the secret of Erised {s.b.}

chapter 32: a dance

It was the day of the Winter Ball, meaning that it was the last day before the Winter holidays. Perla had sent Esmeralda a letter earlier in the week inviting her and her friends over for the Holidays. She felt a bit nervous about having six other people over for Christmas because normally it would've just been her and her aunt. Besides, she would have nowhere to hide if she had another nightmare about them. At least Hogwarts was big enough for her to hide in, but even if she took the Marauder's Map with her, Sirius would always find a way to know where she was.

Along with Perla's letter came a package. At the bottom of the letter Perla said not to open the package until Esmeralda was alone. When the young witch carried the package up to her dorm and opened it. Inside laid a beautiful ball gown. Carefully, Esmeralda took the dress out of the box and admired its beauty. It was a light fabric that faded from blue to white on the way down. The long off the shoulder sleeves tightened at the wrists giving the dress an elegant shape.

That morning, the House Elves had delivered breakfast to the Gryffindor girls dormitory on McGonagall's orders. She knew that every girl in Gryffindor tower would prefer to start getting ready in the morning rather than go down and have breakfast. The smell of fresh brewed coffee woke Clara up. She got out of bed and immediately jumped up and down between Lily's and Esmeralda's beds. The red-haired witch threw a pillow at her friend who moved out of the way and it hit Esmeralda right in the face.

"What the hell, Lily ?" she exclaimed.

"Sorry," Lily responded, "It was aimed at the dumbass in between our beds."

"Excuse me, Lilypad," Clara said, "But we have to start getting ready for the Ball tonight."

Esmeralda groaned and sunk her head into .

"The Ball starts at seven o'clock tonight," Lily said, "Why do we have to start getting ready now ?"

"I was going to suggest having a relaxing Spa sort of morning while having breakfast and painting our nails," Clara said, "But I guess I'll have to do it all myself. Bummer, I guess I'll have to eat all of the waffles the House Elves brought up for breakfast."

The brunette shot right out of bed at the mention of waffles. She did not know what those waffles had that made them the most delicious breakfast food she'd ever had. Maybe it was the fact that they were fluffy and crispy at the same time, or the hints of citrus that paired so well with the maple syrup. Clara rolled her eyes and laughed at her friend as she piled three waffles one on top of the other. Lily got out of bed slowly and walked towards the middle of the room where the breakfast table was set up. The three girls enjoyed their breakfast as they figured out how each of them was going to go to the Ball.

After they were done with their breakfast, the girls took turns to shower. Once they were all showered, they stayed in bathrobes and put on a face mask while they painted their nails. Clara was not counting for the face mask to dry before their nails did, so Lily took her wand and performed a spell that dried their nails instantly. They lost track of time, but after they had taken off the face masks they returned and the middle table was full of food.

"We should have lunch before actually getting ready, right ?" Esmeralda asked.

Lily and Clara laughed.

"You're always hungry, aren't you ?" Lily said.

Esmeralda shrugged her shoulders and began to eat. The other two girls shook their heads and sat down to have lunch.

"So, Mer," Lily said halfway through lunch, "We've been meaning to ask you something."

The brunette looked up from her plate of food and looked at her friends who were looking at her, eyes full of concern.