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Eleanora and Fred joined the rest of the school milling around the entrance hall, waiting for eight o'clock when the doors would be opened. They talked to just about everyone they saw, Fred cracking jokes, and Eleanora complimenting outfits left and right. They kept an ongoing ranking of which couple looked the most uncomfortable, and so far Seamus Finnigan and Lavender Brown were winning.
"Oi," Fred nudged Eleanora. "New contender." He nodded to the far side of the room where Ron was standing with Padma Patil.
She stifled laughter. "Oh no... his robes." Ron was wearing a moldy old set of frilly dress robes. "Poor thing."
"Poor Padma," Fred said, chuckling. "Lee!" He reached out and grabbed his friend by the back of the robes as he passed. Lee doubled back to talk to them, arm in arm with Alicia Spinnet.
"Looking sharp, mate," Eleanora said, wringing Lee's hand. She gave him a knowing smile and turned to Alicia. "You look beautiful."
"Thanks," Alicia said, smiling ear to ear. "So do you." When they left to talk to George and Angelina, Eleanora turned to Fred excitedly.
"Oh, I'm so glad they finally got together. You know he's had a crush on her for years."
"Same with George and Angelina," Fred said. "Guess we're the odd ones out." He winked at her.
"I'm not snogging you, Fred." Eleanora said with a snort. "Look, the doors are opening." When they entered the Great Hall, Eleanora looked around in wonder. The walls had all been covered in sparkling silver frost, with hundreds of garlands of mistletoe and ivy crossing the starry black ceiling. The House tables had vanished; instead, there were about a hundred smaller, lantern-lit ones, each seating about a dozen people. Eleanora and Fred sat at a table with George, Lee, Angelina, Alicia, and a few other couples.
"Hey, Eleanora-" Fred set his hand on the back of her chair and pointed to the table of champions and staff.
"Ugh, Cho," Eleanora said in disgust.
"No, not that. I mean- yeah, but what's Percy doing here?" Eleanora realized that he was looking a little to the left of Cedric and Cho to where Harry was sitting with Pavarti. On the other side of Harry, sat Percy in a set of brand new navy blue dress robes.
"S'ppose Weatherby's come to ruin the party," Eleanora laughed, but she was still eyeing Cedric. It was strange to see him with another girl so soon after they'd broken up. She felt a rush of jealousy the moment she laid eyes on Cho, but she knew it wasn't justified. Cedric wasn't hers anymore. A lump formed in Eleanora's throat.
"Hey," Fred said quietly. "Hey, forget him. He's not worth your time anymore. Just try and have fun tonight."
"Right. Yeah." She tore her eyes away from the champion table. "Let's eat."
