Hello all! Well, here's chapter fifteen--I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it. Just a quick alert--as of this chapter, I'm officially out of pre-written material. I will still try to get at least one chapter out a week, though, so never fear!
Much thanks to all my reviewers and of course HUMONGOUS THANKS to remuslives23 for being the best editor a fanfic writer could ever have.
Standard A/N: If you recognize it, its JKR's; if not, its mine :-)
Evey was surprised at how nervous she was the next night. She told Angie, Alicia, and Patty that she and George were going to the ball together ('Just as mates, though!') and the girls had wanted to 'doll her up'. She wasn't really comfortable with that girly kind of stuff so she politely declined…then quickly changed her mind when Alicia pulled her wand out and threatened to cast a Body Bind on her if she refused their help.
She had purchased her plum coloured robes in America after she saw them on the list of required items for the year. Her letter had been delivered in the dead of night and it was hard to sneak away from Jacquie long enough to purchase all the items she needed. She had wandered around Providence before finally finding a bookstore called 'Merlin's Manuscripts'.
She didn't hesitate to walk right in, going up to the clerk behind the counter, who was obviously a wizard as he was sorting a pile of books with his wand. Evey asked where she could find a dress-robes store, and the man--named Merlin Johnson, to her amusement--was very helpful and directed her to a small shop called Rosie's Remarkable Robes. The owner, Rosie, was a very helpful older witch who reminded Evey of Madam Malkin in appearance and attitude.
Evey supposed that the snug fit of the robe and low neckline was the current style in America but it was tighter fitting than the other girl's robes. The sleeves fit her arms snugly, belling out at her elbows, and the fabric skimmed over the curves of her body (when had she gotten curves?). The dress beneath the robes was the same plum colour with thin straps attached to the sweetheart neckline. There was an intricate strip of beading just below the bust-line that circled her petite frame. The silky fabric of the dress fell all the way to the floor in a perfect a-line shape, and you could just see her silver heels peeking out from underneath.
Angie insisted on styling her dark red hair into hundreds of curly ringlets that fell to the middle of her back, holding part of it back with a purple jeweled clip. Alicia applied very subtle makeup to Evey's heart shaped face; a little blush, some lilac eye shadow, eyeliner, mascara, and lipstick. When Evey looked into the mirror, her jaw dropped.
'What did you do?' she asked as she gently touched her hair and face.
'You look beautiful!' Angelina said as she adjusted her the straps of her sky blue dress robes.
'Yeah, George won't know what hit him!' Alicia laughed, smoothing the forest green fabric of her dress.
'Oh, please, he won't care,' Evey said, standing and trying to adjust to walking in heels.
'Of course he will,' Patty said from where she was checking the back of her butter-yellow dress. 'He fancies you. Didn't you know?'
Evey laughed so hard she had to sit down again. 'What? George doesn't fancy me! That's the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard!'
'I have to agree with Patty,' Angie said.
'Me too,' Alicia added.
Evey shook her head, rolling her eyes, 'You girls are totally nutters. I'm going to meet my FRIEND George.'
With that she carefully exited the dorm and descended the stairs to meet her date…friend! Friend…to meet her friend. Those girls were getting to her. She shook her head and continued to descend the stairs to the common room. When she reached the bottom, she saw George sitting on the couch with Fred, both wearing matching dress robes. They were so terribly adorable she couldn't help but laugh.
'Did Molly pick those out for you because you look absolutely ridiculous!'
The twins jumped to their feet and turned towards Evey--when they caught sight of her, their jaws dropped. Evey's eyes widened and she looked down at herself critically.
'What? Are my robes stained?' she asked as she assessed her outfit.
George audibly swallowed, and Fred elbowed him. George looked at his twin, who gave him a 'go on' kind of look. George's head whipped back towards Evey.
'N-no, Evey. You look…er…pretty,' George said awkwardly.
Evey stopped looking herself over and looked up at George. He looked as uncomfortable as she felt at the moment. She couldn't help but blush as she lowered her eyes again.
'Thank you, George,' she said politely. 'You look very…handsome.'
George muttered a quiet 'thank you' as the other girls started down the stairs, Angie in the lead.
Fred whistled low in appreciation, 'Angelina, my darling, you look absolutely spectacular!'
'Shut up, Fred,' Angie bit out, but she blushed nonetheless.
Fred simply smiled and bowed ridiculously low before offering his arm to his date. Angie rolled her eyes and took his arm, the small smile on her face telling Evey she was actually enjoying the dramatics of her escort. Slowly, Alicia and Patty were greeted by their dates (Lee and Kenny, respectively) and the students began to trickle out of the common room. George and Evey still stood awkwardly across from each other, avoiding eye contact as the portrait closed behind Patty and Kenny. George's eyes flicked to the nearby clock before he spoke, a loud noise in the silent room.
'Its gonna start soon, we should probably get going.'
Evey agreed and took his offered arm as they left the common room. The long walk to the Great Hall was silent and awkward between the two friends, the only sounds from other students around them. Their pace was slow--Evey was not very stable on her heels, especially going down the many staircases in the school. But George was patient and helpful, gripping her elbow if her foot slipped and never letting her stumble. Each time, Evey would smile at him, he smiled shyly in response, both of them flushing deeply. Eventually, they made it to the Great Hall--though they could not enter it due to the ever expanding crowd outside the doors.
'Fuck,' George groaned, speaking for the first time in ten minutes. 'Stupid tossers, just standing here blocking the door. Come on.'
With that, George grabbed Evey's small, smooth hand in his large, calloused one and started pulling her through the crowd. Evey couldn't help but look surprised; surprised at the fact that George just cursed for no good reason, surprised that he was actually dragging her, and surprised at the fluttering feeling in her stomach when George took her hand.
George had a similar feeling, but refused to let it get the best of him. Now was not the time to let Evey know he fancied her, not when they were on a strictly non-date date and she was getting over what was obviously a crush on that stupid Frog.
After a lot of 'Excuse me's' and shoulder bumps, the two finally made it into the Great Hall. Evey gasped; it was beautiful! It looked like an ice palace, the entire Hall coated in white, silver and blue, and…were those ICICLES?
'Wow,' she breathed, her green eyes wide as she scanned the room. 'It's beautiful!'
'Yeah, it sure is,' George answered, his eyes sliding over Evey before quickly returning to the Hall before him.
He quickly spotted Fred and the others and gently tugged Evey's hand to get her attention. The two made their way over to the round table and sat in the two free seats between Fred and Patty. The group of friends made small talk for a few minutes before the Procession of Champions began. They all stood to watch the four 'lucky' students walk into the Hall. Evey stood up on the balls of her feet and craned her neck, trying to look over everyone else's heads. Why did she have to be so bloody short! She groaned as she noticed the tall doors open, and heard people start 'ooh-ing' and 'ahh-ing'.
'What's wrong?'
She looked to her right to see George looking down at her, confusion in his eyes.
'Oh,' she said, blushing slightly. 'I'm, er, too short to see--what are you doing?!'
'Helping you see, of course,' George said as if it were the most obvious thing in the world as he lifted Evey to stand on his chair. When he was sure she was stable, he smiled. 'Better?'
Evey couldn't help but return the smile, 'Yes. Thank you.'
George grinned wider as he turned back to watch the Procession, his left arm firmly around Evey's waist so she wouldn't fall. Evey looked towards the centre aisle that had formed and saw the French champion, Fleur Delacour, and her date, a very smug looking Roger Davies, gliding elegantly past, already halfway to the large table at the end of the Hall. Behind them were Cedric Diggory and Cho Chang, both smiling and stealing looks at each other, obviously smitten. After the lovebirds came a very uncomfortable looking Harry Potter and a smiling, bouncing, waving Parvati Patil.
'Poor kid,' Evey thought with a smile as she saw a blushing Harry, staring pointedly at his feet.
The last couple walked in and the doors closed. Viktor Krum looked as stony faced as ever, but who was the girl he was with?
'Bloody hell!' she heard Fred say to no one in particular. 'It's HERMIONE!'
Evey's eyes widened as she realized that it was, indeed, the clever fourth year. She looked absolutely stunning! She glanced over to where Fred and George's youngest brother, Ron, sat; not surprised the boy looked awed, smitten, and furious all at the same time. She hoped Fred and George wouldn't notice, if only to spare Ron's feelings.
The Champions finally reached the large table and took their seats, signaling for the rest of the students and the staff and guests to sit as well. George carefully helped Evey to the floor then they both sat and waited for food to appear as it usually did. After a minute in which nothing happened, she glanced at the head table to see if something was wrong. She saw Dumbledore's lips move then his plate was suddenly filled with food.
'Of course,' she said aloud. 'Self-Serving Plates! You say what you want and the food appears! How very clever.'
The others hesitated for just a moment before giving their orders then smiled in glee when their food appeared. Evey paused and thoughtfully looked down at her plate, not sure what she wanted.
'Aren't you hungry, Evey?' George asked as he paused between bites of his medium-rare T-bone steak.
She nodded. 'I'm not sure what to order.'
George shrugged and suggested, 'Just get your favourite.'
Evey thought for a moment longer before smiling broadly.
'Steamed Maine Lobster, cleaned and shelled with lemon and butter, a baked potato, and steamed carrots,' she said, and nearly squealed in delight when her order appeared.
She immediately dug in but after a few bites, noticed everyone at the table was staring at her.
'What?' she asked once she swallowed her mouthful of lobster.
'What exactly is that?' Lee asked bluntly.
'Lobster, of course. It's a type of shellfish very popular in America. Its delicious, would you like to try a bite?' she offered.
Each of her seven friends took a bite of her meal then spent a good five minutes figuring out a way to change their orders to lobster as well. After the scrumptious main course and very filling desert, Dumbledore requested that everyone stood and as soon as they obliged, the tables moved against the walls leaving the floor clear. He then turned to the right wall, and, after a complicated looking wave of his wand, a conjured raised platform appeared along with a set of drums, several brightly coloured guitars, a lute, a cello, and a set of bagpipes.
'Oh my god, it's the WEIRD SISTERS!' someone shouted as the band took their places, and the room was filled with cheers and applause.
The lights lowered and the Champions took their spots on the dance floor for the traditional opening dance. A slow tune started and the four couples began to twirl around the dance floor. They all looked very elegant, even Harry, who kept stumbling over his feet. After a few moments, Dumbledore started a polite round of applause then escorted Madam Maxime onto the dance floor, signalling the other students and teachers to join them.
Couples started congregating on the dance floor, and soon only a handful of students were on the sidelines, including George and Evey. It wasn't that they didn't know how to dance - Mrs. Weasley had taught her children and their friends traditional dances like this one; it was the awkwardness that kept them glued to the floor. Finally, George summoned up his famous Gryffindor courage and turned to Evey.
'You want to, er, dance?' he asked awkwardly, his face and ears redder than his hair.
'Oh, um, sure,' Evey agreed with a smile and a blush.
George took her hand and guided her carefully to a free spot on the edge of the dance floor. They turned to each other, hesitating for a moment before they took up the traditional dancing pose. Evey saw George mouthing numbers to the beat for a full count of eight before he started to lead her around the floor. They moved well together, never stumbling, never bumping into other couples--unlike poor little Ginny Weasley, who kept wincing as her date, Neville Longbottom, kept stepping on her toes.
Their eyes met a few times, each of them smiling then looking quickly away. The song ended, Evey not sure if she was relieved or disappointed when a fasted paced song began. The teachers and adult guests returned to their seats and the students began to gyrate to the music.
It only took a few minutes for the previous awkwardness between her and George to fade away, the couple soon jumping around in a way that could be loosely construed as dancing, shouting out the words to the songs at the top of their lungs. How could she have not wanted to come to this--she was having a wonderful time! As the thought ran through her mind, the song ended and a slower tune started. She and George stopped and stared at each other uneasily.
'Do you mind if we sit this one out?' she asked. 'My feet are starting to throb after all that jumping.'
George agreed quickly and they weaved their way through the students and off the dance floor, heading towards a bench against the wall. As they finally cleared the crowd, Evey saw a flash of bright pink out of the corner of her eye. She glanced to her left and did a double take. There was Dax--beautiful, funny, sweet, smart Dax--furiously snogging a pink robed Marietta Edgecombe. Evey stopped dead in her tracks, staring at the couple. Dax's hands were all over the fifth year Ravenclaw then they disappeared behind a large, white Christmas tree.
Evey felt a hollow feeling in her chest and she was finding it hard to draw breath. She barely heard George asking her what was wrong, startling the redhead when she turned and sprinted out of the room. Ignoring the pain in her feet, she ran all the way back up to the Gryffindor tower and collapsed on the couch in the abandoned common room, bursting into tears. She knew crying over a boy was silly but she had really fancied Dax and it had hurt her pride to see him kissing the girl for whom he'd rejected her. She now knew what heartache felt like.
Barely a minute later, she felt the cushions beside her sink, and a pair of hands pulled her up into a sitting position. She protested weakly, tears still streaming down her cheeks and opened her eyes. George was staring at her, concern in his chocolate coloured eyes.
'Evey, sweetheart, what's wrong?' he asked her softly, using a corner of his robes to wipe her tears and smudged makeup away.
She sniffed inelegantly and shook her head as she lowered her eyes, her tears still falling freely, 'I-its nothing. Just a stupid g-girl thing.'
'It's not stupid if its upsetting you this much. Please, Evelyn, talk to me.'
She looked up at him in surprise--he never called her Evelyn. Sure, maybe once or twice over the years in jest but never in seriousness. That, along with the concern on his face, made her answer.
'I saw Dax and Marietta…they were…they were kissing.'
George made a sympathetic face before pulling Evey into a firm hug. As she sobbed loudly, he rocked her gently and whispered comforting words as he stroked her hair softly. He had never seen her so upset in all her the time he'd known her and he hated that all her tears were for another boy. He wanted desperately to make her feel better, to let her know that even though the Frog didn't care about her, someone did.
'Evey, if he can't see you for the wonderful, amazing, beautiful person that you are then he doesn't deserve for you to waste even one tear on him.'
Evey looked up at him, her green eyes rimmed red and her cheeks wet. 'That's so sweet, George.'
'Well, it's true,' he said firmly, a determination in his voice. 'You deserve someone who will care about you and make you happy; someone who will appreciate how amazing you are.'
There was a look in George's eyes that Evey had never seen before. It was hot and passionate but…why would he be looking at her like that?
Falling into George's unplanned word trap, she responded, 'Like who?'
George's gaze held hers as the distance between their faces closed. When their noses were very nearly touching, he whispered one word that made her heart pound and shivers go down her spine.
'Me.'
And then he kissed her.
Am I evil? Yes. Do I enjoy it? Probably more than I should. Should you review? Absolutely :-)