"So," Susan Bones asked, "who do you want to go to the Yule Ball with?"
Eloise Midgen looked pensive, picking at a pimple on her chin. "Oh, I don't know. Are we talking seriously or anyone in my wildest dreams?"
"Wildest dreams," said Megan Jones, grinning.
"Well, since Cedric is taken and I think he and Chang are really cute together … Zacharias."
"I don't know," Susan said dubiously.
"We're talking about my wildest dreams!" Eloise exclaimed defensively. "On my arm, he would be an outstanding gentleman."
"Like Ernie," Hannah Abbott sighed.
"Only about ten times hotter," giggled Megan.
December was a month that everyone got a little restless do to eagerness for the upcoming holidays and temporary release from school. That year, because the Triwizard Tournament was being held at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, the academy was also holding a dance for the season in order to get the three different wizarding schools attending better acquainted yet. Almost no one was going home for the holidays in favour of the dance, and everyone was talking about it.
Just about everyone was nervous. Tension rose up in the most unlikely places, and spats between existing couples were getting more frequent. No one was left unaffected, whatever they were feeling about the ball; it was just one of those subjects that was inescapable, but that did not mean some people did not try to ignore it anyway. For someone that was usually so interested in the latest gossip, it might have seemed unusual for one Ernie Macmillan to be taking great lengths to get every inkling of the Yule Ball to come out of his head, and stay out.
The library was where he spent the most time, studying and doing homework, but not organising groups to join him. Everyone Ernie usually spoke to and studied with was hung up on the ball, and Ernie thought all hope was lost for sensible humanity when he saw, across the library, Hermione Granger chatting and blushing with Viktor Krum, whose large nose and weathered cheeks were also glowing pink.
Nowhere was safe. More than once, he had wandered back into the stacks and discovered couples making out, or worse, and Ernie's upper lip curled at the thought – the vision of Roger Davies and Marietta Edgecombe engaging in inconspicuous heavy-petting had been burned into his eyelids, unsettling him again and again, each time he blinked. A disease was spread through the school, and in such cooped up quarters, it was a normal occurrence for large amounts of people to grow ill. However, it didn't seem Madame Pomfrey knew how to handle the situation any better than anyone else, despite her Mediwitch training.
Classes were made to be ridiculous and discouraging with the amount of students drifting off, their heads in the clouds. Their assignments in classes were becoming less progressive as the holiday drew near, and Ernie found himself bored with the retarded pace and babying from choice professors – especially Flitwick, who taught Ernie's favourite class. At least Snape and McGonagall had their heads on straight, but Ernie was mildly disappointed in his own head of house when Sprout announced, on the last day of classes, that they could sit and talk amongst themselves. Ernie watched as Justin Finch-Fletchley shuffled over with a grin on his face and Hannah smiled appreciatively, taking a seat with a gaggle of girls in their greenhouse. She had been avoiding him lately.
"C'mon mate, budge up," Seamus Finnigan said encouragingly, "there are other birds."
Ron Weasley merely frowned, gazing moodily at the Ravenclaw table. "It was like I had this epiphany as soon as I saw her. I knew she was the one."
"Yeah, it seems a lot of blokes fancy that," agreed Dean Thomas, glancing toward the love struck Ravenclaws around Fleur Delacour.
"At least you don't have to ask anyone," Harry Potter muttered, also looking at the Ravenclaw table, but not at Fleur.
"You guys'll get dates," Neville Longbottom assured the pair quietly.
"Yeah," Ron said suddenly, tearing his eyes from Fleur to look at Neville. "At least we've got a better chance than Nev here."
"Sure," Harry uttered distractedly.
"No offence, Nev," Ron added, grinning playfully.
"None taken," Neville answered, his dark eyes shining with secrecy. No one noticed.
Snow was falling steadily, big, puffy white flakes drifting to add to the blanket already covering the ground, but it was coming down slowly, which meant Care of Magical Creatures was not cancelled. The Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaws trudged down to the paddock beside their professor's home on the grounds, adjacent to the frozen lake (on which students with an off period were skating), shivering and complaining. Ernie and Hannah were walking together, clutching their books possessively, layered in hats, cloaks, and gloves. Rubeus Hagrid was already out of doors, playing with something small, white, and furry. No one wanted to get very close to it.
Standing out of the paddock, the class watched in cautious awe. No one said anything outstandingly coherent; the group was plagued with unintelligible murmuring. Hagrid looked up, his beetle black eyes crinkled with mirth, and began the class.
"Can anyone tell me wha' this baby is?" No one answered at first; the class went quiet. The fluffy white creature paused in his playing, looking up with large, coal coloured eyes. The black pads of his fingers smoothed over a perfect snowball, and his bare toes curled in the snow – he looked like a child, but completely covered in fur, which was perfect for camouflage in the snow. He fit in better than every single one of the huddled students in their school uniforms.
"A yeti," came a deep voice at length, and most everyone turned his or her head quickly to view the source of the answer. Zacharias Smith's ice blue eyes remained upon the lesson at hand.
"Good fer yeh, Zach!" Hagrid bellowed, extending a wide grin to his favourite Hufflepuff, and no one was looking at Zacharias anymore to see the miniscule smile he paid Hagrid with in return.
"This young chap here's a yeti," Hagrid began to explain eagerly, "and they're found all over the world in mountainous regions, since it's cold. Camouflage is one way they protect themselves from predators, but yeh'll all notice the sharp claws of their hands and feet."
The class noticed, and Hagrid went on with his lesson in his tumbling accent, which was thick enough that his students had to strain their ears to understand at times. Most people took Care of Magical Creatures less seriously than they would their other classes, standing around and listening half-heartedly with no notebooks in their hands. However, Ernie, future prefect of his year, was busy scribbling notes with an Everlasting Ink quill he used specifically for that class.
Soon, as Hagrid ran out of facts and wanted to demonstrate firsthand some of the yeti's abilities, the children were invited inside the paddock to play with the snow-child, and, reluctantly at first, the class clambered over the fence and into the fenced-in area, only to linger at the outskirts, most gazing dubiously at the white creature in the centre.
It only took one snowball thrown to begin the fight – Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaws alike began pelting each other with snow, the yeti in the middle hurling surprisingly big balls at anyone and everyone, the majority laughing and playing eagerly, Hagrid watching on happily. Ernie looked lost in the throng, and Hannah saved him by pulling his sleeve, dragging the dark haired boy to the outskirts of the fight to a place Hagrid would not spot them loitering.
"So much for a lesson," she laughed, her cheeks glowing pink from the cold.
"Hannah," Ernie said at length, "did Professor Hagrid say yetis can lift twice their own weight, or consume that much?"
"Consume," Hannah answered without much thought, then she held back a giggle, her hand against her mouth. "You look like you have white hair."
As Ernie carefully jot down Hannah's correction in his notes, the blonde girl stepped forward and brushed off the black knit fabric of Ernie's hat, even though more snow would collect there in no time. She probably looked the same, she thought, the puffy flakes resting upon her own head, but Ernie looked so serious, and thus out of place with snow on his hat.
"Thank you," Ernie muttered, and Hannah smiled.
"Ernie, the ball is right around the corner."
"So it is," he answered, his brows furrowing.
"Remember when we danced together at your house that one Christmas party?"
"Yes." Ernie was busy placing his notebook back in his satchel for the meantime.
"The Yule Ball would be a lot like that, only we'd dance all night and –" Hannah cut herself off as a snowball flew toward them, hitting Ernie squarely in the ear. "Ernie!" Blue eyes wide, she reached forward to grab hold of Ernie's shoulders, then turned her head in the direction the ball had come from.
Zacharias smirked amusedly, then turned back to fend off a bunch of sharp shooting Ravenclaws.
"Pansy," Tracey Davis hissed, "you didn't!"
Pansy Parkinson lifted her chin, tucking dark hair behind her ear. "I did."
"I wish I had your courage," Millicent Bulstrode sighed, clearly impressed.
"Of course you do. And what's wrong with it, Tracey? Just because you have clearly been avoiding Andre does not mean I have to sacrifice my happiness."
"That's not what I meant." Tracey scowled. "He's supposed to ask you, and I know for a fact he was going to!"
"Ha, like I'm going to wait on Draco. I'd be waiting my whole life. That boy would be sidetracked by the likes of Potter, and then where would I be?"
Millicent shook her head, curls bouncing about her face, indicating she didn't know where Pansy would be.
"Stuck going with someone like Nott," Pansy sneered, "that's where."
Tracey flushed, her pouted lips pulled into a tight line. Millicent was too busy being awed by Pansy, and Pansy too busy being self-centred, to notice.
The halls are filled with students from every year and house, each pushing against the other in their enthusiasm to leave class and return to their common rooms to relax for the night and weekend. It is after the last bell has rung, and Ernie is jostled this way and that, wanting to grope for Hannah's hand so he will not lose her. There is suddenly nothing: no Hannah, no Justin, no students, and Ernie is alone in the hallway, walking as if it never had been different.
Zacharias is there after a moment, lurking in the shadows, which Ernie finds intriguing, and Zacharias is welcoming, looking at Ernie to entice him, and draws him near. Ernie can feel the freckles on his skin as he moves closer, and then the goosebumps as they climb up his arms and prickle at the back of his neck. There is no reason to wonder where everyone has gone, or why Zacharias is present – there is no reason at all to feel suspicious about the way Zacharias takes Ernie's arms and guides him around, his back against the wall.
It is silent except for their breathing, and it echoes in the darkened hall. Their mouths move against each other expertly, their tongues wet, glistening in the muted light of the torches nearby. Ernie is grabbing Zacharias' arms and pulling him closer. Zacharias' hips press against Ernie's, layers of clothing between, but Ernie still moans. Where once before a cool breeze could be felt, now only a pocket of heat touches them, surrounds them, and Zacharias' fingers are at the tie of Ernie's robes, tugging.
Without clothing, Ernie's back feels sticky against the wall, and sweat beads at his hairline, dampening it. Zacharias' mouth is hot on his neck, and his hand is moving lower, lower, lower, until it is hovering over the aching flesh between Ernie's thighs. Ernie's hips thrust into that hand as it descends, the palm surprisingly cool, burning against Ernie's skin, and he bites his knuckles to keep quiet.
It won't be long.
There it is, that rushing feeling, Zacharias' voice in his ear and his tongue there too, tracing the sensitive ridges as his hand moves faster. Ernie can only be taken for the ride, feeling his lungs working harder to circulate air more efficiently. There are Zacharias' lips on his again; Ernie opens his eyes to look into blue as he is finished, but all he saw was abysmal black, his hips lifting as he was completed, feeling a hot, sticky, dour-smelling substance run down his own fist as he softened in his own hand.
The night remained quiet and still for some time as Ernie stared at the canopy on his bed, wide-eyed, fretting someone had heard him. Justin whimpered in his sleep once, and Wayne snored softly: the usual sounds of the Fourth Year Hufflepuff boys' dormitory. Sighing shakily, Ernie wiped his dirtied hand on his sheets, and then leaned over to part his curtains a tad, feeling around for his wand. Once it was found, a few cleaning spells were whispered until everything felt clean, but the guilt and confusion still hung heavily in the air.
After closing his curtains again and rolling over to attempt to sleep, the soft sounds of someone sneaking into the room entered Ernie's ear, and he heard Zacharias fiddling with his clothing and pyjamas before slipping into his bed, back from a midnight rendezvous.
"Anthony's taking Mandy," Michael Corner began, "I'm taking Lisa, Morag isn't taking any-fucking-one, and I know who Terry wants to take!"
"Who?" Anthony Goldstein asked interestedly.
"No one," Terry Boot muttered, dark eyes narrowing pointedly at Michael.
"That's not what you told me," Michael retorted, smirking unkindly.
"I'm surprised at you," Morag MacDougal huffed, frowning. "I thought we were the sane ones in the group, against this fucking ball drivel."
"Patil," Michael announced loudly, wanting to get the group's attention back on him. "The ice-queen herself."
Morag's eyes went wide and she looked disbelieving. "No fucking way!"
"Are you serious? Is he shitting us, Terry?" Anthony's eyes were just as wide as Morag's; Michael looked smug.
Feeling betrayed that Michael had told his secret, Terry merely shook his head, his gaze drifting down the table about a dozen students to land on Padma Patil, who looked as lovely as ever.
The night of the ball, Ernie met Hannah in the common room and told her how nice she looked. They had established that they were going to attend the ball together one day after Potions class when Eloise asked Hannah, in front of Ernie, if they were a couple for the night. "Aye," Ernie had said quickly, noting the sudden blush on Hannah's cheeks as she searched for words, "we are."
Downstairs in the Great Hall, a popular band was playing and almost everyone was dancing. The whole room was a clutter of tables and bodies, festive decorations shining and professors pulling intimate couples apart. Fourth years were told to be on their best behaviour since they were the youngest year allowed to be there, and they would listen if they wanted to be invited back to any future balls. Ernie was a perfect gentleman, and Hannah a perfect lady.
Wayne Hopkins wanted to cut in toward the end of the night, and Ernie's feet were sore so he graciously let his dorm mate have a turn with his date. Hannah smiled at Ernie and watched his back longingly when he turned to go, as Wayne put his hands on her waist.
After a while of sitting on the sidelines and drinking punch, watching as nameless, faceless people turned and twirled on the floor, Ernie felt a little hot under the collar and decided on some fresh air. Leaving the Great Hall, he walked down the grand staircase and moved along the hall, watching the live faeries fly around and students lean close to each other in dark corners. Some professors were on patrol to stop such nonsense, and Ernie moved along quickly, weaving his way through the small grouping of people.
Grabbing the handle to a side door, Ernie let himself out quietly, making sure the door did not make so much as a sound behind him. Turning, a gasp was released in mild horror as a shape was seen in the shadows, but upon closer inspection, it appeared to be only Zacharias, leaning against the castle wall, smoking a cigarette. Zacharias' eyes drifted toward Ernie slowly, and the brunet let out a puff of condensation, otherwise classified as a sigh.
"I didn't expect anyone to be outdoors," Ernie explained nervously, smiling a little. Zacharias took a drag off the cigarette, remaining silent. "The ball is quite pleasant. You look handsome tonight, Zacharias; who did you bring?"
"No one," the blond said, uninterested.
"Oh."
Zacharias was standing in the shadows, just like in Ernie's dream. However, Ernie did not find it intriguing, but typical; Zacharias was unwelcoming, looking into the sky, body language repelling. Something within Ernie's stomach knotted, and he suddenly felt awash with nausea. It had just been a dream – a nightmare – and nothing more. The sinking feeling of disappointment was disgusting.
"Well," Ernie said at length, clearing his throat, turning away from Zacharias. "Don't stay out long, you'll catch cold," was what he settled for a time later, his voice low, and Ernie turned, shivering in the cold, to let himself back into the castle.
"The Ball was quite a success!" Professor Flitwick cried, smiling.
"A definite success," agreed Professor Sprout. "The children certainly enjoyed themselves, as far as I saw."
"Except for a few third years who came with fourth year dates, who, in the middle of the ball, ditched them for fifth years," Professor Vector amended.
"It was a miserable time," Professor Snape moped.
"I am terribly surprised to hear you think so, Severus," Professor McGonagall said sarcastically, pursing her lips.
Professor Dumbledore was the last one to speak, his mouth curved in a benign crescent. "To each his own."