Disclaimer: As usual, all I own is this fanfic. J.K. Rowling owns the rest, no copyright intended!
Chapter 19: The Yule Ball
Narcissa returned to Andi's office after getting her son's stuff from his room in the Slytherin boys' dorms, where the fourth year Slytherin boys' rooms were located, and putting Draco's belongings in a bottomless bag before shrinking it to pocket size. Narcissa was even more outraged with her son because she also found dozens of handwritten notes that listed not only everything Draco had been doing to Tori and three of them mentioning Lucius having spiked Narcissa's drinks with loyalty potions without her knowledge and the countless amount of times Draco started fights with Harry, resulting in the soon-to-be former Malfoy matriarch turning red in the face in heavy embarrassment. Once she was back in Andi's office, Narcissa showed her sister the handwritten notes Draco written.
"More evidence against Draco," Andi responded, her eyes widening in shock. "And also more evidence against Lucius."
"He must've used spells to make sure that traces of loyalty potions would be hidden," Narcissa deduced. "I thought he loved me, but it turned out to be a lie."
The two sisters gave each other hugs (with Narcissa apologizing at the same time, for her lack of support and staying in touch). Before leaving, Narcissa also assured Andi that from now on, she'd be making sure to stay in touch and be supportive. At the same time, Harry and Neville were in the social room (a room located on the fourth floor, for students to go to for socializing with other students outside their own house, and socializing with foreign students) with Terence.
"Susan is right over there, Terence," said Harry with encouragement in his voice, pointing to where she was sitting. "There's no need to be nervous, just go ask her."
"Wh-What if she says no?" asked Terence in a worried voice.
"You won't know until you find out," said Harry. "If you wait too long, somebody else may get to her first."
He and Neville gave Terence thumbs up as another way to encourage him. Taking a deep breath, Terence walked over to where Susan was.
"Hi, Susan!" Terence greeted, trying his best to relax.
"Hi, Terence!" Susan greeted back with a smile. "How are you?"
"Good," said Terence. "I was won-wondering if you'd like… to… um…"
"Like to what?" asked Susan politely.
"W-Would you like to go to the Yule Ball with m-me?" Terence asked, keeping his collywobbles under control.
"Yes!" Susan responded ecstatically, much to Terence's excitement (he smiled as he felt his heart beating). "I'd love to go with you!"
"What time would you like me to wait outside your common room entrance?" asked Terence. "The night of the Yule Ball, that is."
"Maybe around 7:00 PM," Susan suggested. "Since the ball doesn't start until 8:00, that'll give us some time to get ready."
"Well, okay," Terence replied. "But what corridor is the Hufflepuff common room located in?"
"I'll show you the way." stated Susan.
She politely grabbed one of Terence's hands and dragged him behind her. Harry and Neville were grinning as they watched, happy to see Terence having succeeded. Moments later, Harry and Neville spotted a girl with dark-coloured eyes, a prominent chin and long, curly black hair, walking up to them. Harry and Neville vaguely recognized her because she was a fellow Gryffindor lion, but they didn't know her name.
"Hello, Harry!" the girl greeted as she flashed a smile on her face, with some arrogance in it. "I'm Romilda Vane, the lady of your dreams."
"What?!" asked Harry in bewilderment.
"I'm the lady of your dreams," Romilda professed, her grin still showing some arrogance. "The kind of lady you'll be happy with for eternity."
"Wait a minute!" Harry blurted out incredulously. "You can't just assume that you're the lady of my dreams, you have to work for it. Ginevra already thinks that I'm her's and I don't anybody else declaring the same thing you said."
"Well, the Yule Ball will be the perfect time for me to prove that I'm the right one for you." Romilda claimed.
"First Ginevra, and now you?!" Harry exclaimed, the other students in the social room stopping what they were doing and watching the ordeal with deep interest. "How many more fangirls is it gonna take to make others realize that I'm not a prize to be won? Nobody should have to worry about people treating them as a prize!"
"I wouldn't do that, Harry." Romilda claimed again.
"You are going to walk away from me and Neville right now!" Harry insisted through gritted teeth, wide-eyed with anger. "If I hear one more word from someone implying me to be a prize to be won, there's gonna be hell to pay. Consider this your warning, Vane, now get lost before I'm tempted to make sure your worst nightmare comes true."
Romilda reluctantly turned around and walked away, at the same time, she had to deal with some of her fellow students snickering at her. Sometime after lunch, Tracey and the Greengrass girls returned to the Slytherin common room from the owlery and over to Daphne's room, with boxes containing their dress robes. As soon as the girls were in Daphne's room, Daphne cast locking charms and privacy wards on her door before they started opening the boxes. Tracey's dress robes were blue, Daphne's were silver, and Tori's were green. They spent the next fifteen minutes or so trying them on, to see how they looked and fit. Once they were satisfied with their respective dress robes, Tracey and the Greengrass girls left Daphne's room and out of the Slytherin common room to find something to do to pass the time before dinner.
/Scene break\
The night of the Yule Ball finally arrived. Harry and Neville spent some time getting ready and changing into their dress robes. Harry's dress robes were emerald-green while Neville's were silver, along with black formal jackets and black trousers. The teachers and staff were in the Great Hall getting it set up for the special occasion. Not long after the setup was finished, some of the first students began arriving. Ron was going with Hermione while Ginny was invited by Seamus Finnigan, a sandy-brown haired Gryffindor boy who had been known to either explode or set things on fire. Once the Weasley twins, Lee and Demelza arrived in the Great Hall, many of the students began discussing who Harry's date really was.
'Robins claimed that Harry was going with her!' thought Ginny, glaring at Demelza (who had her back turned). 'Who could she do such a thing? Now that she ruined my chances of being with my Harry, she'll be answering to me after the ball is over.'
Meanwhile, Harry and Neville finished getting ready and had Dobby and Oreo escort himself and Neville over to a classroom on the first floor close to the moving staircases. After checking to make sure the coast was clear, Harry and Neville left the classroom and walked over to the staircase leading down into Slytherin territory. Terence started climbing up the stairs moments later and, after he gave Harry and Neville thumbs ups (and them returning it), began walking over to the corridor where the Hufflepuff common room was located. Several more minutes later, Adrian and Daphne, arm in arm, began climbing up the stairs (with Tracey and Tori following close behind). Neville offered an arm to Tori, who immediately accepted by hooking one her arms in Neville's and followed Adrian and Daphne to the Great Hall. Harry held an arm out for Tracey, who immediately linked one of her arms over Harry's. As they tried to find the waiting room for the champions, they crossed paths with Professor McGonagall (who widened her eyes in surprise, since she was among the many others who believed Demelza would be Harry's date).
"Lord Potter, I've been instructed to show you and your date to the room where the other champions and their dates are waiting," the deputy headmistress informed Harry and Tracey. "If you two will follow me, please."
Harry and Tracey nodded their heads in acknowledgement without saying a word, then they followed Professor McGonagall. Upon walking in, Harry and Tracey saw that Fleur's date was Roger Davies (a brown-haired sixth year Ravenclaw boy, who was also their quidditch captain). Cedric's date was Cho Chang (a fifth year Ravenclaw asian girl), and they both looked at Harry with indifference and then Tracy with surprise. Viktor's date happened to be Padma Patil (a fourth year Ravenclaw indian girl, who's twin sister, Parvati was a Gryffindor). Fleur was smirking when she saw Harry and Tracey, since she was one of the handful of students who knew it was going to happen. At five minutes till eight, the champions and their dates started lining up with Fleur and Roger at the front, Viktor and Padma behind them, then Cedric and Cho, and finally Harry and Tracey at the rear.
"Alright," Professor McGonagall began instructing the champions and their dates. "Now's the time to report to the Great Hall to start the opening dance."
The champions and their date (arm in arm) started walking toward the double doors leading to the Great Hall. They could hear music starting to play, signalling the start of the Yule Ball and the champions arriving with their dates. As soon as the double doors opened, the other students began backing away from the door to allow the champions and their dates to walk towards the middle for the opening dance. As the champions and their dates walked in, many students gasped in utter shock and dropped their jaws open when they saw who Harry's date happened to be. At least 75% of the gasps came from a countless number of girls, which made it hard for Harry and Tracey to resist the urge to smirk. Ginny stood next to Seamus while staring at Harry and Tracey incredulously, an eyelid twitching several times.
'So that slithering snake bitch was my Harry's date all along!' thought Ginny with realization. 'I can't believe she had the nerve to corrupt him and ruin my chance for a happily ever after, especially since I was keeping up that good behaviour to impress my Harry and see when he would change his mind. First chance I get, she'll be answering to me.'
It was taking Ginny everything she had not to hex or strangle Tracey, but it didn't stop the Weasley girl from watching Harry dance with Tracey in pure jealousy. Seamus was getting annoyed with Ginny ignoring him in favour of staring at Harry and Tracey dancing in pure jealousy. Ginny went to get some punch for herself while peeking glances at Harry and Tracey continuing the opening dance with the other champions and their dates. Seamus approached the punch bowls to get some punch himself and glared at Ginny for ignoring him.
"Are we gonna dance at all, Ginevra?" asked Seamus irritably. "Or are you just gonna continue staring at Potter?"
Ginny either didn't hear Seamus or was deliberately ignoring him. By the time the champions' opening concluded, Seamus lost his patience. Since Ginny continued to ignore him, Seamus picked up a bowl of red punch and angrily poured the entire thing over Ginny's head in retaliation before storming out of the Great Hall. Ginny involuntarily squeezed her eyes shut tightly as she felt the tasty beverage poured onto the top of her head and flowed down her sea-green dress robes. Upon wiping the punch away from her eyes, Ginny opened her eyelids to see her punch-soaked dress robes while standing in the middle of the puddle on the floor. Upon looking up, Ginny spotted Fred, George, Lee and Demelza in front of her.
"How could you just do that stupid decoy thing, Robins?!" Ginny growled at Demelza. "Everyone knows how much Harry means to me!"
"To teach you a lesson," stated Demelza. "Cause you can't get everything you want."
"That's right, Ickle Ginnykins!" Fred and George spoke in their twin talk, in serious tones of voices. "Harry will never think of you as a romantic partner, you should've known that a long time ago. Most of our fellow students think you're crazy enough as it is, so quit living in that fantasy because you won't get anywhere just by wishing and dreaming something."
Ginny turned around and stomped out of the Great Hall, leaving a trail dripping punch behind her due to her dress robes still covered in the tasty beverage. Once Ginny was out of sight, Fred, George, Lee and Demelza went out towards the dance floor to join Harry and the rest of their friends. Once Ginny was inside of an empty classroom, she cast the locking charm and privacy wards on the door before throwing one massive tantrum, in the form of banging on desktops with her fists and kicking chairs over as tears flowed from her eyes.
"IT'S NOT FAIR!" screamed Ginny, waving her fists around violently. "IT'S JUST NOT FAIR! I'VE SPENT THE LAST COUPLE OF WEEKS BEHAVING TO THE BEST OF MY ABILITIES AND MY HARRY HAS BEEN BRAINWASHED INTO ATTENDING WITH A BITCH FROM SLYTHERIN! I CAN'T BELIEVE MY EFFORTS WERE WASTED UNNECESSARILY, COMBINED WITH A STUPID FOURTH YEAR POURING AN ENTIRE BOWL OF PUNCH ALL OVER ME JUST TO HUMILIATE ME FURTHER! THERE HAS TO BE SOMETHING I CAN OFFER HARRY THAT HE CAN'T REFUSE! HOW MANY MORE FAILS WILL IT TAKE FOR MY DREAMS TO COME TRUE? WILL ANYBODY WILLINGLY TAKE MY SIDE AND AGREE THAT HARRY IS MINE?!"
As Ginny continued her hissy fit, Dumbledore was eyeing Harry dancing with Tracey intently. The last couple weeks or so was hard because he could tell that Demelza was up to something. The headmaster usually wasn't fooled easily and it threw him for a loop to see who Harry's date turned out to be. Since the tournament was almost halfway finished, Dumbledore began thinking of another plan while keeping up the grandfather facade.
'Well, since the second task isn't for another couple months,' thought Albus. 'That'll be plenty of time to think up a foolproof plan to get Harry back under control. That should give Harry some more time to prepare for his destiny for the Greater Good. He'll soon realize how much I've been trying to help him out.'
To be continued!
Author's note: I'd like to give a shoutout to 'forestwolf' suggesting that Ginny throw a massive tantrum over realizing who Harry's date for the Yule Ball turned out to be. While I already planned for it to happen a while back, I'm still giving 'forestwolf12' half the credit for the suggestion.