When Friday arrived the next day, the entire school finally began buzzing with excitement for the Christmas Dance Party.
"Why is it that girls always move around in groups?"
In the common room, after several girls passed by while giggling and staring at me, Harry Potter, Ron asked the question with clear irritation.
I was about to say I felt the same, when Fred and George cut in.
"That's so they don't get targeted by guys like you."
"Trying to ambush a stray from the pack like a hyena just means you won't catch anything," George added.
George told Ron to show some Gryffindor courage, and Ron froze, his eyes wandering as he searched for a girl walking alone. Seeing his brother like that, Fred continued with exasperation.
"Anyway, hurry it up. If you don't, all the good ones will be taken."
"And who are you going with, Fred?" Ron asked.
"Angelina."
With complete ease, Fred called out, "Hey," to Angelina. When she turned around, he casually asked, "Wanna go to the dance with me?"
Angelina, who had been chatting with Alicia Spinnet by the fireplace, looked Fred over as if appraising him, then simply said, "Sure," before turning back to her conversation.
"That's how it's done. Easy."
"..."
"..."
As if.
It was true that Fred and George were neither famous like Krum nor handsome like Cedric or Fleur, but their natural cheerfulness and sociability made them popular with girls. Being "fun" was a definite advantage when it came to the opposite sex.
Incidentally, Elaina, who had completely maxed out every attraction stat, sociability, looks, athletic ability, grades, and fame, practically existed in the realm of the divine.
"So, what about you, George?"
Asked that, George showed no embarrassment and called out toward the fireplace in the same way.
"Alicia, how about you and I…"
"Sorry, I've got a boyfriend now."
Rather than looking dejected, George's eyes lit up.
"Oh? Who is it? Someone I know?"
"Well… someone you know, I guess…"
Alicia hesitated, but after Angelina bluntly said, "There's no point hiding it. Hogwarts is tiny, it'll get out eventually," she finally spoke.
"Um, he's the Slytherin Keeper…"
"Miles Bletchley!?"
When the twins shouted in unison, students immediately swarmed around Alicia.
"Seriously, Alicia-senpai!?"
"Oooh, a forbidden romance! This is spicy!"
"Romeo and Juliet, huh!"
Incidentally, Romeo and Juliet was a classic written before the International Statute of Secrecy was enacted in 1689, so it was fairly well known even among witches and wizards.
(Still, I never imagined Alicia with a Slytherin boy…)
Alicia, a Chaser two years older than me, had looked after me a lot ever since my first year. As the youngest on the team, I had always seen her as a reliable senior, so hearing that her boyfriend was a Slytherin made my feelings complicated.
It was like the neighborhood older sister who used to play with you suddenly started dating a local delinquent.
Meanwhile, Lavender, Parvati, and the other girls who loved romance stories began firing off questions one after another.
"Tell us more!"
"Which one confessed first!?"
Overwhelmed by her eager juniors, Alicia began to talk.
"Last year's Quidditch Cup. We won, right? After the celebration, I realized I'd left my scarf at the pitch, so I went back to get it. It was already pretty late…"
In the cold air, Miles Bletchley had apparently been practicing blocks nonstop.
"He looked so serious while training that I couldn't take my eyes off him. Then he noticed me."
"What, did you come here to mock me?"
"Alice said he glared at her so fiercely it was honestly scary, but he also looked really miserable. After a while, it started to seem like he was crying all alone."
She added that it reminded her of losing against Hufflepuff.
"As a player, you just know. Thinking things like, if only I'd reacted a bit faster, or if I'd gone all out from the start."
At her words, the twins, Angelina, and Katie lowered their eyes. I, too, bit my lip as I recalled the bitterness of that loss.
"He must have been so frustrated. You could tell he'd worked so hard, hard enough to feel that much regret."
Some people might think she was getting too emotionally invested, but I understood completely.
We were the ones who won the Quidditch Cup last year, but it had been a razor-thin victory. Elaina and Malfoy had chased us relentlessly, and we hadn't trained lightly either.
That was exactly why I understood. The Slytherin team had the skill to keep up, and they must have put in countless hours of practice to get there.
Just like us.
"I think that was when I realized I liked Miles."
Alicia said that just as Miles was about to click his tongue and leave, she had called out to him without thinking.
"Don't stop practicing."
"If you're frustrated, don't give up. Struggle, even if it looks ugly. Keep practicing until you can win."
"I'll stay with you."
Lavender and the other girls clutched their chests, completely enraptured. I felt a warm sensation spread deep in my own chest.
Wow. She's really living her youth. That's some serious romance.
(Someday, maybe Cho and I…)
Just imagining it made my face heat up, and I quickly refocused on Alicia's story.
After that, Alicia and Miles started talking after their individual practice sessions. Apparently, at first Miles thought, "What is with this girl…?" Eventually, he invited her to lunch after practice on a day off, and they began going to Hogsmeade together.
Before long, they talked not only about sports but also about personal worries and their favorite bands. After meals, they would shop together or fly on brooms around the lake, continuing what Alicia called wholesome dates.
"And then summer break started, and we couldn't see each other anymore, but… well…"
"And before you knew it, you couldn't stop thinking about him!"
"That moment when you're debating whether to send an owl!"
"I get it! I totally get it! That's love, right there!"
Lavender, Katie, and Lee Jordan hyped things up, while Alicia turned bright red all the way to her ears, though she didn't seem entirely displeased. Everyone chatted excitedly, enjoying the romance talk.
"By the way, I've been thinking this for a while, but Slytherin boys sometimes have ridiculously handsome ones mixed in, don't they?" Katie Bell finally blurted out.
As if following the first penguin into the water, others started confessing their hidden thoughts one after another.
"Adrian Pucey isn't bad, you know?"
"Oh, I was thinking that too! A lot of Slytherin boys are so well raised."
"Yeah. They naturally take the lead, they're considerate, and they dress well."
"And the way they use their knives and forks during meals is so elegant."
"And Malfoy was kind of cool during last year's match, wasn't he?"
"He's usually childish, but I'm weak to that kind of gap."
As the Gryffindor boys reeled at the sudden increase in rivals, Ron suddenly called out to me.
"Harry."
With panic written all over his face, Ron spoke as if preparing to storm an impregnable fortress.
"…We must grit our teeth and act. Ending up with just the last two trolls won't do. Just like Fred said, we need to move now."
＊＊＊
However, that day, Cho was surrounded by friends during every break, lunchtime, and even before classes. It made me wonder whether she was ever alone at all.
(What do I do… At this point, the only option left is waiting to ambush her right before she goes into the bathroom…)
Driven by panic and anxiety, I even started seriously considering actions that were bordering on criminal, and before I knew it, dinnertime had arrived. Ron seemed to have had no luck either, and the two of us took our seats with gloomy expressions.
"…Apparently Seamus is going with Lavender."
"When it comes down to it, we've still got Moaning Myrtle."
Making half-hearted jokes, I stared toward the Ravenclaw table in search of Cho, when I suddenly noticed a group of Ravenclaw boys charging straight toward the Slytherin table.
"So, Celestia isn't here right now?"
The first to speak was Anthony Goldstein, tall and blond.
With his laid-back, refreshing demeanor, he was often competing with Slytherin's Theodore Nott for the third-highest grades in the year. He was slender, like a more academic version of Cedric, and not bad-looking either.
"If you're looking for Elaina, she's playing matchmaker for Nott, who's on a four-loss streak and begging her for help."
"See?" Daphne said, pointing toward the Hufflepuff table. Elaina was sitting face to face with Cedric, with Theodore Nott beside her and Estelle Rostov, a Hufflepuff prefect one year older than them, sitting next to Cedric.
Elaina said something, Cedric reacted, Estelle immediately jumped in, Elaina passed the point to Nott, and Estelle nodded along in admiration.
"And then the Time-Turner…"
"That's true. Time magic is…"
Nott, whose nervousness had somehow wrapped back around into nonstop chatter, kept talking, while Estelle smiled and responded smoothly. Elaina and Cedric teased him just enough and shifted topics as needed, drawing him naturally into the conversation.
Those two really are good with people, no matter who they're talking to.
The topic being time magic made little sense, but for some reason Estelle seemed deeply interested, and the conversation was clearly lively.
"What's this? Anthony, don't tell me you're aiming for Elaina. A 'defeat Cedric Diggory' kind of thing?"
Daphne Greengrass teased him immediately. Anthony replied with a wry smile, "I'm not that reckless," which made Millicent Bulstrode curl her lips into a grin.
"Really? If you won a duel, you might have a shot."
"I'd rather not fight a champion. I have no intention of spending Christmas in the hospital wing."
Anthony answered coolly, prompting Millicent to snort, "Fair point." Pansy, who had been beside them, tilted her head.
"Huh? Were you all that close?"
"I've played a few matches with him in the Quidditch club, but… did you have any connection with him, Daphne?"
"Not really. But if he's Millicent's friend, then a friend of a friend is a friend, right?"
At Daphne's supreme social-skills logic, Pansy responded with an uninterested, "Hmm."
Lately, more Slytherin students like Daphne had stopped caring so much about house boundaries, and even students like Pansy had softened their walls compared to before. Perhaps because of everything that had happened over the past few years, Hogwarts as a whole felt closer than it had when we first enrolled.
"Well then, nice to meet you."
Millicent raised her fist, and Anthony responded in kind, bumping knuckles naturally.
"Nice to meet you too, Greengrass."
"Just call me Daphne! I want to call you Anthony too. And honestly, I've thought you were handsome for a while now!"
Using the same tactic she had with Krum, Daphne closed the distance aggressively, physically as well.
"Then I'll call you Daphne."
Watching Daphne grin and shake his hand enthusiastically while saying, "Nice to meet you," I found myself thinking how naturally she touched people of the opposite sex. At the same time, Anthony casually held her hand back, and I felt an inexplicable sense of defeat.
"Greengrass is amazing…"
"I know. I really like her."
I wasn't the only one watching the Ravenclaw boys flirt. At the next table over, Dean and Seamus were watching with envious looks as well.
"Hey, Seamus, which do you prefer, Elaina or Daphne?"
"Both. Every guy does. They're the fourth-year idols."
"Right? Elaina feels like an untouchable flower, but she's surprisingly easy to talk to. And Daphne is just…"
"An insanely nice body."
"That."
Ron even joined in on the brainless conversation.
"But if we're talking figures, Fleur's pretty impressive too. You can't grow girls like that at Hogwarts."
"Yeah, during the dragon task, Fleur's skirt caught fire, remember? That quick glimpse of her thigh was hot."
Ron and Seamus traded remarks that would probably get them beaten with brooms if any girls overheard. Girls weren't the only ones changing; boys, too, were gradually giving up on hiding the idea that while house and school differences mattered, they became trivial in front of a cute girl.
Meanwhile, the Ravenclaw boys smoothly expanded the conversation using the reliable topic of "mutual acquaintances." As expected, it turned into speculation about who Snape's dance partner might be. From there, they moved on to date spots, then to the Christmas fair at a café, where Michael Corner finally spoke up.
With permed black hair down to his shoulders, Michael had refined features, but his languid expression and sharp eyes gave him a somewhat cold impression that split opinions.
"By the way, have you tried the soufflé pancakes at Madam Puddifoot's?"
"Oh, I was curious about those too! Wait, Michael, you like that kind of thing? That's kind of unexpected."
"Shut up."
Daphne laughed loudly, and this time Terry Boot, a gentle-looking boy with light brown hair, spoke up in Michael's place.
"Believe it or not, Michael's actually pretty into sweets. He's challenged the Mountain Tower Parfait a few times."
Millicent reacted with interest.
"So? Win or lose?"
"Four straight losses."
"That's lame."
As Millicent burst out laughing, Michael threw a stopped punch at her and snapped back, "Give it a rest!" The distance between them closed rapidly. Working together, they kept the conversation flowing without interruption, and when things heated up, Daphne hinted at a café date.
"But I'm also curious about the limited-time butterbeer at the Three Broomsticks."
"Then why don't we go there too?"
"Anthony, thanks for the treat."
With a wink that practically came with a "teehee" sound effect, Daphne Greengrass clasped her hands together in a pleading pose. Having clearly seen through their ulterior motives, she still fully intended to get treated, a very Slytherin brand of cunning.
"Hey, wait, I haven't checked with my wallet yet."
"Just borrow from Elaina."
"That's a debt you never crawl out of."
"True."
As Anthony joked back, Daphne giggled, then turned to Millicent and Pansy.
"So, wanna go?"
"I'm in."
"I'll pass. I've got plans with Draco."
"Okay."
With Pansy out, they were one girl short. Without hesitation, Daphne called out to Hannah Abbott, a blonde girl with braided hair sitting at the Hufflepuff table a short distance away.
"Hannah!"
Daphne waved her arms energetically. Hannah Abbott looked confused but came over with Susan Bones, who had been having tea with her.
"Me?"
"Yeah. Hey, how about everyone goes to Hogsmeade this weekend?"
Hannah hesitated for a moment, glanced at Susan, then looked back at Daphne.
"Well, I was planning to have lunch with Susan this weekend…"
"Then let's bring Susan too! Okay?"
Her eyes lighting up, Daphne grabbed Hannah's hands.
"Michael says he'll pay!"
"I did not say that."
"Come on, please! Let's all go together!"
That smile pressure was intense. So this was what a social monster looked like.
"S-Susan, what do you think?"
"I'm honestly interested."
"If Susan says that, then…"
Two girls secured, Daphne turned back to the Ravenclaw trio.
"So, that makes two more for free meals. Thanks in advance!"
"It's not free…"
Despite grumbling, Michael Corner didn't look displeased. With the numbers evened out, there was no longer any risk of someone being left out. As long as no one seriously messed up, they should be able to invite them to the dance at the right moment.
(So that's one way to do it…)
I couldn't help but be impressed. Rather than approaching someone you're interested in directly, getting introduced through a mutual friend or acquaintance really might be the smarter move. It would make the other person feel more at ease too.
(I see. Then maybe I should go through a mutual acquaintance with Cho…)
As soon as I thought that, I realized something. Thinking back calmly, I didn't actually know many people in Ravenclaw.
(I don't really want Cedric setting me up with Cho, and Elaina…)
She would probably work just fine.
(End of chapter)
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