In the week leading up to Christmas, school classes had stopped, and despite the teachers giving the fourth-year students a lot of homework for the holidays, after the end of the semester, Harry didn't have the heart to do his homework at all, but played as hard as everyone else. Oh, that's not all that accurate, at least, Harry, like the rest of the PE students, doesn't forget his daily running drills.

The silver coat of the last heavy snow had not yet fully faded, and the sky had begun to fall again in the silence of the previous night, and in just one day's work, the snow on the Quidditch pitch and lawn had reached the knee height of the young wizard.

Hermione's suggestion to finish running in the morning was rejected by Harry and Ron, who were afraid of the cold, so the three of them had to walk through the snow with a deep and shallow step before dinner began, not so much running as a difficult walk.

Fortunately, the three of them were not the only ones who were so embarrassed, and when Harry had been walking in the snow for more than twenty minutes, Malfoy walked over from the castle with Pansy and Astoria, and behind these three men were the reluctant Crabbe and Goyle.

"Oh, why are these two guys standing stupidly on the side?"

The three of them rubbed shoulders with Malfoy's team, Harry and Malfoy looked at each other, and then, invariably, they looked away, while Ron squinted at the bottom step of the stands, grim-faced, shivering from the cold, and asked breathlessly.

"Whew, obviously--"

The snow also made Harry, who was used to running and drilling, a little difficult, and he tried to adjust his chaotic breath, and said to Ron,

"Malfoy must have been provoked by Hermione, I mean, the last time Hermione taunted him in the gym classroom, Malfoy certainly didn't take it as a deaf ear—"

"Hmph-"

Hermione snorted arrogantly,

"I'm afraid it took Malfoy a lot of words to get them out of the warm castle, but he couldn't convince Crabbe and Goyle to be as angry as you, was he?"

"Oh, I'm embarrassed to say that, Hermione--"

Ron said with a grin.

"Speaking of which, Harry--"

The hippie-smiling Ron made both Harry and Hermione laugh, but Hermione immediately restrained her smile and turned her head to Harry.

"Huh——, I thought, Harry, that after that duel, I thought your relationship was going to be even worse, but in Potions class on Friday, Professor Snape was criticizing you for getting the amount of Ashwagandha wrong. Maybe you didn't notice that Malfoy didn't laugh at you—"

"Our relationship with Malfoy was terrible in the first year, Hermione-"

Ron preemptively replied,

"As for Potions class, I guess that Malfoy coward must have been scared by Harry, and he probably didn't expect that the opportunity he had managed to seize with his intrigue didn't scare Harry--"

Harry didn't quite agree with Ron's claim, but he didn't refute it, because he did notice a subtle change in his opinion of Malfoy after the duel, and he couldn't tell exactly what it was.

As the three of them left the Quidditch pitch and walked towards the castle, there was some commotion in Beauxbatons' carriage.

"Probably who's inviting Fleur to the Ball."

It was too far away for Harry, who had the best eyes, to catch the faces of the two people who were surrounded by some of the students, but it was Fleur's hair that still flashed silver from time to time in the snow that allowed Harry to confirm his identity.

"Whoever it is, anyway, he won't make it--"

Ron smacked his lips, his tone inexplicable,

"Ever since Professor McGonagall told everyone about the prom, there have probably been at least ten boys a day who have been rejected by Fleur, Roger Davis is the captain of Ravenclaw's Quidditch team, and at noon the meeting followed in the footsteps of those losers, I heard Neville say that Fleur only had a message to Davis, and he didn't even see her face, poor man—"

Under normal circumstances, Harry should have expressed a few words of sympathy for Davis like Ron, after all, he and Davis had played against each other on the field, but, thinking about his own experience, he couldn't say anything.

Cedric Diggory invited Ravenclaw Cho Chang to Ravenclaw during Friday's gym class after Potions class, and Cho Chang nodded flushed amid the applause of the house.

At that time, his mind was full of terrible thoughts, such as rushing to a duel with Diggory or something, and he was sure that he would be able to defeat Diggory neatly and prove to Cho Chang that although he was not a warrior, he was no worse than Diggory.

In the end, he didn't put his crazy thoughts into action, but slowly digested the bitterness in his stomach, and this incident caused all of Harry's illusions about the Yule Ball to be shattered, and when Ron asked about his plans, he bluntly stated that he did not plan to find a dance partner.

"Aren't you really going to bring a pretty girl along, Harry?"

Because of the frequent stampede, the snow on a section of the road under the marble staircase has turned into ice, and the three of them must be careful not to fall, the three of them support each other, Ron asked casually,

"Don't mind, Harry, even if you're not a warrior, at least you're the 'Boy Who Doesn't Die', right, and you're the youngest talented Seeker in a hundred years, I bet not many girls will turn down your invitation, at least not Ginny, she's probably been looking forward to you inviting her--"

"I don't want to be foreign, Ron—"

Harry, who still couldn't completely get rid of the sourness in his heart, said in an understatement tone as much as possible,

"The last time I danced was seven or eight years ago, in physical education class at a Muggle school, and if anyone was going to dance with me, she'd better have two more pairs of dancing shoes—"

Ron giggled, but it was Hermione, who glanced meaningfully at Harry, and was about to say something, but above the marble staircase, suddenly a voice called her name,

"Hey, Hermione Granger!"

The sudden call almost made the bodies of the three people who were climbing the stairs shake violently, and when they finally stabilized and looked up with angry eyes, in just a second, the eyes of the three people became subtle, and Ron and Harry looked at Hermione, whose lips were pursed.

"What's the matter, Davis?"

When there was still the last step to the platform, Hermione quietly avoided Roger Davis's gentlemanly outstretched hand to support, and after boarding the platform, Harry and Ron also retreated behind Hermione with a tacit understanding, even if they looked at Roger Davis with strong hostility in their eyes.

The people in and out of the foyer were aware of what was about to happen, and they stopped and looked at them with interest.

"I've been looking for you for a long time, I didn't expect to meet you here, Hermione-"

Hermione, Harry, and Ron all frowned at Davis's affectionate address, Davis and Hermione weren't on good enough to call each other by name, and in fact, they hadn't spoken to each other at school until today.

Davis stroked the hair hanging down from his forehead, and a confident smile appeared on his face,

"Actually, I'd like to invite you to join me at the Christmas Ball, how about it, beautiful Miss Granger, and I'm sure that if we show up at the ball together, it's going to make a splash!"

For a moment, Harry and Ron both wanted to rush up and hammer Davis's sassy face, this guy had bad intentions at all, he was rejected by Fleur at noon, and now he came to provoke Hermione again, he just wanted to borrow the Warriors' fame to make himself stand out!

Harry and Ron both bet that if Hermione had agreed to Davis's invitation, they would have eaten Hagrid's fried snails raw!

"I'm sorry, Davis--" Hermione said with a cold face, "I've promised to be with someone else—"

Hermione's answer immediately caused Harry and Ron to look at each other in shock, and then looked at the back of Hermione's head in unison.

As a Hogwarts warrior, Hermione, who received the highest score in the first game, was certainly not unfavorable, in fact, there were not many people who invited her to the ball these days, but the people who invited her would usually take advantage of the absence of Granger and her two friends.

But even so, Harry and Ron have heard a lot of gossip in the past few days, but because of the sensitivity of this topic, they both maintained a tacit understanding and did not ask, but when did they expect that Hermione still found a dance partner?

Harry's eyes were filled with sheer astonishment and curiosity, and Ron's freckled face flickered with darkness.

Hermione's answer also surprised Davis, who was stunned for a moment, then a confident smile returned to his face,

"Oh, don't lie to me, Hermione, I've asked that good friend of yours, Mad Girl, and she told me you haven't accepted anyone's invitation, hmm. Maybe my invitation is too sudden for you, don't you, you need a little time to digest the surprise? ”

"I don't know who that crazy girl you're talking about, Davis!"

The frost on Hermione's face became heavier, and she said in a stiff tone,

"My best friend in Ravenclaw is Luna Lovegood!"

(End of chapter)