Teenage Troubles Pt. 2
Normally, when Christmas was getting close, students would already be preparing their notices to return home. But this time, as the holidays approached, that wasn't the case. Most of the students; if not all of them; had chosen to stay, showing just how excited they were for the celebration that was coming.
Apparently, certain whispers claimed that Sirius Black, Hogwarts' headmaster, had spent quite a fortune to make this ball the greatest of all time. And when even one of the richest families in the British magical world said a lot of money had been spent… that could only mean one thing: the amount was absurd.
It was said that every butterbeer shop and food store in all of Hogsmeade had been forced to temporarily close just to restock. There were even rumors that The Weird Sisters had been invited to play throughout the entire night. And as if that weren't enough, it seemed that students from lower-income families who couldn't afford proper formal wear had been given outfits by the headmaster himself. Especially after he noticed that one Gryffindor student, Ron Weasley, owned something that could only be described as a suit inherited from a deceased aunt… and possibly buried with her.
All of that only made the excitement around the castle grow even more.
And seeing how distracted the students had been in recent classes, professors like Flitwick, Susan, Wanda, Narcissa, Sinistra, and several others; including Pandora; decided to give them a bit of a break, reducing the amount of homework. Though the last one had always given the least work from the very beginning; her classes seemed to consist more of naps than anything else. Yet, for some reason, the students who attended them still learned quite a lot, so it remained a rather… peculiar way of teaching.
Only Professors McGonagall, Binns, and Snape seemed unwilling to accept the situation, continuing to assign the same amount of work as always. Snape even announced that they would have an antidotes exam on the last day before the Christmas holidays, which annoyed many students, though they had no choice but to accept it.
The group had gathered, as usual, in their Ravenclaw common room, each of them busy with their own things.
Draco was reading his golden book. Harry seemed to be reading another one, though every now and then he let out an amused smile, as if remembering something. Hermione was studying for the antidotes exam. And Daphne was sprawled across a nearby table, trying to build a castle out of explosive playing cards, carefully making sure they didn't detonate and ruin all her work.
But every so often, Harry's smile distracted her. Hermione would also lower her book slightly to glance at him, and Draco would lift his gaze for just a second before returning to his reading.
Daphne placed the next card, but that small distraction made her brush it with her finger, and it slipped.
"Shi—" she muttered, realizing too late.
She immediately backed away, jumping onto the sofa to cover herself.
Then, like firecrackers, one of the cards exploded… and in a chain reaction, all the others began to go off, flying in every direction.
The common room filled with small explosions, smoke, and chaos in a matter of seconds, sending several nearby students running for their lives.
Meanwhile, Draco simply shielded himself with his book from the explosive cards. Harry waved his hand and deflected several away from him. Hermione covered her head with her book as she ran behind the sofa with Daphne.
Pop, pop, pop.
"We're under attack!" Terry shouted as he ran across the room before throwing himself to the ground and crawling under a rug.
Michael Corner ran around in panic, taking explosions straight to the head that singed his hair. Since he never stopped moving, he ended up running into even more cards, leaving his hair completely burnt.
Anthony, his best friend, didn't even look back. He sprinted at full speed, crashing into anyone in his path and knocking them down without caring whether they were male or female.
Billy, who had just come down from his dorm at that exact moment, looked at the disaster for a second… then simply turned around and went back to his room, as if he hadn't seen anything.
When the explosions finally stopped, only smoke and a few scorched marks remained across the room. Little by little, the students began to come out of their hiding spots, all of them looking at Daphne with expressions of disbelief.
"Hahaha… sorry, that was my fault," Daphne said, raising a hand with a smile.
Everyone let out a sigh as they started cleaning up the mess.
Daphne sat back down, receiving reproachful looks from her friends. Fortunately for everyone, she seemed to have abandoned the idea of rebuilding her castle.
Instead, she was far more interested in Harry's stupid smiles.
"So, what's wrong with you?" she asked directly.
"Hm? About what?" Harry replied, glancing at her.
"Don't play dumb," Daphne said, while Hermione also looked interested, watching him. Draco lowered his book and looked at him as well.
"Did you get a partner for the ball?" Draco asked.
That made both girls even more attentive.
"Oh, no. Not yet," Harry answered simply. "I'm just enjoying a little revenge."
"And you?" he asked next.
"No," Draco replied with slight annoyance.
It wasn't that he couldn't get a partner. Quite the opposite. It was the number of invitations he kept receiving. Especially after Daphne's little stunt in the courtyard the day before; for some reason, the invitations had increased quite a bit… though Draco couldn't quite understand why.
"Me neither," Hermione said. "I have received a few invitations, but I turned them down. It feels a bit awkward going with someone I don't really know," she added, shrugging slightly.
After her answer, the three of them looked toward Daphne, who was calmly examining her nails.
"Me?… I'm obviously going with Viktor. It was annoying getting invitations from everywhere, so I used him as a shield, and he didn't really have a choice but to accept," Daphne said with complete simplicity.
So simple that the other three couldn't help but feel a slight bit of sympathy for Viktor Krum.
"You know, if you take too long, you'll end up without a partner," Daphne added, looking at the three of them with a certain pride. For some reason, she seemed quite satisfied with having a partner while they didn't.
As always, their competitiveness sparked the moment they heard that tone.
…
A while later, Harry and the others walked out of the hall that had been set aside to teach etiquette and dancing under the guidance of the most suitable person for it: Selene Greengrass.
Since they already had a high level in that area, having been taught by Selene since they were young, they were allowed to skip those classes. Though, from time to time, she would still call them in to help teach the other students.
"Oh… right, I've got something to do," Harry said suddenly.
"Still teaching Cho Chang and her friends how to dance?" Daphne asked with a teasing smile.
"Yeah. I did make a promise, after all," Harry replied calmly, ignoring her expression.
"Why don't you just ask her to go with you? It looks like she likes you quite a bit," Hermione commented.
"Hmm… well… I might," Harry said thoughtfully. It was just a ball, after all. He didn't really care that much about who he went with.
And, to be honest, maybe he was overthinking it. At least Cho Chang wasn't like the other girls who kept chasing after him and Draco all the time.
"You two should find partners as well… or you'll end up being the last ones," Harry said to Hermione and Draco, since Daphne already had hers. Then he walked off without much concern.
Draco simply rolled his eyes and kept walking alongside the two girls. But before they could go much farther, someone stopped them.
Or rather, stopped Hermione.
"Excuse me… Granger?" a voice said.
The three of them paused and turned around.
There stood a fairly well-known Durmstrang student: the other champion from his school, Marton Kovak. He was well dressed, wearing a slightly nervous expression… though he tried to hide it behind an overly firm posture. His clothes highlighted his build, and his slicked-back hair gave him a confident and attractive appearance. Short hair, light brown eyes, and a somewhat assured smile… though his nerves were still obvious.
"Yes?" Hermione replied, since she had never spoken to him before. In fact, she had barely interacted with any Durmstrang students, especially since their headmaster seemed to despise anyone who wasn't pure-blood. And when he realized she was likely Muggle-born, he hadn't bothered hiding his displeasure whenever he saw her.
Though Hermione had never really been affected by that. She was more than used to that kind of treatment from Slytherin.
"I was wondering if you already have a partner for the ball," Marton said, somewhat cautiously.
That made Hermione show a hint of surprise. Beside her, Daphne wore a clearly amused smile, watching the scene with interest. Draco, meanwhile, raised an eyebrow and looked at Marton for a moment before shifting his attention back to Hermione.
"Sorry?" she asked, as if she hadn't heard him properly.
"If you have a partner… I mean, if you don't… I'd like you to go with me. I'd really like you to be my partner," Marton said, blurting it out rather quickly, as if he had practiced that line several times in front of a mirror.
Hermione fell silent for a moment. He didn't seem like a bad person… and despite his strong appearance, he was clearly nervous. That made it harder to turn him down.
"I… uh…" She glanced around, looking for help.
But Daphne looked like she was about to pull out popcorn, completely entertained. So her gaze ended up on Draco, who was still standing there with his arms crossed, watching everything.
Then she made a quick decision… probably too quick.
"I'm sorry, but I already have a partner for the ball," she said hastily.
"Him," she added, pointing directly at Draco.
Draco, who had been calmly observing the scene, lowered his gaze to the finger pointing at him, then back to Hermione.
"What?" he said, frowning in confusion.
Hermione turned toward him and looked at him intently.
Seeing that look, Draco understood instantly… and simply played along without missing a beat.
"Ah, right… that's true. I'm her partner," he said naturally.
"What?" a voice echoed nearby.
Hermione turned and saw several Hogwarts students watching the scene with interest, as if it were some kind of play. More of them were slowly gathering, clearly drawn in by the drama.
At that point, Daphne was seriously struggling not to laugh.
"Oh… well, if you already have a partner…" Marton said, giving up. He scratched the back of his head awkwardly before turning around to leave.
Hermione and Draco barely paid him any attention, because at that moment they noticed several Hogwarts students… including Terry, the biggest gossip in the castle, who was already sprinting away at full speed to spread the news.
"Oh… I'm sorry," Hermione said, fully aware that this would now spread throughout the entire castle.
Draco lightly scratched his head.
Honestly, he didn't mind that much.
"Well… I don't really mind. I guess," he said with mild indifference.
"Is that so?… mm… well…" Hermione murmured, suddenly feeling an unexpected sense of embarrassment.
Meanwhile, Daphne rested her chin on her hand, propping her elbow on her other arm as she watched both of them with a dangerously amused expression… as if she had just found her new favorite source of entertainment.