The tailor passed around the stone floor, his head held high but his spirits starting to falter. "This one, it's perfect —" The man's eyes flashed, holding up a poofy monstrosity.

    I could tell he was starting to get annoyed. This was the twenty-seventh dress he has showed me, yet something told me that he was more annoyed with himself than with me, maybe I'm trying his 'expertise'.

     "Nope, sorry but I don't like orange." I touched the scratchy fabric and made a face while Jenna giggled into Lana's shoulder. "And, the sleeves look like they're from the eighteen hundreds..."

     He sighed and tossed it on the floor, into a growing pile of silks and satins. "I'm sorry, it's just I hate dress shopping. The dresses are lovely, but just not my thing."

       "No, no don't worry deary. I, Sireo, will find you your dress, I promise you that." He muttered, flinging things around, then looking at me, then turning back to the racks. "I think- EUREKA!" He shouted and cheered, pulling a spaghetti strapped dress from the rack in the far back while I watched on my stool.

      My twin sister had long ago told me that she was going to go Christmas shopping and we could all just meet up at seven for a ride back to Hogwarts. Jenna had convinced Lana to stay with her, as my "wingwoman" since 'no one should dress shop alone'. I just had the feeling that she was worried I would leave without a dress if they did stay.

      "It is beautiful — why did I not think of it before?!!" He chuckled with a timid grin, and then waltzed over to me. "It's ... a little more mature. How do you think it?"

      I bit my lip and took the dress into my hands. It was silky and soft. The back was far more open than anything I'd dare wear before and it was long enough to touch the ground. "It looks amazing," I admitted. "But, it's pretty long and it's pink - just like Hermione's dress."

      Lana took a step closer and examined it too, reaching out and stopping me as I tried to hand it back. "Hold on."

     "Yeah," Jenna agreed. "Try it on!"

      After a little convincing, I found myself wrapped in a satin gown — feeling much older and much more elegant than I ever had. The dress clung to my bodice like a softer, second skin and fell loosely to the floor in powdery pink folds.

      I looked at myself in the mirror and sighed, seeing my sister peer back at me.

     "I cannot go looking like Hermione. We already look too much like each other," I told them. "It's...it's lovely, Sireo...but." I watched his excitement fade dramatically and he began to worry.

     "What? What is wrong with it?" He looked at it as if he was looking for some kind of stain on the fabrics.

     I frowned, feeling bad. "Well, my twin sister has already bought a dress just like this coloring, and I really don't want to look any more like her than I do now..." I lifted my eyes up from the dress to Sireo to see a wide smile on his face.

      "But you love the dress, no?"

      "Yeah, I do..." I smirked a little, trying to figure out where he was going with this.

      He took out his wand and studied my face and eyes, then when he pointed his wand at the dress he muttered: verandering van kleur.

     In the mirror, the dress began to slowly fade into different colors. It changed slowly from the pinks to dark red and then to emerald green. "Here we are, deary! The perfect color for your eyes, it will brink out your golden flecks." He chirped, putting the dress in my hands.

"That's it. That's the colour!" Lana clapped sarcastically but with a grin on her lips as Jenna nodded in agreement. "You look beautiful," she said in French.

I blushed harder and looked at the ground since I couldn't see my feet in this dress. "Thank you."

"Yes, yes — it's perfect." He looked me up and down, a small crease forming in between his brows. "But you are missing something..." He clapped and shook a finger, sifting through a few drawers until he found an iron necklace in the shape of a heart. "Here we are, for you. Free with purchase of the dress." I smiled lightly, taking the necklace into my palms as I stood there in the midst of the shop with Lana and Jenna complimenting me.

For a moment, it felt nice. It felt normal. I didn't feel sad or concerned about Fred or whatever he was doing. I just felt like a teenage girl, a cute one too. Maybe everything would be okay if I went after all.

Once I was finished purchasing the dress, which was just as beautiful as it was expensive mind you, I made my way out into the light snowfall and looked around eagerly. It was only two o'clock, so we had some time before anyone wanted to go back to Hogwarts. So, I decided I might as well get all my shopping done now. I parted ways with Jenna and Lana, who wanted to stop for a while at The Three Broomsticks, and told them I'd meet them there when I was done.

The first person I shopped for was Hermione. I wasn't entirely sure about what I wanted to get her, but I knew it had to be something she would really enjoy. That thought led me to the magical bookstore.

It loomed lowly amongst the other, grander shops on the square. With red brick and stone foundations, it was modest but welcoming. Its windows displayed works from Merlin to Madame Lester, who apparently knew an awful lot about cooking mushrooms. A tiny bell rang as I pushed through the wooden front door, embracing the sudden warmth and shuddering off the cold nip in the air.

After a few minutes of searching, I found her gift with a giddy smile Mastering Potions, Level 1. She would be pissed, then find it funny I was sure. Everyone knew that potions wasn't her strong point. On a second thought, I also bought her a magic bookmark that melted into the page, so you don't lose it while reading. When you want it, you snap and it appears again -- this would be her birthday present. I knew it wasn't much, but it's the thought that counts, right?

I wasn't sure I'd be able to get out of Hogwarts to buy another gift. Our birthday was pretty soon.

Whistling the tune of "Jingle Bells" under my breath, I continued to search for gifts. I bounced from shop to shop, enjoying the bright coloured lights and the decorations of tinsel and pine. Everything smelled fresh and new, and it made me happy.

For Lana, I bought a pair of combat boots; she was always going on about how she needed a new pair. For Jenna, I bought a small vile of 'Love Potion' perfume, though it wasn't real I knew she would find it amusing. For Harry, I bought some broom polish, a waxing kit, and a plush snitch  as a joke; and for Ron, I bought a very large box of sweets and cakes. How could he not like it? For George, I got Charming the Ladies, a book by Walter Rather that I was sure he would get a good laugh out of. And, who knew? He just may try it out on Blake...

I found my self in Zoko's Joke Shop, arms full of presents, and wandering around in awe. This place was like every prankster's wet dream, smoke bombs of every shape lined the walls while a variety of stink bombs lined next to them ranged from 'Skunk' to 'Rotten Dragon's Egg' I had never smelt a rotten dragon egg, but by the looks on some of the examiners faces, I really didn't want to.

My stomach churned a little as I took in the prankster store, it made me think of Fred and George. May be I was being a little harsh to Fred, just because I was refusing to talk to him at the moment didn't mean that I won't be talking to him on Christmas and I would hate to have a gift for everyone except for him...

Sighing, I bit my lip and decided to look for a gift for Fucking Fred. I realized as my eyes scoured the place that I wasn't looking for something typical. I wanted to get him something... original- something that would put every other magical gags to shame.

" 'Cuse me miss, you need any help?" A bored employee called from behind her desk, flipping through a catalogue.

I smiled. "Yes, actually- can you help me?"  She looked up at me, shocked- I guess most people just said no to that question.

"Y-Yeah, of course!" She cheered and jumped over her desk, sliding over to me. "What can I help you with?"

Taping a finger to my chin, I smirked and explained what kind of gift I was looking for. "But it has to be original, nothing too mainstreamed yet." I reminded her as her eyes flickered, trying to think about what they might have like that.

"You know what?" She cheered, snapping. "We just may have what you're looking for...it may be a little temperamental though, the boss hasn't released it out for purchase yet." She waved me to follow her and lead me to a secluded area that was roped off.

As soon as my eyes met the thing, I knew that it was the gift. "I'll take it."

The rest of the week passed by normally, not too fast and not too slow. I was still refusing to talk to Fred, no matter how hard he tried to make me. I had stopped holding my grudge against him days ago, now I was just ignoring him to see how far he would go to get my attention.

So far it was pretty damn far. One time he waited until one in the morning for me to return to the Common Room so he could ambush me, making me talk to him. It didn't work, I just pretended that he wasn't there. But he really did scare the shit out of me.

Today was going to be another one of those plots, too. I sat on my bed across from Hermione, knees bent up to my chest and Pride & Prejudice sprawled across my lap. It was raining sleet and the wind was blistering outside, so it was the perfect time to catch up with Mr Darcy.

"Hey, uh...Elle?" Jenna called, standing in the doorway of our dormitory. "You may want to come and see this." She bit her lip, snickering. She pointed towards the stone stairs, biting back a laugh all the while.

With a curious frown, I hopped off my bed and walked out the door, looking down the stairs. "What the hell--"

Peering down to the base of the stairway, I could see Lee and George laughing loudly, shaking their heads and crossing their arms. "Ahahahaha! Fred, it ain't going to work!" George and Lee called at Fred, clutching their sides, jesting and for good reason.

In horror, I rose a brow, my mouth popping open slightly. At the base of the girl's stairs I could see Fred wearing some kind of...spy contraption...? He was covered in suction cups on his hand and knees and he had a safety holster around his midriff. Tightening a rope around his waist, He shot and arrow out-sticking it to the opposite wall next to the 5th year Girls Dormitory.

I poked my head out the dormitory door and stared in utter confusion. "The fuck are you thinking?!" I yelled down there. Fred pulled on the rope to make sure it was tight enough, then climbed his way up it, sticking his hands to the ceiling, and then his knees slowly followed.

Furrowing my brow, I stepped out into plain site as he sucked and popped his way on the ceiling over to the girl's dormitory. He was getting pretty close. I had to admit, it was a lot closer than I'd thought he'd get.

Clearing my throat, I stepped onto the staircase and looked up at him, worried and scared that he was going to kill himself. "Frederick Weasley!" I yelled, scaring him. He jolted and nearly lost his balance. "What the hell do you think you are doing!?" My heart started pounding harshly as his suction cups failed him, causing him to topple to the stairs below him -- a fall that isn't too short.

He landed with an "Oomph, ouch, fuck!"

Immediately when Fred's body hit the stairs, a low thump sounded into my ears and they turned into a slide, causing the both of us to fall down. As we toppled to the base of the stairs, I latched onto Fred's body, worried that he'd really hurt himself.

Once we had reached the base of the stair, pooling out into the Gryffindor Common Room, I crawled over him and flipped him onto his back, trying to assess the damage. His head had a little bump starting to form, but the grin he was wearing made my worry for him disappear like a cloud on a hot day.

"God, you fucking ass!" I groaned, smacking his chest angrily as I got off my knees and onto my feet. "You scared me half to death, you twat!" I put a hand on my chest while everyone snickered in the background, Jenna whispering to Harry, clearly amused.

"But it worked, right?" He chuckled and sat up, rubbing a hand against his pounding head, examining how hard he'd hit it. "You talked to me."

"I--" I began, but quickly closed my mouth. I actually was too stunned to speak. He was right for all the wrong reasons. Taking a deep breath out of my nose, I ran a hand over my face to calm my trembling heart. "Stupid Weasley's..."

George overheard this and made an appalled face. "How dare you! I am the only smart one there is." He winked and I rolled my eyes, Ron frowned dumbly, paused a moment to think it over, then called out a shocked: hey!

"So are you done avoiding me?" Fred asked patiently, peering up from his spot on the ground.

I threw my head back with a scowl with quickly turned into a fit of laughter. I had to admit, he did look pretty hilarious scaling the ceiling of the Girls Dormitory just to get me to speak with him. I should cut him a break. "Yeah sure. We are cool."

"How about a kiss to seal the deal?"

Fred wiggled his brow with a smirk and I forced a sultry look on to my face, leaning down to his level. "Okay. Sure." I whispered, causing our little crowd to get very quiet.

"R-Really?" He grinned, shocked but slightly happy.

"Nope!" I grinned and backed away from his face with a triumphant smirk. "Better luck next time, Weasley!"

Fred laughed and shook his head, while Lee and George heckled him with boos. I myself couldn't help but laugh a little as I walked away. I watched a couple of Gryffindor girls slide down the stairs, not knowing what happened, but enjoying the fun while it lasted.

I paused as something occurred to me, turning back to face the Boys. "Wait, don't you have a broomstick?" That caused the trio to laugh obnoxiously loud as Lee lifted Fred off the ground.

"Well, they're back to their normal selves..." Lana and Hermione sighed, sounding defeated. "And I thought they would learn from this experience.." Hermione muttered, shaking her head.

A knock on the portrait door caused us to grow quiet. "Who's that?" I frowned, looking around for any answers- it clearly wasn't a Gryffindor, they would know the password.

Jenna grinned cheekily and waltzed over to the door. "Your date to the Yule Ball!" She cheered, sending a wink to Fred obnoxiously as his color drained from his face. "He wanted to ask you himself."

____

[ a/n : everyone hated the original dress so much, I changed it to the pic in the other chapter — YOU HAPPY NOW? ]

[ Also, yes, I took the liberty of changing Hermione's (and subsequently Elle's) birthday. When I first wrote this, I didn't think people would care too much, but they do -- I still am gonna keep it to the Winter. ]