Thalia gripped her letter tightly as she heard the last words of an exchange between Cho Chang, a 6th year Ravenclaw, and Harry. "I'm sorry, Harry. I really would've liked to go with you," Cho confessed in her thick accent.
Cho walked off and Thalia scowled at the older girl while passing her. Everything seemed to be pissing off Thalia today because everything was going wrong. Her dress was getting delayed so if she didn't like it, she wouldn't have time to return it and Draco just rejected her and she still didn't have a date.
Thalia walked into the Owlery to see Harry sending a letter out. She tried to ignore him as she tied her letter to her owl's leg but she kept glancing over at Harry, who was purposely sending out his letter slowly.
Harry wanted to start a conversation with her and he'd been wanting to ask her to the Yule Ball for a while but she was always with Slytherins. Now, the one time she wasn't with anyone else, Thalia just happened to hear Harry pathetically ask out Cho Chang. There was no use in even trying, there was no possible recovery from that.
"So, you and Cho Chang, huh?" Thalia asked, still tying the letter with a thin string. Her green eyes met Harry's, which were much colder than they used to seem. They weren't full of the same light and they didn't have the same twinkle, and Thalia didn't know why.
Harry knew why he must've looked at her differently though. He believed that he loved her when he was younger but now, when he looked at the pretty girl, he only saw the girl who'd bet on him. He now believed that what he thought he had for Thalia wasn't love, just a stupid school crush.
"I don't see why you care," Harry scoffed. Thalia looked back down, averting his gaze, and she opened her owl's cage even more.
"I don't," she lied. Thalia took a few steps back and the sleek black owl flew into the air the same time that Harry released his snowy white owl. They were exact opposites but the two owls seemed to fly in the same direction.
"Do you have a date to the ball?" Thalia asked, genuinely wanting to know. She didn't want Harry going with someone else but she still refused to fancy him.
"No," he said, shaking his head. "All the girls seem to travel in packs."
"Well, I don't have one either," the brunette added.
He wanted to ask Thalia to the Yule Ball because part of him still wanted to spend a night with the girl he once fancied but he didn't want to cave in, not when he'd seen a part of her that he didn't like.
Harry raised his eyebrows with a blank face, looking as uninterested as ever."Good luck with that, Forthing," Harry said as he walked out of the Owlery.
Thalia didn't have anything else to do but she let him go ahead, so they didn't have to interact any more than they had to.
-----
Despite not finding a date in time, Thalia got ready and did her makeup and curled her hair. She was determined to have a good night, whether she had a date or not.
The brunette wore a baby blue gown that was long-sleeved, with pale blue rose embroidery on the top half and her silky long hair was in a half-up half-down hairstyle, making her look more elegant than she already was.
She stood behind Hermione Granger, who was nervously looking over the corner to see if her date was there yet. Hermione wore a pretty pink dress that was shorter than Thalia's and her hair was in a bun with a few loose curls. She looked beautiful.
"You're Hermione Granger, right?" Thalia asked. Her other friends had gone ahead with their dates but Thalia didn't have one so she found it a bit harder to go into the hall by herself. "You're friends with Harry Potter."
"Yes," Hermione replied stiffly, not used to a Slytherin talking so politely. She nervously glanced at Thalia, who shot her a small smile. "Where's your date?"
"Don't have one," Thalia answered. "You?"
"Viktor Krum's waiting down there," Hermione explained shortly.
"Viktor Krum," the brunette repeated, stunned. "Lucky you." Thalia had been asked by Krum as well but the only difference was that she rejected him.
"I don't mean to sound rude but why are you talking to me?" the Gryffindor asked. "I thought you don't talk to muggleborns like me."
"I know you're a muggleborn but I don't know," Thalia muttered. "I just thought you looked pretty and I know we're not friends but I just wanted to let you know that I think you look beautiful."
Hermione suddenly felt horrible for telling Harry that Thalia wasn't beautiful because here Thalia was, looking as beautiful as ever and telling Hermione that she was beautiful herself.
"Oh," was all Hermione could reply with. Thalia sent the girl a polite smile and lifted her blue dress a bit.
"Well, I should probably get going but it was nice talking to you," Thalia said as she passed Hermione and walked down the steps to the Great Hall.
Harry saw her from the bottom of the stairs and he tried his best to look away because he'd told himself that he didn't fancy Thalia anymore but he couldn't as he watched her walk down. Harry's bright eyes followed her and wondered which lucky guy would be her date to the ball but he saw her walk in alone.
-----
Thalia stood before Harry, Ron, and Padma Patil. Ron's eyes were narrowed as he glared at Krum and Hermione while Harry frowned, looking up at Thalia, and Padma looked as bored as ever. "Padma, would you care to dance?" Thalia asked.
"Oh," Padma said, "I'm sorry, I don't- I'm not-"
"Please," Thalia said. Padma stood and Thalia grabbed her hand as she led her to the place where the drinks are.
"I should tell you, I'm not-"
"I'm not either," Thalia muttered. She held out 5 Galleons for Padma to see. "You're Harry's date, right?"
"Yeah."
"I'll give you 5 Galleons to ditch him," the brunette offered.
"Well that's not very nice," Padma commented. "I would've done it for free though." She took the Galleons out of Thalia's hand and they both smiled as Padma walked off.
Thalia didn't fancy Harry, she's told herself that many times. But Padma looked bored and Thalia thought she would save the night for her, so Padma could do something else than sit around with those two idiots.
Thalia brushed off her dress, which had no creases whatsoever, and she held her head high as she went back over to Ron and Harry and took the seat that Padma was sitting in. "Can't believe you just took my date," Harry scoffed.
"I didn't take your date," Thalia replied. "I was aiming to take her date."
"What is that even supposed to mean?" Harry asked, folding his arms in front of him in annoyance. Ron rolled his eyes and cupped his hand, whispering a few words over to Harry and the bespectacled boy's anger left him almost instantly.
"W-what about your date?" the Gryffindor asked, looking around for Draco to come hex him or something.
Thalia admired Harry, who looked ravishingly handsome with his almost tamed curly hair and his black dress robes. She hated that she didn't hate him, when all her other friends had a clearly deep hatred for the boy.
"I don't have one," she confessed. "Would you like to dance?"
Harry wanted to scream yes but he refrained himself, mentally reminding himself that he no longer fancied Thalia. He looked over at Ron for an answer but the redhead only shrugged.
"I guess," Harry shrugged. He held his hand out and Thalia took it as the two walked over to the dance floor. A slow song started to play and Harry and Thalia looked at each other awkwardly.
"We don't have to if you don't want to," Thalia mumbled, scratching the back of her neck uncomfortably.
"S'fine," the raven-haired boy answered as his hands rested on Thalia's waist. The brunette wrapped her arms around Harry's neck and Harry looked at their feet while Thalia looked away.
"I'm sorry about all of the stuff in the first task," the Forthing girl apologized. Harry's head tilted upwards and he met Thalia's gaze, only looking down a bit because she was shorter than him.
"It's fine," he said casually. "Sorry about acting rude at the Owlery. It was just embarrassing to know that you saw me getting rejected."
"It's fine," Thalia copied his response. "Do you actually fancy Cho Chang?" There was a hint of mockery and a hint of sadness in her voice. She didn't want Harry to fancy Cho Chang but she couldn't prevent him from doing so.
"Not really," Harry scrunched his nose up at the thought of Cho Chang. "She was just a pretty girl."
Thalia let out a light laugh, a genuine one. "Is that what you used to think of me? I was just a pretty girl?" she asked.
"I didn't think you were just a pretty girl," the bespectacled boy opposed. "I thought you were smart and kind and that you were a lot deeper than you came off as. But now, I think... I think you only asked me to dance because you miss the attention I used to give you."
Thalia frowned and looked away, deep in thought. Maybe she missed the attention or maybe she missed the attention from him. Maybe she missed him acknowledging her and trying to win her over. Thalia received attention from a lot of guys but none of them mattered as much.
"I was annoyed with the attention you used to give me but now I miss it," Thalia admitted. "I don't know why. I must be a fucked up person."
"It's okay to be fucked up. I'm fucked up too," Harry said with a smile.