Christmas Day, 1994.

Harry awakes with a yelp as something seems to be looking down at him in the darkness. Whatever it is certainly seems helpful, as Harry's glasses are slipped on before he spots none other than Dobby the House Elf. From having been freed back in 1993, he's found himself willingly obeying Harry's orders. These include somewhat of a truce with the Malfoy parents as Dobby still assists them in their manor, while being paid by Harry himself.

Soon, Pansy and the girls wake up as Christmas morning is spent opening a variety of presents in the room. To Dobby's tearful delight, he receives woollen socks, a Galleon, and trousers, by Harry, while various other items come from the girls before Dobby returns to the manor.

Everyone in the room seems to have gotten one another a gift, while receiving their own from outside the school as well. Most surprising to Harry is a (admittedly small, but better than nothing) packet of sweets from the Dursleys, which Dudley could probably eat in a few seconds anyway.

With basically every first, second, and third year having gone home for the holidays, this leaves the common room at just over half capacity. Therefore, as Harry exits the fourth-year girls' dormitory, he passes by many girls fussing over tonight.

"Hope my dress looks good enough."

"Well I hope my partner looks good enough tonight."

"Food and dance better be good enough to warrant all these preparations."

"Wonder if Professor Snape's gonna dance? Nah, I highly doubt it."

Upon exiting the tunnels, Harry steps into the general common room area where some of the older boys stand and sit about. None appears to have changed into their formal wear just yet as it's still morning. Most of them appears to be friendly faces such as the Slytherin Quidditch Team (with Malfoy still inside the dormitory), including past members.

Adrian Pucey comes up to greet Harry before they discuss the possibility of him taking Flint's spot next year. Graham Montague also adds his bit about hopefully returning to the team next year as the morning moves on. Then, Marcus Flint calls Harry while looking rather excited.

"Guess what? So I've been thinking of catching Gryffindor totally off-guard by making some changes. So our squad looks to be your secret weapon Keeper, Derrick, Bole, you as Seeker. Then I'll play with Warrington... and I guess my final match might as well include a girl."

"Lemme guess, you're finally putting Yasmin on the team?" asks Harry.

"Okay, yeah she's a decent enough Chaser."

Harry recalls Millicent mentioning that she's going to the Ball with Flint, and would try and convince him to change his ways. Well, putting Yasmin Shafiq on the team certainly seems to signal some sort of improvement, in Harry's opinion.

"Good on you then, she's a fine Chaser and will certainly surprise everybody on match day," says Harry confidently. After chatting around to whoever else happens to be a friendly face here, he soon exits the dungeons to spend the rest of the morning wandering about. Harry comes across Professor Moody at some point as well, before being warned to caution himself tonight.

"A drunk target's an easy target."

"Acknowledged, sir."

Before lunch, Harry also spots Ginny on her way to the entrance hall, though she gasps before running to his side. "Oh my gosh, I totally forgot about my end of the deal!"

"Good morning, and Happy Christmas, Ginny."

"Oh, morning to you too and Happy Christmas," she replies with a smile. "Did you get mum's gift? Pretty awesome, right?"

He certainly agrees that a knitted emerald-and-silver jumper with a Horntail pattern on its front seems excellent indeed. However, Ginny then leans to whisper in his ear:

"When I told you Angelina's got another plan I wasn't kidding. It's not just Krum coming onto the team but Fred and George are stepping down for the match too. I could hardly believe my ears when Angelina brought in those two Durmstrang Beaters. Don't remember their first names but one was this tall blonde guy called Stangeland. The other's average height but with a bigger build, his surname's... uh, oh yes, Zaytsev."

"Great, is she turning the whole team into Durmstrang? So, one's Norwegian and the other's probably a Russian, hmm."

"Be careful! I've seen them when we all practiced together in secret, and they're quite hardcore. Krum obviously knows them far better than Fred and George so those three Durmstrangs are gonna work well together." Ginny beams with a grin as Harry pulls her into a tight hug.

"You are a fine lifesaver, you know that?"

"I shall await your dance at the Ball, oh good sir," she replies cheerfully.

"Yes, my mistress."

"Hey!"

"Just kidding." Harry laughs before turning around and making his way to the owlery. Here, he retrieves a parcel containing more than a few Sleekeazy's Hair Potions which he soon carries all the way to the grounds. Along the way, he passes by various Gryffindors having a snowball fight which he would've joined. But then the thought of their team trying to humiliate him in January immediately puts him off.

"Hey, why don't you come join the fun?" asks Fred, before Harry politely declines and continues on his way.

"Fun my arse, I've got far more important things to do," he mutters, once out of earshot from the playful group of students. Minutes later, Harry knocks on Hagrid's door while eagerly carrying his parcel in hand.

"Happy Christmas, Harry, but wha' are yeh doing here now?" Hagrid appears to be dressed in his hairy brown suit with a yellow-and-orange tie. Though Harry thinks these clothes to be horrible, he decides against making mention of it since they're the best that Hagrid has. It also doesn't help that clothes this size would be difficult to readily come across.

However, there is one way that Harry feels he can help his sizable friend out here, and so he's jumped at the opportunity to do just that.

"Is that axle grease on your hair, Hagrid? Trying to impress someone, right?"

"Uh, maybe, do yeh think it looks alrigh'? I mean I've been tryin' ter get it a bit neater fer..."

"Madame Maxime."

"How'd yeh know?"

"Come on, I practically live with girls nowadays and can spot a crush pretty easily, usually, well... sometimes."

"Yer growin' up really fast, yeh know? Feels like yesterday tha' I took yeh through Diagon Alley."

"Exactly!" Harry beams with a warm smile, in a manner quite childish even for him. "That's why I bought these Hair Potions. So how about you take a seat and I'll neaten it all up?"

"Yeh'd do tha' fer me?" Hagrid's expression turns to an almost tearful smile.

"Why wouldn't I? Take a seat." Harry sees Hagrid, as big as he is, now sitting down rather excitedly in his chair before the former opens up the parcel beside them.

"I was trying ter get 'em like some people wear their ponytails. Bu' couldn't figure out fer the life of me how ter get it righ'."

After lathering his hands with Sleekeazy's, Harry laughs. "I think we'd better stick to your usual style but just neater, yeah. No need to go overboard too much."

Although Hagrid's hair be wild, untamed, and highly frizzy, Harry gets on with the task of neatening it. One, two, three, four, five, six, seven... the number of emptied Sleekeazy's containers piles up as Hagrid's hair becomes quite neater from Harry's styling.

"Wow, it's kinda better than my hair now."

"Lemme see!"

Hagrid almost runs the laughing Harry aside as he makes his way to the water barrel outside the cabin's window. While glancing down at his reflection, Hagrid's expression of joy makes Harry humorously wonder which of them is the adult here now. The latter thoroughly cleans his hands before packing the emptied containers into the parcel as Hagrid steps inside.

"So, is it alright then?"

"It's brilliant! Is ev'rythin' else alrigh'?"

Sighing and laughing simultaneously, Harry pats Hagrid on the arm while reassuring him that his clothes are 'okay'.

"You'll be fine, I'm sure. Whatever happens... happens I guess." He now takes the emptied parcel before tossing it into the forest and burning it with a fire-making charm.

Today's lunch turns out to be as magnificent as Harry's ever seen, with a stunning variety of foods and desserts put out. From hundreds of turkeys to puddings galore to piles of wizarding crackers everywhere, the House tables are certainly decked out for Christmas. Not a single student seems to have changed into their dress robes yet, and for good reason, since the Ball is set to start at 8pm.

The rest of the afternoon sees Harry wandering about the castle with his girls, and even taking the time to scribble a few last lines on his Herbology essay.

"Working on Christmas, ridiculous," he mutters.

"Shut up and write," replies Pansy, as the hours pass by until 6pm. With the skies darkened, and students getting into formal wear, she returns to the dormitory with Harry. Both soon slip on their nearly identical dress robes resembling black Victorian tailcoats. Pansy's one differs in that it lacks the green linings and silver serpent (on the back) as on Harry's.

"You both almost look like those Muggle butlers," says a laughing Tracey, who's changed to her (slightly less feminine) royal-blue dress robes.

"And you look like what the Muggles probably wore a century or so back," replies Harry.

"Who cares about Muggles?" Tracey grins upon seeing her partner, Daphne, exit the bathroom in her lavish pink dress.

"Well I guess we know which one's more of a boy here tonight," says Harry, while gesturing towards Tracey.

All eyes soon glance at Sally-Anne, who wears quite a stylish set of lilac dress robes. Then, Millicent steps out the bathroom to show off her silky maroon tea-length dress.

"And yes, Potter baby, we all supported the not-so-poor little orphan," says Pansy, whose shiny slicked back hair suggests that she's used Sleekeazy's. The rest of the girls' hair also appear quite styled indeed which brings a smile to Harry.

"Aww, we supported the little boy," laughs Daphne, before the girls begin to fuss over his hair.

"Fleur wants it just as messy as ever—"

"Yeah, so it's harder for us to tell when she's done doing the deed with you," quips Pansy.

"—ahem, as I was saying... she says I look best with it like this." Harry ruffles his own hair, making it even messier than usual.

"It does suit you really well, or we're just so used to it already," admits Sally-Anne. "But the irony comes from you running around promoting hair care products, and looking like this on the big night."

"I am who I am, everyone else can sponsor me by buying grandpa's stuff," replies Harry cheekily.

"Uh, actually, maybe it's better if you do wear some Sleekeazy's tonight, just to show that you're no hypocrite," says Pansy firmly. "Here, lemme sort you out."

Harry sits on the edge of his bed as Pansy opens a tub of Hair Potion and lathers her hands before styling him up.

"Ta-da!" She takes him to a bathroom mirror where he sees his styled unruly look. Although it seems similar to earlier, Harry's hair now shines a slight bit more from the Potion, leaving him quite impressed.

"Looks pretty great, hey, haha!" Harry laughs as Pansy swiftly kisses him on the forehead.

"Just getting one in before Fleur Delicacy's all over you tonight."

By 7:30pm, the entrance hall seems absolutely packed with students dressed in all manner of dress robes. Partners from different Houses scramble around trying to find each other in the growing crowd of students. Many girls (and some boys) stand around viewing and discussing their peers' formal wear for tonight. Then, Hermione makes a most dramatic entrance with Viktor Krum as they meet up at the base of the marble staircase. Stunned looks come from every student around them at this rather shocking revelation. But while the girls find themselves gawking at Hermione's luck, the boys now crane their necks towards the front double doors.

Dressed in most exquisite robes of satin silver-gray, Fleur Delacour walks in with her head held high. Long, silvery blonde hair blows out from even a mild breeze behind her as she enters the castle. Her skin seems to almost glow in the light of many a lit torch in the entrance hall, catching every single boy's open-mouthed stare. The room feels nearly airless as Fleur continues to walk slowly towards the marble staircase.

Standing at its top, and feeling countless envious expressions directed his way, Harry slowly descends the steps. With one hand on its railing, he smiles brightly upon seeing his date for the night. For just when he thought that Fleur Delacour could hardly look any prettier, she certainly proves him wrong.

"You look beautiful."

"Stole the words right out my mouth," replies Harry, before bringing Fleur's hand to his lips and giving it a kiss. The gesture causes quite a few girls nearby to inform their dates to 'take note.'

With his heart racing, Harry can hardly help but spend the next few minutes simply looking at Fleur, who returns the gesture with a smile.

"Champions over here, please!" calls Professor McGonagall, standing to the side of the Great Hall's entrance.

"Oh my, zey do look so adorable together indeed," says a giggling Fleur, as Alyssa and Pansy shock the crowd with their arrival. The older cousin seems to be wearing a rather neat combination of black shirt over matching dress. Harry can only laugh as the crowd seems stuck on three topics thus far: Hermione with Viktor Krum, Harry with Fleur Delacour, and the Parkinson girls pairing up for the night.

"Well, aren't we full of surprises?" asks Harry, while looking at Hermione (dressed in floaty, periwinkle-blue robes) approaching beside Viktor Krum. She then whispers at Harry upon walking past.

"Feeling any regrets yet?"

"Hmm..." He shakes his head. "It's just your hair that's neater tonight. Otherwise, you're still as gorgeous as ever."

Their bit of whispering has Krum briefly glancing at Harry before standing a few metres away with a fairly nervous Hermione.

"You are indeed crazy, Meester," whispers Fleur while poking Harry in the side. "Flirting with ze girl of Viktor Krum right under 'is nose... your whisper was not so soft, you know!"

"That's Hermione Granger, in case you didn't know."

"Your first 'Ogwarts friend? Well, okay, now I understand." Fleur's slight scowl turns to her usual smile once more, as she wraps her arm around Harry's. The latter now shakes and kisses Alyssa's hand as she walks past.

"Don't get any ideas, Potter boy," says Pansy. "I might let her dance with other boys but nobody's gonna be doing anything to my cousin... understand?"

"Yes," replies Harry stiffly. "Yes, ma'am."

"Good."

The striking similarities between Harry and Pansy's chosen formal wear sparks much debate and discussion among various students. However, everyone but the Champions and their partners are told to enter the Great Hall first then await the eight students outside. Now Harry and Fleur stand right at the door with Alyssa and Pansy behind them. Thirdly, stands Viktor Krum and Hermione followed by Angelina (in a scarlet dress with gold linings) and Fred (wearing brown dress robes).

"Good to see everyone dressed so wonderfully for tonight. Now, follow me into the Hall towards your table please," says McGonagall, who leads the Champions and their partners inside to a round of applause from everyone.

"We are stealing this show, aren't we?" whispers Harry to a proud Fleur, as they enter the decorated Great Hall. Its walls seem to be covered in sparkling silver frost while mistletoe and ivy adorn the enchanted ceiling. Hundreds of round, lantern-lit, tables have been spread out across the Hall, each seating about a dozen people.

"I would say your Granger girl and Krum are, but we are doing a vairy good job in drawing ze attention. Zey are all talking about us so much now," replies Fleur, as they slowly approach a large round table at the top of the Hall. "I do not blame zem zough, your dress robes look very elegant."

"Heh, thanks, but you look far better than me tonight. Not a single boy can stop gawking at you," admits Harry, who spots known faces while walking. Sally-Anne appears to be clapping excitedly while her partner, Malfoy (dressed similar to a vicar), looks comically at the Parkinson pair. The Champions and their partners soon reach the table where the judges are sitting.

Dumbledore and Madame Maxime seem to be beaming as the Champions approach, while Karkaroff bears a narrowed eyed expression at Krum's choice of partner. Ludo Bagman claps as excitedly as any of the students around while Mr. Crouch sits with a smile, but Harry can tell there's something bothering him.

Still, Harry takes the empty seat beside Mr. Crouch as Fleur sits to the former's left.

"Well done with the Horntail, boy."

"Thank you, sir. Are you alright?" Harry shakes Mr. Crouch's hand while trying to understand what's bothering him so much.

"Oh, don't worry, just the stress of organizing this entire Tournament. That's why I've left less important matters to that Weatherby kid in the Ministry. He's far too overenthusiastic for his own good, though."

Wondering who the hell this 'Weatherby' could be, Harry listens as Mr. Crouch discusses the first task with each of the Champions, before wishing them luck on the second one. He then turns to Harry and whispers:

"The others weren't quite paying attention at the time, but I reckon you used the Cruciatus Curse at some point in the task?"

Harry's heart sinks as he wonders whether this'll get him penalized or, worse, sent to Azkaban.

"Y-Yes, but it was weak and I needed to get free before that thing took another hit—"

"Relax, I understand. Wouldn't expect a 14 year old to pull any of those off adeptly anyway."

"You, uh, don't have a problem with an Unforgivable?" whispers Harry worriedly.

"It's only Unforgivable when used against people. Besides, I ever tell you about the time when I was Head of Law Enforcement?"

"No." Even though Harry's been told of these events already, Mr. Crouch does mention how he once legalised those Curses against the Dark Lord and followers.

"'Arry, are you not going to be eating? I believe we just speak to zese golden plates and ze food will come. Pick up your menu," says Fleur softly, before Mr. Crouch turns to speak to Bagman.

"How'd you guess at this?" asks Harry.

"Eef you were not whispering so much with zat Crouch man zen you would 'ave noticed Meester Dumbly-Dorr doing so at 'is plate. Look, 'e 'as summoned pork chops to eat."

But Harry's attention turns to Hermione, who doesn't seem bothered about the extra work placed on the kitchen's House Elves tonight. In fact, she seems to be speaking rather deeply with Krum who replies just as enthusiastically. The topic of him flying over the mountains with schoolmates has Karkaroff politely warning him not to disclose Durmstrang's location. This in turn elicits an amusing response from Dumbledore involving him stumbling across a room 'filled with exquisite chamber pots' on the seventh-floor. What piques Harry's attention is Dumbledore mentioning how it had vanished when he tried to find it again, and might've appeared due to his initial full bladder.

"Bah, this castle plays many tricks on its people," says Karkaroff rather dismissively, though Dumbledore gives Harry a very small wink that doesn't go unnoticed by the latter.

"What is wrong? Something worrying you, my leetle 'Arry?" asks Fleur, whose term of endearment elicits a snorting laugh from Madame Maxime sitting opposite them.

"Uh no, just thinking about something..." Harry wonders what Dumbledore's odd reply had meant, since he'd surely not discuss toilet matters at a lavish food table for no reason?

Fleur's sigh interrupts Harry's thoughts as she reminds him to actually eat something before the dance. "You will need zat energy, uzzerwise I will be 'aving my partner collapsing from ze 'unger. Zat is most unexceptable."

"Unacceptable, you mean."

Harry isn't the only one teaching pronunciation at the table, as Hermione attempts to teach Viktor Krum how to say her name. Although she smiles at Harry while doing so, the latter balls a fist beneath the table while glaring at Krum. Then, a golden plate appears right in Harry's face as Fleur lifts it before him.

"Speak already, Meester!"

"Uh... steak, lamb chops, salmon and some trout?"

"Very nice, it appears just like zat!" says Fleur, slapping her hand on the table for emphasis as Harry's plate fills up. "What a strange combination of food zough, and no rice or potatoes?"

The meal is finished rather quickly before Harry glances at Krum happily eating with a laughing Hermione.

"Hmph, well, I'll have a piece of garash cake in this plate"—Harry then looks at the golden bowl beside his plate—"and in here some tarator soup, yes."

Once the dessert and soup appear in the plate and bowl respectively, Fleur softly laughs at the frowning Harry.

"You are one 'ilarious bastard, you know zat? Well, let me play zis game of yours with." She stops to glance down at her emptied plate. "In 'ere 'ow about some, um, shopska salad! Zen in my bowl I want some supa ot kopriva."

Sniggering at Fleur's sudden change to Bulgarian cuisine, Harry grins as they munch down their meals side-by-side. Each takes to giving the other a sample of their bowls or plates while noting that they are quite good indeed.

"Alright." Harry rubs his hands gleefully while looking down at his plate once again.

"Merde, are you not full yet?" asks a surprised Fleur, while Alyssa and Pansy glance curiously at his antics.

"'E does eat a lot for a very leetle man," says Madame Maxime, before she turns to smile at the waving Hagrid (who sits at another staff table.)

"Righto! Ahem, now I will be having a piece of banitsa."

A slice of pastry appears in which Harry takes a bite before pulling out a piece of parchment from his mouth.

"The hell?"

"Ze Bulgarians traditionally 'ave predictions in zis food. Eet is all guesswork and stuff but let us see what yours says?" asks a whispering Fleur.

"Money."

"Ooooo', yes, maybe my leetle 'Arry might be getting rich in ze future? But eet is just a guess, still fun to read zough."

Thankfully, none of the adults nearby seems to be paying much attention to Harry's antics as they chat and continue finishing their meals.

"Whoa, the Weird Sisters are walking to the stage," says Fred. "Guess it's time to dance... so let's go, Captain!"

"Eet is time to dance in each uzzer's arms, 'Arry."

"You really like saying my name, don't you?"

"'Arry, 'Arry, 'Arry Potter..." Fleur giggles before standing up as the lanterns atop the other tables are put out. All eyes are now on the dance floor as the Champions and partners take their place. Harry stands up, places his hand around Fleur's waist (causing some gasps around them) then basically struts over to the dance floor. "'Arry, your 'and needs to be on my waist and not ze arse."

"You are so divine." He takes up the waltz position as the Weird Sisters strike up a slow, mournful tune for those on the brightly lit dance floor.

"Zat is my good leetle dancer, yes. Very, very good."

All Harry sees are those deep blue eyes staring into his as they waltz around the dance floor. Hardly anyone else is noticed by Harry nor Fleur as the pair of Champions move in sync, clearly having practiced on many occasions for this moment. Gradually, more couples take to the floor while glancing at Harry and Fleur still moving as though they have just started.

"You can stare into my eyes all night long, my adorable Champion, but we are now passing ze boy 'oo always dislikes you."

Before Harry can wonder who Fleur's talking about, Nott's voice is soon heard as the latter dances with some Ravenclaw Pureblood.

"How'd that dirty teacher get his hair all neat? Must've taken more Hair Potions than he could afford."

"Simple, I bought nearly a dozen and helped him out," responds Harry, while slowly dancing and looking at Fleur as Nott's now behind him.

"You spent over 30 Galleons on one big oaf?"

"I spent 7 Galleons on this wand. Wanna see what it does?"

"Oooo' I do like it when you get so strict, 'Arry," whispers Fleur, as Nott moves across the dance floor following Harry's smiling threat. "You really like zat 'Agrid man, right? I noticed you sometimes smile like a leetle-leetle boy with 'im."

"Well..." Harry laughs as they continue to dance in each other's arms. "He has had quite a sad life. So one day when this is all over and I sort my friggin life out, I'm repaying the favour."

The pair continues to dance, even as some of the Champions and others have stopped to get themselves refreshments. Then, the Weird Sisters decide to play another waltz tune, as requested by quite a few dancers.

"What is zis favour you speak of?" Fleur steers Harry into a turn before he holds her slightly closer, while still looking into her eyes.

"Perhaps when I'm done with school, or sometime after that, I can take Hagrid to Diagon Alley so he can start over. Do his seven years of school from the start, then nobody can ever make fun of him again."

"Zat is very zoughtful of you indeed. So zat is why you threatened ze Nott boy earlier?"

"He's like cancer, don't talk about him while we're dancing." Harry grins as Fleur stops moving around the dance floor, and instead she places one hand behind his head. This is followed by giving the students nearby something to fervently observe as Harry rests his head above Fleur's bosom.

"Just zere, yes. Any lower and we will draw all ze attention, and you might be on one questioneeble place."

"I'm certainly satisfied with where I am now," says Harry, whose cheek rests on her chest, and her chin on his hair. "If I look down I see..."

"Cleavage, my dear 'Arry, but do not make yourself so obvious right now. Ze second slow song is almost over. I do not zink zey will play anuzzer one, maybe zey will go faster zis time?"

"I promised someone a dance, would that be okay?"

"Yes, but no kissing or funny stuff while I go get me a dreenk."

"Try not to come back drunk, alright?"

Fleur laughs as she turns around. "I would like to enjoy zis night sober with my leetle 'Arry after all."

Looking around, Harry spots Ginny and Neville both sitting down for a rest. The former looks up with slightly widened eyes as Harry approaches.

"Hey, Neville, mind if I give my rival Seeker a dance?"

"Uh, okay, no problem."

Harry extends his arm out before the beaming Ginny. "May I have this dance, my lady?"

"Oh you certainly may, my good sir! Be back in a bit alright, Neville?"

Practically jumping out of her seat, Ginny grabs onto Harry's hand before they walk to the centre of the dance floor.

"I heard mum play this song at home once, so we have about five minutes until it's done. Where's your Phlegm?"

"Fleur, just for one night say it like that." Harry almost gasps as Ginny grabs him to stand close while they waltz.

"Shhh, and let me look into those eyes, Mister Potter."

"Ahem, lemme think two years back...hehehe..." Harry puts on an exaggerated feminine voice while looking Ginny in her brown eyes as they dance. "His eyes are as green as a fresh pickled toad, His hair is as dark as a blackboard. I wish he was mine, he's really divine, The hero who conquered the Dark Lord."

With a gasp and a slight groan, a furiously blushing Ginny looks down as Harry grins very smugly.

"I will never ever forget it, little Miss Weasley. Were you high, drunk, possessed, or actually sane when you wrote that?"

Ginny pretends to not have heard Harry's remark while they dance. "The Great Hall's really beautiful tonight, isn't it?"

"Haha, it's okay if you're embarrassed. I kinda like that poem, very cute, Ginny, very cute. Even wrote it down in one of my books which, fortunately, doesn't seem to write back to me."

"You really liked that awful poem? It was Valentine's Day and all that... didn't know what I was thinking." Her cheeks seem as red as ever tonight while looking at the whispering Harry.

"Well, I'd much rather read your writing than... Hello, Harry Potter. My name is Tom Riddle. How did you come by my diary?"

"From one badboy to the other, sorry about all that." Ginny lets Harry lift and spin her in the air, then she giggles as they continue to dance. "Better watch out though, because Ron's dancing right behind you now."

With a quick glance over his shoulder, Harry spots Ron dancing with a grinning Fay Dunbar.

"Coming through, it's just me dancing with your little sister..."

"The bloody hell?"

"Oh come off it, Ron," says Ginny, as they dance past the couple. "Harry's done you more good than you'd care to imagine tonight."

"Really now?" Ron appears sceptical at best.

"I'll tell you about it in private tomorrow," replies Ginny, much to Fay's (who wears burgundy dress robes) curiosity.

As the second waltz song comes to a close, Harry releases Ginny's hand before giving it a kiss.

"Oh gosh," mutters Ginny. "Is it hot in here or what?"

"Don't melt the ice now, hehehe. But you do look so cute in those dress robes. Aww, mummy cares about her littlest Weasley, doesn't she?"

Giggling once more, Ginny folds her arms and grins. "Hmph, well, you certainly look like a Black with that fancy tailcoat, don't you? Oh watch out, we have a snob in a suit over here."

"Shut up," replies a laughing Harry. "I think Neville's waiting for you."

"Thanks for the dance, Harry."

He winks in return before listening to a third waltz tune about to be played by the Weird Sisters due to popular demand of the crowd. Almost immediately, Harry hurries over to Fleur drinking at one of the tables.

"May I 'ave anuzzer dance, my lady?"

She snorts with laughter, causing a bit of punch to stain her robes. No worries though as she swiftly casts a cleaning spell to sort things out.

"Let me sit 'ere and chase away ze many boys asking me to dance, eet is very fun. In ze meantime, maybe you should ask your 'Ermione friend 'oo you 'ave been looking at so often."

The suggestion leaves Harry to make his way past a few tables where Hermione seems to be waiting for Viktor Krum to bring them drinks. Upon spotting Harry, she immediately frowns.

"Think you're pretty funny with that Bulgarian cuisine routine, hmm? Lucky for you, Viktor's too mature to fall for such childishness!"

"Whoa, okay, I'm sorry about all that. Was really stupid of me to do..." Harry gets on his knees while making a pleading gesture. "Forgive me with a dance, my good lady?"

Hermione seems to be considering the offer until Krum returns with drinks in hand, his expression curious indeed.

"Harry Potter's my friend, even if an immature one at times..." explains Hermione, before Krum nods as she asks to be excused for a dance.

While Harry and Hermione stand in the centre of the dance floor, the former appears rather curious. "He never made mention of my flying skills, or anything, at all? We've hardly spoken before."

"Viktor hasn't asked anything about you, honestly," says Hermione. "Strange, I know, but he's a really nice guy after all."

They soon waltz across the dance floor, ignoring any looks sent their way from people like Malfoy or Nott. For the students around who are unaware of Hermione's closeness to Harry, their dance comes as a bit of a surprise now.

"Look me in the eye as we dance, Mugglebabe."

"Our partners shouldn't be kept waiting too long, Mister King."

She may not share the sheer beauty of veela ancestry, but Harry reckons that Hermione's quite graceful on the dance floor. He now grins while looking her in the eye.

"You've always had nice brown eyes, Miss Granger. One of the best pairs I've seen since my glasses got fixed."

"Shhh, just dance, little lonely train compartment boy."

While turning and stepping together, they soon pass by a few staff members who seem to be observing the students dancing.

"Is it just me or is Professor Snape looking at us and... daydreaming?" asks Hermione.

"Look, I've given up trying to understand that man." Harry grins as Hermione's hand seems to be feeling along his back. "Something wrong?"

"No, just feeling what your little serpent embroidery's made from. Quite a nifty addition if I may say so myself, oh, someone's coming..."

Harry glances left to see Alyssa approach.

"Okay, so I've finally convinced little P to let me have a dance with my fellow extra Champion. Shall we got at it then? If you're done dancing with your Muggleborn friend that is?"

"I might as well not keep Viktor waiting," says Hermione, as she thanks Harry for the dance before returning to her date.

This leaves the former to take up a waltz position with the slightly taller Alyssa. Her blue eyes and long black hair makes for a nice combination, in Harry's opinion. But before he can ogle her too long, he looks over Alyssa's shoulder to see a narrow-eyed Pansy sitting at a table. The latter gestures a V-sign with her index and middle fingers from pointing at her eyes to Harry, as if to say 'I am watching you.'

"I think it's really cute how she's so over-protective over you, even though you're years older," says Harry, who starts their dance.

"We've always been close for as long as I can remember. When I was about three or four I think I used to carry her around in my arms, which her mum didn't mind. Years later, I remember baking muffins and cupcakes which little P used to sample. Oh boy, she was quite honest about the taste at times, but it was fun. Shhh, don't tell anyone but I sometimes let her play with my wand before she got hers. That's why she knew the levitation spell on day one of your Charms."

"I just knew that someone must've taught her, even Flitwick got suspicious but didn't take it up with anyone though." Harry revolves in the dance a bit, with Alyssa steering him as they maintain eye contact.

"You've probably heard people compliment your eyes too often so lemme say something else. I really do think that you and Pansy would make a nice couple. You both have black hair and green eyes so that's one thing. I'm not blind, you know, so it's pretty obvious how you two match up. It doesn't take a genius to see that she likes you."

"I know, and I like her too." Harry gives a soft laugh as he's now being led in the dance by Alyssa. "But there are other girls on my mind as well, and I really can't help that."

"I said Pansy's a good match for you, not that she should be the only match. Just don't go over four in the future, because anymore would be a nightmare to handle."

Seconds later, Pansy comes striding across the dance floor while glaring at them.

"Okay, enough touchy-touchy with my cousin." She 'politely' pulls Harry away from the amused Alyssa. "My turn now, before the sappy tunes are over. Ahem, isn't there something you should be doing?"

Pansy's snap of the fingers has Harry swiftly extending his arm. "May I have this dance, my lady?"

"Yeah, sure, whatever. Let's have at it, Potter baby."