Stolen • Ilvermorny & Harry Potter Next Generation

Dancing Alone

"We accept the love we think we deserve."
―Stephen Chbosky, The Perks of Being a Wallflower

Jessie

Jessie was panicking. The Valentines Day Dance was starting in an hour and she still hadn't started getting ready. Jessie flew around her room grabbing the dress and shoes she had planned to wear and threw them on. Then she grabbed every makeup and hair product in her possession and flew out the door.

Jessie had promised Cecille, a fourth year Slytherin girl, that she would help her get ready for the dance. Of course, Jessie hadn't been paying attention to the time and now she wasn't ready for the dance either.

Jessie rushed into Cecille's dorm, breathless.

"Did you run all the way here in heels?" Cecille asked her.

"Yes? I have a lot of practice."

"I can see that." Cecille looked incredibly impressed. She was wearing a floaty, periwinkle-blue dress that matched her eyes perfectly and simple white flats. Her blonde hair hung down in her signature waves down past her shoulders.

"You look amazing Cecille!" Jessie said. "There really isn't much left to do other than a little makeup, unless you wanted to do your hair?"

Cecille turned a faint shade of pink. "You think my hair looks that good? I just did what you told me to do to get rid of the frizz."

"Yes, it's beautiful," Jessie answered. "What if we just do a twisted half updo so people can still see your curls?"

Cecille's eyes sparkled. "Yes, yes, let's do that!"

A few minutes later Jessie finished up Cecille's hair and started on makeup. Cecille had beautiful features, so Jessie just did a bit of concealer, highlighter, blush, mascara, and a lip tint with some gloss. When she finished Cecille seemed to gape at herself for a solid minute before she said anything. "I love it," was all she managed to say. She looked as if she might cry. "This is the first time I've felt like myself going to a dance." She spun around so her dress twirled adorably. "Thank you Jessie!"

Cecille almost made Jessie want to cry too but she knew it would make it take longer for her to do her makeup. Instead, she pulled Cecille into a hug, being careful not to mess up her hair or makeup. "Do you want to help me with my hair?" Jessie asked when the hug ended.

Jessie began to fear for Cecille's mascara, but Cecille managed to compose herself before her enthusiastic "Yes!!" Cecille disappeared into her room for a moment before returning with a book. She opened it to reveal sketches of dozens of hairstyles. "I didn't think anyone was going to be able to help me do my hair for the dance," Cecille explained. "So I drew these for a reference to do my own hair."

The drawings were amazingly detailed, and many of them even had some sort of instructions accompanying them. "Wow, those are fantastic Cecille! I think you should choose any one of them and surprise me."

"Okay, but I haven't really done hair like this before... I haven't had hair long enough to put up until this year."

"I think you can do it," Jessie responded, and she was not disappointed. Cecille chose a messy braided bun with a few strands of hair hanging down around Jessie's face that Cecille curled into little ringlets. Jessie praised Cecille's work and then quickly did her makeup while Cecille watched.

When Jessie finished she looked in the full length mirror and decided she loved her outfit. She had chosen a short, dark red dress with a full skirt and short heeled black boots. Her hair was beautiful, and even with the rushed makeup Jessie managed to have perfect eyeliner.