Chapter 59: We don't need this kind of drama
A few months had passed since the First Task and the talk of the school was now the upcoming Yule Ball. When December had swooped in the Head of each house had collected their students and gave them an orientation on the subject. Telling them what it is, why it is to be done, how to dress, how to dance and the like. At the word "Ball" all the girls were immediately excited at the idea and began talking about it. How they were going to look and who they hoped will ask them. The guys, being themselves, weren't as excited as the girls but couldn't hide the fact that the Ball was something to look forward to. Even the Weasley twins were excited, that is until something had momentarily turned Fred's views upside down.
It was a normal day at the Great Hall. By that time, everyone knew what was coming for the Yule Ball and were planning. Girl and Boys, mostly girls, were talking about what they would wear and who they would ask or planned to dance with. Some stressed over the idea and others laid back. Fred was one of the laid back types. He eagerly munched on his food while listening to the conversations going around him. One particular conversation caught his ear.
Fred continued to shovel the food into his mouth as he listened to the head of his house have a chat with Professor Sprout. They were having a friendly talk of a random topic until it swerved towards the Yule Ball. They began saying names from both genders and Fred had guessed they were paring up students and saying if they wanted to see the pair go to the Yule Ball together or not. The topic was surprisingly girly for Professor McGonagall but Fred's surprise was soon washed away after he caught on what Professor Sprout had just said.
"I don't know about you, Minerva, but I for one think Miss Emeraude would look lovely dancing with Mr. Diggory," the Herbology teacher said, "Just the other day I oriented my house on the Yule Ball and had them have a practice dance and those two, they were partners, were utterly wonderful," she jerked her head over at her house table were the two were seated, "To tell you the truth, I was very surprised! You must know what a shy thing Miss Emeraude is and to dance so gracefully, like she's been doing it for years, is a real eye-opener! I really think she's coming out of her shell"
"I can see where you are coming from, Pomona. Miss Emeraude seems to be doing better these past few years," Professor McGonagall pushed her glasses further up the bridge of her nose, "I remember that she used to only speak with the Weasley twins and those two girls from the Ravenclaw house but now, she's been interacting with more and more people," she paused, "So her dancing… how 'graceful' is she?"
Professor Sprout smiled. "I can't put it into words. It's very hard to describe. I'd rather you see it for yourself"
"You mean wait for the Yule Ball?" Professor McGonagall's eyes widened, "I'm sorry, Pomona, but no matter how good she is I doubt that I'll be able to see her in a room filled with over a hundred students."
"Don't think that I don't know that, Minerva. What I meant was now," Professor Sprout looked over at her table, "It wouldn't hurt for them to dance right here."
"You mean at this very moment?"
"But of course! Diggory, Emeraude, please stand up," Professor Sprout called over at her table.
At this, Fred looked over at the Hufflepuff table and questioningly raised his brow. He saw Cedric and Zoey (one of the rare times she actually sat at her house table) stand up and looked at the head of their house with confusion.
"Why don't you both put on a little show? Demonstrate to everyone the way to dance at the Yule Ball," Professor Sprout joyfully said as she brought out her wand and gave it a wave. Suddenly, music began to play.
Fred watched as Zoey looked at Cedric questioningly before awkwardly getting into position with him. As he placed one hand on her waist while she placed on his shoulder and their other hands held, they began to sway to the music. At first, they looked like they weren't really sure in what to do, whether their teacher was joking or not, but soon enough Fred understood what Professor Sprout had meant by Zoey's and Cedric's dancing.
Just by looking at the pair, Fred wished that he was in Cedric's place. He wished that he was the one holding Zoey close to his body, guiding her. He wanted to be the one twirling her around and lifting her in the air. Fred wanted to be the one Zoey looked at with her bashful expression.
"She's really good," George said from beside him, "You'd think she was the type to stumble around but…wow"
Fred didn't reply. He continued to gaze enviously.
A few days had passed since Cedric and Zoey's impromptu dance and to Fred's annoyance it was the talk of the school together with the Yule Ball. Everywhere he went he's always hear two or three people talking about the Hufflepuff pair.
Often times he's either hear:
"Weren't they absolutely brilliant?"
Or
"They looked so cute together"
And what really irked him was:
"I hope they go to the Yule Ball together"
And the response being
"I heard that he's going to ask her soon"
Fred felt like he could break twelve muggle ball pens with his bare hands. He looked over at the two who were talking and if only looks could kill. He wanted to stand up and say something or look for Zoey himself and clarify but before he could even begin to stand up several male Hufflepuffs burst into the room wearing gleeful expressions.
"He did it!" one of them cheered!
"He actually did it!" another continued
"He asked her to the Yule Ball!" a third said.
The two, who were revealed to be Ravenclaws, looked at the Hufflepuffs with curiosity.
"Who asked who?" one asked.
"Cedric!" the Hufflepuff replied, "He asked her to the Yule Ball and she said yes!"
Fred didn't hear who 'she' was but from the Ravenclaws' reaction he dejectedly figured it was Zoey. Cedric had asked Zoey to the Yule Ball and she accepted. He had lost his chance. Fred began to beat himself up from the inside. He missed his chance, he should have asked sooner. He felt like an idiot. Fred banged his head on his table.
It seemed that it was not only Fred who had problems with their love life. Echo had some bumps in the road as well. Months had passed since Mary Sue made a cat walk down the Great Hall and much to her, and the rest of her female friends', dismay, George had began hanging out with her more often. She did not know what was wrong with the boys mind. She began to question his sanity. She knew for a fact that Zoey had warned Fred about Mary Sue and told him to warn George about her as well but seeing as Mary Sue was constantly draped over the boy, the warning had not worked. Mary Sue was often seen with them, whether it was with George or eating with them on the Gryffindor table, she did not seem to leave Echo's sight and it disgusted her.
Mary Sue with her suffocating perfume and her girlish charms made Echo feel ashamed for the female race. It was sickening to watch especially seeing that George did nothing about it. Echo, who was calmly reading one of her pocket books, tried to ignore the fact that even though George and Mary Sue were becoming rather 'good mates' she still rode on the slight hope that he would still have enough sanity left to ask a decent girt to the Ball. Unfortunately, that didn't happen for while Echo was leisurely reading she had heard a rumor pass her by.
"Did you hear that one of the Weasley twins is going to the Yule Ball with that Mary Sue?" a Slytherin asked his fellow Slytherin as he took a seat on the table next to Echo's. Echo peered over her book and raised a brow at the two, though they did not see her.
"I heard about it," the second Slytherin said with a nod, "But I couldn't believe it. Imagine, a filthy blood traitor like him going to the Ball with someone as majestic as her? Please tell me it's just some rubbish gossip"
"Sadly, it isn't," the first Slytherin said
"Damn, which twin is she going with?" the second asked.
"I believe his name is George," the first Slytherin nodded his head before getting up and grabbing a random book from one of the shelves.
Echo's ears perked up and the bindings of the innocent pocketbook she had in her small hands began to tear into halves. Has the world gone mental, off its trolley and fell into the obscured oblivion of naivety? She narrowed her eyes and looked down at her hands. A perfectly halved pocketbook. Echo heaved a sigh; the pocketbook had cost her some money after all. Maybe she was right; George was too kind.
Echo needed to find Zoey. She was the only friend that knew her long enough besides the twins to understand. The shredded pocketbook halves were still held in her hands. Somehow, she felt sorry for the good piece of literature she had found not too long ago. No matter, Echo would just sew it back; if that's even possible. Echo stood up from her chair and briskly walked out of the library. She didn't even bother to return her chair to its proper place.
The raven swiftly walked through the halls, miraculously dodging the students who went the opposite way. She only stopped when she reached the part of the castle where it was fully covered in grass, the field. She crossed the grass-covered part of the grounds and decided to pick a flower that wouldn't eat, skewer, poison or even spit at Echo. She stuffed the book remains into her brown messenger bag, and picked at the flowers.
"Skewer Mary Sue. Crucio Mary Sue. Skewer Mary Sue. Crucio Mary Sue. Skewer Mary Sue..." it went on until she had caught Zoey in her peripheral vision and stopped in front of her. She picked off at the petals, still chanting, "Skewer Mary Sue. Crucio Mary Sue..."
As Echo continued to chant, Zoey began to look around the field. She had come out of the castle to get a breath of fresh air and came to a stop when she heard a strange, harmonic voice. When she caught sight of her friends, she raised a brow. Echo was hunched over a flower, picking at its petals and chanting. Zoey was curious as to why.
The badger trudged towards the raven and took a seat beside her, peering at the flower.
"Skewer Mary Sue. Crucio Mary Sue," Echo continued to chant.
Zoey blinked in confusion. "Are you off your rocker?" she asked the Veela.
Echo stopped the petal plucking and looked at Zoey. "You're right, Zwei! I should do both!"
"And what are you exactly suppose to do?" Zoey asked, "Cook the girl? Surely, no matter how beautiful and – err – mouth watering she looks she wouldn't taste very good"
"I didn't say I was going to eat it," Echo scoffed and brought her palm to her face, "Hippogriffs won't eat it, I'm sure. So, I should feed it to Charlie's dragons. They won't mind the taste though. To dragons, meat is all the same," Echo laughed.
"That may be so but what did that dragons ever do to you?" Zoey asked, "Poor things, eating something that poisonous."
"I bet trolls would eat her, but they would think its cannibalism," Echo giggled and fought to restrain her laughter.
Zoey laughed. "But is she truly human? She's too perfect. If she wasn't human then it wouldn't really be cannibalism"
"Trolls aren't humans, Zoey," Echo picked at the flower again.
"So you're calling Mary Sue a troll then?" Zoey asked taking a flower in her own hands except leaving it in one piece and twirled it.
"I never said that," Echo faked a hurt expression.
Zoey rolled her eyes at her friends and looked away from Echo and the flower. She looked up and her eyes widened a bit. Speak of the devil, she thought herself as she watched Mary Sue walk towards them with a little skip in her step. She looked like a little kid who finally got what she was begging her parents to give her. The current vibe, the childish 'I got it! I got what I wanted!' vibe, Zoey got from Mary Sue made her nauseas for it was mixed with the current appearance of the girl.
The weather was already cold, seeing as it was December, and yet Mary Sue found the body heat to wear a mini skirt with thigh high stiletto boots together with an off- shoulder long sleeved sweater that showed a lot of cleavage. Her hair was tied in a very high ponytail and her face was fresh with winter looking make- up. She looked nice, Zoey had to admit but what ruined the look was that the clothes seemed almost see-through.
"I need a bucket to put my vomit in," Echo coughed and crinkled her nose in disgust.
"That bucket will have to wait," Zoey winced, "She's coming our way"
What Zoey said was the truth for Mary Sue stopped right in front of them and smiled down at the two. She gave a giggle.
"Hello, Zoey, Echo" Mary Sue greeted with a voice that was as sweet as honey, "How are you today?"
"Hi, Mary Sue," Zoey forced a smile and nudged Echo in the ribs.
Echo forced a strained smile before it disappeared in a flash and Echo gave a curt nod, going back to her flower, probably chanting the words inside her head.
Mary Sue paid to mind to what Echo was doing and averted her pearly whites to Zoey. "May I sit down?" she asked but before Zoey could even reply she already plopped down in front of the two. She brought her perfectly manicured fingertips to the ground and plucked out a flower of her own. She twirled it a bit before placing it in her hair.
"I don't want to seem rude… but… did you need something, Mary Sue?" Zoey asked in a quiet voice. It took every ounce of her sanity to rip the girl to shreds. It was a little over dramatic to say but she couldn't help it. Mary Sue was just too… Mary Sue.
"Well, Zoey, I just came here to complement on Harry Potter's success in defeating the Hungarian Horntail! Marvelous summoning I must say," Mary Sue gushed.
Zoey bit back a laugh. "That's nice of you, Mary Sue but you're a little late… you see, Harry defeated the Horntail months ago… also, shouldn't you be telling your complements to Harry?" Zoey tried to keep her polite tone in check.
"Oh, details, details. The poor boy is very busy. Seeing as there's still the Yule Ball and the Second Task ahead," Mary Sue said with a wave of her hand.
"How considerate of you," Zoey's mouth twitched.
"Note to self: Go to the Ministry and have a restraining order for Mary Sue," Echo silently muttered, loud enough for both of them to hear. Zoey nudged Echo again.
"Pardon?" Mary Sue gave a smile to Echo, "But what was that?
"A cold draft of wind," Echo muttered back.
Before Mary Sue could say another word to the Ravenclaw, Zoey interjected. "So was there anything else you came to say?" she asked in a panicked tone.
"Oh? Oh right!" Mary Sue clapped her hands with a childish look of excitement on her face, "Well, I came to ask if any of you have been asked out for the Yule Ball yet"
"What? So you could brag about the boy who we both feel sorry for because he asked you out?" Echo glared. She was still pissed about hearing the Slytherins talk about George and Mary Sue going together. Mary Sue talking about it was just putting gasoline on the fire.
"Oh, I'm sorry Echo dear. I didn't know you'd be… hmm… sour on the subject," Mary Sue said with a sweet smile, "After all, George did ask me to be his date"
"That was so sweet of him though you deserve better," Echo said, curling her hand into a fist and crushing her almost petal-less flower.
"Oh no, not at all. Georgie dear is the best," Mary Sue tilted her head to the side.
Zoey's eyes widened at the two of them. Something was going on. This didn't look good at all.
"Well, you definitely need some brain transplant," Echo dropped the remains of her crumpled, almost petal-less flower to the ground.
"Oh, Echo, what makes you say that?"
"You don't know George. You obviously deserve better!" Echo said in a loud, forceful voice.
"Is that the case or are you just jealous? Perhaps you wanted… say… George to ask you?" Mary Sue asked in an innocent matter but Zoey knew that tone all too well. This was not innocent at all. Mary Sue was pushing Echo's buttons.
"I did not say anything, Mary Sue. You're the one who said it, not me," Echo smirked, "Maybe, I just wonder, that you charmed George to ask you so that you can rub it off on me?" Echo crossed her arms over her chest.
Mary Sue's sweet face disappeared and was replaced by a glare. The glare reminded Zoey of a dreaded woman she knew. She felt her hands get clammy and her eyes widened at the similarities she saw. She wanted to get up and run away. Wanted to retreat back to her Common Room and find shelter there, where no one can hurt her.
"Very well," Mary Sue said before turning to Zoey.
Zoey tensed. She could not escape now.
"How about you, Zoey? Has anyone asked you to the ball yet?"
"Err –"
"Cause you are rather pretty –"
"Not –"
"– And I would think that someone would have asked you by now –"
"No –"
"Maybe that Diggory boy –"
"But –"
"Or maybe even… Fred!"
Zoey's eyes widened and saw Mary Sue waving her hand. She, Zoey, whirled around and saw the twins approaching them. She blushed as she saw Fred give her a wave and she was just about to wave back but was stopped when she felt Mary Sue quickly stand back up, she seemed to have forgotten their conversation already. Zoey watched as Mary Sue skipped her way towards George and clung on to his shoulder. Her legged popped up and she flirtatiously pocked the top of his nose.
"I'll see you tonight, Georgie~" she giggled before twirling and skipping away. George blushed shamelessly.
When Mary Sue was finally out of sight, Echo stood up from the grassy ground and approached George. She pulled out her broken pocket book and held both halves threateningly.
"You disgust me," she said in a deadly voice before throwing the torn up pocket book at George in anger. Pages flew and Echo ran away from the trio leaving them shocked. Zoey looked at George sympathetically and watched as he lowered his arms, he had raised them in defense, and looked down at the torn up book.
"What did you do to her mate?" Fred asked, turning to his brother.
"I don't know…," George replied, kneeling down and picking up one of the pages that flew out of the book. He stood back up and looked at Zoey together with Fred, both looking for an answer.
Zoey looked at them with her brows knitted in worry and gave them a small smile that didn't really say anything because she didn't know what to say.
"I'm sorry," she spoke with a quiet voice before turning away from them and running after Echo.
That little daughter of a bitch, Well, no, Echo couldn't really think that; other people obviously fond Mary Sue a little miss sunshine that was there to brighten up your –
Whatever
Echo sat against the stone wall of an empty classroom, crossed-legged. She was being comforted by Ginny and Hermione (the only two who made the classroom not so empty) and oddly enough, Echo was actually grateful for once. Although she couldn't ever so much bring herself to their droning words and comforting advices, Echo knew very much that she wasn't alone. It gave a homey feeling, the warmth that is resonated by your feelings about friends that you're comfortable with.
The night was quiet and the only sounds that Echo could hear was the soft winter wind from outside and Hermione and Ginny's words of comfort. It was peaceful. Sadly, peace could not last long on Hogwarts grounds and a little bit of proof to that statement was the classroom door being slammed open by a breathless Zoey.
"What's got your knickers in a twist, Zwei?" Echo spoke, not really sparing even a glance, but only eyed the floor.
"What I'd give for my own Marauder's Map," Zoey gave a sigh before closing the door behind her and placing a radio on one of the tables before wiping the sweat of her brow.
"Zoey, what's that?" Hermione asked, standing up and pointing at the radio.
"That," Zoey pointed at the radio, "Is a radio"
"We know that. What is it for?" Ginny stood up as well.
"Well, I was hoping it would cheer Echo up a bit," Zoey gave a sheepish smile.
"If it's what you call music, no thanks, I'm in no mood," Echo muttered, crossing her lean arms over her chest.
Zoey rolled her eyes. "This is music, yes. But in this little song, I was hoping we could make fun of Mary Sue a bit," she smiled.
"That's sounds awfully unlike you," Ginny smirked, "I like it"
"How are you going to make fun of her?" Hermione asked.
"Well, remember that odd bending and what not Mary Sue did a couple months back?" Zoey asked the three of them.
"Do not remind me of that memory I decided to forget," Echo said.
"What about it?" Ginny asked.
Zoey brought out her wand and tapped the radio. "You see, that thing she did is called the 'Bend and Snap'," Zoey tapped the radio again.
The three girls gave her a confused look. "The what?" Ginny asked again.
"The Bend and Snap," Zoey repeated, "Bridgit told me about it. She has a thing for muggle movies you see, except this particular one she regretted watching… Anyway, according to her, when I asked, the Bend and Snap is from this movie called 'Legally Blonde' what the movie is doesn't matter right now. Moving one, the Bend and Snap is used to attract the opposite sex and as you noticed, It worked"
Zoey took a breath. "This radio is going to play a song from the Legally Blonde Musical. The song …uhm… well, basically the song tells us about the Bend and Snap and what it does and how to do it," she paused, "We're going to do the Bend and Snap"
"Please send me to the underworld," Echo groaned.
"Come on, it's fun. You know, when you don't use it to seduce anyone," Zoey smiled, "I'll even swear. Bad words and all. No euphemism."
"Well, this I need to see, so fine," Echo groggily pushed herself off the floor.
"So how do you do the Bend and Snap?" Hermione looked at Zoey questioningly.
Zoey blushed. "Err – to do a bend and snap you bend down to reach for something and snap up and basically hold your – uhm – breasts up and smile"
"And you want us to do that?" Ginny asked with disbelief.
"You don't have to hold your breast. Just do it," Zoey tapped the radio once more and music began to play.
Zoey tapped her foot on the ground for a bit before opening her mouth to sing the lyrics.
"Look at my ass
Look at my thighs
I'm catnip to the guys
They chase my tail
They drool and pant
Wanna touch this but they can't
No! All the boys want to come and play
Snap my fingers and they obey
Why do they follow me around all day
Watch me while I walk away"
Zoey was dancing to the beat and Hermione and Ginny wore amused grins on their faces. Never did they imagine that Zoey would be doing such a thing. Echo raised her brows at her friend. Zoey then did the bend and snap as she sang the next lyrics.
"I bend and snap
Feel how hot it's getting
Bend and snap
Then when you got em sweatin'
Spring the trap
They cheer and clap
No tight end can defend against the bend and snap"
"Who are you and why are you using Poly juice Potion to imitate Zoey horribly?" Echo laughed. Hermione, Ginny and Zoey joined in.
"You guys should try it!" Zoey said over the song and tugged them towards her. Zoey did another bend and snap but this time Hermione and Ginny joined her in doing it. When their hair flipped back they gave another laugh.
As though an unknown force suddenly pulled Echo into finally doing the bend and snap, she looked like she was having a hell of a good time insulting Mary Sue. The four girls continued to dance along to the song and even sang the chorus together. It was fun and enjoyable and it even made them dizzy when the bend and snap just made their head hurt and their back ache but they didn't care they were having a good time. This little cheering up activity continued until the song ended and a clearing of a throat came.
The girls looked at the door.
"What are you doing?" asked as he stood beside Fred, both looking very much dumbstruck. Hermione and Ginny quickly went back to their upright position and Zoey and Echo soon followed after the twins' gaze moved to an area where they rather have them not looking.
"This is all a hallucination," Echo groaned and sunk to the floor.
"She's right," Ginny said, "You're just dreaming" she began to make hand motions making the twins believe that they were indeed dreaming. Zoey began to make dreaming noises like owls and ghost, though it didn't really make any sense, while Hermione just rolled her eyes at them and switched off the radio with a tap of her wand
"Like we'll believe that," Fred said with a role of his eyes, "Now what were you lot really doing? It's passed curfew"
"And since when were you Mr. Responsible? I think Percy's finally rubbing off on you Freddie," Ginny countered.
Fred made a face of disgust together with George. "That's horrible!" he cried out.
"But she's right," Hermione said, "And we should also be asking what are you two doing up past curfew"
"We're Fred and George. When are we not up past the curfew?" George asked.
Echo looked at George and felt a horrible pang in her chest. She was fed up with everything. Echo can't possibly ignore the fact that George didn't even get the message when she shoved that carcass of a pocketbook at him. It's just so.. so.. sad, Echo realized. She got up, though she wobbled when she finally did, and mustered the courage not to fall into tears. She hadn't cried in a long time, why start now? Echo harshly bumped into George's shoulder rather harshly before going out.
George stumbled a bit from the force and looked back to watch Echo run away from him once again and out of his sight. He gave a sigh before looking back into the room. Hermione and Ginny wore glares and left the room as well while Zoey quietly got the radio and held it in her hands. She looked at the twins and gave a small bow of apology, almost like Bridgit, and left the room.
Gosh, it's so late already. I'm so tired.
I wanna thank HayleyParadox for helping me out
Also want to thank all my reviewers.
I don't own the idea of the Bend and Snap nor do I own Legally Blonde... duh XD
I'm so brain dead right now... sorry.
Sorry for the typos
Don't forget to review and the like
Stay tuned for the next chapter
and
I only own what I own
