TW AND CW: VERY heavy cursing

"As I am sure you've heard from older siblings or older friends," McGonagall said, pacing around her desk in the Transfiguration classroom. "We host an annual wintertime ball for 6th and 7th years."

Some students, who already knew the news were still excited, and other who didn't were even more eager to go to the dance.

"The Mistletoe Ball is Christmas Eve, and it is expected for all of you to be there for school spirit," McGonagall said. She looked like she was bracing herself for the next part. "Now, the Mistletoe Ball is a dance in which- er- you can bring partners."

Many students squealed.

"And while this may be a time for us to- ah- let our hair down, so to speak, I will not have you besmirching our school name by behaving like a babbling, bumbling, band of baboons!" McGonagall said, glaring fiercely at a pair of girls who were already passing notes on what to wear at the ball.

A/n: did i make a hp movie reference? Maybe.

"Remember," McGonagall reminded them. "Christmas Eve at 9:00 to 11:00. Please dress formally. Class dismissed."

Everyone hurried to get out of class to talk with their friends about the exciting news.

"I'll be asking Mike Thornbrush," Ivy said proudly.

"Er-" Ana said. "Ivy, I think it was already set that you and Mike were going together. You've been dating since our 4th year."

"Right," Ivy said, nodding with a grin. "Sage, who're you going with?"

"Er-" Sage's face was slowly turning red. "I'd like to ask Willow Jamieson."

Ivy's jaw dropped. "So that explains why you kept talking about how pretty she was in the librar-" Sage covered her mouth with a hand.

"Shut up!" she hissed.

"Willow's pretty nice," Ana said with a nod. "I'm sure she'd say yes."

"But she's a Slytherin," Sage said quietly, as the trio walked to the greenhouses quickly.

"So?" Ivy said. "Not all Slytherins are bad. Like Daphne Greengrass! She's nice!"

"Daphne is pretty nice," Ana agreed. "She once helped me with my potions homework and I got an O on it. I'd never been more happy in my life."

"So are you gonna ask her out?" Ivy asked Sage.

"I dunno," Sage answered honestly with a shrug. "Maybe...?"

"I say go for it," Ana said. "And if she says no, that's ok. You can always come with me. I'm not going with anyone."

"What?" Ivy and Sage's head both whipped around to face her. 

"Like- who'd I even ask?" Ana asked them.

"Remus."

"I'm not asking him!" Ana exclaimed. "He's only a friend, and I'd rather go with Oreo than ask Remus out."

"Remus would dance with you better than your owl, Ana," Sage muttered under her breath, but Ana still heard.

~…~…~…~…~…~…~…~…~…~…~…~…~…~…~…~…~…~…~…~…~…~…~…~…~…~

Christmas was approaching steadily, and it was exactly two weeks before the ball that James approached Ana with a question.

Ana was sitting on a bench in the courtyard outside the Transfiguration classroom, reading a book.

"Aurie!" called out a familiar voice. It was James, and he was dashing towards the bench she sat upon.

Ana looked up. "Hey, James," she said, placing her book down beside her. "What's up?"

"I need to ask you something, and please answer honestly," James said, panting, his black hair flopping over his face haphazardly in the wind. He took a seat next to Ana.

"Sure?" Ana said, a little confused.

"What the fuck is going on with you and Remus?"

Ana hissed at him. "There are first years here!"

James scoffed. "Like you've ever cared about that. You say they know those words too. What's up with you, too? You've been acting weird the entire time since school started, and so has Remus."

"Really, James?" Ana said, raising her eyebrows. "You've been pestering me about this for so long. Nothing's wrong. Please, give it up."

James, as much as he wanted to know the truth, decided not to pry. "So... who are you going with to the ball?"

"Me, myself, and I," Ana said with a grin. "Sage was going to come with me if the person she wanted to ask turned her down, but they didn't, so I'll be going by myself."

James wanted to say how Remus wasn't going with anyone either, but held in his urge to say it. "I was thinking..."

"Yes?"

"Of asking out Lily."

Ana gasped, and covered her mouth, but James couldn't tell if it was from joy, awe, or terror.

"Do it!" she said eagerly. "She likes you much more now, and she's even started calling you 'James'. No Potter, no toe-rag. I think you might be in the clear with her."

"Yeah, but that's the thing," James said, tilting his head slightly. "I've just stopped asking her out all the time and she's much better with me now, like I am with her, but if I ask her out again..."

"I get what you mean," Ana agreed. "But if she says no, then no is no. You aren't going with her. She never minded you asking, she just wanted respect from you. So respect that she might not go with you."

Her speech seemed to have made an impact on James. "Alright. I'm going to do it."

"Go for it," Ana said with a grin.

James stood up, said "Thanks" to Ana, and was about to walk away when he turned back. "Can I ask you something else?"

"Go ahead."

"Are you coming to tomorrow's- er- event?"

"Of course," Ana said with a chuckle. "I never miss one."

"Well- I just thought- since you two seem to be a little distant-"

"We're fine, James, of course I'm coming," Ana reassured him, but didn't feel very reassured herself. 

~…~…~…~…~…~…~…~…~…~…~…~…~…~…~…~…~…~…~…~…~…~…~…~…~…~

The full moon wasn't as bad as Ana had expected. Remus (as a wolf) mostly kept to himself on the creaky bed while the others curled up in their animals forms to lay at the floor nearby.

But as the ball approached, the girls dragged Ana out for a Hogsmeade outing.

Ana thought they meant that maybe they'd go grab a Butterbeer, maybe head to Honeydukes for a while.

That was not what they meant.

What Lily meant when she referred to a Hogsmeade outing was, "let's go spend at least 60 galleons on 14 ballgowns, because why not?"

Ana nearly choked when she saw the interior of Gladrags Wizardwear.

"It's so... bright," Ana said, gulping.

"I know," Ivy said. "Isn't it pretty?"

"Who are you?" Ana asked in terror, and turned to a mortified looking Marlene. "They dragged you here, too, huh?"

"Yup," Marlene said, popping the 'p'. 

"Don't discount me," Alice said. "I'm dying here too. I wouldn't be here at all if they hadn't begged me to come along. I already have a dress!"

"We don't," Marlene and Ana said in unison.

"They've targeted us today," Ana said with a sigh.

"Oh, come on," Lily chided. "It'll be fun! A little time for us to enjoy ourselves!"

"In Gladrags?" Marlene said skeptically.

"Oh, hush, it's not that bad," Sage said. "We'll be out of here in a jiffy."

Ironically, it took the longest for Ana and Marlene to purchase a dress.

But that was mostly because the 'dress-choosing' was more in Ivy's hands.

And Ivy was a tough judge.

Marlene finally chose a simple red dress, while ignoring Ivy's complaints about how red it was. 

"Yellow's better," she claimed.

"You're just saying that because you're a Hufflepuff," Marlene retorted.

Alice rolled her eyes. She was currently doing three things:

1) Sitting on a bench in the corner

2) Being abysmally bored

3) Playing 'dress holder' for the others with 4 bags of things stuffed into her arms

"Hurry up and stop bickering like a bunch of old ladies," she grumbled loudly.

"What about this?" Ana said finally, holding up a dress. "And look, I don't care what you think about it, Ives, I'm buying it because we've been here for an hour."

Ivy turned to look at Ana's choice of clothing. "Actually, that's really pretty. Go for it."

"Didn't need your permission," Ana grumbled, but folded it and put it into a bag.

The total of all their dresses (except Alice) was 8 Galleons. 

While none of them were very happy about the high prices, Lily's excitement seemed to cover the need for contentment in the group.

"I can't believe we're actually going to a dance!" she said, as they walked along the snow-covered gravel path to The Three Broomsticks. "I mean, even I'm not very big on parties and stuff, but this seems fun!"

A thought popped into Ana's head. "Has anyone asked you, Lils?"

"Oh, I didn't tell you guys, did I?" Lily said. "James asked me last night after dinner, and I told him yes."

Everyone's reactions were different.

Ana simply smirked in approval.

Ivy and Sage stopped in their tracks.

Alice choked on her own spit.

Marlene tripped over herself.

"Oh, stop being dramatic," Lily said, rolling her eyes. "He's become much more mature than you would think."

"That's really not what we're reacting to," Alice said, still looking like she was choking.

"Then what were you reacting to?"

"That you said yes to him," Sage muttered.

"So?"

Ivy helped Marlene up off the ground. "Last year, I believe James' preferred nickname was 'arrogant, ignorant, toerag'."

"And that you 'wouldn't go out with him if it was a choice between him and the giant squid'," Marlene supplied, giving a nod of thanks to Ivy.

"But it's good that you've given him another chance," Ana said with a grin.

"Can I be the flower girl?" Marlene asked.

Sage scoffed. "Excuse me? I'm the flower girl!"

Alice rolled her eyes. "Girls, please. If anyone's the flower girl, it's going to be Oreo."

"Really?" Lily deadpanned.

"They aren't going to give up on this for a long time," Ana said, smacking her lips. "I'll see if I can get them to shut up about it, one second."

"Ok?" Lily asked, a little concerned.

"Hey, don't we have that extra essay from Slughorn to finish?" Ana asked loudly.

The bickering stopped. 

"WHAT?" Marlene said.

"We're going to The Three Broomsticks," Ana said, clearly pleased with herself. 

"Teach me your ways," Lily said.

"Oh, I will," Ana said to her in a whisper, as they continued trudging along to The Three Broomsticks. "But only if you make me the flower girl."

~…~…~…~…~…~…~…~…~…~…~…~…~…~…~…~…~…~…~…~…~…~…~…~…~…~

The night of the ball finally arrived, and the topic about Ana and Remus' distance had finally been dropped.

Ivy, Sage, and Ana had snuck into the Gryffindor girls' dorm to help them get ready.

Alice and Sage were ironing the dresses, Marlene and Ana were doing everyone's hair, and Lily and Ivy were on makeup duty.

It was a very rushed thing, Marlene was combing Sage's hair while Ana braided Alice's, and Lily and Ivy tried to do Marlene and Ana's makeup while everyone was moving.

Surprisingly, even though they were short on time, they managed to get their hair and makeup done with 15 minutes to spare.

Finally, the girls put on their dresses and any outsider would have said they looked like a rainbow.

Marlene, with her simple red; Lily, with her frilly orange; Ivy, with a warm yellow; Sage, with a deep blue; and Alice, with a gentle lavender.

Ana wore light green, which everyone agreed suited her perfectly, and the hair cascading down her back made her look like a princess.

A/n: Ana's dress and hairstyle:

https://ibb.co/cYqtLp9

https://ibb.co/Jvnq3dk

They trailed out of the Gryffindor common room in a group, but dispersed as soon as they found their dates; Alice with Frank, Marlene with Sirius, Ivy with her boyfriend, Sage with Willow, and Lily with James.

That left Ana alone in Central Hall, even though Marlene and Sirius had offered for her to join them.

Ana strutted out of Central Hall and into the Great Hall.

It looked magical.

All the tables had disappeared, snow fell from the ceilings but faded when it reached the ground, and Christmas trees were everywhere, filling the Great Hall with a beautiful pine scent.

It was warm and soft music was playing gently, though Ana couldn't tell where it was coming from.

A girl Ana knew well seemed to be dateless, hanging out by the snack table.

She walked towards her.

"Hi, Lana," Ana said. "No date?"

A/n: LANAAAAAAA (iykyk)

Lana Anderson, a fellow Hufflepuff, was wearing a blue dress and had her arms folded. "Nope," she said, tapping her foot on the floor. "Same for you?"

"Yup," Ana said, leaning against the table like Lana was. "You look nice."

"Well, thank you," Lana said with a smile. "You do too. So how are you, Ana? I haven't talked to you in a while."

"I'm okay, I guess," Ana said, grinning. "You?"

"I'm okay, I guess," Lana said.

Ana chuckled, and then yawned. "Helga, did they have to hold this dance so late? I'm already tired, and I just put on the dress."

Lana nodded in agreement. "Right? I got tired just putting on the dress! Apparently, they don't make zippers for fancy stuff."

"I know, right?" Ana said. "It took me more time to actually put it on than do my makeup and hair."

"This is literally the most relatable I've felt since the day I was born," Lana said, laughing. 

"Do you wanna dance?" Ana asked. "Instead of standing here pathetically? I can see a couple of people snickering at our nerdiness."

"Why not?" Lana said, grabbing Ana's hand and dragging her out to the dance floor.

As they waltzed, Lana decided to make small talk, because why not? Silence is always unnerving.

"Why don't you have a date?" Lana asked.

"You first," Ana said with a slight grumble. 

"I asked the boy I liked and he said no because I'm black," Lana said, with a grumbled expression like Ana's.

"What's his name and social security number?" Ana asked seriously. "I'll track down the rest."

Lana laughed. "It's ok. He was already beaten up by someone."

"Ooh," Ana said, grinning. "Who was it?"

"Maybe me, maybe somebody else, who knows?"

Ana chuckled. "I can still kill him right now, if you'd like."

"Oh, no, that's ok, he's still in the hospital wing with a minor concussion," Lana said coolly.

"You are a goddess."

"I know," Lana said with a smirk. "Your turn to tell me why you're dateless."

"Ok," Ana said, sighing. "See, there's a boy I like. And the first night of school this year, I had a nightmare and couldn't sleep again. So I went down to the Great Lake. Turns out, the kid I liked was also there, because he couldn't sleep either. We- er- waltzed a little, to put a halt to the depressing atmosphere there."

Lana nodded.

"And then... we kissed."

"Then that's good!" Lana said, and then her smile dropped. "Isn't it?"

"Not really," Ana said. "He told me he thought he wasn't good enough for me, and walked away."

"We have seriously depressing love stories," Lana said with a click of her tongue. "Oh, well. We can't spend our night thinking about how stupid boys are. Let's enjoy ourselves!"

Lana's enthusiasm was contagious.

It ended up being one of the best nights Ana ever had.

Thanks for reading! Hope you enjoyed this chapter :)

Love, Jui W.