Before I knew it, it was the end of November and chaos was fast approaching. Talk about the NEWTs which would take place in two weeks as well as the ball to follow after were all anyone could seem to talk about, and I felt that I had not appreciated my last few weeks of peace before the mayhem began.

The last couple of weeks had gone by in a blur of homework, quidditch (both games and a couple more of my own flying lessons), and free time spent with either Ginny and Hermione or Fred and George. The homework load had rapidly increased though, so there wasn't much free time to be used.

The school was buzzing with both nervousness for the tests and excitement for both the dance as well as christmas vacation when we would be able to go see our families again. Everyone was talking about who was going to ask who to the dance, and it helped to calm the tension of the upcoming finals of the current portion of the year.

I was currently about to leave with Hermione and Ginny to head down to Diagon Alley to go dress shopping for the Yule Ball to which I had no date. I didn't really need one, it's just that after their initial study date, Hermione and Ron had hung out a few more times which would probably lead to him asking her to the ball, and I knew that Ginny had been eying a few people as well. I sort of wanted a date to go with too.

"This is the place?" I asked Hermione as we approached a shop with a sign that just said 'Anne's'. It was a little shop with one naked mannequin and another with a simple black dress on in the display window. The store was small and looked to be a little old, seeming to be a simple tailor or boutique. It looked really cute, but I couldn't believe that a shop this small could produce so many customers and good reviews.

"Yep," she responded before walking over towards the door to walk in in front of Ginny and me.

"Anne is actually one of my mothers good friends," Ginny informed me right before we entered. "I promise her dresses are amazing. I don't know how she does it, maybe some kind of magic".

I nodded and walked in, and my eyes lit up once I looked at the interior of the shop and all of the dresses that were displayed within it. Ginny had not been lying when she said that the dresses were amazing - I wasn't quite sure what was so great about them, but every single beautiful dress that was on display in the shop was elegant in a subtle way. All of the dresses were classy enough to wear to a ball, but they were toned down. A lot of the dresses were made of silk, and I just wanted to go around and touch every single one of them because they all looked so soft.

"Merlin," I muttered.

"I know," Ginny said back while we began to walk around the store to look at different gowns.

"How much are these?" I asked, realising that dresses this good couldn't be cheap.

"They're pretty expensive but we get a discount because of my mum".

"No way," I said in disbelief.

Hermione walked over to us from where she was eying a red dress and said, "Well? Let's start trying them on!".

We grabbed a few dresses, most of mine made of silk because I couldn't get over how elegant it looked. I grabbed a few different lengths and colors, but most of the ones that I chose were green. Ginny and Hermione had made their picks as well, and we decided that because we had plenty of time we wanted to do a little fashion show like they did in the muggle movies.

"Okay, 'Ginny, you first," I said while pushing her into the dressing room with her dresses.

There was a little area in the back of the store with a couch and a couple of chairs that stood in front of a changing area covered by a velvet curtain. Hermione and I both sat on the couch and waited excitedly for Ginny to show us her first dress.

"This ones okay," Ginny said through the curtain after a few minutes.

"Come out and show us," Hermione replied.

The curtain moved to the side and Ginny stepped out clad in a yellow dress. The dress wasn't ugly, but it didn't really fit Ginny or what would normally be worn to the ball. It was tight to her waist and then opened up into a bigger skirt that had some lace at the bottom.

"Mmm," Hermione said unsurely. "I don't really like it".

"Me neither. You look beautiful but it doesn't really fit you," I said honestly.

Ginny nodded and smoothed the skirt of the dress down "Yeah I don't really like it, I'll go try on another one".

She stepped back in and after a couple minutes of hearing her rummage around in there, she stepped out in a different, more simple dress.

"Merlin," Hermione said in awe. "Gin, that's beautiful".

"That's it. You are so wearing that one," I said before getting up to inspect it closer. The dress was made of a thin light blue satin and wasn't really tight or loose. It fit her like a glove and hugged all of the right places without making anything too obvious.

"I love it," Ginny said while admiring herself in the large mirror that sat to the side of the couch.

"Oh, Ginny," I heard a voice say from behind us. I turned around to see a woman who looked to be in her fifties set down three cups of tea and smile at Ginny.

"Anne!" Ginny exclaimed and turned around to hug her.

"You look absolutely beautiful, and just like your mother did when she was your age," the woman said fondly, looking as if she was remembering good times.

Ginny smiled at her and then turned to face Hermione and me. "Guys, this is Anne, Anne, this is Y/n and Hermione".

"Hello!" Hermione and I greeted in unison.

"Oh, you girls are all so pretty. I'll be honored if you wear my dresses to this ball of yours," she said. Hermione and I both blushed at the compliment and thanked her. "Anyways, I brought you girls some tea, let me know if you need anything altered, I could probably get it done when you are all still here. Oh, and let me know when you're finished!".

"Thank you Anne," Ginny said as Anne began to walk away.

"Anytime, sweetheart," she responded before moving into the main part of the shop to help another customer.

"She's so sweet," I said to Ginny.

"I know, I love her. She and my mom were like best friends all throughout high school," she said with a smile. "Okay, I'm getting this one and will just leave it on for new, 'Mione go try on yours".

Hermione nodded and carefully grabbed the dresses that she had laid over the arm of the couch.

After a few minutes of Ginny and I admiring her dress, Hermione walked out in a long dark red gown.

"Ooh, that's pretty," I said. It really was a pretty dress, it was just kind plain.

"Yeah," Hermione said while looking at herself in the mirror. "I like it but I think I want to try a couple of others on".

"That one can just be a backup," Ginny said from the couch.

Hermione nodded and walked back behind the curtain. Ginny and I drank our tea and looked through my dress choices before Hermione spoke up.

"Okay, I really like this one," she said, still behind the curtain.

"Come show us," Ginny said.

She walked out, and both Ginny and my jaws fell to the floor.

"Merlin, that dress was made for you," I said in awe as I walked up to admire it. The dress fell down to floor and was made up of different shades of pink that faded into the darker shades going down the dress. There was a bow that tied around her waist that just finished off the beauty that was her dress. Normally, I wouldn't look at the dress in a magazine and love it, but when she wore it, it looked like the most beautiful thing in the world.

"Hermione it's gorgeous," Ginny said.

"Right?" Hermione said while looking down at it. "Okay, I'll get this one. I really like it".

"Good," Ginny said from the couch.

"Okay, I'll go try on mine," I said before grabbing my dresses.

I opened the curtain and stepped in, and the little room immediately opened up to be a large dressing room with mirrors on each wall. The room looked to be almost a small closet looking space from the outside, but it must have had some expansion charms on it. I looked around in awe for a moment at the magic before hanging my dresses up on the given racks.

I had grabbed a few different dresses, but there was one in particular that really caught my eye that I would definitely want to wear if it fit me.

It was a long dark green satin dress with a pretty sizable slit coming up the leg. The moment I saw it in the store I prayed to Merlin that it would fit me because I wanted so badly to wear it.

I stepped out of my shoes, jeans and shirt and decided to also remove my bra so that I was just left in my underwear. I carefully unzipped the dress, and the zipper moved like butter. The dress just felt like it was amazing quality, and I was almost scared that I would do something to it. I stepped into it and brought the thin straps up to my shoulders and then zipped it up with a little trouble in the back. Once it was on, I turned towards the mirror to view it.

I didn't want to brag, but I looked fucking hot. The dress subtly hugged my breasts and my waist a bit and was pretty loose in other places, and the large wrinkles that the dress made brought the eye to all of the right places. I thought that it was sexy, but in a classy way. That was probably what all of the dresses in the store were.

"Y/n, are you done?" Ginny asked from outside the expanded room.

"Yeah," I said before reaching over to open up the curtain.

When they both saw me, their eyes traced over the dress in awe.

"Y/n you look stunning," Hermione said.

"Yeah, I'm jealous I didn't find that one," Ginny said grumpily, causing Hermione to elbow her.

I laughed and turned towards the mirror to admire myself again.

"I don't think I need to try on any others, I think I just want to go with this one," I said.

Hermione nodded. "Definitely".

I turned to the two of them who were both now standing and still in their dresses and said, "We look so pretty!".

We all let out little squeals of excitement.

"Now we just have to figure out what we're doing with our hair. And shoes. And makeup," Hermione said, back to being stressed about the dance.

"No, that can wait. We still have another two weeks. Now, let's all get dressed and head back because I'm hungry," Ginny said before moving to the dressing room to get dressed back into her normal clothes.

~~~~~~~~~~~

"I'm too full," Ginny groaned while flopping back onto her bed.

We had just gotten back from dinner where they had been serving shepherds pie, which was Ginnys' favorite. She always ate way too much whenever it was served.

"Well, maybe you shouldn't have eaten so much," Hermione said from where she had sat next to Ginny.

"I can't help it, their pie is so good. Don't tell my mum, but it's even better than hers".

I laughed and went into the closet to change into my pajamas. It was a Saturday night, but I didn't have any plans other than crocheting and maybe working on my potions homework if I felt like it, so I wanted to get into some comfy clothes. I took off my clothes and put on my plaid pajama pants before looking around for a sweater; it was particularly chilly that day, so I was looking for something warm. While looking through my thin sweaters, I happened upon the dark green one that George had lent me that day we went into Hogsmeade. It looked a lot warmer than any of my other ones so I put that one on.

"Is that my brother's sweater?" Ginny asked me once I had walked out of the closet.

"Oh, yeah. He leant it to me a while ago," I said as nonchalantly as I could. Both Ginny and Hermione looked at me with smug looks. "Shove off," I muttered before climbing into my bed with my yarn.

Ginny opened her mouth to say something but was cut off by a knock at the door. She and Hermione were both squeezed together on her bed and said, "Not it," at the same time.

I groaned and got up to go answer the door. I walked over and opened it to see George standing there smiling.

"Hey! I-" He started before pausing. "Is that my sweater?".

I looked down at the shirt and blushed a little bit. "Oh, yeah, sorry I was cold. I can give it back if you want?" I said sheepishly.

"No, no, you're fine. Just keep it," he said with a smile. "Anyways, I wanted to know if you wanted to go flying tomorrow morning? Fred's sick so I don't think he'll go, but we can just go the two of us".

"Oh, that's why he wasn't at dinner. What's wrong with him? Does he need anything?" I asked, worried.

"He just has a nasty cold, he'll be fine".

"Good," I said, relieved that he didn't have anything serious. "But yeah, I can go tomorrow. Does anyone have the pitch reserved?".

"Yeah, Hufflepuff does but not until noon," He said.

"Okay, so just after breakfast?" I asked.

"Sure".

"Okay, see you then. Tell Fred I say to get better soon".

"Okay, Goodnight Y/n".

"Night," I said before shutting the door.

I turned around to see both Ginny and Hermione smiling at me.

"What?" I asked.

"Nothing," Ginny said smugly. "Go have fun at your flying lessons tomorrow".

"I will," I said sternly. "Now I'm making a scarf so shut up".

A/N yes I left hermione in her original yule ball dress because how could I not? that dress was and still is iconic

thanks for reading!!