The Yule Ball-Part 1

Summary: Harry is the fourth champion in the Triwizard Tournament and has just been informed that he has to go to the Yule Ball. He knows who he wants to ask, but will she say yes?

AN: Contains scenes from the movie and the book.

It was the end of the lesson, they had finished their work, the guinea fowl they had been changing into guinea pigs had been shut away in a large cage on Professor McGonagall's desk (Neville's still had feathers). They had copied down their homework from the blackboard ("Describe, with examples, the ways in which Transforming Spells must be adapted when performing Cross-Species Switches"). The bell was due to ring at any moment.

"The Yule Ball is approaching - a traditional part of the Triwizard Tournament and an opportunity for us to socialize with our foreign guests. Now, the ball will be open only to fourth years and above - although you may invite a younger student if you wish –"

Lavender Brown let out a shrill giggle. Parvati Patil nudged her hard in the ribs, her face working furiously as she too fought not to giggle.

"Dress robes will be worn," Professor McGonagall continued, "and the ball will start at eight o'clock on Christmas Day, finishing at midnight in the Great Hall. Now then –"

Professor McGonagall stared deliberately around the class.

"The Yule Ball is of course a chance for us all to - er - let our hair down," she said, in a disapproving voice.

Lavender giggled harder than ever, with her hand pressed hard against her mouth to stifle the sound. Harry could see what was funny this time: Professor McGonagall, with her hair in a tight bun, looked as though she had never let her hair down in any sense.

"But that does NOT mean," Professor McGonagall went on, "that we will be relaxing the standards of behavior we expect from Hogwarts students. I will be most seriously displeased if a Gryffindor student embarrasses the school in any way."

The bell rang, and there was the usual scuffle of activity as everyone packed their bags and swung them onto their shoulders.

Professor McGonagall called above the noise, "Potter - a word, if you please."

Harry proceeded to the teacher's desk. Professor McGonagall waited until the rest of the class had gone, and then said, "Potter, the champions and their partners –"

"What partners?" said Harry.

Professor McGonagall sighed. "Dance partners, Harry. You and the other champions open the Yule Ball with the first dance. It is a tradition. You are a Hogwarts champion, and you will do what is expected of you as a representative of the school."

"But I don't know how to….."

"We'll be doing lessons for the older students in a few weeks," Minerva explained. "If you need anything let me know Harry."

Harry nodded.

Professor McGonagall patted his shoulder. "Compared to the tasks, this should be a piece of cake."

Harry looked around to make sure they were alone, before turning back to his head of house. "Aunt Minnie, what if I don't find someone?"

Minerva smiled, patting Harry's shoulder. "You will. I would recommend going to your mother for advice."

"Thanks, Aunt Minnie."

Harry gathered his stuff and left the classroom.

Harry made his way back to Gryffindor tower, his mind wheeling with the information Professor McGonagall had given him. He had visions of dancing in the Great Hall dressed in robes that he had seen James wear for Ministry events with a girl in a frilly dress that reminded him of one that Lily had worn the Ministry Gala back in the spring.

Who could he ask to be his partner to the ball that wouldn't make him feel like a complete idiot? Who could he take that he was comfortable enough with that he wouldn't feel embarrassed?

He thought once about asking Hermione, but he knew Ron would most likely ask her.

Then like a lightning bolt, one person came to mind. This person would be someone he felt comfortable enough to brave going out in front of everyone, including his mother, and dancing with so that he wouldn't feel embarrassed.

Ginny!

Sure she was Ron's sister, but over the years she had become his friend as much as Ron had. He was just as protective of her as Ron, Fred, and George were, but unlike her brothers, he knew when to give Ginny space. She was among the handful of people who were on his side after his name came out of the goblet of fire. He liked her and was comfortable around her. And he was starting to have feelings for her.

He just needed to find a way to ask her to the ball.

So lost in his thoughts, when he turned the corner he bumped into someone. As he looked up to apologize, he found himself looking into the face of his own mother.

"Hi, Mum."

"You know you sometimes remind me of your father," Lily stated. "He would be paying attention to what was on his mind, pretty much anything else besides what he was doing like walking and where he was going."

Readjusting his strap on his rucksack, Harry murmured "Sorry Mum."

Lily reached over, pushing some stray hair out of Harry's eyes. He needed a trim.

"So what's on your mind?" She asked.

"Can we talk somewhere else?" Harry requested.

Lily nodded, putting her arm around his shoulder. She led him to her quarters near the hospital wing. She told Helga the password, entering the common area.

Harry followed her inside, sitting his rucksack down in the nearest armchair.

"So have you heard about the Yule Ball?" Harry began.

"I have. I've already informed your father that we'll be spending part of Christmas here," Lily said.

"What do you mean part of?" Harry asked, confused.

"We'll go home Christmas night after the ball is over," She explained, putting the kettle on to make an afternoon cup of tea.

"So Aunt Minnie said since I'm one of the champions we open the ball with the first dance."

"Okay," Lily murmured. "And the problem?"

"I have an idea who I want to ask."

Lily tried to hide her smile. She knew who Harry was thinking of asking. She had seen the two interacting and noticed something there that wasn't there before. If she had to guess, her son had a crush. But she wasn't going to question him on that. She knew James would take the mickey out of Harry enough for the both of them.

"Who?" She asked.

"Ginny," Harry replied.

"I think that is a great idea. You're friends and she's someone who you would feel comfortable with, right?"

Harry nodded.

Lily smiled. "And you'll have a better time with someone you know well like Ginny."

"What about my other problem?" Harry asked.

Reaching over, Lily pushed Harry's hair away from his face. "Aunt Minnie will be doing dance lessons before the ball. I volunteered to help."

"Mum," Harry groaned.

"Harry," She replied, mimicking her son's tone. "I'm not your Dad. I won't embarrass you."

Harry left Lily's quarters feeling lighter and a little worried still about the opening the ball issue. All he needed to do was ask Ginny to the dance.

How hard could it be?

OoOoOoOoOoOoO

A week later, Harry discovered that he would have rather take another round with the Horntail over facing the prospect of asking a girl to the ball. He was trying to work up the nerve to ask Ginny, but every time he had the opportunity something else came up. He tried to approach her when he saw her and her friends in the corridor, only for her to turn the corner when he got there. Once he had leaned over the stairs, to call down to her, but her friends pulled her towards the classroom.

The last time he tried to ask her was when they were leaving the Great Hall and he was about to call for her when she and her friends headed off in the direction of the library.

He wanted to kick himself.

"Damn it," he cursed, seething internally.

"What was that?"

Harry jumped at the voice, finding Lily directly behind him. He wanted to curse himself again.

"Nothing," He squeaked.

"Uh-huh," Lily stated, eyeing her son with her 'look'.

To Harry's surprise, Lily walked on making him think she didn't hear him.

Over the next few days, Harry still tried to find the courage to ask Ginny to the Ball. To Harry's amusement, a curly-headed Hufflepuff third-year girl whom Harry had never spoken to in his life asked him to go to the ball with her. Harry was so taken aback he had said no before he even considered the matter. He had to endure Ron and Neville taking the mickey out of him for the rest of the day and Dean and Seamus's taunts. Two more girls asked him, one was a second-year who looked younger than her twelve years and a fifth year. She looked as though she might knock him out if he refused.

Ron had laughed in his face when he told him.

"It's not funny Ron," Harry growled.

Harry started to think if these girls who were asking to go to the ball with him only wanted to go with him because of who he is. Hermione had made a similar comment about Krum.

"They only want to go with him because he's famous."

It was later Harry realized he needed to get a move on and ask Ginny to the ball.

During breakfast the next day, Harry was formulating a plan in his head when Nigel approached them.

"Parcel for you, Mr. Weasley."

Ron took it, sitting it on the table. "Thank you, Nigel."

Once Nigel was gone, Ron opened the box. "Oh, look. Mum's sent me something."

Ron pulled out the material to reveal the ugliest set of dress robes Harry had ever seen. He tried to keep from snorting his cereal up his nose.

Ron held it up against him now that he was standing. "Mum sent me a dress?"

"Well it does match your eyes," Harry commented. He reached into the box. "Is there a bonnet?" He dug until he found what was supposed to the shirt. "Ah ah."

"Put those down, Harry," Ron ordered. Carrying the robes he walked over to his sister. "Ginny, these must be for you."

Ginny looked at the robes with disgust, a spoonful of her cereal in front of her mouth. "I'm not wearing that, it's ghastly."

Hermione chuckled. "Ron," she began. "That is your dress robes."

Eyes widen, he looked down at the outdated robes in his hand.

Sitting down beside Harry, he buried the robes back into the box. Apart of him wanted to set the whole thing on fire, but he knew his parents couldn't afford new robes. Bill and Charlie were sending ones to Fred and George, to help his parents out. Ron knew his mother. She enjoyed a good bargain, even if the said item was very outdated.

"Murder me, Harry," He groaned.

Ron's dress robes were brought up at random parts of the day, if not by Fred and George by Harry and Neville. By the time they made it back to the dorm that evening, Ron was ready to hex the two of them and his brothers.

"Mum sent me a dress," Harry said, mimicking Ron from earlier. Then he started laughing again.

"It's not funny, Harry," Ron growled.

Harry threw his head back, laughing more like a hyena.

"Hey, shut up," Ron yelled as he headed to the door to the bathroom.

Harry stopped laughing. Only to look at Neville who snorted. Then the two glanced at each other, started laughing again.

Ron shook his head, approaching the sink to brush his teeth. He was almost done when Harry entered the bathroom.

"You know, maybe I can ask Mum to work her magic on the robes and make them look less ancient."

Ron's head shot up. "Would she do that?"

"I can ask," Harry said.

Ron leaped at Harry, hugging him tightly. "Thanks, mate."

"Anytime."

OoOoOoOoOoOoO

Harry had to admit that even with the embarrassing prospect of opening the ball before him life had definitely improved since he had got through the first task. He wasn't attracting nearly as much unpleasantness in the corridors anymore, which he suspected had a lot to do with Cedric - he had an idea Cedric might have told the Hufflepuffs to leave Harry alone, in gratitude for Harry's tip-off about the dragons.

Thanks to James's threat to sue, The Daily Prophet hadn't published any articles about Harry. Although Harry did hear James telling Lily that Rita Skeeter tried to get articles published about Harry, claiming they were interviews from people who 'knew' Harry. James's connections with the Ministry allowed him leverage to use against the paper.

Hagrid had asked Harry about it during class after Harry explained what James had told the editor.

"Are you coming to this ball thing on Christmas Day, Hagrid?" Ron asked.

"Though' I might look in on it, yeah," said Hagrid gruffly. "Should be a good do, I reckon. You'll be opening the dancing', won ya, Harry? Who're you taken'?"

"No one, yet," Harry said, feeling himself going red again. Hagrid didn't pursue the subject.

Harry was walking up the stairs to class when he saw Ginny on the stairs below him. Deciding to take the opportunity he leaned over the railing to call down to Ginny. She didn't hear him and walked further down the stairs, her friends in tow.

Cursing at himself, Harry all but stomped up the stairs.

"Who peed in your Cheerios?" Seamus asked.

"Bugger off, Seamus," Harry retorted.

"No luck yet finding a date?" Ron guessed.

Harry nodded. He hadn't told Ron yet that he was thinking about asking his sister. He didn't need the added concern if Ron disapproved or not. He didn't care regardless. He was going to ask Ginny to the Yule Ball if it was the last thing he did.

OoOoOoOoOoOoO

Harry was determined to ask Ginny to the ball. But the ball seemed to be the furthest thing from Hermione's mind.

"Have you figured out that egg?" Hermione hissed.

"Come on, Hermione, I've got till February the twenty-fourth," Harry said.

He had put the golden egg in his trunk in Lily's quarters. He hadn't opened it since the celebration party after the first task. There were still two and a half months to go until he needed to know what all the screechy wailing meant, after all.

"But it might take weeks to work it out!" Hermione exclaimed. "You're going to look a real idiot if everyone else knows what the next task is and you don't!"

"Leave him alone, Hermione, he's earned a bit of a break," Ron retorted.

Fred and George sat down at the table with Harry, Ron, and Hermione, smiling like the Cheshire cat.

"Ron, can we borrow Pigwidgeon?" George asked.

"No, he's off delivering a letter. Why?" Ron questioned.

"Because George wants to invite him to the ball," Fred said sarcastically.

"Because we want to send a letter, you stupid great prat," George retorted.

"Who do you two keep writing to, eh?" Ron asked.

"Not important," Fred muttered. "So . . . you lot got dates for the ball yet?"

"Nope," Ron said.

"Well, you'd better hurry up, mate, or all the good ones will be gone," Fred stated.

"Who're you going with, then?" Ron demanded.

"Angelina," Fred replied promptly, without a trace of embarrassment.

"What?!" Ron exclaimed, taken aback. "You've already asked her?"

"Good point," Fred commented. He turned his head and called across the common room, "Oi! Angelina!"

Angelina, who had been chatting with Alicia Spinnet near the fire, looked over at him.

"What?" she called back.

"Want to go to the ball with me?"

Angelina gave Fred an appraising sort of look.

"All right, then," she said, and she turned back to Alicia and carried on chatting with a bit of a grin on her face.

"There you go," Fred said to Harry and Ron, "Piece of cake."

He got to his feet. "We'd better use a school owl then, George, come on. . ."

They left. Ron looked over at Harry.

"We should get a move on, you know . . . ask someone. He's right. We don't want to end up with a pair of trolls. "

Hermione let out a sputter of indignation.

"A pair of . . . what, excuse me?"

"Well - you know," said Ron, shrugging.

Harry sighed, getting up to head out of the common room, deciding to go for a walk. He headed down the stairs, with no direction in mind. As he walked, he looked for Ginny. If he could just get a moment with her, he'd ask her to the ball. To kill some time before he headed back to the common room, he walked around, checking out the decorations.

The Hogwarts staff, demonstrating a continued desire to impress the visitors from Beauxbatons and Durmstrang, seemed determined to show the castle at its best this Christmas. When the decorations went up, Harry noticed that they were the most stunning he had yet seen inside the school. Everlasting icicles had been attached to the banisters of the marble staircase; the usual twelve Christmas trees in the Great Hall were bedecked with everything from luminous holly berries to real, hooting, golden owls, and the suits of armor had all been bewitched to sing carols whenever anyone passed them. It was quite something to hear "O Come, All Ye Faithful" sung by an empty helmet that only knew half the words. Several times, Filch the caretaker had to extract Peeves from inside the armor, where he had taken to hiding, filling in the gaps in the songs with lyrics of his own invention, all of which were very rude.

A few days later, Harry and Ron were sitting in the Great Hall for breakfast when they were reminded neither of them had dates. Well, Harry hadn't asked Ginny yet.

He and Ron were getting very nervous now, though as Harry pointed out, Ron would look much less stupid than he would without a partner but Harry was supposed to be starting the dancing with the other champions.

"I suppose there's always Moaning Myrtle," he said gloomily, referring to the ghost who haunted the girls' toilets on the second floor.

"Harry, we've just got to grit our teeth and do it," Ron said, in a tone that suggested they were planning the storming of an impregnable fortress. "When we get back to the common room tonight, we'll both have partners. Agreed?"

Harry nodded. "Agreed," he murmured. He was going to ask Ginny today if it was the last thing he did.

He went looking for her when classes finished for the day. He had kept an eye out for her all day, looking for her as he went to class, to lunch, or when he went to the hospital wing to talk to Lily.

She looked up when he entered the hospital wing.

"What do I owe this pleasure?" She asked.

"I was wondering if you would work on Ron's dress robes?" He asked.

Lily smiled softly. "Bring them down tonight. I'll work on them this weekend. Anything else?"

Harry took a deep breath. "Do you have something to help with courage?"

Smiling knowingly, she asked, "Still haven't asked her yet?"

Harry shook his head.

Lily patted the seat beside her. "I think you're worrying for nothing."

"Well, how do I get her alone?" Harry asked.

"Sometimes it takes timing. Otherwise, just approach her and ask to speak with her alone." Lily reached over, pushing away stray hair from Harry's face. "Don't worry. She'll say yes. I'm sure of it."

Harry nodded. "Thanks, Mum."

Harry left the hospital wing, stopping by his mother's quarters for his heavy cloak. He ignored the hanging bag on his wardrobe that contained his own robes. James had brought them when he visited last weekend. Lily had already hemmed them to fit Harry, opting to alter them herself. This was one of the reasons Harry had asked Lily to alter Ron's robes for him. Lily could probably get rid of the lace and work her magic to make them look as updated as she could.

He had turned the corner from the hospital wing when he saw Ginny. She was alone.

Harry felt butterflies dancing in his stomach. Why was he feeling very nervous? "Hi, Ginny," he started.

Ginny stopped, turning around. She blushed slightly upon seeing it was Harry.

"Oh, hi Harry," she replied.

"Um, I was wondering if…" he trailed off. Taking a deep breath, he asked, "If you like to go to the ball with me?"

If possible, Ginny blushed more. She was sure she looked like a tomato at this point.

"Why would you want to go with me?" Ginny inquired, slightly confused.

"Because I want to," Harry answered, taking a step closer to her. "So, would you go to the ball with me?"

Ginny didn't need to think twice. She nodded. "Yes, I would love to."

"Good."

Harry felt like a weight had been lifted from his shoulders. He walked with her to the Great Hall making small talk with her.

What Harry didn't know was he was being watched. Lily had watched the exchange from around the corner. She smiled at hearing Ginny say yes. Once they turned the corner, Lily turned around to head to her quarters. She was going floo home to get the dress she knew would fit Ginny. Once she knew Ginny sent an owl to Molly about going to the ball with Harry, she would tell her she had a dress Ginny could wear for the ball. It was a few years old. She had worn it to a Ministry Gala when Harry was a first year. It had been hanging in her closet since.

A little bit of nipping and tucking and it should fit Ginny.

How little did Lily know seeing Harry and Ginny walk the corridors together would give her a peek into the future?

OoOoOoOoOoOoO

Harry stopped in front of the Fat Lady's portrait.

"Fairy lights," Harry said. The password had been changed the day before.

Entering the common room, Harry looked around, and to his surprise, he saw Ron sitting ashen-faced in a distant corner. Ginny was sitting with him, talking to him in what seemed to be a low, soothing voice.

"What happened to you?" he asked. Ron sat on the couch, pale and shaking.

"He just asked Fleur Delacour to the ball," Ginny explained.

"What!" Hermione let her jaw drop and she sat down on an ottoman in front of Ron.

"Well, what did she say?" Harry asked, sitting on the arm of the couch.

"No, of course!" Hermione exclaimed. Harry and Hermione were shocked to see that he shook his head no.

Hermione covered her mouth. "She said yes!"

"Don't be silly," Ron began, "There she was, walking by." He looked up at Harry as he said, "You know how I like it when they walk." Harry nodded, knowing exactly what he was talking about.

"I couldn't help it, it just sort of slipped out," Ron said in a near whisper.

"Actually," Ginny began. "You sort of screamed at her, it was a bit frightening."

"What did you do then?" Harry asked.

"What else? I ran for it!"

Ron buried his head in his hands.

He kept talking, though the words were barely distinguishable.

"She looked at me like I was a sea slug or something. Didn't even answer. And then - I just sort of came to my senses and ran for it."

He sighed, pushing himself off the sofa. "This is getting stupid. Ginny, you can go with Harry, and I'll just…"

"Harry already asked me and I said yes," Ginny blurted.

"Oh," Ron said.

Ginny shook her head, got up from the sofa, and headed to the stairs leading up to the girls' dorm. She stopped on the first step. "Is Pig back yet?"

Ron shook his head. "Not yet."

Ginny's eyes met Harry's from across the room. "Can I borrow Hedwig? I want to send a letter to Mum to tell her about going to the Ball. She thinks I'm coming home for the holidays."

Harry nodded. "Sure," He replied. "I'll walk you when you're ready."

Ginny blushed and headed up the steps. She returned five minutes later with her letter in hand.

"Ready?" Harry asked.

They left the common room, heading for the owlery.

Ron watched them go, wondering if there was something there he hadn't noticed before. Shaking his head, he stood up, heading towards his dorm. If he was honest with himself, he was happy Harry was taking Ginny. She wouldn't be able to go otherwise. He knew he would need to talk to Harry about taking Ginny, making sure she had a good time.

Now, if he could find himself a date.

OoOoOoOoOoOoO

"So I hear you asked Ginny to the ball," James said, in an attempt to make conversation with Harry.

"Who told you?" Harry asked.

"I have my sources," James answered, sharing a smile with Lily.

Lily hit a tangle with her comb, making Harry wince.

"Ow."

"Sorry, Sweetheart."

Harry had come down to Lily's quarters that even because Lily wanted to check his robes to make sure they fit and adjust them if she needed to. When she finished, she directed him to his bathroom, instructing him to wash his hair and then to come back to the sitting room so she could trim his hair.

"So it did leave a scar," James noted, looking at the scar on Harry's shoulder from the dragons' tail from the first task.

"It's better than what it was," Lily commented, layering Harry's right side to match the left.

"Need me to put another log on the fire?" James asked. He had made the fire while Harry was washing his hair. He knew it would take a little bit for Lily to trim his hair and with Harry sitting without a shirt on, he didn't want Harry to get cold.

"I'm fine," Harry assured him.

Lily moved Harry's head down, his chin touching his chest so she could get the hairs at the base of his neck.

"I'll give you the dress robes to take with you to the dorm on Christmas morning. We're going to exchange some of our presents here since we'll be home for Boxing Day."

"So we are going home?" Harry asked.

"Yes," Lily answered, walking around to face her son. "Look up."

Harry obeyed her, feeling her run her fingers through his hair to see if she got the sides even.

"Well, it won't fall in your face now." She sighed. "Alright, I'm done."

Harry hopped off the stool, letting Lily dust off the hair that had fallen through the towel on his shoulders before he slipped on his shirt.

"Thanks, Mum," Harry said over his shoulder as he walked to his bedroom.

Lily started to clean up from trimming Harry's hair when she noticed a smirk on her husband's face.

"Spill it, James." It wasn't a request.

James glanced in the direction of Harry's room before he said, "I have this suspicion that this is the start of something."

"Of what, a relationship? Boyfriend/girlfriend relationship?" Lily inquired.

James nodded, smirking.

"What makes you say that?"

"Consider it a hunch, Lily Flower." James stood up from his place at the table. "I brought the dress you asked me to and the dress robes.

"I told Molly about the dress and told her I can work on Ron's dress robes, make them look less frilly."

"When in reality you're resizing my old ones that I will never wear again to fit him. Have you told Harry?"

"No," Lily replied, putting the stool back beside the counter in the kitchenette. "I know Molly, she doesn't accept things because she thinks it's charity. We would have given them to a second-hand shop anyway."

"True," James agreed.

Harry stepped back out into the sitting room, Charms essay in hand. "Here Mum."

"Thanks, Harry."

"Can I stay and read?" Harry asked.

"Of course," Lily replied. "But when the clock strikes eleven its lights out, do you understand?"

"Yes. Thanks, Mum."

When the door to Harry's room closed, James said, "Want to make a wager?"

"On what?"

"When Harry and Ginny get together," James replied. "We can involve Sirius and Remus."

"Are we seriously betting on our son's…" Lily trailed off.

James's smirk brightened. "Say it, Lily."

Lily sighed. "Love life. Is he that age?"

"He is, Lily, whether you accept it or not," James said. "He's going to grow up, whether we like it or not."

Lily nodded, agreeing. "Alright, but I'm guessing next year. When I say next year, I meant next year when Harry is a fifth year."

"Alright, and I say spring next year."

Lily smirked at her husband. "And what makes you so sure that Harry would be with, Ginny?"

"He's a Potter and Potter men tend to fall for redheads."

AN: I've started this series six years ago and here we are FIFTY chapters later. Thank you to everyone who has added this story to their favorites, followed, and reviewed this story. I hope you have enjoyed reading this series. Stay tuned for part 2.