Hall, 7:00 P.M.
Will Weasley wiped the sweat from his brow as he paced briskly in circles infront of the Great Hall, mumbling a mantra under his breath.
"Hello Caitlin. You look really nice tonight.."
He began to wring his hands nervously, occasionally glancing up at the staircase nearest the Great Hall: People began to decend down the stairs in pairs and small groups, passing by Will without so much as a glance. Out of the corner of his eye, Will spotted Alissandra Zabini enter the hall with a 5th year Slytherin who he didn't recognize at all.
'Figures..' he thought as he spun on his heels to continue pacing in the other direction, nearly walking right into Fredrick Diggory.
"Sorry mate.." offered Will sincerely, "I wasn't paying attention."
Fredrick smiled, shrugging lightly. "No worries," he said, slipping his hands into the pockets of his dress robes, "You waiting for someone?"
"Yeah, she should be down.. I hope." said Will, casting a wary look at the stairs.
"Alright. I'll see you in there" Fredrick clapped Will lightly on the shoulder before strolling into the Great Hall alone, where he was approached by 4 girls almost immediately after stepping through the doors. Will frowned.
'Maybe she's not coming after all.' thought Will sullenly, whirling around to resume pacing; movement from the top of the staircase caught his eye.
"William!" a voice called down to him.
Will froze. A lump began to grow inside of his throat, allowing little if no air to pass through.
"Will, I'm sorry I'm late. I ran into Harry and Germione outside of the portrait and they started asking me a load of questions.."
Will merely coughed in reply, watching Caitlin with widened brown eyes. She stopped infront of him, her royal blue robes settling around her feet; Her blonde hair hung in loose curls, resting lightly on her shoulders.
Will cleared the lump from his throat and offered a small smile. "You look..uh.."
"Here!" inturrupted Caitlin, thrusting a something into Will's hands.
Will stared down at the bundle in his hand; Something small, wrapped in a cotton sheet with a blue bow tied at what Will assumed to be the base.
"I thought we agreed to no gifts.." murmured Will as he loosened the bow; the sheet jolted slightly.
"I know, but it's not from me.." said Caitlin wistfully, watching him remove the sheet.
Will peered down at what was in his hands. "A..a potted plant?"
Caitlin giggled, shaking her head. "Not just any potted plant. I believe they call it an 'Alldamen'?"
"Alldamen.." Will repeated, staring down at the plant. It was a whimpy-looking stump in the ground with many tenticles hanging from it, dangling over the pot. One tenticle, Will saw, seemed to be slowly wraping around his index finger.
"Yes. My father said it was short for 'Alldamenwilbelongtuhali'." said Caitlin ruefully, reaching down to pet one of the tenticles.
Will looked up immediately at this. "Your father? ..Is..this from him?"
"Well, yeah. Once he found out who your father was, he was all..excited or something.."
Will nodded slowly, unsure of what to say. "Well, I guess I should thank him then.. it was a very nice gesture.." He bent down to place the plant on the floor, but found it difficult to let go; 4 tenticles found it's way up the sleeves of Will's dressrobes.
"What..What is this? What is it doing?" he demanded, reaching over with his free hand to pull himself free. Another group of tenticles shot from the plant, wraping tightly around his wrist.
"I-I don't know!" Caitlin sputtered, reaching into her dressrobes. "I don't have my wand! What do I do!"
"IMPEDIMENTA!" a voice shrieked from the doors of the Great Hall.
The plant's tenticles siezed movement immediately, as if frozen. Will looked up to find Hermione stomping towards him.
'Aah..here we go..' Will thought.
"What's going on? What are you two still doing out here? Hm? HM?" demanded Hermione as she wriggled Will loose from the plant.
"Er..Caitlin was just giving me a gift.." Will started, rubbing at his sore wrists.
Caitlin nodded eagerly.
"And..it attacked me?" finished Will dully.
Caitlin stared down at the plant, which continued to sit still. "Quite a strange plant it was..never attacked me in the 2 days I've been holding on to it."
Hermione frowned. "Who gave this plant to you, Miss Longbottom?"
"My father!" replied Caitlin cheerily. "He really likes plants.. he can identify any kind just by looking at it.."
Hermione smiled fondly at the thought. "Bless his heart.."
After a moment of uncomfortable silence, she cleared her throat. "McGonagal(OC: Did I spell that right? o.o ..I'll fix it later) might want to, er..take a look at this..". She picked up the Alldamen plant and started walking up the stairs, stopping only halfway from the top.
"..Please don't make me chase you into the Great Hall. If you're still here when I get back.." she started, but was inturrupted by Will.
"We're going, Mum. ...And thanks.." he added awkwardly. He watched Hermione stomp up the stairs before turning to Caitlin, offering his arm.
"You look really nice tonight.."
Caitlin smiled up at him, taking his elbow. "You look like a Grime-Mucking Miffling in Spring.."
Will grinned, and lead her towards the Great Hall; as they passed through the large double doors, they laughed, knowing they were the only two people there who knew what Caitlin ment. To Will, knowing that made waiting hours in his own pool of sweat and getting nearly-strangled by a dwarfy plant absolutely worth it.
Yule Ball, 8:15 P.M.
Harry Potter watched everyone on the dance floor from his table, which was convieniently placed right next to the buffet table (Cause he moved it there, of course). He watched Professor Doboi make his rounds, separating couples who were dancing too close together; and he watched as they returned to their state of 'oneness' once the crabby ol' professor hobbled off to pull apart others. And it was there he sat in peace (except when hungry dancers wandered over to sample some foods, some of which he managed to scare away with a scowl, others returning the look with one that rivaled his own) for about 30 minutes, when a group of girls wandered over to his table.
"Hey Harry, wanna dance?" one of them asked meekly. Harry glanced up from his half-eaten Yule log to find the girl batting her lashes at him.
"Not right now. I'll save one for you later.." he mumbled.
The girl pouted.
"A lot later!" he said a little louder. "Now if you don't mind.."
"HARRY!"
He looked over, spotting Germione trying to squeeze inbetween the girls. The group of girls sighed before disbanding, leaving Germione there to struggle with herself.
"Hiya Germy! About time I see you..I thought I lost you.." said Harry with slight concern.
Germione's clear eyes narrowed. "Thought? ..THOUGHT? Harry, I told you to wait and you took off running."
"I didn't hear you.." mumbled Harry, licking frosting from his fingers.
"You turned around, mouthed the words 'Bye Germy', waved, and went around the corner.." said Germione through clentched teeth. She plopped down onto the seat next to Harry, crossing her arms.
"Cake?" Harry slid his plate towards her before leaning back into his seat. "The decorations look pretty amazing, don't they..?" He ran his hand over the tablecloth, which was charmed to look and feel like snow. Germione snorted, glancing up at the charmed ceiling; a light snow was falling over the great hall, vanishing completely before it ever hit the ground.
"They're alright.." she offered with a shrug.
Will stumbled over to the table, looking slightly put-off.
"'ey Will! How's your magical evening going so far?" said Harry, grinning up at his best friend.
Will frowned down at him. "Not so..magical.." He plopped down onto a seat, placed an elbow on the table and proped his chin up.
Harry's grin didn't falter. "Solikewhat..She wouldn't dance with you or something? No big deal, mate.. there's lots of pathetic girls to dance with who'd say yes to anyone.."
Germione glared at Harry.
"No it's not that.." murmured Will into his hand. "I won't dance with her.."
Harry's face fell. "Wha-wh..Well, why not!"
"I..I just don't feel like dancing right now!" spat Will, whirling away from the table to face the oposite direction.
Germy whispered to Harry, "William can't dance."
Unfortunately, what is concidered whispering to one, isn't to everybody else.
People from neighboring tables turned from their own conversations to look at Will, who immediately turned red.
"I can dance! I can!" he rose to his feet.
"Oh, for merlin sake, please please PLEASE don't..." said Germy, standing as well. "Remember when mum and dad had to send you to St. Mungo's cause you got your head stuck in a sock?"
"That was from dancing?" asked Harry, awed.
"No.." Germy said sweetly, grinning at Harry. "I just like to bring it up every once in a while.."
"Wow, William.. for such a boy genious, you sure are daft sometimes.." Harry laughed, gartering some laughter from Germione as well.
Will turned away from them, seething. He was pissed off, he didn't need this from them. From anybody.
"I'm..just going to turn in now. Find Caitlin for me? Tell her I'm sorry.." mumbled Will.
Germione's laughter faded. "..Actually, you can tell her yourself.. she's over there.." She pointed towards the dance floor and William followed her finger with his eyes, nearly choking at the sight.
"No..way.." he muttered.
"She's asking for it.." added Germione with a touch of venom.
"Ooooh snap. That boy gettin' all up on yo' woman, yo!" Harry offered. Both Germione and Will looked at him.
"..It's those American flicks. ..I love them." coughed Harry.
Will and Germione turned away from him, looking towards the floor again.
"WHY IS SHE DANCING WITH MY MAN!" Germione shrieked, causing Harry to clap a hand over her mouth.
"Shh! We're not supposed to be here, remember?" hissed Harry, slowly lowering his hand. "Next time, we might get caught, so be quiet.."
"I think it's a little too late for that, young man.." said Hermione, looming over Germione and Harry.
Germione slowly turned around, forcing a smile. "Hi mum.."
"Hi Aunt Hermio-I mean Mrs. Weasl-I mean Mrs. Granger Weasle-I mean Professor!" said Harry, grinning from ear to ear. "Nice robes! Where'd you get them? They really complement your eyes. Very lovely, ma'am!"
"Harry." said Hermione dully.
"Yes Professor?"
"..To bed with you."
"But I just-"
"NOW!" Hermione bellowed.
Harry snatched up a plate and started to leave, but Hermione made a disproving noise.
"Leave the cake Harry."
Harry thrust the cake into Germione's hands and rushed from the Great Hall, followed by a small group of angered girls yelling after him about a promised dance.
Note: The Alldamen thing is a small joke. ...If you read the full 'word' slowly, you'll get it. xD