The Yule Ball Chronicles

"The Yule Ball Chronicles" is a series of one-shots detailing the night of the Yule Ball from the other characters' points of view. So many couples were mentioned, but the only two with detailed coverage were Ron and Harry, so I decided to write accounts of how I think the minor characters' night went. All couples will be either canon or conceivable. (conceivable meaning no couples specifically non-canon — i.e. no Hermione/Draco or Angelina/Lee — and nothing with OCs. Just ones that could have happened but were never specifically mentioned.)

And I have no idea how many I'm going to eventually come out with, but I'm aiming for more than five!

So… enjoy!

Chapter One: Hermione and Viktor

Hermione smoothed some more Sleekeazy's Hair Potion on her bun, examining her reflection in the cracked mirror of Moaning Myrtle's bathroom. She felt she had rid herself of most of the flyaways. In fact, she thought as she looked herself up and down, she could almost consider herself… pretty. She knew she wasn't the most gorgeous girl at school — not by a long shot — but suddenly she felt as though she was worth a little more; as though she was a better person.

Preposterous, she corrected herself, scowling internally. Looks don't change the person on the inside. She was the exact same Hermione Granger that she was when she had poofy hair wider than her shoulders and wore standard clothing that gave her barely more of a shape than Ron or Harry had. But at least looking like she did now she might stand a social chance next to Viktor Krum.

She was Viktor Krum's date to the Yule Ball. She still couldn't believe it. While she touched up her eye makeup, she thought back to the evening when she first spoke to the international Quidditch star.

OoOoO

It had been a long day and Hermione, to escape the noise and crowds of the Gryffindor common room, had taken solace in the quiet, peaceful library to read a book she had checked out for leisure reading. She was on the second-to-last chapter of The Role of Transfiguration in Ancient Egypt when her concentration was broken by the energetic whispers of no fewer than a half dozen teenage girls.

It could mean only one thing: Viktor Krum was back in the library.

And back he was; Hermione spared an upward glance and saw him standing at a nearby shelf. His fan club was a row away, chattering in hushed voices behind their hands and giggling.

So much for peace and quiet, thought Hermione. Krum had come to the library almost every evening for the past two months. And frankly, Hermione wasn't sure why; he never checked out anything, and had removed a book from the shelves only a handful of times, reading at the other end of whatever table Hermione was sitting. And from what she'd heard, Krum was hardly the scholarly type; she'd heard Parvati and Lavender talking about a magazine article that reported he had only gotten five O.W.L.s in his fifth year.

He was acting unusually tonight as well. Whenever Hermione glanced up he was standing in the exact same place, right in front of the Magic in the Middle East section. He didn't even seem to be skimming the shelves…

But she ignored him. His fan club was a different story. She read the last thirty-five pages of her book quickly, eager to escape the hissing sounds of hormonal girls.

Upon finishing the last page she slammed her book shut, a bit harder than she meant to. She began packing her other books in her bag and noticed, out of the corner of her eye, that Krum had stiffened. It was the first movement she'd seen in him since he moved to that spot.

Taking it as something of little importance, Hermione continued to pack up. She had just slid her last quill into her bag when she saw Krum slide into the seat across from her. He didn't have a book.

He was silent for a moment. He took a deep breath and said, "Hello. You probably know already this, but I am Viktor Krum." He held his hand out over the table for her to shake.

"Oh. I— I'm Hermione Granger." She took his hand lightly, completely at a loss as to what was going on. She heard the fan club's whispers turn into a buzzing frenzy.

"Hermy-own," Krum repeated pensively.

Hermione was uncertain whether she should correct him, so she stayed silent. She wondered why he'd be talking to her; maybe he wanted her to spill Harry's secrets or he wanted to know more about Dumbledore…

"I haff been coming to the library all these veeks not for the books," he said. "I haff… I haff vanted to speak vith you. I… I think you are very pretty."

Hermione could have been knocked over with a quill. "Sorry?"

"I haff been seeing you reading in here for a long time. I just couldn't get the courage to speak to you." Krum was looking at her with wide eyes — he was nervous? "I told myself I vould do it tonight, though."

"Wow. Well, um, thank you." Hermione could feel her face getting hot. She didn't know what to do in this situation. She had never even thought about Viktor Krum as someone besides a big-shot celebrity she would never speak to. And he was telling her he thought she was pretty?

There was an uncomfortable silence. Hermione wasn't sure how she should respond; should she respond? He was the one who came over to her, didn't that mean he should have some sort of conversation starter ready? Really, he had been thinking about this for weeks, she had been thrown into this completely unprepared.

"Vould you go to the Yule Ball vith me?"

She must have misheard him. "Sorry?"

"I vould understand if you are not vanting to, seeing as ve have just met, but I feel as though… as though ve could really get along. You are a very nice girl."

Viktor Krum just asked her to the Yule Ball. Viktor Krum just asked her to the Yule Ball. She had to quickly weigh her options:

She could say no. It was logical if she did; like he said, they had just met. He was so much older than her, too, and on top of that he was competing against Harry for the cup. He could be using her to get to him.

But he seemed genuinely nervous… He must be an exceptionally skilled actor if he was only using her to get to Harry.

Who else could she go with? Sure, there were boys in her year, but she was quite sure none of them thought of her as a good potential date… certainly none of them would tell her she was pretty…

In fact, why hadn't Harry or Ron asked her yet? Well, Harry wanted to ask Cho, she supposed, but to her knowledge Ron didn't have feelings for anyone. It had been almost two weeks since the ball was announced and, though he had essentially a ready-made date right in front of him, Ron couldn't even think of her as a girl.

So she could say yes. She'd be the envy of every girl at the school. Maybe Ron might even get a little jealous. Krum — no, Viktor — seemed like a very nice guy. And polite. And if he wasn't, she knew more than a few hexes she could use to make sure he didn't try anything. Plus, the ball was still a ways away; they could get to know each other better in that time.

"Yes… I'd love to go to the ball with you," she answered.

OoOoO

With a final swipe of lipstick, Hermione was ready. She had told Viktor to meet her at the entrance to Hogwarts so they could walk in together with the rest of the Durmstrang students.

The trouble would be making it outside the school without being seen.

"Well aren't you a sight."

Hermione sighed. "Hello, Myrtle."

The girl was perched — or at least as perched as a ghost could be — on top of a stall, staring at Hermione. She was wearing an expression of clear unhappiness. "If only I could go to a ball… they never had one when I was a student… Of course, it's not like anyone would want to take me…"

Hermione took her clutch off of the counter and turned to leave. "Good-bye, Myrtle."

"Yes, go run off to your handsome Prince Charming, just leave me behind…"

But Hermione refused to let anything get her down tonight. She exited the bathroom and walked quickly down the stairs, careful to hide her face when she saw students near her. Thankfully most of them were not ready yet — there was still a half hour before the ball began.

She slipped out the front door and looked out to the Durmstrang ship on the lake. There were still lights on and bustling activity visible even from this distance; she'd be waiting for a while.

Suddenly she heard from behind, "Hello, Hermy-own."

She whirled around and saw Krum standing next to a bush lit with fairy lights. He was dressed in traditional Durmstrang dress robes and looked positively regal. To Hermione's astonishment, he even held a deep purple rose in his hand.

He walked over to her and took her hand in his. He leaned down and kissed it, making Hermione blush. "You are looking very beautiful," he said quietly.

"Th— thank you," she stammered. "You look very handsome as well."

He smiled and handed her the rose. "I thought you vould enjoy this flower."

Blushing once more, she took the flower and smelled it. It had a stronger scent than any other rose she'd smelled, and even seemed to have traces of… "Vanilla?"

Krum smiled somewhat sheepishly. "I haff put a small charm on it… I haff read that vanilla is a — how you say? — comfortable smell. It is making you feel more comfortable. I am vorrying you vill not be comfortable tonight, so I hope this helps."

Hermione was touched by this gesture of thoughtfulness. "Why — why thank you, Viktor."

He smiled when she said his name. He pulled out his wand, took the rose back from her, and used a Severing Charm to cut the stem. He tucked his wand back into his robes and slid the flower into Hermione's bun.

"This is good?" he asked.

"It's fantastic." Hermione smiled at him. Then a thought crossed her mind. "Why aren't the other Durmstrang students here? You look to be the only one…"

"I did not vant you to be vaiting for me," he responded with a shrug, nonchalant at this minor act of consideration that still made Hermione beam.

"So should we go inside or wait for the other Durmstrang students?" she asked.

"Karkaroff is vanting all of us students to enter together. But ve vill not vait long —

here they are now."

Sure enough, boys and girls were exiting the ship and marching across the grounds to the castle, all dressed in velvet, fur-trimmed robes of red, green, or brown. It appeared that half of the Durmstrang students had found dates within their own school; a number of the girls already had their arms linked with a boy.

As the group approached the front door, Karkaroff walked up to Viktor. "As our champion, you and your date will lead us into the castle," he commanded, not even sparing Hermione a glance.

Viktor nodded and turned toward the entrance. It opened on its own and they marched inside.

The hall had grown far busier in the time she'd been outside; she saw Harry, Parvati, Ron and Padma conversing; Hermione noticed with a smirk the look of disapproval Padma was expressing as she looked at Ron's robes. A large cluster of Slytherins hovered by the stairs that led down to their common room. Draco Malfoy, with Pansy Parkinson on his arm, was talking loudly to those around him. The Beauxbatons students had already arrived and were quite easy to pick out; they were all wearing elegant satin robes in shades of blue or gray.

No sooner had all the Durmstrang students entered than Professor McGonagall's voice rang out, "Champions over here, please!"

Holding tightly to Viktor's arm, Hermione walked over to where the other champions had gathered. Professor McGonagall instructed them on when to enter the Great Hall and had them get in line. Fleur and Roger Davies took the front of the line. Behind them went Cho and Cedric. Hermione noticed Harry — who still hadn't said anything to her — shuffling backwards, trying to get further away from Cho, so she and Viktor slipped in the gap between the two Hogwarts couples.

It was about ten seconds later that she heard a small gasp behind her. She turned around and saw Harry and Parvati staring at her, eyes bulging. Harry's jaw was quite literally dropped.

"Hi, Harry! Hi, Parvati!" She waved.

At that point Harry had managed to close his mouth and give a small smile at least, but Parvati's disbelief remained etched on her face.

It was then that the doors to the Great Hall opened and students began hurrying inside. Hermione noticed the stares she was getting: girls she recognized from Viktor's fan club were glaring at her all the way into the hall; Lavender Brown stared bug-eyed at her and Seamus Finnegan did a double-take; Neville gaped slightly while Ginny gave her a big grin and a thumbs-up; and Pansy Parkinson gaped like a stupid fish as she passed. Even Draco blinked in surprise, but he turned away quickly.

Ron sped right past, dragging Padma along behind him.

A couple minutes later Professor McGonagall came back out. "Everyone is seated," she said. "Get in line and follow me."

Hermione stood up straight and glanced at Viktor. He turned toward her and smiled.

The champions and their dates entered the Great Hall to polite applause and a few cat-calls (which were silenced quickly with a wave of Professor Flitwick's wand). Hermione felt a large number of eyes on her and blushed. She looked at Ron out of the corner of her eye and noticed him watching her through narrowed eyes.

It made her feel better.

OoOoO

Dinner was a fine affair. Hermione and Viktor talked the entire time. His friendliness was a bit of a shock to her; he had always seemed so broody when she saw him. However, they spoke of her family, his home country, his Quidditch career, her hobbies, and the proper pronunciation of her name. By dessert she had managed to get him to call her "Herm-own-ninny," which she figured was at least an improvement.

When they finished eating, Viktor took one of Hermione's hands in his. "Herm-own-ninny, I vanted to let you know —"

He was cut off when Professor Dumbledore rose to his feet and moved all the tables in the room to the sides. He and Hermione looked up as the Weird Sisters traipsed in with their instruments and set up on the stage. All the students around them were cheering.

"May I haff this dance?" Viktor asked Hermione, holding out his hand. The band was nearly set up.

"You – you may," stuttered Hermione. She took his hand and her heart started beating so quickly she was afraid she'd pass out before the end of the first dance.

Viktor led her down to the dance floor. She heard Parvati whisper something frantically to Harry and heard him trip over something, but she didn't turn around.

This night was about her and her date.

The first song was slow and sad-sounding, but pretty. Viktor stopped near the middle of the floor, a short distance from Roger Davies and Fleur, and turned to Hermione. He swallowed and smiled, then put one hand on her waist. He held out his other hand and she took it. They both noticed her hand shaking at the same time and laughed nervously. Then they started to dance.

Hermione wasn't really aware of what her feet were doing; she let Viktor lead as they spun, dipped, and twirled to the music. At one point he lifted her up mid-spin and she laughed.

More people were coming onto the floor now; she saw Neville and Ginny, Fred and Angelina, and a number of Professors nearby. Harry looked terrified as Parvati maneuvered him around and, as soon as the last note faded out, he jumped back from her.

Viktor was gazing at her with an expression she'd never seen directed at her. "You are a very good dancer," he said softly.

She rolled her eyes. "Well, thank you… but I disagree. I wouldn't be able to do anything if you weren't leading me."

The Weird Sisters started a faster, rowdier song and more students piled onto the floor.

Viktor grabbed Hermione's hand and they made their way closer to the front of the pack, closer to the stage. This was a far less constructed dance; the students were mostly jumping to the beat or doing impromptu jigs with their date or friends. Viktor spun Hermione around a few times, but mostly they just bounced around like everybody else.

As the final note reverberated throughout the hall, Viktor moved in closer to Hermione's ear. "I vill go get us some drinks?"

"Sure!" Hermione yelled back with a nod. The music had started up again.

They wriggled their way out of the crowd and Viktor kissed her hand before heading off to the tables of butterbeer and pumpkin juice.

Turning around, Hermione saw Harry, Ron, and Padma sitting at a table. They all looked very sullen.

She headed over and sat down in an empty seat next to Harry, who said, "Hi." …

OoOoO

Hermione was standing by the front door when Viktor came into the entrance hall. "Oh, there you are!" He walked over to her, two butterbeers in his hand. "Vy are you out here?"

Hermione took one of the butterbeers with a muffled "Thanks," and took a large swig. "It's – it's nothing."

"Herm-own-ninny, there is something wrong." He hesitantly put his hand on her shoulder. "Are you… unhappy vith tonight? Are you vishing you had come vith someone else?"

"Oh, no, Viktor, that's not it at all!" Hermione said quickly. "Oh, I'm stupid, of course you would think – No, it's absolutely nothing you've done. One of my friends is just being a stupid – oh, I don't know what to call him. But it doesn't matter."

Krum looked surly as he took a drink from his butterbeer. "Vich friend is this?"

"Oh, don't worry about it, he's an idiot most of the time." But still, just to be sure… "Viktor? You didn't ask me to the ball so you could… so you could learn about… Harry, did you?"

"Vat?" Viktor looked disgusted. "Of course not. That would be incredibly dishonorable. I asked you because I like you."

Hermione breathed a sigh of relief. "That's what I thought, too, and I never suspected you of anything. It's just something… my friend said."

"Let us not talk about this friend of yours," said Viktor. "It is only making you be sad."

Hermione nodded and finished off her butterbeer. She set it on a table next to her. "Would you like to go outside for a little?" she asked, gesturing toward the front doors.

He had finished his butterbeer at the same time. "I vould love to." He set his glass next to hers and took her hand.

OoOoO

The grounds were beautiful. Fairy lights lit up the winding rosebushes and the statues and ornaments were sparking clean. Hermione was unsure where to go, but Viktor gently tugged her down one of the paths.

They walked a ways down, giggling whenever they heard a couple rustling the nearby bushes. Finally they came across an empty bench near a fountain with marble cardinals on the top.

They sat down, still holding hands, and suddenly Hermione became nervous. Here I am, in the middle of a rosebush maze, alone with a much older boy – man – without even my wand. This goes against everything I've ever been taught.

But at the same time, she didn't feel endangered. Viktor was running his thumb over her hand and gazing at the fountain in front of them; he hardly seemed threatening in any meaning of the word. Feeling quite comfortable, Hermione edged a bit closer to him and rested her head on his shoulder.

He jumped a little when she did this. Then he let go of her hand but, just as she was about to protest, he put it around her. "Herm-own-ninny, you are freezing!" he exclaimed as his hand touched her arm.

Only then did she realize that she was, in fact, wearing a short-sleeved dress and heels in the middle of winter. All right, maybe going outside was not the best idea. "It's not so bad," she said, but her words were proved false as a shiver ran through her body at that exact moment.

"Here," said Viktor, taking off his coat. He put it over her shoulders. "This should be keeping you varm."

He was right; the thick fur and velvet was very warm. Hermione pulled it a little more tightly around herself and edged a little bit closer to him. "Thank you."

He smiled and put his arm back around her. Then he rested his head on top of hers.

Hermone was uncertain whether they remained like that for five minutes of half an hour, but eventually Viktor sighed. "I am supposing ve should head back into the castle," he said, but he didn't sound particularly happy.

"Do you not want to go back in?" Hermione asked, concerned. She lifted her head from his shoulder so as to look at him better.

"Vell, I am very happy out here as vell, but I also enjoy dancing vith you. I vas just thinking that, as this is a ball, ve should be doing some more dancing." He shrugged and smiled. "If you vould rather we stay out here, that is fine also."

"No… You're right, we should do some more dancing." Hermione stood up and took off the coat. "And I suppose, if we're going back inside, I can give this back now."

Viktor stood back up, but there was something tentative about when he took back the coat. He looked as though he had something to say, so Hermione stayed standing where she was and waited for him to say it.

He took a deep breath. "Vould… vould you let me kiss you?"

Hermione had been half expecting it, but the question sent her heart racing all the same. She swallowed nervously. "I – I would."

Viktor smiled and kind of laughed. Then he stepped closer to Hermione and put one hand on her back. He tilted his head down to her and with his other hand tilted her head up.

Hermione tried to stabilize her breathing as she closed her eyes. She could feel his breath on her lips, and to her surprise it seemed just as shaky as hers was.

His lips brushed against hers for half a second, then—

"Viktor!"

The couple jumped apart and Viktor looked around quickly.

Igor Karkaroff stood a short distance away, looking as though he was about to strangle somebody. "Come back inside. Your friends are looking for you." With that he stalked off.

There was an awkward silence in which neither Hermione nor Krum looked at the other. Hermione could feel the color rising to her face. To break the quiet, she said, "He doesn't like me very much, does he? Karkaroff, I mean."

"He does not like anyone from Hogwarts," said Krum quietly. "I think he is – vat is the vord? – alvays afraid somebody is after him?"

"Paranoid?" Hermione frowned. Why would Karkaroff be paranoid of people at Hogwarts?

"That is it. But he is not important, let us just go inside now." Viktor reached out and took her hand. They walked back to the castle, her head once again on his shoulder.

They danced the rest of the night away. The Weird Sisters played a number of upbeat rock songs as well as a fair share of slow, romantic tunes. Hermione had never before thought that it would feel this nice to rest her head on a boy's chest, swaying with him as they embraced each other in the middle of a group of people who barely seemed like they existed.

The last song came to an end at precisely midnight and Hermione and Viktor were among the many students who cheered for the band.

"Do you have to go back to your ship now?" asked Hermione as they wound their way out of the Great Hall.

"Yes, I do." However, he looked very unhappy at the prospect. His hand, wrapped around her waist, tightened slightly.

"Is Karkaroff going to give you a hard time?" Hermione asked.

"I do not know… He von't yell at me, but he vill not be very pleased either." He shrugged. "But I do not care."

They had approached the front doors now. Other Hogwarts students were saying good-bye to their foreign dates as well and clogging up the hallway; Hermione was thankful they had been one of the first ones out.

"Vell, I suppose I should be going." Viktor dropped his hand from her waist and took her hand instead. "I had a vonderful time vith you tonight, Herm-own-ninny."

"I had a fantastic time with you too, Viktor," she replied. "There is just one thing I would like to ask…"

"Vat is it?"

"Before, when I asked you if you were – if you were using me to get to Harry, you said you asked me because you liked me. This may sound kind of strange, but… why did you like me? We had never talked before you asked me to the Yule Ball."

Instead of looking affronted or nervous, Viktor smiled and laughed. "Vell, I didn't haff to be knowing you very vell to know some things. You are not acting like most of the girls I haff met. You are not following me everywhere and asking for an autograph. You are smart— you are alvays in the library. You are beautiful."

Hermione blushed; she really had no response to that. Except—

She wrapped her arms around his neck. She got up on her tip-toes and tilted her head up.

As her lips touched his, Viktor placed one of his arms at the small of her back and the other gently on the back of her head. He pressed his lips to hers.

They only stayed together for a few seconds. Then another Durmstrang boy – presumably one of Viktor's friends – coughed rather pointedly right next to them. They broke apart, both smiling.

Hermione felt as though she was walking high above the clouds. My first kiss… She couldn't wait to tell Ginny! She noticed Harry and Ron come into the entrance hall and hoped she would make it upstairs before them.

"I vill be seeing you soon, right?" Viktor asked, his hand still on her back.

She nodded enthusiastically. "Yes— We can see each other tomorrow, if you'd like."

"Ve can take a valk down to the lake tomorrow," he said. "Or something else; something warmer if you think of something."

"I'll try," she said with a laugh.

He pecked her on the lips once more before turning to his friend. Hermione sighed contentedly and turned toward the stairs. She glared at Ron, still upset about his outburst earlier, and then hurried up to the Gryffindor common room, eager to regale Ginny with her adventures.

She climbed through the Fat Lady's portrait, but she hadn't been in the room for ten seconds before she heard it open back up behind her. Turning around, she saw the last person she wanted to talk to right now. "Hello, Ron. Did you have fun at the ball?" she managed, assuming (and hoping) he'd grunt in response and head upstairs.

To her distress, he glared at her instead. "As a matter of fact, I did not have fun. And are you telling me you did?"

All the remaining joy she had felt from her first kiss vanished and was replaced by fury. "Why wouldn't I have fun, Ronald? Do you expect me to go to a ball and purposely not have fun, like you?"

"He's the enemy! Why can't you see that he's using you?" Ron was shouting now and gesticulating madly.

"He is NOT using me!" she bellowed back. She could feel her hair falling out of its bun as she screamed. "For your information, I asked him! And you know what he told me? He said I was smart, and nice, and beautiful! And I'll have you know that the only reason you've said even one of those words to me was because you wanted me to check your homework or write your essays!"

"What are – why are you telling me that? Why does it matter what I've said to you?"

"Because it sounds to me as if you're jealous, Ronald!"

Ron's face turned bright red. "Jealous? Why would I be jealous? So now wanting to make sure you don't— don't get used means I'm jealous? I'm – I'm trying to protect you, so that means I'm jealous?"

At that moment Harry climbed through the portrait hole.

"Well, if you don't like it, you know what the solution is, don't you?"

"Oh yeah? What's that?"

"Next time there's a ball, ask me before someone else does, and not as a last resort!" She spun around, leaving Ron opening and closing his mouth silently, and stomped up the girls' staircase.

Parvati wasn't back yet but Lavender was already in her pajamas. "What's wrong with you?" she asked as Hermione came into the room, sobbing.

"Nothing, nothing," Hermione said thickly. She grabbed her wand from her bed, pulled a bowl out from her trunk, and then said "Aguamenti," filling the bowl with water. She found a washcloth and began scrubbing the make-up from her face, hoping to hide her tears at the same time.

Lavender stared for a while, but eventually went back to reading her magazine. When Parvati came up they started eagerly exchanging stories from their nights while Hermione finished washing up and changed into her nightgown.

Hermione was no longer crying as she climbed into bed. Instead, she was lost in deep thought. She was trying to figure out what made her say those things to Ron when she had no idea if they were true. Was he jealous?

She rolled over and tried to ignore Parvati and Lavender's giggles. And boys think girls are difficult, she thought before drifting off to sleep.

OoOoOoOoO

A/N: I hope this lives up to the night Hermione and Viktor (possibly) had! And I tried to make it as accurate to the book as I could… I cut out the scene where Hermione and Ron argue during the dance because I figured there was no point in writing something that was already done, and because it'd probably be near-Copyright infringement if I did.

So please review— I want to know what I did right, what I need to work on, all that jazz. Thank you!