The week leading up to the Christmas holiday, the school was getting more lively and noisy by the day.
Rumors about the Christmas ball were spreading everywhere, of course, Hermione was skeptical about some of them. For instance, Dumbledore reportedly ordered eight hundred barrels of spiced mead from Madam Rosmerta at the Three Broomsticks two days ago. "Unless Dumbledore plans to bathe in it, there's no way we can drink ourselves silly with eight hundred barrels," the girl said casually, sticking out her tongue.
"But the Weird Sisters might be the real deal! Seriously, I even have their pos—"
Ron said instinctively, but then scratched his head, seemingly remembering something, "No, wait... Remembered, the Charles Rockets have replaced them, and those posters—"
"Are in my room."
Yawning, Ginny leaned against the sofa next to Harry, still in her dressing gown, looking half asleep.
"Did you go off with Kabuda to stir up... some adventure again?"
Harry didn't know what the Weird Sisters were because he had never listened to WWN (Wizarding Wireless Network), and of course, these radio stations were somewhat neglected now. The Red Star Magic TVs and the television programs spearheaded by various countries' Ministry of Magic were quickly taking over the market in common wizarding households—
Harry heard Ron mention that even Mrs. Weasley, who was always thrifty, wanted to buy one, so she could watch "Magic Time" hosted by Glenda Chittock during her household chores.
"Adventure? Ha... Sort of, it was pretty thrilling, we went to the Forbidden Forest last night..." Ginny yawned, rubbing her head like a little cat.
"Forbidden Forest?!" Ron's voice rose eight tones.
"Hey, keep it down, that shout almost made me think Percy was here—"
Ginny waved her hand, clearly unimpressed by his astonishment, "You're acting like you've never been there, sweet Ronnie?"
"Hey! I'm your brother!"
Ron glared, angrily retorted.
"So what?"
Facing Ginny's 'innocent' gaze, Ron just felt frustrated, wanted to speak but couldn't find a reason, so he reluctantly shrank back into the sofa.
"So, has there been any news from Percy?"
Hermione raised her head, inquiring curiously. Perhaps because they were both good students, her relationship with Percy was unexpectedly good (although Ron said, called it birds of a feather).
"Percy? He doesn't even come home anymore..."
Fred, always unpredictable, popped his head out from above Ron's, "He's rented a place for himself outside, even Dad has to rely on luck to run into him at the Ministry of Magic.—Hey, anyone interested in our latest invention?"
"Fred, we shouldn't call them inventions! Look at them, they're so cute—"
Predictably enough, the moment Fred finished speaking, George emerged from behind Harry, holding some small balls in pink, purple, and gold.
"What are these?"
Ginny craned her head, looking at the fluffy balls in George's hands, she asked instinctively.
"Mini Pygmy Puff."
George said, and the spheres in his hands started to move, "Mini version of Puffskein, although we haven't been able to breed quickly enough yet..."
"I'd rather call it Dwarf Bulrush... Ok, it is pretty cute."
Fred poked the balls, and a buzzing sound emerged, "They're not as loud as Puffskeins and are much smaller, perfect as pets..."
"I want one!"
Ginny immediately raised her hand and took a purple little guy from George.
"These little critters are definitely going to be popular."
Neville blinked confidently, "I want one too."
While Ron, sitting on the other side, looked bewildered, watching Harry help Ginny with payment, he blinked.
"If Hagrid could replace those blasted Explosive Snails with these little guys, I'd absolutely love the Protection of Magical Creatures class—"
Hermione stretched lazily, pulling back Crookshanks who was curiously approaching Ginny.
"Speaking of Hagrid—"
The next moment, Harry, having finished paying, blinked.
...
Absolutely part of some odd urban legend—
In their conversations, anytime someone mentioned Hagrid's name next, there would inevitably be talk of how they hadn't visited that Half-Blood Giant this week, and then...
Within fifteen minutes, several little wizards would reliably show up at Hagrid's hut.
Never failing.
"...So why did I come along?"
Sitting in an oversized chair at Hagrid's, Ginny yawned, somewhat bewildered.
She felt as if she had been controlled against her will.
"You can take a nap—"
"But leaning on this cushion is definitely not a good idea, Harry."
"..."
"What are you looking at?" Neville curiously glanced at Ron, who seemed absent-minded.
"... Nothing."
Ron's furrowed brows relaxed a bit. He blinked, "Harry, I almost forgot to ask you, have you found a dance partner for the Christmas ball?"
This question was like opening Pandora's box, and the air in the entire hut suddenly froze—for some reason, Hagrid looked dazedly out the window. The weather hadn't changed, so why did it suddenly feel a bit cold?
Better add some firewood.
"I-I found one."
Harry took a deep breath, lifted his head, and met Ron's gaze.
"Really? That girl agreed?"
Ron raised an eyebrow, and it was hard to tell if the emotion in his eyes was happiness or something else.
"Sort of... I guess?"
Harry adjusted his clothes; when people are awkward, they often pretend to be busy, like Ginny, who was almost unraveling the unicorn hair cushion beneath her into a ball of yarn.
"Really? And she is...?" Ron squinted his eyes and asked immediately.
"Really? Harry—I think I'll attend that ball too, it must be lively, right? The ball is opened by the champions, isn't it?" Hagrid suddenly interrupted, throwing firewood into the fireplace as he spoke, "I thought you would take Ron to dance—just kidding. So, who's the girl?"
For some reason, Hagrid's interruption made Harry much less nervous. He coughed lightly, "Actually, the girl is… Ginny." Harry instinctively wanted to add that it was just to take a girl to the ball and such, but looking at Ginny, whose face had turned slightly red, he decided not to say it.
"... So the girl didn't agree?"
Ron suddenly muttered, patting Harry on the shoulder, "It's okay, Harry, even if you tell the truth, we won't laugh at you." Harry lifted his head in confusion, looking at Ron, whose reaction was completely different from his guess.
But perhaps the dazed look on his face led Ron to misunderstand, as Ron nodded, "Don't worry, you're not the only one rejected by a girl, I was also turned down by Fleur—take it easy, even if you're a champion, you can't win them all..."
'Is Ron crazy?'
'I think... he might just be plain silly.'
'... Makes sense.'
Meanwhile, Neville and Hermione exchanged silent glances, reveling in the juicy gossip as they remained uninvolved.
"No worries, actually, Ginny can come with me to the ball, and you can find a prettier girl, after all, you are the champion—"
Meanwhile, Ron was still comforting Harry, even suggesting a "constructive" idea, completely oblivious to someone's increasingly gloomy mood.
"There's someone prettier than Gin...ny?" Harry asked, desperately trying to survive.
"... What nonsense are you talking about, isn't she a monster?" Ron looked at Harry, utterly puzzled.
"Bang—"
Ginny rubbed her reddened fist, spat angrily at Ron, who had fallen to the ground, and then stomped out of Hagrid's hut furiously.
"Uh—"
"We've got him, you go ahead."
Hermione reliably patted Harry on the shoulder, and thus, the hesitant boy followed Ginny out. Hagrid, perplexed by the scene, blinked and was just about to speak.
"... When did they get together?"
Ron clutched his stomach and stood up from the ground. After taking the hot tea from Hagrid and downing it quickly, he asked with a grimace.
"You noticed?"
Hermione said, she seemed completely shocked.
"Of course, I'm not an idiot—"
The boy rubbed his stomach; apparently Ginny hadn't pulled her punches. "Ginny has had a thing for Harry for a while now—though I hadn't expected them to... uh—" Ron collapsed into a chair, looking disheartened, "Well, now I'm the only one without a dance partner—by the way, Hagrid, do you have a partner?"
"... Um."
Hagrid's response was hesitant, but he finally nodded—naturally, this was all because he was afraid of hurting Ron's feelings.
"Alright then..."
But Ron's ability to take this in stride was far greater than he thought; his emotional intelligence too—he probably had already noticed Harry's awkward, nervous mood, and upon learning the truth had decided to use this method to alleviate the tension, after all, Ginny was his sister, and no matter how he mocked her, at most he would endure some superficial wounds—
And so, this week's classes passed under everyone's anticipation, though no one was really in the mood to study. Some teachers, like Professor Flitwick, seeing that the students were visibly distracted, simply stopped teaching—he allowed them to play games during his Wednesday class while he spent most of the time talking with Harry, and Professor Lupin was much the same.
Of course, some teachers weren't as lenient—
For instance, Professor McGonagall wouldn't let students idle, not even until the last second before class ended; and as for Professor Snape, it goes without saying, Ron thought he'd rather adopt Harry as his godson than ever agree to let students play games in class.