their seats. "I have to have that dress, Lavender. I can't get married in anything else now."
"And what if the witch who owns the dress won't sell it to you?"
"I'll just have to persuade her," Ginny answered with an unconcerned shrug. "I can pay her anything she wants. I can give her enough money for her to go and buy several dresses. I want that dress, and I will get it. No matter what it takes."
Part of Lavender admired Ginny's determination, but another part of her was amazed by how far she seemed willing to go for a dress. Beautiful Brides had been full of amazing dresses, and any one of them would have been perfect for Ginny. But she'd set her sights on one dress and even the fact it belonged to someone else hadn't stopped her coveting it. It just remained to be seen if she would get what she wanted, or if the original owner of the dress would hold strong and keep hold of her wedding dress.
