Chapter 173 - Yule Ball: Red, Fun, Kiss.

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The song was a slow one, where the pair would slowly sway — the couples would usually stare into each other's eyes, hold each close, feeling as intimate as one could while dancing in silence.

Many pairs on the dance were doing just that, but not Quinn West and Ivy Potter; they were looking into each other's eyes, but unlike others, they weren't silent.

"I heard from Hermione that you weren't able to get yourself a date," said Quinn, "not a surprise, given that I was your first choice — your requirements were too high."

"Oh, don't flatter yourself," she sniggered amusingly, "and since when did you start calling Hermione by her given name?"

"Just before when I was dancing with her. . . . she's a fascinating one, that girl — did you know that she has a terrific natural memory, better than mine. Thank magic for occlumency." 'And a history of bullying before coming to Hogwarts,' but that went unsaid.

"She's sharp as a tack, alright," there was a layer of pride in her voice. "So, Daphne with Krum, huh," continued Ivy.

Quinn looked across the dance floor to see Daphne and Krum sitting on a sidelined table. The pair seemed to be conversing with Krum speaking while Daphne listened with occasional nods and inserts of her own.

"Yes, it was a surprise," replied Quinn, "I wonder how those two got started talking — from what I know, those two aren't the talking types."

"I heard that they met in the library, and their friendship began from there."

"Ah, the library. Yes, now I recall — Krum uses Madam Pince's authoritarian rule over the library to escape from his developing fan club of fantasizing fangirls and obsessed fanboys. I've to say, Krum might not be the smartest tool in the shed, but he makes it up with street smarts — he picked up the situation in the library pretty quickly."

"Then, you made Daphne the coordinator of the teams; that probably got them talking."

"You know about that?"

"I talk to every member of the Gryffindor quidditch team on a regular basis; I know Daphne's in contact with every single one of them."

"That makes sense," he nodded before studying the girl in his arms.

Ivy noticed Quinn's gaze. She waited for him to say something or look away, but he didn't. "What is it? Why're you looking at me like that?"

"I've known Daphne for three years going four and you for two years and some — of course, our relationship has been an on-and-off one, but I can say I know you pretty well. . . . but in all that time, I still don't know both of your stories, what's the deal between you and Daphne."

Ivy's eyes flashed with multiple emotions, with her face falling into a smileless one. Quinn felt the slight tension in her body and immediately knew that she had become uncomfortable.

"You don't have to answer that," he said, "sorry if I brought up uncomfortable memories."

"No, it's fine, it's not uncomfortable per se," she sighed, "we used to be friends, you know — best friends."

"Best friends. . . . it doesn't look like that, at least currently, it doesn't."

"Daphne and I have known each other since before I can remember. Our mothers are good friends. . . ."

Quinn nodded as he recollected the interactions between Lily Potter and Sophie Greengrass last year at King's Crossing. They looked and acted like close friends.

". . . . so ever since we were kids, our mothers visited each other; as such, Daphne, Harry, and I have spent countless days playing with each other at each other's houses — she was my first friend outside of Harry." Ivy chuckled reminiscently before continuing.

"What changed?"

Quinn glanced at his right arm as he felt Ivy's grip tighten. He looked back at Ivy, but she didn't seem to notice her actions and continued her tightened grip.

'Hmm, it's nice; it's like a massage,' he thought. "Hey, little lady, if you want to play the squeeze game, please pick it up with someone on your level."

"Huh, what?" Ivy's subconscious grip loosened.

Quinn gazed back at his hand before sighing. "You were about to say something about how you and Daphne fell out."

"She is a jealous stone-faced prick who can't handle if attention is taken off from her," and the rant started, "our mothers enjoyed playing teachers — well, my mum is a professor now, but that's not the point. We used to learn everything together — my mum used to teach things that didn't require magic while Aunty Sophie used to teach us about the traditions and cultural tidbits of the wizarding world."

That made sense. Sophie Greengrass would be a much better person to teach the subjects like etiquette.

"Did you learn how to dance from Mrs. Greengrass?"

"Hmm? Yeah, she was the one to teach Harry, Daphne, Tracey, and me to dance. We took lessons together."

". . . . lucky ducks," muttered Quinn.

"What did you say?"

"Oh, nothing, please carry on."

"She would always try to show me up. Whatever I tried, she would pick it up and try to be better than me. I once tried to take up baking because I wanted to eat cookies and asked Daphne if she wanted to do it together, but she declined — then when I started to bake and when I finally got a good batch out, the very next week, Aunty Sophie told that Daphne was 'suddenly' very interested in backing and after that, she came home with cookies."

Ivy peered right into Quinn's eyes and stated, "and you might not believe this, but she smiled that day — that smug and arrogant smile. Then it started; every time I did anything new, she would do it too, and even after she became statue-face, her eyes would always have that same look."

Ivy glanced up from Ivy towards Daphne, and if he was being honest, he couldn't see it. The Daphne he knew was a straight arrow — this sounded more like Astoria to him.

"Sounds tough," he said. It might not have been a big deal — a children's squabble rarely was.

'',

"You don't believe me, do you?" asked Ivy.

"It's not that — but for me to truly understand a story, I need to know the full story."

". . . . You want to know her side?"

"Yes, but not just Daphne. I want to see what Harry and Astoria think, though I doubt Astoria would remember any of it. Plus, I would like to see what your mother—," and then he sighed in bliss, "—and Mrs. Greengrass, I think."

Ivy looked at Quinn as if he was being weird. If only she could listen to his thoughts, she would know how accurate her thoughts were.

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- (Scene Break) -

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"Believe it or not, but this is the dance I was looking to most this evening," said Quinn with a broad smile on his face.

"Oh please, you've already danced with half a dozen girls already," the girl smiled, "to how many of them have you said the same line — I always thought you were somewhat of a playboy."

"No, my dear, Tracey," smiled Quinn, earnestness flashing, "dancing with girls was pleasant and enjoyable, but I know dancing with you will be mighty fun; I just know it"

Tracey glanced towards the Weird Sisters, and they had taken a pause from traditional ball music and had switched to the much more comfortable and contemporary ball music.

"See, even the music agrees with me; they just put their best track of the night," grinned Quinn.

Tracey giggled as she scooted near Quinn as more and more people joined the dance floor. With time becoming comfortable about joining the dance floor — to dance with their dates.

"So, how is your evening going with Eddie?" asked Quinn, "Also, where is he?"

"His feet got tired from dancing, so we took a break. Last I saw him, Luna was pulling him and Marcus into a strange three-people dance," she smiled, "Eddie is doing just fine. He's much more mellow than I thought he would be when we first met."

Quinn laughed, recalling Daphne and Tracey's first official meeting with Eddie and Marcus. "He was going through the 'I-don't-care' phase and acted like he wasn't interested in talking to you girls, and Marcus was so shy that he didn't speak more than a handful of words. . . . yeah, that's a fun day to remember."

"Yes, do you remember Daphne and Marcus sitting side-by-side, not saying a word to each other — both for different reasons, of course. Daphne said that she almost forgot that Marcus was sitting beside her."

"Really? Marcus remembers it quite differently. He quite liked sitting in silence beside Daphne — said he enjoyed the company."

"What were we doing at that time?"

"If I remember correctly, you and Eddie were challenging me at a game of concentration each, two games at simultaneously — and I was solidly beating both of you."

"Huh, is that so? I can't seem to remember," said Tracey, smiling coyly.

"Of course, you don't," chuckled Quinn.

The two fell into silence as the song went through a calm and slow yet deep buildup. Tracey watched Quinn as he seemed to enjoy the music, slowly leading her with him. He was cute, charming, funny and always knew what to say — a very attractive boy. . . .

'Don't go there, Tracey,' she thought, 'Daphne likes him, so you can't.'

She always had a little crush on Quinn — maybe ever since she met him. He was always fun, always upbeat, perpetually doing something new and exciting. It would always make her and the people close to him wonder about what he would do next.

'Oh, Daphne, why did you have to choose such a cute one,' thought Tracey, 'well, I'll let this one go, so you better not let him go.'

"Well, it's time for us to part, my dear Tracey," she heard Quinn speak.

"Hmm, why?"

"Your date has returned."

Tracey separated from Quinn and turned back to see Eddie standing a little distance with two goblets in his hand. She turned back to see Quinn walking while waving his hand.

"Hey," Eddie said, walking near her before presenting a goblet to her, "this is for you."

Tracey took the goblet and felt the cold metal snug comfortably around her palm. "Thank you, but why?"

"I saw you dancing with Quinn, and you haven't sat down once since the feast; I assumed that you would be parched — please drink. You should stay hydrated. . . . you don't want to faint from dehydration, believe me, not fun."

Tracey gazed down at the pinkish liquid in her cup before looking back up at Eddie, who watched her, waiting for her to drink. 'Alright, Tracey, this one is cute as well.'

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- (Scene Break) -

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"I'm back."

Fleur was talking with one of the Durmstrang girls when she heard the voice of her date and turned to face him. "So, you finally remember me."

"Oh, don't be like that. I returned after every dance; it's not my fault that you weren't available," said Quinn smiling with his hands behind his back, "but it seems you're available now; may I have a dance, my lovely lady?"

"Don't you get tired? You have been dancing for a long while now," she said, getting a shrug from Quinn, "I don't want to dance anymore, but I do want to do something?"

"Sure, we can do that if you don't want to dance. What do you want to do?"

Fleur nudged towards the Great hall entrance pointing across the entrance hall at the oak main doors. "Let's go outside. Let's go for a walk."

Pretending they wanted more drinks, Quinn and Fleur left the Great hall, edged around the dance floor, and slipped out into the entrance hall. The front doors stood open, and the fluttering fairy lights in the rose garden winked and twinkled as they went down the front steps, where they found themselves surrounded by bushes, winding, ornamental paths, and giant stone statues.

They could hear splashing water, which sounded like a fountain. Here and there, people were sitting on carved benches. He and Fleur set off along one of the winding paths through the rosebushes, and except the soft chirps, not a sound disturbed the pair.

'',

They had reached a giant stone reindeer, over which they could see the sparkling jets of a tall fountain and near it a stone bench. They decided to sit down and watch the water in the moonlight.

Both of them didn't speak a word to each other for a while before Fleur broke the silence. "This is not a good place to sit, is it?"

"Not, it is not," he replied.

They could hear sounds of giggling, ruffling from the rosebushes around them. A lot of couples were getting busy on the lovely night of Christmas. Quinn pulled out his fake wand and cast a silencing ward along with another one.

"What did you cast?" asked Fleur.

Quinn placed his fake wand back into his suit. "I cast two wards. One is a sound isolation ward — it keeps dulls sounds; it works both ways, inside and out. The second one is a static invisibility ward." There was a smile in his voice as he finished.

Fleur gave him a look asking to explain why he sounded so happy.

"The static invisibility ward is one of the first wards I ever learned," he explained, "the day I first used it, I sneaked into my grandfather's cellar and sat down, waiting for him. I wasn't familiar with the usage of this ward back then, so I didn't account for the change in lighting — my grandfather thought I was an intruder and shot me with a charged stunning spell, which, as I now recall, hit me right in the chest."

"You lie," she said, interest filling her voice.

"No, it happened seriously. I was knocked out for a few minutes and woke up to see my grandfather with a drink in his hand — not going to lie, he was very cool at that moment."

Quinn noticed a gaze on him and saw Fleur gazing at him intently with her blue eyes. The dulled night sounds set the perfect atmosphere, and both knew what was coming.

It wasn't clear who closed the distance, but a few moments later, they were kissing. They shared a short and chaste kiss before Quinn ended it.

"What is it?" asked Fleur, though she did have an inkling.

Quinn didn't divert her eyes from Fleur and held it. "I like you a lot Fleur. You're stunning and attractive; believe me, even without your Allure, you're truly a very captivating girl. But I don't think I like you that way."

Fleur slowly pulled back and spoke, "Quinn, it doesn't have to mean anything. It could be just two people fooling around, just having some fun. I find you attractive as well, but don't get me wrong, I'm not trying to start something here — it won't be sensible to start something here, I'll be leaving Hogwarts by the end of this year, but you would still have two years of schooling at Hogwarts left. That. . . . doesn't work for me."

"Yeah, that's logical and a smart decision on your part," said Quinn turning his eyes to the moon hanging above, "but you see, I can't fool around, maybe in the future, but not right now." He glanced back at her and continued, "That was my first kiss, you know."

Fleur blinked in surprise. "W-What? You're joking, right?" She couldn't believe that someone like Quinn hadn't had his first kiss till now — she had hers way before Quinn's age.

"Nope, all true," he said, leaning into the bench, "that's the reason why I don't want to fool around even though you're the one who's proposing it. . . . I have no problems with people fooling around, it's their choice, and as long it's consensual I'm a hundred percent fine with it."

"But, I don't want my first ever 'relationship', if we can this that, to be a casual fling, not even if it's for a couple of minutes here alone at a bench. Maybe I'm overreacting to this, but these are my current thoughts and feelings," Quinn smiled as he finished, "and I can't do anything about them."

Fleur also leaned back into the stone bench and sighed, "That's not how I thought today was going to end."

"Thank you, I strive to surprise people," smiled Quinn and loosened his tie a little.

"Really, that was your first kiss?" Fleur couldn't help but ask.

"A hundred percent true."

"But how?"

"Well, I've been a little too busy to explore that part of my life yet."

"Are you sure you just didn't get chances?"

"Oh, please," snorted Quinn, "look at me. I'm a prime piece that everyone wants to get their hands on, and now I can say that my first kiss was with a Veela. . . . so, how was it?"

"What?"

"You know. . . the kiss. How did I do?"

"Hmm. . . . it was okay," she said and got up.

"Okay? It was okay?" he watched as Fleur stepped outside of the ward line, "Ms. Delacour, I have a long record of being exemplary at my first attempts at anything I do."

He got up as Fleur started to walk away.

"Fleur? Fleur! Ms. Delacour! Please clarify what you mean by okay."

The Veela's melodious laughs sounded as Quinn's calls sounded in the night.

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Quinn West - MC - Yeah, this isn't going to work. . . I'm not OK with that "okay."

Ivy Potter - Potter Princess - Troubled friendship.

Tracey Davis - Bubbly beauty - On the look out for cute boys.

Fleur Delacour - Veela - What can I say, it was "okay."

FictionOnlyReader - Author - Yeah. . . so that's how it went.

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