Chamber of Love

Chapter 7

 Days were passing rather quickly and Juliette was getting more anxious and concerned as the Yule Ball approached.

There was only a week left until the Christmas Eve and not a single person asked Juliette to be their partner. She kept telling herself to not think about it and focus on her studies instead but it was kind of impossible since Cedric never stopped talking about how Cho Chang accepted his offer to go to the ball together and how amazing it was going to be, dancing in front of everyone with her.

It was one of their free times and she was sitting in the Great Hall, alone at the idle Hufflepuff table. Her chin was resting in her left palm while she watched the white snow fall from the high  ceiling of the hall. Her book was left unattended on the table in front of her as the chattering of the students surrounded her.

"Go, ask her!" A voice whispered, reaching Juliette's ears. She didn't pay any attention.

"No way!"

"Do you have a better idea? We're literally the only ones without dates." Two hushed voices kept whispering to each other and Juliette couldn't help but listen. They were coming from behind her but she couldn't identify the owners of the voices.

"No, but I don't want to ask her either! You seem to forget the fact that she's an Avery! That whole family is evil!"

Juliette couldn't help but sit up straight so suddenly. They were talking about her. But who are they? Is someone finally going to ask me? Juliette could hear her heartbeat accelerating as uncontrolled thoughts occupied her mind.

"It doesn't matter at the moment. She's a potential partner and you should go ask her before she leaves."

She resisted the urge to turn around and see who was talking about her.

"What if someone already asked her?" The other voice wondered. Juliette tried not to laugh at the question. It's been weeks and she still couldn't manage to find herself a partner unlike everyone else.

"Who would ask her? She never speaks to anyone but Cedric and he already has someone." Juliette could hear the slight disappointment at the mention of Cedric but she didn't put much thought in it since she was offended and a little bit insulted because of the words they used to talk about her. They were kind of right about her not talking to anyone except for Cedric but she didn't realize that it was so obvious that she wasn't a social butterfly. She felt her insecurity surround her body like she was receiving a tight hug from an unpleasant family relative while she sat at the table by herself with two people talking behind her back.

"Right." The other voice said. "I'll give it a shot. What's the worst that can happen, right?"

Juliette started to panic as she felt someone walking towards her and grabbed her book firmly, pretending to read the paragraphs. Her fingers were playing with the corner of the paper, slightly crumpling it.

"Hey." The same voice was now next to her and it was definitely not whispering anymore. It was strangely familiar now that it was closer.

She drew a deep breath before looking up. Famous ginger hair and heavy but nervous blue eyes were looking down at her. Shocked wasn't enough to describe how she was feeling under Ron Weasley's unsure gaze.

"H-Hi." She stuttered, not because she was nervous but because she wasn't expecting him to be the one talking about her with probably his best friend, Harry Potter.

"So, uh..." He looked like he was trying to find the right words. "I was wondering..." He trailed off once again before sitting next to Juliette, uninvited.