Chapter Three…
Harry
danced three more dances with Paravati and enjoyed himself.
Paravati was a nice girl. She was funny, loved jokes and had
a great sense of humor. She wasn't bad looking either. She also was a good
dancer and hadn't minded when Harry had left her to talk to Ron.
But, on the other hand, Harry found her bubbly personality
somewhat straining. He knew that she expected him to make her laugh, and Harry
knew that he wasn't that much of a great joke teller. Whenever she would look
at him with an expectant look on her face, Harry knew that it was time to say
something witty. But whatever came out, it was mediocre. Harry started
stuttering and somebody or the other always ruined the punch line. Also, the
fact that he was The Great Harry Potter, the downfall of He Who Must Not Be
Named, people expected him to excel in everything he did. And Paravati was no
exception in these 'Harry believers'. Because of this tension, Harry was
totally drained physically and emotionally at the end of the fourth dance.
"Paravati, can I get you something?" Harry asked her when
the Weird Sisters ended another one of their foot-tapping songs. (Harry would
have enjoyed it if only his feet hadn't hurt so much at every tapping.) What
Harry really wanted to do was to excuse himself so that he could find out
whether Ron was back.
What he didn't know was that in the opposite corner of the
room, an unhappy Krum was thinking along the same lines about Hermione.
"Awright, Harry," Paravati said smiling at him. "I'm kinda
tired of dancing myself!" she finished and gave him a grin.
Harry smiled at her too, and said: "Aw, caught in the act!"
and laughing, they both made their way to the buffet table.
*
Cho was miserable.
Cedric was the person she loved and he had asked her out. He
had been an ideal date. He had waited for her when she took long dressing up,
told her how beautiful she looked when she at last emerged, he had danced with
her and perfectly corresponded with her every move, he had even given her a
silver watch, which had an enchanted dial that told her all she needed to know
by itself, as an early birthday present.
But now he had deserted her.
They had been happily (or so she had thought) dancing
together when Pansy, a Sytherin girl, had come up to them.
Cho had to admit that the other girl had been looking
stunning.
Pansy was wearing black robes that had a hint of sparkle in
them, which twinkled whenever she walked in her elegant manner. (Cho guessed
that she must have enchanted herself with some kind of 'refinement spell', it
wasn't as if Snape would stop her since she was in his house) She was also
wearing too much makeup that suited her splendidly. Her eyes were a cold gray
and the mascara was making them look bigger. She was also wearing some kind of
glittering peach gloss on her lips that didn't wear off, even when she drank
from her goblet about a trillion times.
Anyway, Pansy had come up to them and asked Cedric whether
he would dance with her. Cho had been sure that Cedric would refuse. Besides,
she had thought, who ever heard of a girl cutting in?
But Cedric had shocked her by agreeing as if it was the most
natural thing in the world to leave your date in the middle of a SLOW song to
go off with another girl!
Now, thirty minutes later, Cho was sitting on some chairs,
having no clue as to where her date was. She silently cursed her luck and stood
up.
She was leaving.
*
Hermione was now at her wits end.
She stood in the corridor for a couple of seconds, wondering
what to do next. Ron couldn't be found anywhere. At last, tired and sore, she
made her way to the Gryffindor common room again. She sat down on one of the
comfy sofas and stared into nothingness. Suddenly, she heard a scratching sound
from the window. Frowning, she went over to it glanced outside.
It was an owl.
"Owl post? At this time of night? I wonder whose it is…"
said Hermione, opening the window and letting it in.
She recognized it as one of the school owls since it had
Hogwarts' emblem engraved in the collar it wore. She patted its neck and untied
the string holding the letter to the owl's leg.
"Why, it's addressed to me!" Hermione exclaimed, looking at
her name printed on the envelope. Hermione was very confused. Who on earth
would send her an owl from the school?
'Uhh… I haven't done anything wrong have I? Have I been missing
any of the classes?' thinking the worst, she opened the letter with
trembling fingers.
Her eyes grew wide at what was written.
*
"Hey Cho!" said Harry, still a bit nervous and embarrassed
at talking to her ever since she had refused his offer of going to Yule Ball
with him.
Harry had been eating a chicken drumstick when he noticed
Cho walking resolutely towards the Great Hall's doors. She was looking even
more beautiful than usual, her blonde hair loose and her baby blue robes
swishing around her. Still, Harry noticed that she looked sad.
Cho looked at Harry and gave him a feeble smile. She
seemed to be deciding whether to leave right there or linger and talk to him.
Finally, she seemed to have made up her mind as she came towards him.
"Hi Harry. Having fun?" she said, looking distracted. Her
mind obviously wasn't wondering whether Harry was enjoying himself or not.
"Yeah, sure…" Harry said.
'Where's Cedric?' thought Harry, looking at Cho's
ashen countenance. And why was Cho looking as if she had just come from a
double Potions class? He handed her a goblet of ice cool water, hoping to snap
her out of her trance.
As Cho drank the water Harry had offered her, Harry
thought of the pros or cons of talking about Cedric. After Cedric had asked Cho
out, Harry didn't like him one bit.
What if he mentioned him and Cho would leave Harry to
return to her date? Harry wanted to spend as much time with the girl as
possible.
"So, where are you going? Not leaving yet I hope." said
Harry instead.
The water and his presence seemed to soothe Cho. She took
a big gulp of her drink and then candidly replied: "Actually, I'm feeling
terrible and want to leave."
Harry was startled at hearing this. Everyone had
whispering that Cedric and Cho made the model couple. What had gone wrong?
"Why?" Harry
managed to say staring at the girl.
Cho gave a sad smile that pulled at Harry's heartstrings.
He indicated towards the Hall's door and together they both left the hall.
*
Hermione looked as if she had seen a ghost. The message that
the owl had brought was still staring at her from the oak table it was placed
on. Her eyes scanned the contents of the letter for the fifth time.
Dear Hermione, (It said)
How I've waiting to confess my true feeling to you… Watching you has been such a
thrill for me… Hermione, I love you. I don't know whether you have the same
feelings for me, so I'm writing this letter instead of confronting you. Please
don't think I'm a coward. If you say no to me, I know I'll die! I just had to
write to you… I've waited for so long…
Love,
Your real admirer.
PS: That Weasley isn't worth you. He doesn't even care
about you. Don't waste your time on him.
*
Ron entered the Great Hall once again. His brothers were
having a great time, he saw. They were trying to impress some girls by their
jokes as usual. Only this time, Fred was talking to only one girl, and now he
had started dancing with her.
'Hey! That's Paravati he's dancing with!' thought
Ron with a jolt. 'That's Harry's date! What's she doing with my brother? And
she's looking so happy too! And where in the world's Harry?' he searched
the crowd for his friend.
'Don't tell me he's not here either! And what about
Hermione?' thought Ron, remembering his purpose of coming into the
hall again.
He noticed Pavarati, his date, was now with Malfoy's gang
and Ron smirked. 'Partying with the enemy I see!' he thought and
continued to look for Hermione.
She was nowhere to be seen! Krum was taking to some of his
'groupies' by the table and he didn't seem to find anything amiss.
Ron kept searching, now walking through the crowd of
students.
*
Victor Krum was enjoying himself.
'This Hogvarts izn't so bad, I see…' he
thought looking at another girl's flushed face who held out her arm for him to
autograph it for her.
"Hey Krum! Where's your date?" said a student Krum had been
talking to earlier. "I've brought mine!" the boy continued, holding up his
date's hand as she giggled.
"Yeah… who is the lucky girl?" the girl said, fluttering her
eyelashes at Krum. The boy however didn't seem to find this amusing as he led
her away from Krum, a sour expression on is face.
Krum laughed and then drained nother goblet of beer.
'That idiot does have a point though…' Krum
thought, frowning. 'Where is Hermioniny? She iz supposed to be vith mee…'
Resolute, Krum made his way through the crowd to find his
date.
*
Hermione read the letter again and then neatly folded it.
The owl was still there, but it had gone to sleep, curled up on her desk.
Hermione tucked the letter into her robes and sat down next to the owl with a
sigh, being careful not to wake the sound asleep animal.
She was confused.
Who in the world would send her an anonymous love letter? To
her, Hermione Granger, the one everyone calls miss Know-it-All, the one who
according to the enchanted mirror wasn't pretty, just cute in a bushy sort of
way.
Self consciously, Hermione flattened her hair with her hand.
'Oh gosh!' Hermione thought, putting the
letter into her journal. She chewed her bottom lip thoughtfully. 'Somebody
loves me? I told Ron others had noticed that I was a girl if he hadn't!' Hermione
scowled at remembering that Ron hadn't even considered taking her to the ball.
'But who could it be? The letter says that he's been watching me… so it has
to be somebody I know, right? But who? Who?'
Hermione sat silently for a moment or two.
Suddenly, somebody burst into the room. Right out the blue,
another door at the back of the Gryffindor common room crashed open also.
Ron Weasley and Victor Krum glared at each other across the
room and then at the same time stared at a bewildered Hermione.
**
Hey hey
hey! Chapter Three's done too! Yay! Now it's review time if u please! ^_^ And
thanx fer reading! Next chapter coming soon!
