Chapter 4 – The Yule Ball
Disclaimer – It seems unnecessary to point this out, but I will anyway - I do not own Harry Potter, nor am I making any money from anything I post here.
The thing that was Lord Voldemort was propped up in a chair beside the fire of the old Riddle House. He had been keeping a close eye on what the Daily Prophet was printing over the course of the last month and was concerned. This wasn't a feeling he was used to experiencing and sought to quash it as soon as possible. If the paper was to be believed, then the Potter brat had somehow survived when the dragon had cornered him and tried to burn him to death, and then spoke to it. Lord Voldemort himself could not have survived if the same thing had occurred to his old body when he was at his full strength. Well… he would have survived due to his horcruxes, but his body certainly wouldn't have. He himself possessed the ability to speak to snakes, yet in all his research, he had never heard mention of an ability which allowed one to converse with dragons.
His death eater had gone against his wishes and had interfered with the task in an attempt to murder the boy, if it had not resulted in the discovery of this ability of his, he would have called Barty back to his side and murdered the fool for his insubordination. He had insisted that the boy must be guided through the tournament and touch the Triwizard cup first, which would have brought him directly to Lord Voldemort for use in the ritual. His death eater hadn't helped guide Potter through the task, hadn't even found some way to inform him about the dragon which had nearly resulted in the boy dying at a hand other than his.
When he had insisted that he must use the boy, Wormtail had questioned why it must be the Potter brat, and not instead someone else who had hated Lord Voldemort. Obviously, he had never told Wormtail the true reason, simply punished him for speaking his mind. He wanted the protection that was running in the boy's veins after his mudblood mother died to save him. Now he was questioning if it was really necessary, whatever this new ability of Potters was, it was something that couldn't be allowed to grow. He of all people knew how powerful old magic could be, for that was surely what this was. He must kill the boy before anything else happened.
Even if he did get his hands on the boy to use for his ritual, there was the possibility that whatever this was could interfere with it. If that happened then he would be in an even worse situation than he was now, he would be less than spirit once more. No… he needed his body back and he would not wait any longer, he needed to rally his death eaters once more too, those who had remained faithful. Those who had strayed from the path of Lord Voldemort would pay, Karkaroff had sold out several of his followers and must die. He was unsure if Severus was still truly loyal to him but would find out soon enough. The Lestranges had tried to find him, had tortured the aurors Frank and Alice Longbottom into madness, they would be released from Azkaban to join him once more.
Lucius had not tried to find him, though had apparently been the leader of the little gang of death eaters at the quidditch world cup. He would be punished for not trying to find him, he was weak willed but was nevertheless a loyal death eater in his day and much more capable than Wormtail. There were so many more, those who had lied their way out of trouble with the ministry, claiming that they were under the influence of the imperius curse, they would all be punished.
But first he needed a body…
So there in the old Riddle House, a high cold voice shrieked "Wormtail!"
"So, why'd you let Hermione talk you into going to the ball?" asked Ron the moment Harry had entered the Gryffindor dorm the night before the Yule ball.
Harry looked around to find Ron alone in the dorm, sitting on his four-poster ready for bed. He resisted the sudden urge to take off his scarf and strangle Ron with it, instead deciding to give Ron a chance to rethink what the next words to come out of his mouth would be.
"What do you mean?" he asked innocently.
Except Ron wasn't exactly known for thinking things through before he said them.
"Well, she's not exactly the most attractive witch in Hogwarts is she?" he scoffed. "I know she's our friend and helps us with our homework and all but let's face it, you're Harry bloody Potter, Hogwarts champion, you could have anyone you wanted in this school. I don't understand why you think you need to settle for her."
"Settle for her?" Harry hissed, seeing red. "Is that what you think I'm doing? She's without a doubt one of the kindest, most caring people I've ever known, and you think I've only agreed to go with her out of some moral sense of obligation or something because she's helped me with homework in the past? She didn't even hesitate to believe me when my name came out of the goblet and I said I didn't put it in. She actually knows me well enough to know I hate all the goddamn attention I get just because a psychopath killed my parents and tried to kill me!" By the end of his little tirade he was shouting. "She's been my best friend for years, is it that much of a surprise to you that I actually care about her?"
"I thought I was your best friend!?" Ron asked incredulously.
"Yeah, for a while I did too" Harry shot back. "Hermione has always been a better friend than you ever were, I should've said something years ago all the times you've took the mickey out of her, but I clearly valued your friendship more than I should've. You feel a little bit jealous and treat me like shit for months yet expect everything to go back to normal after Ginny makes you see sense? You couldn't even realise that you were in the wrong on your own!"
"Hey, at least I apologised" Ron shouted back.
"Well, It's too bloody late! I'm sick of taking your side Ron, you've never had mine, and you've certainly never had Hermione's."
The mention of Hermione's name again seemed to bring Ron back to what originally started this. "You actually want to go with Hermione?" he asked sceptically.
"Yes, I do" Harry stated matter-of-factly. "If you ever want to actually be friends again then you need to pull your head out of your own arse, otherwise I'm done." He started getting changed ready for bed. "And for your information" he added. "I'm the one who asked her to go with me, I've liked her for years."
He ignored Ron's dumfounded look, hopped into bed, and the rest of the night was spent in blissful silence.
Harry entered the great hall holding hands with Hermione on Christmas morning. They'd exchanged a quick "Merry Christmas!" and a hug before deciding to forgo their usual morning jog on such a special day and head down for an early breakfast.
They bumped into none other than Malfoy and his usual brainless cronies Crabbe and Goyle outside the doors to the great hall.
"Alright Scarhead!" Malfoy jeered "Heard you'd woke up but didn't think you'd want to show yourself after that performance at the first task."
"What are you on about Malfoy?" Harry shot back.
"Oh just that if the entire school saw me completely starkers, I certainly wouldn't want anyone to see me ever again." Malfoy finally burst out laughing after failing to hold it in any longer. "Or are you just that uncivilised from living with muggles that it's not humiliating?" He said the word muggles in disgust, as though he was afraid of dirtying his pureblood name just from letting the word escape his lips.
Harry felt Hermione slip her arm around his waist before she replied for him. "Not at all Malfoy, it's just that unlike you, Harry has nothing at all to be ashamed of."
"What are you talking about you filthy little Mudblood?"
Harry was about to leap at Malfoy and show him exactly what muggles were capable of without wands when Hermione tightened her hold on him to prevent him.
"Oh, just that as the person who was only a couple of feet away from Harry at the time, I had a pretty good view of exactly why he doesn't need to be ashamed.
Harry felt himself blush harder than he'd ever done before in his life when he realised exactly what Hermione was referring to. He'd almost completely forgotten that while most people were too high up in the stands to have a clear view of anything, Hermione was definitely close enough to have a clear view of everything.
He simply stood there lost for words and feeling as though he was going to die of embarrassment. He felt more than saw Hermione steer him past a completely irate Malfoy who seemed to be struggling to get his words out for a harsh enough insult to throw back at her and into the great hall.
He recovered somewhat to see an extremely pissed off looking Ron sitting with Dean and Seamus, who frowned at Harry as they saw him enter. Clearly Ron had told them about their row.
They joined Ginny and Neville at the Gryffindor table who were deep in conversation.
After exchanging Merry Christmas's and a few good morning pleasantries, talk turned to the upcoming Yule Ball.
"So, you two all sorted for the ball?" asked Ginny.
"Yup" returned Hermione happily, "Mum took me out shopping when we got our start of year lists. I almost insisted we didn't bother but she said that if the list said I needed a dress then I better get one." She nudged Harry's side with her elbow before continuing. "If this one decided to nap for any longer then I definitely wouldn't have needed it."
Harry had the decency to look ashamed. "If I could've woken up sooner and asked you to go with me I definitely would've. How is it that everyone apparently knew we liked each other anyway?" He directed this question at Ginny and Neville.
Ginny simply looked at him incredulously. "You guys basically did everything besides from kiss already. You couldn't keep your hands off each other, you'd hug after not seeing each other for a couple of hours when you had a different class, and even now Hermione is basically sitting on your lap. Which before you started dating, was still how you used to sit anyway."
Harry looked down and saw that Hermione was indeed a little closer than necessary, though he wasn't at all bothered by it. He looped his arm around her waist and held her there, he knew Hermione always had self-esteem issues and didn't want her to get the impression that he didn't want her there. She glanced at him in surprise before smiling adorably at him.
"So what about you two?" Harry asked changing the subject. "You both going to the ball?"
It was Ginny's turn to blush scarlet at this question, she raised one of her hands from under the table from where it was resting. He was surprised to see hers and Neville's fingers locked together.
"This wonderful man asked me to go with him not long after the ball was announced. Apparently, he's liked me for quite a while, and the feelings mutual." She grinned sheepishly.
Hermione let out a most un Hermioneish squeal and looked ready to throw her arms around Ginny if it wasn't for the mountain of breakfast on the table that separated them. "Oh! That's great you two!"
Harry was extremely pleased at this news too; he'd known Neville had a bit of a thing for Ginny for a while. Ever since Ron had stopped talking to Harry, he had quickly become good friends with Neville and had regretted not ever becoming friendly with him much sooner. He was shocked at Hermione's outburst though, If Ginny and Neville had been together so long, how had she not known before now?
"Hermione, if they've been together for weeks, how did you not already know?"
Hermione suddenly looked really ashamed and apologised profusely to Ginny and Neville for not spending much time with them recently, before she explained.
"Well, I've barely been out of the hospital wing ever since the first task Harry, basically the only times I'd left were to use the loo, shower and go for a run in the morning. I've had the teachers sending me work so I could work in the hospital wing, I've been asking Dobby to bring food so I could eat while I was with you, and you already know I was sleeping there."
"Merlin's beard Hermione."
"I know Harry, but I just didn't want you to wake up alone."
He was surprised to see tears in her eyes and had to mentally prevent himself from kissing her right there and then, he settled for wrapping both arms around her and hugging her tight.
They were interrupted then by the arrival of the post owls, a regular barn owl and a rather unusual looking long-eared owl which landed in front of him and extended its leg, which had a rather formal looking letter attached to it. He removed the letter and the owl took off immediately and flew away, as though it had much better places to be.
He glanced down at the letter he'd removed and was surprised to see the Gringotts seal on the front, containing an extremely sharp looking pin directly in the centre of it.
"That's a blood-seal Harry" Hermione answered his unasked question of what the pin was for. "You have to prick your finger on the pin, only your blood will be able to open that letter. It must be really important."
"Better read it somewhere private I guess then." He pocketed it for later.
He removed the large package from the barn owl and saw Sirius's familiar writing on a small note fixed to it.
Harry,
Merry Christmas
Open this with Hermione, don't let anyone else see.
Padfoot
"Wonder what that's about." He mused aloud, showing the note to Hermione.
"Not too sure, we better finish up and have a look."
They quickly finished up their breakfast, told the other happy couple that they'd see them at the ball later, and left the great hall to find an unused classroom.
He quickly tore open the package from Sirius shortly after in an old empty charms' classroom. And immediately wished he'd ignored the note from Sirius and opened it alone.
Out fell a copy of "Claudius Cauldwell's Guide to Copulation and Contraception." Along with an extra note from Sirius, he quickly read it, noticing Hermione's look of utter horror when she saw the book.
Figured it was about time someone gave you the talk Harry, I know that miserable excuse for a human being you live with never would've bothered, and I wouldn't do a good enough job doing it in person. The enclosed book will teach you everything you need to know, including many of the wizarding ways to keep safe when you are both ready. I've tried the muggle way and trust me when I say that these are better. It also contains tips for both Witches and Wizards to help "perform their role admirably." As Cauldwell so wonderfully describes it.
I didn't think you'd appreciate opening this in the great hall where anyone could see it, I can almost hear old Minnie shouting at me just thinking about it, hence my previous note. Though I do wish I could see the look on your faces when you opened this.
Don't hate me too much,
Love,
Padfoot
"For Christ's sake I'm fourteen!" Harry practically yelled, pushing the note towards Hermione to read and covering his face with his hands so he couldn't see the look on her face.
He felt like he'd been sitting there for hours in silence waiting for Hermione to say something, he looked up at her when he could wait no longer.
She simply stared from Sirius' note to the unopened book in shock, as though hoping that one of them would give her the ability of speech back.
"Well, it's nice that he's trying to do the best for us, though I think he's a couple of years early." She tried to state calmly, though she looked anything but calm. "Just because Sirius was doing this stuff at our age doesn't mean everyone does."
She wrapped the book back up and handed it to Harry, telling him to just put it away in his school trunk.
"In my trunk?" he asked stupidly. "Why would I want to keep this anywhere near me Hermione?"
She blushed scarlet at this and turned away to ensure he couldn't see her face. "Just because It's of no use now doesn't mean it won't be useful someday." She stated. "I'm sure there's lots of useful stuff in there."
Harry just sat there completely awestruck, was she saying… she wanted to… one day… with him?
They sat there in silence for a few minutes as Harry put the book back into his school bag.
Hermione cleared her throat and scooted a little closer to him on the floor where they were sitting. "Well, get it out then."
"What!?" he spluttered. Looking at her in horror and resisting the urge to back away a little.
She just looked confused, before realisation set in and her face settled into the same look of horror Harry's was wearing. "Not that! The other letter, the Gringotts one!"
He sighed in relief, before reaching into his robes and pulling out the other letter he'd received that morning. He pricked his finger on the little pin extending from the middle of the seal and it melted away. He started to read.
Dear Mr Potter,
The news of your exploits in the Triwizard Tournament reached our ears last month, and we were eager to contact you, though news of your incapacitation prevented this until now.
A book has been left in our possession with strict instructions by one of your ancestors who I shall now refer to as GG, we were instructed to pass this along to any member of your bloodline to display a most unusual gift. The ability to speak Dragon-Tongue, though not common in your family, has revealed itself in a few people before yourself, each of whom have made their own contributions to said book.
This book was entrusted to us almost exactly 1000 years ago and has been passed on to two of your ancestors since that date. The book itself is written in the dragon language you have shown to have a proficiency in, therefore we have placed this book into the Potter Vault for your perusal. It cannot be taken out of Gringotts due to enchantments left upon it by GG when this was originally entrusted to us. Therefore, it shall remain in the Potter Vault until your death, where it will then be removed and remain in our possession until the next member of your bloodline shows the gift.
As part of our original contract with GG, upon the acknowledgement of said ability, Gringotts shall henceforth consider you a legal adult. Normally you would obtain the title of Lord Potter and the Potter Estate when you reached wizarding adulthood, or in other words, on your 17th birthday. Due to this contract with GG, you are now considered an adult by Gringotts laws and may claim the Potter Estate, including all businesses, property, and the full Potter Vault. The vault you have been using before now was merely a trust set up by your parents to help pay for your Hogwarts education and anything you may need.
When you claim the Head of House position, the Ministry of Magic will also be informed. Due to our ancient laws, they will also have to consider you an emancipated adult capable of handling your own affairs. Due to this, the trace which prevents you from performing magic outside of school will be removed, leaving you able to use magic to travel to your different properties and attend to any matters that require your attention.
Therefore, I would like to arrange a meeting with yourself in person so that we may discuss this further and you may claim your respected title. I await your owl at your earliest convenience.
This note will erupt into flames after you finish reading my signature, therefore please do try to ensure you do not burn yourself, if it is even possible for you to do so.
Looking forward to meeting you.
Grymshard - Potter Account Manager
Gringotts Wizarding Bank
Diagon Alley
Hermione finished reading over Harry's shoulder at the same moment as him. The letter promptly burst into flames in Harry's hands, where he hadn't let go of the letter quickly enough.
Huh, guess it's not just dragon fire that doesn't burn me then. He thought absently.
"This is perfect Harry! We can finally get some answers."
"How are we going to get there though? Hogwarts doesn't just let people up and leave, do they?"
"It's the Christmas Holiday remember Harry, we have to stay for the Yule Ball as you're a champion, but we can speak to McGonagall after that and request to go home for the remainder of the holidays."
"Home? There's no way I'm going back to the Dursleys" he stated defiantly.
"Obviously not Harry" Hermione replied exasperatedly "You can come home with me, you can meet my parents then as well. Judging from that letter, as soon as you accept the title of Lord Potter, you'll be emancipated and never have to see the Dursleys again anyway." She said excitedly.
"With you? Are you sure your parents won't mind Hermione?"
"I'll owl them to make sure if it'll make you feel better about it but they won't say no. It's either you come home with me, or I go home with you, and I don't think my mum and dad will like the sound of that." She grinned shyly at him.
"Alright then but if they do say no, I don't want you coming with me to the Dursleys, I don't even want to think about how they'd treat you."
"We'll cross that bridge if we come to it, which we won't." she replied. "Can I borrow Hedwig? She'll get there much faster than any of the school owls, we might even have a reply later today."
Later that day Harry stood at the bottom of the stairs to the girl's dorm with Neville, waiting for their partners to join them so they could go down to the ball.
He had confided in Neville and Ginny the contents of the Gringotts letter, though decided to keep it secret from everyone else for the time being. He was surprised to hear that Neville would one day become Lord Longbottom, though that title was currently still held by his father, even though he was permanently incapacitated in St Mungo's.
Neville had explained to him that both the Potter and Longbottom houses were considered 'Noble and Most Ancient Houses'. Which very few houses still alive today held the mantle of. Some houses were simply 'Noble Houses' and most others 'Minor Houses'. Harry was surprised to hear that Sirius' family, the Blacks, were also a Noble and Most Ancient House. Whereas Ginny's family the Weasleys, were simply a "Noble House." Though both houses were part of the Sacred Twenty-Eight, houses which were still considered "truly pure-blood". Not that that fact mattered to either Ginny or Neville. The Potter house wasn't a part of the Sacred Twenty-Eight, as his ancestors on his fathers' side had been Half-Bloods for generations.
The exact size of the Potter Estate was unknown to other families, though Neville had told Harry that his family was likely one of the wealthiest there was. A truly shocking revelation for a young man who had spent his life living in a cupboard until he was eleven and had never owned anything new until that day in Diagon Alley a few years ago.
Hermione and Ginny came down the staircase together, had Harry been able to take his own eyes off Hermione he likely would've realised that Ginny too looked quite beautiful. Though the word beautiful simply wasn't enough to describe the girl he was going to the ball with. She had clearly used liberal amounts of Sleekeazy's Hair Potion to tame her usual bushy hair, which was now sleek and even more beautiful. She was wearing a periwinkle-blue dress that fit her figure perfectly, showing off the beautiful young woman that she had become, and details that her baggy school robes usually kept well hidden.
When he finally managed to drag his eyes back up to Hermione's face she was beaming at him. He'd been feeling quite underdressed in the bottle green dress robes Mrs Weasley had purchased for him that summer, yet when he met her gaze, he forgot about those worries.
"Wow" he said stupidly as words failed him. "You look absolutely gorgeous Hermione."
She blushed scarlet but smiled nonetheless. "Thanks, you're looking rather handsome yourself."
He looked over at Neville and Ginny who had been in an exchange quite similar to their own. He noticed that ginny too looked quite beautiful in her pale pink dress and her hair done up in a ponytail. He suddenly burst out laughing at the image that popped into his head.
Ginny looked at him indignantly. "Is there a problem Harry?"
Both Neville and Hermione were looking at him in shock. "Yeah Harry what's the problem?" Neville asked crossly.
Sensing danger he explained himself. "It's not that Ginny, you look beautiful. I was just remembering the frilly robes your mother bought Ron and how he thought they were yours. I think they'll suit him better than you."
All of them burst out laughing at that, remembering the extremely frilly, lacey dress robes that no man, woman, child or even house elf would ever willing wear anywhere.
They walked down to the great hall together chatting amicably.
"Have either of you actually seen Ron today?" asked Neville.
"Nope" replied Hermione. "He's been avoiding us ever since he and Harry had that row. He probably thinks Harry's going to grow wings, pick him up and drop him off the tallest tower or something for the way he was talking about me."
"That's not a bad idea Hermione, maybe that book will teach me how to fly and I can do exactly that."
Hermione slapped the arm she was holding onto playfully. "Don't you go maiming anyone for my sake, not even someone who has finally proven himself as the world's biggest prat."
"If you insist, I'll just carry him up there and let you do the honours, better?" he said jokingly.
"Much." Replied Hermione.
"Is he actually going to the ball do any of you know?" Harry asked.
"I'm not sure. If he is I know he hasn't got a partner, he asked Fleur a few weeks ago and she just laughed at him." Ginny giggled at the memory.
"He asked Fleur?" asked Hermione incredulously.
"Yeah, and he thinks Hermione's the mental one." Neville put in.
"Assume she's going with someone else then?" asked Hermione.
"Think she's coming with Roger Davies, the Hufflepuff quidditch captain." Ginny said. "Don't understand why, he just ogles her like a piece of meat."
"Speaking of the other champions, you might want to watch out for Krum Harry. He asked me where he could find Hermione a week or so ago, he was planning on asking her to go to the ball with him. I told him the two of you were dating and he didn't seem very happy about it."
"But we weren't even dating then Ginny." said Hermione in confusion.
"Well no, but I figured when Harry woke up you would be." Ginny winked at her. "You're not telling me you're upset I told him that?"
"No! Not at all!" Hermione tightened her grip on Harry's arm, as though worried he'd run away from her. "Saved me the trouble of having to turn him down myself so thanks for that Ginny."
They entered the great hall at that moment, which had been completely transformed into a huge ballroom. It even looked bigger than usual, though whether that was purely because of the lack of house tables or due to magic, Harry couldn't be sure.
Instead of the house tables, small dining tables were dotted around the Hall, the staff table seemed to have been magically expanded and all the staff and tournament organisers were already seated at it. At the staff table also sat Fleur and Roger Davies, Cedric and Cho Chang, and Krum with a blonde-haired Ravenclaw girl that Harry had seen but didn't know by name.
"Do we have to sit at the staff table?" Harry asked Hermione in horror.
"Just for the meal I think, after the opening dance we can go wherever we please."
They joined the far end of the staff table where Harry took the seat next to Fleur, with Hermione on the very end.
Dumbledore stood almost the moment they sat down and addressed the Hall. "We shall have a short meal and then we will rearrange the hall for the opening dance. You need only state what you would like to your menu and the house elves will take care of the rest." Dumbledore sat back down.
He looked around at Hermione to see if the news of house elves doing work would cause another one of her tirades but was shocked to see that she had her nose buried in her menu.
He looked at his own menu to find a variety of Hogwarts' usual dishes such as roast chicken, porkchops and his favourite treacle tart alongside several French and what he could only assume to be Bulgarian dishes.
He heard Fleur's lofty voice state "bouillabaisse" to his one side and turned around to see the dish simply appear on the plate in front of her.
Immensely glad that he wouldn't have to witness an army of house elves running around the hall delivering food to various people, he turned his attention back to his menu.
His eye caught a Bulgarian dish on the menu, and he had to blink twice to make sure he was reading it correctly and not hallucinating in light of recent events. It was titled 'Dragon's Breath', with the small words 'Shkembe Chorba (tripe soup)' written beneath it.
He decided to give that a miss and settled for a bowl of beef stew and a slice of treacle tart, though didn't miss Krum's rough voice ordering the "Shkemba Chorba" he'd been looking at previously.
"Not feeling very adventurous Harry?" Hermione joked from his side. Where she had ordered the same dish as Fleur.
"Better not risk trying something foreign that I might not like when the whole school can see me I think. Wouldn't do to throw it right back up, don't think that's what Dumbledore had in mind when he mentioned International Magical Cooperation." Harry joked back.
Fleur actually started laughing alongside Hermione from his other side. "Like zat you mean 'Arry?"
He followed her pointed finger across the great hall and was horrified to see Ron sitting at a table alone in his ridiculous frilly dress robes, throwing up all over the table in front of him. It was an extremely good job he had been sitting alone.
Both he and Hermione had burst out laughing as they saw Professor McGonagall rush to his aid with her wand out, attempting to vanish the mess even as it was still revealing itself. She chased him out of the hall as he stood and hurried to get away from everyone who had been laughing at him.
"Idiot boy" he heard Krum mutter a few seats down from Fleur. "Vy on earth would he order the tripe soup if he had no idea vat it was?"
"He probably thought it was freshwater plimpy soup, it's supposed to help with nerves. Daddy makes it back at home. It's actually quite lovely." A dreamy voice answered him.
Hermione clearly noticed his confusion as he tried to get a good look at the person who had spoken. "That's Luna Lovegood, one of Ginny's friends. She's a little odd but she's really nice."
After Harry had got a little bit of his appetite back after seeing Ron's performance he started chipping away at his stew.
"Do you feel nozzing 'Arry?" asked Fleur from his side.
"What do you mean?" he frowned and both he and Hermione turned to look at her.
In answer she pointed over her own shoulder at her date Roger Davies, who appeared to be almost drooling as he stared at Fleur. From the look of the empty plate in front of him, he hadn't even bothered to order anything.
"What's up with him?" asked Hermione as she too frowned at Rogers behaviour.
"It's my allure." She stated simply. "My grandmozer was a Veela zo I have inherited some of her powers. Zough it's nowhere near as strong as hers would have been, it still tends to turn heads of ze opposite sex."
"Turn heads?" asked Harry doubtfully, it looks like it's doing more than just that." He pointed at Roger.
She glanced back at him. "Some people are much more susceptible than ozzers. Yet it doesn't seem to do anything at all to you 'Arry." She looked between him and Hermione. "The two of you are quite close I take it?"
Hermione blushed. "We've been best friends for years, now something a little more."
Fleur raised her eyebrows suggestively. "Well, you've found a good one 'Ermione, don't let him get away from you." She winked.
Both of them blushed at that "I don't intend to." Hermione answered as she rested her head on Harry's shoulder.
"Does it only affect men?" asked Harry interestedly.
"Not always." Said Fleur conspiratorially, zough it will only affect women if they are sexually attracted to ozzer women."
Harry's imagination got the better of him and in his mind, he saw his Hermione and Fleur locked together at the lips, their hands exploring. He shook his head to get his mind back on his food but didn't miss the knowing look Hermione was giving him. She knew exactly what was going through his head. She leaned in close to his ear and whispered "Sorry to disappoint you Harry, but I have no intention of sharing you." She gave him a quick peck on the cheek.
They ate their meal in silence after that, Harry trying desperately to fight down the blush that he was sure was showing on his face. A short time later Dumbledore rose to his feet and called all the champions and their partners forward for the first dance. He waved his wand and all the tables moved to the edge of the Hall after everyone had gotten to their seats. He waved it again and the staff table was pushed back, and a stage replaced it, where the Weird Sister's clambered up to perform their first song.
He nervously walked onto the dancefloor with Hermione, secretly wishing for some of Luna's fathers' freshwater plimpy soup to settle his own nerves. He took Hermione's hand in his own and rested his other hand on her waist as Professor McGonagall had shown him in their lesson as the song begun.
After what felt like hours other people started joining the champions on the dancefloor and he started enjoying himself. He saw Hagrid and Madame Maxime dancing nearby, and steered Hermione away slightly so they were safe from their giant flailing limbs. Neville and Ginny were dancing nearby, and he saw Ginny stick her thumb up at him as though to say "You're doing great!"
Fleur was dancing with Roger, who appeared to still be ogling her as they danced and wasn't looking where he was going, causing them to nearly collide with several other dancing couples. He even saw Mad-Eye-Moody dancing nearby with Professor Sinistra, though she seemed to be trying very hard to avoid his wooden leg.
After a few more songs they swapped partners and Harry danced with Fleur, Ginny's friend Luna and finally Ginny.
At one point in her life, Ginny would never have been able to stay in the same room as Harry, yet now she was completely unaffected even when held so closely by him. She'd always had a bit of a crush on the "Hero Harry Potter", though once she had gotten to know him a little better through Hermione last year, she had been added to the short list of people who'd treated him as 'Just Harry'. Instead of the boy who lived. He wondered if she'd started liking Neville not long after she'd gotten over that.
She suddenly pulled him close and he feared that he'd been mistaken, yet she leaned in to whisper in his ear as the song was ending. "There's a short break now but the next songs a really slow and romantic one so make sure you're dancing with Hermione again."
"How do you know that?"
"I asked Dumbledore before it started, he said after the first break the proper romantic ones start. Wanted to make sure you weren't dancing with someone else when that happened. Not to mention, I want an excuse to be as close to Neville as possible." She winked.
"Wow Ginny." Said Harry with amazement. "I might've lost Ron as a friend, but I think you're a better wingman than he could ever be."
She laughed along with him and gave him a quick hug.
Harry met back up with Hermione who excused herself to go to the loo before the next song started.
"Potter, could I haff a vord?"
He turned to see Krum looking at him.
He felt wary but tried not to show it. "Sure Krum what is it?"
"I vould like to apologise." He said simply.
"I'm sorry?" Harry was confused, what was Krum apologising for?
"Ven you were in the hospital wing, I spoke to one of your friends about Hermy-own-ninny. I had planned to ask her to the ball but could not find her. Your friend was rather short with me, I didn't realise you were already dating so I just wanted to make sure you did not have the wrong impression of me. I vould never try to steal someone else's girl."
"Oh" Harry said stupidly, too busy thinking about Krum referring to Hermione as his girl. He waved his apology away. "Don't worry about it Krum, Ginny had told me but I didn't think anything like that, well she sort of warned me about you actually." He laughed.
Krum laughed with him. "Just call me Victor, it just took me a little by surprise when your friend spoke to me the way she did. People often treat me like some kind of hero just because I play quidditch internationally and even though I detest it, a part of me still expects it half the time."
Harry raised his hand to shake Victor's. "Call me Harry then, think I know exactly how you feel there."
"I'm sure you do. Even in Bulgaria everyone has heard of Harry Potter."
Harry changed the subject. "So you and Luna huh?"
"It took me by surprise a little too. After I spoke to your friend Ginny about Hermy-own-ninny, I met Luna on my way back to the ship. She vos barefoot and looking for her possessions, she said that something called 'Nargles' took them, but I rather think that people took them and hid them from her. We spent most of the afternoon searching the castle and I ended up asking her to come here with me".
"That's horrible."
"Yes, it is." Hermione re-joined them. "Ginny told me all about it, her Ravenclaw dorm-mates apparently find it amusing to hide her possessions around the castle. We were planning on going to McGonagall so she could speak to Flitwick."
"Good idea, maybe we should mention it to her if we go to see her tomorrow Hermione?"
"I think we should. Hopefully, she can sort it out."
The Weird Sisters climbed back onto the stage for their next song at that moment, so Harry took Hermione's hand and quickly asked her for the next dance.
As Ginny had told him, the next song was indeed a very slow one, so he wrapped his arms around Hermione's waist and pulled her close to him. She in turn wrapped her arms around his neck and rested her head on his chest. They weren't even really dancing, just swaying along to the music but Harry wouldn't have had it any other way. He rested his chin against the top of her head as they swayed, relishing in the feel of their closeness.
As the song neared the end, she pulled her head away from his chest and looked up at him. "Thanks for coming with me Harry."
"Who else would I have come with? You've always been my closest friend, and one day I hope we're so much more."
She smiled up at him with the beginnings of tears in her eyes so he moved his hands from her waist to cup her face and used his thumbs to wipe the tears away. She closed her eyes at his touch.
She spoke again with her eyes still shut tight. "I mean it Harry, you've always been there for me and I I've loved you for years. When I saw you down in that arena, I thought I'd never get a chance to tell you."
Her breath hitched as though she had just realised exactly what she'd said and was considering running away from him. She opened her eyes and looked up at him, he saw the same doubt that he'd always had, that he'd never be loved by the person who he so wanted it from. He sought to erase that doubt as soon as possible.
There was only one thing he could really do in that situation. Holding onto her and dancing along to the most romantic song he'd ever heard, and the girl he'd loved for years had just told him she felt the exact same way.
Just as she seemed ready to pull away from him, he pulled her closer and leaned down, meeting her lips for their very first kiss. It was almost as though the entire school wasn't dancing alongside them, the only people who existed were himself, and Hermione.
When they finally resurfaced for air, he had eyes only for her and she looked back up at him with eyes that really were tearing up now. Though she had a huge smile on her face too, as though her dreams had finally come true.
"I love you too Hermione."
A/N – Thought I'd end this one with a recommendation – Blindness by AngelaStarCat. I read this recently and enjoyed every minute of it, I won't say any more here but it's definitely worth the read.
A/N 2 – When researching Bulgarian cuisine, I came along a website that referred to some kind of tripe soup as "Dragon's Breath", It seemed too perfect a coincidence to not put it in.