The Disgraced of the House of Black - A Multi-Character Fanfiction - Part One

95. Utter Disbelief

Althea was still in the library a few hours later after Hermione had already left when someone sat down with her.

"Hello, Neville," she said, glancing up from her book briefly. "Did you know that the juice from the sopophorous bean will erase the drinker's memory if it's drunk on its own?"

"I didn't actually," Neville said, although for once he didn't seem to be interested in listening to new information about plants. "Listen, Althea, I was...well, I was wondering something."

"Yes?" Althea replied, marking her place in her book and meeting his gaze.

He was shyer than she had seen him in a very long time.

Smiling encouragingly, she asked, "What is it, Neville?"

"Well, I was just wondering...if maybe...you'd like..." he tried again. Finally, he drew in a deep breath and asked, "Would you like to go to the ball with me?"

"Oh," Althea said, her cheeks flushing a deep pink as she resumed, "Yes, Neville, I'd love to go to the ball with you."

.

"Where are Harry and Ron?" Althea asked, looking around the Great Hall for them as she ate with Hermione.

"No idea," Hermione admitted.

"We'll find them later," Althea decided, returning to her mashed potatoes.

"Listen, Thea, I know you said you're okay going alone, but if you really want me to, I can cancel with Viktor," Hermione said worriedly.

Althea smiled, a faint blush rising in her cheeks as she interrupted, "Hermione, it's okay. Turns out someone asked me after all."

"Who?" Hermione gasped, her eyes wide with curiosity.

Blushing deeper, Althea unconsciously glanced down the table to where Neville was eating with Dean and Seamus.

"Neville?" Hermione exclaimed.

Bushing even more if that was possible, Althea said, "Sh! He'll hear you."

"But I was right?" Hermione demanded.

Althea couldn't restrain a small giggle as she averted her gaze a moment before she looked at Hermione.

"Yes," she said finally with a wide smile. "He asked me this morning after you'd left the library."

"Aw, Thea, I'm happy for you," Hermione said warmly. "You two are going to have fun. I'll be shocked if the two of you don't end up in a corner talking about plants."

"Oh, shut up," Althea giggled.

Althea said nothing more, but Hermione didn't miss her flushed cheeks, shy smile, and her straying eyes. When they had finished their meals, they still hadn't caught sight of Harry or Ron.

"Let's go back to the Common Room and see if they're there," Hermione suggested.

Nodding, Althea followed her out of the Great Hall, up the stairs, and through the castle to Gryffindor Tower.

When they entered the Common Room, they found Harry and Ron sitting with Ginny, both giggling like idiots.

"Why weren't you two at dinner?" Hermione asked, taking a seat by Ron as Althea sat by Ginny.

"Because - oh shut up laughing, you two - because they've both just been turned down by girls they asked to the ball," Ginny explained.

Harry and Ron almost instantly stopped laughing.

"Thanks a bunch, Ginny," Ron said sourly.

Rolling her eyes, Ginny got up, leaving the four of them by themselves, but when Hermione and Althea looked back toward the boys, they both instantly noticed that Ron was staring at them with a rather peculiar expression on his face.

"Hermione, you're a girl," Ron said suddenly.

"Well spotted," Hermione said acidly.

"Well - you can come with one of us!" Ron exclaimed. "And Thea can go with the other one."

"No, I can't and neither can Thea," Hermione snapped.

"Oh, come on," Ron said impatiently. "We need partners, we're going to look really stupid if we haven't got any, everyone else has..."

"I can't come with you," Hermione said, beginning to blush, "because I'm already going with someone."

"No you're not," Ron scoffed. "You just said that to get rid of-"

"Oh, did I?" Hermione cried, her eyes flashing dangerously. "Just because it's taken you three years to notice, Ron, doesn't mean no one else has spotted I'm a girl!"

Ron stared at her a moment before he suddenly began grinning.

"Okay, okay, we know you're a girl," he said. "That do? Will you come now?"

"I've already told you!" Hermione said very angrily. "I'm going with someone else!"

Without another word, she stormed away.

"She's lying," Ron said.

"She's not," Althea said, a hint of scolding in her tone. "I was there when she was asked."

"Who is it then?" Ron demanded sharply.

"That's her business," Althea said simply.

"Right," Ron said irritably. "This is getting stupid. Thea, you go with one of us, then."

"I've got a date already," she retorted. "And I'm not cancelling on him."

"Who?" Harry asked curiously.

Getting to her feet with a smile, she shrugged, replying, "Well, now, that's my business, isn't it?"

Once she had gone, Ron scoffed, "They're both lying. They don't have dates."

Harry frowned. Although he'd never actually thought about it before, he had to admit that neither Hermione nor Althea were ugly, nor even very plain-looking. When he thought about it, he didn't find it at all shocking both had been asked to the ball.