Tightly Knit ⟶ Fred Weasley

CHAPTER FIFTY-EIGHT

There was never a time where Marnie had been disappointed with anything Eleanor had presented her in the past, so she didn't anticipate being let down in any way. She took the box and pulled out the robes, only to stop immediately as she noticed they had become a velvety purple, rather than the blue they had been earlier.

"How did you manage to change the colour? The charm didn't work-"

"No, it didn't but you and I both know that the Wizarding World can be a little behind with their thought process. I think they rely too heavily on magic and don't realise that the muggle way can get things done. I had Mum send me some dye and I submerged them until they darkened. Apparently, the charm is no match for regular dye, so jokes on your parents. Maybe they aren't as smart or creative as they like to believe they are. But that's not even the best part, go on, look."

With Eleanor's encouragement, Marnie lifted the robes higher, noticing right away that the eagle that had been embroidered had been replaced with the image of a phoenix.

"You did all of this, Ellie?" Marnie whispered. "You did all of this for me?"

"Of course I did," Ellie smiled at her, "you're my best friend and I wasn't going to let your parents ruin this for you. I just want you to have a good time."

"And I want you to have a good time. The offer still stands for me to kick Fred's arse for you."

"I will have a good time, without him. Don't worry about it."

For the rest of the day, Eleanor, Marnie, and Cedric gathered in the Common Room, opening gifts or sitting around talking about anything and everything. It was nice to have just some alone time as Cedric made a point to wave off anyone that tried to interrupt them with talk of the Triwizard Tournament or the Yule Ball. But eventually, a first-year student approached Eleanor, holding out a gift they had found sitting outside of the Common Room entrance.

As she took it in her hands, Eleanor looked it over and saw that it was from "The Better Listener" but she didn't think he really had that title anymore, it was more like "The Better Jumper To Conclusions." She didn't bother opening it, only bringing it to the dorms when it was time for her and Marnie to get ready and placed it on her bed to maybe open later.

Freshly showered and standing in front of a mirror in her dress slip an hour or so later, Eleanor shared the space with Marnie as the two of them put on makeup, attempting various eyeshadows before turning to each other and laughing hysterically at how bad it looked. As much as they wanted to play with the bold colours, for their own sake, they thought it would be better to play it safe for the evening.

Eleanor helped Marnie place her hair up, while Marnie curled Eleanor's hair, only to watch as her hair dropped the curl and turned into waves a little while later. It had certainly become a process to get ready but with only twenty minutes to spare before the ball was set to begin, they had managed to finish. Slipping on her red dress robes, Eleanor looked herself over and smiled to herself.

The red was more of a burgundy, the robes fitted in the bodice area, able to show off Eleanor's lean figure. There was fabric to be tied around the waist that draped with the rest gracefully, and the sleeves, while long, were billowy and light. For a few moments, Eleanor couldn't stop looking herself over, never seeing herself dressed so elegantly. But all thoughts of herself went out the window when Marnie stepped out wearing her new dress robes.

"Well, what do you think? Oh, my Merlin! Ellie, look at you!"

"Look at me?! Look at you! You look stunning!"

"It should be illegal for us to look this good. We're so fucking gorgeous! What the hell are we doing going with boys to this ball? We should just go together and be the talk of the ball for the whole evening!"