Books in Series:

Book 1: A Girl Can Be More Important Than a Firebolt

Book 2: Light of the Heart

-o-

A/N: Harry Potter and his world belong to J.K. Rowling, Warner Brothers and anyone that has received licensing rights.

A/N: Thank you to my beta brummettjames007

-oOo-

Chapter 12

December 20, 1996

Hogwarts, Scotland

A mannequin was set up in a corner. Looking at the robes, Harry was realizing he didn't quite have his aunt's skill in sewing yet. It was all the right measurements and would pass for nice mid-grade robes, but it should have looked better for the materials and runes in it. He noticed the sloppy seams along one shoulder pad, the slight puckering at the hem where he had sewn the inside lining a little too high.

He felt quite frustrated with his work and had already started work on a second one.

The only good thing was that his theory of using embroidered runes in the seam appeared to work, and it had saved almost thirty percent of the thread he used to sew it together. More importantly it didn't need a middle layer of Aegean sheep fleece or weave.

The disillusionment charms held for over two hours before they faded, and simple stunners and immobilization spells bounced off it. Now he was going to test it for piercing hexes and small stones that he would banish with a spell he created to make them shoot faster.

Hermione was scratching away at a board. Friday afternoons neither of them had classes and tomorrow they would take the Express home. Hermione was excited because she could finally show her parents some of what she could do. He couldn't wait for July thirty-first.

Casting the diagnostic spells on the cloak, he cleared the board and then warned, "I'm going to make some noise."

Hermione didn't even pay attention to him. He cast the first piercing spell. It absorbed the spell, instead of deflecting it. His brow furrowed; that was not supposed to happen. Looking at the runes and numbers on the board, Harry felt a sense of disappointment.

The binding rune and charms strengthened some as he hit the robes again, but they absorbed the spell and spiked the power use. He tried a few more and on the fourth one there was a ripping sound. "Shiite," he cursed.

"Harry, language," Hermione chastised.

"There goes three months down the drain," he groused walking over to the robes. The piercing charm went right through the right breast, through the mannequin and out the back. "Bloody hell!"

He ran his wand over the cloak and looked at the chalk board.

"Shiite. Aunt Bel warned me about doing that," he said.

Hermione put down her chalk. "How bad is it?"

"I have to start all over. I chained the runes in the seams to reduce the amount of thread I needed from the sheep. When it failed, the whole chain failed," he informed her. He let out an aggravated sound before falling onto the love seat they had transfigured. He pushed his glassed up and put his hands on his eyes.

"Are you sure it's a total loss?" his betrothed asked, coming over.

"Yeah. Just look at the output. I messed up somewhere and combined the shield and heat absorption charms. I don't even know where I did that. I checked that four times before I made the runes. Damn it!"

Hermione walked over to the board. "How can you tell? I don't recognize what you did here."

"Carwen is conjugated with Tigu. That could only happen if the power threads were done incorrectly."

"How do you know that?" she inquired.

He got up and pointed out the increasing power readings until they suddenly spiked and dropped. "Here. The shield inverted with the heating charm because of the heated air around a piercing hex."

She looked at it for a few. "I thought that was just a miscalculation. I saw this in the prediction equations I did for you."

He groaned. "You saw this? Great, I suck at arithmancy, too. Why didn't you tell me?"

"I thought it was a miscalculation on my part and redid the calculations. Your calculations are sound, but there is some interaction here we didn't know about. You said a piercing charm heats the air?"

Harry rubbed the back of his neck and walked back to the loveseat. "Yeah. I did the calculations to determine the type of power I would have to put into the runes. I was trying to make them low power enough not to set off muggle alarms or sensors."

They had both been studying hard and working late into the evenings for weeks to keep up with end of term exams, homework, research and learning about the Wizengamot and how to be peers. Harry was feeling it. His head plopped back on the couch.

"Where are your notes?" she asked.

"On my desk. The two books I used for it should be on my chair."

Closing his eyes, he was thinking this was comfortable. He heard her ruffling through the general pile of papers on his desk. "Harry, I can't find them."

"Accio piercing calculations,"he called out, not even grabbing his wand. He felt his magic pull. It felt harder than normal. There was a cacophony of fluttering papers, glass bottles breaking and other tools clinking as they hit the floor. "Shiite," he swore again as three parchments flew into his hands.

"Smooth," she chuckled.

"I'm nothing but smooth today," he snarked back.

"Hardly." There was a pause. "Harry, where's your wand?"

"In my holster. Where else would it be?" he answered, putting his arm down and the papers crumpling on the love seat as he held them.

"Could you always cast wandless magic, or is that new?"

Harry picked up his head. "What?"

"Did you just use your wand to summon those or not?"

He looked at her warm brown eyes. There was no lie. He thought back and realized what he had just done. "Merlin!" A smile stretched across his face. "I just cast wandlessly!"

"How?" his brown eyed girl asked eagerly.

He thought about it for a moment. "I just raised my hand, really wanted the notes for you, concentrated on the need and said the words."

She looked at him for a moment before her brown eyes grew lighter and seemed to take on a power of their own. As tired as he was, he felt the stirrings for her. "Accio Harry's Notes!"

They tugged in his hands. He let them go and they stopped about halfway to her and fluttered to the floor. The power fell out of her eyes and she swayed. Harry jumped up, took three bounding steps and caught her before she fell.

"Whoa, that takes a lot of magic," she remarked.

"Alright, how about we call it quits for the day?" She was having a hard time standing, so he scooped her up and brought her to the love seat. She wrapped her arms around his neck as she settled into his lap. "I only need a little rest and then we will get back to it. We'll be gone for two weeks."

He chuckled as he adjusted Hermione in his lap. "You do remember the Yule Ball is tonight?"

She pulled away, looking for a clock. "I'm supposed to meet Parvati and Lavender at four," she said in a panic.

"It's only half three. You have a little time. And why four? The Ball doors don't open until seven-thirty."

She relaxed into him. "Not all of us just need to shower and then throw their robes on."

"I shave and try to tame my hair too."

She giggled. "Don't even bother, I like your hair all mussed."

"Sometimes I wish I could tame it," he told her.

She ran a hand through his hair. "Keep it like this."

He smiled and moved to kiss her. "As my Lady wishes."

"You're finally learning," she smirked before meeting his lips. It soon became heated and he pulled the hem of her shirt out to slide his hand inside it. She moaned into his mouth. "I can't spend that much more time here," she said rather breathlessly as he kissed down her neck and she undid the top few buttons of her shirt.

"I can stop," he responded, giving his own moan as her hands roamed over his chest. She gave an even deeper moan as he gripped her bottom while his other hand snaked under her bra.

"I have ten minutes," she said into his ear before taking the lobe into her mouth. He took in a deep breath before sucking on the base of her neck. She hit the back of his head.

"Don't give me a hickey where it will show in my dress," she told him.

He smiled before kissing the spot. It looked a little red. "You said Lavender taught you a charm?"

"It's only a glamour. I haven't found a recipe for the balm Madam Pomfrey uses yet," she was saying before she sucked in her breath as he nipped at her nipple through her bra. "Harry," she said rather breathlessly.

His hand slid out from beneath her shirt and trailed along her skirt to her leg. They both groaned when the clock bell started to ring. Hermione tensed. On the second bell she suddenly pulled back. He moved to kiss her again and she pushed him back on the third bell. "Oh, god, I'm late!"

He chuckled as the fourth bell rang. "For a very important date?"

She just stared at him for a second. "That was awful," she laughed at him before giving him a peck.

He shrugged and grinned. "Well, don't you have to get going?"

She growled at him. "I'm going to get you back!"

"I look forward to it. Button your shirt," he told her as she got up and rushed to get her bag. She was flustered and a nice color came to her cheeks.

"Berk," she called him, showing how flustered she was. After hastily buttoning her shirt and only half straightening her clothes she moved for the door. "You better be the gentleman tonight."

"Does that include continuing what we were just doing?"

She huffed at him, looking torn between coming back to him or leaving. After a few seconds she left. Harry laughed at the glare. He was probably in trouble, but he liked riling her up like that at times. After a few moments, his hormones cooled, and he looked at the mess on the floor and the failed robes.

With a sigh, he set to cleaning up. The ink was probably gone. Looking at the robes, he tried a few more piercing shots. The first had a little reaction, but the others went right through. He wanted to burn it up, but he would have to take it apart with Aunt Bel and see what he did wrong.

-oOo-

Entry Hall, Hogwarts, Scotland

Just like at Halloween, the girls told them to meet in the Lobby. The thing between Dean and Parvati had ended, so Seamus and Dean were waiting for different dates. The five of them were by the main doors, trying to avoid the general mass gathered at the stairs and doors to the Great Hall. Looking around, Harry was sure almost every student from fourth year and up was here, as well as quite a few third years.

It was still a few minutes before the doors opened, and a meal wasn't supposed to be served until eight. Seamus looked a little nervous. "Daphne's a nice person," Harry told his dormmate, trying to soothe Seamus' nerves.

"Why did I agree for you to set me up with her? She's a Slytherin and damned scary at times," Seamus said nervously.

"Harry is right, she is nice when you get to know her more," Neville responded.

"You have to admit, she is hot, too," Ron pipped up.

Seamus gave a smile. "Yeah."

Harry shook his head. Daphne was very pretty. Not as petite as Astoria, more a classical beauty. "I can tell you; she will curse you if that is all you think of her."

The smile turned into a grimace. "Why did you talk me out of asking Sue Li?" Seamus whinged.

"One, you've asked her out three times and flamed out each time. Two, she eats guys and then spits them out, and not in the good way," Dean responded. "Is Tracey as nice as she seems?"

Neville snorted. "She is. She is also rather crass when she lets her guard down."

Dean perked up at this. "You don't say?"

Ron elbowed him and nodded towards the stairs. Harry looked up and a large smile spread across his face. Hermione was looking around the hall. He didn't register Lavender or Parvati next to her. She was in very flattering red dress robes that tastefully showed her shoulders and cut to just above her chest. It flared a little at her hips and came down to the floor.

Harry's mouth watered to see her neck fully exposed with her hair up in a fancy do.

His Aunts had told them this was a school dance, but it was a Ball also. Properly representing their Houses and status was called for, and Harry found this elegant beauty much to his liking. He didn't prefer it over normal Hermione, but Merlin did she look good!

"Bloody hell!" Ron murmured looking up at Lavender.

Harry gave their other friends a quick glance. Lavender was in a very flattering silver dress that sparkled in the light. It highlighted her curves, and her hair was left long with a silver tiara on her head. Parvati was in a very pretty Indian style dress. Dean looked at her longingly before quickly looking away, back towards the stairs to the dungeons.

Dean had not been the one to break it off.

Hermione smiled for him when he returned to looking at her and moved down the stairs. He walked over to greet her, weaving through the crowd. "You look beautiful," he greeted her.

She nodded her head, "Thank you, Scion Black," she said with a smirk.

Harry blushed, remembering his manners. He reached for her hand and kissed it. He always thought this part silly. At least, until now. She deserved to be treated as a high lady. "Would the Heiress Black care to accompany her betrothed?" he asked standing up and holding his arm out.

Lavender giggled at them. "I think you could learn something from them, Won Won."

Ron's neck reddened and he tried to copy Harry. Hermione's firm grasp on his arm told him not to take the Mickey. Instead, he bowed to Lavender. "Evening, Ms. Brown. You look lovely tonight."

Uncharacteristically, she showed her lady-training and curtsied. "Thank you, Scion Black. You look quite dashing. And you, Heiress Black, look beautiful."

Hermione returned a slight curtsy. "Thank you, Ms. Brown. I must return the compliment."

They rejoined their other friends. Neville was kissing Astoria's hand. She was in a beautiful forest green dress with her dark hair up and held with a jade comb. Astoria looked incredibly pleased at Neville. They had tried to teach Dean and Seamus the proper etiquette. Seamus was uncharacteristically fumbling over himself as he tried to copy Neville. Daphne had her mask on, but the way her brow rose a bit, Harry bet she wanted to laugh at the normally boisterous boy. Dean was having more success with Tracey, who smiled as he overly flourished and kissed her hand.

Hermione rolled her eyes.

"Ms. Greengrass," Harry bowed to Daphne first, being the older sister, before turning to Astoria. "Ms. Greengrass. Ms. Davis." They each curtsied to him. "You all look lovely tonight."

"Don't you already have a date?" Dean challenged.

Hermione grabbed his arm tighter. "A fact that he had better not forget," Hermione joked.

He turned and kissed her forehead. "You are all the beauty I ever need," he assured her.

Hermione blushed and Tracey swooned. "If anyone is that sweet to me, I'll take them to any broom closet they want."

Dean raised his eyebrow and took Tracey's hand to his mouth again to kiss the back of it. "Let me say, you shine like a winter star."

Tracey eyed him. "You keep that up, Thomas, and I may ask you to take a walk later."

"Let's hope the Lady enjoys being treated right," Dean responded.

Daphne rolled her eyes as the two joined the queue entering the hall. "I swear," Daphne muttered.

"Ms. Greengrass, may I escort you?" Seamus asked much more formally.

Daphne gave him a small smile and took his outstretched arm. "It would be my pleasure," she told him.

"Shall we?" Harry asked Hermione.

She stepped to the side and took his arm the way Aunt Andi and their friends had shown her. Harry stood tall and comported himself the way a proper lord was expected to. "Please, my betrothed," she said sounding pleased to say it.

They joined the line behind Seamus and Daphne, with Neville and Astoria behind them. Daphne looked over her shoulder. "Is Dean a muggleborn?" she asked.

"Half-blood. Sort of like Seamus, his mother is a muggle. He found out last year his father was a Montague. His father was killed by Death Eaters trying to protect him and his mother," Harry said quietly, not wanting to disturb the easy conversation going between Dean and Tracey before them.

Daphne's eyes widened some. "My Aunt and Uncle are Montagues," she stated.

"You mean he is our cousin?" Astoria asked behind them.

Harry shrugged. "You will have to ask Dean."

"Dean doesn't know everything about his father. Until last summer, his mum thought his father had just run out on them. The goblins won't allow him into his vault until April, when he turns seventeen," Seamus told them.

Daphne looked at her friend and Dean. "Lord Davis may approve," he heard Daphne whisper. "Now, Mr. Finnigan, I expect to dance tonight."

Seamus smiled. "I'll dance all you want, Daphne," Seamus responded.

Hermione tapped his shoulder. "Until we sit and start eating, you should use formal titles," she reminded Seamus.

He blushed a little. Daphne smirked. "I prefer Daphne, but Heiress Black is correct at the moment." The smile returned to Seamus face. The eight of them had been doing so much studying and general hanging together that none of them used their surnames anymore, unless needed.

Once inside the hall, they all took in the decorations. It wasn't as lavish as the Yule Ball, fourth year when the Tri-Wizard Tournament was here, but it still looked magical. Snow was falling from the ceiling, fading about ten feet above their heads. Icicles and giant ice crystals hung or floated around the hall and caused stray sparkles to dance around as they reflected the candles. Round tables able to seat up to ten were towards the doors, with a large dance floor and a stage for musicians taking up the rear.

They took a table in the middle. Arriving a little later, they found the tables closest to the dance floor were already taken. Harry helped Hermione take a seat and she kissed him on the cheek as he joined her. When the hall was full, Headmistress McGonagall stood and tapped her glass with her knife; the tinkling sound was loud enough to reverberate throughout the hall drawing everyone's attention and quieting them all.

The Headmistress smiled. "Thank you all for coming to this lovely event tonight. I would like to say a quick thank you to Professor Greengrass and her planning committee for making another Hogwarts Tradition return. Many years ago, this was the highlight of the year, and it looks like it may be again," she said, sweeping her arm around the room. "The elves have graciously agreed to offer a selection of refined entrees. All you need to do is take the menu and pick what you would like. The dance will start in about forty minutes."

Hermione grabbed his hand. "You know McGonagall would not have allowed this if the elves didn't really want to do it," he whispered to her.

"I know. The house elves just want to please, so they probably just agreed no matter what she asked."

"Like Prim and Cork?"

"Of course not. I know you and Aunt Bel would never do that," she told him.

"You realize they are yours now, too," he reminded her.

They had been betrothed for close to two months. Hermione had spent some time with the Hogwarts elves, but he was sure that neither of them had thought about that, not really having talked about house elves in a while.

"Prim and Cork are family. I will not order them around," she told him.

He held her hand tighter. "That is part of why I love you."

She looked appeased.

"You two going to order or just ask sweet all night?" Astoria prodded. Ron and Lavender were seated to their left while Neville and Astoria were on their right.

Talk around the table was full of plans for Christmas Break, the latest fallout from the scandals at the Ministry, and how good the food was. It was a fun time. When the Headmistress called for the tables to be cleared and shrunk so that a tight group of ten would fit around them, a string band came out. "Mother says it will be formal waltzes for the first hour or so, and then the Skulkin' Hags will be on," Daphne informed them.

Everyone perked up at that. The Skulkin' Hags were a relatively new group that played music much more akin to muggle Grunge music. Knowing they were mostly muggleborns from Seattle, Washington in the U.S., it wasn't a surprise. He was just surprised that Professor Greengrass would find a group like that. "Isn't that one of the groups in your collection?" Hermione asked.

Harry's smile was broad. "Yeah. Aunt Bel likes them, too."

Hermione asked. "Why am I not surprised?"

He walked out with her on his arm before taking up the proper position. Only Neville and Astoria looked as comfortable as they did, and thus, they were on the inside of the circle. When the music started, Harry bowed to Hermione, who curtsied. Daphne and Astoria had been helping them. Hermione liked dancing and picked it up quickly.

He took her in his arms, one hand on her waist, the other straight out and holding hers to guide her. It was the male's role in this dance to lead. For her part, she tried to hold the expressionless face that she was supposed to, but it wasn't even thirty seconds before she was smiling. When the key change occurred, Harry reluctantly passed her to Neville while he took Astoria, who moved through the dance with even more grace than his betrothed.

On the second pass, he found Tracey in his arms and Hermione with Dean. Tracey gave him a radiant smile. "Having a good time with Dean?" he asked as they spun around.

"It is nice to dance with a boy that isn't trying to grope me," she told him.

Harry smiled. Tracey was an attractive girl with some nice curves. Harry did the lift. She was not as light as Hermione or Astoria, but he worked out enough to not notice much. "I hope the rest of the night is as fun," he responded.

"Thank you."

There was one final switch and he found Lavender passed to him. It was a fun dance and when done, he bowed and kissed her hand. Lavender gave him a smile. "I wish I knew you could dance like that before."

"I'm full of surprises," he told her.

"Hermione is a lucky girl. Now, where is my Won Won?"

Harry chuckled and handed Lavender back to Ron before retrieving Hermione from Seamus for the next dance. The ball room dancing was just as tiring as the wilder dancing they were going to do later and by the time the band left the floor, they were happy to take a break and have a drink.

Hermione leaned into his side as she sipped on her punch. "Lavender, I think those cushioning charms are wearing off. How did you do it again?" she asked the equally as flush witch who was rubbing her feet.

"Give me your shoes," Lavender ordered Hermione.

"You know how to cast N.E.W.T. level charms, but you can't cast a standard cushioning charm on your shoes?" he asked as Hermione took off the heels she was wearing.

"It's not the same, and I haven't studied many household spells," she explained.

"I am leaving my shoes here and just putting a no-step jinx on my feet to keep anyone from stepping on them," Astoria spoke up.

Most of the girls around the table perked up at that.

That gave Harry an idea. "Give me a few minutes," he told them. "Can I see your purse?" he asked Hermione.

She quirked an eyebrow. "For what?" she asked, reaching for it.

He took it and began rifling through it. Many of the girls looked surprised. Harry had seen enough of the typical women's supplies growing up with his Aunt that he didn't think about it. What he wanted was at the bottom of her purse. He took out the small spool of thread he had asked her to keep; you never knew when it may be needed.

"Put your foot up here," he instructed Hermione.

"What are you doing?" She didn't hesitate and Harry admired the small amount of leg she exposed. He took his wand out, concentrated, and started using the thread to make three small runes and enough power to make it last a few days. It took him only a moment and he massaged her foot before saying, "Done. Now the other foot."

She looked at him as though disappointed. "That felt good."

He chuckled. "Later. Let me finish this," he told her, doing the same to her other stocking and then rubbing her foot a little. Everyone was looking at him. "Now, standup and tell me how it feels."

Hermione eyed him before standing up. "Oh, that feels nice," Hermione told him.

"And how about this," he asked, moving to step on her toes.

"HARRY!" she cried out before stopping. He tapped on her toes, not touching her. "That's brilliant! It feels like I am walking on air and you didn't touch my toes at all," she suddenly exclaimed before leaning down to kiss him.

"Well?" Daphne asked.

"Well, what?" Harry looked at the dark-hair girl with a smirk.

"Are you only going to do that for your betrothed?"

"She is my betrothed," he replied as though it was obvious. Daphne rolled her eyes at him.

Hermione hit his arm and he laughed. "Fine. Either give me your stockings or I need your feet."

"Cheeky berk," Hermione huffed.

"I promise you're the only one I want," he assured Hermione.

Astoria, who was sitting next to him, put her feet up on his leg. "I'm next."

He chuckled. "Sure."

About ten minutes later, he had put the runes on the girl's stockings. It was a remarkably simple localized cushioning charm, with an impervious and shield charm to keep them from getting stepped on or wet.

"If you weren't already Hermione's, I'd say I love you," Astoria joked as she twirled around.

He looked at Neville and then Hermione. "I only belong to her," he told his cousin nodding to his brunette. "Those should last for the next three or four weeks."

The band was about to start, and Professor Greengrass came over. "Good evening," she greeted their table.

"Evening, Professor," echoed around the table.

"Good evening all. Are you having a good time?"

"Yes, mother. Can I have an advance on my next allowance?" Astoria asked.

Daphne shook her head. "What do you want now?" she asked her sister.

"A pair of leggings with these runes permanently on them," Astoria answered. "How much, Harry?"

Professor Greengrass raised her brow and Harry flushed a little. "I didn't do anything wrong," he told Professor Greengrass.

"That is yet to be seen," Hermione whispered behind him.

"Oi! I'm innocent this time," he complained. Many around the table laughed.

"And what did you do, Prefect Potter?"

Tracey lifted her foot to show the long stocking she had on and the golden runes on the bottom. "Harry put some enchantments on our stockings that feel wonderful."

Professor Greengrass raised an eyebrow. "I see. How about we talk about this tomorrow night at home?"

"Yes, mother," Astoria replied, sounding dejected.

"I would pay for a pair enchanted like this. Will it work with shoes on?" Daphne asked. "I do have some of my allowance left."

"Two galleons sound fair?" Lavender asked.

"I'd pay five if it had an indestructible charm," his betrothed added.

Professor Greengrass laughed. "It sounds like you did something impressive, Scion Black. If it is that impressive, I could put in an order or two myself."

Harry looked at them. "Ah, that was about two galleons worth of string each. To make it permanent and add an indestructible charm would probably cost twelve galleons worth of yarn," he said, thinking of what it might take. "Well, it wouldn't be permanent, but I could make it last a few years to a decade. What do you think?"

Hermione looked at him, her eyes intense. "I would easily pay twenty galleons a pair to feel like this in those shoes for the next few years. Or even normally," she told him.

"Do they have to be so much?" Lavender asked.

"I could use thread made from goblin silver to make the runes, but it would only last a year or two; that would cost about five galleons."

"I use a dozen stockings or more a year. I couldn't spend that much," Lavender told him. "Father wouldn't let me."

"It could be done with regular thread, but it would last a few weeks at most. I could do it for a galleon or two each," he told them.

"Two galleons for a few weeks?" Professor Greengrass questioned.

"Yes, Professor. You would still need to treat the string, and it would take about four times the amount of thread I used tonight. Using just charms on it would only last a few hours. How much do stockings cost?" he asked Hermione.

"A galleon or two if they are enchanted. Five or six sickles otherwise," she answered. "But like you said, those only last a few months to a year."

He looked at the girls. All the boys were quiet. The band started to warm up. "Why don't you go enjoy yourselves for now?" Professor Greengrass encouraged them.

Astoria hopped over to Neville and pulled him up. "I feel I could dance all night."

"We should sleep at some point," Neville laughed.

Astoria rolled her eyes. "We can sleep on the train tomorrow."

"Curfew is eleven-thirty tonight, young lady," Professor Greengrass called after her younger daughter.

"I'll make sure she is back in time," Daphne told their mother.

"Neville wouldn't go against the rules," he stuck up for his cousin.

"It's not Scion Longbottom that I don't trust," Professor Greengrass responded.

Daphne and Seamus were already walking away with the others. Harry leaned over and whispered to Hermione, "Told you so."

She hit his arm. "Be polite."

Professor Greengrass chuckled. "If you could keep an eye on Astoria, I would be in your debt. She reminds me too much of myself at that age."

Harry gave a broad smile. Hermione grabbed his arm. "Have a good night, Professor. My betrothed owes me more dancing after giving us those rune enchantments."

"Before you disappear, I did have something to ask you, Scion and Heiress Black," Professor Greengrass told them.

With the use of their titles, the Professor turned into Lady. "What may we help you with, Lady Greengrass?"

"Astoria and Daphne have requested I extend an invitation to you for our New Year's Eve Ball. It is a more laid-back affair to celebrate the new year, but it will have many of your friends there, and their parents," she said a little significantly.

Harry stifled his sigh. He wanted another year or two before they had to worry about things like this. He looked at Hermione, who gave him a slight nod, before he turned his attention back to Lady Greengrass. "We would be honored. Please send us an invitation."

Lady Greengrass gave them a regal nod. "It will be a pleasure to host you, Scion and Heiress Black. I will have an invitation sent with the RSVP already completed."

"Thank you, Lady Greengrass," Hermione said. "Would it be appropriate for me to take my betrothed to the dance floor now?"

The woman chuckled again. "Go. Remind my younger daughter, eleven-thirty."

"Yes, ma'am," Harry assured her, as Hermione dragged him out to the dance floor.

By the time it was quarter to eleven, the dance was winding down and would close at eleven. Harry was feeling hot, tired and just wanted to find someplace to snog Hermione senseless for a while. She looked just as flush. Catching Ron's attention, he mouthed, 'We're going'. It was a slow set for a few from the original band and Lavender had her head on Ron's shoulder. He gave him a thumbs up and Harry pulled Hermione out of the hall.

"Where are you taking me?" she asked him as they headed towards Gryffindor tower. Her hair was not as tamed as it was earlier, but Harry liked her that way.

"We have about a half-hour before we need to be back. I thought we might find somewhere to snog," he told her.

She smiled, even though she sounded like she was scolding him. "You think I got all done up like this just so I could snog you?"

"Kind of," he responded.

When they made it up to the third floor, she started to lead him. "You better show me more than kind of."

"Yes, Heiress Black," he responded. They made it to the broom closet Daphne had pointed out a few weeks ago. Harry opened it and Hermione pushed him in before claiming his mouth as hers.