For Rose the night which had begun to seem close to lovely was fast turning into a nightmare and it had everything to do with the brunettes arrival. It wasn't that she was still thought there could be a happy ending for her and Kevin ; it was that Morag had somehow contrived this situation where even breathing was uncomfortable.
Catching Kevin s look, her lips tugged up at the sides gently. She knew what he was trying to convey - fighting was for other houses but for Hufflepuffs it was always a last resort and right now even breathing seemed fraught with difficulties. Steve's hand on the small of her back was heavy and warm - a distraction as she locked eyes with the boy she still cared about.
"I'm enjoying the décor and the chance to dance," Rose said as she tried to ignore Steves comment about arranged marriages: the knowledge was that any day it could be one of them - could she watch Kevin walk down the aisle and curb her tongue? Could he?
"When my mum found out I couldn't act, she nudged me in the direction of dance lessons when I was young and I was never old enough to attend the balls at school, so its an entirely new and rather enchanting situation ; my début, as some would have it."