Castor loved the Weasleys as if they were her own family. The Pukwudgie in her was fiercely protective of those she considered family. Bill with his stories of Egypt and fang earrings. Charlie with his similar love of creatures and joking personality. Percy, with his determination to make his own way in the world, and his protective love of his siblings. The twins, with their endless practical jokes and ability to diffuse almost any situation with their humor and love of mischief. There was Ron, with his ability to make anyone feel welcome, he'd been unafraid to make friends with her and her twin as well as Harry on the Hogwarts Express three years ago, and she'd been lucky to consider him her friend, brother even, ever since.
And then there was Ginny.
Ginerva Molly Weasley, the only daughter of the Weasley clan, who held a special place in their hearts, as well as in the Jones'. The youngest redhead was headstrong and a loyal friend, who wasn't afraid to stand up to anyone who tried to put her down. Castor was surprised to see her stand up to Lucius Malfoy in her first year, and she had never been prouder to know the young girl. Pollux was never afraid to include her in the pranks put on by himself and the Weasley Twins so she could avoid bein caught up in the fallout, and when she asked, was always willing to play a pick-up game of quidditch with her at the Burrow.
Their time at Hogwarts was a bit different. Being the youngest, she was often found hanging out with her best friend Luna Lovegood, another sweet friend of Castor's from her own house of blue and bronze. Luna was an odd young girl, not that it mattered to her very much in the slightest. Castor hadn't had very many conversations with the platinum haired student, but the times that she did were always interesting to say the least. But she was Ginny's best friend, and that meant that wherever the Gryffindor went, the Ravenclaw was sure to follow.
Castor loved that after Ginny's shitty first year at school, having been kidnapped and manipulated into the Chamber of Secrets, she was glad to see the Gryffindor bravery shining through every day. She knew Ginny still had nightmares about the diary, about the damp, cold air of the Chamber, and the sound of the Basilisk as it slithered through the pipes. But Luna was always there. And for that, Castor had never been more grateful to Luna Lovegood.
The young Gryffindor must have a habit of making friends with Ravenclaws, because she had a similar relationship with Castor. The older witch considered Ginny to be very special to her. They'd grown closer over the previous summer at the Burrow, having been the only other female besides Hermione to interact with, Ginny and Castor had grown quite close.
Which was why, Castor had invited her to Hogsmeade to go shopping for the Yule Ball. In anticipation for the dance, the professors had allowed students to travel to the village the entire week before the dance, once classes were over, and as long as they were back by dinner. Rather than everyone swarm the shops on the same weekend before...
And unlike Ron, who had to wear the outdated dress robes sent to him by Molly, Ginny was given a few extra galleons to buy her own dress. Being a third year student, she normally wouldn't have been able to attend the Yule Ball but having been asked to go as friends with Neville, she happily agreed. Ginny had just about tackled Castor into a squeezing hug when she'd invited her to come shopping with her and Eliza.
"Can I come too?" Hermione asked from across the table.
"Of course!" Castor beamed at her, when she suddenly had a thought. "Have you been asked to the dance?" She wiggled her eyebrows at the bushy haired witch. Hermione blushed and tried to restrain the grin on her face, but Castor had seen right through her shy silence. "Hermione Jean Granger, who asked you?"
"I can't tell you!" She smiled widely. "It's meant to be a surprise."
"Okay. Keep your secret. I'll get it out of you somehow." Castor laughed as 'Mione's blush deepened.
The following Hogsmeade weekend, they bundled up in their winter coats and made their way down to the village. Gladrag's Wizard Wear was a little busier than it usually was, the extra students visiting from Beauxbatons had made it so that they had to squeeze their way through the line near the front entrance to make their way towards the back of the shop.
Hermione had moved towards the magical clothing, looking through the dresses with contemplative gazes before she moved on to the next one. Eliza had pulled Ginny along to the dresses in her size, holding up every garment she thought would suit the young Weasley. Which left Castor to shop on her own. Not that she minded, it meant that she could take her time looking for the perfect outfit.
"Ohh! What about this one?" Eliza held up another dress, the emerald green would have complimented Ginny's complexion beautifully, had it not been for the Weasley's scrunched nose and gentle shake of her head. They moved away to look at some other ones.
"Castor," Hermione called her over. "Can you help me look?"
"Of course, love." Castor moved to stand at the rack opposite her, each of the swiping through dress after dress after dress. "What color do you want?"
"I don't know."
"Do you want a long dress, or a short dress?"
"I don't know."
"How are you doing your hair and makeup?" Castor stopped her movements, watching Hermione's expression morph into one of frustration. "Hey, it's okay. We can figure this out." She reached for the younger girl's hand. "Let's start with the color. What do you normally wear outside of school?"
"Neutral colors, mostly." She sighed. "I like pinks and reds. But I don't want to be the typical Gryffindor who shows up in a red dress..."
"Okay. That's a good place to start." Castor pulled Hermione to stand in front of a mirror. "No yellows because of the brass tones in your hair. I would avoid black, because we want you to stand out..." Hermione still looked a bit nervous as Castor turned and quickly grabbed a few dresses that stood out to her. She turned and handed them back to her female friend and pushed her towards the dressing rooms. "Go try those on, and we'll see what you like and go from there."
It was then that she moved to find Ginny and Eliza again. When she located her other friends, Eliza was standing on the fitting platform, wearing a sheer black dress with embordered flowers sewn into the tulle overlay. The flowers and their matching vines had been charmed to bloom, grow, and fade as they moved across the dress. The brunette kept twisting and twirling around on the pedestal to watch the way the dress moved with her body.
"Eliza!" Castor gasped in awe. "That dress is beautiful!"
"I know!" Eliza flipped her hair twice and grinned at her roommate. "Ginny chose her dress too!"
"Go put it on, I want to see it!" Ginny rushed to the dressing room as well, coming out a few minutes later in the sweetest dress Castor had ever seen. The blush pink slip underneath contrasted with the ruffled layers of seafoam green tulle. The collar had matching lace stitched into it, as well as a bright pink ribbon sash. "Oh, Gin, it beautiful!"
Ginny blushed and spun around, laughing at how the dress twirled with her. "Thank you. Eliza found a necklace to match. Will you help me with my hair for the dance, Castor?"
"Of course!" The two girls went to take their dresses off and pay for them, just as Hermione came walking up to her with a bag in her hand, a shy smile on her face. "Did you find a dress too?" Hermione nodded. "Let me see."
"No." 'Mione giggled. "I want it to be a surprise."
"Have you found a dress yet?" Eliza emerged from the dressing room, her dress draped over her arm.
"No, I should probably continue looking." Castor and Eliza looked through the racks again. "I don't usually dress up, I don't even know where to start." She chuckled.
"What about this one?" Eliza held up a short, ruffled dress for Castor to see. She cringed slightly at the alarming color of the fabric.
"Eliza Nicole Perkins, I love you. But I am not wearing canary yellow to the Yule Ball."
"Why not?"
"Well, for one thing, I am not a Hufflepuff, nor do I want to be mistaken for Cedric's date."
"Fair enough." Eliza said after a moment and continued searching. "Has Fred asked you yet?"
"No, but I'm tired of waiting. I think I'm gonna ask him during dinner tonight."
"Atta girl!" Eliza's eyes shined proudly. "How are you going to do it? Flowers? Chocolates? Some grand gesture in the Great Hall so he has to say yes to you due to pressure of embarrassing you both?" She laughed.
"Eliza!" Castor laughed at her friend's playful teasing, though she couldn't deny that she was nervous of his answer. "No, none of that. I'm just going to ask him. Straight and to the point."
"I'll be cheering for you." Eliza smiled at her.
Castor looked around the store. She had searched almost every rack and still hadn't found a dress. The dance was next week, and she sighed, wondering if she was possibly going to have to explain to Professor McGonagall that she couldn't find a date nor an appropriate outfit to wear. She doubted the Gryffindor Head of House would take very kindly to the news. She noticed Ginny and Hermione sitting on a plush velvet bench along the front window, each of them clutching their garment bags as if they were afraid another student would snatch it out of their hands.
"Why don't you take them over to Madame Puddifoot's? I'll catch up with you guys later."
"Are you sure?" Eliza asked.
"Yea." Castor nodded her towards the other girls. "I'm sure I'll find something soon."
"Okay." Eliza leaned in to kiss her cheek before she led the other two girls out of the shop and down the street. Castor turned to continue searching through the dresses, praying that she found one soon. When she reached the final clothing rack in the store, Castor gasped and pulled the most gorgeous dress from the throngs of shimmering fabric and garments. With several spins and twirls in front of the mirror, she bought the dress and made her way to meet her friends for tea.
~
Harry and Ron seemed to be having a similar problem. Hermione listened as they whispered during the study period in the Great Hall, to the displeasure of Professor Snape, who continually had to scold them for talking.
"This is mad. At this rate, we'll be the only ones in our year without dates." Ron's head was forced back to his notes, and Professor Snape huffed again as he walked between the tables. "Well, us and Neville."
"Yea, but then again he can take himself." The two friends laughed as they recalled Neville's late night waltz practice in their dorm.
"It might interest you to know that Neville's already got someone." Hermione sassed, not liking the tone they were using about their house mate.
Ron groaned again ducking his head as Snape walked by again. "Now I'm really depressed." A sheet of note paper fluttered into his book by his brother. Harry peaked over his shoulder, reading the slanted handwriting belonging to Fred Weasley.
'Get a move on or all the good ones will have gone.'
Ron glared at his brother as he hissed. "Who are you going with?" Fred only responded by throwing a crumpled paper ball to Angelina Johnson, much to the trio's surprise. They all suspected that he would have asked Castor, seeing as they all knew they liked each other. Hermione couldn't help her expression of shock as the scene unfolded. George was also looking between his twin and Angelina in confusion.
Fred began to gesture a dancing motion with his arms, grinning at Angelina. "Do you...wanna go...to the ball...with me?"
"Yea. Alright." Angelina blushed and turned back to her friends. Fred turned back to his younger brother, sending him a sly wink and continuing his notes. George's brows furrowed as he did the same when he saw Professor Snape walking back their direction.
"Oi, Hermione." Ron began. "You're a girl."
"Well spotted." She sassed. Harry tried to warn Ron of their impending punishment, though it was too late.
"Come with one of us?" Ron's proposition was barely finished when Professor Snape's notebook was swiped across the back of the boy's heads. When he was out of earshot again, Ron went on.
"It's one thing for a bloke to show up alone, but for a girl it's just sad." Harry winced a bit, even he knew that was the wrong thing to say. Hermione huffed in response.
"I won't be going alone because believe it or not, someone's asked me." She walked up to Professor Snape to turn in her work. When she reached the boys again, she leaned into Ron's face angrily. "And I said yes." And with that she grabbed her books and stormed out of the Great Hall.
"She's lying, right?" Ron turned to Harry.
"If you say so..."
"Look, we've just go to grit our teeth and do it. Tonight when we both get back to the common room, we'll both had partners. Agreed?"
"Agreed." What they failed to see was Professor Snape adjusting his sleeves, and with one final forceful push of their heads into their notes, they finished their work with a groan of pain.
~
As Harry made his way up to the owlery, he cursed himself for not wearing a warmer jacket. He climbed the stone stairs with careful steps, making sure not to slip on the snow and ice in his path. Just before he turned into the first room, he rushed to stop as he almost ran into Cho Chang on her way out. With a surprised gasp they danced back and forth before Cho grabbed his upper arms and rotated them to their desired positions.
"Umm watch yourself on the stairs. It's a bit icy at the top." She breathed through her sweet voice, and as she turned to make her way down, Castor's voice echoed in his head.
Just walk up to her and ask her.
"Cho!" He called after her, hoping he didn't sound too eager.
"Yes?" She smiled at him. Damn...
"Umm, well, I just wondered if maybe you wanted to go to the ball with me?" He rushed out his question, hoping she heard him over the loud squawking of the owls behind him.
"Sorry." She leaned in closer. "I didn't catch that."
Harry took a deep breath, wishing his nerves would calm down enough for him to get to question out. "Um, I was just wondering if, maybe, you wanted to go to the ball with me?"
"Oh. Um..." Cho looked startled at first, and then unsure of how to answer. "Harry, I-I'm sorry. But someone's already asked me. And well, I've said I'll go with him."
"Yeah. Okay. Great. Fine." He just couldn't stop talking. "No problem. Okay. Good." He began to walk away, only trying to save himself further embarrassment.
"Harry!" Cho called. He rushed back. "I really am, sorry." She smiled at him again and made her way down the stairs. He could only sigh as he made his way up the stairs to write to Sirius.
Later in the common room, he lied on the plush red couch in front of the fire. The portrait opened suddenly, and Ron was led inside by Ginny and several other girls. Ron looked flustered and a bit like he was in shock.
"What happened to you?"
"He just asked Fleur Delacour out." Ginny responded for him.
"What?" Hermione was shocked.
"What did she say?" Harry asked.
"No of course." Ron shook his head silently. "She said yes?"
"There she was walking by. You know how I like it when they walk..." Ron was almost in a trance. Ginny rolled her eyes. "I couldn't help it. It just sort of slipped out."
"Actually, he sort of screamed at her." Ginny chimed in. "It was a bit frightening."
"What did you do then?" Harry pushed.
"What else? I ran for it!" Ron whined. "I'm not cut out for this, Harry." Ron continued to rant, when something else caught Harry's attention.
"Hi, Harry." Padma and Pavarti Patil all but swooned at him as they passed. With a glance between the twins and Ron, it was like a lightbulb went off in his head, and he ran after them.
~
Dinner that night was filled with excitement. The dance was at the end of the week, and everyone was in high spirits, almost every student able to attend the dance was talking about how excited they were. With Pollux finishing up homework while he ate his dinner at the Slytherin table, claiming he didn't want to be distracted by Fred and George, that left Castor to pull Eliza over to the Gryffindor table, where they both squeezed in next to their friends. Eliza sat next to Castor with her back to the wall, Ginny on her other side. Across from them was Ron, Harry, Hermione, and Fred and George.
"This is all so exciting!" Eliza gleamed. "I've never been to a dance before."
"I don't think any of us have." Harry commented.
"We have formal dance classes at Ilvermorny." Castor input. "It's mostly to prepare us for the prom that's put on for the 6th and 7th years at the end of May, but it's open for all students if they wish to learn."
"So you know how to dance?" Eliza asked.
"Pollux and I do. We weren't in the dueling club yet, and our mother suggested it, though it was more heavily implied that she wanted us to learn. Pollux kept stepping on his partner's feet before he finally relented to practicing with me."
"He learned to dance with his sister?" Ron asked.
"Yea." Castor shrugged. "It eliminated the extra air of awkwardness that stems from not knowing your partner, and we were already comfortable being in each other's space." She raised her brow at him. "We are twins, you know."
Ron shrugged and helped himself to some mashed potatoes and chicken. Eliza nudged Castor from her left, and when she peaked over at her roommate, she discreetly nodded across the table to the Weasley twins.
"Speaking of dancing," Castor straightened her shoulders and leaned her chin on her fist on the table. "What about you Freddie?"
"What about me?" Said Weasley looked a bit startled at the question.
"What do you say? Wanna go with me to the dance?" Castor smiled at him hopefully, her cheeks turning a light shade of pink. The Golden Trio looked a bit uncomfortable to be caught witnessing the situation, and George looked like he didn't quite know what to do.
"Oh. Umm..." Fred put down his silverware and stared back at her. "I've already asked Angelina." His lips twitched like he could decide on an expression.
"Johnson?" She wondered.
"Yea. I asked her during study hall, and she said yes." Fred looked between his own twin and Castor.
"Oh." She sat up straight, looking somewhere in the middle of the wood grain table as she collected her thoughts. "Okay."
"I'm sorry." Fred looked guilty, his blue eyes looking at her sadly.
"No! It's...It's okay." She tried to smile at him, but everyone around her could see she was disappointed. She masked her features, trying to look like she wasn't dejected. "How about you, Eliza?" Out of her sight, George smacked Fred across the arm.
"Huh?" Eliza hummed at her surprised.
"Wanna let me be your arm candy?" She laughed shortly. Eliza winced, regarding Castor carefully.
"I have a date too."
"What?" Castor whined. "Who asked you?"
Eliza bit her lip as she watched Castor's expression drop again. "Umm, Pollux asked me."
"My brother asked you?" She looked across the Great Hall, seeing the way her twin ducked his head quickly, and Castor knew he'd been listening to their conversation. She sighed. "Okay then."
"I'm sorry, Castor." Eliza put a hand on her arm. "The next dance that comes up, I'm all yours."
"Yea. Great." She nodded rapidly. "Sound's like a plan." Castor crossed her arms and leaned forward on the table as the others tried to continue the conversation over the air of rejection.
"Harry and I finally got dates." Ron's attempt at saving the moment went to shit when he couldn't think of anything else to say. He winced when Ginny kicked his shin underneath the table. Harry whipped around to face him incredulously.
"Who are you going with?" Castor looked between the two of them.
"Pavarti and Padma Patil." Harry answered for them. "It was a last minute thing..." The younger boy trailed off as he realized how he sounded. "If we knew you didn't have a date, then we could have gone as friends."
"No, it's okay." She waved him off. "Go with the girls." The conversation continued after that, and though she filled her plate, Castor only pushed her food around gently. Ron leaned in to whisper to Harry.
"I don't know if I couldn't have gone with her as friends."
"Why's that?" Harry whispered back.
"Well, I see Castor as sort-of an older sister." Ron's whispering wasn't as quiet as he thought. "If there's one thing that's worse than going alone, it's going with your sister to a dance where everyone else has a date." Two more harsh kicks to both his shins brought him back to the table. Eliza and Ginny were both glaring fiercely at him, and when he finally looked around, he noticed that Castor looked even more dejected and sad, if that was even possible. Ron's stomach filled with guilt, and he ducked his head. She'd obviously heard him...
"I'm just gonna go to the library." Castor suddenly pushed herself to her feet, the bench scraping on the stone floor.
"Are you sure? You haven't eaten-" Eliza began to protest.
"Yea. I'm sure. I have a Transfiguration essay to finish." Castor reached down for her bag. "Yea, I'm just gonna-" She pointed absentmindedly to the doors of the Great Hall. "Yea..." She rushed off without a word, her midnight curls bouncing behind her as she rushed out of the room.
When she was gone, Hermione reached behind Harry and smacked Ron's arm. Harry shied away from her harsh glare as well, and neither of them spoke for the rest of the meal.