So chapter 12, and with it, the Yule Ball!

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Amelia woke up on the morning of Christmas Eve, the morning of the Yule Ball, and realized she still had nothing to wear. A stone sank in her gut, and she became suddenly embarrassed…if she didn't have anything to wear, she wouldn't be able to go, and George had been nice enough to ask her, what was she supposed to tell him? Sorry, George, I have no money, and even with the money you and Fred have given me, it still wouldn't be enough to buy something decent.

Groaning, Amelia rolled out of bed and dressed quickly, in her usual jeans, jumper and Chuck Taylors combination. It was still dark outside, and Leanne was still snoring, so Amelia figured that she'd be safe and have some alone time before all the craziness she was sure would happen began.

Coming into the common room, Amelia found Maggie Mae curled up by the fire, and lifted her into her arms, cuddling her close to her chest for some kind of comfort.

"Miss Honeycutt!" greeted the voice of Professor Sprout, nearly causing Amelia to have a heart attack. "Just the lady I was looking to see!"

"Oh, er, good morning, Professor," Amelia greeted, trying to catch her breath.

"Good morning to you, too," Sprout nodded. She used her wand to summon a large box, and caught it in her arms and then offered it to Amelia, saying, "This is yours, Honeycutt."

Raising an eyebrow, Amelia lifted the top off the box as she was instructed to do by Professor Sprout, revealing a carefully packed dress and jewelry.

"Professor, I can't take this," Amelia said immediately. "Thank you so much, I really appreciate it, but I just can't accept this…"

"You're not keeping it," Professor Sprout replied. "You're just wearing it tonight, and then you'll be returning it."

"Professor, thank you, thank you so much," Amelia said genuinely.

"Just remember, Hogwarts will always give help to those who asked for it," Sprout winked. "Just ask next time, alright?"

"Alright," Amelia nodded, grinning widely, and watched Professor Sprout disappear out of the common rooms.


"You look positively hideous, Forge," joked George, as he approached his twin from behind. "It's a wonder why Angelina ever said yes to you."

Fred, who was fumbling around with the buttons of his coat, glared at his twin via the mirror.

"Aw, don't be such a grouch," George said. "You could've asked her."

"I'd already asked Angelina," Fred replied.

"Your loss," George shrugged. "Anyway, I'll meet you down there, alright? I told Amelia I'd meet her by the Hufflepuff dormitories."

George took Fred's silence as an 'okay,' and proceeded to exit the Gryffindor dormitories and common rooms, and made his way through the buzzing hallways to the kitchen corridor and the bunch of barrels that guarded the Hufflepuff dormitories.

"Oh, hello, George," greeted Phoebe Hibbert, who looked more like a fancy cupcake than she did an actual girl. "Amelia will be right out."

"Okay, thanks," George nodded, watching the rat that crawled down her shoulder. "How many of those do you have? The rats, I mean."

"Quite a lot," Phoebe replied. "You can adopt one or some, if you want. I've been trying to persuade Amelia to take a few for ages."

"Oh, I'm alright, but thanks for the offer," George replied.

"Alright," Phoebe replied, unphased. "Look, here's Amelia."

George glanced towards the barrels, to see Cedric Diggory, full in the finest dress robes, helping a girl in an indigo blue gown out from the dormitories. At first, George thought it was odd that Cho Chang had been in the Hufflepuff dormitories, but upon seeing the honey-colored curls that cascaded down the girl's shoulders and back, he realized that it was indeed Amelia. He'd been so used to seeing her in jeans and jumpers, he didn't imagine she'd clean herself up to look so nice.

The indigo blue gown was made of soft, airy fabric that seemed to be made of almost nothing at all. The top was a sweetheart cut, ruched into a high waist, and simply flowed to the floor in an elegant, almost ethereal way. Amelia's curls looked shinier than usual, two strands braided and pulled to the back of her head, clipped there with an ornate silver and opal barrette, that matched the dainty opals in her ears and the thin silver and opal chain around her wrist. Something about the indigo blue hue of the dress and the opals made Amelia's hazel eyes appear more green than brown for once, only adding to almost fairy-like beauty she was exuding.

She looked positively radiant, and George couldn't help but to grin. He'd gotten the best looking girl and third best prankster in Hogwarts to go to the Yule Ball with him, and he'd be making his brother jealous in the process.

"You look beautiful, Amelia," George told her, in all honesty, as she approached.

"And you don't look half bad yourself, George," Amelia fired back with a playful grin. She may have looked like a different person, but she sure didn't sound like one.

"Hello, George," Cedric greeted, coming up beside her to shake George's hand. "Haven't gotten to talk since the World Cup, eh?"

"That's right," George confirmed. "You didn't do too shabby in the First Task, Diggory."

"I owe that all to Amelia," Cedric said. Then, in a more serious tone, he said, "And, I mean this is the nicest way possible, Weasley, but if you do anything to her, one toe out of line, I'll … -"

"Cedric!" Amelia whispered harshly, jabbing him in the side with her elbow.

Grinning, George said, "Sorry, Diggory, but I think she can take care of herself. I'm sure you've seen her hexes?"

"Of course," Cedric nodded. "Well…er, I've got to meet up with Cho, so I'll see you later, alright?"

"Okay, bye, Ced," Amelia bid. Then, looking to George, she playfully inquired, "Well, are we going to do this?"

Groaning in an equally playful manner, George offered an arm, and replied, "I suppose, if I must."

"You're hilarious," Amelia said, as she locked elbows with him. "I just hope you're as good at dancing as you are jokes."


"Close your mouth, Forge, you'll start catching flies," George joked, prodding his brother with his elbow.

Fred obliged, but only after glaring at George, as the two of them stood by the punch table, where they were getting drinks for their dates. Not too far away, Amelia stood with Angelina, Alicia, Katie, Lee, and a number of other Gryffindors George had introduced her to. It was clear that Amelia was being quite entertaining, as all the Gryffindors were roaring with laughter around her, laughter that could be heard over the incredible ruckus of the Weird Sisters.

"You've been a real git lately, y'know that?" Fred inquired sharply.

"Because I've been the one with the guts lately?" George countered calmly. "You don't have a monopoly on being the ladies' man. Amelia, frankly, is kind of amazing, so I asked her. I didn't make you ask Angelina, so don't be mad at me."

Fred stared at George. He had a point there.

"Besides, you can't feel too bad," George said, leaning closer and lowering his voice. "Amelia snogged you outside the Hog's Head that night, not me."

With that, George winked at his twin, before returning to Amelia.

"Punch for the lady," he joked, handing her a glass.

"Thanks," Amelia grinned, gulping it all down in nearly one sip. "Is it time for you to show me those dance moves you were bragging about earlier?"

"Prime time," George agreed. "And this song is fabulous."

They were both laughing, as George guided Amelia onto the crowded dancefloor, hand-in-hand. He twirled her around, causing her the airy skirt of her dress to float around her as if by magic, as she threw her head back with laughter, and, dizzy from the twirl, fell into him, as he joined in with the laughing. Soon enough, though, they danced their way into the midst of the crowd, and out of view to those who were away from the action.

"Amelia's such a sweetheart, isn't she?" Angelina asked, as she grabbed Fred's arm and leaned her head against her shoulder. "I wish we'd been introduced sooner, she's absolutely lovely, and quite a laugh."

Fred nodded vaguely, going up on his toes to try and see where George and Amelia had gone off to. When he didn't, he came back down, and sighed without even realizing it. Angelina, realizing what Fred was looking for and why, her expression changed a bit, but not as drastically as one might have expected.

"Want to dance?" Angelina inquired.

"Er, sure," Fred nodded, looking back down to her. "It's a ball, after all, so that's what we're supposed to do."

"Right," Angelina responded, seeing just how distracted Fred seemed to be.

While Fred and Angelina slightly awkwardly made their way onto the dance floor, Amelia and George were having the time of their lives. Amelia was dizzy and giddy from all the twirls George had her doing. Her head was spinning with excitement and joy, as the Weird Sisters filled her ears, and one of her hands rested on George's shoulders while the other was intertwined with his other hand.

"Amelia!" shouted a happy voice.

"Hello, Hermione!" Amelia replied. "You look lovely!"

"Thanks, so do you!" Hermione beamed. She pulled her partner in closer, and said, "Amelia, this is Viktor Krum, and Viktor, this is my friend, Amelia Honeycutt."

"A pleasure," Krum replied in a thick accent, while kissing the back of her hand in greeting.

"Lovely to meet you as well!" Amelia grinned.

"And this is George Weasley," Hermione added.

"Big fan, big fan!" George beamed, shaking hands with Krum. "You were amazing at the World Cup!"

"Thank you," Krum said, nodding politely. "Hermy-one, vould you like a drink?"

"Yes, thank you," Hermione nodded. As Viktor Krum began to pull her off by the hand, Hermione bid, "Have fun, I'll see you later!"

"You too, Hermione!" Amelia called.

"Krum and Hermione," George mused, once they were out of earshot. "Never would've put the two of them together, would you?"

"Suppose not," Amelia replied, cocking her head as she watched them go. "But they look lovely together, don't they?"

"I suppose," George agreed. "You think people are saying that we look lovely together?"

"You wish, Weasley," Amelia winked.

Their conversation was interrupted, when the eccentric lead singer of the Weird Sisters announced they'd be slowing things down a bit. Around half of the couples cleared off the dance floor, but not George and Amelia. Instead, George bowed goofily, as he had when he asked her to the Yule Ball, and offered her a hand. Giggling, Amelia accepted in an equally goofy way, and the two began to waltz slowly about the room, barely able to contain their laughter.

Across the way, Fred and Angelina were dancing together as well, though neither of them looked as happy to be doing so. Fred was quite blatantly staring over at George and Amelia with a kind of scowl, while Angelina was glaring up at Fred, wishing she hadn't come with someone who clearly wished to be there with someone else.

"Ouch!" Angelina shrieked, as Fred stomped on her foot, having not paid any attention.

"Sorry," Fred mumbled, finally looking to his actual date.

"You know, Fred Weasley, nobody forced you to ask me to this," Angelina spat under her breath, as she released him. "If you wanted to ask Amelia, you should've done it before George did."

With that, Angelina stomped over to Katie and Alicia, who were taking punch breaks, leaving Fred alone in the middle of the dance floor, to watch George and Amelia by himself.