A Year to Remember
By Izzy
Part 8:When the Night is Young
He lay, utterly drained, on the ground. His eyes were closed and he had no idea where his glasses were, but he didn't need to. He knew, somehow, he had failed. Voldemort still lived.She was dead. And that was his fault. He should never have let her come out with him.
He felt something brush against him, and a taunting voice laughed in his ears. Barely existent, but still existent. Then it floated away.
"Potter? Chang?" Professor Sinastra had come looking for them. He tried to pull himself up, but he knew he was lucky to be alive.
Lucky...no, he wasn't lucky. He should have died. Then he wouldn't have to know he had failed. And he wouldn't have to feel guilt over her death.
"Chang? CHANG! Oh God, no!" Professor Sinastra must have found her body.
"Potter? Are you allright?" His senses were down, he was only dimly aware of her picking him up and putting her hand on his neck, feeling for his pulse.
"Harry," this was Ron's voice. "Harry, wake up."
"Wake up, Harry, Christmas morning." Ron was shaking him awake.
He groaned, felt the urge to cry, and once again, the inability to. He pulled himself out of bed and nearly tripped over the small pile of parcels. And there was a note on one of them: Harry-These are your dress robes for tonight. Hermione should have also gotten hers. I would have sent Ron his, but I got the material rather late, there wasn't time. I'm be giving him his robes when I arrive. I'd like it if you didn't open these until tonight. -Fleur
Huddled together for warmth, the Hogwarts and New York State students walked to Beauxbatons through the snow. Inside the warmth of the Entrance Hall, the New York State students paused to marvel, as they had ever since the holidays had begun, at the Christmas decorations. Harry had thought Hogwarts magnicficent, and now understood why Fleur hadn't been impressed, Beauxbatons was decorated to the hilt.
Fleur herself turned up shortly after breakfast, clutching a parcel containing Ron's new robes. Like with Harry, she told him not to open it until that night. Ron barely noticed, and before lunch he had complained on how slow the day was going.
After lunch, someone started a snowball fight, and soon Harry, Ron, Lavender, the three Hufflepuffs, the three Ravenclaws, Alfred, Max, and Sappho were chasing each other all around the grounds while Francisca, Fleur, and Hermione sat together near the bus and plane. Then Sappho barraged the three of them, and Fleur decided to get revenge, entering the fight. Then Harry and Ron took turns attacking Hermione until she too joined in, and was followed by a bored Francisca fairly quickly. But at half-past four someone signalled for the fight to end. It took ten mintues for them to gather and ten more to decide who'd won(they finally declared Hannah the winner), before the girls explained they intended to get ready in the plane, and therefore the boys would now have to remove thier robes from the plane. This they did quickly, but it took ten more minutes for the girls to gather thier various things to take into the plane. Here they were joined by Pansy and the other New York State girls, but apparently Morgana was getting ready elsewhere. Harry and Ron noticed that Hermione had not yet unwrapped her new robes. At five o'clock exactly, they all climbed in, locking the door after them.
At ten to eight...
At ten to eight, the boys, now in thier dress robes, waited in front of the plane for the girls to emerge. Ron was at the head, in midnight blue robes of thick crushed velvet. Harry was next to him, in robes that looked much like his old dress robes, though Fleur claimed the cut was different. Whatever that meant. He did notice they were made of a different material. Alfred was right behind them, in sweeping silver robes.
They all watched, almost reverently, as the plane door slid open. Hermione stepped out first. A knee-length violet cloak fastened loosely by a gold chain was draped over violet robes which clung to her chest and floated around the ground. Her hair had been slicked to cling to her head, where it was covered by a corenet of violet beads, then curled to cascade in waves down her back. Her feet were encased in violet slippers. She did not speak, but smiled at Ron, who carefully helped her out of the plane. In the darkness, her robes emitted light.
"You-you-you're beautiful," he finally managed.
"Well, you can thank Fleur for that," Hermione pointed. Harry was helping Fleur out of the plane. She was wearing blue-grey robes with diamonds on the collar, cuff, waist, and hem of the skirt, which descended past her feet. Ron noted Harry seemed pleased.
"Nice robes, both of you," commented Hannah as, courtesy of Alfred, she landed on the ground next to them. She had salmon pink robes that extended to just above her ankles, and had done up her hair so that two thin loops of braid hung from each ear. There was a string of black beads around her neck, one at each wrist, and she wore black earrings and shoes. Looking at her, one could never think her the stereotypical Hufflepuff.
The one problem now was that the dress robes had not been built to combat the cold. Warming Spells were cast, of course, but it made thier progress across the grounds slow. And they were slowed furthered by the New York State students gaping at the the added ball decorations, which consisted of a new garden with winding paths, bushes, crystals benches and what Fleur identified as French Fire-Pixies, amoung other things. They were ten minutes late by the time they reached the school.
Madame Baud greeted them, Paul with her, with a glare worthy of Professor McGonagall. "Zere you are! Why deed you keep us waiting?"
"Next time we'll wear cloaks," said Lavender meekly. She walked up to Paul. His robes were a chocolate brown. Hers might have been white, but they were so lacy, there was no telling for sure.
"Whatevair. Up 'oo ze doors!" And she all but pushed Paul, Lavender, Hannah, Alfred, Ron, and Hermione up to the door, which promptly flung opened. "Au sujet du temps!" They heard Madeline Claudel comment as she passed through, Morgana and two boys with her. "Yep, it definitly is about time," Morgana said in agreement.
Hannah and Alfred quickly fell to talking between themselves. Paul and Lavender stood tall and proud, and Lavender was clearly basking in the jealous looks she was getting. Ron kept his hand tightly on Hermione's, wondering how this beauty had ended up his date.
He was so caught up he didn't notice the way Hermione was looking at him. She too, was wondering how she could be so lucky to have such a boy in love with her. She was falling for him, she knew that now.
Harry and Fleur waved to Ron and Hermione as they passed. Inside the Dining Chamber, the two big tables had been removed, and were replaced, like at Hogwarts, with the small lantern lit ones. They walked to the table as the top, where the other five judges were already seated. She settled down and smiled at him. She looked nothing like Cho now. But Harry felt a very hard jolt in his stomach, and had to fight back the urge to kiss her senseless.
The last of the students filtered in, and Madam Baud led in the champions. Paul and Lavender seemed to enjoy it thouroughly, but Alfred, Hannah, and Hermione all looked bored, and Ron looked downright terrified. His relief as he sat down next to Harry was very obvious.
"So how'd you say this worked?" said Alfred, glancing down at the menus. The dishes were mostly French, but there were several English and American dishes. After reading through them, he said to his plate, "Pizza, plain!"
"Still too nervous to order the toppings?" joked Hannah, but she also ordered her pizza plain.
"Hey, I'm actually starting to like the pizza they make here. I'd hate to see how *we'd* fare making foreign dishes. I'd rather not have an upset stomach tonight. It's been a long time since I've got to dance properly."
They were so casual, the two of them. Paul was casting several glares at them, and Harry heard him chide them for eating with thier fingers.
"And how is one supposed to use utensils for eating pizza?" Hannah pointed out.
Before anyone knew it, dinner was over, and they were all standing up. Ron was torn between excitement and fear as he accompanied the others in following Madame Baud out to the Entrance Hall. Everyone else followed them.
The Entrance Hall had been barely recognizable with all the decorations. There were a number of tables cluttered at one end, and a raised platform at the other end, on which stood a group of wizards holding musical instruments.
As soon as people had stopped moving in, one of the men on the platform spoke. He spoke in French for awhile, before, according to Hermione, repeating what he had been saying in English. "Good evening, we're Bicorn Enfoncement, or Bicorn Depression, we're all French, but we do songs in both French and English. We'll start out with a French one."
The music started up, and Hermione led Ron onto the floor. The song was slow, seductive. Having never danced in his life, he allowed her to steer.
They were the pair who couldn't dance. He wasn't at all surprised at the expertise Paul Gautier and Lavender showed. He was a bit more surprised, though, at the skill Hannah and Alfred Fadton showed. They were two-stepping, thier feet moving in perfect time with the beat.
This wasn't that difficult, actually. He kept his eyes on Gautier's feet, following every step he made, until he was pretty sure he knew what to do. Then he looked at Hermione. She smiled at him and sent his heart soaring.
Other dancers come onto the floor. Dumbledore was dancing with Madame Baud, Fleur was leading Harry through a dance, he could see Justin twirling Sappho Linnett. He tried to imitate the twirl, unsuccessfully. Next thing he knew Hermione was twirling him to dizziness. The room was still spinning when the song ended, but he didn't feel like sitting down at all.
A few songs later...
"Must...sit...down!" gasped Harry as another song began. "Tired!"
"Allright," said Fleur, and they sat down at one of the tables. "I'll get drinks."
She returned at the same time Ron and Hermione joined them. Ron had a look of pure ecstacy on his face, and Hermione looked nearly as happy.
Then Madeline and Morgana joined them. "Mind eef we sit 'ere?"
"Not at all," said Fleur, before anyone else could speak. "Where're your dates?"
"Deetched zem," said Madeline conspiratorily. "Zey were driving us up ze wall."
"That wasn't very nice," said Hermione.
"What were we supposed 'o do? We came 'ere 'o enjoy ourselves, and we weren't."
Ron was swiftly getting bored. He turned to Hermione. "Want to dance again?"
"Actually," she said, getting up, "I thought I might like to go for a walk. Join me?"
"Sure." They made thier way through the dancers, nearly bumping into Ernie and Sally-Anne, who were whirling about like mad, and stepped outside. They cast warming spells, and walked very slowly along the trails, neither speaking, passing other people every now and then, her robes shining brilliantly.
Very suddenly, their peaceful walk was shattered by the voice of Romulus Metlik, sounding very horrified, "What did you just call me?" Turning in the direction of his voice, they saw his silhouette rising out of one of the bushes.
A second later it was joined by Pansy's silhouette, and they could barely hear her simpering, "Oh, I am so sorry, Romulus. A year ago the boy Draco, he fancied me, and he slipped a Love Potion into my food. I found out only recently. I have been taking antidote, but it might not have had full effect yet-"
"Liar! I know perfectly well you and Draco Malfoy were bethrothed. And I also know you must have taken that antidote months ago. Even if he had a relapse and slipped you more potion it must have taken effect by now. You know I actually fell in love with you-"
At this Pansy abandoned her simpering attitude, and slapped him hard on the face. "You're the liar! You were only interested in me for my connections!"
"Well you're so ugly you should be grateful I was interested you at all, bitch!"
"Fine! Go find some bloody porcelien doll then!"
"I will! Get the fuck out of my sight!"
The two silhouettes turned and stomped off in the opposite direction, his, back towards the school, hers, Merlin-knew-where.
Ron burst out laughing. "Wait till I tell Harry about that!"
When they spotted Terry and Lisa kissing, they both smiled and passed on. But then Ron asked, "Hermione, how far did you and Viktor go?"
Hermione didn't respond. "Why are reluctent to talk about it?" he pressed. Another moment of silence, and then-
"I'm not reluctent," said Hermione slowly. "I just don't know what to say. I've never told you how far we went, because I'm not sure myself."
"What do you mean by that?"
"Well, we went beyond friendship. That I know. But not far enough beyond. We were always, I think, on the verge of being love, but never quite there. Something kept holding us back. I used to think it was the distance, but..." she drifted off.
"But what?" He was barely speaking above a whisper now.
"Viktor told me once, shortly before he died, that he thought my feelings lay elsewhere."
This hung in the air, as slowly the last strains of music died away. And then they heard, "Thank you, thank you. Merci. This next one, some of the Muggle-borns in the crowd might recognize it, it's from a Muggle movie, we saw the movie, and the song was just so beautiful, we had to do it. It's called 'As the World Falls Down'".
"I've heard this song," commented Hermione, as they heard a long strech of music. "It's a wonderful one to dance to. Maybe we should go back to the Hall."
"I'd don't think we'd make it there in time. We've walked pretty far along." There was a pause. "We could dance here."
"Here?" She looked from one bush to the other. Then she smiled. "Okay."
He should be more comfortable dancing with her here then in the Hall, Ron reminded himself. After all, here there was noone to see them. But he had made the suggestion without thinking of what it would be like to dance with Hermione, in the moonlight, all alone.
Very carefully, he took Hermione's hand in his, then placed his other hand on her side, drawing her in closer then he'd intended. Her hand touched his shoulder, and it seemed much more intimate then thier previous dance.
By the time they had begun to dance in earnest, in first musical introduction was over, and the music took on a mournful tone. But then the tone picked up, more instruments began playing, and the song began.
There's such a sad love
Deep in your eyes, a kind of pale jewel
Open and closed within your eyes
I'll place the sky within your eyes
There's such a fooled heart
Beating so fast in search of new dreams
A love that will last within your heart
I'll place the moon within your heart
They must have been quite a sight, and indeed, Ron noticed the Fire-Pixies were looking at them in amusment. He wished they'd go away. This was him and Hermione alone.
As the pain sweeps through
Makes no sense for you
Every thrill he's caused
Wasn't too much fun at all
But I'll be there for you-oo-oo
As the world falls down
Falling
(As the world) Falling down
Falling in love
I'll paint you mornings of gold
I'll spin you Valentine evenings
Though we're strangers till now
We're choosing the path between the stars
I'll leave my love between the stars
As the pain sweeps through
Makes no sense for you
Every thrill he's caused
Wasn't too much fun at all
But I'll be there for you-oo-oo
As the world falls down
The song really was beautiful. The lyrics seemed to him to describe the way he felt about Hermione. The tune seemed to pull his feet until he was scarely aware of what they were doing, exactly, to move himself and Hermione around and around. She was now close enough that he could feel her breathing.
Falling
(As the world) Falling down
Falling
As the world falls down
Falling
Falling
Falling
Falling in love
As the world falls down
(down) Falling
Falling
Falling
Falling in love
His mouth brushed passed her ear, and the words, audible only to her, fell from it, "I love you, Hermione. I've loved you for so long..."
As the world falls down
The words whispered in her ear was more beautiful to Hermione then any music. He meant it, she knew. It was if she was seeing him, hearing him, for the first time.
Falling
Falling
Falling
Before either knew what was happening, they were kissing...
Makes no sense at all
Makes no sense to fall
Falling
Hermione felt like she was drowning, and that she could die perfectly content. Ron was tense, scared, but happier then he'd ever been in his life.
As the world falls down
Falling
Falling
Falling in love
As the world falls down
(down) Falling
Falling
Falling in love
Falling in love (love)
Falling in love
Falling in love
Falling in love
The song ended, and Hermione pulled away. "Ron.." she said softly, "I'm afraid we've got trouble."
So she wasn't in love with him. His heart sank, but he kept his voice steady. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't've-"
"It's not you. It's me. And time. As I said, I know what the second task is, and researching it's going to take up almost all my time. And after that, I've got the N.E.W.Ts-"
"I thought you were exempt from end-of-year tests."
"If I want to get into the Ministry, I still have to take the N.E.W.T.s. And that will take all my time until the year ends. I'm free after that though," she added.
"So you want me to wait."
"It'll only be for a few months."
He shrugged. "I've waited years. What's a few more months? Only..."
"Only what?"
"Maybe...just for tonight, be mine?"
She considered. "Allright, then. Just for tonight."
She kissed him again, then pulled him into the bushes with her.
Meanwhile...
Fleur was now seated alone, some way from the dancers. Sappho had come and asked Harry to dance with her, and they were now on the floor together. The music ended. He kissed her hand politely and rejoined Fleur, while Sappho went off to find Justin.
Meanwhile Fleur saw Paul lead Lavender back onto the dance floor. Hannah and Alfred were already on the dance floor, they in fact had not yet left it. Ron and Hermione had not yet returned from thier walk, and Fleur wasn't expecting them back anytime soon.
"She okay?" Fleur asked Harry.
"Yeah she's fine. Quite a good Quidditch player, or so she says."
"So..." she said after a few minutes more. "How are you at Quidditch?"
"Very good. Only lost two games in my entire career, and one of them was due to Dementors."
"How'd the Dementors make you lose?"
"Well..." How was he supposed to explain this to her? "They made me fall off my broom."
To his relief, understanding crossed her face. "Bad memories?"
He nodded. "My parents."
"Ah. I suppose I was lucky there. Gabrielle wasn't as. She heard our mother being murdered. Didn't see though. Mother had been fearful of an attack by You-Know-Who, because I had known you, and she had told Gabrielle that if You-Know-Who ever attacked, she was to run to the fireplace, and use Floo Powder to go to me, and that's what Gabrielle did. I picked her up in the Leaky Cauldron about half an hour after she fled. She was still shaking." During this speech, she had slid her chair over so she and Harry were only inches apart. The air crackled between them like a spell gone awry.
"Harry, can I have closer look at your scar?" Fleur asked, sounding rather timid, which was very unusual for her. He nodded without thinking.
His entire body was tensed up us her hands touched his forehead, brushing away strands of his hair, very aware of her fingers running along his scar. Noone was looking at them, they were all too busy with other things-and then he gasped as she placed her lips on his forehead.
She drew away by about an inch. "Do you want me?"
"More then anything." He closed his eyes, felt her hands move down to his cheeks, any moment now he would feel her lips on his-
And then he remembered:the flash of green light and the body hitting the ground, her hysterical parents glaring at him, her words months before:"they might think you're pushing me", which had taken on a whole new meaning after her death. He had foolishly missed the danger to Cho, but he knew better now. So just as her lips touched his he pulled away. "No!"
"Harry," she said swiftly, "this isn't just the Veela part of me. This is-"
"You can't," he insisted. "Not now! Not after what happened to her!"
And he got up and fled. Fleur was behind him. He ran through the dancers, sending Paul and Lavender skidding, knocking Francisca's tiara off as he passed her and Max, and causing Professor Bobwhite, who was trying to dance with Madame Maxime, to have a nervous breakdown.
Out into the garden he ran, and wandered about, wondering what he would do now.