left - nicole
right - aurora
— NICOLE DIDN'T REALLY DRESS UP IN HER TIME AT HOGWARTS. The girl would always be seen with her hair uncombed, sometimes in a lazy ponytail, on good days, she would ask Hermoine to braid them. It wasn't that she thinks making herself presentable was a bad idea— in fact, she wishes she could— but the girl never found herself the time to fix herself up.
Aurora was always the presentable twin. That's why everyone liked her despite her slightly problematic personality— she was pretty. Of course, Nicole was too, but Aurora's beauty was more evident, while Nicole didn't take care of herself that much.
That was what Aurora had realized hours before the Yule Ball. Nicole didn't take care of herself. Now that she was one of the Tri-Wizard champions, she needed to look the best as she could, since Rita Skeeter would probably be somewhere in the ball snapping pictures of her.
It prompted the Sytherin to do something she never expected herself to do.
"I'm fixing you up for the ball."
Nicole, who was about to eat her toast, stopped mid-way. Aurora? Helping her? This must be a dream.
But in fact, it wasn't a dream. Hours later, Aurora stood in her sister's dorms, trying to fix her hair. The Slytherin even went as far as using Sleekeazy's Hair Potion, which Hermoine had also used. Ginny, who was the only third year who got into the ball was also in their dorm.
"Nicole Yvaine Hwang. Stop moving." Aurora hissed, trying to fix her sister's hair. Ginny looked towards the two and grinned in her pink dress; while Nicole merely frowned. Aurora was being to rough with her hair.
Her long hair was down, and Aurora was braiding a few sections of her hair like she had wanted to. The girl then cast an unfamiliar spell, which made some flowers line up on her braids.
"See, now you don't look like rubbish." Aurora said flatly after she had finished. Nicole looked at the mirror that was hung in their dormitories, a smile starting to dance on her face. She didn't look like herself— she looked stunning.
"I can't be here any longer now that my work is done." Aurora explained, looking at the mirror one last time before she finished her final touches on her hair. The older Hwang twin was wearing an elegant white dress that made her look like a princess of some sort. "I got to meet with Pansy and Daphne for a moment. See you."
When the only Slytherin left the room, Ginny had decided to go down to the common room as well, since she needed to meet up with Neville. The youngest Weasley gave Hermoine and Nicole one last look of encouragement before she left the room.
The two best friends shot each other a smile once the last person in the room besides them left.
Nicole looked at Hermoine up and down, her grin widening when she sees her robes made of a floaty, pink material. "You look beautiful, Mione."
"You too." Hermoine said truthfully. Both of them wore pink dresses by chance, and there was something different about how Nicole held herself. Maybe it was because instead of her usually slouched body, she stood elegantly as the silk pink dress really complimented her, while the white gloves gave a nice touch.
"What time is it?" Nicole questioned, hurriedly placing her shoes on. Hermoine looked over the room, her eyes widening when she spotted that they were almost late. "We've got to go, Nic."
—
Nicole peeked over the large door that had already opened. The walls of the Hall had all been covered in sparkling silver frost, with hundreds of garlands of mistletoe and ivy crossing the starry black ceiling. The House tables had vanished; instead, there were about a hundred smaller, lantern-lit ones, each seating about a dozen people.
But that wasn't what had caught her attention. Standing with the champions, Ellis and Krum were talking with each other, presumably waiting for their dates.
Hermoine, who was also peeking, pulling Nicole away. "Did you tell Ellis that I was going with Krum?"
"Yes." Nicole mumbled. "That's probably why they're together. We should go. I'm the only champion who isn't in there."
Hermoine shot her best friend a nervous glance— while Nicole merely held her hand and squeezed it in an attempt to calm her down. The two of them did a short countdown before the two of them walked out of their hiding place and walked down the stairs.
If only Nicole wasn't used to people gaping her all the time, she would have felt a little bit uncomfortable. Her eyes trailed off towards Ellis, only looking at him. A smile made it's way to her face as the boy walked over to her, offering a hand for her to take.
"Ma Chérie." Ellis greeted, taking her hand softly. Nicole didn't understand what it meant, but she hoped it was something good. Judging by the awestruck look on his face, maybe it was.
"Hi." Nicole shyly greeted, not really knowing what to say. Her eyes never trailed of Ellis', and the two of them kept their eyes on each other as they made their way inside with the other champions.
Stuck into her own little world with Ellis, Nicole never noticed Harry Potter looking at her like she was the only person alive.
Once everyone else was settled in the Hall, Professor McGonagall told the champions and their partners to get in line in pairs and to follow her. They did so, and everyone in the Great Hall applauded as they entered and started walking up toward a large round table at the top of the Hall, where the judges were sitting.
"Did I tell you that you look dashing?" Ellis joked. Nicole smiled, feeling a bit weird when she felt someone glaring at their interlocked arms, but she decided it wasn't worth her time. "You did Ellis. Five times."
The boy merely grinned. People started whispering, mostly talking about how Hermoine got Krum; but a lot of Hogwarts girls took a liking on Ellis, so some of the Ravenclaws in the year above Nicole were glaring at her.
Once they made it to the front, the trumpets had stopped and their charms teacher stood infront of the ensemble.
"I must warn you, Miss Tomato.." Ellis started once the music came. He gingerly placed his arm on her waist as Nicole placed hers on his shoulder. "I am a very good dancer."
"So am I." Nicole countered back.
As they started dancing, people looked at them, particularly, in awe. It was true that Ellis was an amazing dancer, and the way that Nicole danced with him made it seemed like they were truly meant for each other— dancing all their worries away.
Ellis picked Nicole up by her waist and nailed the part of the dance much like the other couples around them. Soon, the dance floor was packed up with the rest of the students. Not just them, as it seemed like the teachers went in too.
Aurora grinned as Cedric waltzed her around the hall. She had to admit, he wasn't really the best dancer, but he made it up by saying countless of jokes into her ear while the two of them danced.
"We have to be serious. Dumbledore is watching." Aurora joked, looking at the old headmaster. Cedric merely laughed, and spun Aurora around another time.
Nicole winked at Hermoine once Ellis spun her again. The girl winked at her back as she continued to dance with her partner.
Nicole heard the final, quavering note from the bagpipe with relief. She was starting to get a little bit tired from dancing, but The enseble stopped playing, applause filled the hall once more, and Nicole let go of Ellis at once.
Nicole looked up to see The Weird Sisters on the stage.
"Oh, they're amazing, Ellis!" Nicole exclaimed happily. The Weird Sisters were her favorite band growing up, and as the chords of their newest song started to play, Nicole grabbed onto Ellis and dragged him closer to the stage.
The boy laughed and began to dance with her, amused at her change of demeanor. The last song was somber, but now she was dancing like crazy.
The students from the three schools started screaming loudly as they surfed Professor Flitwik up the air. Nicole laughed as she helped push the tiny Professor over, but she had stepped on her dress, causing her to trip over Ellis.
"Oops." Nicole laughed, straightening herself as Ellis laughed. "Sorry."
The boy said it was nothing, and the two continued to dance until the song ended. That's when Nicole realized that she was actually tired, but she was high on happiness.
Her and Hermoine met up as Ellis and Viktor decided to get drinks. All of a sudden, Nicole wasn't mad at Harry anymore. The two of them walked over to the table where their two friends were with equally giant smiles on their faces.
"It's hot, isn't it?" said Hermione, fanning herself with her hand. "Viktor and Ellis' had just gone together to get some drinks."
Ron gave her a withering look. "Viktor?" he said. "Hasn't he asked you to call him Vicky yet?"
Nicole looked at him in surprise. The girl took a seat beside him, her eyebrows furring together. "What's up with you?" she said.
"If you don't know," said Ron scathingly, "I'm not going to tell you."
"Then don't tell her." Nicole deadpanned, about to grab Hermoine's hand away until Ron started talking again.
"He's from Durmstrang! Ellis is from Beauxbatons!" spat Ron. "He's competing against Harry! Against Nic! Against Hogwarts! You — you're —" Ron was obviously casting around for words strong enough to describe Hermione's crime, "fraternizing with the enemy, that's what you're doing!"
Hermoine's mouth fell open, while Nicole started to turn red with rage.
"The enemy?" Hermoine repeated.
"Dont be stupid." Nicole hissed. "Who was the one who was all excited when they saw him arrive? Who was the one who wanted his autograph? Who's got a model of him up in their dormitory? Who begged me to go let him see Krum after the game?"
Before he could speak, Nicole stood up and dragged Hermoine away so they could go back to their dates. Not before shooting him one final look, "You're an asshole, Ronald."
"Just ignore him." Nicole whispered to Hermoine, letting go of her best friend as she walked over to Ellis. The French boy had a somewhat amused look on his face as he watched Ron grumble to himself.
"Do you wanna go outside? I could use some fresh air." Nicole mumbled. All of a sudden it felt like the hall was really small, and she couldn't really breathe properly.
Understanding that she was a bit uncomfortable, Ellis took her hand and brought her outside. The two of them walked in the halls silently, until the girl started talking.
"Hogwarts.. it's really beautiful at night." Nicole breaths out. A light wind blows around her, pushing her hair away from her face. Ellis tucks the most awry strands behind her ears.
"It is," Ellis agrees. "But it isn't the most breathtaking thing i've ever seen."
"Wha—" Nicole turns around to see him staring down at her more intensely than she'd expected. The girl turns scarlet as she realizes what he's planning on following his statement with.
"You're hilarious, Ellis."
Suddenly, he tugs on her hand, pulling her into his chest with it. Nicole could feel his heart beating, much like hers, and her face turns more red than before.
"Of course I am." he says softer than usual as he smiles down at her. Nicole doesn't respond, instead moving his hand to rest against his collarbone.
"Just kiss me, will you?"
—
The pair walked back to the entrance of the hall, only to see a sight that they didn't expectz
"Well, if you don't like it, you know what the solution is, don't you?" yelled Hermione; her hair was coming down out of its elegant bun now, and her face was screwed up in anger.
"Oh yeah?" Ron yelled back. "What's that?"
"Next time there's a ball, ask me before someone else does, and not as a last resort!"
Ron mouthed soundlessly like a goldfish out of water as Hermione turned on her heel and stormed up the girls' staircase to bed. Ron turned to look at Harry.
"Well," he sputtered, looking thunderstruck, "well — that just proves — completely missed the point —"
"Harry. Nic." Hermoine turned around to see her friends coming from different directions. "Where have you two been?"
Nicole glanced nervously at Ellis, fixing her dress.
"Never mind! Off to bed, both of you."
Nicole's eyes landed on Ron, who was muttering to Harry as he walked up the stairs past by them. "They get scary when they get older."
"Ron, you spoiled everything!" Hermoine yelled. The two boys just ignored her and walked away, leaving Nicole and Ellis with Hermoine.
The girl shot him a nervous glance. "Ellis, I'm gonna go...."
"Go on." Ellis said tenderly, removing his hand from hers. "I need to go back to the carriage anyways."
Before she went to Hermoine, Ellis quickly kissed her cheek before he walked towards their rest place with other Beauxbatons boys.