A ball held by the royal family where tons of wealthy and elegant people would be and they invited someone from our family? Nobody knew about Gemma and I. I didn't think anyone cared, but I guess if she got an initiation it meant something. 

"I asked you a question," I turn and see Stepmother. She stood at our front door, hands crossed over her chest as she looked at the letter in Gemma's hand. Stepmother hated going outside, she said it caused skin cancer or something. I wasn't going to argue with her. 

"The royal family is holding a ball and they invited me," Gemma answers. She goes to put it in her pocket, but Stepmother snatches it from her. Gemma tries to reach for it, but she's pushed back as Stepmother unfolds it and reads it aloud. 

"You have been invited to the royal ball being held tomorrow at 7 o'clock. The prince is looking for his future queen," She reads, pacing in front of us. She looks over it and gives us a wicked grin.

"This is marvelous!" She says, tossing the invitation aside and placing a hand to her forehead, "If you're asked to marry the prince we can move in to the castle! We'll be rich! I'll have a number of gowns and money at my service whenever I want it!" She snickers. 

"Wait, so you want me to go?" Gemma asks. Stepmother looks at her like she was crazy. 

"Of course, did you not just hear my plans? It all starts with you darling!" She sighs as she twirls a strand of Gemma's hair before returning inside the house, leaving Gemma and I alone. 

"I'm going! I might get to meet the prince!" Gemma says. I was excited for her; it wasn't everyday that you got the opportunity to meet the prince. 

"Yeah! This is amazing Gemma! This could be the break we were looking for! If you marry the prince we can leave here and live in the palace! I'm sure it's big enough so that we'll never have to see Stepmother and the others," I tell her. She gives me a crazy smile, but I watch as it slowly deteriorates. Her eyebrows furrow and she looks down at her hands for a moment.  

"That's if I do get his attention some how, there will be other girls there that will be far prettier than I am," She sighs. I tuck a strand of her hair behind her ear and force her to look up at me. 

"You will get his attention, you think some little girls will get in the way of Stepmother's plan for riches and wealth? You may as well be guaranteed the spot!" I joke. Gemma and I both laugh a minute, allowing the situation to become less serious. 

"Yeah, I guess. I don't have a dress..." 

"Trust me, Stepmother will figure something out." I tell her.

~_~_~

"Does it fit?" Stepmother asks. Stepmother had gone all out for Gemma's big day. The ball was going to be taking place in only a few short hours. 

"Yes Madam, it's a little snug in my stomach area though," Gemma complains. The dress that Stepmother picked out was very over the top and very out of our prince range. It was light blue and covered in gems and glitter making the gown particularly eye-catching. Her hair was pulled back into a bun on her head. 

"Niall, Liam are you dressed darlings? We will be leaving in 5!" She calls. She hurries out of the room and heads into the kitchen. Stepmother was going to the ball as well, she was dressed in a very simple dress. She didn't want to catch the attention of the prince, not that the price would be looking her way anyway.

"Yes mother!" One of them calls. I hurry after her into the kitchen.

"Am I going Madam?" I ask. She looks in disgust. 

"Of course not, we need someone to make the house look suitable for when we return!" She laughs. She pushes me out of the way and heads towards the door. I take a seat at the table and sigh. I knew I shouldn't have tried; Stepmother would never let me go to something like this. Secretly I knew that she had always liked Gemma better, I had heard she had always wanted a girl. 

"Harry, I'm sorry!" I turn and see Gemma standing in the doorway.

"It's fine, I knew I was going to be stuck here anyway," I tell her. She smiles and walks to me, kissing my cheek.

"I will try my best not to have too much fun without you," She tells me. Yeah right, she'll be dancing with the prince all night and I'll be scrubbing away at the table with year-old stains on it.

"Time to leave, guys! We don't want to be late!" Stepmother shouts. I stand to walk them out. Niall and Liam were both wearing matching suits with bright ties. Niall wore a bright green tie and Liam a bright yellow.

"Where are you going?" I ask them. Liam turns to me.

"To the ball of course," He answers as he readjusts his tie.

"Why, it's not like the prince is going to marry you?" I say. Niall rolls his eyes as he helps Liam fix a strand of his hair which had fallen out of place.

"Yeah, but there will be other princesses there too," He points out. I roll my eyes, like any princess would want the likes of them anyway. 

"Harry you know what needs to be done, we will see you back here as soon as we get home, ta ta!" She calls. She hurries Gemma, Liam, and Niall out of the door. Leaving me behind.

I walk to the kitchen, grabbing a rag and cleaning off the counter. I scrubbed it until I could see my reflection. My hair was a mess; in it's usual curls around my head. My eyes were probably the nicest things about me, bearing a similar color to watered grass. Thanks to Stepmother I didn't have a very good fashion sense either. At the moment I was wearing a pair of hand-me-down trousers and an off-white shirt.

I sigh, throwing my rag on the table and walking outside. The moon was almost up and the stars already shinned bright in the sky. I took a seat on the ground, looking up at the beautiful universe. 

"What are you doing?" I hear. I turn and see a boy. I had no idea who he was, but he wore a red and white jacket, pressed blue trousers (which must have cost a fortune), and a pair of clean, expensive looking shoes. 

"Who are you?" I ask. He looks down at himself.

"Um, your fairy godfather--well more like god-brother, but whatever," He answers. His skin was dark and he had his dark hair styled in the weirdest way.

"Okay...what's your name?" 

"Zayn. Again, what are you doing here?" 

"Hiding from my chores. What do you want with me anyway?"

"Chores? You're supposed to be at the ball, not stuck here doing chores!" 

"Well tell my stepmother that." 

"Look, if you stand up I can get you to the ball," He says. I look at him, this guy must be confused or perhaps mentally ill. 

"Are you sure?" I ask.

"Positive."