Where The Sage Shrubs Grow,

Chapter 57

Sage's POV:
"It is the day before the Yule ball, and here I am having to convince you to wear nice shoes!" Hallie lectured
I had made the mistake of telling her I was wearing combat boots under my dress and Hallie had practically combusted.
"You cannot wear dingy old boots to this ball! No, I won't have it! Now get your coat we have to go down to Hogsmeade to find you some suitable shoes. I just hope they have something this last minute."
I knew there was no fighting at this point, so I slipped on my coat and let her drag me.

We ended up in the nice lady's dress shop with Hallie begging her for something. The old woman ducked under the counter rummaging around and reappearing with multiple shoe boxes. Hallie snatched them out of her grasp and let me to a bench by the mirror to try them on. The shoes varied in color, heel, and style. Some were flats, some had straps, some were chunkier, some were so slim I knew I would break my ankle trying to walk.

Hallie fretted over weather or not we would find the right shoe, box after box after box. Some were black, some red, some weren't even in the tuning because they apparently 'didn't flatter my feet.' Hallie went back to the counter a countless amount of times asking for more shoes. I thought I was going to die.

"Ok the lady said that this is the last pair of shoes she has in your size." Hallie sighed walking over to me with one box
"Thank Merlin." I groaned
"No! This isn't good at all! What if these don't work either? Then we'll be screwed!" Hallie ranted
"Just give me the box already." I complained
Hallie reluctantly handed over the box, I opened it pulling out a pair of nude colored heels with straps. The heel was a bit steep for me but Hallie seemed to think they were perfect.
"Sage! Those are the perfect color! Look at that and the straps too! Oh Sage put them on, put them on!"

I slipped on the heels, even I had to admit they were pretty comfortable for a heel. They wouldn't last all night though. The straps going up my leg made me feel more secure, there was still the issue of me being clumsy all the damn time though. Hallie insisted that they were the perfect shoe for me and forced me to purchase them, we thanked the shop lady and went on our way. As we walked out the door I couldn't help but think that this maybe the last time I see that shop and that nice old lady who was so kind to me.

"So do you still want to go with our plan? Hallie asked
"Well yeah, since we're here anyway. If we hadn't come to find me shoes I wouldn't be sure but yes." I responded
Hallie and I had been talking about inviting some of our friends over to our dorm tonight to sleepover so we could spend tomorrow together and get ready for the ball. We had also been talking about getting everyone their own personalized basket, with snacks, drinks, candy and other little things they like.

"Ok so who are we inviting?" Hallie asked
"Clementine, obviously" I started
"Lilac."
"MC"
"Hermione."
"Ginny, PLEASE!" I begged
"Ok ok we can invite Ginny too."

"Ok so let's split up, get things done faster that way. You go to Honeydukes and I'll go to the other store to get the baskets." Hallie stated
"Ok sounds good."

Hallie dragged me back to the castle and to our dorm to put our things away. The castle was buzzing with excitement and anticipation, I mean it's not often Hogwarts holds a ball. Most girls were running around trying to gather the last of the thing they around need to get ready, some were in their dorms making sure their dresses weren't wrinkled.

Hallie and I ran around finding everyone to invite them. They all said yes of course. We headed back to our dorm to set up everyone's baskets and sleeping pallets. We probably won't be doing much sleep though.
"I still can't believe how you've gotten me into gift giving weather or not theirs a special occasion." Hallie playfully rolled her eyes "Probably why you're broke."
I laughed "Probably."

The girls arrived around 9pm with Dresses and other necessities in hand. There was a lot going on but we were cozy not cramped.
"What do you think the great hall will look like?" Lilac asked
"Dunno." MC replied her mouth full of taffy
The hours ticked by pretty quickly and we all stayed up laughing, talking, playing games, and discussing the ball.
"I still cant believe Fred didn't ask you Sage, it's outrageous!" Hermione protested
"Yeah, he's being a total idiot. He's in love with you." Ginny agreed "He couldn't stop talking about you all summer, I thought you were a celebrity!"
"Yes, well I guess Angelina is the new celebrity." I sighed
Hallie snorted "Not after you put on that dress." She smirked

"Hallie!" I shrieked hitting her in the face with a pillow
My one action started a whole pillow fight, soft objects were getting tossed around the room and pillow stuffing went flying. Our pillow fights get pretty aggressive. Once we had worn ourselves out we laid out on the floor and continued chatting about random subjects.
"It's too quiet in here." MC complained pulling herself off the floor and walking over to the radio
She turned on the radio and adjusted it to the right station causing everyone to get up and erupt into a dance party. More objects went flying and we were all singing at the top of our lungs until we wore ourselves out again.

2:08am the clock read.
"We should go to sleep so we don't know tired tomorrow." Hermione commented
"I know a makeup hack if anyone does." Hallie chirped
We all climbed into our respective sleeping spaces and Hallie Turned off the lamp. It was quiet for about 15 minutes before Ginny started giggling.
"I got you right in the face with that pillow Sage." She snickered
I laughed a little bit before telling her goodnight again and we all went to sleep, excited for the ball the tomorrow, well most of us excited.

1074 Words