Chapter 14

Mystified Atmosphere

As the Month of April began to creep in, the atmosphere of the school was changing dramatically. Gone were the lazy idleness of boredom; gone were the quiet and alert students in class trying hard to concentrate on what the Professors were teaching; no more did the girls and boys of Hogwarts not care about how they look and what they wear. It was the month of the Beltane Ball.

Professors finally realized that students' concentration were directed elsewhere, so they no longer taught important lessons, homework loads were also lessened; but this didn't not mean that students had less in hand. The Student Council was busy making sure the night of the Ball would go smoothly. Girls and boys now had two more things to worry about: find a date, and what to wear. In short, it was a nightmare.

Rose, for the first time in her school life she was suddenly fascinated by all this. She was, now, no more a novice when it came to turning down date proposals. It seemed as if her theory about boys being idiots were correct. She has had at least one proposal per day. She wondered how less the numbers would be if her friends hadn't created the whole ploy.

"I don't understand, Rose? Why do keep turning them down? Didn't you want a date?" asked Hestia.

Rose sighed, and said, "I want a date that would burst every vein that Malfoy possesses; a date that would cause Albus to be sorry for getting on my nerves with his "protectiveness" "

Hestia frowned at a distance, as if she was thinking, and said, "Well… that sure narrows it down. You just have to find a Slytherin who hates Malfoy. Er, how many Slytherins asked you out?"

"Well…" began Rose.

But Hestia cut her off and replied, sarcastically, "Oh wait, NONE!"

Rose rolled her eyes, and ignored her.

"Seriously, Rose. What you're asking for is COMPLETELY IMPOSSIBLE!"

"It's not," disagreed Rose.

Hestia's shoulders slumped in defeat, as she said, "I give up!"

And then Rose saw him, the perfect date for the Ball….

Luke Castellan had just entered the seemingly deserted courtyard, looking for someone. Then, suddenly, his head swiveled towards her as if he knew she was sitting there and looking at him. Rose's gaze did not back down. But after a while, as abruptly as he came, he turned around and left.

"Found him," whispered Rose.

Hestia, who did not notice anything as she was concentrating on doing her Charms homework, asked, "What?"

"I found the perfect guy, Hestia! It's Luke Castellan! Malfoy despises him from the core of his heart! And as an added bonus, so does Albus!"

"And the rest of the school-"

"How could I forget that?!"

"Of course the fact that he is an arse hat is irrelevant-"

"Now I just have to find a way to ask him out."

Hestia shut her Charms book with a loud thud and said, "And nothing I say will discourage you from carrying this atrociously stupid plan."

"Nothing," was Rose's short but concise agreement.

"Now, my dear friend who-is-embarking-on-a-dangerous-mission-to-the-most-shrouded-parts-of-humanity, how the bloody hell will you ask him to the Ball in the first place?"

For that, Rose had no answer.

Lily saw Tristan half-walking and half- running ahead.

"Tristan!" she yelled, but he didn't look back.

So she darted through the throng of students heading for their next class to reach him. Then, she tapped his shoulder to get his attention.

"Hi Lily," said Tristan, without even looking back.

"How did you know it was me?"

Tristan shrugged.

"Want to join me for lunch?" asked she.

"Can't do that, sorry. I have a class," replied he.

"But you don't have any class now. You showed me your schedule before, remember?"

Tristan froze, but still didn't look at her.

At that moment a boy with dirty blonde hair, stormy grey eyes, and a devilishly handsome look, appeared beside Lily.

"Hello there," said he, in a deep yet melodic voice.

Lily who was caught off-guard by his appearance screamed, "Lysander!"

"Sorry Lily, did I frighten you," asked he, ever so politely. Tristan snorted.

Lily looked suspiciously at Tristan, and asked again, "So are you coming?"

"No, er, I got to meet Albus," lied Tristan.

Lily watched as Tristan walked away without even a second glance.

"Is everything alright, Lily?"

Lily faked a smile at Lysander and said, a bit too cheerfully, "Yeah everything is great!"

Lysander posed in a tiny bow, as he held out his hand, and said, "So Lady Lily Potter, will you give me the honour of lunching with you? As a forlorn child of a naturalist, I must insist my presence upon you to guarantee my well-being."

Lily gave a hearty laugh. "Forlorn? You have a twin don't you know that?"

Lysander scrunched his face.

"Details, details," he said, airily.

And together they walked into the great hall to enjoy the delicious meal provided by the talented elves.

He picked up the sound of her laughter from the other end of the hall. It was most heart-warming music he'd ever heard. But it would never belong to him….

He hated himself for not saying anything when the chance was there. He could never compete with him.

Rose entered her room, after a very long and tiring day. She was glad that Violet, Roxanne and Hestia weren't there. She just wanted to be alone for now.

She sat beside the window staring at nothing in particular. She loved these quiet moments. She only wished someone was there to share it with.

"SCREEEECH!"

She jumped in surprise. She saw a great eagle owl pecking the window. She opened it slightly so the owl can swoop in. She then removed a large package tied to its leg. She gave the owl a treat and, once again, opened the window to let it fly away. It was one of the school's owls.

She investigated the package for the name of the sender, but there was none. Finally, she ripped open the package, and out rolled a beautiful bronze vase. There were intricate designs on it, and looked like something out of the Arabian Nights. There was something written on it in what seemed like Arabic, but she had no idea what it meant. Inside the vase, was a rolled piece of parchment.

She opened it and read:

Dear Rose,

Because the idol is your face,

I have become an idolater.

Because the wine is from your cup,

I've become a drunkard.

In the existence of your love,

I have become non-existent.

This non-existence, linked to you,

Is better than all existence…

I will not take credit for composing such beautiful words. The credit goes to Jalaluddin Rumi, a famous Persian poet. Yet, I can relate to whatever he is conveying. I have come to devote most of my thoughts to you! Everywhere I go everything I do reminds me of my devotion for you. Please accept this present as symbol of my love for you.

It is a magical vase, very rare. Think of any flower in your mind and pick up the vase. If you are wondering what the writings are on the vase just tap on the writings once and say "Vertero English". I hope you like it.

Love,

Secret Admirer

Rose sat on her bed and stared at the letter.

This couldn't be happening, thought Rose

She tried to wrap her head around what just happened. She felt that the ploy had gone too far. How was she to reply back, and what would she tell him?

She, then looked at the vase with a glint of pleasure. She did as he instructed.

The vase started to shake as- what seemed like rubies-started to dot around the vase, then out grew a bouquet of roses. In short, it was the most fascinating and amazing gift she had ever received.

And just out of curiosity, she tapped the foreign writings and said "Vertero English" The words immediately changed to English and she finally read what it said:

"Your task is not to seek for love, but merely to seek and find all the barriers within yourself that you have built against it"

Rose felt guilty as hell. She had shared everything with Hestia throughout her life. Well, almost everything. And not telling her the one thing that would make her scream with joy, was selfish and inconsiderate.

But for some reason, she wanted to keep him secret. It thrilled her to know that out there was someone with such elegance, depth, and an interest in the cultures of the world. Whoever it was, was a perfect match for her.

She wasn't amazed by the bouquet of roses that erupted or the rubies; she wasn't pleased that someone took time to write a poem. No, she was amazed that he knew Rumi and took time to find a poem out of his numerous poems; she was amazed that he presented to her a valuable Persian vase, with such intricacy and beauty. Whoever he was, knew value and depth…. and that is what she wanted from her soul mate.

"Sickles for your thoughts?"

Rose's head swiveled around. There, stood Malfoy, with amazing devilish smile.

"I was just thinking about…things," replied she.

"What 'things'?"

"Things," she replied, simply. "Don't you have some girl to snog?"

"Nope. Not today. Today's my day off," he said, jokingly. "Actually I came here to ask if you're busy. I was wondering if we could do some practice with some of the new conjuration spells."

"Well…er, I don't think I'd be much of a help to you. You need infinite amount of peace of mind and the ability to concentrate."

He bent close to her and whispered, "Roza, are you unable to concentrate? Have you been daydreaming a lot?"

Rose blushed under his intense gaze, and replied timidly, "Of course not. I'm completely fine."

"Well, then," said he, leaning back. "I don't any reason why you won't be able to bring peace to my mind."

He winked at her. Rose blushed again. What is wrong with me?, thought she.

Before Rose could think of an excuse, Luke Castellan appeared beside Malfoy.

"Hey, mate. I'd be a bit more careful, if I were you. Don't want to get caught red-handed while fraternizing with them," sneered Castellan.

Malfoy looked coldly at Castellan and said, "Mind your own arse."

Then he left abruptly.

Then Castellan looked at Rose with an apologetic expression, and said, "My cousin can be a little….. tactless sometimes."

Rose answered, defensively, "Shouldn't you be afraid of getting caught red-handed as well?"

"Oh no. You see, I am not a Malfoy; neither do I have an obsessive and dangerous girlfriend. I also happen to have a reputation of being an arse. So no one will dare to bother me."

"Oh I see," was all Rose could muster.

She couldn't figure out whether his reputation was just a cover-up for a nice caring bloke, or whether he is an arse inside and out.

"You are probably thinking whether I am what they say I am," said Castellan, voicing his thoughts.

"Well…"

"I am, but not to the extent the rumours say. I was, like every other Slytherin, taught to despise mudb- I mean- Muggleborns and Muggles. That doesn't mean I have to hate their children. I also don't like Gryffindors. They are given way too much priority over others, even with all the equality bullocks."

Rose stared at him in wonder. She had never seen any Slytherin with so much honesty and straight-forwardness.

"Of course," continued he, leaning towards her, "That doesn't mean I can't make an exception."

Rose backed away, automatically. She couldn't believe he was openly flirting with her. Her. The least likely person to flirt with Slytherin.

She realized what a perfect opportunity this was. This flirting could be very much her advantage. If he was interested in her enough to flirt with her, how much interested would he have to be to ask her to the Ball?

"A pretty girl like you shouldn't be allowed to think," he said, finally.

"Why? Do you believe that girls should only be pretty and not thinkers? Are you that backwards?" she asked, a bit defensively.

"Nope. I just think that if a girl is pretty and smart at the same time that makes her perfect. Those type of girls only come in a bloke's dreams," said he, with a wink. "Do be careful, Ms. Weasley. You might end up in my dreams."

And with a final wink, he left leaving Rose ever confused.