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chapter sixteen | dancing queen

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December was moving way too fast for the group to keep up with. After sorting out Jaeden some actually decent robes for him to buy, and then splitting up to buy Christmas presents for each other, their busy day out shopping soon came to an end.

A few days later it had been Jaeden's birthday - he'd gotten a number of different presents, one of which being a camera, which Kaya swore to him she'd be taking loads of pictures on to keep for herself. Jaeden also received a birthday cake from Milo's mum, with practically the same design, however, the two colours used over the vanilla buttercream were blue and green this time. It tasted just as amazing as Milo's did.

And then, as quick as a flash, it was Christmas Eve. Kaya, Maisie and Cedric were all curled up on the sofa closest to the fire, chocolate chip cookies they'd nicked from the kitchen on a plate. The three were all extremely excited about the impending day, it was like being five again and not being able to sleep because the thought of Christmas being the next day was just way too thrilling.

The girls had described their dresses in the best way possible to Cedric, who didn't actually ask, but he was still happy to listen. He loved seeing them so overjoyed. The boy could only plead the ball would be as good as they were expecting.

The next morning, the girls were up bright and early, excited to give each other and the rest of their friends presents. The group had agreed to pitch in between the four and so everyone got one present each from the other three. Kaya and Maisie had to get Cedric a little something as well.

The two came downstairs to see the common bright and enhanced, a dark green Christmas tree standing in the corner covered with gold decorations. Maisie was in charge of giving Kaya her present from the group, and so handed it to her in the common room, a joyful grin plastered on her face.

There were two boxes to open from her friends. Kaya picked the smallest, which was wrapped quite messily, attempting to put a bow on the top, but not quite managing it.

"Did Jae wrap this?" asked Kaya with a chuckle. Maisie nodded.

"He insisted he was better. He lied."

The girl teared it open to reveal a tiny white box, inside containing a pretty gold bracelet, with a tiny flower charm hanging off.

"You can get more charms to add to it," Maisie explained. "We thought it'd be nice, for you to collect them,"

"I love it!" Kaya beamed, giving her friend a hug. "Thank you!"

Inside the other one, which was wrapped by Maisie and so was more tidy, was a huge box combination of chocolate frogs and cauldron cakes. Kaya's favourites.

Milo was in charge of Maisie's present, so Kaya couldn't give it to her. The two girls instead began to open the ones off their parents. Kaya eyed her present curiously, wondering what on earth it could be. It was extremely large, much bigger than previous presents she'd got. She ripped it open, eager to find out what was beneath the wrapping.

"Oh my god!"

The girl pulled out an acoustic guitar, her eyes wide and excited. Maisie's mouth dropped open.

"No!" Maisie said. "You're never going to stop playing it until you learn it now, are you?"

Kaya beamed. "Nope!"

She turned it on it's side, and plucked on a few strings. She sighed with satisfaction.

"Ah," Kaya said. "She's a beaut,"

"She's the end of me getting peace and quiet,"

Cedric soon joined the girls in the common room, exchanging presents with them and watching Kaya attempt to show him the song her mother had apparently taught her over the summer. It wasn't the best, but Cedric would never tell her that. They ate chocolate frogs and cauldron cakes for breakfast, until both girls decided it was time to meet Jaeden and Milo in the hall.

The four met up, and exchanged presents. Kaya thanked the two boys for her bracelet and treats. Jaeden was still trying to get used to his camera he got for his birthday and snapped a few shots of Kaya and Maisie, most of them being accidental so neither of the girls were ready. They spent the day relaxing and eating, all perked up for later. Throughout the day, the twins and Lee made many appearances, as did Alfie and Jeremy (who commented on how unfair it was that they weren't allowed to go to the ball).

Around five, Kaya and Maisie told the boys they were going to get ready for later. They both pulled a face, and the trio that had been with them for the last hour frowned.

"Already?" said Fred.

"How long does it bloody take?" asked George, exchanging glances with his twin and Lee, who were also completely bewildered. Jaeden and Milo were used to this, and so weren't surprised.

"Long," said Milo. "Way too long,"

Maisie gestured to Kaya's and then her own face.

"It takes a lot of work for us to look this good," she joked.

"We'll see you later," said Kaya, before they linked arms and headed for their common room, both eager to get into their dresses.

The girls spent ages doing their hair and helping each other with their makeup. Kaya usually never wore any makeup, except a little bit of mascara every now and then. She usually couldn't be bothered - but tonight was different. Her lips were a peachy pink and her hair was combed back into some kind of pretty knot Maisie had managed to do behind her head. She was absolutely buzzing with excitement.

It was quarter to eight, when Maisie and Kaya decided to leave to go and find their dates.

"I wonder how Jae and Alicia'll get on," said Maisie. "And you and Fred-" she began to tease. Kaya would've told her off, but she was in such a good mood, she didn't bother.

Milo and Jaeden were the first to appear, as the girls waited outside the Great Hall.

"You two look nice," said Maisie.

"As do you," said Milo.

"Awe, I thought you were going with the Peeves look," said Kaya turning to Jaeden, referring to the horrible set of robes he'd tried on when they went shopping.

"Shove off, you," he said, readjusting his tie nervously, his eyes flicking around for Alicia.

"...She's definitely coming, right? She's not blowing me off..." he said.

"Yeah," said Milo. "I saw her in the common room before I left, she won't be long,"

Milo was right, as after ten minutes of the group chatting in the corner, a girl tapped on Jaeden's shoulder. He whisked around and his face lightened up.

"Hi," she said to Jae with a smile, before glancing at everyone else.

"You look gorgeous!" Kaya told her, causing her grin to widen even more.

"Thanks," she said. "So do you. Both of you," she nodded towards the girls leaning up against the walls.

"You do look pretty," said Jaeden apprehensively. "Really pretty actually,"

Alicia blushed a little and Jaeden ignored the faces his friends were pulling at him.

"Do you wanna go in?" she said. "We don't wanna miss the start,"

"No way, jose!" said Jaeden, as the girl took his hand and lead him to the door. He turned his head towards the three still standing. "Are you guys coming?"

"Nah, you're alright, 'jose'," said Kaya. Maisie and Milo laughed, and Jaeden disappeared around the door.

Kaya felt Fred's eyes on her before she even caught sight of the boy herself.

She turned around and saw him walking around a corner, George and Lee close behind him but soon separating to meet their dates.

"We'll meet you in there," Maisie mumbled to her, before her and Milo headed through the door.

Fred greeted Kaya with a warm smile - that he'd been wearing since the second he caught sight of her.

"Y'Alright?" Kaya said to him when he reached her.

"You look pretty," he said.

Kaya grinned.

"Thanks. You don't look too shabby, yourself. Where've you been anyway?"

"What? It takes a lot of work to look this good!"

The brunette laughed, before grabbing his hand.

"Come on then, Freddie," she said.

The two entered the Great Hall, joining Milo and Maisie who were beaming at the sight of them.

"The Weird Sisters are supposed to be playing, aren't they?" Fred said.

"I hope so," Kaya replied. "I love them!"

"That's good, then, I'll be able to hear you sing-"

The girl scoffed.

"I dunno why you want to, so bad, I'm not actually that good,"

"Well, you'll have to prove that to me, madame,"

"Oh, I will,"

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As part of the tradition, the champions were to have the first dance with their dates.

Cedric glided with Cho, and caught eye contact with Kaya as he danced. She grinned at him and nodded, and he gave her a smile back. Hermione was practically glowing as she danced with Krum, and Harry... he was trying his best, bless him.

The time soon came for everyone else to join in. Maisie and Milo were first out of Kaya's friends to join, shortly followed by Jae and Alicia.

"Just a warning," Kaya said to Fred, who'd jokingly stepped forward and bent over, offering her his hand. "I don't think I specialise in 'waltzing',"

"That's alright," said Fred, as she grabbed his hand. "You can make up for it later when the Weird Sister's are playing,"

The boy dragged the girl onto the dance floor so quickly she had to do a small run to keep up with him.

Kaya danced with Fred for a long while, the two laughing and chatting as they did so. It turned out he wasn't the best at this type of dancing either, and they both giggled as the two stumbled every now and again.

"You're shit as well," she told him with a laugh.

"What? That's a load of rubbish, I'm amazi-"

"Ow!"

"Sorry,"

Thankfully, the Weird Sisters soon began playing and Kaya was more than happy to stop waltzing and start 'properly dancing' as she'd call it. She and Fred joined a large number of their friends all bouncing to the music. She danced with Fred, Maisie and Milo, even George and Lee ended up getting involved as they all sang and danced. Eventually, Jaeden joined, Alicia having a small break with her friends, and he and Kaya both got pestered to do their 'kitchen practice' which they gladly accepted.

They started off side by side and waited for the chorus to begin, before they started jumping and kicking, with various hand movements and spins making up their dance. If the twins and Lee knew anything about muggle movies or musicals, they'd have spotted immediately that most of their moves were inspired by 'Born To Hand Jive' from Grease.

There wasn't one song Kaya didn't know, thanks to her great love of music, and she belted out the lyrics loudly no matter who she was dancing with. She span around and turned, and ended up facing Fred yet again. He sang along with her, although trying to be less quiet as he listened in to the girls voice. It might have made butterflies appear in his stomach, for a split second - though, he'd never tell anyone that happened. He shook his head at the brunette gazing up at him with a large grin and bright eyes.

"What?!" she yelled over the music with a slight frown.

"You're such a little bullshitter!" he hollered back.

"How?!"

"I'm not actually that good!" The red-head said, putting on a high pitched voice in an attempt to mock her. Kaya laughed and rolled her eyes.

"Shut up and sing!"

There were moments where a certain song would start playing and Kaya would absolutely flip out, and rush to find Jaeden or one of the other two to dance and sing it with. Fred would happily dance with George, Lee and their dates, although he'd glance over at the girl and Jaeden with a smile as he watched them stomp and thrash their bodies around wildly, not wasting any second of the song.

He'd come to the conclusion that Kaya was absolutely bonkers - and he loved it.

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A/N: Hey! I made some manips of Kaya and Co. at the Yule Ball because I got bored lol