Chapter 3
It was nearing the end of October when the signs appeared on the common room notice boards.
Attention All Students!
This Hallowe'en, instead of the traditional feast, Hogwarts will be holding a Hallowe'en Ball! This ball is open to all students, and will commence at eight o'clock. Dress robes must be worn, and a feast will be held before
the dancing starts.
This initiated a flurry of excitement among many of the students, especially the girls. Over the next few days, the Owl Post at breakfast began to get so hectic that people ate their food outside to avoid being hit on the head by any of the countless sets of dress robes that had been sent for. Roseline had not yet been asked by anyone, although she wasn't unduly worried. Lily had, naturally, been asked by James, but as usual she turned him down, and was instead going with Timothy Phelke, a handsome Ravenclaw sixth-year who played Keeper on their house team. The day before the ball, Roseline found herself agreeing to go with Stephen Lenfold, a fellow fifth-year Gryffindor.
Roseline and Sirius had been avoiding each other since the afternoon in the library, but she noticed that although he had been asked by many different girls, he still didn't have a date. Roseline shook her head, driving thoughts of Sirius firmly from her mind. No, she thought, you're going with Stephen. It's none of your business whether Sirius has a date, and if you don't pay attention you'll mess up your potion like you did last week. She managed to get through the rest of the lesson without too much bother, and her Befuddlement Draught didn't turn out too badly, allowing for hope that Professor Ritchten might finally have reason to give her an E.
On Hallowe'en itself, classes finished an hour early to give the students time to prepare for the feast and ball. The Gryffindors once again had McGonagall last class, who gave them dire warnings on what would happen if any Gryffindor misbehaved at the ball, before shooing them from her classroom. Roseline was in no hurry to return to Gryffindor Tower, so she decided to go down to the lake shore for a while. However, she was just crossing the Entrance Hall, when the door burst open and two more students came in. It was another Gryffindor fifth-year, Daniea Bradshaw and her Ravenclaw boyfriend, Patrick Cript, who were looking rather flushed and ruffled. Patrick gave Daniea a quick kiss on the cheek before disappearing down the corridor. Daniea turned, grinning, and spotting Roseline, made a beeline for her. "Oh, Roseline, why aren't you upstairs getting ready? I'm in such a rush, I got distracted, and now there's only an hour left! Come on!" And without waiting for an answer she grabbed Roseline's arm and dragged her back to Gryffindor Tower.
Some time later, Roseline stood in front of the full-length mirror in her dormitory, examining her reflection with a critical expression. Her long, raven-black hair was brushed out loose, and reached almost down to her waist. Lily had convinced her to try a smoothing hair potion on it, and Roseline had to admit, the difference was incredible. Instead of behaving like its usual messy, unmanageable self, her hair was now smooth and silky with a dull sheen that she'd never seen before. She was wearing loose, midnight blue dress robes and a pretty silver charm bracelet.
Lily appeared beside her, stunning in long ruby red dress robes that fitted her perfectly. They had a black waistband almost a foot wide that showed off Lily's slim figure. A widening slit ran along her arms from her shoulders, exposing on each side the triangle of black fabric beneath, and a similar slit began at the back of her waistband, giving an effect like a peacock's tail.
"Come on, Roseline, you look lovely, stop worrying."
Roseline smiled at her friend, then moved out of the way, before going to talk to the other three girls.
Daniea Bradshaw, Shonelle Watteon and Cennia Dubbe were the other three fifth-year Gryffindor girls. Daniea, a cheery, talkative girl with a light brown bob and blue eyes was wearing light blue dress robes decorated thin silver ribbons at the borders. Shonelle, a tall dark-skinned girl with dark brown eyes and long wavy brown hair was wearing plain dress robes in a dark plum colour. Cennia, a cheeky, down-to-earth girl with a long blonde ponytail and green eyes was wearing light green robes and had plaited a gold ribbon into her ponytail.
Ten minutes later, the five girls shook hands and proceeded down the steps to the common room. Lily, Daniea and Shonelle went down to the entrance hall to meet their dates, so Roseline and Cennia, who were both going with Gryffindors, were left in the common room for a while.
The six Gryffindor boys all came down together about five minutes later. James Potter, in dark navy robes, Sirius Black in dark green, Peter Pettigrew wearing slightly shabby moss green robes, Remus Lupin wearing dark grey and looking very pale, Stephen Lenfold in a very dark blue-green colour and Maurice Collen in dark red.
Within moments, James, Sirius, Peter and Maurice had disappeared from sight. Cennia, who was going with Remus, grinned at her before they too vanished.
"Er, shall we go?" asked Stephen.
"Oh, right..... Sorry." Roseline smiled apologetically, before taking Stephen's arm and going down to the Entrance Hall.
It was nearing the end of October when the signs appeared on the common room notice boards.
Attention All Students!
This Hallowe'en, instead of the traditional feast, Hogwarts will be holding a Hallowe'en Ball! This ball is open to all students, and will commence at eight o'clock. Dress robes must be worn, and a feast will be held before
the dancing starts.
This initiated a flurry of excitement among many of the students, especially the girls. Over the next few days, the Owl Post at breakfast began to get so hectic that people ate their food outside to avoid being hit on the head by any of the countless sets of dress robes that had been sent for. Roseline had not yet been asked by anyone, although she wasn't unduly worried. Lily had, naturally, been asked by James, but as usual she turned him down, and was instead going with Timothy Phelke, a handsome Ravenclaw sixth-year who played Keeper on their house team. The day before the ball, Roseline found herself agreeing to go with Stephen Lenfold, a fellow fifth-year Gryffindor.
Roseline and Sirius had been avoiding each other since the afternoon in the library, but she noticed that although he had been asked by many different girls, he still didn't have a date. Roseline shook her head, driving thoughts of Sirius firmly from her mind. No, she thought, you're going with Stephen. It's none of your business whether Sirius has a date, and if you don't pay attention you'll mess up your potion like you did last week. She managed to get through the rest of the lesson without too much bother, and her Befuddlement Draught didn't turn out too badly, allowing for hope that Professor Ritchten might finally have reason to give her an E.
On Hallowe'en itself, classes finished an hour early to give the students time to prepare for the feast and ball. The Gryffindors once again had McGonagall last class, who gave them dire warnings on what would happen if any Gryffindor misbehaved at the ball, before shooing them from her classroom. Roseline was in no hurry to return to Gryffindor Tower, so she decided to go down to the lake shore for a while. However, she was just crossing the Entrance Hall, when the door burst open and two more students came in. It was another Gryffindor fifth-year, Daniea Bradshaw and her Ravenclaw boyfriend, Patrick Cript, who were looking rather flushed and ruffled. Patrick gave Daniea a quick kiss on the cheek before disappearing down the corridor. Daniea turned, grinning, and spotting Roseline, made a beeline for her. "Oh, Roseline, why aren't you upstairs getting ready? I'm in such a rush, I got distracted, and now there's only an hour left! Come on!" And without waiting for an answer she grabbed Roseline's arm and dragged her back to Gryffindor Tower.
Some time later, Roseline stood in front of the full-length mirror in her dormitory, examining her reflection with a critical expression. Her long, raven-black hair was brushed out loose, and reached almost down to her waist. Lily had convinced her to try a smoothing hair potion on it, and Roseline had to admit, the difference was incredible. Instead of behaving like its usual messy, unmanageable self, her hair was now smooth and silky with a dull sheen that she'd never seen before. She was wearing loose, midnight blue dress robes and a pretty silver charm bracelet.
Lily appeared beside her, stunning in long ruby red dress robes that fitted her perfectly. They had a black waistband almost a foot wide that showed off Lily's slim figure. A widening slit ran along her arms from her shoulders, exposing on each side the triangle of black fabric beneath, and a similar slit began at the back of her waistband, giving an effect like a peacock's tail.
"Come on, Roseline, you look lovely, stop worrying."
Roseline smiled at her friend, then moved out of the way, before going to talk to the other three girls.
Daniea Bradshaw, Shonelle Watteon and Cennia Dubbe were the other three fifth-year Gryffindor girls. Daniea, a cheery, talkative girl with a light brown bob and blue eyes was wearing light blue dress robes decorated thin silver ribbons at the borders. Shonelle, a tall dark-skinned girl with dark brown eyes and long wavy brown hair was wearing plain dress robes in a dark plum colour. Cennia, a cheeky, down-to-earth girl with a long blonde ponytail and green eyes was wearing light green robes and had plaited a gold ribbon into her ponytail.
Ten minutes later, the five girls shook hands and proceeded down the steps to the common room. Lily, Daniea and Shonelle went down to the entrance hall to meet their dates, so Roseline and Cennia, who were both going with Gryffindors, were left in the common room for a while.
The six Gryffindor boys all came down together about five minutes later. James Potter, in dark navy robes, Sirius Black in dark green, Peter Pettigrew wearing slightly shabby moss green robes, Remus Lupin wearing dark grey and looking very pale, Stephen Lenfold in a very dark blue-green colour and Maurice Collen in dark red.
Within moments, James, Sirius, Peter and Maurice had disappeared from sight. Cennia, who was going with Remus, grinned at her before they too vanished.
"Er, shall we go?" asked Stephen.
"Oh, right..... Sorry." Roseline smiled apologetically, before taking Stephen's arm and going down to the Entrance Hall.
