CHAPTER 16

The next morning, I woke up around 10 and finally got up. I didn't bother dressing up today. I pulled on a pair of jeans and a loose t-shirt. I didn't even brush my hair. I just pulled it up into a ponytail and walked out the door. I paused at my open wardrobe and stared at the dress Alice had sent me. I took a deep breath and walked out.

The only people there in the common room were Ginny and Hermione. Once they saw me, they ran over to me.

What-!" Hermione was lost for words. I just shook my head.

"Who?" Ginny asked and I shook my head again to her too.

"You look absolutely horrible!" Ginny said and Hermione nudged her in the ribs. I shrugged and walked past them and went for a bit of breakfast.

I received a lot of stares as I made my way over to the end of the Gryffindor table, away from everyone else.

As I passed Jacob, Harry nudged Ron and pointed at me and Jacob looked down. Ginny and Hermione must have caught on that I wanted to be alone since they didn't follow me.

I ate in silence and I was about to get up until a house elf tapped me on the shoulder.

"Misses Black?" She asked and I nodded. Then she handed me a box. I took it and looked around. A lot of people were staring at me. I blushed and looked down as fast as I could

The box was about the size of a CD case and it had silver wrapping around it and a single red bow. I opened it and gasped. In it was a silver chain bracelet with a single charm on it.

I picked it up and looked closely and saw that the charm was 2 little pieces of silver twisted to form a heart. In the box was a note:

Maddie,

Im really sorry about last night

Happy Valentines Day

Jake

I slowly looked up and down our table until I found him. He wasn't talking to anyone or eating. He was simply sitting there. I sighed again and got up and left the table.

I went into my room and cried again. Once I was done, I fastened the bracelet to my right wrist and smiled weakly. I pulled out my books and began on my charms essay.

By 3:30, the girls began arriving in the room to prepare for the Ball. I got out and helped Ginny and Hermione get ready and after 4 and a half long hours, they were all ready.

"Oh Maddie, you have to come!" Ginny whined as I fastened her mask on her face. I shook my head.

"How do I look?" Hermione asked as she spun around in a slow circle.

"Beautiful" I said as I faked a smile. She really did look pretty.

Once they finally left, I lay myself back down on my bed. I really wanted to go. It sounded like it was going to be fun. But who would I go with? And what if someone noticed me?

"Screw this!" I said as I jumped up and flew across the room, fitting into my dress and using my powers to fix my hair.

As I did this, I thought of things. Like why hasn't anyone asked me to the Ball? I recently found out that even Millicent had a date! Were people scared of me? Did people know about my secret and were afraid of me? I honestly didn't know.

After about a minute, I was done and I put my mask on and walked out of the empty common room. I walked slowly towards the great hall and towards the music. There were lights flashing everywhere as I came around the corner. I took a deep breath and walked in.

Jacob's POV

I sighed again as I walked with Lavender to the dance floor. Like Maddie said, she was all over me. The thought made me sad. Maddie. I hadn't seen her all afternoon and from what I heard, she was up in her room crying.

I rolled my eyes as Lavender grabbed my butt.

"Do you want to go back up to my room later and we could-" But I wasn't listening to her anymore.

All heads turned as she walked in the room.

She was wearing a long strapless silver sparkly dress that came down in giant ruffles inches above the ground. Her silver mask covered the upper half of her face, sealing her identity from others but not me. Her hair was in loose curls that hung halfway down her back and half her hair was pulled back with a few loose strands that hung down the side of her face.

I smiled and ignored Lavender as she asked me where I was going. The crowd got tighter and tighter as I approached her. And then I stopped in my tracks. She was gone! I searched for her scent and followed it until I saw her back. I growled as I heard some Slytherin ask her to dance. I walked right in front of him and turned to face her. I smiled again.

"Maddie" I said softly.

"You look beautiful" I said and she grinned.

"Thanks" She said. "You don't look too bad yourself" She said and I straightened my tuxedo.

"D'you want to dance" I said nervously and she but her lip. God she made me just want to kiss her when she did that! She nodded and I took her hand and led her to the center of the floor and we danced the rest of the night.