Chapter 3: The Yule Ball

It was Monday afternoon and Harry had forgotten about Cedric and could now only think about the first task.

"Listen, we'll practice summoning charms after herbology ok?" said Hermione.

"Alright, sounds good" Harry said patting her on the back, "Thanks for the help." She smiled and walked towards the greenhouses.

"Harry, are you coming to class?"

Harry had just spotted Cedric and remembered that he needed to tell him what the first task was (everyone else knew, it was only fair).

"Diffindo!" Harry whispered as Cedric's bag split open and the contents spilled everywhere.

"Let me help you with that," Harry said quickly as he rushed over. They gathered Cedric's things and stood up, their faces only inches away from each other.

"Dragons." Harry whispered to Cedric, his heart beating fast.

"What?"

"The first task will be dragons."

"You sure?" Harry could feel his breath on his face.

"Positive, got to go, bye."

Harry ran off to the greenhouses leaving Cedric standing there, bewildered.

"You're late!" hissed Hermione, "Good thing professor didn't see you come in…are you alright?" Harry's face was bright red.

"Uh, yeah..it's just from a bit of running, that's all."

The first task went surprisingly well. All four of the competitors completed it, and Harry was one of the first ones. Now they had to open some eggs that would tell them what the second task would be. But they had plenty of time, and the Yule Ball was right around the corner.

"Harryyyy" groaned Ron (who was now talking to Harry), "We've got to find dates for the Yule Ball!"

"Yeah, yeah," Harry mumbled, "We'll find some." He had to break Cho and Cedric up Harry thought to himself. He would ask her if she really was going with Cedric (because he wasn't sure), and if she said yes, he would explain to her why he had to go with Cedric. Just then, out of nowhere appeared Cho.

"Hey! Cho!" Harry said a little too excitedly.

"Oh, hi Harry, what's up?" She asked.

"I was just wondering…" Harry paused.

"Yes?" There was an awkward silence. What was he thinking? He couldn't ask her to dump Cedric! Not only would that be rude, but he would be announcing that he was gay in front of a large group of people. He wasn't sure if he wanted to do that. How would they respond? Would it change the way they thought of him? Would he be accepted? No, now was not the time, he didn't have the courage to…

"Harry?" Cho said softly.

"Oh, um, I was just wondering if you wanted to go to the ball…with me." It was the only thing he could think of saying. They both turned red.

"I'm sorry," she said looking at her feet, "I'm already going with someone else…"

"Yeah, I kn—I mean, that's ok…" Harry said stupidly as Cho began to walk away.

"Um, who are you going with? If you don't mind me asking…" he added.

"Cedric Diggory," she said dreamily. And for a split second he imagined how Cho must be feeling, but then was brought back to the harsh reality of being Harry Potter. He sank further into the chair he was sitting in. He knew she was going with him, but just hearing her say it made it worse.

The Yule Ball didn't turn out as bad as Harry thought it would be, however. He and Ron both found dates (Parvati and Padma) and the food and music was great. At first people were reluctant to get up and dance after the champions did, but after having some "special" butterbeer the dancefloor became packed.

"Alright," Professor McGonnagal sighed, "Who spiked the butterbeer cauldron! These kids are abnormally happy!" (Fred and George had snuck into the hall earlier and spiked it with firewhisky).

After about an hour, the dancefloor was absolutely insane. People were falling over, snogging with each other and singing loudly with the band. Harry even noticed several pairs of guys dancing together. Why not? He thought to himself. Cho had Cedric long enough, it was his turn now. He wandered over to Cho and Cedric and "accidentally" bumped into them.

"Oh! Sorry about that!" Harry said in an unnecessarily loud voice, "I was just wondering if I could dance with—"

"Sure!" Cedric answered before Harry could finish, "Cho would love to dance with you, wouldn't you Cho?"

"No, I meant you!" Harry exclaimed grabbing Cedric's hand and grinning.

"What?" Cho said in disbelief.

"I'd love to!" Cedric said laughing.

"Ha, ha" Cho joined in, "Alright, I'll see you two lovebirds later!" And she headed off towards the butterbeer.

"Harry Potter!" Cedric said in a posh voice as Harry laughed, "Nobody ever told me you could dance. I knew you were a great wizard, but a dancer too? Amazing." Cedric spun Harry out and then spun him back in, his arms wrapped around Harry's shoulders.

"No, I'm a horrible dancer," Harry said, now more serious as he looked into Cedric's sparkling gray eyes. "You're just too drunk to tell the difference."

"No, I don't drink," Cedric said quietly gazing back into Harry's eyes.

"But Fred and George spiked the butterbeer…" Harry began.

"Haven't been near the stuff," Cedric whispered matter of factly.

The seriousness of this statement began to sink in. Cedric was completely sober, yet he was dancing with Harry…to a slow song. Just then Cedric spotted Cho.

"Oh, here comes Cho. Listen Harry, you helped me with the last task so I thought I'd let you in on what I've figured out for the next one," he whispered quickly into Harry's ear.

"Take the golden egg with you when you're in the bath, you can use the prefect's bathroom if you want…it's the one I use."

"A bath?" asked Harry.

"Oh and don't tell anyone about this, you know how people talk" he added.

"Don't worry, I wouldn't. Besides nobody would think you of all people were gay." The words were out of his mouth before he could stop them.

"I—I meant the egg," stuttered Cedric as he let go of Harry.

"OH! Oh…" he had never felt so stupid and embarrassed in his life.

"Cedriiiiiiiiiic!" a slightly tipsy Cho squealed as she wrapped her arms around his neck, "I'm baaaaaaaaaaack!"

"See you later, Harry," Cedric said, smiling.

"Right. Later." Harry couldn't believe what he had said earlier. He was so embarrassed. Without checking to see how Ron and Hermione were doing, he ran back to his dorm and climbed into bed without changing out of his tux.

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