Disclaimer: I don't own anything but the storyline, and I don't want to own that…

Disclaimer: I don't own anything but the storyline, and I don't want to own that…

A/N: Whew…I've been having quite a job of it, trying to find spare time to write in. It's all because my teachers are so homework-oriented. You'd think that with, what, eight hours a day they could squeeze in whatever they needed to teach at the bloody school, but noooo…Okay, if I don't stop ranting right now this will turn into a long essay on the bad effects of homework…

Okay, the next bit will probably be up soon (if you REVIEW). Enjoy.

Lost – Part 12

By Veralidaine (who else?)

Hermione had never been one to prepare herself for dances. As far as that went, Hermione had never been one to go to dances. It all seemed quite ridiculous to her, all of the soppy music and slow dancing, and the pretty little airheads giggling and dancing with the equally dim-witted prettyboys. Overall, Hermione would rather be reading.

The one time she had ever taken care to make herself look…nice…was during the Yule Ball in fourth year. That had turned out horribly, and as Hermione applied a light shade of lipstick (just because her lips were chapped, of course…), she tried not to think of it. This time, she was going with Ron, and he wasn't a clueless, insensitive, fourteen-year-old prat anymore. He was now a semi-clueless, relatively sensitive, seventeen-year-old prat. But she loved him anyway.

She sighed and glanced at her reflection. She'd managed to stop at Madam Avalon's Robe Shop in Hogsmeade and pick out a nice set of dress robes. Madam Avalon wasn't nearly as handy with fitting as Madam Malkin, and so the clothing there was pre-made and sized, which made for quicker, but not necessarily better-fitting, outfits. Hermione had seen a pretty, floaty material much like her periwinkle robes from fourth year, only in a lovely sort of deep turquoise color. They were the only ones left, and she disliked the plunging neckline, but other than that, they fit her miraculously well and she decided that she simply had to have them.

Now, looking at herself in the mirror, she twirled her wand idly and wondered vaguely what she should do with her hair, which was currently flying about her head in a most annoying and difficult fashion. She jumped slightly and turned as the door flew open and banged against the wall. Parvati, long dark hair halfway up in rollers, scampered inside and started rummaging through her trunk. Hermione raised an eyebrow. "Need some help?"

Parvati looked up, just taking notice of Hermione's presence. "Oh. Hi. No, thanks, I'm just looking for—yes! Found it…" She pulled a small bottle of bright purple nail polish out of somewhere in the depths of her trunk and shook it gently, making a small snapping sound. "Want a manicure, while I'm at it?"

"No, thank you," Hermione said quickly, eyeing her short, cleanly cut nails. There just wasn't much to paint. "Your hair looks nice," she said jokingly.

Parvati grinned and curtseyed. "Yes, it took me ever so long to get it this way; d'you think Dean will like it?"

"I'm sure," Hermione laughed. She turned back to the mirror and made a face at her own somewhat…lacking…hairdo. "Actually, I was just trying to decide what to do with my hair."

Parvati looked at her thoughtfully. "Well…It looked nice in fourth year, why not do that again?"

"No, I don't think so…I mean, I thought it looked nice, but I rather wanted to do something different." She twisted her hair back into a bun, then let it swirl down again to fall over her shoulders. Picking up a hairbrush, she tried to comb through the mess, but it seemed to have decided to tangle up on purpose. Hermione sighed loudly. "Well."

"Here, let me." Parvati grabbed her hair and, rather painfully, began braiding. When Hermione was allowed to turn her head and look in the mirror again, she had a sort of braided crown around her head, and grinning, looked back at Parvati.

"Thank you."

Parvati shrugged nonchalantly. "That's what my mother always does to my hair when we go to parties. I find it rather tediously long and painful, but it looks nice."

"Yes…" Hermione agreed, looking at her reflection again. Parvati, apparently satisfied with her work, took out the curlers (which had, until then, been ignored), and headed into the bathroom to change into her robes.

*

Hermione attempted to ignore the look of complete awe on Ron's face as she practically glided down the stairs and took his arm. Harry just covered a smile at his friends obvious amazement and gave Hermione an approving nod. "You look nice tonight."

"Thank you, Harry," Hermione said, and turned to Ron. "You going to say something, or are you too busy gawking mindlessly?"

Ron lost the glazed-over look and shook his head. "What?"

Harry laughed. "And she's not even part Veela…"

Shooting his friend a quick, rather un-serious glare, Ron led Hermione from the common room and down the corridors to the Great Hall. "Harry's right, you know…You do look…nice…"

Hermione giggled inwardly and grinned. "Thank you, Ron. So do you, actually. The color suits you."

Ron shrugged self-consciously and straightened the navy-blue velvet. "Thanks."

The Great Hall had been decorated beautifully, with little blue ice-pixies flitting here and there, and holly and ivy strung in banner-like crisscrossing patterns across the ceiling. Mistletoe floated around the ceiling, centering itself just above unsuspecting couples, and the golden plates were piled high with the richest and most delicious delicacies. In one corner of the Hall, a stage had been erected, and several instruments set atop it, though there were no musicians yet. The students were all dressed in their finest, and some of the teachers had even dressed for the occasion.

Professor McGonagall was rather grudgingly enjoying herself as she talked to Professor Dumbledore. The strict professor still had her hair in its tight bun, but she was wearing crimson velvet dress robes and a matching hat, and looked quite festive. Looking down the table, Hermione noticed the other teachers were dressed equally nicely. Professor Dumbledore was wearing forest green robes, and Hagrid was in what Harry had dubbed the "Hairy Brown Suit." Flitwick was dressed in navy blue robes that looked just a tad too big for him, Sprout was wearing bright gold velvet robes, Cho was wearing something silver and clinging, and Professor Trelawney had descended from her cave in the North Tower and was currently wearing a sequined purple thing.

Professor Lupin was sitting next to Trelawney and looked as though he was trying very hard to look interested in whatever she was going on about. He was dressed in deep blue robes that looked relatively new (they had no stains or patches sewn in), and Hermione noticed him looking down the table towards someone at the opposite end as he nodded vaguely to Trelawney's prattle. Following his gaze, Hermione saw Professor McLellan, looking bored and using her wand to balance her silverware end to end into a sort of Eiffel Tower-ish thing, with the soup spoon crowning the top. She'd worn light, sea-green robes of a floaty material not unlike that of Hermione's robes, and was talking quietly with Hagrid as she constructed the cutlery tower (though he was doing most of the talking, and she most of the listening).

Hermione turned to examine the students' robes (she saw that Malfoy was once again in his vicar-robes), and noticed a green-clad Harry come into the Hall with Ginny. Waving, and wondering how Ron would take this, as he didn't know about the Harry/Ginny situation, she smiled and pulled Ron over.

***

Harry grinned as Ginny waved Hermione over to them. Ron was looking as though he couldn't quite make up his mind as to what to think of this arrangement, but he kept quiet, whatever he thought. It made Harry nervous, to say the least, but he let the thought leave his mind as Ginny grinned prettily at him. She'd worn lavender silk robes that Harry had been sure must have cost quite a bit to buy, but when he complimented her on them, she told him that she'd sewn them herself, which left him thoroughly impressed.

"Ginny, you made those?" Hermione said, echoing the very question Harry had voiced earlier. "They're gorgeous! You're my tailor from now on, okay?"

Ginny giggled and blushed quite a lovely shade of red. "Oh, don't…They're not that good…Oh, look at Professor Trelawney's outfit!"

Hermione laughed right out at this. "Oh, I know! Is she glittery enough, d'you suppose?"

While the girls began discussing the teachers' fashion sense, Harry turned to Ron apprehensively. Ron had one eyebrow raised and was looking at Harry differently—almost appraisingly. "So."

"So…" Harry echoed.

"I didn't know you'd asked Ginny."

"Well…I did…" Harry shrugged nervously. Then he took a deep breath. "Look, Ron, I know what you must think, what with the whole Cho thing, but I really did want to come with Ginny, and I'm not just leading her on, or anything, because she was really nice the other day—"

"Harry?"

"—and I wanted to take her to the ball, and she said yes, and she knows I'm not just taking advantage of her affections, because I'm not, and I wouldn't ever, and I wouldn't want you to think that I'm—"

"Harry!"

Harry looked up at Ron. "Yes?"

Ron laughed loudly at him. "Man, you've got to relax. I don't think you're taking advantage of her, or anything like that. I just wanted to be sure you weren't…like…You know. I'm an older brother. Can't help it."

Harry sighed and laughed as well. "I know, I know…I just got really nervous. I dunno…I'm a best friend. Can't help that, either."

Ron shrugged. "'S okay. You didn't fuss when Hermione and I started going out. And she's like your little sister. So I guess we're even." Ron grinned and looked up at the staff table. "They're right—Trelawney looks ridiculous."

Harry sighed, relieved. Ron had approved for now. "Yeah, I know."

Their heads both snapped to the far end of the staff table as there was a huge crash of silverware and Professor McLellan's rather tall tower of forks and spoons fell to the table as she laughed. A little blue pixy winked into view where the mess had occurred, and Hagrid, who was sitting nearby, looked delighted (if a tad disappointed at the lack of poisonous appendages).

Sounds issued from the stage, and Harry and Ron turned their attention to the band, a group of witches with long, multi-colored hair, as they trooped onto the stage and picked up their instruments. They began playing, and Ron nodded in recognition. "Oh, yeah, they play this on the radio at home…What're they called—Oh, they're Cliodna. Something with Celtic Mythology—ask Hermione. She knows all about it, but if you don't want an hour long lecture, just be satisfied with that."

Harry smiled and glanced up at the staff table again as a fast-paced song came on. All of the teachers were rising from their seats and heading down to the dance floor, and Harry had a dreadful feeling of what was coming next. He felt a small hand on his shoulder and turned to see Ginny, staring at him questioningly. "D'you feel up to dancing?"

Harry shrugged. "Never been too good at it, but if you like…" He took her hand and they headed for the dance floor. Ron and Hermione were already at it, talking quietly as they did so and looking as though they were having quite a good time. Professor McGonagall had, to Harry's complete amazement, agreed to dance with tiny Professor Flitwick, and Professor Trelawney appeared to be attempting to convince Lupin to dance. Harry grinned apologetically when Lupin shot him a helpless glance. Hagrid was dancing with Professor McLellan, and they were talking about something which McLellan obviously did not want to, and she looked distinctly disgruntled.

Harry turned his attention back to what he was doing. Ginny turned out to be quite a good dancer (she'd not stepped on his feet once), and he'd not even had to think about what he was doing. For some reason, it was just easier without Parvati. Ginny was also looking at the staff table as they twirled. "Poor Professor Lupin…"

"Yeah, I know," Harry said grimly, watching as Trelawney took hold of Lupin's wrist and gave a feeble attempt at pulling him onto the floor. "Maybe we should go over and distract her."

Ginny nodded. "Okay, but not for long. Professor Trelawney creeps me out."

Harry laughed and agreed that it would only be for a minute, and they quickly danced over to them. "Hello, Professor Lupin."

Lupin gave them a tiredly appreciative glance and excused himself from an extremely annoyed-looking Sybil. "Thank you," he muttered, rolling his eyes. "You've no idea how much I needed a break from that. I can only smile and nod for so long, you know…"

Ginny nodded sympathetically in her motherly, Ginny-like manner. "Maybe you should ask someone else to dance, so she'll leave you alone."

Lupin massaged his temples and sighed. "There isn't anyone, really. Everyone's dancing."

Ginny stood on tiptoe and glanced around the crowd. "Uhm…Oh, look! Professor McLellan sat down! Go ask her!"

Lupin opened his mouth to argue, closed it, and frowned deeply. "I…don't think that's a good idea, Ginny, I—"

"Why not?"

Professor Dumbledore had joined their little group, and Professor Trelawney, seeing that Lupin obviously wasn't going to finish talking anytime soon, seated herself grumpily at the table again. Remus shot the headmaster something remarkably like a glare. It was more of a threateningly intense look than anything, but it was enough that Harry would not have wanted to be on the receiving end of it. Dumbledore, however, merely smiled back in his serene way, eyes twinkling.

"Headmaster, I don't think Professor McLellan likes to dance—look, she just sat down, and probably doesn't want to get up and dance again—"

"Oh, nonsense, Remus. I should think you, of all people, know how much our Professor McLellan likes to dance."

There was that look again, as well as—blush? Harry wasn't sure quite what the two professors were discussing, but Lupin certainly wanted a topic change. "Headmaster, I—" Remus paused, looking for another excuse, as Harry and Ginny watched interestedly. "Professor Trelawney will be extremely disappointed if I should dance with someone just after turning her down. It would be rude." He looked quite satisfied with himself.

"I shall dance with Sybil, Remus, now go on."

"But—"

"Go on! You both are so hardheaded that nothing will ever get accomplished if one of you doesn't make the first move. And neither of you would, without the proper encouragement. Now go!"

With one last borderline-glare, Lupin stalked off in the general direction of McLellan's seat. Dumbledore, still smiling in that all-knowing way of his, headed towards Trelawney's seat. Harry and Ginny looked at each other, and Ginny grinned broadly. "Hm. I wondered."

"What?" Harry asked.

"Well," Ginny began slowly, "I've noticed that they're always sneaking looks at each other, but I think they're angry or something, because they never talk. They actually ran into each other in the hallway—literally, I mean—and they just sort of stared at each other in shock for a moment before scampering off in opposite directions. I dunno what's up with them, but I'm really curious now, after hearing that."

Harry nodded. "Sirius never mentioned…But then…I never asked him."

"Next time you write him, do ask," Ginny said, taking his hands and leading him onto the dance floor again, as Ron was shooting them curious glances. "I would like to know what that's all about…"

Harry nodded, and was distracted as the doors to the hall opened. He, as well as nearly every other student in the hall, turned to look as Mr. and Mrs. Weasley entered, followed by a few more ministry witches and wizards, and, finally, Sirius.

***

Ron, still dancing with Hermione, watched as the ministry wizards were greeted by Dumbledore, and led to seats at the staff table. His parents waved at him, to his immense embarrassment, and Hermione waved back, causing him to roll his eyes. Sirius set his cloak at his seat, and, dressed in rather stylish blue-gray robes, strode across the floor to Harry and Ginny. After saying something that made Harry blush profusely, he laughed and waved at Ron and Hermione before walking over to them, as well.

"Hello, Sirius," Hermione said, smiling. "We didn't know you were coming, too."

He shrugged. "Well, it was sort of a surprise for Harry, but really, I just got the invitation yesterday anyway." He glanced around the room. "Ah. Pixies. Flitwick's work?"

"No," Hermione said, shaking her head, and Ron glanced at her. "Actually, Professor McLellan put them up."

Sirius looked confused. "McLellan? Fiona McLellan?"

"Yes…" Hermione replied slowly. "She teaches potions."

For some reason, Sirius found this simply hilarious. "Is she here?" he managed, after laughing loudly for a moment.

"Yes, she's up at the staff table," Hermione said, pointing out the professor. For some reason, Lupin was leaning against a nearby wall, looking surly and indecisive. The sight of this made Black laugh even more.

"Ah, Dumbledore's set this up, he has. I'm going to go say hello." And with that he strode off towards McLellan's seat.

Hermione shot Ron a bewildered glance. "What was that?"

Ron shrugged. "Dunno…Should we sneak over and watch?"

"Wouldn't that be spying?" Hermione said dryly.

"Yes," Ron said, not even trying to make excuses. They walked over to the staff table and carefully situated themselves near one of the stone pillars near the back doors to the Hall, so that they were hidden from view, but could watch and hear what was happening. Hermione gave Ron a reproving look, but dropped it as Black approached McLellan and, grinning, said hello.

A/N: Muahahahaha! Cliffhanger! Review, or I'll take two months on the next one… (Actually, I won't, because I already have it mostly done, and I couldn't help but keep writing at this point—even I was angry at myself for stopping at a cliffhanger!). Do you suppose it'd be okay for me to do part of the next chapter in Lupin's POV? Or would that ruin the way this story's been done so far?