AN: I'm not making money off this, your and my satisfaction is all the payment I need.
CHAPTER 12 - Wrecking ball
The weekend following their decision to visit Hogsmeade, Chandra and Hermione were joined by Liliana on the pretext that she actually needed a dress for the Ball. The redhead was sure it was an excuse to pester her, but feigned ignorance.
Since the little wizarding village was, in fact, very small, they actually had only one shop to check: Galdrags. Fortunately for them, that one shop seemed to cater exactly to their needs, providing a pretty vast assortment of dresses and dress gowns which, Liliana was surprised to discover, were not too terribly distant from the latest Innistrad fashion through the vampire families. The pyromancer was only surprised that anyone would wear anything like that.
In the end, after what Chandra considered an inordinate amount of time, the three of them left the shop with clothes and accessories for the occasion: Hermione with a rich burgundy dress with an ample gown, that left her shoulders bare and accentuated her normally hidden figure, showing just a hint of cleavage without being immodest, with matching low heeled shoes; Liliana acquired a golden dress of more muggle cut that –somehow– made her look less pale, an adherent number that showed off everything that the necromancer normally didn't care to hide without actually letting anything be seen apart for her arms and neck, coordinated with a pair of very high heeled shoes in a the same hue; on her part Chandra had won her battle and obtained a brown leather corset with burnished gold straps that showed a bit of her cleavage, over a deep red skirt that fell to her knees on the front while going till mid-calf on the rear, together with a leather gauntlet for her left arm to balance out with her own and a pair of short, brown leather boots.
Liliana's choice of dress had surprised both her companions, especially since neither knew she had a date. She only smirked but said nothing.
Both the necromancer and Hermione protested vehemently to Chandra's choice of dress, but the shopkeeper assured them it was a perfect example of what muggles called steampunk style and it was socially acceptable.
The payment could have been a problem hadn't the shop owner recognized the redhead as Rose Potter and offered to forward the bill to her Gringotts account manager and that she only needed her to send them a letter to give her consent. The pyromancer had been surprised to discover that she was, as much as the shopkeeper knew, pretty well off and vowed to herself to use that wealth in a beneficial ways as soon as the tournament was over.
The evening of the Yule Ball Chandra was one of the first down to the Great Hall. Not having to do her hair thanks to them being on fire, deeming any makeup just as useless, and not having to wait for her date to show up had made her save a fair amount of time. That isn't to say that she hadn't polished up or that she didn't look her best, as attested by the seven boys that stumbled on the stairs as she passed them on the way down.
Once near the hall, she was accosted by McGonagall. The stern professor was wearing a tartan skirt and a matching sash over a dark robe.
"As soon as your date arrives, Miss Nalaar, you have to enter that room," she said pointing to a nearby door "There, you'll wait for me to guide you in the hall."
"My date, right. I knew I had forgotten something..." said Chandra palming her face.
"Do you mean to say that you forgot to find a suitable date?" asked the professor, her expression turning sour.
"No no, I just have to get it here. No need to worry, promise."
And with that, the pyromancer entered the antechamber she had been pointed towards. Unsurprisingly, it was empty.
"Right, let's get to it," she muttered and started gathering the necessary mana.
Her eyes turned bright orange and fire appeared in her open palms before she kneeled down and placed her hands on the ground. Instantly, a large gout of orange and yellow flames lighted the room, before starting to gradually darken to red, crimson and vermilion with the occasional speck of black cinder. The fire then took a vaguely humanoid shape and a pair of bright yellow eyes opened where its face should have been. It turned its proto-head to Chandra and waited.
"Welcome to Hogwarts, handsome," said the pyromancer getting up and dusting her knees "You are to escort me to the nearby Yule Ball, play the role of my date for the evening and, most importantly, not burn anything that's not served as food. In exchange I'll prepare you a room full of stuff to consume, is that agreeable?"
The burning figure tilted its proto-head to the side, then nodded, an action that sent some little sparks flying.
"Good. Do you have a name or should I keep calling you handsome?"
The fiery creature shrugged.
"Handsome it is then."
"Well, that's not something you see everyday," said a male voice behind Chandra's back.
She turned to see both the male champions with their respective dates: Diggory was in a very formal black suit with yellow accents and had a pretty asian girl in a white shortish dress on his arm who was staring at Handsome wide-eyed, while Krum was wearing a military like deep red uniform with fur linings and golden accents and nodding dumbly while on his left, wearing a very familiar red and gold dress was a girl shaking her head in what was clearly resignation while massaging the bridge of her nose. It took Chandra a moment to realize it was Hermione, all dolled up for her date.
"I take that summoning is not part of the curriculum?" she asked enjoying Hermione's expression greatly.
"Not in Durmstrang, and neither in Hogvarts I believe," answered the Bulgarian champion with a thick accent.
"I'm quite used to it," came Liliana's voice from behind the quartet "But I guess I don't count."
The two couples parted to let the necromancer and her date, the French champion, pass. While the raven haired woman was wearing the dress she had procured in Hogsmeade to look more humane, Delacour had opted for a silvery dress that showed much more skin than strictly needed and made her look more ethereal, like an untouchable eidolon of beauty. The two boys sure seemed to appreciate, if their glassy expressions were of anything to go by.
"It eez new to me too," added the French witch studying the elemental with her gaze, "Can you do anyzing like zis too, ma chère?"
"Only if I wanted to shred your sanity, my little moonglove," humorously answered Liliana caressing Delacour's face, but nobody missed the fact that her answer was a bit too peculiar.
Fortunately for everyone's continued wellbeing –before Hermione could inquire on what Liliana had meant– McGonagall choose that moment to enter the room. She stared at Chandra's date for a long minute, shrugged and without a comment directed the eight of them through the door to the Great Hall.
The usual room layout had been foregone in favor of ice-like decoration fashioned after snowflakes and stars, smaller round tables capable of hosting up to twelve people –except for a larger one in the center obviously designated for champions and judges– all decorated with pure white table linens, and three large pine trees adorned with small candles and tin-foil. There was a diffused light with no obvious origin that shifted subtly trough a rainbow of soft colors, almost like northern lights. The enchanted ceiling showed a clear starlit sky.
The champions entrance got the attention of everyone in the room, of course. It was hard not to notice them after all, especially the tall, flaming creature with Chandra on its arm. That isn't to say, of course, that she got all the attention: Liliana and Delacour both won a good number of lustful stares, and even Hermione got some.
The group paraded through the hall to the largest table, where the judges were already gathered. If Karkaroff, Dumbledore, Bagman and Crouch were dressed as one would expect, albeit with an extra shine for the evening, and Madame Maxime had chosen a pearly pink dress that went well with her complexion, the most flamboyant attire was worn by Ajani: he had somehow procured a dark military uniform with a light blue sash, complete with an array of glittering medals. The only concessions from the rigid clothes he had taken were that he was still barefooted –or barepawed in his case– and he still carried Elspeth's white mantle over his right shoulder.
"With the honour guests finally here," said the headmaster, his voice carrying through the hall "It's time to start the party."
With that, they all took a seat and waited for the food to appear, which it did not. They soon understood how to order whatever they wished though, so the dinner went on without problems, sprinkled with easy conversation:
"Your date is most peculiar Miss Nalaar, any relationship with phoenixes?"
"I know I look stupid in this thing, but Luna assured me it's typical ceremonial wear for an heir to a tribe in this plane. Was she wrong?"
"How can he possibly not set the chair on fire? Is it a selective flame freezing charm? I have to know! Please Chandra, tell me!"
"Did zat turkey move to offer eetself to you, ma chère? Non, I'm sure I did not imagine eet stabbing eetself with your fork..."
"How can I possibly know if Handsome complies to the English pollution laws, ?"
"I noticed your mane is very well kept , what do you use? I can't seem to get quite that shine for my beard."
"I assure you, Cho dear, that I asked about female fire elementals only out of academic curiosity, and I most certainly won't ask Chandra here to introduce me to this Ashling she says she knows. No, you don't need to look up flame extinguishing charms."
"Vhy, I met Hermione in the library of course. Vhat do you mean vhat vas I doing in there? Hiding from fangirls of course."
Soon the dinner ended, and it was time for the opening dance. As the four couples moved in place, that is to say more or less where they had already been before Dumbledore made the table move towards the back of the room, Chandra glanced at her date and asked a question that had bugged her for some time now:
"Hey Handsome, you know how to dance, right?"
The fiery creature stared at her for a long moment before making an affirmative gesture with what passed for his left hand.
It soon became apparent that whatever fire elementals considered dancing, it wasn't the same for the wizarding world. It also immediately became clear that neither Chandra nor her date cared as he guided her in a series of sinuous, flowing movements that were somehow in perfect time with the slow music. The other couples, although surprised at the beginning, soon joined them with the standard steps.
By the end of the first dance, Chandra had to admit she had even enjoyed herself, enough to stay for the second one.