Chapter One: One Thing Leads To Another
A/N: Chapter title is a song by The Fixx. Story title is by Re-Flex. Full court bows to my smug sister Queens for their support, innuendo, and beta-reading.....especially Firebolt909 and Ashwinder for their musical inspiration. I've never met a textual I didn't like...
Harry felt his head hit the dining table. A small splash of pumpkin juice hit his collar as his goblet tipped precariously. Feeling too defeated to fight back, he simply covered his head with his hands and awaited his sticky orangy fate. When the expected deluge didn't arrive, he peered out sullenly from behind his arm. Ron was staring glumly into space having caught up the juice just before it began its dancing stagger over and onto Harry's head.
"Er…thanks…" Harry muttered, sitting up and staring about him. The entire Great Hall was in a state of joyous tumult at Dumbledore's announcement. There were squeals and shrill giggles as well has cat-calls and teasing laughter.
Another Yule Ball?
He felt his stomach lurch slightly before hitting his feet at the very thought. His mind skipped back to last year's Ball momentarily before wincing and scampering away. He tried to leaf through the vastly unpleasant memories for just one moment when he wasn't squirming with embarrassment or tamping down feelings of jealousy that night. Well, there was the part when he neglected Pavarti so shamefully that she defected to another table and another boy for the rest of the evening. That this was the highlight made him feel doubly worse. With a heavy sigh, he picked up his book bag. Ron silently followed suit and they both headed for the door.
The welcome breath of freedom that came as they exited the Hall was short lived.
"So…you going to go?"
Harry turned sharply. "What?"
"Er…going, are you?" Ron had turned to examine a portrait of Pallas Athene. Harry wasn't fooled. Ron could act unconcerned, but his ears were bright red and threatening to set his whole face ablaze. Besides, the Goddess was well and sturdily clad in her armour – there was absolutely nothing interesting about her.
"Of course not!" Harry was a bit surprised at how angry he sounded. "I mean, last year I HAD to be there. There's no way I'll go through all that rot for no reason again!" A sudden alien thought occurred to him. "Why d'you want to know?"
"No reason…just wondered." Ron suddenly lost interest in the painting and seemed to be intently digging through his bag. Harry stared down at him as he slammed it to the ground to continue his search. "Harry…got a quill?"
'Yeah…" Harry pulled a slightly worse-for-the-wear feather from his bag.
"Thanks…er…a scrap of parchment?" he continued to dig.
"Here!"
Suddenly annoyed, he thrust a bit of paper at his friend and strode past him toward the stairs. Ron didn't seem to notice his pique as he started to scribble. Harry glanced over his shoulder and saw him crumple both the quill and paper with an oath and toss them to the ground. He paused nonchalantly on the landing to tie his shoe, watching carefully. To his amazement, Ron left them both where they lay and walked purposefully back toward the Great Hall. The doors opened with a crash and students began streaming out in chattering waves, creating a current for him to swim against. Harry leapt down to grab up the quill and paper – if Ron wasn't going to be mindful about leaving his stuff around where anyone could see it, someone had to take care, RIGHT? Glancing up, he saw that his friend was nowhere to be seen. It was his quill and parchment anyhow…With only a moment's twinge of guilt, he opened the crumpled note and his scar wrinkled in puzzlement.
"You said that I should ask you first next time –"
Like fragments of broken glass reassembling themselves magically into a window, the pieces fell one by one into place. "Ask you –"? To the BALL? Ron was inviting someone to the Yule Ball? Harry felt his mouth drop slowly as his brain screeched and creaked into motion. "You said…NEXT time?"
Next time…next time…NEXT TIME? An image of two red and angry faces came into focus before him. They were yelling at each other in a whirl of bushy hair and lacy dress robes. Ron….HERMIONE?
Well.
So Ron was actually going to invite….Hermione?
Harry made his way up the stairs and toward Charms class automatically. Students pushed past him in vast chattering waves, but he stared unaware as he trudged up the long stone staircase. He felt stunned. He didn't know which part to examine first. ALL of the parts were…stunning.
Why would Ron want to invite Hermione to—a dance? Ron had had a worse time of it than Harry last year. Between neglecting his date Padma and his jealous anger over Viktor Krum….
Oh.
THAT'S why Ron wanted to invite – HERMIONE?
Now Harry's head started to feel a bit light. Ron fancied Hermione! But that was impossible! He thought of the years of arguments and silences and accusations between the two. They seemed to spend more time teasing each other. It made no sense that they would…it just seemed completely foreign.
And yet…Harry couldn't deny that he had suspected something akin to this last year when he'd witnessed the ugly battle between the two in the Gryffindor Common room. But that had been different. It had just been a momentary insanity on Ron's part. Sure, there had been a few moments lately when the two seemed to get suddenly stupid and awkward around each other for no reason. There was that time in the Three Broomsticks a few weeks before when Hermione had been accidentally shoved off-balance and practically landed in Ron's lap. Harry had barely noticed the bright red faces and stammered apologies, but now as he examined it from this new bizarre perspective, he saw a few other things. Like the grins that didn't seem to completely fade from either face despite their apparent embarrassment. Or Ron's tone of voice as he teased her later…had he BEEN FLIRTING? Harry realized with horror that he very well might have been! And Hermione hadn't really seemed mad…she just sort of grinned and blushed and even – Harry's mouth dropped again -- she had acted like…like…a GIRL! She hadn't lectured Ron about his stupidity or threatened to hex him or anything.
Ron and Hermione were…what? They were his best friends. They had risked their lives for him and he them. They spent all of their time together, in classes and out. If Ron and Hermione were to -- Harry shuddered slightly at the words – go out together, where did that put him in the scheme of things?
"Erm..Harry?" A soft, hesitant voice startled him. "Are you OK?"
He whirled around to see Ginny, who was standing there clutching her book bag and looking at him with mild concern. The large brown eyes asked questions. There was a slightly bemused smile on her face. He felt his face warm with embarrassment as he realized that he'd been standing stock still in the middle of the crowded Charms corridor.
"Yeah…er…sure, Ginny….er…why?"
He could tell that he'd failed in his attempt to appear normal and not freaked out. She cocked her head slightly as if taking his measure, then shrugged.
"No reason, I guess. Just you looking like you've been petrified maybe. Whatever." He saw a slight blush tint her cheeks as she turned abruptly and disappeared in the throng.
Great. He puffed out an exasperated breath. He'd looked a total prat. He'd seen it in her eyes – eyes that usually held warmth and shy regard when they'd beheld him had looked amused and a little scornful. Feeling even more disgruntled now, he marched stiffly into the Charms classroom and stopped dead.
There were Hermione and Ron. Sitting together silently. Both looking awkward and embarrassed. Both grinning stupidly and blushing violently. Harry watched in stunned bewilderment as Hermione turned to say something to Ron and he jumped to attention, leaning into her a little more closely than necessary to listen. Her eyes seemed…softer somehow. She would look into his face then down as if suddenly shy. She looked…really nice. She didn't look any different somehow – just…prettier. Ron laughed and she joined in, her hand touching Ron's shoulder lightly. Harry felt he was looking at two strangers -- older, more experienced than him and very, very far away.
Professor Flitwick climbed upon his stack of books and called the class to order. There was no help for it. Harry was stuck. He sat down next to the pair. Neither seemed to notice he'd arrived.
Harry didn't want to think that he was upset by the latest development between his two best friends. Ron had told him that he'd asked Hermione to the ball. They'd left it at that and it never occurred to either of them to discuss the matter further. What was there to say? "I'm jealous because I feel left out Ron?" But Harry wasn't. Not really. He had certainly never thought of Hermione in that light before. It was just…so…alien and new. It was as if a hippogriff had landed in the Gryffindor common room and everyone knew it, but wouldn't talk about it. So they would just sort of walk around it. But it took up quite a lot of space…
Harry shook his head slightly to clear it. His unread History of Magic text was open in front of him. Glancing over his shoulder, he saw that there was definitely NO hippogriff sitting in the middle of the room, just the usual assorted activities – studying, chess-playing, slacking off. A group of sixth years were gathered around the fire discussing the Cannon's latest defeat. High-pitched giggling from the far corner indicated that Lavendar and Pavarti were discussing their favorite topic – the ball. He groaned slightly. That seemed to be the only thing anyone talked about now. Well, not everyone. Harry had overheard Cho Chang in a corridor telling a friend that she would be going home for the break and not attending it. She'd sounded sort of muffled and strange, like she was trying not to cry. He'd hurried away then – eager to not be seen eavesdropping and feeling the weight of guilt that was never far away. He would never ask Cho now anyhow. He would see her sometimes and didn't feel any of the strange sensations he used to get in his stomach. When he'd first noticed this phenomenon, it had intrigued him and he'd gone out of his way to cross her path as an experiment. Nothing. Seeing her pain at last year's Leaving Feast when Cedric was eulogized had put his ardor to rest for good. Now the only thing he felt toward her was sorrow and regret.
With a muttered curse, he tossed his quill down and slammed the book shut. He didn't want to think about Cho or Cedric or the stupid ball! Wasn't there anyone around Hogwarts beside Harry that didn't care about the thing? He pushed his chair back, determined to find someone that didn't when a sudden shadow fell across his book. Blinking up in surprise; he saw a slight figure in a huge green jumper twisting her fingers together.
"Oh…hi Ginny…" Harry smiled slightly, hoping she had forgotten how stupid he'd looked frozen stiff in the hallway. Her eyes didn't look amused anymore…they looked…he almost started with surprise. They were wide and looked very very hard and determined. They were shining wildly. Was she OK? He'd never seen her look so…so…bright. For someone so shy, she really seemed to look quite colorful at the moment with her red Weasley hair everywhere and her cheeks white in contrast.
"Er…Gin – are you OK?"
The glittering brown eyes dropped suddenly. He followed her gaze bemusedly and could only see his shoe tops; nothing unusual. He heard a low trembling voice --
"H-h-arry.WILLYOUGOTOTHEBALLWITHME?"
He blinked.
"What?"
Those eyes were back. Staring right through him. He could see that she was breathing quickly by the rise and fall of the green knit sweater.
"The…ball." It came out in a whisper. "Would you…go..with..me?" It trailed off.
Harry stared up at his best friend's little sister. He felt his eyes lock in to the wide brown ones that looked so different from the shy sweet ones he'd ignored.
He heard a voice say "Yeah."
It took him a minute to realize that it was his own.
Ginny's face froze briefly before melting into an wash of pink and smiles. The hard eyes suddenly blossomed into joyful radiance. She nodded, opened her mouth to speak, then shut it and nodded again. The brightly-colored figure turned abruptly on her heel and marched away.
He felt his mouth drop open as the realization of what he'd just done hit him. "I didn't just say yes to her…" Harry could hear the incredulous voice in his head. He'd agreed to go to the ball when that was the last thing he wanted to do! He slumped down in his chair, trying to figure out how he had managed to do that and what would he do now? Harry had a sudden vision of Ron challenging him to a wand duel as he tried to explain that it was an accident – he hadn't meant to go with her. He groaned and smacked himself in the head. Stupid prat! Ron would never believe it because neither did Harry.