The Big Dipper

The Article

With so much to worry about and so much to do — startling amounts of homework that frequently kept the seven years working until well past midnight, especially Ursula, who had ten NEWT classes to worry about, secret D.A. meetings, her duties as Head Girl, and Quidditch — January seemed to be passing alarmingly fast. Before Ursula knew it, February had arrived, bringing with it wetter and warmer weather and the prospect of the second Hogsmeade visit of the year.

"Only three days after Valentine's Day," said Vanessa, sighing in delight. "Jacob and I are going to Madam Puddifoot's."

"I thought you were planning to break up with him," said Lilian, her eyebrows knitted together in confusion. Just a day prior, Vanessa had been talking about how she was planning to break up with Jacob.

"Well yes, but Valentine's Day is so romantic," said Vanessa, twirling a finger in her hair. "I mean, there's no rush to break up with him."

"You just want a date for Valentine's Day first," said Cassius, rolling his eyes. His spirits had greatly improved since his father had accepted him, and he was standing tall again.

"Is that so bad?" said Vanessa. She turned to Ursula. "Do you and Hadrian have any plans?"

"Yes, we're also going to Madam Puddifoot's," said Ursula. "Hadrian is taking the whole day off so we can see each other."

"See, that is the kind of romantic gesture I want," said Vanessa.

"Be back before dinner, please," said Adrian. "Gryffindor's got the pitch booked all day, but I want to practice before dinner for our match against Ravenclaw next week. We've got to win if we want a chance at the cup."

"Got it," said Cassius. "Lils, I'll go to Hogsmeade with you if you want."

"I'll go too," said Adrian.

"Great," said Lilian. "Gemma, how about you?"

"I can't," said Gemma, blushing. "I, er, have a date."

"You do?" squealed Lilian and Vanessa in unison. "With who?"

"Edward," said Gemma. Edward, their fellow Slytheirn seventh year, was extremely studious and diligent, so it made sense that he and Gemma would like each other.

Ursula had a long history of interesting Valentine's Days. There had been the singing dwarves in fourth year, then a date with Lucian in fifth year, then pretending she and Hadrian were in love in sixth year. Valentine's Day just brought too much pressure, especially on the older students, to have a date.

This year, Valentine's Day was a Wednesday, and turned out to be one of the sunnier days they had had for a while. Ursula received her usual batch of valentines at breakfast, including several bouquets that she had to return to her dorm, one of which was a bouquet of chocolate oranges from Hadrian. Hadrian also sent her a large red heart filled with truffles.

"How interesting," said Ursula, unwrapping the heart full of chocolates. "We seem to have received the same gift."

"Different chocolates, though," said Cassius, popping a truffle from his own red heart into his mouth. They were not the only ones who had received a gift by mail. Lilian, to her surprise, received a sizeable selection of chocolates and a bouquet of roses from an unfamiliar barn owl.

"Are those from Terence?" teased Ursula.

"Yes," said Lilian, surprised. "Yes, they are."

The students were all a bit giddier than usual, and some of their teachers tailored their lessons to match. For instance, Professor Babbling had her Ancient Runes class translate a love poem that had been inscribed on someone's tomb.