22. BALL IS LIFE (PT. 1)

December approached them, and one day, in Potions class with Snape, he told them about the approaching Yule Ball, and that it was open to fourth years and above, unless lower years got invited as the date of an older student. Dress robes were to be worn, or formal clothing, and they were warned not to misbehave.

And so began the chaos of people hurrying around to find dates. Harry was struggling, but Elara was sure he would find someone. Draco was going with Astoria Greengrass, the lovely, yet quiet younger sister of her dear friend Daphne.

Daphne was going to be attending the ball with Adrian, another friend of Elara's. Blaise was going solo, and so was Bianca. They both had many invites, and they both denied them all, going solo to get the most out of it.

Elara was also getting asked by quite a lot of people. They would come up to her during meals, classes and even in the middle of the corridors. It was no one in Slytherin, because they all knew how serious her relationship with Theodore was, and respected that, but evidently some people just didn't care, because the whole school knew she had a boyfriend, courtesy of her father's howler.

Theodore was never really bothered about it; he wasn't the type to get jealous. So, he just sat beside her, secretly grinning as she sometimes coolly replied, sometimes with a fiery response, looking very offended sometimes, and sometimes with a glint in her eyes.

Theodore was going to ask her; he was just waiting for the perfect timing. And so, one night, when they were both laid in bed, eyes wide open, Theodore spoke.

"Hey Lara?"

"Yes Theo?"

"Will you be my date to the Yule Ball?"

"Without a doubt."

The next morning, Elara went to her section of the closet to double check that she had brought her formal wear with her, and not forgotten it, and she saw the jar of mandrake leaves. She had been reading up on the process.

She essentially had to hold the mandrake leaf in her mouth for a whole month; from one full moon to another full moon, so she would have to spit it out on a full moon, with no clouds present, and then use it after the month to create a potion.

The mandrake leaf must be spat into a vial in the presence of the moon's rays. Then to make the potion, it must be added with a hair from their head, a silver teaspoon of dew that has not been touched by human feet or seen sunlight for seven days, along with the chrysalis of a Death's-head Hawk moth. Then, she has to recite 'Amato Animo Animato Animagus' every day at sunrise and sunset until there was a lightning storm, and then she would drink it during the storm, after reciting the incantation one last time.

She decided that she would start the process after Christmas, as to not ruin the holiday mood with a bitter leaf in her mouth during the feast.

When Christmas came closer, the castle looked the most splendid it had ever looked. It seemed they were trying to impress the visitors, and show that their castle was brilliant. There were everlasting icicles attached to the banisters of stairs, and the usual twelve trees in the Great Hall were bedecked with everything from luminous holly berries to real, hooting, golden owls. And the suits of armor has been bewitched to sing carols whenever anyone passed them.

Although, several times, Filch had to remove Peeves from inside the armor where he was hiding, and singing his own version of the carols, and adding some disturbing, inappropriate and rude things. Elara thought it was brilliant when he did, and she was always laughing at Filch's struggles to remove him.

When Christmas day came, the castle was all abuzz, and after opening their presents, both Theodore and Elara got dressed and headed down to the kitchens. They devoured their breakfasts and then Theodore excused himself to go hang out with Fred and George.

It seemed the summer had brought them closer than Elara thought, and they invited him to hang out with them. Elara watched him leave with a smile on her face, glad more people were accepting of him. She, herself, went to find her other friends, and ran into Daphne.

"Hi, Daph." She smiled, looking at the beautiful blonde who was sat in the courtyard, frowning and clutching a letter. "What's up?"

"It's my father."

Elara's smile disappeared, and she sat down beside her friend, grabbing her hand gently, and urging her to continue. "He heard that I've been spending time around you and Theodore. He doesn't like you because of who your father is, and Theodore because he refused to follow his father. People have also told him that I've been spending time with the Gryffindor's and he doesn't like that."

"Listen to me, Daphne, your father is a bloody arse, and you don't have to listen to anything he says. Theodore had this problem, and now he's free, because my friends and my family helped him. And we can help you too. If you would like, you and Astoria could come live with me? My father would be delighted to help. I swear, I'm turning our house into a home for children with arsehole fathers."

"You would do that for me?" Daphne's eyes widened, and tears dropped from her blue eyes, and dripped down her pale cheeks. "Why not Draco?"

"I've offered multiple times, but Draco doesn't want to leave his mother alone with his father. He said he'll only leave when his father's been dealt with, or things get serious." Elara sighed. She hugged Daphne. "I'll write to my father, and then I'll tell you, that sound alright?"

"It sounds more than alright. Thank you, El. This means so much to me."

"Anytime, Daph. How about we go find your sister, and tell her?" When Daphne nodded, Elara stood and helped her friend up, she linked arms with her, and before they moved, she took the letter from her grasp, threw it up and pointed her wand at it. "Incendio."

The piece of paper turned into ashes and blew away in the wind. Then, Elara tucked her wand into her boots and pulled her friend along until they found Astoria Greengrass sat with her friends in the Great Hall. "Let me do it." Elara said, and Daphne nodded.

Elara tucked her hair behind her ear, and then approached the younger Greengrass. "Astoria?"

The girl looked up, and she could not be more different from her sister. Although they both were beautiful, Astoria had shoulder length brown hair, and green eyes. "Hi."

"Hey, sweetheart. I'm Elara. I'm friends with your sister." Elara pointed behind her at Daphne. "She got a letter from your father, and it wasn't very pleasant. So, you two are coming to live with me over the summer, that alright with you?"

"We get to leave father?" Astoria whispered, and when Elara nodded, Astoria smiled and hugged Elara tightly. "Thank you, thank you, thank you! Thank you so much!"

"Of course, love, it's the least I can do."

Later that day, they headed back to the Great Hall for a magnificent lunch, which included at least a hundred turkeys and Christmas puddings, and large piles of Cribbage's Wizarding Crackers. Most girls began heading to their dorms at around 5 o'clock, and Elara decided to head on at around 6.

She was followed by Bianca and Daphne. Theodore waved at them and said that he'd be waiting outside the Entrance Hall, and that he was getting ready someplace else. The three made their way to Elara and Theodore's dorm room, and from there they began setting up.

On one vanity, there were several hair products laid out, and on the other were multitudinous makeup products. Bianca and Daphne had brought their dresses out, both of them tucked in black bags, with anti-creasing charms placed upon them. Elara took her own dress out, and then hung them all up on the hooks that were nailed into the walls.

They all took turns to shower in the bathroom, and then one by one made their way to the hair products and let someone style their hair. The first one into the showers was Daphne, and once she was out, Bianca went in, while Elara helped Daphne with her hair.

She took out her wand and sent streams of concentrated hot air towards the blonde locks to dry them, and then moved her wand around the hair, muttering Latin phrases to style it. It gently pulled itself up into a low bun, and a few strands threaded through each other to form a delicate braid. Elara then used her wand to pull out a few strands and let them hang down the sides of her face.

Daphne stood when Bianca came out and Elara made her way into the bathroom. She showered and lathered herself in her shampoo and soap, coming out smelling heavenly. Once she was done, and walked out and sat herself in the chair, still in her bathrobe and underwear under.

Daphne had moved onto her makeup, and Bianca began styling Elara's hair. She used her wand to curl Elara's silky black hair. By the time she was done, it hung down her shoulders in delicate curls. "Thanks Bia." She looked up at her best friend, who had her own hair in a half-up half-down style, with the tips curled and some glitter scattered.

"Anytime, babe." Daphne had now finished and was sat on the bed, a book in her hand. Elara waved her wand and some fiery digits appeared, displaying the time.

"We've got an hour left, so that's just enough time for Bianca and me to do our makeup, for all of us to put on our dresses and be fashionably late." Elara stayed in her seat while Bianca began doing her own makeup.

She pulled her wand out, and was muttering spells under her breath, causing lights to appear at the tip of her wand but nothing actually happened.

Bianca eventually finished and moved from the makeup vanity, allowing Elara to take her seat there and start doing her makeup. She did all the basic stuff before moving onto her eyes, and doing a simple look with a dramatic winged eyeliner, and then some dramatic red lips. She made sure to take the red lipstick with her, and fit it somewhere.

Then, they all took turns going into the bathroom and changing into their dresses. The first one out was Daphne and she was dressed in a beautiful lavender dress. The top part of it was translucent, and had lavender lace flowers all over it, and it covered her arms as well. Then, the bottom was a big skirt that flowed all around her, and it was all lavender with little lace designs. She had some short, white heels on with it, and jewelry.

Bianca went and got changed next and when she came out, Elara wolf-whistled. She was dressed in a deep red velvet dress. It was backless, and the front of it dipped down in a V-neck, showing off some of her cleavage, then the rest of it clung to her like a second skin, showing off her curves. She had it paired with a pair of brilliant, crystallised, silver platform heels.

Then, it was Elara's turn, and she grinned excitedly as she grabbed her dress and shoes and headed into the bathroom to get changed. When she came out, Daphne pretended to faint, and Bianca returned the favour and wolf-whistled at her.

The young Black girl was dressed in an emerald satin dress that was off the shoulder. It showed off some of her cleavage, not as much as Bianca's but definitely some, and then was tight around the bust and the top, before opening into a flowy skirt with a slit up one leg, to her mid-thigh. And she had paired it with some black, heeled ankle booties, that had silver buckles, and studded stars on the buckles.

Elara grabbed her wand and stuck it onto one of the boots before dropping her dress over it to cover it, and then she stuffed her red lipstick into her bra, which was the only place she could find. Then, she grinned at the two girls stood in front of her, and motioned towards the door. "Shall we, ladies?"

"We shall." Bianca smirked, while Daphne nodded, a smile on her pale pink painted lips. Elara opened the door and stepped out, the other two following her. The walked to the common room and when they got there, everyone looked over at them, looks of awe and smiled being directed their way.

"Looking good ladies!" Someone called.

"Thank you!" Elara called back, her grin widening.

"Not bad yourself." Bianca winked at the guy who said that, causing him to smirk back at her. Elara nudged her friend.

"Bit early in the night for that sort of crap, isn't it? Save it for later, player."

"You got it, El."

Daphne excused herself when she saw her date, and the two were left, standing beside each other. Elara scanned Bianca from head to toe. "Maybe I should ditch Theo, and just take you as my date."

"You should, but I won't let you, because Theodore is perfect for you, and I haven't seen you this happy before." Bianca lost the smirk and smiled softly at her friend. "Come on now, let's get you to your lover."

"Thanks Bia. You know I love you."

"I love you too babe."

And so they linked arms with each other and made their way out of the common room and headed towards the Entrance Hall, where Theodore should be waiting with some of the other students as they waited for the Great Hall's doors to open for the ball.