The Yule Ball Preparation:
Part Two
"Hermione, are you sure they sell dress robes here?" I asked a very excited Hermione, who is currently dragging me by the arm into a clothing store I had never really heard of before. I scanned the rusty looking sign hanging just above the store window, 'Madam Malkin's Robes for All Occasions'.
"I've told you at least a hundred times, yes" Hermione said, opening the door. The small bell hanging above the door chimed, announcing our arrival. I quickly followed Hermione inside the store, desperate to warm myself from the cold air. It's so cold that I think it might snow soon, or at least I hope.
My eyes scanned around the store, it's filled with every single type of clothing you could think of; Casual, formal, even our school robes from all the houses. The concrete walls were painted purple, making the inside somewhat dark as the soft purple curtains covered the windows. A couple of wooden mirrors hung across the store, carved with royal golden patterns throughout its top. The store was quite beautifully decorated, if I may say.
I took off my red winter coat, hanging it right next to Hermione's on the coat hanger standing right next to the door.
"Alright, come on now. The section we're here for is right this way" Hermione said, her face filled with excitement as she once again grabbed my hand, leading me towards the end of the store. Lucky for us, there wasn't many people inside, which made it easier for us to look around. Probably because it's still quite early on a cloudy Saturday morning, people are still having breakfast, but Hermione was just too eager to wait till noon.
I couldn't help but smile, as I looked at the different manikins dressed with beautiful puffy ball gowns. The Yule Ball is just next weekend, and Hermione and I are in a desperate need for a dress. I had no idea where I could possibly shop for one, but Hermione had just the place, the one which we're standing in this very second.
I watched Hermione rummage through the racks filled with different dress robes. She took out a yellow dress, examining it roughly before scrunching her nose in disgust and placing it back on its rack. I chuckled, before walking towards another rack, scanning it's beautiful dresses.
Honestly, I haven't quite thought about what type of dress I want to wear, or what color. Cedric suggested for him to match the color of his bowtie with my dress, which is a cute idea, but also puts more pressure on me to find a dress so he can buy his bowtie already.
A black dress caught my attention, and so I took it out of its rack to take a better look at it. I want to look my best, to take Cedric's breath away he sees me wearing my gown for the first time. I've never had a chance to dress up and look 'beautiful' around the boys at this school, so you can understand why looking my best during this ball is one of my top priorities.
"Isabelle, remember the ball is winter themed...I don't think black would be the best color to go with" Hermione chimed in from the rack next to mine, noticing my interest in the black dress. She's right, I don't think a black dress would fit very well with a winter themed venue.
Though, I know Draco would like it if I wear black...
I quickly shook off my thoughts, "Yeah, you're right" I said, placing the dress back in its rack. Draco isn't my date, why should I care what he would like?
I continued flipping through the dresses, trying to get the blonde haired boy off my mind. This week has been rough for me, having to walk past him down the halls without even glancing his way when usually we'd at least smile at each other, or he'd flash me one of his flirtatious winks. Not a single word has come from him ever since the last time we spoke, only slight glances across the classroom every once in a while, which usually only last a second. Honestly, I expected for him to reach out to me again once he realized I was genuinely serious when I said it was over, but a whole week has gone by, and he didn't move a single muscle to fix anything. It's been hard for me to accept the fact that he truly didn't care, that it's really over. But I think the hardest thing out of all of this is when I catch him staring from across the classroom, our eyes meet for a slight second, and it gives me hope that he's somehow regretting letting me go. But then he looks away, taking the hope along with him.
I've got to admit though, the pain in my chest has been slowly drifting away, for which I'm glad. I couldn't bare with it any longer, it made it so hard for me to get through my day. Sometimes it comes back, usually whenever I think too much about him...like I'm doing right now.
I heard Hermione gasp, snapping me out of my self destructive thoughts. I looked over to her, curious as to what caught her attention. She took out a beautiful blue dress, her eyes twinkling at the sight of it as a smile appeared on her face.
"It's beautiful" She breathed out, touching the soft shiny fabric with her fingers. I can tell by her reaction, that dress is the one for her.
"Go try it on" I encouraged her, smiling. She quickly nodded, before rushing towards the fitting rooms with the blue dress in hand. I couldn't help but chuckle at her excitement, before continuing to flip through the rack of dresses.
Just as I was about to move to another rack, my eyes caught sight of a particular gown. I furrowed my eyebrows in interest, taking the dress out of the rack and holding it up for a better view.
I felt my heart do a back flip as I scanned the beautiful gown up and down, a bright smile appearing on my face. Its rosé colored corset bodice hung from two thin spaghetti straps, followed by a floor length pleated tulle, which flowed gracefully as I moved the dress around. I smiled to myself, its perfect, absolutely perfect.
Without thinking it any further, I followed Hermione's steps into the fitting rooms, eager to see this dress on me.
There were at least five little cubicles, each divided with a purple cloth, facing towards a small waiting longe. It had two purple couches, divided with a small table sitting between them, along with a round purple carpet covering the wooden floor. It's a nice seating area for people to wait while their friend tries on clothes.
"Oh come on, it can't be that bad, let me see" I heard an all two familiar voice say as I was about to walk inside an empty fitting room. I looked towards the direction of the voice, only to find Felix, his arms wrapped across his chest as he sat on the couch, facing towards the very last fitting room.
He hadn't noticed my presence yet, and so I quickly rushed inside the empty cubicle, closing the curtain behind me. I don't want to deal with Felix and his snarky remarks right now, not when I'm about to choose a dress for the Yule Ball. I've already got enough on my hands, I don't need him to add to the stress.
"See? It's too big on me" I heard Clover's voice say from outside, as I placed my tiny purse on the floor. So Clover's here too...I mean, that's not a surprise. Wherever Clover is, Felix follows, and viceversa.
I quickly slipped off my black turtleneck, before wiggling off my normal colored jeans and kicking off my black winter boots. I carefully took the dress off the hanger, slowly slipping it over my body. I don't know how fragile this dress is and I'd rather not break it while trying to put it on.
I heard Clover and Felix's muffled voices speak from outside, before Felix let out an annoyed groan. "Fine" He said, rather clearly. I tried not to chuckle at them as I tucked down the dress, they're always bickering like little children.
The dress fit perfectly, its fabric hugging my waist just right, along with its length. It reached the floor, which might get in the way as I walk, but I'm sure its nothing a pair of heels can't fix. I wonder if it looks as good as it fits.
There isn't a mirror inside the fitting room, so I eagerly walked out into the longe, desperate to see how the dress looks on me.
"Isabelle?" I heard Clover's voice say in surprise, only seconds after I walked out of the cubicle. I turned towards her, watching as she scanned me up and down in awe. She's wearing a beautiful golden gown, which looks absolutely stunning on her. I couldn't help but gape at the sight of her, how can a girl look so goddamn gorgeous without making any effort whatsoever?
"Wow" Clover and I said in unison, as we both stared at each other in awe.
"You look beautiful, Clover" I breathed out, making her blush at my compliment.
"Me? You look like a princess from those muggle fairy tails" She complimented, making me giggle. "Have you seen yourself?" She asked.
"No, I was actually on my way to find a mirror" I said, my eyes traveling towards the empty space on the couch where Felix one sat, but is now nowhere to be found. Where'd he go?
"Come" Clover said, sticking out her hand for me to grab, before leading me towards the huge mirror sitting just in the end of the line of fitting rooms.
A gasp escaped my lips, as I finally got a glimpse of my reflection. The dress looks exactly how I imagined it would, the fabric flowing perfectly as I walked closer to the mirror. I can already imagine how I'll look when I have a full face of make up, and my hair nicely done. Its just perfect, everything I dreamed it would be.
A smile formed on my face, before I playfully twirled in circles, making the fabric of the dress lift up from the ground. I heard Clover giggle at me, watching me from behind.
"God, this dress was so hard to put on-oh, Clover...I didn't know you were here" Hermione said, walking out of her fitting room. I can tell she couldn't be the least bit thrilled by Clover's presence, given by the fact that her whole face fell at the sight of her. She could at least try to hide her disliking for Clover, instead of being so bluntly obvious.
"Hermione! You look great!" Clover commented, smiling politely at my friend. I brought my attention towards her gorgeous blue dress, my lips forming into a smile. She looks absolutely beautiful, the dress is so her.
"Thanks" Hermione said, flashing Clover a small smile that barely reached her eyes before turning her attention towards me. Her eyes lit up in excitement, as she scanned my dress up and down.
"Oh my god, Isabelle! It's gorgeous!" Hermione said in excitement, walking over to me with a bright smile on her face. I tried not to roll my eyes at her pettiness towards Clover, at this point I feel like she's doing it on purpose.
"Thank you, you look amazing as well" I said, disguising my annoyance at Hermione's rudeness, watching as she touched my dress in curiosity.
"You know, I heard that hunk Diggory asked you to the ball, Isabelle. I would say you're a lucky gal, but from the looks of it he's the lucky one" Clover said, making me giggle. I noticed Hermione roll her eyes from the corner of my eyes, what the hell is wrong with her today?
"Have you got a date to the ball, Hermione?" Clover asked in curiosity. Hermione nodded, "Krum asked me" she answered, quite drily. Clover nodded understandingly, I can tell she's beginning to notice Hermione's attitude by the way she's raising her brow at her.
"What about you, Clover?" I chimed in, diverting Clover's attention from Hermione. Her face suddenly turned into a frown at my question, already letting me know the answer. "No, not yet" She said, noticeably embarrassed as she looked down to the floor. That is so strange to me, Clover is literally gorgeous, I would've thought the boys would be lining up to ask her.
"Well, there's still a whole week left. You've still got plenty of time" I tried to comfort her, rubbing her bare shoulder. She gave me a small smile, before letting out a big sigh. "I hope you're right" She said, quite sadly.
I know Harry is just dying to ask her, but he's under the impression that Clover already has a date. Just wait until he hears about this, I will make sure he grows the guts to ask her to the ball, because I'm sure she'll gladly say yes.
After a little more chatting with Clover, Hermione and I decided to buy our dresses, for which we...well, mostly I, said goodbye to Clover, before we both got dressed back into our winter clothing. Once we payed for our dresses, we decided to stop by a near café for some hot chocolate to warm ourselves up, before we headed back to Hogwarts. We brought our dresses up to our dormitories, hanging them neatly in our wardrobes, before we met up with Harry and Ron in the library to study for our finals. I definitely could use the extra help to study, mostly because I'm short on a tutor for which I so desperately needed.
I can pass my finals without his guidance, I know I can. I don't depend on him for anything in my life, especially not to get a good grade.
Plus it's not like we were doing much studying towards the end of our tutoring lessons anyways...
I felt my body tense up against the chair as I remembered the feeling of Draco's hands all over my body. God I miss that feeling, I miss his hands grabbing my waist, I miss the taste of his lips, I miss his dumb jokes, I miss our fights, I miss him. I hate to admit it but I fucking miss him. I miss thinking he cared about me, I miss having him lie to my face when he told me he had feelings for me, I miss his lies. Because they were once real, to me they were real, and they made me feel a type of feeling I don't think I'll ever experience again.
Everything that once filled me with joy and excitement now fills me with hurt and sadness. Every time I watch the clock strike eight during dinner time, I feel a big pang in my chest, which once use to be none other than joy. It's so hard for me to take classes in the same room as him, because I can feel his presence lingering from across the room, no matter how much I try to avoid him. I can't even look at myself in the mirror anymore, without noticing the empty space below my neck that his necklace once filled. He haunts me, the thought of him haunts me every single day, and it fucking hurts.
"Anyways, she said she didn't have a date to the ball yet, so you should ask her, Right Isabelle?" Hermione's voice brought me back to earth, as she spoke to Harry from across the table. I had spaced out so far into my thoughts that I hadn't even realised they were speaking. Ron didn't seem too interested in their conversation though, keeping his head down as he wrote down something in his notebook.
"Huh?" I asked, confused as to what she was talking about. Hermione rolled her eyes in annoyance.
"That Harry should ask Clover to the ball because she still doesn't have a date" Hermione explained.
"Ohhh, yes, you definitely should, Harry. And soon, because you never know who might beat you to it" I advised, before turning my attention back towards my notebook.
"Why are you encouraging me to ask her? You don't even like her" Harry asked Hermione, earning another eye roll from her. "Because I'd rather see you go to the ball with the girl you want than for you to go alone. Even if I have my...concerns with her" Hermione explained. I think this is the first time I've heard her admit her disliking towards Clover out loud.
Her eyes suddenly trailed towards the Library's entrance, her face turning into a frown before she said, "Speaking of the devil"
All of our eyes, except Ron's, followed Hermione's gaze, before Harry's eyes went wide. In came Clover, her books in hand as she walked past our table.
"Harry, now's your chance! Just walk over to her and ask her if-"
"Oh, screw it" Harry whispered to himself, his eyes fixed on Clover as he cut me off mid sentence. Ron looked up at him with wide eyes, watching in awe as Harry suddenly stood up from his chair. What the hell is he doing? Has he gone mad?
"Harry, don't! Not here-"I whispered, but it was too late to stop him.
"Clover!" Harry yelled, making everyone's attention turn towards him in confusion, along with Clover herself. She stopped dead in her tracks, just a few feet away from our table as she furrowed her eyebrows in confusion. I could hear Harry's heavy breathing from my seat, as Hermione, Ron and I looked up at him in shock. He's really doing this, right now.
"Yes?" Clover asked, quite shyly as she looked at Harry. Ron face palmed beside me, shaking his head in disappointment by Harry's impulsive decision making.
"I-uh, well-um" He began to stutter, making me hold in a face palm of my own. This isn't going to end well, there's no way it will.
Harry swallowed loudly, before Ron nudged him. He closed his eyes, taking a deep breath before blurting out "Will you go to the ball with me?"
Everyone around us gasped, before they began to whisper amongst themselves. Clover's mouth quickly turned into a smile, her eyes twinkling with excitement at his question. There's no way she's going to say yes, not when he asked her like that.
She chuckled lightly, pulling a loose strand behind her ear before, to everyone's surprise, saying, "I'd love to"
I saw Harry's eyes go wide at her unexpected answer, "Really?" he asked in shock, making her chuckle yet again. "Yes really" She said, smiling from ear to ear.
"Oh, well, great, wonderful" He said, awkwardly.
"Very much so" She blushed, looking down at her shoes. She looks like a whole different person, not like the Clover I know and love. But then again, maybe I don't know her well enough yet. Who knew Clover had a shy side?
"I'll see you then?" Harry asked, earning a nod from Clover. "Until then, Harry" She said, smiling at him one last time, before continuing to walk past us, leaving the four of us utterly speechless.
I can't believe it, we've all officially got dates. Harry's going with Clover, I'm going with Cedric, Hermione's going with Krum and Ron is going with none other than Lavender.
Poor Ron, I know he had to be quite desperate for a date to ask Lavender to the ball. I still remember my reaction when he told me he had asked her out of all people, I was in shock. He deserves to go with someone he actually likes, and it breaks my heart to know that isn't his case.
This Yule Ball thing has really taken a toll on us, all of us. But if I'm being honest, I'm beginning to look forward to it. I truly can't wait to dance the night away with Cedric, I know any party with him is a good time no matter what. He's the perfect date, and I'm truly lucky that he chose me as his partner for such an important event to him.
I truly can't wait to find out what the Yule Ball has planned out for me, but I have a feeling it'll be something good. A magical night without any drama whatsoever, no Draco in sight, just Cedric and I having fun and living the moment, that's all I can hope for.
I should've just been realistic, nothing in my life is ever 'something good'. The Yule Ball will be the furthest thing away from a magical night for me, one that will end with my puffy eyes looking down at my blood stained hands.
It's the night where everything changes. Where my story, our story, takes an unexpected turn.
But I guess we'll have to wait and see how it all plans out...
A/N: Hi! I know these last two chapters have been short an shitty but not to worry, because the next chapter is going to be amazing. I truly can't wait for your guy's opinions on it! I just needed to get the whole Cedric asks her to the ball and she buys her dress thing out of the way so everything makes sense. But now the real tea is coming, the Yule Ball. I'm so so so excited!!! Anyways, I'll see you soon, loves! Don't forget to vote to let me know you're excited too!
Ps: I post visuals of chapters on my tiktok, and I will be posting Isabelle's Yule Ball dress soon, so follow me on there for more content! :) @mafloy_draco11