"Go to bed! Both of you!" Hermione shrieked, tears cascading down her cheeks. Harry and Ron ran up the stairs, away from her, shaking their heads.
"Bloody hell," Ron muttered as he strode through the corridor.
"I'm going to see if she's okay," Harry decided, turning on his heel.
"Good luck with that," Ron called after him as he walked back into the ballroom. Harry spotted her immediately on the stairs, seated and crying. He bit his lip in regret. He didn't know what he had done to upset her so, but he knew he had to make it right. As he descended down the steps, he nearly crashed into none other than Draco Malfoy.
"Watch where you're going, Potter!" Malfoy sneered. His date rolled her eyes in boredom.
"Shut up, Malfoy," Harry spat.
"That's no way to talk in front of a lady, Potter. I think you should apologize." He gestured to the girl still hanging on his arm. Harry tried to look past her to find Hermione.
"That's okay," the girl murmured, clearly unfazed by the animosity between them. "I don't really care what he does,"
"Now if you'll excuse me," Harry began to slide past the two. Draco gripped his shoulder, stopping him.
"Your presence pisses me off, Potter." He whispered coldly.
"Are you done ignoring your date to annoy me or is this going to be an all night thing?" Harry replied smoothly. He glanced over at the inattentive girl in Draco's possession. She was twirling a strand of her blonde hair around, her blue eyes focused on some patch in the wall or something. There was no denying she was pretty, but clearly a Slytherin and also clearly a bitch. Draco released his arm, obviously noticing for the first time his date's complete disinterest.
"Come on, Pandora," he coaxed her onto the dance floor, shooting Harry a death stare as they walked off. Harry sighed, suddenly exhausted from the night. He searched for Hermione again, but she had disappeared.
"Hi Harry!" Neville appeared almost instantaneously, a dopey grin on his face.
"Hey, Neville. Enjoying yourself?" Harry asked, with a smirk. He had seen Neville and Ginny on the dance floor practically the whole night. Harry, in comparison, had spent almost the entire time seated in the uncomfortable plastic chairs. He hadn't really had high expectations for the Yule Ball; despite the fact that just a few days earlier he had conquered a challenge involving a fierce dragon, he still was unable to find a suitable date. He had unsuccessfully asked Cho Chang, and now as he watched her sparkle in Cedric Diggory's arms, he wanted nothing more than to crawl into his bed and never leave. But Neville was chattering away, practically dancing out of his shoes as he spoke to Harry.
After thirty minutes of conversation, the DJ announced he would be playing the last song. Neville strode off eagerly to continue his dancing and Harry, grateful at his chance for his escape, practically sprinted out of the ballroom. He walked out the corridor, heading to the Gryffindor common room. As he headed outside into the snowy night, he spotted a lone girl sitting on one of the benches, her head tilted up at the sky. He recognized her blonde hair, and almost laughed aloud as he realized the Slytherin girl had her tongue out. She was trying to catch a snowflake.
He thought of all the times as a child he had sat outside and attempted to catch a snowflake on his tongue. It was such a Muggle thing to do, and before he knew it, he was chuckling. The girl turned her head suddenly, realizing she was not alone. When she saw Harry standing there, she rolled her eyes and scoffed at him.
"Got nothing better to do than sneak up on unsuspecting girls, huh?" she asked, turning her attention back to the falling snow.
"I've just never seen a wizard so enticed by snow. That seems to be more of a Muggle trait, wouldn't you think?" Harry teased in response. She snapped her head to face him, her blue eyes lit with anger.
"And you would know, having spent so much time around those…delightful…creatures," she drawled, a smile tugging at the corners of her lips.
"Oh yes, well I would say it was the best time of my life. Such a pleasure." He joked, walking over and seating himself on the bench next to her.
"I just like snow," she admitted sheepishly, shrugging her shoulders.
"I'll say. You were paying more attention to the snow in the minutes I saw you than you were to your date the whole night," Harry laughed.
"You did not see me the whole night," she jabbed, laughing along with him. "Besides, if you had gone with Draco as your date, I'm sure you wouldn't have been all too interested in hearing all about his father's latest discovery nonstop, now would you?"
"If I had gone with Draco as my date, I fear we would have done something far more violent than talking about his father's discoveries," Harry shook his head at the thought, his shoulders shaking with a mixture of laughter and cold.
"Ah, touché," she bit her lip, looking at the sky.
"Have you ever built a snowman?" he asked her suddenly. She looked at him, her eyes ice cold blue, her mouth trembling just the slightest bit from the chattering of her teeth.
"No, what is that?"
"I'll show you," he got up off the bench and began to reach for the snow. She took out her wand.
"Here, I can-"
"No, no, no," Harry interrupted, putting his hand out in front of her wand. "No magic. Come here." She got up off the bench and crawled down next to Harry, her eyes filled with confusion. He began to roll up the snow into a ball. She watched with more attention than he had seen in her eyes so far. He began to build the base, showing her with each step what he was doing.
"Well, come on then. Help me," he gestured to the snow. She began to build alongside him, and soon enough the two were deep in concentration, their hands grabbing at the snow and patting at it, building the greatest snowman. When they had finished, they were both chattering and shivering. They stepped back to admire their handiwork.
"Is it done?" she questioned.
"Almost," he stepped forward and plucked two buttons off of his coat and stuck them on the snowman's head. He fished around in his pocket to find his red handkerchief, and rolled it into a line to make a mouth. He gazed at the snowman again.
"He needs a nose," he decided, searching his pockets.
"Here, I've got it," she reached into her hair and pulled out a barrette. She stuck it in the middle of the snowman's face. They both admired their creation for a moment in silence. Finally, he spoke, breaking the spell.
"What do you think?"
"Not too bad," she grinned.
"If we had a carrot, it would've looked better," he explained.
"A carrot?" she knitted her brows in confusion. He began to explain, then shook his head, laughing.
"Never mind. I think he's perfect as he is,"
"I agree." She nodded her head, then turned to face him. She took out her hand, "Pandora Elfin."
"Harry Potter," they shook. A smiled appeared on his lips as he teased, "Elfin…like a house elf?" She opened her mouth to respond, and then closed it. She began to giggle, then turned to make eye contact, her eyes twinkling.
"Yeah, like a house elf."
