Fell in Love Without You
Chapter 10: The Dance
"Are you kidding me?" Roe exclaimed when I explained to her what happened. We were sitting on my bed eating Bertie Bots Beans. "That bitch! I mean, I knew she was annoying but secretly a bitch?" She pulled a face and I laughed.
"Thank god someone else gets it. Everyone else seems to love her!" I exclaimed, chucking a few strawberry beans in my mouth.
"Yeah I've noticed that..." She nodded. "It's like she knows Fred likes you and wants to keep you two apart" she mused.
I rolled my eyes "Fred doesn't like me" I suppressed the sigh that wanted to follow that sentence. Fred didn't like me. It was a fact.
"Well after tonight he will" She grinned and jumped up. I frowned.
"Where are we going?" I asked as she pulled me from my bed.
"To enlist the help of the two most vain girls we know" She dragged me down the steps until we stopped at her dorm. I raised an eyebrow and followed her inside. "Ginny! Riley! Since you girls can't come tonight... how about you help our dearest sister out and make her so drop dead gorgeous all the boys will be fighting over a dance with her"
Ginny and Riley looked up in interest. Unfortunately with McGonagall's age limit, my youngest sister and the youngest Weasley (Both 4th years) were left out. They were crushed.
"By 'boys' do you mean my brother?" Ginny smiled, standing up and looking me up and down.
"Of course" Roe nodded before I could protest and lie and say I didn't like Fred. Riley stood up grinning.
"Are you wearing the Red Dress you bought in Romania?" She asked.
"Well yeah it's the only – "
"You take hair, I'll take makeup?" She ignored me and looked at Ginny. I glanced at Roe.
"Why am I suddenly afraid of my sister?" I glanced at Roe. She just smiled.
"Relax Avery. You're in safe hands"
I raised an eyebow. With the way Ginny was coming toward me with that curling wand, I wasn't so sure.
2 hours later (Yes, I'm dead serious, two hours later) I was standing in front of a tall, elvish looking girl in a stunning, strapless red and white dress that clung to her slim frame until her thighs where it fanned out in what the muggles called a mermaid style dress. The dress was gathered here by white stitching of vines and leaves that entwined themselves around her body and under her bust.
Her skin was clear, her makeup lightly done and her hair was pulled into an elegant upstyle that looked way to complicated to have not been done without magic.
She didn't look anything like me and I couldn't believe when I moved she did too.
"Wow A.V, you scrub up well" Roe stared at me in the mirror. I turned to look at my sister and friend.
"Is there some sort of spell on me that means I have to be home before midnight or I'll turn into my plain and boring self again?" I joked, only semi serious.
"Nope. This is all you... you just needed a little bit of a touch up" Riley grinned. "I mean, come on, you're my big sister, it would be impossible for you to be ugly..."
"You just needed tiding up" Ginny finished.
"Well thank you!" I exclaimed, throwing my arms around them.
"To be honest, I did think because my brother is totally in love with you, he just doesn't see it yet" Ginny sighed. "Because he's a Weasley Boy, and all the Weasley boys are blind to the girls they love... Bill was for Fleur, Charlie was for his girlfriend, George is in love with Ange but won't say anything and don't even get me started on Ronald"
We all laughed thinking about it.
"Fred sees you as his best friend because that's what you've been for so long... you don't understand how crazy he went without you over summer" Ginny rolled her eyes. "You'd think he lost his girlfriend or something"
Riley nodded in agreement. "We don't like Annabelle either, so go knock them dead!" She gave me a light shove toward the door.
I laughed. "I think you girls are forgetting that I don't like Fred like that" I smiled. They both raised their eyebrows, looked at each other and laughed.
"Yeah good one A.V... tell us something true next time" They shook their heads and turned away. I bit my lip and wondered if I'd been really obvious at all.
I turned to find Roe in a stunning purple dress and Hermione in black. They both looked amazing.
"Ready to meet our dates?" I asked with a smile. Hermione was going with Ron and Roe was going with Harry.
Roe wrinkled her eyebrows. "You have a date"
I just smiled. I'd forgotten I hadn't told anyone about Roger Davies yet. Roe's eyes widened and she grabbed my arm. "LET'S GO!" She exclaimed, pulling us down the stairs, out of the common room and onto the grand staircase in record time.
"ROSALIE! Settle!" I finally managed to slow her down. I composed myself and smiled. "You'll see soon enough"
I turned the corner and descended the staircase leading into the Entrance Hall. At first no one looked. Then someone whispered someone to someone else and suddenly all eyes were on me. I squared my shoulders and smiled.
I caught Fred's eye from across the room, standing with Annabelle, Alicia and Angelina. I think his mouth actually dropped open. He looked so dashing in his dress robes – more so than usual. He took a few quick steps and by the time I was at the bottom of the stairs he was there with his hand out, waiting to help me down the last few stairs.
"Avery, you look... incredible" He stammered as I took his hand.
"Thanks" I smiled. "You scrub up well... where's Annabelle?" I asked nicely.
"Over with Angelina and Alicia" He waved his hand. "Shall we?" He started leading me over to them.
"Actually..." I stopped him and nodded to the tall, dark and handsome standing next to him. Fred followed my gaze and raised an eyebrow.
"Davies... good game yesterday, too bad you weren't up to scratch" He smirked. Roger glanced at me and took my hand from his.
"Yes. Well, better luck next time hey?" Roger smiled and kissed my hand. "Avery you look stunning tonight" He smiled at me.
Out of the corner of my eye I saw Fred's eyes widen and then he scowled. "The others are over here" He grumbled before he stomped away. I bit my lip and followed, holding onto Roger's arm.
"Someone's jealous" Roger murmured and I laughed.
"Oh my goodness Avery you look super gorgeous!" Annabelle sounded surprised. She was wearing a tight fitting, aqua dress with a plunging neck-line that really bought out her eyes and... erm... assets. Her hair was dead straight and trailed down her back. She looked effortlessly beautiful and I could feel my confidence taking hits by just standing near her.
"You look gorgeous as well" I smiled in reply.
"Roger Davies hey?" Alicia smiled at me. I blushed.
"Well it looks good for the Head Girl and Boy to go together and neither of us had dates anyway" I shrugged. Roger agreed with me.
Angelina nudged me. "Yeah, looks good and gets you in" she giggled and I blushed.
"Shh Angie" I hushed her. I glanced back at Roger who was talking to Annabelle about something. Fred was staring at me but I ignored it. "Ready to make the announcement and then head to the Grotto?" I asked Roger.
"Sure am" Roger smiled at me. I stepped up to the top of the stairs again with Roger. Down below us, the students from years 5 to 7 all watched us. There was a lot of them.
"As some of you may have speculated, tonights dance will not be held in the Great Hall" I started my announcement. Roger smiled and took over.
"Instead, we got given permission to hold it in The Forbidden Forest" His booming voice echoed easier over the now whispering students. A few cheers broke out and he hushed them.
"Carriages will be available from just outside. So have a happy Halloween everyone!" I yelled and dismissed them. Everyone cheered and the talking and chattering broke out almost immediately.
"This is going to be a good night right?" I asked Roger as we linked arms and went to the carriages.
"Of course it is" He nodded. "You planned it, and no one plans things better than Avery Vanderbilt" He chuckled and held the door open for me.
The carriage took us down a winding path lit by jack-o-lanterns and candles. Every so often a Hogwarts ghost would jump out in front of random carriages. The delighted screams of people could be heard echoing around the thick trees.
The grotto was decorated in a similar fashion except the candles glowed different colours. I had to give professor Flitwick credit for all the decorating, he'd really out done himself this year.
"Avery this is amazing!" Angelina squealed when she found me and Roger in the crowd of students. She was clutching George's arm tightly I noticed and reminded myself to ask her about it later.
The band on the other side of the grotto struck up a lively tune and I smiled as people started dancing.
Can I have this dance?" Roger bowed low and held his hand out to me. I goggled and took his hand, letting him lead me to the floor.
"Eva is positively spewing right now" I murmured, suppressing a laugh at the sight of Rogers ex-girlfriend being jealous of me.
"Good. She should be" Roger nodded and twirled me around. "Wanna know who else is looking pretty pissed as well?" he grinned.
I raised my eyebrow. "Who?" I clutched his arms as he dipped me. I laughed like a little girl being swung around by her arms.
"Fred" Roger grinned as he pulled me back up. "You should see his face. He's watching us..." he nodded to behind me. Then he pushed me out so I could spin. I got a glimpse of Fred's stony expression and frowned.
"What's wrong with him?" I asked in confusion as Roger pulled me back.
"I'd say jealousy" Roger laughed. "Not only do you look amazing tonight, but your here with me and not him" He winked and I smiled.
"He was the one who asked Annabelle" I scoffed "So he can stay pissed" I shrugged and laughed again as Roger dipped me.
I spent the best part of the night on the dance floor, dancing with everyone from Roger to my sisters. I was having so much fun it's hard to see anything that could have ruined it.
Except one thing.
"Where's Roge?" Freds voice shocked me when it came from behind me. I turned and saw him sitting on a log.
"Getting us some drinks...where's Annabelle?" I wrinkled my eyebrows.
"Somewhere... She's a little too..."
"Overbearing?" I suggested. He smiled.
"Something like that" he nodded. "I can't believe you came with Roger" The smile disappeared.
"What's wrong with that?" I frowned at him. "Rogers my friend, big deal" I shrugged.
"He's the enemy! Not to mention he's a total wanker" He shot at me. I stared at him, totally stunned by how angry he sounded.
"So, what, I was meant to come here tonight with a Gryffindor or alone?" I folded my arms across myself.
"At least I would have gotten to see you if you'd come by yourself" he mumbled. "Roger seems to have your full attention"
"Oh I'm sorry you've been sulking all night because I actually had a date for once" I snapped. He was being so completely unreasonable about this! "Next time I'll make sure I come alone so you can choose when you dance with me or not" I threw my hands in the air. I was so mad at him, how dare he say I couldn't go with Roger? I was entitled to go with whomever I wanted.
"Don't bother. You just come with your precious 'friend' Roger because apparently you like him better anyway" he shook his head and looked away from me.
"You're jealous I came with Roger" I realized. His eyes widened.
"I am not" he scowled.
"Then why are you being such an asshole?" I asked. "Look if you didn't want me to go with Roger then you should have asked me" I shrugged.
"I was going to! But you walked away" he stated with a shrug. My eyes widened.
"Excuse me? You could have come after me!" I pointed at him in disbelief.
"You went up the girls staircase" he accused me in defeat.
"Never stopped you before" I exclaimed. "You're Fred Weasley remember? Born to break the rules...You could have come after me but you didn't. You asked Annabelle instead" He opened his mouth to say something but I held up my hand to stop him "You asked Annabelle to come here tonight, so you have no right telling me who I can and can't go to a dance with since it's quite obvious you didn't want to go with me anyway"
Fred stared at me a moment before balling his hands into fists. "Actually, you're right. I never wanted to go with you in the first place. I was only going to ask you because I felt sorry for you because no one else had asked you" he said coolly and put his hands in his pockets.
His words stung like a slap in the face. I felt tears well up almost immediately.
"Fuck you Fred" I gasped before I turned around and all but ran from the dance. I threw myself into the nearest carriage and let the tears fall down my face.
He felt sorry for me? He was acting like a total tool and then just decides to tell me that he felt sorry for me.
I heard the door to the carriage open and I looked up in alarm.
"It's just me" Roger smiled. He sat down next to me and put his arms around me. "You ok?"
"No. Fred's an asshole and I have no idea why" I sniffed into his collar. I relayed the argument we'd had, fresh tears spilling over my eyes at the end.
"Shh, it's ok" Roger calmed me. "You know, I think he's jealous because he likes you"
"But he's mad at me?" I frowned.
"He's a guy. It's what we do when a friend we've had for years suddenly turns into something more... we deny it and then we get frustrated by it because we start asking ourselves why it wasn't there before, where did it come from, how did it happen" Roger rubbed the back of his head. "It... well it sucks"
"But nothing's changed... I went away to Romania over the summer and then – "
"There's a muggle saying A.V... absence makes the heart grow fonder. You went away over the summer. That's what changed" He sighed and let out a hollow laugh. "Although, absence can also make you find someone else and leave... but that's a whole other story"
"Oh Roger, are you ok?" I sat up and looked at him. He was just staring out of the window.
"Yeah. It was hard to see her here tonight... happy and not even worrying about me that's all" He shrugged. I wrapped my arms around his shoulders and rested my head against his shoulder.
"We're doing really well between us aren't we?" I chuckled.
"Yeah... yeah we are... Are we bailing?" He asked.
"Well I can't exactly go back out there with mascara all down my face and puffy eyes" I pulled a face, remembering how awful I looked.
"You'd still be the best looking girl there" He smiled as he knocked on the window. I blushed.
"Thanks Roge" I replied as the carriage started to drive away.
I wondered vaguely how I managed to get such an awesome friend.
Plea's Note:
Here it is, two in one day :) thanks for reading and I hope you enjoy
xo
Plea