Part of the crowd

[Meera Gupta]

Meera was feeling happy for the first time in months. She had got straight O's in the exams and the time for the holiday had finally come. The Hufflepuff was not going to see her parents during her break but seeing her guardian was good enough. People had even started becoming friendly towards her strangely after the release of the gossip magazine. Some of them still stared and whispered but Meera had learned to ignore them. The Indian Princess had not confirmed her royal status to anyone but she planned on doing so soon in front of the press. For now she just gave hints to people who were friendly enough and asked her about it in a nice way. The day before the holidays was The Yule Ball. A dance festive that everyone seemed to be very excited about, even more than the exams. Meera had found out about this event in the corridor when a stranger fifth year boy asked her to the ball. The girl later realized she might have been rude in simply walking away without answering the said boy. A week after that, Meera made her first proper friend in Hogwarts and when he asked her she couldn't say no. Jordan had been so sweet and she could not thank him enough for being nice to her when most people weren't.

Along with the cute Professor Misha it was Jordan who had made Meera feel happy again. Of course Meera did not have the guts to ask the Professor to the dance and nor did she expect him to ever notice her in more than a student way. Jordan on the other hand seemed just right, no ego, no show off. So unlike most of the Beaux boys Meera had known. After saying yes, Meera realized she needed to do some major shopping for she had no suitable dress for the occasion. After much hard work she managed to order a Dolce and Gabbana strapless ball dress through owl delivery service. Once Meera saw the dress, her fashionista self kicked into high gear as she got ready for the evening with make up and styled her hair in just the perfect way. Meera was happy with the way she looked. With Jordan, she was not sure on his fashion sense and she just hoped she wouldn't look over dressed. The Hufflepuff transfer had not looked so beautiful since she had come to Hogwarts but today was different. She walked down the moving staircase, watching her step as she managed her ball dress. She had agreed to meet Jordan at the entrance of the Great Hall. Looking at all the other students, Meera could not help but feel proud of their fashion sense. For the first time she felt like the students in New Zealand did not dress that badly after all.She ignored the stares and looks from some of the students and finished the last flight of stairs that left her at the entrance. She hoped she was not too late.

 

[Jordan Trace Vanderhol]

Jordan was never much of a guy to move outside his comfort zone. But when Meera had stumbled upon him he took the opportunity to ask her to the ball. It was his last year after all, he might as well take part in some of the activities around the school. Once he left it wasn't like he would have to ever see Meera again. Of course, Jordan did think that he'd want to see Meera again. She was beautiful and enjoyed him it seemed. He made her smile and she looked happy when they were talking. Jordan smiled as he straightened his tie. He of course wasn't one for standing out in the crowd, but being with Meera he figured that he was going to so he wore a suit that wasn't the conventional black tux white shirt type of thing.

Stepping out of his room, Jordan made his way down the stairs to meet Meera at the entrance to the Great Hall. He would of loved to walk her down from the Common Room but he knew how girls loved to make an entrance, and Jordan wanted to make Meera feel special. He had his adoptive mother spend in a flower bracelet for Meera to wear. He wasn't sure how she wasn't going to look but he hoped the deep purple and blue flower corsage would make her smile. Jordan waited at the front of the Great Hall with the flowers in hand. Waiting Jordan smiled to himself as he watched other couples meet and make their way into the Yule Ball. He was about to experience the same feelings he was watching them have. When the guy saw the girl for the first time, all dressed up and looking more beautiful than normal. Glancing up Jordan caught sight of the ball gown of flowers before he noticed that Meera was the one inside the ball gown. A grin appeared on his face, "Meera!" He called out to the sixth year to get her attention. Going up to her Jordan wrapped his arms around her tiny frame in a quick hug hello.

 

[Meera Gupta]

As the sixth year waited for her date she realized she felt a little nervous. It had been over six months since she had officially gone out on a date. She felt bad for her ex boyfriend with whom she had to break up because of her transfer. The Hufflepuff watched a few older students engage in PDA. She was not sure what this date meant with Jordan. She enjoyed his company but she was not sure if she could let this date be more than that. Just as all these thoughts ran through her head she heard someone call her name. She turned towards the voice and spotted Jordan making his way towards her. She smiled as she noticed he too had suited up and looked great for the dance. "Hi!" she said as she hugged him back and felt herself blushing. "Someone's looking handsome" she said with a grin. She was happy that he had dressed up.

Noticing the flower corsage in his hand, Meera raised her eyebrow and smiled as she asked "Is that for me?" She knew it had to be because boys did not wear those things. It was going to go perfectly with her dress. Putting her hand forward she let Jordan put it and tie it up for her. "This is so sweet. I didn't get anything for you" she told Jordan. The music in the hall had begun and Meera couldn't wait to dance. The Great Hall was decorated very beautifully and she had never really considered her lunch hall to be this beautiful until tonight.