Seamus took a deep breath. He sat under the tall tree in the courtyard to shield his head from the flurries in the air. He opened his eyes to meet the gaze of his best mate, Dean, who was casually leaning against the tree.
"Come on then, out with it," Dean said.
He had a fun smirk across his face. Seamus nodded and sat up straight. "Will you... Go to the Yule ball with me?"
They sat in silence after the question, Seamus tense with Anxiety. Dean with his eyebrow raised to his friend who looked like a deer caught in headlights.
Dean leaned forward and muttered, "That was terrible."
"Ugh!" Seamus fell back onto the snow covered earth. "I can't do it! It's too hard."
"Cheer up mate." Dean said, reaching forward and patting his friend on the leg. "Hey, it's getting better. You just have to be confident. Don't ask as if you know she's going to say 'no.'"
"Right..." Seamus sat up and faced Dean once more and tried again. "Lavendar," his voice squeaked, "will you-"
"Nope. Start over..."
"Oh for the love of..." Seamus jumped up and brushed the snow off his robes. "Why do we even need dates?!"
"Well we could always go together," Dean mumbled.
"What? As mates you mean?"
"What else?" Dean asked.
"It's just that... well you said we should take dates."
"But I don't want one of us to go single. So if Lavendar doesn't say yes to you, we will just go have a good Craic as you call it. It's why I've been waiting to ask Ginny."
"Oh..."
"What?"
Actually, I think Neville is taking Ginny."
"W-what?! But... I was... But he... Oh," Dean rubbed his face with his hands and groaned. "I knew I should've asked her yesterday."
"I'm sorry, mate. I know you like her. I didn't know you were waiting on my slow ass to ask Lavender. Maybe I shouldn't ask her now."
"No. No. It's ok." Dean sat back up. "But if Neville has a date then how hard can asking a girl out be, right?"
"Right."
"Right!" Dean jumped up. "So march into that great hall and ask Lavendar to the ball!"
"Right!" Seamus stood up straight as Dean gave him a solid pat on the back. He then hurried out of the courtyard.
Dean watched with a grin as he friend left. He was proud he was the one to boost Seamus' confidence, but at the same time he regretted it. Because now... he really had nobody to go with.
"Party's are boring anyway..."