midnight of the masquerade | d. malfoy

thirty - three ; dress shopping

August 10th

Days quickly flew by. Things with my dad ... are different. We used to have so much fun together. He lost his smile. The smile I need in times like these. I don't know why, but I don't want to question it.

After what happened at the Ministry, me and Harry have become a lot closer, if that was possible. So with that, comes with a lot of letters. Not only did Harry owl me; so did Draco and quite surprisingly Pansy. Draco didn't owl much. Probably because he wanted to keep us a secret from his parents also. But there was something different with him too. His words always seemed so serious and rushed. It's starting to make me feel like no one wants to be near me anymore.

Pansy on the other hand was always very enthusiastic to write to me. She's invited me to come look for dresses for Astoria's birthday dinner with Daphne tonight. I was about to protest, telling her I've already got a dress... But then I realized that wasn't such a good idea to wear 'that one'.

"Alana!" My dad calls.

I drop my book and rush downstairs. I quickly see two girls at the doorway and I knew instantly that it was Pansy and Daphne. I round the end of the stairs as I watch my dad go back to the living room. "Hey guys."

"C'mon we have no time to waste!" Daphne excitedly gushes.

I quickly run to the coffee table, grabbing my wallet and putting it in my jean pocket. They give me a weird look as I walk over. "What? I hate purses." I shrug.

"Why?" Pansy questions as I lock the door behind me after we exit.

"Why should I like them?" I simply reply, joining them again.

***

The door bell rings as we enter the shop. Pansy was attracted to a dress they held at the window and dragged us in. I walked around with Daphne as Pansy fought with a girl for the dress. "Are you excited?" I asked Daphne.

She looks through the racks of dresses and shrugs. "Yeah I guess."

"You guess?" I ask, leaning on the wall.

"It's just that she's growing so fast. You know?"

"I actually don't know because I don't have any siblings." I scoff. "But yes I understand."

"I can't believe she's even already arranged to marry someone." Daphne sighs.

I jump from the wall and stare at her. "She has an arranged marriage?"

"Yeah. Crazy right?" She rolls her eyes.

"Yeah. Crazy." I breathe out.

Suddenly Daphne lets out a gasp, taking a dress from the rack and showing it to me. "This is your dress."

I turn my attention to her, and looking at the dress; I nodded with a big smile. "That is my dress."

"I did it!" I heard someone call from behind me. We turn our heads and there stood a very messy-haired Pansy, with a dress in her hand. "It was hard but hey it was worth it." She said, sounding a bit dizzy.

We laughed at her loudly, as she scolded us.