#ipenelope

There were a great many places at Hogwarts that Eavan was not supposed to go and, by and large, she went there anyway. Some, like the restricted section of the library, she kept mostly to herself while others were best approached with impunity. Gryffindor tower was of the latter category. It was easy enough to con a younger student into letting her in, and then it was short work to Penelope’s dorm, even while balancing several large dress boxes. 

Even though Penelope was annoyingly chipper and fatally naive, she was still a Borgin, and her family was inextricably linked to Eavan’s, both in business and in the public mind. So sometimes Eavan had to take it upon herself to help the older witch, especially when she didn’t know she needed it. Between her general disregard for convention and her personal preferences, Eavan was certain Penelope would not come up with a suitable gown for the Yule Ball if left to her own devices, so when she wrote home to her mother about a dress for herself, she’d made a point of requesting several options for Penelope as well. 

Eavan knocked on Penelope’s door to announce her presence, but did not wait to be invited in. “I know what you’re thinking, and you cannot wear springtime florals to a yuletide ball. Nor whatever anemic shade of baby pink or butter yellow or new bud purple you’ve picked out.” As she spoke, Eavan deposited the dress boxes on the nearest bed and opened them to reveal that they were organized by color, a carefully curated selection that would fit the theme of the ball and still compliment Penelope’s coloring, and each one held many more dresses that it should have been able to by size alone. “But you can still wear florals, there are flowers in winter after all, they just need to be the right kind. I would recommend an icy blue color, it will bring out the green in your eyes.” 

Evan began pulling dresses out of the appropriate box, charming them to hang in the air as she did so, then looked at Penelope for the first time. “Unless you’ve actually found a date?” It seemed unlikely, Penelope was too sweet to catch most young people’s attention, something that would undoubtedly resolve itself in time.