I had hoped for a good long rest after that first task, however much to my disappointment, things only seemed to grow busier. The entire school was soon twittering about the Yule Ball which would be occurring on Christmas day, some frilly affair that interested me very little, but apparently I had to attend because I was a champion. McGonagall warned me that I had no choice, and that if I tried to avoid my duties in opening the ball she would hunt me down herself and drag me by the ear onto that dance floor. At least Harry seemed as uninclined to dance as I was, but still, that didn't stop me from learning how just to make sure I didn't make a total prat of myself in front of all the schools.

In the meantime, I tried to figure out the clue from the egg but so far I had had no luck whatsoever. It didn't respond to magic, no revealing charms showed anything significant about it and no matter where or when I opened the damn thing, it always screamed at me like it were dying. I decided to leave it for a while, focusing instead on other things. Lupin wrote back to me several times in the weeks preceding the ball, offering some advice on the egg as well as the papers I was writing. I liked hearing from him and had already got his Christmas presents all prepared.

Dad also wrote, though his missives were much shorter on account of the fact that he had limited resources to hand. I couldn't wait for him to finally get here, there was so much I wanted to talk to him about but I held it all in for the time being. For now, the ball was at the forefront of my mind, as it was pretty much all anyone could talk about. Viktor had expressed to me that he would like to ask Hermione, but had only progressed from borderline stalking to awkward grunts in her general direction. If I didn't know it would only make him more embarrassed, I would have laughed. So I decided to give him a helping hand, bringing Ginny and Hermione down to the lake for some time away from the castle as I knew Viktor tended to swim or jog the lake, and usually he was unaccompanied by his obsessive girl fans.

Hermione seemed particularly glad to get away as she was in a huff with Ron and Harry. "Honestly boys are so predictable and simple minded. All they think about is how a girl looks…" She kept on ranting as Ginny and I played magic catch with a ball that switched between a softball, a bowling ball, a Frisbee, a beach ball and various other appearances, meaning that it was a constant guess as what it was you'd have to catch and you had to make the split second decision to either catch it with your hands or with your wand, because if you dropped it, it exploded. A brilliant game, though I was the unfortunate one to receive the bowling ball and it almost smacked me right in the face before I quickly flicked it away.

"They're boys, Hermione, and they're getting to the age when they're going to start noticing the feminine sort. Don't take it as a personal insult, you have the same good fortune as Ginny and I here to have both brains and beauty." I consoled her as I fired the ball back and it changed mid-air into a golf ball which meant that it flew right over Ginny's head, forcing her to summon it back.

"Mia's right, my brother is just dense." She promptly added with a slight blush, making me grin at her. I have no doubt in my mind that she would like nothing better than for Harry to ask her to the ball, but that idiot was also just as dense as he best friend, meaning neither of them had a clue. It really is such a burden being so mature and wise, I wonder how everyone else manages not being me. "Anyway, Mia, who are you going with? My first guess would be with either Fred or George, but Fred's already asked Angelina, right?"

"Hm, that's right. I discussed it with George and he agreed to dance with me for the opening if I didn't find anyone else beforehand. He's going with Alicia Spinnet."

"Really? I would have thought one of them would have asked to go with you." Hermione said to me in surprise, looking up from her book as Ginny and I took a break from catch in order to sit down for a while.

"Nah, we're best friends but they have their romantic sights set elsewhere. George agreed to be backup, though I think he only offered because he thinks it'll be hilarious if I end up having to go on my own because I haven't picked someone else to go with. McGonagall will probably have kittens if the two of us step out onto that dance floor together." Grinning at the thought, I laced my fingers behind my head and leaned back against the tree that Hermione and Ginny had perched themselves in.

"You mean no one's asked you?"

"Well of course people have asked me, but half of them I've never spoken to before in my life, some of them were much younger and I'm pretty sure one of them was a first year. The rest actually ran away before I could give an answer, though I think that's more due to the fact that the boys were threatening them behind my back for a good laugh. Hence why I need some space away from them." Ginny clicked her tongue in annoyance and vowed she was going to murder all three of them, Fred, George and Ron together.

We enjoyed some peace and quiet after that, watching the lake gently lapping against the bank until gradually, I began to see someone jogging around the edge of the water. As he came closer, I could clearly distinguish Viktor's sloping shoulders until the rhythmic sound of his feet slapping against the ground caused Hermione and Ginny to both look up. Before either of them could say anything, I sprung to my feet and waved to him, smiling brightly. "Viktor! Over here!" He then angled himself towards us, slowing to a halt before me in order to murmur quietly though his eyes had immediately darted past me to look at Hermione. "I thought you might like to try talking to her today. See? No one else is around. Go for it Viktor!"

"I don't know, she looks busy…"

"Oh that? Hermione always reads, it's nothing really. Go on, just come over with me and I'll introduce you. I'll even suggest we all walk around the lake together and you two can talk." I encouraged him as his brow furrowed even further as he shifted uncomfortably. "Viktor, if you can face a dragon and come off easy, you can talk to Hermione Granger. Come on." Now looping my arm through his, I smilingly brought him over where both Ginny and Hermione got to their feet, Hermione tucking her book under her arm in order to pull her cloak closer around her. "Ginny, Hermione, this is my good friend Viktor Krum. Viktor, these are my friends Ginny Weasley and Hermione Granger."

He managed a grunt as Ginny and Hermione both said hello. Ginny offered Viktor her hand for him to shake, maintaining a calm and rather nonplussed exterior though she was looking at me closely. Now came Hermione's turn, and as she shook hands with Viktor I saw a sweet little smile on her face. "You were very good in the first task. How are you enjoying Hogwarts?"

"It is very varm here." Krum finally managed to speak, causing me to grin even further. Steamrolling ahead with this breakthrough, I suggested that we all walked together and pointedly grabbed Ginny's arm in order to tug her into walking alongside me, leaving Hermione with Krum though she seemed confused as to what I was up to. All the same she followed and started to talk to Viktor, who had managed to ask her what book she was reading.

"What's all that about?" Ginny whispered to me as we walked a fair distance ahead so that the two behind us had their privacy.

"Viktor has taken a shine to Hermione but was too shy to talk to her. I thought I'd give a little nudge." Instantly Ginny's eyes widened and her face split into a smile at the news, eagerly leaning in closer.

"Ron is going to go nuts when he finds out, is he going to ask her to the ball?"

"Yes, I believe so. Or at least, he wants to." So Ginny and I spent the rest of the walk around the lake talking about Hermione and Viktor, glancing back over our shoulders occasionally to see them locked in conversation, making us giggle. Granted it was usually Hermione talking, but I heard Viktor's distinctive voice more than once make a reply or ask a question. He even seemed happy, his expression having relaxed and once or twice I was certain I almost caught a smile.

We circled the lake then came to a halt at the harbour below the school so that Viktor could return to his school's ship, though he was much more talkative now than he had been before. He barely took his eyes off Hermione, who was now blushing deeply as he murmured goodbye to her before giving a curt nod to Ginny and me. He turned away and boarded his ship, and we had the decency to wait until he was out of sight before Ginny and I launched ourselves at Hermione in order to demand what he'd said, wanting to know everything as she continued to blush and stammer. "H-He asked me to go t-to the ball with him."

"And?" I prompted, the three of us beginning to walk back up to the castle with rapid whispers.

"Well, I…I said yes." I laughed heartily as Ginny excitedly shook Hermione's arm as she continued to blink, completely stunned. "He was rather sweet, actually, he even told me he'd been wanting to talk to me for a while now but was shy…Mia did you know?" Affirming that yes, I had known all along Viktor's intentions, I hummed happily.

"Looks like we'll have to find you something to wear then, Hermione. Ron is going to be so jealous, I'd bet anything he'd even be willing to swap places with you just to go to the ball with Viktor Krum." Flushing all the more, Hermione pleaded with Ginny and I to keep it a secret as she didn't want everyone in the school knowing, thinking that if word spread then all the girls who usually follow after Viktor would probably start coming after her. "Good point. Our lips are sealed." I promised her, so with a bashful smile, we then began to plan what dresses we would like to wear, deliberating on whether we should colour coordinate though Ginny was too young to attend the ball, which was a shame. Maybe I'll bring her as my dance partner just so that she could come.