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BELLA WAS GETTING TIRED of tip-toeing around her classmates in the Common Room and in lessons, and she figured this whole thing with her and Jack was getting quite ridiculous – it had been over a month since their... encounter, and they were still skirting around each other like it had just happened the previous night.
She and Ginny were sitting in the Common Room that Friday night, looking through their new books after what had been a successful thievery from Ravenclaw Tower, when she decided she should finally take action. She'd been eyeing Jack and Ritchie on the other side of the room for a while, quite distracted from her reading and note-taking, and Ritchie had just gone up to the boys' dorms, which meant it was prime time to attack.
"Wish me luck," Bella threw her book at a highly confused Ginny, not giving her friend time to ask any questions as she sleuthed across the room toward Jack, much like a predator would approach its chosen prey.
In all her watching, though, she hadn't really thought through what she would say, so when she reached him, the first thing that came out was, "how about that raincheck?"
Jack looked up, cheeks blooming red as he was obviously surprised to see her, no less be speaking to her after she'd been very purposefully and pointedly avoiding him. "Er – what?"
"The Hogsmeade raincheck," she said slowly. "I owe you a trip. So, tomorrow?"
He furrowed his eyebrows and continued to stare at her without saying anything, which was highly uncomfortable and awkward, in Bella's opinion, so she groaned and said, "brilliant, see you then," then retreated back to her spot next to Ginny on the sofa.
The aforementioned girl had obviously been watching the whole exchange and was waiting with raised eyebrows upon Bella's return. "Want to tell me what that was about?"
"Nope," Bella avoided eye contact and took her book off of Ginny's lap. "You won't have to worry about me being by myself while you're off on your date with Michael Corner, though."
The next morning, Bella felt uncharacteristically nervous. She wasn't sure exactly what she was going to say to Jack, besides trying to clear the air and make things go back to normal. How she would do that, though, without hurting his feelings or making light of the situation, was beyond her. Honestly, though, it was one kiss – it may have been her first, but it certainly wouldn't be her last, nor his, and people kissed all the time without any deeper meaning!
She supposed it may have been for the fact that she'd done it for the wrong reasons, but, fear not, for she was sure she would soon be finding out.
She was worried that Jack might flake, as he'd never actually agreed to go with her in the first place, but he seemed to be moodily waiting for her in the Common Room when she walked down, so she decided to tentatively take that as a good sign. He started walking as soon as he saw her and seemed to be making sure that he was always a few steps ahead of her, but it still seemed better than being stood up.
