My Breath || S. B.

4. And So They Met

Junia stood in front of the mirror as her mother handed her the third evening gown. She sighed and watched as the grandfather clock ticked by. "Mother, I think I can do this myself—"

"Oh! Here it is," Freya ignored her. "I managed to charm a few—"

"Mother," Junia repeated. "I assure you that I can dress myself."

Freya glared at her daughter, "Alright. Fine. Make sure you pick the right one."

"Yes, Mother," Junia nodded as her mother finally left the room. Once the door closed, she dropped herself onto her bed. She has been trying on at least twenty dresses for the past two hours. And Junia can't seem to tell the difference between them all. They're either black, dark blue, or dark green. A few purple ones, but they practically look the same. Junia had to admit that a few were quite pretty.

Unfortunately for those pretty dresses, there was one dress that Junia had been waiting to wear. And that dress happens to be sitting right on top of her bookshelf in a simple white box. Junia stepped onto her chair and grabbed the box down. It was a bit dusty, earning a few sneezes from Junia.

She placed the box on her table and opened it. The simple white box revealed a velvet red off-shoulder dress that drops down to Junia's ankle. Junia smiled at the sight of something she never thought she'd be able to get. A dress that's red.

Her family never said anything about being against the colour red, but the years of lacking red around the house or for anything is showing their preference with darker, grimmer colours. Junia has been deprived of colours. This year was her lucky year as she had managed to be left with quite an amount of spare money after buying her school books.

Junia kept the money and when it was time to visit Hogsmeade, she found herself in a store full of beautiful dresses. She bought one, of course. One that she knew would look great on herself. One that she would like to try.

She put on the dress. The velvet material made her look elegant, and the contrast between her complexion and the dress only enhanced her natural beauty even more. It complemented her, and she knew it. She did a simple bun for her hair to show off her shoulders and a dark red lipstick to match her dress.

Junia picked simple black heels with crystal ornaments on it, and finished off her look with a set of diamond necklace and earrings. It was the only jewellery that would match since she didn't own any red stones.

Once she was done, she observed herself carefully in the mirror. It didn't take too long before a smile creeped out of her mouth. And like always, it will not be too long before it disappears again.

"What do you think you're wearing?" her mother raised an eyebrow.

Junia looked down and stayed quiet.

Her mother inspected Junia's dress as she walked around her. "The colour could have been better."

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

They arrived right on time to the party. There are many guests there already, but it was not difficult for the mother and daughter to find the Blacks.

"Ah! Our most-awaited guest," Mrs. Black greeted them. She stopped, however, when she saw Junia. "Red. Interesting choice."

"Pleasure to see you again, Mr and Mrs Black," Junia smiled forcefully after hearing the disagreeing tone of Walburga Black.

"She picked it herself," Junia's mother replied with the same disagreeing tone.

"As she should," Orion added as he shot Junia a smile. "You look beautiful, Junia. I'm sure Sirius will agree with that."