┏ ೋღ : 𝐇𝐎𝐏𝐄𝐋𝐄𝐒𝐒 𝐑𝐎𝐌𝐀𝐍𝐓𝐈𝐂. ೋღ ┓

𝖈𝖍𝖆𝖕𝖙𝖊𝖗 𝖋𝖎𝖋𝖙𝖊𝖊𝖓;

┗━━ ೋღ : ©-fictophilic : ೋღ ━━━┛

𝓐S SHE STOPPED HER RANT, Violaine's eyes shifted to look over your shoulder. At the call of your name, you peered over your shoulder and found a familiar redheaded girl standing there with a bashful little smile.

Returning with a smile of your own, you greeted the girl. "Hi, Ginny." As Violaine remained seated beside you, you introduced the two of them to each other. "Ginny, this is Violaine. We practically grew up together. Vi, this is Ginny. We go to Hogwarts together. She's a year below us."

They smiled in a friendly manner toward each other, sparing a shy little 'hello' with a small wave. Violaine gestured for the redhead to sit down with them, to which the younger girl complied.

"So, you're in Gryffindor, right?" Violaine inquired.

Ginny nodded with a shy chuckle. "How'd you know?"

Swiftly hiding the fact that you had just been talking about everyone from school, Violaine simply said, "The red hair."

With a joking groan, you mumbled, "Not how it works."

Violaine raised her hands in defense and laughed. "How am I supposed to know? I go to the superior wizarding school."

"What school do you go to?" Ginny asked curiously, straightening and smoothing out her own pink dress.

"Beauxbatons," Violaine answered, her face beaming with pride.

"France?" A male voice inquired curiously. Despite the voice coming from behind you, you noticed how Ginny rolled her eyes.

"Quite far away, don'tcha think?" Another voice of a guy commented.

With a glance over your shoulder, you spotted the Weasley twins standing there, side by side.

"Ugh, go away," Ginny complained, causing Fred to ruffle her hair a bit.

"Aw, don't be like that, sis," Fred chuckled, watching his sister fix and smooth out her fiery red hair.

"(Y/n)'s just as much our friend as she is yours," George added.

"And you've just left Ron at the table, haven't you?" Ginny deadpanned. At her words, you peeked over to the Weasley table. Finding that the three oldest Weasley kids had been caught up in a conversation with their parents and other Ministry workers, it left Ron to tiredly rest his chin in his hand out of boredom.

Violaine stifled a laugh while Ginny sighed. "You can't just leave him there. He'll complain about it later, you know?"

"We know." Fred nodded his head, sharing a look with his twin brother before calling Ron over.

Ron glanced up at the sound of his name, his eyes instantly drawn to his younger sister and two of his older brothers. His eyes narrowed in confusion and he slowly got up from his seat. Pushing his chair in, he began making his way toward the group of kids.

"Yeah?" Ron inquired with a confused expression as he stood in front of the growing group of teenagers.

"You know (Y/n), right?" George introduced, gesturing to you as you remained seated. As you gave a small and tense wave, George continued, "She's in your year."

"Yeah. The Ravenclaw that Harry completely fell on?" Ron asked as he gazed at you with observant eyes to remember where he knew you from. "He's sorry 'bout that, by the way, I think."

"Well, thanks... for apologizing for him?" You responded, your words coming out a bit question-like.

"You're welcome," Ron replied with a nod.

You and Violaine glanced over at each other, conveying unspoken thoughts and confusion through your eyes. Ginny facepalmed while Fred and George laughed.

"Oh, looky here!" George exclaimed, breaking his streak of laughter. He pointed his finger in the direction of Cedric, who stood awkwardly in a fit of constant praises from his parents and other ministry members. "Ceddy boy's gotten in a bit of a sitch, don't ya think?"

Fred threw an arm over Ron's shoulder with a joyous grin spread across his face. Ron, on the other hand, groaned as if he could read his brother's thoughts. "We oughta save the man. Ain't that right?"

"It's only right we do," George agreed. The twins left in the blink of an eye, walking toward their fellow fifth-year. Ron and Ginny shared an incredulous look and disappointedly sighed almost simultaneously. 

At the same time, you caught sight of Cho, who stood beside her mother. She glanced over at you and sent you a friendly wave, to which you returned. For a brief moment, Cho turned to her mother and spoke a few incoherent words before she was soon walking toward you and your growing group of schoolmates.

"Hey, (Y/n)," Cho instantly beamed upon reaching you.

You smiled back and greeted her. "Hi, Cho." Glancing over to Violaine, you introduced the two of them to each other.

"So, how's your break been so far?" Cho questioned, grabbing a seat from a nearby table and dragging it over to sit down.

"It's been good." That was the answer you had decided to settle for. "What about yours?"

"It's great!" Cho laughed excitedly. "I visited the muggle side of Scotland for the first time in forever."

"What's it like in Scotland?" Violaine questioned curiously and genuinely.

"Are all the people there as intense as Oliver?" Fred piped up, suddenly appearing out of nowhere.

Upon looking at him and George, you could see their arms thrown over Cedric's shoulders and squishing the poor older boy between them. Despite practically being kidnapped, Cedric merely smiled brightly and gave everyone a wave. "Hello, everyone."

Lorenzo stared at the group of Hogwarts kids in the corner of the ballroom. Sensing his distractedness, Mattheo gave him a slight nudge to catch his attention.

"Hm?" Lorenzo hummed in confusion, switching his gaze to the three other Slytherins.

Draco and Mattheo shared the same look, both of them slightly amused. With a scoff, Pansy turned her attention toward where Lorenzo had been previously looking. "You've talked to her before. Just do it again."

Lorenzo kept no secret about his conversation with you on the staircase. He had told all his friends about how you had shared earphones, listening to the same music. In fact, he talked about it like it was the greatest thing he had ever achieved.

"But, she's around people this time," Lorenzo reasoned, glancing longingly at the lively group for a brief moment before turning his eyes back to his friends.

"What, so you'll just only talk to her whenever she's alone? For the rest of our school years?" Pansy clarified teasingly, her voice teetering on the edge of disbelief and disappointment. Suddenly, as if a lightbulb had appeared over her head, she then added with a sense of assertiveness, "You know, you'll have to man up sooner or later."

The Berkshire boy thought about it for maybe a second. "Later," Lorenzo nodded, his dark brown eyes flickering to you before looking back to his friends. "Later's good."

Rolling her eyes, Pansy crossed her arms and told him. "She won't be around forever, you know. I saw her during the Hogsmeade trip before the holidays."

"So?" Lorenzo shrugged, trying to seem as disinterested as he possibly could. It didn't work as Mattheo, Draco, and Pansy could easily read him like a book.

"She seemed a little friendly with Dean Thomas," Pansy noted with a slight hum added to her tone. Playing dumb, she fiddled with the sleeve of her green dress and added, "But if you just want to man up later and talk to her in two years then—"

"Dean Thomas?" He repeated in slight disbelief as his brows furrowed in recognition. "Friends with Potter, Gryffindor Dean Thomas?"

"Who else?" Mattheo chortled, watching Lorenzo's expression morph into one of slight panic.

"You can't even judge," Draco laughed at Mattheo, eyes glistening with amusement. "You didn't even know who she was until two months after she began sitting next to you."

"Still don't get why he likes her," Mattheo muttered to Draco, to which the platinum blond shrugged. "I hate her."

"I'm sure the feeling's mutual on her side," Lorenzo waved him off, ignoring Draco's and Mattheo's little side conversation. With his attention back on Pansy, he asked, "So what should I do?"

Grinning mischievously, Pansy began to whisper into Lorenzo's ear. Crossing their arms, Mattheo and Draco shared an uneasy look between them.

"Don't miss me too much," Violaine told you as she gave you a tight hug. After having been told by her older brother that she had to leave to go home, you two had parted from the group of Hogwarts students and found your way to the nearest fireplace connected to the Floo Network.

Her parents stepped through first, sparing you a quick goodbye and a smile. They were followed by her older brother.

"I won't," you joked with a laugh. Violaine's slim arms released you from her hold and she smiled.

"Owl me, yeah?" She reminded you, to which you nodded.

"Of course."

With those parting words, she stepped into the fireplace and threw the Floo powder down with the location of her home. The bright flames engulfed her body and the fire roared. Once the fire had calmed down, you could properly see that she had disappeared.

You spun around on your heel, ready to head back to the ballroom, but then you froze.

Did you want to go back to the ballroom?

Crowds were really not your thing. 

Socializing was really not your thing.

People were really not your thing.

For the past hour or two, you had Violaine to keep you company in the corner. After some time with her, other kids from your school started swarming, so that had the time flying as you spent the moments talking with them.

If you walked into that ballroom alone, would you be able to talk to them like how you did before?

Probably not.

Your social battery was depleted.

But then, you'd probably stick next to your family if you weren't around your schoolmates, and you really didn't want to spend the rest of the party with your family.

So, you stuck with the next best decision.

Stay alone.

Letting your feet take you wherever — other than the direction of the ballroom — you wandered, and wandered, and wandered. Eventually, your feet led you to a window sill, isolated from the crowded room that was the ballroom.

Sitting along the window sill, your eyes found themselves staring out of the clear glass. Cold frost glazed over the window from the other side. Snow fell upon the grass outside and the pure white specks covered the garden. Gazing at the window, you watched as snowflakes landed on the glass for a brief moment before disappearing.

With your eyes tracing the stars, you sat there, staring out the window for what felt like hours — but in reality, it was only a few minutes.

"Hey, (Y/n)," a familiar voice called out, breaking you away from your thoughts. Slowly peering over your shoulder, you found Ginny standing there nervously with her hands fiddling with the skirt of her dress.

"Oh, Ginny," you muttered in surprise. "I thought you were back in the ballroom."

"Well, you didn't come back, so I came looking for you..." She drew out slowly and nervously.

"Oh," you muttered and stopped short, not quite knowing what to say. You almost physically cringed at your single-worded sentence. 'Oh?'

"Sorry if my brothers scared you off," Ginny apologized genuinely, stepping closer to you as you remained seated on the window sill.

You couldn't help but laugh quietly at her conclusion. "No, it's fine." You smiled, which made her visibly brighten. "I just didn't feel like going back."

"Tired?" Ginny asked, taking a seat on the other side of the window sill.

"You could say that," you chuckled softly. "You can head back if you want."

"No, no... It's okay. I... want to stay here," Ginny muttered shyly, her blue eyes flickering between you and the floor. Suddenly, red bloomed upon her face and she began to stammer, "U-Unless you don't want me here, then I can leave—"

"No, no, Ginny. It's fine. It's fine." You were quick to calm her down, not understanding why she was so nervous. You had seen her around Luna before, and the ginger girl was usually quite witty and lively. You let out a small chuckle at the comparison. "You can stay here."

"Okay," she replied meekly, turning to face toward you as she sat across from you on the window sill.

"So, how was your break?" You decided to delve into small talk, but that question seemed to be the one to open the conversation as Ginny began to excitedly rant about her break — being quite lively like you had seen her be around Luna.

Her being more open put a smile on your face, thinking the reason she was so quiet and reserved around you was because you scared her or made her feel uncomfortable.

If only you knew that it was quite the opposite.

Lorenzo rounded the corner when he heard the melodic laughter that he was so deeply fond of. He froze, instantly backing up and pressing himself against the wall, away from your and Ginny's view.

Peaking his head around the corner, he eyed you as you sat across from Ginny on the windowsill. From there, he had a clear view of the moonlight filtering through the window, where you sat engrossed in conversation with Ginny. Lorenzo's chest tightened as he watched you and her, your laughter punctuating the air like melodious chimes.

He watched as Ginny glanced at you every once in a while, observing your smile and laughter. He noticed the admiring look in Ginny's blue eyes — the same look he was sure he had when looking at you.

Pressing his back against the wall once more, he let his head softly knock against the wall and he let out a quiet breath.

At that moment, he knew.

He knew he wasn't the only one who had his eye on you.

Sure, Pansy had noted Dean as being particularly close to you, but maybe Dean didn't like you like that.

But Ginny sure did.

A thought then crossed his mind.

Were you into girls?

He hadn't thought about it before, but it could very well be plausible.

Slowly, he peaked over the edge of the wall again. He felt like a voyeur, peering into a world that seemed to exclude him. You and Ginny seemed so at ease, your body language somewhat open and inviting to Ginny — much more open than how you seemed when talking to him. Every tilt of your head, every playful brush of your hair, stung like a thousand needles in Lorenzo's chest.

As the minutes stretched into an eternity, Lorenzo's thoughts consumed him. He envisioned your conversation with Ginny as something deep and meaningful, filled with shared interests and jokes. You seemed comfortable with the redheaded girl, which made sense seeing as you were both great friends with Luna Lovegood. The more he thought about it, the more the green tendrils of jealousy wound around his heart.

Pansy was right that night.

You won't be around forever.

You may start liking somebody.

That is, if you hadn't already.

When he returned to Pansy, Mattheo, and Draco later that night, his friends could sense his unavailable mind.

"What's up with you?" Pansy questioned after she took a sip of water.

"Nothing..." Lorenzo mumbled, but his friends could easily read him. Their eyes scanned their surroundings and found that both you and the Weasley girl were nowhere to be found.

"Green is such a great color, don't you think, Draco?" Mattheo noted jokingly, lulling his head to the side to send Draco an amused look.

"Very," Draco agreed, glancing around the area to stare at the green holiday decorations. "It's the color of Slytherin... Trees... Jealousy." Draco coughed that last part out.

Your younger brother had found you later that night as you were still talking with Ginny. He spared you a quick "it's time to go" before leaving back around the corner, and you sent Ginny a quick smile paired with a parting wave.

You rounded the corner, following after your brother. Spotting your brother beside your parents next to one of the fireplaces, you almost hesitantly start walking toward them. Your path became obstructed as Lorenzo was pushed into your view.

Out of the corner of your eye, you could see Pansy giving him an eager thumbs up.

"Hi, (Y/n)," Lorenzo greeted for the first time that entire night.

"Oh, hello, Enzo," you replied, a bit shocked and surprised at his sudden appearance out of nowhere.

Lorenzo spared Pansy a quick glance, slight frustration and annoyance being conveyed through the narrowing of his dark brown eyes. With his eyes flickering back to you, he let out an uneasy breath and said, "I just wanted to say that you look pretty tonight—" He stopped himself short, blubbering over his words. "Well, not just tonight. I'm not saying that you're not pretty any other time, but it's just—"

"Enzo, Enzo, she gets it," Pansy intervened and placed a hand on his shoulder before Lorenzo could continue his babbling. When Lorenzo kept his lips shut tight and nodded, Pansy turned to you. "You know, you should hang out with us sometime."

'What?' You thought, preventing your jaw from dropping.

Lorenzo glanced between you and Pansy, and you could almost see the sweat dropping from his forehead. "What?"

"Lorenzo, shush," she hushed before turning back to you. "Maybe you could come with us to Hogsmeade sometime."

"Us...?" You repeated quietly, peering over Pansy's shoulder to see Draco and Mattheo blatantly staring at you three. "As in..."

"Me, Enzo, Theo, Blaise, Draco, and Mattheo," Pansy confirmed, watching as your eyes slightly twitched at the sound of the last name. "Don't worry. We'll keep Riddle on his best behavior." Upon seeing you still