Shake the Glitter

Ashley inwardly groaned as she was pulled from the warm embrace of her blankets. Peeking through her eyelashes, she was met with the frizzy view of the top of Hermione's head.

Sighing, she picked herself up and frowned. "Hermione, do you realize what time it is?"

"Yes," Hermione grinned. Her voice was much too chipper to deal with that early in the morning. "It's nearly half past seven."

"Meaning?"

"Meaning," Hermione grabbed the edge of the blanket and tugged. Ashley whimpered as the crisp morning air washed over her exposed skin. "We have exactly half and hour to get you ready before all the carriages leave without us."

Ashley glared at the hardwood floor while she carried herself into the small bathroom. She quickly jumped into the shower and washed off well enough before stepping out and drying herself. Mumbling a spell to dry her hair, she drug a brush through it and decided to pull it back into a low ponytail. Checking herself over in the mirror after brushing her teeth, she gave herself a nod of approval and walked back into the conjoining room she shared with Mia and Hermione.
Sorting through her trunk, she settled on a simple gray long sleeve shirt and a pair of dark blue jeans. Hermione waited for her at the door and they made their way downstairs to the school entrance. An ocean of students waited anxiously outside while the professors talked amongst themselves, waiting for all of the students to arrive.

Ashley glanced over to Hermione and nudged her shoulder. "Who are you going with?"

"Me?" Hermione shook her head. "No one."

"Why?" Ashley was genuinely surprised. "Someone asked you, though, right?"

"Oh, sure. A few people."

"Then, why not go with one of them?"

"No one perked my interest." Hermione shrugged.

Ashley nodded her head, nibbling her lower lip. "Are you still going?"

"To the ball? Yes."

"Is Ron going?" Ashley blurted.

Hermione's face went blank and her mouth set into a hard line. She arched an eyebrow and wrinkled her nose. "How would I know if Ronald is going or not? It's not my job to keep tabs on him."

"I know, but--"

"And if he wants to take some sixth year to the ball... Well, that certainly isn't my business, either."

Ashley pulled some hair behind her ear and took a seat on the edge of the fountain. Hermione followed suite, still mumbling about what Ron was doing. Ashley glanced down to her hands, tangling her fingers together, and jumped back in surprise when someone stepped on her foot.

"Oh, sorry." Pansy Parkinson drawled sarcastically, twisting her face into one of mock concern. "I didn't see you there." Millicent Bullstrode giggled behind her hand and shrunk back behind Pansy. Pansy's stare hardened as she pushed roughly on Ashley's shoulder. "You may be going with Drakie to this ball, but don't think that means something. I'd be his date if it weren't for McGonagal; Not you. I'm the only one he wants, Quille, so don't think you can try anything."

"I wasn't planning on it."

"'Cause I'd know if you did. Drakie tells me everything."

"I'm sure he does." Ashley sighed, bored.

"He does." Pansy snapped. "And he told me he'd rather be cursed than spend an evening with you. He absolutely loathes you, Quille. He can't stand you."

Ashley couldn't help but to detect a bit of jealously in her tone. Something underlying her words made the wheels in Ashley's head begin to turn. She was jealous -- Of her. "Why are you telling me this, Parkinson?"

Pansy's mouth opened but then quickly shut as she crossed her arms over her chest, fumbling over her tongue. "Because," She couldn't give her a more plausible reason. "Because it's true. You'd do good to remember that." Ashley nodded, edging further away from the fuming raven haired girl. "Stay away from Drakie. He's mine."

Hermione rose her eyebrows as she watched the two girls stomp away. Turning to Ashley, she waved her hand around in front of her. "Want to tell me what that was all about, Ash?"

"I have no idea." Ashley shook her head. "And I never want to experience it ever again."

Hermione sniggered quietly to herself and pulled out some sort of book. It was think and the spine was beginning to rip and tear from age. The cover read The Magic Within. Probably, some kind of self-help book.
McGonagal and Snape appeared at the foot of the stairs and announced for everyone to partner up and head into town. Stealing a look around, Ashley noticed that the familiar platinum blond head was nowhere to be seen. Frowning, she began following Hermione down the beaten trail. Soon enough, they were in Hogsmead.
Ashley smiled to herself and dragged Hermione into dozens of formal shops, trying on random articles of clothing and sifting through multiple racks of dresses. This was the second round they were making on the thirteen formal shops in the small town and both of them were coming up empty handed.

Ashley huffed and turned to Hermione. "Find anything?"

"No," Hermione smiled. "But, I don't have to. I'm using one of my old dresses, I'm just going to bring it up to date a little bit."

"Well, will you help me? I'm useless."

Hermione nodded and began pulling through silk and lace until she found the perfect one. She grinned as she held it up for Ashley to see and even managed a smirk from the color. Ashley's frown slipped and was soon replaced by a dazzling smile, which soon turned into a hard line.

"But," She pulled on the fabric, eying the material. "But the color, Herms."

"I know. But, don't you like it? I think it's quite elegant."

"Oh, yeah. Sure." Ashley nodded. "But... The color."

"So?" Hermione laughed. "You're going with Malfoy, anyway. Why not dress the part a bit?"

"Well," Ashley smiled, taking the dress and holding it against her shoulders. "It does have gold in it, too."

"See? It's perfect."

"I'm going to try it on. Watch my coat." Ashley ran into one of the changing areas and slid the dress onto her body. It fit her shape quite well, giving her leverage in all the right places. She smiled at her reflection and came out for Hermione to see. "Does it look good?"

"Oh," Hermione grinned, clasping her hands together. "It looks wonderful."

Ashley jumped on the balls of her feet as she caught her reflection again. She liked the way the dress looked on her; It almost suited her with the main color. She never would've guessed green as one color that complimented her skin tone. And, it had gold on it, too, which made her skin glow almost. It was perfect. How she had not come across it sooner was beyond her.
She made her way to the woman behind the counter and paid for her findings before meeting Hermione back at the shop entrance. They still had about twenty minutes before they had to leave for the castle again so they decided to go to a tea shop at the end of the pathway. On the way there, however, Ashley spotted someone leaning against a building in an alleyway. He caught her eye and gestured with his hand for her to go to him.

Ashley bit her lip, grabbing Hermione's elbow. "Uhm, Herms? You go on ahead. I'll catch up."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah."

"Well, here." Hermione grabbed Ashley's dress bag and smiled. "Let me take your things for you."

"Thanks." Ashley waved and waited patiently until she was out of sight to make her way over to him. She crossed her arms over her chest, arching an eyebrow. "Where were you earlier?"

"When?"

"This morning. You weren't with the rest of the students."

He pushed himself off the wall, smirking. "You were looking for me?"

"What?" Ashley choked on her tongue. "Y-No. Why?"

"No reason." He shrugged.

"What did you want, Malfoy?"

"Nothing, really." He laughed, nudging his foot against the opposite wall.

"You don't want to talk?"

"About?" He raised his eyebrows, uninterested.

"Yesterday." Ashley frowned, leaning in to whisper. "What you did."

Malfoy's foot missed the wall and he nearly tripped over his own two feet. Catching himself, he pulled on the sides of his jacket to regain his composure. "Nothing happened yesterday, Quille."

"Yes--"

"No. It didn't."

"What?" Ashley tilted her head. "What didn't happen, Malfoy?"

"Nothing." He snapped.

"Then why are you getting so worked up?"

"I'm not." He glared.

"You can't just ignore this, Malfoy." Ashley shook her head, frustrated. "You started this."

"Started what, exactly?"

"I don't know! Something."

"I started nothing, Quille." He drawled, crossing his arms again.

Ashley sighed. "You can't avoid this, Malfoy."

"Yes," He smirked, side-stepping around her. "I can."

"Malfoy!" Ashley whispered, harshly. "Malfoy!"

She sighed when he didn't turn back and began making her way to the tea shop to meet Hermione. Sometime... That boy really deserved the daylights beat out of him.

**

"Mia?" Ashley smiled, pulling the hair from her forehead. "How are you doing tonight?"

Mia pushed herself back into her pillow and nodded, wiping her nose. "Better." She dabbed at the area under her eye, which was red and puffy. She had been crying. "Dad thinks I should do something about my situation."

Ashley frowned. "He's not taking you home, is he? They can't make you leave, Mia."

"No. No." Mia sniffled. "He wants me to... Abort it."

Ashley was disgusted. How could someone ask someone else to do that?

"But, I don't want to, Ash. I can't. This is mine."

"I know," Ashley cooed, running her fingers through Mia's lanky hair. "He can't force you to do it, Mia."

"I've talked to the Headmaster about it."

"Oh?" Ashley urged.

"Yeah," Mia nodded. "He said that if I chose to keep it, then, there was nothing they could do about it. It was my body and they didn't have a say." Mia clutched the tissue to her nose and blew, a few stray tears falling down her cheeks. "But, I'm scared, Ash. I've never done this before. What if something happens?"

"It's alright." Ashley smiled, grabbing Mia's hand. "We're going to do this together. Alright?"

"But, what about Blaise?"

"Do you want him in this?"

"Well, he is the father, Ash. I can't exactly keep him in the dark about it."

Ashley nodded. "Do you still love him?"

Mia lowered her head, her answer nearly inaudible. "Yes." Mia glanced at the clock and sighed, pushing Ashley softly. "You should get to bed. It's getting late."

Ashley hopped off the small bed and hugged Mia before heading for the door. All the while, her thoughts kept returning to a certain blond boy. He couldn't avoid the subject forever. He'll have to talk about it sometime. And, when else, but the dance?