The ball

      "Christmas ball, first of all, dancing..." Professor McGonagall might have said something else, but she tactfully remained silent when she saw the stunned looks on the faces of the Gryffindors, from the fourth-year students to the seventh-years. "The Gryffindor house has always been known for its dancing skills! Would you like to be considered impolite, perhaps?" Alina said with a sarcastic smile to herself. She, of course, was not one of those polished and proper ladies who could only respond with a sharp retort.       She had been in a bad mood since the morning. Things didn't go well at six o'clock. First, she couldn't find her wand for a long time, which ended up being under the bed. Then, the essay she had been working on for three days became blurry in her hands. There was only time left at night. After that, the bag split at the seams and she had to repair it with sloppy stitches. The spell "reparo" didn't seem to work no matter how hard she tried.       "Mal, what about you?" Alina asked, touching Oretsev's shoulder and waiting for him to turn to her.       "Did you say something to Alina?" Mal looked at her with a blank expression, as he often did when his mind was preoccupied with something.       "Yes," Alina replied, leaning forward to explain her proposal to Oretsev. "I was thinking about inviting you as my partner to the ball."       Malen was somewhat surprised by this. He didn't see Alina as a girl; she was to him a friend with no gender, who was always there for him, who would stop him if he was being too much, and whom he could laugh with. But, for him, Alina wasn't a girl. Also, he had never seen her wearing a dress, at least not once; under her Gryffindor-colored cloak, she always wore jeans and, clearly from someone else's shoulders, a gray T-shirt or a sweater that had been given to her. And, in his opinion, Alina Starkova wasn't very beautiful. She was thin, short, barely coming up to the top of his chest, with dark circles under her eyes. Alina was... There is one thing that could draw someone else's attention to her: she was an excellent student, at least theoretically, although her practical skills were weak.       "I'm sorry," he said with a smile, squeezing her wrist reassuringly. Alina's hands were cold and Mal couldn't help but shiver. "But I've already made plans with Lavender Brown."       Alina didn't know what to do after hearing those words. She had no idea how Mal managed to invite Lavender, but those words felt like a knife through her heart. It was unbearably insulting. She had been in love with Mal since she was eight years old, when he told her he didn't think she was scary. Now, it seemed like he was betraying their friendship.       "Oh, I see. Good luck with that," Alina said with a forced smile, pulling her hand out of Mal's painful grip. He was squeezing her wrist so hard that her fingers had turned red and were beginning to turn blue.       Mal shrugged and turned away from his friend, looking towards McGonagall who was demonstrating the basic steps of the waltz. At that moment, Ron Weasley made an indescribable expression as he held her around the waist.       Alina thought about it and sighed heavily. No one would invite her, anyway. Few people wanted to get involved with a girl from an orphanage, especially a non-beauty like her who did not let others cheat. Of her friends, only Mal was left, and she did not communicate well with anyone else. It was true that Morozov, whom she had met on the train during her first year at school, studied at Slytherin. However, Alexander was a year older and probably already busy. Alina would not ask him for this favor. They were not close friends, but acquaintances. Alina saw him rarely, meeting only in the library and even then only in the evenings. Morozov played as a beater for the Slytherin team. She could not even congratulate him on his victories or his recovery. He was always surrounded by Slytherins. She thought he had forgotten what she looked like, even though they had met in the Great Hall. Despite that, she tried to approach him in the hall, but Morozov was always with friends.       Alina sighed heavily and, losing hope for at least some kind of date, did not attend the second ballroom dancing class. She felt jealous of the other girls in her dorm, as almost everyone except her was invited, but even Parvati had been invited by Potter a month before the ball, as she had said.       When everyone went to Hogsmeade, Alina went with Genya, her friend from Ravenclaw, who was invited by David. The girl wanted to find a dress that matched his suit coat. Alina acted as an independent fashion expert, helping Genya find the perfect outfit.       Starkov was genuinely pleased that her wife liked her dress. She was a beautiful woman, after all. While Alina hated her reflection in the mirror, Genya could look at herself and repeatedly tell herself how gorgeous she was.       "Alina, have you chosen a dress yet?"       The question took Alina by surprise. She had not even planned to choose an outfit for the Yule Ball, which she was not attending. She did not have much money and could not afford to spend it on a dress. Her part-time job as a landscape painter did not bring in enough sickles and knuts to cover her expenses.       "I don't need to go, I'm not planning on going anyway," said Alina, shrugging and smiling slightly, trying not to let her thoughts show on her face.       "How are you not going?" Genya asked in surprise, her eyes widening. Then, Alina thought, she frowned sweetly and grabbed Starkov's shoulders, shaking her a little. "What about your friend?" Genya continued. Seeing Alina's grimace, she instantly understood what was going on. "Wait a minute... Don't tell me you weren't invited?"       "Then I'll be quiet," Alina said with a bitter smile, and was shaken again, causing her head to move back and forth.       "Alina!.."       "Genya, please, I'm fine. I didn't intend to attend the Yule Ball." Alina had never learned to tell lies, and she always looked away when she did. She really wanted to attend, but she felt that she would only bring shame upon Hogwarts if she went alone.       "No, Alina, what's wrong!"       "Genya, I'm perfectly fine, so there's no need to worry about me."       Genya pursed her beautiful lips, and Alina admired her beauty, letting go of her shoulders. You can't argue with Zhenya. She averted her gaze and bit her lip, looking away.