Chapter 24

The Yule Ball - Part 1

KIARA

Despite the heavy load of homework that we fourth-years had been given for the holidays, I was in no mood to work when term ended, and spent the week leading up to Christmas enjoying myself as fully as possible along with everyone else. Lion-Heart Tower was hardly less crowded then than during term-time; it seemed to have shrunk slightly, too, as its inhabitants were so much rowdier than usual. Tanya and Geri had had a great success with their Further Funny Fingers, and for the first couple of days of the holidays, people kept sprouting more fingers which fell off their hands after five seconds and fell to crumbs on the floor. Before long, however, all we Lion-Hearts had learnt to treat food anybody else offered us with extreme caution, in case it had a Further Funny Finger concealed in the centre, and Geri confided to me that she and Tanya were working on developing something else. I then made a mental note to never accept so much as a crisp from Tanya and Geri, which is a promise I have kept to this day, and I do not intend to break that vow anytime soon.

Anyhoo, seeing as it was December at this point, snow was of course falling thickly upon the castle and its grounds. The pale blue Beauxbatons carriage looked like a large, chilly, frosted pumpkin next to the iced gingerbread house that was Mina's cabin, while the Uagadou submarine's portholes were glazed with ice, the top completely covered in frost, that it looked like a block of ice (because it's silver). The house-elves down in the kitchen were outdoing themselves with a series of rich, warming stews and savoury puddings, and only Ferdinand Desjardin seemed to be able to find anything to complain about.

"It is too 'eavy, all zis Dragon Mor' food," we heard him saying grumpily as we left the Great Hall behind him one evening (Chrissie skulking behind me, keen not to be seen by Ferdinand). "I will not fit into my dress robes."

"Oooh, there's a tragedy," said Chris snappily, as Ferdinand went out into the Entrance Hall. "He really thinks a lot of himself, that one, doesn't he?"

"Jealous much, are we, Rickers?" Sian asked him teasingly. Chris frowned at her.

"What? Nooo," he denied. "Jealous? Me? Of that douchebag? You're crazy, Sian! Ridiculous to assume such a ..."

He trailed off lamely as he flushed furiously. Sian, Chrissie and I smiled at his discomfort. After a while, Chrissie said suddenly, "Hey, Sian?"

"Yes, Chrissie?"

"Who're you going to the ball with?"

She and Chris kept springing this question on her, hoping to startle her with a response by asking it when she least expected it, but Sian always refused. That day, however, she sighed and said, "All right, I'll tell you ... It's Kopa. Happy now?"

"Outsider's brother? That Kopa?" I asked her teasingly.

Sian giggle slightly, and said, "Yes. He and I spoke a few weeks ago and, uncomfortable as it was at first, we both apologised for how we acted, for it was kind of stupid, and we've been getting along fine since then; and when the ball was announced, he found me and asked me when there was no one else around. I couldn't say no to him! Besides, despite what you think Kovu is, he's a really nice, sweet, decent guy, and - "

"You're joking, Dawson?" said Malty, behind us, looking at Chrissie. "You're not telling me someone from Uagadou asked that to the ball? Not the long-molared Sackbrain?"

Chris, Chrissie and I whipped around, but Sian said loudly, waving to somebody over Grumpy's shoulder, "Hello, Professor Grumpy!"

Malty went pale and jumped backwards, looking wildly around for Grumpy, but she was still up at the staff table, finishing her stew.

"Twitchy little ferret, aren't you, Malty?" said Sian scathingly, and she, Chris, Chrissie and I went up the marble staircase, laughing heartily.

"Sian," said Chris, looking sideways at her, suddenly frowning, "your teeth ..."

"What about them?" she said.

"Well, they're different ... I've just noticed ..."

"Of course they are - did you expect me to keep those fangs Malty gave me?"

"No, I mean, they're different to how they were before she put the hex on you ... they're all ... straight and - and normal-sized."

Sian suddenly smiled very mischievously, and I noticed it too: it was a very different smile from the one I remembered. And judging from the gasp that came from next to me, Chrissie noticed it, too.

"Well ... when I went to Matron to get them shrunk, she held up a mirror and told me to stop her when they were all back to how they normally were," she said. "And I just ... let her carry on a bit." She smiled even more widely. "I've had trouble with my crooked teeth, too, so I also asked her if she could straighten them for me while we were focused on my teeth. I don't think she was too pleased by that, but she saw how desperate I was, and agreed. I don't think Ma and Dad will be too upset with me. They're my teeth, after all. And I'm quite surprised you three haven't noticed before now that my teeth had changed!" Sian suddenly snapped at us, making Chris, Chrissie and I jump. Sian then shook her head, and said, "Now that I think about it, I'm not surprised. Chris, well, you're a guy, so I get why you didn't notice; Chrissie, you're always slow on the uptake; and Kiara, well, you've been busy with the Triwizard Tournament - hey! Look! Piggledon's back!"

Chrissie's tiny owl was twittering madly on top of one of the icicle-laden banisters, a scroll of parchment to his leg. People passing him were pointing and laughing, and a group of third-year girls paused and said, "Oh, look at the weeny owl! Isn't he cute?"

For a moment, I saw Chrissie look really angry at Piggledon, but she hid it well as she called, "Piggledon! Come here!"

The tiny owl flew excitedly around her head, twittering eagerly. Chrissie caught him gently, and she, Chris, Sian and I hurried up the stairs, past the third-year girls and on to Lion-Heart Tower.

Once we passed the girl, Chrissie hissed to Piggledon, "You bring letters straight to the addressee! You don't hang around showing off!" Piggledon gave a muffled hoot in Chrissie's hand; even though I could hardly hear it, I think he was pleased with himself.

"Here, Kiara - take it!" Chrissie then said, as she shoved Piggledon into my hands. I pulled my parents' reply off Piggledon's leg, and I pocketed it, as we hurried back to Lion-Heart Tower.

Everyone in the common room was much too busy letting off holiday steam to observe what anyone else was up to. Chris, Sian, Chrissie and I sat apart from everyone else by a dark window that was gradually filling up with snow, and, also rather opportunely, had Harold waiting outside it, with the reply from Grandmother Sarabi. Sian let him in, and I took the letter off his leg.

"I haven't got anything for you, Harold. Sorry," I said gently to my owl. He nipped my ear affectionately, before he and Piggledon took off out the window for the Owlery. Sian closed the window and I looked at the letters. The one from Grandmother Sarabi I pushed aside for the time being, and turned my attention to the one from my parents. I read out:

My dearest Kiara,

Your mother and I both send you our congratulations on getting past the Horntail. Whoever put your name in that Goblet shouldn't be feeling too happy right now. I was going to suggest a Conjunctivitus Curse, as a dragon's eyes are its weakest point -

"That's what Outsider did!" Sian whispered.

" - but your way was better, we're impressed.

Don't get complacent, though, Kiara. You've only done one task; whoever put you in for the Tournament's got plenty more opportunity if they're trying to hurt you. Keep your eyes open - particularly when the person we discussed is around - and concentrate on keeping yourself out of trouble.

Your mother sends you her love, as do I, and we also send our regards to Chris, Sian and Chrissie. Keep in touch, for we still want to hear about anything unusual.

Love you always,

Daddy

I opened the letter from Grandmother Sarabi next. I won't bother writing it out here, for it was in the same style as my father's - well, near enough, anyway. She told me how pleased she was with me for getting past the dragon, to heed my parent's advice, for she thought they were right about Kula, and that she wanted me to keep in touch about what was going on at the school. She finished by saying that Grandmother Sarafina sent me her love (as usual), and that she was sending me an extra special Christmas present that year, something that I would need for the Yule Ball.

"They sound exactly like Grumpy," I said quietly, tucking their letters away again inside my robes, " "Constant vigilance!" You'd think I walk around with my eyes shut, banging off the walls ..."

"But they're right, Kiara," said Sian, "you have still got two tasks to do. You really out to have a look at that egg, you know, and start working out what it means ..."

"Sian, she's got ages!" snapped Chris. "Look, I'm concerned for her too, S.D., but it's Christmas, so lighten up a little, will you?"

"Yeah, Sian, Chris is right," said Chrissie. "Want a game of chess, Kiara?"

"Yeah, OK," I said. Then, spotting the look on Sian's face, I said, "Come on, how am I supposed to concentrate with all this noise going on? I won't even be able to hear the egg over this lot."

"Oh, I suppose not," she sighed, and she and Chris sat down to watch our chess match, which culminated in an exciting checkmate of Chrissie's, involving a couple of recklessly brave pawns and a very violent bishop.

0000

I awoke very suddenly on Christmas Day. Wondering what had caused my abrupt return to consciousness, I opened my eyes and saw something with very large, round, green eyes staring back at me in the darkness, so close we were almost nose to nose.

"Dokey!" I yelled, scrambling away from the elf so fast that I almost fell out of bed. "Don't do that!"

"Dokey is sorry, miss!" squeaked Dokey anxiously, jumping backwards with her long fingers over her mouth. "Dokey is only wanting to wish Kiara Pride-Lander "Merry Christmas" and bring her a present, miss! Kiara Pride-Lander did say Dokey could come and see her sometimes, miss!"

"It's OK," I said, still breathing rather faster than usual, while my heart rate returned to normal. Just - just prod me or something in future, all right? Don't bend over me like that ..."

I pulled back the hangings around my four-poster, and looked around. My yell had awoken Sian, Chrissie, Beth, Kestrel and Merida. All of them were peering through the gaps in their own hangings, heavy-eyed and tousle-haired.

"Someone attacking you, Kiara?" Merida asked sleepily.

"No, it's just Dokey," I muttered. "Go back to sleep."

"Nah ... presents!" said Merida, spotting the large pile at the foot of her bed. Sian, Chrissie, Beth and Kestrel decided that now they were awake, they might as well get down to some present-opening, too. I turned my attentions back to Dokey, who was standing nervously next to my bed, still looking worried that she had upset me. There was a Christmas bauble tied to the loop on top of her tea-cosy.

"Can Dokey give Kiara Pride-Lander her present?" she squeaked tentatively.

"'Course you can," I said. "Er ... I've got something for you, too."

This was a lie; I hadn't bought anything for Dokey at all, but I quickly opened my trunk, and pulled out a particularly knobbly rolled-up pair of socks. Those were my oldest and foulest, khaki, and had once belonged to Aunt Mavuto, who had given them to me, because she thought I was worth nothing else. The reason they were extra knobbly was because I had been using them to cushion my Sneakoscope in my third year. I pulled out the Sneakoscope and handed the socks to Dokey, saying, "Sorry, I forgot to wrap them ..."

But Dokey was utterly delighted.

"Socks are Dokey's favourite, favourite clothes, miss!" she said, ripping off her old ones and pulling on Aunt Mavuto's. "I has seven now, miss ... but, miss ..." she said, her eyes widening, having pulled both socks up to their highest extent, so that bthey reached to the bottom of her skirt, "they has made a mistake in the shop, Kiara Pride-Lander, they is giving you two the same!"

"Ah, no, Kiara, how come you didn't spot that?" said Chrissie, grinning over from her own bed, which was strewn with wrapping paper. "Tell you what, Dokey - you can have my socks, too - "

"Oh no she will not, Christina!" snapped Sian, staring at Chrissie, affronted. Chrissie's shoulder's slumped and she remained silent. Sian then turned to Dokey, and smiled warmly at the elf. "Here, Dokey," she said, handing Dokey a small, multi-coloured striped jumper, with socks to match. "I made them myself, especially for you. Merry Christmas, Dokey!"

"Dokey looked quite overwhelmed as she stepped up to Sian's bed and took the gifts from her gently. "Miss is very kind!" she squeaked, her eyes brimming with tears again, curtseying deeply to Sian. "Dokey knew miss must be a great witch, for she is one of Kiara Pride-Lander's greatest friends, but Dokey did not know that she was alos as generous of spirit, as noble, as selfless - "

Sian looked pleased, and blushed at the praise she got. "Well ... you deserve it, Dokey!" she said, smiling gently at the elf.

That did it. Dokey was so overcome with emotion that she ran towards Sian, scrambled onto her bed and, before Sian knew what was happening, Dokey had thrown her arms around Sian's neck, and was sobbing convulsively, with what I hoped were happy tears. Sian was slightly shocked for a few moments, before she hugged Dokey back, whispering, "You're welcome, Dokey."

They were like that for some time, until Chrissie's cry of, "Cool! Thanks, Kiara!" made them split apart.

Chrissie had just opened the present I had sent her, which was a Chudley Cannons hat. She put it on her head, and it went all right with her hair, I suppose.

Sian put Dokey down gently, and she came running back to me. She then handed me a small package, which turned out to be - socks.

"Dokey is making them herself, miss!" said the elf happily. "She is buying the wool out of her wages, miss!"

The left sock was bright red, and had a pattern of broomsticks upon it; the right sock was green, with a pattern of Snitches.

"They're ... they're really ... well, thanks, Dokey," I said, and I pulled them on, causing Dokey's eyes to leak with happiness again.

"Dokey must go now, miss, we is already making Christmas dinner in the kitchens!" said Dokey, and she hurried out of the dormitory, waving goodbye to Sian, Chrissie and the others as she passed.

My other presents were far more satisfactory than Dokey's odd socks. Chrissie had given me a book called Quidditch Teams of Britain and Ireland; Chris, a bottle of perfume that smelled of lavender and roses; my parents, a handy penknife with attachments to unlock any lock and undo any knot; Grandmother Sarafina, a new makeup bag, filled with fancy, new cosmetics and makeup remover; and Mina, a vast box of sweets including all my favourites - All-Flavour Beans, Multi-Flavour Fruit-Frogs, Droobles Best Blowing Gum and Fizzing Whizzbees. There was also, of course, Sian's hand-knitted jumper, which was aqua-blue, with a picture of a dragon on, complete with a cushion, which had the same writing around it like it always did, with a picture of my parents in the middle. The rest of the Dawsons sent me CDs and DVDs, and Mr Dawson sent me some treacle fudge.

Now, you didn't think I'd forget Grandmother Sarabi, did you, reader? Of course not! She sent me something wonderful. It was a leather-bound box, very old and very heavy. It had a letter on top, which I pulled away, ripped it open and read it. This is what it said:

Kiara

These are some of our family jewels that I picked out especially for tonight. I know you'll look beautiful, so go out there and knock everyone dead (not literally, of course). I hope you like these treasures, and I hope that you'll enjoy yourself - if not for you, then at least for me.

Love,

Grandmother Sarabi

I put the letter aside, opened the box and gasped. Inside was a pair of tear drop earrings and necklace with a silver chain. The jewels were blue moonstones. But the most beautiful thing of all was the tiara. The banding was silver, which interwove in the centre, so that it could hold a symbol in the centre: it was a circle that was split in half: one half was the sun, and the other half was the moon. Blue moonstones were placed at certain points in the banding.

I smiled and touched these treasures gently with my fingertips, but before anyone noticed what I was looking at, I quickly shut the box and pushed it aside, for I did not want the others to see what was inside it until that night.

Sian, Chrissie and I met up with Chris in the Lion-Heart common room, and we went down to breakfast together. We spent most of the morning in Lion-Heart Tower, where we were all enjoying our presents, then we returned to the Great Hall for a magnificent lunch, which included at least a hundred turkeys and Christmas puddings, and large piles of Cribbages Wizarding Crackers.

We went into the grounds that afternoon; the snow was untouched except for the deep channels made by the Uagadou and Beauxbatons students on their way up to the castle. Sian chose to watch myself and the rest of the Dawsons and the Fangs' snowball fight. At five o'clock, though, she, Chrissie, Beth, Kestrel, Merida, Tanya, Geri and I headed back to the castle to get ready.

"What, you need three hours to get ready?" said Chris, looking at us incredulously, and paying for his lapse in concentration when a large snowball, thrown by Ben, hit him on the side of the head.

"Brother, you do not know women!" Sian called to him, as we went inside. We all giggled at her honesty. Sian then said she would meet us at the ball once we got to the first floor. We were curious as to where she was going, but we were wise enough to know that she wouldn't tell us, so Chrissie, Beth, Kestrel, Merida, Tanya, Geri and I said, "See you later" to Sian, and we headed back to the Lion-Heart common room.

Now, here I have to back up a little. Do you remember when Sian wanted measurements for the dresses that she was designing for herself, Chrissie, Beth, Kestrel, Merida and myself? No ... Then look back, because it's important for this moment. You see, when Sian found the time to do so, she designed our dresses for the Yule Ball, listened to what we wanted in our designs, as well as the colours for each (we all took the mickey out of Chrissie's dress, but she liked it, and you'll see why we joked about it soon).Anyway, once the designs were done, she put them, along with a piece of parchment that held each of our measurements on it, in a file and handed it to Merida, who took them to their mother (remember, at this point in time, Sian and her mother had fallen out, and Sian wasn't speaking to her). From what I heard from Sian, her mother knew a dressmaker, who made our dresses for us. And on that Christmas Day, back in 2007, they were ready.

When Chrissie, Beth, Kestrel and I reached our dormitory, we noticed garment bags which contained our dresses on our beds. The five of us saved our dresses for later. Instead, we changed back into our night-gowns and put our dressing-gowns over them, just for the purpose of doing each other's hair and makeup, which took a few hours, I'm telling you. Then it was time for us to get ready. Chrissie was first. She took her garment bag to an on-suite bathroom, and she came out in a mermaid gown, and for good reason.

The dress she wore floated out at the bottom, then thinning as it moved up her body, hugging it, we saw, and then flowing out again at the top. The sleeves were long, transparent and sparkly. You see, the material was cut into leaves, which had been sewn together, overlapping each other, from her wrists to just above her cleavage. The leaves then extended into a sort of hood around her neck. She had her hair in a high ponytail, with silver hair slides with emeralds in her hair. The dress was, of course, green, and she had brown pumps underneath. Rose blusher was on her cheeks (we had all agreed to use the same blusher), and she had on green eyeshadow and brown lipstick. Yep, Chrissie did indeed look like a tree (interesting fact: even though Sian is the Earth Guardian, and Chrissie is the Water Guardian, Sian's favourite colour is blue, and Chrissie's favourite colour is green). There were also smaller rune symbols for Earth embroidered in the dress.

Beth was next. Her dress was a bright, vibrant red, which, like Chrissie's, clung to her body, but towards the bottom, the dress seemed to split; the main part made itself into a triangle at the front and back (if that makes sense), and then folds upon folds of free-flowing material seemed to burst from underneath the dress out of nowhere. She wore coral boots underneath the dress, and coral lipstick on her lips. Her eyeshadow was orange, and she wore her hair in curls, which flowed freely down her back. The sleeves of her dress were of the same free-flowing material as was her under-dress, short, and were burgundy in colour. Fire runes were embroidered on it.

Then came Kestrel. Her dress was the most strangest of all. It was sunshine yellow, and was made of mounds of material, which were bundled and sewn together in some places. It looked messy, but elegant at the same time. It had butterfly sleeves, and small Air runes were embroidered on it, in a lighter shade of yellow. Kestrel wore white pumps, and her hair hung down in the same way she always had. She wore pale yellow eyeshadow and nude lipstick.

Then it was Merida's turn. Her dress was lilac, long and flowing. The collar reached just below her collar bone, and the bottom of dress touched the floor. The sleeves were cut at the elbow and smaller spirit runes were embroidered in silver. Merida wore purple middle-heel shoes. She wore her hair in a bun, and her eyeshadow and lipstick were purple, too.

Then it was my turn. I picked up my garment bag and jewellery box, went into the bathroom and shut the door behind me. I still remember the dress now: it reached to my feet, the skirt slightly flowing, but not as puffy as the others were. The collar was a V-neck, and the sleeves reached my wrists, but were cut in a V-shape on the inside of my wrists, and the bottom of the skirt, the wrists and the collar of the dress had tawny fur sewn on. The dress was dark gold, which showed off the light gold suns that were embroidered. I wore golden, mini-heeled pumps underneath the dress. My hair was done up in a bun like Merida's, but only my fringes were down. I wore gold eyeshadow and red lipstick. I remember when I had changed, I looked at myself in the mirror and was shocked by who I saw looking back at me. I didn't recognise myself "Is that really me? I look beautiful," I whispered to myself. I then remembered the box which Grandmother Sarabi sent to me. Once again, I became enchanted by the jewels, but I was quickly brought back to reality by Chrissie's voice calling, "Come on, Kiara! Hurry up! We want to see you!"

I then quickly put on the earrings, necklace and tiara. Giving myself a final look-over in the mirror, I took a deep breath for courage, opened the door and stepped out.

Chrissie, Beth, Kestrel and Merida gazed at me in shock when they saw me. I grinned nervously, hoping I looked OK. Kestrel was the first to say something.

"Oh, Kiara, you look so beautiful!" she gasped, her presence soothing me, like it always did.

"D'you really think so?" I asked, uncertain but needing to be reassured.

"Kiara, trust me," said Chrissie, smiling warmly at me, "if Chris doesn't faint at the sight of you, it'll be a miracle!"

We all laughed at this, and then we made our way downstairs, out through the portrait hole and down to the Entrance Hall.

When we reached the Entrance Hall, we found it packed with students, not just dragon Mort students, but Uagadou and Beauxbatons students, too. The reason the hall was so packed was because the doors of the Great Hall wouldn't open until eight o'clock. Those people waiting for their partners were edging through the crowd, trying to find each other. I saw Chris, Ben and Dave waiting at the bottom of the stairs for myself, Chrissie and Merida. Ben and Dave were wearing black dress robes, whilst Chris had gone for bottle green, which brought out his eyes.

I spotted Joe and Jack in the crowd. They were both wearing black, and Joe had a girl in topaz on his arm, who was chubby and had an acne problem, and Jack had a girl dressed in red on his arm, her long, ginger hair shining against it. She had plenty of freckles on her face, and both girls looked friendly.

Beth then saw her date: a quite tall, very cute boy with short hair and blue eyes was waiting for her. She ran to him, as Kestrel looked around for her date, who turned out to be none other than Kovu Outsider, who was standing next to Kopa, who kept looking at the stairs every few seconds, obviously looking for Sian.

Anyhoo, when Chrissie, Merida and I reached the bottom of the stairs, I saw Chris and Dave stare at Chrissie, but Ben said that she looked great. They were taken aback a bit by that remark. Ben turned with Chris and Dave to see Merida, and for a time they commented on how good she looked. That was until Ben noticed me, and he nudged Dave, and nodded at me. Dave then looked at me and stared in amazement at me. Chris, wondering what they were staring at, turned, and did a double-take of his head when he saw me.

I saw his eyes start at my feet, and then he raised his head slowly, slowly taking in every inch of my frame; and when his eyes locked on to mine, the look in them was one I will never forget. They were glowing brighter than any jewel ever could. He held my gaze for a while, and I blushed under his empowering gaze. He then did something that I never thought he would do (well, not at that point, anyway). You see, my dear readers, he suddenly grabbed my hand and kissed it. I gasped aloud, not only by his daring, but at the sparks I felt when Chris kissed my hand. I felt a shiver run through me, and my hand felt as though it had just been burnt in the best way from where he had just kissed it. He smiled at me and rubbed his thumb over the back of my hand, which made me blush even more.

"You look wonderful this evening," he said, smiling warmly at me.

I blushed even deeper as I replied, "You don't look so bad yourself, Chris." He grinned at me, as I shook my head and said, "I don't look that good, though." But even as I said this, many of the other students in the hall were glancing at me. I felt Chris' hand digging rather aggressively into mine, and when I looked at him, he was glaring at the people who were staring at me - the boys in particular.

"What's wrong?" I asked him concernedly. Chris jumped slightly and turned to look at me, loosening his grip on my hand, and his expression softened slightly, too, for he smiled at me reassuringly.

"Nothing, I'm fine." He smiled again, but I saw him quickly glare once more at the crowd.

We were then distracted by a loud gasp from Chrissie, who quickly ducked behind Ben. I heard her whisper, "Oh, no" as Ferdinand Desjardin passed us, looking very dapper in robes of the finest black satin, and on his arm was the Raven-Wings Quidditch Captain, Rita Davis. When they had disappeared, Chrissie stood up straight again and looked around the crowd.

"Where is Sian? Have you three seen her?" Chrissie said urgently to Chris, Ben and Dave. The three of them shook their heads.

A group of Snake-Eyes then came up the steps from their dungeon common room. Malty was in front; she was clutching Perry Parker's arm and was wearing frilly robes of pale pink, whereas Perry was dressed in black. Crate and Gabber were both wearing green; they resembled moss-coloured boulders, and neither of them, I was pleased to see, had managed to find a partner - and neither had Rea-Bradley. She was wearing dark purple robes, and looked rather miserable. But I didn't take much notice of her, for at that moment, an "Ooooh"ing came from the crowd, who were focused on something on top of the stairs, which made Chris, Chrissie, Ben, Dave, Merida and I turn around and look up them, too.

A girl, wearing a midnight-blue dress, stood at the top of the marble staircase. The dress reached past her feet, and was embroidered with many small, silver moons and stars on. The dress had a sweetheart neckline, and the outer-sleeves were sewn together just above the elbow on both arms, where they split, revealing longer sleeves below it, which were partly covered by a pair of light blue leather gloves. She wore a phoenix broach on her left side. Her hair was partially done up in a bun, and the rest ran down freely over her right shoulder. She had red lipstick on, and wore silvery-blue eyeshadow, with pink blusher on her cheeks. The girl was, of course, Sian herself.

Sian then picked up the dress carefully, and made her way slowly down the stairs, keeping her eyes fixed on the ground, which I thought was odd for Sian, for she always seemed to radiate confidence. I then saw that Sian had silver pumps on (Sian didn't need to wear high heels for two good reasons: 1. being 5'10, she considered herself tall enough to not wear them, and 2. she hates wearing them, because she can't walk in them). I also noticed that there was a sparkling midnight-blue train, which had pale blue Water runes on, and was attached to the back of the dress, for there were clips in between her shoulder blades, so as you can imagine, the train didn't go that far behind her back.

When Sian got to the bottom of the stairs, she still kept her eyes fixed firmly on the ground in front of her. Then Kopa (who, like the other Uagadou students, was wearing scarlet robes), walked to Sian, and once he reached her, he lifted her chin to meet his eye. When Sian looked into his eyes, a sort of glow came about her form; she smiled warmly, and the brightness of her smile was reflected in the brightness of her eyes.

Sian then turned her head away from Kopa for a second and saw Chris, Chrissie, Ben, Dave, Merida and I looking at her, and after exchanging a few words with Kopa, they came over to us.

"Wow, Sian, you look great! I can't believe you designed that yourself!" I gasped.

"Thanks, Kiara," she said, and smiled even more brightly, as she turned her head from me, looked right down the line and stopped at Chrissie, where she seemed amazed at how well Chrissie's dress had turned out. She kept staring at Chrissie, until a voice in her head must have spoken, for she said, "Oh, where are my manners? Chris, Chrissie, Kiara, Ben, Dave, Merida, this is Kopa, Kovu's adopted brother. Kopa - well, I've said their names once, so I'll just tell you that these people you see before you make up most of my family."

I was quite shocked to hear Sian mention me as part of her family, for that was the first time she had mentioned me as such before, but Kopa didn't seem to mind; he chuckled at Sian's words and said, in a warm, kind voice, "Now, Sian, you and I both know that this is not the first time you have mentioned their names to me." He then turned to us and, even though his face was covered by thick, black cloths, we could see the smile in his eyes as he said, "Sian thinks very highly of you all - even you, Kiara."

"She does?" I asked, amazed at these words. I looked at Sian for an answer, but she blushed furiously and ducked her head. Kopa chuckled again, but before he could say anything else, the oak front doors opened, and everyone in the Entrance Hall - myself included - turned to look as the rest of the Uagadou students entered with Professor Kula. Over their heads I saw that an area of the lawn right in front of the castle had been transformed into a sort of grotto full of fairy lights - meaning hundreds of actual living fairies were sitting in the rose bushes that had been conjured there, and fluttering over the statues of what seemed to be Father Christmas and his reindeer.

Then Professor Darbus' voice called, ""Champions over here, please!"

Chris and I said "See you in a minute" to Sian, Kopa, Chrissie, Ben, Dave, and Merida, and then walked forwards, the crowd parting, to let us through. Professor Darbus, who was wearing dress robes of red tartan, and had arranged a rather ugly wreath of thistles around the brim of her hat, told us to wait on one side of the doors while everyone else went inside; we were to enter the Great Hall in procession when the rest of the students had sat down. Ferdinand Desjardin and Rita Davis had stationed themselves nearest the doors; Davis looked so stunned by her good fortune in having Ferdinand for a partner that she hardly took her eyes off him. Georgia and Khan were close to me, too; I looked away from them so I wouldn't have to talk to them. My eyes fell instead on Kestrel, who was next to Outsider. We grinned at each other.

"Have you seen Sian tonight?" I asked her. "She looks amazing, doesn't she?"

Kestrel giggled, and said, "Yes, she does. And so do you, Kiara."

I brushed that comment away with a wave of my hand, but she was right. People were gazing at me as they made their way past us, and I put my head down in order to avoid the stares. In fact, the only person who seemed to be getting as much attention as me was Sian. Parry Parker and Malty gaped at Sian and I one at a time, and neither of them had anything unpleasant to say to either of us as they walked past. Unlike me, however, Sian kept her head held high and looked straight ahead of her as she walked, and from the way she was holding on to Kopa's arm, it appeared that she was needing comfort from him. The reason she kept her head up had nothing to do with her beauty or her pride; no, she kept her head up because she was proud and happy to be seen next to Kopa, even if his face was covered by cloths (just so you know, I was proud and happy to be seen next to Chris, but I just wanted to avoid all the eyes).

Anyhoo, once everyone was seated in the Hall, Professor Darbus told us Champions and our partners to get in line in our pairs, and follow her. We did so, and everyone in the Great Hall applauded as we entered and started walking up towards a large and round table at the top of the Hall, where the judges sat.

The walls of the Hall had all been covered in sparkling silver frost, with hundreds of garlands of mistletoe and ivy crossing the starry black ceiling. The house tables had vanished; instead, there were about a hundred smaller, lantern-lit ones, each seating about a dozen people.

I concentrated on not tripping over my feet, as Chris helped supporting me, which helped to put me at ease slightly, and made me feel more comfortable. I lifted my head slightly, waved a little nervously and beamed, as Chris grinned happily. We caught sight of the rest of the Dawsons as we passed; all of them, and their partners, were smiling at us.

Crighton smiled happily as we champions and our partners approached the top table, but I noticed how Kula's eyes narrowed as she watched Outsider and Kestrel approach. Lynn Baxter, in robes of bright purple with large yellow stars, was clapping as enthusiastically as any of the students around us; and Monsieur Legrand, who had changed his usual uniform of black satin robes to those of sky-blue, was applauding us politely. Next to Crighton sat Mr Dawson, in robes of forest green (as he was Crighton's husband, it made sense that he should be there), who was applauding politely, too. I noticed that Mrs Clutch was not there, and when I looked at Mr Dawson, I realised that he was there for another reason that night.

"What's Dad doing here?" Chris hissed in my ear.

"I don't know," I whispered back, "but we'll find out soon enough, don't worry."

When Mr Dawson spotted Chris and I, he pulled out the chair beside him, pointed his finger at the pair of us and beckoned us to him. We glanced at each other, shrugged, and sat down in the chairs next to him.

"Hello, Mr Dawson," I greeted him warmly.

"Hello, indeed, my dear," he greeted me jovially. "You look beautiful tonight, Kiara, and I'm glad to see you on the arm of my son," he added pointedly.

"Thanks, Dad," said Chris, flushing slightly.

"Thank you, sir," I said. "So, what are you doing here?"

"Well, you see, Kiara, seeing as my dear wife here is Headmistress of this place, I, as her charming husband - " I couldn't help but giggle slightly " - had to come to be her partner. But that's not the only reason. I'm also here to stand in for Mrs Clutch tonight."

"Why, Dad, what's wrong with her?" Chris asked.

Mr Dawson sighed and said, "She's not well, I'm afraid. What happened at the Quidditch Friendly has given her a bit of a nasty shock and has worn her down a bit, so she's had to take some time off work. Perdy's covering for her at the moment, though."

"How is Perdy?" I asked him, ignoring Chris' groan at my question.

Mr Dawson chuckled slightly and said, "She's as well as she can be, and is rather enthusiastic about her new position in the Ministry, I can tell you - "

"Why? What's she doing now?"

"Perdy, Kiara, is now Mrs Clutch's personal assistant," said Mr Dawson, "and you can just imagine how she's going about running her department, can't you? When she heard the ball was coming up, she immediately jumped in, saying she would be glad to go and keep an eye on things, saying that an extra eye for authority would go a long way, but the Minister disagreed. She knew I was going as my wife's partner for the night, and therefore said that I was enough. Of course, the Minister asked me if I would take Mrs Clutch's place for the ball a few weeks back, and I readily agreed. Of course Perdy was ... shall we say ... disappointed, but she understands ..."

AN: OK, another split chapter. I will complete this for you tomorrow. A couple of things before I go: if you are wondering what Sian's dress looks like, I took inspiration from the 20th Century animated movie Anastasia about the Russian Princess, if I am right, so look at that. Sorry about the description of the dresses, for I really am not good with fashion, but I hope you enjoy my description of them - and yes, I do know that they are not dress robes, but I just wanted them to be different, OK? Oh, and in the next part of this chapter, you will get a glimpse into Crighton's mind, and see how she's been doing, too.