[on hold] 𝐒𝐀𝐋𝐓&𝐋𝐄𝐌𝐎𝐍 → 𝑓. 𝑤𝑒𝑎𝑠𝑙𝑒𝑦

xxv . red like a ruby

chapter twenty five
RED LIKE A RUBY

· · ─────── ·𖥸· ─────── · ·

   RUBY AWOKE on Christmas morning, immediately wide awake. Forgotten was her anger over her two best friends, and excitement took over, followed by panic, as tonight was her date with Terrence, the Yule Ball, and still she had no dress.

   "Okay, don't freak out, I still have that dress my mother wanted me to wear", Leilani said, after Ruby told her about her not so tiny problem, considering that she was facing a ball. "You can wear it."

   "I guess there's a fair reason you don't want to wear it?", Ruby snorted, bowing over her trunk and desperately pulled out every single piece of clothing she owned. There were dresses, not many of them, though, and nothing was usable for a ball.

   "Well, it's green, and green doesn't fit me", Leilani muttered, but after Ruby threw her a doubting glance, she shrugged. "Okay, it's terrible. But still better than going in this thing." She picked up one of Ruby's summer dresses, patterned with flowers and butterflies. It had been a present from her father to her fourteenth birthday.

   "I won't bet on it." Ruby sunk backwards onto the floor, her eyes closed. "I'm doomed."

   "You're not. Take my dress, maybe we can charm it into something more ... fashionable."

   The whole long day was still laying in front of Ruby, when she left the common room with Leilani and Cedric for the breakfast, finding the every single soul she passed by on her way to her seat at the Hufflepuff table in the best mood. Everyone was excited, the Great Hall was filled with echoing chatters.

   "Leilani ..."

   As they passed the Ravenclaw table, Roger stretched out his hand, grabbing Leilani's wrist.

   "Don't you dare to touch me, Roger Davies", Leilani hissed, pulling her hand out of his grip.

   "But —"

   "Shut. Up." Head up high, she walked on, and Ruby and Cedric followed her, exchanging quick gazes.

   "That he even dares!", Leilani seethed, as they took their seats at the Hufflepuff table. "I should hex the shi— AH!"

   A huge black owl missed her head just by inches, before dropping a package right in front of Ruby. Her name was written on a small piece of parchment placed in the middle of it. She turned it around, reading 'open when you're alone'.

   "What the —", Ruby started to talk, but Leilani yelped, "Oh Merlin! It's the dress!"

   Cedric looked from Ruby to Leilani. "Dress?"

   "C'mon, go go go", Leilani muttered, pushing Ruby.

   "But I am hungry", Ruby tried to protest, but Leilani was already on her feet, pulling Ruby's arm. "O—kay, calm down, woman, I'm coming." She flicked her wand and the package vanished into thin air, before she got up and followed Leilani. "You know the dress will still be there if I only eat a pancake or two, right?"

   "Then go to your pancakes, but I want to see that dress", Leilani snorted.

   "I - oh." Ruby froze in motion the second she stepped into the entrance hall. "Jasmine."

   The tall, dark haired girl was glaring at her with eyes like daggers, and what her face was telling was definitely no happy fairytale. Jasmine Parkinson was seething, and of course Ruby knew the reason.

   "Explain", she hissed through gritted teeth.

   "What do you —"

   "Don't play dumb, Perks, you know exactly what I mean", the Slytherin spat, crossing her arms in front of her chest. "So you think you can just date Terrance without me finding out and beating the shit out of your worthless mudblood bones?"

   "Okay, Parkinson, you need to calm the fuck down!", Leilani chimed in, before Ruby could say a word, her eyebrows furrowed, as she stepped forward to shelter Ruby. "It was Terrance's great idea, and maybe you should take to consideration that he has finally enough of your bullshit."

   "Did I ask for your opinion, you ugly little shit?" Jasmine didn't even look at Leilani, her eyes still fixated on Ruby when she suddenly whipped out her wand. "If you'll show up with him tonight, I'll make your life a living hell. I'll destroy you. Got that?"

   "Oh, I got that, but know what?", Ruby hissed, her fist clenched around her own wand was nervously twitching, while she tried to keep her face calm and unimpressed, as she pushed past Leilani, her eyes narrowed. It wasn't that easy to remain cool, though; inside her there was a battle between fight and flight going on, and she needed to speak out the words before bravery would leave her. "I don't care. I don't need your permission. He asked me. It was his decision. Got that?"

   "You won't dare —"

   "I will, and now get out of my way."

   Bumping her shoulder into Jasmine's, she passed her by, not having to look back to know that Jasmine's wand was pointed at her back. She felt the Slytherin's spell hit her spine without even tickling her. It was merely a soft push.

   "Nice try, Parkinson, unfortunately awfully foreseeable." With those words hanging in the Entrance Hall,  Ruby pushed the dungeon door open and slipped through it, and the second the door fell shut behind the two girls back, Ruby and Leilani bursted out laughing, Leilani out of amusement, but Ruby's outburst being pure relief.

   When a little later they arrived the common room, Ruby watched Leilani getting high on excitement. It seemed like it took everything from her to not run straight for the dormitory. Of course Ruby was excited as well, but also scared. What if it wasn't a dress? What if it was a Christmas present from Amber, or something like that? Or part of Jasmine's plan?

   So entering the dorm, Ruby hesitated. Leilani noticed, but she jumped over to Ruby's bed, where the package now was laying, and shoved it into Ruby's arms.

   "Now!", Leilani commanded, her eyes glimming with excitement, while Ruby's fingers were shaking.

   "I — oh, okay, fine. Just stop looking at me like that", Ruby groaned, her fingers softly running over the silk surface of the package.

   "What are you waiting for?"

   Ruby sighed and started unpacking, until cloth floated onto the bedsheets, pooling around Ruby's knees.

   It was red. Red like a ...

   "Ruby", Leilani whispered. "Red like a ruby." She looked up and grinned at her best friend. "This guy has some taste, huh?"

   Ruby didn't answer. Fingers still shivering, she lifted the dress up. Its back was low cut, very low cut, while the front was plastered with glittering little brilliants reaching down to the part of the hips. The skirt was looking like liquid magma, brightly reflecting the light of the raising sun outside on its silk surface.

   "Oh, look", Leilani snapped Ruby out of her stunned mind. "He even bought you shoes. Maybe you should keep him, he for sure knows how to treat a girl right."

   "Yes", Ruby breathed, looking at the high silverish black pumps. "Yes, he does."

· · ─────── ·𖥸· ─────── · ·

you are so down to earth
& I'm up in the stars ...