Chapter 268 - 268 Jealousy
Chapter 268: Jealousy
Ginny was still reluctant to leave, and moved her sore ankle, trying to force herself to continue dancing.
However, Harry glanced outside the dance floor and saw that Ron had stopped dancing with Midgen early, but sat on the seat outside, looking a little unhappy.
Although Harry was a little reluctant, he was worried about Ron, so he pulled Ginny out of the dance floor.
"How was the dance today?" Harry asked Ron, sitting down and opening a bottle of butter beer on the table.
Hogwarts was well prepared for this dance. There were several banquet tables next to the dance floor, with different types of drinks on them, so that students who were thirsty from dancing could come here to replenish their drinks.
Ron still sat there motionless, not in the mood to answer Harry's questions, but glaring at Hermione and Krum who were dancing nearby.
"He's been sitting like this for a long time." Midgen crossed her arms and sat with her legs crossed, one leg shaking to the beat of the music, as if she hadn't danced to her heart's content.
"Since he saw Granger's good looks, he's been distracted," she said, "We only danced once today. His dancing skills weren't very good to begin with, and he was distracted, so he wasn't even much better than Longbottom."
Midgen was obviously a little dissatisfied with Ron.
No matter which girl it was, if her partner didn't concentrate on dancing with her at the ball, but instead kept his attention on another girl, she would not be generous enough to show understanding.
In comparison, Midgen was already very open-minded.
If it were someone else, it's hard to say whether Ron can sit here intact now...
"Ron, I admit that Hermione's outfit today is indeed... well, incredible, but you don't have to be so surprised, right?" Harry said carefully.
"Don't ask, Harry." Ginny said coldly beside him, "Haven't you noticed yet? This guy is obviously jealous of Hermione dancing with Krum."
"I didn't!" Ron's face turned red, and he turned back and glared at Ginny, "I... How could I be jealous of the two of them, what do you think is the relationship between us?"
"We are brothers, understand? You girls don't understand how we get along with each other!" He said fiercely.
"Yes, yes, when Hermione didn't pay attention to her image, you always regarded her as your 'brother'. Now that she has become beautiful, you realize that she is a girl." Ginny mocked mercilessly.
"You don't need to remind me, I always knew she was a girl!" Ron said stubbornly.
"Then why didn't you think of asking Hermione to be your dance partner before?" Ginny pouted and continued, "You had to wait until Krum invited her before you thought of asking her to be your dance partner... In your eyes, Hermione can't find a dance partner, right?"
"I'm not... I, she also..." Ginny's words made Ron start to become incoherent.
"There are other things." Ginny pressed on, "Did you say in the common room that you would rather go to the Christmas ball alone than invite Hermione?"
"I didn't... I just didn't want to invite girls who were difficult... not very pretty," Ron stammered, "I'd rather go to the Christmas ball alone than dance with those girls."
"Huh?" Hearing this, Eloise Midgen, who was sitting with her legs crossed, couldn't sit still anymore and asked, "Do you mean Hermione is not pretty, or am I not pretty?"
"I saw it when Professor Dracula arranged a team for those who didn't have a partner in the Defense Against the Dark Arts class. You were originally very reluctant to be my partner, right?"
"I'm not..." Ron was so anxious that he almost cried.
He was indeed not very satisfied with Midgen's acne and crooked nose, so he didn't think of inviting her as a partner, but he never dared to say this idea in front of Midgen.
Now that Ginny had provoked him, Ron blurted out his criteria for choosing a dance partner. As expected, Midgen discovered it.
"I shouldn't have invited you, come on, Weiss!" Midgen said coldly, without any intention of listening to Ron's explanation. She changed her name from first name to last name.
After that, she stood up and left her seat and sat at another banquet table.
Soon, other boys came over and invited Midgen to dance together. Midgen agreed without hesitation.
"Ginny, what have you done..." Ron said with a sad face as he watched this scene.
"You did it all yourself." Ginny said without showing any weakness, "You'd better find a way to apologize to Midgen these days, otherwise I can't be sure that she won't turn against you."
At this time, Hermione came over from the dance floor and sat on the chair left by Midgen.
She hadn't realized that a war had almost broken out here, and she kept fanning herself with her palms, her face slightly red from dancing.
"Good evening, Hermione." Harry greeted Hermione first.
But Ron kept his mouth shut and said nothing.
"Good evening, Harry... It's really hot, isn't it?" Hermione said, while picking up the paper towel on the table to wipe her sweat, "Viktor went to the next table to get a drink... Hey, where's Eloise? Isn't she your dance partner?"
Ron looked at Hermione sourly, and his attention was all focused on Hermione's address to Krum.
"Viktor?" he said, "Did he ask you to call him 'Vicki'?"
Hermione looked at him in surprise.
"What's wrong with you? Are you in a bad mood now because of a conflict with Eloise?" she asked.
"If you don't know," Ron said sarcastically, "then I don't want to tell you."
Hermione was surprised and confused, and looked back at Harry.
Harry didn't know what to say, so he could only shrug helplessly.
"Ron, how could you--"
"He's from Durmstrang!" Ron suddenly shouted, "He's Harry's rival! A rival of Hogwarts! You--you're--"
He was obviously racking his brains to find a powerful word to describe Hermione's heinous crime, "You're pro-enemy, this is what you did!"
Harry, who was sitting next to him, couldn't bear to listen anymore, and didn't know why he was involved in this.
He pulled Ron's arm, trying to stop him, but Ron was unmoved.
Hermione opened her mouth in astonishment.
"Don't talk nonsense!" She retorted after a moment, "Enemies! Who is the enemy? To be honest, who was so excited when he came? Who wanted his autograph? Who put his model in the dormitory?"
Ron decided to ignore these words and changed the question: "He probably invited you when you were both in the library?"
"Yes, that's right." Hermione said, and the blush on her cheeks caused by dancing became brighter, "So what?"
"How did it happen?" Ron asked sharply, "Did you go to get him to talk for Harry?"
"No, it's not!" Hermione retorted loudly, "If you really want to know, I'll tell you, he... He said he came to the library every day just to talk to me, but he couldn't muster up the courage!"
"Really?" Ron said sourly, "Huh, that's what he said."
"Then please tell me what he means?" Hermione asked impatiently.
"Isn't it obvious? He's Karkaroff's student, isn't he?" Ron said, "He knows who you hang out with all day - he just wants to get close to Harry and steal his information; or get close to Harry and cast a curse on him..."
"Shut up, Ron!" Ginny interrupted him loudly, "You're done, always making up excuses like this!"
"I just hope she knows that Krum is our enemy!" Ron also shouted excitedly.
"Ahem... Ron, I don't think it's a big deal for Hermione to dance with Krum." Harry, who was between the two, trembled and wanted to be a peacemaker.
But Ron ignored Harry's thoughts and asked:
"Why don't you go find Vicky now? He might be worried if he can't find you."
"His name is not Vicky, Ron!"
Hermione was shaking with anger, and without waiting for Krum to bring the drink, she walked straight across the dance floor and disappeared angrily in the crowd.
Ron looked at her back, with a look of anger and relief on his face.
"Let's go too, Harry," Ginny curled her lips and took Harry's hand, "Ron has always had a period of time when he has been upset with us since he was a child."
"Wait, I haven't talked about you yet!" Ron turned his head and looked at them, "You two haven't told me yet, what's going on with you? I'm your brother, Ginny..."
However, Ginny didn't want to pay attention to him at all, and took Harry to the dance floor, and danced with Harry in the next fast-paced dance of the Weird Sisters.
However, Harry didn't have the heart to dance, he was a little absent-minded, and his dance steps didn't keep up with the beat. He was always worried about his friend.
At this time, a tall figure and another short and fat witch came to him and Ginny while dancing.
Harry found that Professor Dracula's dance partner had changed from Professor McGonagall to Professor Sprout, the head of Hufflepuff, at some point.
He never thought that Professor Sprout, a witch who had been working in the greenhouse for years and made herself look dirty, could actually dance well.
But her figure was a little funny compared to Professor Dracula's tall figure...
Of course, compared with the height difference between Dumbledore and Ms. Maxim before, the difference between Professor Dracula and Professor Sprout was quite harmonious.
"Potter, if you don't stay focused when your dancing level is not good, your partner will probably be angry." Dracula's voice sounded beside Harry.
Harry realized that he had stepped on Ginny several times and apologized to her.
Fortunately, Ginny also knew that Harry was distracted by his friend, who was her brother, so she forgave him generously.
"What's wrong? Did you have a conflict with your inseparable friend again?" Dracula asked with interest, "I remember you just reconciled not long ago?"
"Not this time..." Harry said, "Ron and I didn't have a conflict this time."
He was still hesitating whether to tell Professor Dracula about Ron's situation, but Ginny spoke first.
"Professor, this time it's not a problem between Harry and Ron, it's Ron and Hermione." Ginny complained, "He's probably jealous and started to quarrel with others again... First it was Harry, then Hermione, twice this semester, he's really not done!"
Ginny thought that Ron was her brother after all, and Hermione was her good friend, and it also involved Harry, whom she admired.
Now that the two people are in conflict, perhaps the omnipotent Professor Dracula can find some solutions.
However, Dracula had no intention of helping them solve the problem at all, but instead looked like he was watching the fun.
"Oh? Weiss is jealous of Granger? Interesting!" He said with great interest, "Come on, tell me what happened between the two of them, I love to hear it."
"Uh..." Harry was stunned, feeling that Ginny's idea of ??asking Professor Dracula for help was totally unreliable.
Fortunately, in addition to Professor Dracula, there was also a kind and amiable Professor Sprout dancing here.
As the most enthusiastic dean of Badger College, Professor Sprout looked at Harry and Ginny with a smile and said to them: "Are you talking about the young man from Weiss's family? I know that the youngest boy in Weiss's family is not very worrying."
Hearing this, Harry blushed a little, and always felt that the people who were not very worrying mentioned by Professor Sprout should include himself.
"It's okay," Professor Sprout said with a smile, "When I taught Arthur and Molly, they were actually not very worrying either - especially Arthur, who was even hung up and beaten by the janitor at that time!"
Ginny saw that Sprout was willing to help, so she quickly told her in detail what happened between Ron, Hermione and Krum. Dracula, who was dancing with Professor Sprout, was watching with interest.
"So that's how it is," Professor Sprout smiled gently, "Perhaps you haven't thought that this is not just his problem?"
"Ron has to compete with so many outstanding brothers at home. Harry, you are his best friend and so famous - every time others see you, he is left out, and he endures it silently, never saying a word. I think this time just made him unbearable..."
"It's similar to Hermione's this time. Miss Granger has always been so outstanding. No matter how indifferent he seems to be, he will always feel inferior in his heart."
"Do you know? Ron is actually very likely a child who lacks self-confidence and insecurity."