4/12/2016
Rights to some of the characters and plot line go to J. K. Rowling and L. J. Smith. However, some of the characters and most of the plot are mine.
Double update, you're welcome :)
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Katherina's PoV:
Usually, dressing girlie is not something I enjoy. Especially not in the occasion of formal events. Being from a family that is part of the sacred-twenty-nine means I have attended a lot of formal events, since before I was even able to walk, and I hated every minute of it. But then again, I didn't have a group of giggling friends to make the experience more enjoyable.
The last 5 days leading up to the ball passed incredibly quickly, what with exams going on, so actually getting to the event was a relief. There were times during exams that my friends and I planned mass suicides, but we luckily made it through without having to carry out those plans.
On the day of the ball, we were up in Cathy's room by 7am, starting with the youngest getting ready and working our way up. We began with Cathy, as she more than deserved to be pampered after everything she had been through. Even I joined in the laughter, just glad to see her happy again.
"You're going to look so beautiful in Dracula purple." I smiled at her, wiping a fake tear from my eye.
"Well since you're ditching for Slytherin green, I figured one of us has to carry on the legacy." She giggled back.
And beautiful she was. The dress itself was a deep purple, long and floaty. On the bodice was intricate designs of lace and so she decided to wear no accessories, so as not to take away from the beauty of the dress. She didn't really need the added effort anyway, she looked incredible and I knew our mother would be looking down on us both with a smile at this moment in time.
"So, who is it exactly that you're going with Cathy?" Lisa winked at the young girl as Scarlett finished the final touches to her hair.
Cathy blushed deeply, an adorable smile flirting across her face. "Alphard black."
"Ooooooo." The girls giggled.
"We always knew you fancied each other." Rose poked her shoulder teasingly.
"Oh, be quiet." Cathy buried her face in her hands and tried to divert the attention off her.
Once Cathy was sorted and told to sit and relax, the girls moved onto Jillian and Mya, working double fast to sort them both out together.
Jillian ended up choosing a short, ice-blue dress that paired beautifully with her ebony skin, while Mya played it safe, going with a white, lace dress that she knew wouldn't clash with her red-hair.
"Did you both get dates for this thing? Or are you going solo too?" Rose raised an eyebrow, beginning to realise she was the only one without a date.
Mya scratched her head. "I don't have a date, the boys in my year don't interest me." Then she rolled her eyes in an action almost identical to one I had seen her sister pull on many occasions.
"We can go together then." Rose winked at her. But under the wink, I could see she was wishing Dimitri and her were like a usual couple, where the Russian could accompany her without judgement.
"You'll see him over summer, he's coming to the house." I whispered in her ear quietly, making sure the younger girls didn't hear.
"Really?" Rose's eyes shot to mine.
"Yes, so chin up." I physically lifted her chin with the tip of my finger. "Only another day now."
Rose bit her lip in excitement, but the moment was interrupted by Lisa shouting.
"What!? Jillian, are you serious?!" She stood in front of her younger sister with her arms folded and a stern expression on her face.
"Serious about what?" I walked over.
"Why don't you tell her?" Lisa glared down at Jillian slightly.
Jillian hung her shoulders. "Eddie is my date."
"Eddie?! Our Eddie?! Blonde Eddie?" I raised an eyebrow in surprise.
"It doesn't mean anything, he would never be interested in me, he just felt sorry for me because I didn't have a date." Jill's eyes refused to meet ours.
I wouldn't be so sure she was right, Eddie was always protective of the younger girl and until now, I had pinned it on him viewing her as a little sister. But who knows, maybe we were wrong? The age gap between Rose and Dimitri shows that anything can happen.
"Lisa it's fine, you know you can trust Eddie, he would never do anything anyway." I touched Lisa's arm gently.
"You can't talk, I heard you and Christian talking about tonight." Jillian grumbled under her breath.
Lisa went pale, eyes wide. "That's different, we've been together over a year."
"What does she mean?" Rose questioned her best friend.
Lisa sighed. "Christian and I are planning to... You know... Tonight..." Now it was Lisa who refused to meet our eyes.
"Before marriage too!" Jillian was just glad to have the attention off her.
"That's her choice." I shrugged. "We all know they'll be marrying soon after we leave school anyway."
"Guys, maybe we should go back to getting ready," Scarlett chuckled awkwardly. "You know, don't want to run out of time."
Nobody spoke after that, instead the four of us older girls helping each other to get ready.
Scarlett, after I bought her dress against her will, admitted herself she would have never looked this good in anything else. The dress was beautiful, with a slit down one leg and lace along the top half, but nobody other than her could have done it justice. She piled her now turquoise hair on top of her head, adding simple earrings as her only jewellery and pairing it with plain nude heels.
Rose chose a figure-hugging red dress which showed off her curves whilst also managing to make her tanned skin look darker. She curled her long hair, choosing a simple half-up-half-down style that didn't take away from the detailing in her dress. Again, she wore no accessories, other than a necklace Dimitri gifted her for her birthday. It was silver with a small pendant in the shape of a stake.
Lisa, with her supermodel beauty, always managed to make the simplest clothing look like a million pounds. Her dress was very plain and a beautiful peach colour that somehow matched with her paleness, rather than washed her out. She chose to keep her shoulder length hair wavy and basically the way she usually had it, instead wearing her family ring, necklace and bracelet to pair with the dress.
And then finally, it came to getting me ready. I chose not to complain as the girls tugged at my long hair and plastered makeup on me, knowing it was a one-time thing. With the laughter going around, I would take this over having maids get me ready any day. My dress was tight and Slytherin green, with detailing under the bust and down the middle. My blonde hair was pinned back from my face and curled slightly, hanging down my back. I finished the look with plain black flats, not being a heels person, and finally the jewellery that Tom bought be for Christmas. The emerald in the snakes matched perfectly with the dress, and I looked damn fine if I do say so myself.
"This is a picture moment if I ever saw one." Cathy grabbed a camera Roberto had bought her when she was initially diagnosed, using her wand to make the camera levitate in front of us.
"Wands out ladies, we are wizards and proud." Scarlett whipped her wand out, the rest of us following.
We lined up, facing the camera, first smiling and trying to look demure, before giving up, laughing and pulling stupid faces. It was a moving picture, obviously, and we ended up in another round of laughter as Cathy had the camera produce 7 copies of the photo.
"Tonight is going to be amazing." Lisa sighed happily.
"Don't we hope so." Rose linked arms with her, dragging her out of the room and down towards the hall, where the boys waited outside for us.
They stood laughing and joking, even Tom smiling along with whatever my brother was saying. There was a girl with them, arm linked with my brother. She was tall and slim with brown hair and I recognised her as Poppy Pomfrey, a girl in Kiyo's house and year. Well, hello there, does Kiyo finally have interest in a girl? And here I was waiting for him to jump out the closet.
"Well, I'll be damned." Mason was the first to notice us, his eyes going wide as soon as they landed on Scarlett. "Who knew you would look so hot in black."
"Shut it, Ashcroft." She rolled her eyes, pecking his cheek before dragging him straight into the hall.
"Lis." Christian could do naught but stare at his girlfriend, mouth pulled into a grin.
"I know, I look good." She kissed him full on, snuggling into his arms once he wrapped them around her.
"You look breathtaking, not just good."
"She does, we know." Rose winked at the pair, arm linked with her sister's and heading into the party, Christian and Lisa following.
"You can say something, Alph." Cathy giggled slightly as she stood in front of the shocked boy. When he still didn't answer, merely stared, she laughed loudly, grabbing his arm and pulling him into the hall.
Eddie smiled at Jillian, patting the top of her head and not saying anything, merely pulling her after Cathy and Alphard.
"I'm going to keep an eye on Cathy." Kiyo walked over to me, smiling. "You look absolutely perfect though." He placed his hands on my arms, kissing my forehead. "Mother would be so proud." He whispered, before taking his date's hand and leading her into the hall also.
That left just Tom and I.
The boy's eyebrows were nearly in his hair line, his jaw slack and his body almost completely frozen, except for the motion of his hand scratching at the back of his neck. He looked incredibly handsome, his broad shoulders crammed into black and green dress robes, his hair combed to its usual wavy perfection.
"Words." He whispered, almost seeming in shock.
"Words?" I chuckled, slowly walking closer to him until we stood inches apart
"Don't..." He mumbled slightly, now just looking lost.
"I think I know what you're trying to say." I placed a hand on his chest, smiling. "You clean up pretty well yourself."
He smiled back, a soft smile that nobody saw other than me, and his hand grabbed mine. He raised my hand to his mouth, eyes closing as he placed a kiss on my knuckles.
"Let's join the others." I gave his face a stroke before linking my arm through his.
"Let's."
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"What do you mean you won't dance? Why else do you think I brought you on my arm?" Scarlett glared at Mason as the rest of us held in our chuckles.
"I mean you don't want me to dance with you, unless it's a slow song cause then all you do is sway." Mason rolled his eyes.
"Why are you so boring?" Scarlett stamped her foot, unhappy.
"You know what," I turned to Tom, giving him a peck on the cheek. "I'll never get Tom to dance with me either, so how about I dance with you." I winked at the girl.
She shimmied her way over, linking an arm around my back. She smirked to Tom. "I'm converting her to lesbianism." Then she spun us both onto the dance floor.
I laughed loudly, drawing attention as Scarlett began disco dancing badly. I shrugged before deciding what the hell and joining in. We spun, dived and even tried some traditional rock and roll dancing, but had to give that up when Scarlett's heels nearly caused death to some guy over by the punch bowl (don't ask). It wasn't until the music turned slow that the others joined us.
Before we could complain, Mason came behind Scarlett, literally sweeping her off her feet. I chuckled at the pair, about to walk over to get a rest, until my older brother appeared in front of me.
"Might I have this dance, milady?" He mock bowed.
"Why, of course kind sir." I curtsied in return, before grabbing his hand and stepping into the traditional waltz position.
Every member of our family grew up learning traditional dances and so we glided across the floor with ease, avoiding the other couples who merely swayed. We drew a small audience, but it was nothing unusual as we were both known as good dancers.
"Look." Roberto nodded behind me, me turning to see Cathy stood with Kiyo and pointing her camera at us.
"For dad." Cathy mouthed to us, smiling and then running off.
"He'll like that one." Roberto smiled, the corners of his eyes crinkling.
"He will." I smiled back.
"You know, there's something I don't think I've told you." He tilted his head.
"What?"
"I am so incredibly proud of you, you won't believe." His smile became slightly sad. "You're growing up so quickly Kit-Kat."
I rested my head on his chest, also smiling. "That's what little sisters tend to do."
"You'll still always be little though." He looked at me in an obvious way that referred to my height.
"Uncalled for!" I laughed.
"But seriously," he nodded slightly. "You have done amazing things since you came to Hogwarts, in just a year you've nearly eliminated house prejudice, you only had one episode, which is a new record for you, and you've done amazing things to Tom."
"What do you mean?" I frowned slightly at the latter.
"I mean, before you came he was so incredibly cold. He had no friends, just people who followed and feared him. He tried to act like the model student, but both Dumbledore and I could see the real him, and it wasn't nice. Who knows what kind of path he would have gone down had you not shown him a different side to humanity." The music came to a stop, us both stopping with it.
"I'm glad I could do that for him, he means a lot to me."
"I know he does." Roberto cringed slightly. "I'm just saying be wary, he could switch back to how he used to be."
"Roberto, if I don't put my absolute faith in him, then who will?" I shook my head, taking a step back.
"You have a good head on your shoulders, I trust you know what you're doing." He stoked my cheek.
"I do." I smiled softly.
"Can I interrupt?" It was like speaking of the devil as Tom appeared at our side, eyes switching between Roberto and I.
"Be my guest." Roberto took a step to turn away, before deciding against it. "And you," he glared slightly at Tom. "You look after her." Then he took off, disappearing in the body of people.
Tom and I looked at each other in silence until the music started again, us both moving closer, his arms going around my back and mine creeping up his neck.
"Believe it or not, that was him giving approval." I spoke softly.
"I'm glad." Tom nodded once. "I know the approval of those you care about means a lot to you."
"It does." I closed my eyes for a moment, resting my head-on Tom's chest.
He pulled his arms tighter around me, leaning his head on the top of mine after placing a light kiss on my hair.
"You really do mean a lot to me." His voice was as low as a whisper.
"Why do I feel like there's a but there?" I raised my head to look up into his face, ending up so close to him his features were blurred.
"No but." He shook his head slightly. "It's just that..."
"So, there is a but?" I rolled my eyes playfully. "Just tell me Tom, you don't need to feel like you should hold things in around me. We're together now and for that to work we need to be open."
He nodded, resting his forehead against mine. "I'm not normal Katherina. I'm afraid you're going to expect things from me that I can't give. I'll never be as emotive as Christian or as carefree as Kyron or as hilarious as Mason or as protective as Eddie. I do letters instead of emotions and rules instead of freedom and studying instead of jokes and possessive instead of protective. I'm not the type of person girls grow up dreaming of being with." He took a deep breath. "I might get married, if that's what you want in the end, but I don't ever want children, I would be terrified they'd end up like me. I know how you are with Cathy and I feel like you will want something as simple as children. I know it might seem early to talk about this but I just want you to be aware of what you're getting into." He shook his head rapidly, getting himself worked up. "You deserve so much better than me, Katherina."
"You're right." He stiffened. "I do want children when I'm older. But it's want, not need. You on the other hand, I need to be with you, Tom. What we have is not something I could find with anyone else... My father always told me to not find someone who changes you, but to find someone who highlights the better part of you instead. And you do that for me, I've never had so much control over my powers until you came along. You're toning me down, making me less psycho, making my life so much better. And I've been making you see the other side to people, everyone has noticed how much more open you are with your views and how much you're really seeing people. You can't tell me there's any fault with us, Tom." I placed both of my hands on his cheeks, stroking a thumb over his cheek bone. "I did not go into this half heartedly. I know what I'm doing, I know what we are and I like it. I don't want anyone other than you, okay?"
He stared straight into my eyes, unwavering and for once letting me see every small emotion that flitted through his head. "Are you sure? Are you really sure? Once you say yes that's it, I'm never letting go of us."
"I've never been more sure of anything in my life."
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The night ended with Tom and I falling asleep down in the Chamber amongst a mountain of pillows and blankets. As the night went on, we had realised it was our last chance to see Bernie before summer and so headed down there after the party. Packing was already done the night before, so time the next morning until we boarded the train passed much too quickly. Before I knew it, I was leaning on Tom in the corner of our compartment, aware of the fact I probably wouldn't see him until September.
"Are you actually going to write me this time." I smiled up at him from my place on his chest.
"Everyday." He pecked my head.
And he kept that promise. Even if I didn't reply for some event my family had, he still wrote to me every single day, without complaint.
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A/N: MUST READ
Time now, is probably going to pass incredibly quickly. There isn't much happening in their final year so most of it will be skipped in order to get to the next stage of the prophecy.
Just a warning, any confusion, let me know!