New Romantics | Hermione Granger Book IV

|71| Chapter Seventy-One

 S E V E N T Y  O N E 

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Being with Dean truly was a breath of fresh air for Saffron. As she stood in the entrance hall with countless other students waiting for the Ball to commence, she didn't find herself looking around for Olly or worrying about if he was or was not looking for her. She could be at ease with Dean and leave all her baggage with Olly at the door.

"I think if we're going to enjoy the night, we probably should give each other some idea of who it is we originally wanted to go with," Saffron suggested to Dean, hoping that he didn't think she was being too invasive. She let him know that it was entirely up to him. "If you don't want to that's---"

"No, I think that would be cool," Dean nodded at her with a grin. "What way do you want to do it? A hint each hour and then we guess, if we're wrong we have to wait until the next hour. You alright with that?"

"Sounds good to me," said Saffron with a small laugh. "My whole situation is just funny at this point, so my shame is sort of out the window, at least for now,"

"Me too," Dean sounded as though he truly agreed with her which again put Saffron at ease. It felt as though they were going to brave the night together and that it would be so much more fun that way. "Alright, I'll go first... I mean, there's only so many things I can say so I guess I'll start with an easy enough one to narrow it down. This person is in our year,"

"Parvati?" Saffron asked him curiously but she was incorrect as Dean shook his head.

"Nope," he informed her. "And I'll rule another person out by saying it's not a Patil. You next,"

"Okay..." said Safron thoughtfully, pondering firstly over who else the person could be for Dean and secondly over which clue she was going to supply him with. In the end, she went with the cop-out hint. "Right, mine is also in our year," She let out a fake gasp as Dean chuckled. "I wouldn't be surprised if you got it in one, to be honest,"

"Harry," guessed Dean.

Saffron burst out laughing at that and shook her head adamantly. "Oh, no, he's like one of my brothers at this point. Definitely not,"

She turned around upon seeing the doors to the Great Hall open and caught her first glimpse of Hermione since being in the dormitory, who was speaking to Harry and Parvati in a group with the other champions and dates. Maya was there too, with her date Matt, speaking to Fleur Delacour.

"To be continued," said Dean, raising his eyebrows in the direction of the Great Hall, as students began to flood into it. He offered her his hand again. "Shall we?"

Saffron nodded, taking his hand and heading into the Hall together. It took a while for everyone to settle down and take their seats before the champions entered. But that allowed everyone to take in the beauty of the Great Hall in awe of it all. They certainly focused on the Winter theme, with the walls covered in a beautiful frost. Mistletoe was all over the place which caused quite a divisive reaction around the hall, some in their element whilst others tried to avoid it at all costs. Saffron and Dean made an agreement right away to just ignore it which suited them both perfectly fine.

The initial Champions dance was quite the spectacle for Saffron personally as it allowed her to see Maya and Harry's failed attempts at dancing. They were certainly better than she would be but neither of them compared to Fleur who looked as though she had been dancing her whole life or Parvati who guided Harry through the entire thing. Hermione, on the other hand, was doing a great job and Saffron got a lot of pleasure out of hearing people talking about how beautiful Hermione looked as it was true. It was always true but for people to take notice was just an added bonus.