Drops of Juniper (Discontinued, Rewrite On My Profile)

Chapter 13: The Yule Ball

As I waited for 4 o'clock to roll around, I filled my time in the Hufflepuff common room studying potions. Surprisingly, it was one of my worst subjects, that and History of Magic. Kara had suggested I ask Severus for tutoring, which sounded like a joke to me because occlumency had gone so well, right?

Eventually, I heard the school clock chime at four; I got up from my bed and conjured everything I needed with my wand: Sycamore wood with a dragon heartstring core.

I used reducio to make everything fit into my small tote bag to make transport to the Gryffindor common room easier. Swinging the tote over my shoulder, I headed to meet the girls, excitement was finally building up inside me, and I couldn't wait for tonight.

I approached the portrait of the Fat Lady who guarded the Gryffindor common room; she smiled and opened it for me without saying the password. Serenity must've told her I'd be coming. The common room was a bustle of excitement, with students getting ready, laughing and drinking out of silver goblets engraved with the Gryffindor lion. Serenity ran over to me, smiling and wrapped me into a big hug; her strawberry blonde hair was braided into a bun, she wore a skin-tight red dress with a thigh slit, and Red Gems adorned her heels. She was breathtaking!

"You look gorgeous!" I said, looking at her; she blushed in response and pulled me upstairs to her dormitory, where Sapphire and Kara were helping each other with their hairstyles.

Kara wore a gorgeous velvet emerald green dress with a skin-tight bodice and a flowy bottom; her heels were silver and caught the light perfectly. Her hair was pulled into a braided crown, and she had used a spell to add green and silver jewels into it; her jewellery was also silver and green, Slytherin colours.

Sapphire wore a strapless dark blue minidress, the bottom was layered tulle, and it had blue lace flowers embroidered on the bodice and waist. Her heels, unlike the other two, were strapless dark blue kitten-heeled slip-on. Her long straight hair was now curled into beautiful wavy ribbons that fell over her shoulders effortlessly.

I felt bland in my Hufflepuff hoodie, which I recently found out is called a jumper over here. I smiled so big my cheeks hurt, "You all look amazing!" I said breathlessly; the girls smiled at me.

"C'mon, Juni; now it's your turn," Kara said, smiling and taking a few bottles of the Muggle branded vodka we discovered in our youth from Serenity's trunk, "we'll have drinks ready for your return."

I excused myself and went into the Gryffindor bathrooms, pulling my dress out of my tote bag along with my jewellery and shoes. I returned them to normal size and started to slip on my dress. It was entirely black and had a lace bodice that wrapped around my neck, leaving my back completely exposed. It fell from lace to tulle in a double thigh split and had a train that trailed behind me elegantly; my heels were simple black stilettos. I used a simple appearance charm for my make-up and hair; I decided to keep it loose and leave a nice subtle curl to the ends. I put on my rings and bracelets, took one last look at myself in the mirror and walked out to join the girls.

When I walked out, I noticed the girls' dates had arrived, everyone except Draco. Which I thought was a good thing; I didn't want to be civil to him for more than ten minutes tonight. Harry looked extremely awkward around Sapphire; he just stood there while she and Kara talked. Cedric and Serenity, on the other hand, were chatting it up in front of the fire, each with a drink in their hand. Almost as if she could hear my thoughts, Kara looked in my direction and stopped mid-sentence; everyone stopped and stared. Now it was my turn to be looked up and down.

"Merlin, I knew you cleaned up nice Juniper, but this is a surprise! You look stunning, girl!" Kara said, beaming at me. I hadn't seen her smile that way in a long time, and it felt good. They all looked happier than I'd seen them in years. I walked over to Kara and took the drink she was handing to me.