daughter of wands (d.m)

XVII

"What the hell am I going to wear?" I sigh, flopping onto my bed and nestling between my discarded clothes.

Athena laughs, pulling back the piece of tulle covering my face. "We'll find you something. Didn't you bring any nice dresses?"

"Of course I did!" I shout motioning to the pile around me. "None of these are right though. I have to look good, Blaise says this party is really important."

"Oh well if you're boyfriend says it's important than it must be true," She says, lounging dramatically next to me and meeting my gaze through her fluttering lashes.

I grab a pillow from behind me and wack it over her face, "Will you stop! We've only been 'together' for a few weeks, I don't even know if you can call it together."

"Oh you're 'together.'" She says with finality.

I sigh loudly, "Nothing has changed between us, we just hold hands now."

"But now you're running around and attending parties together..." Athena says getting up and placing one of my cocktail dresses over her slender frame, eyeing herself in the mirror casually. "I wish Slughorn had asked me to join his little club."

I stand next to her and tilt my head to the right, "That's not your color. And its not a club."

"Oh excuse me, Slughorn's cult." She says skipping over to my dresser drawers and shuffling through what's left of my clothes. She pulls a dress out and whips it around, "Why haven't you tried this on? I don't remember it."

I stand up to meet her, letting the red fabric slip through my fingertips. "It was my mother's, she gave it to me before she left."

"Oh..." Athena takes in a small breath, "Try it on, I bet it'll look really good on you. And if she gave it to you, she must want you to wear it."

I take the hanger from her and eye the dress in my hands, the muted red lace twinkling in the dim candlelight. I remember my mom wearing this at my cousins wedding the summer before last, tears brimming as I think back to better times.

I flit behind the partition and change quickly, the dress fitting like a glove. I step out and walk to the mirror, my hands running down my body to smooth everything out. The top hugs my curves perfectly while the bottom flows out and hangs at mid calf. Athena gasps as I turn, my eyebrows raising in anticipation.

"Do I look alright?" I ask.

"Like you don't already know... You look amazing! This dress is perfect!" She says chuckling to herself as she runs up to me and places her warm hands on my shoulders, giving me a reassuring squeeze.

Our attention is averted as Pansy enters the room, her eyes rolling back into her head as she notices us in front of the mirror.

She throws her bag and coat on her bed with a huff, leaning over to untie her shoes. "What in the world are you doing in that thing?"

"Slughorn's Christmas party is tonight," I say returning to my privacy screen and changing back into my normal clothes.

Pansy lets out a laugh, "And you're wearing that? This is just a professors dinner party not an evening with the queen."

"I think she looks good," Athena retorts proudly, meeting my eyes as I peak around the corner.

Daphne pops in shortly behind her, her cheeks and nose red from being outside. She undoes her scarf and places it on a hook behind the door before peering in my direction.