Hold My Hand - Harry Potter (Book One)

Invisible Touch

Sunday, 23rd of October 1994

"Sometimes I despise going to these," Ariana huffed as she rummaged through the box of ball gowns in the dormitory. She had been looking for 'perfect' dress for numerous hours by this point, and Ellen was at the absolute end of her sanity.

"You always hate going to these," Ellen pointed out, and Ariana stuck her tongue out in response. It was the night after her birthday, and tonight was the family ball to celebrate her turning fifteen. Basically, a way for her Grandfather to flaunt all of their wealth and friends.

"So would you, having to look your best every month, it's insane," She understood she was lucky to have all she had, but it didn't make it any less infuriating when she had to get all pretty and dressed up and go to a ball, knowing all of her friends would be sat in the common room laughing and joking.

"Well we offered to come along but you said no," Ellen was lying on her bed, playing with a paper plane she had conjured with her wand.

"I don't hate you enough. What about blue?"

"No, people will know you're depressed if you wear blue," Ellen said.

"Nobody reads into things that much. Hermione wore a blue dress to Grandpa's birthday in the summer," Ariana pointed out.

"Exactly," Ellen's comment was drowned out by a loud grown from Ariana, who was getting beyond fed up with the whole thing.

"Next dress I pick out is the one, whether we like it or not," Ellen stated, getting to her feet.

"Yeah we've done this before and it was disgusting and flowery and it stunk," Ariana complained.

"Well this time i'm not giving you a choice, I have a migraine from your whinging," She stormed over to the box and grabbed the first thing she felt with her hand. It wasn't so much a ball gown, but it was definitely formal enough for the occasion. It was a knee-length purple dress, with just enough poof to make Ariana feel like a Princess. It was lacy, and made of a tulle material that made her feel she was going to a prom, rather than a birthday party, but she liked it enough. It had thin straps on the shoulders, and a lacy sleeve fell down to her arms to add a bit of character. It was nice enough, and she didn't feel entirely miserable wearing it.

"It's okay, I think," Ariana nodded approvingly in the mirror, as Ellen zipped up the dress behind her.

"Okay? You look like a Princess plucked straight from a fairytale, Ana," Ellen sighed as she stepped back to look at the magic she had worked, literally. She had used her wand to apply the hair and makeup to the look. Using magic for these things didn't make it look quite as natural and effortless as Ariana would have hoped for, but given the fact she was already ten minutes late to her own party, she felt efficiency was needed.

"Why thank you, Miss Clifford," Ariana curtseyed to her friend, causing the pair to laugh, before they made their way out of the dormitory.

"Bloody hell," Ron was the first to speak as Ariana walked into the common room. There were far more people in there than she had anticipated, but she chose to focus on her friends in front of her rather than everyone else, knowing they would give her reassurance.

"Aw, thanks Ron,"

"No, I meant Ellen. Lovely jumper," Ariana stuck her tongue out at her red-headed friend, as everyone else laughed and Ellen thanked him.

"You look wonderful, Ana," Hermione smiled up at her from her book, and the fact she had stopped reading indicated that Ariana really did look nice.

The boy with the jet black hair sat amongst all the chaos, and he couldn't explain away the feeling he had in his stomach as he looked up at her. For so many years, Ariana was one of his best friends, and yet here he felt like there couldn't possibly be a more beautiful girl in the world. He was surprised, not by her appearance, for she was always stunning and everyone knew it, but he was surprised by how he was feeling. He cleared his throat and shook his head, as though the thoughts would simply fall from his mind, but he wasn't stupid, he knew they were there to stay. It was as though a spotlight was shining on her as she twirled around, showing the dress off to everyone. To him, she was the only girl in the room, and it made him feel nauseous with giddiness.