It is almost time.

You're preparing. Your hair… you wear it as close to what he liked best as possible.

Pulled back to a crown atop your head, with some escaped curls framing your face, your neck, drawing attention to your slight ears. This was your hair, controlled as well as you could, but still wild, determined, and filled with a mind of it's own.

A small smile passes; that seems to be the perfect description for him, your man.

And, when you think on it, maybe for you as well.

You have remembered everything he told you. What accents pleased him, what smiles made his eyes glow with secret.

Your dress, no, your gown, was magnificent on you. The others where surprised at this, your transformation. You had been more and more confident this past year. But this; this was different. This was strange to all others, this different you.

What they didn't know, what they'd never seen, was that this was the real you.

The you inside, who had, through him, found a way to be more then a vision, a person you where in your dreams.

Through him, you had found a way to find yourself.

The gown; it was white, so white, whiter then paper, whiter then snow. Or it would have been, had it only been one color. But that would have been bland, to plain for it's role in your drama, would it not?

The lace, which covered your back and attached at the elbows and the wrists, turned from white, to blue gray, to deep black. It draped on your back, glittering and soft, appearing more like mist or fog rather than fabric. Light as a feather, but oh so beautiful. It gave you a grace you would have never believed you had.

The bottom of the dress did this also, fading into dark, starting at the knee. You could not see your feet for the length of the dress, it was so long. The cut was formfitting, gliding down your hips, smoothly revealing your figure, but not in an extreme way.

You had seen it in his eyes; how disdainfully he had glanced at those who bared themselves to the world. How the less one showed, but the more one hinted, the more interested, the more admiring he became.

You had seen the dresses of the other girls, and yes, they looked good, beautiful even, some of them. To many of the boys - for that is what most of them still where - they would be goddess-like, and enticing.

But that is not what you wanted.

No, no backless, low cut dress would suit you. You preferred the old, the elegant, the mysterious to the others who bared all, leaving none guessing what they really where.

So what if you where not a goddess?

You never said that is what you wanted.

It was all set. Everything.

Your heart goes further and faster then it has in a long time.

It is all that you hear; you see your friends, they smile, they are happy, they speak to you… but you cannot respond, and when you do, you do not hear your own words.

You are nervous, afraid, and full of joy. All time has slowed, as you look around yourself.

There are so many faces. So many that you never thought would survive long enough to see this night. Some friends, some old enemies; but still, those whom you do not see, flash before you for a moment; but only a moment.

You look into the faces.

So many couples, Griffindors, Ravenclaws, Huffelpuffs, and Slytherins, all intermingling, most, fortunately, still sober. But within a few hours that will likely change. This is your final ball, after all.

You are unique. Even more so tonight.

A certain sadness finds you; you had thought that you would spend this day with him, and that you would celebrate the last few moments that preceded your freedom together.

But that was not to be…

What was it that you wished to accomplish this night?

Where you trying to regain his attentions? Did you want him to say 'oh, so sorry love, I had no idea what I was saying, please take me back'? Was that what this was for?

You shudder. That he would ever say such a thing… no, that would never happen.

But what then, where you trying to do? Where you trying to make him explain?

So that you might know his true reason?

'I don't love you, you silly girl.'

Did you believe him?

You still weren't sure.

But you where decided. You would listen to him, watch him, and understand, as best you could, they why of his words. Even if they where true.

That took me long enough, didnt it?

My dearest appologies; my life has the tendency of taking over whatever my interests truelly are.

I hope you enjoy this new chapter; the next one just needs to be edited, and it will be online as well.