Chapter 3
The months passed quickly for Claudia. She stuck her head down as usual and kept herself to herself. She could count the amount of people she spoke to, in the 3 months from when the ball was announced to now, early december, on one hand.
She'd spoken to Pansy, a girl from Hufflepuff who was asking where the potions class room was, Ernie McMillan when they'd been partnered in transfiguration and a fifth year Ravenclaw who she not so politely declined when he asked her to the ball (she was convinced he was dared to do it anyway).
That was it.
That didn't mean she was lonely at all. Infact she was far happier talking to few people and just observing the rest.
She'd long ago learnt that people don't tend to pay much attention to their surroundings and if you were quiet and discrete enough you could learn everything about a person just by watching. She probably knew more about the people in this school than they knew about themselves.
She, for example, she was the first to guess that the Patil twins were going to be in different houses. All she had to do was listen to them for 5 minutes on the train when she was searching for an empty carriage and she knew.
The thing about knowing how people think and reading them like books is once you know what to hide from you can remain hidden from people without even thinking about it. Pansy constantly asked her to 'come out of her shell' as she put it and to show her face more often but Claudia wasn't interested in all that. She liked having one person to confide in and have that be it. It was easier and safer than having more, unreliable friendships hanging around like flies.
So it was now early December and Claudia would of forgotten about the ball had it not been for the people she was observing on a daily basis, twittering on about it. Pansy was becoming more and more excited to and so every weekend available to them Claudia was being dragged around the Hogsmeade boutiques for dresses and shoes and makeup and this, that and the other.
Thats where she found herself on this particular December morning.
"What do you think of this one Claud." Pansy was saying while holding what must of been the hundredth dress to her chest. This one was a pastel pink and made from a silky material which was fitted around the bust, waste and down to mid thigh where a long slit ran all the way down to the floor. It had no sleeves and a high neckline and Claudia couldnt help thinking about how only someone Pansy's size could pull that dress off. She just nodded in reply though and refused to ruin Pansy's good mood with sour thoughts.
It had been the same every shop they went in. Pansy would pick up thousands of dresses and every single one, if worn by Claudia, would of made her look like a man in drag but Pansy looked like a beauty queen in every single one.
Pansy made her way to the changing rooms and a short while later a highpitched squeel was heard. Claudia was just about to rush over and see what the problem was (expecting Pansy to be being mugged or something) when the girl in question prounced out the changing rooms in the afformentioned dress beaming like an idiot.
"This is the one!" She squeeled, "This is the dress! I have to have it it's perfect." She twirled and beamed at the vision of her in the head to toe mirror in the shop.
Claudia hated her at that moment in time.
She looked perfect. Everything Claudia thought she would never be.
"Its lovely Pans you look amazing." She wasn't going to ruin her friends mood just because she'd never look that good in a dress. "Are we free to go now then?" She asked, praying the answer was yes so she could escape the suffocating sight of too small, too pretty dresses.
"What? Why would we leave?" Pansy asked, visibly confused.
"Well why would we stay? We've got your dress, we don't need anything else." Pansy just looked at her like she was an escapee from bedlam.
"Well what are you going to wear?"
"Well definitely nothing from here." She couldn't help it, the sarcastic comment just jumped from her tongue. "Sorry, I didn't mean it like that." She muttered to the really offended looking store clerk.
"What's wrong with the dresses in here?" Pansy asked, still completely stumped.
"There's nothing wrong with the dresses themselves it more the size range I have a problem with." Claudia admitted, her head hung low. Pansy considered it a moment before nodding and flouncing back in to the changing rooms to rid herself of the perfect dress.
When she emerged again they paid for the dress but when Claudia made to go to the Three Broomsticks to relax Pansy dragged her off in the other direction.
"Where are we going?" She asked as she was dragged away from the very welcoming sight of the warm pub.
"We still need to find you a dress." Was Pansy's only explanation before shoving Claudia into a little shop she hadn't noticed before that moment. "Take a look around on that side and i'll start over here." Pansy said, rather bluntly and they split up to take a look.
Claudia was lazily dismissing everything she saw. They were a lot more her taste than the other store and they all seemed as though 'normal' sized people would fit them but her heart just wasn't in it. She wanted to fit in to the dresses in the other store not these frumpy dresses.
She was thinking something along these lines when her eyes were caught by the item on the hanger under her hand.
She felt the delicate material between her fingers and marvelled at how soft and how like liquid it felt when she ran her hand over it. The colour was a deep aubergine purple that would look black in certain lights. She took the marvelous garment off the rack and held it up to admire it.
It was perfect for her. Without even consulting Pansy she went straight to the changing rooms at the back of the shop and tried it on.
Standing in the mirror looking at herself she was amazed at her own reflection. The dress wasn't a dress at all and was infact a jumpsuit but the legs were so flared and flowing you couldn' tell unless you were walking.
The neckline was a high scoop which only just lay below her collar bone and at the shoulders were small silver clasps in the shape of roses which were studded with tiny diamonds which glittered when she moved. The back scooped lower than the front falling just below her bra strap and showed off her delicately sloped shoulders. It was fitted around the waste and had a thick belt of the same purple material which accentuated her small waste and wide hips. All in all she felt the most beautiful she ever had and was knocked speachless by the feeling.
"Claud I couldnt see you in the shop and the clerk said you came in here. You alright? Have you found something?" Pansys voice floated through her haze and, still unable to talk properly she pulled back the curtain and stepped out of the dressing room.
Pansy's face was a picture. She looked like a mixture between amazed, smug, proud and jealous. Although what she was jealous of Claudia would never guess.
"You look... just wow..." Was all pansy could say. Claudia beamed at her and turned back to the full length mirror to stare at herself once more.
They left the shop 20 minutes later after Pansy decided how Claudia should wear her hair and buying some shoes and makeup that would match the beautiful jumpsuit.
For once Claudia didn't even care. She just let Pansy natter on about how she should wear a pale lipgloss and have smokey eyes and how only stillettos would benefit an outfit like that and how she would let her lend her most prized pair of Jimmy Choo's for the ball. Claudia didn't even hear it. She was just thinking how nice it would feel to be almost as pretty as everyone else for one night.