Chapter 31: ONE PEACEFUL NIGHT
December the eighteenth drew nearer still and Ron had mentioned to Harry that Fred and George bought him new dress robes. What Harry didn't mention back to Ron was that he told them to as part of the thousand galleons he had given them to start up their joke shop. This was the money he had won from the last Triwzard Tournament, except Harry couldn't bear to keep it. After trying to give it to the Diggorys, he then threatened to curse Fred and George if they didn't take it.
Ron's new dress robes were much like Harry's which were much like his Hogwarts robes except they were green. Harry thought of wearing his dad's cloak -- the one he still had, anyway -- the one with the Warmth Charm on it but it wasn't exactly as nice looking, Hermione thought, as the ones he had bought in Diagon Alley. Ron's robes were his favorite color: a bluish that matched absolutely nothing he wore but Ron liked them anyway. Harry then remembered that the robes Hermione had worn to the last Yule Ball were blue as well and quickly asked her if he could see her new ones. To Harry's relief, they were a pink color with shiny sleeves.
During an irritating Divination class when Professor Trelawney decided to do runes again, Harry got an Inguz rune. Ron quickly pointed out in Runes and Limns, laughing, that it meant Harry would be feeling isolated and that he should seek out the truth of his troubles. Harry fully agreed, saying that if he could tell the future, being in Divination and everything, why hadn't he seen that Professor Trelawney would be driving him nuts? Ron then lost Gryffindor two points by laughing and then said that Harry should have foreseen that would happen, too.
Cho sent a letter back saying she would be in Hogsmeade two days before the Yule Ball. She would have come up to the castle to eat with him but Professor McGonagall flatly refused. Hermione could not even see a reason why not but it was hopeless. Cho wanted to do some shopping of her own and the two of them were most upset when Professor McGonagall also very hastily denied Harry's request of going down to Hogsmeade to visit Cho for even just an hour ("No, Potter and I won't hear another word," she barked). At this, Hermione was not remotely surprised. Harry was very much looking forward to spending time with Cho, especially now since he was no longer nervous or felt butterflies in his stomach. It was a very welcome change as compared to the first few days of her stay at Privet Drive this past summer...
No one was very surprised to hear that there weren't going to be very many Christmas decorations inside Hogwarts this year given the trip to the United States. Dumbledore had been telling people -- because he kept getting bugged in the corridors -- that he would start accepting payment for the trip after the Yule Ball. There would be arrangements made for anyone who needed to go to Gringott's, the wizard bank, to withdraw money from their vault the Saturday after the Ball.
Ron had written home the day Cho got into Hogsmeade, asking his parents about the twenty galleons payment that had to be made to go on the trip. He became extremely red-faced when his mother's reply the next day said that they couldn't possibly afford it. Harry reminded Ron that he would gladly pay for the both of them and wrote a letter to Mrs. Weasley himself informing her of this. Their reply came back during dinner that night, the day just before the Ball, with loads of thanks and more promises that they would pay him back.
"Seriously, Ron," said Harry firmly, "you don't have to. I've spent part of almost every summer at your place since that second year. Second, fourth, fifth, sixth and you've had to spend money on Fire Quidditch tickets since our fifth year. I owe your family a lot."
"Yeah, well," said Ron nervously, "I reckon my dad's going to take that promotion Fudge is offering him. It'll nearly double his salary. He really doesn't want to though, he likes it where he is..."
Ron was fidgeting with his dress robes, trying to flatten them as they had creased up in the bag Fred and George put them when he accidently tore a sleeve off. Fed up, he angrily tore it in half, not caring that he was probably going to look quite like an idiot at having to wear his Hogwarts cloak.
"I've said it before and I'll say it again," Ron shouted furiously and thankfully they were up in Gryffindor Tower so no one would hear him sounding like a maniac, "why is everything I own rubbish!"
Hermione, not knowing what to say, turned to Harry who turned towards Raides, looking for help.
"Yes," she said simply, heaving herself into the air and landing on Harry's outstretched hand as a staff.
Harry pulled Ron by the back of his cloak out of the way and picked up both pieces of the torn sleeves. He waved Raides at them and they became one again and did the same to reattach the repaired sleeve onto the cloak. As an added bonus, with one more wave, Ron's dress robes now looked like they had been freshly ironed. Harry then did the same for Hermione's and his own.
"If Professor Trelawney's right and I die this year," Harry told Ron, "you can have all the money in my vault, eh?"
Ron ignored this and left his dress robes, unfolded, on top of his trunk so they wouldn't crease again. Hermione didn't look very happy at what Harry had said either. When Ron went down to the common room, Harry took Hermione's suggestion and waved Raides one more time, preventing the robes from getting dirty while they lay quite unprotected overnight and partway through the next day.
One of the conversations to be heard was over the Weird Sisters' return to play music for the Ball. Harry, who didn't particularly like the idea of dancing, would grin and bear it if Cho wanted to.
When the next day arrived and absolutely no one's mind was on lessons, Ron's robes had collected no dust; Pigwidgeon arrived with a letter from Mrs. Weasley who still insisted on paying Harry back; a Howler arrived for Malfoy over lunch, his mother screeching something about tearing up his dress robes and Raides wanted to be transfigured into a real person so she could take part in the dancing, too. Harry, Ron and Hermione all said no at once to this, not even thinking about the consequences.
When they got out of their last class, Harry and Ron went back to Gryffindor Tower to try and get a head start in the grievous amounts of homework given to them by Dumbledore. Hermione disappeared into the girls' dormitory with Lavender and Parvati. Harry supposed he ought to wear his Order of Merlin necklace outside his robes as the yellow and white gold would perhaps look very nice against his green dress robes. At half past six (the Ball was to start at seven), Harry and Ron walked up the spiral staircase to change.
"Well?" Ron asked after he had finished. "How do I look?"
"Far better than you did than wearing your old dress robes," said Harry, suppressing a laugh. "Should I put on my dragon hide boots or wear -- oh nevermind." He put them on, as well as the Phoenix Bracelet which he had almost forgotten about. "So how do I look?"
"Absolutely disgusting," said Raides.
"No one asked you," Harry said, glaring at her.
Harry fumbled around for a mirror and looked at himself wearing his robes, his eyes glancing over the golden necklace, the golden watch on his wrist and his mother's bracelet.
"I think you look very handsome," said a voice Harry hadn't heard since September.
He wheeled around to see Cho, who he didn't recognize for a moment, in stunning silk robes of silver. Her hair was set in an elaborate bun. She was donning a golden necklace with a charm in the shape of unicorn on it and to top it all off, she was wearing earrings in the shape of tiny, beautiful phoenixes.
Harry found that his mouth was hanging open, closed it and walked up to her, greeting his... very best friend... with a warm hug.
"You look -- beautiful," was all he could say when they parted.
"Oh give me a break," said Ron irritably, walking towards the spiral staircase. "Where's Hermione?"
And he was gone.
"You'll have to excuse them," said Harry. "I woke up a few days ago to hear Ron practicing on an ethereal Hermione how he was going to ask her to the Ball."
Cho laughed and said, "Come on, you don't want to be late, do you?"
"Raides wouldn't mind that," Harry said, craning his head to look at the lion that currently had it's eyes narrowed at him.
They walked, holding hands, down the spiral staircase. Harry spotted Hermione with her hair done up in the same fashion as she had done for the previous ball outside the portrait hole. It was not bushy, but sleek and shiny, twisted up and fastened to the back of her head with an extravagant clip. She looked quite pretty as well, thought Harry, but just didn't compare to Cho. Ron was looking just as nervous as Hermione in his blue robes and wearing a bracelet Harry never knew Ron had. Neither Ron nor Hermione were saying very much. Harry, for once, didn't feel nervous at all (he just hoped Cho would steer him around while dancing as Parvati had done for him the previous time).
When they reached the vast entrance hall, which was packed inch to inch with students, Cho pointed out Malfoy who was wearing his black Hogwarts cloak over some horrible travesty of dress robes.
"Ha!" Ron shouted, full of glee, "look at Malfoy!"
"Now we know what the Howler was," said Harry, turning away from the cold stare Malfoy was giving him.
Pansy Parkinson, in frilly robes of white, was arm in arm with Malfoy, though she didn't at all like the way he was dressed. Coming up from the dungeons were Crabbe and Goyle, looking just as sulky and partnerless as they had the previous time.
Behind Harry, the oak front doors of Hogwarts opened and in came Professor Karkaroff and Madam Maxime with their students, Sebastian and Adrianne out in the front. Sebastian had taken some girl from his own school while Adrianne, Harry was surprised to see, was holding the arm of Justin Finch-Fletchley, who was more interested in looking at Adrianne than acknowledging the drool hanging from his mouth. She giggled, catching Harry's eye, who waved and told Justin to swallow.
Harry spotted the same rosebushes outside on the front lawn of Hogwarts as had been there during the previous Yule Ball. There were no Christmas decorations to speak of, not a reindeer nor a decorated tree but, again, this didn't surprise Harry given, for one, the trip to the United States.
"Champions, over here, if you will!" called the voice of Professor McGonagall.
Before moving a toe, Cho nervously straightened Harry's robes, fixed his cloak, made sure his necklace was dead center and gave him the once-over to make sure he hadn't messed anything up. She also tried to flatten his hair by combing it with her fingernails, which were painted a nice pattern of dark blue and silver, Ravenclaw colors, but gave up because it was just not working. Otherwise, Cho was looking very happy indeed. Beaming, she then gave Harry a dual thumbs up ("Perfect," she muttered), clutched his hand in hers, yanked on it (which unstraightened his necklace) and walked him over to Professor McGonagall. Sebastian, the Durmstrang girl, Adrianne and Justin were already waiting.
Professor McGonagall was dressed in velvet robes of a violent yellow with what looked like a set of pearls and beads borrowed from Professor Trelawney. She ordered them all to wait on one side of the doors to the Great Hall while everyone took their seats. They were to enter after everyone else. But --
"Potter," she said before the doors even opened yet. Professor McGonagall had a mysterious aura about her of making Harry feel like he had done something wrong. He felt strangely like holding the plaque again but resisted again. "Would you please conjure the dragon of light? Oh and, if you can, make it a bit dimmer than usual..."
Showing a faint grin, Harry called into the chattering crowd, "Raides!"
She didn't even walk up to him, she simply launched herself into the air, doing an arc and then landed perfectly in his hand. Professor McGonagall opened the doors and Harry conjured the light dragon inside the pitch black Great Hall aside from the moon light shining down from the enchanted ceiling. He made it much longer this time so as to light the Hall evenly all over but the dragon wasn't blinding; the ambient lighting inside the Hall was that of beautiful candlelight, perfect for such an occasion as this. Everyone immediately began pouring into the Great Hall as soon as they could see where they were going.
"And please leave Raides with us?" said Professor McGonagall. "I'm sure you would rather not have her follow you all around."
Harry silently agreed; he wanted to spend the night with, and only with, Cho -- though possibly Ron or Hermione if he really had to. And so, he told Raides to listen to absolutely anything and everything said by Hagrid (who he spotted with Madam Maxime over the heads of everyone else), Dumbledore and Professor McGonagall. Raides skulked off towards Dumbledore who was calling her.
Many girls Harry had never seen before kept giving him looks like they thought he looked very handsome as they entered the Great Hall. It made him feel funny. One girl even said it aloud. At this, he looked at Cho, who was still beaming, apparently too happy to be with him to care much. He did take a look at what the other boys were wearing and it suddenly dawned on him that he was probably the single best dressed person in the entirety of Hogwarts. Harry, in his green dress robes bringing out the green in his eyes, golden watch on one wrist, the elaborate Phoenix Bracelet on the other and the yellow and white gold necklace laying outside his robes, didn't particularly feel it. He tried to ignore all the girls passing by, giving Cho dirty looks but Cho was still beaming as the last person went in and sat down. Then she went to straighten Harry's necklace again, asking him why he moved it.
Professor McGonagall now told the champions and their partners to get in a line and follow her as she entered the Hall herself. Harry and Cho were the last in line and while clapping had started when Sebastian and the Durmstrang girl entered, it was quite deafening when Harry and Cho entered and everyone caught sight of them -- or rather, caught sight of Harry.
The regular House tables had gone missing and in their place, several smaller round tables, each lit by a dazzling collection of candles floating a few feet over the tops of each and the dragon overhead. Each table seated about a dozen. The walls of the Hall were adorned in a snowy frost, resembling the front lawn of Hogwarts which was covered by a light layer of snow. When the head of the dragon above passed near a wall, the wall sparkled from it's light.
Harry kept his eyes on his feet while Cho grabbed his arm with both of her own as they walked through the Hall, following Professor McGonagall to the tables in the back. He had tripped once while standing up dressed like this and though no one had made any big deal out of it, it wasn't an experience he wanted to repeat. Cho was thoroughly enjoying herself, beaming as she passed everyone but this was a stark contrast to Harry, who could now hear his own heart beating as many of the Hogwarts students stamped and whistled as he passed them. Apparently they had all gotten over the first task and didn't think that Harry meant to kill Dudley... But he didn't want to think about that because this was a night to forget about it and relax -- or at least, as relaxed as one can get while being self conscious about how you look. Several girls were fluttering their eyelashes at him. Just what I needed, thought Harry, now I'm a heartthrob.
Dumbledore joined Cho in beaming as the champions and their partners approached the top table but Harry was slightly unnerved to see Karkaroff giving him a cold stare. Harry could see all five judges sitting at the top table where he and Cho, as well as the other champions, were to sit as well. Madam Maxime, in robes of velvet, was avoiding Karkaroff altogether and was talking excitedly to Professor Delacour. Ludo Bagman, wearing a top hat and paisley robes of maroon, abruptly stopped talking to Professor Binns once Harry had entered. Percy, in the most uninteresting robes of anyone Harry had seen, was clapping loudly.
As they approached, Percy stood up, pulling out the empty chair beside him, motioning for Harry and Cho to sit. Percy had pulled out the chair for Harry, he knew, but Harry had asked Cho to sit in it and pulled out his own. Part of it was being nice, part of it was because he didn't want to sit next to Percy...
But Percy, being Percy, wouldn't let Harry go without greeting him like just meeting him for the first time. He reached behind Cho's back and shook Harry's hand furtively, saying, "How are you, Harry!"
"Excellent," said Harry, looking more at Cho and smiling than at Percy.
Then Percy looked strained for a second and added, "I'm sure you're still feeling horrible about Dud --"
"I'd rather not talk about it," Harry interrupted, feeling heat rise in his face, pulling his hand away from Percy, who got the hint and dropped the subject. "Didn't get all dressed up to talk about that now, did we? So -- er -- how's it going at the office?"
Percy was now beaming again.
"Dreadful," he said cheerily before launching into a story about all the extra work he'd been doing since Voldemort's untimely arrival. Of course, Percy didn't call him Voldemort and gave a very noticeable wince when Harry made sure that "the him that came back" was indeed "Voldemort." Cho was listening and she seemed far more interested in what Percy was saying than Harry was. Harry himself let his eyes wander around and caught sight of Ron and Hermione who were sitting at a table with Ginny, Neville and a bunch of other Gryffindor seventh years -- all of them, in fact, except Harry.
Those who had been to the last Yule Ball already knew how to order. There were menus in front of everyone and all one had to do was to say to their golden plate what they wanted and it would appear. Harry, scanning the menu, was feeling in the mood for something tasty but simple and said to his plate, "veal parmesan!" and a plateful of the stuff, chopped and grated lettuce topping the cheese, appeared before him. And there was a piece of garlic bread on the side.
James Griffith was sitting at a table very near to Hermione and Ron with a particularly ugly girl, thought Harry, but James seemed to be enjoying the experience all the same. Given his personality and the fact that he treated Harry like anyone else, it wasn't too much of a surprise. He probably really liked the girl on the inside and the package it came in was secondary to him.
"So you really took money out of the education fund, didn't you, Igor," said Madam Maxime to Harry's right very harshly. He turned his head, looking past Percy, to see.
Professor Karkaroff let out a short but nasty laugh and the smile he wore after finishing didn't reach up to his eyes at all. Was he no longer scared of Madam Maxime? She was giving him a look of her own but then Dumbledore put his own word in. He seemed to be defending Professor Karkaroff yet letting him know it wasn't the best decision in the world.
"Really, Igor, was it necessary?" Dumbledore was saying.
"Yes, Igor, really," said Madam Maxime harshly again. "Ze Durmstrang Institute is already almost ze worst school in ze entire world."
Dumbledore went on, putting a hand up to silence her. "While everyone has a right to defend themself from danger, Igor, I do believe those funds could have been better spent on the students, all of which who will probably die should Lord Voldemort find his way into your humble abode," he said, his eyes glittering. Then he turned to Harry and winked. Percy frowned, as did Professor Karkaroff.
Harry turned his attention to Ginny out of curiosity. Feeling slightly guilty, he saw that she was having a grand old time talking with Neville and then realized he'd been ignoring Cho for the past few minutes. Another question popped into his head.
"Percy," he said after he'd finished swallowing, "er -- who was Weatherby?" Percy shot him a quizzical look. "You remember, your old boss used to keep calling you that..."
Percy's face flashed from a smile to straight several times as if recalling a bad memory before finishing on a smile. "Oh, that was his old assistant," he said quickly and Harry didn't believe a word.
Harry then looked over to Ron and Hermione again after Percy had engaged Cho in conversation again, apparently too embarassed by Harry's question to continue talking to him. By the way Cho kept grabbing Harry's hand under the table and laughing in a manner he definitely knew was fake (because he had heard her laughing back at Privet Drive), Harry knew she realized why he didn't want to sit next to Percy. He supposed this was a tad unthoughtful of him but it was a bit late now.
Feeling he'd make it up to her later, Harry's attention was again diverted towards the direction of Ron and Hermione who, while still looking rather nervous around the other, were now at least talking to one another. But that was probably because Ron's plate was now on the floor in pieces, the food splattered all over.
As if there was nothing wrong with it, Raides casually came out from behind Dumbledore, walked over to Ron's fallen golden plate and ate every single piece of food that lay on the floor, leaving the pieces there and licking the floor to sparkling perfection as if her tongue was a magical cleaner. This all took less than a minute. Hermione, going as red as the ketchup that Raides had licked up, fixed the plate with her wand and magicked it back onto the table. Ron ordered a simple sandwhich, apparently afraid of making a mess again but Harry knew full well that Ron was not going to enjoy the sandwhich at all.
Cho's conversation with Percy, or rather, Percy's conversation with Cho, had now slipped onto the first task. Percy was going over how scores were given out, what was taken into consideration, what made champions lose points and what gave them bonus points. When he got to Harry's score, he said, in a very low voice, that Professor Karkaroff had given Harry a zero.
"WHAT?" Cho bellowed furiously, eyeing Professor Karkaroff like a vulture chasing after it's prey.
"Miss Chang!" said Professor Karkaroff in an oily voice. "You do look lovely today. Your mother make a lot of money in Knockturn Alley, didn't she! Is your father doing well?"
Cho looked for a minute like she was going to get up on the table, walk towards Professor Karkaroff and beat him on the head with her spoon. Raides must have suspected this, too, because she said in Harry's head, "Let her. This ought to be interesting." Madam Maxime, Professor McGonagall, Dumbledore and Ludo Bagman were taken aback at once at Professor Karkaroff's exceedingly harsh words. Harry couldn't see a reason at all for him to burst out like that except that he didn't like much of anyone at the moment...
Cho made a sudden movement but Harry grabbed her hand and put his other on her shoulder. "No," he said loudly, "I'm sure Voldemort will do a much better job than you can." Dumbledore's eyes twinkled again as Professor Karkaroff, Bagman, Percy and Madam Maxime all flinched at the name. "And besides," he added in an undertone to Cho, "I -- I want this night to be -- er --"
"If you say that you want this night to be special I'm going to slap you for being so horribly cliche," said Cho, quickly forgetting about Professor Karkaroff and laughing.
When everyone was fed and watered and the golden plates were sparkling clean again, much like the floor near Ron, the part Harry had been strangely waiting for had come. Dumbledore stood up and asked everyone to do so as well. With a wave of his wand, the tables all shot towards the side walls, leaving a big area in the middle. He conjured a raised platform along the right wall, with a drumset, a lute, cello, bagpipes and several guitars upon it. The candles had gone out above all of the tables, leaving the only lighting being the dragon of light overhead. It was much darker and somewhat romantic, thought Harry, but at the same time it made him nervous again. Suddenly, all at once, the candles moved onto the dance floor, lighting it up but still leaving the tables dimly lit.
The Weird Sisters, all extremely hairy and wearing artfully ripped and torn robes, got up from their own table to very enthusiastic applause (and this time, Harry's as well, having heard them during the last Ball and liking it very much). They approached the raised platform, picked up their instruments and struck up a slow tune.
Like a cat to a ball of yarn, Cho sprang to her feet, seized Harry's hand once again and, not caring at all that he wanted to walk slow so he didn't have to worry about tripping on his dress robes, dragged him onto the dance floor. She then put one of his hands around her waist and clutched his other tightly in her own. Making him even more nervous, she rested her head on his shoulder. But, standing there, swirling slowly, Cho thankfully steering, he suddenly didn't care that he and Cho were the first ones to start dancing and that Dean and Seamus were sniggering at him. In fact, he couldn't have cared less if no one else joined the champions dancing a minute or so later.
At first nervous about holding her at all and keeping his hand on her waist so it barely connected, eventually, as his mood sank deeper and deeper into something he liked very much, so had his hand rested more comfortably. In just minutes feeling like years, the other students getting up to dance looking more like a backdrop to a movie than anything else, Harry let Cho move him around while he settled into a sort of peace with himself.
Had he cared to look, he would have seen Ron and Hermione doing something much like what he had done with Parvati during the last Ball: holding each other, but very nervously. Ginny was dancing with Neville and thankfully this time Neville wasn't stepping on her feet -- as often. She smiled at Harry, though he didn't see because he had his eyes closed, having had moved his hand from Cho's waist to her back, the silk robes beneath his fingers, to enjoy this one peaceful night.
"You know, we haven't had a night like this since our first date that time in Hogsmeade," said Cho once the song had finished.
Harry felt her head leave his shoulder and he opened his eyes. Feeling it silly to hide what he was feeling, he threw away the idea of thinking anything he would say would make him sound vulnerable or, dare he think, sweet. Cho had shown before she didn't care and besides, if he couldn't open himself up to her, who else was there? Well, he knew two more but he needed to stop thinking about them if he was to have a happy memory of this night.
The Weird Sisters began playing another slow song, announcing it was originally by a Muggle named Avril Lavigne and called I'm With You. Cho went back to resting her head on Harry's shoulder. The guitars were going as was the cello.
"Don't say that. I quite liked that month at the Dursley's," said Harry, grinning. "And don't mention any of the -- er -- less nice things that happened because I would have lost my mind staying with my Aunt Marge for that entire month without someone to talk to. Mind you, Raides is nice and everything, but..."
Cho smiled.
"I'm standing on the bridge," sang one of the Weird Sisters, "I'm waiting in the dark --"
"She scared me half to death when she first transformed," said Cho.
"You're telling me. And besides, that was only a year ago." And then he grinned and added, "Soon we can celebrate our one year anniversary."
"-- I thought that you'd be here... by now..." she continued singing. "There's nothing but the rain --"
"So how's home life?" said Harry.
Cho picked her head up off his shoulder then looked at him and giggled.
"-- No footsteps on the ground," the Weird Sister sang, "I'm listening but there's... no sound..."
Then she sighed and said, "Cackle-off --"
"Cackle-off?" Harry repeated, giggling and Cho started giggling, too.
"Karkaroff, Cackle-off? Well, he's right," Cho told Harry miserably.
"Isn't anyone tryin' to find me," the song went on, "won't somebody come take me home!"
"But I thought you said it's all right -- or at least getting better?" Harry asked, slightly surprised at this news.
Cho sighed again and again rested her chin on Harry's shoulder. Feeling it was the thing to do, he put his hand on top of her head.
"I don't know, maybe I'm just making it out to be a bigger deal than it is," she said, rolling her eyes.
"It's a damn -- cold -- night, trying to figure out -- this -- life," the song continued, "won't you -- take me by the hand, take me some where new."
"I'd like to go to your house and talk to your parents again," said Harry.
"-- I don't know who you are but I -- I'm with you..." the Weird Sister continued singing, "I'm with you --"
"That might not be such a good idea," said Cho, giggling once again. "My mom still thinks you were affected by the unicorn blood and won't hear a word against it."
"-- I'm looking for a place," the Weird Sister sang, "I'm searching for a face --"
"Well you tell your mom and dad that I'm not cursed and am perfectly okay," Harry said firmly, smiling.
"-- Is there anybody here -- I know," the Sister sang, "'cause nothing's going right --"
Cho went a little uneasy and asked, "Do you ever still wish -- that, you know -- wish you could have them back --?"
There was an unsettling pause.
"No," said Harry before she even finished speaking. He went a little uneasy, too. "I'm okay without my parents," he told her, strangely hearing his mother's voice in his head saying something he never heard her say before: "Oh, just look at him! Isn't he adorable?" Not knowing what to make of it, he shook his head and hoped to not have to think about it ever again.
"-- And everything's a mess," the song continued, "and no one likes to be -- alone... Isn't anyone tryin' to find me --"
Cho pulled her hand off Harry's waist and nervously fixed her hair clip before putting it back.
"Sorry," she said in a small voice, "I -- I shouldn't have brought that up."
"Yes," said Harry firmly, contorting his face into an innocent smile (and it was rather difficult right now), "you shouldn't have." Cho's straight face contorted into a smile again. "This is to be about us and if I'm ever to look back on it and like it, it's only us."
"-- Won't somebody come take me home!" the Weird Sister continued to sing. "It's a damn -- cold -- night tryin' to figure out -- this -- life --"
"All right, all right," said Cho, laughing airly. "How about we go outside once this song's over? Go visit the lake again?"
"And this time we won't both fall in it?"
"-- won't you -- take me by the hand," the song continued, "take me somewhere new... I don't know who you are but I -- I'm with you... I'm with you --"
Cho pulled her head off Harry's shoulder quickly this time, shaking it and giggling herself silly. "Oh no," she said at once. "The water would ruin your very nice dress robes."
"And yours," Harry reminded her.
"-- Why is everything so confusing," the Weird Sister sang, "maybe I'm just out of my mind --"
"Doesn't this song ever end?" said Harry. They continued dancing silently, listening to the rest of the song, Harry's hand back on top of Cho's head which was back on his shoulder... He saw that Cho's eyes were closed and closed his own again... He steered by himself, his feet knowing where to go by now...
When the song ended and everyone was clapping, Harry and Cho slipped out of the Great Hall, Ron and Hermione asking where they were going (Harry ignored them, giggling as he went by), and onto the Hogwarts grounds into the cool night air under the starry sky. He summoned his dad's cloak with the shiny sleeves by use of a Summoning Charm done by his finger alone.
"Well, at least I know I don't need my wand anymore for those," he said, as he put it around himself and Cho.
She started off towards the lake again and Harry had a foreboding feeling they were going to end up in it anyway. He found he didn't care much. They held hands as they walked, the thought of the strange voice of his mother in Harry's head now gone as were the rest of his problems. But, really, when all was said and done, what problems did he have? he asked himself, taking in soothing breaths of the peaceful air in the minute's silence before Cho asked, "Did you see Sirius?"
"Sirius?"
"Yeah, I saw him right before we left the Great Hall."
For a moment, Harry had an urge to run back and say hello but then he said firmly, "No, no. I can talk to him whenever I want."
Cho let out a hearty laugh, swinging both their hands forward happily. "You sure? I wouldn't mind," she let him know.
"Nope," said Harry, still half wanting to but wanting to spend time with Cho more. "Besides, he's going to be all smiles and embarass me, I know it. He's like --" but he coughed, without saying "the dad I never had."
Cho must have spotted this because she said quickly, "How're you coming along in classes?"
But then Harry found that there was something he had to say. He slowed to a stop, closed his eyes, said miserably in a soft voice, "Who am I kidding," took a deep breath, exhaled, opened his eyes again and then said, "of course I miss them." He shook his head, feeling slightly ashamed. "I have to tell someone because it's just going to bug me all night until I do and I figure if you won't listen to me, no one will."
Cho dropped her smile and exchanged it for a look of concerned sincerity. They started walking towards the lake again.
"I -- love you, Harry," she said softly and Harry was glad to find that he wasn't going to freeze up. "Of course I'll listen."
She straightened his necklace again while he paused to think of what to say. Harry tried to grab it as she did this but she slapped his hand away, knowing that he felt guilty every time he held it.
"I still think about them every few days for no real reason and would give anything to have my parents back but, at this point, I know it's just not going to happen," he said in a defeated voice.
Whatever he was thinking, whatever Harry was going to say next, Cho didn't need to hear it. He smiled weakly and Cho grabbed him round the neck, causing him to stumble but not fall. Going with his decision to not hold back, he did the same.
"You need to stop thinking about that," she said with a guilty giggle. "Or it's --"
"Going to drive me nuts," Harry admitted gloomily, "I know, I know. It's just... I keep hanging on what Dumbledore said to me two years ago. He said..." Harry then tried to say "I" but no sound came out. "I'd," he went on after a moment's silence, "see them again."
"Honestly, Harry," said Cho in a very serious voice and then... she slapped him.
Harry put a hand to the red mark on his cheek and there was an awkward pause before Cho took a step backwards, clasping a hand to her mouth in horror of what she just did. Then she giggled herself hoarse, saying, "Harry, oh, I didn't mean that!"
Granted he was upset at it for a minute, he couldn't stay angry long. Harry just stood there, Cho staring at him, arms at his sides, feeling dumb, and then broke into a smile. "Thanks," he said truthfully, "I needed that..." He reached a hand out for Cho to take hold of and they lazily started towards the lake once again.
More students were pouring out of the castle now. Neither Harry nor Cho spoke but both were looking skyward as they walked, feeling to savor the moment rather than to ruin it by talking. When they reached their destination, Harry threw in the garlic bread he'd been munching on but never actually finished. They watched silently as the giant squid that inhabited the lake pulled it under with a thick tentacle.
"So what'd you get in your box for the second task?" Cho asked.
"I've seen it before," Harry told her. "It's called known as an Explicatrix or Cybele's Orb."
"Cybele? The same Cybele that made Raides?"
"Yes, well, we're pretty sure," said Harry, not very sure himself. "But it has to be because I don't know of any other Cybele."
"Where'd you see it before?" Cho asked curiously.
Harry turned to face her. She looked for a minute like she was going to sit on the grass but thought better of it seeing as how, for one, the snow might ruin her dress robes.
"I was talking to Dumbledore one day when he'd found out all this stuff about Raides -- d'you really want to hear this?" Harry had to ask.
"Sure," said Cho, grinning, "I'm very interested!" She let out a short laugh and Harry guessed that she had a feeling that talking about Raides was going to go back around to him.
Harry proceeded to tell her everything Dumbledore had told him about Cybele and the ancients and the story surrounding Raides' most mysterious disappearance. When he got to the part about the book saying Cybele had hid the staff along with a friend, Cho laughed.
"I've seen mistakes like that before in some of the books I've taken out of the Restricted Section of the library," she mentioned. "All sorts of things were said that made it sound like someone had come back to life. Professor Binns got very upset at the people who wrote this one book, demanding they revise it. He got a new edition the next day by owl. They fixed all the mistakes. So, c'mon," said Cho eagerly, "what else?"
Harry went on about how Raides' memory was wiped and then how she was sealed inside the Book of Memories to not ever be seen for nine thousand years.
"How," said Cho weakly, "how did you find it, then? I heard about that summer."
Harry grinned.
"I'm just as clueless as anyone," he told Cho, his smile fading. "And somehow I don't think I want to know. Like I told Dumbledore, one minute I was floating in the forbidden forest and the next, I was in some dark place with what somehow I knew was the Book." Harry felt himself go red as he recalled what Dumbledore said next. Cho noticed this.
"What?" she said, giggling, "what is it?"
"Remember when everyone found out I was a descendent of Godric Gryffindor?" said Harry, going redder. "Cybele's last name was Gryffindor as well."
Cho opened her mouth in utter shock.
"But how!" she said, "she lived so, so long ago!"
"That's exactly what I said to Dumbledore," said Harry, grinning again. "He reckons that Cybele's partner was the one who touched the staff last, or it would have been a lion when we found it and not a badger."
"Why in the world DOES it change shape, anyway?"
They started to walk around the lake, the cool night air ruffling their hair.
"None of us are really any sure but I think it just changes shape according to what house you'd be in." Harry then paused for a bit to think, Cho looking sideways at him, still very interested. The Sorting Hat, every year, does something very similar to that staff, he reasoned with himself. Does the hat hold the same magic as the staff, except it speaks the house, rather than changing it's shape? He said this aloud to Cho.
"That's an interesting thought," she replied. "Well, why does it change it's length? Anyone know that?"
"No," said Harry heavily. "We found it four feet long, remember? And as soon as I touched it, it grew to seven," he went on and Harry spotted Ron and Hermione on the opposite side of the lake at them. He grinned and waved at them as did Cho. "Strangely enough, the Explicatrix did the same thing."
"What?" Cho asked, her brow furrowed.
"I know. When I first saw it, it was Ravenclaw colors and when I held it, it grew about an inch or so and became Gryffindor colors. The founders of Hogwarts must have known a lot about the ancients because they're using all their magic. I don't know what it does though. I thought I saw something in it but I was just imagining it."
"Oh," said Cho weakly, taking a breath, "there's so much -- such a big mystery in this. Why'd the hide Raides? What could she do that was so valuable?"
"Ha!" Harry shouted. "I know half of that mystery. There's this thing she can do -- but no one knows what -- that we've settled on calling the 'magic so forbidden,'" he said with a grin. "Ron, Hermione and I were talking about it. Ron reckons she's capable of blowing the world up but you have to wonder, if that Dark wizard had been abusing that, why are we still here?"
Cho let out a laugh at Ron's expense.
"So," she said, "then we have another famous member of the Gryffindor line among us and I'm standing next to him."
"Dumbledore said that, too," said Harry in a quiet sort of voice. "Raides was used to give the first ancients their mark, known by them as the Nota Vetustum. A bunch of supposed good ancients pulled it out of any Dark ancients that were abusing it and then killed them with Clades Ultimus."
Cho stopped walking and bursted out in a disgusted voice, "That's horrible!"
"You're telling me," said Harry darkly, referring to the time just last year when he'd been subjected to that spell and had himself spared the agony of dying by none other than Raides.
He finished the story up, including how the last person with the Mark of Ancients had killed themself to stop anyone from ever getting it. Cho then asked the same question Harry had been wondering the entire time.
"So... so how did you get it?"
"One wizard kept it and hid himself so they never found him. Dumbledore reckons he's part of my family tree, also. With Raides well hidden -- no one had ever found it since it was first missing -- and the Mark of Ancients supposedly lost, that ends the story until, of course, me."
Then he had to think again. If Raides' memory had been forever erased, how had she known how to save Harry from Clades Ultimus?
"I reckon Raides' memory might slowly come back because, I mean, how did she remember how to save Ron and I from Clades Ultimus? If we ever find out why she was hidden -- that magic so forbidden? -- honestly, I don't care for it."
"Why didn't they just do to themselves what Dumbledore and everyone did to you to remove it? That last one had to go and kill himself... ?"
"Dumbledore didn't say. Maybe it was a new thing or something? Back then they did all kinds of sacrificial magic. Killed themselves off worshipping Cybele. Dumb," he finished dismissively.
"You're my little ancient," said Cho chuckling and snuggling up to Harry.
He put his arm around her, lightly holding her opposite shoulder. Cho rested her head on his shoulder and Harry rested his head on top of hers. It was slightly uncomfortable but they enjoyed it all the same -- and it stopped Harry from feeling uncomfortable about her actually calling him what he was: an ancient.
"Any more questions?" Harry asked.
"The... the unicorn blood --"
"Won't touch that with a ten foot broom," said Harry airily. "If for some reason my scar disappears, I'll still be right famous for that."
"Ha, ha. So go on then, tell me about Professor Trelawney's latest predictions on your next death! She's still doing it, isn't she?"
"You have to ask?"
When the night was finally coming to a close, Harry and Cho found themselves back in the Great Hall sitting at a table with Ron, Hermione, Ginny and Neville, all talking about the trip to the United States. Ron and Hermione had finally gotten over the incident with Ron's plate smashing on the floor and it appeared that Ginny and Neville were quite interested in one another. Sirius had come by at one point to just remind Harry about the upcoming Hogsmeade visit.
"You're to keep Raides with you at all times if you're out of this castle, Harry," he said sharply while Cho was in a state of silent giggles about Harry's godfather in a tizzy over him. Then he told off Cho. "You should be just as worried about him as I am!"
"All right, all right," said Harry looking sideways at Cho who was looking sideways at him and turning his laugh into a clearing of his throat.
Sirius saw this and, grinning broadly, said, "You two getting on well together? Marriage plans?"
Both Harry and Cho gave him a look of deepest loathing. Harry hadn't actually thought of that before and the idea of spending the rest of his life with someone, while warming, was a scary proposition to consider at the moment, happy as he currently was.
A little later, as the Ball ended at twelve, word had gotten around that Malfoy was hoping to "get some" from Pansy Parkinson but she utterly refused given the current nasty state of his robes. Many people's wishes that the ball could have gone on longer was supported by Harry this time and the Weird Sisters agreed to play one more song before leaving.
Out in the entrance hall when the Weird Sisters left, Malfoy was looking very glum indeed. He stalked away, disgruntled, as Harry passed him, talking fervently with Cho. Even Crabbe and Goyle were sniggering at him.
December the eighteenth drew nearer still and Ron had mentioned to Harry that Fred and George bought him new dress robes. What Harry didn't mention back to Ron was that he told them to as part of the thousand galleons he had given them to start up their joke shop. This was the money he had won from the last Triwzard Tournament, except Harry couldn't bear to keep it. After trying to give it to the Diggorys, he then threatened to curse Fred and George if they didn't take it.
Ron's new dress robes were much like Harry's which were much like his Hogwarts robes except they were green. Harry thought of wearing his dad's cloak -- the one he still had, anyway -- the one with the Warmth Charm on it but it wasn't exactly as nice looking, Hermione thought, as the ones he had bought in Diagon Alley. Ron's robes were his favorite color: a bluish that matched absolutely nothing he wore but Ron liked them anyway. Harry then remembered that the robes Hermione had worn to the last Yule Ball were blue as well and quickly asked her if he could see her new ones. To Harry's relief, they were a pink color with shiny sleeves.
During an irritating Divination class when Professor Trelawney decided to do runes again, Harry got an Inguz rune. Ron quickly pointed out in Runes and Limns, laughing, that it meant Harry would be feeling isolated and that he should seek out the truth of his troubles. Harry fully agreed, saying that if he could tell the future, being in Divination and everything, why hadn't he seen that Professor Trelawney would be driving him nuts? Ron then lost Gryffindor two points by laughing and then said that Harry should have foreseen that would happen, too.
Cho sent a letter back saying she would be in Hogsmeade two days before the Yule Ball. She would have come up to the castle to eat with him but Professor McGonagall flatly refused. Hermione could not even see a reason why not but it was hopeless. Cho wanted to do some shopping of her own and the two of them were most upset when Professor McGonagall also very hastily denied Harry's request of going down to Hogsmeade to visit Cho for even just an hour ("No, Potter and I won't hear another word," she barked). At this, Hermione was not remotely surprised. Harry was very much looking forward to spending time with Cho, especially now since he was no longer nervous or felt butterflies in his stomach. It was a very welcome change as compared to the first few days of her stay at Privet Drive this past summer...
No one was very surprised to hear that there weren't going to be very many Christmas decorations inside Hogwarts this year given the trip to the United States. Dumbledore had been telling people -- because he kept getting bugged in the corridors -- that he would start accepting payment for the trip after the Yule Ball. There would be arrangements made for anyone who needed to go to Gringott's, the wizard bank, to withdraw money from their vault the Saturday after the Ball.
Ron had written home the day Cho got into Hogsmeade, asking his parents about the twenty galleons payment that had to be made to go on the trip. He became extremely red-faced when his mother's reply the next day said that they couldn't possibly afford it. Harry reminded Ron that he would gladly pay for the both of them and wrote a letter to Mrs. Weasley himself informing her of this. Their reply came back during dinner that night, the day just before the Ball, with loads of thanks and more promises that they would pay him back.
"Seriously, Ron," said Harry firmly, "you don't have to. I've spent part of almost every summer at your place since that second year. Second, fourth, fifth, sixth and you've had to spend money on Fire Quidditch tickets since our fifth year. I owe your family a lot."
"Yeah, well," said Ron nervously, "I reckon my dad's going to take that promotion Fudge is offering him. It'll nearly double his salary. He really doesn't want to though, he likes it where he is..."
Ron was fidgeting with his dress robes, trying to flatten them as they had creased up in the bag Fred and George put them when he accidently tore a sleeve off. Fed up, he angrily tore it in half, not caring that he was probably going to look quite like an idiot at having to wear his Hogwarts cloak.
"I've said it before and I'll say it again," Ron shouted furiously and thankfully they were up in Gryffindor Tower so no one would hear him sounding like a maniac, "why is everything I own rubbish!"
Hermione, not knowing what to say, turned to Harry who turned towards Raides, looking for help.
"Yes," she said simply, heaving herself into the air and landing on Harry's outstretched hand as a staff.
Harry pulled Ron by the back of his cloak out of the way and picked up both pieces of the torn sleeves. He waved Raides at them and they became one again and did the same to reattach the repaired sleeve onto the cloak. As an added bonus, with one more wave, Ron's dress robes now looked like they had been freshly ironed. Harry then did the same for Hermione's and his own.
"If Professor Trelawney's right and I die this year," Harry told Ron, "you can have all the money in my vault, eh?"
Ron ignored this and left his dress robes, unfolded, on top of his trunk so they wouldn't crease again. Hermione didn't look very happy at what Harry had said either. When Ron went down to the common room, Harry took Hermione's suggestion and waved Raides one more time, preventing the robes from getting dirty while they lay quite unprotected overnight and partway through the next day.
One of the conversations to be heard was over the Weird Sisters' return to play music for the Ball. Harry, who didn't particularly like the idea of dancing, would grin and bear it if Cho wanted to.
When the next day arrived and absolutely no one's mind was on lessons, Ron's robes had collected no dust; Pigwidgeon arrived with a letter from Mrs. Weasley who still insisted on paying Harry back; a Howler arrived for Malfoy over lunch, his mother screeching something about tearing up his dress robes and Raides wanted to be transfigured into a real person so she could take part in the dancing, too. Harry, Ron and Hermione all said no at once to this, not even thinking about the consequences.
When they got out of their last class, Harry and Ron went back to Gryffindor Tower to try and get a head start in the grievous amounts of homework given to them by Dumbledore. Hermione disappeared into the girls' dormitory with Lavender and Parvati. Harry supposed he ought to wear his Order of Merlin necklace outside his robes as the yellow and white gold would perhaps look very nice against his green dress robes. At half past six (the Ball was to start at seven), Harry and Ron walked up the spiral staircase to change.
"Well?" Ron asked after he had finished. "How do I look?"
"Far better than you did than wearing your old dress robes," said Harry, suppressing a laugh. "Should I put on my dragon hide boots or wear -- oh nevermind." He put them on, as well as the Phoenix Bracelet which he had almost forgotten about. "So how do I look?"
"Absolutely disgusting," said Raides.
"No one asked you," Harry said, glaring at her.
Harry fumbled around for a mirror and looked at himself wearing his robes, his eyes glancing over the golden necklace, the golden watch on his wrist and his mother's bracelet.
"I think you look very handsome," said a voice Harry hadn't heard since September.
He wheeled around to see Cho, who he didn't recognize for a moment, in stunning silk robes of silver. Her hair was set in an elaborate bun. She was donning a golden necklace with a charm in the shape of unicorn on it and to top it all off, she was wearing earrings in the shape of tiny, beautiful phoenixes.
Harry found that his mouth was hanging open, closed it and walked up to her, greeting his... very best friend... with a warm hug.
"You look -- beautiful," was all he could say when they parted.
"Oh give me a break," said Ron irritably, walking towards the spiral staircase. "Where's Hermione?"
And he was gone.
"You'll have to excuse them," said Harry. "I woke up a few days ago to hear Ron practicing on an ethereal Hermione how he was going to ask her to the Ball."
Cho laughed and said, "Come on, you don't want to be late, do you?"
"Raides wouldn't mind that," Harry said, craning his head to look at the lion that currently had it's eyes narrowed at him.
They walked, holding hands, down the spiral staircase. Harry spotted Hermione with her hair done up in the same fashion as she had done for the previous ball outside the portrait hole. It was not bushy, but sleek and shiny, twisted up and fastened to the back of her head with an extravagant clip. She looked quite pretty as well, thought Harry, but just didn't compare to Cho. Ron was looking just as nervous as Hermione in his blue robes and wearing a bracelet Harry never knew Ron had. Neither Ron nor Hermione were saying very much. Harry, for once, didn't feel nervous at all (he just hoped Cho would steer him around while dancing as Parvati had done for him the previous time).
When they reached the vast entrance hall, which was packed inch to inch with students, Cho pointed out Malfoy who was wearing his black Hogwarts cloak over some horrible travesty of dress robes.
"Ha!" Ron shouted, full of glee, "look at Malfoy!"
"Now we know what the Howler was," said Harry, turning away from the cold stare Malfoy was giving him.
Pansy Parkinson, in frilly robes of white, was arm in arm with Malfoy, though she didn't at all like the way he was dressed. Coming up from the dungeons were Crabbe and Goyle, looking just as sulky and partnerless as they had the previous time.
Behind Harry, the oak front doors of Hogwarts opened and in came Professor Karkaroff and Madam Maxime with their students, Sebastian and Adrianne out in the front. Sebastian had taken some girl from his own school while Adrianne, Harry was surprised to see, was holding the arm of Justin Finch-Fletchley, who was more interested in looking at Adrianne than acknowledging the drool hanging from his mouth. She giggled, catching Harry's eye, who waved and told Justin to swallow.
Harry spotted the same rosebushes outside on the front lawn of Hogwarts as had been there during the previous Yule Ball. There were no Christmas decorations to speak of, not a reindeer nor a decorated tree but, again, this didn't surprise Harry given, for one, the trip to the United States.
"Champions, over here, if you will!" called the voice of Professor McGonagall.
Before moving a toe, Cho nervously straightened Harry's robes, fixed his cloak, made sure his necklace was dead center and gave him the once-over to make sure he hadn't messed anything up. She also tried to flatten his hair by combing it with her fingernails, which were painted a nice pattern of dark blue and silver, Ravenclaw colors, but gave up because it was just not working. Otherwise, Cho was looking very happy indeed. Beaming, she then gave Harry a dual thumbs up ("Perfect," she muttered), clutched his hand in hers, yanked on it (which unstraightened his necklace) and walked him over to Professor McGonagall. Sebastian, the Durmstrang girl, Adrianne and Justin were already waiting.
Professor McGonagall was dressed in velvet robes of a violent yellow with what looked like a set of pearls and beads borrowed from Professor Trelawney. She ordered them all to wait on one side of the doors to the Great Hall while everyone took their seats. They were to enter after everyone else. But --
"Potter," she said before the doors even opened yet. Professor McGonagall had a mysterious aura about her of making Harry feel like he had done something wrong. He felt strangely like holding the plaque again but resisted again. "Would you please conjure the dragon of light? Oh and, if you can, make it a bit dimmer than usual..."
Showing a faint grin, Harry called into the chattering crowd, "Raides!"
She didn't even walk up to him, she simply launched herself into the air, doing an arc and then landed perfectly in his hand. Professor McGonagall opened the doors and Harry conjured the light dragon inside the pitch black Great Hall aside from the moon light shining down from the enchanted ceiling. He made it much longer this time so as to light the Hall evenly all over but the dragon wasn't blinding; the ambient lighting inside the Hall was that of beautiful candlelight, perfect for such an occasion as this. Everyone immediately began pouring into the Great Hall as soon as they could see where they were going.
"And please leave Raides with us?" said Professor McGonagall. "I'm sure you would rather not have her follow you all around."
Harry silently agreed; he wanted to spend the night with, and only with, Cho -- though possibly Ron or Hermione if he really had to. And so, he told Raides to listen to absolutely anything and everything said by Hagrid (who he spotted with Madam Maxime over the heads of everyone else), Dumbledore and Professor McGonagall. Raides skulked off towards Dumbledore who was calling her.
Many girls Harry had never seen before kept giving him looks like they thought he looked very handsome as they entered the Great Hall. It made him feel funny. One girl even said it aloud. At this, he looked at Cho, who was still beaming, apparently too happy to be with him to care much. He did take a look at what the other boys were wearing and it suddenly dawned on him that he was probably the single best dressed person in the entirety of Hogwarts. Harry, in his green dress robes bringing out the green in his eyes, golden watch on one wrist, the elaborate Phoenix Bracelet on the other and the yellow and white gold necklace laying outside his robes, didn't particularly feel it. He tried to ignore all the girls passing by, giving Cho dirty looks but Cho was still beaming as the last person went in and sat down. Then she went to straighten Harry's necklace again, asking him why he moved it.
Professor McGonagall now told the champions and their partners to get in a line and follow her as she entered the Hall herself. Harry and Cho were the last in line and while clapping had started when Sebastian and the Durmstrang girl entered, it was quite deafening when Harry and Cho entered and everyone caught sight of them -- or rather, caught sight of Harry.
The regular House tables had gone missing and in their place, several smaller round tables, each lit by a dazzling collection of candles floating a few feet over the tops of each and the dragon overhead. Each table seated about a dozen. The walls of the Hall were adorned in a snowy frost, resembling the front lawn of Hogwarts which was covered by a light layer of snow. When the head of the dragon above passed near a wall, the wall sparkled from it's light.
Harry kept his eyes on his feet while Cho grabbed his arm with both of her own as they walked through the Hall, following Professor McGonagall to the tables in the back. He had tripped once while standing up dressed like this and though no one had made any big deal out of it, it wasn't an experience he wanted to repeat. Cho was thoroughly enjoying herself, beaming as she passed everyone but this was a stark contrast to Harry, who could now hear his own heart beating as many of the Hogwarts students stamped and whistled as he passed them. Apparently they had all gotten over the first task and didn't think that Harry meant to kill Dudley... But he didn't want to think about that because this was a night to forget about it and relax -- or at least, as relaxed as one can get while being self conscious about how you look. Several girls were fluttering their eyelashes at him. Just what I needed, thought Harry, now I'm a heartthrob.
Dumbledore joined Cho in beaming as the champions and their partners approached the top table but Harry was slightly unnerved to see Karkaroff giving him a cold stare. Harry could see all five judges sitting at the top table where he and Cho, as well as the other champions, were to sit as well. Madam Maxime, in robes of velvet, was avoiding Karkaroff altogether and was talking excitedly to Professor Delacour. Ludo Bagman, wearing a top hat and paisley robes of maroon, abruptly stopped talking to Professor Binns once Harry had entered. Percy, in the most uninteresting robes of anyone Harry had seen, was clapping loudly.
As they approached, Percy stood up, pulling out the empty chair beside him, motioning for Harry and Cho to sit. Percy had pulled out the chair for Harry, he knew, but Harry had asked Cho to sit in it and pulled out his own. Part of it was being nice, part of it was because he didn't want to sit next to Percy...
But Percy, being Percy, wouldn't let Harry go without greeting him like just meeting him for the first time. He reached behind Cho's back and shook Harry's hand furtively, saying, "How are you, Harry!"
"Excellent," said Harry, looking more at Cho and smiling than at Percy.
Then Percy looked strained for a second and added, "I'm sure you're still feeling horrible about Dud --"
"I'd rather not talk about it," Harry interrupted, feeling heat rise in his face, pulling his hand away from Percy, who got the hint and dropped the subject. "Didn't get all dressed up to talk about that now, did we? So -- er -- how's it going at the office?"
Percy was now beaming again.
"Dreadful," he said cheerily before launching into a story about all the extra work he'd been doing since Voldemort's untimely arrival. Of course, Percy didn't call him Voldemort and gave a very noticeable wince when Harry made sure that "the him that came back" was indeed "Voldemort." Cho was listening and she seemed far more interested in what Percy was saying than Harry was. Harry himself let his eyes wander around and caught sight of Ron and Hermione who were sitting at a table with Ginny, Neville and a bunch of other Gryffindor seventh years -- all of them, in fact, except Harry.
Those who had been to the last Yule Ball already knew how to order. There were menus in front of everyone and all one had to do was to say to their golden plate what they wanted and it would appear. Harry, scanning the menu, was feeling in the mood for something tasty but simple and said to his plate, "veal parmesan!" and a plateful of the stuff, chopped and grated lettuce topping the cheese, appeared before him. And there was a piece of garlic bread on the side.
James Griffith was sitting at a table very near to Hermione and Ron with a particularly ugly girl, thought Harry, but James seemed to be enjoying the experience all the same. Given his personality and the fact that he treated Harry like anyone else, it wasn't too much of a surprise. He probably really liked the girl on the inside and the package it came in was secondary to him.
"So you really took money out of the education fund, didn't you, Igor," said Madam Maxime to Harry's right very harshly. He turned his head, looking past Percy, to see.
Professor Karkaroff let out a short but nasty laugh and the smile he wore after finishing didn't reach up to his eyes at all. Was he no longer scared of Madam Maxime? She was giving him a look of her own but then Dumbledore put his own word in. He seemed to be defending Professor Karkaroff yet letting him know it wasn't the best decision in the world.
"Really, Igor, was it necessary?" Dumbledore was saying.
"Yes, Igor, really," said Madam Maxime harshly again. "Ze Durmstrang Institute is already almost ze worst school in ze entire world."
Dumbledore went on, putting a hand up to silence her. "While everyone has a right to defend themself from danger, Igor, I do believe those funds could have been better spent on the students, all of which who will probably die should Lord Voldemort find his way into your humble abode," he said, his eyes glittering. Then he turned to Harry and winked. Percy frowned, as did Professor Karkaroff.
Harry turned his attention to Ginny out of curiosity. Feeling slightly guilty, he saw that she was having a grand old time talking with Neville and then realized he'd been ignoring Cho for the past few minutes. Another question popped into his head.
"Percy," he said after he'd finished swallowing, "er -- who was Weatherby?" Percy shot him a quizzical look. "You remember, your old boss used to keep calling you that..."
Percy's face flashed from a smile to straight several times as if recalling a bad memory before finishing on a smile. "Oh, that was his old assistant," he said quickly and Harry didn't believe a word.
Harry then looked over to Ron and Hermione again after Percy had engaged Cho in conversation again, apparently too embarassed by Harry's question to continue talking to him. By the way Cho kept grabbing Harry's hand under the table and laughing in a manner he definitely knew was fake (because he had heard her laughing back at Privet Drive), Harry knew she realized why he didn't want to sit next to Percy. He supposed this was a tad unthoughtful of him but it was a bit late now.
Feeling he'd make it up to her later, Harry's attention was again diverted towards the direction of Ron and Hermione who, while still looking rather nervous around the other, were now at least talking to one another. But that was probably because Ron's plate was now on the floor in pieces, the food splattered all over.
As if there was nothing wrong with it, Raides casually came out from behind Dumbledore, walked over to Ron's fallen golden plate and ate every single piece of food that lay on the floor, leaving the pieces there and licking the floor to sparkling perfection as if her tongue was a magical cleaner. This all took less than a minute. Hermione, going as red as the ketchup that Raides had licked up, fixed the plate with her wand and magicked it back onto the table. Ron ordered a simple sandwhich, apparently afraid of making a mess again but Harry knew full well that Ron was not going to enjoy the sandwhich at all.
Cho's conversation with Percy, or rather, Percy's conversation with Cho, had now slipped onto the first task. Percy was going over how scores were given out, what was taken into consideration, what made champions lose points and what gave them bonus points. When he got to Harry's score, he said, in a very low voice, that Professor Karkaroff had given Harry a zero.
"WHAT?" Cho bellowed furiously, eyeing Professor Karkaroff like a vulture chasing after it's prey.
"Miss Chang!" said Professor Karkaroff in an oily voice. "You do look lovely today. Your mother make a lot of money in Knockturn Alley, didn't she! Is your father doing well?"
Cho looked for a minute like she was going to get up on the table, walk towards Professor Karkaroff and beat him on the head with her spoon. Raides must have suspected this, too, because she said in Harry's head, "Let her. This ought to be interesting." Madam Maxime, Professor McGonagall, Dumbledore and Ludo Bagman were taken aback at once at Professor Karkaroff's exceedingly harsh words. Harry couldn't see a reason at all for him to burst out like that except that he didn't like much of anyone at the moment...
Cho made a sudden movement but Harry grabbed her hand and put his other on her shoulder. "No," he said loudly, "I'm sure Voldemort will do a much better job than you can." Dumbledore's eyes twinkled again as Professor Karkaroff, Bagman, Percy and Madam Maxime all flinched at the name. "And besides," he added in an undertone to Cho, "I -- I want this night to be -- er --"
"If you say that you want this night to be special I'm going to slap you for being so horribly cliche," said Cho, quickly forgetting about Professor Karkaroff and laughing.
When everyone was fed and watered and the golden plates were sparkling clean again, much like the floor near Ron, the part Harry had been strangely waiting for had come. Dumbledore stood up and asked everyone to do so as well. With a wave of his wand, the tables all shot towards the side walls, leaving a big area in the middle. He conjured a raised platform along the right wall, with a drumset, a lute, cello, bagpipes and several guitars upon it. The candles had gone out above all of the tables, leaving the only lighting being the dragon of light overhead. It was much darker and somewhat romantic, thought Harry, but at the same time it made him nervous again. Suddenly, all at once, the candles moved onto the dance floor, lighting it up but still leaving the tables dimly lit.
The Weird Sisters, all extremely hairy and wearing artfully ripped and torn robes, got up from their own table to very enthusiastic applause (and this time, Harry's as well, having heard them during the last Ball and liking it very much). They approached the raised platform, picked up their instruments and struck up a slow tune.
Like a cat to a ball of yarn, Cho sprang to her feet, seized Harry's hand once again and, not caring at all that he wanted to walk slow so he didn't have to worry about tripping on his dress robes, dragged him onto the dance floor. She then put one of his hands around her waist and clutched his other tightly in her own. Making him even more nervous, she rested her head on his shoulder. But, standing there, swirling slowly, Cho thankfully steering, he suddenly didn't care that he and Cho were the first ones to start dancing and that Dean and Seamus were sniggering at him. In fact, he couldn't have cared less if no one else joined the champions dancing a minute or so later.
At first nervous about holding her at all and keeping his hand on her waist so it barely connected, eventually, as his mood sank deeper and deeper into something he liked very much, so had his hand rested more comfortably. In just minutes feeling like years, the other students getting up to dance looking more like a backdrop to a movie than anything else, Harry let Cho move him around while he settled into a sort of peace with himself.
Had he cared to look, he would have seen Ron and Hermione doing something much like what he had done with Parvati during the last Ball: holding each other, but very nervously. Ginny was dancing with Neville and thankfully this time Neville wasn't stepping on her feet -- as often. She smiled at Harry, though he didn't see because he had his eyes closed, having had moved his hand from Cho's waist to her back, the silk robes beneath his fingers, to enjoy this one peaceful night.
"You know, we haven't had a night like this since our first date that time in Hogsmeade," said Cho once the song had finished.
Harry felt her head leave his shoulder and he opened his eyes. Feeling it silly to hide what he was feeling, he threw away the idea of thinking anything he would say would make him sound vulnerable or, dare he think, sweet. Cho had shown before she didn't care and besides, if he couldn't open himself up to her, who else was there? Well, he knew two more but he needed to stop thinking about them if he was to have a happy memory of this night.
The Weird Sisters began playing another slow song, announcing it was originally by a Muggle named Avril Lavigne and called I'm With You. Cho went back to resting her head on Harry's shoulder. The guitars were going as was the cello.
"Don't say that. I quite liked that month at the Dursley's," said Harry, grinning. "And don't mention any of the -- er -- less nice things that happened because I would have lost my mind staying with my Aunt Marge for that entire month without someone to talk to. Mind you, Raides is nice and everything, but..."
Cho smiled.
"I'm standing on the bridge," sang one of the Weird Sisters, "I'm waiting in the dark --"
"She scared me half to death when she first transformed," said Cho.
"You're telling me. And besides, that was only a year ago." And then he grinned and added, "Soon we can celebrate our one year anniversary."
"-- I thought that you'd be here... by now..." she continued singing. "There's nothing but the rain --"
"So how's home life?" said Harry.
Cho picked her head up off his shoulder then looked at him and giggled.
"-- No footsteps on the ground," the Weird Sister sang, "I'm listening but there's... no sound..."
Then she sighed and said, "Cackle-off --"
"Cackle-off?" Harry repeated, giggling and Cho started giggling, too.
"Karkaroff, Cackle-off? Well, he's right," Cho told Harry miserably.
"Isn't anyone tryin' to find me," the song went on, "won't somebody come take me home!"
"But I thought you said it's all right -- or at least getting better?" Harry asked, slightly surprised at this news.
Cho sighed again and again rested her chin on Harry's shoulder. Feeling it was the thing to do, he put his hand on top of her head.
"I don't know, maybe I'm just making it out to be a bigger deal than it is," she said, rolling her eyes.
"It's a damn -- cold -- night, trying to figure out -- this -- life," the song continued, "won't you -- take me by the hand, take me some where new."
"I'd like to go to your house and talk to your parents again," said Harry.
"-- I don't know who you are but I -- I'm with you..." the Weird Sister continued singing, "I'm with you --"
"That might not be such a good idea," said Cho, giggling once again. "My mom still thinks you were affected by the unicorn blood and won't hear a word against it."
"-- I'm looking for a place," the Weird Sister sang, "I'm searching for a face --"
"Well you tell your mom and dad that I'm not cursed and am perfectly okay," Harry said firmly, smiling.
"-- Is there anybody here -- I know," the Sister sang, "'cause nothing's going right --"
Cho went a little uneasy and asked, "Do you ever still wish -- that, you know -- wish you could have them back --?"
There was an unsettling pause.
"No," said Harry before she even finished speaking. He went a little uneasy, too. "I'm okay without my parents," he told her, strangely hearing his mother's voice in his head saying something he never heard her say before: "Oh, just look at him! Isn't he adorable?" Not knowing what to make of it, he shook his head and hoped to not have to think about it ever again.
"-- And everything's a mess," the song continued, "and no one likes to be -- alone... Isn't anyone tryin' to find me --"
Cho pulled her hand off Harry's waist and nervously fixed her hair clip before putting it back.
"Sorry," she said in a small voice, "I -- I shouldn't have brought that up."
"Yes," said Harry firmly, contorting his face into an innocent smile (and it was rather difficult right now), "you shouldn't have." Cho's straight face contorted into a smile again. "This is to be about us and if I'm ever to look back on it and like it, it's only us."
"-- Won't somebody come take me home!" the Weird Sister continued to sing. "It's a damn -- cold -- night tryin' to figure out -- this -- life --"
"All right, all right," said Cho, laughing airly. "How about we go outside once this song's over? Go visit the lake again?"
"And this time we won't both fall in it?"
"-- won't you -- take me by the hand," the song continued, "take me somewhere new... I don't know who you are but I -- I'm with you... I'm with you --"
Cho pulled her head off Harry's shoulder quickly this time, shaking it and giggling herself silly. "Oh no," she said at once. "The water would ruin your very nice dress robes."
"And yours," Harry reminded her.
"-- Why is everything so confusing," the Weird Sister sang, "maybe I'm just out of my mind --"
"Doesn't this song ever end?" said Harry. They continued dancing silently, listening to the rest of the song, Harry's hand back on top of Cho's head which was back on his shoulder... He saw that Cho's eyes were closed and closed his own again... He steered by himself, his feet knowing where to go by now...
When the song ended and everyone was clapping, Harry and Cho slipped out of the Great Hall, Ron and Hermione asking where they were going (Harry ignored them, giggling as he went by), and onto the Hogwarts grounds into the cool night air under the starry sky. He summoned his dad's cloak with the shiny sleeves by use of a Summoning Charm done by his finger alone.
"Well, at least I know I don't need my wand anymore for those," he said, as he put it around himself and Cho.
She started off towards the lake again and Harry had a foreboding feeling they were going to end up in it anyway. He found he didn't care much. They held hands as they walked, the thought of the strange voice of his mother in Harry's head now gone as were the rest of his problems. But, really, when all was said and done, what problems did he have? he asked himself, taking in soothing breaths of the peaceful air in the minute's silence before Cho asked, "Did you see Sirius?"
"Sirius?"
"Yeah, I saw him right before we left the Great Hall."
For a moment, Harry had an urge to run back and say hello but then he said firmly, "No, no. I can talk to him whenever I want."
Cho let out a hearty laugh, swinging both their hands forward happily. "You sure? I wouldn't mind," she let him know.
"Nope," said Harry, still half wanting to but wanting to spend time with Cho more. "Besides, he's going to be all smiles and embarass me, I know it. He's like --" but he coughed, without saying "the dad I never had."
Cho must have spotted this because she said quickly, "How're you coming along in classes?"
But then Harry found that there was something he had to say. He slowed to a stop, closed his eyes, said miserably in a soft voice, "Who am I kidding," took a deep breath, exhaled, opened his eyes again and then said, "of course I miss them." He shook his head, feeling slightly ashamed. "I have to tell someone because it's just going to bug me all night until I do and I figure if you won't listen to me, no one will."
Cho dropped her smile and exchanged it for a look of concerned sincerity. They started walking towards the lake again.
"I -- love you, Harry," she said softly and Harry was glad to find that he wasn't going to freeze up. "Of course I'll listen."
She straightened his necklace again while he paused to think of what to say. Harry tried to grab it as she did this but she slapped his hand away, knowing that he felt guilty every time he held it.
"I still think about them every few days for no real reason and would give anything to have my parents back but, at this point, I know it's just not going to happen," he said in a defeated voice.
Whatever he was thinking, whatever Harry was going to say next, Cho didn't need to hear it. He smiled weakly and Cho grabbed him round the neck, causing him to stumble but not fall. Going with his decision to not hold back, he did the same.
"You need to stop thinking about that," she said with a guilty giggle. "Or it's --"
"Going to drive me nuts," Harry admitted gloomily, "I know, I know. It's just... I keep hanging on what Dumbledore said to me two years ago. He said..." Harry then tried to say "I" but no sound came out. "I'd," he went on after a moment's silence, "see them again."
"Honestly, Harry," said Cho in a very serious voice and then... she slapped him.
Harry put a hand to the red mark on his cheek and there was an awkward pause before Cho took a step backwards, clasping a hand to her mouth in horror of what she just did. Then she giggled herself hoarse, saying, "Harry, oh, I didn't mean that!"
Granted he was upset at it for a minute, he couldn't stay angry long. Harry just stood there, Cho staring at him, arms at his sides, feeling dumb, and then broke into a smile. "Thanks," he said truthfully, "I needed that..." He reached a hand out for Cho to take hold of and they lazily started towards the lake once again.
More students were pouring out of the castle now. Neither Harry nor Cho spoke but both were looking skyward as they walked, feeling to savor the moment rather than to ruin it by talking. When they reached their destination, Harry threw in the garlic bread he'd been munching on but never actually finished. They watched silently as the giant squid that inhabited the lake pulled it under with a thick tentacle.
"So what'd you get in your box for the second task?" Cho asked.
"I've seen it before," Harry told her. "It's called known as an Explicatrix or Cybele's Orb."
"Cybele? The same Cybele that made Raides?"
"Yes, well, we're pretty sure," said Harry, not very sure himself. "But it has to be because I don't know of any other Cybele."
"Where'd you see it before?" Cho asked curiously.
Harry turned to face her. She looked for a minute like she was going to sit on the grass but thought better of it seeing as how, for one, the snow might ruin her dress robes.
"I was talking to Dumbledore one day when he'd found out all this stuff about Raides -- d'you really want to hear this?" Harry had to ask.
"Sure," said Cho, grinning, "I'm very interested!" She let out a short laugh and Harry guessed that she had a feeling that talking about Raides was going to go back around to him.
Harry proceeded to tell her everything Dumbledore had told him about Cybele and the ancients and the story surrounding Raides' most mysterious disappearance. When he got to the part about the book saying Cybele had hid the staff along with a friend, Cho laughed.
"I've seen mistakes like that before in some of the books I've taken out of the Restricted Section of the library," she mentioned. "All sorts of things were said that made it sound like someone had come back to life. Professor Binns got very upset at the people who wrote this one book, demanding they revise it. He got a new edition the next day by owl. They fixed all the mistakes. So, c'mon," said Cho eagerly, "what else?"
Harry went on about how Raides' memory was wiped and then how she was sealed inside the Book of Memories to not ever be seen for nine thousand years.
"How," said Cho weakly, "how did you find it, then? I heard about that summer."
Harry grinned.
"I'm just as clueless as anyone," he told Cho, his smile fading. "And somehow I don't think I want to know. Like I told Dumbledore, one minute I was floating in the forbidden forest and the next, I was in some dark place with what somehow I knew was the Book." Harry felt himself go red as he recalled what Dumbledore said next. Cho noticed this.
"What?" she said, giggling, "what is it?"
"Remember when everyone found out I was a descendent of Godric Gryffindor?" said Harry, going redder. "Cybele's last name was Gryffindor as well."
Cho opened her mouth in utter shock.
"But how!" she said, "she lived so, so long ago!"
"That's exactly what I said to Dumbledore," said Harry, grinning again. "He reckons that Cybele's partner was the one who touched the staff last, or it would have been a lion when we found it and not a badger."
"Why in the world DOES it change shape, anyway?"
They started to walk around the lake, the cool night air ruffling their hair.
"None of us are really any sure but I think it just changes shape according to what house you'd be in." Harry then paused for a bit to think, Cho looking sideways at him, still very interested. The Sorting Hat, every year, does something very similar to that staff, he reasoned with himself. Does the hat hold the same magic as the staff, except it speaks the house, rather than changing it's shape? He said this aloud to Cho.
"That's an interesting thought," she replied. "Well, why does it change it's length? Anyone know that?"
"No," said Harry heavily. "We found it four feet long, remember? And as soon as I touched it, it grew to seven," he went on and Harry spotted Ron and Hermione on the opposite side of the lake at them. He grinned and waved at them as did Cho. "Strangely enough, the Explicatrix did the same thing."
"What?" Cho asked, her brow furrowed.
"I know. When I first saw it, it was Ravenclaw colors and when I held it, it grew about an inch or so and became Gryffindor colors. The founders of Hogwarts must have known a lot about the ancients because they're using all their magic. I don't know what it does though. I thought I saw something in it but I was just imagining it."
"Oh," said Cho weakly, taking a breath, "there's so much -- such a big mystery in this. Why'd the hide Raides? What could she do that was so valuable?"
"Ha!" Harry shouted. "I know half of that mystery. There's this thing she can do -- but no one knows what -- that we've settled on calling the 'magic so forbidden,'" he said with a grin. "Ron, Hermione and I were talking about it. Ron reckons she's capable of blowing the world up but you have to wonder, if that Dark wizard had been abusing that, why are we still here?"
Cho let out a laugh at Ron's expense.
"So," she said, "then we have another famous member of the Gryffindor line among us and I'm standing next to him."
"Dumbledore said that, too," said Harry in a quiet sort of voice. "Raides was used to give the first ancients their mark, known by them as the Nota Vetustum. A bunch of supposed good ancients pulled it out of any Dark ancients that were abusing it and then killed them with Clades Ultimus."
Cho stopped walking and bursted out in a disgusted voice, "That's horrible!"
"You're telling me," said Harry darkly, referring to the time just last year when he'd been subjected to that spell and had himself spared the agony of dying by none other than Raides.
He finished the story up, including how the last person with the Mark of Ancients had killed themself to stop anyone from ever getting it. Cho then asked the same question Harry had been wondering the entire time.
"So... so how did you get it?"
"One wizard kept it and hid himself so they never found him. Dumbledore reckons he's part of my family tree, also. With Raides well hidden -- no one had ever found it since it was first missing -- and the Mark of Ancients supposedly lost, that ends the story until, of course, me."
Then he had to think again. If Raides' memory had been forever erased, how had she known how to save Harry from Clades Ultimus?
"I reckon Raides' memory might slowly come back because, I mean, how did she remember how to save Ron and I from Clades Ultimus? If we ever find out why she was hidden -- that magic so forbidden? -- honestly, I don't care for it."
"Why didn't they just do to themselves what Dumbledore and everyone did to you to remove it? That last one had to go and kill himself... ?"
"Dumbledore didn't say. Maybe it was a new thing or something? Back then they did all kinds of sacrificial magic. Killed themselves off worshipping Cybele. Dumb," he finished dismissively.
"You're my little ancient," said Cho chuckling and snuggling up to Harry.
He put his arm around her, lightly holding her opposite shoulder. Cho rested her head on his shoulder and Harry rested his head on top of hers. It was slightly uncomfortable but they enjoyed it all the same -- and it stopped Harry from feeling uncomfortable about her actually calling him what he was: an ancient.
"Any more questions?" Harry asked.
"The... the unicorn blood --"
"Won't touch that with a ten foot broom," said Harry airily. "If for some reason my scar disappears, I'll still be right famous for that."
"Ha, ha. So go on then, tell me about Professor Trelawney's latest predictions on your next death! She's still doing it, isn't she?"
"You have to ask?"
When the night was finally coming to a close, Harry and Cho found themselves back in the Great Hall sitting at a table with Ron, Hermione, Ginny and Neville, all talking about the trip to the United States. Ron and Hermione had finally gotten over the incident with Ron's plate smashing on the floor and it appeared that Ginny and Neville were quite interested in one another. Sirius had come by at one point to just remind Harry about the upcoming Hogsmeade visit.
"You're to keep Raides with you at all times if you're out of this castle, Harry," he said sharply while Cho was in a state of silent giggles about Harry's godfather in a tizzy over him. Then he told off Cho. "You should be just as worried about him as I am!"
"All right, all right," said Harry looking sideways at Cho who was looking sideways at him and turning his laugh into a clearing of his throat.
Sirius saw this and, grinning broadly, said, "You two getting on well together? Marriage plans?"
Both Harry and Cho gave him a look of deepest loathing. Harry hadn't actually thought of that before and the idea of spending the rest of his life with someone, while warming, was a scary proposition to consider at the moment, happy as he currently was.
A little later, as the Ball ended at twelve, word had gotten around that Malfoy was hoping to "get some" from Pansy Parkinson but she utterly refused given the current nasty state of his robes. Many people's wishes that the ball could have gone on longer was supported by Harry this time and the Weird Sisters agreed to play one more song before leaving.
Out in the entrance hall when the Weird Sisters left, Malfoy was looking very glum indeed. He stalked away, disgruntled, as Harry passed him, talking fervently with Cho. Even Crabbe and Goyle were sniggering at him.