CHAPTER 28: THE YULE BALL


It's Christmas!

That was O'Bannon's first thought when he woke up on December 25th. His second thought did not concern what presents he got, as had been the case every Christmas before. Instead it concerned Mireet Miradeaux. Tonight was the night he'd be taking her to the Yule Ball.

This is gonna be so awesome.

He jumped out of bed, did his bathroom routine and threw on his Bruins jersey and a pair of bluejeans. He decided to skip his usual morning run. It was Christmas, after all. One day off from exercise wouldn't kill him. Instead he sat Indian-style at the foot of his bed and tore into his presents. Mom and Dad had gotten him a new Red Sox T-shirt, a new Bruins ballcap, a poster of Patriots Tight End Ben Coates, two books, a technothriller by Tom Clancy and a biography on Bruins Hall of Fame center Milt Schmidt, and a couple boxes of assorted candy. They also got him two CDS, one by Rush, the other by Van Halen. Not that it would do him much good here, unless Dean actually perfected his spell to let Muggle CDs and video tapes play inside Hogwarts. Given Dean's lack of success so far, O'Bannon wasn't holding his breath.

From Rosa, Jared and Artimus he received a large tin of sweets, some of which were unavailable in Britain, like Norace Nickerbaker's Never-Melt Ice Cream, Polly Pelfley's Bite-Sized Pies and the Chocolate Fountain in a Bottle.

Great minds think alike.He, too, had sent his best friends at Salem a tin of sweets, many of which were not common in America, like Fizzing Whizzbees and Ice Mice. O'Bannon frowned for a moment, wishing he'd thought to include some of Fred and George's Canary Creams. How funny would that be to have Jared and Rosa turn into big yellow birds in front of their entire family?

Speaking of their families, Rosa's parents had gotten him a Boston Bandits sweatshirt, while Jared's parents got him a book titled The History of the US Aurors Bureau.From Artimus' father he received nothing. That didn't surprise him. That man never thought much of him or Rosa or Jared.

With all his presents opened, he headed down to the common room, where he ran into Fred and George.

"Jimmy Boy!" They both beamed at him.

"Thanks for the Whoopee Cushions." Fred held up a couple of them. "These things are brilliant."

"Always amazing what Muggles can come up with without magic," said George. "Oi, watch."

George levitated his already inflated Whoopee Cushion toward the staircase leading toward the girls' dormitory just as Hermione came down. Apparently she didn't see it, because when her foot hit the last step . . .

The loud, ripping fart sound echoed through the common room. Heads snapped toward Hermione, who stood there, mouth agape. Lavender and Parvati turned away and giggled. Lee burst out laughing.

"Accio Whoopee Cushion." George summoned it back to him.

"A Whoopee Cushion?" Hermione stared at George. "How did you get a . . ."

She paused and slowly turned her head to O'Bannon. Her eyes narrowed. "Jimmy? Oh for Heaven's sake, it's bad enough Fred and George can do magical pranks. Why on Earth would you give them a Muggle joke item?"

"Hey, just doing my part to promote a better understanding of Muggle culture." He grinned wide.

Hermione continued to glower at him.

O'Bannon followed the twins and Lee through the portrait hole and downstairs to the Great Hall. A still irritated Hermione trailed them, carrying on to Harry and Ron about the Whoopee Cushion. O'Bannon heard Ron snicker.

"Why do boys find that sound so funny?" Hermione scolded him. "Honestly, you all need to grow up."

Her words, though, were lost on the twins. As soon as they reached the Great Hall they placed Whoopee Cushions up and down the Gryffindor table and hid them with Camouflage Charms. Every few minutes somebody sat on them, resulting in shocked and embarrassed expressions. Many boys nearly fell out of their seats laughing. O'Bannon didn't see a single girl who found it funny.

The Beauxbatons contingent arrived a bit late for breakfast, probably from a combination of opening their presents and having to trudge through the snow between their carriage and the castle. Several of them cast Drying and Warming Charms on themselves, looking very annoyed as they did.

O'Bannon sat up straighter when he saw Mireet waving to him. He waved back as she strode around the Gryffindor table, a fair share of boys casting admiring stares as she walked past.

"Jimmy. Thank you for the present. It is beautiful." She leaned down, hugged him and kissed him on both cheeks. An airy feeling swept through his body as his heart sped up. It took him a few moments to remember how to talk.

"Um, uh, you're welcome." He had bought her a magical flower pot that sprouted new, different colored flowers every few hours. "And, um, thank you for your gift."

"I only hope you do not have difficulty catching them." Mireet gave him a wry grin. She had gotten him a box of chocolates in the shape of Quidditch balls that could actually fly around the room.

"Something that good, trust me, those things ain't gettin' away from me."

Mireet laughed softly. "I hope you enjoy them." She paused. "And I am very much looking forward to the Yule Ball."

"Me too. It's gonna be a blast."

Mireet knitted her brow. "Pardon?"

"Oh, I just mean it's gonna be fun."

"I believe so, too." Her smile grew wider. "I will let you get back to your breakfast. Au revoir."

"Au revoir," he replied, doubting he said the phrase as smoothly as Mireet.

She beamed at him and headed back to the Ravenclaw table. He watched her go, thinking ahead to the Yule Ball, imagining Mireet in a nice dress, holding her as they danced, then kissing her.

"I hope no one has anything important to tell Jimmy," he was vaguely aware of Fred speaking. "Looks like his mind's going to be occupied for the rest of breakfast."

"More like the rest of the day," George added. "Blimey, he looks like someone who fell into a vat of love potion."

"Oh, leave him alone," Ginny snapped at her brothers. "I think it's sweet."

O'Bannon didn't say a word. He just continued picturing himself and Mireet at the Yule Ball.

XXXXX

After breakfast, O'Bannon and the rest of his housemates returned to Gryffindor Tower, where many of them hung out in the common room enjoying their presents. Much to the chagrin of the female Gryffindors, Fred and George had not grown bored with their Whoopee Cushions. At one point, a wand-wielding Hermione chased them upstairs to the boys' dormitory, threatening to incinerate the Whoopee Cushions and inflict numerous, unpleasant curses on them.

The Quidditch ball candy Mireet gave him proved a bit difficult to catch. One time he slapped his hands over a snitch, crushing it and coating his palms with chocolate. Then one of the chocolate Bludgers flew right into the burning fireplace. No way was he going to get that.

He also took a risk and loaned Dean his Rush CD to see if he get the thing to play. After about five minutes of wand waving and incantations, he heard the deep strums of a bass guitar that he instantly recognized as the beginning of "The Pass."

"I did it!" Dean jumped to his feet, looking down at the CD in surprise.

"Wicked pissah!" O'Bannon pumped a fist. "Dean, you're a frigging genius."

Suddenly the bass was replaced by a low, steady hum that went on and on. O'Bannon slouched to one side.

Dean sighed. "Back to the bloody drawing board, I guess."

When noon rolled around the Hogwarts students were treated to a magnificent lunch, which consisted of turkeys, Christmas puddings and large piles of Cribbage's Wizarding Crackers. Afterwards, many of them ventured outside. Snow covered the grounds, untouched save for the paths created by the Beauxbatons and Durmstrang students on their way to the castle. O'Bannon took a deep breath of cold air as he gazed around the white landscape. He got the urge to transfigure something into a sled, find the tallest hill at school and –

He caught a flash of white out the corner of his eye. He turned to the right just as a snowball exploded off Katie Bell's head. Nearby, Fred and George laughed.

O'Bannon grinned wide. Forget about sledding. That couldn't compare to a snowball fight.

As Katie bent down, O'Bannon scooped up a handful of snow and dashed over to her. She just straightened up, snowball in hand, when he came up behind her, yanked back her collar, and dumped snow down her back. Katie shrieked and jumped in the air with enough vertical to impress an NBA player. O'Bannon shook with laughter while Fred, George and Lee cheered him on.

"Jimmy O'Bannon, you stupid arse!" Katie yelled before hurling a snowball at him. He just ducked out of the way.

And it was on.

Dozens upon dozens of snowballs soared through the air. O'Bannon nailed Fred, George, Lee, Seamus and even Harry Potter numerous times. But he also took his fair share of hits.

At one point, Lee and Angelina had him cornered at the castle wall.

"Nowhere to run, Jimmy." Lee grinned as he took another step closer. "Looks like it's -"

A snowball nailed Lee on the shoulder. Seconds later another one struck Angelina.

O'Bannon looked past the two Gryffindors. Mireet flung another snowball and hit Lee in the chest.

"Bloody hell! Retreat!"

Lee and Angelina ran off as Mireet threw another snowball at them, missing.

"Hey," O'Bannon said. "I thought it was supposed to be the guy who saved the damsel in distress."

Mireet put her hands on her hips and shot him a faux glare. "If you wish, I can leave you here to fend for yourself."

"No, no. I'll take whatever help I can get."

Mireet chuckled before they plunged back into the snowball fight. At one point he noticed she was the only one from Beauxbatons participating in it. That had to say a lot about Mireet's personality, where she wanted to come out and play in the snow while the rest of her classmates were holed up in their warm carriage.

Could this girl be any cooler?

Late in the afternoon, Hermione, who'd watched the entire snowball fight from the sidelines, announced she was heading back to the dorm to get ready for the Yule Ball.

"What, you need three hours?" Ron looked at her incredulously, which gave George the opportunity to nail him in the head. He quickly shook it off and shouted after Hermione, "Who're you going with?"

Hermione just waved at him before she went inside the castle. Ron turned away with a disappointed look on his face.

O'Bannon shook his head, wondering why Ron cared so much about who Hermione's date was for the Yule Ball. He doubted Ron had any desire to go with the bushy-haired know-it-all, the way she always rode his ass about everything.

"I should probably go, too," Mireet said. "I have much to do to get ready for the ball."

"All right. I'll see you in a few hours." O'Bannon smiled.

"Au revoir." She waved and headed back to the carriage.

"Au revoir." He waved back, then turned around and searched for someone to nail with a snowball.

"Oh Jimmy," Mireet called out.

"Yeah." He turned around . . . and got nailed right in the mouth with a snowball. He took a step back, shook his head, and spat out little bits of snow.

"Are you all right?" Mireet asked as she laughed.

O'Bannon wiped the last remnants of snow from his face. "You are so gonna get it."

He bounded over to her. Mireet scooped up a handful of snow and began balling it up when he reached her. He gently took hold of her wrist and tried to get her to drop it.

"No! No!" Mireet laughed and tried to push him away.

They spun in a circle, O'Bannon shaking Mireet's wrist. She still wouldn't let go of the snowball.

Their feet tangled up. They tumbled to the snow, both of them letting out a laugh when they landed.

O'Bannon froze when he realized Mireet was on top of him, his hand resting on her back. They stared at each other, not saying a word. He felt his chest tighten as he gazed at her smooth, clear face. My God, he couldn't get over how beautiful she was.

His focus moved to Mireet's lips. His heart hammered in his chest. Did she just lower her head toward his?

"Jimmy! Mireet! Are you okay?"

The voice of Dennis Creevey broke their connection. O'Bannon gave a slight shudder, and so did Mireet. They both turned to the little First Year.

"Yeah, we're fine," he said, letting Mireet get to her feet before standing himself. A flash of anger went through him as he looked at Dennis again.

Thanks a lot, man.He wished Dennis could have been like the vast majority of First Years and gone home for the holidays. But his older brother, Colin, had convinced Professor McGonagall to let him be the official photographer for the Yule Ball, and Dennis had volunteered to be his assistant.

Mireet bid him farewell again and headed back to the Beauxbatons carriage. Before long Angelina, Katie, Alicia, Ginny and the other Gryffindor girls also left to get ready for the Yule Ball. He and the other guys continued their snowball fight well after sunset, stopping only when their arms tired out and they realized the Yule Ball was just an hour away.

As they headed back to Gryffindor Tower, O'Bannon, Fred, George and Lee came up alongside Harry and Ron. Both boys had their heads hung low, and grim looks on their faces. To O'Bannon, they acted as though they were on their way to the gallows.

"Why so glum, you two?" asked Lee. "You're going to the ball with the fit Indian twins. You oughta be smiling."

Harry and Ron just looked at Lee and frowned.

"I believe I know what's troubling Harry and Ickle Ronniekins," said Fred.

"Do tell," urged George.

"Unless they've been keeping secrets from us, I do believe this is their very first date."

"Ah, no wonder they look so nervous and unsure of themselves."

"Were we ever like that when we were their age?" Lee smirked.

"Not us, that's for sure." Fred nodded to his brother, then turned back to Lee. "Can't say the same about you, though."

"Get stuffed." Lee scowled at them.

Fred and George just grinned, with Fred clasping a hand on Harry's and Ron's shoulders. "All right. I believe it's time to pass on our vast knowledge in dealing with the opposite sex to you two."

"Uh-huh," Harry muttered, while Ron looked even more miserable.

"First," Fred said. "Make sure you tell them they're beautiful. Girls love hearing that."

"And not just overall," George added. "But get specific. Like tell them they have beautiful eyes. Girls have a thing for the eyes."

"But don't say something like you have a nice bum," Lee offered, "otherwise you might get slapped."

"And Lee knows that from experience." Fred shot him a wry grin.

"Oh shut it."

"Not just their eyes, but their hair," said O'Bannon. "Girls spend a lot of time fixing up their hair, so you gotta tell 'em it looks really nice."

"But what if it doesn't?" asked Ron.

"Then you lie and say it does."

"But if their hair doesn't look good, wouldn't they want someone to tell them so they can fix it?"

O'Bannon, Fred, George and Lee all slowed their pace and gaped at him.

"What?" Ron gave them a puzzled look.

O'Bannon groaned and shook his head. "You wanna do that, go ahead. But instead of spending the night kissing a girl you'll be kissing your pillow."

Fred, George and Lee howled with laughter. Ron's nose wrinkled. Harry just stared at the floor as they reached the staircase leading to Gryffindor Tower.

"And Harry." O'Bannon slapped him on the shoulder. "You're the friggin' Tri-Wizard Champion for Hogwarts. You took on a dragon and won. You gotta play that up, man."

Fred, George and Lee all nodded, with Lee adding, "Jimmy's right. After what you did in the tournament there's no way Parvati Patil will be able to keep her hands off you."

"Hell yeah!" O'Bannon pumped his fist.

The four of them slapped Harry and Ron on the back. Harry gave them a brief, forced smile. O'Bannon wondered why he wasn't more excited going to the Yule Ball with a babe like Parvati Patil.

Probably just nervous.

When O'Bannon returned to his room, he showered, shaved and changed into his dress robes. He thought about the letter he was going to write to Rosa, Jared and Artimus about the Yule Ball, and wondered what they'd think when he told them he had given woman advice to The Harry Potter.

When he finished dressing and checking himself out in the mirror, he looked at his alarm clock. Twenty minutes till eight. Twenty minutes until the Yule Ball. Twenty minutes until his date with Mireet. My God, it was actually here.

That's when his nervousness grew. What if he said or did something stupid? What if he bored Mireet?

No. That's not gonna happen. Heck, they almost kissed during the snowball fight earlier today.

Unless I misread that whole thing.

His stomach twisted. For a moment, he didn't want to leave his room. But he took a deep breath, summoned up some Gryffindor courage, and headed for the door. He tried to beat down his nerves, tried to assure himself everything would be great.

But what if it's not?

O'Bannon found the common room packed with well dressed boys and girls. He spotted Fred, George and Lee near the fireplace with Angelina, Alicia and Katie, all of them getting their picture taken by Colin Creevey. O'Bannon's eyes widened as he focused on the girls, all of them with their hair done up and wearing brightly colored, form-fitting gowns.

Damn, I got me some hot friends.

"Jimmy." Katie smiled at him. "You look very nice."

"Thanks. So do you. All of you."

"Oh thank you, Jimmy," Fred said in a high-pitched voice and batted his eyes. That earned him a smack on the shoulder by Angelina.

"Let's get going," George suggested. "We don't want Jimmy to keep his date waiting."

O'Bannon just nodded, feeling his palms moisten with sweat. He wiped them on his dress robes as he followed his friends through the portrait hole and down the steps. The closer they got to the first floor, the more his palms sweated, and the more he wiped them on his dress robes.

"You know, if you keep that up, your robes are going to be absolutely soaked."

"Huh?" He looked over his shoulder and found Katie giving him a sympathetic smile. She then pulled out her wand from her flowing green gown.

"Here, let me see your hands."

"Um, okay." O'Bannon stopped near the bottom of the steps and presented his palms to Katie. She waved her wand and uttered a quick incantation. Instantly his palms felt dry.

"Just a handy little charm Alicia taught me," Katie said. "Rather useful on first dates."

"Thanks. You rock, Bell."

"My pleasure."

With a smile, O'Bannon resumed his pace, relieved that his palms no longer sweat.

He then wondered if Katie knew any charms to get rid of the butterflies that battered his stomach.

A cacophony of voices filled the corridors as they neared the entrance hall. Students from the other Hogwarts houses, along with those from the Beauxbatons and Durmstrang contingents, filed toward the closed doors of the Great Hall. Most of the boys sported dark dress robes, while the girls wore gowns of various designs and colors. He did a double-take when he came across Susan Bones. A bit of a plain jane, she looked absolutely stunning with her hair done up and wearing a pink and white gown. O'Bannon flashed a grin at Susan's date, Justin Finch-Fletchley. Best of luck, dude.

"Jimmy! Over here!"

He stopped when he heard the silky French accent. Swallowing, he stared across the hall and spotted Mireet. His knees buckled.

Oh...my...God.

She wore a sparkling silver gown that perfectly hugged her taut, athletic frame. Her flowing blond hair had been done up, though loose strands cascaded down each cheek.

He continued staring at Mireet. Was he really going to the Yule Ball with her? How the hell did he end up with a witch so mind-blowingly gorgeous without downing an entire jug of Luck Potion?

"Um, hey mate?"

Fred's voice snapped him out of his stupor. He spun around to face him.

"I think she wants you to go over to her."

"Oh. Um, yeah, right."

"Go on." Katie patted him on the shoulder. "You'll do fine."

O'Bannon nodded. He drew a deep breath, trying to ignore his pounding heart and churning stomach. Shoulders squared, he strode across the corridor, weaving his way around several students.

Mireet's smile grew as he approached. His eyes roamed up and down her body. He noticed she appeared even taller than normal. She had to be wearing heels. Not too high, though, thankfully. Mireet was already taller than him without heels.

He chewed on his lip. Ever since he asked Mireet to the Yule Ball he had this scene pictured in his head. It always looked so cool in the world of his imagination. But would it fly in real life? Would she think it tacky? Would she think he was forcing himself on her?

He drew a deep breath and decided to go for it.

"Mireet. You, um . . . you look beautiful . . . Mademoiselle." He took her right hand, raised it to his lips and lightly kissed it. He tensed, praying she appreciated the gesture.

When he raised his eyes, he was rewarded with a huge smile.

"Merci, Monsieur O'Bannon. May I say you look very handsome tonight."

"Thanks." The smile threatened to consume his face. "So, um, looking forward to this?"

"Oui. I am anxious to see what this Yule Ball is like. Hopefully it isn't as, what is the term, straight-laced as the formal dances we have at Beauxbatons."

"Well if they're bringing in the Weird Sisters for this thing, I doubt there's gonna be anything straight-laced about it. I mean, if you like the Weird Sisters."

"You are not a fan of theirs?"

"They're okay." O'Bannon shrugged. "Actually, there's only a couple of Wizarding bands I really like, like Deadly Curses, probably because they sound a lot like Iron Maiden. Then there's this one group from Canada called Frozen Aurora. The lead singer's a Muggle-born, and you can tell he's been seriously influenced by Rush."

Mireet canted her head. "Iron Maiden? Rush? I have not heard of those bands."

"Oh. They're both Muggle bands. Two of the best Muggle bands ever, along with Led Zeppelin."

"You have piqued my curiosity. I am going to have to find a way to listen to them."

"Well if Dean ever gets his charm that'll play Muggle CDs to work in here, we can get together one day and listen to them."

"I would like that."

O'Bannon's insides swelled. That was a good sign that there could be more between them beyond the Yule Ball.

At eight o'clock on the dot, the doors to the Great Hall opened.

Well, shall we?" O'Bannon held out his arm.

"Oui." Mireet smiled and slipped her arm around his elbow.

Standing ramrod straight, chest puffed out, he escorted Mireet through the throng of students into the Great Hall. His earlier fears and anxiety dissolved. He knew deep down in his soul this would be the best Christmas of his life.

TO BE CONTINUED