Classes continued normally for Ron, Hermione and Harry. There was the odd
altercation with Malfoy, but everything was still pretty tame. Snape was
still acting strangely, and the whole school had seem him laughing whilst
talking to Prof. Williamson. Halloween was approaching fast for the school,
and on the 20th, a notice was put up in each common room announcing a
Halloween Ball for 4th years and above. This year, Ron got in quickly, and
asked Hermione if he wanted to go with her.
"As friends, of course" Ron warned.
"Of course!" Hermione said lightly, she was quite happy that Ron had asked. Harry, who was over his feelings for Cho invited Ginny Weasley to go with him, and instead of jumping up and down excitedly as he had expected, she answered with a graceful and quiet 'yes'. During classes the next day, you could hear people asking others in the halls, sometimes cries of delight, over times heartbroken sobs. AS the ball approached, even the teachers seemed to be getting into the spirit. Professor Williamson taught her class about special mythological Halloween spirits, and allowed them to talk about the ball towards the end of lessons. Flitwick had them practicing decorating charms, and even McGonagall had them transfiguring an apple into a pumpkin. 2 days before Halloween, Harry sent Sirius another letter:
Dear Sirius,
Everything is fine here, classes are good, but Snape is acting suspiciously happy. It is kind of creepy, I wish he'd stop. We are having a Halloween Ball, and I've asked Ginny Weasley to go with me. Hope you approve!
Harry.
He'd just finished signing his name, when Hermione grabbed his and Ron's arms shouting
"I've got it!"
"What Hermione?" Ron was a bit sleepy, he'd been just about to doze off. Hermione dragged them all the way to the library, where she pulled 3 deep blue books off the shelf. Ron gave her an exasperated look.
"You woke me, and bought me ALL the way here, so we could see a few books!?!" he said incredulously. Hermione grinned triumphantly and flipped the books. They read:
Hogwarts Forever!
Year Book of 1981 "I also found the books for '82 and '83!" Hermione was speaking very loudly, earning herself a disapproving look from Madam Pince. Harry felt like he was just waking, everything seemed clearer. Ron still looked puzzled.
"We can look through these books to see how Sirius and Williamson knew each other!" Now he knew Hermiones plan, Harry felt very excited. Ron nodded,
"That's a good idea Hermione" he sounded kind of surprised.
Classes continued normally for Ron, Hermione and Harry. There was the odd altercation with Malfoy, but everything was still pretty tame. Snape was still acting strangely, and the whole school had seem him laughing whilst talking to Prof. Williamson. Halloween was approaching fast for the school, and on the 20th, a notice was put up in each common room announcing a Halloween Ball for 4th years and above. This year, Ron got in quickly, and asked Hermione if he wanted to go with her.
Ron, Harry and Hermione started flipping through books. Harry had the 5th year yearbook, Hermione had the 6th, and Ron was just being Ron. Harry flipped through his book and easily found the school photos of each student. The first one he saw was Sirius's. He called the others over, and Hermione blushed. The boys looked at her strangely.
"Well, he was quite good looking, wasn't he!" Hermione stated, as if this should be an obvious fact to everyone. Harry turned the page over and saw the individual photos of James and Lily. Their photos were together, even though the rest of the names were in alphabetical. They were each smiling at the camera, and blowing kisses to each other. Harry smiled fondly, and looking around, he quietly ripped the page form the book. Hermione didn't object, she just smiled. Ron, who had now lost interest in annoying Hermione, had started to flick through the 7th year yearbook, when he let out a sudden yelp.
"That's them, that's them!" he yelled, quite oblivious to Madam Pince's glares. Harry and Hermione leaned in and gasped at what they saw. There on the page were Lily, Sirius, James and Anya. Lily and James were standing next to each other holding hands and smiling and waving. That wasn't the shocking bit. When the photograph moved, a smiling Sirius bent over to Anya and kissed her cheek. A blushing Anya giggled and smiled. The foursome all had their arms around each other. It was obvious they were close friends. Harry stared at the picture for quite some time. Hermione looked worriedly over his shoulder toward Ron, who was gazing at the photo, opening and closing his mouth like a goldfish. Finally Harry stood up and angrily ripped the picture from the page. He stuffed it in his robes, and stormed off towards the dorms. Hermione went to go after him, but Ron pulled her back.
"Let him cool off" Ron said in a quiet, calming voice. Hermione still looked worried, so Ron decided to distract her.
"Come for a walk" he suggested to Hermione, she studied him for a moment, then agreed. They walked in silence until they had left the castle. They wandered down toward the lake. Ron sat, skipping stones across the surface. It was starting to get chilly, and Hermione shivered. Ron immediately offered his cloak, which Hermione accepted gratefully. They sat in comfortable silence, which Ron eventually broke.
"So, the ball's tomorrow night," he said. Hermione lifted her head.
"Yeah"
"Are you gonna wear your hair like you did last time?" Ron was eager to know. Hermione cocked her head to the side.
"Why?" she said cheekily. Ron blushed.
"Well, it's just...it looks good that way!"
"Maybe" Hermione said in a blase way. Ron looked away.
"Hermione..." he started. She looked toward him, and leant in her head.
"Yes.." she said softly. Their heads bent very close now, they leaned in very close, till Hermione could feel Ron's breath on her face. Hermione tilted her head and their lips were just about to meet.
"Ron. Hermione!" Harry's voice broke the spell between Ron and Hermione. Harry was rushing down to the lake, red faced and a bit out of breath.
"I just sent Sirius and asked him why he's in that picture with Williamson and my parents. I told him he'd better tell me, or I wouldn't send food to him ever again. You don't think that was too harsh do you, because I guess I could just send an owl telling him I'm kidding......." Harry trailed off when he saw Hermione's and Ron's guilty looks. They were avoiding each other's eyes, and were blushing down at the ground.
"What happened to you two?" Harry asked curiously.
"Nothing" Ron mumbled under his breath. Harry let the question slide after he saw Hermiones sharp intake of air, and relief with Ron's answer. The trio started walking back up to the castle. On the way, Harry bumped into Ginny, who was talking excitedly with her friends about the upcoming ball.
"Ginny, I'll meet you at the bottom of the staircase at 8 tomorrow night. Ok?" Harry asked. Ginny gave him a small smile and nodded. Her friends giggled.
"As friends, of course" Ron warned.
"Of course!" Hermione said lightly, she was quite happy that Ron had asked. Harry, who was over his feelings for Cho invited Ginny Weasley to go with him, and instead of jumping up and down excitedly as he had expected, she answered with a graceful and quiet 'yes'. During classes the next day, you could hear people asking others in the halls, sometimes cries of delight, over times heartbroken sobs. AS the ball approached, even the teachers seemed to be getting into the spirit. Professor Williamson taught her class about special mythological Halloween spirits, and allowed them to talk about the ball towards the end of lessons. Flitwick had them practicing decorating charms, and even McGonagall had them transfiguring an apple into a pumpkin. 2 days before Halloween, Harry sent Sirius another letter:
Dear Sirius,
Everything is fine here, classes are good, but Snape is acting suspiciously happy. It is kind of creepy, I wish he'd stop. We are having a Halloween Ball, and I've asked Ginny Weasley to go with me. Hope you approve!
Harry.
He'd just finished signing his name, when Hermione grabbed his and Ron's arms shouting
"I've got it!"
"What Hermione?" Ron was a bit sleepy, he'd been just about to doze off. Hermione dragged them all the way to the library, where she pulled 3 deep blue books off the shelf. Ron gave her an exasperated look.
"You woke me, and bought me ALL the way here, so we could see a few books!?!" he said incredulously. Hermione grinned triumphantly and flipped the books. They read:
Hogwarts Forever!
Year Book of 1981 "I also found the books for '82 and '83!" Hermione was speaking very loudly, earning herself a disapproving look from Madam Pince. Harry felt like he was just waking, everything seemed clearer. Ron still looked puzzled.
"We can look through these books to see how Sirius and Williamson knew each other!" Now he knew Hermiones plan, Harry felt very excited. Ron nodded,
"That's a good idea Hermione" he sounded kind of surprised.
Classes continued normally for Ron, Hermione and Harry. There was the odd altercation with Malfoy, but everything was still pretty tame. Snape was still acting strangely, and the whole school had seem him laughing whilst talking to Prof. Williamson. Halloween was approaching fast for the school, and on the 20th, a notice was put up in each common room announcing a Halloween Ball for 4th years and above. This year, Ron got in quickly, and asked Hermione if he wanted to go with her.
Ron, Harry and Hermione started flipping through books. Harry had the 5th year yearbook, Hermione had the 6th, and Ron was just being Ron. Harry flipped through his book and easily found the school photos of each student. The first one he saw was Sirius's. He called the others over, and Hermione blushed. The boys looked at her strangely.
"Well, he was quite good looking, wasn't he!" Hermione stated, as if this should be an obvious fact to everyone. Harry turned the page over and saw the individual photos of James and Lily. Their photos were together, even though the rest of the names were in alphabetical. They were each smiling at the camera, and blowing kisses to each other. Harry smiled fondly, and looking around, he quietly ripped the page form the book. Hermione didn't object, she just smiled. Ron, who had now lost interest in annoying Hermione, had started to flick through the 7th year yearbook, when he let out a sudden yelp.
"That's them, that's them!" he yelled, quite oblivious to Madam Pince's glares. Harry and Hermione leaned in and gasped at what they saw. There on the page were Lily, Sirius, James and Anya. Lily and James were standing next to each other holding hands and smiling and waving. That wasn't the shocking bit. When the photograph moved, a smiling Sirius bent over to Anya and kissed her cheek. A blushing Anya giggled and smiled. The foursome all had their arms around each other. It was obvious they were close friends. Harry stared at the picture for quite some time. Hermione looked worriedly over his shoulder toward Ron, who was gazing at the photo, opening and closing his mouth like a goldfish. Finally Harry stood up and angrily ripped the picture from the page. He stuffed it in his robes, and stormed off towards the dorms. Hermione went to go after him, but Ron pulled her back.
"Let him cool off" Ron said in a quiet, calming voice. Hermione still looked worried, so Ron decided to distract her.
"Come for a walk" he suggested to Hermione, she studied him for a moment, then agreed. They walked in silence until they had left the castle. They wandered down toward the lake. Ron sat, skipping stones across the surface. It was starting to get chilly, and Hermione shivered. Ron immediately offered his cloak, which Hermione accepted gratefully. They sat in comfortable silence, which Ron eventually broke.
"So, the ball's tomorrow night," he said. Hermione lifted her head.
"Yeah"
"Are you gonna wear your hair like you did last time?" Ron was eager to know. Hermione cocked her head to the side.
"Why?" she said cheekily. Ron blushed.
"Well, it's just...it looks good that way!"
"Maybe" Hermione said in a blase way. Ron looked away.
"Hermione..." he started. She looked toward him, and leant in her head.
"Yes.." she said softly. Their heads bent very close now, they leaned in very close, till Hermione could feel Ron's breath on her face. Hermione tilted her head and their lips were just about to meet.
"Ron. Hermione!" Harry's voice broke the spell between Ron and Hermione. Harry was rushing down to the lake, red faced and a bit out of breath.
"I just sent Sirius and asked him why he's in that picture with Williamson and my parents. I told him he'd better tell me, or I wouldn't send food to him ever again. You don't think that was too harsh do you, because I guess I could just send an owl telling him I'm kidding......." Harry trailed off when he saw Hermione's and Ron's guilty looks. They were avoiding each other's eyes, and were blushing down at the ground.
"What happened to you two?" Harry asked curiously.
"Nothing" Ron mumbled under his breath. Harry let the question slide after he saw Hermiones sharp intake of air, and relief with Ron's answer. The trio started walking back up to the castle. On the way, Harry bumped into Ginny, who was talking excitedly with her friends about the upcoming ball.
"Ginny, I'll meet you at the bottom of the staircase at 8 tomorrow night. Ok?" Harry asked. Ginny gave him a small smile and nodded. Her friends giggled.