12 October 1963 – Rejection
Arthur swallowed hard. He could just see the back of Molly Prewett's head from where he sat at the Gryffindor table in the Great Hall. She was chatting animatedly to Emmeline Vance.
"Go on, mate," said Tom McKinnon, elbowing him. "You can do it."
Arthur swallowed again; his throat was very dry. At that moment, Molly and Emmeline got up and started to leave. Arthur leapt awkwardly to his feet, almost stumbling over the bench. Molly stopped before him, looking surprised.
"Hi, Arthur," she said slowly, giving him a smile. He grinned hugely and nodded once, but didn't speak. "How are you?" she asked, still in the very slow, rather bemused tone.
"Me?" he asked. "Oh, fine, fine—I'm fine—"
"Are you fine, Arthur?" asked Tom from where he sat at the table, watching the conversation unfold, and Arthur smacked his shoulder. Emmeline giggled, and Arthur felt his cheeks and ears go red.
"Well," said Molly, clearly trying to stifle her laughter, "That's good. I'll see you in Charms, then?"
"DyouseethaHogsmeade?" he asked.
Molly stared at him. "Excuse me?"
Damn. He gritted his teeth. "Did you see the notice about the Hogsmeade trip?" he asked slowly.
For some reason, Molly's eyes widened. "Um…yes, I did," she replied.
He grinned. "Good, that's—that's good. Er—I mean, would you—would you maybe like to go with me? Next weekend?"
"Oh," said Molly. "Well, Arthur—I've actually been asked to go with someone already—um—Ricky? He asked me…yesterday."
Arthur felt his stomach plummet straight through the stone floor and hoped that it wasn't reflected in his face. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see Ricky Bobbitt sitting with a group of his Hufflepuff friends, laughing happily. "Oh," he said. "Well—okay—maybe next time," he suggested hopefully. But for what Molly said next, she might as well have ripped out his heart and crushed it underfoot.
"Oh, of course," she replied. She smiled and patted his arm. "That's the really great part! We're just friends, you know, so we can go together to Hogsmeade anytime we want." Somewhere off in the castle, a bell rang. "We'd better not be late," she said. "See you in Charms!" And she and Emmeline ran off.
Arthur sank back into his seat, staring at the grain of the tabletop.
"Tough break, mate," said Tom bracingly. "Better luck next time."
"Shut up, Tom."