Summer checked herself over in the mirror for the fourth and final time. Her hands brushed over the soft, silky fabric of her deep scarlet gown, elevated with gold edges, and some tiny diamanté details along the bodice. The dress itself was tight at the waist, but flared into a full ballgown skirt, that she almost kept tripping upon. This effect was highlighted with the corset she had on underneath- although she was severely regretting that decision, no matter how good it made her look- for she couldn't take any deep breaths. Her hair fell in loose curls around her face, with a golden rose hair accessory pinning some out from her eyes.

Summer had already sent her friends off without her, insisting that she was fine, and didn't want them all to be late because of her. So when she descended the steps to the common room, she did not expect Fred to be there waiting. Somewhere within the depths of her stomach, a fluttery feeling came about, as she took in this sight.

There he was, tall and broad-shouldered, dressed in magnificently pristine black dress robes, complete with a red tie, and small red details on the pockets of his jacket. In his left hand, he held a red rose, which he was nervously fiddling with, before looking up. His eyes brightened, and he had to stop himself from audibly gasping at the sight of this girl, his date, looking as if she was walking down the steps from heaven itself.

Summer giggled at his noticeably flustered expression, as she stopped in front of him.
"Summer, you look..." He found it difficult to avert his gaze away, from how her dress hugged her body, "More gorgeous than any girl I've ever seen," he finished, letting out a breath he didn't even know he had been holding.
"I thought we were going as friends, Fred Weasley," she chuckled.
"We are! Can't a friend- you know- tell another friend when they look good?"
"Well then, I think you look good too," she stopped looking down at her feet, and glanced up at the boy in front of her. He looked back down at her, a smile forming on his face he held out his arm to her- which she took- giving it a light squeeze.
"Come on, I think we're past fashionably late now," he said, and they set off down towards the Great Hall.

"Just do it, it's okay," he whispered to her as they hovered in front of the double doors, unsure of what would lie behind them. Summer gulped.
"Shit, okay. Three, two, one."
Together, they pushed a door each. Instantly, all eyes fell on the pair, and Summer just wanted to be swallowed up into the floor. Until the whispers started. Phrases like 'That dress looks way better on her', 'I reckon she's even more stunning than Fleur', and even some coming up with their own ideas of how Fred and Summer had ended up together at the ball. It was these murmurs that made her want to just turn around and escape the room, but Fred seemed to sense her uncertainty, and grabbed her hand tightly, so that she couldn't run away- even if she wanted to.

Once the moment was over, Summer felt someone tapping her back, and whipped around to see her friends standing behind her.
"Summer!"
"Oh. My. God. You look so good."
"Wish I'd asked you now."
"How did you get your waist like that? And oh wow the dress!"
"I want your hair this is entirely unfair."
"You guys are soo cute together." This last one was said by George, who put on a high pitched voice as he grinned at the two. "No, I kid, but it's true," he carried on, stepping in between the two and wrapping his arms around their shoulders. "Look, you're almost up to my neck in those heels," he pointed out to Summer, who only rolled her eyes and nodded.
"Good observation George."

"Whatever guys, come on! You almost missed the first dance," Alicia pulled them both by the hands towards the edge of the crowd, who were now watching the champions and their dates.
"Hey Summer, isn't that your brother with Fleur Delacour?" Ron leaned over to her past Fred and George. Summer did a double-take as she watched the dancing pupils.
"Ha. So she did say yes in the end then," she replied.
"But... How?"
"They used to date," she explained for him. At that, Fred caught onto the conversation and turned in shock.
"Your brother dated Fleur Delacour?" He asked with wide eyes.
"Actually, both of them did," she stated nonchalantly.
"No way," Fred and George spoke in unison.

"Yeah only for a few months though, anyway Kalen's just two years older, it's not that weird."

"We're not saying it's weird, we're simply very impressed."

"Ah, your family has a history of dating attractive people then," George placed a hand to his chin and Fred laughed cheekily.

Summer elbowed them both hard in the ribs.
"I don't appreciate men who are full of themselves."
"We're not, well, I'm not! I swear, just a little joke," Fred rubbed his side soothingly.

The music was about to begin. As Fred took her waist, he watched her with a confused look on his face.

"How does this dance go again?" But the music had already started. Summer sprang into action, gracefully following all the steps, with Fred doing his best to follow along in time.

"Just keep following me," she muttered, "The steps are pretty repetitive, don't worry."
Fred nodded, and took a moment to study his hands that were wrapped around the girl's waist.

"How can you even dance when all your organs are being squished to who knows where in that thing," he dramatically sighed, causing her to smile and shake her head.
"Concentrate on dancing instead, you've almost stepped on my foot twice now, honestly."

"Shit, sorry," he shook the tension from his shoulders, and they continued- a little more elegantly this time.

"You know, I'm actually enjoying this," Fred began to smile as he could keep up, and even start to lead the steps.

"You better not be serious right now," Summer pulled a shocked face, and Fred laughed at it.
"Relax, I was always enjoying it, I'm here with you..." As he gazed into her eyes, he suddenly realised what he had said.

"I mean, you've quickly become one of my best friends, Sum," he said, correcting his 'dreamy' tone this time.

"You too, I don't know what I would've done if you and George had never introduced yourselves, I probably would be here alone."

"Oh, I'm not so sure about that. Have you ever looked in a mirror?"

Summer giggled at an attempt to casually brush off the previous remark.

About an hour into the ball, Summer saw that Raphael was standing on his own a few metres away from where they were.

"Hey, is it alright if I dance with Raphael for one song?" Summer asked Fred.
"Yeah, of course, I mean, you don't have to ask, we only came as friends, right?"
Right.
All of a sudden, the music slowed, and as she took Raphael's hand from where he was standing, she stumbled on her heels. However, instead of falling away, she found herself being held even closer to the boy in front of her. His hand held the small of her back, and the other cupped around her head.

"Is that any way to get me to dance with you?" he asked, an eyebrow raised. Summer fumbled an apology, feeling sheepish that her confident action had been to no avail.
"It's alright," the look on her face had prompted him to speak, "I was going to ask you anyway." Finishing with a wink, he took her to the dance floor, and they began to rock back and forth to the gentle music.

"Summer... I'm sorry about losing contact with you," he bit his lip as he looked down at the girl.
"It's okay, Raph, I know we were both going through it... I'm glad you came to Hogwarts, I missed you."
"I missed you too." She smiled and leaned her head on his shoulder, and they continued to sway.

From across the room, Fred and George sat together, watching the pair. Fred had a hardened, almost angry expression set on his face, whilst George just kept glancing between his brother and the dance floor.

"That was supposed to be our song," a voice behind them sounded, and they turned around to see Hayden approach, slumping into the chair next to them.
"What?" Fred snapped from his funk and tried to separate the voice in his head from the real voice that had just said that. That was supposed to be our song.

"Fleur! Look at her, dancing with that Ravenclaw- Davies."
The twins mumbled in agreement, unsure of what to say. It was then, that Hayden's eyes slid to his sister and Raphael dancing together.

"No way... What is Summer doing?"
"We saw that too," George sighed.
"With him, I mean. He broke her heart- just stopped replying to her letters after we moved back here. The nerve he has, to act like he's done nothing wrong."

"I didn't know that, I mean, she told me they were exes, but no details," Fred watched the two even closer now, and felt his hands ball into fists at the sight of the other boys' smirking face, and stood up.

"Woah, where do you think you're going?" George pushed his brother back down, and turned to say something to Hayden, but he was already gone- halfway to the centre of the floor.

"Shit," Fred leapt out of his seat and began sprinting towards Hayden, George close behind.

By the time they reached them, Hayden had already got between the two, and was whispering sternly into Raphael's ear. Meanwhile, Summer was standing demurely to the side, although still yanking her brother's sleeve every time he raised his voice. She looked relieved to see the twins, and grabbed them both towards her.

"Please, make him stop!" It felt like she was shouting, yet her voice remained low.

"What are we supposed to do?" George asked, keeping an eye on the escalating body gestures between the two boys next to them. By now, other students were starting to stare. Raphael seemed to notice this - nervously darting his eyes at the faces around him, and whispered something in Hayden's ear.

Summer was facing the twins, and couldn't see, as the pair began to speed walk as inconspicuously as they could, weaving through the other students, on their way out of the hall.

"Uh, Summer, you might want to turn around," Fred pointed in the direction of the two, their retreating backs just visible.

"No!" Now she looked panicked, and Fred didn't have time to grab her as she set off as fast as she could towards the exit.

"Summer! Slow down! You're not going to make it very far in those heels," Fred called after her, just as she tripped, as he had forewarned. She landed on her hands and knees, but felt someone lift under her arms to bring her back up to standing.

"Not so fast," Fred stopped her as she tried to dash off again, and held out his hands expectedly. "The shoes."

"What? Come on, they could be halfway to the other side of the castle by now!" She struggled against his hold.

"And we'll never reach them if you fall down every thirty seconds, now give them to me."

Summer rolled her eyes and made sure he heard her dramatic sigh, as she quickly unbuckled her strappy shoes, and placed them semi forcefully into his open palm.

"Thank you, now let's go." Fred clutched the heels in one hand and pulled Summer out of the hall with the other.

They couldn't find them directly outside of the hall, and Summer knew they wouldn't be somewhere a teacher could easily walk past and see them. But she remembered all the teachers were currently in the Great Hall- all except Snape. She didn't remember seeing him when she was there, and he was pretty hard to miss.

"My feet are cold!" She complained, as their footsteps echoed around the stone corridors. Summer's were more of a patter, however.

"I'll give you my socks if you really want," Fred gave her a look and she laughed.

"Okay fine don't worry then, I'd rather be cold than smelly!" She stuck her tongue out at him and began running away down the corridor as he reached out.

"You're so immature sometimes Sum," Fred chuckled but stopped abruptly.
Summer stopped too and turned back around. "Fred, what-"
"Shush!" He put his finger to his lips and moved his ear closer to the door of one of the empty classrooms.
"I can hear voices coming from inside."
Summer raised her eyebrows and copied Fred's position against the door.

"Yeah, that's them." Before Fred could stop her, she burst into the room. Hayden had Raphael held up by his tie, his face was looking pale, as he fought for air.

"Hayden, no!" Summer ran over to her brother, and with the help of Fred, ripped him off the other boy. Raph took a moment to loosen his tie, before charging and swinging a punch at Hayden, who staggered backwards, holding his now bloody nose.

"Guys, seriously!" Summer desperately tried to get between them, but Fred had an arm around her waist- gripping so tightly that at one point she was running through the air.

Fred felt desperately stuck, between trying to restrain Summer, and breaking up the ongoing fight in front of him.

"Hay?" Summer stopped struggling to listen. Someone was calling for Hayden just outside the room they were in. Cedric's head suddenly popped into the doorway. Hayden, who was currently being pinned to the floor, turned his head, and spat blood to the floor next to him.
"Ced?"

Raphael turned too, apparently surprised by the new visitor, as he let go of Hayden, and instead took out his wand. But before he could use it, Cedric had expelled it from his grasp, and ran over to them.

It took both Fred and Cedric to stop Hayden from leaping onto Raphael, who stood, bent over in the corner, holding his side, and wiping blood from his mouth with the back of his hand. Summer rushed over to him, much to the annoyance of her brother, who put up more of a fight for Fred and Cedric.

"What are you doing Sum?"

"He apologised, Hayden. Why do you always have to do this?"

"Do what?"

"I don't know. This. Do stupid stuff without thinking! I'm so sorry Raph," she rubbed the boy's shoulder before he gave one last glare at Hayden, and exited the room- bringing out a cigarette from his suit pocket.

"Thank you, Cedric," Fred finally let go of Hayden and slumped into a nearby chair.

"Yeah, how did you know we were here?

Hayden was still staying silent.

"Fleur. She came up to me and said she saw you leaving with Raphael, and that she knows you both don't like each other. She was worried." Cedric puffed for breath, then he too, released Hayden.

"Well, I wish you'd all kept out of it," Hayden shook off Cedric's hand of comfort on his shoulder, and stood up.

"We were just trying to help," he replied.

"I didn't want your help, I could've taken him."

"And what? Get expelled? In your last year? You're so senseless sometimes Hayden..." Summer shook her head at him and left the room- Fred catching up to her once she was halfway back to the Great Hall. 

When they returned to the ball, the slow music had been swapped for a band.
"Come on, let's just... dance," She took Fred's hand, and led him to the crowd in front of the Weird Sisters.
"You're really gonna dance barefoot?" Fred asked, watching Summer jumping up and down on her tip-toes.
"Yes! I can't dance properly in those, can I?" Fred shrugged in agreement and went to leave her heels with their other stuff on the chairs.

An 'ow!' when he returned made him look around. It was Summer whom it had come from.
"What happened Sum?" She didn't appear to be hurt in any way.
"That guy stepped on my toes- got too close," she moaned, but continued dancing. Fred looked to see a brunet boy from the year below.

"Hey, watch it." Fred used his arms to push a distance between them, and stared at him until he became so uncomfortable that he went to dance somewhere else.

About half an hour later, Fred noticed her looking a little light-headed, and she wobbled on her way back to the tables.
"What's wrong?" Fred helped her out of the mass of people.
"As... I said... Before... Can't... Breathe..." Summer collapsed into a glass chair and slumped backwards. Fred sat down next to her, worriedly watching her chest moving up and down shallowly.

"Do you need any help?"
"It's fine, just need to unzip this and then loosen it, or something like that." By now, her vision was spotting slightly, and she wheezed a little. Fred rushed to try and loosen the many strings and clasps at the back of her dress, and was just about to give her room to breathe when George crept up from behind.

"Get a room," he moaned from a few steps away.
"I'm not trying to undress her," Fred replied, whilst hastily undoing the back of her dress.

"Yeah. Really looks like you're not, mate," George shook his head, and sat down next to them. "Are you sure you're okay with this Summer?" He leaned towards her, but only then realised that she was looking unhappy.

"I asked him to, the corset was too tight," she replied, resting her head on her hands, and Fred finished, and zipped her back up again.
"Ohhh..." George nodded slowly, as if trying to understand, which was pretty unconvincing.

                                    
                                           ❀❀❀

"Can I have my heels back now?" Summer asked Fred, as they made their way back to Gryffindor tower.

"I have one better." From his pocket, he pulled out a fresh pair of knitted, woolly socks.

"Where did those come from?" Summer looked, astonished. He hadn't had those before, how did she not notice them bulging out his pocket?

"I ran up to get them when I went to the bathroom earlier." He passed them to the girl, who eagerly put them on,
"You went all the way back to your dormitory just because you knew my feet would be cold?" Fred's cheeks turned slightly rose.
"Yeah..."
Summer's face broke into a wide grin.
"Thank you," she stood on her tip-toes and kissed Fred on the cheek.

"You're welcome, those heels would've come in useful for that," Fred held his hand to his face when Summer was facing straight ahead again.
Together, they carried on their way- Fred's suit jacket around her shoulders, Summers heel's swinging together in Fred's arms.