Hopefully this will satisfy all you readers who think Harry needs to swallow his pride!
It was very, very early when Harry awoke. He had not dreamt again; but there was something heavily resting on his mind and he had to sort it out. As soon as an appropriate hour had dawned, he left the Gryffindor room and seated himself outside the Slytherin dungeon.
Before long, someone emerged and Harry turned around, his heart jumping – but it was the person he least wanted to see.
'What do you want, Potty?' sneered Draco Malfoy, and Pansy Parkinson, clutching his arm, sniggered obediently.
'I'm waiting for Andromeda,' he replied calmly.
'Oh, yes, your Mudblood girlfriend. Ah well, no decent Slytherin would want to go out with you anyway.'
'Decent Slytherin? Andromeda's the most decent one I know! And she's not a Mudblood, either, you stupid bigot. You're the one that's going to miss out on wonderful people just because you're too narrow-minded to see any further than what your coward dad's fed you.'
'I have a mind of my own, actually,' said Malfoy coolly, 'and it can tell that all the worst people hang around together. Let's go, Pansy, I don't want to catch anything.'
Harry struggled to keep himself from shouting something extremely rude at Malfoy's retreating back.
It was a long time before anyone else left the room, and to Harry's relief, this time it was Helena Pratt. She grinned at the sight of him. 'I'll get An for you, better get in there before Kieran Ladysmith does.'
Harry was feeling extremely nervous. What if Andromeda had already said yes to Kieran? What if she wanted to break up with him? He didn't think he'd be able to bear it. He was already missing her, and couldn't imagine his life Andromeda-less.
A familiar raven head poked out of the doorway, its blue eyes narrowing as they set on Harry. 'What do you want?' asked Andromeda.
'I would be honoured if you'd go to the Yule Ball with me,' said Harry, pulling her by the arm out into the corridor. 'I have been taking you for granted, and I didn't mean to, I should have paid much more attention to you… I love you, An, and I never meant to ignore you or anything. I've been thinking about things – I know that's no excuse, I should have talked to you about it – but I wasn't thinking straight, and I didn't know what to do, and I don't know what to say except that I'm so sorry.'
Andromeda looked crestfallen. 'Harry, I already told Kieran I'd go with him…'
'Oh. OK then.' Harry felt numb. He turned around and began to walk away.
Suddenly he felt something grab him round the neck. He spun around, surprised, and saw Andromeda there. She had flung herself onto him. 'Harry, of course I didn't say I'd go with Kieran!' she cried. 'I love you, I didn't want to go with anyone except you. And I'll be glad to listen, if you want to talk about what's been on your mind…'
Harry grinned, feeling lighter than he had in many weeks. He kissed Andromeda, still smiling, right there in the corridor, without even caring that Helena and her friends were hanging out of the door, catcalling and giving him the thumbs-up sign.
It was the night of the Yule Ball, and the Gryffindor boys were putting significantly more effort into their appearances than last year. Seamus and Dean were fighting for the space in front of the mirror, both frantically combing subtle amounts of gel into their hair; Ron was adjusting his new midnight-blue dress robes, revelling in the conspicuously lace-free cuffs; Harry was trying to flatten his own unruly hair down with large quantities of water whilst polishing his glasses; even Neville was desperately trying to charm his robes to any other colour than their present scarlet, which Ginny had informed him would clash with her hair.
Fred and George were hovering around looking amused. They both looked perfectly presentable, of course, with their hair neat and their dress robes (black and forest-green respectively) immaculate. How long they would stay so tidy, of course, Harry could not guess, because before the night was over they would undoubtedly pull off some spectacular prank.
'Aah, don't the little girls look nice,' teased Fred. 'Putting your hair in bunches, are we, Dean?'
'Shut up,' Dean glowered. Seamus cackled uproariously, taking Dean's momentary lapse in concentration as an opportunity to shove him out of the way, but George's next comment left him blushing.
'Got to look pretty for Lavender, haven't we, Seamus? Love those lilac robes, by the way.'
'They're purple,' said Seamus furiously, sitting on the ground where he had been jostled by Dean.
'They won't go! They just won't go!' Neville said, frustrated, holding up his dress robes, which had turned vivid pink. 'This colour won't go with Ginny's hair!'
'I don't know, I think it's a rather fetching combination,' said George, snatching the robes and holding them up to his own flame-coloured head. 'Seriously, ask Hermione. She'll be able to do it.' Gratefully, Neville shuffled out of the room, returning five minutes later with silvery-coloured robes and a big grin.
In the girls' dormitory, the scene was similar. Grace Ramsbottom was curling Lavender Brown's hair, who in turn was plaiting Parvati's. Hermione passed a bottle of Sleekeazy's Hair Potion to Lizzie Biddleswick, the other Gryffindor girl – it was her sole essential beauty product, but she didn't mind sharing the secret. Hermione herself was looking nice, she thought – her robes were creamy white with simple blue trimming, and her hair was as shiny and neat as last year.
Sitting down on her bed as soon as she was ready to go, Hermione pulled a slip of parchment from the folds of her robes.
Dear Hermione,
Will you go the Yule Ball with me? That night is the night we must finally meet face to face. I hope you will join me in the Entrance Hall at ten minutes to eight. I will wear a silver dove on my robes, so that you may tell who I am. My heart will be broken if you are not there.
Till the Ball
xxx
'Nice brooch, Ron!' jeered Fred as his younger brother pinned the spread-winged silver bird onto his robes.
'It's a badge, and shut up,' Ron replied.
It was a quarter to eight, and Harry met Andromeda in the library –where they had first met. He felt a bit silly, but she insisted it was romantic, and he supposed it probably was, not really knowing much about romance. She looked very nice, Harry noted – her hair was loose and flowing over the shoulders of her electric-blue robes, but was dotted with silver and white stars that shimmered in the candlelight. She was wearing a silver chain around her head. On anyone else it would have looked very odd, but for some reason, it suited Andromeda.
They proceeded to the Great Hall, but the dance had not started yet. Students were milling around in pairs, chatting coyly and looking mostly nervous. It had been decided that the Prefects, Head Boy and Head Girl should begin dancing with their partners, which meant Hermione, but not Harry or Ron. Harry was glad. He didn't want to repeat last year's rather pathetic attempt at dancing. He couldn't see Ron or Hermione anywhere.
'What are you doing here?' hissed Hermione, her eyes glued to the dove pinned to Ron's robes.
'Waiting for someone,' said Ron irritably, covering the badge with his hand. 'Is that OK with you?'
'No!' Hermione shouted. 'I mean, yes… but why are you wearing that badge?'
'No reason,' said Ron, looking sheepish.
'Ron, do you know who's been sending me notes?'
Ron looked as though she had punched him. 'What?'
'I've been getting notes from a secret admirer, OK?'
'What? Keep your voice down!'
'Have you been getting them too?' Hermione hissed. She had realised something.
'Yes, I have,' said Ron defensively. 'In fact, she sent me this badge – told me to wear it tonight. Hold on!'
'Someone's been having us on,' said Hermione darkly. 'Thought it was a great joke, probably. Well, there's nothing for it – we'll have to go to the ball together.'
'No! We can't!' Ron looked panicked.
'And why not? Oh, come on, Ron, the dancing's going to start any minute now –'
'I don't care! We can't go to the ball together! Because – because –'
'We've got to.' And Hermione grabbed Ron by the arm and steered him, still protesting weakly, towards the Great Hall.
Harry and Andromeda were gazing at the Prefects, standing importantly at the front of the crowd, when they saw a sight which surprised them both. Hermione was walking past – and on her arm was Ron.
'What?' they said together. 'Did you see that? Yes.'
Andromeda chuckled weakly. 'Well, I never would have thought of that. Hermione and Ron? I thought she would've told me.'
'Well, Ron told me he wasn't going with anyone,' said Harry, feeling slightly hurt. 'And I believed him, too.'
'I'm sure it wasn't anything personal.' Andromeda hugged Harry quickly.
The doors had opened and the Prefects were striding in, Ron lagging slightly behind Hermione, but the rest of the crowd was surging in as one very large unit. Harry and Andromeda quickly occupied one of the larger tables, allowing Neville and Ginny to sit down as well as some other Gryffindors. Helena Pratt, her friends and their partners sat at a table nearby, and Helena waved at Harry and Andromeda. Both waved back.
The dancing started presently. Harry tried to keep from laughing as Hermione steered Ron around the floor – Ron was about six inches taller and very red-faced. Neither seemed to really know what they were doing, but at least Hermione looked businesslike – Ron was just allowing himself to be dragged about.
When the other students were allowed onto the floor, Harry and Andromeda didn't go straight away – they stayed sitting down. 'I'm not a very good dancer,' admitted Andromeda.
'Well, I bet I'm worse,' said Harry.
'Seriously? Two Galleons.'
'You're on,' said Harry, surprised. 'But how are we going to judge it?'
'Helena!' yelled Andromeda. Helena came over. 'Will you judge which of us is the worst dancer?'
'OK,' said Helena, frowning confusedly. 'What, now?'
'Yes, now,' said Harry, and stood up, pulling Andromeda after him. 'Come on, An.'
It was a close contest. Harry stepped on Andromeda's feet several times, and she almost tripped on more than one occasion. They swerved and swayed all over the dance floor, knocking unsuspecting partygoers out of the way. When Harry glanced over to Helena, he saw that she was doubled over with laughter. But he didn't care.
The song ended and they returned to their table. 'Well?' demanded Andromeda.
'I think it's a tie,' Helena spluttered. 'Honestly, I've never seen dancing so diabolical.'
'Why, thank you,' said Andromeda with an over-the-top curtsey.
It was, on the whole, a much more enjoyable night than last year. Harry didn't get to ask Ron and Hermione what was going on – they appeared to be enjoying themselves, and didn't stop dancing after Ron got the hang of it.
But it all ended much too quickly. Harry and Andromeda went for a walk in the beautifully decorated grounds towards the end, and when they returned most students had left. Except for two people.
A flame-red head and a mid-brown one were pressed together, their owners embracing in a corner. Harry had to walk past them to get the easiest access to the Gryffindor tower. But as he approached, he realised that he knew the kissing couple.
It was Ron and Hermione.