On the day of the Yule ball, harry felt nervous. He changed into his dress robes and met Parvati who was looking very pretty. Harry was surprised to See Hermione accompany Viktor Krum but nevertheless happy for her. Ron seemed to be absolutely angry with her. Hermione was looking absolutely stunning in her periwinkle blue robes. As Harry hit the dance floor along with the other champions, he felt dread . He had no wish to dance especially after seeing Cho and Cedric. He led Parvati away from the dance floor after the opening dance. The Patil twins left him and Ron to dance with other boys. Harry couldn't blame them. Ron was sulking after having an argument with Hermione over Krum while harry too had no inclination to dance.
Harry tried not to watch Cho and Cedric too much; it gave him a strong desire to kick something. He looked over the other couples on the dance floor. He could see Ginny dancing with Neville. He looked over Draco who was dancing rather closely with Pansy which reminded him of a certain blonde. He scanned the dance floor for Estella. He hadn't seen her during the opening dance. Harry saw Estella dancing with her Drumstag date. She was wearing a wine red gown like robes looking gorgeous. Harry could see her nervously smiling at the boy as they danced. As Harry continued watching her, she caught his eye and blushed deeply. Harry saw her turning the same color as her robes before he abruptly turned away to look somewhere else. He had a funny feeling on his chest. Quickly brushing it aside, he started to talk with Ron in hope of a distraction.
Hagrid hadn't turned up in the care of magical creatures class after Skeeter had printed an article stating that Hagrid was a half giant. As they were attending Professor Grubby-plank class, Harry felt furious.
"Missing your half giant Potter. ? I assume he must be ashamed and gone into hiding" drawled Draco Malfoy
" He has got nothing to be ashamed of . Atleast he has not got Death eater parents. "Snapped back harry
" Potter has no idea on the wizarding history with giants. No wonder he is sticking up to that man..oops giant…" jeered Estella joining her brother
"There is nothing wrong with Hagrid and you know it" shouted Harry back at her.
"Nothing..? The man has been trying to get us killed by monsters ever since he started taking classes" Said Estella scathingly as more students started noticing their row.
"The only one who was hurt in class was malfoy and merlin knows he deserved it" growled Harry
" He set out that monster on Draco. The whole school knows that Hagrid loves monsters. That's in his blood. Violence..killing..its all bad blood. No matter what you say Potter, blood makes a difference" shouted back Estella
"Of course it does, but people like Potty and Weasel are too blind to see the worth of pureblooded society. " sneered Draco
"Indeed blood makes a difference" roared harry focusing on Estella "Your stinking Malfoy blood will turn you all into death eaters and squibs"
Malfoy pulled out his wand while Harry did the same. Before anyone could cast a spell,
"Detention all of you" said Professor Grubby-plank . Harry sulkily spent cleaning flobberworms while casting nasty looks at the malfoy siblings who did the same to him.
Harry was furious. Snape had started to read the stupid article by Rita Skeeter in the class. Skeeter had printed an article describing the nonexistent love triangle between him, Hermione and Krum . The slytherins were howling with laughter while harry mentally imagined the different ways to kill Snape.
" '. . . Harry Potter's well-wishers must hope that, next time, he bestows his heart upon a worthier candidate.' How very touching," sneered Snape, rolling up the magazine to continued gales of
laughter from the Slytherins. "Well, I think I had better separate the three of you, so you can keep your minds on your potions rather than on your tangled love lives. Weasley, you stay here. Miss
Granger, over there, beside Miss Parkinson. Potter besides Malfoy. Move. Now."
As Harry moved to the seat besides Estella (Draco was already sitting with Pansy Parkinson) he felt blind with fury. Snape had insulted him and Hermione in front of the whole class. He willed himself to be quiet as he knew Snape was looking for an opportunity to knock down points from Gryffindor.
Harry began to cut his ginger roots for his potion when "So … finally did Granger choose you over krum or is it the other way round?" asked Estella coldly to him. Harry didn't reply. He was sure that he'd start shouting at her and Snape will be glad to put him in detention.
"You know I though Weasel had a thing for the Mudblood" harry shot her a deathly girl. He wanted to strangle her. ". But I guess I was wrong..unless love potions are involved" continued Estella
"Sod off malfoy " said harry in a low voice glaring at her
"You should tell that to your two timing girlfriend" sneered Estella.
"She is not my girlfriend you dumbass" said Harry irritably.
Silence. There was no reply for sometime .harry wondered whether Estella had fainted. He quickly glanced at her to see her staring at him in disbelief.
"She is not?" asked Estella with on odd expression on the face. Harry wondered why he was explaining it to her but nodded his head anyway.
They sat in silence as harry worked on his potion that was turning to flaming red. It was supposed to turn blue.
"You forgot to add beeleaves" muttered Estella.
"Oh, now you are being civil to me. I don't appreciate people who insult my friends and then pretend as though nothing happened" said harry darkly.
He was getting tired of her. One moment she would insult his friends and next moment act as though she was his friend. She was a two faced bitch, concluded Harry.
"I will keep that in mind Potter" said Estella quietly. They continued working silently for the rest of the class. But Harry caught her glancing at him when she thought no one was looking. She looked rather pink in the face. Was it because of the heat from the potions or something else…Harry wondered.
Voldemort has risen. Cedric was dead. And somehow harry felt it was all his fault. Only if he hadn't asked Cedric to take the cup with him … On his last day before the vacation, Harry took a stroll around the Great Lake. He didn't want to be surrounded by students who were looking suspiciously at him. As he looked at the lake, Harry saw images of Cedric as they had completed the second task, Harry closed his eyes. He wished everything was a dream..that cedric was alive…Voldemort wasn't back..
He felt a soft touch on his shoulder. He turned around to see Estella Malfoy looking at him. He saw her running her eyes over him as though checking whether he was fine.
"are you alright?" asked Estella anxiously.
Looking at her, Harry felt a rage course through him. He remembered Lucius malfoy who had come back to Voldemort. The man who killed muggles for fun. Voldemort's death eaters..
"Stay away from me Malfoy" said Harry , his voice laced in cold fury
"Potter…what Happened that day? How did Diggory..?"
Harry cut her off. "Voldemort is back. He killed Cedric. Your father came begging to Voldemort to take him back. The bastard along with other death eaters have sold their souls to that mad man" roared Harry at Estella.
He felt hatred towards her. He didn't want to be near her. He had pulled his wand out pointing at her.
"Go" said harry firmly
But Estella stood her ground. Her eyes showed no fear. "I did not kill Diggory . And I certainly am no death eater, Potter. So you can put that wand down." Harry didn't move, still pointing the wand at her.
" I'd prefer that you judge me by my actions than my blood, Potter. If you don't do that what's the difference between you and the dark lord?" Asked Estella coldly. With that Estella turned around leaving Harry stunned.