On the morning of the Yule ball, Anna woke up giddy. She spent most of the day in front of the mirror, artfully arranging and curling her hair and eyelashes around her wand, dressing and putting on make-up. Meanwhile, Molly Weasley made an early start on the homework they got for the holidays and seemed to be wholly immersed in it, and only from time to time shot Anna a disapproving look.
Anna knew what a splendid sight she presented as she walked downstairs at eight o'clock in the evening, wearing dress robes of turquoise silk richly embroidered with gold, and matching gold high-heeled shoes. Her wavy hair was carefully lifted and twisted, and light makeup accentuated the youthful beauty of her face. She readily accepted the admiring glance of Lennox McKinnon, who offered her his arm in a most gallant fashion as she glided towards him.
"You look wonderful," he said, "shall we go?"
They made their way downstairs to the Great Hall, where hundreds of students were milling around, unusually colorful in their dress robes, waiting for the excitement to begin. The air was bubbling with conversation and laughter.
Not far away, Anna spotted her parents standing with Fleur and Bill Weasley, and gave a small wave at her mother's approving nod. She also noticed her brother Septimus talking to Lily Potter, who was clearly overwhelmed by her good luck of being taken to the ball.
"Open the dancing, won't you?" said Severus when Anna and Lennox approached him and Mrs. Snape.
"No, you must open the dancing, Daddy," Anna said brightly.
"I don't dance," Severus said stiffly.
"Of course you do, dear," Celena smiled, a mischievous gleam in her eye, "don't you remember how you astonished me with your dancing one Christmas Eve before we were married?"
To this, Severus had nothing to say, and they opened the dancing. Anna and Lennox followed. Soon, the dance floor began to fill. Viktor Krum offered his hand to Fleur, Bill danced with Remus Lupin's wife Dora, and Professor Collins sought the favor of Hestia Jones. Septimus danced rather awkwardly with Lily Potter, and Rose was doing a merry two-step right in the middle of the dance floor with a boy from her year Anna didn't know.
When the song ended, Anna spotted several of her Slytherin friends, including Lavinia and Gertrude, and with an ominous feeling she noticed they were grouped around Molly Weasley, who was very red in the face.
"Wait just a moment, Lennox, I'll be right back," she said, not taking her eyes off the group.
"I'll go get us some Butterbeers," he offered, and edged through the crowd in the direction of the buffet.
Sure enough, when Anna approached her friends, Molly has already been reduced to tears, which were flowing from under her thick eyeglasses.
"Where did you buy this rag, Weasley?" Lavinia grinned maliciously, "I didn't even know there are places that sell something this ugly."
"She must have stolen it from someone's broom cupboard, it looks like a cleaning robe more than anything else," scoffed Gertrude Nott. The other Slytherins around them guffawed sycophantically, and Molly Weasley, mortified, unable to say a word, looked extremely pitiful in her long-sleeved, high-collared and admittedly ridiculous-looking maroon dress robes.
"Stop it!" shouted Anna, breaking into the semicircle of Slytherins, "stop it!"
Lavinia and Gertrude turned to look at her, astonished. Molly hid her face in her hands and ran as fast as she could towards the girls' bathrooms.
"What's the matter with you, Anna?" snapped Lavinia, "We were just having some fun."
"It's not her fault she has no money and has to buy her clothes second-hand," said Anna, her chest heaving as though she'd just run a mile. "There is no shame in being poor!"
"Oh, it's not that she's poor," Lavinia dismissed off-handedly, "though her shabby shoes look, I must say, rather pitiful. But she's an insufferable nerd, and she can't even figure out that if she has red hair, she shouldn't wear maroon."
"Just leave her alone, will you?" Anna was even more furious, and felt tears stinging her eyes. She had, of course, seen Lavinia Malfoy tease and taunt people many a time during her school yeards, and she had always felt uncomfortable about it; but somehow, she must have forgotten just how cruel Lavinia could be.
"But of course, you share a dormitory with Weasley now, don't you, Anna?" Lavinia's eyes narrowed, "Made friends with her, have you?"
"No," said Anna calmly, "I just can't believe you would stoop that low, Vinny."
"And I can't believe you are getting so fussed up about a bit of recreation," retorted Lavinia.
"If that is your idea of recreation, it is evil!" Anna shot at her, turned dramatically on the spot, and stormed away.
… While Anna was discoursing with Lavinia, Ronan Caldwell nudged Lennox McKinnon slightly in the ribs.
"Psst," he called, "got a moment, Lennox?"
"Yeah, I'm just waiting for Anna," said McKinnon, "what's up, Ronan?"
"D'you want some firewhisky?" Ronan asked him in a low, conspiring voice, "I've got some in this flask here."
"You managed to smuggle some in?" Lennox looked impressed and lowered his voice too, "Way to go!"
"Yeah," Ronan nodded and winked, "nothing a clever Disguising Charm won't do! Here, have a swig…"
"I'm not sure about this," hesitated Lennox, "I'm Head Boy, you know…"
"Oh, ease up," Ronan nudged him in the ribs, "no one's looking."
Grinning, Lennox drank deeply from the flask. The rich, fiery taste of the drink burned his throat, and he felt his head swim.
"Now we can really get the party started," Ronan smirked into his glass as he watched Lennox walking away.
… James was startled to see Anna walking towards him with furious tears in her eyes, long before Lennox McKinnon could have drunk the love potion.
"What's up, Anna?" he asked. He dressed very handsomely for the ball, but he doubted she noticed that. He, on the other hand, knew perfectly well he had never seen anyone look so beautiful.
"James," said Ana, "I need to see Molly. She's in the girls' bathrooms, but she'll come out eventually, and when she does, could you please ask her to dance?"
James stared at her. Sure, Molly was his cousin and all that, but if he's seen dancing with her during the Yule ball, how is he ever going to live that down?
"You want me to dance with Molly," he repeated to be completely sure.
"Yes," said Anna, looking uncomfortable, "you see, she had – er – an unpleasant conversation with Lavinia, and I'm afraid she is rather upset right now," she explained, embarrassed.
"You mean, Lavinia Malfoy was bullying her," James stated angrily, "Honestly, Anna, I don't know how you could hang out with her for six years without seeing right through her! I'll go find Molly."
"But she's in the girl's bathrooms, James!" Anna called desperately after him as he walked away.
"Never mind that," said James, looking back at her across his shoulder, "and remind me to tell Lavinia Malfoy she's an evil harpy next time I see her."
Once James was out of sight, Anna turned to look for Lennox. She found him right where she left him, staring into space with a blank, vacant expression on his face.
"Hey, Lennox," said Anna breathlessly, preparing to continue enjoying his company, "I'm back."
Lennox gazed at her without really seeing her. "Sorry," he said, "but I must find Rose."
"Rose?" whispered Anna in bewilderment, staring at Lennox's back as he disappeared into the laughing, dancing, chattering crowed, in pursuit of the spot where Rose Weasley stood talking to Al Potter.
… Viktor Krum, meanwhile, led his wife to the table and left her there, breathless from dancing, with a promise to be right back with a couple of drinks for them both. As he walked towards the buffet, he stopped in his tracks, seeing a familiar face adorned by waves of dark hair with a few strands of gray.
"Excuse me," said Krum, "but don't ve know each other?"
The man looked at him indifferently. "Do we?" he asked in a bored, polite, well-bred voice.
"Yes – ve do! You vere educated at Durmstrang a few years below me, your name is Edvard Von Olsten and you vere very good at dueling."
"Mr. Krum, isn't it?" the man surveyed him with those handsome dark eyes he had inherited from Tom Riddle junior, "I know you, of course, as you are quite the celebrity. But I doubt we ever met in person up to this moment. My name is Eugene Collins, and I most certainly have not attended Durmstrang Institute."
… "I told you it would happen sooner or later," Professor Collins whispered urgently to Professor Snape, "someone was bound to recognize me eventually."
"Don't worry," replied Snape in a calm voice, "remember, time is the best Disillusionment Charm in the world."