My face was the reddest it had ever been.

   Had I been expecting that? Nope. Was I planning on going to the Yule Ball? Not really.

    Youngjae was stuttering, and when I looked at him, I realized he was just as red as I was.

    “I-I mean,” he was saying, “I k-know it’s early, b-but…” he trailed off. He smiled nervously. I tried to think of what to say. I couldn’t deny that I would love to go, but something kept bothering me.

    I thought my face would melt off from the heat radiating from it in waves. I was wavering in my decision, but I didn’t even know why. I felt really bad for just standing there, but I couldn’t move anything. It took me a good thirty seconds before I could move my tongue again.

    “I w-would love to,” I said, smiling through my embarrassment. Youngjae’s eyes widened.

“Really?” he asked, surprised.

“Yeah,” I murmured. I looked at my shoes. When I looked up, Youngjae was grinning at the ceiling and hopping a little in excitement. Something was still worrying me, though. I remembered the person who had been truly excited about going to the Yule Ball, and who probably would enjoy it more than I would.

“I am worried about one thing…” I said, and he stopped. He suddenly looked worried. I could feel the tension in him rising.

“N-no, it’s not like that,” I started, and he relaxed a bit.

“It’s just, I know that Miriam really wants to go too, even though she’s too young. Naw, I should be asking Jackson this…” I trailed off. Youngjae nodded understandingly.

“Do you want one of us to ask Miriam to the ball?” he asked. I smiled sheepishly.
 

“That’s fine, I’m sure one of us would be happy to take her,” he mused. I hugged him violently and squealed. Since Miriam was the only friend I’d had at Hogwarts, it wouldn’t feel right to go without her, even though we weren’t that close yet.

“Thank you, Youngjae.” He just smiled painfully as I squeezed him. When I finally let go, it was suddenly awkward again.

Youngjae coughed. I looked up at him; he was looking to the side like we was trying to avoid eye contact, but his cheeks were super red. I couldn’t blame him; my face was just as red.

“I…

... guess I’ll see you in class, then,” I offered. Youngjae nodded.

“Yeah.”

I paused for a moment before turning to the doorway. Just as I reached the redwood doorframe, a hand grasped my arm softly.

“I-I’m sorry, but what color?” I turned at Youngjae’s wavering voice. Youngjae’s hand was warm, but gross and sweaty like Jackson’s. It was a pleasant kind of warm.

“Um, what?” I asked. Youngjae’s question had absolutely no context whatsoever.

“S-sorry,” he said, “I-I mean, what color will your dress be? For color coordination,” he finished.

“OH,” I exclaimed. I thought fast. I hadn’t been planning on going, so I didn’t have a dress yet. I thought of what color would go best with my dark brown hair, then what would look good with Youngjae’s light hair.

“Y-yellow,” I decided. Youngjae smiled brightly like the sun. The sun was yellow, too.

“Okay, see you tomorrow!” Youngjae was very cheerful.

I waved goodbye once we got to a place in the corridors where we had to part ways to get to our dorms. The walk back to the dungeons was eery, and when I walked into our common rooms, the pitch black of the night seemed to seep in through the two huge windows there. I would have loved the carved chairs, ornate sofas and amazing decal if not for the terrifying fact that we were completely submerged in water. A large grandfather clock stood near the unlit fireplace. It read eleven o’ clock.

As I walked into our dorm rooms, I noticed that few girls were in their black lacquered beds. It wasn’t loud, but it wasn’t quiet either, as there were many whispered conversations and slightly louder words. I noticed green lanterns keeping the room lit. Several girls were doing homework or other quiet activities, but most of them were chatting in a large group on one of the beds. When I walked through the doorway, everyone turned to look at me. A straight-haired girl with dark honey locks stood up. She had an authoritative stance, and I saw the badge labeling her a prefect on her robes.

“Izara Wang,” she began. Her voice was like a snake; it was cold, cool, slithering, and soft.

“After hours, I see.” She lifted her chin a bit and placed her hands on her hips. I sheepishly began walking towards my bed at the very back of the room, but I had to pass everyone else to get there.

    “Wang, answer me,” the prefect was getting impatient and stepped into my path. A few other girls giggled softly, smirking at my discomfort.

    “I didn’t hear you ask a question, Leavitt,” I muttered, but smiled angelically. I saw a few girls smile. It got really quiet, so quiet you could hear the silence of the lake outside the dungeon walls.

    “Fine, Wang. Why are you so late? I will have to report this, unless you give me a reason not to.” Olivia Leavitt, the prefect, grinned. I tried my best not to roll my eyes.

    “It’s unfortunate you have to solidify your position by putting others down, Leavitt. It’s a shame you resemble the antics of the Roman Empire. It’s unfortunate they had a great downfall, and much because of those antics.” As I spoke, I heard a muffled choking sound much like someone was trying not to laugh. Olivia’s face would have looked purple, but in the green light, it looked like it was growing mold.

    “You would know how to fall well, Wang. I was told about your, ah, antics on the quidditch pitch.” Olivia’s words were suddenly less soft and more icy. The room froze. Or, at least, I did. There was no way she could have known about the quidditch experiment that my brother had forced me to participate in, unless someone had told her.

    Olivia was a vile snake. While she was a fifth year, she would extend her power to the younger years to feel more empowered and would hang around younger years to gain followers. I hated her thoroughly. I had known her my first year. She had been the kind second year to show me around and help me out, but that had all changed like an avalanche.  

    Embarrassed, I looked at my feet until Olivia said something else that set me off.

    “It’s too bad they are putting you on the team. It just shows how far are team has fallen,” she groaned. I felt my temper rising.

    “I should try out,” she continued. “I could do so much better than those twerps on the Gryffindor team. I mean, have you seen their chasers? I heard one of them’s your brother, Izara. Was he the one with the guts to ask Professor Malfoy to put you on the team? Did he beg? He must have, you are both so bad,” Olivia ranted. Professor Malfoy? Oh, Professor , I managed briefly before anger took over my thoughts.

    “My brother didn’t beg,” I gritted my teeth.

    “At least, he didn’t have to beg half as much as your brother had to graduate.”

    There was a collective gasp around the room. I had just insulted Olivia Leavitt’s older brother, Jared,who had been an infamous player on the Slytherin team before I started my time at Hogwarts. He was an infamous beater who wouldn’t care who he hit half the time as long as he hit something. He was a loose cannon, with a bad temper and a large bite. I had nothing against Jared as I knew no one who had to grow up with Olivia could be perfect.

    “You little .” There was another collective gasp at Olivia’s words. My eyes widened.

    “On what terms?” I defended.

    “You’ve been around with your brother’s friends, Izara, and everyone knows it.” I was shaking with fury. Literally shaking. No one called me the ‘w’ word. No one.

    “Yeah, you,” Olivia continued, egging me on. “You’ve been hanging around with them all. I can’t believe sweet, poor Yugyeom can put up with you. And, a Hufflepuff? An embarrassment to our house. How could you e yourself out to someone without the brains to charm a teacup to a mouse?”

    All I could think was; she insulted Youngjae.

I had at it.

I grabbed Olivia’s beautiful and vain hair and flipped her onto her back, placing a foot on her face.

“Don’t. You. DARE say that to my face again.” My voice had no warmth and merriment. My eyes were dark and furious, darting like an animal’s. My body was shaking.

I saw my reflection in a mirror. I looked like a crazed maniac fresh out of prison. Something inside me shattered, and I slowly lifted my foot off of Olivia’s face. I backed away slowly. I barely noticed Olivia whimpering on the floor as I backed off. I looked around. Everyone was edging away from me like I was scary.

I turned and ran.

I ran out of the dorms, out of the commons, and into the corridors. I ran up stairs, up and up and up until there were no stairs and all I could see were the stars above the astronomy tower.