Author's
Note: None of this belongs to me. This story is based on Harry Potter and
the Goblet of Fire by J.K. Rowling and will feature "offstage scenes" as
well as scenes from the book reinterpreted from Hermione's point of view.
Hermione's
Fourth Year
Part
12: The Yule Ball
By
Elanor Gamgee
The school was unusually crowded during the
first week of the holidays, as so many people were staying for the ball.
Hermione found this slightly irritating, as she ordinarily used the quiet over
the holidays to get a head start on studying for the next term. Unfortunately,
quiet studying was all but impossible with the excitement over the ball
gripping the school. The distracting atmosphere almost rivaled the days before
the First Task.
The most surprising part to Hermione was
that, even if the castle had been quiet, she didn't think she would have
been able to concentrate on her studies—as hard as usual, anyway. She found
that she was truly looking forward to the ball, and had even spent an afternoon
with Ginny deciding how to wear her hair.
Parvati had mentioned, in what she clearly
thought was an offhand manner, that her sister Padma had agreed to go to the
ball with Ron. Hermione had decided to ignore this. She didn't want to think
about why this bothered her, any more than she wanted to think about why the
sight of Fleur Delacour made her frown.
On the first day of the holidays, Ron had
asked Hermione whom she was going to the ball with. When Hermione had refused
to answer, he had started throwing this question out unexpectedly several times
a day, apparently trying to surprise her into answering. He had almost gotten
her once; they had been sitting at lunch one day, and he had sprung it on her
right in the middle of a discussion about Hagrid's Blast-Ended Skrewts.
"…can't imagine why someone would want
them," Hermione had been saying, "Of course, this is Hagrid we're
talking about…"
Ron had nodded seriously.
"Hermione," he began conversationally, "who are you going to the
ball with?"
Hermione had been so caught up thinking
about Hagrid she had started to answer, and then caught herself. "V---Very
possibly that's none of your business, Ron!"
Ron had looked disappointed. Ginny, who had
been sitting a few seats down, had apparently heard this exchange, as she
turned to give Hermione a knowing smile.
It was a few days after this conversation
when Ron surprised Hermione again. She, Ron, and Harry were heading up the
stairs from dinner one evening, laughing at having gotten the better of Malfoy,
when Ron suddenly frowned at her, as if concentrating hard on something.
"Hermione, your teeth…"
Hermione felt her face grow slightly warm.
"What about them?" she said, almost defiantly.
"Well, they're different…I've just
noticed…" Ron looked as if he wasn't sure how to word what he wanted to
say.
"Of course they are," said
Hermione briskly. "Did you expect me to keep those fangs Malfoy gave
me?"
Ron seemed slightly flustered. "No, I
mean, they're different to how they were before he put that hex on you…they're
all straight and-and normal-sized."
Ron looked very anxiously at her as he said
these last words, but relaxed when she smiled. Hermione then told them all
about Madam Pomfrey's Shrinking Charm, but wondered inwardly why it had taken
them so long to notice. They are boys, after all, she thought to
herself.
On Christmas morning, Hermione woke with a
fluttering in her stomach. Lavender and Parvati were still sleeping, so she
opened the small pile of presents at the foot of her bed as quietly as she
could. Her parents had sent her a stocking full of sugar-free sweets and some
new Muggle clothes (they just couldn't seem to believe that she didn't really
need them at Hogwarts). Ginny had given her a bottle of Sleekeazy's Hair Potion
and a small book of hairstyling charms, and there was a box of chocolate frogs
from Harry. Mrs. Weasley had sent a package of homemade mince pies, along with
a handmade periwinkle-blue shawl, which Hermione supposed was meant to match
the dress robes Mrs. Weasley had picked out for her.
The last package was a flat, rectangular one
from Ron. Hermione was sure it was a book—Ron always teased her about her love
of books, after all. But when she opened it, she saw that it was a framed
picture. It was obviously taken at the Burrow, as it showed Crookshanks, looking
very adorable as he reached one paw into a boot with an expression of
concentration on his flat face. The boot was swaying slightly as the gnome
inside tried to evade the cat's paw. The backyard of the Burrow was visible in
the background. Hermione loved it, and put the picture up on her bedside table
immediately.
Hermione dressed and went down to the common
room to meet Ron and Harry for breakfast. Ron was wearing a hideous orange
Chudley Cannons hat (apparently his Christmas present from Harry), and Harry
was wearing his "Weasley sweater", which had a large picture of a
dragon on the front.
After breakfast, they spent most of the
morning in the common room playing chess, then went back to the Great Hall for
the usual huge lunch. In the afternoon, Fred and George proposed a Weasley
snowball fight (Harry and Hermione, who were apparently considered honorary
Weasleys, were included as well). Hermione was beginning to feel slightly
nauseous with nerves and decided not to play. She sat on the stone steps and
watched Fred and George pull sneak attacks on Ron, Harry, and Ginny. Ron had
looked at her oddly when she said she didn't want to participate, but hadn't
said anything.
At five o'clock, Hermione stood up and
announced that she was going back upstairs to get ready for the ball. Viktor
had asked her to meet him at seven o'clock for a reception down by the
Durmstrang ship, so she needed some extra time.
Ron looked at her, thunderstruck.
"What, you need three hours?"
Hermione felt herself flush. "No, of
course not," she muttered, but she doubted anyone heard her, as George
chose that moment to hit Ron hard in the side of the head with a snowball.
Hermione turned toward the castle, and heard Ron yelling behind her,
"Who're you going with?"
Hermione sighed to herself, then waved and
went up the stone steps. As she headed back to Gryffindor Tower, she felt her
stomach fluttering again. She was excited about the ball, but nervous too—she
had never been to anything like this before. She had to admit to herself that
part of her nervousness was due to Viktor; he was very handsome in his own
dark, brooding way, and very nice to her, but his intensity made her a bit
edgy.
Hermione went back to her dormitory, which
was thankfully empty, and put on her dress robes. Mrs. Weasley really had
chosen well, as the color looked very good on her. It took her an hour and most
of the bottle of hair potion Ginny had given her, but Hermione finally managed
to get her hair into the sleek bun that she and Ginny had talked about. Normally
she didn't bother with makeup, but tonight, Hermione decided it was worthwhile.
She slipped her feet into the periwinkle-blue slippers that had come with her
dress robes and stepped up to the mirror.
"Ooo, lovely, dear," said the
mirror in a croaky sort of voice. Hermione smiled. Not bad, she thought.
She looked over at the clock and saw that it was nearly a quarter to seven. She
was supposed to meet Viktor at the front doors in fifteen minutes. She picked
up the shawl Mrs. Weasley had sent—it was actually quite pretty, much more
delicate than the lumpy Weasley sweaters the boys usually got-and threw it
around her shoulders.
Hermione was making her way down a hallway
on the fourth floor when she heard the twins' voices coming up the stairs ahead
of her.
"...come on, Prince Charming, time to
prepare to sweep your partner off her feet!" one of them was saying.
(Hermione suspected it was Fred.)
Hermione heard Ron grumbling something in
reply, followed by a burst of laughter that sounded like it came from Ginny and
Harry. Hermione darted into a classroom to her right. This is silly, she
thought to herself, why am I hiding from them?
But, silly or not, she waited until they had
passed and their voices had faded before she continued down to the Entrance
Hall. Viktor was waiting for her just inside the front doors, wearing
silver-trimmed black robes and holding a small bunch of flowers. When he saw
her, his face lit up into a smile and his round shoulders straightened.
"Hermy-own," he said, "You
look lovely." He held the flowers out to her. "For you."
Hermione took them with a smile, thinking
privately that she would work on his pronunciation of her name later.
"Thank you," she said nervously, smelling the flowers. "They're
lovely."
Viktor merely looked at her. An uncomfortable pause ensued.
"Well," she said, to break the silence,
"should we be going to the reception?"
"Yes," he said, turning toward the
doors.
Hermione followed him. "I am rather looking forward to it," she
said, trying to make pleasant conversation.
Viktor turned around and looked at her, en
expression of surprise in his dark eyes.
"Are you?" he asked seriously.
"Well," she said, wondering why he seemed to
shocked to hear this, "I would like to meet some of the other Durmstrang
students. I haven't really had a chance
before, and this tournament is supposed to be about meeting people from
other schools."
Viktor nodded once, then opened the front
door and let her pass.
The reception was rather informal and seemed
more an excuse for Karkaroff to look over his student's partners than anything
else. A large tent had been set up near the lake, and was apparently being
warmed by Heating Charms, judging from the comfortable temperature inside.
Viktor introduced Hermione to some of the other students. Hermione recognized
two of their partners as girls from Pansy Parkinson's Slytherin gang. Neither
of them seemed to realize immediately who she was, which Hermione found odd.
Karkaroff, meanwhile, was standing by the front of the tent, eyeing the
Hogwarts students. He kept casting dark looks over at Hermione.
Viktor led Hermione over to two seats in the
corner. "It vill be time to leave soon," he said. He looked at her
seriously. "Thank you for agreeing to go to the ball with me."
Hermione smiled nervously at him. "And
thank you for asking me," she said playfully, trying to lighten his mood.
It didn't work; he was still staring at her in that intense way.
It was something of a relief when Karkaroff
called out that it was time to go up to the castle. He had them form a line,
with Viktor and Hermione in front, and walk up toward Hogwarts.
Hermione's jaw dropped when she saw that the
area in front of the castle had been transformed into a grotto full of statues
and fairy lights. She didn't have time to take it all in, though, as the front
doors opened then and she and Viktor walked through. Hermione smiled and looked
around the Entrance Hall. Her eyes fell on Ron; he was looking at her absently,
as though she were a stranger. She smiled at him and saw sudden recognition in
his eyes. He gaped at her incredulously.
"Champions over here, please!"
called Professor McGonagall. Viktor led Hermione over to her and they waited as
the other Champions and their partners joined them. Harry and Parvati came
over, Harry staring at Cho and Cedric with a frown on his face. He turned and
looked at Hermione without seeming to realize who she was. Hermione saw his jaw
drop. Parvati was standing next to him with her mouth hanging open, staring at
Hermione in disbelief.
"Hi, Harry!" Hermione said
merrily; she was quite beginning to enjoy this reaction from everyone.
"Hi, Parvati!"
The other students were filing into the
Great Hall now. Hermione recognized some of the girls from the library throwing
her dirty looks. She ignored these, and pretended to ignore the look of stunned
disbelief on Pansy Parkinson's face, but secretly relished it. Ron was one of
the last to enter the Great Hall, but he walked past Hermione as if she were a
hat stand.
Once everyone else had passed, the Champions
and their partners got into a line and followed Professor McGonagall into the
Great Hall. The applause was deafening as they made their way up to the top
table. Hermione watched with a stifled grin as Percy Weasley, who was
apparently filling in for Mr. Crouch, very pointedly drew out the chair next to
him for Harry.
She didn't have a chance to hear whatever
Percy was prattling on about, however, because Viktor was holding a chair out
for her. She sat down, and he settled himself beside her. Across the table,
Karkaroff was still watching her with an expression of dismay, but she
pretended not to notice.
After they had placed their dinner orders
with their plates, Hermione turned to Viktor. "So, Viktor," she
asked, "I've been wondering, is it very different here from
Durmstrang?"
Viktor, who seemed to have been waiting for
a cue from her, was off, telling her all about the Durmstrang castle and
grounds-at least until Karkaroff stopped him. So Viktor told her instead about
how he had become Seeker for the Bulgarian National Quidditch team, though he
left out the technical details, as if he knew those would bore her.
When he started calling her
"Hermy-own" again, she decided it was time to teach him how to
pronounce her name properly. The closest he seemed able to get, however, was
"Herm-own-ninny", so Hermione decided she'd better quit while she was
ahead.
After everyone was finished eating,
Dumbledore rose and moved the tables to the side of the room with a wave of his
wand. The Champions and their partners moved onto the dance floor as the Weird
Sisters struck up a slow tune. Viktor took Hermione's hand and moved close to
her, putting his other hand at her waist. She blushed at the closeness. Viktor
was actually not a bad dancer, and he guided her around the dance floor in an
almost protective fashion.
Hermione smiled up at him, and he looked at
her again with that intense gaze. She looked away nervously and her eyes fell
on Parvati and Harry; Parvati seemed to be steering Harry in a tight circle,
while Harry was determinedly looking over her head at the far wall. Behind him,
Hermione could see Ron and Padma sitting at one of the tables. Ron had a sour
look on his face, and Padma was glaring at him, though he didn't seem to
notice.
Other students were out on the dance floor
now. Ginny and Neville were dancing nearby, and Hermione could see Ginny trying
valiantly to smile even though Neville kept stepping on her feet. The slow song
ended, and the Weird Sisters started playing a faster one. Fred and Angelina
bounded out onto to the dance floor and began dancing enthusiastically,
flailing their arms and legs wildly. Viktor steered Hermione away from them to
a less dangerous part of the dance floor.
"Vould you like a butterbeer?" he
asked politely when the song ended.
"Oh, yes, please," said Hermione.
"I'll go find us a table, all right?"
Viktor nodded and went over to the table of
drinks in the corner. Hermione made her way over to the table along the edge of
the dance floor where Harry, Ron, and Padma were sitting. Parvati had
disappeared.
"Hi," said Harry, as Hermione sat
down.
Hermione fanned herself. "It's hot,
isn't it? Viktor's just gone to get some drinks."
Ron shot a glare at her. "Viktor?"
he said in a sarcastic tone. "Hasn't he asked you to call him Vicky
yet?"
Hermione stopped fanning herself at looked
at him, taken aback. "What's up with you?" she asked.
Ron narrowed his eyes at her. "If you
don't know, I'm not going to tell you."
Hermione stared at him for a moment,
wondering if maybe she did know after all. She glanced at Harry, who just
shrugged at her.
"Ron, what--?" she began, but he
cut her off.
"He's from Durmstrang!" Ron
hissed, as if it were a dirty word. "He's competing against Harry! Against
Hogwarts! You-you're-" Ron paused for a moment, as if trying to find the
words to say how terrible she was, "fraternizing with the enemy,
that's what you're doing!"
Hermione felt her mouth fall open. Was that
what this was all about? Ron thought she was betraying Harry?
It was a moment before Hermione could speak.
"Don't be so stupid!" she finally snapped. "The enemy!
Honestly-who was the one who was all excited when they saw him arrive? Who was
the one who wanted his autograph? Who's got a model of him up in their
dormitory?"
But Ron didn't seem to be listening. He
seemed to have thought of something else. "I s'pose he asked you to come
with him while you were both in the library?"
At the back of her mind, Hermione thought
briefly that this was an unusually observant comment coming from Ron, but the
sudden unexplained warmth in her face distracted her from this thought.
"Yes, he did," she said defiantly. "So what?"
Ron sneered. "What happened-trying to
get him to join spew, were you?"
Hermione flushed at this. "No, I
wasn't!" she nearly shouted, thinking that this was partly true. She
couldn't believe she was about to say this to Ron and Harry, of all people, but
she couldn't seem to stop herself. "If you really want to know,
he-he said he'd been coming up to the library every day to try and talk to me,
but he hadn't been able to pluck up the courage!" She knew her face was
probably scarlet by now; she still wasn't sure what had motivated her to tell
them that.
Ron was staring at her with a disgusted look
on his face. "Yeah, well--that's his story," he said in a decidedly
nasty tone.
Hermione narrowed her eyes at him. "And
what's that supposed to mean?"
Ron shook his head at her. "Obvious,
isn't it? He's Karkaroff's student, isn't he? He knows who you hang around
with…he's just trying to get closer to Harry-get inside information on him-or
get near enough to jinx him-"
Hermione felt as though she had just been
punched in the stomach. She couldn't believe that Ron would be so hurtful. She
felt tears pricking the corners of her eyes, but she fought them down and said,
in a quavery voice, "For your information, he hasn't asked me one
single thing about Harry, not one-"
But Ron interrupted her again. "Then
he's hoping you'll help him find out what his egg means! I suppose you've been
putting your heads together during those cozy little library sessions-"
"I'd never help him work out
that egg!" said Hermione furiously, unable to believe what she was
hearing. "Never. How could you say something like that-I want Harry
to win the Tournament. Harry knows that, don't you, Harry?" She turned to
Harry for support. Harry, however, looked as though he would rather stay out of
it.
"You've got a funny way of showing
it," said Ron nastily.
Hermione stared at him again. She tried to
keep her voice calm, but felt it getting shrill. "This whole Tournament's
supposed to be about getting to know foreign wizards and making friends with
them!"
"No, it isn't!" shouted Ron.
"It's about winning!"
Hermione was vaguely aware that people were
starting to stare, but she didn't care. She was about to tell Ron precisely
what she thought of his opinion when Harry broke in quietly.
"Ron," he said, "I haven't
got a problem with Hermione coming with Krum-"
Ron, however, didn't pay the slightest bit
of attention. He was glaring at Hermione again. "Why don't you go and find
Vicky, he'll be wondering where you are," he said scathingly.
Hermione glared right back. "Don't
call him Vicky!" she practically yelled, then pushed back her chair
with a clatter and stormed across the dance floor. She was so furious with Ron
at the moment, she didn't think it wise to stay at the table.
Hermione kept going until she reached the
grotto in front of the castle. It was cold outside, but the air felt good
against her flushed face. She perched on one of the steps to the castle and took
a few deep breaths, trying to calm herself down. Why had Ron acted like that?
Did he really think she was "fraternizing with the enemy"? She
thought, at the very least, he should be pleased to have a friend who could get
him Viktor Krum's autograph. She and Ron had argued countless times before, but
she couldn't recall a time when he had ever been so cruel to her. It was almost
as if he had been trying to be as hurtful as possible.
"Herm-own-ninny?" said a concerned
voice behind her. "Vot are you doing out here?"
Hermione turned, hoping that her face looked
normal again. "Oh, Viktor," she said, jumping to her feet. "I'm
sorry…it was just so stuffy in there…I came out here to get some fresh air.
It's starting to get cold though, do you want to go back in?"
Viktor gave her a searching look, then
nodded. As they entered the Great Hall again, Hermione saw Ron and Harry edging
around the dance floor toward the doors. She and Ron glared daggers at each
other, but Harry didn't seem to even notice she was there. Hermione steered
Viktor over to a table where some of his Durmstrang friends were sitting. She
was chatting with one of them (a tall, fair-haired boy named Ivan) about Fire
Charms, when Ginny and Neville came over to join them. Ginny was limping
slightly, and Neville kept giving her apologetic looks. Hermione introduced
them to the others at the table.
"I'll go get some drinks," said
Neville eagerly.
"Alright," said Ginny.
"Hermione, come to the girls' room with me?" Ginny gave Hermione a
meaningful look.
"Oh, okay," said Hermione,
wondering what this was about. "Back in a minute," she told Viktor,
and followed Ginny out of the Great Hall.
"So…" said Ginny, grinning
mischievously, "do you like Viktor?"
Hermione felt her cheeks turn pink again.
"He's very nice," she said.
Ginny pushed open the bathroom door. Two
Slytherin fifth-years were on their way out, and both gave Hermione a nasty
look as they passed.
Ginny grinned as Hermione followed her into
the bathroom. "You really do look fantastic tonight, Hermione. You should
have seen the look on Ron's face when he saw you!"
Hermione grimaced as she checked her hair in
the mirror. "You should have heard the things he said to me! He thinks I'm
betraying Hogwarts by coming to the ball with Viktor. He even said," Hermione
felt the anger rising in her chest as she thought of it, "that Viktor only
asked me to the ball to try to get information on Harry. He's the one who's
always fawning over Viktor. I mean…what does he want?"
Ginny looked at her quickly, and barely contained
a smile. "I don't think my dear brother knows what he wants, but I don't
think you dating Viktor Krum is part of it."
Hermione turned to Ginny, wondering if that
was really the root of Ron's anger. Was he jealous? For some reason,
this thought made Hermione's chest tighten suddenly. She frowned. "Then
why didn't he ask me to the ball first? Why does he have to act like such an
idiot?"
Ginny sighed. "I can't answer that
one," she said, and Hermione strongly suspected that she was thinking of
Harry.
Hermione and Ginny returned to the Great
Hall and joined in the dancing once more. Viktor was so sweet that Hermione
truly enjoyed herself, though she could feel her irritation toward Ron
simmering beneath her good mood. The more she thought about what Ginny had
said, the more it made sense. Had Ron tried to hurt her feelings because he was
jealous that she hadn't come to the ball with him? That still didn't give him
the right to act like such a prat, though. If anything, it made Hermione even
angrier with him.
At midnight, the ball ended and people
started making their way out to the Entrance Hall. Viktor drew Hermione over to
the side of the doors.
"I had a vonderful time,
Herm-own-ninny," he said, his dark eyes practically boring into hers. He
took her hand and squeezed it gently.
"I did, too. Thank you, Viktor,"
said Hermione, squeezing back. She smiled. "I'll see you in the
library?"
Viktor smiled too. "Yes. Goodnight,
Herm-own-ninny."
"Goodnight," she said, as he moved
toward the front doors. Turning, she saw Ron and Harry standing at the foot of
the stairs. Ron was giving her another dirty look, but she swept past him
without a word and headed up the marble staircase.
She was on the fifth floor when she heard
his footsteps behind her. Harry, apparently, had stayed behind. Hermione didn't
say a word, but just kept walking as he drew level with her.
"So, did you have a wonderful time with
Vicky?" Ron said sarcastically.
Hermione kept walking, not looking at him.
"Don't-call-him-that," she said through gritted teeth.
Ron continued as if he hadn't heard her.
"The two of you seemed awfully cozy to me…did you work out that egg
yet?"
Hermione whipped aside a tapestry and flung
open the door behind it. "DON'T start that again. You know very well I
would not help him with that!" She quickened her pace, but Ron's long legs
kept up easily.
"Oh, so you really believe that being
one of Harry's best friends has nothing to do with Vicky asking
you to the ball?"
Hermione whirled to face him. "Don't
call him that!" she practically shouted, then whirled back to snap,
"Fairy lights!" at the Fat Lady, who was watching the argument with
sleepy interest. Hermione climbed through the Portrait Hole, and Ron scrambled
in behind her. Ron seemed about to say something, but Hermione cut him off.
"Why is it so inconceivable that he
could actually like me because I'm me, Ron?" She could feel her temper
rising into the danger zone now, and she knew the other people in the common
room were staring, but once again she didn't care.
"All I'm saying is that if you're so
smart, why can't you see that he's just using you because you're Harry's
friend?" Ron had stopped several feet away from her, and the color of his
face was beginning to match his hair.
"Viktor doesn't need to use me to spy
on Harry—he can get by just fine on his own!"
Ron paused, staring at her for a moment,
then shook his head disgustedly. "Little Miss Loyalty, aren't you? You
really don't see anything wrong with going to the ball with Harry's
rival?"
Hermione looked him straight in the eye.
"Harry's rival, or yours, Ron?" she said quietly.
Ron stared at her in disbelief.
"WHAT?" he practically roared.
"Don't pretend not to know what I'm
talking about!"
"I don't know what you're bloody
talking about! All I'm saying is that you shouldn't have agreed to go to the
ball with that spying git from Durmstrang!"
Hermione felt her temper bubble over. She
knew her face was crimson now and she could feel her hair falling down out of
its bun. "Well, if you don't like it, you know what the solution is, don't
you?"
Ron still seemed disconcerted, but he
shouted back at her, "Oh yeah? What's that?"
"Next time there's a ball, ask me
before someone else does, and not as a last resort!"
Ron just gaped at her without a word.
Hermione turned and stormed up to her dormitory. She couldn't believe she had
just said those things. It was the first real acknowledgement either of them
had made to whatever it was that had been happening between them lately. If
Hermione had any doubts about Ron's feelings, she could certainly lay them to
rest now. The look on his face when she had suggested that Viktor was his
rival showed that she had touched a nerve.
As Hermione got ready for bed, she wondered
what would happen next. Would this change things? She wasn't sure. Would Ron
admit his feelings, now that he knew she knew about them? Would she admit hers?
She wasn't sure. And what did Harry think of all this? Would this change their
friendship?
Hermione crawled into bed and pulled the
hangings shut. When Lavender and Parvati came in, giggling about some
Beauxbatons boys they had met, Hermione pretended to be asleep. In reality, she
lay awake for a long time, just thinking.
