yellow ribbon | a harry potter fanfiction

cocoa, whipped cream, and cinnamon

APART FROM VALENTINES DAY, December might be the most romantic month of the year. It didn't help that that year they would have the Yule Ball. Wendy was already aware of it from the start, but she didn't know why she wasn't as excited as she thought she would be if ever she were in the story.

Professor McGonagall gathered all the Gryffindors in the ballroom to take the first classes for dance. Wendy was quite scared, she only had one prom in her life and she wasn't forced to do any ballroom dancing for it and for all the balls she attended for her job, she never stayed  longer than necessary.

Girls on one side and the boys in the other, some unspoken rule dividing them from each other. If Umbridge were there she'd be quite happy, Wendy thought.

"Everyone, pair up!" Their professor announced.

No one dared to make the first step, until the bravest of them all stood and walked in front of everyone. Neville, of course, stood there before the fellow Gryffindors too shy to ask a girl to dance with him. Wendy smiled at the boy, he really was a brave soul to upstage the other lions. She wasn't going to let him take all the arrows of glances and stood up to join him; few little whispers were heard among the boy's side.

"May I have a dance with you?" She asked.

Neville, before flushed and shy, was now confident and offered his hand, which Wendy took gladly. Before she was ready he came closer and took the initiative to make the first step. The confidence she had before was all gone when she started following Neville's steps. He was so confident in his movements she felt a bit more at ease about forgetting hers.

"Let the music take over," he whispered noticing her struggles.

She chuckled, "I'm trying."

Soon after, many others joined in the dance floor. Just like the party they attended at the Three Broomsticks they were all dancing, but this time everything was cleaner and neater. With Professor McGonagall roaming around and fixing the postures of the students, Wendy felt like she was being examined. She searched for the teacher but her eyes fell on Fred dancing with Hermione, Wendy wasn't sure why but she always liked the possibility of a relationship between the two.

Wendy's gaze was felt and Fred's eyes moved from his feet directly to where Wendy was. Their eyes met and they both chuckled, Fred took the opportunity to be silly and took his hands to quickly do the Dancing Queen dance, to which Wendy laughed lively. Unfortunately, she wasn't the only one who witnessed it and he managed to receive a glare from Professor McGonagall.

Wendy quickly composed herself, trying to repress her laughter, but she couldn't stop her chuckles.

Neville, obviously witnessing the whole thing, smiled at the girl, "they're really fun."

Wendy brought her attention back to her partner. She never noticed how tall Neville was, she could still talk to him eye to eye, but she expected him to be at her same height at max.

"Sorry?" She asked.

"The twins, they're really good people," he said looking back at Fred, "I wonder if they will ever find true love."

"What do you mean?" She asked.

"You know them," he said taking two steps, "they always keep it to themselves."