TRAINING WHEELS—
SNOWBALL FIGHT.
014
Bloody hell, Draco. You're so annoying. I hate you. I hate your perfect blimmin' hair and the way you do that stupid half-smirk when one of your friends says something funny because you're too fucking stubborn to actually laugh. Oh, and that thing you do where you rest your chin on your jaw and look so innocent but I know for a fact that you're not—
"Amora." Leon waved his hand in front of the brunette's face, snapping her out of the daydreaming state that she had previously been in.
Draco and Amora hadn't spoken to each other since he danced with her in McGonagall's lesson just over two weeks ago, and she assumed it had something to do with the fight he'd had with Harry. Not that they'd normally talk anyway-- this year was the most that they'd ever spoken. However, no rude remarks or even glares had come her way.
It was quiet. Too quiet.
"Something interesting on the Slytherin table, Amora?" Leon teased. "Blaise Zabini, perhaps?"
Immediately, Amora went to dismiss Leon's accusations, but her best friend was met with a soft whack to the side from Kathy. The girl with uncontrollably blonde curly hair pushed her glasses up her nose and frowned.
"Leave Amora alone," Kathy insisted.
Amora very nearly shook her head, but she decided it was best to just go along with it. No way would she ever admit that she'd been watching the blond boy next to Blaise. How she'd been secretly gushing over every single move he made, from the way his fingers flexed when they reached up to brush his hair out of his face or the way he dressed so smartly despite it being the weekend.
"Has Harry apologised yet?" Leon questioned, "It was rather hard to ignore him in Charms yesterday, considering he kept turning around in his seat to talk to me."
It had been an entire week since Harry had humiliated her in front of all of her friends and she hadn't necessarily been avoiding him, but any time their paths crossed, which happened to be quite often considering they shared some of the same classes and friends, they both seemed to look away from each other. Harry seemed just as embarrassed as she was upset.
"Hannah said he came to the dorms the other day and asked for me, but I didn't go down and see him," Amora admitted.
"Why not?" Leon frowned. "Don't you want to sort this out?"
"Yes! No- I don't know?" Amora huffed. "At the time, I was still very upset. I mean, he implied that Blaise was using me to get to him! I can't say that it doesn't play on my mind every now and then. I hope he's not right."
"He isn't." Kathy reached across Leon and placed her hand on top of Amora's. "Harry's been acting out of jealousy a lot when it's come to you recently, I think this is just something you're both just going to have to talk out."
Leon pointed a finger at her. "I know you hate it, but sometimes confrontation is key. Tell him straight up: Harry, I don't like you like that. Let's still be friends. Things will go back to normal-- he'll stop acting so weird around you."
She missed the old Harry-- the one that she could hang out in the library with for hours or sit with at lunch without feeling like she was hurting him for not liking him back. Discovering his interest in her had created an awkward divide in their friendship. The faults were a mixture of Amora's uncomfortableness and Harry's jealousy.
"When?" Amora chewed on her bottom lip, knowing that Leon did serve a good argument.
"How about now?" He hissed, smacking her arm when he saw that Harry was heading towards them.
Amora straightened up and cleared her throat, looking up at Harry as he stood on the other side of the Hufflepuff table, making some people stare. She pursed her lips, waiting for him to say something.
"Amora, can- can I talk to you?" Harry asked, looking around at the Hufflepuffs staring at him before adding, "alone."
The brunette nodded as she slid out of the bench and started to head towards the exit of the Great Hall. Amora heard a wolf whistle come from someone on the Gryffindor table and she realised that it's one of the twins. Fred had his hands cupped around his mouth and George winked with a thumbs up.
Her cheeks blazed red at the discovery that the Weasley twins had earned them the attention of plenty of students. She was sure that they meant no harm, but it made her feel even tenser. She hoped Harry didn't get the wrong impression by her silence, or the way that she grabbed his wrist and moved to tug him out of the room of preteens and teens even quicker.
"Sorry about them," Harry muttered as she released his wrist.
"It's fine," Amora said quietly, avoiding his gaze until he cleared his throat awkwardly.
"I'm also sorry about what I said last week," Harry admitted, "It was wrong of me to say that. I- I think you know why I did."
Amora frowned, hating how down Harry appeared. She missed him so much and she hated that she didn't feel the same way about him. Everything would be so much easier if she did.
"Because you... like me?" Amora whispered, hesitant to say it out loud in the tiniest chance that he was wrong and he would laugh in her face.
However, the way that Harry glanced to the ground and scrunched his nose so his glasses didn't fall down further made her heart hurt. He swallowed before he looked back up at her, lips slightly pursed and a concerned look on his face.
"I- I didn't know how to tell you," Harry admitted, "I think it's just a silly crush, I-- It's just, well, you've always been there for me and-- I don't know why I'm saying all of this. It doesn't excuse how I embarrassed you or made you uncomfortable--"
Suddenly, Amora was jumping into his arms, causing the brunet's eyes to widen as he stumbled back a little. He hugged Amora tight, brows furrowed. He used his hand to push his circular glasses back up, his eyes widened.
"U-Um?" Harry patted her back somewhat awkwardly.
"Harry, you are one of my best friends," Amora stated boldly, grabbing him by the sides of his head and forcing him to look her in the eye. "Your friendship means the world to me. I'm flattered that you like me, I really am, and any girl would be extremely lucky to have you, and we shouldn't let us come between us like it has been for the past month or so. I want things to go back to how they were."
Harry sighed in relief. "Me too. I miss spending time with you."
Amora beamed as she released his head and grabbed his shoulders. "I missed you too. I don't want you to be upset now, Harry. You have to promise me that you're going to be okay when we go our separate ways?"
The thought of Harry lying in bed awake, upset over her, made her heart hurt. Her sympathetic side, which she thought took up most of her system, didn't want that for anybody. It was the worst feeling in the world to be surrounded by your peers, trying to muffle your sobs into your pillow when all you wanted to do was scream and throw things.
"I'll be fine," Harry smiled wearily. "I promise."
"Give me a hug," Amora mumbled, grabbing him again. "I love you, Harry. A-And I hope you realise how hard it was for me to say this to you. You're the last person I ever want to hurt."
Harry was silent for a few seconds as he clung to her. "I love you too, Amora," he said. "And you haven't hurt me. Not too badly, anyway," he joked. "I'm just glad that you're not running away from me or pretending to be sick in my face like I imagined."
Amora scoffed and elbowed him as she pulled away. "You're a weirdo," she teased.
"All right, says the girl who makes knots in her hair when she's nervous!"
"Hey!" Amora laughed and whacked his arm playfully. "I stopped doing that."
D.M + A.B
December coming around the corner was an utter relief to Amora. Four months or so into the repetitive routine of school was starting to drive her mad, but seeing the corridors dressed up so festively and the excitement in her peers' faces was keeping her on her toes. They were a few days into her favourite month of the year and Amora was doing well in all of her classes-- she'd even managed to bring up her marks in Herbology with some extra revision and help from Neville.
Her only issue was Defence Against the Dark Arts. It wasn't that she was getting bad marks or even Professor Moody, but it was the boy she sat next to. It had been nearly a month since they danced with one another in McGonagall's lesson, and Draco hadn't spared her a single word since. Neither had Amora, to be fair, a little too put off by the fight she'd witnessed between Harry and Draco the day after.
Deep down she thought that Harry had to be right; Draco had to be using her to make him jealous. There was no other logical explanation for any of it.
In their lessons, Amora ignored Draco and Draco ignored Amora. It wasn't that awkward-- they just acted like the other didn't exist. He turned around to speak to Crabbe and Goyle, and Amora doodled in a spare notebook or looked to her right to converse with Harry and Ron sometimes.
"Your nose is red!" Amora laughed at Ron, earning a small shove from the ginger boy as they walked through the courtyard of Hogwarts.
Harry, Hermione, Leon, and Kathy were with them, the group of six having returned only ten minutes ago from a trip to Hogsmeade. They'd decided to try and do a Secret Santa between them, however, Ron and Amora both couldn't handle not knowing who each other had, and ultimately spoiled it for everyone by process of elimination.
Now, the four walked in front of them, Hermione particularly frustrated. Amora beamed as she jogged to catch up with her friend, linking her arm.
"Aw, please don't be mad at us, Hermione," Amora pouted and did her best puppy eyes. "Ron and I didn't mean to spoil it--"
"You both sat at the table with quill and paper and worked out every single one!" Hermione protested.
Amora smiled sheepishly whilst Ron smirked and threw an arm over both the girls' shoulders. "I think that makes us a pretty good detective duo, don't you, 'Mora?"
The brunette laughed. "Yes, yes it does. Pleasure doing business with you, Ronald."
Hermione barely managed to keep the smile of amusement off of her face, shaking her head at her two friends. Harry was also laughing, but Kathy and Leon seemed to be in their own little bubble, hands connected as they walked ahead of the group unknowingly.
The snow crunched beneath their feet and Amora kicked some up at Harry walking a pace in front. The boy turned around in a flash, furrowing his brows at her.
"Oh, you'll pay for that!" Harry laughed, rushing towards one of the benches to scoop as much snow off of it as he could.
Amora screeched as she ran to take cover behind Ron and Hermione at the very last second. It resulted in the glasses-clad boy hurdling a ball of ice at his best friends instead, making Hermione yell out whilst Ron muttered a, "blimmin' hell that was cold, Harry!"
Harry had no time to apologise before Amora threw a snowball of her own in his direction, watching it land right on his chest. He looked down and then back up at her, feigning a glare.
"Come back here, Amora!" Harry laughed, chasing after her as she began to head for the entrance of the school.
Amora turned around for a split second when she hit something, or rather, someone. She yelped as they both fell to the ground, Amora lying on top of them as she moved to get up and brush her hair out of her face. Her brown eyes bulged at the sight of Draco Malfoy on the floor, looking absolutely horrified and furious.
This had to be some sort of awful nightmare.
Harry chose to catch up with her right then, his laughs dying out when he realised why she had stopped. Amora was reaching out to help Draco off the ground and Harry swore the blond boy was about to accept her hand when his silver eyes locked on Harry and he scowled even deeper, choosing to shoot Amora a glare and get up himself instead.
"Of course," Draco snapped, brushing his weekend clothes down. "Do you two idiots ever watch where you're going?"
He referred to the very start of the school year when Ron had shoved Harry into Amora, who had consequently stumbled into the back of Draco's shoes. It reminded Amora of the first time they'd met too-- when the train had jerked beneath her and she ended up practically on top of him.
"I'm sorry, Draco," Amora exclaimed, "I looked away for one second and suddenly--"
"I didn't ask," Draco huffed back but Amora felt like there was no venom behind his words for once... he seemed frustrated more than anything.
"She was just apologising--"
"It's okay, Harry," Amora cut him off softly, placing her hand on Harry's arm without tearing her eyes away from Draco who swiftly cast his eyes around them. "Let's just go."
Hermione and Ron finally caught up with them, looking strangely at Draco as they followed Amora and Harry through the entrance and into the warmth of Hogwarts. Amora looked over her shoulder and found Draco already looking back.
D.M + A.B
There were only two weeks before the Yule Ball and Amora quickly realised that she didn't have any dress robes for the occasion, despite it being on the list of things to have that Hogwarts had sent out before the school year. It turned out that Kathy had nothing to wear either, so the two Hufflepuffs had met up with Hermione before the three of them headed to Hogsmeade for the weekend, wrapped up in hats and scarves and some money in their pockets.
"Just so you know, you don't have to worry about Harry anymore, he's going to the ball with Pavarti Patil," Hermione said gently as they walked past Tomes and Scrolls, chuckling when she saw that Amora was distracted by the books in the window. She patted Amora's shoulder. "Did you hear what I just said?"
"Hm?" Amora glanced over. "Sorry, I was distracted."
"Amora's been daydreaming quite a bit for the past few days," Kathy said.
Amora shot a small look at Kathy, but the girl just shrugged in turn.
"It doesn't matter, anyway," Hermione insisted. "Nothing important. Oh! Did you hear that Ron tried asking Fleur Delcour to the Yule Ball? He was practically paralysed when he got rejected."
"Poor Ron," Kathy murmured. "Wait, if you're not going with Ron, then who are you going with, Hermione?"
Hermione blushed, glancing away from the two girls. Amora glanced up, realising that she had yet to ask her friend that question also. She had also just assumed that the Gryffindor girl would be going to the Yule Ball with Ron.
"Don't tell the boys," Hermione made them promise. "Ron will freak out. I'm going with Viktor Krum."
Both Amora and Kathy gasped loudly. "Hermione!" Kathy exclaimed. "He's so old!"
Hermione huffed. "I am quite mature, though."
Amora gave her friend a small smile. "As long as you're happy. You should be able to go with whoever you want."
There was a small silence before Hermione bumped shoulders with Amora lightly. "So should you, you know."
"Hm?"
Hermione rolled her eyes but smiled in amusement. "Malfoy, Amora. I know why you were so upset when Harry said what he did, and I do think that Harry was wrong. When they were fighting, Draco had this look in his eye when he spoke about you. And he gave you his jumper, for Merlin's sake! It makes me wonder how long he's felt this way."
Whilst Amora was stunned into silence, Kathy gasped loudly. "So the jumper did belong to Draco! Susan wasn't lying!"
Amora giggled and shook her head. "It's a long story."
"It's romantic," Hermione insisted, earning a small glare. "Oh, Amora. You must admit that it's something we would read in one of our novels. I think Draco's scared to fall for you, that's why he's so reluctant."
"She's a Pure-blood, though," Kathy frowned. "Why would he be afraid?"
"She's also Hufflepuff, not to mention close friends with Harry," Hermione interjected, "She's everything that Draco's not. They're opposites-- It's quite sweet if you think about it."
"Can we stop talking about this?" Amora asked quietly. "We're here for dresses, and in case you forgot, my date isn't Draco-- it's Blaise. What colour do you reckon he would like on me?"
"You suit any colour," Kathy insisted as they stopped outside the window of the dress shop that they had been looking for. "Oh, that burgundy one is stunning."
"It would look beautiful on you, Kathy," Amora replied, her eyes trailing around and landing on one towards the back of the store. "Let's go inside."
When Hermione pushed the door open, the bell above the door made a shrill ringing sound. It seemed that the woman who owned the quaint dress store filled with some of the most beautiful gowns that Amora had ever seen was already distracted with another group of girls also buying dresses last minute. Whilst Kathy and Hermione gushed over the burgundy dress that Kathy had spotted, Amora found herself drifting over to another one.
It looked like something out of a Renaissance painting or an illustration from one of the very old princess books Amora's mother used to read to her. It was a floor-length muted-blush coloured gown with a corset bodice, the material slightly transparent in the middle. The entire thing was decorated with silver and gold stars that glittered in the light of the shop, and on the mannequin's arms were detachable sleeves, a slit through the skirt where the leg protruded.
"Oh, darling," Madam Opal gushed, moving over and pulling at the material of the skirt. "This dress would look beautiful on you. I can already see you in it!"
Amora was well aware that Madam Opal would say that about any dress in the room to get her to buy it, but the old woman's voice still made her smile slightly. It had attracted the attention of Hermione and Kathy who came walking over, gasping.
"Amora, she's right," Hermione's eyes lit up. "It's stunning!"
"Do you think the stars are too much?" Amora questioned.
"Nonsense!" Madam Opal protested although the question was directed towards her friends. "The stars are what make the dress, Miss Buckley! It gives it a... unique touch. Something I am sure will leave your date to the ball with his jaw hung open!"
Amora chuckled politely. "Am I allowed to try it on?"
"Of course, Miss Buckley."
She was ushered behind a red curtain at the back of the store and onto a small podium of sorts. She slipped the dress on and pulled it up before Madam Opal entered and did the back up for her, helping her to slip on the sleeves. With a flick of her wand, the dress tightened and moved to fit Amora's petite size, the bottom of the dress shrinking up by inches.
"Oh, my!" Madam Opal gasped dramatically. "Miss Granger, Miss Redsoft, come! See your friend!"
The curtain was slowly pushed back and Amora heard two quiet gasps. "Amora!" Hermione beamed, "You... You look beautiful."
"Stop," Amora blushed, brushing her hand down the material of the skirt. "Are you sure?"
"I think I've been crushing on the wrong best friend," Kathy exclaimed. "Never mind Leon, you look ethereal, Amora."
"Ethereal," Amora repeated under her breath in awe, and then Madam Opal grabbed her by the shoulders and steered her to turn around.
A huge mirror showed the dress on her body in all its glory. She didn't want to toot her own horn, but it did look really good on her. The blush colour against her skin went well despite the fact that her summer tan was starting to fade. She didn't even realise that she was smiling until she glanced up at her face.
"I love it," Amora admitted, "I'll take it."
Kathy tried on the burgundy dress and also ended up falling in love with it, whilst Hermione insisted she had a dress of her own back in her dormitory. The two Hufflepuff girls paid and left the shop, bags tucked in their arms and beams on their faces.
"Madam Opal was right, Blaise isn't going to be able to look away all night," Kathy insisted. "You'll be the most beautiful couple on the dance floor, that's for sure."
Amora beamed at the thought. Only a few days were left and she would be walking down the staircase into the hall. She hoped that he would take her hand at the bottom, maybe kiss it like he did when he asked her to go with him, and then ask her to dance. Maybe even when he went to get drinks he would keep his arm around her waist, proud to show her off to his Slytherin friends despite the fact that she was just a Hufflepuff.
Once the girls arrived back at Hogwarts, dresses in bags, as well as a few bagfuls of sweets from Honeydukes, Amora and Kathy parted ways with Hermione to go back to the Hufflepuff dorm where it was bright and cheerful; members of every year group hanging around and doing all sorts-- studying, listening to music, playing board games, reading, simply sat around talking...
Cedric was watering one of the large plants hanging from the ceiling when he saw his younger cousin haul her bag through the entrance to the common room. He lowered the watering can and smiled as he moved over, clamping a hand down on her shoulder before she could disappear up into her dormitory.
"What's in the bag, Buckley?" He teased.
Amora rolled her eyes with a small smile. "A dress."
"Oo." Cedric raised his brows. "For me?"
"Here," Amora said, gesturing for him to open his palm.
Cedric did so and was surprised when a few sweets poured into them. He grinned excitedly and went to pop one in his mouth when he pulled it back, squinting his blue eyes at her.
"These aren't one of the Weasley twins' creations, are they?" He asked sceptically, "I've seen what they've been up to the past few months."
"No," Amora laughed, "I wouldn't take a sweet from them even if they begged me."
Cedric cautiously popped the strawberry flavoured sweet into his mouth and waited for a few seconds before he dictated that he was okay. His tongue wasn't going to blow up to the size of a house and his skin wasn't going to suddenly break out with severe acne.
"Thanks, 'Mora," he mumbled with his mouth full, patting the top of her head as if he was her father or something.
Amora swiped his hand away before she retreated up the stairs with Kathy, the two of them dropping their bags onto their beds.
"Let me see, let me see." Hannah came running over, her eyes widening when Amora pulled the dress out to show her. "Oh, gosh, Amora! Blaise is going to not be able to resist you!"
Right, Blaise.
...
i've written up the yule ball and it's two chapters long :))) i'll post them over the next week hopefully, but this is my exam week so it might not be until thurs :))
here is amora's dress! it might not be everybody's cup of tea, but i thought it was so her when i saw it.
anyways, thanks for reading :))
dyiansobrien