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Here is chapter 12 for your reading pleasure.style='mso-spacerun:yes'> I own none of JKR’s
characters, more’s the pity.style='mso-spacerun:yes'> Kiara, her parents, and anyone not
recognizable from the books are my own creations.style='mso-spacerun:yes'> I’m making no money off this, so style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'>please don’t sue me.
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lang=EN-GB>Chapter 12: Dumbledore’s Announcement
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The rest
of the holidays passed peacefully. class=SpellE>Kiara, as per Snape’s request, started practising
levitating small items around the house, mostly cushions of various sizes.style='mso-spacerun:yes'> All too soon, she found herself back on
Platform 9 ¾. She spent the trip back to
Hogwarts chatting with her friends. When
she told them that Snape had given her Potions stuff from his own stores, a
book, and private lessons once a week, Rosie was convinced that she’d been
right and that Snape fancied Kiara.style='mso-spacerun:yes'>
“Lessons with him?style='mso-spacerun:yes'> Alone in his
office?” Rosie said mischievously.
“Now I know he likes you.”
“Will you
knock it off?” Kiara replied, exasperated.style='mso-spacerun:yes'> “He does not fancy me.style='mso-spacerun:yes'> I’m a student, he’s a professor.style='mso-spacerun:yes'> It would really be completely
inappropriate.” After teasing her a bit,
Kiara and her friends turned to a new topic.style='mso-spacerun:yes'> They had been required to have dress robes,
but as yet, had not had an occasion to wear them to.style='mso-spacerun:yes'> They spent the remainder of the trip
speculating about what event might happen that year that would warrant dress
robes.
One Saturday at dinner, shortly after classes resumed, Professor
Dumbledore announced that there would be a Valentine’s Day dance for all those
in fourth year and up, including the professors.style='mso-spacerun:yes'> There was a great deal of talking as the
students left the Great Hall to go back to their common rooms.
style='mso-tab-count:1'> “Well girls,” Kiara
began, “I guess here’s the reason for having dress robes.”
style='mso-tab-count:1'> “I wonder if any guys will ask us to
go to the dance with them,” Melanie said, as they were walking towards
Gryffindor tower.
style='mso-tab-count:1'> “Well, they’ll be asking class=SpellE>Kiara for sure,” Rosie said, grinning.style='mso-spacerun:yes'> “Any number of them want
her to be their girlfriend. Of course,
she won’t want to go with any of the boys,
she’ll want to go with a man.”
style='mso-tab-count:1'> “Rosie, what are you on
about?” Wendy asked.
style='mso-tab-count:1'> “Professor Snape,
of course!” Rosie replied, still grinning.style='mso-spacerun:yes'> “He’ll probably ask Kiara
to go with him.”
style='mso-tab-count:1'> “Of course he won’t,” class=SpellE>Kiara replied. “He’s
still a professor, he can’t fraternize with a
student.”
style='mso-tab-count:1'> “Aha!style='mso-spacerun:yes'> So you admit you think he likes you, though,”
Rosie persisted.
style='mso-tab-count:1'> “I didn’t say that!” class=SpellE>Kiara replied, exasperated with her friend.style='mso-spacerun:yes'> The others just laughed.
style='mso-tab-count:1'> “Come on,” Eugenie said, “Let’s go
look over our dress robes.”
style='mso-tab-count:1'> “There’s still a month before the
dance, Eugenie,” Kiara protested.
style='mso-tab-count:1'> “I know, but we do want to
make sure we have everything we need, don’t we?” Eugenie persisted.
style='mso-tab-count:1'> “What do you mean?” Rosie asked.
“Well, we all have our dress robes,” Eugenie replied.style='mso-spacerun:yes'> “But do we all have the right shoes?style='mso-spacerun:yes'> Jewellery?style='mso-spacerun:yes'> Make-up?style='mso-spacerun:yes'> Hairpieces?style='mso-spacerun:yes'> And besides, I don’t think we’ve even shown
each other our dress robes yet. It’s
something to pass the time and if we find we’re missing anything, we can make a
list of stuff to buy on our next Hogsmeade weekend.”style='mso-spacerun:yes'> Kiara and the
others relented and the six girls made their way to their dorm room.style='mso-spacerun:yes'> They spent the rest of the evening trying on
their dress robes and seeing which items of jewellery they had that would go
best with them. The other girls
determined that they absolutely had to buy decent jewellery and envied class=SpellE>Kiara for the amethyst jewellery her parents had given her
for Christmas. All the girls decided
that none of the shoes they had were appropriate for dancing.style='mso-spacerun:yes'> They stayed up late that night, making out a
shopping list and giggling as they tried to imagine which boys might ask them
to the dance.
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Valentine’s Day…romance…and don’t those girls ever give up? class=GramE>grin
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