The Years of Blue [2]

Chapter 46: The Notice

At the end of November, a startling notice was announced to the entire student body through their heads of houses, and in the case of foreign visitors, through their headmasters.

What was this notice, you may ask?

The Yule Ball.

Up until this point, the girls of Beauxbatons and I assume even Durmstrang had a general idea of what to expect during Christmas, given that we were all told to pack dress robes and gowns and expect to stay through Christmas break. But we didn't know the small details that made the Yule Ball what it was.

For starters, dates were a thing, something I had only vaguely thought about and not with much pressure in the past. Thinking that bringing a date was optional, I had expected to go solo with my friends but Madam Maxime had other plans.

"As young ladies, I expect every one of you to bring dates to the ball as you would look rather pitiful if you don't," Maxime stated in front of her students late one evening. We all stood in the biggest compartment of the carriage, looking up at our headmistress on the stairwell with big eyes as she dictated the rules.

"As you all have been trained and shaped to look your utter best and behave appropriately I see no reason why any one of you wouldn't have a date. I don't believe I have to stretch my case by saying you all are a finer group than the girls present at Hogwarts..."

"That's a bit low, even for Maxime," Ana said under her breath, making my friends and I nod silently, in sync.

"...and let us not forget that apart from the Triwizard tournament being a competition," she continued, "it is also a way to make friends with foreign students, an occasion that not all wizarding schools get to achieve. I have seen many of you successfully making friends and I see no reason why finding a date will be any different." Madam Maxime continued her speech while looking down at us like a hawk. By the time she had finished and excused us for bed, it was nearly past 10pm and Rosalie was half asleep.

"I can't imagine why Maxime would go through all that trouble just to tell us to find dates," Mila questioned as the lot of us walked back to our rooms, slowly. "I mean, isn't that what all of us were already planning to do?"

"No," Marie said miserably. Gisele gave her a gentle pat on the shoulder while Mila turned away confused.

"I'm sure we can help you find a date, Marie. It's not like Ava doesn't have enough guy friends to go around..." Jacqueline just barely missed my outstretched arm before continuing on, with a hint of a smile on her lips.

"Or of course, you and I can just go as lovers. I'm sure Maxime wouldn't expect anything less from me, personally."

"Let's please not resolve to turning into lesbians yet," Ana said rather astutely while the rest of us started to snicker. "You can't forget the Durmstrang boys. Ivo is taller than Marie and will probably make an excellent dance partner..."

"Oh merlin, not this again," Marie hissed, making me crack up laughing. Thankfully for Marie, our bedroom door was only a few steps further and Rosalie knocked herself out the moment her head hit the pillow, making the conversation drop dead for the night.

The next day brought on a whole new spectacle. Every girl, and I do mean every girl had gone through the added effort of looking nice. Some did it better than others, as seen by Parkinson and her friends stalking by in a heavy cloud of toxic perfume that had students retching as they passed. Rosalie had tried to braid her auburn hair into fishtails but was quickly shunned by one of our teachers that braids didn't go well with our hats.

The rest of us donned on our red lipstick and in my case, dabbed rose water over my temples. Beauxbatons girls were also heavily going at it with the coveted fountain water they carried, and Ana and I even spotted two upper classmen trying to pinch each other's cheeks to make the blood go to the surface. It was meant to produce a nice rosy finish to the skin, but one of them broke skin and created a scar instead.