Mischief Managed

Christmas morning finally arrived. Fred and I hadn't talked since that night about two weeks ago. I tried my best to stay happy, upbeat, and positive, but far too often did my emotions take over me and I laid at night crying my heart out.

I saw a small pile of presents sitting at the edge of my bed, but ignoring them, I turned my head toward Hermione and saw her staring up at the ceiling.

"Morning," I said quietly.

"Hey," she said, smiling.

"What're you thinking about?" I asked, looking at the ceiling as well.

"Tonight. I just wonder how it's going to be," she said.

"I know exactly what you mean honey," I said, sighing.

"Yeah, but at least I'll be going with the one I truly want to go with..." she said awkwardly.

"What makes you think I don't want to go with Ronald?" I asked curiously.

"Because I know that you'd rather be going with Fred," she said.

"That's not true. I want to go with Ronald," I tried to say convincingly.

"Maybe. But you'd be happier knowing that it would be Fred taking your hand and dancing with you. Don't lie to me, Ella. You aren't fooling anyone," she said. Then she turned to me. "Does it hurt, knowing that there's a chance that you and Fred may never be together?"

"It does, Hermione. It really does. I told him I loved him two weeks ago."

"Well, you tell him that all the time... Well, at least you did," she said.

"Not like I love Ronald, or you, or Harry. I mean like love," I said.

"Did he say it back?"

"He didn't really have a chance. I left right after I said it."

"I just wish things would work for you two. Everyone can see that it needs to," she said quietly.

"Well, and if it doesn't, oh well right?" I said, with a small fake laugh. I sat up and looked around. "At least the Yule Ball is tonight though. I have to admit, I'm excited to wear that dress."

"You're going to have a good night, Ella. Ronald will make sure of that," Hermione said with a smile.

"I know he will," I said quietly.

"Ella, I want to do something special for you today," Hermione said, smiling widely. I could tell she was getting excited.

"What?" I asked trying not to laugh.

"Well, we're going to make Fred notice you tonight," she said with a wink.

"Hermione?" I asked, laughing. "What the devil are you talking about?"

"I'm taking you out - my treat - to get your hair and makeup done. And to top it all off with your stunning dress, you'll be breaking tons of hearts tonight," she said.

"Hermione... You really don't have to," I said.

"Ella, I want to. Please?" she said.

"Fine, if you insist," I said, laughing.

"Let's go, then!" she shrieked, getting up and hurrying downstairs. Quickly, I got up and changed rather quickly, then met Hermione downstairs. She was standing by the door and then we quickly left. The presents laid untouched.

"First stop, let's get your makeup done!" she said excitingly.

"You're going to, too, right?" I asked.

"Of course," she said, laughing.

We walked into the makeup parlor, as a man at the front desk took our names and gave us each a number.

"Here you go, darlings. When your numbers are called, you may step forward and get even more beautiful than you are already," he said, with a wink.

"Good thing he's younger," I said, laughing.

Hermione looked at me, a small smile approaching her face.

"What! How weird would that be if he was like fifty?" I said, then we both started giggling loudly.

"I'm nineteen, thanks," the man said with a wink.

"Hermione, he's going to rape us," I said, laughing.

"Ella!" she said, attempting to hold back her laughter.

At last we sat down and waited. My number was 24, and hers was 25. About a half hour later, a different man called 24 and I walked over to him. I sat down in a chair, and he quickly left to grab some makeup supplies.

Five minutes later, he came back with light eye shadow, black eyeliner, mascara, foundation, blush, and lip gloss. Dumping it all on his counter, he looked at me.

I opened my mouth to talk, but he quickly silenced me and kept looking at me. Then, he took some foundation and applied it to my face.

"Close your eyes."

I did as told, and began imagining how tonight was going to turn out. Would Ronald and I dance all night? Would Fred truly notice me? Or would I just be sitting there the whole time, looking depressed and sad?

After a few minutes, I felt him begin to work on my eyes. Finally, with what seemed to be hours later, I was done.

"Eyes open."

I opened my eyes and looked in the mirror. My face was of perfect complexion, and my eyes looked absolutely stunning. Just as I was about to say thank you, the artist smiled at me.

"That color is perfect with your blue eyes. They're like the sea, they are," he said. He brushed his ginger hair out of his eyes and looked closely once more. "Perfect."

I said thank you and looked around at the waiting area, but Hermione wasn't there. Instead, she was busy getting her makeup done as well. I handed the man three galleons, and began to walk away. But then, seeing as no one else was waiting, I talked to him.

"So why do you do a muggle job?" I asked him.

"Well, you'd be surprised how many witches come in to get their makeup done professionally. I mean, sure, you can do it by magic, but you don't get a professional input and it only works after a lot of practice. And other things can go wrong if you just want to magic makeup on yourself. So for occasions like weddings, dances, or just get together's, a lot of witches come in to get their makeup done so it looks perfect. What was your reason?" he said quite quickly.

"Yule Ball tonight, at Hogwarts," I said, smiling at my feet.

"Ahh, well with your look I bet that that lucky boy will fall in love with you tonight," he said laughing.

"I hope so..."

"A few of my cousins are going to that tonight, actually. The lot of them are excited, I've heard," he said.

"I bet, Hogwarts doesn't usually get this chance," I said, biting my lip with a smile.

Just then, Hermione walked over happily, her eye makeup stunning. "Ready?"

"Ready!" I said, smiling. "Thanks, uh... Sorry, I didn't catch your name."

"You'll learn my name soon enough," he said with a wink. "Have fun tonight girls!"

As we walked out, Hermione turned to me.

"What was that about?"

"I'm not sure..." I said awkwardly.

"Oh well, time to do our hair!" she said clapping.

Next door was a hair salon and we walked in. There were eight women working. There were four open, so we each walked to a girl and sat down.

"Yule ball?" she asked smiling.

"Yeah," I said, laughing.

She examined my hair and smiled. "Perfect for curls." I said nothing and sat still, as she began doing my hair slowly and surely.

After about an hour, my hair was in a cute curly side pony tail. I looked in the mirror and just gawked at myself, unable to believe that I really could look this beautiful. I looked at Hermione who finished as well, smiling brightly. We paid and began making our way back to Hogwarts.

"What time is it?" I asked her.

"It's already seven thirty!" she exclaimed. "Ella, the ball starts in a half an hour! We need to hurry!"

"We are, but don't run. If we sweat it'll run our makeup or ruin our hair," I said.

"No. They're professionals and they're wizards and witches. The products they used for our hair and makeup have spells in them. The makeup and hair will stay perfect until midnight, no matter what. That way when the ball is over, we can go ahead and fix our hair and take off the makeup," she exclaimed, catching speed.

The two of us jogged as quickly as we could back to Hogwarts. It only took about ten minutes and we were running into the castle, to the Gryffindor common room, and to our room. We hurriedly put on our shoes and dresses and looked at ourselves in a full body mirror.

"Wow," Hermione breathed as she looked at herself, then at me.

"Hermione, you look beautiful!" I squealed.

"Me? Look at you!" she exclaimed.

I smiled as I looked at myself in the mirror once more. Then, I felt the frown come slowly as I thought about how it'd be Ron taking my arm instead of Fred tonight.

I felt Hermione put her arm around me. I laid my head on her shoulder, as she was slightly taller than I.

"You're thinking of Fred, aren't you?" she whispered.

"Yes," I said quietly, feeling my eyes begin to sting with tears.

"Honey, don't cry..." she cooed as I sucked in my breath.

"I just... I missed my chance Hermione," I said, the tears flowing down quickly. She took a tissue and handed it to me. Wiping my eyes gently, I sucked in breath again.

"He's going to see you tonight, Ella. And you know what he's going to think? He's going to drop his jaw and wish that he was Ron. You and I both know that. He knows that and Ron knows that," Hermione said gently.

"Hopefully," I said quietly. "Well, it's about time. Let's go."

Together, we made our way down the stairs and to the common room. Harry was sitting with his date, Parvati, with Ronald beside him looking around the room.

"I must go find Viktor," Hermione said and hurried as quickly as she could out the room.

I walked over to Ronald and Harry, both of their faces in shock. Ronald stood up, and gave me a hug. "You're beautiful," he whispered.

"You look good, too, Ronald. I'm glad I got you new dress robes," I teased.

He looked at me, hard. Then finally, he said, "You've been crying, haven't you?"

"Is it obvious?"

"I can hear it in your voice," he said quietly.

"Oh well, let's go have fun tonight," I said smiling. "C'mon Harry, Parvati."

The four of us got up and began walking out of the room. I saw Fred and George, with Angelina and Alicia. Katie was also with them, with Lee Jordan. Fred's back was turned but George saw me, winked, and motioned towards Fred. I smiled and kept walking, Ronald holding my hand.

We met up with McGonagall, who already had the three other champions and their dates. I waved at Hermione. Harry and Ronald, however, gasped.

"Okay, right now Professor Dumbledore is announcing all of your names. When I say ready, you ten are to go out and dance to the song that will begin to play," McGonagall said briskly.

No one said anything.

"Now, I want you all to link arms with your partners, and then walk out together when I say, got it?" she said.

We all nodded, and linked arms.

Minutes passed, then McGonagall told us all to walk out. Fleur and her date went out first, then Viktor, then Cedric, Harry, and then me. Everyone clapped and whistled, as we began to dance.

I kept attempting to look around the crowd to find Fred, but I was unable to look good enough.

"There he is!" Ronald whispered quite loudly to me and motioned his head. I slowly turned my head and saw him, his arm around Angelina, but his eyes locked on me.

I smiled, but turned my head back.

"He can't keep his eyes off you," Ronald said quietly, almost too quietly. I could barely hear him.

I didn't say anything, and soon, the song was over. I looked at Ronald and gave him a big hug, as we walked with Harry, Parvati, Viktor, and Hermione and sat down at a table.

"Has Fred talked to you?" Hermione asked suddenly.

"No, but he's seen her!" Ronald said.

"Guys," I said.

"What? It's true, Ella. He couldn't take his eyes off you the whole time we were dancing," Ronald said.

"I know," I said quietly, looking down at the ground.

Soon, food appeared on our table. The six of us hurriedly took plate fulls and began eating, talking, laughing, and just having a great time.

Once we were all done eating and talking for a bit, it was about nine thirty. Hermione and Viktor got up to dance. Parvati urged Harry to dance, but he refused. Her sister, Padma, had found another guy for Parvati to dance with, so they went off, leaving Harry, Ronald, and I alone at the table.

I really wanted to dance, but I didn't want to leave Harry at the table by himself (if I could even talk Ronald into dancing, he hated it just as much as Harry).

"You okay Ella?" Harry asked, as he saw me blanking out.

"Oh, yeah, I'm fine," I lied. All I could think about was Fred. There was absolutely no way I was going to have a good time just sitting there for the next two hours and have fun.

"If you two want to dance, you can," Harry said.

"Nah, it's okay," I said quickly.

"Well, I'm going to go get some punch and talk with Neville or something for a little while," Harry said, getting up.

"We might as well dance," Ronald said at once.

"Okay, I just didn't want to leave Harry by himself," I said, as Ronald and I got up. A slow song just started.

"Thank you for taking me tonight, Ronald," I said quietly. "I really appreciate it."

"Are you having a good time?" he asked.

"Yes," I lied.

"Would you be having a better time if you were with Fred?" he asked.

"No," I lied once again.

"That's a lie," Ronald said right away, but with a small grin. "It's different. A best friend, and someone you love. It's okay, Ella, but that's why I did this for you."

"Did what?" I asked.

Suddenly, I felt someone tap on my back. I turned around, Ronald still holding me, and saw Fred grinning widely.

"Would you like to dance with me?" he said.

"I - uh," I stammered. Ronald let go of me, with a happy smile.

"Go on, I did this for you," he said.

"Thank you," I mouthed to him, and turned to Fred. We began to dance, but said nothing. We just slowly looked into each other eyes, both smiling mildly.

"Fred, do you want to go outside and talk?" I asked, once the song ended.

"You read my mind."

Together, we left the Great Hall hand in hand, and sat on a bench next to a pretty water fountain.

"So what did you want to talk about?" he asked as we sat down, side by side, still holding hands. I laid my head on his shoulder, but said nothing.

"Ella, honey, we need to talk this over. If we want anything to get worked out, we need to talk it out. It's not going to work itself out," he whispered to me.

I looked up to him, tears filling my eyes.

"Fred, I don't think you even know how much I've missed you the past couple of weeks. Please, can we just sit here together for just a few moments. We might not get this chance again," I said to him.

He nodded as I laid my head back onto his shoulder. He laid his head on top of mine, and we sat there together, not saying a word.

Minutes had passed, and finally I sat up.

"Okay, we can talk now," I said.

"Ella, I'm so sorry," he said.

"For what?" I asked, already knowing the answer.

"For ignoring you these past couple weeks. And for all the fights we've gotten into. And threatening our relationship as best friends or more. It's my fault, Ella," he said.

I just shook my head, staring at the ground.

"It's not all your fault. It's mine, too, Fred. Don't take all the blame," I told him.

"Ella, I need to explain exactly how I feel about you," Fred said at once.

"No. Let me go first," I said quietly, letting go of his hand and getting up. I began to pace as I figured out what the right words were to tell him.

"Fred, god I don't even know where to start. I - I love you. But I already told you that. These past couple weeks, I'd just cry thinking about you because I thought that we'd never talk again and I knew I'd lost my chance. You make me go crazy and I can never get you out of my mind. I love everything about you and just the thought of losing you scares the living shit out of me. Just, god, right before the ball I was crying because I wasn't going to be with you tonight. We're in this so deep, Fred, and I don't want to dig myself out of this mess alone. I don't want to get out of it at all. I want to be with you no matter what. I just, I don't know. I'm just rambling because I can't get all of my feelings into words, but Fred, just know that you are and always will be my world. I can't do this without you. I can't live without you," I said. I stopped pacing, as he got up and squeezed me into the biggest hug I'd ever received in my life.

"Shh, Ella, calm down," he said quietly, holding me as we rocked back and forth. I began to cry, and he just squeezed tighter.

"I don't know anymore, Fred," I whispered.

"Ella, listen to me," he said. He put his hands on my shoulders, as I wrapped my arms around his waist.

"What?"

"Everything you said is everything I feel. I can't explain my exact feelings because they won't come out in words. Just know that I do love you and I'm sorry for all the pain I've ever caused you. I don't want it to happen again. I want you in my life and I want you in my life forever, 'til the day I die," he said, looking me straight in the eye. His beautiful chocolate brown eyes were swimming with tears.

I said nothing, I just stared deeply into his eyes.

"You believe me, right?" he asked, as silence became no more.

"Of course I do. And do you know how I can tell you mean it with every inch of your heart?" I whispered.

"How?"

"Because, Fred Weasley, you rarely cry. And you're crying right now."

He said nothing. He barely even smiled, when one tear fell slowly down his cheek. Then, I leaned in and kissed him gently. As we pulled away, his smile appeared.

"Ella, your eyes..." he whispered so quietly that I could barely hear him.

"What about them?" I whispered.

Our foreheads were touching, we were holding each other. He just looked at me, smiling widely.

"They're like the sea, they are."