they were just kids [draco malfoy]

Year 5 - 129

"Why do you reckon I'm wearing this dress I'd never be able to afford as a daily expense? They're selling us like some cheap barbydolls," Rosier rolled her eyes, all kinds of lights reflecting off them, not only from the excessive amount of chandeliers all around them but also from the overly-sparkly and utterly un-Rosier-like dress the girl was wearing. A skintight glittery beige - almost white - dress, her hair straightened down the sides of her head. Maggie Rosier hated it.

"That's why the lot of us look like a million dollars tonight," Daphne shrugged, looking longingly at the pyramid of champagne glasses stood just to the left from them. 

Astrid's eyes trailed around the room and it ideed appeared so. It was the first real ball the girl had attended but she had an inkling this would remain to be the poshest and flashiest of all. Everyone was gorgeous - up to the point it almost felt unreal. Astrid rarely felt self-conscious, but standing there then, knowing her minimalistic light grey slip dress had cost good if a fifth of what all the other girls had paid for theirs made her a tad uncomfortable. That and the lack of expensive jewellery around her neck. Astrid had brushed her hair for once and actually curled and styled it, moving it backwards so the ametrine earrings, that malfoy had gifted her years back, could be easily visible. But that was also just about it.

Daphne wore a puffy dress of purple which too looked to be nearly of the colour white. Not just her neck but also the entirety of her hairpiece was littered with diamonds more pristine than Astrid had ever seen anything be in her life. The brightness off Daphne, reflecting off all the gold of the walls and the shininess of the scrubbed nearly mirrorlike floor, made the girl to look as if she was glowing. Her appearance was blindingly stunning.

Looking further across the divine ballroom, Astrid shortly realised it was awfully easy to spot any and all girls that were their age or one or two years older - all of them wore dresses of colour so bleached it appeared almost white. Clearly dressed up as brides.

"Just a year and we'll be of legal age to get married off," Daphne spoke again, looking into the distance and correcting her hairpiece. Astrid followed her gaze to see some foreign lad looking at her friend all until Daphne gave a charming smile and looked away. The blonde rolled her eyes the moment she was facing the other direction.

"I hate it," Rosier growled darkly and crossed her arms.

Daphne brushed a loose strand of hair gently behind her ear and then shrugged, still looking around, pinpointing all and any possible targets of her night. "I think it's an easy way to get me a wealthy darling."

"We're barely 16! Why do you need a husband?" Rosier frowned again.

Astrid cringed any time she recalled Dumbledore's words of that she had actually been born in the summer of 1981, meaning that she very possibly was still just 14. All throughout the weeks until the Midsumball, all the things of what the man had told her had kept running through her head on loop. While at first she had felt miserable and lost, within a few days she had gotten used to the idea. Astrid kept trying to push the negativity away and rather think of the fact that nothing had actually really changed. She was still the same Astrid Ninomae. Her parents were all the same. Her school and friends were all the same. She was fine.

Daphne sighed exasperatedly, looking over at her friends for the first time in a long while. "Rosier, darling, you don't understand anything. So I won't even bother." 

Soft music played through the room, but people weren't dancing just yet. Instead, they were all talking amongst themselves - girls showing off their best angles, looking pretty, while the lads huddled up, possibly discussing which girls they'd ask to dance that night - which girl their parents had ordered them to dance with. Astrid saw Malfoy, Theo and the whole lot of their dorm room huddled at the opposite end of the room. Blaise's and Daphne's further disagreements were the only reason the group stood apart.