It was the day of the Yule Ball and the whole castle was decorated very festively. The decorations were not in the least like the Spring Ball I had attended on my time travel incident last year, but still the overall atmosphere reminded me a lot of that day.

I just hoped nothing went wrong.

The girls dorms were a huge havoc and to be honest and I had clearly expected that. All of them were getting paranoid matching the right jewellery, the best makeup shades, arguing on the perfect hairstyles etcetera. 

The only dorm not caught up in the hazardous whirlwind was the one I shared with Katie and Angelina. Katie could hardly care less about getting ready for the Ball and in fact Angelina had forced her to at least try and make herself look presentable. Guess that was a downside of living with too many brothers, one got to be a little tomboyish.

But who am I kidding, exactly? I'm exactly like that too.

However, both of them looked gorgeous and I was the last to get ready for the Ball. My dress was emerald green, contrasting the shade of my hair and when I put it on and came out, both Angelina and Katie looked at me appreciatively.

"You look stunning, girl," Angelina took my hand and twirled me around, "Curtis is going to have a hard time staying within his limits."

Katie laughed at the remark while I merely shrugged, "you do remember that Fred and George are going to be there too? They warned me they would hex him to oblivion if he dared do anything indecent."

"I would have filmed it if we were allowed to bring cameras," Katie added.

The time for the Ball to start was approaching so the three of us made our way down to the common room. Fred and George were waiting already and honestly, they looked quite decent though I had expected them to mess up their robes even before the Ball started.

Because let's face it, these two can never stay out of trouble even for a minute.

Both of them stepped forward offering their arms to Katie and Angelina who were their partners for the evening. 

"As for you, little sister, that Curtis dude is waiting at the entrance," Fred remarked.

"How many times do I have to tell you I'm not little?"

"You are to us. Oh and you know the signal, use it when needed."

"Sure sure," I nodded and waited for them to leave before stepping out of the common room myself.

To be honest, I was slightly nervous. I had no idea what kind of a person Elisio Curtis really was and though I was looking forward to the evening, the constant flashbacks to the Spring Ball and Sirius were putting a dampener on my mood.

Taking a deep breath to compose myself, I finally stepped out of the common room and spotted Elisio standing patiently by the portrait. It seemed as if he was having a lively chat with the Fat Lady as a soft smile played upon his features.

He was wearing navy dress robes with golden touches to them, the shade of which matched his long shoulder-length hair that he had pulled back by a navy ribbon. He didn't look bad, to say the least.

Who am I kidding? He looked great.

"Plaisir de te voir, Mademoiselle," he bowed slightly extending his hand out.

Though I am not much in favor of such dramatic gestures, I let it pass placing my hand in his tentatively.

"Merci, Monsieur." Yeah, I do know a few basic French phrases all thanks to having a friendship with Fleur.

Throughout the night, I found myself drawing comparisons between him and Sirius, which really wasn't my intention but it subconsciously happened. We danced a little, he was extremely polite and respected my choice of not dancing anymore. 

I would have gone as far as to say that he was sweet. His English wasn't bad either and though his accent was different, he had a way of using it to his advantage. Call it an extra flair for charm.

But Fred and George were on their watch and soon as we descended from the dance floor, they joined us.

"Has the French been treating you right, lil sis?" George asked while Fred had placed an arm around Elisio's shoulders making him feel slightly uncomfortable.

"Stop it you two," I spoke up, "we're doing great."

"Yeah, but we thought you would do even better with our company. Right, my friend?" Fred asked squeezing Elisio a little.

He simply shrugged, wriggling out of his grip, "certainly."

And it seemed like that was the green light for the two because, after that, they didn't leave us for even a second. Of course, I didn't mind but deep down I felt a little sorry for the poor guy. He must have expected to have a great time tonight but thanks to my brother's jokes and bets, it didn't seem as if things were going according to his expectations.

However, as the dinner was laid out the twins finally abandoned us and I could clearly see the relief dash across Elisio's face.

"I'm sorry, this did not go as you might have expected," I tried to make it up to him because so far he has been nice to me and I don't see any reason to not do the same.

"Pray do not apologize," he smiled slightly, "your brothers are amusing."

Amusing? Yes, one can have a clear idea of how amusing they can be when they want to and yet how dreadfully annoying they were to him.

"So... What do you think of Hogwarts?" I asked, trying to strike up a small talk, he deserved that much.

"It's different," he replied, bluish-grey eyes wandering out to the castle gardens, "Beauxbatons is much more flamboyant but I value your school's simplicity. It is refreshing."

"I had a lovely time with you," I offered him a genuine smile, "though I don't know about you because it seems as if my brothers didn't let you do so."

"I said that is fine, Katerina," he spoke in a soft tone, "I had a lovely time too. You are quite... How should I phrase it, excuse my poor English..."

I motivated him a little seeing the slight red splatter on his otherwise pale features, "hey, your English isn't that bad, it's fine."

"What I meant to say was that you are very friendly and great company," he resumed at last, "I would love it if we kept our friendship even after I go back."

"Oh..."

"We could write to each other, would you be willing?"

I thought for a while and then nodded, "sure."

"Thank you," his smile widened, "and if you ever come to France, I will be honored to show you around my city Marseille. It has some beautiful tourist spots."

He was too sweet and charming. I found that I didn't resent his company and in fact, I would not be unwilling to keep the friendship for longer. Besides, he had clearly said friendship, right? It's not like there was anything more, nor will it ever be.

After the Ball ended, students began to disperse and head towards their common rooms. To be honest, I did enjoy it a lot quite contrary to what I had expected.

Elisio accompanied me to the common room and then stopped at the gate, a soft smile playing on his face. I retrieved my hand from his arm but he grasped it gently, placing a light kiss on my knuckles. 

"That is how we say goodbye to a lovely lady like you," he remarked lightly, "and thank you very much for accompanying me tonight."

"You're most welcome," I had no doubt I was blushing by then because I had not expected that and I was quite sure that Angelina and Katie would bombard me with thousands of questions the second I would set foot into the dorm.

Elisio left and I stepped into the common room as well. Though I had been absolutely right about Angelina and Katie. Soon as I stepped into the dorm the two of them tackled me into an unbreakable grip.

"Girls, let me get changed into something comfortable at least," I remarked though I knew it was a feeble attempt.

"Nope, you're giving us all the details first," Angelina spoke up.

"Exactly," Katie joined in, "you and that French guy looked really nice together."

"Oh come on..."

"All the details, sweetheart, or else we won't let you sleep a wink."

I knew there was no way out so I sat down on the bed facing them, taking a deep breath to brace myself for the questions, "fine... Go on, ask away."

***