Two weeks later, Jade was packing her trunk for the trip to Dartmoor. She had a few school sweaters and pleated skirts and pairs of tights, some winter robes and boots, and loads of books- but she had one problem. When she had studied the Triwizard Tournament in the library through the past weeks, she had learned about something called the Yule Ball, at Christmastime during the Tournament. She had nothing to wear for something so fancy! For the masquerade the previous month, she had borrowed something from Alana and altered it with a new spell. But for an occasion such as this, you wanted your own garment- something to attach memories and dreams to.

"Alana," she called, standing up and looking for her friend. Alana bounced through the door to their dormitory, swinging her robes by the sleeve.

"Yeah?" Alana said, flinging herself dramatically onto her bed.

"Are we going to get a chance to go shopping at all before we go on this trip to Hogwarts? I need a dress."

Alana shrugged. "I guess so. You have dresses." She laced up her Quidditch robes and began to strap on her thick pads. She was the Seeker for the Grizzleheart Bears, one of their four school Quidditch teams (the others being Lammasador Lions, the Snowbeak Snowy Owls, and the Merpeople of Merdock). "You're so obsessive about your packing, Jade. I'm just going to cram the contents of my closet into my trunk the night before we leave."

Jade laughed and ran her fingers through her hair. "We're leaving tomorrow, Alana."

Alana yelped and toppled over from where she had been fastening her left knee pad. "Oh my Merlin...I have to pack! And I have that Quidditch game against Merdock tonight, and then there's going to be a party if we win- I've got to start!"

She ran to the closet and began grabbing jeans and sweaters and wayward pieces of paper and throwing them pell-mell into her trunk. There was no order to anything, as a delicate crystal bracelet from three generations ago was tossed in under a heavy stack of books.

Jade folded her last set of robes and stepped back to study her trunk. Everything was perfectly arranged, robes and sweaters in one corner, bottoms in another, books in a stack, wand in its case on top of a small chest of jewelry. All of her socks and undergarments took up the rest of the room, and she laid her Grizzleheart quilt on top of it all. It looked so perfect, and she proudly placed her hands on her hips.

"There. Ship-shape. Only I still don't have a dress."

Alana rolled her eyes and slammed her trunk shut, sweater sleeves and scarf tassels hanging out. "You have dresses! I know they're not fancy, but they're dresses. Or just wear jeans and a shirt. Who cares?"

Jade sighed. Alana clearly didn't get it. She'd had a secret fantasy for years, of a glorious ball, all sparkling and beautiful. She was wearing a dress, a gorgeous one, one with a skirt like a ballgown, one with crystals that made her shimmer. Her shoes would be perfect, and her hair would be swooped up into a perfect updo. She would have a date, someone handsome, someone who would dance all night with her. Everyone would gaze at her in awe when she entered, her skirts swirling and her smile bright. She'd be the belle of the ball, everyone would be jealous...

A hand snapped its fingers in front of her face. "Jade? You're a million miles away."

She blushed. "Sorry, Alana. Are you going to Quidditch now?"

Alana nodded, strapping her helmet on. "You betcha. Will you be down soon?"

"Yup! Just got to finalize some stuff for the trip tomorrow."

Alana shrugged and left the room, and Jade settled in for the long and tedious job of repacking Alana's trunk for her.