A Younger Generation of Keepers

Chapter 5: The Masquerade Ball (part 1)

Jessica's pov

There had been a period of stagnation for the past month, where the Keepers and I were mainly focusing on our classes. We had decided to avoid getting involved in any battles until I was fully healed. Of course whenever our help was required, George, Grayson, Mia and Sebastian were more than willing to assist in resolving any goblin issues.

However, these kind of problems rarely occurred since our visit to that medieval castle. Grayson believed Larissa was on to something and thus she was more reserved with her attacks. Furthermore, all our attempts to decode the secret message, that her sister, Nicolette, left for us on our nearly fatal mission, were unsuccessful. We expected that Amanda would try to contact Ominis, but no such thing had happened so far.

I officially returned to the Gryffindor Common Room two weeks ago, after nurse Blainey told me I had entirely recovered from all the injuries. My life was finally getting back to normal. Luckily, the scratches in my face had completely disappeared, not leaving a mark or ruining my beauty.

"Hey Jess" I heard a male voice while wandering around the castle grounds. I turned around and saw some random Ravenclaw guy, whose name I could not remember, but I was pretty certain I had seen him practicing with Hector Fawley; he was most likely part of the Quidditch team.

"Hey" I replied somewhat confused.

"I was wondering if you'd like to come to the Masquerade Ball with me?" he asked shyly.

"Uhm, I don't really know you" I raised my eyebrow "So..."

"So she's not interested – get lost!" Sebastian chimed in, kicking the guy away.

"Well, well, well is that jealousy I sense?" I teased him.

"Oh come on, he had it coming, there's no way he thought he had a chance with you" Sebastian then added "But I can't blame him, who wouldn't want to go with you to the Ball; you're gorgeous!" he gave me a playful look.

"Wow, hold your horses for later, buddy, we've still got some classes to attend" I winked at him, giving him a gentle kiss on his lips.

"Oh I almost forgot" Sebastian said and held my hand kissing it lightly "Miss Jessica Riley, would you like to be my date on the upcoming Masquerade Ball?" he questioned, mimicking a knight, who is about to make a huge announcement.

"Hm, let me think about it" I joked "Uhm – yes!" I replied smilingly and gave him a hug. He lifted me up, spinning me around while kissing me multiple times on my cheek. It was obvious that we were going together to the ball, but some formality around it would not hurt now, would it?

We went for a short walk down the Hogwarts alley and sat by the Black lake. Sebastian was telling me about Anne getting progressively better. He was so excited, he even mentioned she might return soon back to Feldcroft and possibly to Hogwarts as well.

After a couple of minutes, Sebastian kissed me goodbye and headed to the Quidditch Pitch, he wanted to prepare for the upcoming try-outs. Sebastian had been training for the past month, hoping to make it to the Slytherin Quidditch team. He was part of the Slytherin team during his fourth-year, but after Black's cancellation and Anne's curse, he lost interest in it altogether. Now that Anne's condition was improving, I tried to persuade him to go after the things he used to love, before the tragedy that fell upon his family, and I was successful.

Mia's pov

I was in the Hufflepuff Common Room, sitting by the fire place with Poppy, when I received an owl from Garreth, asking me to meet him at the castle grounds at midnight. I waited for a couple hours, listening to Poppy's new drama with George and then I got ready and sneaked out of the Common Room.

The cold wind was making me shiver, but I was eager to find out why Garreth had asked to see me. A lot of thoughts went through my head, but the most dominant one was that he had planned a romantic way of asking me to the Masquerade Ball. I reached the castle grounds and saw Garreth standing next to the main gate.

"Hey baby" I said and gave him a soft kiss.

"Hey" he whispered without returning the kiss; he was rather distant.

"Is everything okay?" I questioned.

"We need to talk" he maintained his cold tone.

"What's wrong?" I asked him while holding his hand.

"I think we should break up"

"What?" I let out loudly; I was unable to comprehend what he had just said. His words felt like knives stabbing right through my chest, shattering my heart into pieces.

"I don't love you anymore" he replied neutrally.

"How can you say that Garreth? – How can you say that you don't love my anymore?" I raised my tone; tears filled my eyes.

"I'm sorry" Garreth expressed and started walking away.

"Where are you going?" I shouted, grabbing his hand.

"I've got somewhere to be" he responded indifferently.

"Garreth!" I screamed one more time as I watched him disappear into the darkness. I knelt to the ground and started to sob, I felt broken! How could Garreth do something like that? I thought he loved me! Had all these months been a terrible lie?

On the spur of the moment, rain started to pour from the sky, making it hard to distinguish whether my cheeks got wet from the rain or from the tears running down my eyes.

I stood up, heading to the Hufflepuff Common Room, but halfway through, I fell down on my knees and started crying again. I must have been nearby the grand staircase, because I remember a rude portrait complaining that I was ruining their sleep.

"Rough night?" I heard a male voice talking directly to me. I wiped my tears as fast as I could and looked at the direction of the voice. I was pretty sure, it was a Prefect, who would rat me out to Scribner, leading to Hufflepuff's loss of House Points. Strangely enough though, it was Eric Northcott, a sixth-year Gryffindor, who I barely had any classes with.

"You could say that" I admitted. It was kind of pointless to try to hide my emotions from him, he saw me sobbing literally a second ago.

"Do you mind some company?" he surprised me with his question.

"Be my guest" I said while wiping a few more tears.

"So who's got you crying like that? Was it Garreth?" Eric asked as he sat next to me.

"I don't really feel like talking about it, if you don't mind" I replied.

"Of course! We can just stay here without talking" Eric's words had a comforting effect on me, helping me relax a little. As time passed, I started sharing with him what had just happened with Garreth and inevitably, tears filled my eyes once again. He showed great compassion, making me feel better.

"I think I'm going to bed" I covered my mouth with my hand to hide a yawn.

"Hehe you're cute – goodnight!" he laughed.

"Goodnight!" I said back and started to walk, but then a thought crossed my mind "Hey what were you doing here that late at night?" I turned around, but Eric was already gone. 

I sighed and headed to the Hufflepuff Common Room. I took a nice hot bath and wore my pyjamas. I laid in my bed, covering myself with the blanket; crying myself to sleep.