The Lost Daughter

Chapter Eighteen

Holiday Break came quickly, and it was finally the day of the ball. Fred and Elle hadn't spoken much to each other besides the infrequent "how are you". It pained Elle to talk to Fred after he asked Alicia to the ball, and Fred didn't know what to say to make things change in his favor, so he just stayed silent.

Elle had managed to join her friend group with Will's in the hours before the ball started. The Gryffindor's and Lee's Hufflepuff date were to head to Durmstrang's ship and drink a little Firewhiskey before the ball started. They were all of age, so they decided to have some to make the night a little more fun.

Elle, Alicia, and Angelina played loud music and got ready together. They invited a few of the younger girls, including Ginny, to get ready with them in their room. The three of them helped the younger girls with their makeup and hair. Angelina was in charge of makeup, Elle did everyone's hair, and Alicia made last minute alterations to the dresses.

Once all of the younger girls' hair had been done, Elle started working on herself. She used her wand to gave herself soft, romantic waves that fell to the middle of her back. Then she used some of Alicia's new magical hair products to make her blonde hair glossy and smooth. She did her makeup, and then to finish it off, she slipped on her gown and nude, strappy heels.

She stepped in front of the mirror and smiled. "I hope Fred thinks I look beautiful," she thought.

"You look like a veela," said Lina, one of the third years who was staring at Elle.

"Thank you, Lina," said Elle genuinely. She pulled her next to her in the mirror, "Look, so do you," causing the girl to giggle.

Elle grabbed her wand off her bed and cast a sonorous spell to turn up the volume of the music. She started dancing with Ginny, and the rest of the girls in the room joined in. A few minutes later, Elle looked at the time and realized that she, Alicia, and Angelina needed to head out to the Durmstrang ship.

"Alright, girls, we have to go. But we'll see you all at the dance!" Elle ushered the younger girls out of the room.

Alicia, Angelina, and Elle did some last minute touch-ups and slid their wands into disappearing pockets that Elle made in their gowns.

"Oh wait I almost forgot," said Elle. She pulled out her wand and put spells on each of their heels that made them as comfortable as slippers. "So we can dance all night without having to take off our shoes," she explained with a smile. Alicia and Angelina were constantly in awe of how many spells Elle knew.

Elle's best friends headed down to the common room to meet the boys while Elle quickly spritzed herself with more perfume. She then cast a cleaning spell on the room to undo the mess that they had all made before running out the door.

Alicia shouted, "Come on, Elle, we're going to be late!" from down the stairs.

"I'm coming!" Elle replied.

In the common room, the boys were impatiently waiting for Elle to join them. They had been ready early for once and were frustrated that they had to wait for the girls.

"Oh please," Elle heard Angelina argue, "We always have to wait for you, so you all can wait just once for us."

Fred watched silently as Elle came down the stairs. She was breathtaking.

When Elle made it to the bottom of the staircase she noticed that Lee was staring right at her breasts, which she had to admit looked great in her dress. "Eyes up here, buddy," she ordered, motioning to her eyes which made him blush.

The joke seemed to alleviate some sort of tension that had been between everyone. Elle felt like she was floating on clouds, excited for the night to begin, and led the group out of the Gryffindor common room. Before opening the portrait hole, she looked back mischievously and said, "Who's ready to have some fun?"