Ta da! Back again. I might even be able to post the final chapter next week, if I don't start doing those three loooong essays I have due the first day back from holidays.

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter.

Christmas Eve (I surrender and write that it is December 24th)

The day before the Yule Ball

Gryffindor girls' bathroom

9:30 pm

At this very moment, I have several wads of paper stuck between my toes and the room smells strongly of nail polish.

Yes, it's the night-before-Ball beauty session, and the bathroom is getting rather cramped. Parvarti Patil and Lavender Brown are stuck beneath the sink in a effort to find space.

A random seventh year is trying to thin her eyebrows using some sort of hex, and it seems to be going rather badly, as her left eyebrow keeps disapearing. I think she might have got it this time- no, eyebrow vanished again.

Am finding the tile floor a bit cold. Hopefully my butt will still be in the same shape tomorrow.

Christmas Day, December 25

My dorm

7:00 am

THE DAY OF THE YULE BALL

Deck the halls with bowers of holly, falalala lalalala. Tis the season to be jolly, falalala, lalalala. Don we now our gay apparel, falala falala lalala, I have forgotten all the words, falalala lalalalaaaaaaaaaa.

Merry Christmas! I am now the proud owner of a tin of broom polish and some colour changing ink, courtesy of my loving family. To get into the Christmas spirit, I'm now making use of the ink by writing in this diary in red and green. Very festive.

Katie, Angelina and I splurged on a joint Christmas present to ourselves last Hogsmeade weekend; a huge book called One Million Tips for Aspiring Chasers. Helloooo Appleby Arrows…

Fred and George gave us each a bag of toffees, but I think we've all got enough sense not to touch those.

Can't wait for the Ball tonight… I'll report everything once I get back, I promise.

My dorm

6:30 pm

Two hours to go until the Yule Ball

Angelina and Katie look fabulous. Katie's all in green with a black trimming, which suits her red hair really well. Angelina's wearing hot pink, which looks very good with her skin.

My robes are pale blue, and though Katie and Angie have said several times that I look nice, I can't help feeling that, being blonde, the robes will make me look washed out.

Oh well, never mind. Yep, that's right, never mind- there are more important things at hand, such as the Cunning Plan! Ginny Weasley is going to steal the scarf from Fleur once Fleur sits down to eat, then she's going to pass the scarf to Annie Miller from our year, who'll pass it to Susan Bones, who passes it to Katie, who passes it to Padma Patil, who passes it to Hannah Abbot, who passes it to me, I pass it to Lavender Brown, who passes it to Rebecca Cleyton, who passes it to Cecelia Wainwright from Ravenclaw, who passes it to Angelina, who passes it back to Ginny and the whole chain starts again.

Fleur will be running around ALL NIGHT.

You know, it's rather fun to be evil.

Girl's bathroom

First floor

9:00

Yule Ball in full swing.

Okay, phase one of Operation Eye-Candy complete. Ginny Weasley has successfully stolen Fleur's scarf and passed it on to Annie Miller. She did it rather quickly, actually- the girl would be a very accomplished pickpocket.

Hang on. Come to think of it, where did those two Galleons of mine go?

I'm far too suspicious.

In other news, I had a wonderful dance with Vladimir the Durmstrang boy. He can really waltz. He was going to lead me in a second dance too, but Angelina montioned me over to tell me about Ginny stealing the scarf.

Alright, I'll come clean. Vladimir may be an okay dancer, but he's somewhat… lacking in the humour department. Everything is just so serious with him! He practically burst when I accidentally put a foot wrong in the waltz, whereas George Weasley would have just laughed.

Argh, no! Stop it, Alicia! Stop mentioning George Weasley! Stop thinking of George Weasley! Try to erase his presence from you mind!

5 minutes later

It's not working.

Half an hour later

I've got the scarf! It's going really well, but the problem is Fleur hasn't seem to have noticed yet, as she left the scarf draped over her seat and hasn't sat back down yet to realise that it's gone.

Hmmm…. There seems to have been a flaw in our plan somewhere.

Suspense is rising! There will only be one more chapter after this. However, I MAY write an epilogue… If I have sufficient encouragement ;)