The other Miss Granger

Chapter 11:

Despite the freezing cold weather, Jolie Defontaine was enjoying her time at Hogwarts very much.

She was still getting very angry death glares from Cedric Diggory's fan club but this was something she learned to ignore a long time ago. Since the holidays had started there were less students seeing as most of the students under the fourth year went home seeing as they weren't going to the ball.

On Christmas day Jolie woke up smiling, Hermione told her to meet her by the Gryffindor common room at 9.

"This is for you." Fleur said suddenly beside me. I looked at the gift and smiled. I felt under my bed until I pulled out hers. I gasped as I opened her present. It was a beautiful white gold bracelet.

"It's a charm bracelet." Fleur said smiling. On the bracelet there was a little ballet dancer.

"The first time we met at ballet lessons." I said and smiled. She nodded.

"You can add for years." she said smiling. I jumped on her and hugged her tightly.

"Open yours!" I said.

"There beautiful!" she gasped. The ear rings were diamonds shaped as a snow flake.

"I will wear them tonight! Now hurry up and get ready Hermione will be waiting for you. Be back here soon but so we can have a girly day and bring Hermione with you!" Fleur said pushing me of the bed still giggling.

When I got to the Gryffindor common room I was jumped on by the twins.

"You'll never guess what our owl showed up with this morning!" Fred said, grinning.

"It was a gift from our dear older brother Charlie-" George began, grinning like his brother.

"-And it was addressed to a Miss Jolie Defontaine." Fred finished for him, handing me a soft parcel. I blushed and thanked them.

"Merry Christmas!" Hermione said, hugging me. I grinned and hugged her back.

"This is for you!" I said handing her a parcel from my never ending bag. Hermione thanked me as she opened it. It was a gold locket she opened it and smiled inside there was a photo of Jolie and Hermione and on the other side was a photo of Hermione, Ron and Harry. Jolie handed out the rest of her presents, giving George a book about muggle pranks, Fred a book of wizarding pranks, Ron a chudley cannon's T-shirt, Harry a cleaning and fixing kit for his firebolt and Ginny a book of spells and charms for hair and make-up.

Jolie had received a book about dragons and their history from Hermione, From Fred and George she received a box of their famous canary creams and Ton-Tongue Toffee's, Ron gave her a box full of chocolates, Harry gave her a famous muggle book called Pride and Prejudice and Charlie gave her a cuddly dragon toy at which the twins sent her a wink.

She also received a yellow jumper with a blue J on it from Mrs Weasleys, which made all the Weasley's blush.

They spent most of the morning in Gryffindor Tower, where everyone was enjoying their presents, then returned to the Great Hall for a magnificent lunch, which included at least a hundred turkeys and Christmas puddings, and large piles of Cribbage's Wizarding Crackers.

They went out onto the grounds in the afternoon; the snow was untouched except for the deep channels made by the Durmstrang and Beauxbatons students on their way up to the castle. Hermione and Jolie chose to watch Harry and the Weasleys' snowball fight rather than join in, and at five o'clock Fleur showed up and pulled both of them away.

There was no Christmas tea today, as the ball included a feast, so at seven o'clock, when it had become hard to aim properly, the others abandoned their snowball fight and trooped back to the common room. The Fat Lady was sitting in her frame with her friend Violet from downstairs, both of them extremely tipsy, empty boxes of chocolate liqueurs littering the bottom other picture.

"Lairy fights, that's the one!" she giggled when they gave the password, and she swung forward to let them inside.

Harry, Ron, Seamus, Dean, and Neville changed into their dress robes up in their dormitory, all of them looking very self-conscious, but none as much as Ron, who surveyed himself in the long mirror in the corner with an appalled look on his face. There was just no getting around the fact that his robes looked more like a dress than anything else. In a desperate attempt to make them look more manly, he used a Severing Charm on the ruff and cuffs. It worked fairly well; at least he was now lace-free, although he hadn't done a very neat job, and the edges still looked depressingly frayed as the boys set off downstairs.

The common room looked strange, full of people wearing different colours instead of the usual mass of black. Parvati was waiting for Ron at the foot of the stairs.

She looked very pretty indeed, in robes of shocking pink, with her long dark plait braided with gold, and gold bracelets glimmering at her wrists.

"You - er - look nice," Ron said awkwardly.

"Thanks" she said, eyeing Ron's dress robes.

The entrance hall was packed with students too, all milling around waiting for eight o'clock, when the doors to the Great Hall would be thrown open. Those people who were meeting partners from different Houses were edging through the crowd trying to find one another. He spotted Cho looking very pretty walk towards him. Her robes were a cream colour and her hair was up in some fancy up do.

"Hi Harry." she said and blushed.

"You look really pretty." he told her and blushed the colour of his best mates hair colour.

Ron bent his knees slightly to hide behind Harry, because Fleur Delacour was passing, looking stunning in robes of gray satin, and accompanied by the Ravenclaw Quidditch captain, Roger Davies. When they had disappeared, Ron stood straight again and stared over the heads of the crowd.

"Where is Hermione?" he said again.

A group of Slytherins came up the steps from their dungeon common room. Malfoy was in front; he was wearing dress robes of black velvet with a high collar, which in Harry's opinion made him look like a vicar. Pansy Parkinson in very frilly robes of pale pink was clutching Malfoy's arm. Crabbe and Goyle were both wearing green; they resembled moss-colored boulders, and neither of them, Harry was pleased to see, had managed to find a partner.

The oak front doors opened, and everyone turned to look as the Durmstrang students entered with Professor Karkaroff. Krum was at the front of the party, accompanied by a pretty girl in blue robes Harry didn't know. Over their heads he saw that an area of lawn right in front of the castle had been transformed into a sort of grotto full of fairy lights - meaning hundreds of actual living fairies were sitting in the rosebushes that had been conjured there, and fluttering over the statues of what seemed to be Father Christmas and his reindeer.

Then Professor McGonagall's voice called, "Champions over here, please!"

Cho smiled at him, she and Harry said, "See you in a minute" to Ron and Paravati and walked forward, the chattering crowd parting to let them through. Professor McGonagall, who was wearing dress robes of red tartan and had arranged a rather ugly wreath of thistles around the brim other hat, told them to wait on one side of the doors while everyone else went inside; they were to enter the Great Hall in procession when the rest of the students had sat down. Fleur Delacour and Roger Davies stationed themselves nearest the doors; Davies looked so stunned by his good fortune in having Fleur for a partner that he could

hardly take his eyes off her. Cedric was standing staring at the young woman who just walked through the oak doors. Even Harry couldn't help but stare, Jolie was even more beautiful than usual. She was wearing a silvery- white robes made of silk, it clung to her body like a second skin. Her hair was up in a very fancy up do with a few curls escaping. Harry had never seen anything so beautiful and from the looks of it nobody else that hadn't went into the great hall were just staring at her as well. Harry noticed that when she walked towards Cedric, the slit in the side of her robes showing the pale long leg and silver heels.

"You look stunning." Cedric said as he kissed her hand, making Jolie blush. Harry looked away feeling that he was looking in on a private moment. His eyes fell instead on the girl next to Krum. His jaw dropped.

It was Hermione.

But she didn't look like Hermione at all. She had done something with her hair; it was no longer bushy but sleek and shiny, and twisted up into an elegant knot at the back of her head. She was wearing robes made of a floaty, periwinkle-blue material, and she was holding herself differently, somehow - or maybe it was merely the absence of the twenty or so books she usually had slung over her back. She was also smiling - rather nervously, it was true - but the reduction in the size of her front teeth was more noticeable than ever; Harry couldn't understand how he hadn't spotted it before.

"Hi, Harry!" she said. "Hi, Cho!"

Cho was gazing at Hermione in unflattering disbelief. She wasn't the only one either; when the doors to the Great Hall opened, Krum's fan club from the library stalked past, throwing Hermione looks of deepest loathing. Pansy Parkinson gaped at her as she walked by with Malfoy, and even he didn't seem to be able to find an insult to throw at her. Ron, however, walked right past Hermione without looking at her.

Once everyone else was settled in the Hall, Professor McGonagall told the champions and their partners to get in line in pairs and to follow her. They did so, and everyone in the Great Hall applauded as they entered and started walking up toward a large round table at the top of the Hall, where the judges were sitting. The walls of the Hall had all been covered in sparkling silver frost, with hundreds of garlands of mistletoe and ivy crossing the starry black ceiling. The House tables had vanished; instead, there were about a hundred smaller, lantern-lit ones, each seating about a dozen people .He caught

sight of Ron and Parvati as he neared the top table. Ron was watching Hermione pass with narrowed eyes. Parvati was looking sulky.

Dumbledore smiled happily as the champions approached the top table, but Karkaroff wore an expression remarkably like Ron's as he watched Krum and Hermione draw nearer. Ludo Bagman, tonight in robes of bright purple with large yellow stars, was clapping as enthusiastically as any of the students; and Madame Maxime, who had changed her usual uniform of black satin for a flowing gown of lavender silk, was applauding them politely. But Mr. Crouch, Harry suddenly realized, was not there. The fifth seat at the table was occupied by Percy Weasley.

There was no food as yet on the glittering golden plates, but small menus were lying in front of each of them. Harry picked his up uncertainly and looked around there were no waiters. Dumbledore, however, looked carefully down at his own menu, then said very clearly to his plate, "Pork chops!"

And pork chops appeared. Getting the idea, the rest of the table placed their orders with their plates too. Harry glanced up at Hermione to see how she felt about this new and more complicated method of dining - surely it meant plenty of extra work for the house-elves? But for once, Hermione didn't seem to be thinking about S.P.E.W. She was deep in talk with Viktor Krum and hardly seemed to notice what she was eating.

It now occurred to Harry that he had never actually heard Krum speak before, but he was certainly talking now, and very enthusiastically at that.

"Veil, ve have a castle also, not as big as this, nor as comfortable, I am thinking," he was telling Hermione. "Ve have just four floors, and the fires are lit only for magical purposes. But ve have grounds larger even than these - though in vinter, ve have very little daylight, so ve are not enjoying them. But in summer ve are flying every day, over the lakes and the mountains -"

"Now, now, Viktor!" said Karkaroff with a laugh that didn't reach his cold eyes, "don't go giving away anything else, now, or your charming friend will know exactly where to find us!"

Dumbledore smiled, his eyes twinkling. "Igor, all this secrecy ., . one would almost think you didn't want visitors."

"Well, Dumbledore," said Karkaroff, displaying his yellowing teeth to their fullest extent, "we are all protective of our private domains, are we not? Do we not jealously guard the halls of learning that have been entrusted to us? Are we not right to be proud that we alone know our school's secrets, and right to protect them?"

"Oh I would never dream of assuming I know all Hogwarts' secrets, Igor," said Dumbledore amicably. "Only this morning, for instance, I took a wrong turning on the way to the bathroom and found myself in a beautifully proportioned room I have never seen before, containing a really rather magnificent collection of chamber pots. When I went back to investigate more closely, I discovered that the room had vanished. But I must keep an eye out for it. Possibly it is only accessible at five-thirty in the morning. Or it may only appear at the quarter moon - or when the seeker has an exceptionally full bladder."

Harry snorted into his plate of goulash. Percy frowned, but Harry could have sworn Dumbledore had given him a very small wink.

Meanwhile Fleur Delacour was criticizing the Hogwarts decorations to Roger Davies.

"Come on Fleur Hogwarts isn't that bad. I absolutely adore it here!" Jolie said smiling.

"I'm glad to hear that Miss Defontaine. Well in the future you will have to come and visit. And while I remember the dragon keepers from Romania would love for you to join them after you finish school." Dumbledore told her.

"Thank you professor" Jolie said beaming at him.

"Oh and Fawkes misses you, so you must drop by for another cup of tea." he told her and smiled.

"I will." she told him and went back to talking to Cedric.

Hermione was now teaching Krum to say her name properly; he kept calling her "Hermy-own."

"Her-my-oh-nee," she said slowly and clearly.

"Herm-own-ninny."

"Close enough," she said, catching Harry's eye and grinning.

When all the food had been consumed, Dumbledore stood up and asked the students to do the same. Then, with a wave of his wand, all the tables zoomed back along the walls leaving the floor clear, and then he conjured a raised platform into existence along the right wall. A set of drums, several guitars, a lute, a cello, and some bagpipes were set upon it.

The "Weird Sisters now trooped up onto the stage to wildly enthusiastic applause; they were all extremely hairy and dressed in black robes that had been artfully ripped and torn. They picked up their instruments, and Harry, who had been so interested in watching them that he had almost forgotten what was coming, suddenly realized that the lanterns on all the other tables had gone out, and that the other champions and their partners were standing up.

Harry tripped over his dress robes as he stood up. The Weird Sisters struck up a slow, mournful tune; Harry walked onto the brightly lit dance floor, carefully avoiding catching anyone's eye (he could see Seamus and Dean waving at him and sniggering), and next moment, Cho had seized his hands, placed one around her waist, and was holding the other tightly in hers. It wasn't as bad as it could have been. Harry thought, revolving slowly on the spot. He kept his eyes fixed over the heads of the watching people, and very soon many of them too had come onto the dance floor, so that the champions were no longer the center of attention. Neville and Ginny were dancing nearby - he could see Ginny wincing frequently as Neville trod on her feet – and Dumbledore was waltzing with Madame Maxime. He was so dwarfed by her that the top of his pointed hat barely tickled her chin; however, she moved very gracefully for a woman so large. Mad-Eye Moody was doing an extremely ungainly two-step with Professor Sinistra, who was nervously avoiding his wooden leg.

Cedric felt like he was the luckiest bloke in the great hall, here he was dancing with the most beautiful girl here. He could see and feel the looks of jealousy. When he had told his friends they had all told him that he was a very lucky man and he couldn't help but agree as he looked at his date. She was an amazing dancer, the silver of her dress made the blue swirls in her strange yet beautiful light purple eyes stand out. He saw one of his friends look at him and wink, he couldn't help but grin back.

Out in the entrance hall, Harry and Ron saw Hermione saying good night to Krum before he went back to the Durmstrang ship. She gave Ron a very cold look and swept past him up the marble staircase without speaking. Harry and Ron followed her, but halfway up the staircase Harry heard someone calling him.

"Hey-Harry!"

It was Cedric Diggory. Harry could see Jolie waiting for him in the entrance hall below.

"Yeah?" said Harry as Cedric ran up the stairs toward him.

Cedric looked as though he didn't want to say whatever it was in front of Ron, who shrugged, looking bad-tempered, and continued to climb the stairs.

"Listen ..." Cedric lowered his voice as Ron disappeared. "I owe you one for telling me about the dragons. You know that golden egg? Does yours wail when you open it?"

"Yeah," said Harry.

"Well... take a bath, okay?"

"What?"

"Take a bath, and - er - take the egg with you, and - er - just mull things over in the hot water. It'll help you think. . . . Trust me."

Harry stared at him.

"Tell you what," Cedric said, "use the prefects' bathroom. Fourth door to the left of that statue of Boris the Bewildered on the fifth floor. Password's 'pine fresh.' Gotta go ... want to say good night -"

He grinned at Harry again and hurried back down the stairs to Jolie.

Cho came over towards Harry and smiled gently. Harry smiled shyly back. The night had be wonderful, he and Cho had talked, danced and gotten to know each other. The only problem of the night had been Ron and Hermione arguing. Cho leaned in and kissed him softly on the lips.

"I'll see you soon Harry." she told him before rushing of. Harry grinned and touched his lips. He looked over at the entrance hall to see Cedric lightly kiss Jolie on the lips, he saw her eyes widen and she blushed deeply.