Disclaimer: All characters apart from my OC's are property of Diana Wynne Jones, author of Howl's Moving Castle. This is a fanfic of the book.

I hope you enjoy and review!

The Fortunate First

- In which the eldest of three is in a lather -

Sophie stood up high on the small square podium to take a look at the almost unrecognisable figure in the tall, foot length mirror. The opulent sage green dress, far too elaborate for Sophie's liking (but she dared to disappoint her Stepmother's choice in fashion), clung to her waist for a perfect fit. Her golden-red hair laid long and loose as she twisted and turned under the bright lights of one of Kingsbury's, Ingary's capital, finest dress shops. For once in the eldest Hatter daughter's life, she felt pretty. However, she couldn't help but wished she could slip back into her favourite, if somewhat plainer, grey dress.

"Oh Sophie dear, this is perfect! The colour matches you so beautifully" Fanny exclaimed as she stood up from the plum velvet chair to have a better look at her Stepdaughter's facade. "How do you like it? Does it fit comfortably? Do we need to adjust anymore?" The questions streamed from Fanny's mouth. Fanny did this quite a lot when she was excited, it was almost impossible to get a word in edgeways.

"Fanny it really is a lovely dress" Sophie turned to her Stepmother and smiled pleasantly, even though the corset she wore was of great discomfort. "But no I don't think it needs anymore adjusting…." Sophie's voice trailed off as she turned back towards the mirror, still in astonishment at the slight beauty of her reflection. She ran her fingers across the softness of the precious green silk and trailed the lace that was seamed into the necklace. Sophie wasn't used to wearing such fine dresses and tight shaped corsets, but it is only for one night… she thought, that night being Prince Justin's royal engagement Ball.

Since her Stepmother remarried to the elegant, rich and respectable Mr William Bradford, parties and balls we're all that Fanny was accustomed to these days. However the Prince's engagement Ball was the event of the year, and the three Hatter girls Sophie, Lettie and Martha, now being apart of the Bradford family, had to attend (Or so Fanny said). The marriage was already a turn up for the books to the three daughters when Fanny told them on one of her less frequent visits to Sophie's hometown, Market Chipping. But her Stepmother moving in with Mr Bradford permanently into one of Kingsbury's well established quarters, was all a little too much for Sophie, especially since they both had kindly offered her a whole bedroom suite to herself. But she much preferred the independence of her little home, at the back of the family Hat Shop, Hatters, in which she grew up in.

"Oh, you all look so grown up! You should have seen Martha and Lettie, all three of you girls will have such a chance of being accosted at the ball" Sophie's smiled faded slightly at Fanny's last comment. Sophie being accosted at a Royal Ball? Her stomach started to churn nervous flips at the thought of being in a room full of wealthy men, some in which could possibly approach her for a dance. But could such a thing happen to Sophie? Being the plainest of the Hatter sisters? And the whole of Market Chipping for that matter? No, of course not. Sophie thought, like it was silly to think about such things.

"Fanny please don't count on that, besides I can't even dance," Sophie said with a frown.

"Now Sophie, you have as much of a chance of accosting a Man as any of the girls in Ingary" Fanny started, giving Sophie a stern look. "And as for the dancing…Lettie is back down from Upper Folding tomorrow to attend the ball, perhaps she can stay with you and give you some dancing lessons?" Over a month ago, all three Hatter sisters had been assigned to different apprenticeships by Fanny. Martha who was the youngest sibling and was destined to succeed the most in life, was under the wing of the talented witch Mrs Fairfax in Upper Folding - That was until two weeks ago when the middle sister Lettie who was originally set at one of the finest bakers in Market Chipping called Cersari's, used magic to swap places with Martha. The look that was said to be on Fanny's face when she discovered what her two youngest daughters had achieved, was not a look Sophie ever wanted to see herself.

And of course, that left Sophie, the eldest of three, who everyone knew was set to fail in life, was left with an apprenticeship at the family Hat Shop.

However what Sophie most wished for was for Fanny to be proud of her, even if it did mean finding a husband and taking dancing lessons. "Ok, then I will try" She gave a small smile to which Fanny sighed in what looked like, relief.

"Perfect. Now, let's get this dress off and packed away shall we?" Fanny clapped her hands and went out from the dressing room to look out for the shop keeper, leaving Sophie alone to overthink more about tight corsets, wealthy men, and dancing with two left feet.

Sophie awoke the next morning feeling groggy. The previous day event's of shopping for the Royal Ball tired her out, and not to mention the horrendous dreams that followed that night. She had her first dance lesson with Lettie tonight after supper, which she promised Fanny she would try, the thought made a groan escape her. After staring with full eyes upon the cracked, once white ceiling, she turned to face her bedside clock. Drat! 8:30! She almost leapt from her small four-poster bed and stumbled over her feet as she ran to the water basin to wash and clean herself.

"The Ball is not for another two days Sophie, pull yourself together!" She scolded in the mirror. She eyed the slight dark circles under her blue-green eyes, and for once she wished she had cosmetics to cover it up, even if she didn't know how to use them.

Slipping on her favourite grey dress and her Hatter's apron, she plaited her golden-red hair into a long braid, all the while wincing at the slight pain of her tangles, which she didn't have time to brush out. Finally, she was ready for another day in Market Chipping.

She arrived outside the shop doors to a very concerned Eva, one of the two Hatter shop apprentices which Fanny took on shortly after her remarriage.

"I am sorry Eva, I hope you weren't waiting too long," Sophie thought of Eva as a friend, not that Sophie had many unless you count your two youngest siblings. What Sophie liked most about Eva was her sincerity to give Sophie space when she needed it.

"Oh don't worry about me! is everything ok with you?" It wasn't like Sophie to be late to open shop. Eva's large hazel eyes looked at Sophie with worry. It was nice to have someone care about you outside your family. However, Sophie didn't want to have to burden her thoughts onto someone as tranquil as Eva, so she did what she had always done best and let it slide.

"I'm fine, just didn't get much sleep, I think the Spring heat is getting to me" Sophie smiled softly, and reached to unlock the doors to the shop.

"You really do need to consider taking some time off, you work your socks off day and night in this place" They both walked through the doors and was welcomed by the unpleasant stuffy heat of a Spring morning in Market Chipping.

"Actually, I had a day off yesterday…" Sophie began, before asking Eva to crack open all of the windows to let some fresh air in.

"Oh bother that! You were looking for dresses for a Ball that you don't even want to attend" As Sophie went to open her mouth to object, Eva, carried on. "Sophie I know this Ball is eating you alive, why don't you just ask Fanny that you don't want to go? I'm sure she will understand" Eva said while setting up the newly trimmed hats onto the stands.

"I just can't do that to Fanny, you should have seen how excited she was yesterday Eva, she would be heartbroken if I didn't go" Sophie brushed off the thought, and decided Fanny just meant to much to her to disappoint. As much as she believed the eldest sibling was bound to disappoint at some time in her life, she did not want the Ball to be it.

After processing Sophie's reply, Eva respected her decision and didn't push her anymore. "If that is how you feel… just remember to start thinking about yourself, ok?"

"Okay" Sophie smiled at Eva as they both finished the morning set up.

Once Eva tied the chestnut curls of her hair into a tight bun, she brushed her apron and turned to meet the first customer of the day. Sophie decided that today was one of those days where she could hide in the backroom sewing hats, and leave a much brighter faced Eva to attend to the day's customers.

To Sophie's relief Isabella, the third Hatter's apprentice, had taken the day off today to go shopping for the Royal Ball. Sophie wasn't in the mood to tolerate the hostile stares and taunting comments that Isabella sent her way daily. Unfortunately, however, anything that Eva said to Fanny regarding Isabella (Sophie wanted to let it slide, but Eva insisted) would go ignored. Because not only was Isabella from a respectable family, she was a close family friend of Mr Bradfords, so there was no choice in the matter.

Sophie stood in the doorway to the workshop with her hands firmly on her hips. "Now, which one of you shall we get started on?" She examined the array of unfinished hats, materials and ribbons that laid in piles on the workbench.

And just as the words spilt clearly from her mouth, the navy blue straw hat furthest away from Sophie on the wooden working bench started to magically jiggle. "It looks like we have a volunteer" Sophie giggled as the hat started to flounder its way out from the silk and cotton patterns from yesterday's delivery. The one thing that was not so plain about the eldest Hatter daughter, was her magical ability to talk to inanimate objects, something only Sophie knew. And she wanted to keep it that way.

Sophie made herself comfortable in her small alcove and got to trimming on the navy blue straw hat, sewing on shades of midnight and cobalt blue.

"Sophie, is this information even sinking in? Come on with me again, right together, left together…" Lettie said in a frustrated manner. It had gone 8 o clock, and Sophie and Lettie had spent the last hour only working on the basic steps of a simple ballroom routine. In the little oak sitting area in the Hatter apartment, they had both pushed all the furniture to the walls, leaving a small square of floor space for the dancing to commence.

Lettie was quite adamant that Sophie wore her new white laced ballroom shoes, stating that it will 'fit the scene' for the proper night. "It is! I just can't dance like you, I'm all rusty" Sophie scowled.

"You are, stop being so modest! You just need some confidence" Lettie said, crossing her arms.

"Wouldn't it be so much easier for you to sneak us back some kind of dancing potion from Mrs Fairfax? That way it would save us a lot of time…" Sophie said. She couldn't help but feel bad for wasting Lettie's time.

"One we are not cheating! And two, that is genius…" Lettie slowed her two-stepping. Was she really considering?

Sophie, of course, hated cheating, but if it could get her out of dancing lessons, then she was willing to do anything she could. "Mrs Fairfax is very talented, I can imagine she knows how to make it" Sophie commented, hoping Lettie would give in to the idea.

"Hmm," Lettie said with her blue eyes up towards the ceiling, tapping her fingers on her chin.

"Now I've come to think of it, we can't Sophie, I won't have enough time to go to Upper Folding and back," Lettie said.

"The first thing Mrs Fairfax should teach you is transportation spells," Sophie said amusingly.

"Oh stop trying to wriggle out of this! Besides, I'm enjoying spending this time with you" Lettie smiled broadly at Sophie, the delicate features on her face shone with beauty. But then her forehead furrowed into a frown. "Sophie… do you want to go to the ball?" She said it in almost a whisper.

Sophie hesitated, she didn't want to lie to Lettie, but would it eventually slip out to Fanny? "I do… I'm just a little nervous, this is a first for all of us. The wealth, the puffy dresses, the royal balls…" her sentence trailed off as she worried she said too much. But in a way, it felt good to open up to her sister.

"I know it is quite daunting. But you shouldn't let Fanny push you into something you don't want to do, whether it is an extravagant Ball or working extra nights trimming the last of those daft hats" Deep down, Sophie agreed with Lettie in a sense. But, trimming hats was all she knew, and she was quite good at it.

"I'm fine" Was all Sophie felt to say. "It is just one night I have to endure this, right?"

"Martha and I will be by your side all night, don't you worry about it" Lettie pulled Sophie into a hug, patting her lightly on her back.

"Thanks, I wouldn't be able to go without you and Martha. I would be in hysterics!" Lettie pulled away and she and Sophie laughed.

"You're lucky you have a sister who can dance to," Lettie said smugly as she proceeded to the next instructions. "Now," Lettie said stepping back. "Onto the spinning!" Lettie watched the wave of grimace appear on Sophie's face.

"It is simple I promise! This move is called the outside spin, it is the simplest of spins in ballroom dancing" Lettie's arm moved up to Sophie's back, preparing for the next move. "Now, all we are going to do is spin together clockwise while doing the side steps I showed you earlier. Sophie as you are the lady, you start with right foot forward"

Sophie listened carefully and done as she was instructed. Before she knew it, she and Lettie began waltzing around the small square floorspace in swift, slow spins. A smile etched on Sophie's face. It may not have been perfect, but for the first time this week, a small weight had lifted off her chest.

Did Sophie Hatter just accomplish her first-ever dance move? Perhaps the Ball won't completely ruin the fortune of the eldest of three.