The next morning, they were in the Great Hall for breakfast, Sarah sitting next to Fred and Selena when Ron got up, clearly stirred about some outfit he was holding.
He went to Ginny, stating it was certainly meant for her, but she looked up, appalled, "I'm not wearing that, it's ghastly," she said, getting out a few laughs around the table.
"What are you on about?" Ron asked Hermione, who was beaming.
"They're not for Ginny, they're for you. It's dress robes," she stated, making Sarah and the people around her laugh again.
"Dress robes? For what?" he inquired, looking awfully pale.
"Yeah, actually, for what?" asked Fred and Sarah raised her shoulders "I don't know, reckon we'll find out soon enough."
_
And that they did, because a couple days later, the Gryffindors were standing in a large empty room, with a phonograph Filch was struggling to set up. The boys and the girls were separated, which seemed awfully strange to Sarah and her friends, but abided to McGonagall wishes.
"The Yule Ball has been a tradition of the Triwizard Tournament since its inception. On Christmas Eve night, we and our guests gather in the Great Hall for a night of well-mannered frivolity. As representatives of the host school, I expect each and every one of you to put your best foot forward. And I mean this literally, because the Yule Ball is, first and foremost, a dance," explained McGonagall, and as soon as she said that, two completely different reactions blossomed: most boys complained and most girls started whispering excitedly.
"How will she get all these people to dress up and dance?" whispered Angelina, causing a row of chuckles around her and her friends.
"It has the potential of being a total disaster," said Sarah, looking at the few rows of boys who were clearly not all enthused at the idea of the ball.
"Silence!" ordered McGonagall, "The house of Godric Gryffindor has commanded the respect of the wizard world for nearly ten centuries. I will not have you, in the course of a single evening, besmirching that name by behaving like a babbling, bumbling, band of baboons".
Sarah leaned in closer to Selena's ear "Can you imagine her saying that over and over again over a soundtrack?"
They both started smiling "I'd dance to that," said Selena, silently snickering with Sarah and Angelina.
Sarah glanced forward at Fred and George to see them mumbling something, amused, and she had a guess over what it was and smiled wider. McGonagall seemed really passionate about this ball, really about not tainting the Gryffindor image, so her speech would prove. "Inside every girl, a secret swan slumbers longing to burst forth and take fight."
Sarah hummed, and said a little louder than she'd anticipated, "My swan is still an ugly duckling, I'm afraid," earning some laughs around the room and a glare from McGonagall.
She brought a hand to her face and looked down, a bit embarrassed, and let the professor go on, comparing the boys to lions.
"Among your finest hours, there, Sarah," teased Angelina quietly, joined by Selena.
Sarah scoffed at the both of them. Without apparent reason, she glanced at Fred. "Anyway, this means we'll have to have dates for the ball?"
"Guess so," mumbled Angelina, trying to make their talking not seem to McGonagall.
"That ought to be fun," winced Selena, glancing at the groups of boys before them.
McGonagall walk towards Ron, then, "Mr Weasley." and the boys around him stood up straighter, silently praying they don't get picked on too.
"Yes?" he said, looking down at his feet.
"Will you join me, please?" asked McGonagall and Sarah locked eyes with the twins, the three of them grinning.
Ron and McGonagall made their way to the middle of the room, "Now, place your right hand on my waist."
Ron was so uncomfortable, it made the scene quite hilarious, Selena and Sarah couldn't stop smiling. Filch put the music and they started dancing.
"Oi!" called Harry towards the twins "Never gonna let him forget this, are you?"
"Never!" they said, both beaming.
"So," said George quietly, "Ball. Dancing. Likely dates."
Fred frowned at him, "Yeah, why would you say it like that?"
"No reason," said George, glancing obviously in front of them, at the particular trio of girls they knew well.
"What's wrong with your eyes? You okay, Georgie?" asked Fred, grabbing his shoulder.
"Are you going to ask Sarah to the ball?" whispered George, almost mouthing it.
Fred jerked his head alarmed. "Are you going to ask Selena?"
"Planning on it actually," said George casually and that wasn't the reaction Fred thought he'd have. "So?"
"N-Uh-I mean, I dunno," mumbled Fred, glancing anxiously between the group of girls and George.
"Why are you being so weird about this?" George questioned him.
"I'm not, I just didn't of think it, you caught me off guard," he mumbled and glanced at them, her, and thankfully McGonagall talked again.
"Everybody come together," she gestured for everyone to join the dance floor. Most of the girls got up, eager and excited and on the other side of the room, boys all recoiled on their seat.
"Boys, on your feet!" and Neville was the first one to get up. After a few groans, they eventually all partnered up, George shoved Fred to the side when he past him, made him bump into Sarah, and Fred also made a mental note to smack his head later, or thank him? He didn't know exactly.
"May I have this dance milady?" asked Fred, offering his hand, light smirk on his face.
Sarah eyed it for a second, and Fred knew exactly what she was thinking, You're full of shit. It was written across her face but she smiled and played along, "But of course, kind sir."
He slowly rests a hand on her waist, and takes her hand in his.
"All right, which toe do you like the least?" she said, setting a hand on his shoulder and looking down at her feet while they moved.
He chuckled, "I'm rather fond of all of them, McCauley. Don't fuss, now, and let me lead."
She snorted, "Have I ever?"
His grip around her tightens and he leans her back, and she gasps, "What are you-Oh!" she yelped in surprise. He starts spinning around and lifted her off the ground. He and George start twirling Sarah and Selena, they pick up them and run around the room, lead them into an skippy dance.
"Messrs. Weasley!" blurted McGonagall, making them stop and people chuckle around the room, "Miss McCauley, Miss Collins," she looked between the two girls and seemed to push down the urge to smile, continued giving out instructions.
Sarah bites down her smile, turning her head away from McGonagall and leaning it against Fred's shoulder so she can laugh silently.
"You just had to, didn't you?" she grinned widely at him and he nodded, taking slower steps while they sway.
"So, do your robes match Ron's?" she asked Fred jokingly.
He poked her waist playfully, "Wipe that smugness off your face, because they don't. They're dashing."
She chuckled, and she couldn't stop smiling after, some really discreet voice making her picture the ball like this, but that was quickly ended along with the dance session, when McGonagall clapped her hands and everyone stepped away from each other, making their way to the respective classes.
Sarah had Charms class next, spending the walk talking excitedly about the ball with her girl friends.
_
And after that announcement, the whole school went into a frenzy, boys and girls searching for dates.
Hermione had been asked by Krum, which wasn't all that surprising, he had seemed particularly keen on her ever since he arrived. She hadn't admitted it, but Sarah thought she secretly hoped for Ron to ask her.
George wanted to ask Selena but every time he tried it didn't go as planned. He kept getting interrupted, drinks spilled on him once at dinner and then a bird flew into the Common Room when he tried again, attacking him as if it wanted to scratch his eyes out.
He gave up trying, afraid he'll get himself killed if he did it again, and when he asked Alicia who she was going with, she said she didn't have a date yet, and the words flew out of his mouth before he could help it "Go with me, then?" and she nodded. And just like that, he was the king of self-sabotage.
Selena cried on her bed that night, Sarah crouched down by her side, holding her hand, telling their dorm mates she was just sick, but Sarah and Angelina exchanged a look, both knowing what was actually happening. Sarah felt awful, wanted to smack George's head and promised she'll keep her company.
During the following week, Fred was acting strange whenever she was around him, keeping their conversations to a minimum, and sometimes seeming like he's about to say something but then derailing on another subject. She hoped he would ask her, but she didn't tell anyone that, she didn't know why, but she did. Selena had guessed it though, that was the thing about her friendship with her, neither could hide much because the other saw right through it.
Sarah and Selena met with Alexander in Arithmancy and when he asked them how they were doing, they both groaned.
"George asked someone else to the ball," explained Sarah on behalf of Selena.
"And Fred's avoiding her," said Selena.
Sarah nodded, trying to seem as unbothered as possible, writing her notes on parchment, "Which I don't get at all, we're friends, I don't expect anything. He's being weird and I don't particularly care for it."
Alexander frowned, couldn't image why Fred would even hesitate, "I'm sorry about that. I wanted to ask Katie, turns out Lee beat me to it. Want to go with me, then?" he asked Sarah.
She smiled softly, she hesitated to answer, not quite sure how to say she was still hoping a little, didn't want to seem stupid. It was stupid, of course, but they didn't need to have direct proof of that. "Uh-"
"Don't sweat it," said Alexander coolly. "Heard Melanie from Hufflepuff still doesn't have a date."
"Oh, I heard she fancies you from Angie," said Selena excitedly, the three turning back to the lesson.
_
"Oi! McCauley!" Fred ran to her and she turned, holding a few too many books that Professor Flitwick had asked her to help with, Selena turned the corner, appeared she was carrying the same amount of books. Fred took a few, "Let me help a bit."
"Right, thanks," she said, walking next to him until the desk, setting the books and ran to help Selena too. "There's another pile, could you?" asked Sarah.
Fred nodded, "Of course."
They walked in the corridor, "Why can't we charm them to carry themselves on the desk?" asked Fred and she raised her shoulders, picking up half the books from the pile, and walking back into the class, "Flitwick said not to try, I don't know. Maybe they're like, sensitive, prideful, or something."
Fred chuckled, setting the books on the desk again. He swallowed, wondering if now was a good time, "Hey," he breathed out, "I was wondering-"
"Good afternoon! I apologize for being late," said Flitwick walking in the class, "Thank you Miss McCauley, Miss Collins," he glanced at Fred, "Oh and thank you Mr Weasley for the books, let's get started."
Fred winced a bit because of the interruption, and she turned to him, "Sorry, what were you saying before?"
They were about to split up and he shook his head, said nervously, "Right, later, it's, huh- It can wait."
"Okay, then," she said plainly, because that was what their conversations had looked like lately whenever he initiated them, so it wasn't new.
She walked next to Selena and he walked next to George, behind Alexander and a friend of his. At one point during the lesson, Fred saw Alexander's friend point at Sarah, "Did you ask her, mate?"
Fred heard him ask, and he could feel his heart stop when Alexander answered "I did, yes."
"Mr. Weasley, why don't you tell us what the Aguamenti charm does?" Professor Flitwick asked him, not allowing him to hear the rest of Alexander's story. "Summons water that shoots out of the caster's wand, sir," he answered and Flitwick seemed pleased, letting him regain his previous state of mind.
"I'm sorry, Freddie," whispered George.
"Why? It's fine, I don't care," said Fred, and he started taking notes on whatever Flitwick was saying, which was an actual first for him and George knew he was lying then.
Charms was their last class before mandatory study hours, and Sarah made a small detour for the Owlery to respond to the latest letter from Remus, meanwhile her friends were in the Great Hall, studying. Harry and Ron were complaining about not having a date.
"This is mad, at this rate, we'll be only ones without a date," whined Ron, while looking around the room, before Snape pushed his head right back towards his textbook.
He leaned in and snickered "Well, us and Neville."
"Yeah, but then he can take himself," said Harry.
Which made Hermione look up from her writing to whisper back "I'll have you know Neville's already got someone."
"Now, I'm really depressed," he said, quietly as not to draw Snape's attention back to him and throwing his hands up in defeat.
A paper flew in front of Ron and he picked it up to read it.
"Get a move on or all the good ones will have gone," he mumbled.
Selena looked at Fred, half-scolding, half-amused "The good ones? What are you, ten?"
He raised his shoulders and George chuckled next to him.
"Who are you lot going with then?" asked Ron, looking at Selena, George and Fred.
"Alicia," said George, glancing at Selena.
"A Durmstrang student, Matthias," said Selena, not sparing George a look, and he bit on the inside of his cheek.
"McCauley's going with Zeal, and I am going with Angie. Hold up," said Fred and immediately turned to her.
"What? She's n-" Selena started but the whole scene unwinded so fast, she didn't think it happened at all. Fred rolled a paper in a small ball and threw it at Angelina, asking her in mimics if she wanted to go to the ball with him and Angelina exchanged a confused look with Selena, she turned to frown slightly at Fred.
"Uh-All right, then," said Angelina, and Selena turned to George, and he simply raised his shoulders, like he didn't know much more than she did.
"Sarah doesn't have a date," whispered Selena to the twins.
Fred's head snapped towards her and Sarah appeared at the entry, then, walked into the Great Hall, and scurried over to her friends, apologizing for being late to Snape and he gave her a textbook.
"Hey," she said quietly while she sat down next to Hermione and Selena. They quickly waved at her and Sarah felt she stumbled into quite the scene, because George, Selena and Fred tensed up and she heard Ron say, "Hermione, you're a girl."
Hermione took a second, wondering if he was actually keeping that as his statement, "Very well spotted."
"Come with one of us?" asked Ron and Snap came and hit their heads with a piece of parchment.
"Come on, it's one thing for a bloke to show up alone. For a girl, it's just sad," said Ron and Sarah's head turned, glaring at him.
"I won't be going alone because believe it or not, someone's asked me," she closed her books angrily, walked to give Snape her textbook, "And I said yes!" she hissed at Ron before leaving.
"Bloody hell," he breathed out, "She's lying, right?"
"No, she isn't, you git," whispered Sarah, "She really does have a date."
She nodded intently when he didn't seem to believe her and Ron scoffed, "Great! Now we're really the only ones without a date."
"Stop your whining, already. And shut up before we get hit again," she mumbled, seeing Snape come back to their side.
"Easy for you to say, going with Zeal, aren't you?" grumbled Ron.
Her eyebrows furrowed, "What? No, I'm not."
Fred's head shot to her, glanced at Selena who raised her brows in a silent yet deafening 'I told you so' glare. Suddenly Fred questioning everything about his hearing and decision making ability.
Snape hit Sarah, Ron and Harry's heads again with his parchment, making her wince and lean over the table. Why did this piece of information make its way to Ron and Harry?
"Oh, okay, then, we're three now," said Harry, like he was trying to reassure Ron that they weren't the only ones anymore.
She looked around the table puzzled, "Did my arithmancy fail me? Last time I checked I wasn't alone in the 'no date' situation," she chuckled, looking at her friends.
She looked at Selena, who had a pained expression, "Matthias asked me before we got inside," she explained.
Sarah nodded, she knew he'd seen Selena on the first day, trying to court her, it wasn't a surprise to her. Then, she saw Fred and Angelina glanced at each other and Sarah understood.
She glanced back at Snape approaching, to hide she was struggling to breathe for a second and didn't dare to add anything more than a simple nod. Selena pretended, then, to be hit by a realization, "Did you finish that Potions essay for tomorrow?" and Sarah pretended to have forgotten, "No, for tomorrow? Are you sure?"
Selena nodded, and Sarah gathered her things "Shit, I've got to go", and whispered in Selena's ear a shaky "Thank you" but not for reminding her of an essay she had actually finished a week ago, but for giving her a way out of there.
She walked out, and Fred's gaze followed her, he felt like he'd been hit by a train, exchanged a look with George and he didn't dare to look at Selena because he knew he'll find a scolding look and he was already mentally punching himself.
Sarah ran to the library, wanting to forget about Fred and whatever she felt back there. Why did it bother her? It shouldn't. It couldn't, she's his friend, Angie, too. Everything's fine.
She walked into the Restricted Section and sat down, let out a few tears and started reading the first book she'd picked up. But her mind was playing over and over again all sorts of images, flashes of ginger, freckles, his smirk and a warm and brown gaze.
After staring at the wall for a while, she got up and wiped away her tears, and came face to face with Alexander. She threw the book at him in fright and it hit his head, "Oh, I'm so sorry!"
He picked it up, "First-year Potions?" he read the title, rubbing his head.
"It's the first thing I found," she explained, and she pushed her hair out of her face.
"What's wrong?" he asked, looking at her red face and nose.
"It's nothing, um, Fred asked Angie," she put her hands on her waist, trying to seem as normal as possible, but maybe she just looked weirder like that. It didn't matter.
"I see, well, I just got turned down by Melanie from Hufflepuff, I should've asked sooner. I was about to sulk about being a pathetic loser, want to join me?"
She chuckled, "You should've asked her sooner, AZ! And thanks, but I've done my sulking."
"Come to the ball with me. As friends, what do you say?" he stretched out his hand.
She shook it, "Okay, then. But we're less pathetic, right?"
"Not sure, but let's not let it show, okay?" she nodded and left for the Gryffindor common room where she met another sulking soul, her god-cousin, brother by choice, Harry.
She sat on the floor next to him. He was hugging the golden egg. He had asked Cho to the ball, but she already had a date.
"You should have asked her sooner, she would have gone with you, you know," she commented and he sighed "I know, Sarah. I know."
Fred was standing on the other side of the room with George, looking at her in disbelief of his own stupidity. "You know, you're-"
"George, I swear, if you finish that sentence," Fred held up a threatening finger.
"Okay, fine!"
"You think she'll go alone, now?" asked George glancing at her talking to Harry.
Fred shook his head, "Are you kidding? Of course she'll have a date."
Ron came in, then, looking awfully pale, surrounded by a group of girls that were leading him towards a chair. Sarah glanced back and saw Alexander and the twins talking, which seemed a bit unsettling but set her focus back on Ron. She crouched down next to him. "He just asked Fleur Delacour out," said Ginny.
"What?" asked Hermione in a rush, and Harry's eyebrows went up, "What did she say?"
"No, of course!" said Hermione, grimacing and Sarah looked up at Ron again who shook his head, "She said yes?" exclaimed Sarah, mouth falling agape.
"Don't be silly," breathed out Ron, his voice trembling "There she was, walking by. You know how I like it when they walk," he glanced at Harry and he nodded.
"I couldn't help it. It just sort of slipped out," continued Ron, staring out into nothing, like he was just a word away from crying or throwing up.
"Actually, he sort of screamed at her. It was a bit frightening," said Ginny.
Sarah frowned, "Oh, Ron, you screamed?" she asked, feeling sorry for him, he was just nervous and completely ruined everything, nothing anyone here hadn't done before.
"And what did you do then?" asked Harry.
"What else? I ran for it," he whimpered, "I'm not cut out for this, Harry. I don't know what got into me. I always liked looking at them from behind."
"But you don't scream at their faces, Ron," said Sarah softly, and he grimaced, "She's never gonna forgive me, ever."
"It's all right," Sarah rubbed his back, exchanging a look with Ginny and Hermione. "We've all done stupid stuff, you'll be fine."
They led Ron to his dorm, he wished to just sleep it off and forget. Before going up the stairs, without meaning to she glanced at Fred, and she found him looking at her already, so she simply waved and climbed the stairs, ignoring the pinch in her heart.