I Know The End {Fred Weasley, ACT I}

Chapter 24- Party Rock Anthem

A crop top. A mini skirt. One of those dresses that felt as though a seam would burst at any moment because it was just that tight. Jeans. A shirt over a shirt over a shirt. A skater dress. More jeans. A dress over a shirt. Another mini skirt. Layer, layer, layer. That's what Iris said at least.

The girls' dormitory was chaotic most Friday nights. The stairwell would jam as girls ran from one dormitory to the next, begging Muggle-born girls to let them borrow something, anything for whatever party was being thrown that night. Luckily for the seventh-year girls, Iris was always more than willing to share her enormous haul of Muggle clothing that she brought with her to Hogwarts every year.

"I hate these damn robes," Iris would complain, pulling at the sleeves, "it's just so stuffy."

She'd wear the damned robes to class but that was it. Whether it be the weekend, an evening in the library, mealtimes, or a trip to Hogsmeade, Iris could be found sporting jeans or a dress, depending on the weather. She didn't care what their professors nor their classmates had to say about it. If anyone commented she'd simply roll her eyes and mutter about their prejudice showing.

There were wizarding robes for parties. One could simply wear a dress robe, although that was typically for more formal occasions, like weddings or the Yule Ball. It would be unfortunate to spill cheap fire whiskey all down the front of an expensive dress robe while dancing in a cramped common room. More traditional witches and wizards, like those with long, complicated family trees that seemed to intertwine an uncomfortable amount, would simply wear worn out robes to teenage parties. They'd throw on a whole face of makeup, tell themselves everyone would be too drunk to remember that they ever wore something so below their standard, and slip on some dusty, old robe with a hole in the armpit to sweat in for the night.

The richest of families just wore their formal dress robes, allowing whatever happened to happen. It was a symbol of wealth more than anything. I have so much money I don't care what happens to the most expensive item in my closet. I can just replace it later. She was sure Draco Malfoy would be wearing his nicest, emerald dress robes tonight. He'd purposefully tear a seam, maybe spill a drink, if only to say 'oh, it's no problem. My father will buy me a new one.' Montague on the other hand would be fumbling over himself, pathetically explaining to anyone who would listen that he couldn't wear his dress robes to such an unceremonious event. His dress robes had been in the family for generations; it would be unfathomable to wear them to something so silly.

The rest of the school was moving toward Muggle party clothes. The younger generations were adapting more and more to Muggle culture; a fact some resented, but one Eleanor celebrated. She had her own collection of Muggle clothing, although not as large as Iris's, and the clothes were just... cuter. Especially for a party. It let her show more skin, sweat less. An overall practical improvement.

"You have a lot of plaid skirts all of a sudden." Angelina threw a yellow-striped skirt on Iris's bed. The discard pile.

"Well, duh. Like the movie Clueless. It's what I based, like, my whole summer wardrobe off of," Iris said, her nose wrinkled as she retrieved her rejected skirt from her bed, folding it together gently.

"What? Clueless? Who's clueless?" Angelina asked, now rifling through the stack of plaid skirts, all different colors, some short, some long, some tight, some loose. Iris's family had a lot of Muggle money. Like a lot. Her father was some kind of non-magical healer. Something to do with hearts, but Eleanor couldn't remember the exact word.

"It's a movie. Came out this summer." Iris looked at her friends expectantly, but received nothing more than shrugs in response. "I'm so confused by what you people do for fun. No movies, no television shows, no MTV. I'm so glad I'm a Muggle-born or else I'd lose my head out of boredom."