[ 1 ] EXPLODE ( r. black ! )

twenty-one || the yule ball

ACT ONE; CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
THE YULE BALL

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THE YULE BALL was one of very few things that Eleanor thoroughly enjoyed about Christmas time – or, more realistically, the only thing that she didn't have negative connotations with. Though, if she thought past the complete and utter fun of it to remember why Dumbledore had brought it about, without the usual yet now banned, dangerous wizarding tournament alongside it. As much as she didn't want to think about it, she knew it was because Dumbledore had seen the joy the Yule Ball had brought in the midst of the Triwizard Tournament and believed it would help aid the boost of moral for the elder students fighting to ignore the War.

                That was the only reason Eleanor envied the younger years who weren't able to go to the Yule Ball, unless invited by somebody older, because they didn't know enough about the War to need a night away from it.

                Still, the part of Eleanor who was a lover of getting glitzed and glammed alongside her friends, probably would've fought a battle every week if it meant she got to do the Yule Ball more often than every Christmas Eve. It wasn't an uncommon feeling, there was barely a single person in Hogwarts who didn't look forward to the gorgeous gowns, dazzling decorations and magnificent music – even Severus Snape donned a new cloak for the occasion. However, if a person spent too long around Eleanor in the weeks approaching it, they'd soon wish it was there for her to marvel in silence at, something Regulus was soon realising as he was forced to look at multiple dress, hair and makeup styles every time she asked, which was often.

                Quicker than Eleanor had liked, but much slower than Regulus had dreamed of, the twenty-fourth of December did approach. Breakfast was eaten quickly before the Slytherin girls hurried off when the mail deposited their perfectly timed packages and lunch had to be dropped off by Regulus' house elf because, after a warning from the departing-to-another-Dorm Parkinson twins, nobody wanted to enter the warzone. Every time Eleanor looked at the mess they'd left in their wake as they got ready, she understood why – every step had to be careful or you'd fall or Pandora and Kelsie would murder you for damaging an item of makeup.

                Other reasons the Parkinson's had left their Dorm for the elder one that Narcissa Black run with an iron fist included the constant discussion of Regulus. That and the fact, exactly a year before, there was a week long feud that came to it's height between Poppy and Pandora regarding something Eleanor could no longer remember. If that had been the ending of the story, Eleanor presumed they might have braved the storm and stayed in their own Dorm, but the tale truly ended with Pandora charming Poppy's dress to be a size too small once she had gotten into it. If it was anybody else, Eleanor would've been impartial but it was her best friend so she didn't hide her amusement.