WARNING: A whole load of girliness in this chapter! I tried cutting down, I swear, but I'm not good with restraint. If it's not your thing, it stops about halfway down. If it is your thing… Well… Still: ENTER AT YOUR OWN RISK.

The day of the Yule Ball had finally arrived. Noise filled the castle at breakfast. Excited giggles and nervous jitters were in everyone, boy and girl alike. Everyone was excited for the night, and anticipating it. Everyone was busy getting ready for it too. Everyone was buzzing about their dresses and shoes and hair and makeup-well, the girls anyway. The boys were pretty much just buzzing about whether their dates were good-looking or not.

It was also Christmas day, so everyone was happy about that as well. It wasn't as exciting this year, since the Yule Ball was getting most of the attention. However, in the morning, they all had presents and opened them with friends and wished everyone a Happy Christmas in the hallway.

Then after that, and after breakfast and near lunch, Angelina, Alicia and Patricia collected Caprice from where she was dreamily staring at a frost covering the Lake, and dragged her red, cold-bitten self into the Great Hall for lunch.

"Don't eat much." Alicia warned, "The feast will be big, and you want to save room."

They all nodded, eating small lunches. Caprice walked back up with them to the Gryffindor Tower with only a small salad in her stomach.

They walked up the stairs and into their dormitory, and Alicia took charge immediately.

"Alright, so we've got to shower, do our hair and makeup and then get dressed. We'll go in opposite alphabetical order. Patricia, you go first, then Caprice and then Angelina, and I'll go last. Patricia, make it quick. I have to do your hair first since it'll take the longest, and by the time I'm done Caprice will be out and she can do your makeup."

"What can I do?" Angelina asked.

Alicia looked at her, "Decide what you want for your hair. You still haven't told me."

"I just want it straight." she shrugged.

"I guess I'll use a flatiron on it then. We're doing this entire thing the Muggle way, I'm warning you guys." They all let out groans of protest, and Alicia rolled her eyes, "Big bunch of babies. Just deal with it."

Patricia went to go shower as the girls all pulled out their gowns. Angelina had a nice, popping blue, halter-strapped gown while Alicia had a pale yellow one-shoulder gown. Then Caprice had her own gown, the gold one with beading on the bodice.

"I think Patricia has a red gown." Angelina commented as they all hung up their dresses on the railing for their bed curtains.

"Oh, that's good." Caprice smiled, "Patricia looks so great in red."

"Thank you!" they heard the brunette call from the bathroom.

They got out the rest of their outfits while waiting. Caprice busied herself with making sure everything was right from making sure there were no scuffs on her gold shoes, to putting everything she would need in her small gold evening clutch to severing loose threads on her shawl. Her diamond and gold jewelry shone, she had the right makeup in place for when she needed to do hers and she knew exactly what to instruct Alicia to do with her hair.

She was so busy she didn't realize Patricia was out of the shower until Alicia snapped at her friend, "Well, go shower then!"

Caprice hurried into the hot water and faintly heard Alicia complaining about how there wouldn't be any hot water when she got in.

All Caprice could think about was Fred and George. She loved Fred. She really, really loved Fred. And then they had that fight, but she still loved him. He was just jealous and… they both said some things they shouldn't have. They both said things they regretted. They both hurt each other that day, and they both regretted everything.

Caprice could just tell by the way he looked at her during the day. He had a strange, longing look on his face every time he saw her. His face was always torn up with guilt and pressure and sadness. It was like he was angry with himself, but all he really showed was how bad he yearned for her. He desired her and she ached for him. And they both knew it. They both were aware of the mutual feelings.

So why didn't they get together? That's simple-they were with other friends now. Fred was sort of together with Angelina, but she wasn't too into it-Caprice knew that. And Caprice was still best friends with George.

Their relationship hadn't changed much except they got a lot closer in their friendship. They told each other everything now. George knew Caprice still wanted Fred and Caprice knew all George's secrets. They talked all the time now, and it felt like their other friends were sort of jealous.

But Caprice really wished she could have Fred, but some things just don't work out that well, now do they?

Caprice got out of the shower soon. She rubbed her hair down with a towel real fast and then wrapped it around her body. Angelina went in immediately after Caprice, who went straight to her bureau and then behind her bed curtains to dress quickly in a tank top and a pair of short shorts.

She emerged and saw Alicia working on Patricia's hair already. She was doing it in a pretty French braid. Caprice sat down in front of Patricia and started asking her about what makeup she wanted.

It was something to keep her mind off of her feelings for Fred.

However, she couldn't help but think about them as she did a flawless job on Patricia's makeup job-smoky eyes and red lips. It was a shock that Caprice hadn't messed up with the way her mind had been wandering. If she had been any more out of it, Caprice would have dragged the eyeliner pencil across her cheek, probably. She sure would get a lot of rubbish for that. Good thing it didn't happen.

Alicia started on Caprice's hair next. In its natural state, her hair was curly, long and black. It was quite thick, too. So Caprice wanted Alicia to play up her curls a bit, make them bigger by whatever means were necessary (in this case straightening it with a flatiron and then putting her locks in hot rollers), and then after they were done in the hot rollers, Alicia planned to pin it to one side of her head and let the curls fall gracefully down her shoulders.

In the meantime, Alicia showered and Caprice did Angelina's makeup-very subtle and classy, since anything bold and bright would contrast with her dark skin tone. She really just tried to make Angelina look natural and bronzy, and make her lips glossy and big. She knew Fred appreciated not a lot of makeup, but natural features.

After Alicia got out of the shower and quickly did her own hair in a nice bun atop her head (something none of them wanted her to do because she always had her hair pulled back, but she simply would not listen to their protests), Alicia started straightening Angelina's hair rapidly, trying to get it done in time.

It was almost time for the Ball to start, and they all had to hurry up. So Caprice quickly did her own makeup-gold eye makeup and long eyelashes, and nude lips. She tried doing Alicia's while Alicia finished Angelina's hair, but she brushed Caprice aside so she could finish her curly hairstyle.

But once everything was done, they sure did look nice. They looked beautiful and charming. They were like princesses, transformed for the Ball.

Last minute things still had to be done though, like inspections, the plucking of eyebrows, covering of blemishes and large pores and getting hairspray onto loose hairs, sprits of strong-smelling perfume and making sure makeup wouldn't smudge by use of clever magic. But after all that, and getting dressed and desperately trying to get other people to zip up your dress and strap on your shoes, and asking if they looked okay or if they seemed fat or whatever else…

They looked enchanting.

XXX

Christi, on the other hand, didn't take that long to get ready. While she did get ready with all her girlfriends, all she needed was some simple makeup-pink eye makeup and her lips a peachy color-and her hair curled and pinned at the crown of her head.

It didn't take her long to get ready, but then it was time for her to help others get ready. Helping Pansy do her hair full of waves and making Daphne's ash blonde hair-much different from her little sister's dark brown hair-sleek and straight and helping Tracey put her hair into a classy bun, and then getting Millicent's less-than-feminine brown locks to be nice and pretty.

"So, Christi," Pansy started from where she was doing her makeup.

"Hmm?" Christi answered dreamily. She was sitting on her bed, fiddling with the straps of her silver shoes as something to do. All she could think about was Draco, and her growing feelings for him.

She was beginning to feel something stronger than the fervent like she felt for him, something stronger than 'Firewhiskey'. She was beginning to almost love him. He was so sweet and kind and romantic. He didn't pressure her and he didn't make her uncomfortable. He was never harsh or mean with her, and his parents loved her too. She didn't know what could be better, if anything could.

The only thing was Christi didn't know how to tell Draco she was part-Veela. He might break up with her if she tells him because she'd been keeping a secret for so long. And if she never tells him… Well, then she would always feel guilty. And she didn't want either of those. It was pretty unlikely that he would just simply understand and things would be normal. No, he would definitely react in some way.

"Wow, you must be out of it." Pansy said, and Christi looked up to see her smirking. "Really in love with Draco, huh?"

"I think it may just be love." Christi smiled.

"Well, girls, I think we may really have lost Christi."

"Lost me?" Christi asked, not paying much attention.

"You're in dream land all the time." Tracey smirked from where she was plucking her strawberry-blonde eyebrows. They were more strawberry than blonde, but she didn't like to be called a redhead.

"Really, Chris." Daphne complained, "It's like we're losing you to some sort of fluffy, marshmallow world in which nothing goes wrong."

"A fluffy, marshmallow world where you and Draco rule, and have lots of fluffy kisses and ssay lots of fluffy 'I love you's' to each other." Millicent said, and they all giggled. Christi rolled her eyes.

"You aren't losing me. I spend enough time with you, don't I?"

"Well of course you do." they nodded, and Tracey said, "But you're never really with us-mentally that is. You're always dreaming of Draco."

"I'll stop." Christi said.

Pansy rolled her eyes, "You won't. You can't help it."

"Then quit bothering me about it." she snapped.

She all went wide-eyed and Daphne said, "Jeez, we're sorry. We were only bringing it up."

Christi sighed, and apologized, "I'm sorry…"

"It's in the past." Millicent shrugged, "Excited for tonight?"

Christi nodded, "Very. What about you guys? Tracey, you and Nott." she smirked.

Tracey blushed, "Yeah, Theodore said he has a surprise for me tonight." she smiled. Tracey and Theodore Nott had been dating the past few weeks. They were going pretty fast in their relationship.

"Ooh…" Daphne said, "Miles says tonight's gonna be great."

Miles Bletchley had asked Daphne to the Ball. Blaise Zabini had asked Pansy a week before and was a bit clingy. They spent a lot of time together. And lastly, Marcus Flint had surprisingly asked Millicent right after it was announced. The older boy asking her out had Millicent's confidence skyrocketing.

"Well, it's about time for us to go down and meet the guys in the common room." Tracey said a little bit later. They all got last-minutes things ready like the checking of hair and makeup in small mirrors and making sure their dresses weren't dirty.

They walked down the staircase into the common room one by one. They each stepped onto the landing and then walked over to their dates. Each guy dropped his jaw at the sight of their girls, and took her arm willingly and kissed her on the cheek. Draco smiled and Christi when she came down and gave her a quick kiss on the lips, too.

"You look beautiful, darling." he told her. Christi surveyed him. He wore classy black dress robes and his hair was slicked back sophisticatedly.

"You do, too." she smiled, "Very handsome."

"Well, let's get going then. It's starting soon." he suggested, and they all left the common room by couples to go down to the Ball.

XXX

"Caprice, I don't think I've told you how magnificent you look." George told her as they walked over to the other champions and their dates.

Caprice smiled, "You have, quite a few times. Thank you, again. And you look quite charming yourself. You clean up good."

He chuckled, "I thought I would put a lot of effort into this."

"I appreciate it, George."

He smiled, "Well I wouldn't have asked you and then been all sloppy about my appearance, now would I?"

She shrugged, "No, you aren't the type I guess."

He smiled at her, "I think you're the most beautiful girl here."

Caprice blushed, "Thanks." she said lowly, and they stopped in front of McGonagall. Fleur was with Roger Davies and Viktor's date had yet to get there. Harry and his date weren't even there yet.

"Ahh, Miss Venizelos." McGonagall greeted the champion, "Here you are. Come now, get in line with the others. Have you seen Mr. Potter?"

Caprice shook her head and got in line. McGonagall left and they went out of formation a minutes later so they could talk to each other.

"So, Viktor, who's your date?" George asked conversationally.

"You will see." he said, "She is beautiful, I will say that."

"What school does she go to?" Caprice asked.

"Hogwarts." he said. He looked at the stairway and sighed, "There she is."

They all turned to see Hermione Granger walking down. Her hair was less frizzy and pinned up nicely. She wore beautiful frilly robes. She looked stunning, simply stunning.

"Whoa." George muttered, "Granger got Krum? How?"

Caprice smiled at Hermione as she came up and joined Viktor. Harry and Parvati Patil came over a minute later, and then the doors opened.

"You remember the dance steps?" Caprice asked, facing George. He nodded and took her waist as all the others did. They got into position and then the music started. They glided along the dance floor gracefully. They spun and twirled and did the dance beautifully. As all the other couples joined in, George messed up a bit more but Caprice smiled at him adorably, and they laughed it off.

After the song ended, they sat down quickly just to catch their breath. George went to get Caprice and himself a drink and met Fred in the line.

"Hello, mate." George greeted his brother.

"Hey, George." Fred said, not looking at his twin.

"Angelina looks pretty."

Fred smiled and nodded, "Thanks. So does Caprice." he paused and then said, "How'd that feel?"

"How did what feel?"

"You know. Dancing with a champion. Dancing with Caprice. Being the center of attention, all that."

"Well I doubt everyone in the room was looking at me… I wasn't the center of attention."

"You were with one of them though."

George smiled half-heartedly at his brother, "It was nice, Fred. You know… She still wants you. She loves you, you know."

"And I love her to… God, I was so dumb to lose her."

George sighed, not knowing what to do about his brother's sadness, "She really misses you."

"I miss her too… Brother," he looked at George with a hint of mischief in his eyes, "You don't suppose you could… Help me out, could you?"

"What about Angelina?"

"Well, Angelina has been sort of prodding for me to get back with Caprice. Angelina and I were never really together anyways. Not like a couple."

George nodded, "I'll see what I can do." He grabbed two glasses and brought them back to Caprice. She downed it in one drink, and smiled at him.

"What were you and Fred talking about?" she asked.

George shrugged, "Nothing important. Wanna dance again?"

She nodded, "Of course."

XXX

After a few songs of restless dancing, they sat down again at a table with their friends. Both Fred and George had notice a few boys fawning over Caprice several times. They had called her beautiful and practically drooled over her. Quite a few boys had done that, actually. It was getting on Fred's nerves. However, George had only smiled at it.

"Seems I'm not the only one who thinks your dashing."

She had been slightly uneasy about it, but no one pointed it out. However, everyone had noticed a bit. They all had ignored it though, since she seemed to be doing that.

"Angelina," George said, "Care for a dance?"

Fred, Angelina, George and Caprice were the only ones left at the table when he said this. All the others were dancing. Angelina knew what George was trying to do, so she nodded, "Of course, George." she smiled. George led her to the dance floor but looked back at Fred and Caprice with a meaningful look.

Fred was looking at Caprice, who was inspecting her long, manicured nails.

"Caprice." he said. She looked up and stared at him. "Caprice, can I talk to you?"

She shrugged and said, "Sure."

"Can we talk outside, preferably?"

Caprice nodded and stood up. She wrapped her shawl tighter around her shoulders and followed him outside. "What do you want to talk about?"

"Caprice, I'm do sorry."

He heart sped up and her eyes widened, "What?"

"For how I acted. I was jealous and terrible and a monster. I shouldn't have called you those names. I regret it so much, Caprice, I'm so sorry."

She sighed and sat down on the ledge, "I forgive you, if you forgive me as well. We both said some things that day, and I regret what I said."

"I forgive you." he said, and kissed her cheek. He sat next to her, quite close. She turned her face to look at him. Her eyes were filled with so many emotions-happiness ad sadness, and the lingering of longing and he didn't know why it was there.

"Could we possibly…" she said slowly, "Go back… You know-"

She was cut off by his lips on hers. He kissed her passionately and slowly. It was romantic and loving and all of that. It was filled with a desire and a sort of… hurriedness, as if he was making up for the times he had missed kissing her the past few weeks. She kissed back just as yearningly.

The kiss was cut short by Snape. He was standing a few feet away with Igor Karkaroff, Durmstrang's headmaster, glaring at them. "Weasley, Venizelos!" he snapped, "Get back inside! And fifty points from Gryffindor!"

They went back inside after a short glaring match. They danced slowly for a while before going to sit with their friends, who were promptly informed of their makeup. George and Lee made a few crude jokes about makeup sex, and then it felt like everything was pretty much back to normal.