Warnings:
- This is a drabble series, so there will be no set plotline
- This story will have the occasional crossover from other anime, but a majority of it will be HarryPotterxNaruto
- This story will be very cheesy, bc I love happy endings.
- Chapters in the future might not have any reference to others; changes and AUs will either be stated directly or discussed throughout the chapter.
- There will be many mistakes; I am currently typing on the iPad.
- It is currently 1 am where I live, so I have no idea what I am typing.
1. Yule Ball
Repetitive crunching of snow under black boots made a sort of timer in her head, constantly counting down 1, 2, 1, 2. Harriet grew annoyed and the tightening in her heart grew worse, so she sped up,
1212.
Blurs of white sped past as the images of the winter wonderland were ignored. Not even the purity of the snow flaked roofs and the white sky and the white grounds gave her any form of comfort.
Tugging down the scarlet and gold scarf slightly, she let out a shaky, visible, white puff of air that disappeared the second she pulled her scarf back over her mouth.
The air was cold and biting, running like nails past her long, dark hair and like pinpricks through all the visible pores of her face. Her nose was saved from being excessively pink from the warm protection of her scarf, but the tips of her ears weren't as lucky.
"Ah, I'm really flattered; Harriet, but I already asked Cho out to the ball." Cedric said, his model-like smile faltering just a bit as he took in her pink, embarrassed face. "I-I'm really sorry-!"
"No!" Harriet yelled, holding her hands out, consciously willing herself not to cry right now and to stop being so red. She was a Gryffindor for Merlin's sake! "D-don't apologize! Y-you don't have to be! It's my fault for waiting so long to ask someone out to the ball, and you were just…"
She didn't bother finishing her statement as she turned around then and ran off.
Silently, Harriet — no — Harry, she was Harry to all friends and family. Harriet, while it was the name her dear parents gave her, was too much of a mouthful, and sounded like the name of a cranky old lady.
Anyway, she berated herself for letting her hopes go up like this, for rejecting all of the past classmates because she thought that she had a chance to go to the Yule Ball with Cedric Diggory of all people.
Okay, she survived the Killing Curse as a baby, she had found the Philosopher's stone, she killed a Basilisk.
And while she wouldn't have done those feats with the help of her friends and parents, Harry hoped that just once life would go her way, and she would be happy. She would spend two hours doing her hair and makeup with the rest of the Gryffindor girls. They would laugh and gossip like any other normal teenager, but alas, Harriet Potter was anything but normal.
The Yule Ball was in less than 48 hours and she was still without a date.
People who have previously asked her out had all gotten dates.
And she was left.
Forever alone-
She was broken out of herself anguish when a loud boom! resounded through the courtyard. She looked up past her bangs and squinted to see two figures: one blond, one brunette and even allowed a small smile to get past her stinging eyes and clenching heart.
'I know that laugh from anywhere,' she thought. And while life wasn't going her way right now, it was worth a shot, right?
"Naruto!" she yelled, running across the snowy grass to meet up with said person. Naruto instantly brightened up the moment his sky blue eyes met with her running figure, and he lifted up a hand to wave back, laughing as he did so.
Sasuke, the other figure, on the other hand, was anything but happy. The loud boom from earlier was because of the Dope pushing him into the tree and all of the snow that collected on top of the bare branches fell down on the Uchiha. Naruto was spared, he jumped out of the way before the snow could even touch a single hair on his annoying head. And the Idiot even had the nerve to stand there and laugh, as he clutched his stomach-
"Naruto!" a voice cried out, and Sasuke was snapped out of his thoughts. She looked like she was in pure misery, but Sasuke couldn't say that he wasn't glad to see her. Her wild black hair went well with her black, double breasted coat and grey jeans. Black rider boots went to the very middle of her knees, which was probably considering the fact that she was so short.
Anyway, she was a sight for sore eyes compared to Naruto's deep orange jacket, that clashed horribly with the Dope's white and peppermint green striped scarf.
"Can you please go to the Yule Ball with me?" she added next, pressing her palms together in a pleading way as she sent those endearing emerald eyes up at him. Naruto laughed sheepishly, scratching the back of his head.
"Aw, I'd love to, but I already asked Sakura!"
"Aw," Harry pouted slightly, but didn't look or feel dejected. Although, her cheeks puffed up just a bit and she half-heartedly kicked the snow under her, "It's alright, I'm just strapped for a date right now. And I know how long you've been chasing Sakura."
"Ehh! Wait!" Naruto pointed at her dramatically, causing Sasuke, now snow free, (probably burned it all off with the flames of his angst) to roll his eyes. "The ball's in two days and you still don't have a date?!"
She shook her head shyly.
"I-I asked Cedric, but he was already going with someone else-"
"What about Kiba, or-or Gaara? Shikamaru?" Naruto pestered next.
"Kiba asked me, but he's going with Hinata, from Hufflepuff, now, and I heard Garra was going with a Ravenclaw, a girl from the year before us. And from what Shikamaru said, he plans to 'sleep the night away,'"
"And Ron?" with every question Naruto leaned closer and closer.
Harry shook her head more fiercely this time, "No...We've already established that I would feel more comfortable taking Hermione as my date, so he's taking Parvati."
"And you're a champion so you have to have a date, dattebayo!"
Harry nodded, sighing to herself, and averted her eyes to the side, "Tell me about it."
All of a sudden Naruto leaned real close, nudging the girl's bicep with his elbow, even if he was bending down just slightly, and held up a hand, as if to tell her a secret.
His eyes narrowed with mischief, and his smile was pulled wide and tight, looking as fox-like as ever. She bet that if he had a tail, and some ears, it would be wagging and twitching by now.
"Ne, ne, do you know who doesn't have a date, 'ttebayo? Hmm?"
"Huh?" Harry's head snapped up, has Merlin finally answered her calls? At this point, she was desperate enough to take the Giant Squid as her date.
Naruto turned his body slightly, allowing Harry full view of Sasuke standing several meters away from them, chin up and arms crossed.
She wondered why he hadn't already left, but he looked like he wasn't trying very hard not to eavesdrop, from the way his eyebrows were twitching in annoyance.
"Sasuke-teme doesn't have a daaattteee~" Naruto sang. Harry tilted her head.
"Huh? Really?" she leaned into the conversation.
While she and Sasuke didn't exactly get along, half it had to do with the fact that he was completely and utterly Slytherin, another half had to be because he had a personality that would rival a Blast-Ended Skrewt's. Harry had to admit that he was extremely and completely handsome. She thought he would have girls lining up to go to the ball with him by now.
Fights that girls had over him in the first year, and Lockheart's dwarves that followed him on Valentine's Day in the second year furthered the distance between them.
If it wasn't for the fact that Naruto, a fourth-year Gryffindor, was extremely good friend of Harry's and Sasuke's best friend, they would have never had a single civil conversation.
They had infact, two single civil conversations with each other.
He teased her, and taunted her, and always brought her down with rude comments on the Slytherin side of the classroom whenever she messed up her spells.
Resulting in her stubborn self making a loud sarcastic comment as well. (It usually had to do with the fact that his hair was like a hippogriff's butt, but that would be an insult to hippogriffs.)
"Sasuke," she meekly spoke up, "Would you like to go to the ball with me?" This was it, she was the definition of desperate.
"Hn," was all he said, and she would've needed clarification if it weren't for Naruto jumping up with his fist in the air.
He let out a loud 'Woot!' that rang throughout the quiet courtyard, and quickly closed the distance between him and Sasuke, a malicious look on his face, causing Sasuke to give a wary one of his own.
"T-this is great! Your hardass finally got a date, bastard! And you said 'yes!' Come on! We have to get your robes, and-and — Sasuke-teme got a date!" he repeated, as if he couldn't believe it, Naruto was struck in awe, an arm slung around Sasuke, and with that, he dragged the Uchiha away.
ϟ
After she went back to the Gryffindor tower, she was automatically interrogated by her best friends. Words like:
"Did you finally get space to think?"
"Did you get a date?"
She had replied with a shy nod pushed the red and gold scarf over her flaming cheeks.
"Well, who is it?" they asked together in perfect sync. Causing the two to turn to each other, glare at one another and then turn back to Harriet with the same fierce look.
"Sasuke Uchiha, you know, the one from Slytherin."
"Sasuke Uchiha?!"
"Bloody hell! Was the giant squid taken?" Ron asked, aghast. Hermione took one look at her dejected friend's face and harshly nudged Ron in the stomach.
"Ow! What the blo-!"
Hermione cut him off with a glare as she mouthed, 'You're making her feel worse!'
Ron looked at the ground and scratched the back of his head. For some reason, he found the red and gold carpet more interesting.
"What's this I hear? Little Harrykins has finally got a date? The most unattainable woman in the world? And with who? The duckbutt from Slytherin no less!" two twin voices chimed, jumping in and automatically looping arms with Harry.
She yelped at the sudden touch, and then realized how quiet it had gotten in the common room. Girls of all years glared at her as if she caused the Dark Lord to come back.
"Shit," Ron cussed, "Fangirls." He whimpered in slight fear, looking around the room as if he was surrounded by Death Eaters.
Hermione gave her a look of pure pity and gently touched Harry's arm, "Well, it could be worse...You could've gone on a date with Malfoy."
Harry took one more look around the room and grimaced, "Yeah…" The killer intent was thick in the room, and just as tense as it was when she was announced a champion, "Much worse."
ϟ
Harriet stood awkwardly with her back against the marble wall. All around her, couples, friends, etc. were meeting up, talking and laughing, letting her live the wallflower life she desperately wished for. People around her were dressed their very best in their own dress robes and dresses. And the insistent chatter around her didn't help with the feeling in her chest.
Ron stood beside her, looking just as awkward as she felt in his overly formal, overly traditional, frilly dress robes.
All in all, at least she was grateful for his presence, for the time being anyway. They would soon have to separate and go with their respective dates, and Harry was already dreading the thought.
She changed her mind, Harriet thought, looking at the marble floors instead of seeking out her date. She would rather go with Ron, her brother in arms and have a night full of toe-stepping and awkward feelings; she knew that Ron felt the same way about her, and going to a ball with a sibling would be something only the Weasley twins would be able to pull off.
But they would also spend the night overcoming those awkward feelings and end up laughing, smiling, and making offish comments about their enemies. If everything went well, they would've snuck off to the kitchens and grabbed unlimited snacks from Dobby.
Oh yeah, she was really regretting-
"Oi," a voice snapped, and it was the exact voice Harriet feared, the voice she was mentally preparing herself for hours ago. Her head snapped up and she turned her head to the source, looking with wide eyes. Sasuke Uchiha stood there, and unimpressed look on his face. She turned to Ron to say that she would see him again at the Great Hall, but he was already being dragged away by Parvati. He gave her one of his sorry, sympathetic smiles, the kind with the slight head tilt and the quirk of his lips.
Harriet tried to return it with a brighter smile of her own. Ron quickly lifted up his fist and they gave each other a half-hearted fist bump before turning to their respective dates.
Once she fully turned towards Sasuke, he gave her a once over, taking in the way she did her hair and makeup, and then her dress. Once he was done, he clicked his tongue and turned his head away, simply holding out his arm to loop hers in.
'Well, hello to you too,' she grudgingly thought, but tried not to allow it to show through her bodily behavior. Then she paused, he was still looking away, 'I don't look that bad, do I?'
ϟ
Aside from the fact that her date didn't say a single word the entire commute from the front of the Gryffindor tower, to the hallway leading to the Great Hall, everything was going smoother than Harriet originally thought it would. No half-handed comments, no strange looks, etc. If the entire night went by like this, she might have thought that it would be bearable.
At least, until she stopped in front of the Great Hall. And somehow, some way, her eyes automatically met with Cedric's. It didn't help that her placement as a champion, was in the spot directly behind him, also, because they were lined up, she couldn't move away. Quickly, she looked away, a motion that didn't go unnoticed by Sasuke. She was about to tell him off for glaring that the Hufflepuff and making it way too obvious that all attention was on Diggory. She stood back up to full height, because, let's face it, she's short as hell compared to Sasuke, but then she saw Cho Chang.
The older girl had her hair done up in a bun and wore a Chinese-influenced dress. All in all, she looked lovely. Much better than myself, Harriet thought, unconsciously tugging at her black hair that took forever to tame, and even then, she decided that they should fall in messy curls. And while Harry's plain emerald green dress was picked specifically because it brought out her eyes, Cho's was still much prettier, much more elaborate.
Harry felt as if she were to sit down and stare at the dress for hours, she still wouldn't be able to pick up all of the details.
It made sense…
"Why he chose her…" Harry whispered quietly to herself. Another loud click of the tongue rang through her ears, and she looked up at Sasuke again.
"Stop moping, you look like you're about to cry," he said quietly, bluntly. Ah, there it was, the comments- "You look stupid when you compare yourself to other people. You're fine the way you are."
Wait, was that-?
Trumpets and horns sounded, cutting her off, and from the look of the clock, it was exactly eight o'clock.
The Yule Ball's starting.
They moved in time inside the Great Hall, and her heart was pumping too hard for her to notice the clapping and the decorations. Her head was slightly dizzy, and the band of her shoes were digging just a bit too much in. Oh dear, she felt like she was going to throw up. She wasn't ready for a dance-!
"I'm going to put my hand on your waist," a low, slightly raspy spoke in her ear. Emerald orbs widened, as she looked up at her date, who had to bend down slightly to whisper in her ear.
"What-?"
"Just follow my lead," and the conversation ended there. The room seemed to inhale, and exhale when the first note was played.
ϟ
Harriet was a terrible dancer.
There was not even an exaggeration in that statement.
While the others seemed to be flowing with one another, gracefully accepting the next moves and knew exactly what the next steps were. They were just together in the dance.
They were one.
On the other hand, Harry's and Sasuke's dance was best described as twitchy and jerky.
Sure, he knew the moves, and he seemed to be able to carry her and twirl her with ease. He was able to easily lift her up and spin her around.
But the problems came when she had to have a part in the dance. This was, of course, half the time.
She wasn't accepting to his touches, but accepted the minimal amount, like looping her hand with his when he was able to place another hand on her waist. She didn't know the steps, and more than once, she stepped on his foot, forcing him to pause slightly and flinch, further ruining the rhythm of the dance. She wasn't comfortable and leaning into him like the other girls, she kept their distance.
She wasn't smooth, and she didn't flow freely, and she wasn't comfortable with her date.
The scowl on his face made it apparent that he wasn't happy with his situation either.
The loud cheers from Naruto in the background didn't help either.
The dance had ended, and she was automatically pulled away to an empty table, watching as other couples began to fill up other tables. Hermione looked past Viktor Krum's shoulder and gave her a small smile, which Harry wearily returned.
Sasuke removed his black dress shoe with a grunt the moment his end met with the chair, and began to press on his sock-covered toes. Harriet winced again, she stepped on his toes more times than she could count on one hand.
"Sasuke, the champion's table-"
"Tch, I don't care about that. Just let me rest right now. My feet hurt," he snapped.
The silence rang between them before she decided to speak up.
"I'm sorry," she said sincerely.
"Stop apologizing. Your moping is annoying."
She shut up after that. Sasuke huffed once more, at what, she didn't know. He twisted his body to grab one of the menus laid out of the table and flipped it open.
"Sake," he spoke out in the open, clear and demanding.
A small glass filled with mostly clear liquid appeared on the plate beside them.
"Is that...alcohol?" she asked wearily. It obviously was, but she needed clarification. The shine was somehow different from water, baby oil would be the best comparison to the look. "Isn't there a spell stopping you from drinking that?"
"They wouldn't know what sake is, it's Japanese," he answered simply, taking a shot. Her eyebrow rose in questioning. The glass refilled itself and he took another.
Then she focused on the last part.
It was obvious that he was Japanese, it was apparent from his features to his name. And tonight, it was clear in the way he dressed too.
His hair was the same as always, straight and flat in the front, spiky and stood up in back.
But tonight, instead of dress robes, Harriet didn't know the name of it then, but it certainly looked Japanese. A hakama outfit, she later learned.
Fangirls swooned because he looked absolutely dashing.
Hermione would've been swooning at the cultural reference.
While he was drinking away, she settled for staring at Cedric with a heavy heart.
ϟ
"Sasuke," she called out, and he looked at her with a glare from his tired eyes and redded face. Harry had given up on stopping him from drinking a while ago.
'Well, this night was a bust,' she thought, standing up and brushing off her dress. Across the room, Ron was just as miserable.
She held onto the male's hands and tried pulling him up.
"The last dance is almost here. The champions have to be there," she explained. He scowled slightly but pulled himself up, shifting just slightly, but never removed the constant angry expression from his face.
'He's definitely drunk,' she thought. Was she that bad of a date that he had to drink? She gave a mental scowl of her own. He ruined the night first.
This time, she had to move Sasuke's hands on her waist, because he seemed confused the entire time walking to the middle of the room, even standing there seemed to make him tipsy. She held in a deep sigh and just wished for this night to be over.
They moved through the steps of a waltz again, and she was silently impressed about how well he was holding himself up, considering how much he drank. Sure, there were moments when he didn't know if he was going left or right, but Harry guessed the way he saved himself from the falls had a certain grace in itself. And she was too worried about his intoxication to care about his touches.
He fell forward and she quickly caught him with seeker reflexes with a quiet "Omph!" She had her arms wrapped around him in attempt to carry his weight and he had his arms around her to catch himself.
'Hopefully no one saw that…' she thought, moving her eyes around the ballroom, catching Cedric's once more, and instantly grew sad.
A dark look crossed Sasuke's eyes and he pulled himself up again.
"Tch. So it's Pretty Boy you keep on looking at."
"Huh?" she moved in beat with the dance this time.
"Don't look at other guys when you're date's right here," he demanded, pulling on her cheek.
"Hwey!"
He let go of her cheek and pulled her momentum until she was in his arms. As in, his arms around her, her chest on his. "Merlin, you're so stupid sometimes. How can someone be smart enough to defeat Quirrell and find the Chamber of Secrets, but not know how I fucking felt about you for the last two years," he angrily insisted, words coming out slightly slurred at the end.
Her heart was pounding, more than what Cedric Diggory made her feel, but Merlin, Cedric never got drunk and was currently angrily muttering in her ear about how much he wanted to kiss her.
"Sasuke," she cut him off with red cheeks, stopping him midway on his story about how he was going to steal the sleeping bag next to hers in the third year, when Sirius Black was in the castle, but Naruto beat him to it, "You're drunk," she added next. "I think you should sit down."
And luck was on her side too, the last few measures of the song were being played and she skillfully moved them back to their table.
"I think you need a glass of water and — Hmph!"
His lips were on hers.
And he tasted like the alcohol he consumed.
She pushed him away.
"What-What...What the hell was that?! That was...That was my first kiss, you bastard!" she angrily demanded, her cheeks were burning and she was heating up as well, she could feel it in the way her heart was working overtime.
Sasuke was going to pull her into another one, but she was ready this time, and placed both hands on his chest to distance them. Instead, he continued to whisper in her ear.
"Do you know why every single person that asked you out got date? It's because I set up every single one of those lowlifes that were in my way to you."
"You've definitely had too much to drink…!"
"I saw Diggory ask out Cho, so I didn't have to worry about him, but I had to play matchmaker to every other person that asked you."
"And how did you pull that off?" she asked sarcastically.
"Tch," if possible he leaned even closer, "Don't you know that the Weasley twins sell love potions?"
"You...You drugged them?!" she asked, shocked and a little terrified.
"Only a third, the rest just needed a nudge in the right direction," he easily admitted.
Now she knew he wasn't lying because the Twins were bragging in the common room about how they made a profit from some "lovesick romantic."
They refused to give a name, but at least now she knew.
"Why…?" Her hands were still placed on his chest, and she got all of her answers from the beat of his heart.
Carefully, he placed a hand on her cheek, and tilted her head up to look at him and only him.
He pulled her into another kiss.
There were no fireworks; there wasn't a shocking feeling that screamed, "Yes, this is the one."
But there was something.
Hopping on a broom for a first time.
Holding her wand after it chose her.
The acceptance of this magical world.
It wasn't jumping at her, exhilarating, yes, but she wouldn't describe it like fireworks. It felt natural, like they belonged.
They felt natural.
They belonged.
Even though the beat of her heart didn't stop, they split apart for air. But she didn't pant or gasp for more air, because she was already breathless.
Through half-lidded eyes, he was about to pull her into another one, when…
"Next time there's a ball, pluck up the courage to ask me before someone else does…! And not as a last resort!" Hermione's angry voice reached Harry's ears. Harry could recognize a fault between Hermione and Ron from a mile away.
"I, um, I have to go…"
She stood up awkwardly, and Sasuke stared at her with slightly wide eyes. She sent him a small smile before turning around and racing towards her bickering friends.
My first fanficion on ~
Halfway I realized how close I made Ron and Harry, but that's probably because I unconsciously wanted to combat the Evil!Ron stories. While he's not my favorite, he's still Harry's best friend for a reason.
Besides, I think Ron is the most natural character in the entire series.
And oh god what did I just write?
Sappy romance?
Leave me here to die.