Ballad for the Lost Romantics

BALLAD FOR THE LOST ROMANTICS

CHAPTER 9

Three minutes. That is exactly how long it took for Draco Malfoy's little proclamation to spread across the entire Hall.

I know it was three minutes because right after Draco proclaimed his intentions, the great Grandfather clock in the Great Hall chimed midnight. Then, when Ginny Weasley came to a screeching halt right before me, almost losing her footing, and breathlessly asked if I had heard the big news, I just so happened to look up at the said Grandfather clock once again to find that only three minutes had gone by before Ginny, who had been stationed at the opposite side of the Hall, came to tell me what I had already known.

"Did you- did you hear what happened?" she gasped, bending forward to catch her breath.

Incredulously I looked at her. "Were you running?"- Truly a remarkable feat in such a crowded Hall.

Ginny nodded, unashamed, and then duly ignored my question to blurt out, "Draco Malfoy's offered one-hundred galleons to whoever unmasks Lady Rowena's true identity!"

Oliver looked at Ginny in concern when she started coughing heavily, but nonetheless he said, "We know, we were standing right by him."

Disappointment flickered across Ginny's face as she straightened up. "You were?" she asked in dismay.

"Uh, yeah, sorry, Gin," I offered.

"Well, it's not your own fault, I suppose," Ginny sighed in a deflated tone.

Then, we were joined by Harry, Ron, and Lavender.

"Boy Gin, you sure can run," Harry breathlessly greeted, presumably having had trouble keeping up with his overexcited date.

Lavender eagerly turned to me, Oliver and Neville. "Did you hear? Draco Malfoy's offered one-hundred galleons to whoever tells him who Lady Rowena is!"

Ginny looked superior when she announced, "They already know, Lav," in almost condescending tones.

Lavender's face fell in comic disappointment.

Neville was still in shock, "One-hundred galleons! Can you believe it? The students will definitely have their work cut out for them, though," he added thoughtfully.

"I think," Harry began pensively, "that I am not so in need of a hundred galleons that I need to worry about this."

"I don't know," I began with a sly look towards Ginny, "that is a lot of money."

Harry looked shocked. "Don't tell me you're thinking of playing Malfoy's little game?"

"Not all of us have a large vault filled to the limit with galleons, knuts, and sickles, Mr. Potter," Ginny playfully nudged him.

"My sentiments exactly!" I proclaimed.

Ginny's eyes caught an impish gleam. "Perhaps, if we work together, Hermione, then we could split the money..."

"My sisters gone bonkers," Ron deadpanned to an over enthusiastically nodding Harry.

"Where've you been, Ron, she's been bonkers for quite sometime now," I smirked.

Ginny laid an affronted hand upon her chest, "Well, gees, some friend you are."

Lavender giggled to Ron. "It's funny because it's true," she confided in a not-so confiding tone.

"What is this? Harass Virginia Weasley hour?" Ginny demanded.

"It would appear so," I admitted, "but don't worry, you only have about forty-five minutes left to your hour, then we'll move on to Harry."

"Hey!" came from Harry.

"Enough of this, kiddies," Ginny began airily, expertly changing the subject, "we have bigger fish to fry."

I lifted a brow. "Such as?"

"Well," she gave a smirk of her own to me, "we have a mystery to solve and one-hundred galleons to collect."

That concluded our evening at the Great Hall, as well as our (mine, Harry, and Ron's) last Yule Ball. Funny, now that I think of it, I don't quite recall Oliver's reaction to Draco's bet. It would seem like something I would remember, but for the life of me, I really don't.

In fact, he was almost unnaturally quiet during mine and the other's bantering. He didn't really say much when he left us at the infamous portrait of a Fat Lady, just sort of absently nodded to the others, briefly caught my eyes, and then turned right around with the most peculiar expression on his face.

And now that I think of it, Ron was acting a bit strange as well. Besides his little side comments earlier, he, too, had been rather quiet (which is down right scary when it comes to Ron). I could almost literally see the wheels cranking away in his head as he cast a suspicious look at Ginny, who was standing at Harry's side and laughing flirtatiously with him, before saying a terse goodnight and heading up the stairs.

Well, needless to say, that last week of December was a very interesting one. Everyone was, of course, completely ecstatic about Draco's little dare (and he, too, was quite pleased with himself). Everywhere you turned you could hear Lady Rowena being mentioned, and, the arrival of my very brief and to-the-point column on January first most certainly did not stifle the excitement. It did quite the opposite, you might recall.

~*~

This Author would have to be remiss to not mention that the most talked about topic during and since the Yule Ball was not the fantastic decorations or Headmaster Albus Dumbledore's toast, but rather...

Me.

Or, perhaps more precisely, one Mr. Draco Malfoy's impertinent offer of one-hundred galleons to whomever, I quote, "unmasks" my true identity.

Do your worst witches and wizards of Hogwarts, I can guarantee that you haven't the faintest chance of solving this mystery...

Lady Rowena's Ballad for the Lost Romantics

~*~

Alright, now I admit that I succeeded in provoking the feverous attempts at finding out who Lady Rowena was with that little article, but honestly, I really couldn't help myself; it was all in good fun, really. If I had known what would have happened because of these attempts, however, I would never have started the column.

It started out small, at first, but then again, it always does. It was just some little things here and there, such as what happened about a week or so after my latest article during breakfast.

The seventh year Gryffindor posse, including Ginny, was seated for breakfast, all still positively gushing about Lady Rowena.

"You know, it could be absolutely anyone," Ron joined in the conversation, coming up to stand in back of Ginny.

"You know what, for once, Ron is right," Ginny joked sarcastically.

Lavender rolled her eyes, instantly coming to Ron's defense. "Ron really is right, Gin. I mean, it could be any one of us- except for me, of course," she smiled at Ron, who smiled back, but then adopted a serious expression.

Taking the empty seat to Ginny's left he said, "Let's all look at the person to our right, because for all we know, they could be Lady Rowena."

Everyone smiled at Ron's clever little idea and all proceeded to look to their right- except for Ginny, who looked to her left straight into Ron's eyes. "Were you trying to tell me something, dear brother, when you took the seat to my left?" she inquired innocently.

Ron blushed to the tips of his ears, obviously being caught, but still he only said, "Not at all."

And then the breakfast commenced, no one really thinking of what had just come to pass.

I must admit that even I only chalked it up to Ron being silly.

And I also admit that I should have been more aware. I should have read the warning signs of what was happening, but I, for once, was clueless.

And a couple of months later, I would realize what was happening, but unfortunately, that would be a couple of months too late.

Funny how we realize the smallest things too little too late, eh? Oh, not 'hardy-har-har' funny, of course, but more 'hardy-bloody-har' funny. If I need to explain the difference to you, then perhaps you have missed the humor in my previous writings and have not been able to fully appreciate them, which is why I now recommend that you go back to reread my various articles with now opened eyes.