THIS IS JUST A ONE SHOT FOR NOW. IF THERE'S ENOUGH RESPONSES, I MAY LOOK INTO MAKING IT A FULL STORY. ENJOY.
He couldn't really believe this was happening. Standing nervously in the Great Hall, various people milling about as they waited for the doors to open and they could enter. Pulling at the collar of his shirt, whether from nerves or general uncomfortableness, he wasn't sure. What he was sure of though, is that this would either be a half-decent night or a complete disaster. Looking down at his dress robes, he straightened his shirt once more, as though he hadn't done so already four times, and readjusted his bow tie.
Of course, he would have to be in this damnable tournament. Of course, he would have to open the Yule Ball with his date. And of course, he would somehow get her as his date. Now, he wouldn't say she was a bad date, honestly, she never really talked to him…or many people really. The only real negative he could see about the whole situation is the fact she was a Slytherin. And even then, she wasn't part of Malfoy's little group or any group really that had bothered him over the years.
"Potter." A light voice said from behind him softly. Turning to see who it was, and really already knowing, he found it was his date for the evening. He was about to greet her only to be stunned silent at her appearance.
Her long blond hair had been given light curls that cascaded down to her upper back. Her icy blue eyes popped against the light makeup around her eyes. Her little nose seemed smaller in the face of her vibrant dark red lipstick. Looking down from her face he saw that her dress completely exposed her shoulders and started just below her collar bone. It was a bit form fitting and a deep almost blood red in color that matched his bow tie. Right around her waist it flared out into various lighter shades of red but still had the vibrant blood red color as the majority. Her arms were covered in gloves of the same color up to her elbows. And to finish everything off, she wore a small silver chain necklace with a small ruby in it and two silver studded earrings.
"Wow." He said under his breath, completely taken by her beauty. He saw the slightest smirk on her lips as she looked at him. "You're beautiful."
"Thank you, Potter." She said as her eyes roamed his outfit. "You clean up quite well." And, somehow, he could tell that she meant it.
As she offered him her hand, he suddenly remembered the small lesson in etiquette she had given him just a few hours prior. Taking her hand gently, he brought it to his lips and gently kissed her knuckles. Lowering her hand, he shifted so that they were side by side and offered her his arm which she took gently, a slight movement of her head was all she gave to show she approved. And quietly made their way over to the other champions. Cho and Cedric were already there and it looked like Roger Davies was waiting on, who he assumed was, Fleur as she was the only female champion. And it looked like Victor was looking for his date in the crowd. As they stood there, he began to think about how this came about.
FLASHBACK
He seriously did not know what to do. Professor McGonagall had just pulled him aside after the brief dance lesson and told him he would need a date. Apparently, the Ball was opened by the Champions and he somehow needed to learn how to dance and find a date. Learning to dance shouldn't be too hard, but how the hell was he supposed to do the latter? He had never really talked to a girl before. Okay, sure he talked to Hermione almost daily and on occasion Ginny. And Angie, Katie and Alicia he supposed. But he couldn't ask any of them to be his date. Ginny he was pretty sure was going out with Dean. Angie and Alicia had some weird game they were playing with the twins and Katie had turned to Emmit Foley, a seventh year, and asked him to the dance during the lesson they just had. And Hermione, well, he wanted to let her have fun with a more date-like person than just going with him. Which left him in this predicament.
How the hell does one talk to girls? Let alone ask them on a date.
It was almost two weeks later, just after the first task, when he was fooling around with Ron and realized that many girls had been asked. They had overheard several conversations in the common room as a number of girls hovered over some magazine talking about dresses and realized they were the only ones in their year who didn't have a date. Which had sent them into a bit of a panic, especially him. They had tried getting up the courage to ask a girl in the courtyard, but they all seemed to just walk in packs. And after failing at it for nearly an hour, he had gotten tired of it and told Ron he was going to the library to try and figure out the damn clue from the egg.
"How the bloody hell am I going to ask some girl to the dance?" He muttered to himself as he stormed through the corridor towards the library. He was still trying to figure it out, because, somehow, girls just confused him. "It's not like I can just go up to some random girl and ask 'Hey, do you want to got to the Ball with me?'. Right, like that would work."
"And why wouldn't it?" A soft voice said as someone fell into step with him. Turning his head, the first thing he saw was platinum blond hair and thought it was Malfoy. Only to hold his tongue for a moment and realize it was a girl. Her icy blue eyes looked forward as they walked, while her robes billowed slightly at their pace. Stopping just a moment after he realized she was keeping pace with him, she only made it a single step further before turning around to face him. She was pretty, he would admit, with the blond hair and blue eyes alone, but she also had high cheekbones and a small, button like nose. Giving her a quick once over, he saw she was a Slytherin, but couldn't for the life of him recall her name.
"What?" He questioned after he finished looking her over.
"Why wouldn't it work? Just go up to a girl and ask her Potter. I thought Gryffindor's charge forward." She said, raising an eyebrow as she stared at him. "Besides, it's not like most of the girls in this castle would say no to you. You are Harry Potter, after all."
"Right. Like they would say yes to me." He said in slight disbelief. "And why are you even talking to me? Thought Slytherin House hated me…well, more than usual this year anyway." He accused; suspicion clear in his voice as he subtly began reaching for his wand.
"Really Potter?" She said, her incredulousness at his statement obvious. "Do I really need to spell it out for you? You are, quite possibly, one of, if not the most famous wizard in Europe right now. Certainly, the only one most girls in this castle would consider dating aside from Krum. And if that wasn't enough, you did just outfly a Hungarian Horntail. Although, I will admit I would have like to see you use more magic during the Task, I still made a few Galleons since you succeeded." She explained, flipping her hair out of her face as she looked around quickly. "As for why I'm talking to you, you are…unique, I suppose, in a certain aspect."
"And that is?"
"We both know a very irritating Ferret. And said Ferret may or may not be pressing me to go to the Ball with him."
"And? Doesn't really seem like my problem. If Malfoy is giving you problems, just tell him no." It was easy to deduce who she was talking about. After all, Malfoy had been turned into a Ferret by Professor Moody just recently.
"Yes, that does seem like the easy answer." She admitted, as she shifted her bag a little. "However, Malfoy has made it clear to the House that only he can ask me. And since his father is…" She looked at him briefly as he nodded. "Well, no one from my House is going to ask me, and it's doubtful I will be asked by another House simply for being in Slytherin. You aren't afraid of him and need a date while I wish to attend. I think it would be beneficial for both us, correct?" She looked at him questioningly, as if to challenge her statement.
"Are…are you asking me to the Ball?" He asked, his voice cracking a bit.
"Of course not." She scoffed at him turning around. "After all, it's only proper for the boy to ask the girl." Although he couldn't see her face, he was pretty sure she was smirking at her statement.
"Uh, right." He fumbled while clearing his throat, only to stop as he opened his mouth. "Actually, I don't know your name." He admitted, causing her to turn around and glare at him.
"Really, Potter? We've been in the same classes for nearly four years." She hissed, angry at his ignorance. Before composing herself with a deep breath. "My name is Daphne Greengrass, Heiress of the Most Ancient and Most Noble House of Greengrass." She said, shifting her bag a little and raising her right hand. She was clearly waiting for him to do something and when he didn't, she scowled. "When a Lady introduces herself, you kiss her hand, Potter." She watched amused as he stumbled forward and took her hand, a bit roughly, and kissed it. "It's sufficient I suppose. Now, I believe you wanted to ask me something?"
"Right." He cleared his throat again. "Daphne Greengrass, would you like to go to the Yule Ball with me?" He watched as she looked at him blankly for a moment, nervous she wasn't going to accept despite the little discussion they just had.
"You don't have much experience with High Society, do you Potter?" It was clearly rhetorical from the sigh she gave. "We'll have to work on it…and your dancing-I assume you don't know how- as I will not allow you to embarrass me at the Ball. We'll have lessons each Saturday and Sunday after lunch until dinner-no excuses." She said, as she started circling him. "We'll need to do something about your hair too. Try Sleek Eazy's." She paused as she came all around and was now in front of him. "Right then. I'll send you a swatch of my dress color in a few days. Find something to match it-either a bow tie or a cummerbund. I'll meet you in the Entrance Hall five minutes before the dance starts." With that, she turned around and scurried off before he could say anything.
"…Crap, I've got a date."
FLASHBACK END
He was pulled from his reminiscing as Professor McGonagall came up to them and announced that they were to line up to enter the Great Hall. Looking around, he saw that aside from the eight of them, the entire Hall was empty. Turning to see the other Champions, he was especially surprised to see that Hermione was on Victor Krum's arm. Her normally frizzy brown hair had been straightened out and fell in gentle curls. Her light pink dress hugged her body well with an almost see through like fabric of matching color holding the entire thing on her shoulders. The dress flared out in waves of various shades of pink for the skirt. Catching her eye as they lined up, he gave her a gentle wave with his free hand which she returned with a small blush.
Looking at his own date, she kept her eyes forward in a look of neutrality and before long they began walking into the Great Hall. Looking around, he was astounded. The entire Great Hall had been completely transformed. The long House tables had been removed and were replaced with a number of circular ones that lined the perimeter of the room, many of which had snacks and drinks, and were covered in pristine white table cloths-there were even a couple with massive ice sculptures of various buildings or creatures. The walls had been turned an ice blue and sparkled with intricate designs of snowflakes. Silver Griffin, Unicorn, Pegasus statues had been made to hold a blue flame just a few feet above their heads. At the far end, behind the Professors table, three large, undecorated, pine trees stood with snow-which was falling from the ceiling and faded out around the height of the fires.
"It's very beautiful." Daphne whispered as they made it to the dance floor in the center of the room. Once they and the others were evenly spaced, she turned to face him and he placed one hand on her waist and the other gently grabbed her right, while her left rested comfortably on his shoulder.
As soon as it did, the music started and they began moving back and forth. He twirled around, careful of her toes, and switched his hands placement. Moving forward and back, he watched as a small amount of joy crossed her face with a small smile. Grinning himself, he put both hands on her hips and lifted her up while turning before putting her down gently and continuing their dance. As they did, he made a brief sight of Hermione and Victor dancing and was glad she had such a wide grin on her face. Pulling his attention back to his date, he smiled before pulling back and grabbing her hand as he twirled her-they had worked on that one a fair bit in their dance lessons-and he could see she was happy at it.
All too soon, he realized, that they had been dancing for a fair amount of time. They were surrounded on all sides by other couples, but he didn't really mind. They just couldn't do any more of the more intricate dance moves and were forced to be closer together. As he pulled her close once more, he saw that Daphne was beginning to breath hard and decided that once this song ended, they would take a break. Which wasn't too long after as the song stopped a few seconds later.
"Would you like to rest Heiress Greengrass?" He asked, remembering her lessons in what she called 'proper etiquette'.
"I believe I would." She said, keeping her breathing under control. "Let's find a table." And with that, they made their way through the crowed and were able to find an empty table near the entrance. Pulling out her seat for her she sat down while straitening her dress.
"Would you like something to drink? Maybe a bite to eat?" He asked as he pushed the chair in.
"Some Gillywater would be nice. A few sandwiches too, but none with mustard." She said, turning to him.
"Sure. I'll be back in a minute."
As he weaved his way through the tables, he looked at the dance floor and saw several people he knew. Fred and George dancing with Alicia and Angelina respectively. George winked at him as he slid his hand down to Angelina's bum, only to have her hand pull it right back to her waist. Neville was slowly moving with Ginny, ironically, considering Ginny was supposedly dating Dean. He saw Cedric and Cho move back on to the dance floor and easily mesh into the crowd as they began dancing again.
Finally making it to one of the refreshment tables, he gathered a handful of sandwiches and his and Daphne's drinks, careful not to grab one with mustard, before he turned and nearly spilled everything on the person behind him. He was going to tell them to watch it, only to see it was Katie and she seemed to be reaching out to him.
"Hey Katie." He said, steadying the food and drinks in his arms. "You having fun?"
"Oh, definitely." She said, grinning from ear to ear as she put her hands on her hips. "And you?" As she asked this, she leaned forward a bit, and he realized just how low cut her dress was. It was a nice light blue, almost the same color as most of the Great Hall. Over her shoulders were two thin straps that held the dress up, and the entire thing was rather form fitting and didn't flare out like most other dresses. It was a nice straight skirt to the floor with a slit up the left side to about her mid-thigh. But as she leaned over, even as slight as it was, he got a decent view of her chest.
"Fine." He said, averting his eyes. "Brilliant really."
"Yea, saw you over there with the Princess." She said, jerking her head slightly in the direction of their table. "How'd that happen anyway? From what I hear, the girl barely talks to anyone."
"Yea, it was a bit weird really. Just, sort of, a mutual agreement thing. She wanted to come, but no one, really, was going to ask her. And I needed a date. In less than five minutes, she had me asking her to the Ball and scheduled dance lessons with me." He explained, looking over at Daphne to see that she was watching him. "Looks like she's getting a bit impatient, so we'll talk later, yeah?"
"No problem, Lover Boy." She said with a smirk, which only grew when he blushed. "Say, about 10 minutes, you wanna dance with me?"
"Uh, yeah, sure." He replied trying to catch up to her words. "Oh, if Daphne doesn't mind, of course."
"Aren't you just cute already knowing to ask your date first." She teased, grabbing a glass of Gillywater and prancing off through the small crowed.
After watching her go for a second, he regained his senses and weaved his way through as it seemed a lot of people now wanted to take a break. Dodging around a Durmstrang student and stopping just before crashing into a couple girls from Beauxbatons, he was just able to make it back to his table with the drinks and food intact. Setting her drink and two of the sandwiches in front of her, he pulled out a chair for himself and plopped down.
"Thank you, Potter." She said, taking a sip of her water. "What did Bell want?"
"Oh, she was just asking if I was having fun." He replied, as he started eating one of his sandwiches. He saw her eyes drift to him for a brief second before focusing on her own food.
"And are you?"
"Yeah, loads. Liking the dancing a lot more than I thought even." He said, a large grin on his face. "That's mostly 'cause of you, you know. Thanks for the lessons by the way. What about you?"
"It's been pleasant so far." Daphne said, looking around for some reason. Already knowing why, she was, he took her hand which caused her to turn her head and look down at their hands before looking him in the eyes.
"If Malfoy gives you trouble, I'll take care of it-yeah?"
"Thank you."
"No problem. Oh, and Katie want's a dance with me. Is that okay?"
"Of course. I expected at least of couple of your friends would ask. Mostly Granger or Weasley if they attended. Which they clearly have. Do you know how Granger got with Krum?" She looked over at him and just shrugged his shoulders. "Pity."
"Hey Harry." Katie said as she and Foley walked up to them. Emmit was quite possibly the largest boy in Gryffindor standing at nearly 6' 6" with dirty blond hair and green eyes and although he looked intimidating due to his size, the boy was actually like a giant teddy bear. He was one of the few older students that constantly looked out for the first and second years, even if they weren't in Gryffindor. "Ready to dance?"
"Sure." He said, standing up. "I'll be back in a few."
"Actually, Potter-" Emmit said, gaining everyone's attention, his deep voice easily heard through the music. "If it's alright, Heiress Greengrass, would you like to dance?" He offered his hand to her as he spoke.
"Oh, uhh." Harry wasn't sure what to say here, but looking to Daphne she was eyeing him as if asking permission. Perhaps she was reciprocating since he asked her. "Sure. If Daphne wants, anyway."
"I would be delighted, Heir Foley." She said, as she took his hand gently while he used his other to pull her chair out before standing. "I'll see you in a bit, Potter." And with that, the two glided to the dance floor just in time for the next song to start.
"Well, would you look at that. She made you a half proper High Society stud in only a few short weeks." Katie said as she snickered. "Now, I believe you owe me a dance." She said, holding out her own hand.
"Right." He said, a blush on his cheeks from the comment. Taking her hand, he led them to the floor in the middle of the song and soon started twisting around.
Dancing with Katie was a sight different than it was with Daphne. Where it was obvious both had danced before, Daphne was much more of a…traditional dancer. Followed the proper steps, took the proper queues, allowed herself to be led. Katie was almost the complete opposite. She danced almost in complete disregard for the speed of the song, tried to lead him on multiple occasions and seemed to switch up dance styles whenever the feeling hit. It was certainly a fun way to dance and he was just glad he didn't step on her toes. Though, he did have a couple close calls. Just as they were finishing their second song, he felt a tap on his shoulder.
"Hermione." He said, turning around to greet her. "You look beautiful. Couldn't believe it was you for a moment when I saw you in the Entrance Hall. Krum, nice to see you."
"It is good to see you too, Potter." He said gruffly, his accent thick and hard to understand. "Her-my-own-ninny would like to dance."
"Sure, I don't mind." Harry said, turning to Katie. "Is it alright with you?"
"Course, Harry. How about you Krum? Wanna dance?" She said turning to the Quidditch star who nodded and held out a hand. "Score. Dancing with two famous young men in one night. Later Harry." She said as the two spun away.
"Here." Harry said, holding out his hand as he heard the next song start up. Hermione took it and they got in position and then began dancing. "How's your night been?"
"Quite well, really." She responded with a bright smile. "Victor's been quite delightful. And you? You brought Greengrass right?"
"Yeah." He said, switching his hands and moving in the opposite direction. "It's been nice so far. I'll have to go get her from Emmit when we're done. She's, well, enjoyable to dance with."
"Am I not?" She asked, a small frown on her face as she watched him sputter for a second. "I'm only joking Harry. You're quite a good dancer too. I thought you said you didn't know how?" Harry lifted her up and turned before putting her back on the ground, luckily not hitting anyone despite the tight spacing.
"Daphne taught me. We've kind of been having dance lessons between lunch and dinner every weekend on both days since I asked her three weeks ago."
"Oh, how scandalous. Alone in a room with one of the prettiest girls in our year Harry. Daring." He could hear the teasing in her voice and didn't respond. "She must be quite a teacher for you to be this good with only six lessons then." She grinned at that, seeing him sigh.
"She is a very…efficient instructor." He said with a small shiver, remembering the stinging hexes she threw at him when he would mess up something so simple.
Hermione only laughed lightly at that as they continued to dance for a couple songs before she said she wanted to stop for a bit since her feet were hurting. Walking arm in arm off the dance floor, the two made their way to the same table that Harry and Daphne had been sat at earlier to see not only said blond girl, but also Victor, Katie and Emmit. Pulling out a seat next to Victor, he waited for Hermione to sit and then pushed her in before taking the open seat next to Daphne.
"How was your dance with Foley?" Harry asked as he sat down, taking a glass of pumpkin juice Daphne offered.
"Quite well. Heir Foley is a very capable dancer. And your dance with Bell and Granger." She asked, taking drink of her own glass of Gillywater.
"Pretty good." He said, before pointedly looking at Katie. "Though, Katie could learn to keep with the tempo better. And maybe stick to one style of dance per song." This got a chuckle from Emmit as he had said he made a similar comment after their first dance.
"Oi, keeping with the tempo is for knobs. I go at my own pace." She said with a blush, while pouting slightly, earning a chuckle from everyone. "You're not bad either Potter. Need to learn to loosen up your dance style though if you want to be more spontaneous."
"For only six dance lessons, Potter does adequately." Daphne spoke up, not wanting her dance partner, and thus herself, to be embarrassed.
"Really?" Emmit asked, looking at the two.
"Yeah, I didn't know how to dance. Daphne was kind enough to teach me." Harry said, scratching the back of his head nervously. "I'm still sorry about stepping on your toes, by the way."
"I have told you that it's fine, Potter. Besides, you haven't stepped on them tonight." She gave a slight smirk.
"With Harry's luck, you just jinxed it though." Hermione cut in with a laugh.
The little group continued talking for a few minutes on topics ranging from Emmit's guaranteed spot as an Apprentice Potion Maker with Master Yorn in Norway as long as he did well on his N.E.W.T.S to the fact Victor had a curious fascination with dangerous plants not unlike Hagrid and his creatures. Daphne had even spoke up and asked Hermione about similar events in the muggle world as she never really ventured out to it. The brown-haired girl couldn't really answer it though as she hadn't been to things like this before. The fanciest party she had really been to was a dental conference in London with her parents a few times. Which she then had to explain the concept of dentists to the three Purebloods.
As Hermione was explaining what it was her parents did, Harry felt something brush against his knee. He dismissed it at first but when it happened again and stayed there, he looked down briefly to see that Daphne had shifted herself enough to rub her knee against his. Looking up to her curiously, he saw that she was looking ahead of her and to their right. Following her line of sight, he saw that Malfoy was making his way through the small crowed with what looked like Parkinson on his arm, and was on a direct line with their table. Looking back at her, he saw that her eyes had shifted to the dance floor.
"Well, I feel like dancing a bit more." He said standing up and offering a hand to his date. "Heiress Greengrass, would you like to join me?"
"Delighted to, Potter." She said, taking his hand as he helped her stand, however much for show it was.
"Was it just me or did that seem…forced?" Emmit said, watching the two begin dancing before turning back to the others.
"A little." Hermione said, biting her lip. "But I think it has more to do with that." She said, turning her head to look over at a frustrated looking Malfoy who was now retreating to the other side of the Hall.
"That little Ferret? What would he want?" Katie asked looking at the boy as he disappeared among the crowd.
"Blond vone yes?" Victor asked, seeking confirmation to which the others nodded. "He made show to be taking Greengrass to Ball." He continued with a shrug. "She said no, of course, and when she wouldn't tell him who was taking her, he threw tantrum."
"I suppose it makes sense. Malfoy isn't…"
"He's like a rash on your ass you just can't get rid of." Katie said as she took a drink, while at the same time so was Emmit who snorted into his.
"Well, I wouldn't put it so crudely, but yes." Hermione conceded while munching on a sandwich. "I was really surprised though to see the Greengrass came with Harry though."
"Really? I know you hang around Harry a lot Hermione, so you might be a bit blinded by this, but I can only think of a few girls in this whole castle that would actually say no to a date with the Harry Potter. Besides, he's a much better option than Malfoy." Katie explained as she stood up. "Hell, if I didn't have Emmit here and he was taller and more my type I would be all over that. Come on Emmit, I want to dance some more." She said, holding her hand out to her date who just sighed in amusement before standing and taking her hand. With a quick wave the two were back on the dance floor.
"Would you like to dance more too?" Victor asked turning to his own date.
"I would love to."
It was getting close to midnight and Harry could absolutely say, this was certainly a much more fun night than he had thought it would be. After the short sit down with his friends, he and Daphne had taken to the dance floor once more and the two had stayed there for the rest of the evening. Mostly out of a desire not to be hassled by Malfoy, but also because, despite the neutral expression on her face, he could tell Daphne was really having a great time. He had, had a couple more dances with his friends. This time it also included one each from Alicia and Angelina while Daphne had gone with Fred and George. She had whispered to him after those she wasn't dancing with them again though.
As they wound down from the most recent song, he looked out over the dance floor and realized that many were getting closer to their partners for some reason. Looking down slightly to Daphne with a questioning gaze, she answered his unasked question by saying that the last song at a Ball was typically a more intimate dance. He blushed at the implication and asked if she wanted to sit out for it. She gave a slight shake of her head and told him he had done well enough for the evening and that she would not mind a more intimate dance with him if he wanted. Seeing as he didn't move, she pulled her hands from his and his shoulder while taking a half step closer to him and placing both on his chest. She whispered for him to place both hands on her hips and, with a short hesitation, he complied.
The music started up for the last dance and he could tell immediately why this was a more intimate dance. Due to her hands on his chest and their closeness, Daphne couldn't move as freely as before, which forced her to be more in step with him. He could actually smell her perfume apart from all the other scents; sort of like the Jasmine tea his Aunt used for important guests. Despite the memory it brought to him, he couldn't help but like the scent she used. As they moved back and forth, he felt himself get a bit more nervous when she gently placed her head on his chest and immediately, his hands were all sweaty. He tried to catch her eye for a moment and when he did, she gave a brief smirk.
A few minutes later, the song came to a close and the two began to slow to a stop. Daphne held her position for a few seconds after the last note before pulling back and taking Harry's hand to turn him around. The students began clapping politely as the band began packing up. Thinking that was going to be it, the two made their way over to the table they had been using, grabbing a couple drinks along the way, in order to wait for their friends to see if they wanted to talk for a bit. Only, it wasn't the end. It only took a moment for everyone to realize it, but as soon as the last orchestra player left the stage there was an explosion of smoke on stage and it revealed four people set and ready to play more modern instruments.
"That's the Weird Sisters." Daphne said as she saw his confused expression. "I wasn't aware they would be here."
"Never heard of them." Harry said, watching as they began playing and many rushed towards the stage.
"It's a nice listen. Certainly, a different tune from most wizarding music. They're most popular with muggleborn and Half-bloods. Reminds them of, I believe it's called rock music." She then couldn't prevent a look of slight disgust as she continued watching the people as they began to 'dance'. "Mother Magic, how can they all dance like that?"
"Like what?" He asked, looking at everyone. He didn't see anything wrong with it per se. Sure, it wasn't the dancing they had just done, but…and that's what she was talking about. There were quite a few girls dancing extremely intimately with their partners. "Oh."
"Yes. Oh."
"Would you like to go for a walk instead?" Harry asked a moment later as he watched her cheeks redden slightly at some of the 'dance' moves being shown.
"Yes." With such a simple answer, she took his hand and gently lead him from the Great Hall. Passing by Professor McGonagall who told them not to be too long, they exited to the grounds and into the small garden that had been made for the evening.
From his years of tending to his Aunts garden, Harry could see all sorts of flowers he recognized. Roses, obviously, daffodils, hydrangeas, tulips and several others. Normally it would be much too cold to have the garden here, magic or not, but it seemed like there had been warming charms set up and something to keep the wind at bay, which made it a very nice walk. Despite the silence the two had, it was a nice walk. They had both stopped on a few occasions to either look at the stars or smell a particular flower. However, it ended all too soon if you asked Harry, as they soon realized they had made a full circle around the garden and were back at the Entrance Hall.
"I think I'm ready to retire for the evening, Potter." Daphne said as they got close to the door, a small yawn only showing the barest of hints on her face.
"Sure. I'll take you back to the Slytherin Dorms." He said as they crossed the entryway.
"Ah, good, Mr. Potter, Miss. Greengrass, please remember the extended curfew is in fifteen minutes." The Deputy Headmistress said as she spotted them come in.
"Yes, Professor." He said as he began walking with Daphne towards the entrance to the dungeons.
"You know, Potter." She said, glancing at him as they descended the stairs. "The entrance to the Slytherin Dorms is secret."
"Mmm." He agreed before looking at her. "To most, probably, but I know where they are." He admitted turning back to look forward. "Actually, I know where all the Dorms are."
"And how, exactly, do you know that?" She asked with a raised eyebrow, silently noting they were indeed going the right way as they turned a corner.
"I have my ways." He smirked at her in slight triumph of knowing something she didn't. Though it was dimmed a bit as she didn't show if she was frustrated at the statement or not. After a few minutes though, they were standing in front of a blank space in the wall. "This is your stop."
"So, it appears." She said, looking between the wall and her date. "It was a nice evening Potter. Thank you for taking me." She said, leaning up to him and placing a gentle kiss on his cheek.
"Uh, sure. No problem." He forced out, his cheeks flushing red. And just as she turned to go into the Dorms, a thought raced through his mind. "Wait, Daphne." He said, reaching out to grab her hand. She turned to face him, looking at him with slight confusion. "Um, would you, ah, like to do this again?" He watched as she raised an eyebrow. "Uh, maybe not a dance, but you know, just the two of us. Hanging out. Together."
"…Are you asking me on a date, Potter?" She asked, not really sure as to why.
"Yea." His voice cracked, causing her to smile a bit, before he cleared his throat. "I mean, yes, I'm asking you on a date. I actually enjoyed tonight, and I hope you did too, and I thought, maybe we could have another. But one where we don't have to dance. I mean, if you want to, I mean. You don't have-"
"Yes. Let me know a day and time." She said, turning back to the wall as she whispered something causing the wall to slide open briefly before closing and leaving Harry Potter standing in the middle of the corridor, with a shocked look on his face.