Pranking hearts

The awaited Yule Ball was nearing quickly, and Rhea still didn't have a date. But then again she wasn't too bothered, unlike Alicia who was going practically crazy. Ever since Katie revealed she already had a date Alicia has been berserk. Glaring at every boy that passed by her when they were sitting by one of the windows on the corridor, just talking like usually. The other three girls were not very comfortable with her behaviour but they had nothing they could do about it.

"That's not very attractive you know, glaring." Angelina pointed out, twirling her wand in her hair as she leaned against the wall. Alicia turned around with a huff. Her expression is a very defined definition of desperation.

"What am I supposed to do? No one asked me yet," Alicia whined as if the whole Ball thing was the most important in the world.

"No one asked me either. Or Rhea for that matter which I am seriously surprised." Angelina commented, looking over at Rhea for an explanation. The said girl was sitting on the window sill, her feet dangling over the edge.

"I didn't say no one asked me. I just didn't say yes to anyone yet." Rhea shrugged absentmindedly. Not aware that her answer would get Alicia into a fit. But it sure did.

"WHAT? How come you didn't say yes, Rhea? Are you insane?" Alicia practically yelled at the girl. Her desperate dark brown eyes glared up at Rhea, which was a new angle for the girl.

"Calm down, no need to get your wand into a twist." Rhea rolled her eyes. She now remembered why she didn't want to tell the girls about what has been happening in her world of boys. "I honestly find the Durmstrang boys quite daft. And I don't fancy spending my night trying to keep their grubby hands away from my private parts." Disgust was clear in Rhea's voice, causing Katie to chuckle. "Besides, I'm kind of waiting to see if someone special will ask me."

"Hm, fine." Alicia huffed, still not content with Rhea blowing her chances like that but what else could she possibly want from the Black? "But what about Katie? Huh? She got asked already to the Ball. How did she got asked before I did? Who even is it?" The girls were getting quite annoyed by Alicia's whining. But both Rhea and Angelina were curious who was Katie going to the Ball with.

"You are annoying Alicia," Katie groaned, rolling her eyes. "But who even said that someone asked me? I said I had a date to the Ball. That's all I said." The brunette clarified for her friends. Rhea grinned, already knowing what that meant. Her suspicions were correct, she was sure of it. Now she was just waiting for Katie to admit it out loud.

"What?" Angelina chuckled, softly punching Katie in the shoulder. "Nice Bell." Katie blushed at the appreciation.

"You mean like you asked a boy to the Ball? Seriously?" The only one who didn't seem all that thrilled was Alicia. But no one was surprised. Alicia is a basic girl. One that pines over boys left and right. And when it came to things like asking out someone she was very old fashioned and believed that it should be the boy asking the girl out. Of course, the other girls didn't believe in things like that anymore. Especially not the three or four girls that had already asked Harry to the Ball. Sadly all of them got turned down since Harry always freaked out about it.

"Not that it is any of your concern..." Katie started, her voice sporting a smidge of venom. "...but a girl can ask a guy out. Not everyone is so old-fashioned like you Alicia." Angelina and Rhea snickered at the astounded look on Alicia's face. The girl was taken back by the sudden outburst of the usually nice girl. "Oh, and by the way, I never said I was going with a guy."

"Yes!" Rhea cheered at Katie's reveal. Angelina smiled warmly at the brunette who was trying to overcome the shock of actually saying it out loud. While Alicia, well, the girl was just frozen. Mouth for once sealed shut as she stared at nothing in particular.

"I think you broke her." Angelina chuckled, nodding towards Alicia. Katie shrugged.

"She had to find out one day. Would be an even greater shock if I were to appear at the Yule Ball with Vivienne as my partner. She would cause a scene, this way she can somehow digest it and try bring up a normal attitude in herself." Katie explained to the two girls, staring at Alicia who was still in some sort of trance.

A sound of giggles was heard down the corridor and Katie immediately looked up expecting to see her beautiful date to the Ball. Angelina and Rhea shared a look trying to stifle their giggles. Watching the younger girl straighten her robes and fixed the already messed up ponytail on her head was cute in some way. But so bizarre seeing it from her.

"Hi, Cedric," A voice that Rhea recognised as the Ravenclaw girls that she almost yelled at in the library because they were giggling so loudly all the time. They were friends with Cho Chang, a girl that Harry liked so desperately. Rhea found out because well, Harry told her himself. Wanted some advice on what to do. She couldn't help him in any way. Cho is a type of girl that Rhea has no experience with, she seems way out of what Rhea usually encounters. In other words, Rhea would not ask Cho out if it were up to her.

"Hey, ladies," The man's voice greeted back. And soon enough the handsome Hufflepuff came around the corner. Coming into the eyesight of the four girls. Well, three since Alicia was still in a mild state of shock. Angelina and Rhea chuckled at the sour look that got placed on Katie's face when she noticed it was only Cedric and not the girls from Beauxbatons.

"Bloody Diggory," Katie muttered, running her hand through her hair to mess it up once again. The two girls laughed loudly this time, not able to contain their laughter anymore. They didn't notice the Hufflepuff boy stopping in front of them until he cleared his throat.

"Hello." He said confidently but turned shy once the girls all looked up at him.

"Hey."

"Hm."

"Hi, Ced." The three girls all said at the same time. Rhea smiled at him with a polite smile. Even though she still hasn't forgotten the last talk they had. About Ced entering the tournament and the ridiculous badges and all that.

"Rhea," Cedric breathed out. The girl tilted her head to the side urging Cedric to continue. "I...um...I wanted to ask..." He could stutter his words out seeing the other girls also looking at him. Wondering what he might want to say. Angelina had that dead stare in her eyes, while Katie look generally annoyed. And Alicia, she looked insane. It was no wonder why Cedric was so nervous all of the sudden.

"Is something wrong Ced?" Rhea asked carefully. Not sure what was wrong with the boy when he didn't speak a proper word. The Hufflepuff prefect blushed slightly in embarrassment. Coughing to get rid of the uneasiness in his voice.

"N-no everything is fine. Just wonderful." He gave out an awkward laugh. Rubbing the back of his head. "I wanted to ask you...You know the Yule Ball is coming and all and I just wanted to..."

"Hello, beautiful ladies!" A loud voice said, coming over to the group. Cedric's throat emitted an annoyed groan. The Weasley had come to ruin his plan once again. He turned around only to spot the boy he was dreading to see. Fred Weasley stood behind him, arms crossed over his chest and an unpleasant frown on his face when he stared at Cedric. His brother George stood behind him, along with Lee Jordan. All three boys were staring him down as if they were animals and he had just crossed over on their territory. Which was true in a way.

Cedric was truly overstepping boundaries here. But not in terms of territory. He was doing something much worse. He was trying to take away one of their girls. Even worse he was going for Rhea. The topmost protected girl they had. They didn't spend years trying to scare the possible fanciers of the young girl away just for some Hufflepuff bloke to come in and take her away.

"We are late for the study session with Snape in the Great Hall," Lee informed them, pushing past Cedric, being extra careful to bump him with his shoulder. But due to Lee's shorter height than the Diggory boy he just bumped him into the arm and not even that hard. He walked over to stand in between Katie and Alicia. Noticing the zombie expression Alicia had going on. "I take it you told her." He whispered to Katie who nodded.

"I didn't have a choice she was getting on my nerves with the constant nagging." She said back, her whisper way harsher than Lee's.

"If the pretty boy would finally scram, we should get going." Fred declared, glaring daggers at the boy that could almost match height with him.

"I wanted to speak with Rhea, privately." Cedric glared back just as hard.

"That's just too bad innit? She has to be somewhere else and you are not worth her getting in trouble with Snape." With that, the group started walking away despite Cedric's attempts to talk to Rhea. The girl was guided away by Angelina while Fred and George walked behind them. Lee and Katie were dragging Alicia to the front of the group.

Cedric was left standing there alone, in front of the slightly ajar door of the Transfiguration classroom. Oblivious to the fact that Professor McGonagall was able to hear the whole conversation from the beginning.

***

The group split ways when they entered the Study Hall where Snape was supervising. Angelina, Alicia and Katie decided to sit on one side with Lee. Lee and Katie were trying to explain to Alicia the situation since Lee was a full support system of Katie and he was the one who persuaded her to ask her date out. And Angelina was there in case it got violent.

Rhea sat next to the twins, having Hermione just opposite of her. Occasionally sharing kind smiles with the girl whilst going through her notes. The hall was quiet, besides the silent whispering between the students.

"Rhea, oi, Rhea..." The girl looked up at the sound of Fred's voice next to her. The ginger was looking at her with that lopsided smile of his holding a piece of torn parchment in his hand.

"Hmm?"

"George had scribbled down some plans for the joke shop, but we need you to look through them. We both know George's grammar isn't the best." Fred commented, getting a groan of protest from the younger twin.

"As if you were any better." Fred, however, ignored his twin, rolling his eyes and turning back to Rhea.

"Um, sure, I can give it a look." She took the paper from Fred and started reading through it. Sometimes rolling her eyes at the grammatical errors. While reading, she was able to listen in on the conversation between Harry and Ron.

"This is mad. At this rate, we'll be the only ones in our year without dates." Rhea snickered silently at the miserable tone of the voice of the young ginger. It reminded her so much of Alicia who was desperate to get a date. If it comes to the worst scenarios, Rhea would suggest the two go together. Of course, that won't end different but with a disaster. Severus Snape walked past and slapped Ron over the head. Forcing him to quiet down. "Well, us and Neville!"

Rhea knew it was just a desperate attempt of the boy to make himself feel better. But he didn't have to be mean about it. Besides, Rhea was there when Neville asked Ginny to the Ball so Ron was in for an unpleasant surprise.

"But then again, he can take himself," Harry whispered back to his friend, causing Rhea to frown as she threw one of the twins' prototype sweets at him that she has in the pocket of her robes. Hitting Harry square in the centre of his forehead, right next to his lightning bolt scar.

"Hate to be a killjoy, but Neville's already got someone. You are the only losers." Rhea said, giving Harry a teasing smirk. The chosen one shook his head, glad to be experiencing the usual sibling banter with someone. Ron next to him, who was far too used to having siblings, didn't see it as such a great occasion, and he frowned in annoyance.

"Now I'm really depressed." He muttered, trying to get back to his book when Fred tossed him a paper. Rhea looked over at him curiously. "Who you going with then?" Ron asked, handing his brother back the paper. Fred looked around. Looking down the table, then turning over to Rhea. The girl's breath hitched when Fred looked at her. But her smile quickly faded when Fred suddenly crumpled the parchment into a ball and threw it at Angelina.

"Oi, Angelina." The said girl looked up from her conversation with Katie and glared at Fred who managed to hit her head with the paper ball.

"What?" Rhea watched with utter heartbreak in her eyes as Fred asked Angelina to the Ball with his skilled way of pantomime. Her heart shattered slightly more when Angelina said yes with a smile. She couldn't possibly be mad at her friend. She didn't know about Rhea's feelings. It's the toll she has to take for being so private about how she feels. Fred sent a wink Ron's way, which the Black would find ridiculously attractive, but at the given moment she was trying to overcome the intense sadness spreading inside her.

"Well, Hermione, you're a girl." Ron tried mimicking his brother's ways, but he was terribly awkward while doing so.

"Oh, well spotted," Hermione said sarcastically, turning her head to Ron to glare at him.

"Come with one of us?" Ron asked only to get slapped once more by Snape. That man was everywhere. "Come on. It's one thing for a bloke to show up alone. For a girl, it's just sad."

"I won't be going alone because, believe it or not, someone's asked me," Hermione said angrily, grabbing her book and taking it away to return it to the professor before coming back. "And I said yes." And with that, Hermione stormed out of the room. Rhea wasn't at all surprised by it. Ron was just such a prick sometimes. Just like his other brother.

"Weasleys are such idiots." She muttered to herself. Shaking her head, trying to get rid of the annoyance.

"Now, now, princess. Why would you say that?" Fred asked, still giddy from the fact that Angelina said yes to him. With an aggravated sigh, she took the parchment she was surveying for the twins, and she pushed it in Fred's chest harshly.

"Here, learn how to write next time. I'm not a dictionary to be correcting your mistakes all the time." She grumbled, turning away from Fred to get back to her textbook. Leaving the older ginger stunned.

"Hey, Rhea." The blonde could hear Ron speaking to her in a hopeful tone, and her head was already yelling for him to shut up and not make the same mistake as before.

"Are you going to inform me that I am a girl as well?" Rhea asked with an attitude. When her pale green eyes bore into the younger boy he froze slightly in his seat.

"I...um...no...I just...." Harry chuckled at the way his best friend blushed when the girl he had fancied since the day she visited his family house all those years ago snapped at him.

"Rhea," Another ginger came over to her, sitting down in the seat on her other side. George was a lot more careful when approaching the girl now. Knowing that the previous few minutes must have struck her badly. She looked over at him. The annoyance retreated slightly from her gaze. "If you are free by chance, would you consider going to the Ball with me?" His eyes told her that he knew what the issue was, and Rhea knew going with him would be better than going with an unknown bloke.

"Yeah, okay." George sent her an encouraging smile, which she tried to give back but failed to do so as the heaviness of the situation was finally setting in on her. George leaned forward, hugging her. His mouth rested next to her ear.

"You don't have to be here if it's too much for you." He whispered to her, his hand rubbing gentle circles on her back. Rhea nodded her head slowly, signalling that she wanted to leave. George understood, and he let go of her, giving her a small smile while Rhea stood up and walked out of the room silently, unnoticed by others or so she thought. Fred, Ron and Harry were watching the girl carefully as she exited the room after her hug with George.

"Mate, was she that excited to be going with you that she needed to leave?" Ron asked hopefully. His money in the bet with his siblings was on George and the fact his brother was going with the girl to the Ball had to give him some plus points. Although Ginny kept bragging that she knew something Ron didn't but he thought she was just bluffing.

"Quit being nosey, Ron; better worry about finding someone to go to the Ball with or you'll stick out like a sore thumb." George groaned, glaring at his younger brother who quickly looked down.

"Why did you ask her to the Ball?" Fred asked out of nowhere when George moved back to the spot where he was previously sitting. The question surprised him.

"Why didn't you?" He asked back.

"I'm going with Angelina."

"And I'm going with Rhea; great talk. Bit futile, but it's always a pleasure speaking with you, dear brother." With that, George got back to his work, coming up with a letter that he and Fred needed to send promptly.

***

Rhea sat in her dorm. Throwing away all the used tissues that she wasted while trying to overcome the shock from earlier. She was not yet over it, but at least she didn't feel like she could cry any moment now. The room was vacant as the girls were still downstairs, either somewhere around the castle or sitting in the common room. She was all alone. The room carried this eery silence that made her shiver.

It was dark outside when a gentle tapping on the window was heard. Rhea sat up in her bed, looking to her right where a large window was. And a black owl was flapping its wings to keep in the air while a letter was attached to its leg. Rhea was quick to open the window for the owl. Allowing it to fly inside the room and land on her bedside table carefully.

The girl walked over to it, gently untying the envelope from its leg and taking it in her hands. The yellowish paper smelled of chocolate, tea and the cologne that her father used often. It was clear who the letter was from. And that made Rhea incredibly happy. She was scared to write home too frequently as to not attract the attention of people who are still out there searching for her father. So receiving a letter from home was refreshing.

Without hesitation, she opened the letter, excited to hear from her father and uncle.

Dear Rhea,

I am so sorry for the current situation and that we cannot keep in touch. I miss you very much, darling. Remus and I both. We are quite all right if you were wondering, the last night's full moon has been a bit harder on your uncle but we managed and he is back on his feet now. Some bruises some scratches but all right and healthy I'd say. I moved all of my belongings back to my old family house. It is not the most comfortable housing but I can manage. I sincerely hope you will come and join me hereafter your school year is over so we can spend some time together. Of course, Remus is keeping me company, spending more time here than at his own house these days. Not that I mind. Your room is already waiting for you, your uncle made sure to move in all your things from your old room so everything should be ready for you when you get back.

What about you darling? I've heard you are having a Yule Ball soon. I hope you picked your date wisely, and please be careful. But don't forget to have fun. It must be a magical night I bet. I had one like that myself with your dear mother back in our days end course, it wasn't quite as prestigious as a Yule Ball. Speaking of your mother, did you get the dress I'd sent you? It was hers and she wore it on our last Ball. I still remember how utterly beautiful she looked. So there is no doubt you will rock the dress the same way she did all those years ago. It might be a little dated but the fabric is still good and it didn't look too aged when I took it out of the wardrobe. Of course, if you would like to wear something more...modern let me know and I will send you some money so you can buy a dress of desire for yourself. I just thought you would like to have something of your mother's after all those years.

With that, I am wishing you the best birthday my sweet girl. I was hoping to spend them with you but I wouldn't dare ruin your special event. Hope you will pardon me for not sending your present by the owl, but I wasn't sure it would be a very wise thing to do. So I will present it to you once you return at the end of the school year.

I love you pup.

Sincerely, dad.