Mischief Managed

A full week had passed since that awful night, and Fred and I hadn't shared a word since. I spent a lot of my time by myself, crying, and if I was with my friends, I was the quietest one of the bunch.

The only people I was ever with anymore was Harry, Ron, and Hermione. Rarely did I talk to George, either, because Fred was always with him. Every once in a while, Ginny and I would have a conversation, but that's about it.

Harry didn't have much to say lately, because he was so nervous about getting a date. Cho had already been asked by Cedric Diggory, making her unavailable and making Harry more available than ever. I felt horrible for him because he couldn't find anyone. I suggested him going with Ginny, but Neville Longbottom had already asked her as well.

Ronald, however, constantly cursed about Fred and how much of a git he was. Unfortunately, our "fight" had caused Fred and Ronald to grow apart as well.

And Hermione? She was constantly up my ass about how I'm young and Fred was just a major crush. And no matter how much I told her that I truly did love him, she just denied it and said I thought I loved him. All I could think of when I'm with her is that she needs a good kick in the ass.

Finally, the day that Hermione and I were to find our dresses arrived. As soon as we woke up, I got up and changed. Then, I did my hair and makeup so I could get the full effect when trying on dresses and we left.

Throughout everything bad that had been happening lately, I was slightly excited to find a pretty dress.

"While we're here, maybe I'll find something a bit nicer for Ronald," I suggested to Hermione as we walked together to shop.

"Why? Didn't Mrs. Weasley get him dress robes already?" Hermione asked.

"She did. But they are bloody ridiculous," I said, faking a shutter.

"But they can't be cheap..." Hermione said.

"Well, I know. But seriously, he's my best friend. Not saying I don't want to be seen with him looking like that, but I know he'd rather look proper and not horrible. And to even imagine those who would make fun of him... I want to have fun Christmas night with him, I don't want him to be complaining the whole time," I said.

"Alright..." she said, biting her bottom lip.

"So let's stop at men's robes first. That way I know I have enough for his," I said.

"Ella, you deserve to have enough for your dress," Hermione said.

"I will have enough. I'll buy Ronald the cheapest, good looking dress robes they have," I said, seeing a store for men. We walked in, and no one else was in there.

"Oh of course no girls are shopping here," Hermione said laughing as we looked around the store.

"Hello," said a man walking towards us with a smile. "Anything I can help you with?"

"Yes," I said. "I need to find cheap, but good looking black dress robes."

"Why black?" Hermione whispered.

"It'll go with whatever color of dress I have," I said back.

"Ah, well, the cheapest nice black dress robes will cost you four galleons, seven sickles, and three knuts," said the man, holding up a nice dress robe.

"How much money do you have?" Hermione asked me.

"I have seven galleons, but I know I have some spare sickles and knuts in my bag, so I should have three galleons leftover" I said back to her.

"Ella, are you honestly going to spend more on Ron's robes than your dress?" Hermione said, astonished.

"I mean, what else should I do Hermione? Otherwise he's going to have an awful night. And if he has an awful night, then so will I..." I said.

"Ella..." she said helplessly.

"Um, I'll take that one," I said to the man, then I handed over my money and left the store.

"Oh Ella," Hermione said.

"It's going to be fine. I'll just have to get mine like hand-me-downs or something," I said, trying to make light of the subject.

As we walked down, we saw a small shop that didn't look too crowded. The dresses in the shop, however, weren't very cute at all. All the colors were either black or white, and they barely even passed my ass. However, I did see Pansy Parkinson trying on a very revealing tiny black dress.

"Whore," I muttered as we walked about out of the store.

Hermione giggled slightly and we kept walking. We saw one store was very packed, so we went in, thinking that there were great deals. Together, Hermione and I walked up to the front desk.

"Hi," I said happily. "Um, how much is your cheapest dress?"

"Roughly fourteen galleons," the woman said, with no life in her voice.

"Oh," I said, turning around immedietly.

"Well, not there," Hermione said, laughing.

"How much do you have?" I asked her.

"I have twelve galleons," Hermione said.

"Well, if you see anything in a store, you can check it out. You're going to the ball, too," I said, laughing.

"I know. Just nothing has caught my eye yet," she answered.

"Well, you know you have to look beautiful for..." I said, forgetting that she never told me who she was going with.

"Viktor," she said quietly, starting to blush.

"Awe!" I said, laughing.

We kept walking, and found a colorful store.

"Let's try it," Hermione said, shrugging.

We walked in and immediately, Hermione ran to a beautiful pink gown with sparkling silver heels beside it.

"Hermione, you have to try on this dress. It's beautiful," I said, smiling. "How much is it?"

"It's seven galleons!" she said, excitedly. "And the shoes are only three galleons! I'll have enough."

"I forgot about shoes," I said, groaning.

"We'll find you something," Hermione said, looking around.

"Go try on that set, girl," I said, smiling. She took a medium dress and a size eight heel and went to the changing rooms. She came out, looking absolutely stunning.

"You have to get it," I smiled.

"I think I'm going to," she said, shrieking. So, Hermione paid for her dress and shoes, and we were back on the hunt.

"Well, let's go into the small clearance shops," Hermione said, as we saw a tiny little shop with barely anyone in it. Walking in, I saw a spider drop from the corner and onto a very long, silver sparkly dress.

"That's kind of cute," Hermione said, examining it.

"Not for twenty galleons..." I said, looking at the price. "What the fuck? What the hell kind of clearance is that!"

I looked around the place, and saw that it was quite dusty and didn't look like it was well-cleaned at all.

"Hermione, it's starting to get late..." I said, looking at the clock. I groaned.

"Ella, we have to find you a dress first," she said desperately.

"It's too late for that," I said. "We need to get going. It's getting dark. If we're out past dark, McGonagall will have our heads."

We walked out of the store and began making our way back to Hogwarts. Looking around, I saw tons of girls laughing with their friends, holding bags containing shoes and dresses in them. I sighed.

"Maybe you can get McGonagall to let you come back on a weekend or something?" Hermione suggested.

"Oh well," I said, trying to laugh to myself.

"You'll find something..." Hermione said, biting her lip.

I didn't say anything to her, and finally we reached the castle. We walked to our common room, and Hermione hurriedly put her dress nicely with her stuff, wrapped up in a bag so nothing would happen to it. Then, we went back downstairs to meet up with Harry and Ronald.

"Hey," Hermione said, smiling, as we sat down next to them.

"Find dresses then?" Ron asked.

"Hermione did," I said.

"Then what do you have?" Harry asked, pointing to the bag I still had around my arm.

"Oh!" I said. "Here, Ronald, I bought these for you."

"What?" Ron said, opening the bag and revealing the dress robes. "Ella..."

"What?" I asked.

"Why did you buy these? Wait, did you buy this instead of getting yourself a dress?" he asked.

"No. I was going to buy them and a dress, but I couldn't find a dress," I said.

"How much were they...?"

"Like a galleon," I shrugged.

"Or four," Hermione coughed. I hit her shoulder.

"You did not spend four galleons on dress robes that I already had," he said.

"I didn't! And these ones are so much nicer!" I said.

"Promise?"

"Yes!" I said.

"It was four galleons and some sickles and knuts," Hermione said to me.

"Ella!" Ron said.

"I promised it wasn't four galleons!" I said in defense.

Ronald groaned, while Harry held back his laughter.

"Well, this is fun and all, but I'm going to bed," Harry said, laughing.

"Night Harry!" I said, smiling.

Hermione got up as well. "I think I might go to bed, too."

"Okay, I'll meet you upstairs soon," I told her.

"Okay, Ella. Explain yourself," Ronald said, crossing his arms.

"Ronald, I just want you to have fun Christmas night!" I said.

"I will have fun, Ella. I'll be with you," he said, smiling.

"Ron..." I said, in all seriousness.

"What?"

"You'll have a better time wearing these robes than those other ones," I said to him.

"Yeah, but still. This is supposed to be like your special night, Ella. I just feel like I'm ruining it. I mean, you can't go with Fred. And you can't afford your own dress. I just feel bad for you," Ronald said to me, grabbing my hand.

"Ron, I'll admit, I'm hurting. I don't know what it is about your brother, but he has something about him that I can't help but fall in love with. And I just want to finally have fun and be happy for that one night, even though I can't be with him," I admitted.

"Honestly, Ella, you can go in sweats and a hoodie if you'd like. You'd still be beautiful," Ron said, squeezing my hand.

"You're sweet," I laughed.

"Really, though Ella. I honestly don't know how Fred could let go of you that easily. You're an amazing person inside and out, you're gorgeous, and you're always there," he said.

"Ronald," I said, smiling. "Thanks..."

"You're blushing," Ronald laughed.

"Because it's cute!" I said defensively, but jokingly.

"I love you Ella," Ronald said, laughing, and pulling me into a hug.

"I love you too, Ronald," I said, smiling.

Once we parted, he still had his arms around me, but he moved his head to look at me. We stared into each other's eyes, just smiling lightly. I put my arms around his waist. Then, before I knew it, our lips met. I felt his tongue touch mine, as he leaned into me more. For a moment, it felt like I had left my body. I couldn't feel anything, but it was a good thing in a way. Then, we parted and looked at each other.

"Sorry..." he said, letting go of me.

"Don't be, Ron..." I said, placing my lips on his for a quick second.

"That was... wow," Ronald said, laughing.

"Wow alright," said a voice behind me. "You sure seemed to get over me quickly, Ella."

It was Fred.