I would have loved to be able to post this on Christmas but I wasn't about to make y'all wait another month (honestly, I don't mean to wait so long, I'm just a very spacey person.)
Harry found that the last two weeks leading up to the Yule Ball was much more enjoyable when he was actually looking forward to the Ball. It was always exciting to watch the professors transform the Great Hall, but for the Yule Ball, they were going beyond the hall. It was amusing watching people asking their crushes on dates, even if it did remind them all of their own painful experience the first time around. With a little subtle encouragement, especially from Ron and Hermione, Neville ended up asking Hannah Abbot to the Ball. The best part, however, was that there wasn't a single Gryffindor accepting food from anywhere except directly from the Great Hall in fear of one of Fred and George's Canary Creams being hidden within them. Harry had been one of the few not to have been hit yet, which Ginny said was because the twins told everyone that Harry was off limits until after Christmas, a small thanks for protecting their life savings and promising them his winnings if he won the tournament.
The day before the Yule Ball, the group of six was sitting around a fire again. This time it was a little more crowded, and there was a group of Slytherins sitting across the room. This was fine until Malfoy and the rest of his goons decided to stir things up. Ever since word got out of Ron's elaborate Yule Ball proposal to Hermione, Malfoy had taken every opportunity to mock them for it. His taunts were usually focused on a blood traitor and a Mudblood being perfect for each other, but this time was different. While he didn't say it outright, he heavily implied that the only reason Hermione accepted Ron's proposal was that he was a pureblood.
Neville, Seamus, and Dean had been sitting nearby and didn't hesitate to leap into action to help hold back Ron, Harry, and Ginny, who had all jumped up to show Malfoy what they thought of his comments. It took a few minutes, but eventually, they all calmed down enough to be released. Knowing that if they stayed, they'd end up in trouble, they decided to leave. Ron stopped next to Malfoy and stared him right in the eyes.
"Say that about my girlfriend again and you'll end up with a face not even your mother could love."
Malfoy's face contorted and as soon as Ron turned his back, he raised his wand. Ginny noticed, however, and took great joy in turning him into a ferret. She just hoped she had done it discreetly enough to avoid both detention and the possibility of being found out (although she was sure that even McGonagall would be impressed with the transfiguration).
Luckily, she had, most likely because everyone was too focused on the sudden appearance of a pure white ferret in the middle of the room, scurrying about in a panic. It was no amazing bouncing ferret from Barty Crouch, but it was still extremely satisfying payback.
By the time a teacher showed up, everyone was either laughing or trying to catch Malfoy. Luckily for Ginny, no one was able to tell Professor Flitwick exactly who had done it, since half the room had had their wands out in anticipation of a fight that had started brewing, and so no one could be confirmed as the culprit.
When it became clear that no one was going to come forward, Flitwick had to let everyone go with a warning that if it happened again, everyone in the room would be serving five detentions or more, no exceptions. Even so, Ginny thought it was worth it, and Ron had gotten one of the best laughs he had had in a while from it.
The next morning, Harry was woken up by Dobby, standing over him with wide eyes.
"Dobby! Don't do that!"
Dobby immediately jumped back anxiously, "Dobby is sorry, Harry Potter sir! Dobby was only meaning to give Harry Potter his Christmas present, sir!"
"No, no, it's okay Dobby, you just scared me. Just prod me next time, okay?" Dobby nodded vigorously and held out the gift he had held in his hands. Harry thanked Dobby and opened it. Inside was a pair of handmade socks. Harry grinned and gave Dobby the present he had gotten the elf: six different pairs of socks for him to mix and match at will. The poor elf nearly fainted with excitement.
A breakfast, lunch, and a snowball fight later, it was time to get ready for the Yule Ball. Luna and Rolf headed towards the Room of Requirement for a night of exploring the room, and Harry had lent Ron money to mail order some decent dress robes, so there were no frilly nightmares to be seen, at least for the boys.
Ron and Harry had agreed to meet Hermione and Ginny at the Ball, so the boys went on ahead and waited at the entrance to the Great Hall for them. The two girls came down the stairs ten minutes later, and both men's jaws dropped. Hermione was wearing a set of lavender dress robes, her hair wasn't tamed but instead pulled back into a twist of curls. Ginny was wearing blue dress robes with her hair curled in a cascade down her back.
A moment later, grins spread across both their faces as they offered their arms to their dates, and got ready to enter the Ball. The Champions and their dates lined up in pairs, and filed into the Hall, taking their place at the table with the judges. Harry noticed that Viktor had brought a seventh year Hufflepuff in the absence of Hermione. She seemed to be relatively unaffected by his star status, but she seemed relatively unaffected by everything else around her as well. Cho and Cedric were together, and both seemed lost in their current conversation. Fleur had apparently found someone not completely smitten with her, Harry thought it was a Durmstrang student, but he couldn't be sure.
After food appeared, conversation filled the Hall. Fleur and Viktor took up a conversation with Cedric about what they planned to do once they left their respective schools.
"Vell, I am planning on continuing vith Quidditch, but I hope to do more vith my life." Krum said, and Harry couldn't help be agree.
"I 'ave plans to work with ze French Ministry, in ze Department zat works with Gringotts, zey 'ave shown great interest in my skeels."
"I'm going to follow in my father's footsteps and join him at our Ministry, though I haven't decided what branch I'll be joining. I'm thinking about interning under Bagman so that I can still be around Quidditch, but my father wants me to join him in the Department of the Control and Regulation of Magical Creatures."
"And you, Harry?" Fleur asked, surprising him. "'Ave you put any zought into what you plan to do?"
Harry shrugged, "A little bit. I'm still young, so I'm not sure. But I've thought about becoming an Auror. It's wrong that people gawk at me for something I had no control over. If people are going to stare I want to have earned it."
Something in Fleur's face shifted as if she reevaluated him based on his answer. Harry just hoped it was for the better.
After dinner, it was time to dance. The Weird Sisters took the stage, and despite being an awful dancer, Harry had a lot of fun. The first dance was a slower song meant for the Champions and their dates, but after that, the beat picked up and the dance floor became crowded with people. Hermione dragged Ron onto the floor, but Ron didn't seem to mind and was thoroughly enjoying himself. Everyone seemed to be enjoying themselves, and most stayed on the dance floor all night. Harry, Ginny, Ron, and Hermione took a break halfway through to get a quick snack and talk, in the back of the Hall far enough to hear each other without having to shout.
"This is a whole lot better than I remember," Ron said as he took a bite of some French dessert that had been sitting on the table when they got there.
"Well, it helps that you haven't spent the entire time moping around while your date finds someone else to dance with." Ginny pointed out, "And do you even know what that is?"
Ron shook his head and took another bite. "No, but it's delicious, so I'm still going to eat it."
Hermione just smiled, "Leftovers is never a problem where Ron is concerned. Shame Luna and Rolf can't be here, though. Luna would love looking at all the icicle decorations."
Harry nodded, "And Rolf would love the Hippogriff sculptures. But I'm sure they have some sort of animals in the Room right now."
"They're probably surrounded by all sorts of animals, knowing them." Ginny pointed out, and everyone else agreed. Then the band announced they would be slowing it down, and they started playing Harry and Ginny's wedding song. Harry made a sweeping bow as he offered his hand to Ginny, who took it with a smile before they headed back to the dance floor together.
"Well," Ron said as he offered his own hand to Hermione, "This may not be our song, but may I have this dance anyway?"
Hermione grinned, "Of course you may." They followed Harry and Ginny onto the dance floor and began dancing.
Harry and Ginny were by far the most comfortable looking people on the floor, besides Fred and Angelina who were dancing what seemed to be a mix between a waltz, a salsa, and a tango that completely ignored the beat of the song.
"This song brings back so many memories. I haven't heard it in ages." Ginny said as she looked up into Harry's eyes.
"I can still remember the first time we danced to it. You looked gorgeous that day."
"And you were especially dashing that day, very classy. Although, your hair was the same as ever."
"Not for lack of trying." Harry reminded her, "My hair simply doesn't agree with me."
"I never said I didn't like it. It's part of that dashing look you have, it's quite charming, actually."
Harry laughed softly, "It's funny now, knowing that my grandfather was the one that invented a potion to tame hair."
"It was certainly shocking to the rest of us too. I appreciated the irony, though."
"It's very ripe in my life, it seems."
They talked throughout the song, and when it ended, they found Ron and Hermione and rejoined them. Then Hermione pointed out Hagrid walking out with Madame Maxime. She seemed to remember something and excused herself. The others didn't know what she was going to do, but they figured it was important.
She returned fifteen minutes later, "I just stopped Hagrid from saying too much in bad company."
"Maxime?" Ron asked, confused.
"No, of course not. There was a little bug hanging around and I figured he wouldn't want so aspects of his life out in public knowledge."
None of them needed more explanation than that, and they all breathed a sigh of relief when Hagrid and Madame Maxime walked into the hall, her hand still resting on his arm and both of them smiling.
"Nice job, Hermione. I can't believe I forgot about that." Harry said as he wrapped his arm over Ginny's shoulder.
"Did you catch the bug?" Ginny asked.
Hermione shook her head, "I didn't want to risk anyone noticing her missing before the end of the tournament."
"Is she still out there?" Harry asked, and Hermione nodded. "Hey Ginny, how about we give Skeeter something more interesting to write about than Hagrid?"
Ginny grinned mischievously and followed his lead out to the Courtyard. They made their way to one of the stone benches and took a seat.
"So what did you want to say, Harry?" Ginny asked, ignoring the cold from the stone that was seeping through her dress robes.
But Harry noticed anyway and pulled off his cloak to drape it over both of their shoulders. "Well, I know we've been kinda going out, but I was wondering... Do you want to be my girlfriend?"
Ginny bit back a laugh at how he was still able to so perfectly capture the awkwardness of a fourteen year-old and grinned, "I would love to." She kissed his cheek, and Harry smiled.
"I was hoping you'd say yes. It would have been pretty awkward if you hadn't." He grinned and made a show of flattening his hair. Ginny covered her mouth to hide her laughter, but her shaking shoulders gave her away.
"It's a good thing I wouldn't dream of saying no."
"And why would that be?" To anyone who didn't know them, it would sound like teenagers who thought they were in love, but to them, it was years of knowing just how their relationship worked. That, and they were being more dramatic than usual to mess with Skeeter.
"Well, your dashing good looks is one thing." Harry nearly snorted, "You've been part of my family for years already is another. And you care about the little things, like sharing your cloak before I even said I was cold."
Harry could see the amusement in her eyes and laughed quietly, "I knew you would never admit it."
"Exactly."
Back at the Yule Ball, Ron and Hermione were dancing to one of the more upbeat songs by The Weird Sisters.
"So what do you think they'll do?" Ron asked.
"Give Skeeter enough so that they don't have to be the ones to tell Mrs. Weasley about them. I think they decided after we told her and she spent the summer smothering us.
"Ahh," Ron sighed, "If only I had thought of that. That's what we get for admitting it first."
"You still would have had to meet my parents, though." Hermione pointed out, and Ron threw his head back in a laugh.
"Well, I think meeting your parents went pretty well for me, so maybe it was worth it. At least your dad didn't punch me on sight." Ron said, referencing what had happened the first time he had met Hermione's parents. Though to be fair, their memories had only just been restored and he blamed Ron at first.
Hermione nearly snorted at the memory, "Well, yes. That would have been very unfortunate. It's a good thing my father knows I make good choices."
"Especially with boyfriends." Ron joked, and this time Hermione did snort.
Harry and Ginny came back in later, amused smiles on both their faces.
"What did you do?" Ron asked when he noticed them.
"I'm sure you'll see in the very next edition of The Prophet." Ginny grinned.
During all this, Luna and Rolf spent the entire night in the Room of Requirement they considered animals at first, but then they both decided to explore the Room and find out what kind of things students had left behind. One of them, curiously enough, was a full-size model skeleton. They got so preoccupied with the endless piles of old stuff that they didn't leave the Room until nearly two in the morning.
Ah, the Yule Ball. This was a fun chapter to go back and look at again.
~PH