Double Deception

The One Where Dates are Made

The Yule ball was, as the students had been told, a traditional event which represented the true unity of the TriWizard Tournament.

Very few saw it as that. Most saw it as a popularity contest, there was pressure to find the perfect dress and date.

Due to this, Percy was dragged into an entire day of makeup, hair and chatting in the Slytherin dorms. Not that she minded much, she and Kyle hadn't been alone together in weeks.

"Hmmm..." Percy sat on the bed, Kyle stood in front of her, holding onto her shoulders and staring at her. Finally the Slytherin girl smiled and stood up straight. "We'll curl your hair and have it half up in a bun. I'm thinking natural makeup with red lips. Sound good?"

Percy nodded, she didn't really have a choice in the matter. "I still can't believe you're going with Draco." She asked with a grin.

"No boy talk. I would like to pass the Bechdel Test at least once in this story." Kyle grabbed her curling iron (a genius muggle contraption that Percy had bought her for her birthday last year).

"We could talk about that fact you've been avoiding me since the beginning of the year." Percy voiced quietly, suddenly very aware that Kyle was holding a very hot stick next to her head.

The red-headed girl apparently wasn't too interested in that subject. "Our Defence lessons have been a bit crazy lately, don't you think?"

"Yeah, Kyle, I guess they have been." Percy answered quietly.

"We would be practicing the unforgivable curses right now if it was legal."

"Thankfully it's not... Though I read that you have to truly mean it the curse for it to work. Like if you use the killing curse but don't actually want to kill the person wont die, they'll be hurt horribly, but won't die."

Kyle frowned and shook her head, "I don't believe anyone ever wants to kill, yet people are still killed by that curse."

"Would you ever use it?"

Kyle sighed and for a moment Percy thought she might ignore this question too. Eventually however, she spoke, "I think I would, given a reason. If someone was trying to kill someone I love, or the world would be a better place without that person in it." She shook her head as if to clear away the thought. "It doesn't matter, now tell me, why aren't you going to the ball with Fred?"

"What happened to passing the Bechdel Test?" Percy let the subject change again, she found herself doing that a lot lately when she managed to spend time with Kyle. "He didn't ask, Evie did, so I'm going with her."

"Do you even like her like that?" Kyle began securing her friend's hair with clips.

Percy nodded with a small smile. "She's great, I'm really comfortable around her- like I don't have to try too hard cause she already likes me."

"Being comfortable and being in love aren't the same thing Perce."

"They can be."

Kyle left it there, how quickly they had gone from thinking practically in sync to not knowing how to respond to each other. "I've finished your hair. Can you plait mine for me?"

They switched places, now Kyle sat on the bed with her friend knelt behind her as she plaited her hair in silence.

--------

"Looking hot, Ronald."

Percy and Kyle walked into the entrance hall at the same time as Harry and Ron. Kyle couldn't stop herself from making some kind of comment.

His dress robes were truly horrendous, Harry looked nice in his simple black robes. However, this only made things worse for poor Ron stood next to him, the boy was hidden under frills, lace and Merlin knows what else.

And he didn't look happy.

"It's not fair, you all look good." Ron moaned.

One word to describe Kyle would be terrifying. She wore a long green dress that her parents had gotten specially made for her, the sleeves and neckline completely covering her while somehow still looking seductive. Her fiery red hair was contained in a plaited bun, making her look nothing less then regal. A true Slytherin Princess.

Kyle gave Percy a hug and winked at Ron and Harry before going to find her date, leaving Percy with the two boys.

Percy couldn't have looked more different from her friend if she tried. The long ivory dress was off her shoulders, it was soft and simple. The hippie style of it coming from the 70's when it was first worn by her mother. The white flowers woven into her hair made her appear to be a flower child, pulled right out of the pages of a vintage magazine.

"Who did you guys ask in the end?" Percy knew about the trouble the boys had been having in finding dates.

Just then Parvati and Padma entered the room and smiled at the boys, to her credit Padma hid her disgust at her date's outfit well.

Percy smiled "That answer's my question, I'll catch up with you guys later." She had a date to find and some dancing campions watch.