Chapter Four: Girls, Girls, Girls

The day of Harry's next date came way too soon for his liking.  He'd been nervous for the past six days, but his nervousness increased to a ridiculously high level when the day finally arrived.

          Bagman had sent him an owl at breakfast telling him to travel by Floo Powder to a place called The Fairy Ring.  "I'll bet anything that place is a gay bar," Seamus warned Harry when he told everyone in the common room where he was going.

Ron and Dean nodded in agreement while Neville asked an amused Lee Jordan what "gay" meant.  Hermione immediately explained that a Fairy Ring was where Veela met for their dancing rituals.

At 9:00 P.M., Harry waved goodbye to Ron and Hermione as the flames in the common room fireplace licked his face, and shouted "The Fairy Ring!"

          Harry stumbled out of the fireplace, feeling sick.  Floo Powder had to be his least favorite way of traveling, he thought miserably.  As he straightened himself up, Harry wondered if the pounding in his head was due to the journey he'd just made, or the pulsating beat of the music.  Making his way around the place, Harry noticed a flashing neon sign that read "The Fairy Ring".  People all around him were dancing, talking and laughing. 

          "Harry!"  He looked up when he heard his name.  Lavender was waving at him from a table where she sat with Parvati, Padma, Angel and Mary.  Parvati and Lavender were wearing the same sundress, except that Lavender's was pink while Parvati's was yellow.  Padma was dressed in a simple, yet fashionable navy outfit, and Angel wore a camouflage tank top and pants.  The hunter green number matched her hair perfectly.  Mary, who was wearing a long, shapeless gray dress, was glaring disapprovingly at her.

          Harry approached the table tensely, noticing the Memory Capturer levitating near the girls.  As he sat down, Parvati exclaimed, "Harry, you look so gorgeous!"

          Flushing, Harry thanked her.  "Um, so do you.  All of you."

          Everyone but Mary and Padma giggled.  Wincing, Harry wondered for the twenty-seventh time why girls did that.  A new song started, and Lavender and Parvati jumped up, shrieking.  "IT'S BB MAK!"  Tugging on his arm, Lavender said, "Harry, come dance with us!"

          Harry groaned.  He loathed dancing.  Looking around hopelessly, Harry spotted Madam Rosmerta walking toward them.  Feeling more relieved than Wormtail when Voldemort gave him his new hand, Harry turned to Parvati and Lavender.  "Sorry, can't.  Waitress is here!"

          "Madam Rosmerta," Harry said, "What are you doing here?  I thought you only worked at the Three Broomsticks!"

          She laughed.  "Aw, I get dat a lot!  I'se not Madam Rosmerta, doll, I'se her daughter, Mondie!"

          Shocked by her New York accent, everyone gaped at Mondie.  "Whoa!  You're like… the spitting image of her!" Parvati said.

          "Yeah, but dat's about da only t'ing we'se got in common," Mondie laughed.  "I'se sho' ya noticed da New Yawk accent.  I picked it up from a musical I adoah, an' me mudda hates musicals.  So what can I get'cha's?"

          When everyone finished eating, Lavender and Parvati once again begged Harry to dance with them.  Thinking quickly, Harry reminded them that he hadn't had dessert yet, so they decided to dance without him.  "Hey, girls, wait up!" Angel yelled after them.

          The only remaining people at the table were Harry, Padma and Kira.  "Nice excuse," Padma said, smirking at Harry.

          "Huh?"

          Padma rolled her uniquely beautiful hazel eyes.  "Oh, come on, it's obvious that you don't want to dance.  Parvati knows you don't like dancing, too, she's just pretending to be oblivious so she can get her way.  She does that."

          Harry grinned.  "Really?"

          "Yeah, especially around that Lavender idiot."  Padma shook her head.  "My sister the wannabe."  She reached into her purse and pulled out a massive book.

          Amazed, Harry asked, "How did you get such a big book into that little purse?"

          With a sardonic look at Harry, Padma waggled her fingers.  "Magic!" she said, her voice oozing with sarcasm.  With that, she stuck her nose in the book saying, "Hope you don't mind, I want to finish this." 

          Feeling stupid for asking a witch how she did something amazing, Harry turned his attention to Mary, who hadn't done much but glare daggers at the people in the club all night.  "What's the matter?" he asked.  "You seem upset about something."

          Mary turned her furious turquoise eyes on him.  Harry was immediately reminded of the Basilisk he'd met in his second year.  He wondered if this girl could glare someone to death.  "Can you believe these people?  Their behavior is unbelievably sinful!"

          Harry blinked at her.  "Um… what?"

          "Look at those girls in their short skirts!  Hanging all over those weirdo boys with their long hair!  Why, they're nothing short of satanic!" she hissed.

          Confused and a little frightened by Mary's behavior, Harry scooted his chair away from her.   "Uh… yeah," he said, afraid to disagree with her.  He felt very relieved when Angel came back to the table.

          "Whew!" Angel breathed.  "That was fun!  Potter, those witches can dance!  You missed out, buddy."  She slapped Harry on the back and took a long swig of butterbeer.  "So, why are you guys all just sitting here?"

          Padma raised her eyebrows at Angel.  "Well, I'm trying to finish a really good book."

          Angel snatched the book out of Padma's hands.  "Dude, it's Romeo and Juliet!  This book rocks!  Don't'cha love it how at the end Romeo thinks Juliet is dead, so he kills himself, but then she's not dead, and she's like 'Whoa, he killed himself!' so she kills herself too?  It's frickin' awesome!" 

          Padma suddenly looked very angry.  "Excuse me?  Are you some sort of psycho?  Death is not something a normal person would consider 'awesome'!"

          "Whoa!" Angel said, laughing.  "Chill, dude!  I'm not saying death is cool!  It's just, the book was!"

          "Yeah, well, I hope you think this is cool, too!"  Padma picked up her glass and threw her pumpkin juice down Angel's front.  With that, she marched out of the club.

          Harry was very surprised, but Mary's reaction was totally different: she started laughing heartily. 

          Puzzled and obviously still in shock, Angel looked to Mary for an explanation.  "I've been praying for something like this to happen to you all evening!"

          "What?" Angel said in a hurt voice.

          Mary smirked.  "You're a scarlet woman, Angel… a wicked seductress.  It's obvious that the devil has corrupted you.  How dare you even call yourself 'Angel'!  My parents named me right when they decided to call me Mary.  Mary was a pure, decent, God-fearing woman, just like me!"  She rose and smiled at Harry.  "You'd be crazy not to pick me, when all the other contestants are sinners.  We're a perfect match, Harry.  God spared you from the wrath of You-Know-Who, so it's obvious that you're wholesome like me.  Make the right decision, Harry."  And Mary, too, trudged off.

          Angel began to cry.  "What did I do?"

          "Nothing," Harry said, awkwardly patting her on the back.  "Mary's obviously some sort of nutter, Angel…  Don't let her get to you."

          Lavender and Parvati came back to the table and sat down, looking concerned.  "Angel, what's wrong?" Lavender asked.  "We could see your mascara running from the dance floor!"
          "What did you do to her, Harry?" Parvati demanded, looking as angry as her sister when she'd fled a few minutes ago.

          "I—uh—I… I didn't—" Harry stammered.

          "Ugh, never mind!" Parvati exclaimed, exasperated.

          The two witches helped Angel out of her seat and began leading her to the exit.  "We've got to get this girl some low fat, sugar free chocolate ice cream, stat!" Harry heard Lavender say.

          Harry let his head drop onto the table in defeat.  As Mondie began collecting empty glasses around Harry's limp form, she heard his muffled voice repeating, "Five thousand Galleons, five thousand Galleons, five thousand galleons…"

To the Rockin' Reviewers:

qwert: Sorry 'bout that!  Fanfiction.net was having some sort of technical difficulties or something, and took my fic out of paragraph form!  Curses!  Curses, I say!  Ah well, it's okay now.  Thanks!

harry lover: Heh, no worries!  I completely agree, and everything'll come out H/H!

Princess Potter: Why, thank you!  And yes… yes I shall!

VipyGirl831: *Grins*  Thank you muchly!  And indeed, I'm quite the H/H 'shipper, so don't worry!

Noodlejelly: Haha!  Yeah, I'm rather obsessive about Harry Potter too!  Specifically Harry/Hermione…  So I'm glad to hear that you're pro-H/H too!  Oh, dude… it would be so bloody brilliant if J.K.R. would hook those two up!  *Crosses fingers*  Thank you very much for the review!

Sh*ts and Giggles: Aw, thanks!  Alright, glad to see you're a fellow H/H supporter!  Woo hoo! 

Bittersweet: Hey thanks, girl!  Heh, sure!  If you've got J.K.R.'s number, I'll be glad to call her up!  That's an awesome compliment, and I thank you muchly. 

LittleLily: Well, thank you!  You're very kind.  *Hands you a cookie*

Person Who Said that Hermione and Ron belong together: Heh, that's okay!  No harm in pushing the button 3 times.  *Sadly* I know, I know…  There's lot of Ron and Hermioneness about the 4th book and such and… *tears up*  I'm sorry, though… I must make this H/H.  I love the idea of those two together.  Thank you for the review!

R/H Forever!!!!!!!!!: I simply forbid that Noodlejelly go anywhere near H-Triple Asterisk. 

Dreamcatcher: I'm sorry to hear that you dislike my story.  It sucks to lose a reader, but I do respect your opinion, despite the fact that I'm pro-Harry/Hermione.  I'm sure Queen Rowling did say all of this, but I've got to stick with my inner-'shipper.  Although I love Miss Paula Abdul, I have to disagree with her song, "Opposites Attract."  I realize that GOF has very clear signs of Ron and Hermione and what could develop between them.  On the other hand, I sense a very deep connection between Harry and Hermione (heh, sorry… I grew up on soap operas and tend to speak like a soap writer!) and would be more thrilled than a 13-year-old who just met Justin Timberlake if the two of them hooked up.  The rambling is totally forgivable!  I tend to do that when I get worked up over 'ships, too!  Thank you very much for saying I'm a good writer!  It's totally cool with me that you posted your rant on my review board.  Thanks for reading as much as you did!

--Holly Rachael :-D