DOROTHEA {fred weasley}

twelve

The Christmas holidays came faster than anticipated, Dorothea didn't hear from her mother, nor did she receive a gift from her, but mid December, Clementine had sent her a large sum of money for whatever dress she chose for the ball, so the witch supposed that she couldn't be too annoyed. She and Elvira planned to go into Edinburgh, a muggle city in Scotland, secretly, as sixth and seventh years had permission to come and go from the castle to go to wizarding locations as they pleased, and her best friend promised that there would be better dress choices there than Hogsmeade.

The two witches caught a train from Hogsmeade to a muggle station, and then Elvira took control, buying their tickets and speaking to the conductor and guiding Dorothea to the platform. The witches sat laughing and chatting for the two hour journey, eating various muggle sweets which Elvira was introducing the witch to. 

Once they were near Elvira spoke up, sounding a little nervous, "my er- my parents wanted to take us out for lunch, just since they aren't seeing me on Christmas day."

Dorothea looked surprised and Vira spoke again, "we don't have to, I can turn them down it's honestly fine..."

"No! Don't be ridiculous, Merlin, you had to endure Clementine over summer, it's only fair that I meet your parents too."

"Good! Yay!" She chewed her lip hesitantly, "my parents, they're, well, I've not really told you-"

Dorothea cut her off, feeling a lot lighter and bolder outside of Slytherin, "I know you're a muggleborn, Vi."

Her friend let out a relieved sigh, "I thought you did, I just never explicitly wanted to say... If Cilla or Lil found out..."

"I'd like to think they'd still be your friend..."

Elvira only snorted at that and shook her head slightly.

"I'd talk to them," Dorothea said softly.

"Thanks, Thea, but I'm hoping they never find out."

"We'll make sure they don't, you've lasted six bloody years without them knowing."

"They're too self obsessed to look elsewhere," she giggled.

"One thing is, after the ball, don't let anything go to far with Flint... his family are scary."

"In what way?"

One year, when tidying the house over summer, Dorothea had read about Marcus Flint's father, he'd been killed after the war, by an auror, but he had been a strong servant to who her mother called The Dark Lord. There were clippings in papers of Flint's victims, all muggleborn witches or wizards, he'd tortured them all, never just killed. Marcus' mother had been accused of being involved too, but she maintained that her husband had her under the imperius curse for years. She couldn't imagine her reacting well to her son dating a muggleborn, and if Elvira ever got close enough to their world, it would be only too easy for people to find out.

The girls wandered around, trying on dresses for a couple of hours. Dorothea eventually set on a tight, sequined silver dress, and Elvira on a red tulle. They met Mr and Mrs Jones at an Italian restaurant, Dorothea had never been in a muggle restaurant before and she worried that she must look incredibly out of place, but Elvira and her parents consistently reassured her that she was fine, and being completely normal. Elvira's parents were wonderful, and on the train ride home the witch felt a little down, thinking about her own mother. Elvira watched her friend staring out the window anxiously.

"I know they're a lot, thanks for meeting them, they've wanted to meet you for absolutely years."

"They're amazing," Dorothea said quietly. "You're very lucky. Thanks for inviting me."