Lavender Brown.
She was a girl who usually kept a low profile, yet had quite a presence in Gryffindor. Keeping a low profile while having a strong presence might not seem particularly reasonable, but that really was how things worked in Gryffindor.
After all, among Gryffindor's bunch of boisterous goofballs, a timid, quiet girl really did stand out. Especially when she was rather pretty, too.
At least, Harry knew that his dormmate Seamus Finnigan and Ravenclaw's Anthony Goldstein were both quite fond of her.
As for boys in other years, quite a few were visibly interested in her as well.
As the girl in Gryffindor who went to the Library to study more than anyone except Hermione, she was someone Harry often saw there. And every so often, boys from other years would come up and chat her up.
That was why Harry found it quite unbelievable when he learned that Lavender actually had no partner for the ball.
For Ron, though, this was an absolute lifeline.
Given Ron's current family circumstances, getting himself an outfit that matched Lavender's better, as Harry had done, should not have been a problem. But there was no longer enough time.
There were fewer than twenty hours left until the ball.
The professors had actually assigned quite a lot of homework, since the Christmas holidays followed right after. But that weekend, the young witches and wizards had absolutely no desire to do any of it.
The young witches all chattered away with their girlfriends about what dresses they should wear to the ball.
The young wizards, meanwhile, all discussed what sorts of dresses the young witches would wear...
On Christmas Eve afternoon, snow began falling from the sky. It fell heavily, like great feathers drifting down through the air, and soon draped all