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-Two

The Unexpected

"Bloody Hell … what are we going to do?" Ron asked as they made their way out of McGonagall's classroom where she had just informed them about the Yule Ball.

"I don't know," Harry said feeling numb. Remembering a certain Ravenclaw seeker Harry thought about how asking a girl out had been awkward enough, but then to have been given a deadline and have the rest of the school hyped up on their excitement of the upcoming dance only made it worse.

"It's not like it's the end of the world," Hermione said rolling her eyes.

"That's easy for you to say, you don't have to ask anyone out," Harry complained to her.

"And what's that supposed to mean … you don't think girls can ask guys out," Hermione huffed looking offended.

"No that's … um … sorry," Harry sighed, knowing that there was no way that he could win this argument. "I'm just a little stress … unlike everyone else I have to find someone to go with me … I can't open the stupid ball dancing with myself."

"Tough luck, mate," Ron said slapping him on the back all the while pointedly not looking at Hermione. He secretly thought he had the raw end of the deal, how the bloody hell was he supposed to ask her out. "But think, you're a champion … I'm sure plenty of girls want to go with you."

"I know," Harry said with a knowing look.

"That is, if you don't act like a smug git," Ron added, which caused Harry to laugh.

"I'm not sure if that makes me want to act like a git or not," Harry said thoughtfully.

Ron was right and there were several girls that ended up asking Harry to the Yule Ball, but he refused them all. He felt sort of bad for them, he after all still hasn't had the courage to ask the person he wanted to go with yet, but he didn't want to say yes to someone that he didn't know and make them think that he might like them.

"You know … that last one was actually cute," Ron laughed, "if she wasn't five inches taller than you, I would say you should have taken her."

"Shut up," Harry groaned.

"But all kidding aside, we really need to get going on asking the girls out before all the good ones are taken," Ron said.

"What do you mean by that?" Hermione asked staring at him suspiciously.

"Well I mean, I think I'd rather go alone than with … Eloise Midgen, say," Ron said.

"Her acne is loads better," Hermione replied scowling at Ron.

"Her nose is off center," Ron answered with a shrug.

"So you'd really rather go with the best looking person than with someone with a decent personality?" Hermione questioned him.

"Well," Ron said slowly giving a nervous chuckle as he rubbed the back of his head and Hermione threw up her arms in exasperation.

"Why do I even bother?" she groaned as she turned and left them.

"You seriously just need to ask her already, mate," Harry said shaking his head at the interaction between the others but he couldn't help but laugh when Ron turned to look at him horrified.

"You … I … what?" Ron sputtered.

"If you don't want to admit it, that's fine, but with what we went through after that article, you did kind of make it obvious," Harry pointed out.

Ron didn't say anything for a moment, his face turning red as he asked quietly, "Does she know?"

"Hm …" Harry said thoughtfully, "I'm not sure … but I don't think so."

"How can she not know … she knows everything and if you know …" Ron seemed to be talking to himself grimacing.

"Yeah well, it's harder to see something like that when you're the one involved," Harry said.

"You wouldn't by any chance know how she feels about me?" Ron asked.

"Sorry … can't tell you," Harry laughed, almost wishing he could tell Ron the truth but he promised Hermione he wouldn't say anything. "But I think it would be a good idea if you asked her."

Ron continued to look at Harry closely, as if he was trying to figure out if Harry knew how Hermione felt and really couldn't tell him or if he was just pushing Ron to ask because he thought Hermione might like him back. "That's easy for you to say. I haven't seen you ask anyone out."

"You have a point," Harry sighed.

"Who is it that you want to ask, anyways?" Ron asked.

Harry felt his face warm up, but he wasn't about to not tell Ron after he confronted his friend. "Cho Chang."

"The Ravenclaw Seeker!" Ron said surprised at first, but then nodded his head and smiled. "Not bad."

"Yeah," Harry grunted.

"You going to ask her?"

"I'm thinking about it … are you going to ask Hermione?"

"I might," Ron muttered.

Harry sighed, not sure what else to say and Ron didn't seem to want to talk about this anymore. "You know what … I'm not going to be a coward anymore … I'm going to find Cho and ask her."

"Yeah …" Ron said as if encouraging Harry but also trying to convince himself to do the same with Hermione, though not succeeding. "Let's have dates by the time we get back to the common room today," he added his voice still shaky as if he didn't believe it would happen.

Harry didn't make a comment about that as he clapped Ron on the back and then left.

Harry had no idea where he was going as he walked away and he was ashamed to admit it took him ten minutes before he remembered he had a map that told him where people were. When he looked at it he saw that she was in the owlery and he smiled. He had two things going for him … one he had an excuse to be there and two she was alone. Now he just had to run fast to make sure he got there before she left … then he'd have to worry about what to say.

"Oh Harry?" Cho said as she nearly ran into him coming out of the owlery. "Sorry, I didn't see you."

"It's okay," Harry said, breathing heavily.

"Er …" Cho seemed to be waiting for something and he realized belatedly that she wanted him to get out of her way so she could leave.

"Oh … right," Harry said but he didn't move nor did he say anything. He knew he must look like an idiot but his mouth didn't seem to want to open. Finally he just pushed the words out in a rush. "Wouldyougototheballwithme?"

"Excuse me?" Cho asked furrowing her eyebrow in the cutest way.

Harry swallowed hard. "Would. You. Go. To. The. Ball. With. Me?" he said every word so slowly they made up their own sentence.

"Oh …" Cho said frowning and Harry's heart seemed to fall in his chest with just that one word. "I'm sorry Harry, but I'd already said I would go with someone else."

"Oh …" Harry tried not to show the misery he was feeling but he wasn't sure how he was managing.

"I'm sorry," she repeated.

"No … it's okay," Harry gave her what was supposed to be a smile as he moved to the side allowing her to leave. She gave him another sorry look as she walked by and he found himself asking, "who are you going with?"

"Cedric … Cedric Diggory."

The name seemed to bounce around in his head long after she had left. Not having anything better to do now that he'd been shot down, he walked up to the owlery and sat by one of the windows. Hedwig perched on his knee and he stroked her absentmindedly as he thought very unwarranted thoughts about Cedric Diggory.

It was hours later that he left the owlery walking slowly back to the common room, he felt like he must have missed dinner but he didn't really care at the moment. When he got there he noticed that Ron was sitting on the couch looking into the fire.

"You just missed the show," Ron grumbled as Harry sat next to him, he didn't take his eyes off the fire.

"Huh?" Harry grunted, only asking because he didn't want Ron to ask about how things went with him.

"Seamus and Dean … they were just pestering me about what happened," Ron said.

"What are you talking about?" Harry asked.

Ron turned to look at his friend for the first time, incredulous at first and then he seemed to take in Harry's mood and sighed. "I thought everyone at school heard by now … I asked Fleur to the ball …"

"What?" Harry gasped, shock out of his own troubles by that statement.

"More like I shouted at her," Ron groaned.

"How did that happen?" Harry asked. "I thought you were going to …"

"That was the plan," Ron interrupted Harry before he could finish. "I was trying to think of a way to do it and then … I don't even know what happened. I look up and I saw Fleur … she was talking to that Davies bloke … and it just came out. I bloody yelled at her, Harry … in the middle of a crowded corridor!"

"I …" Harry started to say but he couldn't finish, "I don't know what to say to that."

"You don't have to say anything," Ron said. "It was the most embarrassing thing that ever happened to me … and that's saying something seeing as the twins pull pranks on me all the time."

"Yeah, well, at least you didn't get shot down by the girl you really liked," Harry pointed out, bitterly.

"Did you …" Ron started to ask.

"Cho's going with Diggory," Harry nearly snarled out the other boy's name.

"Sorry, mate," Ron sighed and Harry shrugged.

"Oh, there you are," Hermione said coming in with Ginny right next to her. "I was wondering why you weren't at dinner."

"You look horrible," Ginny said when neither boy said anything. "What happened?" Again the boys didn't say anything so she added, turning to her brother, "of course we already know what happened to you … everyone is talking about …"

"Argh!" Ron groaned moving so that he was holding his head in his hands, partly in embarrassment and partly because he didn't want to see how Hermione reacted to all of this.

"Are you okay Harry?" Hermione asked, in a blunt tone.

"I'll be all right," Harry said, he could tell that Hermione didn't want to be there right now and he really didn't want to talk about this. "I just need to find someone to go to the ball with."

Hermione raised an eyebrow at him and then seemed to realize what must have happened. "Are you sure you don't want to talk …"

"Definitely," Harry said pointedly and she sighed as she rested her hand on his shoulder and gave it a supportive squeeze.

"If you change your mind I'll be there," she said, and then glanced at Ron, who was still holding his head and her expression turned rather depressed. "I think I'll go to the library … I haven't finished my potions easy yet."

"Herm …" Harry started to say but she was gone before he could say anything. He wasn't really sure what he would say, but he felt like he should.

"Maybe you should just take Ginny to the ball," Ron suggested out of nowhere.

"RON!" Ginny exclaimed.

"What?" Ron said. "You two are friends aren't you?"

"Ron," Harry said grimacing, "shut up."

Ginny looked at Harry then, her face was as red from embarrassment as Ron's had been only moments ago. "I'm not going with anyone … if you want … well, I know you need a partner."

"Thanks Ginny," Harry said, trying to smile at her but he felt like he was doing something wrong right now. At the same time if he refused it would be even worse. "I'd like that."

"Really," Ginny said smiling until she noticed that Harry looked miserable again. "Come on," she then said, taking his hand and dragging him away from Ron and into a private corner. "What is it?"

"It's nothing," Harry said, not being able to look her in the eyes.

"I know this is as just friends," Ginny supplied. "I am one of your friends, aren't I?"

"Of course you are," Harry answered immediately. "You're one of my best friends. It's just …"

"I had a horrible crush on you for years," Ginny supplied boldly, negating the fact that she was still quite taken by him. It didn't seem to matter, she knew that he didn't like her like that and she wasn't expecting anything to happen so she didn't want him to worry about it. "If I'm not concerned about it, I don't know why you should be."

"You're really okay with it," Harry said letting out a breath of relief and then smiled. "This might not be so bad."

O

It was almost two weeks since he heard about the ball, four days since Harry had confronted him about asking Hermione and when he made a complete fool of himself when he asked Fleur out. He had no idea where that had come from even. Sure Fleur was good looking, and whenever she walked by he got this weird feeling and he couldn't look away. But why the bloody hell did he have to shout at her. He didn't even want to go out with her.

If his embarrassment wasn't enough, he seemed to have made Hermione angry somehow. He wasn't even sure what was bothering her, but she keep giving him withering looks. Okay, so maybe he did know what was bothering her or at least he hoped. After what Harry said, he was starting to hope that maybe his feelings for her weren't one sided.

Still, that didn't make what he had to do any easier. It was easy for Harry to tell him to just ask her, but he didn't know what would happen to their friendship if she said no … heck he was even afraid of what would happen if she said yes. Of course he could do what Harry and Ginny are doing, and just ask her as a friend. Somehow, even that seemed impossible for him to ask.

"Buck up, Ron, you are going to do this today," he said to himself, as he watched Hermione walking away, obviously heading for the library. "You're going to do it right now."

With that he got up and chased after her.

"Hermione, wait up, I'll join you," Ron called after her and she turned around with a questioning look. "What? Is it so wrong that I want to go with you?"

"No … we just don't have any assignments due tomorrow," Hermione shrugged. "That's usually why you want to go to the library with me."

"I don't do that …" Ron said, "every time," he added to be fair.

She laughed and then frowned suddenly as if she just remembered now that she was annoyed with him. "So, have you found a date for the ball yet?"

Ron's eyes widen at her question and his heart pounded. Did she know what he was about to ask her? Was that her subtle way of trying to make him not say anything? "No."

"You really won't have any good ones left if you don't hurry," she said bitterly.

Relief. He was too busy feeling relieved to care about her tone. Clearly she hadn't been sending him secret messages; she was just annoyed that he was pig. Really though, she hadn't let him answer the question the last time, about whether he would take the best looking girl that would take him or have someone that he could just talk with. The answer was that if she said yes, he would get both. Not that he would ever tell her that.

"You know I noticed that you shrunk you front teeth," Ron stated out of nowhere. Come on Ron … her teeth … why are you talking about her teeth?

"What?" Hermione said looking a mixture of horrified and pleased. "I don't …"

"It was after the curse you were hit with," Ron went on with this brilliant topic. "It brightens up your smile," he added, pleased that he actually said something good … of course his ear chose to turn red at that moment, portraying his embarrassment. It didn't seem to matter when she demonstrated her new front teeth by giving him a smile.

"You really think so," she asked, her own blush creepy up to color her cheeks.

"Yeah," he answered.

"Thanks."

"Hermione," he said as he stopped walking and grabbing her arm so she would stop as well. He waited until she was facing him before he said as naturally as he could. "Go to the Yule Ball with me."

"What?" Hermione asked, her face seemed to drain of color and he had no idea what she was thinking. Her eyes seemed to flicker through several emotions as she just stared at him.

"You're my best friend … I think it would be fun if we go," Ron said, quickly adding on the friend part because clearly she didn't want anything more. He was an idiot to think otherwise. His heart pounded in his chest as her expression turned from shock into devastation.

"Ron … I …" she whispered and she closed her eyes painfully as she continued, as if she didn't want to see his expression, "someone else asked me."

"Of course," Ron said, his hand that had been on Hermione's arm falling to his side as a humorless smile touched his lips. She is beautiful and brilliant, of course someone else would have asked her.

"Ron …" she said again, a pleading tone in her voice as she step closer to him.

"You were right about the last minute thing," he tried to chuckle but it sounded strangled even to himself.

"Ron …"

"So, who are you going with?" he asked, anything to keep her from saying his name in that pitying tone again.

There was a long pause and Ron felt like running but he couldn't get his feet to move.

"Viktor Krum."

Ron was finally able to look at her again, trying to see if she really said what he thought he heard. Viktor Krum! They effing hero of the Quidditch World Cup! One of his idols! She was effing going to the ball with a superstar! He was such a bloody idiot to believe she would ever want to go with him. He wasn't really sure where the anger came from, but it seemed to fill him as that name rang in his ears.

"How can you go with him?" he demanded.

"What?" Hermione's tone was surprised, clearly caught off guard by his change in demeanor.

"How could you go with Krum, of all people?" He asked again, sure now that the anger was from the fact that Krum was everything he wasn't … and yet everything he longed to be. Famous. Successful. Get's all the girls. When he saw the confused, hurt and angry expression on her face he knew he went too far. He shouldn't be taking his anger out on her, he just couldn't help himself. He quickly tried to amend himself by added, "he's competing against Harry in the games."

"You didn't seem to care about that when you asked Fleur out!" Hermione snapped back at him, it seemed that anger had won out of all her emotions as well.

"That's different!" Ron growled.

"How so?" Hermione said indignantly. "Because you were the one involved!"

"NO!" Ron huffed, throwing up his arms in exasperation. "It's because I didn't even mean to ask her out."

Hermione's eyes widen at this, her anger and indignation draining from her as quickly as it had come and pity was back in her eyes.

Great, Ron groaned to himself as he closed his eyes, she knows now.

"Ron …" she tried to say but he turned away from her.

"I'll see you later," he muttered as he walked away.