i groaned as i left my bed, heading in the direction of the door.

"coming," i mumbled.

i reached the door and grabbed the handle, pulling it open to reveal a very distressed hermione.

"hermione, what's wrong?" i asked concernedly.

hermione's face turned a bright red before she muttered, "nothing."

"are you sure?" i asked, still uncertain.

she simple nodded and headed to her trunk to change. i left her to her business and got back into my bed, my mood slightly altered but by no means better. i still didn't understand why everyone was being so secretive about the yule ball situation.

i turned back over on my mattress and closed my eyes, hoping that come morning time, this whole situation would be a blur. i muttered a quick goodnight to hermione and the other girls in the dormitory then settled comfortably into bed.

the following thursday morning was much more relaxed than the previous night. hermione awoke me with a smile on her face while babbling about something professor mcgonagall had mentioned. we were up and dressing but i was groggily coming to.

hermione continued on, though when i didn't respond, she nudged me and awaited my answer.

"what?" i asked obviously confused.

"who's it going to be?" hermione responded.

i gave her a puzzled look before she understood that i had not been listening.

"who are you taking to the yule ball?" she asked once more.

the question hit me hard as i was reminded of the past night.

"well," i began, completely unsure of what direction this conversation was going to go in.

"i don't really know."

hermione screwed up her face in thought for what felt like ages before responding.

"but, i thought tha-"

before she could finish, she looked down at her watch attached to her wrist and jumped straight up.

"it's nearly time for class! come on, we're going to be late!" she quickly said before rushing out the door.

after making my way down the spiraled staircase, i followed hermione out into the common room, both of us in a steady jog.

i looked down momentarily to adjust my bag strap before i collided head on with another student and tumbled to the ground.

"oh my gosh, y/n!" said a wavering male voice.

i sat up slightly, rubbing the back of my head and seeing a small amount of blood on my fingers. there was also a growing bump on my forehead, seemingly a concussion.

"i'm so sorry. i-i wasn't paying attention and rushing and then i didn't see-"

"neville, it's okay. accidents happen." i said, reassuring the startled boy.

neville gulped and nodded before beginning to fidget with his fingers.

hermione was peering over neville's shoulder, a horrified expression on her face.

"y/n, you need to go to madam pomfrey, that doesn't look good."

i grunted in response before attempting to stand up but the pressure from my injured head brought me right back down.

"i'm sorry y/n." mumbled neville as he frowned.

at the same moment, footsteps could be heard from the spiral staircase, indicating more students rushing to class.

"i just don't know when is a good time to do it!" ron said to harry as they rushed around the corner, clearly in a hurried conversation.

as ron continued talking, harry noticed the situation in front of them and stuck out his arm causing ron to stop mid-sentence.

"bloody hell y/n! are you alright?" came ron's concerned voice as the pair of them hurried toward the scene.

"guys i'm fine. really, you should go to class. i can go-" i muttered as i once again attempted to stand but failed miserably.

harry turned his head in the direction of ron.
it was very obvious that the red headed boy was the strongest of the group. he had grown significantly over the summer, engaging in countless games of quidditch with his siblings and working out in general.

"ron, you could carry y/n to madam pomfrey, couldn't you?" said hermione as she read harry's expression.

ron's cheeks turned a slight pink shade as he mumbled, "yeah, i can."

hermione, neville, and harry all backed away as ron settled down besides me on the common room floor. he placed his hands underneath my legs and arms and scooped me up bridal style, being as careful as he could be.

leaning in even closer, he muttered "just let me know if you're uncomfortable."

i gave a slight nod and laid back in his arms. my heart fluttering at our close contact.

"i think it'd be best if the rest of us hurried to class." hermione said as her, harry, and neville ran out the portrait hole in front of us.

we exited the portrait behind the group and made our way to the fourth floor where the hospital wing was located.

"what happened to you?" ron asked looking down at me, clearly worried.

i returned his gaze but blushed before responding.

"well hermione and i were rushing to class but i hadn't been paying much attention and neville and i collided into each other."

ron adjusted his grip on me which very suddenly triggered my thoughts. ron is carrying me. ron is literally holding me.

i was jerked from my thoughts when ron responded. i shouldn't even be thinking those things anyways. i thought. he's taking someone else to the yule ball, remember?

"y/n?" ron said as he paused his walking and looked down at me.

"oh, sorry. what were you saying?" i asked.

"just hoping you're all right. it'd be a shame if you were badly injured. i would hate that."

i smiled at his sympathy and began to get lost in thought once more. but before i could, we had reached the entrance to the hospital doors.

after ron had attempted to knock on the door while holding me at the same time, madam pomfrey appeared, a shocked expression on her frail face.

"oh dear! bring her here." she motioned quickly to a bed at the far end of the hospital ward.

the large room was quite empty except for the 1st or 2nd year student with some mild injury a few beds away.

ron followed suit and walked to the bed. he lightly placed me down but kept his hand behind my head to help with the bleeding.

"now, what happened dear?" madam pomfrey asked me as she came over holding a few bottles full of medical supplies.

"i ran into another student." i mumbled as the pain finally began to sink in.

ron seemed to notice my sudden shift in mood and reached for my hand to comfort me.

madam pomfrey motioned for ron to move his other hand supporting my head so she could apply a substance to stop the bleeding.

she placed a large amount of a strange smelling medicine on the cut and bandaged the spot on my head. after that, she quickly preformed the healing spell and spoke the incantation "episkey" that heals minor wounds.

"you should be alright now dear, but you're welcome to stay for a little while longer if you'd please, you of course are welcome to stay with y/n." she mentioned to ron who had stayed by my side the entire time.

ron nodded as madam pomfrey headed off to attend the other student in need of her assistance, leaving the two of us alone.

we sat in a comfortable silence for a while until
ron gazed at me and smiled.

"what?" i asked smiling back at the boy.

"nothing." he replied, still slightly grinning.

"do i look weird?" i questioned, thinking that was the only possible explanation to ron's sudden amusement.

ron gave a small laugh before responding, "no of course not. you look perfect."

perfect.

the words he spoke took an enormous toll on me. my face immediately heated up and grew a darker pink with every passing moment.

it shouldn't even mean anything but coming from ron, i felt like i was on fire. his crystal blue eyes warmed me to the soul, and it didn't help that ron leaned ever so close to me, allowing me to get a perfect gaze inside them, seeing the many different shades of the beautiful color.

he placed his hand besides my ear, but not before giving me a smirk. he gently moved away a strand of my hair, twirling it ever so slightly between his fingers, and whispered in my ear, "y/n,"

i held my breath, unsure of what he was going to say next.

he inhaled sharply before saying, "i have to go back to class now." and slightly leaning away but still close enough for me to count the red-tinted freckles scattered on his alluring face.

i looked up into his eyes once more, his staring back at mine. a subtle moment passed between us, a feeling unspoken but still sensed.

before i could realize what i was doing, i reached for his hand and intertwined my fingers with his. he gazed down at our tangled hands looking slightly startled.

what am i doing? i thought as i removed my hand from the grasp.

"i-i'm sorry. i don't even- i didn't mean-" i stumbled, placing my hand back on the hospital bedsheets when something stopped me.

ron reached forward and took both of my hands in his, and then did something unexpected. he hugged me. he placed my hands around him and then did the same with his own.

we held each other for a short moment before ron pulled away and whispered once more into my ear. "meet me at the black lake. come tonight, 8 p.m." he said smiling. "alone would probably be best." he winked at me before standing up and proceeding out of the hospital wing.

a few hours had passed since my encounter with ron. madam pomfrey had insisted i stay a while longer meaning i skipped out on breakfast, lunch, and nearly dinner. my stomach was rumbling and it wasn't helpful that i couldn't think straight because of the blissful chaos of this morning.

"madam pomfrey?" i called out in hopes of alerting the elderly women.

thankfully, she came over in no time, ready to assist me for whatever it may be that i needed.

"yes dear?" she questioned.

"do you think i could have something to eat? it's nearly dinner and i haven't had breakfast or lunch." a loud rumble sounded from my stomach, proving my point. how ironic.

madam pomfrey's eyes widened before quickly hurrying out of the room. "yes, of course! so irresponsible of me!" she said from the corridor.

a few long minutes later, she returned with a full plate of food and placed it in front of me. i thanked her and she left me to enjoy my food.

the meal consisted of sausages and mashed potatoes, one of ron's favorites.

i devoured the delicious food and rested once more in my bed.

hermione had stopped by earlier between classes to check in on me. i had truly felt fine the whole day, but i was enjoying the comfort of the hospital and plus, i didn't mind missing out on some classes.

the only thing that kept pestering me was whatever ron had in store for later tonight. i constantly replayed the moments with him from this morning, imagining each scenario over and over again. that was the most physical contact we'd ever shared. hopefully, something good would go down at the black lake.

madam pomfrey soon released me from the hospital. as sad as i was, i was also anticipating the excitement of tonight.

passing by the great hall, i could hear loud conversations from inside, meaning students were enjoying their dinner.

i was tempted to join them knowing that harry, ron, and hermione would be amongst the sea of students, but seeing i had already ate, i decided to head up to the dormitories.

i made my way through the portrait hole and sat down on a burgundy sofa in the gryffindor common room. crookshanks lay sprawled out nearby, probably thankful for some alone time.

i was contemplating about telling hermione what had happened with ron and i when she returned from dinner, but suddenly, there was an uproar of students yelling and an utter silence after dumbledore had silenced them. i was extremely curious as to what just happened, because dumbledore wasn't one to raise his voice often.

a few short moments later, a couple gryffindor students entered the common room, shocked expressions covering all of their faces. they were talking in hushed whispers, almost as if they wanted nobody to overhear them. despite this, i heard a few hushed tones along the lines of, "tri wizard tournament", "how was he picked?" and "did he do it?"

i was confused about the situation, only able to ponder about it for a short while before more students filed in, hermione being one of them.

i rushed over to her,  immediately noticing the same shocked expression on her face.

"hermione," i asked warily. "what happened?"

she took in a deep breath and led me back over to the sofa.

"y/n," she started. "harry's name was pulled from the goblet of fire."

i truly hoped you guys enjoyed this chapter as much as i did! it's not my best writing but i wanted to push it out immediately because i've been putting this off for WAY too long. i finally have a solid plan on how i want this story to flow so if some moments in the plot seem a little rocky, just know that everything will soon make perfect sense. also, my schools spring break is coming up soon which means MAJOR updates!! super excited that i'll be able to push out tons more chapters to continue this story.
thank you for all of your support!! <3