-Dorothea-
-tired of being known for who you know-
-you know you'll always know me-
It was finally the day of the Yule Ball. Since Moody had told them that they were to be each other's dates, Bria had begun to form a pit of anxiety in her stomach.
She is going to have to get her act together for tonight. The thought of her dancing with Harry the whole night, acting like they're in love makes Bria want to hurl from the pressure of it all.
Also to add onto the fact that she had told Harry she had fancied him, and while he had said that it didn't bother him, she didn't want to make him feel uncomfortable with it either.
And she has a feeling that if she looks at him with adoration in her eyes he will most likely be extremely uncomfortable.
Bria and Padma began packing up their items to be taken to the Gryffindor Tower, because Parvati invited Padma and told Bria to come along with.
Hermione had told her that she was glad that Bria was coming because she always feels like Parvati and Lavander treat her differently because she was not as feminine as them.
And that they're condescending about it. And that they're vain. And shallow. And a lot of other words that Hermione had described to Bria during Ancient Runes.
Bria and Hermione take Ancient Runes together, and the class only had twelve other students, including them. Anthony and Padma were also in the class, but back in third year when they had begun their electives Anthony had beat Bria to the seat beside Padma because he wanted to copy off of her. So Bria had sat to the table next to them where Hermione was.
The girls had grown to a classroom friendship, one of those friendships where you only talk to each other in class but not so much anywhere else. You also only discuss things that are going on in said class, or make small talk.
Since Bria had been roped into being Harry's girlfriend, this friendship had evolved into something more personal. Bria and Hermione found themselves talking about many more things, the topic mostly being Harry.
They talk about Ron occasionally, especially since Hermione and Ron are on strained terms since their fight a few weeks ago.
Bria remembers the conversation clearly. Hermione was very angry that day, her syllables being exaggerated with passion and her quill constantly breaking due to the pressure she had put on it.
"I just don't understand why Ronald thinks that no one would want to go to the Ball with me! Does he really find me that undesirable that I would be waiting hopelessly for him to ask me out?"
"Well, you did say that you were expecting him to ask you," Bria muttered under her breath.
Hermione snapped her head. "I had wanted him to ask me as a friend!"
Bria raised her eyebrows. "Right. Of course. As a friend."
Hermione had huffed but said nothing. Bria remembered thinking that she couldn't believe how obtuse both she and Ron were. And she had asked Harry before what was going on with them, but that boy is so oblivious Bria doesn't think he'll know that Ron and Hermione are in love until their wedding day.
It was just so clear to Bria that Hermione and Ron both feel something for the other, but Hermione is too stubborn and Ron is too thick-headed. It just seemed so obvious to her.
She saw it in Ron when Michael had pretended like he and Hermione were in love, and Ron had a look of fury on his face. She had seen it in Hermione over the years she complains about Ron, this moment being one of the cases of proof.
They had fallen into a fit of silence, and Bria returned back to her work. She was trying to work through analyzing what symbol would make sense for the word "tomb" but she couldn't tell if it was option A or option B...
"I just think that if he really wanted to ask me he should have done it earlier!" Hermione cries out.
Bria sighed. She just wanted to finish the assignment. But alas, she knows that Hermione won't shut up until she gets all of her thoughts out, no matter how repetitive they seemed.
"Yes, yes, he is so stupid," Bria said.
"Completely idiotic!"
"Mhm."
Maybe it was option A, that would make more sense...
"He is so going to regret not asking me out earlier when he sees me in my dress."
Bria had just circled option A, and spent the rest of the class entertaining Hermione and all of her thoughts.
Which brings Bria back to the day of the Ball. She prepares herself for the possibility that Hermione is going to complain more about Ron today.
Bria and Padma enter the Gryffindor Tower, and make their way to the girl's 4th-year dormitories.
When they enter, they are greeted with a multitude of smiles and hugs. Bria settles her things on Hermione's bed, trying to catch her breath from carrying all of her things from one side of the castle to the other.
Hermione is beginning to put in Sleekeazy's Hair Potion and Bria settles in next to her. She grabs some of the potion for herself, and while her curls aren't as wild as Hermione's, she still has a bit of frizziness and she wants to make the curls more defined.
Bria was assigned to the task of assisting Hermione with getting ready since she "has a lot to work on" as quoted by Lavender when her and Parvati had sat with Bria and Padma that morning for breakfast.
Bria begins curling her hair by wrapping her pieces around a makeshift curling barrel, which is just a miniature rolling pin that she had snagged from the kitchens.
She wraps her hair around the barrel and with some practiced talent, she holds that in place with one hand while she uses the other to grab her wand.
She points to the rolling pin, and says, "focillo."
She repeats the process over and over again, and by the time her head is covered in styled curls Hermione has just finished taming her hair. Merlin, she has a lot of hair.
Bria lets her curls cool before she puts it into the hairstyle she has decided, and settles behind Hermione. Bria does the same process, curling the hair then casting the warming charm.
When Hermione's curls are now more stylish than they were before, Bria lets Hermione's curls cool while she finishes her hair. She gathers the front of her hair, leaving some pieces out that frame her face. She then braids the front pieces only enough to have the braid go around her head before tying it together and leaving the excess pieces unbraided.
When she deems Hermione's curls cooled enough, she begins putting it into an updo that she had seen in Witch Weekly and thought it would look good on Hermione.
Bria likes the process of getting ready, especially for events like this. The only other time she had to get ready for such an event is when Michael's older sister, Isabelle, had gotten married when Bria was twelve.
Growing up with brothers, Bria never got to do sister things like painting each other's nails and teaching the other how to dutch braid. No, her only source of anything feminine is from Michael of all people, who had been horrified when he discovered that Bria knew nothing that was girly.
Isabelle had forced Michael to do all the girly things when they were children. Michael participated in tea parties, had played dress up, and was the subject that Isabelle had used when testing out nail polish colors or makeup looks.
Michael didn't really like doing these things, but he had no one else to play with until he had met Bria, and by the time they had become friends he had assumed that all girls liked to do that sort of thing.
Isabelle is eight years older than Michael and Bria, so when she had gone to Hogwarts and began growing out of some things the Corner's had given her stuff to Bria.
Old magazines, some clothes, and makeup and nail polish that hadn't been expired. Not to mention that times when Michael buys Bria feminine items, wanting to make sure that she gets the same experience that Isabelle did.
Bria smiles. She thinks that Michael would be an amazing father to girls. He would spoil them rotten, that's for certain.
Bria had finished the hairstyle, but when Hermione tried to look in the mirror, Bria blocked her.
"I want you to see yourself when we finish the whole look, alright? We have enough time so if you don't like something, we can start over."
Hermione nods, and Bria starts on her makeup. While she does this, Hermione pulls out a book to occupy her time. Bria just shakes her head. Of course, the girl manages to find the time to start reading.
Bria conceals some areas and puts on some powder that reminds her of flour. She then places on blush and puts on mascara, curling and lengthening her lashes. To Bria, makeup is like decorating a cake. Obviously not the same techniques, but the principle of it all.
Makeup is the final touches to a person, accentuating their features. Frosting is the same thing, transforming a plain looking cake into something beautiful.
She waits to put on her lipstick, not wanting it to get everywhere when it's time to put on the dress.
Bria turns to Hermione, and begins her work. Hermione has wonderful skin, which Bria is slightly jealous of because she knows for a fact that Hermione does not use cleanser. She probably doesn't even know what moisturizer is.
Not wanting to change Hermione completely to the point where she's unrecognizable, Bria only does some small adjustments. She still places concealer under Hermione's eyes, covering the deep purple she has from reading too late into the night. Bria puts on blush and mascara, and dusts some of the blush on her eyelids to match Hermione's dress.
Hermione had shown Bria her dress during Ancient Runes, and Bria thought it was beautiful. Seeing it in person was something else entirely. It was an amazing shade of pink, but the lower layers of ruffles was a gradient, slowly getting darker until the last layer, which was a deep shade of magenta.
"It looks gorgeous, Hermione," Bria says to her.
Hermione whispers thank you, and Bria assists her into getting into the dress. Bria helps make sure that the dress didn't mess up her hair or makeup, and when the dress was put on Bria had tied the bow to cinch her waist.
As Hermione places on her heels, Bria feels a big smile grow on her face.
Hermione looks like a princess.
The room erupts into oohs and aahs at the sight of Hermione.
"You look so beautiful Hermione!" Parvati compliments.
"Bria, you did an amazing job on her," Lavender says.
Bria didn't know if that was a compliment to her or a jab on Hermione, but she brushes it off. "Thank you Lavender."
She finally gives Hermione permission to look into the mirror, and when she inspects Bria's work, Hermione had tears forming in her eyes.
"Hermione you can't cry! You'll mess up your makeup!" Bria chastises.
She grabs a few tissues and dabs at Hermione's eyes. "What's wrong?"
Hermione sniffs. "I have never felt this beautiful in my life."
Bria sighs. She feels sorry for Hermione, and is saddened that the girl has never experienced something like this.
"For the record," Bria says, placing the tissues down, "you have always been beautiful. But now, everyone is finally going to realize that this has been you all along."
Hermione looks like she was about to cry again, but knew better than to mess up her makeup, and pulls Bria into a tight hug.
"Thank you," she whispers in Bria's ear.
Bria returns the hug, and goes back to finish getting ready. Once she puts on her dress, the five girls all make their way to the Great Hall. She hadn't seen Ron or Harry when they left, so they were probably already there. She grows anxious about what Harry might be thinking when he sees her.
Parvati and Lavender run off to their dates, Parvati going with Anthony and Lavender going with Michael. Padma left as well, running off to find Ron.
She and Hermione see Harry and Krum waiting by the entrance to the Great Hall. When the three girls had run into the Hall, it had caught Harry's attention. He turns around, and locks eyes with Bria.
She sucks in a breath, and wills herself to move forward. She prays to Merlin that she wouldn't trip. That would be utterly embarrassing. When she reaches Harry, he looks back at her, his eyes wide.
"You look beautiful," Harry says honestly.
Bria blushes at the compliment. She did love the dress. It was simpler than Hermione's, with only being one layer of fabric instead of the many ruffles that she had.
It was a light blue but was so glittery that sometimes it looked silver. The fabric was patterned with horizontal waves around the whole body, but it was so small that you could barely see it.
It was a floor length gown, that was too long when Bria was at her normal height but the perfect length when she puts her silver heels on. There was a slit that starts at her mid thigh that allows the dress to billow out at the bottom.
The dress fits perfectly around her body, not too tight or too loose in any areas. It accentuates her curves and was tight enough around the top to see her waist. It had fit her like a glove, and Bria thought it was meant to be.
It was expensive, more expensive than anything she could have gotten for herself, but Michael had bought it for her. He didn't keep his promise that it was going to be her Christmas gift though.
She feels her cheeks burning at the compliment, but didn't want to look like a desperate schoolgirl. She straightens herself up and wills herself to exude confidence.
"Thank you. You don't look too bad either. You clean up nicely," she says as she brushes invisible lint off of his shoulder.
What? She was going to the Ball with her crush since forever. Even if he didn't like her back, she could pretend for a little while. They had to pretend to be in love anyway, so he was going to have to put up with her antics.
She was going to flirt with him a little bit, sue her.
Harry smiles at her. Not a big smile, a small one, but it still felt genuine.
The two stand around with the other Champions, waiting. Harry starts to walk over to Hermione, but she pulls him back.
"Let's give them time to talk," she whispers to Harry.
He nods and leads Bria to Cedric and Cho. They four begin a heated debate over whose house was the best Quidditch team.
"Our team won last year," Cedric says, puffing out his chest.
"Yeah, because I fainted and passed out on the field," Harry mutters darkly.
Bria and Cho laugh at him.
"Oi, what are you two laughing at, you didn't even make it to the finals!" Harry says to the girls.
"That's because Charles Vellum couldn't tell the difference between a Quaffle and a Bludger," Bria says, rolling her eyes.
"Thank Merlin he graduated," Cho says to her.
"We are going to be much better next year."
"Yes, you better watch out boys," Cho says, smirking at Cedric.
"Well, I'm going to be gone for that so it won't be my problem anymore," Cedric says, laughing.
The other three join in on the laughter and another one of Cedric and Rye's friends had come up to them, leaving Bria and Harry by themselves.
Bria struggles to find something else to talk about. Harry wasn't one for conversing, she figures that out. She would have to be the one to start the conversation, but all ideas that had come to her find sounded stupid when she tried to form the words.
She settles to talk about something that might be the easiest route to a longer conversation.
"Have you figured out what the second task is?"
Harry shakes his head. "No. Every time I open the bloody thing it just wails. Don't exactly know what I'm supposed to do with it other than fight the urge to throw it to the bottom of the Black Lake."
Bria is about to tell him to not worry, that he still has time, but she looks at him and sees that he's not even looking at her. Following his gaze, she sees that his eyes have landed on Ginny.
She's talking to Michael, right outside the Great Hall. She frowns. She knew that Michael was going with Lavender and Ginny was going with Neville.
But neither of their dates were with them, and here they were, talking outside before the dance had even started. Bria didn't even know that they were on friendly terms.
Even worse, Harry was looking at Ginny with a strange look on his face. It must be a look of jealousy, although Bria has never seen him jealous before. But all she knows is that Harry has never looked at her like that.
Professor McGonagall comes out, telling everyone who is not a Champion or their date to head inside. Bria rights herself and takes a deep breath to calm her nerves.
She wraps her arm around Harry's elbow as the doors open.
AN:
fun fact: Bria's prom dress and hair is modeled after mine! Idk I thought I looked cute in my fit and I was too lazy to come up with another dress. I changed to past tense at the end sort of, which makes me mad but I don't know how to fix it so I'm sorry if it bugged some of you. Posting days are now on Tuesday and Saturday! Thank you for 1k reads you guys!!!