She couldn't take it anymore—she really wanted to yank the little snake girl off and give Harry Potter a good bite.
Ron let out a breath of relief when he saw that "Cassie" wasn't doing anything too outrageous, and cast a pitying glance at Harry, whose face was now as red as if he'd just come out of a sauna—he was practically steaming.
"Cassie, Ruby… and she is…?"
Ron looked toward the red-eyed girl standing next to Cohen.
"She's called Sunshine Rainbow Little White Horse," Cohen said without blinking.
"No way. Nobody has a name like that," Ron waved it off, thinking Cohen was joking.
[That is my name!] the unicorn girl huffed, arms akimbo as she glared at Ron. Due to the unicorn's unique way of communicating, Ron could only see an angry girl—he couldn't hear her words. [It's a much cuter name anyway!]
"Sunshine," Cohen clarified, "There, that sounds more normal. Alright—you two are in charge of showing them around Hogwarts today."
"You guys from Beauxbatons?" Ron asked, turning to Sisoko.
But Sisoko was still staring at Harry.
Because Harry, at that very moment, was caught in a terrible inner conflict: he wanted to push the girl off his lap, but he was afraid doing so would seem rude and might cost him his date for the evening ball.
To Sisoko, Harry looked like a creep who wanted to grope his daughter but was too scared to do it because of her protective glare.
"Yeah… kind of…" Cohen muttered, then said cheerfully, "Alright, I'm off to show off my beautiful dance partner—good luck, you two."
Just then, Hermione came down from the girls' dormitory. Though she hadn't started getting ready yet, it was obvious that her large front teeth had been magically reduced.
"What's going on here…?" Hermione asked with a weird expression on her face—because the first thing she saw was a brown-haired girl sitting on Harry in a rather odd position. Since when had Harry become so… bold?
"She just—" Harry tried to explain, and quickly whispered to the girl when she turned her head, "Please… get up… please…"
[Oh… alright…] the little snake girl rolled over lazily.
"…" Hermione's expression twisted even more.
Then, when she glanced at Ron, Sisoko quickly yanked him to his feet and locked his neck under her arm.
Cohen had specifically told them before heading out: keep a close eye on Harry and Ron. Don't let them get suspicious, and definitely don't let them start flirting with other girls—otherwise the unicorns would end up standing awkwardly in the ballroom, drawing unwanted attention.
"Is she your dance partner?" Hermione asked Ron in a suspiciously calm tone. "Just found her?"
"Well, I have to have a partner, don't I?" Ron said, avoiding eye contact. "I mean… I've actually known her for a while…"
"Got it," Hermione said curtly. "Merry Christmas."
And with that, she turned and walked away—taking Cohen and Cohen's partner with her.
"She's impossible," Ron grumbled, rubbing his throat—Sisoko had let go the moment Hermione left. "What, just because she didn't want to go to the ball with me, I have to spend Christmas alone?"
"Um… could you please get off?" Harry said politely to Cassie. "My leg's gone numb…"
[Oh… okay…] the snake girl mumbled, crawling off slowly. Harry's leg had been so bony and uncomfortable—definitely not as nice as… Mom.
"Why are you guys so quiet?" Ron asked, glancing at Sisoko, then at the little snake girl. "Do you not speak English?"
"Maybe we just don't know them well enough yet…" Harry said, remembering that he had just heard the girl speak—so clearly, it wasn't that she didn't know English.
"So… what do we do now?" Ron asked awkwardly. "The ball's not till tonight…"
"Um… I guess we just wander around a bit? Like Cohen said?" Harry replied, equally awkward.
The room now had two girls who couldn't talk like normal people and two boys whose IQ plummeted around girls—of course the atmosphere would be awkward.
But outside the Gryffindor common room, the situation was different.
"Hi," Hermione said as she stepped out, finally letting her stiff expression fade. She turned to Cohen's partner and greeted her politely. "Can I talk to Cohen for a moment? It's about our two friends…"
The little unicorn nodded—Cohen had taught her that nodding was the go-to response to human interaction. It would get her through 99% of conversations.
The other 1% would be people repeating themselves like robots, thinking she hadn't understood. But eventually, they'd get bored and leave.
Hermione pulled Cohen aside and took a few deep breaths.
"About Ron and Harry's dates…"
"You just want to ask about Ron's, don't you?" Cohen asked, tilting his head.
"Of course not—" Hermione said quickly, but her face was already turning red.
Cohen didn't understand why Hermione would choose Ron over Harry. Maybe it was Ron's comedic talent? Or maybe all the arguing had sparked a slow-burn romance?
Humans really did make perfect prey for Dementors—a species that actually gets more emotional the more it suffers? Perfect food source for creatures that feed on joy.
"What I mean is… have they really known those girls for a long time?" Hermione asked.
"Ron hadn't met her before this morning," Cohen said frankly. "I only brought them over today. If he hadn't found a date, he and Harry would've been the only two sad wallflowers from Gryffindor. You can't expect Ron not to do something eventually—"
"I just… I wasn't—" Hermione stammered. "Never mind. I'm leaving. Merry Christmas."
"Merry Christmas," Cohen replied with a raised eyebrow.
[She's not happy?] the unicorn girl asked, sensing Hermione's emotional state. Unicorns were naturally attuned to people's hearts—that's how they avoided impure souls.
"Ah, love…" Cohen sighed. "I don't get it, but let's respect it."
[Is love when mom and dad do that mating thing?] the unicorn asked.
"Yeah, maybe don't say that out loud at school…" Cohen said awkwardly. "Wanna explore a bit before the ball tonight? Like the castle… or even Hogsmeade. There's a secret passage that leads right to a candy shop."
[I wanna go see the big guy!] the unicorn said, pointing out the window—toward Hagrid's hut. [He gave me yummy food before, but we moved away and didn't get to give him flowers…]
"Hagrid really is a beast charmer…" Cohen muttered, clicking his tongue.
"Alright, let's go. I wanna ask how things are going with Madam Maxime anyway."
From the looks of the footprints outside his hut, it seemed like Madame Maxime was visiting him pretty often lately.