the night of the annual yule ball. a hurricane of ballgowns, jewelry, hairbrushes, ribbon, excitement, and glitter. so much glitter.

or at least, that’s what the shared gryffindor dorm room of mary, marlene, lily, and yourself looked like.

every bed had at least four dresses splayed across the covers, from simple and elegant to frilly, layered, and complex in almost every color imaginable.

all kinds of shoes were scattered along the floor, mismatched, broken, heeled, covered in gemstones, some even looked unworn.

but despite the chaos of the room, it’s occupants were fairly calm, though you could tell that they were buzzing with excited nervousness and anticipation from thinking about the next few hours.

mary was on her own bed, the dresses pushed toward her feet where she sat. she was painting her nails, seemingly the most calm out of all of them despite having been the most enthusiastic for the past few weeks about this ball.

marlene, lily, and you were gathered together in a little huddle on the floor, going through a tangled mess of necklace chains, earrings, bracelets, and rings in the center of your little circle.

marlene, stacking every silvery ring she found onto her fingers, broke the silence of the room, her excitement completely shattering the air of faint nervousness that seemed to float between the girls.

“so…” she began in a sing-song voice, looking between the other three around her. “who does everyone wanna dance with tonight? anyone in particular…?”