Hermione and I were planning to head down to Hogsmead today to buy our dresses. It was an understatement to say that I was unsure about the whole thing. I doubted I would be able to find a dress, and if I didn't, well, I would end up dancing in my pajamas or something. My head cringed at the thought. I was throwing on a jacket and my Gryffindor scarf when Hermione popped her head into the dormitory.
"You comin' at all? Honestly Saige, you're so slow," she piped, laughing. I scowled at her, shoved my brown leather combat books on, grabbed a beanie, then followed her out the door and down the stairs. Harry and Ron were drinking hot chocolate by the fire playing a game of Wizards Chess.
"Jeez Ron, you're creaming Harry. Give him a chance to play," I joked, patting Harry on the head as I walked by. "Harry - by the way - you should probably figure out that egg sometime soon." He had achieved the egg from the dragon task, but still hadn't figured out the hidden clue inside it. The second task was just a week after the Ball.
"Shut up Saige. I'll do it later." Harry said, moving a piece forward on the board. However, two seconds later it was demolished as it had clearly played right into Ron's plan. I chuckled.
"See y'all later!" I shouted behind me, following Hermione to the door. Ron lifted his head.
"Who are you guys going with? You still haven't told us! If you've even got someone..." Ron said. I grit my teeth.
"You'll find out soon enough you twerp." I called back, giggling to Hermione as we walked out of the common room. They are such twerps!
"They are gonna kill us when they find out," I said to Hermione. She just shrugged.
"Their problem. We got asked. They didn't ask anyone. Not our fault," she said. I nodded, and then braced myself for the cold as we walked outside, following the small line of students filing towards the carriages. I spotted the two girls from the other day another with another brown haired girl hop into a rather empty carriage, so Hermione and I followed them. As we sat down, I studied the brown haired girl sat next to the blonde.
She was stunning, to say the least. She had lush, full eyelashes that framed her face, and a splash of freckles across her nose. Her skin was pale, but her dark brown hair contrasted beautifully. I couldn't help but envy her beauty. I tore my eyes away to not seem weird and turned to Hermione.
"Do you know those girls?" I whispered to her. We were sitting on the opposite side of the carriage, and they were talking with each other with loud giggles. Hermione nodded.
"They're in our year, all Ravenclaws. That's Hayley McMillen, the blond one. She's an amazing singer. Last year, while you were, you know, gone," She paused, sending a cautious glance my way. I motioned for her to continue. "Anyways, she was one of the singers for the choir. She's amazing. The girl next to her, the dark haired one with glasses, that's Brooklyn Rose. She's wicked smart. She also writes, I've read her work - its incredible." I nodded.
"What about the other girl? I've never seen her before." I said, tilting my head ever so slightly at the pretty girl. Hermione smiled.
"That's Mina Pariea. She transferred from Asia while you were gone. She's really pretty isn't she?" Hermione smiled. I nodded, biting my lip as I tried to match each person's personalities to their appearance.
"What's her special thing, everybody seems to have one right?" I asked quietly. Hermione nodded.
"Art. Her drawings are picture perfect and she has an amazing style. I've seen her work, she's in my Transfiguration class. She doodles all over her work, and they are drawings worth being framed and showed in a museum."
Hm. So we have a singer, a scholar and the artist.
"That's really cool! They seem nice." I said, turning my head to gaze out the window. I was about to start talking to Hermione about the History of Magic homework I had forgotten to turn in when the blond girl, Hayley, spoke up.
"Hey, I'm sorry, but are you Saige Walker?"
wHAT. Oh boy.
I turned my head to look at the blond girl. The other two girls were staring at me as well. I smiled sheepishly.
"Yeah... Why?" I asked, smiling softly at the girls. Hayley smiled. I braced myself for the usual oh I'm sorry about your loss but it never came.
"I've heard you play guitar. Is that true?" She asked instead. I hide my surprise, and shrugged.
"Yeah, I play a little bit, not much." Hermione punched me in the arm. "Ow, Mione, what the heck?" Hermione rolled her eyes.
"Yeah she plays, and she's wicked good." My eyebrows shot up. I tried to clap my hand over Hermione's mouth, but she burst into laugher. Unfortunately, it caught on, and in another ten seconds, we were all laughing.
"That's really cool! I wish I could play. I can only sing." Hayley said, shrugging. I offered a compliment back.
"I heard you are insanely good at singing. Is that true?" I asked, genuine curiosity and kindness filling my words. I really did want to make some new friends. Hayley started to say something, but Brooklyn and Mina cut her off.
"She's amazing. You should here her!" They exclaimed, making Hayley blush. I laughed.
"I don't doubt it." I said, and proceed to make small talk. By the end of the ride to Hogsmead all five of us were giggling and gossiping our hearts out.
"Well, I guess we'll see you around?" I asked Mina, who was sitting across from me. She smiled and nodded.
"Yup!" she said, popping the p. I laughed and followed Hermione out of the carriage, plopping down onto the snow. Hermione and I bid the three girls goodbye, then started to walk towards the nice dress store a few stores down from Zonkos.
"They are really nice, I want to get to know them more." I said to Hermione, hunching my shoulders to cover my ears from the cold wind. Hermione nodded.
"Told you so."
We walked into the store, listening to the small bell above the door ding as we crossed the threshold. I walked up to the cashier and asked if we could store our coats somewhere, and after the lady had stashed our winter gear away, I followed Hermione in zig-zagging through the store. Gorgeous gowns were hung in the section we were in, and I filed through each row admiring the designs of each one. But none of them stood out to me.
After about 15 minutes of just browsing, I heard a small shriek coming from Hermione. I walked over and saw her holding a purple and pink chiffon dress with layers that I knew would suit her perfectly.
"It's gorgeous Mione, go try it on!" I urged her, shoving her into a changing room. Two minutes later she emerged, and I knew then that all of the boys in the school would wish they asked her. She looked stunning.
"I- I think I'm gonna get it." She said, twirling around in front of the mirror. I nodded and clapped. She blushed, then changed out of the dress, then walked to the cashier and asked the lady to hold on to the dress for her. After that, she walked next to me as I looked through the dresses, still unsure of what I would wear.
There were hundreds of dresses, spanning all of the colors possible and made with silk, chiffon, satin, lace, velvet- you name it. It wasn't that I didn't like any of them, it just- none called my name. I didn't want something super frilly and princess-y, but I also didn't want something skin-tight and slutty.
It had been another 30 minutes until I was starting to get desperate. Hermione had wandered off to look at shoes and accessories, whereas I had still not found a dress. I was on the verge of cancelling on Draco and hiding in the common room the day of the ball.
"Oh my god," I whispered to myself. I had just caught sight of it. Remember what I was saying about a dress 'calling my name'. Well, this one was screaming at me. I ran over to the stack and wondered how I hadn't spotted this dress. It was gorgeous. I ran my fingers over the delicate lace detailing and touched the soft silk and chiffon skirt. I immediately ran to try it on. When I emerged, I gasped.
The dress was tight around my waist, but the skirts were lighter and just fell around my legs, pooling at my feet, instead of poofing out. It was a emerald green color, but the hem of the skirt faded to black, and the neckline fell off my shoulders. The sleeves came down to my elbows, with silver detailing that trailed a little further, and the sleeves had a green/black ombre like the skirt. The skirt was layered, so it was heavy and swirly at the same time. But the back was the real master piece. Where the neckline fell over my shoulders, it trailed down my back in a deep V. The V was lined with silver gems, and small strings of silver beading criss-crossed across my bare back. It was hot, sassy, and elegant at the same time.
I loved it.
"Mione?" I asked tentatively, peeking my head out of the changing area. Hermione's head immediately popped up, and she walked over. When her eyes saw the dress, they grew about ten times their size. "What do you think?" I asked slowly, turning around so she could see the dress. She gasped.
"I love it. Draco will be drooling." She said with a smirk. I blushed and rolled my eyes, but still stared at the unknown figure in the mirror. She stood confedent, tall, and mature. I didn't know what to say.
"Should I get it?" I asked slowly, twirling the skirts and spinning around. The skirts flapped and swung around me, but then fell still as I stopped. It was the type of skirt that flew out like a large flower when you spin, but the moment you stopped; instant strait skirt. I loved it.
"Yes. You look so gorgeous. I can't wait! You need to accessorize though!!" Hermione clapped with joy. I walked back into the changing room to take off the gown, but I was hesitant. I loved it that much. Finally snapping out of my trance, I took the gown off and threw my sweater and jeans back on, then stuffed my feet into my boots. I hung the gown on a hangar then followed Hermione to the lady at the cashier. By now, tons of girls were bustling through the store, giggling and picking out dresses. I had noticed that non of the dresses were the same, with I sighed with relief at. I didn't want anyone copying me. I gave my dress to the woman at the front desk, who stored it with Hermione's. I then followed Hermione to the shoe rack.
"Oh dear lord this is gonna be a nightmare." I said, walking down the long isles of glittery shoes. I knew I needed something silver, so I walked down past the gold shoes. Hermione had already picked out a pair of deep purple heels with small slivers of white and silver here and there, and they matched her dress perfectly.
I decided that I didn't need to spend another 45 minutes finding a pair of shoes, so I grabbed a semi-fancy pair of heels that had silver lacing across the front and tried them on. I couldn't walk at all, but Hermione and I made a deal to practice walking in our shoes so we wouldn't fall over the night of the ball.
We then grabbed a few pieces of jewelry, silver for both of us, and then paid and left. Our bags, magically enchanted to hold more than normal, so Hermione and I were only carrying small bags instead of full on dress cases.
When we got back to the castle, we ran up to the dormitory and stored our dresses. The ball was this Friday, so we still had 6 days until the big night. Harry and Ron were still in the dormitory messing around with some of the other boys in the year, so Hermione and I went down to the Great Hall to get lunch. We actually ended up talking to Hayley, Brooklyn and Mina, and talked about our dresses and our dates. Apparently, Brooklyn was going with Seamus, and Hayley was going with Dean. I squealed with glee when I heard that. Mina however, was going with an older Ravenclaw boy, who, when she pointed him out at lunch, all of us were head over heels at. I was so happy for them.
After lunch, Hermione and I headed back to the dormitory. The boys were there, and apparently, they had made a pact to ask out a girl by tomorrow. I chuckled at their nervousness. They bombarded us with questions about who we were going with, then stalked off.
"They don't have dates, that's why." I heard Ron mutter to Harry gloomily. I grit my teeth. Forget about the stupid redhead. Forget about the stupid redhead.
Seeing their faces the night of the ball would be worth it though.