I woke up with the sun and rolled out of the small cot set up in Hugo's room. They originally planned for me to stay in Rose's room but I outright refused it. Ever since I came home she has been acting strange towards me and with everything else going on I thought it was best to avoid yet another family confrontation. I slinked down the stairs quietly, hoping to make a quick cup of coffee before anyone else was awake. Today was the fitting and I had to make sure everything went smoothly.
"Good morning lily flower!" a cheerful voice said from behind me.
"Ahhhh!" I screamed and tripped over the last step before being steadied by my Aunt Hermione.
"Sorry to frighten you dear, you know I have always been an early riser," she says as she begins to bustle around the kitchen.
"It's no problem Aunty. I hope it's no trouble having your family come with me to my fitting."
"Pish posh darling, you are my family. We are happy to help. Besides, you have to have your family there, its protocol for the tournament official photos and what have you. Not to mention it will be easier wrangling one angry man as opposed to three."
I sighed heavily thinking of my fathers and brothers who I still had yet to speak to. "That's true. I am slightly concerned with Uncle Ron being around the Malfoy's though."
She smiled and winked at me setting a cup of Joe in front of my frowning face. "Don't worry about that. We had a nice long chat and he has promised to be on his best behavior."
"I don't recall any such conversation," my Uncle replied with mirth as he walked into the kitchen.
I laughed out loud as he tried to kiss his wife and she batted him away annoyed, "Don't joke about this Ron, it is serious!"
He laughed again before kissing my forehead and sitting next to me with a plate of eggs and hashers, "Okay, okay, I'll be a good boy."
"You better," she pointed at him severely causing me to shrink away into the living room to sip my coffee away from their bickering.
We were going to meet Frank there as well as the Malfoy's. Lots of designers had vied for the position to style each pair of champions and today we got to pick through a bevy of different styles and designs as well as our families. I was excited, but also very nervous. Malfoy and I had established a real friendship and camaraderie that I was afraid wouldn't hold up in front of the real world. It was one thing being close in private but to be close in public was a hippogriff of another color. As I thought this over some more, I could hear someone lightly padding into the room.
"Good morning Lily."
"Good morning Rose." I said stiffly.
We sat there looking at each other for a moment waiting for someone to say something.
"I was really hurt you decided not to stay in my room," she says looking at me with a huffy expression.
I roll my eyes and scoff, "Rose you have barely spoken to me since I got home. You have been absolutely miserable to live with and damn near hostile."
I look at her waiting for a response and hopefully an explanation of these random mood swings.
"I know, I know and I'm sorry. I am just going to say that uncomfortable thing that everyone knows but no one wants to say…I fancy Frank," Rose said looking relieved to have finally gotten it off her chest.
I stare at her flabbergasted unsure if I heard her correctly, "Frank Longbottom? As in my Frank?"
She looks at me impatiently, "Don't sound so bloody shocked! He has been my best friend forever and then you come along and steal him away. He used to be my Frank, but you bat those big green eyes at 'em and the next thing I know he's a goner."
As I stood there staring at her with my mouth hanging open, I was sure the sound ringing in my ears was the sound of my heart breaking, "Why didn't you say anything before?"
She plopped down heavily on the old battered chair, "What was I supposed to say? He has fancied you for years; he told me back in fourth year, but I knew long before that. He always looked at you like you were some perfect porcelain doll. How was I supposed to compete with that?"
"It's not a competition Rose. I am your cousin and he is your best friend. This isn't about some tug of war. It's about honesty and bravery. And you should have said something."
"For what? What good would that have done? Even if you didn't start dating him, he would have still wanted you and I would have been left still wanting him. Even if I told him, he isn't interested in me. He only likes girls like you!"
"Girls like me? What is that supposed to mean?"
"You know what it means; doll faces, big knockers, like a simpering princess waiting for some big strong man to come and save her."
"Is that how you see me Rose?" I asked hurt dripping from every word.
She paused looking at me as though I was the one telling her I was in love with her boyfriend. "You just don't understand Lily. Girls like you always have it easier. And the worst part is you don't even want it. You don't even want him… I love you enough to hope you never have to know what this feels like."
She walked away then leaving me so hurt and confused. She had been right before when she called me self centered. Rose was like a sister to me. How had I not noticed how she felt all this time? The guilt had pooled in my stomach like week old milk and I felt sick with the weight of all the decisions I had to make going forward.
"Wazz wrng wit eeryoe?" Hugo said as he sat on the couch across from me with a plate of pancakes piled high.
"Ewww Hugh! Don't talk with your mouth open, your making me sick!" I said jealously eyeing his plate of pancakes.
He swallowed obnoxiously loud, "What is wrong with you? And Rose for that matter? She just yelled at me for waking up late."
"Did you know she fancied Frank?" I asked looking down at the last dregs of coffee in my mug.
"Of course; its right obvious isn't it? You'd be a fool to not know she is crazy about 'em. Has been for as long as I can remember."
"Well then I guess that makes me the fool here. I had no idea! Why didn't anyone tell me?" I asked feeling left out.
He shrugged heavily while stuffing down more pancakes, "We thought you knew. Besides he doesn't see her that way, so there would be no use telling him just to get shot down."
I stood up shaking my head as he chugged down a glass of pumpkin juice, "And you all call yourselves Gryffindor's."
He shrugged his shoulders again and continued to chug down the rest of his juice.
As quickly as I could I grabbed his plate of food and ran to the kitchen stuffing pancakes in my mouth so quickly I almost choked.
"Hey! Those were mine Lily!" He said angrily coming after me.
"Sobry 'ugo! Dobt hab time ta eat. Hab ta git drebbed!"
He stopped shaking his head angrily, "Damn girls are going to kill me!"
"I love this dress. It's beautiful…but it's not the one," I said as I spun around in another frothy, girly concoction.
The stylist rolled her brown eyes behind her thick black glasses looking exasperated. This was the fifth dress I had tried but it just wasn't what I was looking for. The boys had picked out their looks within in twenty minutes of walking into the boutique. Rose had chosen a purple cupcake wedding looking dress about twenty minutes ago and Aunt Hermione had stuck to wearing dress robes.
"How about I call your boyfriend in here and we can get his opinion," she said looking fed up with it all.
"Fine," I sighed heavily.
Two minutes later Frank popped his head in, "You look smashing Lillian, but let's try something in gold to match with me."
He popped his head back out as the stylist stormed out angrily to look for something in gold. I did a spin in the mirror and fluffed up my bun in the process. Scorpius still hadn't shown up and I was starting to worry that I wouldn't see him. I missed him so much more than I thought I would and often found myself wishing he was here to ease all this awkward tension. Now that Rose had confessed her feelings to me, I couldn't believe I hadn't noticed before. And what's even worse is that Frank is completely oblivious to it all. Every time I stepped out in a new dress Frank would look at me like I was a star that had fallen from heaven and Rose would look at him, looking at me, with a look like she had swallowed goblin piss. All around it was greatly uncomfortable.
She hustled in with a gold dress that was one of the most gorgeous things I have ever seen. It was a Zuhair Murad creation and fit lovely. The dress was gold with a bustier like top that fit tightly down to the mid thigh. After that the dress spread out and was shear with gold swirls. The gold straps laid flat against my skin and sat my boobs up nice and high while it dipped down right above my bum in the back. The dress almost looked like metal but felt like silk. I loved it.
zuhair-murad-spring-gold-dress/
I walked out of the dressing room and stopped abruptly staring at the person who had just stepped in.
"Lily?"
"Scorpius?"
My heart stuttered in my chest and my stomach erupted in butterflies as I ran to him. He swept me into his arms and swung me around in a circle as I wrapped my arms around his neck and breathed in his scent. He set me down and for that moment I forgot anyone else was in the room.
"Why are you both smiling so big?" I looked over to see a mini blue eyed Scorpius smiling at me.
"Ares!" I turned to hug him then looked him over. He had grown a lot taller since the last time I saw him. So much so that he looked much more like the eleven year old he is as opposed to the nine year old he looked before.
"You look really great Lily," Ares said blushing and looking almost dazed.
"No, she looks beautiful," Scorpius said kissing my hand and smirking at me.
Ares ran off to find a bathroom and I rolled my eyes and tried not to blush, "There you go with that flattery thing again."
He smirked at me looking so devilishly handsome, "Pretty girls deserve flattery peach."
I pushed his shoulder lightly and flicked his fringe out of his eyes, "I am much more than a pretty face ice man."
"Hello Scorpius!" My Aunt Hermione exclaimed as she came forward and put her hands on my shoulders.
"Hello , how are you?" He said in his most gentlemanly way.
"I am well, just waiting on our little Lily here to choose something so we can be on our way already."
"Oh, I am sorry If I held you all up," he exclaimed not sounding sorry in the least.
"Not a problem. Did your date happen to be with you for the fitting?" My aunt asked sounding more waspish than usual.
Scorpius suddenly looked very nervous as he began to shift from foot to foot and ruffle his hair, "Ahhh no, she wasn't feeling well so we thought we would go separately."
I looked at him and felt a twist in my stomach at his strange behavior, "oh, I didn't realize you were taking someone."
He looked around nervously avoiding my eyes, "Yeah well I didn't really want to, but it's actually a requirement."
"Oh…Right. That makes sense I guess." I said snootily.
He grabbed my hand and held it in his own, "I'm really glad I got to see you though. No one there will be prettier than you."
"Thank you I-"
"Hello Malfoy." Frank said grabbing my wrist and holding much too tightly.
"Longbottom." Malfoy said his words pregnant with disdain.
"You seem quite taken with my girlfriend Malfoy. Do I need to remind you who she is with?"
Scorpius' usually handsome smirk looked sinister as he replied, "Not at all Longbottom, but I might need reminding about that letter you sent her after that article in the Oracle came out. What was it you said to her again? Something about her being an embarrassment, wasn't it?"
"You told him about my letter?!" Frank said looking angrily at me and squeezing my wrist a little tighter.
Scorpius sneered at him and kissed my hand once more, "It was lovely to see you peach. I think its time I take my leave before this pissing contest turns into some delusional conquest for your heart."
I smiled softly and touched my fingertips to his cheek making him blush softly across his pale face, "It was lovely to see you as well Scorpius. Don't forget to save me a dance at the Yule Ball."
"Never," He winked and sauntered over to his dressing room to the left.
"What the bloody hell was that about?" Frank said as he yanked me close to him and looked crazily into my eyes.
"Frank Longbottom! You are being unnecessarily aggressive. Let go of her. You can step into the dressing room if you need to talk in private," my Aunt Hermione said looking pointedly at his hand encased around my wrist.
He looked ashamed for a moment as he dropped my wrist, "I am so sorry . Please excuse us for a moment."
He grabbed my hand and we quickly walked back into my dressing room where Frank shut the door. As we walked past I saw the concerned face of Rose and the angry faces of Hugo and Uncle Ron.
"What were you doing Lillian?" Frank said fuming.
I sat down on one of the chaises in the room, "I was talking Frank. What did it look like I was doing?"
"Don't get sassy with me! Why would you tell him about my letter?"
"Because he is my friend and I needed someone to talk to. You made it very clear in your letter that I wouldn't be talking to you about it."
"Even if it wasn't to me; why him? Why? You could have sent a letter to the twins, to Hugo, to Rose."
"No I could not have sent a letter to Rose. You ruined that for me. And I talked to Scorpius because that is who I wanted to talk to. Not because I didn't have any other choice."
"How did I ruin that?" He asked looking truly confused.
"Never mind Frank. The point is Scorpius is my friend. That's all there is to it.
"Well you can't be friends with him anymore. I forbid you."
"You forbid me?"
"Yes."
"You FORBID me?"
"YES! I FORBID YOU!"
He stood over me gritting his teeth and I just couldn't take it anymore as I walked towards the other end of the room I finally snapped, "I'm done! I can't do this anymore. I am not your Barbie doll to be positioned as you so please! This doesn't feel good anymore and I would rather we just go back to being friends."
He looked at me with hysteria in his eyes and began shouting loudly, "No! No! You can't leave me for that death eater trash! How dare you do this to me! I love you! I have loved you for years! How could you break up with me over him?"
As he charged towards me shouting, I backed into the wall and screamed afraid of the angry look in his eyes. Just then Hugo, my Uncle Ron, and Scorpius came charging in and dragged Frank away. He spit and shouted and fought so much my uncle had to stun him so they could levitate him out. I sat on the ground crying not understanding how it could all fall apart so quickly. I looked up as the stylist came shuffling back into the room with a new rack and handed me a tissue.
"Ok, while I hate to do this again, you really can't wear that dress. Everyone has seen it and after that fiasco it is bound to be wracked with bad magical energy." She said as she pulled out various other colors.
I blew my nose loudly and took off the beautiful dress. As I stood in my underwear I looked over all the dresses she had laid out. They were all brightly colored and fluffy. But I didn't want bright and fluffy. I was tired of being the pretty girl. I was tired of being the cute girl. It was time for something different.
"Do you have anything in black?"