PRANKSTER [1] ↝ C. DIGGORY

thirty-nine

"Alright, T-minus five minutes until we're supposed to meet the guys." Vasantha announced to the girls in the dormitory, glancing up at the clock on the wall while the rest of the girls hurried around the room, still getting ready for the evening. "How are we doing, ladies?"

"Just about done," Clary announced, hopping up and down on her left foot while she struggled to get her high top sneaker onto her right. 

While Clary knew all too well that she'd probably receive a Howler from her mother if Molly Weasley caught word that her eldest daughter was wearing sneakers to a ball, she also knew she wouldn't have lasted two minutes in heels, and if Rita Skeeter was going to be taking pictures of the champions and their dates for the Daily Prophet, she'd rather there be pictures of her in comfortable shoes rather than tripping in heels and falling in the middle of the dance floor. If she was lucky, the only pictures that would grace the headlines that next morning would be those taken from the waist up, and Molly would never need to know.

"Ready," Angelina said, rising from the desk near her bed, and Katie gave herself a final once-over in the mirror, fixing her hair for the third time that evening.

Although Katie was a year younger than the rest of the girls, and lived in the dormitory for the fifth year girls, they'd extended the invitation for her to get ready with them as they were all attending the Yule Ball in the same group. While Clary knew Katie decently well already, she was excited for the opportunity to get to spend more time with her that evening, and get more of an idea of what was going on between her and Newt, whether they were attending the ball as friends or if it was something more. While she knew Katie would never harm a fly, she didn't want to see her friend get hurt, and didn't want to take any chances.

"Alright, all finished," Clary said, finally managing to slip the sneaker onto her foot and making sure her laces were knotted tightly before glancing at herself in the mirror.

Above the sneakers, Clary wore a long black dress, and her hair fell in loose curls around her shoulders, framing her face. It wasn't often Clary went without her usual braid, and had originally planned on styling her hair as she normally did to keep it out of her face for the evening, though Vasantha's insistence that she curl it had won out eventually. 

The girls shuffled excitedly out of the sixth year dormitory and down the stairs to the common room, the sounds of the other three girls' high heels clicking on the stone steps, though Clary's were silent, much to her own amusement. From behind her, she could hear Angelina chatting animatedly about how much fun they were going to have that evening, and how gorgeous the four of them looked in their dresses. In addition to Clary's dress, Vasantha wore a light purple gown, Katie's dress was a golden shade of yellow, and Angelina's was a bright scarlet color. 

The Gryffindor Common Room was filled with students rushing back and forth from the steps to the dormitory, around the room and even a few hurrying through the portrait hole, not wanting to be late for the dance. As she reached the bottom of the steps, she caught sight of where Cedric waited with Fred, George, and Newt in the midst of the chaos, though the four of them seemed perfectly calm despite the situation. As Cedric saw Clary, a smile lit up his face, and he crossed the room with the rest of the guys to meet their dates.

"You look beautiful," Cedric said, causing her to smile in response, trying hard not to blush.

"You don't look so bad, yourself," she said, reaching up to straighten his bowtie, where it lay slightly crooked atop his black and white dress robes.

"Shall we?" Newt asked, his arm linking with Katie's, and Cedric smiled, taking Clary's hand in his.

"Let's go," Cedric said.