Get Real
Alyce Duvanov looked up suddenly from her thick book. She glanced around the deserted Ravenclaw common room. She had heard a funny tapping noise by the window. Silently, she made her way to the nearest window-sill and peered outside. Nothing. As she turned around slowly, a tall, dark girl stood in front of her. Alyce gasped, her eyes widening with horror only to realise it was her best friend, Cho Chang.
"What-the-hell-did-you-do-that-for?" Alyce gasped, clutching her chest and glaring at Cho's hazel eyes. "You freaked me out!"
"Sorry," Cho said, sounding anything but sorry. She grinned wickedly, while twirling her long, jet black hair between her fingers. "Why were you by the window anyway?" she asked, walking to a huge couch and sitting down by the fire, checking her nails.
"I…" Alyce began but then she stopped. This was going to sound really stupid. "I heard a tapping noise, that's why." She finally answered, sitting down beside Cho.
Alyce looked into the fire. She loved fire. The beauty of it always fascinated her, ever since she was a little girl. The way the flames danced happily; showing off its bright, vibrant colours; how it always cracked merrily …
Cho snorted.
"Is that all?" she said, looking disbelievingly at Alyce. "You heard a noise and you had to check it out?"
"Well – yeah," the other girl admitted. Cho wasn't what people would call the 'perfect' friend. She had changed a lot since the day Alyce and her met. Alyce vividly remembered the first time she had seen Cho: at the Hogwarts Express. She had been all alone then, with no one as her friend. Cho spotted her almost at once and invited her to come sit in the same compartment with her. The two of them had talked for ages, looking like they were already best friends and not like they had just met.
Cho had everything you could ever wish for in a friend. Well, she did. She was always so nice, so thoughtful, so generous, so loyal, she had a great sense of humour …
Cho and Alyce were lucidly inseparable. Quite like the famous Harry Potter and his sidekick friend, Ron Weasley. But six years have passed – six, enjoyable years – and Cho had changed. Changed to Alyce at least. She was still the same, sweet, pretty, popular, smart and innocent girl to other people, but to Alyce she was bitter. Nice occasionally, but bitter.
Alyce longed for the old Cho to come back. That was the main reason she stayed Cho's 'best' friend. She was determined that there was a way to get the missed Cho back. Nowadays though, Alyce was doubting this. Doubting it very much.
Cho was speaking. "You know, I think Harry Potter likes me," she said, checking her perfect nails once more. Alyce only muttered "Hm, hm," and kept staring into the blazing fire, deep in thought.
"It's just that I was walking down to the Charms class this afternoon," Cho was saying, "to see Professor Flitwick, and I saw Harry at the bottom of the stairs and he –" Cho stopped, looking at her friend suddenly. "Are you even listening?" she demanded, turning her whole body angrily towards Alyce who seemed to be breaking out of a trance.
"Oh, I'm sorry, did you say something?" she asked, finally coming back to reality.
"Alyyyyce!" Cho whined.
"What?" she asked innocently.
Cho sighed heavily and turned back to the fire once more. "Don't worry."
* - * - *
The next morning, Alyce and Cho were making their way toward Transfiguration class when Cho stopped dead in her tracks, a look of excitement coming across her Asian face.
"What?" Alyce asked, stopping and looking at her friend. "Are you alright?"
"Yeah … never been better," Cho answered dreamily, staring at something beyond where Alyce was standing.
"Wha –" Alyce began following Cho's dreamy gaze. Then she said, "Oh!" Harry Potter and Ron Weasley were walking towards them, chatting excitedly about Wronski Feints.
"Quick!" cried Cho urgently. "Do I look alright?" and with that, she started patting her hair nervously.
Alyce laughed at the sight of her friend and said, "No, you look horrible and you have this big, black mark on your cheek." Of course, she was joking. Cho's face turned white immediately and she began dancing nervously on the spot saying, "What will I do?" over and over again.
"Relax Cho! You like fine," Alyce reassured, rolling her eyes.
"But you said –"
"I was joking."
"Oh." Cho smiled, looking behind Alyce once again. "Hi, Harry," she said, batting her long eyelashes.
"Hey, Cho," Harry greeted, returning Cho's smile. Then he looked at Alyce and said, "Hey, Alyce, what's up?"
"Nothing much," Alyce said, blushing slightly. She never thought of how cute Harry Potter looked when he was smiling.
"So, Harry," Cho stepped in front of Alyce, "Heard about the Winter Ball?" she asked, giving her shiny hair a toss.
"Yeah, I've heard about that," answered Harry, suddenly looking at the ground.
"Whoareyougoingwith?" Cho blurted out, her eyes strangely wide, looking desperate. Alyce almost laughed out loud but caught herself just in time.
"Come again?" Harry asked, looking bewildered.
Cho took a deep breath and smiled sweetly, "I was just wondering if you were already taken."
Alyce's mouth dropped. Harry stared at Cho. Ron looked slightly out of place. "Um …" Harry answered finally, after a moment's thought. "To tell you the truth, I'm not with anyone yet."
"Brilliant!" cried Cho. "You can come with me! … that is, if it's okay with you." Alyce couldn't believe her ears. It was usually boys who chased Cho, but now it was Cho who asked boys. Not just any boy. She had asked Harry Potter. Unbelievable.
"Uh, sure, yeah," Harry said, giving a small smile.
"And Ron can go with Alyce!" Cho cried excitedly, practically jumping up and down. "It can be like a double date!"
"Er …" Ron said, speaking for the first time, "If that's okay with you," he said to Alyce. She didn't know what to say. Having a date to the Winter Ball would be great, but the thought of watching Cho drool over Harry was tormenting. But she had to give it a chance, at least …
"Sure."
* - * - *
"I can't believe you did that … I really cannot believe it," Alyce whispered fiercely into Cho's ears. They were in Transfiguration now, trying their hardest at changing a worm into a caterpillar. Not many people found this very exciting. Cho certainly didn't.
"Don't talk to me. I have enough in my mind with dealing with this … this … gross thing!" she said, looking disgustingly at the slimy worm on her desk. It was crawling around the wooden surface, leaving a green, slippery trail. "Oh, yuck," Cho muttered more to herself. "Mutare Vermis!" she cried, pointing her wand at the helpless worm. The worm looked as though it had gotten an electric shock – it was smoking slightly, anyway. At least it had gone from a flesh colour to light green.
"Oh, well done, Mr Pontoby!" exclaimed Professor McGonagall from the front of the room. Cho's head snapped up.
"Will you look at him …" Cho murmured softly to Alyce, looking at Daniel Pontoby at the front row. "Looks kinda cute, doesn't he?"
"What?" gasped Alyce. True, Daniel was cute … but this was all wrong!
"Er – Cho?" Alyce whispered, "You are aware that you have a date already … aren't you?"
"I know, I know …" Cho whispered back, still staring at the back of Daniel's head, "but it's not like Harry's my boyfriend or anything …"
"Cho," sighed Alyce, "please don't put your charms on that poor guy when you're already taken."
"And why can't I?" Cho glared at Alyce, her hazel eyes blazing with definite fire. Typical, Alyce thought, Cho always gets what she wants.
* - * - *
"Wow!" Ron Weasley shrieked to Harry Potter, grabbing his best friend's arm. "We got two of the best looking girls to go with us to the Winter Ball!"
"Correction," said Harry, removing his arm away from Ron's grip, "They got us to go with them to the Winter Ball."
"Oh, whatever," Ron said, waving his hand impatiently. "Wait till Dean and Seamus hear about this! They'll turn green with envy …"
Harry's eyebrows raised. He had never heard Ron talk like this before.
"Alyce Duvanov … she's pretty hot, isn't she?" Ron said. "And Cho's not bad either … and since you've liked her since third year, it's all perfect!"
Harry choked and nearly fell down the stairs. "You knew I … I liked Cho?"
"Oh, you only stare at her every time she walks past," Ron smirked.
"Shut up," said Harry.
* - * - *
On the night of the ball, Cho had spent six hours on preparing herself. Alyce only spent two hours. Honestly.
"Are you done yet?" Alyce asked for the fiftieth time, as she watched Cho carefully apply lipstick on her already red lips.
"Just one, final touch …" Cho muttered, now picking up a lip gloss. She smeared it on top of the lipstick then smiled. "Perfect!"
About time too, Alyce thought to herself as she slipped on her golden sandals. "Let's go!" and together, they walked out of the common room, once in a while receiving an approving glance from a fellow Ravenclaw.
* - * - *
"Where are they?" Ron said, looking around wildly. Cho and Alyce were nowhere to be seen.
"Relax Ron, they'll be here in a minute," Harry said, looking very handsome in robes of forest green which matched his eyes perfectly.
"That's what you said three minutes ago," Ron said, looking at his other friends after frowning at Harry. Seamus was Parvati's date, Lavender was Dean's and Hermione was Neville's.
"Hermione Longbottom," Ron muttered to her, winking. Neville blushed and Hermione mouthed the words: Shut up or die.
"There they are!" Harry cried, interrupting the cold glares that Ron and Hermione were shooting at each other. He pointed to two stunning girls. One was wearing a dress of shimmering gold, her shoulders bared and a beautiful diamond necklace sitting perfectly on her slender neck. Her golden brown hair was tied at the back and was expertly twisted into a bun. This was Alyce.
Cho, on the other hand, wore a spaghetti-strapped dress that shone a different shade of sky blue and light purple every time she moved. Her dark hair was down, waving gently in the soft breeze and a fine bracelet she wore on her wrist.
Ron and Harry's mouths dropped. Hermione scowled. "You look good, Hermione," Ron said in an undertone to Hermione, "but Alyce looks even better."
"Thanks Ron, for that nice compliment," hissed Hermione, glancing down at her deep red dress and her low heeled red sandals. She frowned even more. Trying hard to focus her mind back to the Ball, she looked at the rest of her friends, Cho and Alyce.
"You … you look great," Harry said, giving Cho one of his best smiles. Cho blushed, giving her tanned cheeks a light shade of red. They both turned to Ron and Alyce who didn't, well, look as cosy as Cho and Harry. Ron still had his mouth dropped, looking strangely like a goldfish out of water. Alyce simply looked bored and kept whirling her head around here and there. Harry nudged his friend sharply on the ribs.
"What?" Ron said – a little too loudly. The whole waiting Hall went quiet and all glanced at Ron's direction.
"Your date," hissed Harry looking at Alyce.
"Oh."
"Say something nice," Harry hissed again.
Ron coughed to get Alyce's attention. "Erm … you look, splendid!" he said, flashing a grin. "No, no. Change that. You look wonderful. No, no. You look beautiful!"
"Shut up now, Ron," Harry said.
"Sorry," Ron blushed then offered his arm to Alyce, who took it rather reluctantly. Just then, the giant doors opened, revealing an exquisite sight to the students. Sparkling icicles spiked down from the enchanted ceiling, each one of them giving off a different colour of red, gold, silver, green, blue, bronze, ebony and yellow; snow was falling down from above but just before it touched the students' heads, it vanishes; the walls glinted gold and silver every time someone walked past them; ice statues that talked to you stood on all four corners; round tables were here and there, each supporting a glass jar which contained a single fairy.
Everyone walked in, "ooooh"ing and "aaaah"ing. Loud, classical music blared from somewhere and instantly, couples walked out onto the dance floor and started to waltz, tap, tango …
Cho, Harry, Alyce and Ron all sat down in one table. Cho and Harry were staring at each other, too happy to notice anyone else; Ron was still gaping at Alyce; Alyce was looking at the fairy in the bottle with fake interest.
"Would you like to dance?" came a sudden voice from behind Cho. Harry scowled at the boy who didn't seem familiar to him. Alyce's eyes widened and Ron did nothing but kept staring at Alyce. Cho smiled.
"Hi Daniel," she said, staring up at the handsome face of Daniel Pontoby. Then, with a meaningful look at Harry, she asked, "Is it alright?"
"Er –" said Harry, clearly confused.
"Thanks!" cried Cho and took Daniel's arm. Harry stared at their retreating backs, still with a puzzled look pasted on his face. Then the mystified look turned to anger. He turned to Alyce.
"Who was that?"
"Oh, him?" Alyce said casually. "He's Daniel Pontoby … a Hufflepuff sixth year. He's in our Transfiguration class. Pretty smart, I must admit."
"Oh."
"Not as smart as you, I bet," muttered Ron.
"Excuse me?" Alyce said, then laughed. "Now, if I may ask, who's that girl with the bushy brown hair sitting over there all by herself and looking lonely?"
"Huh?" Ron said, tearing his eyes away from Alyce finally. "Hermione? Why's she all alone? Where's Neville?"
"There." Harry pointed. Neville Longbottom appeared to be dancing with a red-haired someone with a flowing gown of dark purple.
"Ginny?" said Ron.
"Yep," said Harry.
"Hey, Ron, I've got a great idea," Alyce said, leaning over, "Why don't you ask Hermione if she would like to dance?"
"What?" said Ron. "But … you're my date."
"Yes, I know that, but I'm giving you permission, aren't I?" said Alyce.
"Well …"
"Go on … look at her, she looks sad."
"Oh, alright." Ron got up, walked to Hermione slowly and asked her something. Hermione nodded and she stood up, letting Ron steer her to the dance floor.
Harry and Alyce were now alone in one table. "I wonder where Cho and Daniel are?" he said, looking around but there was no sign of the two.
"Let's go find them," said Alyce. So both of them made their way outside and began walking through the neat garden, looking around bushes. Just as Harry turned a corner, he not only found a dead end there but he also found Cho and Daniel. Locked lips.
Harry had never been angry in his whole, entire life. The sight of them! Clearing his throat loudly and furiously, the two of them broke the kiss. Cho looked from Harry's cross face to Alyce's disbelieving one.
"What-do-you-think-you're-doing?" Harry said, every single syllable trembling with fiery anger.
"Harry!" cried Cho standing up and ignoring Daniel's yelp as he fell backwards into the shrub. "Hi!" Cho walked up to Harry and kissed him on the cheek.
"The nerve you have," Harry said slowly. Cho placed her slender hand on his shoulder but Harry jerked it off at once. He narrowed his blazing eyes and looked at Cho with the utmost anger. "Don't you even touch me," he said, looking at her as though she was some filthy snail. With that, he turned around and stormed off, leaving Cho shaking with obvious embarrassment. Alyce ran after Harry.
"Are you alright?" she asked once she had reached him.
"What do you think?" Harry replied angrily, not bothering to look at her.
"I'm sorry you had to see the real Cho," Alyce murmured.
"Huh?" Harry stopped. "What do you mean the real Cho?"
"I mean what I say. That was the real Cho. She's not what she seems like, you know. She likes to play with boys a bit to tell you the truth. Got 'em wrapped around her little finger."
"Oh," said Harry, his anger fading away only to be replaced by a very sad expression. "Why would she do that to me?"
"She does it to anyone," said Alyce. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have said that. I'm not too good with all these comforting-someone-who's-upset business." To her surprise, Harry laughed despite of the single tear that had just come down his cheek.
"No, you're doing fine," he said, "really." Alyce gave a small smile.
Then, without thinking, she leant over, planted her red lips on Harry's and gave him the most passionate kiss she could ever make.