The Family that Chooses You

Chapter 85: The Bell of the Ball

Harry was incredibly nervous.

He used to be nervous a lot.  He still was to be honest, but he used to be as well.  Every time a professor called on him, when someone came up to him all of a sudden, tests, that sort of thing.  He always felt that tingle deep in his gut that very rarely these days turned into anxiety or anything else unless he was thinking about his past and the Dursleys.

He and nervousness were quite familiar.

The kind of nervousness he felt now was a very different kind of nervousness.

He looked into the mirror with growing panic.  He wished he was taller, had a better figure.  He still thought he looked rather thin, though more of a slim thin instead of wasted or malnourished thin, thankfully.  His glasses were whole at least, no signs of being hastily repaired.

He pulled on his dress robes.  Sirius had taken him to a tailor during the summer at Diagon Alley and had gotten him some very nice ones.  The over robe and the pants were a soft black, edged in silver, with dark green on the inner lining.  His shirt was off-white and his tie was also silver.  Sirius showed him a charm he had put into his circlet and it went from a radiant gold to shining silver.  He still felt a little ridiculous wearing it, but it did shine in the mess that was his hair, matching the rest of his outfit.

At the time, in front of Sirius when he tried the outfit on, he thought he looked cool.  Now he felt like he looked like a child wearing their parent's clothes to look grown up.

All the boys in the dorm room looked very self-conscious.  They spoke in somber whispers of growing pressure and nerves.  Tension rose as they second-guessed themselves and all it would take for things to explode was a spark.

Alicia kicked the door open and strode in as boldly as lightning.

"Good, you lot are decent," she said as she looked at the shocked and embarrassed boys.  "As a favor to Harry, I will do a quick inspection and offer some kind of aid before kicking you out.  Right, let's start with you."

She looked at Seamus.  "That's a very bright green you got going.  Not bad otherwise.  Lose the tie.  Gold and green?  What are you, a leprechaun?"

"I'm Irish," Seamus muttered.

She rolled her eyes and waved her wand, changing the tie to black but with a darker green pattern.  "There.  Less likely to try and steal someone's gold and you'll match your date a little.  She's going with a darker green thank goodness.  Off you pop, Lucky."

Seamus left, unsure if he was grateful for the assistance or offended.  He decided to walk faster at the older girl's look.

She gave Dean a close inspection.  "Not bad, Muggle style cut which suits you.  Nothing wrong at all with a formal black and white."  She conjured a shocking pink handkerchief and folded it, slipping it into his breast pocket.  "This will give you some color and help match your date."

"Thanks!" Dean said happily.

"I'll bill you in the morning.  Off you go then."  She turned to Neville.  "You clean up well Mr. Longbottom.  I like the maroon.  Your house color?  It suits you.  And what's this lovely flower?" she asked, gently rearranging the boutonniere on his chest.

"It's a protea flower, I shrunk it down some."  Neville grinned weakly.  "It's supposed to mean strength and courage and I need both."

Alicia smiled warmly.  "I think you have both in spades since you asked out young lady Weasley with her brothers here.  You'll do fine.  Now go get your girl, she's waiting for you."

"Alright you third bollock," she said to a visibly irate Ron.  "Neville doesn't need you being the mean protective older brother routine any more than Ginny does and everyone in the whole tower knows Neville wouldn't hurt a fly much less a girl so shut your yap."  She hummed to herself as she looked him up and down.