The Sister (A Harry Potter Fanfic)

~Chapter 12~

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*Edited*

"M-Me?" I whisper, wide-eyed. He couldn't be going with me. This had to be some sort of trick.

"Yeah. I mean, unless someone asked you today, that is."

"But Draco, you could have any girl in Slytherin if you wanted. Pansy-"

"I don't want to go with Pansy! She asked this morning, and I said no." 

"That explains why she was so angry at me before. You had turned her down."

"She was angry at you?"

"Yeah, threw me up against a wall."

He winces, "So... will you come with me? To the ball?"

I should say yes. No-one else has asked me, and I'll be walking in alone at this rate. It's Christmas tomorrow, I'll need that time to get ready. I should say yes. What will Harry say? Hermione will lose it... and Pansy... well goodness knows what Pansy will do. It'll be good to stick it to her, though. I'd love to see her face if I walked in with Draco.

"Clara?" He says, tilting his head, attempting to catch my gaze.

"Oh, er, Yeah. I would like to go to the ball with you." I answer, awkwardly. Excitement starts racing through my veins. I have a date. Clara Potter, clumsy, awkward and quiet Clara Potter, has a date. I smile. Draco looks pretty chuffed too.
"I'll meet you outside the dance. It'll be great..."

"I should go," I say, attempting to keep my voice even, so I don't squeal.

"Ok, er, see you there. Bye." Draco says with a questioning tone. I smile and spin around, 

"Merry Christmas!" I yell over my shoulder.

xxxx

I burst through the door out of breath, and look around. My world is practically perfect, but no one else seems to - or needs to - notice. I smooth out my skirt and make my way over to Hermione, who is perched on the arm of one of the red couches. She is talking to Ginny, and has one curl of her messy hair tangled around her finger. I walk around her and flop down onto the couch next to Ginny.

"Hi, guys," I say happily, smiling at them. Hermione's eyes meet mine and she raises an eyebrow, leaning towards me a little.

"Hello, what's got you so cheerful?"

"A girl can be cheerful all she wants!" I retort, looking away from her and at the fire, with a mischevious grin on my face.

"You got a date, didn't you!" Ginny squeals, bringing the theatrics to an end. I give a sly nod and Hermione and Ginny both giggle.

"Who?!" Hermione asks, a tiny bit of suspicion in her voice.

"I'll tell you mine if you tell me yours," I say, smirking. She scowls, folding her arms.

xxxx

"Psst, Clara!" Hermione whispers, "Merry Christmas!"

I roll over in my bed and wince, 

"Merrieh chrisstmos youu tooo Ermione..." I manage, putting my hands over my face. She giggles, grabbing my wrist and pulling into a sitting position. I give her a death glare and wobble out of bed. I pull on a jumper and follow Hermione and Ginny down the stairs into the common room. First years have been down already, and a few other groups of groggy students are sitting around the common room opening gifts. Harry and Ron over by the fire. We gather the gifts addressed to us, and walk over to them.

"Merry Christmas, boys." I croak, smiling. Harry opens his first. He receives a Jumper with an H on it from the Weasleys, a box of Every Flavour Beans, and a letter. The letter is from Sirius Black and includes a feather and a few photos of our parents. It is addressed to me, too. His gift from me is a box with a charm inside it. I don't expect him to wear it. It is circular, with a flat metal back and a rounded glass front, and inside is the only picture of us together as babies I could find. You can see us giggling and gurgling when it moves. Harry smiles at me. I had told him I was getting a charm made for him of that sort, and his gift to me is one with a picture of our parents. We open the rest of our gifts until all that remains is the suit bag containing my dress for the ball. I go to unzip it and Hermione stops me, 

"No, wait, we're going upstairs."

"Why?" I ask, knowing there will be no changing her mind I start getting my things together.

"Because the boys can't see your dress. It has to be a surprise for when you enter the ball." She beams as she says this, and I smile too. Ginny squeals and we all get our gifts together and thank the boys, before hurrying up the stairs again. We enter the dorm room, throw our things on our beds and gather around the white suit bag. I unzip it, revealing a beautiful dress. We all gasp. I take it out and using Winguardium Leviosa make it drift up so it hangs in mid-air. It has a lacy bodice with hints of a pale grey-green colour peaking through the white lace. The skirt is flowing and layered and of the same grey-green, and it has a white ribbon around the middle that ties at the back. I catch sight of myself in the mirror that is leaning up against the wall, and the wonder disappears. I lower the dress and lie it across my bed, then return my gaze to the mirror.

My messy hair falls in tangles just above my elbows. My skin is blotchy, and my eyes are tired. I'm a mess. I can't dance anyway, I'm too clumsy. Sure, I'm coordinated, and I can dance with an imaginary partner, but I'll cause serious injury. I stepped on Dumbledores feet a lot when he and Mc Gonagal were teaching me, though he never said a thing. I'm clumsy and messy, and my hair will take hours to untangle. That skirt is so flowy and beautiful... I'll trip on it a thousand times before I even start dancing.

"Clara?"

I turn to face them, my eyes on my feet.

"I'm a clutz! imagine how many times I'll trip in that dress! And my hair... and my-"

"Shush!" Ginny snaps, putting her hands on her hips. "You have no problems that a hairbrush and a bit of confidence won't fix!"

"Besides, you're not the only one who doesn't want to trip. I've been looking for a spell that makes a skirt un-trip-able and I found one. You'll be fine, trust me." Hermione says, giving me an encouraging smile.

Let's hope so.

xxxx

This is a bit of a filler chapter, sorry! I also took a little break over New Years, but I'm back now! I also have chosen the dress for Clara. I have never been so not-but-really-I-am busy.

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xx Taylor