THE YULE BALL
“NATASHA! I GOT A SURPRISE FOR YOU!” Sirius shouted, gaining the attention of the red-head. She looked up from her homework, setting it aside on her desk and making her way out of her room. She made her way down the long stairs, jumping off at the last step.
She hummed an old lullaby (Which she couldn’t quite remember where she learned it from) and made her way into the living room. Remus sat on the recliner, a cup of tea in one hand and a book in another. Sirius stood in front of the fireplace, an excited smile on his face as he stood with a box in his hand. He gestured her over, and he sat the box down on the coffee table. “You know, since you need a dress for the ball, I figured I might get you something.” He told the girl, with a cheesy smile.
Her eyebrow quirked up in intrigue. She lifted up the lid, moving aside the wrapping paper to stare at a green dress. Natasha let out a shaky sigh as she stared at the dress, a look of awe on her face. It was a beautiful dress. A dark, emerald with lace. She looked up from the dress, and locked eyes with Sirius, “Where’d you get this from?” She inquired, gently lifting the dress out of the box and holding it out in front of her.
Tom appeared beside her, and he gave it a nod of approval. “He has good taste.” He said, probably one of the only nice things he had said about Sirius. He reached out, tracing the designs on the dress.
The grey-eyed man smiled, a look of nostalgia in his eyes. “I wasn’t the one who bought it; your mother did. It was the first ball she went to your dad with. She also bought other things, like shoes and some hair accessories. I have them, if you want to wear them to the ball…” He trailed off, a smile on his face as he stared at the dress. “We can make adjustments for you, but I thought you’d might like this--”
“Thank you.” Natasha interrupted softly, a twinkle in her eyes as she stared at the beautiful dress. “I’ll take the other stuff, too. You know, I was just gonna let Daphne pick out my dress but… I’m gonna go with this one. Mind if I go try it on?” She asked.
He waved her off, and she hefted up the dress, making her way over to the bathroom. It was a little hard to see where she was walking because of how fluffy the dress was, but she had already memorized the house and knew where everything was.
Pushing open the door with her foot, she sighed as she set the dress down on the bathroom counter. She shrugged her sweats off, throwing them into the corner of the room, and shimmied her way into the dress. “Tom,” She muttered, “A little help here.” She tried to zip up the dress, but failed. He appeared behind her, and moved her hand away, gently zipping up her dress. She tucked a piece of her red-hair behind her ear as she stared at herself in front of the mirror. Her mouth opened slightly, her eyes wide as she stared at herself. She was beautiful. She smiled, running her hands down the dress. “What do you think?” She asked Tom, who was staring at her with a small smile.
“It’s a nice color on you.”
She rolled her eyes slightly, a smile on her face as she opened the bathroom door, lifting up her dress and making her way back to the living room -- a carefree smile on her face. Sirius and Remus looked up from what they were doing, and gasped. Remus lifted his hand up to his chest, staring at her with a proud look.
Sirius squealed, running over to her and pulling her into a hug. Natasha grunted, patting the man on the back. “Loosen up the hug, man.” She grunted out, only for Sirius to tighten his grip on her. “Or not..”
The raven-haired man pulled back, a grin on his face as he looked over her. “You look amazing, Natasha! I don’t think you’ll need many adjustments… maybe make it a bit more shorter? Your mother was a tall woman. Maybe you’ll be like your dad? He was the tiniest thing up until 6th year, and it’s like all of his growth sprouts came in at once… In more ways than one.” He grinned mischievous, giggling at Natasha’s disgusted face. “Oh, come on, Nat! We lived together for 7 years, and one time he had a threesome with Remus and I--”
“--I don’t wanna hear about it! Okay, I’ve already walked in on an orgy -- I don’t want to hear about how good my dad was in bed.” She shook her head, rolling her eyes at the immature man. “You know, I’ve seen and heard some weird shit but that’s not something I want on my conscience.” She gave the man a sarcastic smile, who stuck out his tongue in retaliation.
“Sirius, behave.” Remus scolded, once again reading his book. Sirius gasped, offended by the werewolf. Sirius brought his hand to his chest in fake pain. “Moony! How dare you?! I was on my bestest behavior!” He grinned at the end.
Natasha rolled her eyes, her lips pursed slightly, “I’ll believe that when aliens invade New York.” She said, plopping down on one of the seats, kicking her feet up on the coffee table. “I don’t think you could go ten minutes without making a joke.”
“I bet I could!”
Natasha’s eyebrows raised up as she stared at Sirius, who stood straight up -- his arms behind his back. He had a serious expression on his face. “Hello family..” He drawled out in a deep voice. “I, Sirius Orion Black, will prove Natasha wrong by being serious.”
Remus chuckled, taking a sip from his tea as he shook his head in amusement. Natasha smirked as she watched Sirius, who after 2 minutes, began to fidget; seemingly wanting to do something silly. “This is what you get for agreeing.” Remus told the man, who stuck out his tongue only to realize his mistake.
“Shit!” Sirius exclaimed, glaring at Natasha and Remus, who were laughing at his misery. “Yeah, yeah! Laugh it up! Just know I’ll be waiting and watching… waiting and watching…” He made gestures with his eyes towards the two as he backed slowly out of the room, accidently bumping into the door. “Fuck!”
Natasha grinned, crossing her arms over her chest.
“—So, we only have have 3 weeks until the Yule ball and you’re telling me you don’t have a date, yet?! Romanoff, you open up the ball with a dance! Do you know how to dance?” Daphne fretted, pacing back and forth in her dorm.
Natasha rolled her eyes at the dramatic blonde, flopping back on one of Daphne’s roommates' beds. “Daph,” she started, “First of all, I know how to dance. Second, I still have plenty of time to find a date. Besides, people are coming up to me every five minutes asking to go. I’m think I’m pretty set if I can’t find someone to go with.”
Daphne groaned, pulling out her set of nail polish. “But you need a date so you can color coordinate. It would look weird if you showed up in a green dress, and your date is in bright pink! It’s not aesthetically pleasing!” The blonde complained, taking out a silvery-green nail polish. “Take Blaise and I for example. I’ll be wearing a gorgeous ice blue dress, and he will be matching me in black dress robes with a blue vest.”
“I mean, I understand your concern but… why are you so determined to get me a date for the ball?” Natasha asked the blonde, tilting her head to the side in a questioning manner. Daphne huffed, rolling her eyes.
“Because, Natasha!” She draped out, “it’s one of the biggest nights of your life! And while, yes — someone really is trying to kill you by putting you in this tournament, at least it’s bringing you something good. You’ll get to have your Prince Charming by the end of the night… or Princess.”
The red smirked, giving the girl a wink. “Fine. I’ll see if Nott wants to go with me. Happy?”
“Much.”
Natalia stared at the house in front of her with wide eyes, Yelena’s hand gripping hers’ tightly. Tom appeared behind her, and put a hand on her shoulder --trying to be comforting. But it didn’t bring her comfort. She didn’t like this.
She didn’t like this house, she didn’t like this neighborhood, and she most certainly didn’t like the role she had to play. She was no longer Natalia Alinovana Romanova in Ohio, she was Natalie Alison Romanoff. She was the oldest daughter in the Romanoff family, and her parents were Mena ‘Melina Vostokoff’ and Alex ‘Alexei Alanovich Shostakov’ Romanoff.
They were an american family of russian descent -- which would help support their story if one of the younger girls slipped up with the accents. Her Father worked for Shield, while her mother was a cleaning lady for some of the richer families in Ohio.
Her and Yelena -- who had to go by Yvette -- would go to school during the day, come home, do homework, play outside, eat dinner, and then go to bed. That would be their routine while they were in Ohio. She sighed, leading the blonde girl into the house and leading her towards the kitchen, where Melina was making lunch for the two girls -- as her ‘husband’ was gone for a week for work.
“Hello girls…” Melina smiled pleasantly, spreading some mayo on some toasted beard. “I made BLT’s, and cut up some fruit for us to share. Nat, would you mind setting the table?”
The red-head sighed, getting out the plates and silverware they needed, quickly setting them out. She ripped off a few pieces of towels off the paper-towel rack, and set them out accordingly. “Done!” Melina announced, bringing over the plate of sandwiches over to the table. “Sit!” She helped Yelena into her booster seat, and raised her eyebrow when Natalia simply continued standing. “Natalie?”
“My name’s not Natalie!” She snapped, her green eyes narrowed at the woman, who simply raised her hands in surrender. “And her name is not Yvette! And his name is not Papa! And Your name is not Mama! We’re not a family!” Angry tears started to gather in her eyes, her bottom lip beginning to tremble.
Melina tilted her head to the side, getting out of her seat slowly and making her way over to Natalia, kneeling down to the girl’s height. “I know that, дорогой, I know this is all new for you, and is quite stressful. I understand that change is hard for someone -- especially for someone like us, for all we knew was the red room. The pain of not being somewhere you’re not similar with. But, remember, my dear дорогой; pain only makes us stronger. We experience change in life, and sometimes -- it can bring pain, but also happiness, and sadness, and joy, and anger, and confusion. But, that is just how life is.” Melina smiled softly, brushing the girl’s hair out of her face. “Tell me, is there anything you’ve ever wanted to do? Better than ever to do it now.”
Natalia shuddered out a breath, staring into the warm brown eyes of Melina. She glanced over at Yelena, who was drinking apple juice from her sippy cup and staring at the two in curiosity. Natalia thought for a few seconds before answering.
“I want to change my hair.” She answered the woman, who gave her a bright grin, standing up to her full height. While she would agree with people that her hair was beautiful -- she wanted something that didn’t remind her so much of the blood she spilled. She wanted something that didn’t tie her to the Red Room. She wanted something amazing. She looked up at the brown-haired woman, tilting her head to the side with a small, hopeful smile. “Can it be blue?” She inquired.
Melina grinned, her hands on her waist as she nodded -- a warm expression on her face. “Of course! After lunch, we’ll go get the stuff for it! And maybe get some ice cream on the way home?”
Yelena squealed at the mention of icecream, her hands pounding the table as she chanted the word. Natalia and Melina chuckled, handing over to the table. She slid into the wooden chair, holding out a sandwich for Melina to take. The brunette smiled, accepting the sandwich. Natalia grabbed her own, taking a bite out of the savory sandwich. She closed her eyes, a small smile on her face as she chewed the sandwich. Maybe this mission wouldn’t be so bad? Maybe it would bring her something good? Maybe she could have a family?
Natasha rolled her eyes as Daphne moved her face to the side, adding more highlighter to her face. “You know, when I said you could help me get ready, I didn’t mean this.” She gestured up to her face. “It’s beautiful, but… don’t you think it’s a bit much?”
“A-A bit much?!” Daphne sputtered, her mouth opening and closing every few seconds. “Romanoff, you are a CHAMPION for Hogwarts. You’re representing the school along with the hufflepuff boy. You don’t wanna go out there looking like a goblin just barfed all over you! You wanna look Sophisticated! And what better person to do that then, well… me?” She smiled, gesturing to herself.
The ginger rolled her eyes once more, a playfully smile on her face. “Okay, I’ll let you do your thing. Just… Please don’t take too long. Nott will have my head if I’m late -- McGongall as well. I swear, that woman is one of the only things that truly frightens me.” Natasha rambled as she waited for the blonde girl to finish twisting her hair.
“I know?1 Honestly, either she has an eye on the back of her head, or she’s just that good at knowing who did what. Because there’s no way she could’ve caught me dying Pansy’s hair, and giving us detentions for missing class. It was a beauty emergency, Natasha! Pansy really thought she would be able to pull off a perm and blonde hair. Thank God, I caught her before she could do the perm.” Daphne ranted, pulling at Natasha's hair, finally pinning up the last piece of hair. “Okay.. What do you think?”
Natasha stood up from Daphne’s bed, making her way over to the full length mirror. Her eyes widened as she stared at herself in the mirror. She was beautiful. Her hair was braided around her head, with four pieces left out in the front -- which were curled. Her eyes were a smokey black, with fake lashes adorning her eyes. Her lips were painted a bold red. She let out a shaky sigh as a slow smile formed on her face.
“I-I look amazing, Daphne! Thank you.” She thanked the girl, a sincere smile on her face. The usually stone-cold girl blushed, looking down at her fight bashfully. Daphne brushed a piece of her blonde hair out of her eyes, shrugging off the compliment.
“It was nothing. I just enhanced the beauty that was already there.” She shrugged off, giving the ginger a smile, “Besides, I knew my masterpiece would work out. I mean, I’m me? Of course it would go right!”
“Of course it would.” Natasha replied with a soft smile, her eyes glancing up towards the clock. “I gotta go. Nott’s waiting for me.”
Daphne waved her friend off, and Natasha made her way down the stairs, stopping mid step. Nott stood there with a sheepish smile on his face, standing next to a very familiar -- annoying face. His blue eyes sparkled mischievously, his honey-blonde hair spiked up. He stood there casually, leaning up against one of the common room couches, his hands in his suit’s pockets.
“Hey, Nat.” Clint greeted, a cheeky smile on his face. He raised his eyebrows up, a full blown smirk on his face. “Sorry for crashing. But it just so happened that Mr. Nott here doesn’t feel that good. That sucks, doesn’t? Oh well, guess I’ll just have to be your date!”
Natasha scoffed, trailing her eyes over to Nott--who looked perfectly well. He walked away from the two, giving Natasha a sorry smile. Natasha rolled her green eyes, stomping the rest of the way down the stairs. “What the hell are you doing here, Clint? You’re supposed to be in Greek right now!” She exclaimed, her right eye on the verge of twitching.
“I lied.” The deaf archer shrugged, a smirk still on his smug face, “Sirius and Remus told me about how you were going to a ball, and how you didn’t really have a date. I mean, you did! But, I kinda paid Nott to let me take you instead! Isn’t this gonna be fun!”
“I’m gonna hit you in the head with one of the finger sandwiches at the ball.” Natasha replied, a serious expression on her face. It’s not like she wasn’t happy to see Clint; she was! But, he does not get to all ‘older-protective brother mode’ on a boy she wasn’t even interested in! The only reason she asked Nott was because he just didn’t have a date yet, and they were in the same house!
Clint smirked, walking over to her and throwing his arm over her shoulder, “Oh, you can try, sweetheart. But, you see, there’s a bunch of magical hot chicks here, and I am incredibly handsome, and charismatic, and pretty, and--”
“Shut up, Clint.” Natasha ordered, slapping her hand over his mouth. However, that didn’t seem to stop the blonde, because he immediately licked her hand. Natasha grimaced in disgust, wiping her wet hand on Clint’s suit. “You’re disgusting.”
“I know, kiddo.” Clint patted her shoulder as they exited the common room, making their way up to the great hall entrance. “You know, Fury’s giving us three weeks off for the holiday. You know what we should do?”
Natasha sighed tiredly, an amused smile on her face. “What? Ride out into the sunset with dramatic music playing in the background?” She guessed, a hint of teasing in her voice.
“You know, I was gonna suggest Disneyland, but, y’know… that sounds even more fun. Think we can get Sirius and Remus in on it?” He asked, raising his left eyebrow.
“If you give chocolate to Remus, and belly rubs to Sirius; they’ll do anything. Of course, they’ll join!” Natasha deadpanned. Clint snickered, pushing Natasha playfully, “Clint, don’t push me!”
He gasped as Natasha punched his shoulder. “Natasha! After all we've been through?!” His hand flew up to his forehead, a dramatic look on his face, “I’m your best friend, and this is how you treat me! I swear!-“
A clearing of a throat interrupted his dramatic monologue, and Mcgongall stepped in front of the two. The older woman raised an eyebrow as she looked Clint up and down — a look of curiosity in her eyes as she noticed his muggle suit. “And what happened to Mr. Nott, Ms. Romanoff?” She asked Natasha, who crossed her arms over her chest.
“My friend here bribed Nott to bring me to the ball instead, This is Clint. I hope you don’t mind he’s taking me instead?” Her lips lifted up into an unsure smile. Mcgongall sniffed, lifting her head up into the air.
“As long as your friend behaves, and can do the opening dance with you; I will allow it. I will give you no more than ten minutes to teach him the opening dance.” She turned around, walking away from the two terms.
Clint grinned mischievously, a glint in his eyes Natasha knew all too well. “Clint, I swear to God, If you make a joke—“
“I love an older woman who bosses men around! Ow!” Clint winced as Natasha judo flipped him onto the ground, the man holding his head in pain. “Why?”
She raised an eyebrow, a smirk of amusement on her face. “If you let me finish my sentence, I was gonna say I’d kick your ass. Now get off your ass; I gotta teach you a dance.” Clint groaned as he got up slowly, giving Natasha a glare.
Natasha rolled her eyes as she watched Clint flirt with Cedric Diggory, who’s date - A RavenClaw girl - was standing awkwardly next to him. Picking up her drink, she took a sip from her water as she leaned up against the wall.
“Must he flirt with every living being?” Tom sounded exasperated, a look of annoyance on his face. Natasha chuckled, shaking her head.
“It’s like in-graved into his personality.” She shook her head as she watched the blonde man laugh at a joke Cedric made. She turned to look over at Tom, who looked well put together. “Where’ve you been? I have seen or heard from you in a while.”
He shrugged elegantly, his lips pursed slightly, “I was in my mind space. I got caught up in some of my experiments.” He answered, looking out into the ground.
“Experiments?” She questioned. “What kind are you doing?
He sniffed, crossing his arms over his chest. “You’ll find out soon enough.” Was all he said before he disappeared. She raised an eyebrow at his words, a weird feeling in her stomach. What the hell was Tom doing?
She felt someone tap her shoulder and she turned around, meeting Hermione’s eyes. Hermione was… woah. She looked beautiful in her pink dress, and her hair in braids, which were pulled up into a half ponytail. “Romanoff,” Hermione greeted, taking a sip from her cup, “Did you date ditch you to go flirt with other girls?! How rude of him!”
Natasha laughed, waving off the girl’s concern. “No, no, it’s fine. Clint’s like a brother to me. Besides, he’s not really trying to get together with these people. He loves his girlfriend, but he’s happy to let people think he’s a player. He just flirts to make himself seem more charming.” She explained to the girl, who’s mouth formed into an ‘o’ shape. “You look beautiful, Hermione. You should wear your hair into braids more often.”
Hermione’s cheeks flushed, a small smile on her face. “Thank you, Romanoff. Y’know, you don’t look to bad yourself. Where did you get the dress?” Hermione reached out to touch the fabric of the dress; letting the fabric fall into her hands.
“It was my mother’s,” Natasha answered, “But, Sirius gave it to me.”
Hermione nodded, her eyes glancing down at her cup. She took a tender sip from it, a slightly grumpy look on her face. Natasha raised an eyebrow at the girl’s behavior. “Are you okay?” She asked the girl.
She sighed, and Natasha watched as Hermione dragged a hand down her face. “Some stupid Gryiffndor tried to ruin my night! He exploded up at me for going with Krum instead of him. And here’s the funny thing — I barley know the guy who asked me out! I sat with him in one class, and he ended up insulting my teeth! The nerve of the guy!” Hermione exclaimed, pacing back and forth in anger.
Natasha held out a hand, stopping Hermione from continuing. “Calm down, okay? He’s just some kid with a hurt ego taking it out on you. Come on, why don’t you dance with me for a bit? The Weird Sisters are playing.” She gestured out to the band, who was aggressively head banging. Hermione sighed, playing with her fingers nervously. “It’ll be fun!”
“Oh, alright!” Hermione smiled, taking the hand Natasha held out for her. “Let’s dance!” Natasha chuckled as she spun Hermione around, grabbing her hand as they jumped up and down to the beat.
Clint watched from the sidelines; a proud smile on his face. Look at his little sister go — making friends. He stared at them for a bit longer, and noticed the blushes they both had on their faces; radiant smiles on their face as they danced with each other.
A smirk grew on his face, a plan forming together in his head. Operation: get Hermione and Natasha together. A chuckle made its way out of his throat as he thought of the many ways he could play matchmaker.
Natasha winced as she made her way out of the ball, her feet aching from the heel she was in. She leaned up against the bench outside, taking in the pretty decorations. “It’s pretty, right?” Tom said as he appeared next to her, also leaning against the bench.
She smiled as she nodded. “Yes.” She sighed, looking up at the bright, lit up sky. It was never really like that in New York. She turned her head to meet Tom’s eyes, holding out her hand. “Wanna dance? Sirius and Remus will be picking up Clint and I in twenty minutes. Might as well get one dance in, yeah?”
He stared down at her hand, before nodding, taking her hand in his own and placing it on his shoulder. They both stepped back, twirling around as they dance through the courtyard.
Natasha smiled, and Tom returned the smile. She chuckled as Tim dipped her down low, and her nose scrunched up in joy.
It was such a magical night.
Too bad it would all be going down soon.
it won't let me put the links in the notes, so...
Nat's dress: https://i.pinimg.com/564x/6c/61/46/6c61468d2dd0a6fb8640f5a6ad8ad3b2.jpg
Shoes: https://i.pinimg.com/564x/c6/d9/ca/c6d9cae47ca8b2d3e72d4667864be6a4.jpg
Hair: https://i.pinimg.com/564x/dd/bc/21/ddbc212879ea111878839269fccde079.jpg
earrings and necklace: https://i.pinimg.com/564x/58/25/b3/5825b3c5c423300b6daeb67ba17b196b.jpg
