Chapter 313: Aftermath
The Christmas ball ended grandly, but just like the brother and sister who got up early to plot on the Durmstrang ship, the afterglow of this holiday that was made extraordinary by the tournament still shrouded most people.
Generally speaking, a dance party for men and women has just ended. Humans are sensual and emotional animals. Although the dance party is over, one or two dates with the opposite sex are inevitable, right? The best of them may have already booked a two-week schedule.
If we focus on the warriors who are the protagonists for the time being, after Christmas, February is approaching. Have they solved the mystery of their golden eggs? Or are they still immersed in the emotions of adolescence? But it doesn't matter. One of the highlights of campus competitions is the impulse and passion that only young people can have.
Harry seemed particularly pitiful among them. Krum and Hermione made unexpected progress due to someone's outspokenness. Fleur was always popular even without this festival. Della and Draco were a couple. Demetri and Sadolin... could be considered a couple. Before the second project came, they all had romantic pink company. Only Harry was left in Cynthia's blood-red skirt.
He was truly caught in a dilemma. On the one hand, he knew the truth about Cynthia but was powerless to do anything about it. On the other hand, the communication of this truth would undoubtedly cause Sirius to rush to Hogwarts in heartbreak and impulse.
But if he doesn't say it...the guilt will always haunt him.
He hasn't told anyone yet, not even Ron or Hermione. Harry doesn't think this is a good decision. He should at least tell Hermione. His fluffy-haired friend always has an idea, but he just can't open his mouth.
Harry sat on the bed, staring at the burnt, ugly album in his hand. The sun shone in from the Gryffindor terrace, shining on the album with fine lines still on it. The landscape pattern carved in deep and light gold on the cover appeared. It was the beach scene in the south that Sirius had always said he wanted to visit.
The soft sand, the bustling crowds and the unique scenery were all part of Sirius's idea of leading Miss White in the pursuit of fun. Unfortunately, the boundless and free ocean was burned into limited and abrupt gold nuggets, and the romance and feelings were also abandoned.
And this is just the cover.
Open the album and ignore the large areas of burnt edges to varying degrees. Sirius' wild but vivid painting style will open up a wonderful journey for those who read it. He painted all the places he visited during this period, including charming towns, quiet forests, and thrilling mountain roads. The further you read, the more you can see another tendency: a long-haired girl who did not go with him appears.
Sirius didn't fill in the girl's full face, which further proved that the girl was Cynthia White.
"What are you looking at?" Ron approached Harry without him noticing. "I called you several times but you didn't respond."
Immersed in the godfather's unrequited tenderness and Cynthia's burnt edge that symbolized cutting, Harry was brought back to his senses by the voice in his ear, "This... this is..." He realized that this was a good time to speak, but he still couldn't open his mouth.
"Burned like this... Wow, this is gold! Such a big piece!" Ron almost jumped up. Such wealth immediately reminded him of a person. "Xiaotian——A Christmas gift from Shangfeng? How did it become like this?"
Harry was grateful to Ron for bringing up Sirius, which finally gave him no reason to remain silent. "This is a Christmas present for Cynthia White," he paused, and then continued, "and it was Cynthia White who burned the present like this."
"Ah? Was it an accident?" Ron looked at the gold in front of him with heartache.
"No, she did it on purpose." Harry sighed and talked about what happened on the terrace last night.
Ron was stunned when he heard this, and occasionally shouted angrily, "She is so ungrateful!"
"Now that I've told you, let's go find Hermione again." Ron was good at taking risks, but they were both equally bad at dealing with complicated interpersonal relationships and human nature, "and listen to her ideas."
"Uh... find her... yes, find Hermione..." Ron's emotions were suddenly cut off. He hesitated, looking tangled. Before Harry could helplessly question his tangle, he became angry again, "Why bother her? She's having a hot time with Wiggy. They've been dancing all night, right?"
"All night, all night," said Ron, growing increasingly angry. "She forgot all about us!"
Considering that Ron had lost all his face and dignity last night because of what Cynthia said, Harry was more tolerant of his unreasonable behavior. He asked calmly, "Then do you want to go with me to find her?"
"Go by yourself," Ron turned his face away, his face flushed with anger or shame, "I've already heard it once!"
Ron's words immediately drove away the little tolerance Harry had for him. Harry felt that Ron's being upset at this time was really causing him more trouble, so he suppressed his impatience and coldly agreed, "Okay, then I'll go by myself."
"You yourself..." Ron raised his head at the unexpected answer. In his heart, he was still expecting Harry to invite him a few more times, but Harry had already stood up. His deep green eyes revealed a sense of 'seeing through you', which made Ron stronger. He lowered his slightly raised buttocks, puffed up his mouth, and said angrily, "Go, go, go to the library and find those two little heads leaning against each other!"
Maybe it's just as well that Ron doesn't go.
As Harry listened to Ron's sour words, a sense of relief from escaping punishment enveloped him. Ron's awkwardness was a trouble, and being caught between Ron and Hermione was definitely a bigger trouble.
But Cynthia's description of Ron was quite accurate.
Harry walked out of the dormitory and couldn't help but agree with Cynthia. At the same time, another selfish thought arose in his heart - it would be better if Ron and Hermione were not together. It was not that he ignored his good brother's wishes, but if love appeared in the friendship between the three people, it would be really difficult for him, who was an insider of the friendship but an outsider of the love.
Harry's distraction about the relationship between the two friends allowed him to briefly escape the heaviness of the golden album in his hand. He wandered around, emptying his mind and thinking about this chaotic semester, while his feet moved as he thought in his mind of "finding the right friend to discuss Cynthia's troublesome matter."
But his true heart did not lead him to the library where Hermione was most likely to be. Instead, Harry stopped at the ship where Della was most likely to be.
It seemed that when I walked out of the dormitory, I didn't even check whether Hermione was in the Gryffindor common room, where she was the second most likely candidate...
Harry looked at the mottled marks left on the ship by wind and sun, and almost instantly realized why he was standing there.
When it comes to complex interpersonal relationships and human hearts, no one among his friends is better than Della.
friend......
Harry slowly squeezed air out of his nostrils, as if he was trying to slowly drain the last breath from his lungs, but along with the subtle feeling of suffocation came a fullness of passion, another kind of momentum that filled his body that had lost some air.
friend!
He was going to find Della, his friend, to talk about this troublesome matter!