December 19, late morning

Now that all of the stress from midterms was mostly relieved, Addison was finally able to relax a bit. Not all of her midterms went the way that she would have liked, but she was fairly confident that she was able to pass all of them. But, there was still something coming up that made her a bit apprehensive. The Yule Ball was coming, and coming fast. Luckily for her, Gideon had asked her to the ball.[1] So, she was naturally going to have a date to be with and talk to. However, if any of their recent interactions together were any clue, it was still bound to be pretty awkward. She still had no clue in what it took to actually talk to a guy that took you out on a date. That small talk aspect was really difficult for her.

Despite her apprehension at her looming social failure, Addison was already naturally perky from waking up on that Saturday morning. As a way to greet her dorm mates, she offered her assistance to them for their makeup, hair, or if they just wanted someone to talk to, during the mid-afternoon. After doing so, she took a quick shower and dressed simply for the moment in clothes that would be easy for her to change out of. There was no need to dress too nice just yet, considering the big formal event that was to transpire later that day.

After having a light breakfast, the young Ravenclaw had been able to complete a few quick sketches around the castle. Since she wasn't stressing out now about passing her midterms, it certainly felt nice to engage in an activity that she liked. Before returning to the dorm room, she stopped by the kitchens to pick up a few snacks right before lunch.

It only took a few minutes for Addison to walk into the fourth year dorm room. She set down a plate of cookies and little sandwiches. Kneeling next to her bed, she took out a relatively large makeup kit. Never having been a fan of wearing too much makeup, she used most of what she had very rarely. The only part that she used consistently was nail polish. Sitting cross-legged on her bed, she took a bite out of one of the sandwiches as she waited for her dorm mates to come up.

1.	Perfect Studying is Perfect

Zoe had been eager to talk up Addison's offer. She had been planning to just have Lily help her with Yule Ball dressing, but the whole dorm doing it together was much more fun. This was their first year of Yule Ball, and the girls had never really gathered before to do such a girly activity.

The Ravenclaw arrived holding a large bag filled with things for the Yule Ball. Lily stood beside her, holding a shoe box. "Hi Addison!" She set down the bag onto her bed, taking off the robe and sweater of her school uniform. "You even brought snacks!" Zoe exclaimed, looking down at the plate before snatching up a cookie and jumping onto the sky blue sheets of her bed.

"I'm so excited for tonight!" Zoe removed her shoes and socks with her free hand, letting her bare feet dangle over the side of the bed. Now visible, her toenails sparkled dark blue from nail polish. Lily climbed onto the bed next to her, beginning to take things out of the bag and lay them carefully on the other side of the bed. "I've never had a date to a fancy event before, or really a date at all."

Taking another big bite of the cookie, Zoe glanced over to the pile of thing, taking her dress robe by the collar and dragging it over to her. She gulped down the rest of her cookie, brushed the crumbs on her hand onto her skirt, and held the dress up to her body by the shortened sleeves. "Isn't this dress robe beautiful? I picked it up over the summer." Zoe stood and twirled around the dorm a little, before laughing and settling back onto her bed, the dress set beside her.

"Mistress?" Zoe turned to Lily, now finished with the unpacking. "Would Mistress like Lily to do Mistress's hair now?"

"No, it's fine Lily. Let me get my dress on first." Zoe began to unbutton her white shirt, noticing a gold necklace box. "Mum remembered!" She lifted the box to the elf beside her. "Would you put this necklace on me?"

"Of course Mistress!" The elf took the box, taking the necklace out, unclasping it, and draping it around her Mistress's neck.

Removing her skirt so she was down to her underclothes, Zoe pulled the dress robe closer to her. "Can I see your dress robes, or is it going to be a big reveal?" Zoe knew some of the girls were like that, doing themselves all up and then putting on their clothing so their clothing was the center of attention later. Her? She had planned to spend most of the day in her dress robe.

Just as Addison was finishing her last gulp of the sandwich, Zoe entered the dorm room that they shared together with her house elf. "Hi Zoe and Lily! Yes, help yourself!" she greeted the two as they both entered the room. Back in their first year, when she first met Zoe, she had been very intrigued by Lily. She was fascinated that witches and wizards could own a house elf to essentially speaking do as they wish for them to do. Nevertheless, she was still somewhat shocked by that idea. Nevertheless, she was still happy to see both of them.

"I know, right? It's a very exciting time." Turning to her make-up kit, she eagerly started to fish through the box for a moment. The bad thing about having so much make-up, was that it seemed to take so long for her to find what she needed. Of course, she could always use magic. But, when it came to her appearance, she rarely used magic, if ever. She would rather prefer to dress up the same way that she used to, before learning that she was magical.

After a little bit, Addison was able to find the container of jade-colored nail polish. She knew that it matched her dress, and figured that it would be a good addition for her outfit. She nodded to Zoe's admission. Not too many fourteen year olds were particularly skilled in the dating department, let alone comfortable enough to engage in it. She certainly wasn't comfortable, but she was always eager to try something new. "Neither have I, which makes this particular fancy event all the more special and important," she agreed with Zoe.

Just as she was twisting open the bottle of nail polish, Addison looked up as Zoe showed her dress robes to her. "Oooh! Fancy and pretty. I think you'll look amazing in it," she complimented the girl on her dress robes with a smile. At the very least, Zoe was clearly prepared for the upcoming event over the summer, which was not like how she was unprepared.

As Zoe and Lily discussed what to put on first, Addison began painting her fingernails. At Zoe's question about seeing her dress robes, she looked up from her work. Quickly, she whispered a spell, drying both sets of nails. Getting up from her seat on her bed, she pulled her dress robes out of her wardrobe. "It's fine with me for you to see my dress robes. I'm not picky in that department. I rather like my dress robes, what do you think?" she asked her dorm mate as she held up her dress robes for the other girl to see.

"Beautiful, Addison! I don't know much about color complements and stuff, but that color does look really nice on you!" Yet another dress robe in a more modern style, she had noticed that, for all of the girls she had seen the dress robes of, their dress robes were styled a bit more after muggle clothing than the traditional witch style. Zoe would certainly feel foolish if she was the only 4th year wearing the style she was.[1]

Shivering from the common room air hitting her bare skin, Zoe rose, holding out her dress robes to Lily. "I'm ready!" With a snap of the elf's fingers, the dress robes were floating in the air. Zoe raised her arms over her head as the hem of the robe brushed her forehead. The clothing descended upon her, Zoe aiding it  by fitting her arms through the arm holes.

"Lovely Mistress, Lily believes Mistress's dress robes fit and look perfect." Lily happily commented.

"Why thank you, Lily." Zoe sat back on her bed, smoothing the skirt of the robes carefully as she did. She flicked a piece of hair away from her eyes before picking up her hair brush to smooth the rest of the chestnut strands that had gotten tossed about by the dress robes.

"Would Mistress like Lily to brush and braid Mistress's hair now that she has her dress robes on?"

Zoe smiled at Lily. "I think I'm fine for now. Relax a bit." She motioned to the plate of refreshments. "Help yourself." Lily nodded, hungrily levitating a sandwich to herself and eating it in generous bites. "Honestly, I'm not too sure what I'm going to do tonight. Well, dance and eat, but I can't just dance the whole night. I don't know what Alvis will want to- Merlin Lily, did you eat breakfast this morning?"

The elf had finished her first sandwich and was taking a second. She blushed slightly. "No Mistress, Lily was very busy getting everything together for Mistress, Lily didn't have time." The little sandwich floated along as if it was a drifting balloon, a receival marked with embarrassment, as the food was a kind gift.

"You could have told me, you know," Zoe said, fumbling with her robe next to her with her empty hand until she drew her wand. "Engorgio." The sandwich grew from finger-food to the size half of a sandwich should have been, and Zoe placed her wand back onto the bed. Zoe patted Lily on the back, and any negative emotions disappeared from the elf's face. "I'd offer you a drink, but I don't have a glass to put it in."

"That's fine, Mistress!" Lily responded quickly, taking the larger sandwich in her hands. Then, a bit slower, "Thank you, Mistress."

"Anytime." Zoe started back up with brushing her hair, though now summoning a bottle of hair potion from her open trunk and wetting the tips of the bristles. Even though she knew little about fashion and beauty, it wasn't below her to use wizarding beauty products. Well, those she actually knew how to use. "Now, where were we? Oh, yes, what we're going to spend Yule Ball doing."

1.	The whole concept of traditional vs non-traditional is something I just made up. I just figured that, since most wizarding clothes is little like their muggle conterparts, dress robes would classically be the same.

"Thank you! Your opinion is always welcome," Addison responded to Zoe with a smile. It was always a good thing to hear someone else's opinion, especially if you are used to hearing similar opinions to your own. As it was, she had chosen a muggle-inspired dress robes. Considering the fact that she was a muggleborn, it seemed fitting for her to do so. For that matter, she liked Zoe's more traditional dress robes for the occasion, just as much as her own.

As Lily helped Zoe dress in her dress robes, Addison turned back momentarily to painting her nails again. Kicking off her flip flops, she painted her toe nails with the same jade color nail polish. Taking her wand again, she dried the liquid quickly. She never really used magic for something that she really preferred to do the muggle way. But, sometimes magic did make it faster. Since time was not exactly on her side, she didn't want to take her normal daily time with such a task.

Looking up momentarily from her work, she smiled as she saw the interaction between Zoe and Lily. If she didn't know any better, they sounded as if they were sisters, or something. Honestly, they seemed to have quite a good bond between them. Seeing Zoe with her house elf made her wonder what it would have been like if she had a house elf. A better question would be: would she treat a house elf in a good way like Zoe managed? That was a question that she couldn't honestly answer.

As Zoe started wondering what she was going to do with Alvis later in the night, Addison began take off her cardigan. She wasn't paying attention, only hearing the comment about what Zoe was going to do. "Well, you...." she stopped herself as she heard Lily respond about not eating. Her face blushing slightly, she looked up, seeing Zoe asking Lily about eating. Feeling a bit awkward in interrupting their conversation, she turned back to what she was doing and took off the blue dress that she was wearing.

Just as Zoe was finishing her conversation with Lily, Addison just took off her leggings to be completely in her underclothes. "Um, well, I guess that's something you should talk about with Alvis. I mean, you wouldn't want to inadvertently make Alvis uncomfortable at the Yule Ball. But ... um ... I guess that's something that I'll have to think about as well ..." she trailed off, still a bit awkward with the previous incident. At any rate, she had no idea what she was going to do with Gideon. Sure, she considered herself to be his friend. But, that didn't necessarily make the upcoming social interaction that they had to have be any easier to accomplish. Studying with him was one thing, where little outside social interaction occurred, other than interaction based on the topic being studied.

Zoe nodded, tossing aside her hairbrush. "You have a point. I guess I'll just have to leave it up to deciding in a moment an activity, pretty sure Alvis isn't going to have anything planned either, and even if he did, it's not like I'm going to ask him what he wants to do for the night." She laughed at the very thought of it, turning back to the various things on her bed, this time picking up a little make-up bag. "I don't think Alvis was even planning to go to the Yule Ball in the first place." Zoe leaned forward, looking from the bag to Addison. "He actually had a tailor owl me about my outfit so he could have dress robes made, I don't think he brought his own!"

Even though it was obvious that boys were less likely to take a dance as seriously as a girl, Zoe thought this was hilarious, as dress robes had been a requirement on the school list.[1] She zipped the make-up bag open. "Kind of embarrassing all my Yule Ball make-up had to be brought to me, I don't keep any at school, so... Oh, yes, this." She pulled out a silver tube of lipstick. "My aunt signed me up for this, said it didn't smudge. I only agreed because I didn't want to redo my lipstick after dinner. Still have no idea what color it is..."

Zoe turned to Lily, who was just finishing her sandwich. "Do you think you could do my hair soon, or would you like to eat some more?"

The elf began to nod, but instead looked at her hands. "Lily is afraid Lily's hands aren't clean, Mistress. Lily will go wash them." Lily hopped from the bed and walked out of the dorm.

Zoe seemed indifferent to this, taking a mirror from her robe pockets, her two-way mirror, and popping the lid off of the  lipstick. "Here goes nothing." The lipstick was nearly a cherry blossom pink, except with slightly more blue, though not nearly enough to turn it into a mauve. "Doesn't look too bad." She looked up from the mirror to her dormmate, and Addison would have been able to see that the lipstick sparkled magically, even when Zoe didn't move her head to change how the light was hitting it. "Thank goodness its not a neon green or something."

Snapping the cap of the lipstick back on, Zoe rummaging around the make-up bag. Eyeshadow, blush, fake eyelashes? She hadn't asked for fake eyelashes! Why had Mum even gotten that incredibly muggle product? Partially in disgust, Zoe zipped the make-up bag back up and placed it back into the pile. "Aunt Jacqueline said the lipstick makes wax copies of your lips when you kiss letters," Zoe informed Addison as she picked up a gold bracelet and wrapped it around her wrist. "So..." She clasped it shut, looking up. "I'll see what happens to skin!" She said with a wink, before bursting out laughing.

"No, but really, in all honestly, I hear its a thing to sneak off and snog your date during the Yule Ball. Don't think I'll be doing that." Zoe re-smoothed the skirt of her dress, seeming to temporarily lose all interest in getting ready. "You're going with Gideon, right? Think you'll get any farther than holding hands? Alvis and I are- oh, nice nail polish color, it should go well with your dress- we're already to the point of holding hands, but I'll doubt we'll get farther. What about you?"

1.	Based off of the fourth book.

Addison smiled and nodded at Zoe's comments. For the girls going to the Yule Ball with a date, it seemed really easy to plan out the night accordingly. But, that didn't always seem like the most appropriate thing to do. As a matter of fact, she completely decided against planning her night with Gideon, knowing that it wouldn't work out to her expectations. "Yeah, who knows what might happen tonight. As it is, plans don't always go as planned." She simply shrugged as Zoe guessed that Alvis wasn't planning on going to the Yule Ball, and had dress robes tailored last minute. She actually bought her dress robes earlier in the month on the latest Hogsmeade weekend. But, she always had the intention of actually attending the dance, at the very least.

As Zoe turned to talk to Lily at the moment, after taking out a tube of lipstick, Addison turned towards her own dress robes. She slipped the dress robes over her frame, with relative ease. She was no stranger to wearing dresses before, and didn't mind wearing some around the castle occasionally. Thankfully, she was able to pull her dress robes on before Zoe started to apply the lipstick to herself. Looking up at Zoe's handiwork, "Aw, I think the color suits you perfectly and it matches your dress robes!" she stated happily. Imagining the neon green, she couldn't help but to giggle at it. "Neon green has its moments on being appropriate. But, any other color wouldn't be appropriate for tonight," she agreed.

Looking at herself in a mirror quickly, she fixed the way her dress robes fell on her body from her hasty dress up. Soothing out the skirt of her dress, she buckled the belt around her waist. After giving a very slight girly twirl, she looked back over at Zoe and smiled at the advice given to her. At her dorm mate's next statement, she burst out laughing as well. It was an innocent enough conjecture to make at the moment, but one that neither of them faced before.

Her lips formed a quick frown at the mention of snogging your date, and Addison quickly shook her head. "I don't think I'll be doing that either. I'd rather have a nice night, rather than a potentially very awkward moment, if I could help it of course," she muttered. It was her intention to make it a pleasing night for Gideon as well, and she didn't imagine it to be too enjoyable for him if she kissed him so unexpectedly. She shrugged at Zoe's question, quite honestly not giving it any thought up to that moment. "We haven't held hands just yet, but I believe that we could be up to that point after tonight. More than likely, we wouldn't get and farther than that," she responded with a nod.

Zoe couldn't help but admire how Addison's dress robe look on her. A lovely color, she had always been found of blues and their shades partially due to her house loyalty. Not to mention the beautiful flow and modernity of it, causing a feeling of antiquity to wash over her. Still, it was hard to feel jealous when she was being showered with compliments. Though it felt like she was starting to repeat herself, Zoe replied, "Thanks," before attempting to dab off extra lipstick.

"True, true." There was so much pressure on kissing, both for people to do and and for it to be something amazingly romantic. Talking about it at all seemed as awkward as talking about, well, stuff that was more than kissing. It was supposed to be a sporadic event, made by silent consent. And that was the thing about kissing. "Maybe we'll see some cuddling in our year, though."

"Have you ever seen those girly non-magic folk movies? Well, yeah, you're a muggleborn..." Zoe stretched out on her bed a little, but sat up again when Lily rushed in the door.

"Mistress, Lily is ready to braid Mistress's hair!" The elf hopped onto the bed, slipping a black hair band with a blue rose onto her wrist. "Would Mistress like Mistress's hair braided now?"

Zoe put her hands into her lap, relaxing her shoulders. "Yes, please, Lily."

Lily's long fingers ran over Zoe's ears, pushing hair back behind them. "And Mistress would like a French braid?"

"Mmhmm." Lily got to work, re-brushing Zoe's hair before separating it. "So anyway, in these movies," Zoe continued. "Haven't you noticed how there is always, always, even if it's not a romance-y movie, some boy-girl love relationship. And then there is always kissing, no matter the movie, and of course all the actors and actresses are perfect kissers." She sighed. "I just don't understand it."

Zoe seemed as if she would have continued this rant, but Addison might have noticed her wince as Lily messed with Zoe's hair. "But for now I guess it doesn't really matter, right?" So many arguments could be made against that...

Looking at herself in the mirror, Addison took out a brush and started to brush her hair. She didn't notice Zoe admiring her dress robe, being careful to make her hair seem a little bit straighter. After taking a few moments to brush out the unruly portions of her dirty blond hair, she put the brush back down to start the process of making a simple braid out of her hair. It would be far fancier than what she typically wore, besides the pigtail braids that she liked to sport. But, she didn't feel like trying to go over board with fancy hairstyles.

Splitting her hair into two relatively even sections, Addison started to braid her hair while still looking into the mirror. Tilting her head slightly into a nod, she agreed with Zoe's comment on cuddling. "I know, but even that is still a bit awkward to just jump right into, at least for me anyway," she admitted, while crossing strands of her hair to begin forming the braid. There were times that she questioned whether or not she was ready for any of this romance stuff, which she wasn't about to admit any time soon.

Addison took her eyes off the mirror, looking to Zoe as she asked about girly muggle movies. Right when she was about to answer, Zoe already beat her to it and reminded herself that she was a muggleborn. "Indeed, I have," she agreed with a giggle. When Lily came back into the room, she turned back to the mirror as she continued on with her braid. Observation of Zoe and Lily's relationship with each other made her wonder what it would have been like if she had a house elf. Their relationship seemed to make all witch and house elf relationships to be so positive. Nevertheless, Zoe and Lily certainly didn't need her staring at them. So, she continued on with her braid as the two talked a little.

Lily began to brush Zoe's hair, and her fellow fourth year began again about the movies. Turning back around to face them, Addison continued braiding her hair, finding herself nearly complete. She nodded at Zoe's remarks. "It seems like the only movies that don't contain kissing at the really younger movies meant for little kids. But, yeah, the couples are always perfect kissers, even if both of them kissed for the first time in the movie. They make it seem so easy, like it is something you do in your spare time," she responded, just as she finished the braid.

Addison was slightly taken aback at Zoe's wince, completely forgetting that Zoe was having Lily style her hair for her. Ultimately, she decided not to ask about it, not to disrupt the ranting that was going on in the room. Glancing back at the mirror, she admired her work on the braid that she just made. Taking out a teal bow, she tied the bow into the end of her braid to hold it together.

Turning back to Zoe, she shrugged at her question. "Otherwise, you wouldn't have any other models to go by. I highly doubt any of the older years would want us watching them kiss," she added with a slight laugh at the end. With the way kissing was so awkward at their age, just watching it would make it even worse probably.

Zoe could feel Lily going lower and lower down her hair. As Addison finished off her own braid, Zoe couldn't help but feel a wave of discomfort. Here she was, having her family elf dress her, do her hair, while her roommate did it all for herself. No, but this was all Lily would be doing. Nothing more.

"Oh Merlin, us watching them?" The very thought! The last thing Zoe would want to do is see two sixth or seventh years eating each other. "Yes, I'm pretty sure they wouldn't like that. And neither would we."

Lily slipped the hair elastic off her wrist and Zoe felt a little tug as he braid was finished off. "Lily is finished, Mistress." The elf picked up the mirror from the bed and handed it to her mistress so she could see it.

Zoe turned her head left and right and ran her fingers over the waves and knobs. "Very nice. I like it, Lily. Thank you!" She turned around to face the delighted elf. "I think that's all I'm going to need."

The elf's smile disolved into a look of confusion. "Mistress doesn't want help with Mistress's make-up?"

Zoe picked up her headband covered in blue roses from the bed. "I can do it, I'll be fine. Anyway, I'm not doing the rest of my make-up until much later, not until right before the dance." She slid it onto her head and check it in the mirror, adjusting it slightly. "The eye shadow and stuff will smear, unlike the lipstick."

"Alright. If Mistress insists." Lily hoped off the bed, nodding her head to first Addison and then Zoe. "Lily should get back to gardening. Lily would see Mistress and Miss Addison later. Goodbye."

"Bye."

There was a crack, and the elf was gone.

Zoe gathered a ring, earrings, and a bracelet off the bed, putting them on one after another. "Are you going to do much more? I was thinking I'd do the rest of my preparations later." She stood, still barefoot, and walked over to Addison. "Maybe we could see who's in the common room."[1]

1.	By 'go to the common room' I mean, 'end the thread by them leaving the room'.

Addison couldn't help but to giggle at Zoe's exclamation about watching the older students kissing each other. "It would be sooo awkward ... for them and us!" she added, still giggling. Just the thought of it was funny. Seeing it played out in front of them, probably wouldn't be.

As Zoe began talking to Lily again, Addison put a bracelet on the she previously decided to wear that night. Picking up the pair of earrings that she chose earlier, she looked at herself in the mirror as she quickly put them into her ears.

After deciding that it would be practical to wait to apply her make-up closer to the time of the ball, she turned back around to see Zoe and Lily. It sounded as if Zoe was sending her house elf back to her home. "Bye Lily," she added before the house elf left. House elves were definitely amazing creatures. She would love to have one, despite how strange and awkward that would be at a muggle household.

She smiled and nodded to Zoe's inquiry for seeing who was in the common room. "Sure. The few preparations that I have could always wait for later as well," she added. On that note, she headed for the door to their dorm room.[1]

1.	That is fine with me.