Fae, back in some new funeral clothes, felt like giving up. She doubted
that there was anyone in this dimly lit room that wasn't against her, and
she didn't even have Percy as her lawyer this time. What's worse, the
'judge' this time was Albert Crouch. And the whole court was run so
strangely. A Dementor threw her out in front of a circular crowd of Witches
and Wizards, whom she had no idea who they were, and she was asked
seemingly thousands of questions. She kept her eyes on the dark floors and
didn't say much, just waiting for her sentence to rise to thirty years in
Azkaban.
Suddenly, she heard a door burst open. She jerked her head up and saw Dumbledore striding in, followed by Professor McGonagall and.. Ron?
"Albus," Mr Crouch said, sounding nervous. It quickly changed to livid, when he turned to Professor McGonagall. "How nice to see you. May I ask you just what you're doing?"
"We have found some evidence to help support Fae's case, Mr Crouch," she answered confidently. She obviously didn't like this man very much; but who did? "And it was all thanks to you."
Mr Crouch looked confused. "What do you mean, Minerva?" he spat. "Care to elaborate?"
She marched right up to him and handed him several-what appeared to be, Fae couldn't really see them-moving photos. Ron stayed back against the wall as Dumbledore had instructed him. He was nervously eyeing the Dementors.
Professor McGonagall smiled confidently. "Do you remember the cameras you placed around the school to catch who you thought was Fae creating the Dark Marks? Well, apparently you somehow got a few placed where Mr Weasley and Ms O'Connor found Voldemort. If you look closely, you will see their dueling, and Ronald's act of bravery, and the third will show you Violete Lane showing herself as Voldemort."
Mr Crouch's jaw dropped, as well as Fae's. But McGonagall didn't stop there. "I don't seem to remember Hogwarts giving you permission to even put these cameras up around our school. You told me you got the permission from Albus, but you told him I gave you permission. I can't think of any scenario in which this would be legal, even though you are from the Ministry. So, if I am correct sir, I believe that if anyone here needs to be having a trial, it is you."
The witches and wizards that were sitting in the circular audience looked at Mr Crouch. Before he could even say anything, two Dementors came and grabbed onto his arms, and drug him back behind a door. Immediately after, Dumbledore and McGonagall walked up into the stands and started talking to one of the witches in the back. Fae assumed that he was the second to take lead, if anything happened to Mr Crouch.
Fae looked around for Ron, and finally spotted him in back, in the shadows. He slowly raised his hand in a timid wave, but before she could say anything back, the wizard that McGonagall and Dumbledore went to speak to came to Mr Crouch's podium. He didn't make any eye contact with Fae as he started to speak.
"For those of you who don't know me, I am Mr Crouch's younger sister Evelyn. As you might have guessed, our entire family was in the Ministry, and I have followed in the footsteps of my two brothers. I, obviously, have known Albert for a very long time, and I also know that he was a former Death Eater. He claimed to have given up his beliefs to join the Ministry, but I never fully believed him. This evidence that has been presented has caused me to deem that he may have never given up his follows towards Voldemort. And because of this information, his trial will be held in one month. As for this case, the rest of the jury and I hereby declare the defendant.. innocent."
As soon as she said this, Fae's eyes widened and a smile spread across her face. She was finally found innocent! Evelyn smiled down at her as she returned it. She heaved a sigh of relief and turned around. She was escorted out by two Dementors, and was so happy that their dark hands grasping her arms didn't even bother her. As soon as she stepped out of the old building and into the sun, she took in a deep breath, and suddenly everything was better.
So even Albert Crouch used to be a Death Eater. She didn't even doubt that he still was. No wonder he was so quick to accuse her; he didn't want anyone to find out about Voldemort really being in the school.
Before she had more time to think about it, her parents ran over to her and grabbed her in a hug. They weren't allowed in the courtroom and were forced to wait outside while the case went on. She told them what had happened, and how Professor McGonagall had presented the information to Mr Crouch. The old professor and Dumbledore walked over to her parents and the headmaster shook hands with her father. When Fae told her mother that she was standing right in front of the woman who had proved her innocent, she grabbed her in a hug. Her mother normally backed away when she met a witch or wizard because of her religion, but this time she was too happy. Professor McGonagall awkwardly patted her back and Fae smiled, then slipped away from their small circle.
She saw Ron standing with Percy, whom had come outside to see how Fae's case had gone. She decided that talking with him might not be the best idea; he might have still had some dislike toward her. Just as she was about to turn around though, she caught his eye and he smiled and waved at her. Even though she was a little shocked she still kept her smile on and waved back. They walked over to her and Percy stood in front of her.
"I'm sorry about being so prejudging about you," He mumbled, a little embarrassed, "I guess I was pretty wrong then, huh?"
She laughed a little. "Ah, don't worry about it. It happens all the time," she said and waved her hand dismissively.
"Maybe you can come stop by the Burrow some time over the summer and visit." Percy smiled back. Ron opened his mouth to say something, but Fae's mother came up behind her.
"Ready to go back to Hogwarts? Minerva told me that there's going to be a dance tonight! And it has a theme!" she exclaimed, for once excited that her daughter was going somewhere that had to do with witchcraft. Fae groaned; another dance? And this one had a theme? But her mother steered her back inside the building where she would be traveling by Floo Powder.
+ + +
Fae wasn't surprised when she got back to the Gryffindor common room to find that no one was there. She was a little relieved though; she would have felt kind of awkward. It was dark by the time she was there; she ended up staying at the Ministry for a few hours longer than expected while her parents talked with everyone that was in the Order of the Phoenix. They, for some reason, suddenly took a lot of interest in Hogwarts and its history. They ended up owning a free copy of Hermione's 'bible', as Fae called it; "Hogwarts: A History." She assumed that the only reason they gave it to them was to get her parents off their backs, but she didn't say anything to them about it.
The other students were already at the dance, she figured, as she trudged up the stairs to her dormitory. She sat down on her bed and kicked off her high-heeled shoes. Heaving a sigh of relief to see that she could still move her toes after all of that pain, she looked at the clock. It was only seven o'clock; there was still another four hours until the dance was over.
"I can't believe I'm doing this," she mumbled as she took out a book of spells to begin constructing her costume.
Half an hour later, she walked slowly and somewhat self-consciously down the stairs to the common room. Luckily, there was no one there as she stepped down to the floor and looked into the tall mirror in the corner.
"Fae, you are the biggest dork I know." She said to herself, spinning around.
She was wearing a knee-length, dark Easter-purple dress with dark and light gray layers at the bottom that were cut and shredded. The sleeves were the same and the square neck came down below her collarbones. A black lacy choker adorned her neck and ankles, as well as fingerless gloves that came up to about her elbows. Her shoes looked like a ballerina's, only they had thicker soles and were black. Their ribbons came winding up her legs to just below her knee. Her costume was completed with a pair of black nylon, almond shaped fairy wings, held on to her back by magic.
The thing she was most afraid of was looking like a complete moron. Looking herself over in the mirror once more, her eyes fell down onto the white bandage she had wrapped around her arm from the spider pinning her against the wall. It totally threw everything else off. Peeling it back just a little, it revealed a rather large, ugly, circular scar. She sighed irritably and turned away.
+ + +
The Great Hall looked a lot better than it did for the Yule Ball. Instead of having flashing lights, the ceiling was enchanted to look like the night sky as it always did, only there were shooting stars every now and then. Magic "fireflies" were floating around the room just like real ones would do, and they had a band this time. Some wizard band that no one had ever heard of before that played a lot of muggle music and dressed like one, but it was good to listen to.
Ron was sitting off to the side, just watching everyone. He was still in a little pain from the night before and couldn't really believe that he had dragged himself to this place; he should have been off in his dormitory sleeping. He had managed to come in unseen and stayed that way, as he just watched his friends off having fun. Hermione, dressed as herself, was talking with Lavender and Parvati, because the twins were off starting another break dancing competition. They were both dressed up as 'pimps', as the Americans might call it. Ginny, who was dressed up in a red dress with little red horns and a tail was talking with Harry. He was dressed up in white robes with little feathery wings and had a halo suspended in air by magic over his head. It was kind of awkward for Ron to watch his best friend and his younger sister flirting together, but he had grown used to the idea over the past two years. He saw Fleur over in the corner, dressed as some kind of bride or something, surrounded by as many boys as ever. He snorted; she was a bit stuck up, but she was very pretty.
He himself was dressed up in a strange excuse for a knight costume; the only thing that looked like he put any effort into was the armor on his shoulders and upper arm. His shirt looked like a knight's mail, and the sword that he used to wound Voldemort hung at his side. It was a little ironic that he was wearing it and at the same time tried not to think about what happened, but he felt like he had better get used to the idea; it would be sticking with him for a while.
He stole the costume idea from a muggle movie his dad had tried to figure out called, what was it, Romeo and Juliet? Either way, it was very similar to the one he had seen the Romeo wear to the party with Juliet as the angel. He hoped no one else had somehow been able to see the movie or they might think that he and Harry were supposed to be dressed up together as a couple. They had already had the incident that morning in the hall, and he was sure that quite a few students now thought them to be.. well, you know.
Unfortunately, his eyes landed on Tracy and Ferret Boy. They were sitting in the back where there was even less light, and her skirt was shorter than ever. Malfoy had his arm around her shoulders and he was saying something into her neck. Crabbe and Goyle were sitting off to the side, looking as brain dead as ever. He didn't know whether he was supposed to be sad or angry, but a mix of both took over him as she met his eyes and gave him a perfectly Malfoy-identical smirk. Keeping her eyes fixed on him, she grabbed Ferret Boy's hand and led him out of the room, probably to go off and snog each other again. Ron just hoped his plan had worked, but that would be told later.
His eyes unwillingly followed them out the door and stayed fixated on it even after they left. Why did she feel like she had to rub it in like that? He saw the door open again, but it shut rather quickly, and someone snuck in past the crowd and behind where everyone was dancing. It was something new to look at, but then eventually he got bored and stood up to leave. He started to stand up and right before he was about to leave, he just happened to glance over and see a fairy standing off to the side, watching him. It was Fae.
Ron stood up and she took a few steps forward until they were within arms length. For a long time they just looked at each other, their expressions unreadable. A firefly floated across Fae's face, illuminating it in the darkness of the Great Hall. Finally, Ron scratched the back of his head nervously.
"You look nice," he mumbled.
"Same to you, Romeo," she smiled. He gave an embarrassed grin; she had obviously seen the movie character that he had modeled his costume after.
"Yeah, too bad you didn't come as an angel! We could have been a couple or something!" he laughed, and as soon as the words escaped his mouth, they both got deadly quiet. Ron finally stopped clutching the back of his neck in mortification. "Do you want to go walk somewhere?"
She nodded and they made their way to the door, managing to do so without attracting too much attention. They were making their way outside, and ran into Professor McGonagall. She looked like she was about to stop them, but then she realized it was the two school 'heroes'. She only nodded and let them go, mumbling something about staying away from the forest.
They stepped out into the breezy summer air and walked a ways, heading unintentionally towards the lake. The last time they were there together was after they had found Malfoy and Tracy together in Madame Hooch's room. The two of them stood there, just looking out onto the water and not really knowing what to say.
Ron looked at her arm nervously. "Does it hurt?" he inquired, pointing at the bandage. It was still stained with a little red spot.
She smiled. "Like hell." He nodded and turned back out to the water. There was even more silence as a few fireflies flew by them.
"How come you're doing all of this for me?" Fae's question surprised him.
"What do you mean?" he asked nervously.
She sighed with slight irritation and folded her arms. "Oh, nothing really. You know, just the fact that you saved my life from someone's name you're scared to even say, and then came up with the way to prove me innocent against the Order of the Phoenix."
Ron turned red. "So I guess you heard then, huh Stormy." He squinted up his eyes; he had obviously not meant to call her by his nickname for her.
"Why do you call me that?" her second question fired away. His shade of red deepened even more and he nervously kicked a rock around with his feet. "Ron?" she pressed.
Shoving his hands into his pockets, he turned to face her. "It's stupid."
Her intense stare didn't let up, and he finally sighed with defeat. Kicking the rock once more, he kept his eyes on the ground and mumbled something.
"What?" She squinted her eyes inquisitively. He sighed and finally raised his head to look at her. It was still somewhat mumbled, but she could understand him this time.
"Because," he sighed again, "the color and the light in your eyes remind me of a storm."
As soon as he said this, her heart got caught in her throat. Ron, the most un-insightful person she could think of, was saying something almost.poetic? Eventually, he gave a half-hearted smile. "Told you it was stupid."
"Blimey, Ron, that's not stupid," she said, and suddenly felt very self- conscious. "It was just definitely the last thing I was expecting you to say. Go raibh maith 'ad."
He raised his eyebrow at her, and she smiled with embarrassment. "Sorry, I keep forgetting I'm not in Ireland any more. It means thank you." He nodded with sudden understanding and she smiled awkwardly.
They heard the music inside stop; they had the volume up pretty loud. Fae liked the band though. They played her kind of music. Searching for a subject change, she said, "You never answered my first question. Why are you doing all of this for me?"
He smiled and advanced towards her and gently grabbed onto her wrist. She nearly jumped at the warmth of just his fingertips on her bare skin, but managed to stay still. His awkwardness and timidity was reminded to her by a shy smile.
"Because," he said and took in a deep breath, "Taim i' ngra leat."
It took her a moment to understand what he said, because he hadn't pronounced it too correctly, but finally she realized that he had just said 'I love you' in Irish. Her jaw dropped; she was completely awestruck. He leaned in to kiss her, but Professor McGonagall's voice interrupted them. "You two best get inside now," she called. The tone of her voice gave away that she knew what they were doing. "I wasn't even supposed to let you out."
They stopped abruptly, both turning a nice shade of red. She seemed to interrupt them at moments like that quite a lot.
"Um, yes ma'am," he said. They silently followed her in, neither of them saying a word. Fae was still in shock from the fact that Ron had just said that he loved her.
+ + +
However, as they got back inside the Great Hall, they were taken by surprise. Right when they opened the doors, the entire room erupted into applause; everyone had been standing waiting for them. Ron stopped in the middle of his sentence and they exchanged a confused look. Finally the cheering died down. Dumbledore stood up at the head table where he always sat during meals, and smiled. He opened his arms, gesturing towards the two standing in the doorway.
"The real reason for this celebration." Ron and Fae looked at each other, still not having the slightest idea what to say. The headmaster smiled. "Thank you both, greatly, for saving our school and the victims."
There was more applause from everyone's smiling faces, and the twins along with some of their Seventh Year friends came up from in the crowd and lifted them onto their shoulders. The crowd kept cheering as they were paraded around the room.
Fae looked around the room and finally spotted Professor McGonagall standing next to Dumbledore. She smiled and mouthed the words 'thank you', for her rescue at the court, even though it was mainly Ron's idea. The Professor smiled back and nodded her head. The students holding Ron and Fae up finally set them down, and Hermione and Ginny ran over.
They nearly tackled Fae to the ground in a hug, very out of character for the bushy-headed one, but no body really minded. Fae heaved a sigh of relief to know that she had gotten two of her best friends back and they didn't hate her anymore, and hugged back.
"We're so sorry we accused you!" Ginny wailed, hugging her again and nearly pricking her neck with one of her devil horns from her costume.
She smiled. "Ginny, I've heard people saying they were sorry all day. Don't worry about it."
Harry walked over to their gathering with his hands in his pockets and a smile on his face. He stood before Fae for a moment before she just grabbed him in a hug. For a moment he just stood there with a look of not knowing what to do, until finally he hugged back and she let go. Then the twins tackled her rather loudly and less gently than Hermione and Ginny had.
Fred grabbed the sides of her face and noisily gave her a kiss on her cheek. "Fae! We love you!" he wailed, pretending to cry. George nodded and sniffed, giving her puppy dog eyes. She took this as their apology and just smiled at him until they both crushed her in another hug.
The band started to play again; another song by Social Burn. As the guitar chords sounded, Fae recognized the song as "U". The singer/lead guitarist of the band stepped up to the microphone, and she was surprised to see that they weren't using magic. They had all their amps, pedals and microphones with them when they could have just used the spell to make their instruments and voices louder.
"Take back those tears/That you sometimes cry/I'll be right here/Till your
fears subside/It won't take long/You just need some time"
Fae looked around and saw that some people were actually dancing; Ginny and Harry were near her, and Hermione and Viktor were farther off doing the same. Fred and George caught their younger sister's eye and teasingly grabbed each other in a tight embrace and started to slow dance. She blushed a little, but laughed and just flipped them off. Recognizing the bridge before the chorus, Fae turned back to the band and started to lip- sync the words to herself with a smile on her face.
"Why can't you see/That I want you /I need you/In everything/That I do/I
want you/Cause I love you/And everything/About you"
She looked around again, trying to find Ron, but he was nowhere in sight. Probably off with the twins or something, she thought to herself.
"Take back those years/That you try to hide/Relax yourself/Don't lose your
mind"
Professor McGonagall walked through the dance floor hurriedly, holding pieces of paper in her hand. Fae cringed, hoping it wasn't for her. She did not want to go to court again. Instead, she breezed right by her and up to Malfoy and Tracy, who were standing in the back somewhere.
"Why can't you see/Who you can be/Cause I want you/I need you/In everything/That I do/I want you/Cause I love you/And everything/About you"
During the guitar solo, a few students watched as McGonagall shoved the papers (Fae recognized them as more of those moving pictures) in Tracy and Malfoy's eyes. She appeared to be yelling at them for something, and they both had looks of horror on their faces. Ron returned behind Fae, smiling with satisfaction as the Professor grabbed them both tightly by their shoulders and dragged them towards the door.
"What's that all about?" Fae asked, pointing.
He still smiled. "Remember when we, well, walked in on them that one time?" She nodded, still not seeming to understand. "Remember those cameras that Mr Crouch had planted all over the school?"
She gasped, and turned with her jaw drop as McGonagall walked right by them, with Tracy and Malfoy in tow. He turned and looked at her, looking nothing less than livid. She couldn't help it; she burst out laughing and waved at him with a huge, sarcastic smile on her face. "I knew you'd get yours!" she called. He flipped her off and called them something, most likely 'mudbloods', but he was already being dragged out the door before he even finished his yelling.
"What's going to happen to them?" Fae asked, and Ron shrugged.
"Not sure. Expelled, obviously, and charges will probably be pressed for snogging in the school, and being out after curfew."
She looked confused. "But weren't we out after curfew too? I mean we had to be to find them."
"McGonagall lifted that for us. I think we've become favorites, surprisingly."
Just after he finished his sentence, the twins called him over. He excused himself and ran over to them, and Fae watched him leave, smiling to herself. The band came to the final chorus and she turned to look at them and sing along to herself.
"I want you/I need you/In everything/That I do/And I want you/Cause I love
you/And Everything/About you"
She glanced over behind her shoulder and just happened to look right at Harry and Ginny. The two were off in the corner, finally kissing. Hermione came up behind her with Viktor, and Fae immediately pointed it out to her.
"Finally!" she exclaimed, agreeing with her.
Wondering if Ron had seen, Fae looked at him, but he was busy talking. She caught his eye and he smiled at her, and the twins saw whom he was watching and did the same. She returned it along with a small wave, and turned back around. Suddenly, she felt his hands on her hips as he spun her around to face him, leaned down and kissed her. She heard Hermione gasp from behind her, but it didn't stop either of them. At length, he parted his lips from hers and looked down at her.
"Sorry, I didn't get to do that earlier."
She looked at him with uncertainty for a minute, but finally a smile spread across her face. He smiled back and ran back to the twins, his shyness kicking in once more. She watched after him as he left, still smiling to herself. And it was in that moment that she realized.
.Everything was going to be okay.
"I want you/I need you/In everything/That I do/And I need you/Cause I love
you/And everything about you."
Suddenly, she heard a door burst open. She jerked her head up and saw Dumbledore striding in, followed by Professor McGonagall and.. Ron?
"Albus," Mr Crouch said, sounding nervous. It quickly changed to livid, when he turned to Professor McGonagall. "How nice to see you. May I ask you just what you're doing?"
"We have found some evidence to help support Fae's case, Mr Crouch," she answered confidently. She obviously didn't like this man very much; but who did? "And it was all thanks to you."
Mr Crouch looked confused. "What do you mean, Minerva?" he spat. "Care to elaborate?"
She marched right up to him and handed him several-what appeared to be, Fae couldn't really see them-moving photos. Ron stayed back against the wall as Dumbledore had instructed him. He was nervously eyeing the Dementors.
Professor McGonagall smiled confidently. "Do you remember the cameras you placed around the school to catch who you thought was Fae creating the Dark Marks? Well, apparently you somehow got a few placed where Mr Weasley and Ms O'Connor found Voldemort. If you look closely, you will see their dueling, and Ronald's act of bravery, and the third will show you Violete Lane showing herself as Voldemort."
Mr Crouch's jaw dropped, as well as Fae's. But McGonagall didn't stop there. "I don't seem to remember Hogwarts giving you permission to even put these cameras up around our school. You told me you got the permission from Albus, but you told him I gave you permission. I can't think of any scenario in which this would be legal, even though you are from the Ministry. So, if I am correct sir, I believe that if anyone here needs to be having a trial, it is you."
The witches and wizards that were sitting in the circular audience looked at Mr Crouch. Before he could even say anything, two Dementors came and grabbed onto his arms, and drug him back behind a door. Immediately after, Dumbledore and McGonagall walked up into the stands and started talking to one of the witches in the back. Fae assumed that he was the second to take lead, if anything happened to Mr Crouch.
Fae looked around for Ron, and finally spotted him in back, in the shadows. He slowly raised his hand in a timid wave, but before she could say anything back, the wizard that McGonagall and Dumbledore went to speak to came to Mr Crouch's podium. He didn't make any eye contact with Fae as he started to speak.
"For those of you who don't know me, I am Mr Crouch's younger sister Evelyn. As you might have guessed, our entire family was in the Ministry, and I have followed in the footsteps of my two brothers. I, obviously, have known Albert for a very long time, and I also know that he was a former Death Eater. He claimed to have given up his beliefs to join the Ministry, but I never fully believed him. This evidence that has been presented has caused me to deem that he may have never given up his follows towards Voldemort. And because of this information, his trial will be held in one month. As for this case, the rest of the jury and I hereby declare the defendant.. innocent."
As soon as she said this, Fae's eyes widened and a smile spread across her face. She was finally found innocent! Evelyn smiled down at her as she returned it. She heaved a sigh of relief and turned around. She was escorted out by two Dementors, and was so happy that their dark hands grasping her arms didn't even bother her. As soon as she stepped out of the old building and into the sun, she took in a deep breath, and suddenly everything was better.
So even Albert Crouch used to be a Death Eater. She didn't even doubt that he still was. No wonder he was so quick to accuse her; he didn't want anyone to find out about Voldemort really being in the school.
Before she had more time to think about it, her parents ran over to her and grabbed her in a hug. They weren't allowed in the courtroom and were forced to wait outside while the case went on. She told them what had happened, and how Professor McGonagall had presented the information to Mr Crouch. The old professor and Dumbledore walked over to her parents and the headmaster shook hands with her father. When Fae told her mother that she was standing right in front of the woman who had proved her innocent, she grabbed her in a hug. Her mother normally backed away when she met a witch or wizard because of her religion, but this time she was too happy. Professor McGonagall awkwardly patted her back and Fae smiled, then slipped away from their small circle.
She saw Ron standing with Percy, whom had come outside to see how Fae's case had gone. She decided that talking with him might not be the best idea; he might have still had some dislike toward her. Just as she was about to turn around though, she caught his eye and he smiled and waved at her. Even though she was a little shocked she still kept her smile on and waved back. They walked over to her and Percy stood in front of her.
"I'm sorry about being so prejudging about you," He mumbled, a little embarrassed, "I guess I was pretty wrong then, huh?"
She laughed a little. "Ah, don't worry about it. It happens all the time," she said and waved her hand dismissively.
"Maybe you can come stop by the Burrow some time over the summer and visit." Percy smiled back. Ron opened his mouth to say something, but Fae's mother came up behind her.
"Ready to go back to Hogwarts? Minerva told me that there's going to be a dance tonight! And it has a theme!" she exclaimed, for once excited that her daughter was going somewhere that had to do with witchcraft. Fae groaned; another dance? And this one had a theme? But her mother steered her back inside the building where she would be traveling by Floo Powder.
+ + +
Fae wasn't surprised when she got back to the Gryffindor common room to find that no one was there. She was a little relieved though; she would have felt kind of awkward. It was dark by the time she was there; she ended up staying at the Ministry for a few hours longer than expected while her parents talked with everyone that was in the Order of the Phoenix. They, for some reason, suddenly took a lot of interest in Hogwarts and its history. They ended up owning a free copy of Hermione's 'bible', as Fae called it; "Hogwarts: A History." She assumed that the only reason they gave it to them was to get her parents off their backs, but she didn't say anything to them about it.
The other students were already at the dance, she figured, as she trudged up the stairs to her dormitory. She sat down on her bed and kicked off her high-heeled shoes. Heaving a sigh of relief to see that she could still move her toes after all of that pain, she looked at the clock. It was only seven o'clock; there was still another four hours until the dance was over.
"I can't believe I'm doing this," she mumbled as she took out a book of spells to begin constructing her costume.
Half an hour later, she walked slowly and somewhat self-consciously down the stairs to the common room. Luckily, there was no one there as she stepped down to the floor and looked into the tall mirror in the corner.
"Fae, you are the biggest dork I know." She said to herself, spinning around.
She was wearing a knee-length, dark Easter-purple dress with dark and light gray layers at the bottom that were cut and shredded. The sleeves were the same and the square neck came down below her collarbones. A black lacy choker adorned her neck and ankles, as well as fingerless gloves that came up to about her elbows. Her shoes looked like a ballerina's, only they had thicker soles and were black. Their ribbons came winding up her legs to just below her knee. Her costume was completed with a pair of black nylon, almond shaped fairy wings, held on to her back by magic.
The thing she was most afraid of was looking like a complete moron. Looking herself over in the mirror once more, her eyes fell down onto the white bandage she had wrapped around her arm from the spider pinning her against the wall. It totally threw everything else off. Peeling it back just a little, it revealed a rather large, ugly, circular scar. She sighed irritably and turned away.
+ + +
The Great Hall looked a lot better than it did for the Yule Ball. Instead of having flashing lights, the ceiling was enchanted to look like the night sky as it always did, only there were shooting stars every now and then. Magic "fireflies" were floating around the room just like real ones would do, and they had a band this time. Some wizard band that no one had ever heard of before that played a lot of muggle music and dressed like one, but it was good to listen to.
Ron was sitting off to the side, just watching everyone. He was still in a little pain from the night before and couldn't really believe that he had dragged himself to this place; he should have been off in his dormitory sleeping. He had managed to come in unseen and stayed that way, as he just watched his friends off having fun. Hermione, dressed as herself, was talking with Lavender and Parvati, because the twins were off starting another break dancing competition. They were both dressed up as 'pimps', as the Americans might call it. Ginny, who was dressed up in a red dress with little red horns and a tail was talking with Harry. He was dressed up in white robes with little feathery wings and had a halo suspended in air by magic over his head. It was kind of awkward for Ron to watch his best friend and his younger sister flirting together, but he had grown used to the idea over the past two years. He saw Fleur over in the corner, dressed as some kind of bride or something, surrounded by as many boys as ever. He snorted; she was a bit stuck up, but she was very pretty.
He himself was dressed up in a strange excuse for a knight costume; the only thing that looked like he put any effort into was the armor on his shoulders and upper arm. His shirt looked like a knight's mail, and the sword that he used to wound Voldemort hung at his side. It was a little ironic that he was wearing it and at the same time tried not to think about what happened, but he felt like he had better get used to the idea; it would be sticking with him for a while.
He stole the costume idea from a muggle movie his dad had tried to figure out called, what was it, Romeo and Juliet? Either way, it was very similar to the one he had seen the Romeo wear to the party with Juliet as the angel. He hoped no one else had somehow been able to see the movie or they might think that he and Harry were supposed to be dressed up together as a couple. They had already had the incident that morning in the hall, and he was sure that quite a few students now thought them to be.. well, you know.
Unfortunately, his eyes landed on Tracy and Ferret Boy. They were sitting in the back where there was even less light, and her skirt was shorter than ever. Malfoy had his arm around her shoulders and he was saying something into her neck. Crabbe and Goyle were sitting off to the side, looking as brain dead as ever. He didn't know whether he was supposed to be sad or angry, but a mix of both took over him as she met his eyes and gave him a perfectly Malfoy-identical smirk. Keeping her eyes fixed on him, she grabbed Ferret Boy's hand and led him out of the room, probably to go off and snog each other again. Ron just hoped his plan had worked, but that would be told later.
His eyes unwillingly followed them out the door and stayed fixated on it even after they left. Why did she feel like she had to rub it in like that? He saw the door open again, but it shut rather quickly, and someone snuck in past the crowd and behind where everyone was dancing. It was something new to look at, but then eventually he got bored and stood up to leave. He started to stand up and right before he was about to leave, he just happened to glance over and see a fairy standing off to the side, watching him. It was Fae.
Ron stood up and she took a few steps forward until they were within arms length. For a long time they just looked at each other, their expressions unreadable. A firefly floated across Fae's face, illuminating it in the darkness of the Great Hall. Finally, Ron scratched the back of his head nervously.
"You look nice," he mumbled.
"Same to you, Romeo," she smiled. He gave an embarrassed grin; she had obviously seen the movie character that he had modeled his costume after.
"Yeah, too bad you didn't come as an angel! We could have been a couple or something!" he laughed, and as soon as the words escaped his mouth, they both got deadly quiet. Ron finally stopped clutching the back of his neck in mortification. "Do you want to go walk somewhere?"
She nodded and they made their way to the door, managing to do so without attracting too much attention. They were making their way outside, and ran into Professor McGonagall. She looked like she was about to stop them, but then she realized it was the two school 'heroes'. She only nodded and let them go, mumbling something about staying away from the forest.
They stepped out into the breezy summer air and walked a ways, heading unintentionally towards the lake. The last time they were there together was after they had found Malfoy and Tracy together in Madame Hooch's room. The two of them stood there, just looking out onto the water and not really knowing what to say.
Ron looked at her arm nervously. "Does it hurt?" he inquired, pointing at the bandage. It was still stained with a little red spot.
She smiled. "Like hell." He nodded and turned back out to the water. There was even more silence as a few fireflies flew by them.
"How come you're doing all of this for me?" Fae's question surprised him.
"What do you mean?" he asked nervously.
She sighed with slight irritation and folded her arms. "Oh, nothing really. You know, just the fact that you saved my life from someone's name you're scared to even say, and then came up with the way to prove me innocent against the Order of the Phoenix."
Ron turned red. "So I guess you heard then, huh Stormy." He squinted up his eyes; he had obviously not meant to call her by his nickname for her.
"Why do you call me that?" her second question fired away. His shade of red deepened even more and he nervously kicked a rock around with his feet. "Ron?" she pressed.
Shoving his hands into his pockets, he turned to face her. "It's stupid."
Her intense stare didn't let up, and he finally sighed with defeat. Kicking the rock once more, he kept his eyes on the ground and mumbled something.
"What?" She squinted her eyes inquisitively. He sighed and finally raised his head to look at her. It was still somewhat mumbled, but she could understand him this time.
"Because," he sighed again, "the color and the light in your eyes remind me of a storm."
As soon as he said this, her heart got caught in her throat. Ron, the most un-insightful person she could think of, was saying something almost.poetic? Eventually, he gave a half-hearted smile. "Told you it was stupid."
"Blimey, Ron, that's not stupid," she said, and suddenly felt very self- conscious. "It was just definitely the last thing I was expecting you to say. Go raibh maith 'ad."
He raised his eyebrow at her, and she smiled with embarrassment. "Sorry, I keep forgetting I'm not in Ireland any more. It means thank you." He nodded with sudden understanding and she smiled awkwardly.
They heard the music inside stop; they had the volume up pretty loud. Fae liked the band though. They played her kind of music. Searching for a subject change, she said, "You never answered my first question. Why are you doing all of this for me?"
He smiled and advanced towards her and gently grabbed onto her wrist. She nearly jumped at the warmth of just his fingertips on her bare skin, but managed to stay still. His awkwardness and timidity was reminded to her by a shy smile.
"Because," he said and took in a deep breath, "Taim i' ngra leat."
It took her a moment to understand what he said, because he hadn't pronounced it too correctly, but finally she realized that he had just said 'I love you' in Irish. Her jaw dropped; she was completely awestruck. He leaned in to kiss her, but Professor McGonagall's voice interrupted them. "You two best get inside now," she called. The tone of her voice gave away that she knew what they were doing. "I wasn't even supposed to let you out."
They stopped abruptly, both turning a nice shade of red. She seemed to interrupt them at moments like that quite a lot.
"Um, yes ma'am," he said. They silently followed her in, neither of them saying a word. Fae was still in shock from the fact that Ron had just said that he loved her.
+ + +
However, as they got back inside the Great Hall, they were taken by surprise. Right when they opened the doors, the entire room erupted into applause; everyone had been standing waiting for them. Ron stopped in the middle of his sentence and they exchanged a confused look. Finally the cheering died down. Dumbledore stood up at the head table where he always sat during meals, and smiled. He opened his arms, gesturing towards the two standing in the doorway.
"The real reason for this celebration." Ron and Fae looked at each other, still not having the slightest idea what to say. The headmaster smiled. "Thank you both, greatly, for saving our school and the victims."
There was more applause from everyone's smiling faces, and the twins along with some of their Seventh Year friends came up from in the crowd and lifted them onto their shoulders. The crowd kept cheering as they were paraded around the room.
Fae looked around the room and finally spotted Professor McGonagall standing next to Dumbledore. She smiled and mouthed the words 'thank you', for her rescue at the court, even though it was mainly Ron's idea. The Professor smiled back and nodded her head. The students holding Ron and Fae up finally set them down, and Hermione and Ginny ran over.
They nearly tackled Fae to the ground in a hug, very out of character for the bushy-headed one, but no body really minded. Fae heaved a sigh of relief to know that she had gotten two of her best friends back and they didn't hate her anymore, and hugged back.
"We're so sorry we accused you!" Ginny wailed, hugging her again and nearly pricking her neck with one of her devil horns from her costume.
She smiled. "Ginny, I've heard people saying they were sorry all day. Don't worry about it."
Harry walked over to their gathering with his hands in his pockets and a smile on his face. He stood before Fae for a moment before she just grabbed him in a hug. For a moment he just stood there with a look of not knowing what to do, until finally he hugged back and she let go. Then the twins tackled her rather loudly and less gently than Hermione and Ginny had.
Fred grabbed the sides of her face and noisily gave her a kiss on her cheek. "Fae! We love you!" he wailed, pretending to cry. George nodded and sniffed, giving her puppy dog eyes. She took this as their apology and just smiled at him until they both crushed her in another hug.
The band started to play again; another song by Social Burn. As the guitar chords sounded, Fae recognized the song as "U". The singer/lead guitarist of the band stepped up to the microphone, and she was surprised to see that they weren't using magic. They had all their amps, pedals and microphones with them when they could have just used the spell to make their instruments and voices louder.
"Take back those tears/That you sometimes cry/I'll be right here/Till your
fears subside/It won't take long/You just need some time"
Fae looked around and saw that some people were actually dancing; Ginny and Harry were near her, and Hermione and Viktor were farther off doing the same. Fred and George caught their younger sister's eye and teasingly grabbed each other in a tight embrace and started to slow dance. She blushed a little, but laughed and just flipped them off. Recognizing the bridge before the chorus, Fae turned back to the band and started to lip- sync the words to herself with a smile on her face.
"Why can't you see/That I want you /I need you/In everything/That I do/I
want you/Cause I love you/And everything/About you"
She looked around again, trying to find Ron, but he was nowhere in sight. Probably off with the twins or something, she thought to herself.
"Take back those years/That you try to hide/Relax yourself/Don't lose your
mind"
Professor McGonagall walked through the dance floor hurriedly, holding pieces of paper in her hand. Fae cringed, hoping it wasn't for her. She did not want to go to court again. Instead, she breezed right by her and up to Malfoy and Tracy, who were standing in the back somewhere.
"Why can't you see/Who you can be/Cause I want you/I need you/In everything/That I do/I want you/Cause I love you/And everything/About you"
During the guitar solo, a few students watched as McGonagall shoved the papers (Fae recognized them as more of those moving pictures) in Tracy and Malfoy's eyes. She appeared to be yelling at them for something, and they both had looks of horror on their faces. Ron returned behind Fae, smiling with satisfaction as the Professor grabbed them both tightly by their shoulders and dragged them towards the door.
"What's that all about?" Fae asked, pointing.
He still smiled. "Remember when we, well, walked in on them that one time?" She nodded, still not seeming to understand. "Remember those cameras that Mr Crouch had planted all over the school?"
She gasped, and turned with her jaw drop as McGonagall walked right by them, with Tracy and Malfoy in tow. He turned and looked at her, looking nothing less than livid. She couldn't help it; she burst out laughing and waved at him with a huge, sarcastic smile on her face. "I knew you'd get yours!" she called. He flipped her off and called them something, most likely 'mudbloods', but he was already being dragged out the door before he even finished his yelling.
"What's going to happen to them?" Fae asked, and Ron shrugged.
"Not sure. Expelled, obviously, and charges will probably be pressed for snogging in the school, and being out after curfew."
She looked confused. "But weren't we out after curfew too? I mean we had to be to find them."
"McGonagall lifted that for us. I think we've become favorites, surprisingly."
Just after he finished his sentence, the twins called him over. He excused himself and ran over to them, and Fae watched him leave, smiling to herself. The band came to the final chorus and she turned to look at them and sing along to herself.
"I want you/I need you/In everything/That I do/And I want you/Cause I love
you/And Everything/About you"
She glanced over behind her shoulder and just happened to look right at Harry and Ginny. The two were off in the corner, finally kissing. Hermione came up behind her with Viktor, and Fae immediately pointed it out to her.
"Finally!" she exclaimed, agreeing with her.
Wondering if Ron had seen, Fae looked at him, but he was busy talking. She caught his eye and he smiled at her, and the twins saw whom he was watching and did the same. She returned it along with a small wave, and turned back around. Suddenly, she felt his hands on her hips as he spun her around to face him, leaned down and kissed her. She heard Hermione gasp from behind her, but it didn't stop either of them. At length, he parted his lips from hers and looked down at her.
"Sorry, I didn't get to do that earlier."
She looked at him with uncertainty for a minute, but finally a smile spread across her face. He smiled back and ran back to the twins, his shyness kicking in once more. She watched after him as he left, still smiling to herself. And it was in that moment that she realized.
.Everything was going to be okay.
"I want you/I need you/In everything/That I do/And I need you/Cause I love
you/And everything about you."