"I'm really, really sorry, Garianna, but I can't find anyone!" Cathy sighed, obviously suffering from sleep loss. Almost all of the exams landed on today: Thursday. The teachers were smart and they knew nobody would be concentrated on Friday.
"We must not have been on our game, or maybe we didn't try everyone, or…"
"Hey, its okay," I said earnestly. "Thanks for trying."
The rest of the gaggle seemed equally as frustrated, as if facing a very unique puzzle piece and not sure where to connect it after they tried everywhere available.
"You be sure to have fun at the dance with Kaboodle," I added and Cathy smiled.
"Thanks. You and Pi shouldn't get too lonely now. Bye," She waved and sighed as if a weight had been lifted off her shoulders.
"Bye," I waved back. The lunch bell rang and off I went to The History of Magic. The test was pretty straight forward, so I was certain I got at least an 'A'. The Study of Magical Creatures was rather tough because Professor Summerleaf asked us to write an in class essay on our favorite and least favorite beast and all we knew about both. I had so many favorites that I spent most of my time deciding how to phrase it. I ended up writing speedily five pages on almost all of them and their pros and cons and why none of them were my least favorite. Professor Summerleaf looked at me funny when I asked for some sort of binding, but he almost laughed when he found out why. "You overachiever, you" he whispered playfully, winked, and took it to his desk to grade.
Defense Against the Dark Arts was second to last and Professor Black had us write down a summary in the blank under a certain Dark Art on how to fight it. I felt skeptical about how well I did, but was glad when the bell rang.
Potions was so much fun I nearly groaned when the bell rang. The teacher had us experiment using next year's book and we had access to almost all of his cabinets of supplies and test subjects. For extra credit, we would analyze the results and how we got there. I tried a sleeping potion, but my test rat seemed more paralyzed than sleepy. I peeked at Cathy and was almost appalled when I realized she was stirring up a pink soupy goo which I identified as love potion. Her friend smuggled a sample out after the bell. I tried telling the teacher, but he was far too busy cleaning up the mess the twins James' and Harrison's attempted potion made. By the looks of it, they tried making a Tummy Turner potion that exploded in the cauldron, not in the test rat's stomach. Needless to say, the test rat was far too relieved to complain about being covered in exploded, slimy green potion.
That evening, everyone in the common room was chatting profusely about the exams, their potions class, and the dance tomorrow. I wish I hadn't finished the only homework assignment today in the library because Cathy looked reinvigorated and ready for another round of matchmaking. Instead, I focused on talking with Pi about my day. He jumped up and down on the bed when he heard about my Transfiguration test where I turned a ball of twine into a puffle. The spell was really difficult, but I pulled it off with only a few pieces of twine sticking out of the blue puffle's fur. I thought I deserved less than an A, which scared me.
No matter how hard I tried, Cathy found a way to be unignorable.
"Hey, Garianna?" One of the girls in the gaggle called. I looked up, thinking it was someone else.
"Someone outside of the dormitory wants to talk to you!" she said sing-song-y. The blood in my face turned cold and I instantly felt sick. The last time someone was waiting outside of the dormitory it was a teacher who had come to inform me of my first and only detention. In my second year, I had yelled at the penguins trying to console me in class the week my mother died. Afterward, I ran to the dorm and stared up at the ceiling until someone said Professor Black was at the door. The last thing I needed then was a detention. It made sense that Professor Black would give me detention for yelling anyway because he was rumored not to have a heart.
I quickly came outside of the dorm into the common room to find someone other than Professor Black, to my relief. It was Lauren Kristov from Ravenclaw, his features reminding me of a tabby kitten; immature, cute, and fluffy in personality and looks, but he had potential to be fierce. He looked down at the ground, blushing and shifting awkwardly.
"W-will y-you go to the d-dance with me?" He stuttered quietly. I heard the gaggle behind me giggle with glee while I stood there frozen on the spot. Was this the kid they dosed with their experimental love potion? Or was he doing this in his own will, just a bit scared and waiting until the last day? Or was this a joke? I barely knew the kid. The explanation came quickly after my stunned silence.
"No, no, i-it's okay. Y-you don't have t-to say yes. M-my friends w-were g-going and I n-need-needed someone to go with t-to get in. I-I...It doesn't have t-to mean a r-real r-relationship...think of it a-as friends…" his voice trailed off. I looked down at him for a second, and my face must have made a bad impression.
"O-okay. That's f-fine...I'll…" He stammered, backing away.
"No, no, no," I said, not meaning to deny him. "Sure, I'll go...as friends and friends only."
His face lit up, not at all expecting a yes. Like most boys, he probably only wanted to because of the food, and I really didn't care.
It took a second for me to realize that I said yes. I freaked out, realizing there was no backing out now; He looked too excited.
"Oh, thank you, Garianna!" He smiled wide and ran into the boys' dorm. I turned around to see Cathy and her friends spying on the event. One of the taller girls in the group piped up, dissatisfied, "Well, well, 'Friends and friends only'? that ruined the moment," she rolled her eyes. I thought I heard one girl in the back say "I wonder how many kids they'll have!" Cathy however shoved and elbow in her side and came up to me.
"Oh, I knew someone would ask you!" she cheered, then suddenly looked horrified. "Oh, no." she gasped.
"What is it?" I asked urgently.
"You don't have anything to wear!" and she smiled at me with the biggest grin ever. Somehow, I felt accepted, like given a VIP access. I guess that's not so bad, is it?
Author's note: Sorry for the huge unplanned hiatus in between "Dragons" and "Without a Care in The World"! It is finally summer for me and updates will be a ton more frequent.