Despite the immensely heavy load of homework the fourth years had been given, most of Calla's year didn't seem to be bothering themselves with studies at all as the holiday arrived. Even in the Ravenclaw Tower, most of the students who'd stayed - which was near enough everyone in fourth year and above - were too excited about the Yule Ball to do much studying, with the exception of some seventh years and Lisa Turpin, who was very quickly throwing herself into studying, especially following the news that Michael was going to the Yule Ball with an older girl.
"Just find someone to go with who's better looking than Corner," Daphne told her. "It won't be hard."
Unfortunately, that seemed to upset Lisa more than comfort her, and she had to toss her Arithmancy homework to the side so she could bury her face in her pillow. "Nice one, Daphne," Padma muttered, going over to Lisa.
Daphne rolled her eyes and whispered something under her breath to Isobel, who giggled. Neither of them were working, of course; they had decided that Exploding Snap was more important than studying, which became increasingly annoying as Calla attempted to formulate a Rune pattern that would allow her to swim deeper underwater. She wasn't really sure it could work at all, and so far had shown little promise, but the thing about Runes was that while they were often ignored due to their lack of ability to create or change any magical properties, they were very good at enhancing non-Magical ones.
She was just feeling like she might be onto something when there was a sharp rap at the window, followed by a very loud explosion from Daphne's bed - her duvet was slightly smoking - and Lisa sat up suddenly to storm from the room. "Dunno why she's making such a fuss," said Isobel. "Its just Snap."
"She's just in a foul mood," Daphne said. "I don't see why she can't just talk to Mandy and Sue. Though I can't say I blame them for not wanting to hear her whining." She shook her head in disgust, laying down a card. "I don't know why she expects us to be sympathetic. It's not like she's our friend."
Calla latched open the window tiredly and let Moony swoop in to perch on her bedside, ignoring Daphne. "She's going through a difficult time," Padma said tentatively. "I know she isn't very nice, but it seems a shame to upset her more than she already is."
"Speak for yourself," Daphne said. "It's not our fault."
"You could at least try to be more considerate," Calla told her quietly. "She has been really upset."
"And how many times has she upset one of us? You, mainly?"
Calla shook her head. Honestly, she hadn't been truly upset by Lisa in a long time, and she'd grown used to their sniping back and forth. It had become not quite friendly, but maybe familiar, and it didn't truly bother her. She turned to Moony as Daphne and Isobel resumed muttering over their game of snap; her owl carried a letter from Remus.
To Calla,
I'm not surprised you and Harry are staying for the Yule Ball. You'll have a wonderful time (your brother tells me you're going with Zacharias Smith from Hufflepuff, though I'm not to tell you he told me), and I'm sure you're hard at work preparing for the Second Task. I can't say it'll be a quiet Christmas for us here; there's not much I can let on, just in case this gets intercepted, but Sirius and I are off to chase one of our leads. There are things here that are leaving us with more questions than answers, and Dumbledore is being worryingly of little help. That said, we think we may be onto something, and we'll let you know as soon as there are any other developments.
As for you, keep your head down, keep hard at work, and keep yourself safe. I'll write to you for Christmas; enjoy the start of the holidays.
Remus
She smiled as she read it, handing Moony an owl treat which he nibbled out of her hand. "Anything important?" Padma asked Calla, sitting down on the bed next to her.
"They're going after a lead," Calla told her quietly, "but Remus doesn't say what. Whether it's Pettigrew or Karkaroff or both."
"It's something though, right?"
"Yeah, I guess. I just wish there was something I could do."
"You need to survive the Second Task is what you need to do," Padma reminded her. "And you will, I know you will."
Calla smiled. "I think we'll have to survive the Yule Ball first," she said, and Padma laughed.
"Stop talking like going with Zach is such an ordeal," she teased. "You're going to stun him."
She giggled. "Not with magic, I hope."
Padma bit her lip and then glanced over at Daphne and Isobel, before she whispered, "You really think Harry doesn't mind going with me?"
"He'd rather go with you than someone he doesn't know. And otherwise he wouldn't be happy going with anyone but Cho." Calla shrugged and gave Padma a warm smile. "You'll both have a great time, you'll see."
"Yeah. I'm just... I feel bad for Lisa."
"And?"
"And I feel bad she's the only one going alone."
"I know," said Calla. "So do I. But this is your night; have fun, and make sure Lisa's okay too if you are worried, but seriously, Padma? It'll be alright."
But as the week slipped onwards, Lisa's mood only seemed to sour; she threw a book at Daphne's head one night when her reading on Puffskeins was interrupted, though she swore it had been an accident. "How can throwing a book across a whole room be an accident?" Daphne muttered in response. "Bloody bitch."
By the time the twenty-third came around, Calla was taking every opportunity she could get to be on her own, either to work something out or to simply have her thoughts to herself for a bit. Her work with Runes wasn't getting anywhere, not that she had fully expected it to, and February the twenty fourth was beginning to look a lot closer. But being alone was easier said than done - even in the cold, there always seemed to be someone outside, and she could hardly steal a moment's peace. One of her favourite spots was becoming a corner tucked away between a few of the exterior walls, which had a large sort of grate from which warm air drafted up. She supposed it must have been on top of the kitchens, though the map wasn't helping her.
The map had been good for distracting her from the Tournament. With some recent letters from Remus and Sirius, she had started to try and magically detangle the enchantments on it, to see if she could somehow reproduce them. But they were exceedingly complex, so much so that she was surprised any student could have done it. It only confirmed what she knew about Remus and had always assumed about her father; they must have been pretty close to geniuses.
But it was when she was sitting peaceably in her little corner, the map and some notes at one side held down by her heavy bag of textbooks, with her copy of Emma in her lap, looking out at the lake, that a sudden thought occurred to her. The lake would be freezing cold, wouldn't it, especially near the bottom? She'd need a Warming Draught for the Task, if she didn't want to go into shock the instant she got in the water - but then another thought seemed to leap into her head.
She was annoyed she'd never thought of it before. They'd been learning all about antidotes, but Snape had mentioned in class that variations of antidotes could often act as effective counter-spells or preventative measures. So if a Potion could cause the effects of drowning someone, the antidote to the drowning poison or potion could be used to reverse the effects of drownin, while a counter-potion could be used to protect against the effects of drowning. She'd been looking in the wrong place the whole time; she needed antidotes and counter-spells and potions. She lunged in her bag for her Potions textbooks, but none of the ones she'd brought today were on antidotes.
Hurriedly, she gathered all of her things together and stood up, rushing back into the castle and towards the library. Madam Pince glared as she hurried past towards the antidotes section, grabbing some books on antidotes to poisons, and then on counter potions, and then counter spells, and rushed to check them out before she ran back not to her little corner outside but to the greenhouse where Professor Sprout was already working alongside Neville, Zach, Hannah, and a group of older students.
She flopped down at a seat opposite Zach and flipped quickly through the textbooks, scribbling down chapters to refer to later. "Found something then?" Zach teased, and she nodded quickly.
"Maybe not found, but I know where to look now, I think. Oh God, I should have thought of it ages ago, I've been so stupid-"
There. Potion to Counter Drowning. Allows the taker to breathe underwater without drowning by converting water to oxygen upon inhalation, and to maintain regular bodily functions for up to two hours per dosage (of a half pint) while fully submerged. Should not be taken alongside antidotes to uncommon poisons.
She grinned, eyes scanning the ingredients list hungrily. Seven knots of knotgrass, a pint of honeywater, a sprig of fluxweed, bulb of squill, powdered moonstone and common potions ingredient. She had some of those already, and honeywater she knew wasn't too hard to come by. She could do this, she thought to herself, heart soaring. Finally she had something she could actually do. "Yeah, she's definitely found it now," said Hannah, grinning at Calla.
"Yeah, yeah, I think I might've. Oh... Professor Sprout, you wouldn't happen to know where I could get knotgrass, would you?"
"There ought to be some in greenhouse two, dear."
"Thank you. And a - a bulb of squill?"
Professor Sprout stared at her. "A bulb of squill?"
"Yeah. I've never heard of it before."
"Well, thankfully for you I have, but it is rather difficult to procure. You might want to write to the Apothecary in Hogsmeade. Tell them I've sent you to them and they'll give you a discount."
Calla grinned. "Thank you, Professor. Seriously, thank you."
The book said the potion would take approximately a day to mature once she'd made it, which wasn't too bad at all, and that it could keep for up to three months if stored in sealed vials, which she had. She resolved to start work on it after Christmas Day, and wrote out a letter to the apothecary in Hogsmeade as Professor Sprout had asked, requesting their price.
Zach walked her back from the greenhouse towards dinner. "So, about the ball..." he started, and her heart picked up.
"Yeah?" Calla asked, trying to sound nonchalant.
"What time should we meet? Eight, or just before, or just after? And I can come to Ravenclaw Tower to meet you if you'd like, or we can meet in the Entrance Hall, I don't really mind."
He looked like he was blushing, which only made Calla blush more, too. She also wanted to squeal in excitement, but kept her voice as calm as she could as she replied, "Daphne and Padma are meeting Theo and Harry in the Entrance Hall, so I suppose I'd meet you there too, if that's alright."
"Good." Zach smiled at her a moment and she didn't really know what to do. Then he nodded briskly as they reached the Great Hall. "Well, I'll see you on Christmas Day, then," he said, and hurried to the Hufflepuff table where Ernie and Justin were hailing him, leaving Calla to try and not explode with excitement as she half-skipped towards the Ravenclaw Table.
"Someone's happy," Daphne noted with a smirk. "Anything to do with Zacharias Smith?"
"As a matter of fact, yes." Calla grinned, helping herself to pasta. "Very much so. And... I may have just figured out how I'm going to do the Second Task."
Padma seemed to almost choke as she hurried to get her food down and ask, "How?"
She grinned and lowered her voice to tell them her plan. When she'd finished explaining, they both exchanged looks. "Where are you going to brew a Potion?" Padma asked her.
"That's a very good question." Calla pursed her lips. "I guess I could ask Snape-"
"That'll go well-"
"Or maybe Sprout might have room somewhere. All I really need to have is space, I can get everything else myself. And I think I need someone to vouch for the fact that I made it myself but otherwise I'm good."
"Well, good luck to you," Daphne said, "if you're going to try and ask Snape. I don't think he's been in a good mood all year."
"I don't think he's been in a good mood ever," Padma said, and Calla grinned as she tucked into her dinner.
Christmas Eve seemed to go by in a blur, and having gone to sleep early at night, Calla was the first in their dormitory to wake. For once, it was full of people, and, to her delight, of presents. Moony seemed to wake the moment she did, swooping through the window and hooting loudly as he deposited two letters and brown-wrapped presents onto her bed, along with a copper two pence piece that Calla was sure was from the Dursleys.
"Will your bloody owl shut up!" Lisa yelled across the dormitory, promptly waking up everyone else who hadn't been woken by Moony.
With a huff, Calla said, "It's Christmas, Lisa," and picked up the two pence coin. "Here, Daphne, you'll like this."
She tossed the coin over to her and Daphne grinned as she caught it. "It's got your queen on it!" she cried. "Thanks, Calla!"
"That's not what I got you," she laughed, shoving her covers off. "Here." She handed over the package on the top of the pile of gifts to give by her bed, wrapped in silver paper for Daphne. There were two scarves inside; one thick, grey and purple scarf, and one thin silvery one. Daphne seemed pleased with it, and urged Calla quickly to get on with opening her own presents.
She had a good haul this year: a new sketchbook and a load of sugar quills from Harry, a book about the elemental of Transfiguration from Hermione, chocolate frogs from Ron, an elegant silver comb from Daphne, and a pink lipgloss from Padma. The last things she opened were the letter and boxes Moony had brought, one from Remus and the other from Sirius.
To Calla, read Remus' handwriting,
Merry Christmas! I hope this reaches you on time, I was just about to get a post owl before Moony swooped in with your last letter. I'm so glad you've figured out a way to handle the Second Task, but do make sure you have a back up plan just in case. You can never be too prepared. We can talk more about the Second Task later though: it is Christmas, after all. So enjoy your day and your night, and be sure to write us to say how it went.
Merry Christmas again,
Remus and Sirius
She smiled as she set the letter down, taking the two boxes. She opened the larger of the two first. Under the packaging was a small stack of books, but on top was a slim black box. Frowning, Calla prised it open, to see a silver necklace resting on blue velvet. There were small, pale amethyst-like jewels inlaid in it. She gasped, holding her hand to her mouth. There was a note with it: We thought you ought to have some nice jewellery for the ball tonight. These should go nicely with your dress. She frowned, and then opened the other, smaller box. It had the same blue velvet, but instead of a necklace it was a pair of earrings, silver with tiny, glittering amethyst studs and small silver beads that dropped down an inch or so from the stud.
"Those are gorgeous," Padma said, peering over her shoulder. "Did Remus and Sirius get them for you?"
"Sirius Black?" Lisa asked sharply, and pulled a face. Daphne threw a pillow in her direction, which bounced off of a pretty music box and flopped softly onto the floor.
"Yes," Calla said, still staring. She had a feeling that the jewellery in particular was from Sirius - he'd said he'd wanted to get her something to make up for not getting her anything last Christmas - but this was too much. She didn't know much about jewellery, but she could tell from the fanciness of the box and the fact that even Daphne was gasping over them that they had to be fancy. "It's for the ball."
She placed the lids back on the two boxes and placed them gently and carefully by her side; Padma was holding Matilda, who was trying to scrabble at the jewellery, and Brianna the dragon was perched on Isobel's shoulder, looking over curiously. There were three books, which Calla was sure were Remus' input; one, 'Sense and Sensibility' she knew to be a Muggle book by Jane Austen, but the other two were both distinctly magical, one named 'The Animation of Ancient Arts' and the other 'Magical History in the Present'. They all looked interesting, and she couldn't wait to get started reading the Austen novel, but today was also Christmas Day, and the girls in the dormitory were already starting to chatter about the ball, with great excitement.
She set the three books and the jewellery boxes aside for now, delighting in chatter with the rest of the girls. They spent most of the morning in the dormitory and then the boys' dormitory, and then in the Common Room, where the students were all enjoying their presents. Someone had gotten a very strange, purple slimy looking thing that warped and twisted itself as it floated through the room, terrorising a group of sixth year girls; Luna Lovegood was wearing a very odd pair of violet and canary yellow sunglasses, and was telling a bemused-looking Marietta Edgecombe about gernumblies.
"Who asked her to the ball, d'you think?" Lisa asked, sneering.
"She is pretty," Terry said, "and really nice."
"Don't tell me you'd rather go with her, Terry," teased Isobel. Terry went very red.
"Well, no, but she is nice."
"I heard it was Arran Tegan who asked her," said Anthony. "You know, the Hufflepuff?"
"He didn't," Lisa said. "I'm going with him. It was Mark Howell."
"You're going with Arran Tegan?"
Lisa regarded Michael, who had spoken, very coolly. "Yes, I am. He asked me."
"You go, Lisa," Isobel murmured, and Calla tried not to giggle.
"Yeah, well, it'll be nice." She blushed. "I want to expand my circle."
And then, the girls all headed back to the dormitory and suddenly Mandy had grabbed ahold of Lisa and was saying something very quickly and they were hugging each other. Sue joined in a second later, and the other four watched awkwardly, not knowing quite what was happening but hoping it was a good sign. Calla stared, and then smiled tensely at Daphne. "Sherbet lemon?"
By the time they popped back out of the dormitory, the other three were all beaming, and the seven girls chatted happily as they made their way to the Great Hall for lunch.
"I heard the Weird Sisters are meant to be playing tonight," Mandy was telling them as they entered the Entrance Hall.
"Who're they?" Isobel asked, wrinkling her nose.
"How can you not know who the Weird Sisters are?" Lisa scoffed.
"Um, because I'm a muggleborn?" Isobel suggested, rolling her eyes. She pulled a face in Calla's direction, gesturing to Lisa. Calla grinned; some things didn't change, and weirdly she was glad about it at the moment.
"Cal!" At the sound of her brother's voice, Calla turned around, beaming. She waved for the other girls to go on into the Great Hall as she bounded up to Harry, who was coming down the stairs with Ron and Hermione. "Merry Christmas!"
"Merry Christmas!" she cried in response, hugging Harry tightly. "Thanks for the present!"
"You too!" Calla had gotten him a woolly red hat, a new, non-broken Sneakoscope, and a bag of sherbet lemons from Honeydukes. "What did you get from Sirius, he gave me this cool knife-"
"He gave you a knife!?" Calla asked, staring at him.
"It unlocks doors!"
"Right." Calla laughed. "He and Remus got me some jewellery, for the ball. It's really nice, a necklace and some earrings, I'll show you them tonight."
"Oh, nice," Harry said. He didn't look very enthusiastic about the thought of a necklace and earrings, but Hermione smiled in her direction as they entered together. "Did Padma say when she's meeting me?"
"Eight," Calla said, "same as I'm meeting Zach and Daphne's meeting Theo."
"You're still going with Zacharias Smith?" Ron asked, and Hermione stamped down on his feet. "Ow, 'Mione!" Then he turned to Calla again, narrowing his eyes. "Do you know who she's going with?"
"Hermione?" Calla grinned to herself, and caught Hermione's eye as she blushed. "You don't?"
"No! She won't tell us!"
"Well, he's a very lucky date," Calla said, grinning and waving as she left them to skip down to where her friends were already sitting at the Ravenclaw Table.
Zach gave her a wide grin as she passed and her stomach tumbled, as she couldn't stop herself from beaming back at him, before spinning around to hop into a seat between Daphne and Padma. "You're very cheerful," Daphne said.
"Obviously," Calla replied. "It is Christmas!"
They all ate their way through the turkeys and the multitude of puddings, and Calla was feeling quite stuffed by the time they got outside, all bundled up in scarves and jackets and woolly bobble-hats, to make snowmen. "Or snow women," Lisa corrected, more cheerful now than she had been in weeks.
Isobel decided hers would be named MacBeth and Daphne's would be called Duncan, and no one seemed to get it except Calla and Terry, who both had a great time slyly re-enacting Duncan's murder. At half past four, the girls all traipsed back into the castle to get ready for the ball, and there was an awful lot of squabbling over who got to go in the bathroom first. It was five o'clock before Calla got in, and she was very grateful for how quickly the Hogwarts bathtubs filled up.
She sat in her casual robes as she put some light makeup on and then let Daphne do the eyeshadow, because she was much better at it, and had a weird knack of making all the colours seem to shimmer on the lid. "It's magic," she'd grinned when Calla asked her, and returned to interrogating Isobel - who had just come into the room - about Shakespeare.
Padma put Calla's hair up for her, pulling some of the front pieces of her hair around so only the back fell regularly, and Calla curled the rest of it herself with a useful charm she'd managed to pick up before they started getting into their dress robes. Calla was pleased that the dress robes she'd picked out seemed to suit her even better now. They seemed to almost glow silver, and when she turned, the sequins and beading caught the light spectacularly, looking like little stars. She smiled to herself, running her hands through her hair and then carefully putting on her earrings and clasping her necklace, which glimmered around her throat.
She swallowed as she looked in the mirror. She thought she looked pretty, and blushed at the thought that maybe tonight Zach would think she looked pretty too. "What do you think?" she asked the other girls, who were all in various stages of dress. Sue's hair was still damp, and she was trying furiously to dry it with a spell.
"Stunning," said Isobel, kicking back onto her own bed, dressed in silky emerald green robes that went surprisingly well with her ginger curls. Padma was carefully weaving threads of silver through a pleat that fell down her back, and was already dressed in bright turquoise.
"Zach's going to love it," Padma told her with a grin.
"Well, I love it," Calla admitted to herself, and Daphne squealed, skipping over to her and squeezing her tightly in a hug.
"You're so pretty!" she cried. Calla thought she looked stunning, in her frilly powder blue robes that had silver dots and lines embroidered over them like constellations, which Calla thought couldn't have possibly suited anyone like they suited Daphne.
"So are you!" she told her, beaming excitedly. She looked around at them all, and her heart swelled. "Come on," she said, grabbing Daphne and Padma, "someone take photos."
"Oh, use my camera!" Daphne said immediately, lunging for where it lay in her trunk. "I'm going to figure out how to animate them soon! There must be a way even if it isn't a magical camera, don't you think?"
"Okay," Calla said, "but keep one normal, it's going to a Muggle friend." When Calla had written to Mairi about their school's 'Christmas Dance' she had all but demanded that Calla send her pictures of her in her dress, and she was intendent on doing so.
It was almost eight by the time they were ready - Isobel and Sue had tried to use some new experimental charm to dry Sue's hair quicker but it had instead set fire to Mandy's Arithmancy textbook - and hurried down the steps to the Ravenclaw Common Room. It was crowded with people, and they had to fight to try and see Terry and Anthony over everyone's heads. Michael had already gone to meet his date.
"There they are!" Isobel declared, and hurried through the crowd, holding onto Daphne who held Calla who held Padma who held Mandy who held Sue who held Lisa, and they formed a great human chain as they snaked through the crowd. "Terry!"
"Izzy!" Terry grinned as he turned around, looking at them all. "You guys look great!"
"Oi!" Isobel looked up at him teasingly.
"Sorry, Izzy," he said with a teasing grin, "especially you, you wonderful, gorgeous, stunning-"
"Okay, you can shut up now," Isobel laughed. "You better not actually fancy me."
They made their way to the Entrance Hall as a group, Sue holding onto Anthony and Terry with Isobel, all keeping their eyes peeled for their dates. Zach and Arran Tegan would probably be arriving together, but Calla was trying to look for Harry too; Ron and Parvati would of course already have met.
"There's Theo. I'll see you in there." Daphne beamed, hurrying over to where he had just arrived with Blaise Zabini and Astoria.
"Bye, then," Padma muttered, rolling her eyes.
"There's Ernie," Terry told Calla, frowning. "Zacharias must be just behind him."
She craned her neck to try and look, but her nerves mounted when she couldn't catch sight of Zach. He was coming, wasn't he? Of course he was, said the rational side of her. He had to. And he would have told her, but she could see Ernie and Justin and Susan and Hannah already there, and Arran Tegan was coming over to Lisa and complimenting her and leading her inside - she was practically glowing - and she still couldn't see Zach. "He's not late," Padma said, "not really. He'll be here in a second, stop panicking."
But Calla was still nervous right up until Zach appeared, in pale grey dress robes with deep midnight blue cuffs. He was smiling perfectly as he came up to her and took her hand, making Calla blush profusely. "You look gorgeous," he told her, which did absolutely nothing to stop the blushing.
She struggled to find words to say, not knowing what she even should say, and said, "Thanks. You... You look great... Too."
Zach chuckled. "Well, thank you. Padma, Isobel. Terry."
He nodded at each of them in turn and Padma grinned at Calla in the second that Zach was turned to Terry. She blushed even more then, but suitably distracted Padma by pointing out Harry, coming down the staircase with Ron and Parvati. Parvati didn't look particularly impressed - Padma had already told Calla that Parvati would have rather gone with Harry than Ron - but Padma was grinning as they met with Harry.
Harry said, "Hi," but when Calla gave him a firm look he added, "You look really nice."
"Thanks," Padma said, shrugging. "So do you. Green actually suits you quite well."
Just then, the great oak doors to the hall were flung open, and the Durmstrang students were all led inside together by Karkaroff. Krum stood at the front, with Hermione, who Calla thought looked completely stunning. She gave her a little wave as she passed, and felt herself grin even wider when she saw Hermione was blushing, especially as everyone was looking at her. It was sweet.
"Champions over here, please!" McGonagall's voice called over the crowd, and Calla and Padma bid Isobel and Terry a quick goodbye as they and Harry and Zach hurried over to where McGonagall was standing, dressed in very interesting tartan dress robes.
"Wait out here," she told them. "You'll enter in a procession once the other students are all seated."
Fleur caught Calla's eye and smiled her gorgeous smile as she led Roger Davies closer to the door; Cho was beaming as she chatted to Cedric near them, and then Calla caught Hermione's eye and sidled nearer to her, grinning. "Where are you..." Harry started, going to follow Calla and Padma, and his eyes fell on Hermione and Calla was sure his jaw dropped. Zach's certainly did - which made Calla frown a little, though she was sure if she hadn't known Hermione was going with Krum she would have too. She did look completely gorgeous, after all.
Hermione was dressed in floaty periwinkle blue robes, and had styled her hair sleekly over her shoulder. She seemed to be holding herself higher, too, Calla noticed with a smile. She seemed more confident.
"Hi, Calla!" she said enthusiastically to Calla, beaming. "Hi, Padma! Hi, Harry, and Zach!"
Of the two boys, Zach seemed to recover first, and was happy to chat with Calla, Padma, Hermione and Harry. Krum didn't seem much of the chatting type, Calla noticed, but she also noticed how even despite everyone else going past, including half his fan club, he only had eyes for Hermione. It was rather sweet.
They had to linger for a few moments before the oak doors were flung open again by McGonagall. Light music started up as McGonagall instructed them to get in lines with their partners, and Calla shuffled with Zach to stand between Padma and Hermione. She bit her lip nervously, and went forward to enter, to the applause of the other students who were sat inside. They were being led through the Great Hall to a very large, round table where the Triwizard judges were already seated, and Calla found herself staring around at the hall.
The walls were covered in something like silver frost, which sparkled despite the dark ceiling, while mistletoe and ivy had been hung across the ceiling. In place of the usual house tables were around a hundred other, smaller ones, lit by lanterns. Calla spotted Isobel, Terry, Mandy and Anthony sitting at one together, and then Daphne, Theodore, Astoria and Zabini at another. Daphne beamed as Calla passed, waving.
She could feel a lot of people looking at her, and rather than being intimidating she found it was a nice feeling. By the time they reached the large table at the top, she was beaming, Zach's hand soft and warm in hers. Dumbledore smiled around at them all as they went to sit down, Harry and Padma ending unfortunately next to Percy Weasley, who Calla could tell was going to start boring them within two minutes. Calla instead chose to sit by Hermione and Krum, with Zach on her other side. "It looks lovely, doesn't it?" Hermione whispered to her, looking thrilled by the hall. "They've outdone themselves, even for Hogwarts."
"I know," Calla whispered back, grinning. "It looks..."
"Magical," Hermione said with a smile, and Calla giggled.
"Yeah. It does, doesn't it?"
"What is Durmstrang like, Viktor?" Hermione asked Krum as she turned to him. "Do you do much for Christmas?"
Krum started talking very quickly to her, and Calla smiled at the sight. She caught Zach's eye and blushed, but didn't know anything else to say to him. She listened absently to Percy Weasley talking about Mr Crouch and Rita Skeeter, who had been buzzing around, and then her eyes darted to Dumbledore as he said loudly, "Pork chops!" and a meal appeared on his plate.
"I suppose that answers how we're meant to eat," Zach said, looking at the menu that sat between them. "I rather fancy steak pie, don't you?"
Calla shrugged; she didn't know what to have, the menu was so long. She wondered how long it had taken the house elves to prepare, and how they knew how much to make for all of the students. But she said loudly to her plate, "Chicken pie!" and it appeared before her on her plate. She grinned, exchanging a look with Zach, and then started to eat as delicately and elegantly as she could, not aware only of Zach's attentions but also of the fact that spilling anything on these dress robes would be a very, very bad idea. Zach didn't seem to be saying much, though. Calla contented herself to listening into other people's conversations, distracting from the awkwardness; why was it now suddenly so difficult to think of anything to say to him, when she had never had a problem with it before? It was ridiculous, she told herself, listening to Dumbledore talk about a room full of chamber pots.
When everyone had finished their meal, Dumbledore stood to ask the students to all rise. He waved his wand to make the tables lining the hall fly back against the walls to leave a wide space open in the middle of the Great Hall to act as a dance floor; a band, who Zach introduced to Calla as the Weird Sisters everyone had been talking about, went to take to a high risen platform against a right wall. Calla, realising that Roger Davies had just taken Fleur's hand and Krum taken Hermione's, took Zach's hand as well. "I should probably say," she said awkwardly, "I'm not a great dancer."
"That's quite alright," Zach said, grinning down at her in a way that made her stomach flip. "I am."
She giggled, set a little more at ease as he led her down onto the dance floor, her silver dress robes swirling gently around her ankles. She caught Daphne's eyes and flushed as she set her hand in Zach's and the other to rest on his shoulder. His free hand rested gently on her waist and her stomach did a somersault as she smiled at him, trying very hard not to show how flustered she was. The band struck up a slow tune, as Zach moved them gently to the left. She followed his lead, stepping gently to the side and turning under his arm every so often. She supposed this must be a waltz.
Catching Zach's gentle eyes, she found herself smiling again as they turned and turned and turned. He ran his thumb over her knuckles gently and she shivered, moving closer with a fluttering stomach. She didn't really know what to do from here - should she kiss him, could she kiss him, would she have the courage to kiss him? She settled for just looking at him, eyes falling to his lips every so often. But it seemed he didn't know quite what to do either, which in some ways was actually a relief. Neither of them were speaking due to nerves, which made it a lot more awkward, but Calla tried not to focus on that.
Gradually, the dance floor started to fill up with other couples; Daphne was looking very elegant with Theodore Nott, Isobel and Terry were giggling in a mess of arms and legs as they tried to dance, Lisa was holding Arran Tegan very tightly, and Padma caught Calla's eyes over Harry shoulder and mouthed, "He's a rubbish dancer."
Calla giggled, mouthing back, "At least he's dancing," and jerked her head over to Ron and Parvati, who both looked to be sulking for very different reasons.
Harry seemed to drag Padma off the dancefloor when the slow song ended, but Calla and Zach remained, dancing to the more upbeat tune. Calla had no idea what it was, but it was actually a lot more fun, bouncing and swinging around as Zach spun her, and eventually met up with Isobel and Terry, who were giggling as they all danced exuberantly. It wasn't long before Padma reappeared at Calla's side and Parvati wound up dancing with one of the Beauxbatons boys. "Harry didn't want to dance," she told Calla. "He's too busy sulking over Cho and Cedric."
"I can imagine," Calla half-yelled over the music. "What about Ron?"
"Sulking over Hermione and Krum," Padma said in her ear. "But who he's jealous of, I'm not totally sure."
Calla giggled, as Zach spun her again and she tipped her head back, gazing up at the starry ceiling. They danced for ages until Calla felt a headache coming on and took Zach's hand. "I need a break," she told him, and went to head over to Harry and Ron; but when she saw Percy Weasley head over to them she turned swiftly in the other direction. "Let's get some air, I feel... a little ill."
Her head was pounding, from heat and dehydration, she wasn't sure. She could feel the same dizziness she often did when she had a vision coming on, but she was determined not to let it, not tonight. Her visions just couldn't be considerate of her trying to have a nice night, could they? She pulled Zach outside as quickly as she could, embracing the cold night air and hurrying down a path lined with rose bushes and marble benches.
Her head was spinning as she slumped down onto one of the benches, tilting her head up towards the cool air that tingled along her arms. A beetle crawled lazily by her shoulder. She closed her eyes, head still pounding harshly. "You didn't have anything funny to drink, did you?" Zach asked her concernedly, sitting down by her side.
"No," she said dazedly, as thoughts and images flickered through her mind. "No, I didn't drink anything." There was a hand clawing its way out of the ground, skeletal and feeble, yet it flexed its fingers and felt like it was strangling her.
"Right. Good." Zach put his arm around her awkwardly, and then retracted it. "It's cold out here, isn't it?"
"It's nice," she said, opening her eyes just enough to see the moon. She smiled at it, that brightness among the dark sky. A reminder that some things, at least, stayed the same.
"You must be cold," Zach said, and a moment later he had shrugged off one of his outer layers and draped it over her shoulders. She looked up at him, head tilted, seeing the moonlight shine in his pretty brown eyes.
"Thanks," she said, and then winced as she felt her scar prickle. She squeezed her eyes shut, and tilted her head back again, hearing a rush of blood through her head. There was something coming for her, out of the woods. A shadow, arms outstretched, covered in blood, both dried and fresh, and from it grew a green light, ever brighter. There was a cold, harsh laugh and a shiver rushed through her, her heart hammering, and she pushed the vision out, sitting up abruptly. Zach jerked away, looking surprised, and she realised with a start how close they'd been. Her breath shook. "Sorry. My head just..."
"I can get you water," Zach said quickly, looking worried. "And we should probably go inside, you'll catch a cold and you don't seem well anyway..."
"I'm not unwell," she told him quietly, and held his hand to tug him back down to sit by her. "I... It's just a thing." Calla sighed, wincing at the pain behind her eyes. The words to tell him what was wrong were on the tip of her tongue. Why was it so difficult? Why had it been so difficult to talk to him all night? Was she just embarrassed? Was she just too awkward? Conversation just hadn't flowed as smoothly as usual, but she didn't know how to make it better.
"What thing?" Zach asked her, frowning in concern.
She swallowed. "It doesn't matter." The pain dulled a little. "It's subsiding now anyway."
"You look kind of pale," Zach told her, and red light flashed suddenly across her vision. She winced, squeezing her eyes shut. "Calla?" She shook her head.
"Just give me a minute."
"You're kind of freaking me out here."
"It's fine," she muttered through clenched teeth, finally opening her eyes as her head lightened.
"What - what just happened? You went super pale."
"Promise - promise you won't tell anyone."
He frowned. "Promise? Calla, what-"
"You know I like Divination?"
"What? What does Divination have to do with it?"
"I sort of..." She couldn't believe she was doing this. She also couldn't believe it felt so difficult. "I have these sort of, visions."
Zach stared at her, looking rather disbelieving. "Visions?"
"Yeah. Like... I see what's going to happen in the future. It's not always definite and it can be - can be open for interpretation it doesn't always come true like I think it will but - but I see it."
He looked at her blankly for a long moment. "Right," he said slowly. "I... That's not how I thought Seeing worked..."
"It is for me," she told him, determined to be cheerful about it. Because it was a pretty wonderful thing when all she saw wasn't her imminent death. "It started middle of first year, and it's been happening ever since. Trelawney's been teaching me since about the middle of second year, helping me, it's where I go on Monday nights."
"Seeing?" Zach said, frowning even further. "You just... go to See stuff."
"Well, yes, sort of. It's basically just another Divination class, but one to one, and because I've got the Sight she's a lot more helpful. And it helps, because... Well, I guess I sort of channel it? Some things I See, and some things I can know now, though I'm nowhere near as good as Trelawney. But I - I can tell you you're going to have to fix your Potions essay or Snape's going to fail you again."
"That's kind of a given," Zach said, laughing nervously.
"And that Wayne Hopkins is going to be very late getting back to your dormitory tonight. He'll get lost on the seventh floor."
This seemed to render Zach rather speechless, and she smiled a little in amusement at his reaction. "You're joking," he said finally, and she shook her head.
"No," she told him, and nervously - though she tried very hard not to show it - she placed one hand on top of his. "I'm not. I saw Dumbledore announcing the Tournament before it happened. And sometimes I, like, I know things. Or I have a feeling, like I had a feeling Ireland would win the cup, and they did."
"That's just luck," Zach said, shaking his head, and her smile fell a little. "Everyone knew Ireland would win."
"But I... I felt it, Zach. And last year I saw Pettigrew, I saw Buckbeak the hippogriff's execution, or what I thought was his execution, and the Dementors... I saw all of it. And now I can - it wants me to See more. It's pushing on my head and it hurts sometimes like it did then, like it does now and-"
"We should get inside," Zach told her gently. She stared at him. "You're tired."
Something heavy took a tumble through her stomach and she swallowed. "You don't believe me?"
"It's been a long day-"
"You don't!" She stood up abruptly, heart pounding. The cloak Zach had put around her shoulders fell to the ground in a heap around her feet. "Do you?"
He stood up, trying to take her hand back but she snatched it away, shaking slightly. "What, do you think I'm lying?"
"No!" He took her hands quickly as she made to stumble back. "No, Calla, of course I know you're not lying. But I know you're scared of all of this and I know you've not exactly had an easy time of it, but you have to stop worrying so much, alright? You're just having nightmares, my mum used to have them all the time and it's natural after the last few years. Headaches are normal too, you're probably just tired and imagining things, but hallucinating-"
"They're not hallucinations," she said, wrenching her hands away, feeling tears sprout behind her eyes. "And they're not nightmares. This is - you don't believe me!" Her scar burned again, hot from her emotions and she screwed up her face angrily. The others had believed her so why couldn't Zach, when he saw it happening right in front of him? He couldn't take her word for it? She knew what was happening to her far better than he did.
"We should get inside," Zach said gently. He sounded almost patronising to Calla, and she hated being patronised. "Your hands are freezing, too, come on..."
"I'm fine," she said, lying, but she didn't think he'd take the opposite as a truth either. Calla stumbled back, feeling her whole chest shake as she withdrew into the shadows and turned to walk away as quick as she could. He didn't believe her! She'd - she'd - she fought back a pathetic sob. She'd thought he'd understand it. Understand her. She knew not everyone believed in Divination, let alone the sort of Seeing she usually did, but she'd have thought Zach, at least, would. Zach's footsteps followed her, and he called her name but she didn't answer, marching into the Entrance Hall, aware of the many stares she was getting as her lip trembled and her eyes burned with tears. This night had gone so horribly wrong. Malfoy and Parkinson were stood by the doors, some sixth year girls giggling together, a couple breaking up their kissing momentarily to stare at her.
"Calla!" Zach panted, catching up to her. "I do believe you! Seriously, look, I'm just worried. You should get some sleep."
"I don't need sleep," she cried, head throbbing. "I - I needed you to listen!"
"I am listening," he said in a low voice, taking her hand again and leaning closer to whisper amid the eager eared crowd. "But you need to listen to me, too. This Seeing stuff is dangerous, if it is real. And having visions isn't normal, Calla." Her skin prickled. "It's strange and - and it doesn't happen to... Normal witches. You should speak to Dumbledore."
"I've been speaking to Dumbledore for two years," she whispered furiously, "and he's been no help whatsoever!"
"Okay!" He held up his hands almost warily. "I'm just saying... Something might be..."
"Wrong?" She held his gaze as defiantly as she could given the fact she did feel so exhausted, and heavy, and also like she might shatter in a second. "Something is wrong, Zach. I know that. I know what this is doing, to me, and I know it's not normal, but there's - there's nothing I can do!" She felt like she was going to be sick, or faint, or both. Her hands shook. "Please just... If you don't believe me..."
"Cal?" Harry's voice said from behind her. She whipped around quickly, hastily trying to dry her eyes. His eyes were focused warily just over her shoulder where Zach was still standing, and Ron stood by him, looking awkward. "What's wrong?"
"Nothing," she said quickly. "I'm fine." He took a step closer, eyes flickering with worry to her and then to Zach with a sort of wary anger. "Just... Tired."
"You were arguing," he said to her quietly, and she shook her head.
"Yeah. Yeah, it's - it's fine."
"It doesn't like fine. You're... crying."
"Look," Zach said, "I think I'm going to head back in..."
"What did you say to her?" Harry asked him angrily.
"Leave it," Calla said, shaking her head. "It's fine, Harry."
"Calla, you're-"
"Harry." She gave him a hard look. "Please."
He clenched his jaw, but nodded anyway, taking her arm as Zach hurried into the Great Hall. He glared after him until he disappeared. "What happened?" he asked lowly to Calla a moment later, guiding her in.
"We just... Talked. My head hurt and I knew I was having a vision so I wanted to get away and outside and then... I tried explaining it and... He doesn't believe me, Harry." She felt like crying again, and felt awful that she was sure she was ruining all Daphne's makeup work. "I think he thinks I'm weird."
"Well, I think he's an idiot."
She laughed forcedly. "Great."
There was a long pause before Harry said defiantly, "There's nothing wrong with you, Calla."
"Thanks," she told him drily.
"I mean it. I know you're worried about it even if you try to play it off all cheerful, but it doesn't make you weird or anything. I think it's pretty cool, and if Zacharias Smith doesn't see that, or if he doesn't believe you, then he is an idiot."
She laughed half heartedly, swallowing the lump in her throat. "Are you trying to give me a pep talk, Harry?"
"I guess?" He threw up his hands. "I'm just saying."
"Yeah." She swallowed the words that Zach wasn't the only one who thought it was weird and who didn't believe her, who wrote Divination off as fraud and nonsense. "Well, thanks." She shook her head, sniffing. "I think I am just going to go up to bed. I'm tired."
Her brother looked at her for a long moment. "We were just going to have some air, get away from Percy. I don't know where Daphne and Padma are, but you should come outside."
"I just was outside," she muttered, but she followed the two of them out back into the cold. She didn't want very many people to see her right now, considering she was pretty sure she had mascara on her chin. The night air at least didn't feel quite as cold, perhaps only because she had acclimatised, or maybe crying had warmed her up a little.
They passed the bench Calla had just been on, and she felt her cheeks flush hot, but she didn't get much further before they heard Snape's familiar voice. Calla frowned, exchanging a glance with the two boys. "...I don't see what there is to fuss about, Igor."
"Severus, you cannot pretend this isn't happening!" That was Karkaroff's voice; it sounded anxious, and he certainly did not sound like he wanted to be overheard. Calla tried to shuffle awkwardly away, but the two boys were distracted and wrapped up in eavesdropping now. "It's been getting clearer and clearer for months, I am becoming seriously concerned, I can't deny it-"
"Then flee," Snape told him in a curt voice. "Flee, I will make your excuses. I, however, am remaining at Hogwarts."
Calla's mind span. What was getting clearer - some sort of sign? Did... She scrambled in her mind. Remus had said something about Karkaroff's ties to Voldemort, hadn't he? Was he seeing the signs, too?
Before she had a chance to contemplate further, the two men came around the corner, Snape with his wand out as he blasted rose bushes apart. He did not look pleased at all. People squealed as they ran out of the bushes, Sarah Fawcett being one of them.
"Ten points from Hufflepuff, Fawcett!" Snape snarled as she darted past, followed shortly by her date. "And ten points from Ravenclaw, too, Stebbins! And what are you three doing?"
Snape was glowering at them now. Calla flushed and wiped hastily at her under-eyes, which she was sure were coated in messied mascara. "We're walking," Ron said shortly. "Not against the law, is it?"
"Keep walking then!" Snape snarled, then brushed past them. His long cloak billowed furiously behind him, and Karkaroff hurried after him, looking nervous.
"What's got Karkaroff all worried, d'you think?" Ron asked in a mutter once they were out of earshot.
"And since when have he and Snape been on first name basis?"
"What do you think was getting clearer?" Calla wondered aloud. "Do you think-"
She was cut off by another familiar voice coming from somewhere behind the statue of a reindeer, and two large, dark shapes silhouetted against a stone bench. "Momen' I saw yeh, I knew," said Hagrid's voice. It was oddly husky.
Calla felt her face flush again - would it ever stop doing that? - and tried to signal to the boys to hurry away unnoticed, but Ron caught sight of Fleur Delacour and his eyes widened in horror. he shook his head, tugging Harry deeper into the shadows, and Calla followed anxiously, praying they wouldn't be caught, or wouldn't overhear something they really didn't want to overhear.
"What did you know, 'Agrid?" Madam Maxime seemed to purr. Calla distracted herself by following a beetle on its journey along the reindeer's back, wondering why there were so many beetles around here all of a sudden.
"I jus' knew... Knew yeh were like me... was it yer mother or yer father?"
"I - I don't know what you mean, 'Agrid…"
"It was my mother," said Hagrid quietly. "She was one o' the last ones in Britain." This hadn't gone how Calla had thought it was going to go. She was very confused. "Course, I can' remember her too well... she left, see. When I was abou' three. She wasn' really the maternal sort. Well... it's not in their natures, is it? Dunno what happened to her... might be dead fer all I know." Madam Maxime said nothing. "My dad was broken-hearted when she wen'. Tiny little bloke, my dad was. By the time I was six I could lift him up and put him on top o' the dresser if he annoyed me. Used ter make him laugh." Hagrid's deep voice broke for a moment, and Calla winced in sympathy. Hagrid had never spoken about his childhood, but she did know that his father had died when he was young. "Dad raised me.. but he died, o' course, jus' after I started school. Sorta had ter make me own way after that. Dumbledore was a real help, mind. Very king ter me, he was." He blew his nose very heavily. "So... anyway... enough abou' me. What about you? What side you got it on?"
"It is chilly," Madam Maxime said coldly, sounding like she was getting to her feet. Calla glanced up to watch, confused.
"Eh?" Hagrid said blankly. "No, don' go! I've - I've never met another one before!"
"Anuzzer what, precisely?" Madam Maxime's voice was downright icy now. She wanted to warn Hagrid to stop talking now.
"Another half giant, o' course!"
Calla blinked. Oh. That explained... rather a lot, actually.
"Ow dare you!" Madam Maxime shrieked before Calla could whisper anything to Harry or Ron. "I 'ave nevair been more insulted in my life! 'Alf giant? Moi? I 'ave - I 'ave big bones!"
She stormed away past their rose bush, and fairies fluttered up into the air as she went. Hagrid sat on the bench for a moment later, and Calla wished she could go and hug him, but knew he wouldn't appreciate her having overheard all of that. He soon stood up and strode away in the direction of his cabin, shoulders hunched rather sadly.
"C'mon," Harry said, very quietly. Calla was already getting to her feet. "Let's go..."
But Ron stayed sitting there, crouched, shocked. "What?" Calla asked.
Ron glanced between them, looking very serious. "Did you know?" he whispered. "About Hagrid being half giant?"
"No," Harry said with a shrug. "So what?"
Ron looked at him like he was mad; he turned his gaze to Calla and she just shrugged. "I didn't know. What's wrong with it?"
"I'll explain inside," Ron said quietly. "Come on..."
She followed the boys back into the castle, going to hear what Ron had to tell her about giants. She could spot Daphne, Theodore and Padma sitting with Parvati and a cluster of Beauxbatons boys, and made to go over to them, but Ron was dragging her away to a table further from the dance floor. "So?" Harry asked him. "What's the deal with giants?"
"Well, they're... they're... They're not very nice."
Calla looked at him. "Right…"
"Who cares?" Harry said. "There's nothing wrong with Hagrid!"
"I know there isn't, but... blimey, no wonder he keeps it quiet." Ron shook his head. "I always thought he'd just got in the way of a bad Engorgement Charm when he was a kid or something. Didn't like to mention it..."
"But what's it matter if his mum's a giantess?"
"Well... no one who knows him will care, 'cause they'll know he's not dangerous," Ron said slowly. "But, Harry, Calla... they're just vicious, giants."
"Like werewolves are?" Calla asked him coolly, and Ron blinked.
"That's... different. Most of them are." Calla rolled her eyes. "Well, they are. Giants are just... it's in their natures."
"Is it now?"
"You heard what Hagrid said. Not exactly loving things... they just like killing. There aren't any left in Britain now, though."
"What happened to them?" Harry asked.
"Well, they were dying out anyway, and then loads got killed by Aurors."
"They killed them?"
"They were killing loads of people," Ron said. "They're hardly innocent. It was... well, it was us or them. There are some abroad, though... but they hide out in mountains mostly."
"Calla," Daphne's voice called, cutting through their conversation. She and Padma both appeared before her, and Daphne had extended her hand to her. "What happened? Hannah said you and Zach had an argument. I'll kill that boy, come on, I'll fix your mascara for you..." Before she knew it she was being tugged over to where Padma sat, as Daphne took out tissues and potions and her little Muggle mascara.
"I'm fine, Daphne," she said quietly, but then she could sight of Zach talking to Susan and Ernie as if nothing had happened and her stomach swam. Her eyes suddenly stung again.
"Eyes open, chin up," Daphne ordered, and Calla tried very hard to stop herself from crying as Daphne put on the mascara, wiping the remnants of her tears away gently. "Now, I don't know what he said, but he's an idiot." She ruffled Calla's hair a little, pushing it behind her ears and over her shoulders, before she sat down next to her on the long plush couch. Calla tucked her knees up, glancing around, as Padma shuffled closer to her other side. Daphne's arm wrapped comfortingly around Calla's shoulder and she leaned into it, grateful for the warmth.
"Do you want to stay?" Padma whispered quietly in her ear. "Or should we go up to the dorm? It'll just be us three, if you want to talk."
She looked around nervously, caught sight of Hermione beaming as she danced with Viktor, and smiled faintly, shaking her head. "It's alright. I'll stay a while longer with you guys." She didn't want to talk about it. Besides, she was warm here, with her friends around her. When had tonight gone so wrong? It was her fault, she told herself, for getting annoyed with him, for telling him at the wrong time, for letting her stupid visions get the better of her stupid self.
She felt another fresh bout of tears as Padma whispered, "If you're sure," and she nodded, looking up and leaning into Daphne's hair. She swallowed tightly. It was fine. She was fine. She was just overreacting because she was upset. But she still felt rotten. She shouldn't have let herself get upset, but she had. She sighed quietly, watching as the rest of the students laughed and chatted and danced. It was a nice night, but she was tired now. Calla tried to smile, watching her friends. It was fine. She was fine. Just for the rest of the night, she was determined to ignore everything else and just be happy.
Eventually, Terry and Isobel came over to join them, Isobel looking flushed. "She just snogged Ryan Pritchard," Terry said, looking thoroughly disgusted by the thought.
"Jealous, are we?" Daphne asked him laughing.
"Oh, no, you should have seen the looks he was giving Rachel Harris." Isobel cackled.
"Shut up," Terry muttered, going red as he sat down next to Padma. "What's wrong, Calla?"
"Nothing," she muttered in reply, cheeks burning again.
"Zacharias Smith is a prick," Daphne said, giving Terry a significant look.
"What'd he do?"
"Nothing. I just over-reacted, I think." Calla sighed, leaning her head on Padma's shoulder.
"D'you want me to fight him?" Isobel asked.
"I think I'm good, Izzy."
"I'd do it."
She snorted. "I know you would." They lapsed into silence for a moment, staring at the swirl of other students before them, before Daphne broke it.
"I want to dance," Daphne said, getting to her feet. "Or find Theo, he's disappeared." With a grin, she hauled Padma and Calla to their feet.
"Daphne, I'd really rather just stay sitting."
"Why?" Daphne asked, eyebrows raised. "So you can keep feeling bad for yourself? Dancing'll make you feel a lot better than keeping thinking about it all night, come on."
Calla groaned, but when the lively music started and they were all pulled into the sea of people, she couldn't deny that she was enjoying herself. Daphne was the only one who was really a good dancer - Isobel seemed to throw herself around more than anything else, Terry did what Calla had only heard described as 'dad dancing' and she and Padma both just tried to keep up with them while also keeping straight faces - but in the middle of her friends she felt strangely a lot more at ease than she had earlier. Eventually she managed to convince Harry and Ron to join them, though the latter gave Viktor Krum a dirty look every time he caught sight of him.
"You're an even worse dancer than Terry," Calla told her brother as he stiffly tried to turn her under his arm and instead sent her flying into Seamus Finnigan's back.
Both boys made near identical faces of offence, which only had Calla laughing harder. "See," Daphne whispered to her, "who needs Zacharias Smith?"
She wasn't pleased to have a reminder and momentarily, her smile faltered, until Fred and George appeared with their dates, dancing terribly on purpose, and even managed to cheer Ron up.
It was near midnight when the ball started to wind down. Padma and Isobel had both taken their shoes off, and were carrying them by the straps. Terry, having tired himself out with dancing, was all but asleep on Calla's shoulder - which Harry didn't seem to approve of - and their group went tiredly out of the hall. Yawning, Calla tried to look around for any sign of Hermione, who she'd barely spoken to all night, but it seemed Ron had beaten her to it.
"Oh, God," Calla muttered to Padma, upon seeing the way Hermione's smile faltered and disappeared when Ron started yelling at her. "Hang on. Terry - Terry, please get off my shoulder, I have to speak to Hermione."
Terry stirred, blinking wearily, and Isobel yanked him away as Calla hurried back down the stairs. "Hermione!" she called out cheerfully, cutting Ron off. Both turned around, faces flushed. "You look gorgeous, I barely got to tell you!" She gave Ron a meaningful look to shove off and wrapped her arms around Hermione's shoulders. "I'm so sorry about him," she whispered.
A sob warbled its way out of Hermione's throat. "He - he has to ruin - everything! He sulked all night because I went with Viktor, and he only asked me as a last resort! You know what he said when he asked?" Calla pulled a sympathetic face in anticipation. Padma and Daphne had now joined them, shaking their heads. "He said, oh, Hermione, you're a girl! Like he didn't notice!"
"Oh," Daphne said, frowning.
"And he just - if he wanted to go with me, why didn't he ask me first? He's no right to have a go at me!"
"He's being stupid," Padma said, "and you know why? He's jealous. Because you're amazing, and he knows he messed up." Hermione smiled through a watery sob.
"I'd be jealous," Daphne said, "you came here with the hottest guy in Durmstrang. An international standard Quidditch player!"
"Yeah." Hermione sniffled and Calla hugged her tightly.
"Don't worry about Ron," she said. "You had a great night with Krum, didn't you?"
Hermione nodded, grinning. "It was really nice. He - he's actually really funny and a good dancer and..." She trailed off, blushing an interesting shade of red.
"Kisser?" Daphne prompted, and Hermione laughed, wiping her eyes.
"Yeah," she said smally, and Calla and Daphne both squealed.
"See! Really not such a bad night all round."
"Suppose so." Hermione smiled shakily and then unexpectedly pulled all three girls in for crushing hugs. "Thank you. I'm sorry I didn't get to dance with you guys tonight."
"Considering you were snogging Viktor Krum, I don't really think we can blame you."
Hermione giggled, drawing back. "Thank you again. I should get back to the common room." She looked around and her face fell. "The boys have gone."
"We'll walk you back," Padma said quickly, taking Hermione's arm.
They were halfway up the stairs when Calla was again distracted - this time by Hannah calling her name. Cursing silently, Calla nodded for the girls to go on, and braced herself as she turned around to see Hannah and Susan pulling Zach behind them. He looked rather sheepish. "Hi."
"Hi," she said back, folding her arms, then unfolding them, and folding them again.
"Look," Zach said, glancing between Hannah and Susan, who both nodded firmly at him. "I just wanted to say I'm sorry we argued."
"Right." She took in a deep breath. "Well, if that's all-"
"I really wanted this to be a great night," he told her. "I know it hasn't gone to plan, but you're my friend and..." He went a little pink. "I didn't really react well, but we can talk about it another time and... There's a Hogsmeade weekend in February?"
Calla blinked at him. Was he actually asking her out? After what had happened earlier, he was really asking her on another date? "I'm not sure," she said slowly. "I, um - look can we talk about this at some other point?" How was she even meant to respond? She felt sure she was mucking it up. Zach's face fell, and Susan and Hannah exchanged worried glances. "I'm just, er, tired at the moment." She smiled shakily.
"Yeah," Zach said, voice a little hollow. "Sure. That's... fine."
"Okay," she said. "Great. I'll aim - I'll see you!"
Flustered, she turned around and nearly tripped over the stairs, having to hoist her dress to her knees and hurry to the Ravenclaw Tower, cheeks blazing. That had been agonisingly awkward. She slipped inside the common room behind a group of chattering fifth years, grateful that she didn't have to answer any riddles, and sprinted over to a corner of the common room where her friends were sitting, Terry dozing in an armchair next to a very disgruntled Anthony. "What happened?" Padma asked her when she sat down by Terry, letting her skirts drop again.
"He asked me out to Hogsmeade." Her words came out in a rush and Isobel choked.
"He did what?"
"Exactly! He argued with me, tried to tell me I was - I don't know, going crazy or something - didn't speak to me the rest of the night and then he asks me out! What's up with that?" She turned to Anthony and Terry. "What does that mean? Why would someone do that?"
"I don't know," Anthony said, looking alarmed. "We don't all think the same."
"It's 'cause he fancies you," Terry said tiredly, which did not help.
Calla made a strained sound. "But tonight was so awkward! I don't know what to do!"
"Wait, wait," Sue said, looking up from where she and Mandy were huddled together. "What did you say?"
"That I'd think about it, but now I am thinking about it and I don't know what to do." Daphne snorted. "What?"
"I think you should sleep on it, Calla. I mean, I wouldn't go out with him, seeing as he made you cry."
"Yeah, but... We're still friends."
"Yeah, but he made you cry!" Isobel said.
"I know," she whined, burying her face in her hands. "Which is why I don't know what to do!"
Why were feelings so complicated? Calla asked herselffor what felt like the millionth time in a month. Tonight had been so awkward, and then turned into her crying, and while she knew Zach hadn't realised that what he was going to say was going to upset her, it still had. He'd apologised that they'd argued, not that he'd said it in the first place. And even then, even before, things hadn't felt right. She hadn't had a clue what to do in a romantic-ish situation - but maybe everyone felt like that at first. "I need sleep," Calla muttered, and her friends all murmured their agreement.
They drifted off to the dormitory, Calla still thinking and running through the night's events. Honestly, she realised, she'd been happiest when she'd just been dancing with her friends and Harry. But she had to do something about the Zach situation, but if she turned him down she worried that would make things worse, but she didn't know what would happen if she said yes. She thought worriedly into the night, until her nerves tired her out and she finally drifted off to sleep. The image of the graveyard stayed in her dreams.
Author's Note: ahh, the awkwardness of trying to date as a fourteen year old. And of trying to tell a prospective boyfriend that you can actually see the future. This chapter really got away from me a bit, to be honest, but I struggled with where to cut it, so here - an extra long chapter. Second task preparations get properly underway in the next chapter, which is exciting - what do you guys think of Calla's way of tackling the challenge? I remember reading the Goblet of Fire for the first time and thinking that the second task would involve poison and Harry would have to make an antidote, because there seemed to be so much emphasis on antidotes earlier in the year, so I thought some slightly unconventional potion use might come in handy and that using something other than a physical spell would probably be the most appealing idea to Calla. Hope you guys enjoyed, and I also want to say thank you for all the supportive comments after the last chapter, I can't tell you how much it meant to me! I'll try to update soon! :)