Control ▸ Ron Weasley [2]

XIV. NOW YOU DON'T

CHAPTER FOURTEEN:
NOW YOU DON'T

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      Since being disowned and cut off from family funds, Nova didn't exactly have money to spend on anything new to wear. 

      Fred and George paid her decently enough, but not as much as Verity got because they were letting her stay in the spare third room in their flat for free. She wasn't complaining, not by a long shot. But it meant that any money she made went to the things she needed for school, like books and quills and the like. 

      The money she earned did not go to dresses for the Valentine's Dance.

      It was the week before Valentine's Day and Nova still hadn't found a decent dress in her price range, despite the magazines that Daphne let her borrow. All of them were just a little too pricey for her. So, she resigned herself to the fact that she'd just have to wear something she already had. Maybe if she squeezed herself into it, the dress she wore to the Yule Ball would fit. It was somewhere back in her room with the twins, and she was certain they'd send it over if she asked.

      Daphne had picked out a red dress with gold and pink hearts all over it. "People are going to think you're a Gryffindor," Nova pointed out, admiring the way the gold hearts caught the light when Daphne moved. She was holding it up to her body and examining it in the mirror to make sure it was the right choice. Pansy and Millicent, who had been extra nice to Daphne this week because she was the one who set up the whole Valentine's thing, were nowhere to be found. Not that Nova was complaining.

      Daphne snorted. "Or they'll think I'm festive." She gently waved her wand and the dress hung itself neatly off her four poster bed, hanger and all. "What are you wearing, then?"

      Nova shrugged. "Again, don't exactly have money. I was thinking that George and Fred could send over the dress I wore to the Yule Ball."

      Though she wanted Nova to be festive (and most people had been told the dress code was red, purple, pink, or black and white robes for the boys who were insecure about wearing those colors—Nova had no time for these particular boys), Daphne also understood that finding a dress this late in the game with her budget would be impossible. "You'll be gorgeous," she offered, biting her tongue. Nova appreciated Daphne keeping her displeasure to herself.

      So she sent off an owl to Fred and George, pleased when she got a response so quickly. She had only gone to a couple lessons by the time their company owl had gotten back to her. It also had something attached to its leg, and upon closer inspection, Nova saw a little drawstring bag. Daphne and Astoria watched curiously from their places across from Nova as she opened it.

    Inside were twenty-five galleons.

      "Holy shit!" Astoria said, grinning wildly. 

      "Stori! Language!"