✔️ 𝐏𝐑𝐎𝐓𝐄𝐆𝐎 → ℎ. 𝑝𝑜𝑡𝑡𝑒𝑟 𝑡𝑤𝑖𝑛 𝑠𝑡𝑜𝑟𝑦

04 | P R E P A R A T I O N

  AWFULLY SHAKING HANDS fumbled on the shutter of her necklace; Ember deeply breathed in, trying to stop her body from shaking. Since the moment she had awoken, a uncontrollable nervousness had taken over her, and it wouldn't go away the whole day, even not now, just an hour before the wedding. As there was a knock on the door, she flinched hard, the necklace slipping through her fingers and landing on the floor. Quietly, Ember sighed.

   "Come in", she said, and through the mirror, next to her own stressed looking reflection, she noticed Susan entering the room with a bag in her hand and a smirk on her face.

   "Need help?", Susan asked, flinging the bag onto Ginny's bed, before she bowed down to grab the necklace. "Nice one. Didn't know you own such expensive bling bling."

   "Got it from Fred yesterday", Ember replied, unable to return the smile. "He swears he got it out of a gumball machine."

   "I see", Susan snorted. "That's where he got his brain from as well, I assume? But hey, he's some taste, I have to admit. That thing is pretty beautiful." She closed the necklace around Ember's neck. "And it suits you perfectly." Her eyes found Ember's through the mirror. "You look terrible, girl. Have you even slept?"

   "Enough to not murder someone", Ember replied, as Susan started to comb Ember's messy back hair. "I had some weird dreams ... about my godfather. I think — I —"

   "What?" Susan stopped midst motion.

   "Nevermind ..." Shaking her head not only to signal Susan that she didn't want to talk about it now, but also to get rid of the upwelling pictures of her latest dream, Ember for a second closed her eyes.  Nevertheless, Peter Pettigrew flashed through her mind; looking exactly like on the photograph of her parents' wedding, he was looking down upon her with rheumy eyes, shushing her in a soothing voice —

   "I agree to not mind today", Susan teared her out of her thoughts. "But we will totally talk about this tomorrow. For now we definitely have a bigger problem."

   "What do you mean?", Ember sharply asked, almost wrenching her neck as she turned around to face her friend.

   "You don't really plan to wear that dress, do you?" The redhead nodded at the pale blue piece of garment Ember was wearing.

   "It's Ginny's." Ember shrugged. "I don't have a dress, and you know that."

   "You look like a floater", Susan dryly replied. "I mean, don't get me wrong, you absolutely hit the look of a swimming corpse, if that was your intention! Those bags under your eyes and your greyish skin ... But as this is not Halloween, I for sure need a little bibbety bobbety boo to have you flip some necks tonight. Especially one." She winked, and Ember's cheeks grew hot. "Don't even try to fight it, I saw you."

   "That doesn't change the fact that I don't have a dress", Ember mumbled, trying to act like she didn't mind Susan's words.

   "You have a dress. A beautiful one. Silverish, fitting you as a second skin, having you look like a princess."

   "I was fourteen back then, it's stained in blood, and as much as it disgusts me to admit it, you were right back then", said Ember, giving her eyes a roll, "my boobs have grown out." She flung back into the chair. "Gosh, I don't even know where it is."

   "And that's where I come into the match."

   Ember blinked at her, but Susan didn't see it; she had turned around, walking towards Ginny's bed. "I visited my mum last Christmas, before — you know ... Well, you have told me about the wedding, and all I could see were your boobs never again fitting into that dress! It was killing me." She laughed, shaking her head. "So I asked Mum. She removed the bloodstains, and she changed the size." Opening the bag, Susan pulled out a silverish piece of cloth. "She said you have to do your hair up, because you're a woman now, and women have to do those stressfully sophisticated up-dos, which are highly uncomfortable to wear, but you will look stunning with it."

   Slowly, Ember got out of the chair, moving towards Susan, who held the dress in her outstretched hands, ready for Ember to take it; and so she did. But she just placed it back on the bed, a second later flung her arms around her best friend and hugged her as tight as she could. An overwhelming feeling crushed her like a wave. Only once she had met Susan's mother, and this was what she'd done for her — one of the last things she forever had done before her life had been ended so cruelly.

   "Thank you so much, Susie", Ember whispered, tears brimming in her eyes.

   "You know I hate it, when you call me like that, do you?", Susan sniffled a chuckle, and both girls immediately bursted out in roaring laughter.

   "Hey, are you having fun without me?"

   The door had been pushed open.

   "As if we could, Hannie", Susan snorted, pulling the blonde girl into the hug.

   "You know I don't like to be called like that", Hannah pouted, but closed her arms around her friends.

   "Okay okay, after we pointed out how much we hate our names", Susan said, breaking the circle first, "you totally need to help me, Han! We need to make sure our dear Emmie doesn't look like something the giant squid just vomited onto the shore!"

   "Charming, Sue, really", scoffed Ember. "Okay, c'mon! Torture me, I know you won't take a no ..."

   "Oh my, she's finally giving in to my commands!" Susan pushed Ember back into the chair, with a dramatic face she wiped an imaginary tear out of her eye. "After all this time!"

   Ember rolled her eyes, but smirked. "Yeah, fine, get the party started ..."

—