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Chapter 11

To Dance Or Not To Dance…That Is The Question

The months passed by like wildfire and bound Harry, Hermione, and Wencia into a tight-knit group. Mika, when not caught up in Quidditch or Head Boy duties, was also a part of the group but for the most part it was just Harry and the girls.

It was during these months that Harry and Hermione found themselves growing ever closer to each other. Harry trusted her immensely now and would often find himself staring at her, just watching her in whatever she was doing. When Hermione turned around to look at him, he'd smile gently and she'd blush before turning back around – but with a small smile.

When Dumbledore announced one night during dinner that there was to be a dance over the Christmas holidays for fourth years and above, the han-akurei's eyes immediately darted to Hermione over at the Gryffindor table. He then tore his gaze from her, when Dumbledore said that it was going to be a backwards dance – that the girls had to ask the guys.

"Jigoku," he breathed as he saw nearly all the Slytherin girls dart their eyes down the table at him.

The month they had left before Christmas holidays was not going to be fun.

Oh no, not at all.

- - -

"So who are you going to ask, Hermione?"

"Hmm?"

Ginevra Weasley, better known as Ginny, huffed and picked up a pillow, hurling it at her friend's head. It bounced off the older girl's head and landed on the edge of her bed before falling off.

"Ginny!"

"You weren't paying attention," said the youngest Weasley, eying her friend. The two of them sat in Hermione's dorm, which was empty of all but them. Hermione was lying on her own bed – and had been happily daydreaming before she was assaulted by a flying pillow – whilst Ginny was perched on Lavender Brown's bed.

"What?" asked Hermione, folding her arms behind her head. Her bushy hair crinkled against her arms and she wished, yet again, that she had more control over the mess.

"Who are you going to ask to the Winter Dance?"

"I don't know."

"Well, I know it won't be Ron," said Ginny. "I mean, you two have never gotten along."

Hermione snorted in agreement, saying, "Even though he thinks we'd be oh-so perfect together."

"Soooo?"

"What?"

Ginny huffed again before shouting, "Who are you going to ask to the Winter Dance, for Merlin's sake? DON'T MAKE ME THROW ANOTHER PILLOW AT YOU!"

"Easy, Gin, easy," said Hermione, sitting up with a grin. She held up her hands in defense and continued, "I don't know."

Brown eyes narrowed at her and the redhead gave another huff.

"Really."

"Yes. Really."

"I don't believe you."

Hermione blinked and asked, "Why not?"

Ginny rolled her eyes then spat, "Well, isn't it obvious, Hermione? Or should I say…Mia-san?"

Hermione went stock still at that, her brown eyes wide on her friend. She then narrowed them and growled, "Just what are you implying, Ginny?"

"You know what I'm implying, Mia-san. Why won't you ask him?"

"He won't want to go with me."

"Hermione! Good Merlin, girl, what are you talking about? He's crazy about you!"

"No, he's not," denied Hermione. Part of her ached at her words and caused her to wince. But it wasn't like she could be with Harry. He wouldn't want some normal girl…

The youngest Weasley sighed and said, "Hermione, he's mad about you. You haven't seen him just sitting there and watching you for hours!"

"Hours?"

"Hours," confirmed Ginny with a smirk. She then leaned towards her friend and said, "Ask him, Hermione. Before he gets mauled by every crazy girl in the school who's got it in her head to ask Harry Potter to the Dance."

The sound of a male voice screaming, "TAAASUUUUUKEEEEEEE!" followed by a crowd of female voices shouting, "COME BACK!" came suddenly through the dorm's open window. Hermione and Ginny looked curiously at each other then flew to the window, peering down onto the grounds below.

There they saw a small dot that – judging from what was shouted – was Harry being chased by a mob of females. The long-limbed seventeen-year-old was far ahead of the mob but they were still behind him and had apparently just begun the chase.

"Oh my," giggled Ginny as Hermione covered her mouth to stop a laugh.

The bushy-haired girl then turned and asked, "Where's your broom?"

"What? Hermione, you hate to fly!"

"Today I'll make an exception," said Hermione. "Now get your broom."

Ginny grinned and snapped her hand up to her temple in a salute.

"Yes, ma'am!"

Hermione glared at her and attempted to shove her but the redhead was already out the door and racing down to her dorm two floors below to get her broom. She was back by the time Harry – and his trailing mob – had reached the Quidditch pitch.

"Here," breathed Ginny, handing the broom to Hermione as she gasped for breath. "Now what?"

"Now you wait here," replied Hermione as she pulled on her winter cloak. She then opened both panes of the window and gingerly climbed up onto the ledge. Crouching, she slid the broom between her legs and took a deep breath, eying the ground several stories below her. She very nearly pulled back but her resolve reset itself and she clenched her jaw.

"I'll be right back," she said before she jumped off the window ledge…and fell.

"Go, girl, go!" shouted Ginny after her, waving her fist in the air.

Hermione didn't really hear the redhead's shout as she was too busy calming herself as she fell towards the ground below. The sea of green came flying up at her and then, with a wrench of the broom handle, she pulled up and was flying level to the ground instead of at it. Gasping at how close she'd come to being a splatter on the ground, she oriented herself then leaned down closer to the handle to pick up speed.

Soaring over the lower bleachers of the pitch, she looked around and found the mob racing down the rows of one of the Slytherin bleachers. Darting her eyes in front of them, she saw nothing. But as they were rushing into the tower…

Hermione gently pulled the broom handle up and felt herself rise. When she was level to the top of the tower, where the teacher's usually sat, she leveled it out again and waited. It wasn't long before Harry staggered up into the top bleachers, his long hair gusted by the winds, and turned back to face whoever would be first to come up after him.

"Harry!"

The han-akurei whirled about and his face broke over with a grin at the sight of Hermione floating there. She grinned back at him then frowned when he jerked towards the stairs.

"Come on!" she shouted, urging the broom forward. "Get on!"

Harry glanced down the stairs then spun and ran towards where Hermione hovered. The girl's rushed into the top of the tower a second later to see the long form of Harry spring up onto the railing surrounding the top bleachers then onto the broom behind Hermione.

"Go, go, go!" hissed Harry the moment he'd landed, his arms swiftly winding themselves about the bushy-haired girl's waist.

"Hang on," said Hermione as she pulled Ginny's broom away from the top bleachers. "I'm not too good at this."

"Then let me fly, oh madam rescuer," said Harry. He leaned as close as her could to her, one arm remaining about her waist whilst the other grasped the broom between her hands.

The broom flew smoothly underneath his guidance and Hermione sank back against him, confident that he would get them safely back to the castle. They rose up into the sky, riding high enough that the tallest tower of Hogwarts was a mile below them. And although she had a fierce fear of heights, Hermione found herself suddenly fearless with Harry seated behind her, his arm warm about her waist.

"Where to, Mia-san?" Harry asked, his breath tickling her ear.

"Gryffindor Tower," replied Hermione. "It should be the only open window."

"You wish a serpent to enter the lion's den? Are you mad, josei?"

"Not yet."

Harry snorted and tightened his arm about her waist, grumbling, "Hikerakashiya."

"What was that?"

"Nothing."

Hermione turned to glare over her shoulder at Harry but only got a wry grin in response. She huffed then shrieked as the han-akurei pushed the broom down into a dive.

"HAREEEEEEEEEEY!"

Laughter sparked by her ear and Hermione screamed on the dive back down towards Hogwarts whilst Harry brashly laughed his head off.

- - -

"I can't believe you did that!" scolded Hermione as she, Harry, and Ginny walked down from Gryffindor Tower. The two girls had managed to sneak Harry out only by a miracle and now the three of them were heading downstairs to get some lunch since none of them had eaten – Harry had tried but the mob had assaulted him before he'd had the chance.

"You know you enjoyed it," said Harry as he smiled down at the bushy-haired girl.

Hermione huffed then stopped when the mob that had been chasing Harry suddenly appeared in front of them. Most of the girl's had grass stains on their skirts and were eying her venomously.

"GET HIM!" shouted the lead girl, who was a sixth year Ravenclaw.

"RUN!" bellowed Harry, shoving the two girls around and back the way they came.

The three of them began playing a cat-and-mouse game then, dashing up and down corridors and stairways trying to lose the mob. But the mob kept on them and finally Harry grabbed the girl's hands and made a run for the one place he knew they'd be safe.

"Why are we going into the dungeons?" asked Ginny as the han-akurei dragged them down one of the hidden (and narrow) stairwells that led into the dark dungeons.

"Because they'll find us anywhere else!" replied Harry. "Now, come on!"

He grabbed their hands again – which he had let go when they'd entered the stairwell – and pulled them down the corridor they'd come out in. Behind them, the mob poured down the stairwell, some of them shouting back to the others to go around the main way.

"Why…won't…they…give…up?" gasped Hermione as she pressed her hand to a stitch on her right side.

"Because they're insane," growled Harry in response. He pulled the two of them behind a tapestry suddenly and then down the dark tunnel that lay behind it. They burst out from behind another tapestry…and found themselves skidding to a stop in front of one Severus Snape.

"Harry?" said the Potions Master in a surprised voice as he saw the teenager. "What in Merlin's name… Miss Granger? Miss Weasley? What's going on?"

"There's a mob of mad girls after me, all attempting to ask me to the Winter Dance," replied Harry.

"Well then," said Snape, a glint coming into his obsidian eyes, "I suppose you should find a girl who won't mob you to go with." His eyes darted to Hermione then and he smirked before bowing and adding, "Please, carry on. If I see your…mob…I shall be sure to scare them out of a few years."

Harry smiled with relief and said, "Thank you, sir." He then grabbed the girl's hands and took three long strides down the corridor, crying, "Myelin! Open!"

"Harry!" exclaimed Godric Gryffindor's little sister. "What in Merlin's name is going on?"

"A mob of girls."

"Ah. A dance. Well, get inside all of you. Severus! You had better make sure those girl's learn their lesson!"

"But of course, m'lady," said Snape, bowing towards the painting as it opened. He then turned and stalked down the corridor in the direction where the sound of pounding feet could be heard.

Harry pushed Hermione and Ginny into his room in front of him then leapt in, jerking Myelin's portrait closed behind him. He then sank down against the wall and gasped, "I never wish to do that again."

"Same here," said Ginny as she and Hermione collapsed into chairs at the table in the center of the room. The redhead then looked around and asked, "Is this your room?"

"Plural," said Harry as he heaved himself up onto his feet. "Rooms. And I don't believe we've met…"

"Oh! Ginny Weasley. And you're Harry Potter."

Harry groaned. "I hate being well-known."

Hermione smiled and reached out to pat his hand as he sat down between the two of them.

"It's just who you are, Harry."

"Yes, famous Harry Potter. I know, Mia-san." He sighed and looked at her as he added, "Doesn't mean I have to like it."

"I never said you did."

"I know."

There was silence for a moment then Ginny coughed and looked pointedly at Hermione, who glared in response. Harry looked curiously at the redhead then turned towards Hermione and blinked.

"Is something going on?"

"No," replied Hermione, frowning at her friend.

"Ask him!" mouthed Ginny.

"No!" mouthed Hermione right back.

Harry slowly leaned back away from the two girl's, very nervous about the looks they were giving each other. And he had the feeling that he – much like the place where he was sitting – was right in the middle of it.

"Um…"

"Harry," said Ginny suddenly, her eyes focused stonily on Hermione, "Hermione would like to know if you'd go with her to the Winter Dance."

"GINNY! HOW DARE YOU? HARRY, I…"

"I'll go."

Hermione blinked and turned to stare at Harry.

"Wh-what?"

"I'll go," repeated Harry. He smiled at her and continued, "I don't mind, Mia-san. Unless, of course, you really want to go with someone else…"

Hermione blinked again and just stared at him before stammering, "Y-you'll go? With me?"

"Hai, Mia-san. Did you think I would refuse?"

"I…I…"

Before she could manage an answer, there was a gentle knock at the door. Harry turned to look at the back of Myelin's portrait then called, "Who's there?"

"Me, boy," snapped Snape's voice in reply. "Come and open this door."

Harry frowned and rose, walking over to push Myelin's portrait open. Snape stood just out of its swinging path, a vein popping out on in forehead in rage.

"What happened?" asked Harry, frowning at his Head of House. "And why didn't you just ask Myelin to open?"

"Because the woman has gone!" snapped the dark professor. He then took a deep breath, trying to calm himself, and added, "And your little mob just got enough points taken from them to leave every House at 5 points."

Harry blinked.

"You took points from all of them?"

"Every single bloody one," replied Snape with a savage smirk. "They won't be bothering you for a while now with the scathing I gave them."

"That's good. And they won't be able to anyway."

Snape's mouth just barely twisted into a smile and he softly said, "Ah-ha…so Miss Granger asked?"

"Actually Ginny asked for her but I think Mia-san was going to ask anyway."

"Ah. A little helping hand."

"Mmm," said Harry, nodding.

Snape chuckled then said, "Very good, Harry, very good. Now I suppose if you all wish, you may make your way up to the Great Hall without the fear of being mobbed."

Harry laughed at that.

"If it's all the same, sensei, I think we'll stay here. A bit safer, in my opinion."

"And mine as well," said Snape. "Very well. You know how to summon the house-elves so I'll leave you and your guests to it."

"Thank you, sir."

"My pleasure."

Harry grinned then eased the portrait closed as Snape turned and began to walk down to his own quarters. The han-akurei turned back to the two girl's who were now his guests and grinned before asking, "What do you two want for lunch?"

"Lunch? Here?" asked Ginny.

Harry nodded.

"Turkey sandwich's," replied the redhead, with a grin.

Harry looked at Hermione then, who shrugged and said, "Those sandwich's sound good."

"Same here," said he-who-was-ordering. He swiftly called up a house-elf and asked kindly for their food and something to drink.

By the time it arrived, the three of them were having fits of giggles listening to Ginny tell stories about her brother's. The two house-elves who brought the food looked at each other then sat their burdens on the table before returning to the kitchen with one thought in their minds – that the wizards and witches in the castle just kept getting odder and odder.

Translations

Jigoku: Hell

Tasuke: Help

Josei: Woman

Hikerakashiya: Smart aleck