The Winter Ball
Harry was so happy he didn't even mind doing all of the extra Divination homework. He was going to the Winter Ball with the girl he'd had a crush on since third year! The girl who had gone with Cedric Diggory last year! One of the prettiest and most popular girls in the whole school! Everything was just perfect in his life....
Or so he thought. Little did he know that the Death Eaters who had set up their camp outside the Forbidden Forest were having a meeting.
"The plan will go perfectly. He will be delivered by third day. The student is perfectly capable of keeps the disguise and hiding out inside the walls of the castle," said a voice.
"I still think that I should be there to unsure it!" said another.
"How will you do that? You're supposed to be dead! If someone caught you...." the first voice trailed off.
"How could they? I can make my self as small as a mouse remember?" the voice laughed but the other one was still firm.
"It doesn't matter what you want. The Dark Lord's orders must be fulfilled and we must stick to the plan. It has no visible flaw. Nothing has gone wrong yet, and it won't. We have a circle meeting with the Dark Lord and the new Death Eater in one hour. The ceremonies will be performed and we will tell of the plan. It will not fail." With that, both people Apparated away.
* * *
The next morning was the official day before the ball. All Ron could talk about was Lune and the ball. Harry couldn't talk at all. He was starting to have worries about the ball and it wasn't all some dream anymore. He didn't want to mess anything up in front of Cho, or say or do the wrong thing. Hermione on the other hand really had nothing to say about it. She wasn't worried nor ecstatic. She just thought of it as an event that was happening tomorrow. It wasn't as exciting as a Quidditch game or the Triwizard Tournament had been. It was just something that was happening.
The three of them spent the day roaming around the grounds that were starting to become cold, visiting Hagrid, playing some chess (in which Ron won every time), studying, and just sitting around the fire talking. They talked about Quidditch some, they talked about Snape, and they talked about where they wanted to be when they graduated from Hogwarts.
"I think I'd like to be an Auror like my dad. It seems really fun but a lot of work," said Harry.
"Yeah, I'll probably get into the Ministry, too. Or I could help out Fred and George with their joke shop. If they ever have one," said Ron and they were all quiet for a little while just staring at the crackling, orange, fire.
"I want to be a teacher," said Hermione finally.
"I didn't see that one coming," said Ron sarcastically and Hermoine threw a pillow at him.
They continued this discussion until about 11:30, and decided they should go to bed.
As Harry changed into his pajamas and climbed into bed he thought about what might happen in his life. Of course he wanted to live just the way his father did. He knew that it would help him cope with having to grow up without him. As he was thinking these thoughts he drifted off to sleep.
* * *
The next morning all anybody could think or talk about was the big event coming up. Harry talked once more to Cho about the ball in the morning. She made it perfectly clear that she wanted to go with a friend and not get involved in any kind of romance.
This made Harry a little sad but he was glad that Cho thought of him as a good friend.
That day most of the people stayed inside, for there was no snow on the ground to have a snowball fight and it was too cold to go for a comfortable walk. Harry and Ron did in fact try to ride broomsticks but they came back to the common room not even ten minutes later totally frozen.
Around five o'clock most of the girls started slipping away to their dormitories to get dressed and do their hair when in fact the boys wouldn't start to get ready until six. Hermione stayed with them for a little while to keep them company but at five-fifteen insisted that she wouldn't have enough time to get ready.
"What do those girls do up there?" Ron asked. "It takes them and hour and a half to get ready?"
"I have no idea," Harry admitted. "They think that they have to look like some Dutch Princess or something at every single ball. Why do they care so much now? We see them in their normal robes every day."
Ron shrugged. Harry didn't really care anyway. He was secretly glad that all of the girls made such a big deal out of it, because it made everything seem so proper and it all fit very well.
They let themselves do some last minutes thawing before going upstairs to get changed. Harry changed into his green ones while Ron changed into his new brown ones. They looked much better than the maroon ones with the lace he had to wear last year.
As they made their way to the Great Hall with Hermione and Rob, Harry kept a look out for Cho. He knew that she would look radiant. And all of a sudden there she was. It almost looked as though a sun beam was shining down on her like she was an angel straight from heaven itself. She wore a pale yellow gown with her hair twisted up. Also little strands of hair that hung down that were curled. Her hair was decorated with little sparkling clips. Harry just stood there staring until Ron stepped on his foot then went off to join Lune.
Cho finally spotted him and smiled. She came over and said, "Hello." All Harry could do was nod though he wasn't absolutely sure his muscles were working. After Ron, Hermione, and Robert were gone she also whispered very softly in his ear, "Thank you again."
They went inside and found their seats with everyone else. Seamus, Dean, Lavender, and Parvati joined them later. "Everyone!" said Professor Dumbledore and everyone became quiet. "It especially nice to see you all here. We know that most of you enjoyed the Yule Ball last year so here we are once again. Of course there aren't as many people. But anyway, enjoy yourselves!" Everyone resumed talking again after that.
Everything was going wonderfully. Harry and Cho talked about the new teams and how everything was coming together for the Quidditch match.
"We've got most of the people from last year but we have some new backups that are training with us. One of them is a third year and one a fourth. They're doing okay. I think we have a chance to beat Slytherin. What about you? How's your team coming along? I know you guys have a new Keeper and Captain."
"Well, Katie's doing a really good job of keeping us in shape. We've got a big match against Slytherin next week, so we're working extra hard. Everyone is still a little skeptical of Rob but I think it's because most of us actually miss Wood. But he's doing a really good job and everything. I really hope we can get ourselves to the finals. Maybe we'll play your team." They laughed together and talked for a few more minutes.
Meanwhile there was someone watching the whole thing outside. One of the people was one of the people who was having the discussion with the other the night before. The other man was none other than Lucius Malfoy himself. Or was it?
They were both looking for someone inside. "Of course Glamazal has to hide in the middle of all these rotten kids!" said the first man.
"Why do we have to use the name Glamazal? Why can't we just say....."
"Shut up! We're not supposed to say it because someone might be listening and it could blow the whole plan I worked so hard for!"
"I still think we should have sent Draco in to do the job. He will do anything with a little help from the Imperius...."
"Lucius! Will you close you abnormally large mouth? You are going to get me in huge trouble! If anyone is out here listening...."
"Oh, Shelbiss! You worry too much. You're just afraid your 'master plan' is going to get you killed. I don't think it's going to work. It's just so stupid and point..."
At that moment Shelbiss slammed Lucius into the Womping Willow then turned back to the window. "Don't ever talk to me that way again," he said threw clenched teeth mostly to himself, as Lucius got beat up badly by the out of control tree. He laughed to himself as he spotted Glamazal dancing with some kid.
* * *
"I'm 'aving a wonderful evening, Ron," said Lune as they sat down after a dance with Harry and Cho.
"So am I," he said smiling. He had been having the best evening of his life. He didn't want it to end. But just as he was thinking this he heard the large clock in the hall strike midnight and.....
Suddenly everything went black until huge fire flames shot up in each corner of the room. Many people screamed. Harry couldn't see anything or anyone. He felt like he was being sucked into a black hole. He tried to look around and find Ron as his eyes were adjusting to the light. He saw something red out in front of him, grabbed it, and pulled with all his might. He felt the person or thing fall to the floor with a yelp and pull him up.
"Harry?"
"Ron?"
"What happened?"
"Something was pulling me down. C'mon we have to get out of here. I think there's been an attack on the school, and we know what they're after." Harry knew that Ron was probably scared out of his mind, like him, but he thought he saw him nod and follow him toward the teacher's table.
Flashes of light appeared every so often as students and teachers tried to get some light in the place to see what was going on but nothing worked. Some people's wands were actually going up in smoke.
Someone very powerful must have done this Harry thought. Finally he and Ron found Professor Dumbledore. "Harry! Thank God you're still safe."
"I almost wasn't. Whoever did this is obviously after me..."
"Of course, of course. We will get you, Ron, and ... wait! Where's Hermione? It's very important that we find her. You do remember what I said?" They nodded and split up to find Hermione.
But just as they started to leave Harry thought of something. What if the already got her? No. They wouldn't. They were going to find her and they were going to get out of this mess.
"Harry! Harry!" As her turned around he saw Hermione running toward him. She was very pale and looked as scared as she had ever been in her life. "I...." but he cut her off.
"I understand. There's no time. We have to go right now. It's very dangerous." They found Ron easily but it took another five minutes to find Professor Dumbledore who got some lights to come back on. When they could finally see everything and everybody they saw that all of the small tables had been pushed against the wall and a huge red message had been put on the floor.
Everyone put as much space as they could between the message and themselves. A seventh year stepped forward and scooped up some of the red stuff the message was written with. He examined it and announced that it was blood.
Professor Dumbledore came over and whispered to Harry and Hermione that it was time to go. There could be another attack coming right after the first one. They moved to the door but when they got there they found that it was magically locked and could not be opened. Dumbledore tried everything he could think of on the door, but finally came to the conclusion that it was locked by some sort of dark magic.
Lightning flashed on the ceiling over head. And it started to rain. But they soon found out that it wasn't the ceiling anymore. Someone had removed the whole top of the room, and it was pouring into it.
"They're going to try and drown us," said Hermione. "We have to do something!" She rushed over to the window but found it too was locked. She looked around for something.
"What are you looking for?" Harry asked.
"Something big. Do you think whoever did this shatter-proofed the windows?" He really had to hand it to Hermoine. She could keep her mind clear even in times of great disaster. She found a vase and threw it at one of the windows as hard as she could.
As she thought it would, the glass shattered. What she didn't know was that Shelbiss was right outside that window.
He gasped. They were coming through the window! Why didn't he think of that? He hurried to get Lucius. He tried to think of how they could escape without getting caught. They couldn't Apparate on Hogwarts grounds. It only became safe after you were on the other side of the Forbidden Forest. Then it became clear what he would have to do.
"Accio broomstick," he said and a school broom came flying toward him. Lucius did the same, and they took off over the woods.
"There's no one out here. It's okay!" Hermione told Professor Dumbledore, who nodded.
"Prefects!" he shouted above all the noise. "Break the rest of these windows and help the students get out."
Little by little all of the sopping wet people were outside. When the front door was checked, it was found that it was not locked. Everyone was led back to their common rooms.
Harry looked for Ron but he was no one where to be seen. He figured he would see him back in the common room, so he took off with Hermione.
They were both extremely wet and tired. When they went into the common room with all the other Gryffindors, Ron was still not there. Harry was a little worried that something had happened to him, but he didn't worry that much. He probably got out after he and Hermione did. Harry went upstairs, changed out of his wet clothes and into his dry ones, and hung the wet ones to dry. He was just too tired to stay up for Ron and he fell asleep.
* * *
"Fools!" came the voice of Glamazal. "I set up everything perfectly for you but still you find some way to screw it up! I had everything go off right at the stroke of twelve, so this is not my problem. I am not the one who will be punished. It will be you," she spat at Shelbiss.
"I felt him coming into the circle! He was almost there but then some force got him out. The circle is the one who weakened. Not me. My plan will still work if you just follow it the way I tell you."
"Fine! But don't think that the Dark Lord will be happy that we have to move on to Plan B. He won't."
With that both of them Apparated into the Circle. They had no idea what fate lay for them there. Would it be good? Or would they be punished severely? No one knew.
A/N: Okay, first of all I'm sorry for anything that I might have screwed up. It might be in the context, it might be spellings, it might be punctuation, but I'm sorry. I'm really behind on this story so usually I don't have time to reread it. Just don't bring it up in the reviews. I know it's not perfect but I have to get it out as fast as I can. Also, if you have a question about the story leave your e-mail! When people ask things and don't leave their e-mail it frustrates me because I want to answer you!! One more thing, I'm sorry the beginning of this chapter totally sucked! I was kinda having an off day but that didn't stop me, so this isn't one of my best chapters. Once again please review or e-mail me! Thank you for reading I really appreciate it so much!