Note: I do not own Harry Potter. J.K. Rowling is the official writer of the
Harry Potter books as you all know.
It's the 5th Chapter! Woohoo! Sorry for not updating for a long time. I've been really busy with schoolwork. Anyway, please review. Thanks! Happy reading!
---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ----------- Chapter 5: Sally Anne Perks
December has finally arrived. It was a Wednesday of the second week of the month and the wind is colder than ever. The students were busy talking about the upcoming Yule Ball on Christmas day which happens yearly ever since the Triwizard tournament. Harry and his friends were at the Great Hall for breakfast.
"I wonder who my date would be." Neville said as he sliced a piece of pork chop on his plate.
"Padma and I are going together." Dean said as if it wasn't obvious.
"Obviously." Parvati said as she ate a small piece of corn muffin.
Suddenly, someone came near them.
"Hi guys!" said a petit Ravenclaw girl. She had black shoulder length hair with tiny braids on its side.
"Hi Sally." Parvati greeted. The others greeted her as well.
Sally Anne Perks is a 6th year Ravenclaw. She's not that close to Harry and his friends but they always see each other during class.
"What's up?" Seamus asked her.
"Well..I was wondering if you guys are interested in joining the Yule Ball committee. Professor Dumbledore suggested that we should put up a committee so that the ball would be properly organized."
"I see..." Seamus said.
"So what do you say?" Sally said cheerfully.
"Well..we'll think about it." Hermione said awkwardly when no one seemed to be interested in joining.
"Alright. But please let me know, Ok." Sally said cheerfully once again as she started to walk away, but suddenly she came back.
"Umm..Ron." Sally said shyly. Ron looked up at her. "I watched your match last month. You were really great." "Oh..Thanks." Ron said smiling.
"Well...I'll see you in class.." Sally said as she went back to the Slytherin table. Harry and the others, except for Lavender, stared at Ron as if they were trying to figure out what was going on.
"What are you staring at?" Ron asked them.
"Is it just me, or did Sally's eyes had a little twinkle in them while she was talking to you?" Parvati said as she ate a piece of meatball.
"What?" Ron said clueless.
"She was checking you out, Ron!" Seamus said. Ron raised an eyebrow.
"Yeah. She looked nervous while she was talking to you.." Ginny said.
"You don't even know that." Ron said a bit embarrassed.
"Yeah..What makes you so sure about that?" Lavender asked a bit irritated.
"Hello? Lavender? If someone likes you, he would be nervous around you. You would also notice that he's very shy and that his face is turning pink. It all fits! Sally was exactly like that when she was talking to Ron." Parvati said casually. Ron blushed a bit upon hearing this. Harry and Hermione exchanged looks. Ron was exactly like that whenever he's talking to Lavender but they are the only ones who noticed. They were the only ones who knew about Ron's secret crush on Lavender and they have already sworn to secrecy that they wouldn't tell a single soul about it.
"Don't tell me you didn't notice.." Dean told Lavender.
"Sorry. I didn't." Lavender answered coldly.
Finally the bell rang. The students hurriedly went to their respective classrooms.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------- - TRANSFIGURATION CLASSROOM
The Transfiguration was still tidy as usual. Gryffindor will be having this class with Ravenclaw. Prof. McGonagall sat on her desk as she waited for the students to settle down. When everyone was ready, she cleared her throat and spoke.
"Good Morning Class. Today I will be teaching you how to transfigure small insects into big objects. For example, this grasshopper." Prof. McGonagall pointed her wand at the grasshopper, standing on the floor. "Let's say I wanted to transfigure it into a cabinet. Just point your wand to it and say 'Largogus cabinet'. Always say the word 'Largogus' before the name of the thing you want to transfigure it into. Now let's try, who wants to volunteer?" Sally raised her hand first before Hermione could.
"Yes, Ms. Perks. Go ahead." Prof. McGonagall said kindly.
Sally went in front excitedly. Dean and Seamus started teasing Ron who was seated in front of them with Harry.
"Trying to impress you, eh?" Dean said jokingly to Ron. Lavender started listening as she sat across them in the next row.
"Stop it!" Ron whispered.
"Oh come on! It's not our fault that you're amazing quidditch skills and your captivating looks captured her heart."Seamus said. Dean and Harry giggled. Ron gave them a sarcastic look. Meanwhile, their attention was back to the lesson.
"Now all of you watch closely!" Prof. McGonagall commanded. Sally kneeled on the floor, pointed her wand at the grasshopper and muttered "Largogus cabinet"
In just a second, the tiny grasshopper turned into a large wooden cabinet.
"Very good, Ms. Perks! 10 points to Ravenclaw!"
Sally went back to her seat. She happened to pass by Ron. She smiled nervously at him and then continued walking, back to her seat. Dean, Seamus and Harry saw this. As usual, Dean and Seamus started teasing Ron.
Seamus gave out a sort of whistling sound.
"Man, what did you do to her?" Seamus said.
"She's totally mesmerized." Dean said dreamily.
Meanwhile, Prof. McGonagall transformed the cabinet back to a grasshopper and placed it inside a medium sized candy jar. As she continued her discussion, she let everyone transform a lady bug into a desk. Luckily, everyone was able to do it without making mistakes. Of course, Prof. McGonagall didn't forget to give them homework.
"For your homework, I'd like you to have a research on Animal-Human Transfiguration. Since it is quite complicated, I'll ask you to do it in pairs. Now, I already chose who should pair up with who. Now, listen carefully as I mention the pairs." Prof. McGonagall put her eyeglasses on and read the list of pairs written on a parchment.
"Sally Anne Perks and Lisa Turpin, Padma Patil and Parvati Patil, Neville Longbottom and Lindsay Nott."
Prof. McGonagall continued reading the list. Dean was paired up with his bestfriend, Seamus while Mandy Brocklehurst was paired up with Terry Boot. Finally, Prof. McGonagall already reached the last 2 pairs of the list.
"Ronald Weasley and Lavender Brown and lastly, Harry Potter and Hermione Granger. Maximum of 2 parchments, back to back and minimum of 1 parchment to be passed this Friday."
Ron gave a quick glance at Lavender who was sitting across him in the next row and coincidentally, she was doing the same thing. They gave each other a nervous smile and turned away from each other, blushing. Hermione couldn't help but smile knowing that she has to work with Harry. Before the class ended, Prof. McGonagall gave a few reminders.
"I'm sure that everyone knows about the Yule Ball which will be held on December 25th, Christmas Day. Everyone should be at the Great Hall at exactly 7 pm. Attire should be formal and everyone should have dates. If you're interested in joining the Yule Ball committee, you can talk to Ms. Perks or you can just simply read the reminders posted on the bulletin board inside your common rooms. Class Dismissed."
As expected, the Yule Ball has been a big issue during lunch. After lunch, Harry and his friends proceeded to the Greenhouses for their Herbology class.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ------------ GREENHOUSE THREE
The Greenhouse was still filled with crawling vines and unusual plants. Gryffindor has to share this class, still with Ravenclaw. Everyone settled down as Prof. Sprout entered the room.
"Good Morning Class!" Prof. Sprout greeted cheerfully.
"Good Morning Professor Sprout!" greeted the students.
"Today we will be doing an exciting activity. Since the holiday season is fast approaching, I decided that all of you would make your own Christmas tree as a project. Now, you won't be doing it alone, instead you will be working on it in pairs. To be fair enough, I will be picking out your names from this pot." Prof. Sprout said, showing everyone an empty pot. "As soon as I call your names, you can work start working on it already. The materials you need for the tree is already prepared on your desks. Now please listen as I call your names...Hermione Granger...and Harry Potter.."
Hermione blushed. Once again, she has to work with Harry. Harry, who was standing beside her, gave her a smile as they went to their working desk. Prof. Sprout continued picking put names from the empty pot. Padma Patil was paired up with her own boyfriend, Dean Thomas, Seamus and Neville has to work together. Finally, there are only 4 pieces of paper left inside the pot. Prof. Sprout picked the final two pairs immediately.
"Let's see...Parvati Patil and Lavender Brown and..Ronald Weasley and Sally Anne Perks."
Ron got surprised. He was never paired with someone from other houses. Sally on the other hand, walked excitedly toward him. Lavender was eyeing on both of them like they were some dragon egg waiting to be hatched. Everyone started working. They seemed to enjoy this activity, except for Ron, who was still feeling awkward. He wasn't even talking ever since he and Sally started enchanting the Christmas balls made exactly with twigs. Sally had a hard time concentrating. Being in front of the person you like was a bit of a distraction, but finally, she decided to break the long silence.
"Nice...Christmas balls." Sally said awkwardly.
"Y-yeah." Ron said giving her a faint smile.
Again, the both of them were silent, but not for so long.
"So..umm..do you have a date...at the Yule ball already?" Sally asked awkwardly as she placed fake snow on the small pine tree.
"Ah.no."
"I see.."
Lavender, who was sitting with Parvati on the desk near Prof. Sprout's, kept glancing and looking at Ron and Sally. Parvati, who was putting glitters on their decorations, noticed this.
"Are you Ok?" Parvati asked her best friend, but Lavender did not seem to hear her as she kept her eyes focused on Ron and Sally.
"Hello? Lavender!" Parvati waved her right hand in front of Lavender's face to make sure that she was still sane.
"W-what?" Lavender said as she moved her eyes away from Ron and Sally.
"I was asking you if you're Ok."
"Y-yeah..I.am."
But Parvati wasn't convinced, although she didn't show it. Everyone continued working on their Christmas trees. Before the class ended, Prof. Sprout gave out a few words.
"The Christmas trees will be passed this Friday. The most beautifully decorated tree will be displayed at the Yule Ball on Christmas Day. Class Dismissed."
---------------------------------------------------------------------------- --- Harry and his friends climbed up the marble staircases toward the Gryffindor Common Room, this time with someone else with them. It was none other than Sally.
"Is it Ok if I go with you?" Sally asked sincerely.
"Yeah. No problem." Hermione answered.
After a few minutes of climbing from stair to stair, finally, everyone reached the Gryffindor tower. But there's a bit of a problem; Sally was still there and it seems that she has no plans of leaving yet---as if she was waiting for the others to leave her and Ron alone. But things aren't what Sally expected. She was surprised to see Ron, going toward the Gryffindor Common Room entrance with his friends, without even saying goodbye to her. She frowned a bit and as she called for Ron.
"Ron! Wait!" Sally said as she walked a few steps towards Ron. Ron turned his head back at her. "I thought we're going to finish our Christmas tree?" she added as she looked at Ron batting her eyes a bit.
"Uh." Ron said clueless. He couldn't remember Sally telling him about this. He glanced at his friends, who were standing behind him. Lavender kept her head down. Ron gave his attention back to Sally, but she started pulling Ron's arm, motioning him to come with her.
"Let's go, Ron. We better finish this tree before Friday. Oh and---" Sally paused as she gave a cheerful look at Ron's friends. "---thanks for letting me come with you! C'mon Ron!"
Sally, who still had her hand clenched on Ron's arm, dragged the poor red haired, freckled faced boy, not actually realizing what was going on. When they, not even their shadows, were no longer seen, Harry and his friends gave each other a sort of 'what-is-she-going-to-d-with-him' look, except Lavender, who still kept her head down as she entered the Gryffindor Common Room first.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------- -------- LIBRARY
Sally and Ron headed for the library to finish their tree. Ron felt really awkward and uncomfortable but he still tried his best on concentrating in putting enchantments on the tiny Christmas bells. Sally on the other hand seemed a bit normal when she talked to Ron. She treated him as if he has been her best friend since they were little. She told him about the sort of things she's fond of like how she loves to dance and how she find some subjects really boring. She was a real chatterbox, Ron thought. Sally went on with her stories although she hasn't noticed that Ron wasn't listening to her. Ron just kept staring dully on the table while he kept on nodding so that Sally would still think that he's listening although he's bored to death. When Sally was telling Ron about her mom's unusual way of de-gnoming their gardens, something caught his attention. On Sally's left wrist was an orange magical sports watch of the Chudley Cannons, his favorite Quidditch team, which he noticed when Sally placed her arms on the table as she still kept on blabbering about some stuff. Ron couldn't help but get excited. So excited that he put the medium sized tree aside, and suddenly grabbed Sally's left wrist without even realizing what he was doing. He stared dreamily at the watch, following the moving of the second hand which was a broomstick. Sally was shocked at Ron's actions.
"Ron.what's wrong?" Sally asked. Ron, who was now in the right mind, quickly let go of Sally's hand. He was totally embarrassed.
"Nothing..y-you have a nice watch." Ron said still with an embarrassed tone.
"Oh this." Sally said showing her left wrist to Ron. "My brother gave it to me. He's one of the rookies for the Chudley Cannons Quidditch team next season" she added.
Ron's eyes widened with wonderment. As everybody knows, Ron's favorite quidditch team is none other than the Chudley Cannons and to think that Sally is actually a sister of one of the players, which is very unexpected, Ron almost jumped off his seat with excitement. Sally, who was quite amused with Ron's expression, continued.
"Actually my parents were former players of the Chudley Cannons in the year 1979. My dad played as seeker and my mom played as chaser" Sally said with her head up, trying to impress Ron. As expected, Ron's eyes widened once more which was followed by a really big smile. He never expected Sally to be so cool.
"Wow!" Ron said smiling. "But how come you don't play Quidditch in your house?" he asked curiously.
"Well." Sally paused for a while, then she continued. "I don't know..I'm still not good at it. My dad trains me every summer. Maybe I can get on the team next year."
The both of them smiled at each other. Ron thought that he'll never get along with Sally. But he was wrong. Sally is one of the coolest persons he'd ever met, he said to himself.
They continued working on their Christmas tree, which they both decided to decorate in orange. They chatted mostly about Quidditch stuff. They got along pretty well especially when it comes to that sport. It was already half past 8 in the evening when both of them decided to return to their common rooms. Ron, being such a gentleman, offered to accompany Sally to the Ravenclaw common room since it was already a bit late. As they finally reached the Ravenclaw common room entrance, both of them decided to bid each other goodbye.
"So.I'll see you around tomorrow." Ron said slowly.
"Yeah. Thanks for accompanying me. Goodnight, Ron" Sally said smiling and then she walked slowly to the common room entrance, then out of sight. Ron made his way to Gryffindor Tower as well. He was happy to have made a new friend. After about 15 minutes of walking, finally he reached the Gryffindor Common room.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---- GRYFFINDOR COMMON ROOM
It was already 9pm when Ron entered the common room. The room was starting to empty except for his friends, who sat at the couch near the fireplace. Harry quickly called for him.
"Hey Ron.." Harry said as he closed his Potions book.
"Hey" Ron said as he sat beside Harry. He looked around for any sign of Lavender and then suddenly he caught eye of her. She was sitting at the opposite sofa beside Parvati. Lavender was looking at him with great disbelief, then continued finishing her History of Magic homework.
"So..what happened?" Seamus asked curiously.
"Nothing."
"Nothing?" Hermione asked with a bit of doubt on her tone.
"Y-yeah." Ron answered back flatly.
"You are so boring, Ron. Aren't you going to at least tell what happened to both of you?" Ginny said desperately.
"Like what?"
"What did you "DISCOVER" about her?" Dean said casually, not taking his eyes off his Astronomy book.
"Well." Ron gave a slight smile. "She's one of the coolest girls I've ever met!" he added now smiling totally. Lavender raised both eyebrows as she stared once again at Ron.
"What? Why? How?" Parvati asked without even breathing while she was saying it.
"Well..her brother..." Ron paused for a while, then continued. "I know you wouldn't believe it, I actually did not at first but it's true. Her brother is a rookie for the Chudley Cannons next season."
"What?" Seamus said with his eyes widened.
"THE Chudley Cannons?" Harry said excitedly.
"Yeah. And guess what her parents played for the Chudley Cannons too. 1979 to be exact." Ron said proudly.
"Wow." Dean said amazed.
"But why doesn't she play for the Ravenclaw Quidditch team?' Neville asked.
"She told me that she's not quite prepared yet. Maybe she'll be on the team next year. Oh I bet you, she's going to be a great player." Ron said more proudly.
"So that's it. That's what made her so cool." Ginny said coldly. "What do you mean 'that's it'? Almost all of her relatives were players for the Cannons before. And she can play good Quidditch.!" Ron said keeping his chin up. Lavender was getting irritable.
"So you're saying that she's cool 'cause she can play Quidditch." Hermione said flatly.
"Well.you can say that." Ron said casually.
"What is with Quidditch that impresses guys so much? Especially when the girl they like plays well. I mean, you think that some girls are cool because she can play Quidditch? Tell you what, that is the dumbest excuse I've ever heard in my entire life! It doesn't mean that if you play Quidditch, you're already popular, pretty and perfect!" Hermione said angrily. Everyone stared at her in silence.
"Nobody said that Hermione." Harry said in a matter-of-fact tone.
"Of course no guy would admit that. But I've seen a lot of guys act like that." Hermione answered back.
"Why is it such a big deal to you? So what if girls who play Quidditch impress us? We can't deny how good they are with the sport. Not only that, some players look cute too.What do you care about it anyway?" Harry said getting a bit irritable as well. Everyone stayed silent as they listened to Harry and Hermione's deep conversation.
"You don't have to like a girl because she's pretty and that she can play good Quidditch. It's not about the looks, it's about the attitude. Some girls may be pretty but are you sure that she's pretty at the inside as well? Some girls may be good at Quidditch but is she a good person inside as well? Sometimes you guys are so insensitive. You don't even think about how someone cares for you so much and worse, you don't even realize that that person is right in front of you." Hermione said looking at angrily at Harry. It's as if she was making him realize that she was pertaining to him. "How lucky THAT girl must be. Being a good Quidditch player and having good looks, all the guys must be desperate to have her.." She added sarcastically and then she picked up her things from the center table and walked rapidly towards the spiral staircase leading to the girls' dormitories, then out of sight.
Hermione never got THAT angry before. She was quite relieved now that she was able to tell her innermost feelings about the thought of Harry liking Cho, although she never expected to burst like a balloon filled with hot gas inside waiting to be popped. Harry felt a bit irritated at Hermione although he decided not to tell anyone. As for Lavender, she wasn't speaking to Ron which made him totally clueless why. Everyone had a goodnight sleep as they looked forward to the following days to come.
End of Chapter 5
------------------------------------------------------------------- Well..I hope you liked the 5th chapter. The 6th chapter will be more on Harry and Hermione so watch out for it. See ya!
~Kathleen (a.k.a. the-key)
It's the 5th Chapter! Woohoo! Sorry for not updating for a long time. I've been really busy with schoolwork. Anyway, please review. Thanks! Happy reading!
---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ----------- Chapter 5: Sally Anne Perks
December has finally arrived. It was a Wednesday of the second week of the month and the wind is colder than ever. The students were busy talking about the upcoming Yule Ball on Christmas day which happens yearly ever since the Triwizard tournament. Harry and his friends were at the Great Hall for breakfast.
"I wonder who my date would be." Neville said as he sliced a piece of pork chop on his plate.
"Padma and I are going together." Dean said as if it wasn't obvious.
"Obviously." Parvati said as she ate a small piece of corn muffin.
Suddenly, someone came near them.
"Hi guys!" said a petit Ravenclaw girl. She had black shoulder length hair with tiny braids on its side.
"Hi Sally." Parvati greeted. The others greeted her as well.
Sally Anne Perks is a 6th year Ravenclaw. She's not that close to Harry and his friends but they always see each other during class.
"What's up?" Seamus asked her.
"Well..I was wondering if you guys are interested in joining the Yule Ball committee. Professor Dumbledore suggested that we should put up a committee so that the ball would be properly organized."
"I see..." Seamus said.
"So what do you say?" Sally said cheerfully.
"Well..we'll think about it." Hermione said awkwardly when no one seemed to be interested in joining.
"Alright. But please let me know, Ok." Sally said cheerfully once again as she started to walk away, but suddenly she came back.
"Umm..Ron." Sally said shyly. Ron looked up at her. "I watched your match last month. You were really great." "Oh..Thanks." Ron said smiling.
"Well...I'll see you in class.." Sally said as she went back to the Slytherin table. Harry and the others, except for Lavender, stared at Ron as if they were trying to figure out what was going on.
"What are you staring at?" Ron asked them.
"Is it just me, or did Sally's eyes had a little twinkle in them while she was talking to you?" Parvati said as she ate a piece of meatball.
"What?" Ron said clueless.
"She was checking you out, Ron!" Seamus said. Ron raised an eyebrow.
"Yeah. She looked nervous while she was talking to you.." Ginny said.
"You don't even know that." Ron said a bit embarrassed.
"Yeah..What makes you so sure about that?" Lavender asked a bit irritated.
"Hello? Lavender? If someone likes you, he would be nervous around you. You would also notice that he's very shy and that his face is turning pink. It all fits! Sally was exactly like that when she was talking to Ron." Parvati said casually. Ron blushed a bit upon hearing this. Harry and Hermione exchanged looks. Ron was exactly like that whenever he's talking to Lavender but they are the only ones who noticed. They were the only ones who knew about Ron's secret crush on Lavender and they have already sworn to secrecy that they wouldn't tell a single soul about it.
"Don't tell me you didn't notice.." Dean told Lavender.
"Sorry. I didn't." Lavender answered coldly.
Finally the bell rang. The students hurriedly went to their respective classrooms.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------- - TRANSFIGURATION CLASSROOM
The Transfiguration was still tidy as usual. Gryffindor will be having this class with Ravenclaw. Prof. McGonagall sat on her desk as she waited for the students to settle down. When everyone was ready, she cleared her throat and spoke.
"Good Morning Class. Today I will be teaching you how to transfigure small insects into big objects. For example, this grasshopper." Prof. McGonagall pointed her wand at the grasshopper, standing on the floor. "Let's say I wanted to transfigure it into a cabinet. Just point your wand to it and say 'Largogus cabinet'. Always say the word 'Largogus' before the name of the thing you want to transfigure it into. Now let's try, who wants to volunteer?" Sally raised her hand first before Hermione could.
"Yes, Ms. Perks. Go ahead." Prof. McGonagall said kindly.
Sally went in front excitedly. Dean and Seamus started teasing Ron who was seated in front of them with Harry.
"Trying to impress you, eh?" Dean said jokingly to Ron. Lavender started listening as she sat across them in the next row.
"Stop it!" Ron whispered.
"Oh come on! It's not our fault that you're amazing quidditch skills and your captivating looks captured her heart."Seamus said. Dean and Harry giggled. Ron gave them a sarcastic look. Meanwhile, their attention was back to the lesson.
"Now all of you watch closely!" Prof. McGonagall commanded. Sally kneeled on the floor, pointed her wand at the grasshopper and muttered "Largogus cabinet"
In just a second, the tiny grasshopper turned into a large wooden cabinet.
"Very good, Ms. Perks! 10 points to Ravenclaw!"
Sally went back to her seat. She happened to pass by Ron. She smiled nervously at him and then continued walking, back to her seat. Dean, Seamus and Harry saw this. As usual, Dean and Seamus started teasing Ron.
Seamus gave out a sort of whistling sound.
"Man, what did you do to her?" Seamus said.
"She's totally mesmerized." Dean said dreamily.
Meanwhile, Prof. McGonagall transformed the cabinet back to a grasshopper and placed it inside a medium sized candy jar. As she continued her discussion, she let everyone transform a lady bug into a desk. Luckily, everyone was able to do it without making mistakes. Of course, Prof. McGonagall didn't forget to give them homework.
"For your homework, I'd like you to have a research on Animal-Human Transfiguration. Since it is quite complicated, I'll ask you to do it in pairs. Now, I already chose who should pair up with who. Now, listen carefully as I mention the pairs." Prof. McGonagall put her eyeglasses on and read the list of pairs written on a parchment.
"Sally Anne Perks and Lisa Turpin, Padma Patil and Parvati Patil, Neville Longbottom and Lindsay Nott."
Prof. McGonagall continued reading the list. Dean was paired up with his bestfriend, Seamus while Mandy Brocklehurst was paired up with Terry Boot. Finally, Prof. McGonagall already reached the last 2 pairs of the list.
"Ronald Weasley and Lavender Brown and lastly, Harry Potter and Hermione Granger. Maximum of 2 parchments, back to back and minimum of 1 parchment to be passed this Friday."
Ron gave a quick glance at Lavender who was sitting across him in the next row and coincidentally, she was doing the same thing. They gave each other a nervous smile and turned away from each other, blushing. Hermione couldn't help but smile knowing that she has to work with Harry. Before the class ended, Prof. McGonagall gave a few reminders.
"I'm sure that everyone knows about the Yule Ball which will be held on December 25th, Christmas Day. Everyone should be at the Great Hall at exactly 7 pm. Attire should be formal and everyone should have dates. If you're interested in joining the Yule Ball committee, you can talk to Ms. Perks or you can just simply read the reminders posted on the bulletin board inside your common rooms. Class Dismissed."
As expected, the Yule Ball has been a big issue during lunch. After lunch, Harry and his friends proceeded to the Greenhouses for their Herbology class.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ------------ GREENHOUSE THREE
The Greenhouse was still filled with crawling vines and unusual plants. Gryffindor has to share this class, still with Ravenclaw. Everyone settled down as Prof. Sprout entered the room.
"Good Morning Class!" Prof. Sprout greeted cheerfully.
"Good Morning Professor Sprout!" greeted the students.
"Today we will be doing an exciting activity. Since the holiday season is fast approaching, I decided that all of you would make your own Christmas tree as a project. Now, you won't be doing it alone, instead you will be working on it in pairs. To be fair enough, I will be picking out your names from this pot." Prof. Sprout said, showing everyone an empty pot. "As soon as I call your names, you can work start working on it already. The materials you need for the tree is already prepared on your desks. Now please listen as I call your names...Hermione Granger...and Harry Potter.."
Hermione blushed. Once again, she has to work with Harry. Harry, who was standing beside her, gave her a smile as they went to their working desk. Prof. Sprout continued picking put names from the empty pot. Padma Patil was paired up with her own boyfriend, Dean Thomas, Seamus and Neville has to work together. Finally, there are only 4 pieces of paper left inside the pot. Prof. Sprout picked the final two pairs immediately.
"Let's see...Parvati Patil and Lavender Brown and..Ronald Weasley and Sally Anne Perks."
Ron got surprised. He was never paired with someone from other houses. Sally on the other hand, walked excitedly toward him. Lavender was eyeing on both of them like they were some dragon egg waiting to be hatched. Everyone started working. They seemed to enjoy this activity, except for Ron, who was still feeling awkward. He wasn't even talking ever since he and Sally started enchanting the Christmas balls made exactly with twigs. Sally had a hard time concentrating. Being in front of the person you like was a bit of a distraction, but finally, she decided to break the long silence.
"Nice...Christmas balls." Sally said awkwardly.
"Y-yeah." Ron said giving her a faint smile.
Again, the both of them were silent, but not for so long.
"So..umm..do you have a date...at the Yule ball already?" Sally asked awkwardly as she placed fake snow on the small pine tree.
"Ah.no."
"I see.."
Lavender, who was sitting with Parvati on the desk near Prof. Sprout's, kept glancing and looking at Ron and Sally. Parvati, who was putting glitters on their decorations, noticed this.
"Are you Ok?" Parvati asked her best friend, but Lavender did not seem to hear her as she kept her eyes focused on Ron and Sally.
"Hello? Lavender!" Parvati waved her right hand in front of Lavender's face to make sure that she was still sane.
"W-what?" Lavender said as she moved her eyes away from Ron and Sally.
"I was asking you if you're Ok."
"Y-yeah..I.am."
But Parvati wasn't convinced, although she didn't show it. Everyone continued working on their Christmas trees. Before the class ended, Prof. Sprout gave out a few words.
"The Christmas trees will be passed this Friday. The most beautifully decorated tree will be displayed at the Yule Ball on Christmas Day. Class Dismissed."
---------------------------------------------------------------------------- --- Harry and his friends climbed up the marble staircases toward the Gryffindor Common Room, this time with someone else with them. It was none other than Sally.
"Is it Ok if I go with you?" Sally asked sincerely.
"Yeah. No problem." Hermione answered.
After a few minutes of climbing from stair to stair, finally, everyone reached the Gryffindor tower. But there's a bit of a problem; Sally was still there and it seems that she has no plans of leaving yet---as if she was waiting for the others to leave her and Ron alone. But things aren't what Sally expected. She was surprised to see Ron, going toward the Gryffindor Common Room entrance with his friends, without even saying goodbye to her. She frowned a bit and as she called for Ron.
"Ron! Wait!" Sally said as she walked a few steps towards Ron. Ron turned his head back at her. "I thought we're going to finish our Christmas tree?" she added as she looked at Ron batting her eyes a bit.
"Uh." Ron said clueless. He couldn't remember Sally telling him about this. He glanced at his friends, who were standing behind him. Lavender kept her head down. Ron gave his attention back to Sally, but she started pulling Ron's arm, motioning him to come with her.
"Let's go, Ron. We better finish this tree before Friday. Oh and---" Sally paused as she gave a cheerful look at Ron's friends. "---thanks for letting me come with you! C'mon Ron!"
Sally, who still had her hand clenched on Ron's arm, dragged the poor red haired, freckled faced boy, not actually realizing what was going on. When they, not even their shadows, were no longer seen, Harry and his friends gave each other a sort of 'what-is-she-going-to-d-with-him' look, except Lavender, who still kept her head down as she entered the Gryffindor Common Room first.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------- -------- LIBRARY
Sally and Ron headed for the library to finish their tree. Ron felt really awkward and uncomfortable but he still tried his best on concentrating in putting enchantments on the tiny Christmas bells. Sally on the other hand seemed a bit normal when she talked to Ron. She treated him as if he has been her best friend since they were little. She told him about the sort of things she's fond of like how she loves to dance and how she find some subjects really boring. She was a real chatterbox, Ron thought. Sally went on with her stories although she hasn't noticed that Ron wasn't listening to her. Ron just kept staring dully on the table while he kept on nodding so that Sally would still think that he's listening although he's bored to death. When Sally was telling Ron about her mom's unusual way of de-gnoming their gardens, something caught his attention. On Sally's left wrist was an orange magical sports watch of the Chudley Cannons, his favorite Quidditch team, which he noticed when Sally placed her arms on the table as she still kept on blabbering about some stuff. Ron couldn't help but get excited. So excited that he put the medium sized tree aside, and suddenly grabbed Sally's left wrist without even realizing what he was doing. He stared dreamily at the watch, following the moving of the second hand which was a broomstick. Sally was shocked at Ron's actions.
"Ron.what's wrong?" Sally asked. Ron, who was now in the right mind, quickly let go of Sally's hand. He was totally embarrassed.
"Nothing..y-you have a nice watch." Ron said still with an embarrassed tone.
"Oh this." Sally said showing her left wrist to Ron. "My brother gave it to me. He's one of the rookies for the Chudley Cannons Quidditch team next season" she added.
Ron's eyes widened with wonderment. As everybody knows, Ron's favorite quidditch team is none other than the Chudley Cannons and to think that Sally is actually a sister of one of the players, which is very unexpected, Ron almost jumped off his seat with excitement. Sally, who was quite amused with Ron's expression, continued.
"Actually my parents were former players of the Chudley Cannons in the year 1979. My dad played as seeker and my mom played as chaser" Sally said with her head up, trying to impress Ron. As expected, Ron's eyes widened once more which was followed by a really big smile. He never expected Sally to be so cool.
"Wow!" Ron said smiling. "But how come you don't play Quidditch in your house?" he asked curiously.
"Well." Sally paused for a while, then she continued. "I don't know..I'm still not good at it. My dad trains me every summer. Maybe I can get on the team next year."
The both of them smiled at each other. Ron thought that he'll never get along with Sally. But he was wrong. Sally is one of the coolest persons he'd ever met, he said to himself.
They continued working on their Christmas tree, which they both decided to decorate in orange. They chatted mostly about Quidditch stuff. They got along pretty well especially when it comes to that sport. It was already half past 8 in the evening when both of them decided to return to their common rooms. Ron, being such a gentleman, offered to accompany Sally to the Ravenclaw common room since it was already a bit late. As they finally reached the Ravenclaw common room entrance, both of them decided to bid each other goodbye.
"So.I'll see you around tomorrow." Ron said slowly.
"Yeah. Thanks for accompanying me. Goodnight, Ron" Sally said smiling and then she walked slowly to the common room entrance, then out of sight. Ron made his way to Gryffindor Tower as well. He was happy to have made a new friend. After about 15 minutes of walking, finally he reached the Gryffindor Common room.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---- GRYFFINDOR COMMON ROOM
It was already 9pm when Ron entered the common room. The room was starting to empty except for his friends, who sat at the couch near the fireplace. Harry quickly called for him.
"Hey Ron.." Harry said as he closed his Potions book.
"Hey" Ron said as he sat beside Harry. He looked around for any sign of Lavender and then suddenly he caught eye of her. She was sitting at the opposite sofa beside Parvati. Lavender was looking at him with great disbelief, then continued finishing her History of Magic homework.
"So..what happened?" Seamus asked curiously.
"Nothing."
"Nothing?" Hermione asked with a bit of doubt on her tone.
"Y-yeah." Ron answered back flatly.
"You are so boring, Ron. Aren't you going to at least tell what happened to both of you?" Ginny said desperately.
"Like what?"
"What did you "DISCOVER" about her?" Dean said casually, not taking his eyes off his Astronomy book.
"Well." Ron gave a slight smile. "She's one of the coolest girls I've ever met!" he added now smiling totally. Lavender raised both eyebrows as she stared once again at Ron.
"What? Why? How?" Parvati asked without even breathing while she was saying it.
"Well..her brother..." Ron paused for a while, then continued. "I know you wouldn't believe it, I actually did not at first but it's true. Her brother is a rookie for the Chudley Cannons next season."
"What?" Seamus said with his eyes widened.
"THE Chudley Cannons?" Harry said excitedly.
"Yeah. And guess what her parents played for the Chudley Cannons too. 1979 to be exact." Ron said proudly.
"Wow." Dean said amazed.
"But why doesn't she play for the Ravenclaw Quidditch team?' Neville asked.
"She told me that she's not quite prepared yet. Maybe she'll be on the team next year. Oh I bet you, she's going to be a great player." Ron said more proudly.
"So that's it. That's what made her so cool." Ginny said coldly. "What do you mean 'that's it'? Almost all of her relatives were players for the Cannons before. And she can play good Quidditch.!" Ron said keeping his chin up. Lavender was getting irritable.
"So you're saying that she's cool 'cause she can play Quidditch." Hermione said flatly.
"Well.you can say that." Ron said casually.
"What is with Quidditch that impresses guys so much? Especially when the girl they like plays well. I mean, you think that some girls are cool because she can play Quidditch? Tell you what, that is the dumbest excuse I've ever heard in my entire life! It doesn't mean that if you play Quidditch, you're already popular, pretty and perfect!" Hermione said angrily. Everyone stared at her in silence.
"Nobody said that Hermione." Harry said in a matter-of-fact tone.
"Of course no guy would admit that. But I've seen a lot of guys act like that." Hermione answered back.
"Why is it such a big deal to you? So what if girls who play Quidditch impress us? We can't deny how good they are with the sport. Not only that, some players look cute too.What do you care about it anyway?" Harry said getting a bit irritable as well. Everyone stayed silent as they listened to Harry and Hermione's deep conversation.
"You don't have to like a girl because she's pretty and that she can play good Quidditch. It's not about the looks, it's about the attitude. Some girls may be pretty but are you sure that she's pretty at the inside as well? Some girls may be good at Quidditch but is she a good person inside as well? Sometimes you guys are so insensitive. You don't even think about how someone cares for you so much and worse, you don't even realize that that person is right in front of you." Hermione said looking at angrily at Harry. It's as if she was making him realize that she was pertaining to him. "How lucky THAT girl must be. Being a good Quidditch player and having good looks, all the guys must be desperate to have her.." She added sarcastically and then she picked up her things from the center table and walked rapidly towards the spiral staircase leading to the girls' dormitories, then out of sight.
Hermione never got THAT angry before. She was quite relieved now that she was able to tell her innermost feelings about the thought of Harry liking Cho, although she never expected to burst like a balloon filled with hot gas inside waiting to be popped. Harry felt a bit irritated at Hermione although he decided not to tell anyone. As for Lavender, she wasn't speaking to Ron which made him totally clueless why. Everyone had a goodnight sleep as they looked forward to the following days to come.
End of Chapter 5
------------------------------------------------------------------- Well..I hope you liked the 5th chapter. The 6th chapter will be more on Harry and Hermione so watch out for it. See ya!
~Kathleen (a.k.a. the-key)
