D I L E M M A x Mattheo Riddle

dress shopping

                 Vivienne Leclair
"That's so cute!" Ali squeals as I step out of the dressing room, showing off a lavender ball gown. Luna smiles and nods in agreement.

"Yeah. It's pretty," I stare at myself in the mirror with my eyebrows pinched together.

The Yule Ball is coming up and Luna, Ali and I found a moment to slip away from studying to go dress shopping in Hogsmeade.

"What's wrong?" Ali asks, standing up and placing her hand on my shoulder. "You don't look happy."

I examine the dress thoroughly, spinning to look at the back and attempting to walk in it. "It's just not me," I sigh.

"You look gorgeous in it," Luna says.

"Thank you," I start to unzip the back of the dress. It doesn't feel right on me. "I think I need a darker color."

"Look at this royal blue one!" Ali holds up a shimmery blue gown with an ecstatic grin on her face.

The glitter catches my eye. "I'll try it on," I say, grabbing the dress and closing the curtain of the dressing room. "In the meantime, why don't you try on the lavender dress, Ali? I'm sure it'd look great on you."

"I will, thank you!"

I take off the lavender dress and hand it to Ali through the curtain.

I step into the royal blue gown and manage to zip it up on my own. The shiny material is magnificent, but I'm not quite sure about the color. Maybe I need a different shade of blue?

I open the curtain to step out, and Ali walks out of her dressing room at the same time, wearing the lavender gown.

I smile, admiring the dress on her and she spins around giggling with joy.

"That's the one," Luna approves.

"Most definitely. So gorgeous!" I agree.

"Thank you, thank you," Ali curtsies and bows her head at us. "And Vivienne, that dress is so pretty!"

"Thank you, but I don't think the color's right," I say, my eyes scanning the store for a different dress.

As I'm looking around, I see Briar and his friends walk into the store with clothing bags in hand. I turn back to look at myself in the mirror.

Emmett makes his way over to Ali and kisses her on the cheek. Briar places his hand on my back and looks at me in the mirror.

"What is Loony Lovegood doing here?" He scowls, speaking directly into my ear so no one else can hear. I clench my fists and am just about ready to punch him, but instead I take a deep breath and force the corners of my mouth to turn upwards.

"Dress shopping with us," I respond calmly, disregarding how offensive his comment was. He scoffs, displeased with the fact that he couldn't get a reaction out of me.

He shakes his head and clears his throat. "You should try on a red dress," He states.

I shrug my shoulders. "If that's what you want."

An employee brings me a red silk dress and I try it on. The silk is ravishing, and for the first time since coming into the store, I smile at myself.

I come out of the dressing room so I can get my friends opinions, but instead, I get Briar's unwanted opinion.

"Too sensual," He says, squinting his eyes and looking at me like I'm a statue and he's the sculptor.