Last time on Black and White:

"Oh, I think we all know that we do." Harry responded with a grin matching Sirius'. "I mean it's not everyday your young man dances with the daughter of his lawyer. I think this should be discussed at length."

"Hmm, I find myself agreeing with you, Harry." said lawyer said with a smirk. "Now Andrew, tell me, what are your intentions with my daughter?"

Dumbledore watched the interaction between the four with a small smile of his own, he had assumed Andrew or maybe even Harry would have attended the ball with young Miss Granger, but perhaps Mr Weasley had approached her first? Nevertheless this was a moment of purity that the aged Headmaster was happy to be a part of, even as a bystander. He just prayed these moments wouldn't be too far and few between them.


Book 4 – Chapter 26: Let the Ball Begin

Andrew and Harry walked away from the Headmaster's office after the former received a proper ribbing from everyone in the room and made their way towards the fifth floor.

"So, who are you talking about?" Harry asked with a frown.

"Trust me, it's better that you don't know, just trust me and go with the flow alright?"

Harry nodded while frowning at his brother but chose not to say anything.

"Oh also, she's a bit of an... 'old school' type of girl; so she is expecting you to ask her to the ball, not just assume that you'd be taking her. Okay?"

"Andrew just tell me who-"

"We're here, now go in there and make me proud!"

Harry didn't get to respond as he was shoved into the classroom and heard the door locking behind him. He turned to face his only exit before frowning in annoyance and turned to look at the rest of the room when his eyes settled on a figure leaning lazily against window on the other side of the wall.

"Ah, Bonjour, Monsieur Potter." a distinctly French accent greeted.

"Fleur?" Harry asked with a small frown as he stepped closer to the girl. "You're the girl Andrew was talking about?"

"Oui, I 'ave found myself wizout a date, uzzually I would zen not attend, but being a champion, I find myself forced to." she said with a small sigh.

"Oh, well, I'm sorry to hear that." Harry offered genuinely.

"Merci, I appreciate ze gesture."

There was a moment of silence as Harry didn't know what to say or do in that moment, when he remembered what Andrew had told him.

"Right, err, well Fleur... err, Miss Delacour, if it's alright with you, would you like to go to the ball... with me?"

There was once again silence as Harry waited for her response. She simply regarded him for a moment. Harry felt the sweat beginning to roll off his forehead. As the seconds went on, Harry's thoughts began running a mine a minute.

God this sucked, why would anyone do this? Why was asking girls out so stress inducing? What if she said no? What if she laughed in his face? Oh God what if she said yes?! Would she tell her friends about this? Probably, but would they laugh? Would they convince her that going with him would be a horrible idea?

"Oui, I would love to go wiz you."

"I get it, well thank you for-"

Harry blinked. Then he blinked twice more.

"I'm sorry, it sounded as though you said, yes."

"Oui, I did." Fleur responded with a smile slowly creeping it's way across her beautiful features.

"Oh... that's... well that's brilliant then." Harry said as a smile made its way onto his face. "Thank you."

"Oh zere is no need to zank me, by ze way your brozzer spoke of you, I am expecting a razzer enjoyable evening." Fleur said as she pushed herself off the wall and made her way towards Harry. He only had a moment to comprehend her movement before he felt her grab him by his shoulders and plant a kiss on the side on his face.

"I am 'oping you will be able to provide such an experience." the boy had to fight the shiver that tore its way up his spine as he felt her breath tickle his ear.

"Well..." his voice cracked audibly. "Well, I'll make sure to not disappoint." he said after clearing his throat.

"You do know how to dance, yes?" she asked with a quirked eyebrow.

"Hmm? Oh, yes, I asked a friend of mine; Hermione to give me some tips a little while ago. I'll ask her to give me one more crash course so that I don't embarrass you."

Fleur smiled again. "Well, at least you are furzer zan your brozzer in zat regard. I look forward to dancing wiz you, Monsieur Potter."

The blonde stepped to the door waved her wand and dispelled the locking charm before stepping out. Harry stood in the room, still trying to convince himself that whatever had just happened, had just happened.

"So... did I do good? Or did I do good?" he heard behind him. Turning, he saw Andrew leaning against the door frame with a huge grin on his face.

"Oh, you did bloody brilliantly, brother."

HP-AP-HP-AP-HP-AP

Sirius entered his home and threw his jacket on the couch before stretching his arms out over his head. It was a long day but they had finally made their attack against the Prophet, now he just had to wait on the Goblins to get back to him with regards to the shares he mentioned interest in.

"So, did it go well?"

Looking up he saw his cousin walking out of her room, a large t-shirt and loose jeans being her fashion choice for the day.

"Yeah, better than we hoped actually. Harry handled himself really well in there." Sirius told her with a nod.

"Great, and how is he doing? I haven't really heard from him in a bit."

"He's doing good."

"Good... I just hope he doesn't hate me..."

"He won't hate you, Tonks. He's fourteen, and according to you he's had a crush on you for almost a full year, was it?"

"Well, I mean, I figured it out towards the end of last year, but I suspect he's been feeling that way for a little while longer."

"Exactly, just give him some time. You can't expect him to just get over those feelings immediately, you know."

Tonks nodded in understanding before grabbing a butter beer from the fridge.

"I just hope things can go back to... you know before."

Sirius sighed a bit. "Yeah, I get you. But I wouldn't worry about it, Andrew apparently found him a great date so, maybe it'll help him get over you a bit."

"Hmm." Tonks vocalised while taking a sip of her drink. "Any idea who it is? Just out of curiosity?"

"Nah, Andrew was pretty tight lipped, something about not jinxing something before it became a reality. Now come on, you know how your mother gets when we're late."

Tonks quickly nodded and chugged the rest of her drink. "Right, man I hope dad cooked today."

"Yeah, I love Andi, but honestly the woman could crack a Troll's skull with her rolls."

HP-AP-HP-AP-HP-AP

It was the day of the ball and there was a palpable buzz during breakfast in the Great Hall. There were whispers from everyone and more than a few nervous looking faces, mainly male, possibly not having found a date yet. Harry looked at his group of friends; Andrew and Su were going together, Ron and Lavender, Hermione and a mystery person and He had secured his date with Fleur. The relaxed state of his friends was enjoyable to see.

Apparently, Ron's older brother Bill had decided to splurge and buy Ron some very respectable blue tinted dress robes. His red headed buddy was beyond ecstatic, he had told them how he was worried about his mother sending him robes that his Great Granddad had worn or something similar.

Today would no doubt be filled with verifying meeting spots and organising bathroom times and probably something to do with make-up for the girls... Harry assumed anyway.

There were flutters from the rafters and everyone looked up to see the owl post for the Christmas edition of several media places. Lavender who had been sitting next Ron had gotten a copy of Witch Weekly, and he managed to catch a large section dedicated to him.

Harry Potter speaks up about rumours surrounding brother and disappointment in media!

He had to admit not nearly as catchy as some of Skeeter's headlines but it got the point across. He then turned to Hermione who unwrapped her copy of the Prophet with the headline.

Excitement for the Yule Ball; Potential couples to look out for!

So they hadn't gotten the major scoop most other news outlets had received and he smiled thinking about how upset Skeeter and the editor must be at not having a chance to twist his words to fit the narrative of his brother and their friends.

There was a bit of silence as most people abandoned the Prophet and read the interview from their friends who had other sources of information and he grinned when he saw people wince at some places, he assumed they had read about how he, Andrew and Sirius were more than willing to take legal matters against those who seek to hurt his friends. He had to admit he got a bit of vindictive glee from that.

HP-AP-HP-AP-HP-AP

Unknown to the group of teens, or anyone else, Molly Weasley sat reading her own copy of Witch Weekly and winced when she thought about the howler she had sent to the young Granger girl. She thought back to that time when she had received a letter from a black owl; Andrew's owl with delicate writing on it; it had come from Hermione, informing her that she had read about Howlers and had managed to dispel the letter before it blew up. She promised she would keep it from the others as she didn't want Andrew, Harry or her children upset with her.

The letter went on to say how Hermione was admittedly upset that the Weasley matriarch would except nothing but baseless accusations to heart, so much so that she felt she should attack a child.

Molly had never felt more horrible, and since she hadn't heard anything else from the girl nor her son and his friends, she assumed she really had kept it to herself, and now reading the interview in the Witch Weekly, the elder Weasley realised just how off the mark she had been and how quickly she had reacted before thinking. She just prayed the poor girl would forgive her foolishness and give her a chance to properly apologise for what she had tried to do.

HP-AP-HP-AP-HP-AP

When night finally fell and everyone had gone off to get ready for the night, Gryffindor boys' four years dorm was in an absolute uproar.

"Has anyone seen my watch?!"

"Oi, get a move on we're going to be late meeting our dates!"

"Where the hell are my shoes?"

"Dean! For God's sake, it shouldn't take you this long to brush your teeth!"

"Ow shit! Hey, whose watch did I just sit on?!"

Of course if you compare this pandemonium to the girls' fourth year dorm...

"Pavarti, could you pass me the mascara?"

"Who's still in the shower? I need to dry my hair!"

"Gods, nobody move! I've dropped an earring!"

"Hermione, do you mind if I use your lip gloss?"

"Okay, Lav you can't wear those shoes with that dress, we've been over this!"

"Ow, Bloody- Who's earring did I just step on?!"

… The result is eerily similar. As everyone prepared for the night Andrew and Harry had finally managed to get through the rest of the boys and put their suits on. They spared a glance at the only mirror the boys had access to.

Harry had tried settling his hair but the nest refused to lay still, so he just decided to go with it. In a weird sort of way, he thought it suited him quite well. He thought he looked rather... cool, with the contrast.

Andrew stepped up beside him and had his braided hair up in a loose bun while a few strands fell by his face, they were a bit too short too reach all the way to the back so that he could tie them up. He seemed to fiddle with his sleeves for a bit before deciding he looked well enough. He had to admit, he looked good, maybe he'd invest in some suits in the future.

As the two boys nodded their approval to one another they turned and saw the third member of their male friends; Ron looked great, his dress robes made the gangly looking teen look less lanky, his red hair stood out from his clothes yet didn't clash or make him look silly, in fact it made his hair seem more like a prominent feature.

Andrew whistled when he saw the boy. "Damn, look at you, Garfield. Looking sharp!" he complimented.

"Well, you don't look too bad yourself. We clean up rather well, I'd say."

The Potters chuckled.

"Well, we'd better get a move on, shouldn't we? You meeting Lavender in the common room or near the entry hall?" Harry asked Ron.

"We're headed down together. You guys get moving, you're meeting your dates near the Great Hall yeah? We'll compare dates later tonight." the red head said with a small laugh.

"Great, on that gross note, we'll talk to you later." Andrew said as he and Harry shook their heads and left the common room.

Once they arrived they were met by Cedric who shot the two boys a smile and a nod of his head.

"Potter, Potter. You two are looking good."

"Diggory, you don't look too un-presentable yourself." Andrew responded with a grin.

The three started discussing the tournament, Harry providing an outsiders prospective on the entire affair. The topic soon moved to Quidditch which they all were happy to discuss, they spoke maneuvers and tactics, some reasonably doable, most suicidal.

"No, you two are just too scared to get a scratch." Andrew responded with a playful amount of haughty air.

"I'd love to see you fly upside down and hang off you broom by just your locked ankles for more than a few seconds!" Cedric challenged with a laugh.

"So Ced, who are you here with tonight?" Andrew asked once they calmed down slightly.

"Cho. We've been dating for a little while now." he answered with a soft smile.

"Cho Chang, eh?"

"Don't start." Harry groaned.

"Oh! She told me about that, she thought your constant introduction was cute, by the way." Cedric said with a laugh.

"Please stop." Harry begged.

They were soon joined by the other male champion, who came in wearing what seemed to be traditional Romanian Robes. Krum approached the others and nodded in greeting to Cedric and Harry, his eyes then landed on Andrew and he sneered.

"Potter."

"Krum." Andrew responded with just as much venom as the older student.

"I see you not wearing traditional robes."

"Excellent visual skills you have there, Krum. It's honestly no wonder why you're a seeker for a national team." Andrew answered back sarcastically.

"You disgrace vizard customs."

"And you disgrace us with your lopsided face and guttural voice, but you don't hear me complaining."

"Vatch yourself, Potter."

"Or what, Krum?"

The taller boy took a step towards Andrew, his face marred with an ugly scowl, while Andrew took a step of his own, a grin on his own face.

The two didn't come to blows as Andrew felt a hand on his arm and Cedric stepped between the two of them.

"Guys come on, this whole thing is about fostering friendships between the schools. Let's not do this tonight, yeah?" Cedric asked tiredly.

The two took a step away from each other while maintaining their glare at one another.

"They do this often?" Harry asked in a soft whisper to Hufflepuff.

"They can't be in the same room for more than a few moments before insults fly, Fleur and I have somehow managed to stop it before it came to blows but, there were some close calls."

Harry sighed while shooting his brother a look, he couldn't see.

"And is Andrew always that... antagonistic?"

"Mostly, no. In all honesty, he doesn't like fighting, but we've both dealt with bullies and such in the past. While I tend to walk away or fight when I have to, Andrew goes for anger. He'll insult and provoke someone until they want to fight him."

"Why?" Cedric asked with a frown. "Krum's older and judging by his size, stronger than him."

"It's easier to claim innocence when it's in self defence. That's his... mantra, basically. So I suspect his waiting for Krum to throw the first punch or pull his wand, then he can basically do whatever he wants without killing him, and claim it was in defence."

"That sounds like something a Slytherin would do."

Harry didn't respond and simply kept his eye on his brother to ensure nothing happened. It was then that he heard a gasp from Cedric and turned to see what he was looking at.

At the top of the staircase stood Cho Chang. She was dressed in a beautiful blue traditional Chinese dress. Her hair looked glossed and silky, she wore some arm bands which glittered beautifully against her tanned skin. As she descended the stairs, Harry caught sight of her shoes, open toed and the same colour as her dress. In other words Cho looked amazing.

Once she reached the bottom, she came up to Cedric and gave the boy a peck on his cheek.

"Don't you look handsome?" she asked with a sweet smile.

"You... Cho, you look... wow..."

She giggled at his stuttering. "That was the exact reaction I was hoping for."

She turned to the others and smiled. "You boys are looking good." she said with a friendly smile.

"Thank you." Harry said with a smile of his own.

Krum simply nodded.

"I know." Andrew said with a wink.

"Wow, I hope your date is better looking than you are tonight. Just to douse some of your hubris." Cho responded with a laugh.

The others laughed, sans Krum who grunted and slammed his heels together.

"The fuck?" Andrew muttered when he noticed the uptight Bulgarian looking even more... uptight.

He looked up to the top of the staircase and immediately understood. Hermione had appeared, in a periwinkle dress which flowed out as it reached the bottom. If Andrew had to use one word to describe her in this moment, the word princess was the only thing that would do her any justice.

He watched as Hermione took a calming breath and began walking down the steps she looked around and smiled when she saw him. He felt his brother beside him. They locked eyes once more and the smile which found its way onto his face was one he would not be able to describe for a few more years.

Hermione looked... stunning. Plain and simply stunning. Once she reached the bottom, Andrew was about to move and grab her hand when his vision was blocked by a wide back. It was then that he snapped back to reality. Hermione wasn't his date... she was Krum's?! What the ever loving fuck?! And she didn't tell him?! Why not? Why would she not tell him? Weren't they best friends?

"Andy, calm down. There could be a million reasons why she didn't tell us. Don't make a fuss of it tonight, talk about it tomorrow, yeah?" Andrew turned to his brother who shot him a stern look.

"Yeah, yeah, you're right. I'll calm down." He answered back before taking a breath and calming himself.

"Andrew, you look... wow, you look great." Hermione said as she smiled at him.

The braided hair boy looked up and caught the smug look on Krum's face.

"Don't let him bait you!" Harry screamed in his head.

"Thanks Mione, I have to say. You look beautiful. Really, but it's not like I need to tell you that." he said with a small laugh.

Hermione joined in his little chuckle before Krum whispered something in her ear and she nodded. "We'll talk in a bit, okay?"

Andrew nodded and watched as Krum led her away.

"Well then, that was awkward." Cedric said softly. He was rewarded with an elbow to the side by his own date.

"Monsieur Potter?"

Turning they saw a visage damn near perfection by the Great Doors. Fleur Delacour looked impossibly beautiful in her silvery dress which glittered subtlety in the the glow of the candle light. Harry could literally feel the air leave his lungs.

"That's my date?"

"Err, yeah, yeah she is." Andrew responded just as... honestly shocked. He had gotten used to Fleur, but ever since the first time they met she was just someone with slightly above average looks in his opinion. Not that she wasn't pretty, but he figured it was due to the fact that the allure didn't affect him or his brother.

But right now, in this moment, yeah he could see what those guys were talking about, holy shit. He turned and saw Harry frozen, he shoved a elbow in his brother's side.

"Wha-? Right! Of course." he walked over to her and accepted her hand in his, giving a light kiss on the knuckle, just like he had seen on the old drama's Petunia watched when she was sure they were working.

"Miss Delacour, would it be presumptuous of me to say just how breathtakingly beautiful you are, tonight?"

The young French woman seemed to regard him for a moment before smiling.

"It would not, Monsieur, and I 'ope you do not mind me saying just 'ow 'andsome you look tonight, as well."

"Of course not. Shall we?" he asked while offering his arm. He looked over to Hermione who smiled at him subtly.

"Lets." was her simple response, and the two joined the others.

Once the others all greeted one another, Cedric apparently hadn't run out of witty things to say.

"Then there was one."

"Oh hardy har har." Andrew commented sarcastically.

They didn't have to wait long though as figure made their way around the corner of the staircase. Su stood at the top of the staircase just Hermione and Cho had before her. While Cho looked beautiful and Hermione had caused him to fall into a fantasy he had no urgency to fall into again, Su looked... he didn't even have a word with which he could describe her.

Su wore an elegant dress, black in colour which seemed to fit her body, it was tight enough to show her slight curves but not tight enough to make it impossible to move, it was a modest cocktail dress, with the hem reaching just above her knees.

He just watched and smiled as she got closer, he took a few steps and held out a hand to help her down the remaining few.

"Thanks." she said with a soft smile.

Andrew's mouth opened a few times before closing again as he tried to formulate any words at all to say to her.

"Wow." Harry said from behind them. "I think this is the first time I've seen him speechless." he said with a chuckle.

Su ducked her head while a slight blush graced her cheeks. She looked back up at Andrew who noticed the slight eye liner, she was wearing make up, so subtle he nearly missed it, he had to admit, whatever they put on her face certainly did make her eyes stand out. Andrew felt himself fall into the blacks of her eyes, as if he were lost.

"... would you like to go with me?" he saw himself asking her to the ball again and watched her accept, and when he disappeared around the corner he saw her give a small air punch in celebration, he smiled at that.

"Are you guys going to stare at each other all night or are you going to introduce us?!" Cedric called out.

Andrew blinked as did Su, she looked at him in confusion for a moment and Andrew returned the look before she shook her head slightly and smiled at the others waiting behind him.

After speaking for a few more minutes Professor McGonagall appeared and addressed the champions and their dates. They were about to enter the hall now. They lined up and got ready to get this party started.