𝒮𝓉𝑜𝓇𝓂'𝓈 𝒜 𝐵𝓇𝑒𝓌𝒾𝓃'

December 18th, 1994

𝒞𝒽𝒶𝓅𝓉𝑒𝓇 𝒯𝓌𝑒𝓃𝓉𝓎-𝐹𝒾𝓋𝑒

The dorm had been given a touch of holiday cheer. All the girls calling Hogwarts their home through the holiday. A small Charlie Brown tree had been given all the love in the world, standing proud in the center of the room, paper ornaments of various skill levels colored and cut out to add the most personal touch. Tinsel wrapped up the poster beds, and paper snowflakes hovered in the air just above. Silver glitter had somehow ended up all over the room, an easy job for a couple witches to clean but allowed to stay for the way the glitter shimmed in the light. Bowls of pinecones were on every bedside, adding a holiday smell without being so overpowering Iris would get headaches.

The moon was just off from being full that early morning; the coming night would make it complete. Still, it allowed for a gentle glow to break through the lake and embrace the room. The glitter and metallic tinsel sparkled with the movement of the water outside the windows. A quiet little bit of muggle world magic happened around the sleeping girls. The fourth-year Slytherins wouldn't have a class that morning, everyone getting ahead on practice for the holiday where no souls would ever be up before noon.

...

Iris always seemed to be the exception, though. She had jolted from her bed hours ago. Had taken a moment to calm her startled heart... and eventually just left the comfort of her duvet altogether. Had dug through the trunk at the foot of her bed... threw on that familiar sweater she had stolen from Theodore Nott, and then, eventually, pulled out an envelope.

She never opened it, never revealed what was inside... stared at it for a bit. But instead, she pulled some leftover craft supplies out from underneath her bed and reached for her wand. Casting one of those odd sound barriers around her as she got to work.

Drawing and cutting, and folding well into the daylight hours. Making two projects... one, these little paper trees that she used to outline the door frames... and two... a half-finished card that she had thrown into her trunk in frustration before shoving all her crafting supplies away again.

Throwing on a pair of jeans and boots that she didn't seem to care if they matched, she was gone before the roommates would start to stir.

~~~~~~

"We are all bloody fantastic girls! So why, why? Do none of the boys in this school ask us to the ball? I mean, they spend all day staring, does not one of them have the balls to do it? Do we, as the girls, have to do everything? Get all pretty and ask them?!" Sally-Ann was starting her morning hot. Frustrated with the male population currently residing in Hogwarts. Especially the ones age appropriate.

The boys, the younger ones, in particular, had been failing as a gender. A whole week after the announcement, and so far, the only confirmed dates had been some older students, seventh years, and a handful of sixth years. They had the right idea, too; some exciting proposals for the dance had been upping the standards.

Standards slowly lowered as fourth and fifth-year girls looked to their boy classmates and simply wished they would at least throw a note at them as Fred Weasley had Angelina Johnson.

Even the second years had been showing them up.

A group of second-year boys had approached their entire friend group, one boy for each girl, as they confidently declared their desire to take each girl to the ball. Theodore had found it rather amusing, looking down on a boy half Iris' height as he put his whole heart into his question. All the girls were a bit lost as they crushed those tiny little hearts... something Tracey had muttered about regretting now that it was looking to have been the best option.