Winds Of Change

[Thaddeus Miller]

Thaddeus enjoyed going to the Yule Ball. With all the stress the exams brought with them, it was nice to unwind and get silly on the dance floor before going home for the holidays. He remembered the first ball he went to with his best friend and found it hard to believe that this was one of the last balls he'd ever to go. He wondered if he would see his best friend here tonight. Even though the boy had come here with Beaubelle, he did want to dance and spend some time goofing around with Clementine just like the previous years. Having left his girlfriend behind so she could catch up with some of her friends, Thaddeus made his way to the large table with food and drinks. Shoving a handful of sweets in his mouth, the boy was happy that he didn't have to worry about exams for a while. While they weren't as stressful as the ones he had to take in his previous years, they were stressful enough for him to be relieved that he'd be spending the next couple of weeks at home instead of Hogwarts. Grabbing another handful, Thaddeus stored them away in the inside pocket of his jacket for later. He hadn't packet his things yet so couldn't stay at the ball till the end, thus eating as much as he could now before he had to go up to the dormitory again.

 

[Clementine Pratt]

For as long as she could remember, Clementine had always had a date to the Yule Ball, whether it had been her best friend Teddy or her boyfriend at the time. But this year she didn't have a date at all and she wasn't quite sure what to do. She would've asked her best friend to accompany her again except this year he had a girlfriend, something that Clementine had not expected to happen. It had come as a shock more than anything, but after the surprise wore off, it had hurt a lot. She had always liked Teddy but never pursued it because she didn't think he felt the same way, and then she was with Anthony for so long, but when she was finally ready to tell him her feelings, this time he had a girlfriend. It had been hard for Clementine to swallow down her confession and instead lamely tell him that she was no longer with Anthony so now they could hang out more, but she doubted that would happen much now that he had someone else to spend all his time with.

Though as she walked around the Great Hall adjusting her dress to make sure it stayed in the right places, she noticed Teddy from afar, his silhouette was so familiar to her, and he seemed to be alone. Clem cocked her head to the side in question, looking around for the girl he'd introduced her to, but couldn't seem to find her nearby. After a moment of waiting to see if she would return to him in which she hadn't yet, Clementine decided to go over and say hi to him. Although her first urge was to run away, her desire to see him won over and she walked over, feeling butterflies in her stomach from nervousness even though that never happened. Normally she would've been more touchy, putting her hands over his eyes or otherwise hugging him from behind, but now she felt like she had to keep her boundaries, so she simply tapped him on the shoulder politely. "Hi," she said with a small smile.
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[Thaddeus Miller]

He was enjoying himself and continued to stuff his face with all the candy in front of him on the table when suddenly someone tapped him on the shoulder. He recognised the voice of the person who was greeting him almost immediately and smiled widely at the girl when he turned around to face her. ''I was wondering when I'd see you.'' He admitted, offering the girl the sweets in the hand he held out towards her. ''I bet whathisface regrets breaking up with you when he sees you.'' He said, addressing the fact that she looked amazing in her dress. ''You'll be staying to dance with me, right?'' Thaddeus asked, wanting to continue their annual silly dance moment on the dance floor this year as well. ''I've been working on some new dance moves all year.'' He added. Although Thaddeus had not told his girlfriend yet that he would like to spend some time with Clementine, he was sure that she wouldn't mind it - Clementine was his best friend, after all, so surely she would understand if he wanted to spend time with the Hufflepuff also.

 

[Clementine Pratt]

Clementine couldn't help but smile at the sight of Teddy. He seemed taller each time she saw him and impossibly cute. She laughed when he mentioned Anthony regretting his decision to break up with her but shook her head softly. "I doubt he'll come," she said with a casual shrug, indicating they wouldn't see each other tonight. She hadn't even thought of him in a while and even if she had been sad for the break up at first, she definitely didn't regret the choice anymore. When he brought up dancing she bit her lip and said, "Would your girlfriend be okay with that?" The word still felt strange and bitter coming out of her mouth, but she needed to say it to remind herself that Teddy was unavailable and she couldn't expect to have him the way she always did before.
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[Thaddeus Miller]

He did not know why Anthony had decided to break up with Clementine, but whatever the reason was, Thaddeus knew that the boy had made a mistake by breaking up with such an amazing person. ''Well, he's an idiot anyway.'' the Gryffindor commented, grinning widely at his best friend. When she didn't take any of the sweets he was offering her, the boy shoved them into his mouth and chewed them away. He snorted when she asked if Beaubelle would be fine with the two of them dancing for a bit and said, ''Of course she'll be fine with that. Well I haven't actually asked if she will be but she's hanging out with some of her friends, so why can't I hang out with mine?'' Thaddeus then held out his hand. ''Come on, let's dance.'' He added with a smile.

 

[Clementine Pratt]

Clementine laughed when Teddy said Anthony was an idiot and nodded in agreement, shrugging mostly. Clementine chuckled as he shoved the sweets in his mouth since she wasn't hungry. She grinned when he first said Beaubelle would be okay with it, but it faltered slightly when he admitted he hadn't asked her yet. Still, she recalled that Anthony had always been okay with her hanging out with Teddy during these events so she hoped the same would be for Teddy's girlfriend. "Okay good, because I really want to see your moves," she quipped with a laugh, taking his hand as he offered it and letting him lead her to the dance floor. Even if it hurt to see Teddy with someone else she could at least enjoy her time with him in these small moments.
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[Thaddeus Miller]

He smiled at Clementine's comment and led her to the dance floor. Admittingly the boy had been practising new dance moves in his free time just to impress his best friend because despite having a rather good sense of rhythm as a drummer, Thaddeus was a terrible dancer. She was a way better dancer than him and since this was one of their last dances as students, the boy wanted to dance with his best friend properly instead of doing awkward, silly dance moves that made no sense at all. Luckily the music playing at the moment was similar to what he had been using for practice. He twirled her around as they stepped onto the dance floor and then moved to the beat together with her as he was still holding onto her hand. Thaddeus was happy that they were able to remain friends with exams and relationships keeping both of them busy at times. Swinging back and forth with her, the Gryffindor smiled once again. "See? Much better than all those years ago." He said, laughing softly.

 

[Clementine Pratt]

Clementine was excited to dance with Teddy as they walked out onto the dance floor, but she hadn't expected him to dance in this manner. She expected them to dance in the silly way they used to, usually just joking around, but now that they were swaying back and forth with her hand still in his, Clementine couldn't help but get butterflies in her stomach. In her mind she definitely thought this was much better than all those years ago when they danced together, but she didn't want to say that out loud for fear of her tone of voice giving her away. "Wow I'm impressed," she said instead, with a small, proud smile. Then a sad thought crossed her mind. "Beaubelle will be impressed too. I'm sure she'll love it," Clementine said through a forced smile.
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[Thaddeus Miller]

Thaddeus smiled happily and was relieved that he has managed to impress her with his dance moves, as that was exactly what he was going for. He shrugged when Clementine said that his girlfriend would love his new dance moves and thought that it was funny that she mentioned the Ravenclaw again. He had introduced the two of them to each other when they all met inthe gardens a month ago, and was happy they seemed to be getting along well, but there was something about Clementine which made him doubt if she really liked the girl. Thaddeus squinted his eyes and stared at her for a moment before finally saying, "You don't like her, do you?" Of course he didn't actually know whether or not Clementine liked Beaubelle but if she did not, then now would be a good a time as any to admit it to him. He wasn't going to be angry if she did not like his girlfriend since that wouldn't be fair to her given the fact that he had disliked whatshisface for so long.

 

[Clementine Pratt]

Clementine smiled up at Teddy as they continued to dance, trying to enjoy the limited time they had together before he would inevitably have to go back to his date. But what Teddy said next surprised her. Clementine blinked and stopped dancing for a moment. "What? No!" she said quickly. "I - I do like her, she's nice!" Clementine rushed to say, feeling caught off guard. She wasn't exactly lying because Beaubelle was nice, but as much as she wanted to be her friend for Teddy's sake, she knew she would never be able to because of her feelings for the Gryffindor. For the first time Clementine understood the tension between Anthony and Teddy all these years. Clementine sighed as she hastened to clarify why she was acting so weird now. "I guess I'm just not used to you having a girlfriend," she said with a small shrug. Clementine bit her lip and looked around. She had to excuse herself soon because she could feel the truth about to slip out and she couldn't ruin things for him and his girlfriend now.
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[Thaddeus Miller]

Thaddeus tilted his head sideways at Clementine's reaction. As sincere as she sounded, he couldn't help to think that there was more to it. She had never acted this weird before, at least not that he could remember. He chuckled at the girl's comment about not being used to him having a girlfriend. "Believe it or not, neither am I half of the time." He replied truthfully. While he had been dating Beaubelle for some time now, the concept of having a girlfriend was still rather new to him. "Though I think it's fair to admit that I wasn't used to you having a boyfriend when you started dating Anthony." He added, smiling weakly at her. It had been the reason why he stopped hanging out with his best friend so much just because he couldn't stand seeing them together as a couple. He now realised that Clementine not being aware of him having a girlfriend was the reason why she had been acting weirdly when the three of them were in the gardens.

 

[Clementine Pratt]

Clementine laughed weakly when Teddy said half the time he couldn't get used to the idea of having a girlfriend either. She didn't know whether to be comforted by that idea or not, but she supposed for Beaubelle's sake it probably wasn't a good thing maybe? The Hufflepuff laughed when he brought up a similar situation when she'd begun dating Anthony and how awkward things had been between them all at first. "I guess so," she agreed, unable to say anything else. One of the things that really bothered her was that he hadn't told her about his girlfriend right away and Clementine wondered if she had found out they were dating while she was still with Anthony if it might not have bothered her as much. She had always had feelings for Teddy but buried them deep within her, especially when dating Anthony, but when the Hufflepuff was breaking up with her and he mentioned 'the way Teddy looks at her' the feelings had resurfaced.

Clementine heard the song coming to an end soon and she was sad her time dancing with Teddy would be over soon. Although she really didn't want to ruin things for Teddy but this had been bothering Clem for several months now and she had to just get it off her chest so she could move on with her life. Clementine sighed and said, "The truth is, there's another reason why it bothers me," she began hesitantly. Even if Teddy didn't return the feelings and he wanted to keep his distance from her so he could be happy with Beaubelle that would be okay with Clem as long as he knew and that was it. ​

 

[Thaddeus Miller]

With the song having ended now, the boy knew that soon he would have to return to his girlfriend and spend the rest of the night with her. He was happy that Clementine had come to the yule ball as it wouldn't have been the same without having his best friend around, especially since this was one of their last dances as students at Hogwarts. He smiled at his friend and like her, didn't know what else to say at the moment. It reminded him of the silence that had fallen between them whenever Anthony was being brought up in their conversations. He was definitely interested in what she said next, as he had not expected there to be another reason as to why it bothered her that he now had a girlfriend. He could understand that him not telling her about Beaubelle sooner would bother her seeing as they were supposed to be best friends, but what else was there that could possibly be bothering her about his relationship with the Ravenclaw? A little confused, Thaddeus watched Clementine carefully as he waited for her to tell him what the other reason was.

 

[Clementine Pratt]

Clementine bit her lip as Teddy looked at her, silently waiting for her to continue and she drew a nervous breath. She had never been one to lie so no matter how much she didn't want to do this, at least for his sake, Clementine wouldn't stop feeling so weird until she let him know. She felt her heart in her throat as she glanced up at Teddy before looking away, focusing on something in the distance. This was it. "The truth is...I like you, as more than a friend," she just came right out and said it. Then she took a deep breath. "I've always liked you. Since we first became friends, but I didn't think you liked me back so I didn't say anything. And then I started dating Anthony for so long so it didn't matter because we were best friends and that was enough for me. But then me and Anthony broke up and I thought I would be sad about it but I wasn't really because I knew deep down who I really liked, and then when I tried to tell you again you introduced me to your girlfriend so then of course I couldn't tell you then!" Clementine rambled, letting it all out at once before she lost her nerve. "And I don't wanna ruin anything between you and her, I really don't, but now that I'm sure of my feelings for you, I can't just be your friend normally without feeling weird about it all. I couldn't lie to you but I know telling you the truth would also just make things awkward, so if you don't wanna be friends anymore, it's okay, I understand," Clementine concluded, taking a deep shaky breath and glancing at Teddy again before hanging her head to avoid his gaze.
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[Thaddeus Miller]

Thaddeus was grinning uncontrollably while she told him that she liked him as more than friends and continued to listen to her. He had buried his feelings for Clementine a long time ago because she was dating whatshisface at the time and also because he didn't think that she liked him back after all those years. But when she admitted that she liked him ever since they became friends the feelings resurfaced again. And then he realised again how stupid it had been forhim to not write his name on the note he sent together with the rose back in their second year. But then again, the Gryffindor always assumed that she knew that he was the one who had sent that rose and that she just wasn't interested in him in the way he was interested in her. But now everything made sense to the boy. Although Clementine wasn't looking at him Thaddeus stared at her, his heart beating faster because of the excitement he was feeling of finally having the girl he had liked for ages liking him back. He placed both his hands on her cheeks and lifted her head up so they could make eye contact with each other again. "I really like you, Clem." He told her with a wide smile. Finally being able to admit his true feelings for her was such a good feeling.

 

[Clementine Pratt]

Clementine didn't know what she expected from Teddy, but it definitely wasn't this. She looked up at him as he cupped her face and it made her stop avoiding his eye, and she couldn't help but return the bright smile he seemed to have on his face. The way he was currently looking at her made her stomach flip with butterflies and Clementine hoped he couldn't feel her cheeks heat up as she blushed under his hands. Hearing him say that he liked her too made her smile even more, she could feel her cheeks squish against his palms as she grinned. It was something she had wished for so long but hadn't considered it could be a possibility that Teddy would like her back until Anthony had been the one to point out when he was breaking up with her that Teddy might like her too. "Like, as more than a friend?" she asked with a little laugh, just to be completely sure. But then she quickly came back to reality and said, "But wait," and took a step back away from him sadly, biting her lip as she broke free of his hold.
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[Thaddeus Miller]

As she took a step back away from him, the Gryffindor was brought back to reality. In the reality where he was in a relationship with someone else and therefore shouldn't be saying that he liked the girl standing in front of him too. But he could not stop himself from admitting these cooped up feelings to her. ''I've liked since we went to the yule ball together, Clementine.'' He said. ''Who do you think sent you that anonymous rose in our second year? I thought you knew that it was me but when nothing happened I just assumed that you didn't like me back in that way. And then you started dating whatshisface and I knew I wouldn't stand a chance anymore.'' Thaddeus added. He didn't think that the night would go like this but it did and for some reason the boy was happy that it did.