Flames Of Destiny // HJP [1]

Chapter Sixteen : The Second Task ✮⋆˙

「 ✦ 16 ✦ 」

˚˖𓍢ִ໋🧚🏻₊˚ʚ 🪷 ₊˚

⋆˚࿔ (Y/N) 𝜗𝜚˚⋆

"𝕴 still can't believe you went with Harry to the Yule Ball," (Y/n) heard Hermione say as she sat on her four-poster bed, adjusting her thick blankets and pillows. Lavender and Parvati were still sound asleep, snoring lightly in the corner of the room.

"Hermione, that was a few days ago now—and you saw us with your own eyes. What can't you believe about it?" (Y/n) said, flipping to the third page of The Wizard and the Hopping Pot, a popular tale for young witches and wizards—like Cinderella or Sleeping Beauty in the real world.

They had woken up early that morning, with plenty of time to do whatever they wished.

"Because you never told me!" Hermione protested, her voice a bit higher in pitch. "I never thought you'd go with him, since you two compete with each other all the time and fight like kids—"

"Hermione, we are kids," (Y/n) corrected, a hint of amusement in her voice as she closed the book for emphasis. She locked eyes with Hermione, who had jumped up to sit on her bed. "Besides, you didn't tell me you were going with Krum either!"

(Y/n) knew Hermione didn't owe her that explanation, and she had overheard it in the library by accident anyway. But she couldn't help the small spark of jealousy she'd felt at the time. That feeling had passed, though, as she reminded herself she didn't have a crush on Krum, and he was older anyway. Still, Hermione seemed a bit hypocritical, especially when an eighteen-year-old had asked her to the ball.

"I've been trying to tell you that before!" Hermione replied, now sounding a bit flustered. "But you were so busy with your alterations on your dress robes, which, by the way, turned out amazing."

(Y/n) smiled softly at the compliment. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you, but honestly, there wasn't anything special about it."

Hermione raised an eyebrow, clearly unconvinced.

"Nothing special? Really?" Hermione asked, disbelief etched on her face. (Y/n) could sense the scepticism, and it irked her slightly. Sometimes, being friends with Hermione was, admittedly, a bit irritating.

"Yeah," (Y/n) replied with a firm nod.

It was the truth. There wasn't anything romantic about going with Harry to the ball—except maybe how nice he had been that night, and the bouquet of flowers he'd given her from the rose bushes they passed by.

"How do you explain the flowers he gave you? And the Snitch! The one you crocheted for weeks? He's got it on his bag as a keychain. And don't forget the clover leaf you gave him during the First Task. That's also a keychain on his bag. He doesn't even know what they mean!"

(Y/n) blinked, taken aback by Hermione's sudden outburst.

"They're just little things, Hermione—"

"(Y/n)!" Hermione interrupted. "I know what the clover leaf means: hope, luck, and love. And you told me yourself you were crocheting that Snitch for someone special. The next thing I know, you two are going to the Yule Ball together, and then he gives you flowers! Harry's not the type to do romantic things like that!"

(Y/n) gaped at Hermione.

All this time? Hermione thought she and Harry liked each other?

"Let me explain this to you. I gave Harry the clover leaf because I didn't know how else to comfort him. I'm not... I'm not great with words. And the Snitch? It wasn't for him. He knows that."