Spicy Mocha
When Hermione trotted all the way to the changing room, the blush on her face finally gradually faded.
Along the way, she saw a few Beauxbatons tossing their silver hair back and forth in the hot spring bath. Just like their silver-blue uniform skirts, their swimsuits are all light silver-gray satin carved from the same mold, and the fan-shaped skirts bottom are very charming.
Two drooling boys stood by the whirlpool and stare at them, one of them stepped on the air beyond the pool edge and fell into the water.
It was almost time for lunch, and some people had already packed up their things and went to the auditorium for dinner. Hermione changed and got ready to go to lunch.
The auditorium is more lively than usual, something special seems to be prepared for the guests - there is a Christmas special drink 'train' coming around all four tables.
While taking the cornflakes and toast in front of her, Hermione dug a spoonful of peanut butter with a small silver spoon, added two lettuce leaves, tomatoes, small green pepper onion rings, and some chopped bacon and ham. Grabbed a spicy mocha on the rumbling special Christmas drink train that just passed through the middle of the Gryffindor table.
She admired her food DIY masterpiece in front of her with satisfaction, looked at the snowflakes falling in the sky of the auditorium, and started to eat.
Perhaps because of swimming exercise, Hermione is actually a little hungry. As soon as she took a sip of the mocha, Ginny sat down beside her.
"Wow, we got Christmas train today!"
Ginny excitedly took a mocha too, but hers was sea salt flavored.
"How come didn't see Fred around?" Ginny asked Hermione, looking at George who was enthusiastically selling some magic stretch gum not far away.
"Who? Oh how-how would I know……" Hermione hurriedly wiped the mocha that had suddenly spilled onto her chin.
"Maybe he is preparing those magic products somewhere again, I know mom is against it but to be honest, I think some of them are pretty interesting," Ginny forked a piece of garlic sausage, "Ron is not here neither?"
"Maybe he is hanging out in the common room with Harry."
Ginny suddenly changes facial expressions.
Hermione doesn't know what's going on, she turned around and saw Ginny's disappointed face.
"Ginny? What's wrong?"
"It's nothing," Ginny immediately adjusted her expression, "Ron wasn't with Harry. Because I just came over from the owl shack and saw him and Cho Chang."
Hermione understood immediately, she patted Ginny on the shoulder softly.
"Then Ron must have overslept again. Look, do I look like Santa Claus?"
Hermione opened the lid of the mocha cup and took a sip, her mouth surrounded by froth, trying to amuse Ginny. Well, it seems that joking is really not her specialty, if Fred was here, he will definitely make Ginny laugh.
"I'm fine Hermione," Ginny handed her a few tissues, "It's me. I didn't have the courage to ask……Cho must be very nice."
"Ginny, listen to me, it doesn't matter who Harry invites, the important thing is that if you really want to give yourself a chance, you have to find a way to let him see you."
"See me?"
"You have to, uh, let go of yourself, don't pay too much attention to him. Live your own life, and then," Hermione smiled mysteriously, "he will suddenly see you."
A girl in the same grade as Ginny eavesdropped while eating jelly, "Wow, wish I know all the tricks to get boys' attention too."
At this time, several Gryffindor girls leaned over, their eyes sparkling: "I'll tell you a secret, I just came from the corridor of Gryffindor, and Krum was going around there!"
Hermione had no interest in this kind of boring gossip, so she wrapped an egg sandwich, and went out through the gate of the auditorium.
There was no one by the lake in winter, and a few large flat rocks were exactly the environment Hermione wanted to study at this time. She wrapped her thick woolen scarf tightly, and sat down to read in her usual place.
But after reading for a long time, her eyes still only stayed on the first line.
Hermione Granger can't read.
How is that possible.
Fred's underwater burning fireworks letters in the milky white bubbles sounded back and forth like a movie playing in Hermione's ears as if they were still here.
She closed the book with a sigh and pulled the scarf up to her nose.
The hot feeling of that touch was enough to turn the cold wind at this moment into a sunny March day, and Hermione felt that she was steaming from the inside out.
"Isn't it cold to sit here?"
She raised her head at the sound.
Krum held the fur cloak forward in his hand, and there was a rare smile under his dark eyebrows.
"Oh thank you...I'm not cold." Hermione looks very surprised.
She subconsciously looked around for the group of girls wearing Bulgarian scarves who usually followed Krum.
"Don't worry, they won't be able to find me." Krum, who was not accompanied by the fan group, looked very happy today. "I thought you would be in your lounge tower. I also went to the library."
"Are you looking for me?" Now Hermione looks beyond surprised.
Krum nodded and smiled sincerely, "I didn't expect you to like reading here. I usually do exercises here in the morning."
Hermione also responded with a friendly smile, and the two of them remain silent for a while.
"Her-mi-one, well, can I ask you a question?"
Hermione politely didn't correct his pronunciation, "Of course."
"Is Harry Potter really your boyfriend?"
"Huh, you don't happen to read the Daily Prophet, do you?" Hermione tossed her hair. "That lying woman named Rita Skeeter."
"I heard it, but now I know it is really a lie." Krum clenched his fist and pretended to wave it in the air.
Amused, Hermione stood up and patted the cloak.
"Her-mi-one, since that's not true, can I invite you to be my dance partner?" Krum also stood up.
Hermione's eyes widely open.
"Oh...Krum, I'm really sorry, I've promised someone else to go to the dance already..." Hermione explained apologetically.
"What about the waltz after the solo dance? May I invite you to a little dance?"
Hermione was completely unaware of the setting of the dance. Professor McGonagall has not spoken to them specifically about the waltz.
She speaks uncertainly, "Uh, I don't know the specific process...can we talk about it later? After all, the Triwizard Tournament Warriors might dance different songs from us."
Krum looked at her, his head drooped again, his handsome brown eyes were full of disappointment, and he looked down at the broken stones on the ground.
Hermione feels bad, "You are so popular, you don't need to worry about couldn't find a dance partner. I promise you."
Krum shook his head slightly, still bowing his head.
"I'll go back to the boat soon, the snow is getting heavy, you should go back to your castle."
The snowflakes started to flutter. Hermione picked up the book and planned to walk towards the castle. After walking a few steps and looking back, she found that Krum was still standing motionless, with snowflakes on his bright red cloak.
She came back again.
"Listen, I really don't know the specific dance arrangements, but," she tried to be polite without giving him too much expectation, "if there is a waltz that requires a group dance, I will consider it, okay?"
Krum finally raised his head and smiled happily, half of his black eyebrows turned white.
Hogwarts students and teachers have shown a constant desire to impress Beauxbatons and Durmstrang's guests, and they seem determined to present the castle at its best ahead of the Yule Ball.
The school was decorated with lights and festoons, and Hermione realized that she had never seen such beautiful decorations since the first school year.
The banisters of the marble stairs were covered with never-melting icicles, and the usual twelve Christmas trees in the auditorium were adorned with baubles of every kind, from glittering hollies to non-stop Hooting live golden owl. The armor was enchanted so that it would sing Christmas carols whenever anyone passed by. It's hilarious to hear an empty helmet sing "Oh, come, you godly ones."
On Fridays, the Gryffindor common room.
"I think the Moaning Myrtle is always there," said Harry morosely, sitting in front of the fire.
"Harry - we've got to bite the bullet," said Ron, sounding as if they were planning to break into an impregnable fortress, "we'll all have our partners when we get back to the common room tonight - Deal?"
On the quiz in Snape's Potions class, Harry scored the lowest mark again, as expected. Because he forgot to add a main ingredient in the potion - bezoar.
Hermione went into the common room after dinner and looked around in surprise to see Ron sitting pale in the far corner. Ginny and Harry sat beside him, talking to him in very low voices, as if to comfort him.
"What's the matter, Ron?" Hermione asked, walking towards them.
Ron looked up at the dome, a look of horror on his face.
"Why would I do that?" he said to himself bewilderedly, "I don't know why I would do that!"
"What?" said Hermione.
"He - er - he just invited Fleur Delacour to the ball with him," said Ginny. She seemed to be trying desperately not to laugh, but still patted Ron's arm sympathetically.
Hermione was suddenly called to the sofa by her roommate Nancy, and asked her for this week's Potions class essay.
"She looked at me like I was a sea cucumber or something. She didn't even bother to answer. Then—I don't know—I just came to my senses and ran away."
"She's part Veela," said Harry, "and you were right - her grandma was a Veela. It wasn't your fault, I bet she was doing that spell on Diggory when you happened to be passing , and was hit—but she was in vain this time. Digory and Cho Chang will go to the dance together."
Ron looked up.
"I asked her to come with me," said Harry dryly, "and she told me."
Ginny suddenly stopped smiling.
"It's just ridiculous," said Ron, "it's just the two of us without a partner - yes, except Neville. Yes - guess who he invited? Hermione!"
"What?" said Harry, completely absorbed by the startling news.
"Yeah, I know about it!" Ron laughs, as if this news just gave him some strong energy back, you can even see some blood returned to his face, "He told me after Potions class! He said she was always so kind, helping him with his homework……Yes - but Hermione told him she'd already promised someone else. Ha! That's just an excuse! She just didn't want to go with Neville...I mean, who would ask her?"
"Don't laugh!" said Ginny angrily. "Don't laugh—"
Hermione came back from the couch.
"Why don't you two go to dinner? If you don't go, you have to go to the kitchen to get it yourself."
"Because—don't laugh, you two—because they didn't have much time left, they both asked girls to the ball and they were turned down!" said Ginny.
Harry and Ron immediately became silent.
"Pretty girls are being picked off, aren't they, Ron?" said Hermione haughtily. "Even Heloise Midgen is starting to look pretty too, isn't she? It doesn't matter, I'm sure you'll always find someone somewhere who will accept you."
Ron stared at Hermione, as if he just sees her for the first time.
"Hermione, Neville was right - you're a good girl..."
"Oh, very observant." she said sharply.
"Then—you can choose one of us!"
"No, I can't." Hermione refused.
"Oh, hurry up," he said impatiently, "we need a partner, and it would be embarrassing if everyone else had one and we didn't..."
"I can't go with you," said Hermione, blushing, "because I've promised someone else."
"No, you didn't!" said Ron. "You just said that to get rid of Neville!"
"Oh, really?" said Hermione, her eyes glowing frightfully, "It took you three years to find out I'm a good girl, Ron, and that doesn't mean no one else noticed! "
Ron stared at her blankly, and then he grinned again.
"Well, well, we know you're a good girl," he said, "happy? Can you say yes now?"
"I've told you!" said Hermione very angrily. "I've promised someone else!"
She rushed towards the girls' dormitory angrily.
"She's lying." Ron said expressionlessly, looking at her back.
"She didn't." Ginny whispered.
"Oh, who's that guy?" Ron snapped.
"I can't tell you, that's her private business." Ginny said.
"Well," said Ron, looking completely bewildered, "this is getting ridiculous. You can go with Harry, Ginny, and I'll just—"
"I can't," said Ginny, also blushing, "I've already said yes - I said yes to Neville. After Hermione turned him down, he invited me, I think... anyway... anyway, If I don’t say yes to him, I can’t go, I’m not in the fourth grade yet.” She looked very depressed. "I think I have to go to dinner." She stood up and walked towards the hole behind the portrait with her head lowered.
Ron stared at Harry with wide eyes.
"What's wrong with all the girls?" he asked with a shocking face.