Everyone woke up later the morning after Christmas. The Slytherin Common room was quieter than usual.
Grace and her friends, who had just woken her up, were now sitting on their beds, chatting and telling each other how their night had gone.
"Too bad we weren't at the same table last night." Ella spoke.
"Who was at your table?" Megan asked.
"Me and Dean, Ron and Padma Patil, Neville Longbottom and Ginny, and Seamus Finnigan and Lavender Brown." Ella answered.
"What about you, Astoria?" Melia asked.
"Anthony and I are together with Michael Corner and Isobel MacDougal, Terry Boot and Lisa Turpin, and Katie Bell and Marcus Belby." Astoria said.
"How was your evening?" Ella asked. "Dean is very nice, his friends are nice too."
"Megan and I actually had a good time. I stayed with Theodore for a while, but he soon joined Draco, so the two of us stayed together." Melia said.
Grace was quiet as she listened to Melia speak. The two had been the first to arrive at the dorm the night before. Grace, who was crying on her pillow, hadn't noticed Melia at first, but when she saw that the girl was crying too, the two of them comforted each other. Grace was curious to know what had happened, while Melia was also curious to know about Grace.
"The Ravenclaws are a bit closed off at first, but after a while I had a lot of fun with everyone." Astoria said. "How was your evening, Grace?"
All four turned to Grace. She stood still, not knowing whether to tell or not, but seeing that they were all friends and trusted each other, she decided to tell.
"Blaise and I kissed." Grace said.
Ella and Astoria stood there with their mouths open. Melia was looking at her with more curiosity than ever.
"WHAT?" Megan yelled. "Tell us everything."
"We started dancing to a slow song, then went to a bench outside the Hall. Things took off and in the end we kissed."
"No way!" Astoria gasped.
"You guys are cute together!" Ella said.
The girls continued to chat a bit more, but Grace decided not to mention the fight with her father, the mood in the room was too good to be spoiled with family problems.
"Well, let's go down for coffee then!" Megan said. Ella and Astoria agreed and went along with Megan.
"We'll be right there." Melia spoke. "Don't wait for us."
The two girls were now alone in the dormitory. They were silent for a few seconds.
"So... I'm sure Blaise's kiss wasn't what got you that way last night, was it?" Melia was the first to speak.
"Yeah... I just didn't say anything to the girls because I didn't want to ruin the mood... My father caught me with Blaise." Grace said.
"Now I understand why you were in that state... you were very unlucky..." Melia said.
Grace sighed. "Yeah, but I don't think it was bad luck, I think my father was watching me all night and was just waiting to ruin my night."
"But think, on the bright side, you and Blaise kissed! Isn't that good?" Melia tried to cheer her up.
"Yeah... although he is not my first choice... Blaise is a nice guy." Grace said, lowering her head.
"You're talking about Draco, aren't you?"
"H-how do you know?" Grace asked nervously.
"Oh, I've been noticing the way you treat him, and the way you look at him." Melia said. "Don't worry, I won't tell anyone."
"Thank you so much, Melia!" Grace said, hugging her friend. "But then, what about you, what happened yesterday?"
"Nothing much..." Melia said uncertainly.
"Come on, you were almost as sad as me..." Grace said. "I promise not to tell anyone anything."
Melia waited a few seconds, as if considering whether or not to tell the truth.
"Theodore was not who I really wanted to invite to the Ball." she said.
"Who did you wish you had invited?"
Melia was silent for a few more seconds. "Please, Grace, no one else knows about this. Not even Megan."
"A promise is a promise. I don't break my promises." Grace reassured her.
"I wish I had invited Susan." Melia finally said.
Silence.
"Susan? Susan Bones from Hufflepuff?" Grace asked.
"Yeah..." Melia nodded, not even looking at Grace.
"You like her?" Grace asked.
"Yes... since the first year." Melia said, sighing.
Grace was very surprised. "I'm sorry I'm so surprised... It's just that I have never-"
"Imagined that I could like a girl?" Melia interrupted her.
"No, actually I was going to say that I never thought you would like someone from Hufflepuff, from any other House actually..."
"You know, what I say about Hufflepuff, what I say about the other Houses, I never really believed it. It's more because of my family that I say those things. You know, my father being a Rosier, he was very strict about it, he would never accept that I would even be friends with someone who was not from Slytherin."
"Your father is no longer here to boss you around, is he?" Grace said.
"No, but his friends, people who occasionally dine at my house, like Draco's family, would never accept such a thing." Melia said.
"I don't think you need to worry about that, Melia. Follow your heart." Grace advised her.
"Thank you, Grace. Really! It's great to finally be able to tell someone about it!"
"That's what friends are for! I think you should talk to Susan... Talk to her, try to be her friend." Grace said.
"I will."