It was the start of December. The air was turning cold as the harsh winter was settling in. It signified the yearly Yule Ball - a formal Christmas celebration for the contestants of the Triwizard Tournament. All fourth-years and above were allowed to participate, even though the group never really cared for it. They usually spent the Yule Ball at a table together, goofing off and laughing around.

But this year was different.

Jungkook and Taehyung needed to have a date, because they, along with Eunhyuk, had to lead the first dance for everyone.

Jimin had finally asked Mina out after the two had been pining for each other for the longest time, Hoseok had asked Yoona along for fun, Jin, Namjoon and Yoongi were going to go with some 7th years girls because they had claimed it was “their first and last year to have a date to the ball” - honestly, as long as it wasn’t Park Hyorin or Kim Sohee going with Jin and Namjoon, Jihyun didn’t really care.

They were all going to meet up at the ball anyway.

It was only till one week before the Yule Ball that she finally realized she was the only one in the group (apart from Taehyung and Jungkook) to not have a date.

She had seen the rest of the school soaking up in the festive atmosphere - roses and love letters were given by different students, asking their special person to the Yule Ball. It was the wizarding world’s version of prom, and even though she never really cared for it - this year was different.

She wasn’t sure why, but she wanted a certain person to ask her.

Her mind couldn’t help but replay the movie night, the night where they were so close to kissing, the comforting feeling she got whenever she was with him, the fluttery feeling in her heart whenever she saw his smile.

She wanted Jungkook to ask her to the Yule Ball.

Even though she hadn’t really been keeping up with the gossip, she did hear about the number of times that Ahreum had been asking Jungkook to bring her to the Yule Ball. But when the group asked him about it, he merely shook his head and said that he hadn’t really thought about it, before shooting a furtive look towards her and looked away quickly.

At least they weren’t going together, not yet, not ever - she hoped.

She was walking towards the Great Hall to meet the rest of the group for lunch, when a tap on her shoulder stopped her in her tracks. She grabbed onto the wand in her pocket instinctively, afraid that it was going to be Park Jaebum and his gang - but when she turned around, she found a smiling Eunhyuk looking at her.

“Hi Ji!” He said excitedly with hands behind his back. She gave a warm smile to her fellow beater as he took his place beside her, “Hey Hyuk, what’s up?”

“I just wanted to ask if you’re going to the Yule Ball.” He said as they slowed down in the hallway amidst the students.

“Oh, the ball. Yeah, I’ll probably just swing by for a while.” Jihyun shrugged.

“Do you have a date?” He asked curiously, and Jihyun could feel her cheeks burning from embarrassment. With less than one week to the ball, she was probably the only few in school without a date.

“No one’s asked me yet.” She shook her head and looked down towards the floor, focusing her attention on her black polished shoes instead.

“Great!” Eunhyuk exclaimed, and Jihyun furrowed her eyebrows at him, “What?”

“Oh no, not in a bad way!” He chuckled with his signature gummy smile, “I wanted to ask you to be my date to the Yule Ball.”

He pulled out a bouquet of flowers that he had been hiding behind him.

“Me?” She pointed to herself and widened her eyes in disbelief as she gingerly took the bouquet from him.

“Yeah! Actually, I’ve liked you since we joined the quidditch team.” Eunhyuk blushed crimson red, and Jihyun got another shock of the day.

They had been teammates for so long, and Jihyun had always thought that Eunhyuk was interested in Yoona since she had caught them chatting away happily quite a number of times. Now that she recalled, they were always looking at her suspiciously with a knowing smile on their faces.

Im Yoona, you traitor!

“I-I’m flattered, Hyuk, but-” Jihyun stopped as she looked at the crestfallen expression on his face, “But you like someone else?” Eunhyuk asked softly.

“U-uh, I mean-”

“Is it Kim Taehyung?” Eunhyuk asked, “I mean I would totally understand, since you guys are so close and all that.”

“What? No! Tae and I are just best friends, and he’s intending to ask someone else to the ball. I just need some time to think about it.” Jihyun said as she composed herself, and Eunhyuk nodded in understanding.

“Totally! Sorry, I didn’t mean to rush you. Take your time to think about it, you know where to find me.” Eunhyuk winked as he jogged off, leaving Jihyun dumbfounded.

She felt guilty - because the entire time that Eunhyuk had asked her to the Yule Ball, all she could think about was how happy she would have felt if a certain Gryffindor had asked her instead. There really wasn’t anyone else she’d rather go to the Yule Ball with.

She spotted the group sitting at the Ravenclaw’s table, and headed towards them slowly. They were all engaged in their own conversations, and hadn’t noticed that she had arrived.

“I’m going to bring Kim Yena to the Yule Ball, I’ve had a crush on her for the longest time.” Taehyung gushed to Jungkook, and Jihyun snickered silently to herself. Her best friend had been talking about the 101 ways he’d ask Yena to the ball, but whenever he was near, he would back off again.

“Sounds good.” Jungkook hummed as he took a swig of his apple juice.

“How about you?” Taehyung asked, “Anyone in mind?”

Jungkook stayed silent for a while, and Jihyun’s heart beat wildly against her chest as she absent-mindedly served herself food from the table.

“To be honest, I was actually thinking of asking Ji.” Jungkook said, and Jihyun couldn’t help but smile. Dimwit's finally making a move!

“Ooh, someone has a crush on Ji.” Taehyung said, “Don’t worry, I’ll keep it hush.”

Jungkook rolled his eyes before continuing, “It’s just… I don’t think I should be bringing Ahreum to the Yu