I've decided to start using line breaks XD
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Chapter Fourteen: Partner?
Suna was a desert, full of dry, sandy winds and the hot, burning sun. Konoha's weather was normally fine and sunny, usually leaning towards the hot side rather than the cold. The coldest Konoha would get was when it rained, and the day it snowed in Suna would be the day when Kakashi stops reading his Icha Icha series. Translation: never.
But the start of December brought along wind and sleet to Hogwarts, and the ninja, especially Gaara, was not used to the freezing weather. The shinobi grew increasing moody, and snapped at anyone who dared to annoy them too much. Along with their usual ANBU attire, they had covered themselves in long, thick white cloaks with hoods, which kept them warmer.
In their next Care of Magical Creatures lessons, the class were very disheartened to find that Hagrid was going to conduct an experiment on the Blast-Ended Skrewts.
"I don't know whether they hibernate or not," Hagrid told the shivering class in the windy pumpkin patch. Unfortunately, Raccoon and Fox were looking after the lesson today, and they were both in grumpy moods.
"Thought we'd jus' try an' see if they fancied a kip… we'll jus' settle 'em down in these boxes…"
There were now only ten Skrewts left; apparently their desire to kill each other had not been exercised out of them. Each of them were now rapidly approaching four metres in length. Their thick, grey armour, their powerful, scuttling legs, their fire blasting ends, their stings and their suckers, combined to make the Skrewts the most repulsive things Harry had ever seen. The class looked dispiritedly at the enormous boxes Hagrid had brought out, all lined with pillows and fluffy blankets.
"We'll jus' lead 'em in here," Hagrid said, "an' put the lids on, and we'll see what happens."
But the Skrewts, it transpired, did not hibernate, and did not appreciate being forced into pillow-lined boxes, and nailed in. Hagrid was soon yelling "Don' panic, now, don' panic!" while the Skrewts rampaged around the pumpkin patch, now strewn with the smouldering wreckages of the boxes.
Most of the class – Malfoy, Crabbe and Goyle in the lead – had fled into Hagrid's cabin through the back door and barricaded themselves in; Harry, Ron and Hermione, however, were among the few who remained outside trying to help Hagrid. Together, they managed to restrain and tie up nine of the Skrewts, though at the coast of numerous burns and cuts; finally, only one Skrewt was left.
Fox and Raccoon sighed and unwillingly went over and captured the remaining Skrewt with Raccoon's sand, holding it to the ground. Fox trudged over and tied it up, leading the Skrewt over to the rest of them.
"Thanks," Hagrid sighed, nodding at the shinobi.
"Well, well, well… this does look like fun."
Rita Skeeter was leaning on Hagrid's garden fence, looking in at the mayhem. She was wearing a thick magenta cloak with a furry purple collar today, and her crocodile skin handbag was over her arm.
"Who're you?" Hagrid asked, straightening up.
"Rita Skeeter, Daily Prophet reporter," Rita replied, beaming at him. Her gold teeth glinted.
"Thought Dumbledore said you weren' allowed inside the school anymore?" said Hagrid, frowning slightly.
Rita acted as though she hadn't heard what Hagrid had said.
"What are these fascinating creatures called?" she asked, beaming still more widely.
"Blast-Ended Skrewts," grunted Hagrid.
"Really?" said Rita, apparently full of lively interest. "I've never heard of them before… where do they come from?"
As Rita and Hagrid conversed, Fox and Raccoon dragged hands down their faces under their masks.
"Can we go back inside?" Raccoon muttered. "I'm freezing."
"You didn't seem that cold when you went to the Land of Iron for the Kage Summit a few years ago," Fox pointed out. "It was snowing, too."
"Just because I seemed fine doesn't mean I was," Raccoon said. "Then again, I had more pressing problems on my mind, so I didn't really notice the cold."
The bell rang up at the castle, signalling the end of the lesson.
Harry thoroughly enjoyed Double Divination that afternoon; they were still doing star charts and predications, but now that he and Ron were friends once more, the whole thing seemed very funny again. Swan and Slug were sitting in a corner and they were both pouring over medical scrolls.
Professor Trelawney, who had been so pleased with the pair of them when they had been predicting their own horrific deaths, quickly became irritated with them as they sniggered through her explanation of the various ways in which Pluto could disrupt everyday life.
"I would think," she said, in a mystical whisper that did not conceal her obvious annoyance, "that some of us" – she stared very meaningfully at Harry – "might be a little less frivolous had they seen what I have seen, during my crystal-gazing last night. As I sat here, absorbed in my needlework, the urge to consult the orb overpowered me. I arose, I settled myself before it, and I gazed into its crystalline depths… and what do you think I saw gazing back at me?"
"An ugly old bat in oversize specs?" Ron muttered under his breath. Harry fought hard to keep his face straight. The two kunoichi coughed to hide their laughter as they overheard him.
"Death, my dears."
Parvati and Lavender both put their hands over their mouths, looking horrified.
"Why do people take this class?" Swan murmured to Slug. The pink haired girl shrugged.
"I don't know, it's pretty useless," Slug said.
"The old hag must have predicted Potter-san's death over fifty times already," Swan said.
Later that evening, Ron and Harry did not find Hermione anywhere. She was not at dinner nor at the library. When they went back to the Gryffindor Tower with Slug and Swan still tailing them, they heard the sound of racing feet. Hermione dashed into view, her face pink with running, Cat ghosting along behind her.
"Hey Cat," Swan said.
"Harry!" she panted, skidding to a halt beside him. "Harry, you've got to come – you've got to come, the most amazing thing has happened – please –"
"Granger-san found the kitchens," Cat murmured to Swan and Slug. Hermione seized Harry's arm ad started to try and drag him back along the corridor.
"What's the matter?" Harry said. Harry and Ron, dragged by Hermione, went down six floors and started down the marble staircase into the Entrance Hall.
Hermione turned left at the bottom of the staircase, and hurried towards the door through which Cedric Diggory had gone the night after the Goblet of Fire had regurgitated his and Harry's names. Harry had never been through here before. He and Ron, followed by the three kunoichi, went after Hermione down a flight of stone steps, but instead of ending up in a gloomy underground passage like the one which led to Snape's dungeon, they found themselves in a broad, stone corridor, brightly lit with torches, and decorated with cheerful paintings that were mainly of food.
Hermione opened the door to the Hogwarts kitchens, and Harry had a brief glimpse of an enormous, high-ceilinged room, large as the Great Hall above it, when something small hurtled towards him from the middle of the room, squealing, "Harry Potter, sir! Harry Potter!"
Next second all the wind had been knocked out as the squealing elf hit him hard in the midriff, hugging him so tightly he thought his ribs would break.
"D-Dobby?" Harry gasped.
"It is Dobby, sir, it is!" squealed the voice from somewhere around his navel. "Dobby has been hoping and hoping to see Harry Potter, sir, and Harry Potter has come to see him, sir!"
Dobby let ho and stepped back a few paces, beaming up at Harry.
"Dobby, what're you doing here?" Harry said in amazement.
"Dobby has come to work at Hogwarts, sir!" Dobby squealed excitedly. "Professor Dumbledore gave Dobby and Winky jobs, sir!" Dobby then peered behind Harry and saw Slug, Cat and Swan.
"Miss Cat!" he said in delight, "Miss Slug, Miss Swan! It is lovely to see you three again! Dobby has also been hoping to you see you all as well! Has you come back for more food? What about Mr Dog? Should Dobby send for some chocolate éclairs? When you last visited, he seemed rather attached to them."
"Hi Dobby," Swan smiled. "It is nice to see you again too! Is it alright if I ask for those chocolate éclairs? Dog has wanted to go back down here for a while, but he's been too busy."
The surrounding elves beamed and a second later, a silver tray bearing the chocolate éclairs came whizzing towards them. Hermione bit her lip, but made no noise.
"You've been down here?" Harry asked in surprise. The guards nodded. He turned his attention back to the elf. "And Winky's here too?"
As Dobby launched into his story, Cat, Slug and Swan started talking to the elves. They seemed happy enough to answer her questions, and when they praised them on their cooking, they smiled with delight.
(A/N I know that in the book it says that Dobby has only been at Hogwarts for a week prior to Harry's meeting with him, but for the sake of the story we'll make it that Dobby has been here since the ninja came to Hogwarts)
The guards looked up in concern as Winky started having a tantrum, but then went back to conversing with the elves when it seemed as though Dobby had it under control.
After talking with the elves for a while, Cat suddenly stood up and blushed.
"I'm sorry," she told the elves, "we are distracting you from your work. We did not mean to, please, continue with whatever you were doing before we came." Swan and Slug stood up as well, scratching the backs of their heads sheepishly.
But the elves shook their heads hard and assured them that they could do all the work later and that they had nothing to do now.
As they all prepared to take their leave, many of the surrounding elves pressed in upon them, offering snacks to take back upstairs. Hermione refused, with a pained look at the way the elves kept bowing and curtseying, but Harry and Ron loaded their pockets with cream cakes and pies, and even the ninja took back some food to share with the others.
"Thanks a lot," Harry said to elves. The shinobi said their thanks as well, and they left the kitchens.
"Potter! Weasley! Will you pay attention?"
Professor McGonagall's irritated voice cracked like a whip through the Transfiguration class on Thursday, and Harry and Ron both jumped and looked up. Eagle and Raccoon raised invisible eyebrows at the two boy's childish behaviour. It was the end of the lesson, and they had finished their work. The bell was due to ring at any moment, and Harry and Ron had been playing with a couple of Fred's and George's fake wands at the back of the class.
"Now that Potter and Weasley have been kind enough to act their age," said Professor McGonagall, with an angry look at the pair of them, "I have something to say to you all."
"The Yule Ball is approaching – a traditional part of the Triwizard Tournament and an opportunity for us to socialise with our foreign guests. Now, the ball will be open only to fourth years and above – although you might invite a younger student if you wish."
Lavender Brown let out a shrill giggle. Parvati Patil nudges her hard in the ribs, her face working furiously as she, too, fought not to giggle.
"Dress robes will be worn," Professor McGonagall continued, "and the ball will start at eight o'clock on Christmas Day, finishing at midnight, in the Great Hall. Now the –"
Professor McGonagall stared deliberately around the class.
"The Yule Ball is of a course a chance for us all to – er – let our hair down," she said in a disapproving voice.
Lavender giggled harder than ever, with her hand pressed hard against her mouth to stifle the sound. Harry could see what was funny this time: Professor McGonagall, with her hair in a tight bun, looked as though she had never let her hair down in any sense.
"But that does NOT mean," Professor McGonagall went on, "that we will be relaxing the standards of behaviour we expect from Hogwarts students. I will be most seriously displeased if a Gryffindor student embarrasses the school in any way."
The bell rang, and there was the usual scuffle of activity as everyone packed their bags and swung them onto their shoulders.
Professor McGonagall called above the noise, "Potter – a word if you please."
Assuming this had something to do with his game that had gotten him and Ron into trouble, Harry proceeded gloomily to the teacher's desk.
Professor McGonagall waited until the rest of the class had gone, save Raccoon and Eagle, and then said, "Potter, the champions and their partners –"
"What partners?" said Harry.
Professor McGonagall looked suspiciously at him, as though she thought he was trying to be funny.
"Your partners for the Yule Ball, Potter," she said coldly. "Your dance partners."
Harry's insides seemed to curl up and shrivel. "Dance partners?"
He felt himself going red. "I don't dance," he said quickly.
"Oh yes, you do," said Professor McGonagall irritably. "That's what I'm telling you. Traditionally, the champions and their partners open the ball."
Even Raccoon struggled not to laugh as he saw the expression on Harry's face. Priceless.
"I'm not dancing," he said.
"It is traditional," said Professor McGonagall firmly. "You are a Hogwarts champion, and you will do what is expected of you as a representative of the school. So make sure you get yourself a partner, Potter."
"But – I don't –"
"You heard me, Potter," said Professor McGonagall, in a very final sort of way.
"The Yule Ball is something that is traditionally held with the Triwizard Tournament," Dumbledore explained to the guards at dinner that night. "Basically, it is a dance."
"Dance?" Fox asked, clueless.
"I am guessing that you do not have dances in the ninja world, no?" Dumbledore said.
"Well, we've heard of them…" Dog said doubtfully. "But we have never attended."
"Well, all you have to do is dress up and dance," Dumbledore said. "Well, will you be attending as guests or guards?"
".. Both," Fox said. "We'll be taking off our masks during the dance on Christmas, whatever Christmas is," he muttered the last part.
"We are?" Raven asked.
"Yeah. Tsunade-baa-chan said so. She sent me a letter after I gave her the last monthly mission report," Fox confirmed. Raven scowled under the mask; he hoped the girls here were not like the ones back in Konoha.
"Excellent," Dumbledore beamed. "Also, traditionally, for a dance, you should have partners."
"Why do we need partners?" Eagle asked. Dumbledore's lips twitched.
"So you can dance with them," he smiled. He swept to his feet and went back to the High Table.
"Granger-san," Cat said, appearing next to her as soon a Dumbledore had left. Hermione had been sitting down and eating dinner when she had appeared.
"Oh, Cat," Hermione said. "Can I help you?"
"Yes. Me and my… comrades were wondering what Christmas is," Cat said. Harry, who had been eating next to her, choked.
"You don't know what Christmas is?" Harry said, shocked and swallowing his food with difficulty.
"What do they have in your world?" Ron asked, incredulous.
"Um, well. Basically, Christmas is a big celebration we hold that involves giving each other presents and everything," Hermione said.
"Presents…" Cat repeated thoughtfully. "Oh, so I have to give you presents?"
"No, you don't have to," Hermione said, "We do it because we want to."
"Oh," said Cat. "So… what are we supposed to do at the Yule Ball?"
"You dance," Hermione said simply.
"That's what Dumbledore-san said," Cat asked. She seemed lost in thought.
"Okay," she said finally, "thanks for your help, Granger-san."
"Pleasure," Hermione said, watching the guard flit back to the Ninja Table.
A week ago, Harry would have said finding a partner for a dance would be a cinch compared to taking on a Hungarian Horntail. But now that he had done the latter, and was facing the prospect of asking a girl to the ball, he thought he'd rather have another round with the Horntail.
Harry had never known so many people to put their names down to stay at Hogwarts for Christmas; he always did, of course, because the alternative was usually going back to Privet Drive, but he had always been very much in the minority before now. This year, however, everyone in the fourth year and above seemed to be staying, and they all seemed to Harry to be obsessed with the coming ball – or, at least, all the girls were, and it was amazing how many girls Hogwarts suddenly seemed to hold; he had never quite noticed that before.
Girls giggling and whispering in the corridors, girls shrieking with laughter as boys passed them, girls excitedly comparing notes on what they were going to wear on Christmas night.
"Why do they have to move in packs?" Harry asked Ron, as a dozen or so girls walked past them, sniggering and staring at Harry. "How're you supposed to get one on their own to ask them?"
"Lasso one?" Ron suggested. "Got an idea who you're going to try?"
Harry didn't answer. He knew perfectly well whom he'd like to ask, but working up the nerve was something else… Cho was a year older than he was; she was very pretty; she was a very good Quidditch player; and she was also very popular.
"It's not that hard, Potter-san," Dragon laughed, startling them. They hadn't noticed that she was following them. "You just go up to a girl and ask."
"Easy for you to say," Harry grumbled. "You're a girl, you don't have to ask anyone, because they'll come and ask you."
"Exactly, I am a girl, so I know how one thinks," Dragon grinned. "As I said, just go and ask."
"Easier said than done," Ron said. "Besides, are any of you guys going to the ball?"
"Yes," Dragon said. "We're security, remember?"
"No, I meant going as guest," Ron said. "You know, with partners and everything."
"Maybe…" Dragon trailed off.
The last week of term became increasingly boisterous as it progressed. Rumours about the Yule Ball were flying everywhere, though Harry didn't believe half of them – for instance, that Dumbledore had bought eight hundred barrels of mulled mead from Madam Rosmerta. It seemed to be a fact, however, that he had booked the Weird Sisters. Exactly who or what the Weird Sisters were Harry didn't know, never having had access to a wizard's wireless, but he deduced from the wild excitement of those who had grown up listening to the WWN (Wizarding Wireless Network) that they were a very famous musical group.
Some of the teachers, like little Professor Flitwick, gave up on trying to teach them much when their minds were so clearly elsewhere; he allowed them to play games in his lesson on Wednesday, and spent most of it talking to Harry about the perfect Summoning Charm he had used during the first task of the Triwizard Tournament.
Other teachers were not so generous. Nothing would ever deflect Professor Binns, for example, from ploughing on through his notes on goblin rebellions – as Binns hadn't let his own death stand in the way of continuing to teach, they supposed a small thing like Christmas wasn't going to put him off.
Professor Moody and McGonagall kept them working until the very last second of their classes, too, and Snape, of course, would no sooner let them play games in class than adopt Harry.
"So, have you lot gotten dates for the ball yet?" Fred asked one evening in the Gryffindor common room. Swan was watching over them tonight.
"Nope," said Ron.
"Well, you'd better hurry up, mate, or all the good ones will be gone," said George.
"Who're you going with, then?" said Ron.
"Angelina," said Fred promptly, without a trace of embarrassment.
"What?" said Ron, taken aback. "You've already asked her?"
"Good point," said Fred. He turned his head and called across the common room, "Oi! Angelina!"
Angelina, who had been chatting to Alicia Spinnet near the fire, looked over at him.
"What?" she called back.
"Want to come to the ball with me?"
Angelina gave Fred an appraising sort of look.
"All right, then," she said, and she turned back to Alicia and carried on chatting, with a bit of a grin on her face.
"There you go," said Fred to Harry and Ron, "piece of cake."
He got to his feet, yawning, and went off with George. Ron stopped staring after the twins and looked across at Harry.
"We should get a move on, you know… ask someone. He's right; we don't want to end up with a pair of trolls."
Hermione let out a splutter of indignation. "A pair of what, excuse me?"
Swan, who had been listening to their conversation, sighed sympathetically for Hermione. She appeared beside Hermione and put a hand on her shoulder. Hermione glanced up at her.
"Boys are a bunch of idiots, aren't they?" she murmured into Hermione's ear. Hermione harrumphed in agreement.
"You think so?" Hermione said, annoyed. "Well, I agree. I'm going to bed." Swan rubbed her temples and looked over at Ron and Harry, who were both staring after their female friend, clueless.
"I feel kinda sorry for Granger-san," Swan said to herself.
The Hogwarts staff, demonstrating a continued desire to impress the visitors from Beauxbatons and Durmstrang, seemed determined to show the castle at its best this Christmas. When the decorations went up, Harry noticed that they were the most stunning he had yet seen inside the school.
Everlasting icicles had been attached to the banisters of the marble staircase; the usual twelve Christmas trees in the Great Hall were bedecked with everything from luminous holly berries to real, hooting golden owls, and the suits of armour had all been bewitched to sing carols whenever anyone passed them. It was quite something to hear "Oh Come, All Ye Faithful" sung by an empty helmet that only knew half the words. Several times, Filch the caretaker had to extract Peeves form inside the armour, where he had taken to hiding, filling in the gaps in the songs with lyrics of his own invention, all of which were very rude.
And still, Harry hadn't asked Cho to the ball. He and Ron were getting very nervous now, though as Harry pointed out, Ron would look much less stupid than he would without a partner; Harry was supposed to be starting the dancing with the other champions.
"Harry – we've just got to grit our teeth and do it," said Ron on Friday morning, in a tone that suggested they were planning the storming of an impregnable fortress (lol XD). "When we get back to the common room tonight, we'll both have partners – agreed?"
"Er… oaky," said Harry.
But every time he glimpsed Cho that day – during break, and then lunchtime, and once on the way to History of Magic – she was surrounded by friends. Didn't she ever go anywhere alone? Could he perhaps ambush her as she was going to the bathroom? But no – she even seemed to go there with an escort of four or five girls. Yet if he didn't do it soon, she was bound to have been asked by somebody else.
Fox snickered softly as he watched Harry in Potions. He knew his mind was somewhere else. After receiving zero marks for his Antidote test, Fox followed Harry as he hurried out of the dungeon door.
He went after Harry as he set off through the packed corridors looking for a girl by the name of Cho Chang. Fox had seen Harry eyeing the girl for a few days now. Harry found her emerging from a Defence Against the Dark Arts lesson.
"Er – Cho? Could I have a word with you?"
Giggling should be made illegal, Harry thought furiously, as all the girls around Cho started doing it. She didn't, though. She said, "Okay", and followed him out of earshot of her classmates. Fox was stuck to the ceiling, but heard everything that was said.
"Er," Harry said.
He couldn't ask her. He couldn't. But he had to. Cho stood there looking puzzled, watching him.
The words came out before Harry had quite got his tongue around them.
"Wangoballwime?"
Fox, who was listening in, snorted quietly.
"Sorry?" said Cho.
"D'you – d'you want to go to the ball with me?" said Harry. Why did he have to go red now? Why?
"Oh!" said Cho, and she went red, too. "Oh, Harry, I'm really sorry," and she looked it, too. "I've already said I'll go with someone else."
"Oh," said Harry.
It was odd; a moment before, his insides had been writhing like snakes, but he suddenly didn't seem to have any insides at all.
"Oh, okay," he said, "no problem."
"I'm really sorry," she said again.
"That's okay," said Harry.
An awkward moment passed between them, before Cho said goodbye and started walking away.
"Who're you going with?" Harry asked before he could stop himself.
"Oh – Cedric," she said. "Cedric Diggory."
"Oh right…"
As Harry walked back to the Gryffindor Tower, Fox dropped down beside him.
"Hey, Fox," Harry said dully. Fox clapped his back sympathetically.
"First rejection?" Fox asked.
"… Yeah."
"Heh, don't worry. You're bound to get rejected sooner or later in life," Fox chuckled. "I mean, Slug's been rejecting me for years, before I finally stopped asking her to go out with me."
"You gave up?" Harry asked.
"No, I found someone else," Fox grinned. "More special."
Harry and Fox entered the Gryffindor common room, and spotted Ron sitting ashen faced in a distant corner. Ginny was sitting with him, talking with him in what seemed to be a low, soothing voice. Cat was sitting with him too, and Fox realised that she was trying not to laugh at him.
"What's up, Ron?" said Harry, joining them. Ron looked up at Harry, a blind sort of horror on his face.
"Why did I do it?" he said wildly. "I don't know what made me do it!"
"What?" said Harry.
"He – er – just asked Fleur Delacour to go to the ball with him," said Ginny. She looked as though she was fighting back a smile, but she kept patting Ron's arm sympathetically.
"You what?" said Harry.
"I don't know what made me do it!" Ron gasped again. "What was I playing at? There were people – all around – I've gone mad – everyone watching! I was just walking past her in the Entrance Hall – she was standing there talking to Diggory – and it sort of came over me – and I asked her!"
Ron moaned and put his face in his hands. He kept taking, though the words were barely distinguishable. "She looked at me like I was a sea slug or something. Didn't even answer. And then – I dunno – I just sort of came to my senses and ran for it."
Fox was trying not to let any laughter escape from his throat, and was successful.
"Hello," said Hermione, appearing through the portrait hole, "how come you two weren't at dinner?" She directed the question to Ron and Harry.
"Because they've both just been turned down by girls they asked to the ball," said Ginny, causing Harry and Ron to stop chuckling.
"Thanks a bunch, Ginny," said Ron sourly.
"All the good-looking ones taken, Ron?" said Hermione loftily. But Ron was staring at Hermione as though seeing her in a whole new light. "Hermione, you're a girl."
Cat face palmed.
Are you serious? Cat thought. They only just noticed?
"Oh, well spotted," Hermione said acidly.
"Well – you can come with one of us!"
"No, I can't," snapped Hermione.
"Oh, come on," Ron said impatiently, "we need partners; we're going to look really stupid if we haven't got any, and everyone else has… even the guards!"
"I can't come with you," said Hermione, now blushing, "because I'm already going with someone."
"No, you're not," Ron said. "You just said that so you could get rid of Neville when he asked you to come to the dance with him."
"Oh, did I?" said Hermione, and her eyes flashed dangerously. "Just because it's taken you three years to notice, Ron, doesn't mean no one else has spotted I'm a girl!"
Ron stared at her. Then he grinned.
"Okay, okay, we know you're a girl," he said. "That do? Will you come now?"
"I've already told you," Hermione said, very angrily. "I'm already going with someone else."
And she stormed off towards the girl's dormitories.
"Idiot," Cat muttered, glaring at Ron.
"She's lying," Ron said flatly, watching her go.
"She's not," said Ginny quietly.
"Who is it, then?" said Ron sharply.
"I'm not telling you, it's her business," said Ginny.
"Right," said Ron, looking extremely put out, "this is getting stupid. Ginny, you can go with Harry, and I'll just –"
"I can't," said Ginny, and she went scarlet too. "I'm already going with – with Neville. He asked me when Hermione said no, and I thought… well… I thought I'm not going to be able to go otherwise, I'm not in fourth year." She looked extremely miserable. "I think I'll go and have dinner," she said, and she got up and walked off to the portrait hole, her head bowed.
Ron goggled at Harry.
"What's got into them?" he demanded.
But Harry had just seen Parvati and Lavender come in through the portrait hoe. The time had come for drastic action.
"Wait here," he said to Ron, and he stood up, walked straight up to Parvati, and said, "Parvati? Will you go to the ball with me?"
Parvati went into a fit of giggles. Harry waited for them to subside, his fingers crossed in the pocket of his robes.
"Yes, all right, them," she said finally, blushing furiously.
"Thanks," said Harry, in relief. "Lavender – will you go with Ron?"
"She's going with Seamus," said Parvati, and the pair of them giggled harder than ever.
Harry sighed.
"Can't you think of anyone who'd go with Ron?" he said, lowering his voice so that Ron wouldn't hear.
"What about Hermione Granger?" said Parvati.
"She's going with someone else."
Parvati looked astonished.
"Ooh – who?" she said keenly.
Harry shrugged. "No idea," he said. "So what about Ron?"
"Well…" said Parvati slowly, "I suppose my sister might… Padma, you know… in Ravenclaw. I'll ask her if you like."
"Yeah, that would be great," said Harry. "Let me know, will you?"
Harry went back to Ron, Fox and Cat. The two guards stared at him as he sat down.
"Good job," Fox said finally, after Harry raised his eyebrows at both of them. Cat chuckled.
"I think we might have to send for some more ANBU," Naruto said thoughtfully, entering the Ninja Common Room.
"Naruto," Gaara said.
"Eh? Why?" Ino asked.
"With Triwizard Tournament going on, we need more people guarding the school while the rest of us are at the task site," Naruto said.
"You think Hokage-sama can send us Lee, Shino and everyone else?" Kiba asked eagerly.
"Hmm," Ino sighed. "I haven't really realised this, but I'm getting homesick."
"Not planning on quitting this mission, are you?" Sakura teased.
"No!" Ino said, shocked, "I would never."
"Meh, I know what Ino means," Shikamaru said, flopping down on an armchair. "I'm homesick too, and while I'm not going to quit this mission, it sure is troublesome."
Shikamaru's in the end scene again.
*** Forgive me, everyone, but I have had a mix up between my two crossovers T_T Um… does this story have the Akatsuki in it or doesn't it? Coz I remember playing around with the idea but I don't remember what I decided, and I can't be bothered going back and reading through my previous chapters to check…
Regarding Lee and the others, there'll be an Author's Notes at the start of the next chapter. Please read it.