"ARE YOU GOING TO THE THE BALL?" hermione asked casually, flipping over her page. "the, um, the yule ball.."
"i haven't got much choice. i'm being coerced by eudora." paris said, scribbling down some notes with her quill. "she's already going with blaise."
"oh, i expect you're going with draco?" she asked, looking up slightly.
"god, no— gross." the brunette shook her head violently. "he's going with pansy. goyle, dean and one durmstrang student invited me." she explained. "of course i said no to goyle. that's disgusting. dean is lovely, but he's not my type, and the durmstrang...? he stank of onions."
hermione chuckled at paris' descriptions.
"not your type? who is your type?"
there was silence for a moment as paris pondered whether to answer the question, or to just stop talking. she went with the second option.
"—i'm going with viktor krum." hermione gushed, excitedly putting down her book, looking as if she had been holding it in as a secret, and was just desperate to tell somebody.
"oh?" paris frowned, jealously beginning to bubble up in her blood. "don't you think he's a bit... you know, old for you?"
"is that what you think?" hermione furrowed her eyebrows.
"yes, that is what i think, actually." the girl crossed her arms, putting down her quill.
"i also think he's a himbo who relishes all the attention he gets. didn't know he was your type."
"how do you know what my type is?" hermione snapped.
"i don't know, but i thought you'd at least have some standards."
the gryffindor scoffed, rolling her eyes. "i have standards!"
"doesn't look like it."
THE GROUP OF SLYTHERINS CAME up the stairs from their dungeon-located common room, draco wearing black velvet robes with a high collar, and pansy clutching his arm, wearing a pale blue dress.
eudora and blaise were next to them, eudora matching pansy and blaise matching draco, but instead, his suit robe was a dark green colour.
paris shuffled along next to the two couples, in her black dress, still frustrated about the event in the library with hermione the previous night.
"you'll be alright," eudora whispered to her best friend. "just try to enjoy yourself." paris hadn't mentioned to her about what had happened, but the blonde could sense something was up with her.
the hall was redecorated with christmas trees, littered with fake snow and fairy lights— meaning actual fairies had been conjured to sit in the flower bunches— and there were garlands of ivy and mistletoe criss-crossing across the ceiling, and the house tables were replaced with smaller, tablecloth-covered, lantern-lit ones.
"yeah, yeah.. whatever." she huffed.
"is that granger?" pansy's jaw dropped, turning round to look up the stairs at hermione, as she made her way down the stone steps, towards viktor.
her hair was tied up in an elegant bun atop of her head, her golden-brown curls decorating her shoulder. her dress was made of pale pink material, that flowed down the sides of her, and lightly and barely dragged along the floor. she held a nervous smile as she went, her cheeks rosy from either anxiousness, or blushing from the amount of stares she was getting.
"she looks beautiful..." paris murmured, but her smile turned upside down when viktor took hermione's hand, leading her into the hall.
"I'M SURPRISED KRUM'S SUIT ISN'T on fire from all those dirty looks you've been giving him." harry said, appearing behind her on the edge of the dance floor.
"potter!" paris jumped in surprise. "where- where did you come from?"
"i've been here the whole time." the boy chuckled. "would you like to dance? as friends, of course."
"aren't you here with parvati? and since when are we friends?"
"she found someone else." harry shrugged. "and we're in the same boat. we're both not here with who we'd like to be." he nodded towards hermione and cho who were dancing happily with viktor and cedric. "i see the way you look at her."
paris sighed, smiling a little bit. "go on then." she nodded, taking his hand.
they walked together hand-in-hand towards the dance floor, giving eachother a playful bow before starting their dance.
it took a while for both of them to get the hang of it, but they were soon enjoying themselves— laughing on into the night like they were life-long friends.
"—HE'S USING YOU!" paris heard ron's yelling from by the staircases, and hermione shout something back at him.
"harry." paris alerted him, nodding towards hermione and ron's row.
the pair quickly started off towards them, abandoning the punch they were pouring into glasses, going to find out what was going on.
"where have you been?" hermione snapped, whipping around to harry and paris as she saw them approaching. harry began to stutter to answer but she interrupted him. "never mind, off to bed, the three of you!"
"they get scary when they get older." ron quipped, as he stamped up the stairs, hands in his pockets.
harry went after him, hurrying to catch up. "what's this about?"
"ron, you spoilt everything!" hermione shouted, slumping down onto the steps.
"calm down, cinderella. what's got your wand in a knot?" paris began with a snort, about to make fun of hermione, before she heard her begin to sob and pull off her heels. "hey... hey..." she murmured, sitting down next to her. "i'm sorry—"
hermione turned around quickly, sobbing into her shoulder. paris was shocked, and flinched, but she soon relaxed and wrapped her arm around hermione's shoulder.
"erm, do you want to, er— talk about it?"
"no, not really." she sniffed.
"we could talk about how gorgeous you look in that dress, instead?" paris smiled, trying to cheer the gryffindor girl up.
this made hermione smile a bit, as paris could tell, because her head moved a little from her place tucked by her neck. "you're a good friend, paris." came a muffled mumble.
"there it is.." the brunette mumbled disappointedly.
"DO YOU KNOW WHERE I GO WHEN I'M UPSET?" harry asked the next morning, as he stepped out of the gryffindor common room, approaching the brunette who was leaning against the banister, looking down at all the staircases.
"i've got a stalker, ladies and gentleman." paris chuckled weakly, quickly wiping the tears that were building up in her eyes.
"are you alright?"
"i'm fine, potter." she nodded, realising how the conversation resembled the same one they had had a few days ago in the courtyard.
"the mirror of erised." harry said, adjusting his glasses.
"the mirror of the what now?" paris frowned.
"come with me," harry insisted, leading her up the many moving staircases, to a dim hallway.
"am i about get killed?"
"just look." the brown-haired boy said, pushing open one of the doors in the hallway.
most of the room was empty, but in the middle of it sat a dusty, tall standing mirror.
paris approached it wearily, confused on how a simple mirror could cheer somebody up, unless they were an extremely narcissistic leo.
which harry was, so she could sort-of see the appeal.
"what do you see?"
"my mother, and my uncle. all together in our cottage on christmas day." paris' eyes widened. "but she's— how is she— this isn't possible—" she frowned, but continued. "and then there's me, with an aurors badge, at the ministry. i'm one of the most successful aurors in the country!" she was grinning now, getting more and more excited by the second. "and— hold on, there's someone else. hermione— hermione is there too." she turned around, expecting to see the bushy-haired girl behind her, but instead there was only harry, grinning from ear-to-ear with his hands in his pockets.
"i discovered this in first year. i used it to look at my parents." harry explained. "dumbledore told me that the mirror of erised displays your deepest desires to you. they may be outlandish, or even impossible, but still—and if you see hermione, then that means—"
"oh, honestly, do shut up, potter— what nonsense. it must be wrong, or jinxed— or that old man is playing an extremely un-funny practical joke on you." all the tears had disappeared from her cheeks now, and they had been replaced with a strong pink blush. "shouldn't you be preparing for the next challenge or something?"
paris had been avoiding hermione. she would rushing out of lessons before she could catch up, packing up in the library when she heard her voice, and eating meals as fast as she could so she could rush to the slytherin common room and hide. anything. those feelings scared her, and if they were what she thought they were, she wasn't going to allow it.