just for me ⚘ a Fred Weasley Fanfiction

23. the punch

Before she left her room, Juniper took one last look in the mirror, double checking that she looked okay. She really hated Narcissa Malfoy for making her look beautiful. With the floor length emerald green gown she was wearing, the black accessories and shoes that Narcissa made her buy, and the pieces of faded-pink hair that usually hid her face pulled back and secured with a big, black bow. She left her hair in it's natural messy, wavy, state. She knew no one would be paying any particular attention to her, so there wasn't any point in trying, really. Narcissa had instructed her on how to do her makeup, though. 'Natural but with dark eyes', whatever that meant. Juniper practised her fake-smile a few times in the mirror, her mind drifting away. She wondered if she'd see Fred tonight, and if he'd like what she was wearing. She held her hands together, remembering what it felt like when he held them a couple of weeks ago. She knew she'd hate to see him with someone else, but there was no doubt he had a date.
But she still definitely hated everything about him.
She snapped back to reality, checking herself in the mirror for the hundredth time before leaving. She hated the sound that her heels made on the stone floors, announcing her arrival wherever she went, weather she wanted them to or not.
She wasn't expecting a round of applause as she entered the common room in her Yule Ball attire. But she thought a few words of acknowledgement would've been nice.

"Hi." She muttered to Draco, taking her place next to him. She looked around at the small group that agreed to meet in the common room. Pansy in her obnoxiously ugly dress, with Theo standing a few feet away from her, Blaise dressed up in a suit, with a honey yellow tie. Crabbe and Goyle were sulking on the couch, they weren't able to find dates to the Ball.
It took a moment for Draco to notice her presence, taking a step back to look at her. He let out a whistle, his eyes trailing back up her body. He forced Goyle to a take a picture of them to send to Narcissa, tucking his camera back into his pocket, along with the flask Juniper filled up the night before.

"Party time." Draco grinned, resting his hand on Juniper's back, leading the group to the Great Hall, where the ball was being held. Once they made it up the steps from the common room, they were sucked into the crowd waiting for the hall doors to open. Juniper watched from the corner of her eye as Blaise snuck off and made his way to Matilda Aplenty, surprising her with a hug from behind. Matilda spun around, her grin as wide as Juniper had ever seen it, she popped up on her toes to give Blaise a kiss. Juniper's eyes crossed over to Draco, who was busy fidgeting with his sleeves. She hoped that the night would be over quickly.

Once the doors to the Great Hall opened, everyone filtered in, finding the table they were assigned to. Juniper stared at her name card, positioned between Draco and Pansy. Realising that this would be one of the most torturous nights that she'd have to sit through, she accepted her fate and sat down. Before they were allowed to start eating, the tournament champions and their partners were announced, each pair making their way through the middle of the hall, sitting at a large round table at the front of the room.

"As if." Pansy scoffed, staring at the Viktor Krum and his partner disgust. Juniper turned pulled her head up to see what the fuss was about. Krum was walking through the hall with Hermione on his arm, wearing a light blue dress that flowed behind her as she walked. "How much did she pay him for that?"

"I don't think she paid him, she's too poor." Draco muttered, busy carving into the table with the knife that he was meant to butter a dinner roll with. "He's probably using her to get to Harry."

"I don't think so. They both look more than happy with each other." Juniper rested her jaw on her hands, waiting for dinner to start. She scrolled her eyes over the room, looking at how many people were in the hall, and subconsciously trying to find Fred. Once she spotted the two matching heads of orange hair in the far corner of the room, dinner appeared on the table, distracting her from getting her answer of who he ended up attending with.
Juniper ate in silence, picking at the food she had on her plate. She half-listened to the gossip everyone on the table was sharing, and tried counting the minutes until it was acceptable for her to excuse herself and go to bed. She didn't fancy sitting through a ball, and also a party afterwards.
She was daydreaming about how comfortable her bed was when she felt Pansy nudge her leg under the table, then rub her shoe up the length on Juniper's calf. Juniper shot her a confused glance, only to see that she was staring at Draco. A few moments later, Draco began rubbing his leg against hers. The skin on her back crawled, secretly shuddering in disgust. She was caught in between Pansy and Draco trying to feel each other up, and they didn't even realise they weren't playing footsies with each other. Juniper had to push her plate as far away from her as she could, too disgusted to even think about eating. When Dumbledore asked everyone to stand, she was the first to her feet.