Christmas morning arrived, and I was awoken by excited squeals coming from the girls I dormed with.
Mirah was chatting excitedly with one of them as they opened their gifts, and when the three of them saw me awake, they pulled me out of bed, urging me to open my gifts with them.
Half-awake, I slowly opened the first gift, which turned out to be from Harry, and was immediately awake as I laid my eyes on the handsome ruby-studded quill.
Mirah gave me a hand in opening the pile of gifts at the foot of my bed — evidently, I was being too slow — and by the time I finished, I'd received a book about magical beasts from Ron, a lovely pair of diamond earrings from Hermione, and a delicate silver chain necklace from Mirah alongside the quill from Harry.
I got up to pack these items away when Mirah stopped me, saying, "Wait, there's more," she handed me two boxes, one considerably large, and the other about half the size.
I took the smaller one first, opening it to find an attractive white chiffon shawl and a pair of dainty elbow-high white gloves.
"Mum and Dad told me to give it to you," Mirah said, and I assumed she had a part in this gift from the twinkle in her eye.
I thanked her, my heart soaring, and moved on to the final box.
It was rather boring in appearance; it had no label, and no wrapping.
I opened it carefully, assuming it was a prank gift from the twins, or maybe a lame gift from my parents.
But once my eyes landed on what was inside, my heart stopped.
"What? What is it?" Mirah asked impatiently, watching my expression.
I set the box down on the floor and reached into it with both hands, gently pulling out a stunningly beautiful emerald green ball gown, suitable for a princess.
It was long — it skimmed the floor when I put it on — and it was made out of silk, or satin. The top half was tight, and clung to my skin, accentuating every inch of my torso, while the bottom half flowed out elegantly from the waist, and rippled with every move I made.
"Who on Earth sent you that?!" Mirah squealed as I stood before the mirror wearing the dress, speechlessly staring at my reflection.
Mirah searched for a name, coming up with nothing but a tag attached to one of the off-the-shoulder short sleeves, which read a simple, "Happy Christmas".
All three of the Slytherin girls were speechless, as I was, and they couldn't figure out who it could possibly be from, but I stared at the "Happy Christmas" written on the tag, having seen that handwriting before, only a year ago from today, when I'd received an unlabeled box containing a seemingly-empty jar.
The day wore on as we waited anxiously for an acceptable time to start preparing for the Yule Ball.
At some point, Mirah and I got caught up in a snowball fight with Harry, Hermione, Ron, and the twins, and we had to rush off in the middle of the game when we realized it was getting late.
We spent nearly three hours putting on makeup, fixing our hair, and coordinating our outfits.
I paired my gown with the necklace from Mirah, the earrings from Hermione, the gloves and shawl from Mr. and Mrs. Holland, and my own strapped, silver heels that I'd brought from home.
I had been planning to simply leave my hair down, but one of the girls in our dorm — her name was Raylee — was excellent at styling hair, and insisted that I needed a hairdo that would match the elegance of my "mystery dress" as she called it.
So she twisted my chestnut hair up into a complicated yet gorgeously elegant bun, leaving strands of hair down to frame my face.
And before she'd even finished my hair, the second girl we roomed with, Cori, offered to enhance my makeup look — which I was grateful for; I'd never been talented with makeup, so the makeup look I'd had planned was just a simple layer of foundation and lip gloss.
When Cori and Raylee stepped away to reveal my reflection, I was near unrecognizable.
Cori had promised not to use too much makeup, like I'd asked, but whatever she'd done had turned me from a six to a solid ten. My eyelashes were somehow elongated, and the green of my eyes popped thanks to the black wing outlining my eyelid. My skin was evenly toned and smooth, and my lips were painted a faded red.
I looked rather regal with my hair twisted up in a semi-messy bun, my bangs framing my face. I touched the silver necklace resting on my exposed collarbone, and I couldn't help but stare at how stunning I looked.
Mirah, who had been struggling to put on her panty hose, stepped up to the mirror to check her reflection and stopped cold, her jaw dropping as she took in my appearance.
"Holy hell," was all she was able to say, and the rest of us laughed.
Finally, it was time to go, and I walked with Mirah, Cori, and Raylee out of the dormitory and into the common room area, where Cori and Raylee were greeted by their dates.
Mirah and I continued on to meet our dates, who we realized were both Weasleys, and we couldn't help but laugh at the coincidence.
Fred was already waiting in the corridor beside the Great Hall when we arrived, looking very dashing in his black dress robes, and he held out his arm for Mirah, rendered speechless by her beauty — and I didn't blame him. She looked absolutely gorgeous in her royal blue charmeuse dress, which I think she'd called a "mermaid dress". It hugged her slender body, fanning out gently at the knees and flowing out behind her as she walked, the tips of her glittery black heels just visible beneath the hem.
Mirah tucked a strand of her blonde hair behind her ear, which she'd carefully curled and tied into a half-up look, and shyly stepped up to Fred, taking his arm with a delicate hand.
Fred tore his eyes away from Mirah as he said to me, "Ron's on his way, but —" and he cut off, his eyes widening as he looked at me for the first time. "Wow, Brianna, you look..." he paused, seeming to try to think of a word for it. "...different," he eventually finished, and I laughed, rolling my eyes.
"Thanks," I said, and Fred smiled, nodding. He looked back at Mirah with a dazzling grin, and they started toward the Great Hall together.
I only waited for a moment longer before I heard Ron's voice as he approached, talking to Harry.
I turned as they neared, and offered a smile at Parvati, who I noticed was Harry's date. But she didn't smile back, she just stared, her mouth hanging open.
"Brianna Locousa?" she asked, her eyebrows knitting together, and as she said this, Ron and Harry turned to look at me.
Harry seemed to be at a loss of words, and Ron looked as though his knees had locked up.
I smiled, wringing my gloved hands nervously before me, uncomfortable with their staring. I knew I should've just gone with Mirah's black dress. I wasn't used to getting attention.
"Uh, Ron...." Parvati eventually muttered, and Ron blinked, stepping forward and holding out his hand for me.
"Sorry, um..." he shook his head, clearing his throat. "You look amazing," he said, his cheeks pink, and I grinned.
"Thank you, so do y — oh," I'd started to say that he looked amazing, too, but as I noticed his robes for the first time, I was struck silent. The robes he was wearing looked positively ghastly; it was as if a doormat had been eaten and then thrown up by a dog, and then the owners tried to salvage the doormat by adding frills to it, but only ending up making it look even worse.
"I know," Ron groaned, looking positively mortified. "They're horrible.... I'm so sorry!"
"No, they're..." I pressed my lips together, trying to find a word to use that would be truthful, but inoffensive.
"Horrible," Ron finished for me, a small smile on his face. "Admit it; I look like my great aunt."
I couldn't help but laugh. But still, I shook my head, taking his arm. "I think you look dashing," I said as we started toward the crowd waiting outside the Great Hall. "In your own unique way...." I added.
Ron laughed at this, and I laughed with him, relieved; he may not be wearing the best dress robes, but at least he wasn't miserable.
The oak doors opened, and everyone poured into the Great Hall as Professor McGonagall called out, "Champions over here, please!"
Ron and I said goodbye to Harry and Parvati, and we hurried to find seats before all the good ones were taken, joking together about what to expect from Harry during the opening dance.