Previously; Harry has a date to the ball, Ron refuses to ask another girl and the ball is only five days away.

"Back again? Be careful, wouldn't want to become an insomniac." Alana winked at him as he emerged from the stairwell. Harry shrugged, completely awake despite the early hour. "Still stressed about the egg?" she asked, gesturing for him to take a seat opposite her near the fire.

"Na," Harry muttered as he flopped into the armchair and straightened his glasses. "Ball."

Alana snorted. "Of all the things the great Harry Potter worries about, a school dance tops the list?" She put a hand to her heart dramatically. "I'm shocked."

"You're in a good mood," Harry observed.

Alana shrugged. "We're on holiday, my homework's done and its almost Christmas. And you haven't smashed into me for nearly a month, so I'd call that progress..." Seeing Harry's doubtful expression, she leaned towards him conspiratorially. "Plus," she whispered, as though sharing an important secret, "I actually like to dance."

Harry couldn't help but chuckle at the obvious mischief in her eyes. "Must be nice - I take it you can actually dance then?" She shrugged, raising her eyebrows and tilting her head to one side. "So that's a yes."

Now that she'd mentioned it, when Harry looked her over she did seem like the dancing type - slim but with defined muscles and an easy grace. She'd pulled her hair into a messy bun on top of her head, but long strands at the front had come loose and curled over her ears. For a minute or two they watched the fire change between red and purple with alternating flicks of her wand.

"Why are you worried about the ball?" Alana was looking at him as though trying to solve a puzzle.

"Because I cant dance and-"

"And you want to impress a girl?"

Harry nodded unwillingly. "Yeah I guess."

Alana got to her feet and inclined her head towards the larger open space in the middle of the common room. "Come on then, lets see what you can do."

Before they'd even started, Harry felt clumsy; standing opposite her with half a metre between them he wasn't even sure how to begin. They both took a step forward at the same time and Harry laughed nervously.

"Relax," Alana commanded, stepping close to him and placing first one of Harry's arms around her waist before taking his other in hers. "Remember this is supposed to look easy." Harry nodded and tried to remember which foot to start with. "Ready?" Alana asked, then began to count, "One two three, one two three."

She did a great job of holding in a hiss as Harry stood on her toes with his first step. "Sorry," Harry mumbled guiltily.

"It's fine," she obviously lied as it must have hurt a fair bit, and set them up again in starting position. "If it helps, think lead with the left and roll to the right."

"Ok, right, ok-" Harry managed to avoid stepping on her again as they began to waltz, desperately trying to split his concentration between counting to three, moving in the right direction and holding Alana correctly. It was an agonizing exercise.

It felt like years later when Alana exclaimed, "That's it - you've really got it!"

"Really?" Harry asked at the same moment he forgot which direction he was going and stepping right into her.

Alana just laughed and shook her head. It seemed conversation had overloaded Harry's multitasking abilities. "You're overthinking it. Just concentrate on keeping me upright and I'll do the rest, ok? Don't watch your feet, watch me."

Nodding was all Harry could manage before they began to dance again; they didn't speak and he found watching Alana's face did help. The steps didn't seem so complicated anymore. Without really thinking about it, Harry raised the hand that grasped Alana's slightly, and following his motions, she spun into a graceful turn under his arm. "What was that?" He asked, not realizing that they hadn't paused in their waltz.

"You raised your hand?" she responded as though she had no idea what he meant. "I had to turn or get left behind - plus the woman follows where the man leads in every form of dancing, not just the waltz."

Harry smiled, the kind of smile that crept up slowly and almost surprised the face. "I can't believe I'm actually doing it."

"You are," she laughed, spinning again when he indicated. "See - easy." With a final turn the stopped and Alana curtsied as though it had been a medieval ball and not just two teenagers in a common room at a ridiculous hour on a Monday morning. "I'm sure your date will be impressed."

"You're going with Cedric I take it?"

She nodded and combed her fingers through the loose strands of her hair. "If I don't see you before, I'll see you there."

Harry cocked his head to one side and smirked at her. "Trying to get rid of me?"

"No," she protested, looking genuinely upset that he thought she wanted rid of him. "It's just I haven't been to sleep tonight yet and-"

"You want your three hours sleep right?"

"Right."

"Well, goodnight then."

"Goodnight to you too - I assume you can go back to sleep now your most pressing problem has been solved?"

Harry smiled and nodded, recognizing her sarcasm and walking in step with her to the stairwell before gentlemanly gesturing her to go up first. At the door to the girl's dormitory he said a last thanks before she shut the door between them.