Ch. 29: Making Amends

Slowly, I made my way over to the portrait hole and frowned- not exactly sure I was going to like who was behind that door, but fighting against my urge to walk away and be done with it, I pushed the door open and was mildly surprised. "L-Leo? What are you doing here?"

     He was tall, with dusky cheekbones set high on his face and eyes that burned like the amber flames that he had so easily controlled on the first night that the visitors had arrived. Jenna eagerly beckoned him through the Great Portrait's hole. 

     Leo smiled politely as he came inside, ducking his head that was laden with short, chopped coarse black curls. His Durmstrang robes snapped elegantly as he stood once more and brushed himself off as he cleared his throat.

     "Hello," Leo cautiously nodded, with a nervous nod around the room as our group watched him. There was a mixture of confusion and surprise.

      Fred pointed his nose upwards and smiled. "Ah, Louis. Surprised to see you outside of Defense Against the Dark Arts. "

     "It's Leo, actually, --" Jenna quipped, quickly followed by a tsking Fred. 

     "Pretty sure it's Louis, --"

      All the while, Leo ignored the pair. "Dear Elizabeth," he spoke solely to me, taking my hand with a ginger touch. "Will you do me the honour of accompanying me to the Yule Ball?" His voice wavered a tad but was as gentlemanly as possible.

      Shocked, I looked up and around the room, searching for Jenna. Wasn't she planning on asking Leo herself? 

      Jenna gave me an exciting look and egged me on with a small thumbs-up, mouthing how she would explain everything later.

      Turning my eyes back onto him, I smiled lightly. "Yeah, sure! Thank you." He grinned and laid a quick peck on my hand, shocking me. With that, he bowed at us all and sent me a wave. "I'll meet you here before the dance." 

     He turned towards the Portrait hole once more, thought for a moment, and said to Fred. "It's Leo Medivk." He smiled nicely, then he was gone just as quickly as he came.

     Slowly, I turned around to look at Jenna and Lana with a raised eyebrow. "The hell was that about?" I put my hand on my hip, watching my friend as she shrugged and twisted a blond curl on her forefinger. "I thought you were going to ask him?"

     "Yeah, I was. But on my way to ask him... Someone else asked me." She mumbled guiltily. "So, then I asked him if he would go with you -- because I knew you would refuse to go if you didn't have a date. I knew you were never going to ask anyone."

      Lana raised a hand quietly trying to interrupt Jenna's babbling, a frown etched on her face. "Okay, that's nice and all but who asked you?" She looked accusingly at Jenna and I thought about it as well.

        "Yeah....you were totally obsessed with Leo. Who would you have said yes to other than hi --" My mind flashed back a month or two to the first day of Advanced Potions. Jenna had been drooling over one guy in particular. "JENNA!" I screamed, realizing who she was going to the Yule Ball with.

        She cringed and make a run for the stairs, forgetting that they had been transfigured into a slide. "No, no please don't hurt me you don't understand!" She screamed, running slowly up the slide, she fell and picked herself up, then attempted to run up the slide once more.

       "Explain, then." Lana put a hand on her hips, I noticed the others giving us weird, confused looks. They didn't understand who we were talking about.

       Jenna slid down the slide and sat at the base grumpily, looking at her hands. "Well...he's just so pretty you guys! And he just asked me out of the blue. You know how bad I am at saying no! He just smirked at me; he looked so confident and I just had to say yes. Draco is just too cool!" She pouted sarcastically.

     Ron jumped up at this. "Whha?! Malfoy, you're going with Malfoy!" Hermione's brows shot up, slightly confused and Harry just shook his head. Ron's ears burned a little, his emotions shooting the colour of hatred through his body. "Well, you tell that little prick that he's not allowed to sit with us."

      "Not like he would, Ronald." Hermione sighed, exasperated. She'd been ignoring him, but every once and a while she would correct his stupidity.

      "Leo?" Fred called from the ground where he had been watching everything unfold with a dumbstruck face. "What's so great about him?" He asked Jenna.

      Jenna jumped at this opportunity to change the subject and quickly explained to Fred. "Leo is a 17-year-old Durmstrang student and the cousin to Gregor Voltare!" Fred mouthed the name back, as if it should mean anything to him. Jenna clapped her hands together dreamily and explained as if it was the simplest thing. "Voltare the Vulture? From the Vratsa Vultures? No?" Fred shook his head and she scoffed, moving along. "Anyway," she turned to me with a giggle. "He's really attractive, isn't he?" 

     Everyone just rolled their eyes at her while Fred scowled.

      Hermione gave Ron a weary look and growled under her breath, making her way towards the stairs. She muttered a charm under her breath and the slide transformed back into the staircase. "Well, I don't know about the rest of you, but the Ball is tomorrow and I need my sleep." With that, she said goodnight and made her way to the dorm.

     After a moment of silence, Ron shook his head at her disappearing figure.

"Poor girl, she probably won't come down tomorrow." Ron sighed. "You know, I would have taken her myself if she wasn't so bloody stubborn." He nodded to Harry who looked a little skeptical.

     My ears pricked a little at Ron's blatant statement. "What? You think she didn't get a date?"

        "Well, yeah! No offence or anything, but if she did, why does she refuse to tell us his name?" Ron frowned with pity, making me roll my eyes. 

      He's hopeless. I'd already figured out that Hermione was going with Krum; it was obvious since I'd seen them practically drooling over each other in the Library.

Lana rolled her eyes and put her hands on her hips. "Oh, really? Because you were so successful asking someone- my cousin told me what you did. Practically scared her to death then ran away?"

      Ron's face paled and he coughed. "Fleur told you that?"

         "Yup. So, I wouldn't be so cocky if I were you... Do you even have a date?" Lana gave him a mean once-over and I smiled. It made me happy that she was standing up for Hermione. That meant Lana approved of her, and it was comforting to know my friends liked Hermione that much.

     Harry snickered and grinned. "Yes actually! I got us both dates." Lana rose a brow and gave Ron one more look over before smiling at Harry and walking up the stairs, bidding everyone goodnight.

      "I guess we should go to bed too, it is midnight already." I yawned and waved lightly to everyone, noting Fred who was still sitting on the floor, staring into space with a frown etched onto his mouth. "Night, night."

✧

Fred's Pov:

      After all the girls went up to bed, I finally picked myself off the ground and threw myself onto the couch by the fireplace, completely confused and feeling frustrated. "Who the hell is Leo?" I asked, bitterly. 

      George chuckled, sitting down on the couch beside me. I could feel all the guys judging me. "You already asked that, mate."

       "No," I snapped back, feeling jealous. "I mean who the fuck is he to Letter." None of the guys replied, no one had any answers.

       Harry was the first to reply after a brief silence. "I'm sure they are friends." He pushed the rim of his glasses back up the bridge of his nose and nodded at a thought. "I remember her trying to set Jenna and Leo up a while ago..." Great so they are friends...

     Ron nodded. "Yeah, so that means she doesn't have any kind of feelings for 'im." Ron's voice sounded unsure, which made me even more frustrated.

I scowled as an image of the 'Leo' guy kissing Elle's hand flashed through my mind. He was too... well, just too everything. The way Jenna gushed over him, like some kind of grand prize. She should be going to the Ball with Leo, not Elle.

     Who was I kidding? Elle was beautiful. Anybody with eyes could see that. It would make sense for her to like a guy who looked like Leo did. This guy had made a total dent in my ego, that's for sure.

      "Hey, Fred, mate," Lee popped 'round the corner of the Common Room, with his spider in one hand and a cuppa in the other. "Why didn't ya just ask Elle to the Ball, instead of sulking about like a Dementor on a Tuesday?"

      "Oy, shut-up, Jordan."

     "He's got a point, Fred. You do look rather Dementor-ish," Harry snickered. "And I've fought loads of 'em."

     "Sod off, Potter."

✧

 Elle's Pov:

      It's Christmas Eve and I didn't want to get out of bed. 

     I had slept in pretty late and, before I had attended Hogwarts I wouldn't think anything of it. But, ever since I have been enrolled, everyone seemed to find pleasure in forcing me out of bed at ungodly hours. So, as the pale light of late winter's morning filtered through the open windows of the 4th Year Girls' Dormitory, I immediately knew something was going on that I was not going to enjoy ... even more than being woken up early.

     Unsure of my surroundings, I lifted myself up in my bed and took a peek around the empty room. Beds were empty, and some clothes were scattered about, but nothing more concerning that the typical messiness of teenage girls. 

     Grabbing my pocket watch on my bedside table, I flipped it open and frowned. 1 o'clock in the afternoon, apparently. Why hadn't anyone bothered waking me up... My bad feeling became even worse. 

      Sighing, I knew I had to get up sometime and the sooner I did the better. Flinging out of my bed, I padded my way down the stairs and looked around. Deserted. 

     "Where the hell is everyone?"

       My stomach grumbled and demanded I pay attention to it. So, I shrugged off the empty Common Room and made my way to the Great Hall for some brunch. My mind wandered curiously as I walked in a daze. I pondered to myself: 'Or is it too late for breakfast? ...Can it be called brunch after 12? Is there some kind of rule as to when brunch becomes linner and linner becomes dickfast?' 

      I snorted at the thought, turning around the long corridor that met with the Great Hall. Why hadn't I heard it before? It was genius.  "Ahaha... dickfast."

       "What'd you call me?!" A cool sneer called out, outraged.

"Huh?" I looked up from my feet, I wasn't paying attention and had just left my feet to lead me to the Great Hall-my body doesn't need to be told where the food was. As I looked up, I realized that I had walked up on Malfoy and his groupies. "Oh... nothing." I snorted under my breath. Hahahah Malfoy thought I called him a dickfast-what does that even mean?

     "What does that even mean?" He sneered, voicing my own question. "Is that some kind of American insult?" His 'bodyguards' sneered as well, crossing their thick arms to act menacing. I leant back a little, unwavering by his tone but not liking how close we were. 

      Three boys versus one girl. I could take them, if I had to. Though, I wondered if hermione would have found a better way out of the situation. Malfoy grew impatient and asked if I was 'deaf as well as dumb' with a pale, upturned nose.

      I sighed and shrugged. For some reason, he couldn't get under my skin these days. "No, I was trying to figure out what the word for a meal between dinner and breakfast would be called... dickfast."

      "Di-dickfast.." Malfoy sneered with a slight stutter, a small smirk curling around the corners of his mouth, despite his best intentions. "Dickfast, really Granger...?" He snorted and threw a hand over his eyes and let out a small chuckle, unable to hold it back.

     "See? It's funny." I replied with a small smirk. The goons behind Malfoy only offered blank stares, trying to figure out what was going on. Honestly, I was a little confused myself. Something had changed between the douchebag Draco and me. 

     I wasn't sure if it was a good thing or not.

"What's going on here, Malfoy." A cold voice called from the Great Hall doors behind me. "You'd better not be harassing L."

Malfoy scowled and curled his lip, all good vibes gone. "I'll do whatever the hell I want to your girlfriend, Weasel."

Blowing a sigh out my nose, I rolled my eyes and turned to meet a fuming Fred and my other friends forming a small army behind him, as if I needed rescuing. "Leave him alone, Frederick." I sighed and made my way towards my friends.

"He's harassing you, though. I'd expect you to have knocked him out already." He hissed at Draco, the bad blood between the two families reeked and you could practically taste the resentment in the air. "You'd better stick away from us at the ball, Malfoy." Fred spat, lightly tugging me behind him.

     That pissed me off. 

       With a hard yank, I tore my hand from his grasp and backed away. "Don't touch me." I hissed. I'm not used to people feeling as if I am weak and frail, it angered me to no end when guys treat me like a china doll.

     Fred's eyebrows shot up and he frowned, not sure of why I was suddenly upset. "Look, Fred. I don't need your protection. I'm not your little sister and I am most definitely not your girlfriend." I could tell that my harsh words kind of stung Fred, but I was telling the truth. I had to get these feelings off my chest, even if right now wasn't the best time or place for it. "I can handle myself -- I've been doing it a lot longer than before I met you," I said. I rubbed at slowly, conveying my frustration.

       Fred frowned and everyone, including Malfoy and his gang, watched in silence to see what would happen next. "Look, L. I get that, really. If that's what you thought I was getting at, I wasn't. You may not be my little sister... or my girlfriend, but you are my friend. And friends stick up for each other."

     I smiled at this, taking in his honest face and big eyes. "Thank you, then. However, Draco and I were only talking and you were being a dick. So, apology not accepted."

Malfoy snickered and I spun around to point an accusing finger at him too. "And you, stop being such a callous ass-butt all the time! You clearly are just an insecure little D-bag who needs to grow up and stop following all the little whims of your daddy." I hissed, if I was going to get things off my chest- I may as well get every thing off now.

       Malfoy's mouth popped open and he scowled as if I had just kicked his pup or something. "How dare you, you filthy little --"

"-Mudblood? Yeah yeah yeah, get a new insult would you?" I rolled my eyes at him, his petty insults were beginning to get old. "I'll see you all later, in case you haven't noticed, I haven't eaten all day and I tend to get angry when I'm hungry."

      "No, trust me, we've noticed..." Fred rolled his eyes sticking his tongue out at me. I repeated the motion with a raspberry and a growl. Malfoy just rolled his eyes and stormed away, getting his lackeys to follow him like lost dogs. Only been awake for fifteen minutes, and I was already causing trouble.

      Jenna threw a candy bar at me, it smacked me in the chest and bounced back onto the floor, I looked down to read the label: Snickers. "Eat a Snickers, you're not you when you're hungry."

I stared at her for a second, then burst out laughing. Slowly, I crouched down, holding my stomach and picked up the bar, still laughing under my breath. "Thanks, Jenn- I'll eat this."

Hermione just rolled her eyes at my immaturity, muttering something about DNA testing and Jenna and Lana called to me while the three of them walked back up to the Common Room. "Hey, hurry up and eat because from now up to seven, we are prepping for the Ball."

"Great..." I sighed, peeling the wrapper on the Snickers and cramming a bite into my mouth. "I'll see yomh afer I eaph." I mumbled, chewing the candy at the same time.

"Sexy..." Fred muttered, staring at the caramel string hanging from my lip, but I refused to care too much and just shrugged and walked through the Great Hall doors, but not before turning to him and winking, chocolate smeared on my upper lip. "You bet your ass I am!"

~~~'~~~'~~~

      When I made my way back through the portrait, I wasn't expecting to get ambushed. However, I guess life is full of little, annoying surprises. Once I crawled through the hole, Ginny and Lana were on me, grabbing my hands and hauling me up to the fourth-year girl's room.

       "What the hell are you guys going?" I whined, not wanting to be tortured today. They didn't reply, but then again, they didn't need to. Once they shoved me through the door, I realized what they were planning.

      The Fourth Year Dorm had been transformed into some kind of makeover/salon/ beauty parlour. As far as I could tell, there were five different stations to go from: Body, Hair, Face, Dress, and Perfume. The body station was actually just the shower room, the door was propped open and a strong smell of lilacs fumed from inside. The other stations were just set up on volunteer beds, I took a moment to realize that someone had volunteered my bed for the makeup station.

     Gryffindor girls were flocking in and out of the room, excited and chattering amongst themselves about the dance and who they were going with. I recognized a few of them from the years ahead of me, too. I wasn't sure who had decided that our Dorm would be the ideal place for a make-up party but I assumed Lavendar Brown had something to do with it.

     I growled at the clock, which only read 4 in the afternoon. "You guys, it's only four. The dance doesn't even start until seven. Why are you getting ready now?"

     "Because it takes time to make beauty," Jenna sang, holding a brush for the powdered foundation in her hands and a towel around her shoulders. Her hair was wet from her bath and her steel eyes shone with excitement as she explained the process. 

      "First, the girls go and bathe in a scent of their choosing, then once the oils of the bath have made their skin super smooth, they dry off, come out here and Lana does their hair, you do their makeup, and I dress them in accessories." She listed off the routine and I furrowed my brow.

       "Since when did I sign up to be the make-up stylist?"

      Lana rolled her multi-coloured eyes while giving a fifth-year girl from our Potions class barrel curls with her wand. "Since you are the only person who knows how to do it well and you do some of the best cat eyes I have ever seen."

      "You're too kind." I sassed back at her, tipping my nose into the air, unhappy with the turn of events. I just wanted to read some of Wuhering Heights until six then start to get ready, but no.

     Resolved to my fate, I flopped down on the bed and forced a smile. Lana elbowed me lightly and snickered, rolling her eyes. "You need to lighten up. Live a little! It's not every day you get a Ball to attend." 

      "Thanks, mum."

      She flipped me off.

       The girls slowly came out of the bathroom one by one, and we all got to work. Luckily there weren't that many who trusted us enough to do their hair and makeup. When I asked a girl about why there weren't more girls, she blushed and said a lot of girls didn't actually trust me well enough. 

     "I blame the twins for that." I replied flippantly, winking at I dabbed some rouge against the apples of her cheeks.

        Ginny and Hermione were my last customers. "So Mione, you ready to look like a clown?" I grinned darkly as she sat in the chair beside my bed. She looked worried. I threw my head back with an evil chuckle, grabbing some dark purple lipstick.

      "I swear Elle! If you make me into a clown I will--" Her cheeks flushed scarlet and her dark eyes rolled left to right as she floundered for the right words. I cocked a brow, mildly surprised.

      "-- Will what?" I smirked and then set the lipstick aside, grabbing some rose petal pink eyeshadow and black mascara. "Don't worry. I'm going to make my sister beautiful for her Krum." I winked.

       "H-how did you know?"

     I bit my lip. 'Should I confess that I had been stalking her?' 

     "I have my informants," I answered with a snide smile, trying to spook her. It didn't work. Hermione was tough. I continued on, painting her face for the night. "I'm not going to put too much on," I told her, regarding her make-up. "Since we are both naturally gorgeous."

      Hermione grinned and rolled her eyes. "You're also humble."

"I know right?" I gasped, sarcasm dripping from every word. "It's not every day you come across a creature as beautiful as mua!" I was lost in a Tamaki quote. "Beautiful both inside and out! Is this the fate of God's chosen one? Why do you think people put works of art in museums? So they can be admired, so just like-"

"-Okay, shut up now Tamaki." Lana called, straightening out Ginny's silky long red hair. "You've had your moment."

      I coughed and turned back to Hermione assessing her shiny, pretty ringlets. "Hey Lana, you did a really good job with the hair. How did you get the frizz down?"

     "A bottle of magic creme. Why? You need some?" She didn't even need to look up at me to know I was glaring at her.

"Nooo." I stuck my nose in the air and brushed some blush across Hermione's cheeks for the final touch. "There, you are all set- please make your way over to the dressing station where Jenna will assist you."

     I kept Ginny's makeup nice and simple, knowing that her striking hair was her crown jewel, and it would make her stand out in a room full of others alone. "So, you're going with Neville?"

      "Yeah, but I know he doesn't really want to go with me. I was his second choice, but that's okay. I just want to go to the dance and have fun!" She grinned and I chuckled happily. "Besides, all the other 3rd years are jealous I was invited."

      "That's the spirit."

         A knock caused us to look and see a bubbly Blake standing in the doorway, holding her dress in her hands. "Me next! Me next!"

       "Who let you in?" I asked as I beckoned her to my chair and shoved her into the seat. Her hair had been done already. The tight dark chocolate curls were twisted high up on her head like a regal crown, with a few spare ringlets cascading down the back of her neck.

        Blake winked wickedly in the mirror and smirked. "Every entrance has a back door."

       "Ain't that the truth," Lana replied with a laugh and a high-five.

     "Lee snuck me in." Blake pointed towards the colours she wanted and I complied with little complaint. "I didn't want George to see my dress," she explained. 

      "You're not getting married," Lana inserted.

     "Yet!" Ginny cut-in, snickering as Blake's cheeks flushed a dark crimson.

     I frowned as I decided how I was going to deal with Blake's face. She had beautiful sea-blue eyes and chocolate hair, so I grabbed some brown eyeshadow and black eyeliner, giving her cat eyes and dark red lips. I didn't give her any blush because her cheeks were naturally flushed. She was always laughing about something or another.

       Once everyone was finished up, Jenna and Lana went to bathe while I pulled my hidden presents out from under my bed and began wrapping them quickly. It would probably be the only time I would be alone until Christmas morning and by then it'd be too late. 

       Grinning to myself, I transfixed the paper to be a bunch of pictures of me in a continual line, so they wouldn't get confused as to who bought the gift.

        I was tapping the last piece down when Lana came out of the bathroom. "Ohh presents?! Which one is mine?!" She cheered, racing over and grabbing hers. "Oh, it's heavy." She shook it, trying to listen for a sound.

      I smacked her and snatched it out of her hands, putting it under my bed cautiously. "Not until tomorrow. Bad girls don't get to open their presents early."

Lana pouted a little, but I refused to give in. "I'm going to go bathe really quick and those better not be opened when I get back." I scolded her. There was one year, three or so years ago, when they had opened their presents early and I never let them forget it.

✧

       I looked at myself in the mirror, turning round to make sure I didn't have the dressed tucked in my underwear of anything. That would be the last thing I needed.

     The silk green dress pooled onto the floor around me, and I hoped I wouldn't trip on it somehow. But, I felt confident and that's what really mattered. I covered my eyelids with eyeshadow and winged eyeliner, then painted my lips a pale rose. 

       Lana had done my hair. She had called it 'simple and elegant'. It was mostly tied up in a low bun and curled against the back of my neck, with purposeful strands of loose curls framing my face. 

"Awwee, our little girl is all grown up!" Jenna cried, wrapping her arms around me with melodramatic sobs. "It's too soon! Too sooon."

"Shut up." Lana snapped with a chuckle and grinned at me. "But you do look really gorgeous, seriously."

"You both look better than I do, so let's cut the crap." I winked, taking in their opposite looks, but some how they had managed to look the same, maybe it was the way they held themselves, I subtly wondered if all three of us looked the same in different ways.

       I grabbed all the presents on my bed into my arms and turned towards my friends. "Alright, it's now seven o'clock and we should be off."

     Making my way down the stairs, I made a b-line to the Christmas tree in the midst of the Common Room. It was a huge pine tree that was expertly decorated by Professor McGonagall in Gryffindor ornaments and tinsel of gold and silver. I arranged my presents around the base happily.

In a matter of minutes, Oliver Wood greeted Lana by the stairs with a polite smile, taking in her skin tight dress and flaming red hair paired with her multi-colored eyes and leather boots. She looked like a wild-child who was ready to divide and conquer. I waved them off, making sure to tell them to play safe, causing Lana to flip me off and Oliver to blush a little.

       "Hey, Letter," Fred said as he walked through the Common Room, awaiting his own date. 

"Yeah, Fred?"

        He smirked a little and cleared his throat. "You look amazing. Who knew you could clean up nicely?!"

       Scoffing, I smacked his arm and rolled my eyes. "Oh stop, you flatterer." I rolled my eyes. "You're going to make me blush." Sarcasm dripped from my tongue. I looked him up and down, nodding in appreciation. He was wearing a second-hand black suit with a shiny red tie. It brought out the red in his hair even more. 

       "You look don't look too bad yourself."

       Fred smirked offered a mock bow, as if we were civil folk. "No, but you really do look beautiful." His eyes lost all of their jokings as he said this, peering deeply into mine. I could feel my insides betraying me. They melted and flipped, wrecking havoc on my pulse.

      I turned my gaze away from his and shook my head with a small blush. How would this night have gone if I had asked Fred? 'Maybe I would have given him my first kiss.' I shook the thought from my head. It was dumb to think that now.

          A harsh knock sounded on the door and I immediately could tell that Malfoy was there to pick up Jenna. Jenna was pacing nervously, patting down her hair. I thought she looked kind of like a mermaid in her shiny, electric blue number that clung to her skin until her hips then poofed out like a princess gown. If Ariel was blond, that's how I would describe Jenna.

     Too pretty for that Malfoy prick.

       I trudged to the portrait door and opened it, giving Malfoy a small look over. He was dressed in an expensive suit , probably silk, that was trimmed in silver and green, obviously proud of his house colours. 

      I had to admit though, he did look good... in a sickly, Victorian cholera kinda way. No matter how you cut it, Malfoy was an attractive kid -- too bad he's such a prick sometimes. "You clean up nice...." I smirked at him as he looked at me curiously.

"Granger... " He frowned, trying to find something to say. "You look acceptable." He coughed and stuck his nose in the air, trying not to be too friendly.

       "Thanks, Draco." My light smile turned into a deep, threatening scowl. "Now you listen very carefully," I hissed, catching his undivided attention. "You will treat Jenna with the utmost respect that you can possibly muster and you will treat her like a princess tonight. And, I swear on your life, if you let that jealous hag who hangs around you all the time even utter a disrespectful breath towards Jenna or mistreat her in any way -- I will cut off your balls and feed them to the sharks in the Black Lake." 

       After I finished my threat, I let out a deep breath and forced a polite smile while I called Jenna over. "Have fun you two!" I smirked as Draco gave me a freaked-out look over. If he didn't think I was crazy before, he would now.

      After Jenna had left, I sat down on the couch and waited for Leo to come. Couples came and went and I watched with a patient smile. I watched the fire crackle and flicker in the midst of theCommon Room. Minutes slowly filtered past as I sunk deeper into the couch.

      "You're still here?" George called with Blake on his arm, grinning like an idiot.

"Yeah, but don't worry. He'll be here soon." I chuckled and waved them off. Blake frowned a little about leaving me in the Common Room, it was already seven thirty, but I told her to go ahead with a smile and watched as they reluctantly made their way out.

      I looked towards the stairs, as the sound of small heels clicked down from the Girls Dormitories, to see Angelina Johnson. She was dressed in a medium length, hot pink cocktail dress that flowed out to her knees. It danced around her, creating a halo of colour. She really looked pretty with her hair hung straight to her shoulders. 

      Fred was standing at the staircase base with a tight smile as she made her way down to him with a dreamy smile.

"You look pretty..." He gave her a crooked grin and for some reason it made my heart sink in my chest a little- why would I care if he compliments his date?

      She blushed and thanked him, tugging on the thick straps of her dress with an anxious hand. "Thanks, Weasley. Though, I would feel better in my uniform." 

     My chest stung as I looked at them; they were a cute couple. My thoughts wandered to all the cute couples I had been around: Trey and Allie were a beautiful couple. Fred and Angelina reminded me of them a little and it made me wonder if I would ever find someone who looked at me the way Trey looked at Allie.

      Fred looked up to meet my eyes. I blushed, realizing that I had been staring at them for a little too long. I quickly turned my face away. 'Real inconspicuous, Elle...' 

      "Elle? Why are you still here? Where's Leo?" He sneered Leo's name as if it was some kind of curse that tasted bad in his mouth.

     Feeling embarrassed, I bowed my head. A few stray curls shielded my gaze as I picked at my thumb nail, trying not to sound worried. "I don't...I don't know..." I admitted.

      It was almost eight. The further that the clock ticked down, the more my stomach dropped in anxiousness. Sure, the actual dance didn't start until nine-thirty, but everyone was going at seven to eat dinner and hear the speeches that the teachers were, no doubt, giving.

      Fred frowned and Angelina bit her lip, feeling a little bad for me. I didn't like that feeling, the feeling of being pitied. It made me sit up straigher and arch my back in confidence with a resigned smile. "I'm fine, you two should go down to dinner. I-I am sure he'll be here soon."

     "Not a chance." Fred sighed. He cleared the distance from the staircase to me rather swiftly with his long gait. He loosened his tie and groaned as he sat on the couch beside me. The furniture groaned with impact and the fire crackled.

     "I'm not going to leave you here alone, waiting for some tosser. I'll wait here with you until he shows up." Fred smiled at me, putting a hand on my lap reassuringly. Angelina glanced between the both of us, furrowing her brow. I could see the calculations turning in her eyes, the different possibilities of what she could do right now.

     She pouted a little, wanting to go down to the Ball, but after a small thought to herself, she sat on the armrest of the couch beside Fred. "Okay, I guess I'll stay too," she said with a tight voice.

         Fred cringed a little and I frowned at him. "No, don't make your date wait for me, go ahead."

        "No, it's fine," Angie piped up, surprising me. Though her words were kind, her eyes were tight. "Nothing is really going to happen until nine anyway." Angelina kicked off her short heels and glanced up at the stairwell for the girls rooms. "Besides, I told Katie I'd wait for her anyway."

       Fred nodded. "See? Nothing to sweat over." He grinned crookedly and poked my side, making me laugh. It was my ticklish spot.

       The minutes ticked by and Fred and I chatted about everything and nothing, it was really sweet of him to wait up here with me. Eventually though, at precisely 8:09, Katie Bell came flying down the stairs -- she was in such a rush she was practically triping over herself. When she saw the three of us, she looked surprised but relieved. Her eyes landed on mine with a curious tilt of her head and an audible 'huh'.

    Leo still hadn't arrived. And, I was starting to think he never would.

      "So," Katie awkwardly swung her hands in the air. "Are you lot ready, or?"

     Angelina sighed and tossed her head back, sliding on her heels. "Elizabeth is still waiting on her date." She turned to Fred and arched a brow. "Are you coming with Katie and I or not?" 

     Fred made a high-pitched 'uhhh' that carried throughout the Common Room. He frowned as he looked between the three of us: Angie, Katie and myself. I opened my mouth to protest, not wanting to ruin anyone's night. I didn't even want to go to this Ball in the first place. I should have been upstairs reading Bronte...

     "Look," Angie snapped, standing up and brushing herself off. "I think I'll just leave now; I'll be at the Ball when you're ready, Fred." She snapped bitterly, giving us a cool glare. Katie's brows shot up her frehead and she tisked, not sure what to say. 

      Fred sighed and reached out to her. "No, wait, Ang. I'm sorry."

     "It's fine!" She replied, yanking Katie by the arm. "I don't care." Fred watched them go with a heavy groan, shaking his head.

      The portrait slammed behind them and I jumped a little, feeling really bad. "This isn't right, you go ahead and be with your date."

     Fred just shook the tense energy off with a light, humorless chuckle, rolling his eyes. "She'll be fine." He shrugged and ran a hand through his red hair, turning to offer me a lopsided grin. "Besides, she's only upset that she didn't get to go with Wood."

     'Oh, great. That's also my fault.' I smiled lightly, and looked into his shining eyes. Even though I was feeling a little down, Fred immediately made everything better. I could feel the tense knots in my stomach easing. 

      But, something was gnawing at the back of my head. Where was Leo? Did he get somehow lost? I bit my lip and blinked away a tear that tried welling up.

Am I being stood up?

_________________________

Song for the Chapter: I Won't Let You Down by Alex Clare

sorry for the delay in editing... this book needs a lot more work than I'd thought lol. Let me know your thoughts so far and what you'd like to see!

(OG Chapter: 5k words / Edited: 6.4k words)