The Redhead and the Irish

Chapter 28

-SATURDAY MORNING-

"Rowena Elizabeth Weasley! Get up this instance!" Lavender shouted, shaking me violently. I sat up straight, squinting against the sunlight. "What time is it?" Hermione asked in a tired voice. I glanced over to her bed, seeing that she just woke up too. "Eight o'clock." Padma stated, brushing her hair. "Guys! We still have plenty of time before the ball! Just let me sleep for another hour or two." I begged them. "No! We have to be at Randy's in four hours and I'd like for us to get our nails done." Parvati said, throwing me some of my clothes. "Parvati, the nail salon is probably overbooked with girls who want their nails done." Hermione groaned, getting out of bed. "Who says we need to go to the nail salon?" Lav smirked.

"What have you done?" I questioned, getting out of bed too. "I asked some of the Beauxbatons girls if they could do our nails. And they agreed." she explained. "When will they be here?" Hermione wondered. Just then, someone knocked on our door. "For the love of Merlin, get dressed!" Padma exclaimed, pushing Mione and I into the bathroom. "These girls will do anything for the perfect look, won't they?" I whispered as I changed. " Well, we are the dates of champions..." she mumbled. We walked out of the bathroom.

"Rowen! What are you doing here?" Fleur asked, putting her bag on my bed. "Fleur! Thank Merlin...there's no one I would trust more with my nails then you." I exclaimed, hugging her. "Zis is my sister, Gabrielle." she introduced me to a young girl. "Bonjour, Gabrielle. Je m'appelle Rowen. Je suis une ami votre Fleur." I told her. She stared at me in shock "Parle-tu Français?" she asked me. "Oui." I smiled. "She doesn't speak Anglais, I'm afraid." Fleur said, placing a reassuring arm around her sister. "That's alright. She can do my nails." Hermione stated. "You speak French too?" Fleur wondered. "I can make a simple conversation, yes." she answered. Fleur gave her a brief nod.

"Antoinette, Marie, Jaqueline, you can choose whose nails you want to do. Gabrielle will do..." Fleur glanced at Hermione. "Hermione Granger." she introduced herself. "...Hermione's nails. I will do Rowen's." she finished. The three girls nodded and walked over to the Patil twins and Lavender with their bags as Fleur picked up hers. "Shall we begin?" she asked me, opening her bag and taking out a small table and two chairs. I stared at her in surprise. "Undetectable Extension charm." she whispered, putting down the furniture. "Uhm...yeah, let's start." I said, still a bit confused.

She placed some nail polish on the table, all in blue tints. "How'd you know?" I asked. "Que?" she wondered. "About my dress being blue." I explained. "Your friend told me." Fleur said. I nodded. "So, I was zinking about an ombre nail." she proposed, grabbing navy blue and white nail polish. "Sounds good." I smiled at her. Fleur began cleaning my nails with some sort of weird smelling stuff. "Who are you going with?" I questioned the Beauxbatons girl. "Roger Davies." she stated, grabbing the nail polish. "The Ravenclaw Quidditch captain..." I mumbled. "Et toi?" she asked, smiling slightly. I leaned forward, so that only Fleur could hear me. "Cedric Diggory." I whispered.

"Hmm, so you're dancing alongside me, then." she stated. "What?" I questioned, confused. "Didn't he tell you?" she wondered. "Tell me what?" I replied. "It is tradition that ze champions open ze ball with a dance, so if you're going with a champion, you'll have to open ze ball.." she explained, focusing on my nails. "What?!" I yelled, making everyone look at me. "Sorry." I mumbled. "I believe he didn't tell you, then." Fleur muttered. "No, he did not." I answered.

"Now, if I must believe the rumours you don't have anything to worry." she said with a small smile. "What rumours?" I asked as Fleur started on my other hand. "And how are you so fast in painting nails?" I added, staring at my right hand. "My grandmamma taught me. And the rumour is that you are quite the dancer." she stated. "Who told you that?" I questioned, still not understanding. "Well, Antoinette was told by some Ravenclaw girl that she was told by a Gryffindor second year that he was told by his older sister that you are a great dancer." Fleur said as she put some see-through polish over my nails. "What are you doing that for?" I wondered as she applied it. "Two zings. One, it'll make the polish last longer and two, it'll look prettier." she smiled as she finished.