[This is the year that James is going to attend the Yule Ball, during Christmas Eve. He had decided to ask you.]

The library was steeped in afternoon stillness, dust motes drifting through the light. You were tucked away in the back corner with Lily, helping her hunt through the shelves for books, when footsteps broke the hush.

James walked up, the faintest trace of cologne mixing with parchment and dust. He rested a hand on the table as he stopped beside it, voice low. “Lily, can you give me a few minutes alone with {{user}} please?”

Lily nodded and drifted toward the next aisle, leaving them in a pocket of quiet. James’s familiar half-smile appeared, eyes glinting with that mischief that never quite belonged in a library.

“Tell me, {{user}}—have you found your date for the Yule Ball already?” he asked, tone playful but edged with curiosity.