Chapter One, Yule Ball

Khalida was pissed at the Ministry but in particular one Bartemius Crouch Sr. Not only had he caused so much strife with her family thirteen years ago when he tried to lock up her Godfather, Lord Sirius Orion Black, without so much as a trial, now he had point blank stated Regulus - her soulmate - couldn't be her date to the Yule Ball. When her friends had found out they had all banded together to make them pay. Not many realised this, or refused to realise it, but Khali had many friends in all of the Houses.

She didn't care for the so-called stigma on them, the girls and the guys who she'd met on the train had gone on to be her lifelong friends no matter they were Slytherins and she a Ravenclaw, not to mention she was best friends with her God-brother, Neville Frank Longbottom, a Hufflepuff and best friends with the twin terrors of Gryffindor otherwise known as Fred and George Weasley who were coincidentally her double date.

When she'd told them, Neville, and the girls, (Luna, a fellow Raven who she'd taken under her wing and refused to let people bully her, Heiresses Daphne and Astoria Greengrass, Heiress Pansy Parkinson, Heiress Millicent Bulstrode, Heiress Tracey Davies,) and the three guys from Slytherin (Heir Draco Malfoy, Heir Blaise Zabini and Heir Theodore 'Theo' Nott), they had hit the roof and the twins had come up with the most epic prank and a definite "fuck you" to Crouch and the Ministry by BOTH of them asking to be her dates to the Yule Ball; which she had immediately accepted. Her Uncles Sirius and Charlus along with both her grandpas had found that exceedingly hilarious. While her Aunt Dorea, Uncle Remus and her grandmothers offered her advice on how to run it even further.

Which led to now. Dobby her new personal House-elf (she'd accepted him after freeing him from blondie's abusive clutches in her Second Year, which made it easier for her to get the new potions Grandpa Monty made for her to help with her condition) had found the perfect place where all the girls could get ready together; the Room of Requirement, while Fred, George, Neville, Draco, Blaise and Theo had to wait for them in the Entrance Hall. Most would think that Pansy was obsessed with Draco but that couldn't be further from the truth, she was actually dating Millicent (Millie to her close friends) who was also her soulmate. Luna was Neville's date; Tracey was Theo's; Astoria (who was Luna's younger cousin via her mother and Daphne's younger sister) was together with Blaise; and Draco and Daphne were together.

This little friendship bubble offered a shield between the Wixen ton at large and Khalida who often found them to be too much and had had a few meltdowns due to sensory overload (curse of being Autistic and having Anxiety) and sometimes lashed out due to the forgetfulness and pain she suffered due to the Friedreich Ataxia. Thankfully her friends never took any of this to heart as they knew Khalida never meant the things she said during those moments.

However, outside of this little bubble she may be friendly with a few other students (Hermione Granger and Ronald Weasley) to name a few but sometimes their bossy (Hermione) and abrasive (Ronald) behaviour could be too much for her at times which they didn't seem to understand and had caused her magic to lash out on those occasions sensing she was feeling threatened; thankfully Professor Flitwick her Head of House hadn't punished her but instead made Hermione and Ronald read up on Autism and Anxiety to better understand Khalida and where they had gone wrong in their approach.
"-lida!"
"-alida!"
"Khalida!"

"KHALI!" Pansy shouted, pulling her best friend from her pain and troubled filled thoughts, potion in hand to help with her friend's pain that Dobby had just dropped off.
"Oh! Sorry Pansy." Khalida apologised abashed, accepting the potion with a muttered thanks before downing it in one go with hardly a grimace in sight. Her grandfather wasn't the best and most renowned Potion Master in their history for nothing (something Snape hated, as he was the second youngest only a year older than her grandfather had been to achieve the Mastery and that was with becoming the most renowned Dueller at the same time).

"Do you feel better?" Luna asked, setting Khalida's dress behind the turquoise screen, and setting the accessories out for her on the turquoise dressing table the room had provided for them. For each of the girls there was a dressing table and changing screen in an arc around the room, each item of furniture was of a particular colour pertaining to one of them which also hinted at their dresses. For example: Khali had a turquoise table and screen; Luna had a pale purple screen and table with floral designs on the screen; Pansy had a pale blue table and screen; Daphne a black table and screen but the screen held golden patterns on it; Tracey had a pale green one; Astoria a golden one; and Millie had a deep navy one with silver patterns on it.

"I do. Thank you Luna." Khalida smiled happily at her friends as the pain started to ebb away causing the girls to let out a sigh of relief. They hated to see Khalida in such pain.
"Well then," Astoria said, clapping her hands excitedly. "Let's get ready." For the next few hours the girls helped each other with their hair and makeup and did up the back of their dresses with their magic until they were waiting on Khalida, but they didn't have to wait too long as a moment after Pansy had exit from behind her screen dressed in a powder-blue v-neck dress, aquamarine jewellery, silver glitter court heels, royal blue and nude jewelled nails, powder blue shimmery eyeshadow and dark wine lipstick, and her hair in a classic side chignon; Khalida appeared stunning the girls.

Khalida wore a leaf print light turquoise Saree, with turquoise nails, henna on her hands and sapphire jewellery, white sandal heels, natural golden eyeshadow that made her emerald eyes pop, red lipstick, and her hair was in a curled Princess ponytail style held with a a leap clip. As Fred and George were her dates they both had a suit that complimented her perfectly. Fred would be wearing a suit of hawthorn rose as the base colour with fruit dove pinstripe suit, spring green coloured tie and chocolate coloured shoes. George would be wearing a suit of the same colour as his brother but he would have a taupe tie and olive coloured shoes.
"Wow Khali! You look amazing." Tracey whispered stunned at her friend's appearance.
"Thank you Tracey." Khalida beamed with a light blush dusting her cheeks. "You all look amazing too." She added sincerely, looking around at her friends, and they truly did.

Luna wore a pale purple floral dress in an off-the-shoulder design, a star necklace gracing her neck and amethyst earrings shining through her blonde curls. Her light blonde hair was curled into a curly Princess ponytail with Pearl clips. Her nails had been painted purple and white and paired with purple smokey eye eyeshadow and rose lipstick, and finally her dress had been paired with burgundy court heels. Neville as Luna's date would be wearing a deep purple suit with a white shirt, black tie and black shoes.

Tracey wore a beautiful green sequined V-neck dress paired with black heels and diamond jewellery. Her hair was styled up into an elegant braided chignon and her makeup was done to perfection with olive eyeshadow, dark nude lipstick and nude and olive nails. Theo would be wearing a white suit with a baby blue shirt, black tie and chocolate brown shoes which would complement the green of Tracey's dress.

Millicent as Pansy's date complimented her dress to perfection. Millie wore a navy V-neck sequined dress paired with sapphire flower jewellery and black court heels that had a red sole. Her jet black locks were styled into an elegant classic chignon with strands to frame her face, and her look was completed with henna on her hands in a different design to Khalida, navy and beige nails, shimmery navy eyeshadow and nude lipstick.

Daphne wore a black lace off-the-shoulder dress paired with gold earrings and black sandal heels. Her blonde locks were in a curly and braided half-up and half down style, and to finish off her look she had rose lipstick and golden eyeshadow, and she had painted her nails black and gold. As her date, Draco would be wearing a silver suit with a black shirt, a silver tie and black shoes.

Finally, Astoria wore a jewelled, champagne two-tone dress that faded into white which was in a sweetheart style and was paired with gold platform sandal heels and diamond jewellery in a flower shape. Her dark brown hair was in a classic chignon with a jewelled leaf clip, and her makeup was done to perfection with natural makeup, wine lipstick and champagne and silver nails. As for Blaise, he paired with the young Greengrass Heiress perfectly as he would be wearing a navy suit with a white shirt, a silver and lavender floral tie and brown shoes.

"Well I think we're all gorgeous and our lucky men or lady in Millie and Pansy's case are lucky to have us, even if it's just for a night like the Weasley twins and Khali." Daphne smirked. "That said the Ministry will learn you don't mess with a soulmate bond without repercussions."
"I couldn't have said it better myself, sister." Astoria smirked, linking arms with Khali on the left and Luna on the right.
"Let's go then." Millicent said with a wicked gleam in her eyes, but she also wanted to forget about the Alchemy homework that was due after the Yule holidays. Knowing exactly what was on their friends/partner's mind, all of the girls giggled as they made the long journey down to the Entrance Hall from the seventh floor; thankfully taking many of the shortcuts that Khali knew of due to the map her father and his friends made.

Since Mcgonagall had taken over as Headmistress of Hogwarts after their First Year, a massive change had been brought to the school bringing it to its former glory; lessons and holidays that Dumbledore had gotten ridden of were brought back along with some classes to help the Muggle-raised students; such as, Wizarding Culture and Traditions, and an Introduction to Alchemy (taught by Charlus Potter) for first years and in second year they go on to learn the basics of Wizarding Law and Magical Languages.

While Wizard-raised students have to take Muggle Studies which will enable them to better blend in the Muggle world which will ultimately avoid detection. More teachers had been brought in to support the students and the staff, and she had gotten rid of Divination as it wasn't something that could be taught unless you had the Gift of Foresight; those that did had special tutors help them with their gift once a fortnight.

In their third year they had the selection of Care of Magical Creatures, Ancient Runes, Arithmancy, Spell Crafting and Healing. A Duelling Club was run as an extracurricular activity for second years through to seventh, and it was actually taught by Khalida's grandfather. They had heard that come their sixth year there would be even more electives to choose from: Warding, Forbidden Arts, Ancient Magicks, Wandlore, Wandless Magic and Curse Breaking. In her third year, Khalida had chosen all of the electives which didn't surprise her friends, family or teachers at all as Khali had a thirst for learning and was always after learning new spells to use in her Duelling that was on par with her grandfather.

***

Down in the Entrance Hall everyone was either making their way into the Great Hall being shepherded by their Deputy Headmistress Professor Sinistra to stand in a line to form an aisle for the Champions, waiting upon their dates to arrive, or it was the Champions stood in a line to the side of the Great Hall doors either with their dates or waiting for them. At the foot of the Grand Staircase stood a group of unlikely boys waiting for their dates. At first glance you wouldn't expect these boys to be stood near each other or even talking like old friends much less amicably as there were two Gryffindors, a Hufflepuff and three Slytherins in that group but the old House competition and grudge didn't seem to affect them as they had been brought together by one particular witch; Heiress Khalida Eilonwy Jamie Potter.

"Where are they?" Theo grumbled, a tone of anxiety to his would be casual voice just as Hermione Granger came down the stairs in a pink floaty dress joining Durmstrang Champion Viktor Krum at the bottom of the stairs.
"You know Pansy and Daphne," Blaise commented unconcerned. "They like to make a grand entrance." And it seemed that Blaise's proclamation was correct as not a moment too soon Pansy and Millie appeared at the top of the stairs, an air of elegance about them as they appeared to glide down the stairs, hands intertwined not caring about the glances cast their way. Next to follow is Tracey with Daphne and Astoria close behind her, with Luna in between her two cousins. One by one the boys greeted their dates murmuring words of wonder and amazement as they took in their dates' beauty.

Once Luna had unlinked her arms with her cousins and was greeted by Neville, the shy but courageous Hufflepuff, the girls turned as one to the stairs signalling to the boys of Khalida's impending entrance. Gasps rang around the Entrance Hall from Hogwarts, Beauxbâtons and Durmstrang students alike at Khali's ethereal beauty. And if Fred and George didn't see her as a little sister they could safely say with one hundred percent certainty that they would have fallen in love with her at that moment. A nervous smile adorned her lips, her anxiety rising due to all the eyes upon her, but she locked eyes with her twin older brothers who offered her mouthed words of encouragement and blinding smiles.
"Hello Chaos and Mayhem." Khalida smirked, smiling as Fred and George each brought her into a tight hug and kissed her forehead in a brotherly way.

"Hello Mischief." Fred and George greeted. "You look amazing, dear sister. Poor Regulus will Siriusly regret not being able to come." They said together, holding their arms out for her just as Professor Sinistra came over to them
"Ahh Miss Potter, you're here. Good." Professor Sinistra stated happily. "Now, the rest of you make your way into the Great Hall." She ordered, turning towards Pansy and the others before turning back towards Khalida, Fred and George. "Miss Potter, if you and your two dates can join the line with the rest of the Champions." At their confused expressions she smiled mischievously at them.

"It's wrong what Crouch has done and continues to do to your family Miss Potter, and is in fact against the law to separate Soulmates. So why not give them hell." She whispered conspiratorially.
"I knew there was a reason you and Minnie were our favourite teachers, Rory." Khalida, Fred and George said simultaneously, mischievous smirks upon their faces as they looked forward to a night of chaos, mischief and mayhem.