Harry and Ron went down to breakfast next morning together. Upon sitting down at the table, Lavender and Pavarti swooped down upon the pair of them, a mixture of worry and anger on their faces.
"Where were you two last night?" Pavarti asked, sitting across from the puffy-eyed Ron.
"What do you mean?" Harry asked, not touching any food.
"The D.A. meeting last night," Lavender growled, "why weren't you there?"
Harry looked up at her. "We received some bad news, and the meeting was pushed from our minds."
"How did it go?" Ron asked, not in the mood to eat.
"It was alright," Pavarti said, shooting the boys strange looks. "Lupin took over and we just went over stuff from before holidays."
Harry nodded. That was what he was going to do, as he did not want to spring a new jinx on them right away.
"Umm, Potions is in ten minutes," Lavender said warily. "See you down there?"
Ron and Harry nodded as Lavender and Parvati left the Great Hall. Kit and Adrien came over to them as soon as the other girls were gone.
"Come on," Kit said, taking Harry's hand and pulling him up.
"We have to go to Potions, and neither of you are going to miss it," Adrien added, dragging Ron with her.
Once down in the dungeons, they could not help but notice that the Slytherins were looking less than cheerful. As the group took their seats at the same table as usual, a cheerful voice spoke from the front of the class.
"Okay," she said, looking around at the class assembled in front of her. "Professor Snape wasn't feeling up to teach today, so I'll just watch you all finish off your potions." Sasha smiled up at the watchful class. "So, get started!"
As everyone pulled out their supplies and set to work, Sasha came over to Ron and Harry.
"Are you two holding up okay after last night?" she asked them quietly.
They both nodded, still unable to speak. Sasha nodded as well and went to help Neville with his potion.
Both of them knew where Snape had gone today, and they were not surprised that Sasha was filling in for him. She was a Slytherin, after all.
After the double Potions, they all headed back up to the Great Hall for lunch. Kit tried her best to cheer them up, but nothing seemed to work. Even Adrien and Nia tried to bring smiles to the boys' faces, but with no prevail. It was not until Professor McGonagall came over to them (watched by many curious students) that the boys lightened up a bit.
"Now listen," their head of house said, looking at the two boys through her square spectacles. "You two better cheer up. If you get anyone suspicious, all hell will break loose. Keep your heads; get on with your lives. What will come will come. Now quit being stupid."
Ron stared at her in shock. As Professor McGonagall straightened up, she finished her speech.
"If neither of you smile in my class this afternoon, you will have to report to me for detention tonight."
"Detention?" the boys asked in unison.
"Just for not smiling in your class?" Harry asked incredulously.
"Yes," McGonagall replied, frowning at them. "So smarten up."
As she went back up to the Staff Table, Ron looked at Harry.
"You don't think she's serious?" he asked, concern spreading over his face.
"She is," Harry said glumly, looking up to the Staff Table where she was talking with Remus.
"What a fun afternoon this is going to be," said Kit happily as the girls nodded in agreement. Ron groaned.
Harry and Ron obeyed McGonagall's wishes, and Kit and Adrien were ecstatic about it. The days passed and still there was no word about Hermione or Krum. Snape was back at work, but seemed to have other things on his mind, and therefore gave the Gryffindors an easier time than usual. Remus looked even more weary than normal, and Harry could tell just by the look on the werewolf's face that Hermione was still at risk.
Harry and Ron put on a show for the week, seeming to be cheerful and just like any other student. Kit and Adrien bought the act, and both boys were grateful. However, every night before the boys fell asleep they would lie awake for what seemed like hours, thinking …
January ended with still no word about Krum or Hermione. However, an announcement made at the beginning of February diverted Harry and Ron's attention from one girl to another.
"In honour of St. Valentine," Dumbledore began one morning at breakfast, "we will be holding a ball the evening of the fourteenth. This will only be open to third years and up –" He held up a hand to silence outbursts from the younger students, "– unless you are invited by an older student." His blue eyes twinkled merrily behind his half-moon glasses as the Headmaster sat back down.
Throughout the next week, the whole school was talking about Valentine's Day. Girls of all ages were going to extremes to get the boy she wanted. Harry, Ron, and Neville were overtly relieved that they had their partners and did not need to find someone this time. Kit, Adrien, and Nia were giggling constantly; whether it was about the outfit they were going to wear, or if it was about the tactics other girls were using to get a date.
"You three are so lucky," Seamus mumbled one night as he crawled into bed.
"What do you mean?" Ron asked, as Dean nodded in agreement.
"You don't have to find a date," Seamus said, pulling the covers over his head.
"And you don't have to be perused by every female you walk by in the halls," Dean added.
"Ha," Harry laughed hollowly, "just because I have a girlfriend doesn't mean the girls leave me alone."
It was not long before the girls were counting down the days until the dance.
"Five days!" Kit reminded them cheerfully one morning at breakfast.
The boys groaned, but Kit, already immersed in gossip with Pavarti, did not notice.
At breakfast on the morning of the eleventh, Ron and Harry were hurriedly finishing breakfast when the post came. As owls flooded the hall, The Daily Prophet dropped in front of many students. Harry and Ron, who were not expecting anything, received a shock when a tawny owl landed between them carrying a sealed letter.
"What the –?"
"Who's it to?" Harry asked, gulping down his pumpkin juice.
Ron relieved the owl of its post and looked at the front.
"Both of us," he said, giving Harry a quelling look.
Harry returned the look, swallowing his mouthful of juice and taking the letter from Ron. His face paled as he recognized the handwriting.
"Blimey," he breathed as he passed it back to Ron. "Don't you recognize the writing?"
Ron examined the names and paled just as Harry had. He ripped open the letter and read it eagerly as Harry took another huge gulp of juice.
"She's coming here tonight," Ron said simply, causing Harry to spit out his pumpkin juice all over the table. Ron looked at him disgustedly, but could not hide his joy.
"Tonight?" Harry asked, wiping his mouth on his sleeve. As Ron nodded, Harry jumped up, a look of ecstasy on his face. "YES!" he shouted as the first bell rang.
Both boys jumped up and ran out of the hall, hoping not to be late for Defence Against the Dark Arts.
Upon entering the classroom, they discovered that Remus was not going to teach the lesson. The teacher was Kelci. She stood nervously at the front of the class clutching a pile of papers with trembling hands. She smiled at Ron and Harry as they entered.
The second bell rang and the classroom door closed with a satisfying snap behind Pavarti and Lavender. Kelci cleared her throat nervously. Before she could begin, Seamus spoke.
"Where's Professor Lupin?"
Kelci cleared her throat nervously again. "He's unable to teach today," she said, shuffling her papers.
"But the full moon's not for another week!" Lavender said.
"Yes," Kelci said, obviously thinking her answer through, "but he has other things he has to do, and asked me to fill in."
She almost glared at them all, daring someone to challenge her. When no one spoke, she continued, injecting more confidence into her voice.
"I am Professor Hopcraft, and today we'll discuss any confusion you had in your essays." She handed them out, slipping an extra piece of parchment with Harry's essay.
"Come down to the Great Hall tonight at ten. Wear your invisibility cloak, and bring Ron."
Harry passed the note to Ron and watched as the redhead's face relaxed, and he smiled.
"Wicked," Ron said, passing the note back to Harry and participating in the class discussion with vigour.