Ch. X: Preparations

Terrence dressed in complete and utter silence in the seventh year dorm. He pulled the velvety dress robes up around his shoulders and surveyed himself in the mirror before pulling out a small black vial of cologne. He put a small dash on his collar and looked over himself once more. The indigo robes fit him nicely, and they brought out his bright blue eyes. He only hoped that she would notice, after all, the robes were the most expensive ones in the store. He then began to have his doubts. They were only the most expensive in Gladrags, which was the only place in Hogsmeade. He couldn't help but wonder if she would be more impressed if he had imported them from some foreign country like France or Italy. He nervously ran a comb through his wispy flaxen hair. After looking at the style in the mirror, he tousled it up a bit, hoping she would find it a bit more strict and rigid as he normally was. Although he was worried, this would have to do.

Behind him, Marcus Flint was digging through his chest of drawers, looking for something. He finally straightened up, holding a pair of black silken dress robes. He grinned and shrugged off the work-worn robes he had previously donned. He roughly slid the silken robes over his head and pulled his own cologne out of his chest of drawers before throwing a few shakes of it onto his neck and some on the sleeves of his robes. He then flattened the hair on his head down as far as it would go; though it was quite limp already.

"You're al-," Terrence stopped himself before saying 'allowed to go to the party.' That would have aggravated the older boy. "I mean, you're going to the party as well, Marcus?"

"Of course," he said in an almost charming voice. "I wouldn't miss it for the world."

"Yes, me neither."

"So you're awfully dressed up," he said, eyeing the expensive robes and meeting the younger boy's eyes. "I'm assuming you have a date, then? Well, who is it?"

"Oh, just some girl," he said, nervously adjusting the collar of his robes as the older boy looked down on him with his dark eyes.

"Just some girl, huh," Marcus smirked at the prefect. "Doesn't seem like 'just some girl' to me."

*****

"Oh bloody hell Oliver, would you hurry up!" Percy called up the stairs to his friend who was a bit nervous. Percy waited at the bottom of the stairs in his grayish silver robes. The robes were made of an extremely soft material and he had found them while searching some secondhand shops in Diagon Alley. The quidditch team waited with Percy in the common room, clearly wanting to see if their obsessed captain could dress up well.

Angelina Johnson and Fred Weasley were sitting awfully close to one another on the love seat while Katie Bell and Alicia Spinnet smirked from the other side of the room. George Weasley and Harry Potter were sitting across from one another at the table, playing a game of exploding snap in with the sleeves of their clothes pulled up. They stared back at one another with determined faces as they dueled on and on.

Finally, they heard a door slam in the corridor above them and they all watched the stairs intently. For a few seconds, they waited with nothing. It seemed Oliver had either not left his room or was standing atop the stairs, delaying his entrance. Finally, they saw a foot and the bottom of deep red robes.

Oliver descended the stairs amidst the eyes of his teammates and best friend more gracefully than he ever had. His awkwardness on the ground was clearly noticeable to everyone normally, compared to his grace in the sky, but now it was different. Soon, his head was visible and everyone seemed taken aback at how the keeper radiated a sort of impression that they were not used to.

His thick brown hair was parted neatly and pushed to one side, as opposed to his normal windswept look from flying. The robes rode high on his neck and made him look almost aristocratic, accentuating his defined jaw and strong chin. His eyebrows were no longer furrowed with the determination of a quidditch match, but docile, giving his face a handsome glow of innocence. His amber colored eyes seemed a bit nervous, but with a room full of people with all eyes on you, who wouldn't be.

The robes fit him well, Percy thought. Oliver didn't buy them, that was a given. He favored baggy things that allowed free movement, quidditch clothes, basically. The burgundy material was soft looking, almost like a fleece. Percy found himself wanting to reach out and touch it, but abandoning the thought as the boy coming down the stairs stopped and spoke.

"You all waiting for me?" he said, a devilish grin on his face. "You shouldn't have."

"Well what can we say, we were wondering if there really was more to you than just quidditch," Katie said, her arms folded. The rest of the team nodded intently.

"I know this is sort of last minute," Oliver faltered. "But I am allowed to bring a younger student to the party, would any of you like to go?"

At those words, the three girls began blushing like mad and began gibbering between themselves. Angelina had left her spot near George and stood by the girls. They turned to face Oliver, as if presenting him with three options.

"Er.I can't choose, that wouldn't be fair. Can't you three just draw straws or something?" He actually seemed like he couldn't care less, but didn't want to be seen entering the party without a date. "Well, go on! We've got about a half an hour to get there."

The three faced each other, obviously debating what to do. If truth were told, each one of them had harbored a crush on their quidditch captain for quite some time now. After five minutes had passed, Oliver spoke.

"Alright, whose name comes first in the alphabet?"

"First or last?" asked Alicia hopefully.

"Last."

"Me," Katie squealed, running up to her dorm. Oliver sighed and ignored the scowls he had earned from the other two girls. They turned and stalked up to the dormitory behind their friend and Oliver took a seat on one of the red couches.

"Didn't even think of asking anyone until now," he muttered, running his hand through his neatly parted hair and mussing it up again.

"Neither did I," Percy said, coming to sit down beside him. They both sat there, glancing back at each other casually.

"Bet you're taking that Malloy girl, huh," Oliver asked, looking displeased once more.

"Actually, I'm flying solo tonight," Percy smiled and seemed quite lighthearted about the whole thing.

"You should've told me!" Oliver exclaimed. "Now you've made me seem like a great prat, showing up with a date while my friend doesn't have one. We could've showed up together, two single guys looking great and having a great time."

"No, don't even think that," Percy shook his head, attempting to dismiss any thoughts of guilt from the other boy's mind.

Oliver scowled and looked gloomily down at his hands that were clasped rather tightly in his lap. Thoughts were running rampant through his mind. He was not jealous of Percy and the other girl at this very moment, but he also felt quite guilty for having a date while his friend had none.

In a matter of minutes, Katie Bell had rushed down the stairs and pulled her quidditch captain up and out of his seat, linking her arm through his and pushed him out the door. Percy followed closely behind, laughing at the girl's behavior. She clearly had lucked out when it came to this party. Arriving on the arm of a quidditch star, she'd probably be the envy of most of the girls at the party.

The hallways were lit with floating candles instead of torches and they produced a dim sort of romantic glow in the deserted corridors. The portraits had all abandoned their frames and they looked quite ridiculous hanging blankly on the walls. The suits of armor were shining more than the Head Boy had seen them in his seven years at Hogwarts. Their shoes made dull thuds on the stone floor as they made their way down to the Great Hall.

The entrance was extravagantly decorated with purple and silver sashes. Standing in front of the door were Professor McGonagall and Professor Snape, greeting the students (if what Snape was doing could be considered greeting).

Percy let Oliver and Katie get ahead of him. He assumed the girl wanted to make a big entrance while clutching Wood's arm. He had assumed correctly. McGonagall grinned widely at the appearance of the three Gryffindors and moved out of the way to let Bell and Wood pass.

*****

"We're going to be late if you don't hurry up!" Xanne said pointedly to her dorm mate. Leanor de Sade had been in front of the mirror for the past few minutes, doing nothing but look closely at her hair and make up. Xanne didn't know who her date was, but it was very last minute and Leanor seemed to be ecstatic.

"Alright," she said, adjusting her hair one more time. She wore robes of the palest blue. They shimmered lightly on her figure and accentuated every curve the girl had. Xanne thought they were a bit too revealing, but it wasn't her place to say anything. At least she knew for sure there was to be another Slytherin sixth year at the party.

Leanor walked into the hallway and made her way to the common room. Xanne hung back, pausing to look herself over in the full-length mirror. She couldn't help but notice a rather of doomed feeling in the pit of her stomach. Was it too soon to go out amongst the students? Could she handle it all?

On her left wrist, she wore a black wristband, concealing the scar from view. Though she could not see it, she was aware of it at all times. It had become a part of her, a trophy of a sort, without the glory and honor. Her robes were deep green with black trim around the sleeves, the neck, and the feet. They were a bit low cut, but were nothing compared to Leanor's robes. Her onyx necklace shimmered in the light of the room; her glasses lay forgotten on her nightstand. She had charmed her eyes for the night and could see perfectly without them. Her dark eyes looked a bit troubled, but she adjusted that look to one mystique as she put dark makeup on her eyelids. Once her black hair was brushed straight, and her lips were the perfect shade of pink, she made her way out of the dormitory also.

*****

Terrence waited apprehensively in the common room, standing near the corridor that led to the girls' rooms, trying not to seem to eager. A girl came out of the sixth year dorm and started toward him, his heart leapt up into his throat. A moment later, he noticed the girl's face and realized that it wasn't Xanne. After turning around and pretending he wasn't waiting apprehensively, he saw the girl who had walked past him meet up with none other than Marcus Flint. She looked admiringly into his dark eyes but he was looking away, as if he had more important things on his mind that night.

Higgs turned to look down the corridor and through the flickering candlelight; he could make out a dark shape moving towards him. He knew instantly that it was she. The dark green robes were shining, the velvet material almost illuminated from the other end of the corridor. Once she could see him, her eyes and face smiled warmly. She strode fluidly up to him and looked into his shining blue eyes.

"Good evening."

"Er," he stammered. "Good evening."

Her dark eyes were without the usual shield of her glasses and seemed almost hooded for some reason. The paleness of her face was somewhat angelic as he looked over it, and with her dark hair framing it, it seemed even more lustrous. He sort of lost track of time, probably lost in the moment, and delicately bent down his head, golden hair falling in his face. He gently brought his lips to hers and kissed her in an almost fluttery way.

Xanne shuddered and pulled back after a moment, a look of shock on her face. Her graceful conduct had diminished and now her hands were shaking. She looked calculatingly into his face, as if waiting for an explanation.

"I'm so sorry," Higgs apologised profusely. "I just assumed. I rushed, I'm sorry. I.I."

"It's not you," she said, sounding gloomy. "It's my fault. I had a bit of a hard time recently and.it's just my fault."

Though she attempted to ease the awkward moment, the older boy simply turned his blushing face towards the ground. He was clearly ashamed and somewhat astounded at his incredibly bad judgement. Xanne then did something that shocked him even more.

She took his head in both of her hands and brought his face up to hers. She smiled in a genuine manner and brought her lips, not to his lips, but to his forehead. Higgs was surprised to feel that the gentle kiss on his forehead made him tremble, much like she had when he had kissed her. After holding him there like that, ignoring the half-full common room, she finally took her hands away and gazed deeply into his eyes. In that instant he realized the reason he had held his crush on this girl out for so long. It was not her looks, or the little talent she had on the quidditch pitch. It was not her ambition or her strives for excellence that he knew most prefects had. It all lie in her eyes, that were slightly clouded and troubled, and her soul, that was truly good, even with the cunning Slytherin exterior. And at that very moment, that was all he could see.

*****

Flint watched them leave the common room in silence. He clenched and unclenched his fists, trying to ward off the anger. He took breaths in through his nose and out through his mouth, rhythmically for a few moments. De Sade was leaning on his shoulder adoringly; he brushed her off and made his way to the door himself.

Leanor ran to catch up with him and roughly yanked his arm into hers. The dungeons were just as sordid as they normally smelled, mildew and an old musty odor that was probably from hundreds of years of students and classes wafted through with the crisp breeze. Rather than the torches and candles that normally lined the corridors on the other floors, the dungeons had one only at the places where the corridors met. The halls were dark and cold. Each and every student that passed through the dungeon would feel dullness in their bones that was spurned by all, except maybe the Slytherins. The stone down there was a darker color than that of the other corridors and seemed to glisten, as if it was eternally damp. It was a generally mirthless place if you weren't accustomed to it. Marcus had learned to love it.

He pulled back the sleeve of his robes and eyed his wristwatch. The party was to start in five minutes. He walked up the giant staircase, Leanor still clinging to him, and sneered at the cheerful Christmas music that was drifting down to greet them. Once they reached the landing of the staircase, two teachers stood there to welcome them.

"Good evening Miss de Sade," said a deep, silky voice by the door. When Leanor saw who had spoken and she blushed crimson, obviously quite smitten with the owner, who in turn bowed charmingly back at her.

"Why, hello Professor," she smiled and dropped Flint's arm to curtsy politely.

"I hope you enjoy your evening," Snape said, ushering them inside. He did not speak to Flint, only casting a look his way that simply said 'I will be watching you.'

*****

Penelope Clearwater stood in front of her own mirror, trying to ignore the constant feeling of sadness. Her eyes began to mist over.

She had shocked herself when she was talking to a sixth year boy in the hallway. His name was Roger Davies and he was cute for a sixth year boy, she stopped and told herself that he was quite cute for any boy. After all, he was a prefect, and was next in line for quidditch captain.

He had initiated a conversation with her over the prospect of the password to the prefects' bathroom that should be changed at the start of every month. Eventually, it was clear that this was not all he had in mind. He looked intently into her face and asked her if she would take him to the Christmas party as her date and hopefully more than just a date eventually.

She smirked at him; it took a certain amount of courage to ask out the Head girl, but then politely declined. She explained that she already had a boyfriend, who was the Head boy, and that she thought everyone knew that. He looked confused, and asked her if all of those break-up rumors were true. He was sure that most of the Ravenclaw common room wouldn't lie like that. Penelope, on the other hand, didn't take it too well.

It hit her like a slap in the face. She broke down into tears and the boy looked nervous, the Head girl did not simply start sobbing on your shoulder over just anything. He apologized and awkwardly patted her head.

She cringed at the memory, disappointed in herself. Not only had she completely forgotten about her and Percy's breakup, she had embarrassed herself in front of one of the prefects that she was supposed to be leading. But she wouldn't focus on that now, she had calmed down and a day later politely asked the Davies boy to accompany her, to which he gratefully agreed.

She wiped the lone tear that had fallen on her cheek away and paused to catch her breath. She reached a hand over onto her dressing table and picked up a crystal necklace, an amethyst netted in wire on a silver chain. It was supposed to protect her and heal her, but had failed so far. She wore it just the same, in hopes that it would help. She closed her fist around the crystal and took a breath.

At that exact same moment, Xanne Malloy brought her own hand up and closed it around her onyx necklace, thinking of how to handle her own problems as her and Terrence Higgs walked down the lifeless Slytherin corridor. They each doubted the party, each doubting their dates and themselves as well. Penelope had a strong longing for Percy; Xanne didn't know exactly what she felt for Terrence, as it had never crossed her mind before. She they both smiled weakly at the same moment and made their ways to the party.