Marmoris | Rabastan Lestrange [1] ✔︎

21 | PATIENCE

The Yule Ball seemed to made people go insane in more than one way. Somehow it got on everybody's nerves and on the big day itself Phoenix had decided to rather go reading in the Common Room than staying with the other girls in their dorm as they were running around like mad hens. The headache, which was already coming up hours before the event, didn't make her day any better but at least the dance seemed to be a reason for Dawn and Maureen to stop fighting. After a few days of hardly talking to one another, they spent breakfast discussing different hairstyles and accessories and once more Phoenix wasn't sure if those two girls were really her friends she had known for years or if they were just some gossip girls from the other dorm wearing their faces as a costume.

Her own excitement was drastically limited. She had even considered playing ill so she could stay in bed during the dance but even the thought made her feel guilty as she had told Alexander she would go with him. Although she had decided to attend the dance she still didn't see how people could start dressing up two hours earlier, which meant right after dinner. Some of the girls hadn't even attended dinner at all to make sure they had enough time. Phoenix knew hairstyles could take some time but definitely not that long, especially since they were able to use magic to make it even easier.

Her quiet wasn't long lasting, however, as Will propped down in the seat next to her, telling her jokes, of which she was sure he had made up some of them by himself. He definitely seemed to enjoy himself, completely ignoring the opened book in Phoenix' lap. But even if only half of his jokes actually made sense it went by way too fast for her liking, and so did the rest of the time before she had to meet up with Alexander. After Maureen dragged her back up to the dorm everything seemed to be kind of a blur. Phoenix would only remember it as an hour filled with gossip, hairstyles and laughter but she couldn't quite name the details of what they were talking about.

It was Dawn, who finally convinced her to sit down on a stool and let her and Maureen do her hair by saying she surely wouldn't want to have Sirius telling her his hair looked better on that particular evening for the rest of her life. However, she was glad she agreed. When she looked into the mirror in the bathroom she was stunned, her friends had done a great job without using magic for any part of it. They had loosely pinned her dark curls up, which gave her look stronger appearance of youth, and into the partially braided strands they had put a golden band which was meant to match with the ornaments on her dress.

Finally taking her gaze off of her hair she glanced at the watch, the girls had placed on a shelf next to the mirror. It was only twenty minutes before they would meet the boys. Slowly Phoenix was starting to get nervous, not only about dancing and not tripping over her dress but about how she could handle her abilities. What if she lost control and something like in Three Broomsticks happened again or her headache would become too much? She shook her head to get those thoughts out of her mind. Driving herself crazy with imagining these kind of things wouldn't be helping at all.

She stepped out of the bathroom taking a deep breath. Maureen was closing Dawn's dark blue dress on her back and Phoenix caught the last snippet of their conversation.

"Come on, it's not even an hour until the dance will start. Can't you just tell us now?" The pink-haired girl begged once more.

Dawn groaned but turned around with a smile placed on her lips. "No, but you'll see in about twenty minutes, anyway. I think you'll be managing to gather enough patience until we reach the entrance of the Great Hall and then you can yell at me for not telling you all evening."

"Why do you have to keep it a secret anyway?" Maureen remarked but the brunette simply smiled.

"So he's not a Slytherin?" Phoenix chimed in.

"What?" Dawn asked, confusion written all over her face.

"Well, you said she had to wait until we reach the entrance of the Great Hall, which means you will meet him there," She explained, while taking her dress off of her bed.

Dawn blushed slightly. "Oh, uhm, yeah he might be."

"Can you at least tell us which house he belongs to? It would make our little guessing game so much easier." Maureen pleaded.

"No, just wait for it." The brunette giggled.

"Is it that blonde Hufflepuff? I think he's called Daniel Jackson."

Instantly Dawn shook her head. "I don't even know that guy."

"Richard Carpenter?"

"Andrew Perry, Gryffindor's American guy?" Phoenix offered.

Suddenly Maureen's face brightened up even more, if that was even possible. "Or is it Sirius Black?"

The girl in question lifted her hands in surrender, chuckling. "I give up. If I hear one more name of a boy I will lock myself up in the bathroom and I won't exit until we have to leave."

Her friends giggled as well but listened. Still, Phoenix couldn't help but wonder if there might have been some truth in Maureen's idea as her brother had ran after Dawn after the incident in the Great Hall.

Way too early the girls had to leave the dorm to meet with the boys. While Maureen and Dawn were more than excited, Phoenix was more nervous than ever. As she left the room and closed the door behind them, her heart was bumping so heart in her chest she was afraid it would jump out. She had always comforted herself with the thought of the event still being far away but now there was no more chance to think so.

For a quick moment she stood still while her friends already made their way down the stairs. Once again she sucked in a deep breath before following. Careful not to trip she walked down the steps, her eyes scanning the Common Room. Her gaze met her brother, Alexander and the rest of her friends, all of them wearing suits, but, without herself really knowing, her eyes searched for Rabastan. He stood next to Regulus, nobody else than Cara Zabini, Maureen's younger sister, on his side, but to her surprise his gaze was fixed on her. Maybe it was simply her imagination tricking her as she saw his icy blue eyes widen a little as he watched her taking every single step down the stairs. Although it wasn't a negative gesture she suddenly felt uncomfortable in her backless dress but she played it down with a smile. There was nothing she could change about it anymore.