| Inked | (George Weasley)

Chapter Sixty-Five

Before Olive could even register what happened next, Nat was shoving a gown into the girl's hands with a sly, witty smirk. The blonde shared a look with Cho, who clapped her hands with excitement as she turned to Marietta with a giggle. Even the fifth year, who didn't spend much time with the girls, knew what was going on.

"What?" Ollie looked down at the dress skeptically, "What's this?"

Nat shrugged, "A dress, stupid. For you."

Holding up the dress so she could get a better look, Olive couldn't help but allow her lips to quirk into a frown. Her eyes furrowed in confusion.

"Well, yeah, I can see that." She rubbed her thumbs along the smooth material, "What I want to know is how you got it?"

Cho smirked, "Your sister sent it to us."

Olive's eyes widened, "What?"

"You heard her." Natalie ducked down to pull something out from under her bed, "Missy sent this to us this morning and told us to keep it from you. She had a feeling you might change your mind."

A pair of shoes was placed on the floor in front of Olive's feet.

She couldn't believe it, "How... how did Missy even..."

"We may have written to her explaining how you were still on the fence." Cho smiled innocently, "I know you told us you didn't want to go, but Missy sent us the dress and shoes anyway."

"So, in a way, you kind of have to go now." Marietta added in from across the room, "You can't change your mind now."

Ollie turned to the mirror hanging from the back of the door, holding to dress up to herself with a small, thankful smile slowly brightening up her features. It was a deep blue, practically black, with white and silver accents along the hem and neckline. The dress was ankle-length, puffing out only slightly at the waist.

Her eyes noted the neckline, which was a shallow v-line, the dress held up by two sets of straps that crossed a few times in the back like a corset. The dress wouldn't hide her scars, and she couldn't use her metamorphmagus abilities to hide them no matter how hard she tried.

But the dress was beautiful, and she could only imagine the trouble her sister went to in finding it for her, as well as the shoes to match. Olive needed to remember one of the only perks that being scratched by a werewolf had given her, and that was boldness and courage.

She needed those today. Olive knew as soon as she saw George talking to Katie Bell that she knew she wanted to go to the Ball. She messed up, several times might she add, but now that she had said the words out loud...

Olive was going to go to the Yule Ball, even if she was starting to second-guess herself.

"Okay..." she laid the dress across her bed, nodding to herself, "Let's do it."

"Oi, Georgie, you almost ready?"

Fred was already downstairs in the common room, where Katie and Angelina were most likely waiting for them. The two girls had told them that they'd walk down to the ball together from the Gryffindor Tower, since it was no use meeting there if they were coming from the same place.

"Yeah, I'm coming. " He straightened his bowtie, "Be down in a second."

Even though he was happy to be going to the Yule Ball with Katie, he still couldn't shake the look Olive had given him earlier that day when she saw him asking her.

She looked hurt.

Of course, why would she be? Olive told him she didn't want to go to the Ball. It clearly didn't seem like it would be her type of thing, yet there was something in her eyes that told George that maybe she changed her mind. Maybe he had made a mistake by asking Katie, even if they were just going as friends.