the malfoy boy

V

"And you're sure this is what you want to wear?" Joey asked as she knelt on the ground before her brother Dorian. She was helping him tie the little bowtie at the front of his collar when he nodded in confirmation, messing up her already delicate movements to match her fragile knowledge of the knot. "Okay, bud. Whatever you want." She smiled at him reassuringly, but in her mind, she was trying to figure out a way to change his mind. He wore a short sleeve, white shirt that had little yellow ducks imprinted across it. His bowtie was blue to match his shorts. These were not the issues. The issue was the long, billowing, bright red cape and the large, plush, lime green slippers on his feet, designed to look like a cartoon monster from one of his favorite shows.

"I think he looks rather dashing," Odette giggled from her seat on the edge of his bed. He just smiled up at her and stuck his tongue out at Joey, who stuck hers out right back. "There you go, kid. Run along. I need Joey's help now," Odie said and dragged Joey into her room across the hall.

"Odes, I have to get ready, too," Joey complained.

"Oh, leave off it. You'll have the rest of your life to look good for Malfoy. But this is my first chance to impress Dolohov," Odette complained as she threw open her closet. Joey scrunched her nose up at the name, recalling the boy a few years younger than her.

"That brute? Of all of them, why him? Malfoy's got, like, a million friends you can choose from," Joey said with a huff. Odette reflected the huff right back.

"I don't want to impress a million, just this one," she said and held up two dresses. Joey didn't care much for their style, with the strapless or thin strapped and backless look, and she certainly didn't care for the length of them. The dresses would've stopped at mid-thigh at the very longest. "Which one do you like more?" Joey scrunched her nose up and stuck her tongue out with a shake of her head. "Okay, what about this one?" Odette asked and pulled out one just as short but even more sparkly.

"Odie, what about this one?" Joey said as she strode to the closet and grabbed a dress out. It was one Odette rarely wore because they didn't often host garden tea parties. The dress was still thin-strapped like Odette liked, but it had criss-cross patterns across the upper chest before the top of the dress took over. It was a pale pink thing that was tight on the top and slightly looser on the bottom. It still went to mid-thigh, but there was a second layer of intricate, white lace above the satin underneath.

"But that thing is just so proper," Odette complained as she walked over to grab it in her hands. Joey nodded.

"He's a pure-blood from a very high-brow family, Odie. He's not going to look for some girl who wants to go party in Knockturn on the weekends. He's going to look for a girl who can impress his parents. A pure-blood with class," Joey said and tapped the dress with her fingers. "This is the perfect dress for first impressions." Odette seemed to contemplate it a moment before nodding.

"Yeah, you're right. Now go get ready! You're running out of time!"

Joey laughed and went to her room to get ready. As she walked through the 2nd floor corridor and up to the 3rd, she could hear noises of Rachelle ordering around the house-elves and her husband. She gently closed the door behind her with a sigh of nervousness. Her room smelled of the potion that was bubbling happily by her window. She checked it and gave it 3 stirs clockwise before going to her own closet. She had an outfit in mind, but she couldn't find it anywhere.

"Rico?" she asked. There was a faint pop and a house-elf appeared beside her. He was average height for a house-elf, just about 3 feet tall, but he was not skinny like most were. He was abnormally muscular. Rumour had it, his previous master had put him into fighting rings, but she didn't want to cause him any discomfort by asking him about it. All she knew was that before Abraxas came along, Rico always insisted on escorting her whenever she went shopping.