The next day, I acted as though nothing had ever happened. I hid my fear behind sarcastic comments and nasty glares. The only people I bothered being nice to were Harry and Hermione. Ron was a bit occupied with someone else at the moment. According to Hermione, he had obtained a girlfriend at some celebratory party in the Gryffindor common room. I couldn't have cared less, but she thought differently.
"He can snog whoever he wants, I don't really care," She ranted as we walked down a corridor together.
"Obviously you do. Who's the girl anyway?" I replied.
"Lavender Brown," The bright witch spat. "She's probably one of the stupidest girls I know."
I rolled my eyes, remembering her from Potions class. "Ron won't stay with her, trust me. He'll get bored of her eventually. Anyone with sense would."
She smirked, but quickly hid her expression with her hair. "Not that he has any of that."
I laughed, nudging her with my elbow. "Looks like I'm starting to grow on you."
"Oh, shut it. Besides, I already have a way to get back at him."
"Yeah? Like what?"
"Professor Slughorn's having a Christmas party for the Slug Club before winter break, and I'm going with Cormac McLaggen."
If there was anything I knew about that kid, it was that Ron hated him for always trying to impress Hermione. This was perfect. "He's gonna lose his mind, Hermione."
She smirked, holding her chin high. "I know."
>>>
That evening, I sat alone at a table in the library while boredly flipping through a textbook. Originally, I was there to catch up on my homework, but it was too hard for me to focus. My brain was working to hard to wrap around the fact that my death was approaching, and there was nothing I could do about it. Harry was constantly telling me not to be afraid, and that he'd protect me. But, I was afraid anyway. We both knew he couldn't do it.
I was snapped out of my thoughts when I heard Harry and Hermione talking from behind a nearby shelf.
"Well, I just thought, seeing as neither of us could go with who we'd like to, we could go together, as friends," Harry suggested.
Hermione scoffed. "Why didn't I think of that?"
"Who are you going with?"
"Um...it's a surprise. Anyway, it's you we've got to worry about. You can't just take anyone. See that girl over there?"
Now this is getting interesting. But, part of me couldn't help but feel the least bit jealous that Harry might be asking someone else to go as his date to the Christmas party. It kind of gave me the idea that he was trying to get over me. Although I didn't love him the way he loved me, it was nice to know there was someone out there who looked at me like I was a special part of their life. Especially at a time like this.
"That's Romilda Vane," Hermione continued. "Harry, she's trying to smother you a love potion."
I let out a heavy sigh, before putting my head down on the table.
"Really?" Harry asked, sounding extremely interested.
There was a brief silence, before Hermione snapped. "Hey! She's only interested in you because she knows you're the Chosen One."
"But I am the Chosen One."
I could hear a roll of parchment make a hard impact with something, and assumed Hermione had hit him. What can I say? The smartass deserved it.
"Okay, sorry, er...kidding. Besides, I think I might have someone else in mind."
"Really? Who is it?"
"Do you happen to know where Violet is?"
My head shot up. Harry James Potter actually wanted to go to a Christmas party with me. Out of all the beautiful girls in Hogwarts, he chose me. So many thoughts were swimming around in my brain, but all I could think to do was come up with a response. My brother would've told me to be myself, but at a time like this, no girl would've acted like herself. Honestly, I think it's best for me to pretend to be someone else for the moment. It's not like being polite is in my nature.
Frantically, I began smoothing out my robes and fixing my hair. If someone were to tell me I'd be acting this way for a boy last year, I would've laughed in their face. I guess I've just become that much of a wimp over that time.
Hermione told Harry that I'd either be here or in my common room. That didn't give me much time to pull myself together, as Harry would see me the second he walked around the shelf. Sure enough, he was marching toward me seconds later. I pretended to be looking through my book until he sat in the seat beside me.
"Hi," He began, causing me to look over at him.
"Come to ask me to a Christmas party?" Idiot, idiot, idiot!
He chuckled nervously, his face reddening. "How'd you know?"
I blushed, and looked back down at my book. "I definitely wasn't eavesdropping."
"Well?"
"Well what?"
The green-eyed boy huffed at me, causing me to suppress a laugh. "Will you go to Slughorn's Christmas party with me?"
"What's the magic word?" I teased in a singsong voice.
"Please?"
I finally looked back at him, only to see him grinning from ear to ear. "I'd love to, Chosen One."
He smiled brightly, his eyes sparkling with excitement. "Brilliant!" The messy-haired boy quickly realized how eager he sounded, and corrected himself. He cleared his throat. "Right, er...I should go. See you then."
I grinned as he got up. "The anticipation is killing me."
Just as he began walking away, he looked at me, and smirked. "By the way, you made that way more difficult than it needed to be."
"I'm a Slytherin, Potter. It's my job."
