In addition to wrapping up the Festival Fun Side-Quest, I thought I would reveal the other two secret admirers Claire had and why they ultimately went with their respective dates. Hope you enjoy!

Chapter 29: Ambassador of the Heart

Once the Outdoor Festival dance was over, Murphy made an announcement from his spot in the bleachers of the Quidditch Pitch.

"It's time to crown our Festival Ambassadors, who have been elected by you all," Murphy stated.

"To tell you the truth, I voted for you," Barnaby admitted to Claire.

"Well, I gave my vote to Penny," Claire responded.

Murphy paused. "And your Festival Ambassadors are…Barnaby Lee and Claire Krystal!"

A series of claps and cheers followed as Claire and Barnaby looked at each other in surprise.

"Now let's continue to cheer for Barnaby, a Slytherin who likes cake and is a self-proclaimed 'Renaissance Man,' and Claire, the Ravenclaw who has not only broken several curses that have plagued our school but has just saved today's festival by defeating Gilderoy Lockhart in a duel singlehandedly," Murphy said. "Apparently, these two are on a date according to a rumor spread by Andre Egwu. So that makes their victory celebration all the more appropriate, as it will involve them riding on a broomstick together around the pitch!"

Hearing that, Claire and Barnaby blushed as they were presented with matching garlands of flowers that Claire recognized from Hagrid's garden. Once they were crowned, Claire said, "I can't believe this, Barnaby!"

"This is certainly the best date I've ever been on," Barnaby remarked. "With you, of course."

Smiling, Claire turned her attention to a broomstick that looked brand-new which was presented to her. Raising her right hand over it, the broom immediately came to her hand. She then proceeded to get onto it, and held her hand out to Barnaby. Taking Claire's hand, Barnaby sat behind Claire as she took off into the skies on the broom. While they were flying around the Quidditch Pitch, Claire felt Barnaby kiss her cheek again. She in turn reciprocated his kiss by turning around and kissing Barnaby on the lips as they flew outside the Quidditch Pitch and towards a rainbow that appeared on the horizon above the setting sun.

###

The following day, Claire was surprised to find out that she had the privilege of keeping the broomstick she flew during the Outdoor Festival. So she gave Merula's broomstick back, which Claire had been using for years to sneak into the Forbidden Forest, though Merula didn't smile.

"You may have won the Festival Ambassador title, and gotten your own broomstick, but that doesn't mean you're more powerful than me," Merula claimed, grabbing her broomstick which had a purple ribbon on it.

Claire decided not to say anything, when she was approached by Chiara and Badeea.

"Hi, what's going on?" Claire asked.

In response, the two girls looked embarrassed.

"Could we talk to you in private?" Badeea asked.

"It's really important," Chiara insisted.

So Claire agreed and the three of them made their way to the Artefact Room.

"First of all, congratulations on being crowned a Festival Ambassador," Chiara began.

"Also, you and Barnaby seemed really happy when you were dancing together," Badeea added.

"Thanks," Claire smiled, scratching the back of her neck. "It looked like you two were having fun as well."

"We were, but our dates came through a series of 'interesting' circumstances," Badeea said. "It began when I followed Talbott to the Training Grounds after Tulip's skunk forced us to leave the Clock Tower Courtyard. He was carrying the Gobstone he didn't Transfigure into a skunk, and a plain-looking note."

Recalling the note and Gobstone she found after Potions was held on the Training Grounds, Claire asked Badeea, "Why were you following Talbott?"

"Since we joined the Circle of Khanna, we've been working together a lot," Badeea explained. "And in that time, I think we've grown to like each other. So I thought about asking Talbott to be my date at the Outdoor Festival, but when I saw him leave the note and Gobstone near you…it put me in a bad mood. He apparently noticed this, because he invited me to the Owlery during Free Period. There, he explained that the reason he left the note and Gobstone for you is because he didn't think I was interested in him."

"But why would Talbott think that?"

"Since I'm always painting and rarely show my true feelings, I came across as too distant for Talbott," Badeea responded. "He's also not very experienced when it comes to love, so he thought it was easier to express his feelings to you instead of me since you two have become good friends lately."

"Does this mean he likes me, or you?"

"Ultimately, he decided that he liked me and thus agreed to be my date," Badeea confirmed. "That seemed to lift a weight off his mind, as we had a lot of fun at the festival."

"Jae and I did too," Chiara butted in as she blushed. "Though how we got together was a lot more awkward."

"How so?" Claire asked.

"Well, the real reason I was at Zonko's yesterday…was to buy a Sugar Quill for Jae," replied Chiara. "He even asked me to write the crumpled note he left for you during our Care of Magical Creatures Flying Class along with the Sugar Quill."

Frowning, Badeea remarked. "That's not a very honest way of winning someone over, by making another girl do the work for him."

"But here's the thing: the reason he made me do these things was because he wanted to make me jealous enough to ask him to the Outdoor Festival as he was too embarrassed to do it himself," Chiara explained. "Naturally, I was angry with him. Though he apologized profusely enough to make me change my mind, and we enjoyed ourselves at the festival in the end."

"That seems like something Jae would do," Claire remarked. "But I hope he's learned that trickery does not equal flattery when it comes to love."

"I think he has, because I can get really scary when I'm angry," Chiara laughed.

Remembering that Chiara was a Werewolf, Claire chose not to say anything.

"So we thought we would come clean about our dates in relation to the secret admirers you had besides Barnaby," Badeea stated. "If you want, we could ask Talbott and Jae to confirm this."

"They're certainly welcome to tell me if they want to, but don't force them to tell me," Claire said. "Besides, we've got more important things to worry about like infiltrating the next meeting 'R' has coming up."

To be continued…