~*~ Hiya! OK. I figured, since I hadn't posted a new chapter in so long, I'll post #21 right after I post #20, that way you've all got lots to read! Okiez! Hope y'all like it! ^_^ Enjoy! ~*~

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Both Hailey and Ron were quite cheery the next day. Harry noticed, as did Hermione. When diner came round, Harry decided that he'd ask them, just what was going on.

"What's wrong with you to?" he asked half laughing.

 "What'd you mean?" Hailey asked.

"Well, it's just, you two seem so… cheerful!" Hermione answered. Ron and Hailey looked to each other, then to Harry and Hermionie.

"Well, me and Ron are going to the Ball together… that's all…" Hailey told them.

"You are?" Hermione said quite suddenly. They looked at her funny, but figured it was from part shock, part happiness. But, little did they know it was the opposite way. Hermionie was shocked, but not in a happy way. She was, again, jealous of Hailey. She hid it, though. "That's great!" she told them as she piled food onto her plate. Harry nodded his agreement, and smiled brightly at them.

"So, mate… did you ask her yet?" Ron asked Harry as the walked up the Library to sign out some books for an Astronomy Essay.

"Ask who?" Harry answered back, sounding faintly confused.

"Cho, you prat!" Ron laughed.

"Oh…no, not yet..." Harry mumbled, shoving his hands in his pockets as he felt his cheeks redden.

"Why not?" Ron inquired, "If you don't soon, the same thing that happened last year, will happen this year!" He reminded him as he jokingly elbowed him.

"I'll ask her soon…" was all Harry said, and Ron left it that.

As the ball neared, the atmosphere in the castle became more eager and frenzied. Girls were giggling non-stop through the halls and in class, as they whispered amongst themselves and pointed at unsuspecting boys as they passed. There was also a lot of note passing, but that stopped when McGonagall caught Lavender Brown and Pavarti Patil during Transfiguration. She saw Lavender pass the note to Pavarti, and decided that enough was enough.

"I'm sure Mr. Thomas would be delighted to accompany you to the Ball, Miss Brown." She said flatly, placing the note on her desk. "But unless you plan to fail the test on this subject, which is coming up at the end of the first week back, you best start paying more attention." She finished pointedly. Lavender was unbelievably red by now as she felt all eyes on her, including Deans. There was just under a week left until the Christmas Dance, and Harry still hadn't asked Cho. But he had planned to before dinner. He was going to catch up with her before she entered the Great Hall and ask her if he could have a word.

"Go for it!" Ron said encouragingly. He gave him the 'thumbs up' and watched as he moved towards Cho. Harry cleared his throat and tapped her on the shoulder, trying his hardest not to act a fool in front of all the people that were around, and especially not in front of Cho.

"Hey Harry!" she said smiling sweetly at him.

"Uh… Can I… Can I have a word?" he asked nervously, but trying to sound as manly as possible.

"Yeah, OK." She answered back. She told her friends she'd catch up with them in a minute, and followed Harry off to the side. They stood in silence for a moment, as Harry stared blankly at the wall behind Cho. But he was snapped back from his reverie, when her voice sounded.

"Um, Harry? Are you OK?" she asked.

"What? Oh, sorry… Yeah…just thinking…" he told her quickly, feeling more and more stupid by the second. "I, um, was wondering if… If you…w-would like to go to the Ball with me?" he finally managed to ask, regaining his confidence, at the fact that he hadn't done what he did last year, and slur all his words together. Cho blushed a deep red and looked at her feet.

"I would love to… but I can't…" she told him sadly.

"Oh… OK then…" Harry mumbled feeling like an idiot again.

"It's not you!" she said quickly, "It's just that my grandmother is sick, so I won't be here for the dance… I've got to go home for the Holidays…" she told him.

"I'm sorry to hear that," Harry said understandingly.

"Thanks, and sorry…" she said. She leaned up to him, gave him a small kiss on the cheek, and left for the Hall her head bowed. Harry leaned against the wall and sighed.

"Well it was worth a shot…" he grumbled to himself, running his hand through his hair. Harry wanted to just go up to his room and mope, but his stomach decided against him. Realizing how hungry he really was, he went into the Great Hall. Taking his seat next to Ron, he started piling food on his plate.

"So? How'd it go?" Ron asked, hoping for the best. He knew how much Harry liked Cho and how much it would mean to him if he'd get to take her to the Ball.

"She said she'd love to," Ron was about to congratulate him when Harry stopped him and continued. "But she can't. Her grandmother is sick, so she's got to go home for the holidays…" he finished sulkily. Ron patted him on the back and told him,

"It was a good try, mate… at least she said she'd go with you, had she been able to stay." This made Harry feel a bit better. He dug into his dinner, and tried to forget about Cho's turn down. But one thing he refused to forget, and the one thing he'd decided not to tell Ron until they weren't surrounded by hundreds of people, was her kiss. She kissed him. On the cheek, yes, but all the while, Harry's mind was going haywire, while a more mature part of him kept him calm, cool, and collected.

After dinner, Harry and Ron went off with the twins, leaving Hailey and Hermionie to talk.

"So, you and Ron are going to the Ball together…" Hermione stated, trying not to sound obvious in anyway. Hailey smiled,

"Yeah… do you have a date yet?" she asked.

"No…not yet," Hermione confessed.

"Oh, I'm sure you'll find someone soon…" Hermione only nodded. She somehow doubted that she'd find a date before the Ball.

Neither one spoke for a while. Until a sudden idea popped into Hailey's mind.

"What about Harry? Why don't you go with him?" she suggested. Hermione considered it, and then decided against it.

"I'm not sure… It's just…I know how much he wanted to go with Cho, so I don't think he'd say yes… he might not even go to the Ball," she said starring at her feet.

"Well, why don't you try? The most he can do is say no… Look, I'll even talk to him if you want me to," she offered. Hermionie smiled kindly at Hailey.

"No, it's alright… I'll talk to him, but I wont get my hopes up," she told her. They walked back to Gryffindor Tower, talking about their dress robes, the way they would do their hair, and much more.

Now, there was only five days left until the Ball and Hermione and Harry still had no date. Hermione hadn't talked to Harry yet, and Hailey was quite aware of it.

"Just talk to him!" she said, laughing slightly at Hermione's small but noticeable amount of bashfulness. "If you don't, I will!" she said grinning broadly.

"No! Please don't!" Hermione begged, "I'll do it, I'll do it! I just don't know what I'll say… I didn't think it would ever be hard to talk to Harry or Ron about going to a dance, but now that I'm going to… well, it's a lot harder than I thought," she admitted. Hailey put her arm around Hermione's shoulders and steered her towards Harry, where he was sitting at a nearby table, working on his Charms Homework.

"Good luck!" Hailey whispered in her ear. Hermione smiled sarcastically, feeling incredibly stupid for no real reason.

"Hullo…" she said quietly, as she took as seat across from Harry.

"Hi… what's up?" he asked, looking up from his papers to smile at her.

"Oh, nothing much… Well, there's something I wanted to ask you…" she said, choosing her words carefully.

"What's that?" he asked her. Hermione twiddled her thumbs in her lap.

"I was wondering if you had planned to go to the Ball?"

"Yeah, I mean, I already signed up to go…why?" he smiled slightly as he posed his question.

"Well, I, um… was wondering if, um…" she couldn't finish her sentence. Why am I feeling so nervous?! It's only a Ball, and Harry's one of my best friends! This shouldn't be so hard! She thought to herself.

"…I would go to the Ball with you?" Harry finished her question. Hermione nodded. "Actually, I was going to ask you about it, too…" he told her, looking back down at his blank paper.

"Really?" she asked, "Oh, well, um… did you still want to? I understand if you don't…" she waited for him to say something, hoping it would, in some way be good news.

"Sure, I'd like to," he replied smiling at her. There was a small, awkward silence.

"…Just as friends, right?" they said at the same time. Laughing, they nodded in agreement, and Hermione left Harry alone to do his work.

"So? How'd it go?" Hailey asked eagerly.

"We're going to go together," Hermione answered back. She told Hailey that Harry had wanted to ask her anyway, so it all worked out in the end.

"That's great! See? I told you it wouldn't be so hard!" Hailey teased.

"Yeah, right… You have no idea…" Hermione mumbled.

"Oh, come on! It's only Harry! Why was it so difficult?" she asked, giggling slightly.

"Don't laugh!" she said, giggling quietly to herself. "It wasn't really difficult… just awkward…" she said. Hailey understood.

"I'm so excited! This is my first Ball, and I can't wait!" she said, sounding very much like a small child in a candy shop. Hermione told her all about the Yule Ball they had in their Fourth year, and how much fun it had been, and how nice the Hall looked when it was all done up and decorated. This made her look forward to it even more. In fact, thinking about it kind of made Hermione feel excited about it.

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