NOTE: Okay, so I'm not getting enough reviews… but it's not stopping me from updating. Thank you for all those who read and reviewed, you guys rock! And I'm sorry for the crude language on the previous chapter. Have I offended anyone? And this chapter's less humorous, btw…

CHAPTER 2: OFFICIAL COMPETITION…

Still 18th of December, a few hours after Harry, Ron and Draco put up the Snowball Competition notices: The whole seventh year students' batch felt exhausted. Their last lesson for the day, Care of Magical Creatures, involved chasing after a bunch of crazy creatures that look like a cross between a frog and a monkey called Clabberts (magical creatures native to the Southern U.S. and have brightly glowing pustules in the middle of their heads that give light, which flashes when they sense danger). By the end of the lesson, the students were all covered with snow sporting bite and scratch marks. Ron and Draco were looking extra-grumpy when they and the other seventh years entered the Great Hall for dinner; Hermione was busy tending to Harry's bloody finger, which he accidentally cut on the barbed-wire fence.

"Honestly!" grumbled Ron as he sat down and reached for the nearest dish. "The calmness of his tone when he announced that those stupid creatures were totally harmless could've fooled anyone. I should've known…"

Draco settled next to Ron and immediately called out "Has anyone seen my Kiki?"

"She visited the lavatory for a while," said a serene female voice behind him; Ron choked on his Chicken Pie and turned his head around so quickly that his neck cricked. "Said I could go ahead to the Great Hall and she'd catch up."

"Sit here, Luna," said Ron lovingly, patting on an empty space between him and Draco. Luna obeyed and Ron started piling food on her plate.

"Anyways," she continued as she eyed her boyfriend, Draco, Harry and Hermione each in turn. "Have you guys had another little spat? What's this competition thingy that everyone's been excitedly talking about?"

Harry swallowed his food and spoke. "Well, it wasn't really a quarrel that we had. More like a dare or a friendly competition or something." Hermione smiled and nodded her head in agreement.

"I see," said Luna. "And do you know that my whole batch is planning to sign up for it? And Ron, that's enough Blueberry Pie." Ron, who had been staring at her the whole time, looked down and gasped as he realized that he had put seven huge slices of it on her plate involuntarily.

"The whole sixth year Ravenclaws?" asked Seamus disbelievingly. Now everybody close enough to hear the conversation was listening in.

"Yes, Mr. Finnigan. They're actually getting ready this early, devising clever plans and war strategies… Ernie's even thinking of having his father's cannon shipped over in time for the competition."

Suddenly, a loud rumble (kind of like a thunder or volcano eruption) was heard and before Harry knew what was happening, thousands of hands and parchments were being shoved to his face, accompanied by shrieks and screams and howls of laughter. He felt like his eardrums would burst any minute now. He looked confusingly at Hermione, Draco and Ron and saw that they, too, were being buried alive with parchments and hands.

"Prrrrrttt!" A whistle was blown somewhere and the commotion immediately ceased.

"What's going on here!" bellowed a voice that they (especially Draco) knew too well.

"We were submitting our names to the team leaders of the snow competition until you butted in," said a surly voice.

Again, everyone tried to say something at the same time. It was getting noisy again when the whistle was blown again.

"How dare you all defy me? Back to your respective tables before I start deducting points! Now!"

Grumblings and mumbles were heard as the students heeded the prefect's order. The crowd cleared up and Harry and the others saw that Ginny Weasley was responsible for the restoration of peace and order. "What are the teachers and Headmaster doing?" she mumbled to herself, though it was quite audible for everyone to hear.

"Kiki!" Draco squealed as he stood up and approached the redhead.

"Pupu!" Ginny's stern facial expression changed into that of delight as she ran towards Draco. They embraced and kissed, momentarily oblivious to the fact that the whole school was watching them. Lavender, Parvati and the other girls from the Gryffindor table (with the obvious exception of Hermione) dreamily sighed at the sight of the lovers; on the other hand, Ron and Harry and the all the boys pretended to choke and gag with disgust. Hermione just simply rolled her eyes and murmured "I hate it when they call each other by their nicknames."

During the war, Draco and Ginny had found each other for solace and comfort. Ginny made Draco realize that the light side has the better perspective. In the process of helping Harry find the last remaining Horcruxes, the two fell in love with each other. Eventually, Harry and the others accepted Draco and forgave him for all of his dirty deeds.

Ron and Luna's love story, however, began when Ron had rescued her from the hands of three Junior Death Eaters. He comforted her and when she had regained her senses, he escorted her back home. But things took a turn for the worse when she got home and found her father dead and the place a huge mess. With no place left to go, Luna was glad to have been admitted by Ron and his family warmly to the Burrow, where they fell in love. Now, she's currently under the care and supervision of her new makeshift guardian- Professor Albus Dumbledore (who really wasn't dead all that time).

But Harry and Hermione's story was classic, it need not be retold. Everybody knew that they have been together through thick and thin ever since they were first years. Their feelings matured not until they were fifth years. Though they're not officially a couple, people see them as perfectly made for each other no matter how much they try to deny it.

After dinner, Hermione conjured up two medium-sized boxes and labeled them. She placed them on a table near the entrance of the Great Hall for the whole student body to see. Meanwhile, Ginny called everyone's attention (which was very hard to do, as the students were starting to chatter and get loud because dinner was already finished) for some special announcements.

Having performed the Sonorus charm on herself, she confidently stood on the podium and began: "Listen carefully, people, this is regarding the snowball competition! Nott, stop throwing those pies at Midgen or it'll cause you a year's worth of housepoints! Stop the fuckin' food fight over there!" she pointed at the Hufflepuff table. "Will everybody please stop the commotion for just a second and listen!"

"OI!" Draco, who was fed up when nobody was paying the littlest notice to his Kiki, performed the Sonorus charm on his self and bellowed. "ANYBODY WHO WON'T LEND HIS OR HER EARS FOR THIS SPEECH WOULD BE AN ABSOLUTE GONER BEFORE YOU COULD EVEN SAY 'SNOWBALL'! THIS IS MY GIRLFRIEND TALKING HERE SO YOU'D BETTER SHUT UP AND PAY ATTENTION IF YOU DON'T WANT TO FIND YOURSELF IN THE INFIRMARY WITH NO BALLS AND NO NIPPLES! OW!" He earned himself a punch from Hermione and a detention from Professor McGonagall. Nevertheless, the Great Hall fell silent.

"Thank you, that's much better," said Ginny. "Outside are two boxes, one labeled as Team A and the other labeled as Team B. Team A is under the leadership of Harry Potter and Hermione Granger-" (everyone clapped and cheered) "and Team B is under Ronald Weasley and Draco Malfoy!"

Silence. After a few minutes or so, Neville (only) clapped with utmost uncertainty. Ron and Draco glared at each and every student in the Hall.

"Right," continued Ginny. "All you have to do is drop in a piece of parchment with your name, your age, and your year and house on the box labeled with the team you wish to join. Just make sure that you aren't going to spend your Christmas anywhere but here at Hogwarts! From the 20th to the 22nd are trainings-cum-auditions, held by the team leaders every morning at dawn. The names of the students who qualify for the competition will be posted on the 23rd of December on your respective common room's bulletin board. On the 24th, you get to have a meeting devising strategies and ideas. Those who are not qualified, however, are welcome to watch the competition. In fact, anybody is welcome to watch the competition so you could invite your families, relatives, friends, etc. About the punishment… six sickles isn't that painful for your wallets, is it? It's just for a butterbeer… and you get to reveal who your crush is before dinnertime that same day! Sooo… Any questions? If there are none, I could give the floor to the Gryffindor Head Girl for she, too, has an announcement to make."

When nobody raised their hands, Ginny stepped off the podium to be replaced by Hermione.

"Good evening everyone, I also have an important announcement to make. This year is something special. I could tell, because I could see excited faces up and about," ("Hear! Hear!" cheered a majority of the students) "and because we have some activities planned, by which I refer to the Snowball fight. So, to top up all the students' excitement and to furthermore encourage the Christmas spirit, the Heads of House and the Head Boys and Girls have decided to put up another Yuletide Ball!"

The Great Hall boomed with claps, cheers and whistles. It was so noisy that they would likely be heard from Australia, but nobody cared. The Christmas spirit was just so intense this year that there would undoubtedly be no one signing for the train back home for the Christmas holidays.

After several more hours of chit-chat, Dumbledore dismissed them all (he was quite happy and excited as well). There was difficulty with the traffic, however, due to the boxes just right outside the Oak doors. Harry and the gang had to wait for one whole hour before the crowd began to disperse. During that time, Draco and Luna had already bid their lovers' goodbye, leaving the four Gryffindors traveling up by themselves to their dormitories.

"Hermione, about that parcel I received from Fred and George…" Harry reminded Hermione on their way up.

"Oh my Gosh, Harry! I totally forgot!" said Hermione, lightly covering her mouth with her hand. "Let's discuss it over by the fire in the common room, okie?"

"Sure," said Harry with a bright smile. "Actually, I was planning on giving it to you as a Part 1 present…"

"Oh, Harry… You don't have to," said Hermione.

"Don't mind me, love. You know I love seeing you happy," Harry said, to which Hermione replied with a grin. Meanwhile, Ginny and Ron were sharing knowing smiles behind the couple… It is true love!