Seriously, keep that forever.
Ollie Knight was the happiest person in the wizarding world. Three days ago he confessed his love to Emil Anthemis, the boy he had liked ever since he saw him for the first time. It was his first year at Hogwarts when he first took notice from the mysterious Slytherin. They were in the same History of Magic class and coincidentally were sat next to each other. At that time Emil did not have any friends so he was sat at a table in the front all on his own. Ollie decided to take matters in his own hands and sat down next to him. He tried chatting but his neighbour hated small talk so it was just met with head nodding and short answers.
Over the year of sitting next to each other, they bonded. Mainly because of Emil's extensive knowledge about the Soap Blizzard. His special talent was to retell the stories in a manner that would not make you fall asleep after four seconds. He filled them with life and gave every person involved a tragic backstory. It was not something one would expect from somebody like Emil, the boy who was known for hating everyone and violently showing that to the whole school.
The deal was, Ollie knew that Emil was not a hateful person at all. He just hated when people got in the way of him and his loved ones. He never wanted somebody he cared for to get hurt even if that meant that some others suffered due to his vigilantism.
The two remained friends and now they were in their sixth year. Who would have thought that they would finally get their act together and become a couple? Certainly not Frieda who looked at them with a huge grin when they walked into Gladrags Wizardwear holding hands.
"So that's why you wanted my brother to come with us. When did that happen?"
Ollie replied with a grin equally as big as Frieda's "Well, let's just say, we had a little talk the other day and realized, the feelings were mutual."
"This was just a matter of time. I'm so happy for you. So, are you going to the ball together then?"
Emil could not suppress a smile either and said "Yes. He asked me to be his date. And now we have to look for something nice to wear, I guess."
He blushed and looked around the shop to shift the topic from his new boyfriend.
Ollie looked at him in awe. How did that happen? Why did he make it so complicated for himself? All of these years of admiring from afar when he could have been doing so from near by a really long time ago. But he was even happier that it worked out now.
They went to the men's section where they displayed a bunch of tuxedos while Frieda took off to the portion of the shop with dresses. Normally she would have done so with Evie so Ollie made sure that she was okay with going on her own.
Truth was, that it would probably be good for her to do something for herself. She did not even want to go to the ball but with a lot of persuasion from Ollie she finally agreed to at least give it a try. He knew that she did not have it easy. All of her insecurities hindered her from being her true self and living her life to the fullest. Having a friend that was not supportive of her was not really helpful if you asked Ollie so he was a tiny bit happy that Evie decided to drop out of the friend group for a bit. He knew that she would come back when she got over herself.
Emil tried to pick out something from a big pile of button downs. When he finally dug himself through the abundance of shirts, he pulled out a white one with ruffles on its collar. "What do you think? I have this long, all black tux that would go very well with this. Should I buy it?" Ollie chuckled "Wait, so you came here, only to buy a frilly shirt? Nothing else?" "Well, I already have everything I need. Plus, I wanted to spend time with you. Is... is that bad?" "No, not at all. I just didn't think that you would be into this." "As long as you're here I'm always gonna be into this. So, let's stop talking about this and pick something out for you." "You know, that's why I like you, right?" "What?" "You're the most supportive person I know. Seriously, keep that forever."
The two of them had to look for quite some time until they finally found something for Ollie. He rejected a black tuxedo with floral details, a red one with a black vest underneath it, a light grey checkered one and a beige shirt with the longest sleeves he had ever seen. Even though Emil tried to enjoy that experience by the end of it, he was relieved that it was over. Ollie picked out a jade coloured tux with a simple white button up underneath it. He looked in the mirror and when he said that he looked amazing, he thought that was an understatement. He did not want to brag or anything but a little confidence never killed anyone.
"You look great. Seriously that's the best pick, yet." "I think so too, thanks. Aaaaand, it's in your house colour." "Please don't tell me that I have to get a yellow outfit now." "I mean, why not. I think you'd look cute."
Emil looked flustered whenever Ollie made something close to a compliment. He absolutely loved when the tough boy acted all shy just because of him. He added "I'm joking... unless..." "Okay, you know I'd do a lot for you, but wearing something completely yellow... I think I'll pass." "Alright, alright. Should we go and look for your sister, before I change my mind and make you try something on?"
The two headed to the section with all the dresses. Gladrags Wizardwear had dozens of them. Sparkly ones hanging from the ceiling, a few short ones piled up in a corner and some laying next to a changing room.
"Frieda, where are you. Emil and I are done. Did you find something?" Slowly Frieda came out of the changing room. Ironically she was wearing a silky yellow dress. It only went down to her knees but had a longer train. It fit tighter than her usual clothes and was shoulder free. In Ollie's opinion she looked absolutely gorgeous. "What do you think? I tried on like ten dresses and I'm so tired of it. But I don't think this suits me." "Are you kidding me?", Ollie asked "You look stunning. Absolutely get this one. Look Emil, yellow doesn't look bad at all." Emil looked at his sister with a huge smile plastered on his face. "If you don't buy this I might have to and force you into it on the day of the ball." Frieda gasped "We don't want that to happen." She took a short break from the conversation to look into the mirror. It seemed like she tried to convince herself that she actually looked good in the dress. "Okay, I'm gonna get it. But I hope for you two that I won't regret it."
After they paid, the trio headed to the three broomsticks. They wanted to celebrate their success with butter beers. "So, with that dress, who is going to be the lucky fella that will go to the ball with you?", Ollie asked. Frieda rolled her eyes. "There isn't going to be someone. I'm probably going to be the only one without a date." Emil laughed but stopped when Ollie gave him a kick to his shin. "I don't think so. As if Evie actually has found someone according to her standards. She's probably just going on her own as well."
"Oh, haven't I told you? She got asked out by Boris." Emil stopped in his tracks. "Boris, as in our cousin Borislav? Is he here with all the Durmstrang students?" Frieda nodded. "I forgot to greet you from him. I didn't really feel like catching up with him so we didn't talk much."
Ollie observed the conversation between the siblings. They could not be anymore different. They looked like a soft, precious angel and a mafia boss next to each other. But they got along so well. When he thought about his older brothers, they were never as supportive when they still went to school with him. Everybody just did their own thing and without thinking about one another they just went about their days. Sometimes he wished that he had such a strong bond with one of his family members but they were all rather selfish. Two of his brothers went to become aurors like their father. His oldest brother had a fairly high position at the ministry of magic, so he was also well respected amongst the siblings. Only Ollie was the odd one out. Kind of like Frieda, he was the only one who got into Hufflepuff instead of Ravenclaw and he had no ambitions whatsoever to get a normal or high scale wizarding job. He much rather wanted to go on adventures, like Newt Scamander or Charlie Weasley.
Ollie's train of thought got interrupted by a panting Fred Weasley. "Frieda? I'm sorry, I don't want to interrupt you but I have something for you." Frieda was a bit irritated at first but nevertheless took the thing Fred was presenting her. It was an envelope with her name on it. "Should I open it now?" "No, wait until I'm gone. I have George and Heather with me and I don't want to cause a commotion."
Emil went straight to main protecter of the group even though he and Fred have announced truce. "Weasley, I swear to Merlin, if this is one of your stupid jokes, we have been friends for the longest time. There will not be one minute of peace left for you and your clone." "No, I promise. Just... don't talk to George about it until the ball."