Chapter 9

"Come on, you idiot, get him!" Fred urged his knight, which was involved in a violent tussle with one of Lee's bishops.

"Get him, you can do it, come on," Lee egged his own piece on.

A short girl with dark curls walked over.

"Hey, you guys!" she said, smiling nervously, as Lee's bishop was dragged off the board.

"Hey, Maya," Alicia greeted her, looking up from her magazine. "Happy the holidays are here?"

"Oh, yeah," Maya answered. "Mum and Dad were a bit disappointed that I wasn't coming home for Christmas this year, but I couldn't miss the Yule Ball. I think my younger sister was happy, though. Magdalena's only a second year, so she didn't stay, and now she gets our parents to herself."

Alicia laughed. "Yeah, I can't wait tomorrow. The Yule Ball's going to be a blast."

Lee scowled, but I think I was the only one who noticed. Maya stood there, wringing her hands for a minute, and then plopped herself next to George, and began watching the chess game.

I've known Maya for six years, as she's shared a dormitory with Alicia and me. We never exactly hit it off with her or her best friend, Elizabeth Morgan, but we got on fine. She'd never just come over by herself to hang out with us, though. Where was Elizabeth? I looked around, and then spotted her sitting in a chair with Gabriel Chambers, her boyfriend. Both of them were watching Maya avidly. What was going on?

After a few minutes, just as I was beginning to shoot "what-the-heck-is-going-on" looks at Alicia, Maya stood up. She took a deep breath, looked right at Fred, and then said, "George, can I, can I have a word, er, please?"

There was a silence, as Alicia, Fred, Lee, and I turned to look at George. He looked surprised, but he said, "Yeah, okay."

He stood up. Maya blushed crimson as she realized she'd been addressing the wrong twin. They went over to the corner of the common room together. Maya's back was to me, but I could see George's face.

"Reckon she's the one he was referring to when he let slip that stuff the other day about 'not wanting to ask anyone else'?" Fred asked me, watching his brother avidly.

"I dunno, probably," I said. "It'd make sense, wouldn't it?"

"Yeah," agreed Fred.

"What?" asked Alicia.

We told her and Lee, although the latter didn't appear very interested. I think he was sick to death of all things pertaining to the Yule Ball. He hadn't shown any interest in asking anyone else, and had even turned down a fifth year girl who had asked him a few days ago. I was a bit surprised at this. I had thought he might try and make Alicia jealous, but I don't think he wanted anything to do with her anymore.

"C'mon, Fred, make you move," Lee complained. Fred ignored him, too busy watching George and Maya.

I turned around, and saw that Elizabeth and Gabriel were still watching the pair as closely as we were.

George was staring at Maya with surprise, and, oddly, sadness. Then, suddenly, his face broke into a slow grin, and he nodded.

"Oh my gosh!" Alicia squealed. "I bet he just agreed to go with her to the Yule Ball!"

"I thought he already asked her," I said, frowning, but no one was listening.

Maya had turned away from George, and was running back towards Elizabeth and Gabriel, grinning so much that it looked like it hurt. Elizabeth gave a big hug, and they started jumping up and down as Gabriel watched in amusement.

George was walking back over to us now, looking dazed.

"Ohmy-didsh-aryou-" Alicia exclaimed so fast it was completely unintelligible.

George was watching her in bemusement. I could tell he was completely confused as to why she was so excited.

"Er- we're going to the Yule Ball together," he said, grinning sheepishly.

Alicia clapped her hands excitedly and bounced up and down; Fred stood up and clapped his twin hard on the back, knocking over the chess pieces, all of whom roared in protest. Even Lee was grinning.

"Hey, George," I said, smiling, "Is Maya the one that you "didn't" ask the other day?"

Suddenly, he looked embarrassed and almost- regretful? "Wha- oh! Oh, yeah. Yeah," he said slowly. "I asked her the other day, and she… she told me she'd think on it. I thought she was just trying to be polite, and that she didn't want to go with me at all, but then, just now, she told me that she'd love to go with me, if I'd have her."

I didn't want to ruin his happiness, but I did wonder what had caused Maya's change of heart. Then I shook myself. First I was worried about Eric, Alicia's date, now it was Maya. I just needed to leave things be. Everything would be fine; I was being way too nosey.

I really was happy for George. He'd seemed so down the past few days, not even cracking jokes with Fred in class as much, and he'd even been a bit distant with me. This would cheer him up, especially since Maya's refusal had probably been the thing that had brought him down.

Alicia was now bombarding George with questions, most of which she didn't wait for him to answer. Fred turned to me.

"The Yule Ball is going to be fantastic, isn't it?" he said quietly.

"I hope so," I answered fervently.

"It will be," he said firmly. "You and I'll be together, won't we?"

I grinned, not knowing what to say to that. I was working very hard not to blush.

The moment was ruined, however, by Lee, who asked, "Hey, Angelina, can you pass me that Which Broomstick. It's right there- no, there- on that chair- yeah."

Grudgingly, I got up and threw him the stupid thing.

"Thanks," he said, catching it and grinning at me. "Have to find something else to do now that the chess game's ruined."

"You were losing anyway," I snarled.

It wasn't just that he'd interrupted a great moment between and Fred and me. The magazine he'd wanted had been lying right next to Alicia.

****

We were the last ones in the common room that night. Fred, George, Lee and I had started and Exploding Snap game, that Maya, Elizabeth, and Gabriel soon joined. Alicia even played, rather reluctantly, after Fred "confiscated" her Witch Weekly. We played until the early hours of the morning, when Elizabeth fell asleep on Gabriel's shoulder.

Alicia, Elizabeth, Maya, and I trudged wearily up the stairs to the girls' dormitories. We didn't talk much, careful not to wake a sleeping Patricia. I was about to climb into bed when I realized I'd left my copy of Quidditch through the Ages down in the common room. I told Alicia where I was going.

"Hmmmm," she muttered, already in bed, with her eyes closed.

I rolled my eyes and slipped out of the dormitory. I entered the common room and began searching for my book, when a small noise made me freeze.

A tall figure was smashing something against a wall on the opposite side of the room. After a minute, he stopped, sighed, and headed off towards the boys' dormitories. As he passed the fireplace, the firelight flickered on his dark dreadlocks. I crouched behind a chair as he passed, and he didn't seem to realize he wasn't alone.

When the door to the dormitories had closed, I crept over to the spot where the boy had been.

"Lumos," I whispered. My wand tip alighted, revealing pieces of metal lying on the floor.

"Reparo," I muttered, and then stooped to pick up what I had just fixed.

There in my hand lay a golden necklace that I was sure that Lee had once intended to give to Alicia.


Sept. 19- Just a quick note that I will MOST DEFINITELY be continuing this story, even though it's been almost a month since I updated. I've been really busy lately. I did have a draft for Chapter 10, but I scrapped it because it didn't quite flow right..... I'm not sure when I'll update next, but I will update! I promise!

-Julia