Chapter 11: Madam Malkin's
It was a cool, November Saturday. The students had been granted permission to go to Hogsmeade, including some of the younger students if they had older siblings as the Banks family did with Mallory, Alicia was allowed to go due to her not being a student yet. Cassie had just been given the date they would be announcing the Yule Ball to the public, which she would announce at dinner that evening. She approached Peri who was studying in The Great Hall with her Slytherin housemates. Pansy looked up from her book glancing over her shoulder at her aunt and then across to her cousin, "Peri," she said making Peri look up from the Golden Egg she carried everywhere with her trying to determine what this thing did as when she opened for the first time after returning to her common room following the completion of the First Task, it gave an ear-piercing screech.
She was confused as to why her mother had come to see her, despite both staying at Hogwarts for the term she rarely saw her as she was busy working, "Hi mom."
"I need you and your sisters to come with me. We have some appointments…"
Peri nodded, "Now? What about Hogsmeade? Thought we were going?"
"Hogsmeade will be there when we come back. I will take all of you tomorrow. Now meet me in my suite. We will use the floo to go to Diagon Alley."
She sighed standing up, "I will bring you some sweets back," Draco called after her as she exited the Hall making her way up the many flights of stairs to her mother's suite.
Her suite is located on the fifth floor, she approached the painting guarding the suite. "Peri!" The witch in the painting said. The witch was a medieval Princess who had the happiest personality she had ever seen.
"Afternoon, Princess," she gave a curtsy to the princess.
She gave a graceful, low curtsy herself, "Everyone else is inside," she spoke rising out of her curtsy.
"Ruby slippers," she said, then entered the suite.
The suite was decorated with rich, dark shades of red with gold accents. Reminded her a lot of the Gryffindor common room, she had been in their common room a handful of times. Mostly when she would sneak off with George, to have sex during their free periods from classes. The two had not discussed what they were, to her they were simply friends with benefits although she seemed to want more. Something she had never allowed herself to have. She shook her head removing the thought from her mind as she walked the dark wooden floors to her family, everyone stood around the fireplace.
"Wonderful! Everyone is here!" Cassie announced, "Ladies! The Yule Ball is upon us. This is a dance, I believe I informed some of you of this when we first announced the tournaments. If I did not then you might have noticed I asked Madam Malkin to take extra measurements…more form fitting for you three," she looked at her older three daughters.
"Are we going back to America for the annual Christmas Ball that grandmother and grandfather have?" Alicia asked, Cassie, looked at her with a sigh wiping the dirt off her youngest's face, "No…we did get invited to my parents' annual party. They want to introduce…" she looked at Peri, "to society. Make her a debutante."
Peri took a step back, "Excuse me? These are the people who disowned you for having me. You fled the country to escape them and Voldemort's rise."
Hallie and Holly sucked in breaths hearing his name, "Peri…please. It is one party, and I would like to not cause more drama in the papers. We will go, and you will dance with the eligible young bachelors at the party. A toast will be given by Richard and he will walk you into the ball, you will both share a dance. The evening will end and we will go home."
"What about Hallie and Holly?"
"Peri! Please. We will deal with these another time, right now we are about to be late for our appointment."
She sighed as Cassie pulled Mallory into the fireplace with her, tossing the powder on the ground, "Madame Malkin's!" The two disappeared with a fiery green light.
Hallie and Holly followed them.
Richard stepped into the fireplace with Alicia, "Peri…" he watched her tilting his head to the side, then placed the powder in his youngest's hands, "Alicia, do what mama and your sisters did. Tell your mother I will be there with Peri soon."
She looked past her father to her sister, nodding then throwing the powder down disappearing in the flames.
He turned to face Peri, "Peri…what is it?"
She looked at him, "No one listens to what I want. I never wanted to be a champion…I do not want to be part of society…I just want to be Peri King. Not the daughter of blood traitor Cassie Rice. Not daughter to Severus Snape which was supposed to remain a secret that very few knew…I realize I resemble him a lot but without the truth being told no one could truly know. Now I am treated differently. Students walk on eggshells around me in fear I will run to him and tell him if they treat me badly."
Richard wrapped his arm around her guiding her to the plush scarlet couch, "Peri, I know your life has never been easy, especially for the actions that were not your own. It was not your fault you were born, none of us regret your birth though understand that. Your mother wanted to escape those controls her parents had, to do that she had to do something they could never accept. Even I took that risk when I accepted her as the woman I loved. I could have walked away, but instead, I accepted the values we both shared and her being a single mother not just one child but three."
Peri leaned into him, "You got a lot of hate for accepting mother for her. For marrying a blood traitor and one with a child out of wedlock…a half-blood at that."
"I do not care what everyone said about me choosing all of you, what mattered to me was my love for all of you. Then we had Mallory and Alicia, the attention did go heavily towards them. And the views changed about your mother, but it never made me want anyone except her," he gave her a tight squeeze, "You can choose to run from the values you believe in or fight for them. I chose to fight. You proved to everyone during that first task that you are more than what the papers describe you. You are Peri King, a strong, brave witch far more talented than anyone could ever believe."
She looked at him, "What would I do without you?"
"Probably still living in a similar lifestyle you have now just without me." The two laughed before standing up, he offered his hand to her before they crossed to the fireplace transporting themselves through the floo network to Madam Malkin's.
"There you two are!" Cassie said, crossing to them, grabbing Peri's arm, and pulling her to a stool to stand upon to get her measurements. Her sisters were examining the luxurious fabrics of silks, tulles, lace, and many more styles.
Madam Malkin approached her, "What are we thinking? We had an idea back in August for the dress, but with her being a champion perhaps something more elaborate?"
Cassie tilted her head to the side examining her eldest, rubbing her chin as she thought about the style of dress, "I think we should stick to the a-line style for all the girls, but make her color a royal blue. It is the color she has worn since an infant. It was how I kept the girls' clothes separate growing up."
"May I suggest that instead of a dark blue royal blue, we use a light icy blue. Bringing out an innocent look to her…she could look like a snowy angel or Princess."
"Lovely idea," Cassie agreed looking at the swatches of fabric Madam Malkin pulled from her table of fabric samples. "Let's do this…with this," she was grabbing different fabric samples.
Madam Malkin gave a flick of her wand, and fabrics of sky blue and white spun around the room. Needles and threads stitch each piece together, creating a beautiful dress. It resembled a version of a Cinderella dress. Hallie gasped, "Wow! That is the most beautiful dress I have ever seen!"
"Thank you, Hallie," Madam Malkin said, forming a privacy curtain around Peri as she slipped the dress onto her.
She removed the curtain, everyone gasped at how beautiful Peri appeared, "You look like Cinderella!" Mallory commented.
"Who?" Madam Malkin asked, confused.
"A muggle fairytale," Cassie informed her, "Can I make some adjustments?"
"Certainly."
Cassie came closer to the dress, "Let's do an off-the-shoulder look, corset back giving her a more form-fitting look, and let's bring the neckline into a sweetheart neckline."
Peri stared at herself in the mirror before her, almost not recognizing herself. This is how Hallie dresses, like a modern-day princess but she prefers to wear dark colors. She liked jeans over dresses, sneakers over heels, and her hair in a braid instead of being down. She looked at her mother who was discussing her dress with Madam Malkin, "Mom…I would prefer something darker in color. This is more Hallie or Holly or even Mallory. I like my dark blue…or even green or black."
"No…you can wear green to the Christmas ball...or the New Year's Eve Ball instead since they changed the date to allow the guests with children at Hogwarts to attend the Yule Ball. We should do gold sparkles…No! Silver. A nice New Year's color and gives a Slytherin touch."
She looked down at her shoes, still wearing her casual sneakers, "Yes, ma'am."
She glanced over at Holly who had been assigned pink, her usual color. Holly had taken interest in the dress she was wearing, but looked back at the different shades of pink fabrics before her. She turned her attention from Holly to Hallie who usually seemed overjoyed to pick out a new dress, especially in her assigned color, purple, which happened to be her favorite color. Her expression did not appear thrilled at the options before her, "Cassie…" Hallie spoke up looking from the fabrics.
Cassie turned her attention from her conversation with Madam Malkin, "Yes?"
"Can I wear gold to the ball? The Yule Ball."
She looked shocked, but nodded, "Certainly. Pick what you want."
Hallie smiled to herself moving to one of the assistants in the shop to help them as she picked the fabrics she liked and picked the fabrics for their other sisters as well as designed the sketches for their dresses. Peri looked back into the mirror before her with a disappointed sigh, she had lost who she was ever since they moved here.
They returned to Hogwarts for dinner that evening, where Cassie approached the podium. The entire hall instantly grew silent, knowing anytime she spoke there was exciting news coming their way.
"Good evening! Hope everyone enjoyed their day at Hogsmeade. I always enjoyed going there as a child. I worked briefly as a waitress at the Three Broomsticks," she gave a slight laugh to herself mostly. "I am not here to discuss myself though. I am here to discuss an upcoming event that is part of the Triwizard Tournament. The Yule Ball…this will take place on Christmas Day at precisely eight o'clock ending at midnight. The Yule Ball is a tradition held by the hosting school, this provides an opportunity for everyone to socialize with our foreign guests. Now, the ball will be open only to fourth years and above — although you may invite a younger student if you wish. With this ball occurring on Christmas Day, it is not required for anyone to attend except the Champions themselves. If you wish to return, a signup sheet will be made available to those who choose to leave for the break and want to return for the ball. We will provide a train and carriages to bring those of you back in time. Then the train will leave the following morning for you to be with your families again for the remainder of the break or you can remain here till term begins in January."
The Hall erupted in excited chatter, with the girls discussing their dresses or quickly writing on pieces of parchment to write dress requests to Madam Malkin. Peri sighed resting her head on her head, "Draco…"Pansy began with a flirtatious smile.
"I'm going with Peri," he spoke quickly, interrupting her.
She looked stunned, "I knew Rita Skeeter had written you were an item, but I was unaware you were."
Peri looked at her cousin then Draco realized the part they now had to play…at least for a little while. "It is true…He gave me a white rose when I asked him months ago. The rose that never dies."
She frowned then looked at Blaise, "Blaise?"
He looked up from his conversation with Theo, "Sure," he gave a sly smirk and then went back to his conversation.
A week before the ball, she was sitting on the steps of the entrance hall watching Hagrid bring in the Christmas trees to decorate the school. She smiled watching everyone running around asking one another to be their date, she was pleased to know she still had Draco as her date to the ball, this continued to upset Holly. She had slightly thought about dropping Draco to ask George, but still was unsure where they remained. They were still sleeping with one another but otherwise, they had not discussed what they were.
She smiled to herself as Neville approached her nervously, the two had barely had a conversation before he ran off. "Morning Neville."
"Morning…Peri. I wanted…wanted to ask…"
She gave a soft smile to him, she had gotten this same question quite often the past few weeks, "Yes?"
"Do you have a date for the ball?" He asked in a hurry.
"I do actually…I'm sorry. I could give some suggestions to those who do not."
He looked up from staring at his feet, "Really? Can you help me?"
She nodded, standing up from her seat on the steps to scan the busy entrance hall, "There's Luna Lovegood, the third year in Ravenclaw." She pointed over to the blonde watching as the hall became decorated with colorful decorations. "There is also Holly…my sister. Or Ida Noir, fourth-year from Beauxbaton. My cousin, Pansy…although I think Blaise asked her she just isn't saying because she is mad Draco is taking me. Ginny Weasley is an option, too. She is a third-year like Luna so unless asked she will not be going."
"I know Ginny…she is kind. Luna is pretty, but I will ask Ginny."
He walked off just as Fred, George, and Lee approached her, "I hear you have a date with Malfoy to the ball. Malfoy? Really?"
She turned her attention to the three boys that stood in front of her, "He is my friend."
Fred looked over at George then back at her, "Does not mean you have to ask him."
"Better me than my cousin. And do either one of you have dates?"
Fred gave a huff, "Um…yeah my girlfriend."
Peri laughed, "Does she know that?"
"We are dating. It should be obvious."
She rolled her eyes, "Clearly you do not know your girlfriend."
He looked at Hallie entering the school from the snow with Ida and Holly as they discussed the ball. "Harry asked me to be his date…I think that is because Uncle Remus asked him to. I could have said no, but I wanted to make him happy. My brother is being allowed to come, he asked Mallory to be his date," Ida spoke as they entered.
Hallie glanced over at Fred, George, Lee, and Peri standing by the stairs then back at her sister and Ida, "I have not been asked. What about you Holly?" She spoke loud enough for the entire hall to hear.
They stopped by the staircase, "No…no one has asked me."
"Hallie?" Fred tapped her on the shoulder.
She turned around, "Yes? Have something you would like to ask me?"
"Hallie…will you…" Peri magically made a large bouquet of pink roses appear then shoved them into his back, where he grabbed them from behind. "Oof…" he looked over his shoulder then back at her, "Hallie, will you go to the ball with me?"
He offered her the roses, and she accepted them with a squeal, jumping onto him, kissing him passionately, "Yes! Yes!" He held her melting into the kiss.
Those around them looked at each other till George cleared his throat, "We are still here…"
The two released laughing, "Sorry," Hallie turned a bright pink and then pulled Fred up the stairs near them.
"Thankfully we will be done with that for the break," George commented.
Peri laughed, "We live about a twenty-minute walk from one another, quicker by broom or Floo."
The sudden realization hit him, "You had to remind me. We will be surrounded by their hormonal love forever."
The group laughed with Lee saying, "They are going to be pregnant before at least one of their seventh years."
The girls looked at him, "Hallie might not be the sharpest quill, but she is not stupid," Hollyspoke defended her twin, "Plus she is only fourteen I highly doubt she will do anything."
The two boys laughed, "That is not what Fred told us."
"What?" Peri and Holly both said exchanging looks with one another.
George looked at them, "Yeah…he told us that they decided they were both ready."
"She is only fourteen!" Peri informed them again.
He eyed her, "And you are fifteen."
She shot him a glare and then pushed past everyone making her way to the Slytherin common room. Consumed by her inner thoughts she was not watching where she was walking, bumping into someone, "My apologies…" she looked up seeing Snape leaving the way to the common room and potion's classroom as well as his professor suite.
"Peri…it is alright." She stepped around him and began to walk off when he spoke to her again, "What is your dress color?"
She froze in her steps turning back to him, "Excuse me?"
He stared at her, no emotions on his pale face. He spoke again in a monotone voice, "Your Yule Ball dress. What is the color?"
She raised a brow in confusion, "Blue…it is supposed to look like ice."
He gave a small shake of his head, muttering something under his breath he did not hear. He straightened up to appear taller, "I am sure you will look nice."
He left her alone, leaving the empty corridor. She remained confused but went to the common room.