25th December
"Merry Christmas, Kathryn!"
"Merry Christmas, Hermione!" I said with a huge grin.
She was already up and out of bed along with Lavender, Fay and Parvati, who were all excitedly opening presents. I looked to the end of my bed and noticed that, as usual, my pile of presents wasn't as high as anyone else's. Not even close. I shook it off as Hermione chucked me a present to open, "This one is from my parents!" she smiled, "You'll never guess what it is!" she said sarcastically, looking down at her own hideous Christmas jumper which was decorated with snowmen. As I opened mine, I revealed a red jumper with Rudolph the red-nosed reindeer with a red bauble for his nose. I couldn't help but laugh, but put it on nonetheless.
I opened the rest of my presents happily. I received: a bottle of sleakeasy hair potion from Hermione, a dark berry pink lipstick from Ginny, along with a box of brownies from Molly and a range of non-chip nail polishes from Ange. I got the idea that I was not going to the ball with the 'au naturale' look. I climbed out of bed, looking around my trunk for a present from my Granny. But there was nothing. I couldn't subside the feeling of being abandoned. Just like the rest of them had upped and left… I quickly ran to the bathroom and locked myself in a cubicle, getting into the shower to stop people from hearing me cry my heart out, desperately trying to pull myself together. I should have expected this, of course.
Back in the dorm, everyone had finished opening their presents and were showing them off to each other. I got on my hands and knees, opening my trunk and lifting out the photo album Granny had sent me last year including the picture Fred, George and I had found in my parents' house after they left. I took a look through, reminding myself that there was a point in time where my family cared about me. Then I carefully placed it back into my trunk and lifted George's present and went to the common room, hoping to find him.
My stomach was in knots as I saw George smile up at me. This nervous feeling appearing from nowhere, making me feel like I could either throw up or burst into tears in a flick of a switch. He was sitting on the usual window seat, which he made Fred vacate so that I could join him momentarily.
"Merry Christmas!" he said as I approached, wrapping his arms around me and holding me tight, "Nice jumper." He jested.
"Merry Christmas to you too, George!" I reciprocated as he took a seat beside me, "I erm… got you a present." I handed him two individually wrapped items.
George smiled widely, "Two? You have me spoiled. Which one do you want me to open first?"
"This one," I emphasised the one shaped more like a box, George opened it, looking slightly confused, so I explained, "These are muggle gobstoppers, save them for a party, they're really good." I said seriously but in fact they were nothing but good, because pranking the prankster was my new favourite thing to do, the gobstoppers were very strong and the outer shell tastes like vomit but the prize (if you can withstand it) is the berry flavoured chewing gum in the centre.
"Cool!" he nodded in appreciation as he opened the second present, "Merlin's beard." He said in sheer excitement, "Is this…?"
I nodded, "The tie that matches my dress? Yes. I have decided that we are going to be one of those couples."
George chuckled to himself, jokingly rolling his eyes at me, "And I'm sitting here, having opened your presents and I haven't given you yours yet!" George caught himself on as he presented me with a beautifully wrapped small, rectangular shaped box. I carefully took off the paper and opened the box to reveal the most beautiful diamond bracelet.
"George-" I said looking up from the bracelet, "it's – it's beautiful, thank you!" I wrapped my arms around him and held him tight, "this must have cost you an absolute fortune!" I said, my jaw slack.
"I'm glad you like it!" his cheeks were slightly pink, "I was hoping you might wear it later on?"
As I nodded, the sickly feeling returned and I looked down at the diamond bracelet in my hand. All I wanted to do was write to my Granny and tell her. George was nattering in my ear, but I wasn't listening, my mind was in another place entirely. I thought back to all the happy times I had with my Grandmother, wondering where she was and how she was doing.
"You've gone quiet… Is everything okay?" George nudged me gently.
I couldn't bring myself to look at him, "Sorry…"
He put an arm around me, pulling me close, "What's wrong?"
"I probably should have expected it, I'm being stupid. It's just I haven't heard from – you know…" I couldn't finish the sentence as my voice cracked.
"Nothing?"
"Let's just say there's no chocolate orange for you to smash this year…" I croaked.
"I'm so sorry, Katy…" George said, pulling me in tighter to his side.
"Christmas is just an awful time anyway; I should have seen this coming."
"From this moment on, you are going to have the best Christmas ever. The two of us are going to have a ball later, I promise."
I laughed nasally, realising just how much I had missed George and his stupid puns, "I like the sound of that!" I said, "I'll put this upstairs and then maybe we could grab some breakfast?"
"It's like you read my mind." He said with a small, careful smile.
Between breakfast and lunch, Ange dragged me into her dorm room, "I'm so nervous…" she confessed, "Fred gave me a necklace this morning and the best thing I could say to him was 'thanks', I was just staring at him, no words coming out."
"You don't think I'm nervous?" I rubbed my face with my hands, "I hate this sort of thing…"
"I've noticed!" she laughed to herself, "but George likes you for who you are, he knows you hate this sort of thing! I think he's just overwhelmed that you said that you'd go with him in the first place! I'm sure if you turned up in jeans and a t-shirt tonight he'd be happy and the fact that you're going and you're going to put on a dress is going to show him that you're really making an effort!"
"You make me sound like I'm a massive tomboy!"
"No, I just know that you're not particularly comfortable wearing a dress and you really can't dance, no offence."
I giggled, "None taken. Thanks for my Christmas present, by the way! I take it you're dying to paint my nails?"
Ange nodded tentatively, "PLEASE? And by the way, those clips you bought me are perfect! I've been looking for a nice diamond-y set for ages!"
I smiled, having overhead her conversation with Alicia a few weeks back about her desire for a set of pretty clips to go with her dress tonight, "Shall we go downstairs? Then you can paint my nails in any way you so desire."
Angelina looked at me with pure excitement, grabbing a box from under her bed and following me down the stairs towards the common room where we sat down at a table beside the window. I sat down and gave her my hands, where she happily filed, shaped and prepared my nails for painting.
"Emmm…" Ron said as he and Harry approached me, Harry gave him a shove in the back and Ron gritted his teeth as he said, "this is for you… mum sent it to me by accident."
"Ooooh!" I said with a smile, "Thanks!" I used my free hand to take the box and opened it to reveal a freshly baked loaf of sliced banana bread. There was a note attached which read, 'Merry Christmas, Kathryn, I hope I did your family recipe justice! Molly x' "Would you like a slice?" I asked him.
There was a subtle look of surprise in Ron's eyes as he lifted a slice, took a bite and mumbled 'thanks' with food in his mouth. He always was delightful like that. Then Harry took a slice and so did Ange. They all had similar reactions and when I took a bite for myself, I understood why. It was as delicious as I remembered, bringing me a happy memory.
"Oi." I called out as George lifted a slice of my banana bread, slapping his hand.
George winked at me cheekily, "I just needed to have one more slice…"
"You mean you've already eaten an entire loaf to yourself and now you're stealing mine?" I said in outrage though I couldn't hide a smirk, "I cannot believe you."
George stood a metre or so away, just out of my reach as he smiled angelically, "I'll make it up to you, I promise."
"Sure you will." I smirked, imagining all the ways in which George could possibly make it up to me, making me bite my lip.
"Earth to Kathryn?" Ange snapped her fingers in front of my face, bringing me right back to reality once again, "Honestly." She said mockingly, "Can I have your other hand, please?"
An hour or so later Ange had thoroughly enjoyed giving me a French manicure, and I must admit, it looked perfect. I certainly felt more relaxed after we talked. We played a game where we 'people watched' around the common room, making up stories of what they were talking about, who their date is for the ball and how well the date is going to go. I had a total distraction from my thoughts of this morning as we laughed making up a story about Fred and George. We convinced each other that the twins were staring at us intently, discussing their plans to 'woo' us later on tonight. As she finished her own nails, I thanked her repeatedly for my manicure and the two of us went to get some lunch with Hermione and Ginny who had joined in our discussion, waiting to see the finished results.
Lunch consisted of a turkey dinner and Christmas pudding with large piles of Cribbages Wizarding Crackers. I pulled my cracker with Ginny which revealed a lovely black floppy fedora hat which I carefully balanced on my head as I ate. A large group of us gathered together, and the boys unanimously decided to have a snowball fight outside, inviting all us girls to join in. Ange, Alicia and Katie all declined the offer in aid of going up to start getting ready. Hermione, Ginny and I agreed to go outside to watch, so long as they promised not to fire snowballs at us.
As we walked outside the scenes were beautiful. The snow was untouched apart from the trenches dug out for our visitors from Beauxbatons and Durmstrang to walk to and from the castle. The boys consisted of Harry, Ron, Dean, Neville, Seamus, Fred, George, Tobias, Lee and Bernie and they were fairly throwing the snowballs at each other. I was almost certain that their bodies were completely numb after the first hour. Hermione made a small flame for the three of us to keep warm. Around 1700 we decided to go upstairs and get ready, calling out to the boys, announcing our departure.
I saw George carefully trudge through the snow towards us, I eyed him up suspiciously, "If you've come over here to throw a snowball at me, or put your cold hands on me, think again, Mister."
"No, no, I just wanted to say y-you're looking lovely and I'm really looking forward to later." he looked at me in wonder.
"George." I began, "I'm not going to the ball looking like this. I haven't got a drop of makeup on and my hair dried naturally this morning. Hermione, Ginny and I were actually thinking of going up to get ready now."
"Now?" George looked shocked, "But it's three hours to the ball!"
"Precisely?" I said, "it's going to take time to make myself presentable, and can you promise me something?"
"Yeah?"
"I'd very much like you to be dried off and have feeling and warmth in both of your hands in three hours' time."
George shook his head and laughed, "Scared I might put my cold hands on you?"
"George."
"Okay! Okay! I promise. I'll be waiting for you at the bottom of the Marble Staircase at 1945." He winked before hurrying back to the boys.
"Who are you going with?" Ron yelled to Hermione as we turned to leave, she ignored him, but I was very glad to have turned around as Fred aimed a snowball directly at his face.
Hermione took us on a detour, in the opposite direction of Gryffindor tower when we landed in the all too familiar hospital wing.
"Ah, Miss Granger right on time!" Madam Pomfery said, patting one of the beds for Hermione to sit on. There was a tray full of instruments, ranging from what looked like a massive nail file, and two slightly smaller ones, pliers, a tooth pick and some numbing gel.
"'Mione? Are you getting your teeth filed?" I asked.
Hermione beamed, "Yes! I can't wait!"
As Madam Pomfery got started, Ginny squirmed as she heard the scraping sound. I asked if I was allowed to have a go, but I got a resounding 'no' from both Hermione and Madam Pomfery. It was fascinating to watch her two front teeth shrinking in size, bit by bit. At one point, Madam Pomfery handed Hermione a mirror for her to determine when her teeth were back to their normal size. I could tell that Hermione was letting her oversized front teeth be filed to a more natural looking size. "Just a little bit shorter." Hermione said, Madam Pomfery was sceptical but continued nonetheless.
As Hermione signalled that her teeth were back to normal again, I couldn't help but gasp, "'Mione, look at you!" I smiled and winked cheekily.
"Thank you!" she said cheerily, then thanked Madam Pomfery and the three of us went up the stairs to Gryffindor Tower to get ready. Ginny took up residence in our dorm to get ready with us. I didn't even know where to start, but Hermione had seemingly already made a plan as she started dousing her hair with sleakeasy hair potion. I decided that that was a good idea and started combing it through my wavy hair.
"No waves?" Ginny said, sounding disappointed as she helped Hermione with her mane of frizz.
"No waves." I said definitely, "It'll be easier for me to manage later on."
A look of comprehension appeared in her eyes, "Ah yes, that does make sense."
It was so nice to see Hermione with straight hair as she finished her third bottle of the potion on getting every single tangle out. As I left my hair to dry off, I plaited Ginny's hair, leaving it half up-half-down. I added little jewelled clips that her parents had bought her for Christmas throughout the plait, making it look very classy. "I hope you like it!" I said holding up the mirror for her.
"I LOVE it!" she smiled.
I could see Hermione struggling with her hair, so I climbed over her bed to give her a hand, she had never really done much with her hair before, so I knew it must have been difficult. Parvati also noticed and asked Hermione if she could help, grabbing a handful of bobby pins and placing her hair up in an elegant knot, one section of hair at a time. I quickly found myself useless as Parvati twisted Hermione's hair into several pretty loops, using the pins to hold it in place in the elegant knot shape. I know my description isn't great, but trust me when I say it looked so pretty. Then I had the pleasure of using a curling iron to place a few ringlets into Hermione's hair just to make the look perfect.
Ginny then gave me a hand with my hair to put it up into a 50s inspired updo where we twisted the hair on the top of my head and rolled my hair up to form what Lavender referred to as a 'low chignon roll'. I decided to agree with her, she knew a lot about hairstyles and always had her hair immaculate. I curled the bits of my hair that normally would have gone behind my ears. Hairspray was then put on my hair (by a persistent Lavender), to the point where I reckoned I was flammable.
Fay, Lavender and Parvati had finished doing their hair and makeup and were about to put on their dresses when I looked up at them, "Erm… Please don't tell me it's nearly 8?!"
"It's just gone five past 7, don't worry!" Fay giggled as Ginny helped her zip up her lovely floaty burnt orange dress. Parvati put on a pink skirt with embroidered flowers with an orange top and a pink sash that tied the whole look together impeccably. Finally, Lavender squeezed into a beautiful purple dress that was darkest purple at the bottom and got lighter until a lilac colour on the bodice.
Before leaving to give Hermione and me some space to get dressed, (we had been confined to the space on our beds so far) Parvati insisted that she did my eye makeup, so I delicately put on a layer of foundation, making sure to rub it in carefully and she very artistically drew on winged eyeliner and finished off the look with a subtle dark grey and silver blended eyeshadow.
"Perfect!" she said, letting me look at myself in the mirror.
"Wowzah." I said, looking at Ginny, "Thanks, Parvati!" I said gratefully as the three of them left the dorm to find their dates. They told us we had twenty minutes. I tried not to panic.
I finished the rest of my makeup, including mascara, powder and blusher, then Ginny reminded me to put on the lipstick she got me and said, "Pout for me, girl." She giggled after putting on her own lip gloss. I pouted at her jokingly and she stopped laughing, "your hair and makeup are… flawless, I wish I could take a picture. George is one lucky guy!"
"Oh shush, I put my hair up and put on a bit of lipstick." I said.
"She's always been modest, Gin," Hermione began, "I don't think there is much either of us could say that could make her realise how pretty she is."
I helped Ginny into her pink and green dress, she looked so grown up with her hair and makeup all done. She put on her heels and was standing, helping Hermione get into her dress. She made me close my eyes until she got all zipped up.
"You can open your eyes." Hermione said excitedly.
My first reaction was, "Wow." Her dress was periwinkle blue, chiffon material with ruffles at the bottom and she looked simply stunning, "'Mione, you look beautiful." I said earnestly.
"Thanks, Kathryn!" she smiled, "Now I'm dying to see your dress." She closed her eyes and I slipped off my dressing gown as Ginny opened up the bag to reveal my dress. She gasped slightly just remembering how pretty the dress actually was. A wave of pure excitement came over me as I stepped into the dress.
I had completely forgotten that it was a corset fit dress that the girl in the shop had helped me with. Ginny took one look at me and giggled as she used all her power to tighten up the beige lace bodice for me as I breathed in, "This is as tight as it goes," she announced but I was glad because I was just at the comfortable stage before being unable to breathe.
"Open your eyes, 'Mione!" I said excitedly.
Hermione's jaw went slack, "You're right, Ginny, George is one very lucky boy."
I laughed, twirling. Then I reached into my trunk and grabbed my silver sparkle shoes that Professor McGonagall had given to me for my birthday. As I put my foot into the right shoe I felt something was already in there – the delicate diamond vintage comb that Draco had gifted me a few years ago. I'd rather forget how I received the comb, mind.
"You have got to wear that, Kathryn. It'll just set off the entire look!" Hermione insisted as she placed the comb into my hair and smiled appreciatively, looking at me as I eagerly showed off my sparkling heels and then her eyes started watering, "Kathryn… you're going to make me cry, you need to look at yourself in the mirror."
I hoisted the dress slightly to move around the beds and looked at myself in the long length mirror. I didn't recognise the girl I saw. She had curves, cleavage, beautiful makeup and perfect hair and an elegant dress. My body had changed right before my eyes and I was only realising what Ange, Hermione and Ginny had been telling me for weeks. I understood why people had said that I had grown up so quickly, I finally felt… pretty.
I smirked at Ginny who was smiling at me, "You see what we mean?" she lifted out the bracelet George gave me earlier and clasped it around my right wrist.
"This is the first time I've not felt like broken or damaged goods." I said simply.
Hermione looked at the clock, "Its 1945! We'd best get down the stairs!" she announced.
"I need a minute." I said, feeling nervous, "You two go on ahead, George knows I want to take a nap before coming downstairs anyway."
The two of them laughed and told me not to be too long and left. I put some more powder on my nose, added to my lipstick and covered myself in my nicest smelling perfume. All whilst giving myself a pep talk.
'You can do this, Kathryn. You just need to walk down the stairs and you'll see George and we will have a ball." I repeated over and over, taking deep, calming breaths. I swished the navy blue chiffon skirt and looked at my shoes, I had McGonagall's voice in my head, 'You shall go to the ball.'
I decided it was either now or never as I walked through the deserted common room, out the portrait door and down the flights of stairs before I got to the top of the marble staircase. I caught eyes with George immediately and grinned at him before gracefully walking down the stairs towards him. He was wearing what looked like brand new navy blue dress robes with the navy blue tie I had given him earlier. I couldn't keep my eyes off him as he smiled back at me. As I reached the bottom of the staircase he stared at me appreciatively for a minute or so, leaving me feeling suitably embarrassed. He then offered me his arm and I linked onto him closely.
"You look… incredible." George said slowly, whispering into my ear, "Amazing, beautiful, I just… Wow."
"You don't scrub up so badly yourself." I smirked, "Sorry I'm late…"
George stopped and looked at me, "You are worth the wait. Did you have a good nap?"
The two of us giggled and he unlinked my arm and put his hand on my waist. It just felt so natural. I looked up at him to find him already staring at me.
"Hey, Colin!" George called out.
The little mousey haired third year turned and smiled, "Would you like me to take your picture?"
I nodded, placing a hand on George's chest, leaning in close to him, looking back at the camera, whilst George held me close with his arm around me. Then George signalled for Colin to take another. George wrapped his arms around me from behind in a loving embrace and then placed a soft kiss on my left cheek with little to no warning.
After the flash went off, I heard Ange's voice over everyone else as she brought Fred over too. "Kathryn Pink. Here's me thinking you didn't like dresses. You look stunning."
"Thanks Ange, you look beautiful!" I remarked.
Professor McGonagall, who was wearing red tartan dress robes and thistles around the brim of her hat called for the champions. I watched as Harry and Parvati walked over together. They kept that one quiet. Fleur was partnered with Roger Davies, the head of the Ravenclaw Quidditch team. As Harry had said, Cedric was partnered with Cho. Then I saw her; Hermione Granger walking arm in arm with Viktor Krum. She looked breathtakingly beautiful. I heard whispers around me, asking who this girl in the blue robes was. I couldn't help but smile. That's my best friend.
The doors to the Great Hall opened, and Krum's 'fan club' from the library walked part Hermione with a look of pure loathing.
"Ooooh! It's time to go in!" Angelina jumped on the balls of her feet excitedly next to me, I don't know who was pulling whom, but they quickly found themselves in the line.
George laced my fingers and smiled, "Shall we?"
I nodded, "Gladly!"
George and I walked towards the entrance into the Great Hall, where I playfully stuck out my tongue at Hermione, winked at Krum cheekily and found myself taking a second to straighten Harry's tie. I really couldn't help it. "You've always been the mother of the group, haven't you?" George whispered to me as we strolled through the door. The Great Hall was magnificently decorated with sparkling silver frost, with hundreds of garlands of mistletoe (which I vowed to avoid) and ivy crossing the black sky-ceiling above. As I looked around the room, I realised that the house tables had been taken away and replaced by a hundred or so smaller, rounded tables with lanterns in the centre. At the top table, the judges from the tournament stood.
George guided me to stand next to him where we clapped appreciatively as the champions and their partners entered, walking towards the top table.
"Perce?" George said out loud, to no one in particular.
"Huh?" I looked up at him, as he pointed out his brother, who was sitting at the judges table, beckoning for Harry to sit next to him, "Oh. I'm sure he'll be a delight as always."
George laughed, "Let's avoid him." He wrapped his arm around my waist again, and the crowds of people dispersed and started taking their seats around the tables, "Can we sit with Fred and Angelina? Or would you rather sit with -"
I hooted, "You're asking if I want to sit with Ron?"
"Good point." He smiled, pulling out a chair for me beside Ange. Katie, Bernie, Alicia, Tobias, Lee and a girl I hadn't met before called Paula who was a Ravenclaw were already seated.
"George! This is so cool." Fred looked excitable with a menu in hand, "Pork Chops!" he said confidently and they appeared on his plate, with a selection of veg and mashed potatoes, just as though ordering from a restaurant. It was seriously impressive.
George picked up his menu with just as much enthusiasm and said, "Beef!"
Ange and I shared a side glance, picked up our own menus and ordered, "Gammon!" which came with buttery mashed potatoes, cauliflower cheese with a ring of pineapple on top of the gammon. I felt myself salivating just looking at it. I think Ange was the same.
We all sat eating, happily. Ange and Fred were sitting very close to each other giggling constantly in a cute sort of coupily way. Alicia rolled her eyes at me, hinting that I should give Ange an elbow, shouting across the table that it was making her feel sick. I told her to let them be.
Katie, trying to distract me from the look of disgust on Alicia's face asked, "It's a surprise you two are here, together."
"Oh?" I said mischievously.
"Don't get me wrong, I'm happy for you both!"
"Has George not been talking about me? Telling you all how absolutely wonderful I am?" I joked, giving George a teasing look.
"Oh yes." Alicia said frankly, "He never shuts up about you."
Katie shushed Alicia, "You're not supposed to tell her! I want them to be friends again, not for them to fight because you're being grumpy after breaking up with -"
"Don't say his name." Alicia's face went bright red.
I looked up at George and he smiled, shaking his head, "You really don't want to know." He took a hold of my hand under the table as I set down my cutlery to signal that I was finished, "I am really glad I get to spend tonight with you, though."
"There's no one else I'd rather spend tonight with, either." I grinned.
At the end of the meal, Dumbledore signalled for everyone to stand and at a wave of his wand, the tables zoomed back against the walls, leaving the floor clear. We then took our seats again. Dumbledore then conjured a raised platform along the right hand wall which had several musical instruments and the record player that looked awfully familiar.
"Merlin's Beard!" I said, so that only those in close proximity to me could hear, "the bloody dance." I let out a groan. Ange, Katie and Alicia were in fits of laughter, as they had been teasing me about the lessons ever since.
"Don't worry, I'll look after you!" George smiled, squeezing my hand, which he still found an excuse to hold.
"I don't know what you're smiling about, you can't dance, either." I tried to hold back laughter, but failed miserably.
George leaned in close to me and whispered, "You and I are always okay when we stick together."
"True." I agreed. Then I saw Harry, Parvati, Hermione, Krum, Cedric, Cho, Fleur and Roger all stand to dance. Dumbledore pointed his wand at the record player and it began playing the first dance Harry and I learnt together. "I wish I could wolf whistle…" I giggled at Harry's awkwardness.
George whistled loudly, "Like that?"
"G'wan Harry!" I shouted, "Watch her feet!"
I saw Dean and Seamus sniggering and waving at Harry as he tripped over his robes. I could see his face redden slightly, but he laughed to himself. That was before Parvati took him by both hands and directed him in the steps to the dance. They weren't too bad, considering. Soon after, Dumbledore invited Madam Maxime to take to the floor with him and Mad-Eye Moody began a very dodgy version of the dance with Professor Sinistra who was nervously trying to avoid his wooden leg.
"May I have this dance?" George stood and bowed briefly to me.
"Alright then!" I shook my head and smirked. George took my hand and the two of us made our way to the dance floor, dancing anything but the actual moves with me. I think at one point he led me into a tango, then into some classic ballroom, followed by a waltz in the song. As we stopped spinning, I looked up to see Fred and Ange dancing exuberantly, a bit of a show dance with arms and legs flinging in every direction.
Then followed the salsa, which George took every opportunity to place his hands on my hips. In fairness to him, he was helping me stay in time with the music! Ginny and Neville made a short appearance where Neville congratulated me on my hip action and Ginny warned George, telling him to be good. George swore that he was on his best behaviour before twirling me on the spot, making the skirt of my dress flare out. He was treating me like a princess.
A loud applause sounded at the end of the song as The Weird Sisters walked on stage. George looked starstruck as they started playing. "I can't believe it! I – I didn't think they – I mean – the Weird Sisters! And I love this song!"
"Shall we dance, then? Instead of standing here like two eejits?"
"Oh – right – yeah!" he nodded enthusiastically and happily sang along to the lyrics, bouncing about like he just didn't care. I joined in. He made me feel like I was invincible and that I could do anything so long as I was by his side. He kept looking at me and smiling. Seeing him so happy made me realise that I hadn't seen him smile so wide in months. That he only grinned like that when he was with me. All the stuff that happened before no longer mattered. George pulled me into a tight hug at the end of the song and I let my body relax as I held him, resting my head on his shoulder as the Weird Sisters announced their next song, entitled 'Do The Hippogriff'. I was more familiar with this song. It was a lot faster, with a good rocky beat, and we danced a lot more energetically. Fred and Angelina joined us, showing us some of their wacky moves. We had our hands in the air, and George twirled me round and round as we jumped about. Fred whispered something into George's ear half way through the dance and his face lit up as though he was thinking through a plan. At the end of the song, George looked at me apologetically and was about to speak when I said simply, "Don't leave me alone for too long."
"Thank you!" He kissed my forehead gently and the two of them drifted off towards Ludo Bagman, who was wearing bright purple robes that were covered in large yellow stars. I can't honestly say I would go with that style, but it seemed fitting for his vibrant personality.
I decided to leave the dancefloor to grab myself a drink, first taking a second to look around, watching all of my school mates and the visitors having a great time, letting their hair down. I caught sight of Professor McGonagall laughing as she and Dumbledore danced together. I caught eyes with François who was dancing with one of the Beauxbatons girls. He gave me a small smile and I nodded. Turning towards the drinks table, I bumped into Krum, "Oh, sorry!" I said apologetically.
"Haff you seen Herm-own-ninny?" he asked me, holding up two bottles of butterbeer.
"No, I haven't, sorry… I haven't talked to her all night! I was just about to get myself a drink." I said, trying to scoot past him.
"Vood you like this?" he offered me one of the bottles.
I shook my head, "No thanks, I'm not a fan of butterbeer. I much prefer fruitier drinks." I explained whilst walking, Krum appeared to be following me. I poured myself out a glass of fruit punch and walked back into the crowds to help Krum find Hermione. But I spied her sitting at an otherwise empty table. "Hey…" I said. Hermione looked upset as I sat down beside her, "What's up?"
Krum followed me and took a seat on the other side of her, "Are you okay, Herm-own-ninny?"
She quickly wiped away a tear and smiled, "I'm fine!"
Krum then handed her one of the bottles and she took a sip before whispering one word, "Ron." That's all I needed to know. I squeezed her hand gently and she nodded, she wasn't going to let him ruin her night. I reckoned he'd be jealous of Hermione attending the ball with Krum and gave her a piece of his mind. I knew that this was not the time to give him a piece of my mind, so I nodded courtly in return.
Inviting me to dance with them, Krum offered me his other arm, but I politely declined as I saw another familiar face approaching me as the current song was about to end. "Kathryn." Draco announced himself.
"Draco." I said as he stood in front of me. He was wearing black velvet dress robes with a high collar, "You're looking well." I commented.
"May I have this dance?" he asked, holding out his hand for me to take.
I reached out and Draco took my hand, "As promised." The next song that played was a little slower that the one before. Draco placed his hand carefully on my waist and the two of us danced, hand in hand.
"You look very nice, Pink." Draco said, "I wouldn't have expected anything less, but what does surprise me is that you chose to go to this ball with a Weasley. After all that's happened?"
"Well, if you bothered to talk to me in our last two Potions classes, I would have told you that he has apologised for everything. He asked me to the ball to make up for the way he treated me, so far he's doing quite well." I proclaimed.
"So how come I found you sitting at a table on your own? And don't say he's off to get you a drink, because I watched you go over to get yourself a drink less than two minutes ago." Draco said, raising an eyebrow, "I'm only looking out for you, Kathryn."
"I know you are, but I don't have to spend the entire night in his arms, you know." I smirked, "Besides, can you not tell me off for this entire dance, please?"
Draco looked straight into my eyes, we were around the same height now I had heels on, "Sorry…" he said, "You're wearing – that comb – I gave it to you?"
I nodded, "Back in second year. I never thanked you for it. It's beautiful."
"Just like the girl wearing it." Draco said, and quickly lost eye contact with me, "It reflects well in this light. I'm sure mother would be most delighted that you're wearing it."
"I'm not too sure your mother likes me all that much!" I confided, "She saw me the day I bought this dress and as soon as she laid eyes on me, she got out of the shop as fast as she went in. Then I saw her again at the Quidditch World Cup…"
"She just wasn't a fan of your company." Draco said.
I rolled my eyes, "You've just got to accept that I have friends you don't necessarily like!" I said simply, "I'm not here in this world to please anyone."
Draco smirked, "I just think you're making a big mistake with him. I don't want to see you get hurt again."
"Draco, you're not my parent. It isn't your job to try and protect me. I've got to stand on my own two feet, make decisions for myself, make mistakes and thrive." I explained calmly, "I was stuck before, with my parents, too scared to come out of my own bedroom and now I have this freedom. I'm not frightened any more, I can live." I smiled at him, but seeing the look of concern on his face I continued, "Look, Draco, we're always going to be friends. Unlikely friends at that. But friends nonetheless, and I like having you around, but you're just going to have to trust me to do the right thing. Nothing will change between us, I'll still piss you off in potions and we can work on projects together. I'll still get annoyed at you when you make fun of my friends and you'll still be the only person-"
"Excuse me, may I steal Kathryn for this next song?" George approached us, smiling.
Draco let go of my hands and nodded, knowing that it was the right thing to do, so I gave him a quick hug and left.
"Are you …?"
"We're friends, George, I promised him a dance and we were just talking!"
"I trust you!" he said, "But that's not what I was asking, I was just wondering if you were okay and if you'd like a drink?"
"Yeah, definitely."
A disgruntled Ron was grabbing two butterbeers from the drinks table as George and I arrived. I poured myself another glass of the fruit punch as George went to the other end of the table to where Ron was standing to grab himself a bottle of cherry syrup and soda. Ron stopped beside George and asked, "You never told me who you were going to the ball with!"
"Why don't you say hello to my date then?" he asked as I approached, unknowingly walking into the conversation.
Ron looked angry, "Oh bloody hell, George. Anyone but her."
"You don't have to spend the night with Kathryn, you don't have to dance with her. I, for one, love spending time with her. I don't get what your problem is with her. So why don't you toddle off Ronniekins and play with your ickle friends?" George shooed Ron away.
I felt bad, "Georgie…" I pouted, "He's your brother…"
"He's an idiot who deserves a good slap." George stated.
I smirked, taking a sip of my drink, "I'll have to agree with you on that one, I'm afraid." I took George's free hand and steered him towards a free table where I could sit down for a second. Not because my feet were sore, but because my conversation with Draco had given me a lot to think about. George sat down, shaking his foot to the beat of the music, but when he looked at me, he turned and gave me his full attention as I asked, "What was that with Ludo Bagman?"
"Ah, yes…" George scratched the back of his neck, "I promised I'd tell you about that… It's just… Do you remember at the Quidditch World Cup, Fred and I bet that Ireland would win, but Krum would catch the snitch?"
"Of course I remember!" I smiled, "You happily held out your hands as you got your pay-out."
"Turns out Bagman likes to play dirty when it comes to gambling and taking bets off people." George explained, looking frustrated, "He gave Fred and me Leprechaun gold, you remember it disappeared? And now he's refusing to give us the money that he owes. Fred and I have written him a few letters, they started off nice and now we're – it's just, that was our life savings and he took them from us, all we want is to get what we're owed. That's all. So we went to corner him tonight, but he always seems to be good at getting out from being backed into a corner…"
I sighed, "That's not fair… That's not fair at all."
"Anyway, this night is about you and me, I shouldn't have left you on your own, I'm sorry…"
"You're alright, I'll forgive you!" I chucked, "I'm a big girl now! And George…" I said seriously, "Thanks for telling me. I'll try and work out some way to help you. But as you said, right now is all about you and me." The song changed to another familiar Weird Sisters song 'This is the night'.
George and I 'got our groove on' and danced like no one was watching. I just felt so comfortable with him and wanted to spend as much time as I could by his side. At one point, Harry had made his way onto the dance floor and danced alongside me, as pathetically as I was. "Kathryn I wanted to tell you something…"
I shouted over the sound of the music, "What?"
"It's Ron and Hermione…" he said before twirling me in time with the music.
"Harry, I don't want to know…" I said somewhat selfishly, "The two of them will still hate each other in the morning, I'm sure…"
Harry shook his head, "Do you know what? You're right. The three of us are just going up to bed, I'll see you in the morning…." He smiled, turning to walk away, he stopped and beckoned me closer to whisper into my ear, "And from a brother to a sister, be good."
"Heh." I said, "You know I'm always a good girl, Harry."
Harry walked away, shaking his head.
After this song ended, many people headed up to bed and the Great Hall became noticeably quieter. The remaining people in the room tended to be couples, and at that there were only half a dozen of us left. It was clear by the way George had his arms wrapped around me that he wasn't ready to go to bed either. A few songs passed, George and I chatted as we danced together. The lead singer of the Weird Sisters then said, "This one's for all you lovers out there, hold each other tight and keep each other warm."
"This is my favourite song!" George whispered into my ear as they played their final song entitled 'Magic Works'. George placed a hand on my back and took my hand in his as I placed my spare hand on his shoulder and we slow danced together. The song contained the words, 'this is your final chance, to hold the one you love, you know you've waited long enough…'
George whispered gently into my ear as we danced, "This has been the best night of my entire life. Thank you for giving me the chance to spend it with you. I genuinely couldn't imagine this without you, I can't even imagine spending the rest of my life without you. I think we're destined to be together, right here, right now."
I whispered back, "I couldn't agree with you more. We both know what we want."
"Katy, I know that the last time I told you this, that things didn't go down too well, but I promise that this time, things will be different. Things will be better, much better. It's just, I guess I'm afraid that I love you more than you'll ever love me." George tilted his head to the side, looking from my eyes to my lips.
"That's not possible!" I shook my head, looking at him, biting my lip, "I love you George, from the moment I met you, I haven't stopped loving you! Even when you do crazy, stupid shit!"
George caressed my cheek with his hand, "I love you, too! More than you will ever know!" I felt George's hand on the small of my back, pulling me closer until our bodies were only centimetres apart. Looking into his eyes, I noticed a speck of green in his eyes that I had never seen before. He slowly leaned in towards me, his soft lips lightly touching mine, but not quite. I breathed in the smell of his aftershave, closing my eyes, filling the gap between our lips until they met, suddenly then all at once. I laid my arms around his shoulders, placing my hands in his smooth, silky hair. As we paused for air, I had the sweet taste of his lips on mine and only craved more. George put both hands on the small of my back and drew me in tight. His lips touched mine a second time, much more eagerly, until he gently pulled away.
There are no words to describe how I felt. We looked into each other's eyes and grinned. Nothing felt more natural, more perfect, more right than this moment.
"Wow." George said finally.
"Yeah!" I tittered.
Then I noticed that the room had gone awfully quiet. As I broke away from George's gaze I realised that the final song had ended and the two of us were the only two people left on the dancefloor, gently swaying from side to side. We giggled at each other and I wrapped my arms around his torso and held him, listening to the fast beats of his heart and feeling his head rest on mine. I looked up at him and kissed him again, this time more tenderly. I placed a hand on his chest and wiped away a strand of my hair from his shirt. A gentle buzz sounded from the entrance hall as everyone headed to bed. As I turned to leave, George laced his fingers with mine and held me back, "I don't want tonight to end…"
"Neither do I, today has been perfect."
"Katy?" he said tenderly.
"Yeah?"
George stopped on the spot in the middle of the Entrance Hall which was now completely deserted, "Will you be my girlfriend?"
"I thought you'd never ask!" I giggled, "Of course I will!"
George picked me up off the ground and twirled me in the air, pressing his lips firmly onto mine, "You have made me the happiest guy in the world."
"And me the happiest girl!" I replied as we ascended the stairs towards Gryffindor Tower the only sound made was the clicking of my heels on the stone floor, "Georgie?" I whispered gently.
"Yeah?" he squeezed my hand gently.
"I meant it, when I told you I loved you." I spoke as he climbed into Gryffindor tower after me.
I could feel George smile as he kissed me goodnight, "I know." he caressed my face, "I love you, Katy. Sweet dreams."
Safe to say I slept with a smile on my face.