The Little Lightning Girl

30-Albus and Alana: Oscar Award Nominees

Rose's dress above.

Our dress shopping experience actually ended up being quite fun. The shop woman, whom we found out was called Mrs. Greyawl, was very attentive and once she'd measured each of us for size, she led us right to the section of dresses in our sizes. Rose and I had a pretty similar shape, it turned out, but Kaley, with her extra few inches of height and willowy limbs, ended up spending her time in a different part of the shop.

Since we were the only ones here, we ended up putting on a sort of fashion show for each other. Strutting around the shop in each new dress we tried on. Some of them were awful, like when Rose tried on a pink mermaid-shaped gown that clashed horribly with her hair and managed to make her look even shorter than she was. But I actually really enjoyed the experience, it was a new one for me. I'd never gone to a fancy event before. I'd never gone on a shopping trip with friends before.

Rose eventually settled on a royal blue silk dress with a slit on one side that split and showed her bare leg up to her thigh when she walked. It was a little more daring of a choice than I'd expected her to make, but it suited her well.

"Well, if dad doesn't have a fit about my date, he'll have a fit about this dress," she'd said as Mrs. Greyawl placed it in a box for her.

Kaley and I just laughed. Kaley, who looked like a model with her long legs, had chosen a dress that completely covered them. It was a pale pink, with white floral designs covering the skirt. She looked beautiful in it, a softer, more elegant kind of beauty as compared to the daring of Rose's dress.

I'd taken a little longer to choose a gown because I wanted one that covered the scars on my back. Rose and Kaley tried to tell me that it didn't matter, that they weren't that noticeable and even if they were we could cover them with my hair. I appreciated their efforts, but I knew that the criss crossed marks on my back weren't something people would be able to ignore. I was especially concerned because people had just started staring at me a little less and I didn't want to reverse the progress. But after an awkward coversation during which I explained vaguely to Mrs. Greyawl the situation I was in(she might have assumed I had acne or something), she led me to a beautiful pale blue dress with golden embroidery all over it looking like vines and leaves. The embroidery continued on a sheer fabric over my shoulders and down the back of the dress as well. It poofed out to create a sort of sleeve that hooked into the shoulders. And when I put in on, my scars looked like they were just part of the design.

My friends then began arguing that I'd gotten the best dress. But we all left the shop in a good mood and excited to wear the dresses in three days.

We were enjoying our butter beer at the Three Broomsticks when Albus Potter burst inside, spotted us, and immediately came to sit in our booth next to me. He put his arm around my shoulders and I slapped his hand away, "What are you doing?"

He smiled sheepishly and took his arm off of me, "There's a girl that I really don't want to go to the dance with who has actually been following me around. Can you just... pretend that I'm here with you for a second?"

I scoffed, "I don't think the "I'm busy" excuse will be good enough for a stalker, Al."

"It will be if she thinks we're on a date."

I paused for a moment to read the sincerity on his face and then burst out laughing, "Oh, this is too funny! Pretend we're on a date? There's three girls and you, Al. How could we be on a date?"

"Rose is my cousin, and James has a crush on Kaley, but you and I could still be dating."

Kaley blushed profusely at the mention of the older Potter boy, and Rose just snorted, taking another sip of her Butter Beer. Albus did seem rather desperate, I supposed, his eyes were wide and pleading, so I sighed, "Fine. But only if she comes in here, and only for as long as it takes her to leave."