OMFG! I know it's been FOREVER since I last posted! I was going to stop, but I figured I'd at least get a little bit more up, just to torture you all, even if "you all" is technically "nobody." Oh well. Yay..?

Chapter Seven

The Halloween Ball

Harry was getting very nervous. He was waiting in the entrance hall for Cho and the others, who agreed on meeting them there at the same time. Because of Cho's last-minute asking of him to be her date, Harry hadn't had a costume planned, so he waited in the hall in his dress robes—which weren't too shabby at all. While he lingered, there were a few other groups of people waiting for their dates as well. Harry was relieved to see he wasn't the only one going to the Ball in dress robes.

He looked at his watch: six-forty-seven. Three minutes.

"Ahoy, Harry!" a voice made Harry look to the Grand Staircase. Ron was at the top, clad in silver chain mail, a silver breastplate, silver gauntlets, and all the rest a medieval knight was known to wear. He even held a silver helmet under his arm, boasting a fancy deep red plume; and a real sword, which hung in its sheath at his side. The armor shone brightly in the candlelight and clanked lightly as he raced down the stairs toward Harry.

"Hey, Ron! Aren't you hot in that?" Harry asked when Ron had reached him.

"Nah," Ron said, shaking his head. "It's a whole lot lighter than it looks. I also had Hermione put a cooling charm on it just in case."

"Well, it looks fantastic. But where's Sai? Weren't you two coming down together?"

Ron rolled his eyes.

"She apparently really hates events like this so Hermione's trying to pry her away from the dormitory. Last time I checked, she was clinging onto the post of her bed while Hermione was tugging on her legs—at least, that's what I was told."

"Oh, okay. Did you see—"

"Nope. Didn't see what Hermione's dressing as," Ron said. "So, where's Cho and everyone else? Where's that Gavin-or-Garfield-or-whatever bloke Hermione's going with?" he said with hints of aversion and annoyance in his voice.

Harry laughed and said, "Dunno, but there's Hermione herself. Ask her." He inclined his chin in the direction of the Grand Staircase.

Hermione was making her way down the stairs in a beautiful cerulean gown made of silk, studded with dazzling sapphires. Her hair was twisted up into a sleek bun, with a few pieces hanging in delicate curls at her ears and the nape of her neck. On her feet were stunning shoes that Harry noticed were as clear as crystal. They looked as if they were made of glass.

Ron gaped. It was when Harry finally elbowed him in the ribs that Ron realized how long his mouth had been hanging open.

"Wow….Oh—er—Hermione, how do you walk in those?" he asked awkwardly when she approached them. "They look like nothing but glass!"

"That's because they are glass, Ronald," she said perturbed, but nevertheless laughing a bit. "I'm Cinderella, if you can't tell. She wears glass slippers, of course. I put a spell on them so they wouldn't break. And surprisingly, they are quite comfortable. Oh, and I finally got Sai to let go of her bed. It took a lot of work, actually. She'll be down any minute."

Ron didn't say anything, but instead remained looking like a child who had never tasted a candy bar until now as he stared at Hermione, who hadn't noticed his gaze of disbelief and—was that attraction? Harry couldn't help but observe that Ron's ears were turning a fierce shade of pink. He decided to answer for him.

"Thanks, Hermione. I'm sure that's what Ron was going to say."

"Uh, yeah…thanks," Ron said, blushing.

"You're welcome, Ron. That girl sure can put up a good fight," Hermione said, giggling.

"Hi, Harry!" a cheerful voice suddenly rang from the top of the stairs. Harry watched Cho stride down them, in a daze. She was wearing a snow white, floor-length gown trimmed in chiffon and tiny diamond-like jewels that sparkled intensely when she moved. She had her hair tied into a tight, high knot, with little pearls tucked in. On her face, neck, and shoulders was an iridescent shimmer that gleamed pearly in the light. She looked very pretty.

This time it was Harry's turn to ogle.

"H-hullo, Ch-Cho," he gulped.

Ron sniggered.

"Hi, Harry," Cho said again. "Can you guess what I am?"

"Uh—"

"I'm an ice queen!" she said quite enthusiastically before he could answer. "What do you think?" she asked, twirling around like a little girl who had just been given her first ballerina skirt.

"I—I think—I think you look amazing," Harry stammered. Cho simply beamed.

Soon Garrett Johnston finally showed up, dressed as Prince Charming to match Hermione's Cinderella attire. Ron scowled at him while the two weren't looking.

"What time is it?" he asked, shifting back and forth on his feet impatiently, refusing to look at his watch. "Sai's taking an awfully long time."

"Five past seven," Harry said, looking at his own. "Wonder where she is."

As if on cue, Lavender Brown and Parvati Patil seemed to pop out of nowhere in a giddy frenzy, and were running down the stairs, both wearing feathery angel costumes, too much makeup, and wide, triumphant grins.

"Don't worry, Sai's on her way!" Lavender said happily.

"We just had to fix her up!" squealed Parvati.

Ron's face broke into a state of fear and shock.

"Oh, no…" he groaned, growing pale, looking much to Harry like he did when they first met Aragog, the giant spider. "What did you do to my date?"

"You'll see!" the girls squeaked, giggling madly as they scampered in excitement toward the Great Hall.

"Oh, no…" Ron said again, his eyes bulging with fear. "Oh, no, oh, no, oh, no…. Blimey, what if they killed her with a comb? You know how they are! They could've—!"

"Oh, Ron, don't be thick," said Hermione. "I'm sure she's fine."

At that precise moment, a shy, quiet voice from atop the Grand Staircase said in an irritable grumble, "They are so dead…I can't believe I'm doing this…."

Everyone looked up to see Sai emerge, and Harry, along with the others, gasped in astonishment. Harry almost fell over at what he saw. Sai was positively breathtaking in a becoming long gown of light, milky blue silk that grazed her figure perfectly, its flowing train rippling on the steps as she descended each stair. The medieval princess-like off-the-shoulder sleeves draped flatteringly on her arms, cinched at the elbows and also a few inches above them. A shawl of the same material as the gown's—though a slightly darker color—wrapped around her neck twice and billowed gracefully behind her, concealing most of her back. In her long, dark hair was ribbon-thin authentic silver that weaved in and out through her delicate waves until it formed a type of headband at the crown of her head. Silver crystal drops dangled from her ears. Though she barely wore any makeup, she was practically aglow with radiance.

Harry and the others continued to gawk at her with their jaws dropped.

They were still speechless even when she was finally standing right in front of them. She was incredibly pretty. Taking note of their stunned faces, she began to retreat.

"Oh, God, I knew this was a bad idea! To think that that duo of ditzy girls ambushed me in the dormitory and convinced me to wear this stupid getup! They did this to my hair and shoved this dress into my face before locking me in the bathroom! Ah, I'm mortified!"

Harry shook himself out of his daze and said, "What? Don't be! You look great!"

A very flustered Cho quickly grasped Harry's arm, and Harry was a bit taken aback, unsure of why she did that and why she was looking so flustered, but chose not to say anything.

"Yeah!" Ron added, still goggling. Harry wasn't sure whether or not his friend's eyes were about to fall out of his head.

"Ha! I don't look great, I look like a fool, that's what!" said Sai. "I'm gonna get those girls one day!" she said, brandishing a closed fist in the direction of the Great Hall.

"Nonsense," said Hermione. "You look absolutely stunning. Who are you, exactly?"

"Er, they said I was some kind of princess…dunno, really…but I still say I look stupid—"

"Are you daft?" Ron shouted, causing everyone to jump. "Sai, you look—you look gorgeous!"

Sai laughed.

"Don't get used to it. I may look 'gorgeous' tonight—" she said the word "gorgeous" while rolling her eyes "—but I don't any other night, or day for that matter. At midnight the spell is broken and I turn back into an ugly hag." She gave another laugh.

Sai's words angered Harry. Although she was laughing, he could sense the seriousness behind her words, and it bothered him. Sai was always so hard on herself; that's how he had known her to be ever since he became friends with her. He hated it. Ron got to her before he could, however.

"Shut it, Sai. Don't say such rubbish about yourself. None of it's true!" he said earnestly.

Sai smiled.

"Thanks, Ron. I'll try not to. And I must say, you look pretty sharp as well, O, knight in shining armor."

Ron bowed dramatically low, with a fancy movement of his wrist as he did so, making everyone laugh as they started for the Great Hall.

If the Great Hall looked marvelous earlier that day, it looked even more so now. In addition to the original decorations, orange and black streamers zigzagged across the ceiling while multi-colored leaves of various shapes and sizes magically appeared twelve feet above everyone's heads and disappeared at three, only to reappear at twelve once again. Not only were the decorations magnificent, but the extraordinary numbers of students (and teachers) dressed in incredible costumes made the atmosphere even more beautiful and whimsical.

Harry glanced around the Hall and caught a glimpse of Dumbledore at the staff table dressed as a scarecrow; this made him laugh to himself. The man even had straw poking out of his long beard. Clad in denim overalls patched with colorful pieces of fabric, a checkered shirt, and a straw hat with a fraying brim, Dumbledore fit the part perfectly. A very friendly crow was perched on his shoulder. Harry chuckled.

"What?" Cho suddenly asked. "Do I look that bad?"

Harry was surprised by this and began apologizing copiously, explaining that he was only laughing at Dumbledore's costume. Cho giggled.

"What?" he asked her, feeling slightly offended.

"Chill, Harry. She's only joking," said Sai, laughing. Ron laughed with her, and soon the others joined in after, causing Harry's cheeks to grow hot as they flushed with his embarrassment.

"Shut up," he said, feeling stupid but then joining in with the mirth. He needed to loosen up and enjoy himself. This wasn't the Yule Ball, he had to keep reminding himself.

The music playing in the background seemed to be coming from an invisible source and sounded familiar to Harry, since he had heard many songs on wizards' radios in the shops at Diagon Alley and at the Weasleys'. A few songs he recognized by the voices of the Weird Sisters, who had previously performed at Hogwarts at the Yule Ball. The others he wasn't too familiar with.

Among all the students he saw Dean, Ginny, Neville and his date, Lucky, running in their direction, all looking impressive in their costumes.

"You finally came!" Dean shouted. "What took you all so long?"

"My date was ambushed by the deadly giggling duo, Parvati and Lavender," said Ron when they all stopped in front of them.

Dean gave a look of confusion but then caught sight of Sai, and immediately it was replaced by a look of appeal, his eyes growing large.

"Wow, Sai…" he said, stunned at Sai's unusual guise. "You look…you look…"

"Fantastic," Neville finished for him, wide-eyed as well.

Harry noticed Sai shifting a bit uncomfortably as she replied with a quiet "Thanks."

Ron coughed.

"Get your eyes off her! She's my date!" he said, obviously joking.

"Why is that again? I still say it's unfair that I get rejected while Ron gets the bird," said Dean feigning damage.

"Well," Sai piped in, "Ron does have a special talent for making his face look like a sick pup. I just couldn't say no."

Everyone laughed.

"That'll do it!" said Ginny in between giggles. "By the way," she added, "you all look great!"

"So do you lot," said Hermione.

"Okay, okay already!" Lucky, Neville's date, butted in. "I want to dance! Let's go!" She began tugging at Neville's arm and practically dragged him toward the center of the Hall, where throngs of students were dancing.

"Yeah, let's go!" said Cho.

"All right, let me just go get my date," Dean said, as if it was an afterthought. And he disappeared into the crowd.

Harry, feeling the butterflies flapping around in his stomach, was reluctantly led into the heart of the room by Cho, along with Hermione and Garrett. Cho immediately began dancing aggressively to an upbeat song in front of Harry, holding his hands as she did so. He felt stupid. Agonizingly aware of how awkward he must look, he moved his feet to the beat of the music. Cho seemed to be pleased by this.

Harry looked over at Ginny and a boy her age dancing together, then at Hermione and Garrett dancing together, and was surprised to see Hermione dancing somewhat like Cho and Ginny--a way he never thought Hermione was capable of doing, or at least approving of anyone doing. Harry glanced around the dancing couples and realized one was missing. Ron and Sai were no where to be seen. Dean and his date, a Ravenclaw girl, came bounding up to him.

"Hey! Where'd Sai go?" Dean asked. "Oh, and Ron," he added.

"I was wondering that myself," said Harry.

Cho stopped dancing.

"C'mon, Harry, dance!"

But Harry wasn't really in the mood to dance; he never really liked dancing in the first place. And it wasn't like he was ever that good at it either.

"Um, not right now, Cho, sorry. I promise I will later. I'm just not much of a dancer."

Cho made a face, showing that she clearly wasn't happy about this.

"All right," she said, "I need to go find my friends anyway. I'll meet up with you later."

Harry nodded and she left.

"So, shall we go look for them?" Dean asked.

"Yeah, I guess so," Harry replied.

They went around, pushing their way through all the students in search of Ron and Sai. Dean's date left after a minute to go look for her friends, though Dean hardly seemed to mind. At last, after seven minutes of fruitless searching, they found Ron and Sai, both sitting in chairs against the stone wall, quite a distance away from all the excitement, and looking very sullen.

"What's up?" said Harry when they walked up to them.

"Why aren't you two dancing like everyone else?" said Dean.

Ron looked up wearing a defeated expression and said, "She doesn't dance. And I just remembered I don't either."

This prompted a laugh from Dean.

"That's your reason? At least give me something better like you broke your ankle! Not wanting to dance isn't a valid excuse!" He made to grab Sai's wrists and hoist her to her feet. However, she remained sitting, not looking up at either Dean or Harry. She kept her line of vision on all the happily dancing students.

"I don't dance," she said simply, not breaking her gaze. Harry understood her completely. Dean just rolled his eyes.

"Come on," he said exasperatedly, pulling her up. She didn't object.

"I need to go," she said quietly, and she quickly brushed past them and headed for the exit, leaving everyone behind.

"What d'you suppose that was all about?" Dean asked, bewildered.

"Dunno, but now I'm dateless once more," said Ron gloomily.

But Harry wasn't listening. He was focusing on watching Sai make her way toward the exit, only to also see none other than Draco Malfoy following her.

Dean and Ron seemed to finally catch sight of this as well.

"What the devil…?" Harry heard Dean mutter.

"That scum! He better not lay a bloody finger on my date!" Ron growled.

"Thought you were 'dateless,'" said Dean with a slight smirk.

"Shut it."

"Let's see what he's up to," said Harry. The two nodded and followed Harry after Sai.

Harry didn't take his eyes off Sai as he and the others went after her. He watched as Malfoy, donned in handsome dress robes, approached her from behind. She whisked around and came face-to-face with his foul sneer, only this was a bad idea. To Harry's horror, Malfoy leaned forward abruptly and tried to kiss her. Thankfully, Sai turned her head just in time and Malfoy's lips only got to her jawline, and the knots in Harry's stomach loosened, but only slightly. Then she slapped him. The sound of the slap was droned out by the loud music, so no one else noticed.

Harry, Ron, and Dean reached them just in time to see Malfoy bring his hand to his reddening cheek and say, "You wench!" just loud enough for them to hear.

But that was the wrong thing to say. A flash of red hair then charged toward the strikingly platinum blond hair, its owner pulling out his wand in the process.

"How dare you?" Ron shouted, his wand pointed straight at Malfoy. In an instant, Dean joined him. Harry wanted to slug Malfoy on the spot.

Malfoy turned to them and sneered.

"What do you think you're doing, Malfoy?" Harry spat.

"Nothing that concerns you, Potter," Malfoy retorted.

"Get the hell out of here," said Dean.

Malfoy's eyes narrowed.

"You presume you can talk to me like that, Thomas? Puh. You do realize I'm a Malfoy. You're—"

"Shut it, Malfoy!" said Harry, giving the Slytherin a nasty stare.

Malfoy grunted and glared at his rival.

"One day, Ildred," he said, directing toward Sai while eyeing Harry with disgust, "you won't be able to take your hands off me. You will realize just how irresistible you find me and there won't be a moment where you won't be able to stand not being with me." And he stalked off, but only after giving Harry a malicious grin that left him uneasy.

"What the bloody hell was in his treacle tonight?" said Ron, abashed.

Dean sighed and said, "Mad…completely lost his marbles."

Harry was about to ask Sai if she was all right but her back was already turned and she was walking briskly in the direction of Gryffindor Tower.

"Sai!" he called after her. Immediately Ron and Dean caught on and did the same.

But she disappeared around a corner and was gone.

"Think she's going to the common room, should we follow her?" said Ron.

Dean shook his head.

"I think she wants to be alone, mate."

Harry felt his head nod, but wanted to do just the opposite. He wanted to go after Sai and see what was wrong. The way she had looked upon all the dancing students when she was sitting with Ron was almost as though she was filled with a cold hatred he could see burning in her eyes…and sadness…. Why couldn't she just open up and say what was bothering her?

Someone shouting his name broke him from his thoughts. He turned around to see Cho motioning him to come over and dance with her to a slow ballad. Hesitantly, he smiled and obeyed. Maybe it would get his mind off of the night's unusual events.

Hermione forced a grumpy but flushed Ron to dance with her, and Dean went back to dancing with his date.

While he danced, Harry watched Malfoy dance with Pansy Parkinson, but the triumphant smirk that never left Malfoy's pale face deeply bothered him….

Sai never returned to the Ball. In fact, she was hardly seen that night, for it seemed she went straight to bed once she had left the Great Hall. When the girls returned to their dormitory, Sai was discovered sound asleep in her four-poster bed.

At midnight the festivities ended, and slowly, the students poured out of the Great Hall, walking tiredly through the corridors toward their beckoning common rooms filled with overstuffed, squashy armchairs and a warm fire. Harry and the others were exhausted from a night of dancing, a definite first for Harry. He had never danced so much in his entire life. But Cho had wanted him to dance with her, and his fear of her rejecting him again had forced him to abide.

I really hope people R/R, because it really helps me continue with the story. I've lost interest in finishing this story for the past year, but I thought I'd just give it one last try. If no one ends up R/R or liking this story, then I'll just stop. Thanks for your time:D

Sora