The Ballrooms of Mars

The Ministry gala was as spectacular as Millicent Bulstrode had expected. The cream-colored marble floor seemed to sparkle as if a spell had been casted on it. The silver trays on the buffet table were filled with carefully prepared dishes of continental origin, such as Chicken Kiev, escargot, and an assortment of curries. Tall and lean ghosts drifted about, presenting or hors d'oeuvres to the guests. House elves scurried around, frantically cleaning up messes. Anybody of rather high status in the Ministry of Magic had been invited to this beautiful gala, along with his or her family.

Trying to make her way to the buffet table, Millicent stumbled on a disheveled house elf.

"Watch where you're going," she snapped, regaining her balance. The tiny house elf squeaked and darted away from her.

"Millicent!" shouted a familiar voice. A very startled Millicent spun around, nearly tripping on the hem of her eggplant-colored dress robe.

"Pansy! I was looking for you earlier."

"I just got here. You look great. Especially since you finally took care of your little unibrow problem."

"Oh?" Millicent said as she lightly touched the space between her eyebrows. "Oh... Yeah, my mother did a hair removal spell the other day. She did it just in time for when we go back to school next week."

"That's excellent. Have you seen Draco here at all?" Pansy asked.

"No, but I'm sure he's here. I saw his father before."

"Well, I'm going to go find him. See you later," Pansy said in a chirpy tone, kissing Millicent once on each cheek before disappearing into the forest of ornate dress robes.

Millicent only took a plate of salad from the buffet table. She did not want to make herself feel chubbier than she already was, especially after seeing Pansy look stunning in that figure-hugging sky blue dress robe with white lace trim. She secretly despised Pansy because she was everything Millicent was not; Pansy was beautiful, tall, slender, and feminine. She was the epitome of the ideal blond-haired, blue-eyed woman. As if those wonderful traits were not enough, Pansy had been endowed with a perfect, slightly upturned little nose.

Millicent looked down and saw her reflection on the marble floor. It brought out the drabness of her boring brown hair that was so dark that it seemed back. Her eyes were not twilight blue like Pansy's or even golden hazel like her mother's; they were plain brown like her father's.

Millicent quickly stood up upon noticing Daphne Greengrass arrive. That was a girl Millicent thought she could stand next to and still retain some self-esteem.

"Watch out, you nearly knocked me over!" shouted a tall boy with red hair and freckles across his nose. Millicent, shocked by this, fell back into the chair.

"Ron, it's wonderful that you can wear your brothers' old robes since your pathetic family is too poor to buy you your own," Millicent sneered sarcastically when she saw that the sleeves of Ron's navy blue dress robe were too short for his arms.

"Shut up, Miss Unibrow," Ron growled angrily.

"Nice try, weasel, but I don't have a unibrow any more.

"Well, if I ever hear you say one more thing about my family ever again, I will see to it that you cannot grow any hair!"

"Oh yeah? What would you do? You know, this is the first time I have seen you without Harry Potty around. You are nothing but his sidekick."

Ron paused for a moment, suddenly looking unpleasantly surprised. He considered what Millicent had just said and realized that he was, in fact, stuck in Harry's shadow.

"Just shut up," Ron snapped venomously. "I warned you not to cross me ever again."

With that, he stormed away from Millicent and sat down at a remote table in the corner. Millicent was right about Ron being only Harry's sidekick. He was always referred to as "Harry's friend" and never "Ron Weasley". Instead of being his own person, he had become, in some ways, an appendage of Harry. Harry was the always the one in the limelight, the perfect hero who saves the day every time. Ron was merely that guy who helps him.

"Ronny dear, aren't you going to eat something?" Mrs. Weasley asked in a concerned tone, interrupting Ron's train of thought.

"Oh, no. I have a bit of a stomach ache tonight," he lied. He just wanted to curl up in bed and never wake up again.