𝐀𝐍𝐎𝐓𝐇𝐄𝐑 𝐖𝐄𝐀𝐒𝐋𝐄𝐘 || 𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘳𝘺 𝘱𝘰𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳

✿ CHAPTER SEVENTEEN ✿

"Mayfair please. I need that dress back!" I begged the girl for the third morning in a row.
"No way! I payed way too much!"
"I'll give your money back!"
"No!" She snapped, but did look apologetic.

"Hermione!" I ran down to the common room and plopped myself down next to my friend.
"You have to come to Hogsmeade with me today! I know you said you weren't going to but I need your help picking a dress because I sold mine to Mayfair but now I have a date and I-"
"Ruby, breathe please! I've changed my mind anyway, I need to buy a dress for the ball too, so you can come with me." She grins. "I was going to ask you to come anyway, since I'm definitely going to need help choosing!"
"Oh!" I smiled. "Perfect... wait! Since when do you have a date?" I interrogated her.
Hermione smiled sheepishly.
"Since last night."
"Who?" I said, way too loud.
"Shh! It's a... surprise."
"But I'm your best friend!" I whined.
"I know, stupid," She laughed, "wait... who are you going with?"
"Um..."
"Ruby Rose Weasley, who are you going to the Yule Ball with?" She laughed at me.
"Harry Potter." I whispered. She screamed, earning us countless stares from people around the common room.
"SHUT UP HERMIONE!" I roared even louder. Everyone in the common room was now looking over at us, but we just couldn't stop laughing.

()()()()()()()()()()

"This one! Wait, no." I said, pulling out yet another dress from the racks in Miss Brownkiss' Boutique for Witches and hanging it up again.

"I have an idea." Hermione said from behind me somewhere. We'd been scanning every shelf in every clothing shop in Hogsmeade for hours with no luck. It was December 22nd, and with two days until the Yule Ball and still no dress, I was beginning to loose hope. I was going to have to show up in my nightgown.

"What is it?" I asked Hermione.
"I can't decide, and you can't decide, so... let's pick for each other! You walk around Hogsmeade and pick the dress you think will be perfect for me, and I'll do the same for you."
"Alright..." I replied, still skeptical.
"And then, I'll do your hair and makeup for the night, and you can do mine! It will be fun I promise!"
"Okay." I decided.
"Really?" She said enthusiastically.
"Yep."
"Great!"

I roamed around the shop for another 10 minutes before I sew it. The perfect dress for Hermione.

Sheer, translucent fabric fell in frilly layers of lighter and darker shades of magenta, making up the skirt of the dress. It's elegant and flowing,  and is perfect for my best friend. The straps connected to the detailed bodice are also frilled, and altogether the dress is drop dead gorgeous.

I took it to the front desk, not worried about the size because I was sure Hermione would have no problems transfiguring the alterations later if she needed to. With Hermione's dress bag in hand, I trudged out of the shop into the snowy village, where Hermione was waiting outside for me.

"Shall we go for a butterbeer?" She asked me.
"That sounds perfect." I smiled, nodding and linking my arm with hers.

~~~~~~~~

The night before the ball, we sat at the Gryffindor table eating dinner. Camille always sat with us at meals now, and we'd become extremely close with the french girl. Over the last week or two, she'd taken to sitting next to Ron. To me and Hermione, it's was obvious she liked him, but clearly Ron hadn't caught up. She'd even hinted it a bunch of times, sighing that she still didn't have a date for the ball yet, and asking Ron if he did - which he didn't, he had actually decided to not come because he didn't have anyone to take. I also know for a fact that Seamus Finnigan, Dean Thomas, Michal Corner and Ernie McMillan had all asked Camille to the ball. She had turned each one of them down. She strikes conversation up with my twin so much that there's almost no way anyone could miss it.

When Camille left Gryffindor table to talk to her sister for a moment, I whacked Ron hard on the arm.
"Ouch! What the bloody hell was that for?" He frowned at me.
"Are you that blind? She wants you to ask her to the ball, Ronald."
"What! No, surely not. She's gorgeous but I'm just... me!"
"Ronald Bilius Weasley, I'm a girl and I know girls, okay? Don't question me. Now, you ask her to that ball the second she gets back to this table, you understand?" He gulped and nodded, beginning to sweat profusely. Hermione conjured up a rose from a spare napkin and handed it to Ron.

Camille floats back over to the table, beaming at Ron who stands as she walks over, flower hidden behind his back.

"Um- Camille?" Ron cleared his throat and Camille stood, looking at him. "Would you, er... would you want to go to the Yule Ball with me?" He pulled the white rose from behind his back, and she took it.

The French girls eyes widened like two moons, and she started to cry.
"I zought you would never ask!" She choked out, beaming up at Ron whose nervous expression broke into a smile.

I told Camille how to get to Gryffindor common room and the password, inviting her to get ready for the Ball with Hermione and I. She nodded enthusiastically and assured us she would be there.

That night I lay in bed, mind busy on the topic of the Yule Ball and nothing else.

(((((((((((((a.n)))))))))))))

Who's excited for the Yule Ball? I know I am!! I hope you liked the chapter! If you did, maybe consider giving it a vote or leaving a comment.
As a fairly unnoticed writer, it really means the world to me.

Question of the chapter: Who is your favourite HP character(s) and why?
Answer here:                               ⇨⇨⇨⇨

Mine would be the Weasley twins. I love their attitude and them in general.

Hope you're having a great week.
Have a lovely day/night 💐
xoxo