dedicated to searching4theanswer for the elegant cover on the side! They look like they are going to a party, so what better chapter to use it in?

Ch. 34: Skipping Heartbeats

Song For Chapter: Falling In Love At A Coffee Shop - Landon Pigg

I was sitting at my seat in Slughorn's class, nervously fidgeting around as we all waited for him to tell us the grades we had achieved on our finals. We'd all be leaving for break soon, but I wouldn't be able to have a holly, jolly Christmas without knowing the score I'd received.

Even though Potions was my strongest class, I was nervous. Thrumming my fingers across the table in front of me I glared at the back of Slughorn as he shuffled around, looking for our final tests.

"Elle," Lana sighed, pressing her hand over mine to force my fingers to stop their annoying habit. "Just calm the calamity in your mammaries, yeah?"

I opened my mouth to spit out a smart retort, but Slughorn slid my parchment to me with a small frown, not saying too much before walking away to give the others their scored sheets. Beside me, Lana made a contented 'humph', flipping her parchment over to show me the 'Acceptable' written in red.

"Not too bad," she smirked, forgetting that fact that acceptable was only just about poor. "What did you get, Elle?"

Taking a deep breath, I flipped my parchment over and froze, feeling my stomach hit the cold, hard, stone floor beneath me. I opened my mouth, as if to scream, but only a high pitched whine came out. Lana rose a brow at me, peeking over my shoulder to see the score. She winced and shook her head.

"A dreadful?! How the bloody shit did you do that?!"

Behind her, Seamus glanced up at her language, raising a brow. Hermione turned to me, offering me a reassuring smile. But, the worst part of it was Ron's reaction.

Ron glanced down at his own paper, face ashen, and jump out of his seat, stool clattering to the ground with a dramatic 'clunk'. "YES! BLOODY HELL! 'MIONE WAIT 'TIL I TELL MUM!"

"WHAT!?" I hollered, hopping from my own chair and sliding over to Ron so I could see his grade. Written in bold letters on the top were the words: 'Outstanding'. "NOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!"

"NOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!" I jolted awake, screaming at the top of my lungs as I earned odd looks from the others in the Common Room with me. Confused about my surroundings, I toppled from my wooden chair, hitting my head on the hard wood desk I was seated at, earning chuckles from fellow Gryffindors. 'They're all assholes.'

"Was it a clown?" Lana called towards me as she sat beside Seamus, playing some sort of wizarding card game. I shot her a glare, but ignored the question as I brushed myself off. Hermione glanced up from her book that she was reading while lounging in front of the fire.

"What was it, then?"

Sniffling, I hobbled over to Hermione, wounded and bottom lip wobbling. "M-Mione, R-Ron," her eyes sharpened at his name, "he got an Outstanding in Potions!"

There was a pause as I flopped down on her lap, laying with my face smooshed against the opposite side of the couch, legs propped up on her lap. Finally, the silence was broke by Hermione's laughter. "Are you upset about the Exceeds Expectations you received?"

I moaned into the pillow, voice muffled. "Yeeesss, Harry's a cheat and he got an Outstanding!" Hermione set her book aside and rubbed my back, attempting to soothe me as I complained, whining in a high pitched voice.

"Well, Elle, I'm not sure what to inform you," Hermione trailed off, "however, we actually need to get ready soon. Or, we may be late."

"I don't wanna go."

Hermione chuckled dryly at this, shaking her head. "Neither do I," she muttered a few other words under her breath, but composed her face as I glanced up at her in curiosity. Whining, I rolled off of my sister, hitting the carpeted floor with a thick 'thud' before lazily crawling towards the Girl's dormitory stairs, earning a giggle from Lana as she watched me in the background.

"LLLLAAAANNNNAAAA!" I groaned, placing my cheek on the stairs as I glanced back at her. "Lana, carry me up the stairs."

"No, you weigh like a million pounds,"

"No I don't, not everyone can be a model, Veela!"

"Lazy!"

"SKANK!"

"Honestly," Hermione sighed from the couch, "just go upstairs already, Elle. We all know you're stalling." My sister stretched as she got up from her seat on the couch, twisting her stiff joints before she shot me a curious eye. "So, did you ask someone to be your date?"

"Yeeeaaahh," I blushed, crawling up the stairs on all fours, too lazy to get onto my feet. Hermione had quickly passed my progress on the staircase as she shot me a frown. She muttered under her breath a question about why she'd ended up with such an oddball for a sister. Reaching out a strained hand, I grasped the hand rail of the stairs and pulled myself onto my feet, what seemed like a grievous task.

Once Hermione and I reached our shared dorm with Lana and Jenna, who was still missing in action, we pulled out our Christmas party dresses. I glared down at mine for what seemed like half an hour. The little, black dress was pleated on the skirts, which reached my knees, and the fabric was stained with pink peonies, the pattern stretching every where.

Sighing, I realized that I would have to wear legit heels with this dress. People would be able to tell right away if I was merely wearing my regular tennis shoes. Too bad too. Muttering curses under my breath, ignoring the odd looks Hermione was sending me, I jammed my feet into the nude pumps I'd bought along with the dress.

"Okay, 'Mione, let's get this over with," I hobbled towards the door, but she stopped me, a giggle on her lips. "What?"

"Aren't you going to put on make-up?"

"You callin' me ugly?"

"No?"

"UGH! Fine," I yanked open my bag that held the only two articles of make-up I owned: foundation and eyeliner. "Hermione, dig through Jenna's trunk, there's a gold mine of face paint in there."

"Are you sure- "

"-Yeah, she won't mind." I waved her off, glancing towards the pocket watch I kept on my dresser. I used to carry it around with me all the time, but now-a-days it was left, rusting away, next to my bedside. I flipped open the top to see that it was only six. The party didn't start until seven and I had until eight before 'fashionably late' turned into 'rude'.

Hermione dumped an armful of face and beauty products on the vanity, glancing up at me with an unsure grimace. "Is that enough?"

"For you?" I shot her a small look over, bringing a scowl to her lips. "Not hardly."

"Oh, shut up, Elle."

Light music could be heard from outside Slughorn's party. Unfortunately, I was getting cold feet. I hated dances and parties with actual people. I hate people. People are the worst.

"Sis, are you going to merely stand there, or are you coming in?" Hermione pushed me lightly, a smile on her lips. I wanted to remind her that Cormac was waiting for her inside, but then that would only ruin the moment for the both of us.

We shared a single look of loathing before heaving a sigh and linking arms, deciding to walk in together. The yellow, filtered lighting caused my eyes to ache for a moment, but it passed as I adjusted, taking in the sights of people dancing and talking with long shoots of champagne in their fists. Hermione caught sight of someone in the corner and broke away from me, whispering apologies.

"But, 'Mione!" I protested, but she'd quickly escaped, ducking her head. Groaning, I threw my hands up in irritation. "Some sister you are."

"Spinach puff?" Neville's voice called from beside me, scaring me for only a split second. Grabbing my chest, I shot him an annoyed glare that he shrunk back at. "S-Sorry, Elle. I didn't mean to scare you."

I waved it off, taking in Neville's waiter attire. "So, you're a waiter?"

"I didn't exactly make it into the Slug Club...," he blushed, ducking his head from what I'd assumed was embarrassment. "But, it's alright. I don't mind helping out."

"That's great Neville," I grinned, happy that at least Neville was here to talk to. "Ho-"

Neville's face paled as he made eye contact with someone behind me and he stepped away from me. "Sorry, I have to serve other people, Elle. But, I'll talk to you later, okay?"

"Uh, okay - bye?" He nodded at my words and weaved around the crowds, stopping every few feet or so to offer his tray to guests. Raising a brow, I glanced towards the area that had taken him off guard only to lay eyes on the girl, the one I'd seen with Malfoy on the day Jenna had been cursed. Rachel Harvard.

Had she scared away Neville?

Her odd, purple eyes stared me down until I was distracted by seeing Harry and Luna enter the Slug Club. When I turned back towards Rachel, she had vanished. 'She wasn't wearing a waitress uniform... but she isn't in the Club...,' I thought to myself, wondering what the random Slytherin was doing here.

I suddenly realized that I felt very... alone. Glancing around the party, I noted that people were wrapped up in their own conversations and friends, and I was standing in the middle of the oak wood floor, swinging my hands back and forth awkwardly.

Walking towards the punch bowl, I decided to pour myself a drink to seem as if I was enjoying myself. As I reached for the crystal ladle, Professor Snape and I made awkward eye contact and he cleared his throat. "I wouldn't if I were you, Miss Granger."

"Why?"

"It's Squirt."

Cringing, my nose scrunched up in distaste. "Oh, gross..." I put my cup down and turned away from the punch, eyes meeting chocolate ones across the room.

Taking a faltering breath, I swallowed the lump in my throat that I hadn't realized was there. In my chest my heart pounded, sputtered, and skipped a few heartbeats, ecstatic at what my eyes saw. Slowly, a wide grin spread on my lips as I walked to the middle of the floor, just as Fred walked up to me as well.

It was odd to me that every time I saw him it felt like the first time I told him I was in love with the idiot. Every time I saw him after that, my heart jumped a beat. It was silly, really. He must have felt the same way; I could practically see it in his eyes as he swooped me up into his arms, placing one hand on my waist and the other in my hand, leading me around floor as a light song began to be played by the orchestra.

Swaying, as best as my heels would permit, I felt my cheeks flush. "You've gotten better," I complimented him, spinning out as he led me around. My ears perked up at the familiar tune, realizing it was the Muggle song from our first kiss. "Did you request a song?"

He grinned, shrugging. "They didn't know it, but luckily I had written down the music for them."

"You wrote it?"

Fred rolled his eyes, feet stepping twice to the left before leading me around once more, "Alright, so Blake told me that you needed a date and gave me a music score to hand to the orchestra. It's the thought that counts, right?"

"But, it wasn't your thought."

"Details."

Chuckling, I laid my head on his shoulders, swaying to the music. "Ah, why do I love an absolute idiot?" Fred smirked at my words and pecked the top of my forehead.

"I love you too, Letter."

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sorry that this was so short in content, next chapter should have a lot more happening.

The song is going to permanently remind me of Frelle. xxJess