SEQ CHAPTER \h \r 1Feallan Steorra
Chapter 4: The Dating Game
Author's jibberish: Nothing really to say...
"Your attention please," Professor McGonagall said right after she finished her lecture. "Within a month is the Yule Ball. It's an occasion for the students to...let their hair down. Only 4th through 7th years are allowed to attend but you may invite one of your underclassmen as well. Have a good afternoon."
"Are you going to ask her this year?" Ron asked Harry as they walked out of the classroom.
"Her who?"
"Cho Chang? Who else? You still like her, right?"
"Well, yeah..." Harry admitted modestly. Harry remembered asking her last year but since he took too long, Cho already had a date. Instead, he was stuck with Parvati Patil, which didn't turn out too well anyway. "What about you?"
"Hmm...I don't know." Ron shrugged. "Lavender seems awfully nice."
"You better ask her before anyone else does."
Ron smirked. "Take your own advice Harry."
They failed to realize Hermione was close behind and she could hear every word.
"So how are you going to ask Lavender?" Harry asked as they entered the common room.
Ron scanned the room and saw Lavender talking with Parvati. He gulped, then asked Harry, "You want to ask her for me?"
Harry rolled his eyes. "Pull yourself together, mate. Remember...be a man."
Ron nodded, held his head high and stomped to Lavender as she sat at the table. "Lavender Brown!" he called with a very McGonagall-like tone.
She looked up at him, as if a bird was perched on top of his head. "Yes Ron?"
"The dance...the Yule Ball..."
Lavender arched an eyebrow.
"Did Seamus ask you?"
"No."
"Dean?"
"No."
"Neville?"
"No."
"Did anybody ask you?"
"No."
Ron slowly nodded, as if his comprehension was at snail speed. "I see. Well then..." he turned to Harry and walked towards him. But Harry held him by the shoulder and turned Ron to face her.
"Ron what are you getting at?" Lavender asked. Was there annoyance in her voice?
"Just curious," Ron gulped, his face becoming a flattering shade of pink.
"Are you asking me to the Yule Ball?" Lavender guessed. "Because if you were, I would say yes."
Ron smiled. "So you will go...that is, with me? Great!"
"Why? You didn't ask me," she replied cooly. Parvati stifled a giggle.
"You said you'd go with me if I asked!" Ron exclaimed.
"And you have yet to ask, Ronald Weasley."
Ron's ears were red, either from sure embarrassment or anger. This whole ordeal was quite amusing to Harry. "Will you go to the Ball with me, Lavender?" he grit.
Lavender playfully placed a finger on her chin, thinking. "Hmm...well...I don't know..."
Ron's eyes widened. Then he rolled his eyes. "Bother! If I knew you'd be this difficult, I wouldn't have asked!"
"Just a joke, Ron!" Lavender had a good laugh. "Of course I'll go."
Ron sighed. He muttered something under his breath, and Harry only heard "Women," and "pain in the arse." Ron turned to Harry. "So when will you ask Cho?"
"Tonight...at dinner."
The Great Hall was filled with gossip of who wants to go with who. Harry just drank pumpkin juice; he couldn't eat. If she refused him, he might just get sick. The anxiety was bad enough. Ron elbowed him, signaling to make his move.
Harry took a deep breath and swallowed hard. Here it goes. He walked up to the Ravenclaw table, his fists full of robes. "C-Cho?"
She turned, and it seemed it was in slow-motion, with light, stars and flowers appearing out of nowhere. She smiled and the spotlight brightened. "Oh, hello Harry."
He snapped a lopsided smile. "C-could I t-talk to you...just for a bit?"
Her friends around her giggled. Why must they do that? "Sure Harry," she took a quick sip of her juice, pulled the napkin off her lap, dabbed her mouth and followed him outside the Great Hall. Harry closed the door behind them. "What is it?"
Harry's fists were so tight, his knuckles were white. "I...I...You played a great game against Slytherin last week." Agh, you little git! He scolded himself. Ask her!
Cho smiled. "Thank yo–."
"Yuleballmetotheyouwouldmegowith?" he blurted.
"Sorry," Cho asked.
Harry took a deep breath. You really are a git... "Would you go to the Yule Ball with me?" he exhaled slowly. Suddenly his world turned completely black with her in the spotlight.
"Alright," her voice said.
He looked at her in complete disbelief. "Sorry?"
"I said yes Harry."
Suddenly, it was as if his feet were floating off the ground. Was he hearing a church choir? He nodded dumbly. "G-Great. Alright. Excellent. Superb."
"We'll discuss where to meet later, alright?" she suggested.
"Right."
She headed back into the dining hall while he dreamily skipped back to Gryffindor tower. Dinner was now far from his mind.
"Well?" Ron jumped at Harry in the dormitories. Harry was lying in his bed, with a goody smile on his face. "She said yes, didn't she?" Harry nodded. "This is so cool! We were two gits last year and now things couldn't get any better! This is our year!"
It was true. This was a good year for the three of them. Hermione, typical Hermione Granger, was a prefect. Ron was now the Gryffindor keeper ("About bloody time I made it!") and Harry had been catching every snitch. Now they both had perfect dates to the Yule Ball.
"Wait a minute," Harry asked Ron, "does Hermione have a partner to the Ball?"
Ron shrugged. "Don't know. But she has a whole month to get one."
