Lal was tired, but happy. She had aced every single exam and she knew she had gotten an "exceeds expectations" on all her tests at the very least.

Now came the real trial...finding a dress for the ball.

She hadn't bothered to buy any, because she had fully intended to skip out of it once she dealt with Crouch's attempts to put her in the tournament.

Sadly Colonello's sudden appearance distracted her at the worst time to avoid it.

The worst part was that she had absolutely no idea what to wear. She had always skirted on the issue with her dress uniform when in COMSUBIN, and by the time she had to dress for the Vongola balls she never had to bother with it much because of her status as a member of the Arcobaleno. A failed one, but still a member.

Afterwards she had simply been too busy and too damn tired of cleaning up after Iemitsu's idiocy to deal with that sort of thing.

Which was why she was seeking out the one female likely to give her a straight answer.

"Yes? What do you want? Colonello isn't here."

"I know. I'm looking for you. You are aware of the ball that's to take place on Christmas, correct?"

"I was rather amused your little sister asked if she could be my date. What of it?" asked Fleur.

"...I need your help finding a proper dress for it," said Lal embarassed. "I had no intention of sticking around for the ball after it was announced, at least until Colonello suddenly showed up. So I never bothered to get anything. And there's no way in hell I'm trusting a wizard's idea of fashion when the mundanes have much better tastes."

Fleur looked at the girl before her with some sympathy and a little interest. It was pretty clear at first glance Lilac was firmly a 'tomboy', and a tsundere to boot. For her to bite back her pride long enough to ask for help was pretty big.

She clearly didn't want to embarrass herself in front of her date, and to be honest if she could nudge the girl towards a much more appropriate wardrobe she would consider it a victory in itself. The outfit Lilac had transfigured for herself said volumes about her usual preferences for casual wear.

"How do you intend to get mundane dresses to try on? There isn't a proper store within a hundred miles of this...school."

"Did you know there's an unspoken loophole in regards to Hogsmeade weekends?" said Lal impishly. "There's nothing that actually forbids students from taking the Knight Bus to London for several hours, or apparating if they're old enough. It's just considered an agreed upon restriction that students stick to the village."

Fleur looked at the girl with renewed appreciation. It was clear Lilac thrived in thinking outside the box most wizards put their minds into when it came to common sense.

"Do you have normal currency?" asked Fleur.

"I fully intend to make that idiot dogfather of mine pay for everything. Except perhaps the jewelry...odds are I'd find better pieces in my family vaults compared to the tacky stuff available now," said Lal flatly.

Fleur nodded with approval. She had heard about the case of Sirius Black, and making the man pay for twelve years of neglecting his duties as Godfather was perfectly reasonable.

"So can you help me?" asked Lal nervously.

"I will help you...if only to rub it in the face of my cousin and the foolish Englishmen who seemed to think robes are the epitome of fashion. I mean honestly, your school skirt shouldn't have to go past your knees," said Fleur.

"I don't like wearing skirts period, and the longer ones at least insure none of these idiot cavemen have a chance to flip it up before I hex them to hell and back for their attempt. Besides, I never had a reason to properly dress up as a girl before since I wasn't attracted to any of the children here."

"...Fair enough. I suppose a lack of any appealing men that suit your criteria would explain some of your clothing choices. I hope our excursion will at least convince you to dress like an actual girl more after this."

"I'll have to get some new clothes, but I don't see that being a problem. Most of my underthings are due for a replacement anyway."

Especially her bras. Last time she barely made it to a 'C' cup, and now she was quickly edging closer to a low-D. Apparently the lack of proper food and exercise last time around had stunted more than just her height and weight. It had taken years before she could correct it.

Three days later...

Fleur was not impressed with the Knight Bus, but Sirius met them as promised with his new bank card. He was giving his goddaughter free reign so long as she remembered to spend lunch with him once they were done shopping.

Fleur was a demon when it came to powershopping, but at least they found a dress that Lal felt comfortable wearing.

While she was fine with some skin showing, she didn't want to look like she was trying too hard. Fleur rather appreciated that, because some of the dresses looked more like a woman was attempting to whore themselves out in order to catch a rich man who would likely dump them once age had taken their looks away.

The most exhausting thing wasn't the dress... that had taken all of forty-five minutes to settle on one that Lal liked and Fleur approved of.

No, the worst part was the rest of it. By the time they met up with Sirius again, Lal was just ready to crash. On the plus side, she could now throw out most of her old wardrobe...or give it to Luna for her to alter however she liked.

Lal was doing something that made her rather nervous. Namely getting dressed for the ball. The dress itself was simple enough to put on. It was the make-up and everything else she had no clue what to do with.

Sure, she could hide a bruise or injury like an expert...but using it to make herself look more appealing? That was completely out of her comfort zone.

Which was why she made a point to sit still and let Fleur expertly apply it. Another girl was able to do her hair...while despairing at the state of it.

She kept it clean and out of her face, what more did they want from someone who didn't really bother with looking pretty? The potion they put on her hair made it feel weird, but she had to admit she liked the effect. She had no idea the difference it would make by using a different shampoo and conditioner.

Finally she slipped into the high heels she had bought. They were enough to elevate her somewhere closer to Colonello's face, but weren't so high that she would trip on them. She had spent the past week and a half walking in them in between classes and putting the spares she had through the ringer with the dance moves she did know.

That had been one of the few things Fleur had been pleased with. The fact Lal at least knew how to balance in the shoes and already knew the proper dance moves.

Lal didn't spend all her time practicing martial arts, and sometimes dancing was more fun than just training. And she had a lot of time to practice.

Thanks to the careful application of a disillusionment charm, Colonello never saw her leave the room where the French girls were preparing themselves.

Colonello was dressed up in a parody of a formal military dress. He had openly admitted he had been planning to ask the Matriarch to seal his magic, if only to get far, far away from the nightmare of being trapped inside the Sisterhood forever.

He had hoped to reinvent himself in the military, which branch didn't matter.

So it made sense he would pick a formal outfit for officers as his 'dress robes'...it still looked far more flattering than anything the other boys were wearing.

Colonello was patiently waiting for her to arrive. So she got to enjoy the shocked look on his face which quickly sparked a distinct expression of lust and love in his eyes the second he registered who the hottie was that was calmly flowing down the stairs.

Luna was looking as eccelectic as ever, though she made it work to Fleur's open amusement. At least Fleur wouldn't have to deal with some boy drooling over her rather than paying attention to his dancing.

Colonello was quick to take her arm, and Lal felt very pleased that he kept looking her over as if he couldn't believe his girlfriend could turn out that hot when she put her mind to it.

God knows the rest of the school was busy staring after her the second they realized who she was. She could already see most of the boys were kicking themselves for not trying to earn her attention first, now that they show how well she cleaned up.

Lal was having a blast. It was a good thing she was used to heels, even if her feet were killing her at the end of it.

Colonello, through long experience, seemed to know when she was too tired to continue. Which was why he swept her off her feet (literally) into a princess carry the second they were outside the door.

"Thank you," she said tiredly.

"Not a problem, princess," he said grinning. "I'm glad you had fun."

"That being said, next time we do this I want to be wearing flats or something more used to dancing. High heels are not meant for that many spins, even if you did keep me from falling flat on my ass."

Colonello grinned.

"Perks of having way too many female relatives. If I didn't know how to dance or at least sweep my partner off their feet, I never would have heard the end of it."

Before Lal said anything, she spotted a familiar bug and narrowed her eyes.

She discreetly conjured a jar and lid...and scooped the unusual beetle inside before it had a chance to fly off.

Colonello looked at the bug oddly.

"What's with the beetle?" he asked confused.

"Take a better look at the eyes and ask me that," said Lal.

Colonello did...and swore.

"You have got to be shitting me. That hag Skeeter is a beetle animagus?!" he said irate. He'd recognize those awful glasses anywhere.

Shortly after being named champion, Lal had gone in for the 'weighing of the wands'. Skeeter had tried to get an exclusive interview but Lal had decked her so hard she blacked out...to the open approval of everyone else.

No one liked Skeeter, and the second she tried to go after Lal for dating a veela, the woman had found herself on the worst possible end of the Sisterhood's very expensive lawyers.

Colonello had put mail wards around himself for a full month and had everything redirected to a secure room where the letters could be checked...and in far too many cases, disarmed, before he even went near them. He sent anything that was trapped to the lawyers to go after the sender.

He wasn't a complete idiot, after all.

Lal had done the same, and went one step better...she told her owl to maul any other bird that attempted to deliver a howler. An order Joan had taken with far too much enjoyment.

Feathers had rained in the great hall for a solid week after that article, because Joan took it to mean she should maul any owl delivering a howler. Apparently owls hated them as much as the recipients did.

(Lal was highly amused that the twins promptly told their owl Loki to do the same to any howlers directed to them from their mother.)

With Skeeter captured, Hagrid was allowed to 'woo' Madame Maxime in peace.

Honestly, Lal thought he could do much better...though she meant no offense to Hagrid or Madame Maxime. The simple fact was that they were a terrible fit. Hagrid was a man who enjoyed the outdoors and simple things, whereas Madame Maxime was firmly someone who enjoyed high society. The only common element between them was that they were both half-giants.

"I think I've had enough dancing for tonight," said Lal.

Colonello said nothing...he was aware her feet were likely hurting. Which was why, instead of sweeping her up like he had earlier, he offered her his arm instead.

"Normally I'd carry you to the tower...but that's way too many flights of stairs and I don't want to completely ruin the dress," admitted Colonello. "Besides, carrying you piggy back would only make you look ridiculous."

Lal's lips quirked upward at that.

"Or we can find a room to make out in, and I can ask one of my elves to simply teleport me to the outside of the common room door," she said amused.

Dobby was working in the kitchens, since Lal didn't really have many tasks for him. The moment she found Winky there, she made the female elf an offer to redeem her honor as a elf that belonged to the house of Black.

Barty Crouch jr. was related to the Blacks through his mother. Therefor Winky technically served the Blacks since she had been his personal elf.

The female elf had jumped at the chance to redeem herself, and was now just as loyal as Dobby was.

Colonello perked up at the suggestion. He was sure a number of couples were planning to take advantage of the night to have some fun with their partners.

"By the way, any idea who the hell spiked the punch? It was a lot stronger than it should have been for a party filled with minors and I swear there were different alcohols in it."

Lal smirked.

"Why Colonello, I'm surprised at you."

He looked at her.

"How exactly did you miss the 'special' section of my armory?"

Colonello blinked.

"Special section?"

Lal couldn't help her laughter.

"You mean you completely missed the selection of alcohol I had next to the grenades and land mines?" she laughed.

He stared at her, incredulous.

"Say what now?"

"I paid an ex-Royal Marine to buy me as much cheap booze as he could carry, along with whatever he wanted from the liquor store. Though the last time I told him to go for the high end stuff, since apparently the owner was getting highly suspicious why the man was buying so much once a year. Pretty sure I saw a cop pretending to be homeless to bust whoever was paying him to buy so much."

She might not be military...yet...but anyone who's served would recognize the look in her eye and the way she held herself as someone who spent time around military types. It was ingrained in them from hard training and years of following orders.

The second Colonello saw the massive amount of booze in the armory, he looked at his girlfriend incredulous.

"You keep this in your armory? Why?"

"Two words. Molotav. Cocktails."

Confusion turned to understanding.

"Ah."

"That and if I get really, really bored I can sell it around the school in small vials after mixing up a few of the brands and claim it's 'Gryffindor Courage'," said Lal with a straight face. "Not like anyone would have the brains to figure out what it actually is since most of the alcohol around here that the kids can access is firewhiskey and butterbeer."

Colonello cracked up at that.