stardust ⋮ george weasley

thirty-four :

T H I R T Y - F O U R

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A few weeks after the first task, Professor Flitwick had gathered nearly all of the Ravenclaws in the Great Hall one morning, announcing that there was to be a house meeting for fourth years and up. No one had any idea what it was about, but many assumed it had something to do with the Triwizard Tournament.

"The Yule Ball had been a tradition of the Triwizard Tournament since it's creation centuries ago," Professor Flitwick informed the hall of students. He was standing on a large step-stool next to what appeared to be a large record player that was occasionally letting out small scratchy noises as Filch fiddled with it. "On Christmas night, all of us will gather in the Great Hall for a wonderful evening of well-mannered fun. Since we are representatives of our wonderful school Hogwarts, I'm expecting you all to be on your best behavior and put your best foot forward, quite literally, as the Yule Ball will be a dance."

While many of the boys seemed neutral over the whole event and borderline annoyed, the girls all began to giggle excitedly over the prospect of dancing the night away with their best friends and potentially a cute date too.

Estelle and Adeline shared an enthusiastic grin, both clearly just as eager as most people in the room for Christmas night to arrive. When she was younger and had to go to all the fancy events, one of the only parts Adeline enjoyed was choosing the gorgeous dress and doing her hair all fancy. Adeline hadn't been to an event like that in years, so learning about the Yule Ball made her incredibly excited.

Despite her best efforts to think otherwise, Adeline couldn't help but hope that a certain redhead would ask her to the dance.

"No wonder they put dress robes on the list this year," Estelle whispered in her ear. "My mum went nuts this summer when she saw it on the list. I was dragged to so many different robes shops, but the dress I found made all the hours so worth it."

Adeline was now hoping that the muggle dress she had bought from a shop in her hometown would be good enough for the grand ball. The gorgeous blue dress she had gotten could pass for wizard dress robes, but Adeline now found herself anxious that with all the focus that would likely be on her that evening, all the students and likely Rita Skeeter would find many faults in her gown choice.

Professor Flitwick gestured for Filch to start up the music, and a slow and steady waltz piece began to ring throughout the room. When no one moved from their spots, Professor Flitwick clapped his hands and shouted, "Everyone find a partner! I will take away house points if you don't!"

Adeline found herself partnering up with Patrick, and the pair tried replicating the large figurines in the front of the room Professor Flitwick had charmed to act as a waltzing demonstration. Even though males were supposed to traditionally take the lead, Patrick was struggling so much with the steps, Adeline ended up leading the pair.

Patrick cursed when he stepped on Adeline's feet again and winced, despite Adeline's assurances that she didn't care. "I can apparate across Hogsmeade and can transfigure people into sea urchins, yet I can't do a simple 1-2-3 step," He muttered as he stumbled once more.

"Don't worry about it too much," Adeline reassured. "Most teenagers can't waltz at all, so you'll be perfectly okay at the Ball."

"You can!"

"I've had practice!"

Professor Flitwick, who happened to be walking past, beamed when he saw the pair. "Wonderful, Ms. Reyes! And nice improvement as well, Mr. Byrne."

Adeline was surprised when she heard the compliment. She had trained in ballet and even took a few waltzing lessons years ago, when her parents expected her to be dancing at all these fancy functions in the future. But after the Hogwarts letter came, all those lessons and expectations ceased to exist, and Adeline expected that all her dancing knowledge would have gone with it.