Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or any of the characters.

A/N: Thanks to MaeSilverpaws1, who is beta-ing this story.

Chapter Ninety-Four

The Yule Ball

The castle was abuzz with excitement and apprehension the night of the Yule Ball. The boys were all putting on their dress robes, none seeming to be pleased that they had to wear the fancy clothes. Most were also nervous about who they were going with, but Ron found that he had little need to be nervous. Luna wasn't about to care if he had button his dress robes all the way up, or if his hair was perfect as Lavender seemed to expect out of Seamus. Of course if he had been going with Hermione he probably would have fussed more … but she would have cared and he would want to make her happy. That was probably the only good thing about not going to the ball with Hermione.

"Aren't you going to at least button up your shirt," Dean asked Ron, his expression was envious as if he longed for the same ease of the wardrobe as Ron had.

"Nah," Ron smirked at him and he received glares from all the other boys, even Harry. "You know that Ginny isn't going to care …" he started to say to his friend.

"I'm not worried about Ginny … it's McGonagall that's troublesome," Harry said making a face. "'You're a champion Potter! Why wasn't you're shirt button? You disgraced our school … disgraced Gryffindor. Do you know how impossible it has been to talk to Snape after that?!"

Everyone in the boys' dorm was laughing at that. Though they couldn't really imagine McGonagall saying that, they knew that she would not appreciate a casual dress robes all the same.

"Tough luck mate," Ron said slapping him on the back, "Are you ready yet?"

"Thanks for your undying support Ron," Harry glared at his grinning friend and then shrugged. "As ready as I'll ever be. Let's get this damn night over with."

"You'd think that going to a dance with a girl was worst than facing a dragon or even facing you-know-who, the way you look," Seamus said laughing as Harry shrugged again.

"Well, he is going with Ginny … she can be worse than a dragon if you get her angry," Ron laughed too.

"She's not bad … it's the dancing that's got me worried," Harry pointed out to them and then fled the room as the others laughed at his expense. It was all right for them to laugh … they weren't going to be forced to dance in front of everyone one else. When they got downstairs Dean and Seamus left to met their dates while Ron and Harry waited for Hermione and Ginny. Hermione had asked Viktor to meet her at the entrance of the Great hall explaining that she wanted to share some of the night with her friends by walking to the Great Hall together.

"Wow," Ron whispered suddenly as he looked at the stairs to the girl's dormitory. There she was, perfect at everything she did of course, she was beyond beautiful in the elegant dress. He would have taken wearing the tightest most uncomfortable dress robe … to be filled with nothing but nerves … to be the one to go to the ball with her.

Blinking a few times, Ron was a little shock by what he was seeing. Her hair had been tamed. He didn't think that was even possible, but it had been tied into an elegant knot. He loved her wild hair; he liked to think it was physical proof of her passion and anger. She liked to be organized, but there was always a part of her that would be wild and uncontrolled. He felt a little sad that she had indeed controlled her hair, but he couldn't deny that she looked good with it up. Her hair being up brought attention to her long neck among … other things. It also somehow brought her eyes into focuses, her expression easier to read than ever as she stared at him, with a sad look, as if waiting for a response from him.

"Hey," he said when Hermione and Ginny made it downstairs and was near them.

"Hey," she repeated back at him. He could see that was not the response she was looking for, but she smiled at him, though there was still a little sadness in her eyes, he knew the smile was genuine.

"Well, what are we waiting for," Ginny said, making Ron and Hermione jump and break eye contact as they both looked at her. She grinned at them, sticking her tongue out at her brother before she turned the smirking Harry around and they both left, leaving Ron and Hermione to follow. The four of them made small talk as they walked, though Ron hardly said anything, seeming to remember with every step they made that she was going with Krum, the ruddy pumpkin head.

"You really should button your top up, Ron," Hermione said before they rounded the corner and they were alone. The grimace he directed at her dead on his face as he saw her smiling at him. "Even wearing such nice robes you have to be a little messy."

"You wouldn't know it was me, if I wasn't a little messy," Ron pointed out and she laughed.

"To tell the truth, I wouldn't really want to change anything," she said to him, and gave him a quick hug and then pulled away, "I've got to go now."

"Hmph," Ron grunted and watched her as she walked away feeling gloomy.

"With that expression you should probably have brought Sunny with you," a voice said from behind him and Ron turned to see Luna walking towards him, her sliver gown was flowing around her, and it magnified her dream like qualities. "He would have enjoyed the party."

"You really are living up to your name, Dreamwalker," Ron said to Luna and actually smiled. He was again reminded that he was at least going to be going to the ball with his friend … a friend that was remarkably good at cheering people up. "We better get inside," he added holding out his arm so Luna could take it as they walked into the room together.

O

"Harry, you can't be serious," Ginny snorted as they sat down at the table that they're friends had used while eating dinner. "That dances was horrible."

"First of all, it wasn't horrible," Harry said pouting at her now, but it was over drawn and she knew he was just trying to make her feel sorry for him. "I was imagining tripping over my feet and taking down all of the champions. You did notice how Hermione and Viktor weren't anywhere near us … she must have known it wouldn't be safe …."

"Okay, if you had been imagining that, then our dancing wasn't that bad," Ginny laughed. "But seriously Harry, you need to learn how to relax a little … it felt like I was steering a block of wood. And while you're at it, it probably would be a good idea if you learned how to lead."

"Frankly, I don't see myself dancing anytime in the near future," Harry said making a face.

"Oh," Ginny's face fell a little, despite the fact that he wasn't very good at it, she still had fun with his arms around her as she lead them the best she could. Formal dancing wasn't really to her liking either, but at least her mum had taught all of them a few of those steps. She looked over to the now crowded dance floor and how they danced in a more free fashion and felt that would have been much more fun and something that she might be good at.

"I supposed that way wouldn't be so bad," Harry said, reading her expression, his brow furrowed in a way that made it clear that he didn't think he would be any better at that way of dancing as the other, the fact that he was offering was so Harry. He would go through that torture for her, because he wanted her to have a good time at this dance as well.

"No, that's okay," Ginny shook her head; she didn't want to make him uncomfortable.

"You can always get Luna to dance with you," Ron said sitting down next to Harry, a grimace on his face. "Though, I did step on her foot twice so she might not be able to move anymore."

"Oh no, I'm fine," Luna said, wincing slightly as she hit her chair accidentally when she sat down on Ron's other side, "its good luck to have your foot stepped on."

"Really?" Ron asked surprised.

"No, I was just being nice," Luna informed him evenly startling a laugh out of Ron and the others.

"That was an interesting meal, wasn't it," Ginny said after the laughter died down and a silence came over the friends, in this atmosphere it was hard to pick a topic to talk about.

"I'd say … though I was disappointed that we could only get one main course," Ron sighed. "I really wanted to try them all."

"Of course you would, you're such a pig," Ginny shook her head at him.

"I'm not the only one. You didn't look too lady like while you were eating your meal," Ron informed her and Ginny looked mortified until Ron started laughing. "Only joking little sister."

"Git," Ginny said, reaching across Harry to punch him on the arm.

Soon after that Neville and Hannah joined them at the table followed by Hermione and Krum a few songs later. They all talked to one another having a good time, even though Krum seemed to have been uncomfortable at first, until Harry was able to get him talking after mentioning the Quidditch final. That brought Krum around to comment on Harry's own flying … a friendly match between them was even discussed when Krum stiffened and then frowned.

"Is something wrong?" Harry asked him frowning, he thought it might have been the fact that Hermione had been talking to Ron more than him since the Quidditch talk was brought up (oddly enough Ron hadn't seemed to pick up on that), but he was looking at the head table.

"I don't think that Headmaster Karkaroff likes that I've been sitting here so long," Krum sighed.

"Does it matter what he thinks?" Harry asked, not looking at the head table himself, because he didn't want to draw attention to them. "He's your headmaster, he doesn't control everything …"

"He has ways of punishing people who displease him," Krum said with a grim smile. "He does not do so much with me … I am his 'star pupil' because I was always so good at Quidditch …" he said this part almost bitterly and Harry raised his eyebrow wondering what he meant by that, but he didn't ask as Krum got up, and, looking at him slightly surprised, Hermione did the same, so they could dance again.

O

She really hated this situation at the moment. Here she was dancing with a nice, charming boy (all right man) and all she could think about was going to the dance with someone else. The worst of it was, she was having a good time talking with Viktor, on a friend level, but she knew that wasn't what he was feeling towards her. Not with the way that he had tried to talk to her at dinner, or the way his breath caught when they first danced. She should have somehow told him … what she didn't know, but it felt wrong that she had yet to say anything as the night progressed.

Hermione had been surprised when he had suddenly left the table with all her friends, where she had used a lot of her time talking with Ron (which was another thing she felt guilty about). Then they were dancing again and she had to admit she had fun. She had never thought that she would like dancing, she had never been uncoordinated at her Muggle school, but she never tried it before tonight. Maybe she was bad at dancing but there was something freeing about it that she liked.

When they called the last danced of the night she had been surprised to find that the rest of her friends had gone, along with more than half of the other students. It had been a slow dance that started to play, much to her dismay, but she had expected Viktor to hold her. Instead he said, "I think we should head back now."

"All right," she agreed with a questioning look.

He led her to the stairway that would lead up to the Gryffindor Tower and brushed the few curls (that have escaped the bun she had put them in after the long hours of dancing) out of her face.

"I had a wonderful time," Viktor said, leaning down towards her slowly but she backed away from him, and he stopped his movement.

"Viktor, I'm sorry," Hermione whispered sadly, she couldn't seem to raise her voice any higher. "I …"

"It is no more than I expected," Viktor said, his eyes closed in his disappointment before he straighten up and gave her a weak smile. "Ron is a lucky man …"

"Vik …" she started to say, hating that she had made it so obvious … the least she could have done was be less blunt about her preference as not to hurt Viktor. He didn't deserve that.

"At least I had a good time talking with Harry … and your friend Ginny," Viktor went on, not letting her apologize any more. Really what more could she say. "And I had fun dancing with you."

"I had fun too," Hermione said not sure if she should admit this or not, she didn't want to give him hope of any kind, but she didn't want him to think it hadn't been fun.

He looked into her eyes for a few seconds and then sighed, another weak smile on his lips, "thank you for the interesting evening."

"Thank you too," Hermione whispered back, again not being able to talk louder than that because she hated the look on his face as he turned away. No, she didn't like Viktor like he seemed to care about her, but she thought they could have been friends in a different situation and she didn't like hurting him. He walked away then and she watched him go sadly before she turned around and headed back to the common room. The walk seemed to take no time at all as she reflected on the night, until she was surprised to find that she as facing the Fat Lady and going into the room.

"Hey," Ginny said, she was sitting on their favorite couch looking into the fire.

"Waiting up for me?" Hermione asked. Ginny hadn't been too pleased with her when she learned Ron had asked her to the ball, but she had already agreed to go with Viktor. Ginny hadn't been really angry, or they would have fought about it by now, but she seemed to be annoyed. Hermione couldn't really blame her; she had been annoyed by that as well.

"Nah," Ginny chuckled. "I was just thinking."

"What about?" Hermione asked, sitting next to the younger girl.

"Harry," Ginny answered immediately.

"Did you not have fun at the ball?" Hermione asked they seemed to be having a good time, talking to one another and the group as a whole.

"Oh no, it was brilliant," Ginny said grimacing. "It was the perfect date," she add bitterly, "only it wasn't a date of course. Not when the guy just thinks of you as a friend and no matter how much you want that to change it's not going to happen. And though he warned you at the beginning and you promised him that you knew how he felt and he wasn't going to miraculously change his mind, you only realize now that it's all over you were hoping just for that."

"I'm sorry," Hermione said, putting an arm around Ginny, and the younger girl rested her head on Hermione's shoulder.

"I saw him looking at Cho and Cedric a lot," Ginny added, hating the clear jealousy in her voice, knowing that she didn't have a right to feel that way, but felt it all the same. "He's never going to look at me like that … not when I'm one of his friends … friendship is too important to him."

"I'm not so sure about that," Hermione said, "But I think he still needs some time to learn what he really wants … and honestly, I think you need to do the same thing."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Ginny asked, hotly, pulling away from her friend.

"I know you've always liked Harry, but you can't tell me that you haven't noticed other boys as well," Hermione said, trying to put this the right way, but knowing she was failing at the moment. "It might help if you try to get to know someone else so you'd know for sure if Harry's who you really want."

"Like that worked out so well for you with Krum," Ginny spat back at her angrily.

"No … it didn't," Hermione bowed her head. "I had acted on impulse and ended up hurting two people that didn't deserve it."

There was a silence between the friends as neither knew what to say. Ginny, her anger at her friend dying as quickly as it came, went back to hugging her. "Don't you mean three people?"

"I deserved to be hurt …" Hermione started said.

"No more so than my git of a brother who had all the time in the world to ask you and waited until two days before the dance," Ginny said.

"He seemed to have fun with Luna," Hermione commented, and hated that she was jealous of her odd friend, but watching the two talk together had been painful. She feared, though logically she knew she shouldn't, that the two of them would find that they did liked each other and end up dating. It would be impossible to stand by watching that happen knowing that she could have been with Ron if only she hadn't gone to the dance with someone else.

"Yeah," Ginny said laughing as she looked up to read Hermione's expression. "Really Hermione, you don't have anything to worry about … Luna has no interest … Ron has no interest … it's never going to happen."

"I don't know what you're talking about," Hermione said, blushing but taking Ginny's words to heart.

"Sure you don't," Ginny said smiling, before she looked pensive again. "Was it worth it … going to the ball with Krum?"

"Even with the mess that happened with Ron and I …" Hermione said slowly, trying to figure out her own feelings about this. "I don't think it's going to make things easier but I have learned a lot about what I want. Maybe even about what he wants. Of course I wish it never happened, but at least I learned."

"Something you always strive to do," Ginny snorted.

"True," Hermione agreed with her own laugh.

"Do you really think I should try talking to other boys … maybe even dating them if I like them?" Ginny asked suddenly as if she was trying to say it before she lost her nerve.

"I don't know, Gin," Hermione answered, though it had been her suggestion, after what Ginny had just pointed out she was less sure of it. "All I can say is it might show you what you really want."

"You think I just have a crush on Harry!" Ginny huffed, angry again.

"Are you 100% sure about the way you feel about Harry?" Hermione asked, her eyes looking into Ginny's, not flinching at all, demanding Ginny tell her the truth.

Ginny wanted to say yes, she was sure, but there was a part of her that did questioned if she still had a childhood crush on him. She knew what she felt for Harry wasn't the same as it had been when she was a child, but she had gone from that to the more powerful feelings she had gained over the years as she got to know Harry. How much of that was transferred and how much was real feelings? And even if it was transferred, who was to say that it wasn't real? another part of her questioned indignant at her recent thought.

"I don't know," she answered those unflinching eyes. "But I don't know if I could throw myself at another guy just because I want to see …"

"And that's not what I'm suggesting you to do, and you know it," Hermione said rolling her eyes. "I'm just suggesting that the next time a boy talks to you, don't put up your defenses and actually talk to him. Talk to him as in a real conversation more than just how's the weather. Get to know him. You don't have to marry him just because you said Hi."

Ginny raised an eyebrow at her friend at that comment and Hermione did the same. She did know what her friend meant; she never really talked to other boys, not like that. She knew it was partly because of how she felt about Harry, but the truth was that no one made her feel inclined to try anyways.

"Just think about it," Hermione sighed dropping the subject. They talked about other things though it wasn't long after that when they went up to bed.