Romance Festival - Hogwarts Mystery

Multiple Admirers...Again?

"If it isn't two of my favorite trouble makers!" Bilton Bilmes bellowed at them from behind his counter. "Come to see my latest stock, eh?"

"You bet!" said Tonks. "What's the best thing you have to help you forget romance problems?"

"Oh, for that I recommend hiccough sweets! Aisle three."

"Hiccough sweets?" asked Sarah. 

"Hard to focus on any other problems when your dealing with a dreadful hiccoughing fit!"

"Thanks for the suggestion Bilton, but I feel like that would only add to my troubles. I think I'll just look around for a bit."

Tonks went with Bilton to see his new inventory, while Sarah wandered about the noisy, croweded shop. She'd hoped this place, normally a cacophony of chaos and laughter, would take her mind off the mysterious notes and Millie Stratham, but even here, the festival seemed to be the only topic of conversation. 

Sighing, Sarah decided to hide away in a corner, away from all the flirting students, until Tonks was done with Bilton and they could leave. However, when she passed the last row off shelves and turned a corner, she found the spot was already occupied. 

"Chiara?" 

Chiara jumped so violently that she knocked over a display of sugar quills to the floor. She and Sarah spent a couple of minutes picking them up. They both reached for the last box at the same time. Their hands touched as they lifted it. 

"Oh hi, Sarah!" said the pretty, white-blonde Hufflepuff. She let go of the box so fast that Sarah almost fell backward at the sudden change of balance. "How have you been?"

"I've been better," Sarah admitted. "I wouldn't have thought of Zonko's as your kind of hang out."

"It's not. That's why I'm here, actually. I'm kind of hiding."

"From who?"

"Everyone, I guess. You know me, I don't normally big social events, but all anyone will talk about is this festival. It's made me so nervous."

"I understand how you feel," said Sarah. "That's partly why I came back here. But you don't have to worry, Chiara. If you don't want to go to the festival, you don't have to."

"That's just it," she said. "I think I do want to go. With a date. But I've never really dated before, and I don't know if the person I want to go with would want to go with me, and every time I see them I get nervous and babble on and on, but then if they do want to go with me I'm nervous about what might happen at the festival, and--"

Sarah grabbed Chiara gently by the arms. "Woah, calm down. Do you want my advice?"

She nodded. 

"If you know you'd like to go with someone, even if it makes you nervous or worried, go ahead and ask. I waited too long because I was worried I'd be the only one with a date, and now the person I'd really like to go with is going with someone else."

"I'm sorry," she said. "That must suck."

Sarah smiled sadly. "Well, don't let it happen to you. Even if the person you asks says no, that'll be better than wondering what might have happened because you didn't ask."

Chiara nodded, though the the thought of doing it made her even paler than usual. "What about you?" she asked. "Would you consider going to the festival with someone else?"

Sarah considered this. On the one hand, she had to admit to herself that there was only one person she saw in a romantic way, but at the same time, it had become an unspoken rule that to attend the festival you needed to bring a date. She definitely wanted to go to the festival. Maybe she should accept one of her admirers. 

"I suppose," she said at last. "It might be fun."

"There you are," said Tonks, appearing around the corner. Sarah could see the pockets of her robes bulging with Zonko's Products. "I'm starving, and now, broke. Want to head up to the castle for free dinner?"

Sarah looked to Chiara. "Go ahead," she said quickly, "I've got somewhere to be, anyway." She slid past Sarah and Tonks and hurried out of the shop. 

As the two girls exited Zonko's to the tinkling sound of the bell, they saw Barnaby and Millie walking along the street. Barnaby noticed them and waved. Millie saw them too. She grabbed ahold of Barnaby's hand and dragged him hastily away. 

***********************************************************************************************After she'd finished eating, Andre found Sarah in the great hall and asked her to accompany him to the Transfiguration classroom. "It's time for your style consultation!" he announced. "I want your outfit to be perfect for the festival!"

Sarah looked sadly at him. "You don't have to spend time working on an outfit for me. I might not even be going to the festival."

"Nonsense, of course you're going," he said, hauling her up from the table and dragging her out of the hall. "We're on a tight schedule, so tell me what's bothering you when we get there."

When they arrived in the classroom, Andre had her stand next to a mannequin and a desk littered with different fabrics. "Blimey, how many outfits are you creating?" she asked him. 

"Right now, just you and Merula, but I want to give you both multiple options," he said as he took her measurements.

"You're designing clothes for Merula?"

"She asked me to," he said. "I think becoming festival ambassador is really important to her. She wanted to look the part. So we came up with an arrangement."

"What arrangement is that?"

Andre wouldn't look at her. "I thought you had problems you wanted to talk about."

Sarah explained that she didn't have a date for the festival, and told him about the love notes.

"That hardly seems like a problem to me," said Andre. "You just have to figure out who these notes are from and then you've got a date. Which of these colors do you prefer?" He held up to pieces of white fabric that looked exactly the same to her. 

Pointing to one at random, she asked, "But how do I find them? How do I know they're even real notes for that matter? It could be someone playing a trick."

Andre was now sketching out a design on a piece of parchment. He had pins sticking out of his mouth. "These outfits are going to be fantastic," he mumbled, making the pins bounce. "We'll have to figure it out either way. At least one of these designs deserves to be seen by the public. Tell me more about these notes. I'll help you investigate."

As he pattered about, holding up different fabrics to see which best complimented her skin tone, and measuring out rolls of material, Sarah filled him in on everything she imagined could be important about the secret admirers. 

"Interesting," said Andre after she had finished. "Very interesting. Well, I've finished with the sketches at least."

Sarah peered over at the parchment. "Can I see them?"

Andre snatched up the parchment. "No peeking. I want it to be a surprise. Now get out, I want to start creating."

"What about the investigation?" she asked. 

"Don't worry, I'm already formulating a plan about 'The Case of the Multiple Admirers.' I'll let you know when I've come to a solid conclusion."

With that, Sarah headed to the dormitory and an uneasy sleep.