WE'VE GOT TO GET READY!!! (Snake Girls Only)

Karma twirled into the main room, among the many other girls getting ready for the dance. Her hair was down around her shoulders in an elegant yet slightly provocative way. Her eyes were smoky and enticing, just as she liked them. In her hair were small gems that matched her dress color, but the dress itself was flattering, and she loved it. She was not one to wear dresses, but there she was. She was not wearing the dress yet, but instead was prancing around the room in her white slip. She looked at herself in the full length mirror, holding the dress up to her chest.

"What do you guys think?"

Aria clapped her hands happily. "It is a very pretty dress!" she exclaimed enthusiastically. "And the color is very Slytherin." The blonde nodded for emphasis, then frowned.

"My dress isn't though," she stated needlessly, glancing at said dress, which lay on her bed with a pair of dangly things she didn't know what to do with. She thought they were supposed to be earrings, but she wasn't sure.

Iva watched the two girls prance around, beautiful as always, and felt a twinge of envy. Pulling up the long black gloves she selected for her outfit (they were the only reason she could manage dancing with her date), she sighed.

"You both look very pretty." She nodded, tying off her white necklace. She glanced at her hair once more; the perfect ringlets seemed to be holding up nicely, but she couldn't be sure. Placing a hair clip in the side- one shaped like a white lilly- she finally stood, ready to shed her night clothes for her party dress, which was laying on the bed.

"You will have to help me with make up though, Karma," She gave a small laugh. "I do not like it,"

"You'll look great Iva, especially in that dress." Karma said, never taking her eyes off herself. "You too Aria. I'll help you both with make-up. I've read enough books to do it myself." Karma went and picked up the make up from the bathroom and laid it on the vanity next to her. "Pick colors that will match your dress, I'll do the rest."

She looked around at the other girls in their dresses, confident that none would look better than she. She was a Black after all, and they were always the best, Malfoys or no Malfoys.

Evangeline ran in the common room carrying her dress that was still in its bag and a tiara that was in the box. "Sorry I am late, I'm not usually one for dancing, so I had to get my grandma to lend me one of her dresses and it has only just arrived!" she explained laying her bag on her bed and unzipping it revealing her dress.



She frowned as she picked it up and held it against herself. "It isn't too much is it?" she asked the girls, taking the goblin made tiara out of the box and placing it on her head.

"Ah, your dress is very pretty, too, Iva," Aria said. A smile was pretty much plastered to the blonde's face; Aria really loved beautiful things.

"Your hair nice, too," she continued, admiring the ringlets without touching. She'd learned that Iva didn't like to be touched, either. "Was the spell you used to make it do that hard?"

Aria studied the various make up. It was a concept that didn't make all that much sense to her. Why put something on one's face if you only had to wash it off, again? Make up seemed to be required for Balls, however, so the girl obediently selected colors from her dress. It probably took far longer than necessary, in fact, as the girl had to stop and inspect the different pieces of paraphernalia.

She looked up as Evie entered the room, her smile faltering for a fraction of a second. It wasn't that Aria disliked the girl. To the contrary, Evangeline Wood was as intriguing as anyone; not only was she part witch and part vampire, but also something else Aria could not put a name to. Arsen seemed to like her well enough, too; that ought to make her alright, shouldn't it?

Aria bit her lip uncertainly.

The blonde obligingly examined the dress, her grin returning full force and hands clapping together once more.

"It's a very pretty dress!" Aria declared. "I like your hair ornament, too!"

Karma took the colors from Aria, gently applying the make-up to the blond after placing her dress next to Aria's. After a few minutes, she stepped back, the girl looking prettier than before. Karma met Aria's mitch-matched eyes with something alot like glee.

"Alright, you're next." Turning to Iva, Karma also applied the appropriate colors, smiling when the small girl looked pretty enough to almost rival herself.

Skipping away and turning to Evie, Karma paused. "I could do your make-up, if you want." She gestured to the 'I Can Do Make-up All By Myself' book sitting next to her. She smiled. "And you look very nice."

As the brush graced her face, Iva wondered where it had been before and started to feel itchy. She bit her lip, trying to hide her worry.

"Every one looks very beautiful," She said, confident of her statement. "Beautiful,"

Iva nodded a thank you to Karma, studying her face carefully in the mirror. She looked nice, of course, but not as nice as the other girls. A bit depressed, Iva remember she had a date, unlike Karma, and felt a tiny bit better.

"It was pretty easy, Aria," She gestured to her wand, "You want me to do it?"

Karma smiled and turned to Iva. "You know, I was so sorry to hear you were going with Ian. I mean, everyone knows the superstition about asking a boy to a dance." Karma smiled innocently and turned back to Evie. "Do you want me to do your make-up or not?" she demanded.

Iva was about to put on her dress when Karma had said something. God, sometimes she just wanted to punch her snarky face-

"What are you talking, Karma?" She said, matching her innocent tone, "Are you just being jealous, love?"

Karma laughed a genuinely amused laugh. "Jealous? Of what? Ian is way too young for me, and I hope you too will be happy together. I have no ill will of you for asking him, It's just the asking part that's wrong."

She nodded, her voice sinking into a conspiting whisper. "It's the truth. Everytime a girl has asked a guy to a dance, it's ended in heart break. Just like whenever someone asked Draco Malfoy, or Harry Potter. They ignore them, and then, leave. Like that." She snapped her fingers for enfisis. "I don't think Ian is that kind of boy, but he's a boy none the less, and he'll be oblivious enough to just..." Her expression cleared. "Then agian, it is only a superstition. Those are almost never true. Like Mrs. Norris, or Platform 9 and 3 quarters closing."

Then she smiled a dazzling smile. "And anyway, I plan to meet someone at the dance." She lied. "And coming with a date would hinder that, wouldn't it? Plus, since I'm dateless, I can dance with all the guys who didn't have the guts to ask someone, or who think they're too cool to." She stepped into the dress, pulling the slip over her head as she settled into her dress and used a handy spell to zip it up.

"All in all, going stag has it's benefits." She said, flashing the room a smile.

"Oh," Iva whispered, bunching up her gloved hands. "That is very funny,"

Iva didn't admit how superstitious she was to Karma. In a culture where they believed ghosts lived in every single house just to cause mischief, she really couldn't help being so. She stood and grabbed her dress, her face serious.

"I shall get changed in bathroom, yes?" She whispered, walking into the other room.

Evie gave a large false smile at Karma. "Thanks for the offer, but my aunt gave me a spell she created to do it myself." she told her and quietly whispered the said spell and her make up came on instantly. she had green eye-shadow to match her dress, big cat eyes, and the rest of her face neutral colours.

She grinned at the girl who was about a year younger than her, before she went off to get changed, and then turned to Karma. "So you're going stag, if I were you I would hate the uncertainty, as the lads who don't get dates, have a reason behind the fact." she smiled widely, trying to make the other girl feel better.

Karma scoffed. "Please. If all else fails I'll just take a Gryff's date..." An evil smile flashed across her face. "Or Arsen. Me and him have some history. Whoever he's going with can't be half as beautiful as I am..." She paused, as if thinking. "Who was he going with agian? Can't remember her name... Guess it's not important..." She shrugged and went back in front of the mirror, knowing full well that Evie was going with him, but purposefully pulling the girls leg.

Iva returned in her dress, watching the two girls snap back and forth. Merlin, that was so childish. Instead of joining in, she merely sat on her bed, playing with her bracelets.

Maybe she should just skip the dance, she thought, but quickly decided against it. Damian would be waiting for her and that would be rude to leave him waiting.

But, as she stared at her gloved hands, she decided she should at least try to be prettier tonight. Maybe nicer too.

Evangeline rolled her eyes. "Like a Gryff would go with a Slytherin, I'd use Amortentia if I was you," she did a sly grin. "Ah Arsen, I thought he had standards..." she giggled making it sound jokingly, but not meaning it that way. "No, Arsen's going with me, quite out of the blue really... I didn't know you had history, he never mentioned it, it cant of been that good." she retorted as she used a spell to put her hair in an up-do.

Karma smiled, adjusting her make up just... so... so it looked even better bringing out her eyes. "I never said it was a romantic history. Quite hateful, actually, I've almost killed him a few times, and he me, and hey, he saved my life, so he must care, if even a bit."

She turned to Evie with a smile. "Who am I to know the whims of men? A few fights and him saving my life is something to base a relationship on, what have you got, a conversation? Let me guess, was it in the common room?"

She twirled, finally finished, and glanced at the clock before sitting daintily on her bed, pulling on her combat boots, and placing her knives in them. "Besides, it's my fault he's got a thing for vampires." The lie flew off her tongue faster than she could keep it in, but she doubted she'd catch it. Smoothing down her dress, she smiled. "I hope he's very happy with you, that way if he needs to kill a vampire, you'll be the first one on his mind."

Iva groaned, feeling the tension in the air. That was it- she had already had enough. She stood , she bright red heels making her a good four inches taller than usual.

"Can we just shut up and enjoy something for once?" She hissed, "All you ever do is fight,"

At first, she thought she was done, but then the words kept forming without her consent.

"It is always, blah blah blah. I am so great. I am a vampire. I am a veela. I am better than everyone else, even though my life sucks. No one could ever understand me!" She paused, stomping her foot. " I have had enough!"

Aria had taken in the conversation around her with wide eyes, gaze flitting from one girl to the next as each spoke. Her expression became notably sulkier as the topic turned to Arsen, not that the two speaking at the time seemed to notice.

The blonde looked down at her fidgeting hands, a rather adorable pout on her features. How very nice it must be that Arsen didn't find them a nuisance. Apparently, skipping growing up had no real advantage, because Aria was an idiot who asked too many questions.

She'd plopped down onto her bed, picking up one of the probably-earrings and playing with it, when Iva declared that she'd 'had enough'. Veela. Was that what Evie was that she couldn't name?

Aria sat very still, curious to see what the response would be.

Karma smiled. "I'm sorry Iva." She said, trying the be the more mature for once. Her and Evie would pick up the topic later, when there were less witnesses around. "This is your night after all."

She held up Aria's dress. "Do you need help getting into this, sis?" Karma asked the girl. She noticed the change in her expression and lowered her voice conspiratorially. "Don't worry about it. Arsen is mad at me alot too. That's one of the reasons we're sisters."

Evangeline felt herself getting angrier as she made the finishing touches to her outfit. Her hnds started to burn, and in a heat of anger fire shot of of her palms, and she quickly aimed it at the fire place, making sure nobody was hurt. She turned to the younger girl. "Yes it is an absolute joy throwing fire around when people piss me off." she blurted out.

Deciding not to even listen to anything else Karma would say she grabbed her shawl and stormed into the common room to calm down, then went down to the great hall without the other girls.

Karma was beaming on the inside, even though she looked troubled as she watched Evie leave. "What's gotten into her? I was only teasing." She knew that she was what had gotten into her, so she wanted to do a happy dance. She'd save the dancing for the ball though. She turned to the girl beside her. "Come on Aria. Let me help you."

Aria grinned at Karma, giving a little nod. "He's easy to make mad," she whispered back, seriously.

"Okay!" The fastenings on the back of the dress rather confused her, anyway, so she was glad for the assistance. It was a pretty dress, too. Much prettier than her school robes and other clothing, so Aria was excited to wear it.

Iva huffed a bit to herself, but ultimately calmed down. She was just being silly, as usual. Geez, no wonder no one liked her.

"Мне жаль, Karma," She said, sitting down again. She stopped to watch Aria, smiling proudly.

"Very pretty,"

Karma fastened the back of Aria's dress and slipped the earrings into her ears like a mother would. "So. Are we all going to hang out at this thing or what?"