A/N: This didn't turn out as long as I thought it would, and I suppose there's a sort of cliffhanger at the end, but it's still a very important chapter and vital to the plot. I've actually had this chapter planned from the beginning, but I couldn't write it until I had written everything before it. Any who, please R/R at the end.
Chapter 9: The Christmas Ball
In the time between Halloween and Christmas, Ron and Hermione noticed a large change in J.D. and Harry. Harry seemed easily offended and there was definitely a difference in his bright green eyes. J.D. on the other hand, wasn't getting any sleep and Hermione could hear her calling out in the night. She seemed unfocused and her grades began to sink. Ron and Hermione had never seen J.D. like that before, but they knew that something was wrong with Harry and they suspected they knew what it was. They were determined to talk with both of them, but that was more difficult then it seemed. Harry would make excuses and run off anytime Ron and Hermione would corner him. J.D. was hardly around during any of their free time and they had no idea where she went. Soon, the only time they saw her was during meals and class. Hermione tried talking to her once during breakfast, but J.D. fell asleep in her oatmeal.
Ron and Hermione were starting to worry. Harry had had these type of mood swings before, they usually stemmed from guilt. Hermione suspected that Harry was still not over his part in Cedric's death and with the threat of Voldemort real and dangerous, Harry was blaming himself.
Neither of them could figure out what was wrong with J.D. Ron suggested that Hermione listen to what J.D. said at night, but it was unintelligible. They decided to split up, Ron was to corner Harry and not let him get away and Hermione was to do the same with J.D.
* * *
J.D. was spending most of her time in her secret room. When she stopped hanging around the common room it was because she was trying to get some sleep in the room. She was having bad dreams, dreams from which she woke up breathless. Her dreams were so bad that she wasn't sleeping and often would steal away to her room for a nap. But no matter how comfortable she was in her secret room, she could not fall asleep.
One morning, three days before the Christmas holidays, J.D. was getting ready to go to her secret room when Hermione caught her by the arm.
"Okay J.D., we need to talk. And no excuses, you're coming with me."
Before she could protest, J.D. found herself being dragged outside the castle towards the lake. Dumbfounded, she sat down on a rock in front of Hermione and the latter began to speak.
"Okay, talk with me J.D. What is going on with you?"
"What do you mean Mya?" J.D. asked.
"Don't give me that. You know perfectly well what I mean. You're not sleeping, you're missing most of the time, and you're hiding something. Talk to me J.D., I'm your friend."
J.D. was caught in a quandary. She didn't know if she could tell Hermione about the room or the dreams. She decided she could at least tell her about the dreams.
"I'm not sleeping well because of nightmares. Over and over, I hear Lord Voldemort laugh and there's flashes of green light, and Harry dies. I can't sleep and I can't concentrate."
J.D. thought she had gotten Hermione off the track of her disappearances, but that hope was quickly dashed when Hermione spoke again.
"Harry's had nightmares before too, and unfortunately we haven't been able to stop them. I think you had better tell Professor Dumbledore about your dreams. Now, come on, that wasn't the whole question, why have you been disappearing in school?" Seeing the reluctant look on J.D.'s face, Hermione continued, "J.D. you can trust me. I promise. Forget that you're talking to Hermione the Prefect and just tell Mya your friend."
J.D. was still unsure, but she knew that eventually she would have to tell someone and it might as well be her best friend.
"Okay, if I tell you, you have to promise not to tell anyone else, not even Ron or Harry. If I decide to, I'll tell them in good time."
"I promise," Hermione said.
"Alright. A couple of months ago, when I took that little tour of Hogwarts, and I said I saw Krum's brother, that wasn't the whole story. I was about to follow him, but when I walked past the wall he'd been tapping on the panel slid open and revealed a room below. I walked in and it looked as if it had been made for me." J.D. could see the skepticism on Hermione's face, "No really, everything was purple and it smelled like jasmine. That's where I've been going whenever I've needed to escape the crowded school."
"That is strange, it just opened up? You've told Professor Dumbledore about this, right?" Hermione noticed the way J.D. ducked her head and correctly surmised the answer. "You didn't! J.D. this is very important, you have to tell him."
"No! I can't, alright? Don't ask anymore questions and don't you dare tell him yourself. You promised. Now let's change the subject."
"You're right J.D., I did promise, but I wish you'd tell him yourself. Anyway, to change the subject, did you hear about the Christmas Ball we're having? We had a Yule Ball last year, traditionally it's only for the Triwizard Tournament, but it was such a big hit that we're having one this year. Do you know who you would like to go with?"
"Neville has already asked me," J.D. replied, "I told him I'd think about it and that I wasn't sure I would even be able to go."
"Why not?" Hermione asked.
"Mya you know that the ball is not something us unpopular people go to. Besides, I think Neville should go with Ron's little sister. I think he likes her."
"He likes you too!"
"I like Neville, but as a friend. I think he feels that way about me too. Who are you going with?"
Hermione flushed a little. "Oh I don't know, I might go alone."
J.D. rolled her eyes. "Oh please. Hermione, why don't you just ask Ron to go to the Ball?"
Hermione turned redder. "Excuse me?"
"Now it's my turn to say don't give me that. I know perfectly well that you like Ron and that he feels the same way about you. The only problem you two have is that you feel he is supposed to do the asking and Ron's too shy around girls to ask you. You're going to have to be the one to ask him."
Hermione looked thoughtful. "You think so?"
"Yes I think so. I guarantee that he'd say yes if you asked him."
"Well what about you?" Hermione countered.
"What about me?"
"If I ask Ron, then you have to ask Harry."
J.D. nearly fell off the rock in surprise. "Hermione have you gone off your rocker? Why would I ask Harry to the Ball?"
"Because you like him," Hermione said matter-of-factly.
"Maybe I do, but that is besides the point. He would not go to the Ball with me when he could go with any girl in the school, besides going to the Ball with the Harry Potter might win me some popularity points and that's not in the plan."
"All of your arguments are stupid. Harry likes you too and going with him would probably make others jealous."
"I'm not going with Harry. I can't. I'll either go alone or not go at all. Leave it at that."
"Fine, but do me a favor. Stop disappearing all the time and get a good night's sleep."
"If I could I would," J.D. muttered under her breath at the retreating figure of Hermione as she made her way back to the castle. A moment later J.D. followed.
* * *
Back at the castle a similar conversation was occurring in the boy's dormitory. Ron had grabbed Harry after breakfast as well, and led him up into their room.
"Harry, what is the matter with you? And don't tell me it's nothing. You're not leaving this room until I get a real answer."
"What do you want to know Ron?"
"What is wrong with you? You've been acting strange for months."
"Ron, I have been acting strange because I feel guilty."
"Guilty? Is this about Cedric? You know you couldn't have done anything about that! Even Dumbledore had told you that it's not your fault! What more do you want?"
"It's not about Cedric, not really. I do feel guilty about his death every time I look at Cho, but I'm not thinking of him. I'm thinking of Voldemort."
Like always, Ron shuddered at the name. "What do you mean you're thinking of You-Know-Who? Why would you feel guilty over him?"
"It's my fault, every step of the way, that Voldemort has returned to power. I stopped Sirius and Remus from killing Wormtail, and if I hadn't then Wormtail would never have helped Voldemort again. Then it was with my blood that Voldemort got his body back. What was the other ingredient? Flesh of a servant, Wormtail's arm. If he was dead, then there would be no arm would there? It's all my fault."
Ron had never seen Harry like this before. It was unnatural. "Harry, would you listen to yourself? This isn't you! If it wasn't for you then He Who Shall Not Be Named wouldn't have been destroyed in the first place, buying us time. Harry you've escaped from him and ruined his plans three more times since then. You're a hero!"
Harry laughed humorlessly. "A hero? You must be joking. That's very funny, a hero who gets innocent people killed while he is busy escaping from the bad guy."
"Other than Cedric, who has died at You-Know-Who's hands that you feel responsible for?"
"Isn't Cedric's death enough? How about my parents? Voldemort told me that my mother didn't have to die, that she only died to save me."
"Harry, nobody besides You-Know-Who and possibly Wormtail, is responsible for your parents deaths. It was not your fault. You think that if your mum had let Him kill you that she would just walk away? He doesn't do things like that Harry, He just kills." Ron said all of that as forcefully as he could, hoping that Harry would accept it. Had he been holding this weight on his shoulders for that long?
"Let's change the subject please."
"Not until you tell me that you're okay and you have to mean it, or I'm sending you to Dumbledore."
Harry thought about what Ron had said. "You're right Ron. Actually, although I didn't think it would, this talk helped some. It doesn't stop Voldemort from coming back, but I think it helped me from feeling too guilty. Thanks."
"Don't mention it. What are best friends for? Anyway, who are you going to the dance with?"
"I don't know, how about you?"
Ron turned the color of a tomato, like he always did when he was under pressure. "Umm I'm not sure that she'd go with me."
"Ron stop being a prat and just ask Hermione out. This is getting annoying."
"What are you talking about Harry, why would I ask Hermione to the Ball?" Ron was flushed bright red.
"Oh come on! You don't expect me to believe that you don't like her? I've seen the way you look at her. I also remember a certain incident last year when Hermione went to the ball with Krum and you were jealous. Just ask her out."
"I don't know if I can," Ron mumbled.
"Sure you can. If you don't, then you'll just be upset if Hermione goes with someone else."
"I'll think about it. We better get to Charms." Together they left the room and hurried to class.
* * *
A week later it was time for the ball. Neither Harry or J.D. knew if Ron and Hermione were going to the ball together, and the two refused to discuss it.
J.D. continued going to her room, but she spent more time with her friends and was sleeping better. Harry lost the strange look in his eyes and was much more talkative. Both had decided to go stag to the Ball, J.D. because she was still going on her unpopularity idea and Harry because he just hadn't found anyone he wanted to go with. He knew Malfoy wouldn't let him hear the end of it, but Harry wasn't really thinking much about Malfoy lately.
J.D. was, however. She saw him with her sister constantly and it made her blood boil. The worst part was seeing Malfoy and Crystal walk hand in hand around Hogsmeade and knowing that they were going to the ball together. She tried to block it from her mind, but it wasn't working very well. The hardest thing for her to do was to restrain herself from punching Malfoy again in either Care of Magical Creatures or Potions. Strangely enough, Professor Snape was very polite to her and even though he would never give points to Gryffindor, he never took points away from her either. Sometimes Snape would get a strange look in his black eyes when he looked at her, as if she reminded him of someone.
The evening of the ball, J.D. and Hermione got ready together. J.D. had given up asking her about Ron so they got dressed in silence. Hermione wore the same periwinkle blue robes that she had last year and used lot's of Sleekeazy's Hair Potion to tame her bushy hair. With J.D.'s help she put it in a French braid. J.D. was wearing robes of purple satin and she had pinned back her short curly hair with two glittery barrettes. They walked downstairs to find Harry and Ron getting in a quick game of wizard chess. Harry was wearing his green velvet robes and Ron was wearing new dark blue robes that Fred and George had bought him.
"Ahem," Hermione said, clearing her throat.
The boys looked up and Ron's jaw dropped.
"You look amazing," Ron said to Hermione, blushing.
"Thanks, you look very nice too," she said turning red.
J.D. and Harry exchanged a glance. So they were going together. Good.
The four of them walked out of Gryffindor Tower together and made their way to the Great Hall. It had been cleared of it's usual tables and decorated so that it became a Christmas Wonderland. Harry was looking around at the familiar faces and noted with a smile that Ginny and Neville had come together. He was about to get a drink when someone caught his arm.
"'Arry! You must danse with moi. I am zinking zat zis will be a beautiful ball."
"Umm, sure Fleur. Save me a dance."
Fleur giggled. "But of course, 'Arry."
She walked off leaving Harry very bewildered. Next to him was J.D. looking very pretty in her dress robes. She started to walk away calling out behind her.
"Bye Harry, see you later!"
For most of the evening Harry divided his time between standing at the punch bowl or dancing with pretty much any girl who asked him. He didn't see Cho Chang there and assumed that it would have been too difficult for her without Cedric. As he danced around with Parvati Patil he smiled when he saw Ron and Hermione dancing their eighteenth straight dance in a row, little smiles on both their faces as they chatted. By the end of the dance he was breathing hard and excused himself from the next dance. He made his way over to the punch bowl and sat down. A few minutes later he felt a tap on his shoulder.
"Hey famous Harry Potter. Can I have this dance?" J.D. asked.
"Wouldn't that ruin your 'plan'?" Harry asked with a smile.
"Oh to heck with the plan. It's only one dance, and besides I'll probably be making tons of other girls jealous."
Harry smiled as he shook his head. "You never give up, do you?"
"Nope," J.D. replied, tossing her head. "Why would I want to? It'd take all the fun out of life. So how about it? Wanna dance?"
"Sure, why not?"
They made their way on to the dance floor and concentrated on not falling. Harry was trying not to step on J.D.'s feet and she was trying not to slip on her dress robes. She stumbled a few times, but at least she didn't fall flat on her face. Neither one of them said anything, but they both smiled when they saw Hermione and Ron dance by.
They were moving smoothly, both having finally gotten into the rhythm, when suddenly J.D. stopped.
"Do you hear that?" she whispered.
Harry paused a moment to listen and was surprised to find that he did hear something. It was very faint.
Come to me children, come and find me
"Yeah," he whispered back, "what is it?"
"I don't know what it is, but I think I know where it is."
Harry looked around. No one else seemed to bothered by strange, bodiless voices. Harry was reminded of the time in his second year when he heard the voice of a Basilisk in the pipes, and because it was speaking Parseltongue only he could hear it. He remembered what Ron had said then.
"Harry it's not a good thing to hear voices nobody else can hear, not even in the wizarding world."
Was that happening again? Was there another giant serpent running around Hogwarts? But J.D. had heard it too, and Harry didn't think she was a Parselmouth.
"J.D.," Harry whispered, "Are you a Parselmouth?"
"Me? Able to talk to snakes? No. Harry, come with me, I think I know where the voice is coming from."
After four and a half years at Hogwarts, Harry wasn't even skeptical. He followed J.D. as she led him up into a strange corridor, one he had never been in before. What probably surprised him the most was when J.D. walked past a certain wall, the panel slid and revealed a small room. J.D. started inside and Harry grabbed her back.
"Are you crazy? We don't know what's in there!"
J.D. smiled at him. "It's alright. I've been here many times before. Come on in."
The voice had gotten louder. When they entered the room and the panel slid shut, the voice reverberated off the walls.
You have found me children, you must take care of me. One day you will need me.
J.D. turned and gasped. Sitting on her little mosaic table was a jeweled box, but the box wasn't what made her gasp. When Harry saw it, he too gasped. Inside the jeweled box was a glowing lump of rock.
Ah, good, you see me children. Use me and protect me well
J.D. looked at Harry and started shaking. This was very strange. What scared J.D. even more was that she knew the rock from somewhere, but where? J.D. glanced in the mirror to see if Crystal was in her room, but the other room was empty.
Harry was very confused, he had never met a talking rock before. When the voice spoke the rock seemed to glow brighter.
"Who are you? Or maybe I should ask what are you?" Harry asked.
I am the most effective tool that the Light side has. I am the only way to crush Lord Voldemort.
"Yes, but who are you?" J.D. asked.
I am the only chance you will have to survive. I am the answer to your problems. I am the Star of Hope
