Disclaimer- JK Rowling has all rights to Harry Potter. I only own the character of Kate, and the plot of this story.
Many days later, Kate was still thinking about her date with Seamus. However, right now she had more important things, such as the prefect meeting, to pay attention to. Since the sorting hat placed her in that 'horrid' Gryffindor, her parents used their remaining influence to get her to become a school prefect.
Kate entered the crimson, silver and black room only to see that it was already occupied. At a round table, much like that in the tale of King Arthur, sat a group of other students. Hermione was sitting, all ready to take notes, next to Ron. A bunch of other students who were unknown to Kate also were seated at the table, waiting for the meeting to begin. Kate sat down in the empty seat that was between Hermione and Draco. Pansy Pugface was next to Draco, gazing longingly at him, fluttering her eyelashes in hopes that he would notice her.
At that moment, Professor McGonagall rushed into the room. "Attention prefects! Due to an unexpected situation, neither Professor Dumbledore nor I will be able to assist you in tonight's assignment. I am pleased to inform you that Hogwarts shall have a dance. You will decide on what to do, and when it shall be. I wish that I didn't have to say this, but I must remind you all to behave! Now, I must leave. Good bye."
McGonagall left just as quickly as she came, leaving the prefects a bit dazed and confused.
"Alright, so we are having a dance. Does anybody have any ideas on a theme?" Hermione said, getting down to business right away.
"How about a luau? I went to one of those when my family went on a holiday to Hawaii," said a girl about Kate's age with strawberry blonde hair. Hermione dutifully wrote down the suggestion.
"Babes in bikinis? I'm fine with that," Draco smirked, and it seemed as if all of the boys were in agreement.
"Somehow I don't think that any of the teachers would be too pleased with that," Hermione mentioned.
"Awwwww, come on Hermione! There is nothing wrong with it," Ron whined.
"Alright, but do you really want to see some of the girls who go to this school wearing bathing suits?" Hermione asked, which shut all of the boys up.
"What if we had a ball? You know, where we can wear ball gowns and tuxes. It can be Oscar Night," Another girl suggested.
"What do you mean 'Oscar night'? Who's Oscar?" Draco questioned.
"It's a muggle awards show. Actors and actresses get all dressed up and win awards for their performances in movies," the girl explained.
"Nah, the last dance was a ball. Let's do something different," Ron said.
"How about Sexy Lingerie night?" Pansy Pugface suggested, clearly already envisioning her outfit.
"No, Pansy. It's a school function, not a brothel," Hermione said, with everyone nodding in agreement, not wanting to see Pansy in any sort of lingerie, let alone sexy lingerie.
"I've got an idea. What do you all think of a masquerade ball?" Kate said quietly.
"It could work..." one person said.
"I think that it's bloody brilliant," Draco announced. "This way people can choose how to dress."
"Is everyone in agreement? Okay, masquerade ball it is," Hermione said.
"How about we have one rule though? Everyone must wear a mask or in some way disguise their identity. This way no one will be rejected because of who they are or what house they belong to," Kate said.
"Perfect!" Hermione exclaimed, and with that, the meeting was adjourned.
The next morning, fliers were posted all around school. Students stood in the corridors talking about the coming up masquerade ball between classes. Teachers chatted away happily about what to wear. All of Hogwarts was full of cheer.
"It will be so fun, and it is only a few weeks away!" Parvati squealed excitedly.
"So we can dress up as whatever we want to be?" Lavender questioned.
"Yes, as long as it is school appropriate. Basically, don't wear anything that you think Pansy would wear," Hermione said.
"Ah, I wonder what Pansy Pugface will show up in," Kate laughed.
"I bet that she'll be dressed up as the Playboy Bunny," Parvati giggled.
"Yeah, or like one of those girls from that movie Mean Girls," Lavender said as Hermione burst out laughing.
"Mean... Girls... Pansy... doesn't... look... like... Lindsey... Lohan!" Hermione gasped in between laughs.
"Speaking of costumes, I wonder what I should be. I wonder when we'll have an opportunity to go shopping for them," Parvati pointed out.
"Well we certainly can not skip school! That would be unethical and just plain wrong! Skip school to go shopping indeed..." Hermione said angrily.
"Whoa Hermione, chill out! We never mentioned anything about skipping school. I was thinking that perhaps this weekend we could all go shopping," Lavender suggested.
"I have an idea. But I don't think that you would approve of it Hermione," Kate said nervously.
"What is it? Is it something bad? Tell us," Parvati said, her voice filled with curiosity.
"Well, this weekend my parents are out of town. They have been visiting there villa in Italy all month. We could spend the weekend there, and do our shopping," Kate suggested.
"Kate!" Hermione said in a scandalized voice. "That would be wrong!"
"Oh, come off it Hermione. I think that it sounds like fun. Are you sure that your parents won't be there, Kate?" Parvati asked.
"Don't worry. They'll be detained by business for a couple of more weeks. So this Friday we can take the Knight Bus if you want to come," Kate replied.
"That sounds great!" Lavender and Parvati said in unison.
"Okay. Hermione, what about you? Please come, it will be fun!" Kate pleaded.
"Fine. But I'm only going because I need a costume and don't know when else I'll have time to get one!" Hermione said grudgingly
AUTHORS NOTE: ooooooooooh, a masquerade ball! Okay, okay, I know they're over done but how can I resist?
