Chapter 21
The Yule Ball

"Oh, I hope I look okay," Jamie said, looking at herself in the mirror, "This dress is so last year..."

It was six-forty... about thirty minutes before Jamie had decided that it would be the best time to leave. The walk down to the Great Hall would take twenty minutes itself. Jamie knew she had to be careful with the dress. She didn't want it to tear and ruin her night.

Jamie looked at her dress to see if everything was right. The dress was completely white, and Jamie had matching heels on as well.

"Oh, something is definitely missing here..." Jamie said, twirling in a circle and looking at her reflection.

The door opened and Alice walked in, humming to herself. She had already gotten dressed and was looking very nice. Alice was wearing a dress that was completely pink. Her usual braided hair was now straight and down her back.

"Oh, hey Jamie!" Alice said, finally noticing her, "Wow, that dress looks gorgeous."

"You look nice too, Alice," Jamie said, looking at the reflection of Alice through the mirror.

"Thanks, but I am not finished yet," said Alice opening her trunk, "Where are they? I just put them down... aha! Found them."

Jamie saw Alice take out two corkscrew ear rings from the trunk.

"You want to wear those?" Jamie asked.

"What?" Alice said, looking offended, "They are my lucky ear rings. Besides, I have to look nice for tonight. I want to impress my date, you know."

"Oh, you have a date?" Jamie asked, "Who is the lucky boy?"

"Dawes," Alice said, putting her ear rings on, and looking in the mirror, "He said he was looking for someone to go with. We may be a year apart, but he is really sweet. He is so much different then when you see him on the Pitch."

"Well, I am really happy for you," said Jamie.

"Thanks," Alice said, heading for the door. She opened the door and looked back at Jamie, "Uh, Jamie... have you seen Jane around?"

"No..." Jamie said, rolling her eyes, "Why?"

"Well, you would think she would be getting ready for the Ball, wouldn't you?" Alice asked, "But I haven't seen her for a few hours."

"Maybe she is with Joey," Jamie said, looking at her reflection again.

"No, Joey said he hadn't seen her for a couple of hours," Alice said, "He said he was beginning to wonder if Jane was even interested in going to the ball. Well, if you see her, tell her Joey and I are looking for her."

Jamie nodded. Alice walked out of the room and shut the door. Jamie continued to look into the reflection, but was looking at nothing. Was that what she felt like... nothing? A few hours ago, she had yelled at Jane, who had been her best friend for years, and didn't even care when she heard Jane crying. And now it seemed like Jane wasn't going to even go to the ball.

"Oh, honey," a voice from the mirror said, "Don't worry about how you look. Remember, I see you every day. I think you look grand. Now go on. Quit staring at me and go have fun!"

Jamie smiled and twirled once again, giving herself a final look. When she told herself that she looked fine, she pocketed her wand and walked out of the Dormitory.

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Twenty minutes later, Jamie began to hear the sound of chatter. She reached the steps and realized that the students were just beginning to into the Great Hall. Jamie looked at the bottom of the steps, where Romeo was waiting. Jamie smirked when she saw his jaw drop. She carefully walked down the stairs to Romeo, so that she wouldn't trip. As she reached the bottom step, she offered her hand, which Romeo kissed.

"Holy Merlin, you look gorgeous," Romeo said.

"Do I?" Jamie asked, "I don't really like to wear dresses. They are just... not me."

"Well, if every one of the dresses you own look like this," Romeo said, "You just might have to start wearing them."

Jamie blushed.

"Oh, I have something for you," Romeo said, "Give me your wand arm."

Jamie offered her left arm, and Romeo put a corsage on Jamie's wrist. A red rose was attached to it.

"I was going to choose white, but I knew red was your favorite color," Romeo said.

"It is wonderful," Jamie said.

Romeo took her hand and they walked into the Great Hall. The Hall was beautiful. It had certainly changed from the Great Hall they were usually in for feasts. The Hall had been decorated in complete white, except for the trees which were green and decorated with ornaments and live pixies.

"Hagrid must have had a hard time bringing those things in," Romeo said, "They look like they weigh a ton."

"Uh-huh," Jamie said.

Jamie might have been listening, but she was concentrating on the people around her. How would people react when they saw Jamie with Romeo? It was of course common knowledge that the Potters hated the Malfoys, and the whole school knew it.

"Come on," Romeo said, "I see an empty table. Let's go sit down."

Romeo led Jamie to an empty table in the corner and they both sat down.

"Stay here, Jamie," Romeo said, "I am going to get us a couple drinks. What do you want?"

"Butterbeer is fine," Jamie said.

"All right," said Romeo, "I wil be right back."

Jamie watched Romeo walk through the crowd. She then noticed Joseph, who was alone. Joseph spotted Jamie and walked over to her.

"Man, I thought Jane would be with you," Joseph said, sitting down, "Where in Merlin's world is she?"

"Oh she will be here, Joey," Jamie said, "Don't worry."

"I hope you are right," Joseph said, "Hey... speaking of missing dates. I thought you said you had a date. Where is he?"

"Getting drinks," Jamie said.

"What? Where?" Joseph said, looking over at the refreshment table, "All I see is..."

Joseph's jaw dropped.

"Romeo... Malfoy," he said, "Jamie... is this a joke?"

"Funny, Jane said that too," Jamie said.

Joseph went silent. A minute later Romeo walked back over to Jamie and sat next to her.

"Here you go, Jamie. One butterbeer," Romeo said, handing Jamie the butterbeer. He then looked up and noticed Joseph was sitting with them, "Well, hey Lupin. Where is the Head Girl?"

"I don't really know," Joseph said, "So... it is you, huh?"

Romeo looked from Joseph to Jamie, then back to Joseph. "Yeah, I guess it is me," he said.

"How long has... this... been going on?" Joseph asked.

"A little over three months," Jamie said.

"So this is the reason Jane is so mad at you?" Joseph asked.

"Yeah, it is," a voice said behind Jamie.

Jamie turned around. Jane was standing there, dressed in a light blue gown and was wearing matching heels.

"Oh, finally!" Joseph said, getting up and walking over to Jane, "Where have you been?"

"I got permission from McGonagall to go down to Hogsmeade," said Jane, "I didn't want an old dress to ruin my night. Do you like it?"

"It is great," Joseph said.

"Thanks," Jane said, "Well, let's go find a table. It is getting too crowded over here."

Joseph looked like he was about to talk, but Jane put her hands on her hips.

"Oh... all right," Joseph said.

Jamie watched as Jane and Joseph walked off.

"Jamie, hey..." Romeo said, "Don't let your cousin ruin this night for you."

"She is not the only person I am worried about, Romeo," Jamie said, "I am worried about... oh, no."

"Jamie, what..." Romeo began. He then caught sight of what Jamie was looking at.

James and Richie had walked into the Great Hall. And it was apparent to Jamie that they were looking for her. Suddenly, Jamie was wishing she had her invisibility cloak with her. And she knew she was going to need it. Jamie looked the other way, hoping James and Richie wouldn't see her.

"Oh, what does your brother want?" Romeo said, "He's coming this way... and your cousin is with him."

"James, that is not Jamie," Jamie heard Richie say, "That is... holy Merlin."

Jamie sighed heavily, turned around and faced Richie and James.

"Hi guys," she said.

"You... you and Malfoy?" James sputtered, "When?... why?... how?"

"I believe you left out 'where and what', Potter," Romeo said.

"Romeo, be nice," Jamie said.

"You came to the Yule Ball with Romeo Malfoy?" James said.

"Who else would she come with?" Romeo said, "I am her boyfriend. Come on, Jamie. Let's go outside. It is stuffy in here. The music won't start for a few minutes anyway."

Romeo took Jamie's hand and they walked away from Richie and James, who still had their jaws dropped.

"I can't believe your brother, Jamie," Romeo said as he led her outside the front door of the castle, "I mean... who is he complaining about me? I didn't see him... or Richie... coming with dates. You know, I am actually starting to see why you didn't want to tell anyone. Joseph looks like he might be okay with us, but your cousins and brother..."

Jamie leaned over to Romeo and kissed him.

"What was that for?" Romeo asked after he backed away, "Don't get me wrong... it was nice."

"Romeo, you still remember that promise you made me keep?" Jamie asked.

"Of course," said Romeo.

"Well, now it is your turn to promise me something," Jamie said, "Whatever happens tonight... and I mean, whatever happens tonight, I want you to promise me that it won't affect our relationship. I know my friends aren't the nicest people when it comes to you. But when it comes to you, I don't care about them."

"Don't say that, Jamie," Romeo said, "They are your friends."

"They may be my friends," Jamie said, "But they are still the same people who has spent most of their Hogwarts life making fun of you."

"Sounds like someone I know," said Romeo.

"I had stopped if you don't remember," Jamie said, "I even stopped before we got together. Look, these past few months have been the most wonderful months of my life. All this time I thought you were some snobby kid who was just like his father, and now I know I am wrong. And... I apologize."

"You don't have to apologize, Jamie," Romeo said.

"You still haven't made the promise to me, Romeo," Jamie said, "Whatever happens tonight..."

"Don't worry, Jamie," Romeo said, "You worry too much."

"Romeo..." Jamie said.

"I promise, Jamie," Romeo said.

Jamie smiled and kissed him. As they kissed, Celestina Warbeck's voice could be heard from inside the Great Hall.

"Oh," Romeo said, looking up, "Let's go in... the music is starting."

Romeo grabbed Jamie by the hand and took her back into the castle. They made their way into the Great Hall, where students were beginning to dance.

"So, do you dance?" Jamie asked.

"A little," Romeo said, leading Jamie out to the middle of the floor, "You know, you never told me you were a dancer. I wouldn't have expected that."

"I may be my father's daughter," Jamie said, "But I didn't inherit his two left feet... oh, oh! I love this song. It is one of my Mum's favorite songs. Come on."

Jamie got closer to Romeo and put her arms around his neck. Romeo smirked and grabbed Jamie around the waist.

"You don't care if people stare at us?" Romeo asked.

"I don't care what people think anymore," said Jamie, leaning her head against Romeo's chest, "In fact... in my mind we are the only two here... besides Celestina of course."

"Of course," Romeo said.

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Romeo and Jamie had danced for a few songs, but after a while, they were both getting tired.

"So what are you doing during break, Romeo?" Jamie said, as they sat down at one of the tables.

"Oh, the usual," Romeo said, "Sitting at home on the couch with my mother. She will be talking to herself wondering where my father is. And I will be looking at the empty Christmas tree wondering when we will put the ornaments up. Same thing... different year."

"Oh, that is awful!" Jamie said.

"I am used to it," Romeo said, "What are you going to do?"

"My father and grandfather always has these big Christmas parties," said Jamie, "All the old members of the Order will be there, those who are still alive of course. My whole family will be there... except maybe Uncle Percy. He has only come for Christmas once or twice. He hasn't come back since my grandfather was made Minister of Magic."

Jamie saw the look on Romeo's face. It looked as if he was still looking through his old memories of bad Christmases.

"Oh but the parties aren't that fun," Jamie said, "Two out of three times, my Dad has to leave and bring some criminal in to the Ministry or something. And my grandfather is always meeting with Muggles, trying to get new ways to make his plans work. So I never see him much..."

"It sounds good to me," Romeo said.

"Maybe I could find some way to visit you," Jamie said, "I am not spending Christmas Break without seeing you, you know."

"Oh yeah," Romeo said, "And how are you going to achieve that? Your father doesn't know about us being together. You can't just tell him you are going to go and visit the offspring of his enemy."

"I will find some way," Jamie said.

"Good," Romeo said, leaning in and kissing Jamie.

After the Ball, Jamie said goodbye to Romeo and walked up the stairs. When she reached the Gryffindor Common Room, she ignored the few stares that were coming from her Richie and James and walked up to her dormitory. The moment she walked in, she saw that Jane was laying in her bed, staring at the top of it.

"Oh, Alice isn't back?" Jamie said, noticing that herself and Jane were the only ones in the room.

"She won't be back," Jane said, "She and her father went home early. Her mother went into an early labor."

"Really?" Jamie asked.

"Yeah, but I don't know anymore," Jane said, "Alice was dancing with Dawes, and I heard her father tell her about her mother. Alice said goodbye to Dawes and left the Ball."

"I guess I didn't notice," Jamie said.

"No, you wouldn't have, would you?" Jane said, "You were too busy talking with Malfoy."

"Look, if you don't like me being with Romeo, tell me," Jamie said.

"I don't care who you are with, Jamie," Jane said, "I just wish you would have told me earlier. I would have liked to have known."

"You of all people should know why Romeo and I were keeping this secret from everyone," Jamie said.

Jamie walked over to her bed and took her pajamas from her bedside cupboard. She climbed into bed and closed the curtains.

"Look, if this has anything to do with Uncle Harry..." Jamie heard Jane say.

"It has everything to do with my father, Jane," Jamie said, "Do you realize how he would act if he found out that his daughter was dating the son of his enemy!"

"Oh... that didn't cross my mind," Jane said.

"Well it has been going through my mind every day, Jane," Jamie said, opening the curtains, "Romeo is scared that I am going to get hurt because of his father. He made me promise that I would stay with my father if he heard anything about his."

"You mean he would want you to run away from Hogwarts?" Jane asked, "Jamie..."

"Look, it is something I will have to deal with if it comes," Jamie said, "And if you say that I should just stay away from Romeo for my own safety, you have another thing coming!"

"I wasn't going to say anything like that," Jane said.

"Good," Jamie said, shutting the curtains.

"But your father might say something different," Jane said.

Jamie said nothing. She didn't need Jane to have said that to realize it. Jamie changed into her pajamas, magically hung up her dress and laid her head down on her pillow. If she had to face her father with this problem, then she would. But she knew it would be a while before that time would come.

Alot to think about in this chapter... this chapter pretty much starts the point where every thing falls from here... if you are smart enough to know what that means, you will know what could be coming. But it won't come very soon... if it comes.

The start of Christmas Break at Grimmauld Place (and maybe St. Mungo's) is coming up! More characters from the Harry Potter Books coming into the story... yay!

Do I have to say it? Okay, I will... Feedback greatly appreciated