Author's Note: Thank you to everyone who had reviewed this story. Thank you thank you thank you! (I'm so excited that I can't even use proper grammar.) Okay, well that was a lie (at least for the rest of this note besides the "thank you" part) and... I'm not even being remotely funny. So... -pulls paper bag over head- ... here you are. LUCIUS SHALL BE COMING INTO THE STORY VERY SOON! Oh, and, thanks to riss313 for beta-ing my craptastic work and putting up with my horrible ideas... =] Enjoy! (Not after that warning, huh? Lol.)

Chapter Four: Gown Shopping

"No way," Bella said. "I'm not wearing that."

I heard Andromeda sigh exasperatedly. I could imagine her rolling her eyes, putting yet another ball gown on the "no" rack and challenging Bella's dark stare. Not many people dared to stare back at my sister when she threw her death glare around. But Andy wasn't afraid to give our older sister a challenge. I usually closed my mouth politely and looked away; Andy chose to fuel the fire.

I pulled back the curtain from my dressing room and looked at the rack of gowns Bella had shot down. There were five piled up so far; the newest one being a puffy white gown. I winced inwardly and made a face; even I wouldn't wear that to a ball – maybe my debutante ball (which was coming up soon—too soon), but not a regular ball.

I looked over at my sisters. They were on the opposite side of the dressing area. The room contained five private dressing rooms packaged into a larger dressing area, which had a mirror at each end and some chairs to sit in. Andy had asked for specific dresses when we first arrived, which the workers delivered into the dressing area.

I walked down to them. Bella scrunched her nose at a dress and Andy gave another sigh, mumbled something under her breath and added the new dress—a pastel blue dress—to the "no" rack.

Bella glanced up at me as I made my way to them. Then she looked back down at another dress, but her head snapped up to take another look at me. She let go of the dress in her hands and turned to face me.

"Merlin," she breathed, meeting me the rest of the way. She grabbed my hands and stepped back away from me, looking me up and down. "Cissy. This dress is gorgeous and you look fabulous in it!"

I looked down at the dress myself. It was a simple, strapless gold gown. It hugged my body in all the right places, but gave me the room I needed to walk and dance. To be truthful, I hadn't wanted to try it on, but Andy had forced me into it.

"Andy!" Bella shouted, looking over her shoulder. "Come here, love. You actually found a nice dress!"

"Thank you for the vote of confidence," Andy replied sarcastically as she walked over to us.

Bella let go of me and stepped out of the way so my other sister could view me. I began to grow uncomfortable under their eyes. Normally, I loved the attention, but I just didn't feel like playing that game anymore.

"Wow," Andy breathed as she, too, ran her eyes all over me. "You look amazing, Cissy. And, look – you have boobs!"

I felt my face flush and I defensively folded my arms over my chest. Of course I had a chest; I was sixteen, after all… a normal sixteen-year-old girl with all the "right parts". I was half angered that she hadn't noticed this before, but I was also somewhat flattered that she had noticed. Maybe she hadn't forgotten me completely.

Her eyes trailed down the dress once more and she frowned. She stepped closer to me and ran her fingers lightly across the material over my hip. "You're thin," she said, looking up at me.

I stepped back from her touch. "I've always been thin, Andromeda," I said icily. I hated when people commented on my weight or spoke negatively on my shape. She stared into my eyes as if she were trying to read my mind. But I looked away; my sister had stopped trying to know me a long time ago. While she might have noticed me, she no longer cared to ask me about the little things in life. I felt as though I couldn't open up to her anymore.

"Well, Cissy," Bella said as she grabbed a black dress from the rack. She walked over to me and took one last look at me. "I'd definitely shag you if I were a man." She smirked.

"Bella!" Andy and I shouted at the same time. Then Andy reached out to push our sister, knocking her off balance. Bella shot her a dark glare, but walked away from her instead of fighting back.

"Bitch," Bella spat as she walked into a dressing room. I was quite surprised that she hadn't punched Andy. The pair was so complicated sometimes.

"Piss off," Andy snapped. Bella pulled the curtain closed and then, moments later, they both dissolved into laughter. I stood back and watched them. Andy walked up to the curtain. "I'm kidding. I love you," she said through her laughter.

"Prove it," Bella said harshly, though she was still laughing. "Get in here and zip me up!"

Andy did as she was told. She slipped into my older sister's dressing room and then I heard her say: "Gross! You're not wearing any knickers!" Bella's dark laugh sounded seconds later. I stood outside for a few seconds, listening to them laugh together, before walking back to my dressing room.

In the end, we all got gowns that my father barely approved of. He liked my gown the best, as it was the most appropriate, even if it didn't have straps. Bella had matched it up with the dreaded elbow-length white silk gloves (because Daddy demanded it) and red high heels. I wasn't too keen on them, but they did look a lot better than the black high heels. I borrowed Andy's gold bangle bracelets and matching hoop earrings. She had curled my golden hair and piled it into some sort of 'do so that it looked down, but it looked up at the same time.

Bella, of course, had gotten the most risqué dress she could find. It was a very revealing black dress. The front cut was long and deep; the opening went all the way down to her belly button. Since it was open between her breasts as well, no bra was needed. (My father had been furious when he'd seen the dress and nearly set it on fire whilst screaming profanities.) The dress itself was long as well, draping all the way down to the floor. She had gotten the black high heels instead, but the dress covered them up. She'd also been forced to wear a pair of elbow-length gloves, but she'd gotten black ones instead of white. She accented her neckline with a long, sterling silver necklace Rodolphus had gotten for her for her birthday in June.

Andy's dress was quite stunning, too: pastel yellow with thin straps. The top portion of the dress, around her chest and midway down in middle, was tight and clung to her body. The rest of the dress flowed away from her. At first glance, it seemed like an appropriate dress… until one saw the front of the bottom. The very front part of the dress cut way up, halfway up her thighs, but the sides and the back hung to the ground. She had paired it with white, strapped heels and white elbow-length gloves as well. She wore a heart-shaped locket around her neck; it looked new to me, though I couldn't say for sure.

"Are we finally ready?" my father asked, checking the watch wrapped around his wrist; he huffed, began to pace, and pulled his jacket sleeve down over his wrist once.

We were waiting on Bella. I was usually the one to take a long time to get dressed for a ball, but I knew that tonight, my sister wanted to make an entrance. My father hated her dress probably more than anything in the world right now and she was purposely flaunting it in his face.

"Bellatrix Adella!" he shouted as he strode toward the stairs, which emptied out into the foyer.

I looked over at Andy, who was slouching against the wall, which wasn't very ladylike. Rodolphus seemed annoyed, but he waited patiently next to my sister. I was standing on the wall opposite of them.

"I don't see why she has to be so difficult," Andy murmured with a sigh. They had been arguing since yesterday morning when Bella had been vomiting. Andy had tried to comfort her, which hadn't ended well. Bella had avoided our middle sister the rest of the day, which apparently had upset Andy more than anyone realized. I only found out because I'd snuck out during the middle of the night (to pay respects to my mother since I knew I wouldn't be able to during the day) and I'd heard Andy crying in her room. Though, looking back, there could have been some other reason my sister had been crying.

"Damn that girl!" my father cursed as he turned around to face us. He stopped in front of Rodolphus and pointed his finger at him. "You should be taming her!"

I noticed the appalled look on Rodolphus' face and I walked up to my father. I placed my hand on his arm and he looked down at me.

"Daddy, calm down," I said evenly. I pushed down on his arm gently and he dropped it. He glanced at the ground, looking almost ashamed. "Bella—"

"Is right here."

We all turned to the stairs. There stood my sister, in her revealing gown. She looked smug and waltzed into the foyer. She walked up to her boyfriend and they gave each other a peck on the lips. Then she turned to our father.

"Ready, Father?" she asked. She linked arms with Rodolphus. "Oh, by the way, no drinking tonight. Don't forget." She winked and then walked to the front door with Rodolphus.

"Unbelievable," my father muttered as we followed them. "That dress… disgusting! She's going to make a fool of our family! I should have been more forceful—"

"Daddy," I said once again, descending the front porch steps. "It's okay. Bella has a mind of her own; everyone knows it. Just leave her be; she wants to get a reaction from you."

My father looked down at me as we walked along the pebble path. Andy was in front of us, walking carefully. We were going to Apparate to the ball. My father studied me and then nodded. "You're correct," he said with a curt nod. "And very observant." He smiled softly and I returned it.

When we reached the safe point to Disapparate, he held out his arm to me. (I wasn't old enough to Apparate yet; I would be taking my classes this year, however.) "Shall we?" he asked. I nodded and grabbed on tightly to his arm.

Author's Note: Okay. I decided to put in pictures of the dresses. xD These were the dresses that gave me inspiration (I know it's a pain but TAKE OUT THE SPACES!):

Bella's dress: http : / / i26 . tinypic . com / 2wck283 . jpg
Andy's dress: http : / / i29 . tinypic . com / 33w8aj4 . jpg
Cissy's dress (not really the one I was imaging, but it's the closest; and it's not so bronze...): http : / / i32 . tinypic . com / 344f9ma . jpg