I See You

Victoria was an expert shopper. She took us to all the dress shops. I was glad that she, like me, detested dress robes, despite her pureblood heritage. Having grown up in the muggle world, entering Hogwarts had been of a fashion-shock for me – not to mention all the other kinds of shock I’d experienced - and I’d never really embraced the idea of hiding myself away in folds of loose fabric. Shy I might be, but I still wanted to feel good about myself when I could.

She’d obviously bought her own dress, but she seemed to actually enjoy helping me pick something for myself. It didn’t seem to faze her that I kept telling her I might not actually go. Sure, she told me, I wasn’t entirely sold on the idea of going to the Ball yet, but it was fun anyway. She showed no sign of getting bored, but after watching me try on black dress after black dress, she took matters into her own hands.

“No.” She held up a hand to ward off my protests. “Trust me. I’m good at this.” I couldn’t deny that, so I waited in the changing room while she danced about the shop. After ten minutes she came back with just one and held it out to me silently.

“It’s perfect.”

“It’s grey.” I didn’t really like the look of it. It hung saggy and shapeless on the hanger, and it was obvious to me that it would be unflattering when I put it on. It was dove-grey satin, dark around the bottom, and definitely wouldn’t look right on me. She ignored the look on my face and handed me a pair of matching heels of a slightly darker colour in satin.

“Put them both on.” I grumbled lowly, but withdrew back inside the booth, and started fighting fabric. The heels stymied me for a while, with so many straps and ribbons, but I finally got them on. When I was satisfied it was all on right, I swept aside the curtain.

She looked me up and down and then grinned, a fully dazzling smile. She took my arm and dragged me over to the mirror. My jaw dropped.

The dress, which I’d thought so dull and shapeless at first, seeming perfectly made for my body. The beauty of it was in the simplicity. It was a lot more revealing on top than I’d usually wear but because I wasn’t big in the bust department it wasn’t slutty. It somehow made me seem willowy and graceful. It had been dip-dyed from the hem up to my knees - a bit as if I'd been walking through rain. And the shoes were fabulous. Three inches high, but I could barely feel it. The satin ribbons held them to my legs securely, and made them seem a mile-long underneath the fabric, which pooled a full three inches around me.

“You are a genius.” She just smirked.

In the end, I only had enough for the dress, and Victoria bought the shoes. “They’re my size.” she said smugly. “I’ll buy them and you can wear them whenever you want.” I’d be a fool not to agree to it. As soon as we left the shop, a wave of exhaustion hit me, like it had been holding off until I’d made my purchase, and I knew Victoria was feeling it too. We shared a silent look as the wind whipped our hair above our heads. I felt a tiny droplet hit my cheek.

“Three Broomsticks?”

“You must’ve read my mind.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
We stepped into the pub with our million bags in tow, and I relished the sweet, warm smells that assaulted me. The smell of mead, butterbeer, pipe smoke and pie, the most comforting scents in the world. I felt tired, but in a good way, and stepping into the scented warmth was a balm to my wind-whipped face. I followed as Victoria led the way over to a seat near the bar. The place was packed with students and I felt that familiar hum start in the back of my mind. I was too relaxed to worry about it.

Victoria had bought tons of stuff, all in bags, and she had to shove it under the table to make room for me. All I had was my small bag with my slinky dress and a few new quills, both of which fit in my messenger bag.

She went off to buy us a drink, and I sat back in my chair, enjoying a rare moment of relaxation. For the first time in a long time I wasn’t bothered that I had unfinished homework sitting on my bed, that I didn’t fit in at school or that I was a freak. I revelled in the feeling of normalcy.

Victoria was taking her time coming back – it was a long queue - and I found myself looking around the room, just watching people. The odd man in the corner with his hat pulled down almost to his beard; the laughing Ravenclaws by the bar, looking over their purchases from Zonko’s. . . the handsome blond boy at a nearby table, arguing furiously with his friends...

I suddenly wished Victoria would hurry up before he noticed me sitting alone. In the mood he looked to be in, he’d probably start an argument. . .

"Mona, are you alright?" I started; Victoria was back with two large glasses of firewhiskey. I grinned at her, waving off the question.

"You are a force of nature, you know that right?" She winked and took a careful sip, sighing blissfully as it went down. I copied her and barely managed not to choke. I looked up at her with watering eyes and she began to laugh, reaching over to clap me on the back with more force than I expected to come from her petite body.

Out of the corner of my eye I saw the handsome blond boy turn in his seat. He saw me.

I downed the rest of the glass to Victoria's intense amusement.

"I'd slow down there if I were you, honey. That stuff is lethal."

"Yeah," I gasped as the firewhiskey seared a burning path through my stomach. "I get that. Incoming," I added, nodding over her shoulder.

Scorpius wasn't one to beat around the bush. Before I even knew what was happening, he'd nudged me over in the seat and sat down next to me, facing Victoria. . . who was stifling what looked like the most satisfied smirk in the world.

"I'll, uh, get more booze." And she was gone.

I’m alone with the devil. Just perfect.

I realised that the drink had stopped burning and was more of a muted fire coursing through my veins. Quite pleasant really. I felt very relaxed.

"And to what do I owe this pleasure?" I braced my back against the wall to look at the handsome boy sitting too close to me. He turned his body so he was almost facing me, his eyes travelling down my body. Shameless. "Scorpius," I snapped, though without any real sense of anger.

I wondered idly whether I should get drunk before going to the Ball. Maybe it'd be easier that way; the hum at the back of my mind was much quieter than usual.

He brought his eyes back up to my face. To his credit, he was barely even smirking.

"I came to say that I'm sorry. I tried to explain before - I never told anybody that anything happened between us. Really." I just looked at him. I wasn't sure if I believed him but couldn't muster up the energy to care either way. "I wouldn't say anything about you. I thought you knew that," He bit off towards the end. His jaw clenched as he looked away and scanned the heaving pub.

"I guess I didn't. You've got to admit, it sounded pretty bad." Scorpius just nodded and looked down into the glass he'd brought with him. Abruptly, he was smiling.

"Got you to the quidditch match, though." He pointed out smugly. I pulled a face.

"Yeah, well done," I congratulated sarcastically. We sat in silence for a couple minutes before I blurted out, "You're a fair flyer, actually." As soon as it was out I wished I could take it back - his head was already way too inflated for my liking. His mouth quirked at one corner, though he didn’t look up.

"Are you going tonight? To the Ball?" Scorpius asked, throwing me off with the subject change.

"Of course she is." Victoria said bracingly, practically slamming the drinks down in her enthusiasm. She threw herself into the booth and surveyed us over her clasped hands like we were children.

"Well? Have you kissed and made up?" She ignored my spluttering and fixed us both with a steady look. Scorpius threw me a crooked grin.

"She wishes."

"You -!"

"Now, now. Scorpius, lovely as it is to see your gorgeous self, we have to drink quick and then go get ready." He smiled at us both and stood, unfazed by her not-so-subtle dismissal. Cocky, over-confident, conceited little -

"See you two later," He said, shaking his head as he downed his drink on his way to the bar, paid and left the pub.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Are you sure I look alright?" Victoria asked me for the million-and-one-th time.

"Victoria you look great." She was wearing almost exactly the same thing she'd worn the night she'd asked me to come with her and her friends to the Ball; long shimmering black dress, hair up in a complicated bun with black clips, but with a long velvet cloak this time and black heels that only showed when she walked. She wore no jewellery.

She'd helped me do my hair and had done my makeup for me too. I’d felt self-conscious with the other girls watching at times, but they showed no signs of animosity to me, too engrossed in their own preparations perhaps. She had me slip the dress and shoes on and threw a smoky velvet cloak around my shoulders before she turned me around to face the mirror.

I stared, shocked. I looked. . . well, I looked good. I hardly recognised myself, which was what I'd wanted, just for tonight.

"So. Definitely coming tonight?" she asked nonchalantly, grinning. Without thinking, I turned and hugged her. She probably didn't know I never touched anyone so casually, but she seemed to appreciate it. I stepped back and sighed.

"Would you accept a no?"

"No."

"You. Are. Amazing." She waved it off.

"Don't worry about it. I like doing this stuff. Now I've got to go meet my date. Need help finding Scorpius?" She wiggled her eyebrows at me and I grinned.

"Not until hell freezes over. I'll need help avoiding him, more like." She laughed and then clicked her fingers as if remembering something. She felt in her pockets.

"Aha! Nearly forgot." She pulled something out of her cloak. It turned out to be two masks, one black and one white with silver trim. She handed me the white one. "Can't masquerade without a mask."

"How do you have so much random stuff?" I asked in awe; she was already lending me her cloak. She shrugged.

"Too much money." I laughed at that, and let her take the mask from me again. It tied at the side, so with some manoeuvring, she managed to get the strap through the middle of my casual wavy braid and tie it in place. It was a bit more complicated for her bun, but we managed.

"Ready?" She asked. I took a deep breath and nodded, watching as other girls passed us, chattering in loud voices, dressed in emerald, red and purple. She grabbed my hand in one of her gloved ones (probably so she could pull me along if I balked later).

"As I'll ever be. Bring on the dancing. And drinking - will there be drinking?"