Chapter 18: Preparations for the Ball
*****
Alinora slept late the next morning. After getting so little sleep the night before, and the physical and emotional wringer she'd been through the previous day; she was in need of some serious rest. Katie finally woke her late that morning.
"Okay lazy, it's time to be getting up! All the youngsters are gone and you have an appointment with Madam Pomfrey to fix you up for tonight. I brought you some food to hold you over until lunch." With that, she started flinging open the curtains around Alinora's bed. When that didn't produce the results she was looking for, she proceeded to yank the blankets off the bed.
"Okay! Okay! I'm awake you sadist! Give me a minute…" Ali laughed. She slowly got to her feet, winced at some stiffness and headed off to get dressed.
A little later, munching on a piece of toast Katie had brought her, she contemplated her reflection in the mirror.
"You should have that looked at dear. Quite nasty." the mirror commented.
"On my way to do just that." Ali replied. Katie laughed and, grabbing her by the hand, drug her out of the room and up to the hospital wing.
*****
By lunch time, Alinora was feeling, and looking much improved. She and Katie joined the others at lunch, where plans for the afternoon were being discussed.
"Look, it finally stopped snowing- we have to have a snowball fight!" Lee emphatically stated. "It's been ages since we've had the time and those of us going home after the ball won't have time tomorrow. So it has to be today!"
"Well Lee, if you really feel that strongly about it of course we can have a snowball fight." Alicia teased, smiling across the table at him.
"Yeah, we'll have plenty of time to show you guys up on the field of battle before we have to get ready for tonight." Angelina said consideringly.
"And what makes you so sure you'd beat us anyway?" Fred asked.
"You mean if you don't take into consideration our superior skills and intelligence? Humm… maybe the fact that we have all the Gryffindor Chaser's on our side could play a part."
"So, I guess that means we're playing guys versus girls?" questioned George.
"No. Guys versus Ladies." Ginny corrected, smiling sweetly at her brothers as Angelina grinned and put an arm around her shoulders.
Alinora and Katie quickly covered their mouths with their hands to conceal their laughter at the identical looks of shock on Ron and the twins' faces. They really needed to understand that Ginny wasn't a little girl anymore and was more than qualified to join the ranks of the Ladies.
After lunch, the group retired to the hall to collect their cloaks and scarves and then troop outside to begin the battle.
The teasing and taunts flew as quickly as the snowballs. Their loud voices and laughter drew the attention of many other students who were quick to join in with the appropriate teams.
By the time the girls called a halt for the day so they could begin preparing for the dance, the teams numbered over 30 on each side and the battle had ranged over a great portion of the grounds. They agreed to call it a tie.
Laughing and flushed from the cold, the girls made their way back into the school, leaving the guys to continue the battle with new teams. Once in the entrance hall they split up with groups of varying sizes heading off to each of the four common rooms.
*****
The Gryffindor Ladies spent the afternoon running back and forth between the various rooms gathering opinions, advice and help with last minute changes in appearance. Alinora had placed a ward at the bottom of the stair well leading up to the girl's wing when they'd come in. A couple of the guys early on had tried to come up, but were gently prevented entrance. They soon learned to call up if they actually needed to talk to someone.
As the feast was scheduled to begin at 7pm, the girl's started making their way down to meet their dates a little after 6. Alinora was one of the first to go down as she wanted to see the reactions of the guys as their dates appeared. As she descended the stairs and could begin to see the guys waiting below, she and Katie stopped at the balcony over-look to get a better view.
Various well dressed Gryffindor males were nervously milling around in the common room. Ron was pacing in front of the fireplace and Harry was nervously attempting to smooth his hair. Ali could see Colin calmly talking to a couple of the fourth years boys. She knew he was taking a girl from Hufflepuff and planned to meet her down in the entrance hall a little later.
Just then, he happened to glance up and see her and Katie looking down. He grinned, gave them two thumbs up and called over to get George's attention from where he was talking with Fred and Lee. Following Colin's pointing finger, they looked up to see the girls framed by the Christmas greenery decorating the balcony. George's mouth dropped open a bit and Fred gave a wolf whistle that caught the attention of the rest of the room. Laughing, Ali blew them all a kiss then took Katie's arm as they finished their decent.
As they rounded the corner of the stairs, those waiting in the common room could finally see them clearly. Katie was dressed in a floor length honey colored slip dress with spaghetti straps and her hair long and wavy down her back. Ali had on a long, black dress with a sleeveless, corset style top. It went well with her pale skin and her eyes, which were almost glowing green that night. Her hair had been curled up on top of her head, with some falling down to trail along her back and shoulders.
These were definitely not the formal robes worn by most to the ball last year.
"Wow… you both look… amazing!" George said, never taking his eyes off Ali. Katie smirked and turned to talk to Fred and Lee and confirm that their dates would be down soon. Ali smiled up at George and rose up to give him a kiss on the cheek.
"Thanks George. You're looking rather spiffy yourself." she responded, slowly looking him up and down.
George was saved from making a reply by the fact that Ginny and Hermione chose that moment to join them in the common room. Ginny's dress was a deep green while Hermione's was a medium blue. Ginny's came up in front to fasten around her neck, while leaving most of her back bare. Hermione's dress was strapless. Both were wearing their hair up.
Noticing that George was having a bit of a problem dealing with his "baby" sister's attire, Alinora pulled him away from the stairs. "Would you have preferred less material in the front instead?" she said, forcing him to look down at her and away from Ginny. "She's growing up George and you guys have to learn to let her." she said, gesturing to Fred and Ron. Katie was running interference with Fred and luckily Ron was too distracted by Hermione to have paid much attention to Ginny's appearance.
George looked rather mutinous, and then he relaxed. "I'm not handling this very well am I?" he muttered, rather embarrassedly, glancing over to where an awestruck Harry was obviously attempting to say something coherent to his date.
"You're doing as well as can be expected. You just have to realize that she's growing up and that, despite the fact that she loves you guys, she's not going to put up with her brothers trying to hold her back- no matter how well meaning you are. Besides," Ali continued, "Harry's a great guy and Ginny really cares for him. Your family knows and likes him. If I were you, I wouldn't worry unless she suddenly dumps Harry and starts dating someone like… Draco Malfoy." She laughed at the look of horror and disgust on George's face at that idea. "See, things could be worse. Now, let's grab Katie and head downstairs. She still needs to collect her date."
"So, I finally get to find out who's escorting Katie to the Ball? About time." He muttered, as they walked over to where Katie was talking with Ginny and Harry.
As they approached, Ginny looked a bit apprehensive. George leaned over and whispered something in her ear that made her laugh and blush slightly. George then turned to Katie. "Ready to go down? I've been told I have two beautiful dates tonight- or at least as far as the Entry Hall." Offering each of the girls an arm they left the common room and headed down the stairs.
*****
The Entry Hall was filled with students. Ali, Katie and George stopped before reaching the bottom of the stairs so the girls could scan the crowd for Oliver.
"Is that him, over there by the statue?" Ali asked, pointing across the room at a tall, sandy haired man leaning against the wall and staring around at the room.
Katie grinned, "Yep, that would be him." She headed out into the crowd to make her way over to him. Ali and George followed behind her.
"That guy looks a lot like Oliver Wood" George whispered to Ali as they made their way between milling couples.
"Really?" Alinora asked in mock astonishment.
"Don't give me that Ali. Katie's finally got a date with Wood? Amazing!"
"Some guys just take a while to see what's right in front of them." Ali replied, tapping George on the nose.
He laughed and then greeted Oliver, whom they'd finally made it to. He had his arm around Katie's shoulders and they were laughing. After exchanging greetings and introducing Ali to Oliver, George asked about Oliver's Quidditch team. They were soon discussing the pros and cons of the various teams in the league, and it only got worse as Fred, Angelina, Lee and Alicia joined them. The crowd was thinning as couples went in to prepare for dinner.
Finally, Katie had had enough. "Well Ali, as it looks like I've lost my date for the dance before it's even begun, would you do me the honor of joining me for dinner?"
"I'd be delighted." she replied and took the arm Katie held out to her. The two turned and started walking towards the doors to the Great Hall.
They could hear laughing as someone ran to catch up with them and then someone grabbed Ali's free arm. "Katie, you know I love you, but you can't have my girlfriend tonight. I've gone through a lot for this date, and you're not stealing her away from me now! Besides, you have your own date…" George said, removing Ali's arm from Katie's and leading her into the hall as Oliver came to meekly rejoin his date. They all followed George and Ali into the room and to an empty table in time for the feast to begin.
