Romance at Nightfall.
Christmas came and went, and so did January. February was now heavily upon them. A notice had been put on the board in every common room stating that a Ball would be held on the night of Valentines day. Everyone was excited. Harry checked the day of the next Hogsmeade visit, and found out that Dumbledore had changed it to three days before Valentines day. Cho and Hermione told Harry and Ron that they were going into 'Madame Mystics Marvellous Gowns' to buy a dress for the Ball. So while they sat in the courtyard discussing their ideas, Ron and Harry sat in the Gryfindore common room. Harry had thrice brought up his idea to Ron, but Ron was still timid about it. "What if you know she doesn't want to? What are you gonna do? Tell the whole great hall it was a joke?" Harry just shrugged. "I know mate. You don't want her to find someone new. But you got all summer, right?" Harry nodded. Was Ron right?
"I have to try." He stood up. "The last time I was in that shop the shop keeper gave me a catalog. I found on I like, but I need to find out what size I would need. How would I find that out with out giving it away?" There was a brief silence. Then they both leapt out of their seats, and yelled "HERMIONE!!!" and Crookshanks, who was basking in a patch of sunlight on Ron's lap, skulked away, looking distinctly ruffled. After a long day of studying, they finally had a free moment to talk to Hermione. Harry went over his plan with her, and she wrote a hurried note to Cho. She sent a note back almost instantly, with just a number 7 on it. Harry made Hermione promise not to tell Cho. Then he went to find the catalog. On the day of the Hogsmeade visit, the four of them met up in the Entrance Hall. Hermione gave a sneaky little grin to Harry, then said; "So were going to meet up in the Three Broomsticks later?"
"Yea, ok." Said Harry. They walked together till they made it into Hogsmeade. Then they went their separate ways. Harry and Ron went into 'Julies Jewels.' Then went to the Quidditch supplies shop, where Ron bought a Broom Service Kit, and a Broom Compass. Harry bought six pound of sweet in Hunnydukes, as did Ron. They went into the Three Broomsticks where they saw Cho sitting with Hermione, talking in a low whisper. Harry wanted to know what they were talking about, but thought it best not to ask. Hermione smiled again as Harry sat down. She looked at Ron in a wanting manner. As if curious to see if he was going to do the same thing. Harry bought them all another round of Butterbeer, then sat down. He wanted to shout it out now. He didn't want to wait, but he needed to mull it over in his head overnight. Just to make sure. After two days of thought, he decided he was going to do it tonight at the Ball. He was going to do it infront of the whole school. They had a double potions with Snape, then they were free to get ready. Potions was now one of Harry's favorite classes, and he was passing. Even though he was now in all NEWT classes, he was passing with good grades. Harry had wondered why his father and Snape had hated each other so much, till he finally got up the courage to ask him. He went to his father after class and waited till he came in. He ask him the question with a bit of wonder in his voice. His father just smiled. "I was wondering when you were going to ask me that." He said. "Well, in our second year, Narciassa, Sirus' cousin came to the school. She wasn't doing to well in Potions, so Professor Leetonburg, the potions teacher, suggested she ask Severus for help. Well she was much to shy to ask him herself, so Leetonburg did it for her. He accepted and began to help her right away. Sirus didn't like Snape at all as it was, and he lost it when he saw his cousin being tutored by him. Then Narciassa started to spend time with him outside of school, on Hogsmeade trips and all. Finally, Sirus decided to play a little trick on him, with Lupin and the Whomping Willow, it almost killed him, and Narciassa never wanted to talk to him again, and Snape hated all of us, me most of all." He took one look at the confused expression on Harry's face and continued. "Your mother was in a crowd with Narciassa, and when she found out she got angry with me. Said I was just as bad as Sirus, if not worse. I was livid with Snape, and threatened to kill him. I went to Leetonburg and told him that Denice Malfoy, Lucius Malfoys second cousin, Gryfindore, was willing to help her, since they were in the same house. He agreed, and told Snape that someone else would be helping Narciassa in Potions, and that he was free to continue with his regular schedule. Snape found out it was me who suggested Malfoy. He cornered me later that week, told me I had taken the only love he had ever had, and given it to a Malfoy. I just laughed in his face. Told him she would never love him. When your mother and I married, Narciassa was also getting married to her buddy Denice's Cousin, Lucius. Snape was friends with Lucius since they were both with Voldemort and all. He was never happy after their wedding. Took it out on you since you were my son. Treated young Draco like his own sone, I guess it was because he really was his son. Lucius wasn't Draco's real father, Snape was." Harry left feeling strange, he was now thinking about tonight. He went up to find Ron waiting for him. They had and hour and a half till they needed to get ready, so Harry told Ron everything. Ron had the same expression on his face that Harry had when he left his fathers office. The clock on the wall chimed half past five, so they went up to get ready. He fixed his hair the best he could, and dressed in his nicest dress robes. Ron, too, had dressed in his finest dress robes. He had gotten something very special for Hermione, but he hadn't shown Harry yet. He went to his bed side table and pulled out his gift. He showed Harry, then slipped it into his robe pocket. Harry had been carrying around a small silver box for over a week. He was finally going to show Ron. Ron's jaw dropped when he saw it.
"Harry, she is going to die when she sees that, you know?" Harry smiled, then placed the box back inside his pocket. They went down to the common room, to see a large crowd of talking girls. Many of the boys were still in their dormitories. They took their regular seats by the fire. Harry and Ron waited till the clock said six, then like everyone else, went to meet their dates. Hermione and Cho had been in the washrooms getting ready, so Ron and Harry couldn't see till that night. Ron and him were standing at the bottom of the steps, when they heard oh's and ah's. They also saw people pointing at the top of the staircase. They turned to see who everyone was looking at, and saw the most beautiful girls ever. Hermione and Cho were walking down the staircase, wearing the most gorgeous dresses ever. Hermione was in a long flowing dress. It was teal with a dust of silver. It had a long train, and had a silver butterfly on the center of the chest. Cho was wearing a long white dress, with crimson lace flowers on the skirt. A long piece of lace trailed behind her with gold roses sown into it. Everyone was watching them. Harry put his hand out to help Cho down the last step. Ron was still staring at Hermione with a look of stupidity on his face. Finally he got a grip and took her hand. He looked smugly at the crowed as he walked past. Harry looked at Cho, and she looked back. He had just noticed his mouth was open. Suddenly, the doors to the Great Hall opened. Harry, Cho, Ron and Hermione were asked by Professor McGonagall to open the ball with a dance. They went to the center of the floor. Like usual, the four house tables were no longer there. Everyone filed in, and sat down at the many tables around the edge of the room. The music began to play from the stage in the far left corner. It was a sweet love song. They began to dance. When the song ended, every one clapped, then joined them on the dance floor. Five songs went by, then Dumbledore stood and asked everyone to sit down. Harry and the others found a table close to the high table. He could see his parents talking from where he was sitting. Dumbledore clapped his hands and menus appeared infront of them. After they ate, they were dancing again. After the song, Harry decided to act on his idea. He held Cho's hand, and got down on one knee. Everyone noticed this, and stopped to watch. He pulled the tiny silver box from his pocket. He opened it, revealing a silver ring, with a small, heart shaped diamond in the center. Cho gasped. Harry cleared his throat. The room suddenly went dead quiet. He looked up into Cho's eyes. "Cho... I love you more then anything, and I don't want to live without you. Will... Will you marry me?" Cho didn't have time to answer, because Harry's scar suddenly burst into white hot pain. Voldemort was in the School.