Delyth Snape

The Kiss

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The next morning at breakfast, I could barely keep my eyes open. My body ached from the events of the night before, but I tried to act normal as I sat down at the Hufflepuff table. Hannah was already there, eating her toast and chatting with Cedric.

As soon as she saw me, her eyes narrowed. "Where the hell were you last night, Delyth?"I winced, trying to hide my discomfort. "What do you mean?"

"Fred asked me a thousand times where you disappeared to after your dance," Hannah said, looking at me suspiciously. "One second you were there, and the next—poof! Gone."

I scrambled for an excuse. "Oh, um, I wasn't feeling well. Too much excitement, I guess. I went outside to get some fresh air, and... well, I ended up going back to the dormitory early. I didn't want to ruin anyone's fun by telling them."

Hannah raised an eyebrow, clearly not convinced, but she let it go. "Well, Fred was worried. He kept looking for you the rest of the night. You should probably talk to him."

I nodded, feeling a little guilty, but quickly tried to change the subject. "So, how was the rest of the ball? Did anything interesting happen?"

Hannah's face immediately lit up, and Cedric rolled his eyes with a grin, clearly anticipating the gossip. "Oh, you missed so much! Pansy Parkinson tripped on her dress during her dance with Draco. She almost fell into the punch bowl!"

I snorted, trying to imagine the scene. "Seriously?"

"Yeah! And Draco had to catch her in front of everyone. He looked so embarrassed," Hannah said with a smirk. "It was probably the most awkward thing I've ever seen."

We all laughed, and for a moment, it felt like everything was normal again. 

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After breakfast, I set off to find Fred, feeling guilty about disappearing during the ball. My mind raced with what to say, but I knew I owed him an explanation, even if it wasn't the full truth.

As I wandered through the courtyard, I spotted George leaning against the wall, casually flipping through a book.

"Hey, George," I called out, walking up to him. "Do you know where Fred is?"

He glanced up, his usual mischievous grin curling on his lips. "Why? To apologize for ditching him all night?"

I winced at the jab. "It wasn't like that—"

He waved me off, cutting me short. "Save it. If you're looking for him, find him yourself, Snape." 

His tone was playful, but there was a slight edge to it.

"Come on, George," I sighed. "Do you really have to be like this?"

George raised an eyebrow, still grinning. "What? Fred might not say it, but he was a little disappointed. Running off like that after a dance? That's cold, even for a Snape."

His words stung, but I tried to brush it off. "Yeah, well, I had my reasons."

"Sure you did," George replied, smirking. He straightened up, clearly not ready to give me any help. "Good luck finding him though. Maybe you can make it up to him." He winked, giving me a mock salute before walking away.

I kept walking. Finally, I spotted Fred leaning against a wall near the Quidditch pitch, tossing a small object up and down in his hand.

"Fred!" I called out, relief flooding through me as I walked up to him.

He looked up, a grin tugging at the corner of his mouth. "Well, well, if it isn't the mystery woman who vanished into thin air last night."

"I'm sorry about that. Things got... complicated."