*(A/N)* Bonjour mes amis!! Not much to say, I want to get writing A.S.A.P!!!
Ok, hope you remember the last line from seventeen!
Chloe Patil at Hogwarts: part 18
"...Jack."
Chloe looked up in astonishment at her dancing partner. This was easily accomplished, as their faces were practically touching anyhow. His grey eyes turned quickly from their look of adorement, to equal surprise.
"I-" she began.
"Didn't know he was going to do this?" he finished for her. "Me either.."
They suddenly were aware that many people on the dance floor were looking at them. Chloe scanned the crowd and spotted Jack immediately, a hurt and angry look on his face. Her eyes darted over to the other side of the room to see Roz, a look of equal hurt and double anger on her face.
Chloe's face shown with embarrassment. "Roz, I.." she began. Roz just looked at her with disgust and turned away, into the crowd.
"Great." She muttered. People began to go back to dancing. Chloe turned around coming face to face with Draco Malfoy.
"Draco, I'm sorry.." She said, a pleading look in her eyes. "I've got to get out of here..." Then she, too, turned and headed out into the courtyard off of the Great Hall, leaving Draco on his own. Many high hedges made up walkways, forking off here and there. In the middle was a courtyard with a beautiful fountain. Yet Chloe couldn't concentrate on any of this, her head was swimming with thoughts of what had just happened. Off the fountain area were several walkways . Chloe decided on the one that seemed to be very dark. She hoped that people would avoid the darkness, leaving her alone.
Walking alone, scuffing her shoes on the cement path, Chloe suddenly heard rustling. She gazed around trying to identify where the sound was coming from. As she approached a corner, it became louder. She peeked around nervously.
Leaning against a hedge, obviously causing the rustling noise, was Parvati and Frederick. Chloe sighed in relief, the darkness of this walkway had begun to lead her to think of monsters and such. Then she sniggered at the sight of them. They obviously hadn't heard her coming. Chloe didn't really feel like barging in, yet she also didn't want to retrace her steps.
Stepping up to a nearby hedge, pulling out her wand as she did so, Chloe whispered, "Redacto!" The spell formed a medium sized hole in the middle of the hedge, and Chloe squeezed through, trying desperately not to rip her dress. When she emerged, she continued her lonely walk. Around a corner she saw a bench, and sat down, her hands cupping her face.
She was confused. What had happened in there? What had possessed her to dance with Draco, and had she actually liked it? When had this happened? She hated Draco.
Chloe sighed, reconsidering that. There was no use lying to herself, really. She didn't hate Draco, she didn't even dislike Draco. Yet she didn't really dislike Jack either. Why had Jack gotten the singer to make that announcement? In case he hadn't known, he was there with Ashley.....
Chloe grinned at the thought of the expression on Ashley's face when she'd heard that announcement. It could very well be the highlight of her night.
Lost in her thoughts, Chloe didn't notice someone come up behind her.
Harry Potter cleared his throat. "Uh, hey Chloe..."
Chloe looked over, surprised. "Hey Harry!" She replied, scooting over so he could sit down.
He sat.
"Where's Padma?" Chloe questioned.
"We, er, ran in on Parvati and Frederick a bit back. Padma decided to interrupt things, and I..."
"Wasn't interested in the least?" Chloe finished.
"Not at all." He replied firmly. "I saw a hole in a nearby hedge, and decided to go through there instead."
"Compliments of me!" Chloe said brightly.
"Yeah, thanks. So, what are you doing back here then?" Harry asked, gazing at her curiously.
"Thinking." She replied vaguely.
"Of..." He continued.
"Stuff." She replied.
"Oh..stuff. Yeah, I think about stuff every once in a while too." Harry said knowingly. Chloe grinned.
"What kind of stuff do you think about?" She teased.
"You tell me, I'll tell you." He replied.
Chloe sighed. "I don't know. I suppose you were in there when that little announcement went off."
"Er, yeah, sort of..." He replied uncomfortably.
"Yeah, so you know, Jack made the announcement,"
"and you were dancing with Draco Malfoy." Harry finished disgustedly.
"Precisely." Chloe answered. "So, I don't know what I'm going to do there. I was just wondering when all this stuff with Malfoy started, I mean, I thought I hated him, but..." She trailed off, wondering if she'd said too much.
"You like Malfoy?" Harry said in disbelief, "Stupid, slimy git.." he muttered.
"He's not. Well, at least not to me. Maybe to Neville..." She trailed off, smiling slightly.
"Exactly, how can you like someone who's that cruel to people like Neville?" Harry asked.
"Because, to me, he's nice. You guys see him and the other Slytherins as mean, cruel, whatever. To me they're nice, and they're nice to me because I'm in their house. If I weren't in their house, I expect that I'd hate them as much as you do." She finished. "'Cept maybe Crabbe and Goyle. I don't like them under any conditions." She said as an afterthought.
Harry smiled. "That makes sense in a weird way..."
Chloe shrugged. "So, now, what do you think about?"
Harry turned away, Chloe thought that she noticed him blushing. "I dunno."
"Come on Harry." She prodded.
Harry sighed. "I think about a girl." He said, embarrassed.
Chloe rolled her eyes. "Of course you do...Tell me, what do think about this girl?" She shivered, suddenly aware of how cold it was. Harry took off his cloak and offered it to her, which she accepted gratefully.
"I dunno. She's pretty and smart..." He said vaguely.
Chloe suddenly caught on. "Hermione?" She said softly.
"No, not Hermione. She's my best friend and all, and she is pretty, and smart, but no, not Hermione."
"Well then, you'd better go on. I gave you a name." She said, leaning back to look at the stars. She didn't notice her and Harry's shoulders touching.
Harry did.
"She's in a different house, so I don't think that we could ever work." He said, attempting to brush off the subject.
Chloe sat up, looking straight into Harry's eyes. "No Harry. Don't ever think or say that. If somebody has to use what house you're in as an excuse not to like you, then they're crazy." She said with a smile.
Harry reddened, but kept the gaze. They both suddenly became aware of how close their heads were becoming, but neither attempted to stop it. Chloe closed her eyes, and the next thing she knew, she was kissing Harry Potter.
Suddenly, from the corner to which the bench was visible, they heard an audible gasp, and footsteps running away. They both pulled away abruptly, looking at eachother in horror. They got up and began running at top speed around the corner, in the direction that the person would have had go in to get away from the bench. They came at a fork in the paths, and were unable to figure out in which direction the person had gone in.
They turned face to face, letting their eyes trail off in different directions.
Chloe was the first to speak.
"Um, Harry?"
"Yeah?" He answered, looking up.
"Maybe you should go find Padma, she's probably wondering where you've gone off to."
"Yeah," he agreed. "Neville's going to need some reassurance from you after tonight too." He said with a grin.
Chloe rolled her eyes. "Sure...So I'll talk to you later?"
"Yeah. Probably after Christmas." He answered.
Chloe nodded in agreement. She'd forgotten that Christmas Break began tomorrow. She was suddenly relieved to be going home.
"O.K. See you later." She said with a smile, taking the left side, hoping it would take her back to the fountain.
"Yep!" He called back.
As they walked away, the two of them were grinning. Chloe was, once again, lost in her thoughts, only this time they weren't so bad...
She suddenly noticed the darkness of the walkway relenting, and sighed with relief. Within minutes she was back at the courtyard, and headed straight for the path that would take her to the Hall. As she drew nearer, she began to feel slightly apprehensive. Would people look at her? Would there be whispering? She half expected the whole lot of them to stop what they were doing when she entered.
None of this, of course, happened. People went along their merry way, and Chloe rolled her eyes at her own stupidity, wondering why she'd expected the whole world to revolve around her. As she was walking by a certain group of Hufflepuffs, she noticed they were all gathered around a single boy whose face she couldn't see, yet he seemed vaguely familiar. They seemed to be quite intent on hearing what he had to say. As she passed the table, she glanced back, and caught quite a few of them watching her walk away. They stared back down quickly when they noticed she was looking. Chloe began glancing over her shoulders nervously, trying to see if others were looking her way.
Walking through a crowd of people dancing, trying to make her way back to the table at which she ate dinner, Chloe nearly crashed into Fudge and McGonagall dancing. They both looked quite grim, neither was smiling. Chloe stepped back quickly as to not get in their way.
Finally her table was visible. Neville sat all by himself. Chloe felt a stab of guilt in her chest, and resolved to spend the rest of the night with him.
"Hey Neville." She said softly as she sat down.
"Oh. Hi Chloe." He replied.
"Sorry about that song there. I couldn't see you anywhere, and then Draco asked me to dance. You don't mind, do you?" She asked.
"Nah, it's no big deal. I don't think your friend was too happy about it though!" He answered.
"Aah, she'll get over it." Chloe responded with a shrug, picking up a glass of water and sipping it gingerly.
"Yeah, probably. Want to dance?" He asked.
Chloe noted that the song was a fast one. "Yeah, sure." She replied without hesitation. She could steer clear of his feet.
~*~
The night wore on. The dance ended at midnight, but Chloe noticed several people leave early. By the end of the night, nobody from the original group was dancing, but instead, they were all gathered around the dinner table, talking about Christmas Break. All except Harry and Padma, anyway.
"Hey Chloe, I'm really thirsty. You want something?" Neville asked. Chloe smiled, Neville was finally catching on!
"Yes, please!" She answered. She watched him disappear into the crowd, then turned back to the others at the table. She was quite taken aback when she saw all of them looking at her.
"Sooo, Chloe." Seamus said lazily.
"What?" She asked, puzzled.
"I know something you probably don't want me to know!" He said in an annoying sing-song voice.
"What?" Chloe repeated, feeling slightly alarmed.
"Hear you and Mr. Potter were snogging out back!" He said with a satisfied grin. From the smiles on the rest of their faces, Chloe could tell that everyone at the table had heard.
"Where'd you hear a thing like that?" She answered cooly, looking down at her plate to hide her reddening cheeks.
"Reliable source." He answered smugly. "Don't worry, we won't mention anything to Neville. I reckon he won't be able to take it after you abandoned him for Draco back there."
"I didn't abandon him, Seamus!" She retorted.
He just shrugged. "Yeah, well..." Then, peering behind her, he added, "Here he comes now!"
Sure enough, a few moments later, Neville slid into the bench, gazing around nervously at the silent table. Chloe was looking down again.
"What's going on?" He asked.
"Nothing!" Chloe answered quickly, noticing Seamus opening his mouth. She took the Butterbeer from Neville's hand, and gulped it down. Neville shrugged and opened his.
About a half hour passed, and soon enough, Dumbledore announced the Ball to be over. Chloe couldn't believe how tired she was, it was only midnight after all. She was thankful for the ride on the train tommorow, maybe she could sleep on her way home. In the Entrance, she gave Neville a hug goodnight, thanked him for a great evening, and began her way back to the Common Room.
Walking through the labyrinthe of the dungeons, Chloe yawned deeply, stretching out her arms at the same time. From a corner, she heard someone speak.
"So, I guess I was right about you and Draco then." Said Jack, emerging from the shadows. Chloe jumped back in surprise.
"Good God, Jack, don't do that to me! Not when I'm this tired anyway. What do you mean?" She asked with another yawn.
"About you and him. We've had this conversation before."
"And we've ended this conversation before. Honestly, Jack, I shouldn't have to tell you again, I'm not interested in Draco!" She gulped, remembering her thoughts back on the bench. "Besides, you shouldn't talk! Look who went to the dance with Ashley. I should be the one that's jealous!" She half teased, as she realized she had actually been jealous.
"Yeah, alright. You've got me there." He admitted. "Sorry, Chloe. I get kind of crazy sometimes."
"Sometimes!" She cried, throwing her arms up in the air in mock frustration.
Jack rolled his eyes. "Yeah, well, you're not so normal either."
"Never said I was." She retorted. This brought them to the Common Room. Chloe bid him goodnight, heading up the last set of stairs she'd have to take before she could finally go to bed.
She entered the Dorm. Roz was sitting on her bed, she glared at Chloe as she entered.
"Well if it isn't the home wrecker herself!" She hissed.
Chloe stopped in mid yawn. "Roz," she said shaking her head, "I would hardly call myself a home wrecker. Seriously."
"Well, you're definitely a date wrecker!" Roz cried.
"I wouldn't say that either." Chloe said cooly. "It was only one dance. You make a great big deal out of everything. Calm down..."
"Only a dance? I saw you two, you looked as if you were in love or something!" She spat. "Looking into eachothers eyes, dancing off in your own little corner, with my date? Yeah, Chloe, you are a date wrecker!"
"Stop saying that!" Chloe yelled. "My date wasn't put off in the least."
"Well he should've been. Besides, you not only ruined my date, you went in after your sister's too!"
Chloe spun around. "What did you say?"
"You. And Harry Potter. Were Kissing. In the courtyard." Roz said clearly, talking to Chloe as if she were stupid.
"Where'd you hear that from?" Chloe hissed.
"Jessika." Roz replied smugly. "She's not too happy about it either. You'll find yourself quite unpopular around here, going around kissing Gryffindors. So many people don't like you already, they seemed to think being friends with them was bad enough."
Chloe sighed in frustration, wondering where everyone was hearing this. She thanked God that Jack hadn't heard yet. "Where is Jessika?" She asked, looking around.
"I don't know, she just came up to grab her cloak. Probably off somewhere with her date. At least he's a Slytherin..." Roz trailed off.
Chloe just nodded her head. "Yes, yes he is. So happy you're able to recognize others from your own house."
Then she marched over to her bed, pulling open her trunk to grab her pajamas as Roz closed the curtains of her bed. Chloe pulled them on, then she too hopped into bed, pulling the drape tightly around her. She willed sleep to come, yet it wouldn't. Her head was too busy going over what had just happened. She grabbed her head on both sides, shaking it. Then she stopped, realizing how stupid that really was. It wasn't as if it would help the thoughts in her head go away. It just seemed appropriate at the time, she reasoned with herself. Then she shook her head again. Her mind had wandered off, and she realized it would be a while until it finally came back. She turned over onto her side, facing the wall.
"So typical of Roz to ruin everything..." She muttered, closing her eyes furiously. Tired, so, so tired, she thought, trying to convince herself. It was no use. Chloe sighed loudly, flopping onto her back, gazing back at the ceiling.
"Do you think you can toss and turn and sigh any louder, Chloe?!" Roz shouted from across the room.
Chloe sighed loudly once more. It was going to be a long night.
*(A/N)* Well, well, well. For all you Chloe/Harry ppl out there (*nudgenudgeLara*) I'm not sure how many there were, but there you are! Hmm, let me see, Draco, Jack and Harry. I'm trying my best not to make her a Mary-Sue, but I've set myself up here!!! Whatever, at least Parvati's gotten her way with Frederick! *smiles naughtily*
Not sure what's going on from here. Sorry this took so long to get up, don't expect the next one anytime soon, I've got Christmas, New Year's and 3 projects to do!! AAUUUGGHH!!! I thought they called this Christmas Break!!!
Anyone else bogged down with homework?
Anyway, *MERRY CHRISTMAS AND A HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!*
*Sleeping~Beauty*
ps. I apologize in advance if that AN made no sense whatsoever. Like Chloe I am tired. So, so, tired. And if I don't get this up by at least tomorrow, I fear that Lara and Laine will kidnap me, tie me up and force me to write!! Anyway, I'm really going now, I promi-
ZAP
Computer: Thank God she and her mindless babbling are finally gone!! Review?? Thank you, don't mind if you do!