Professor Snape announced in the Slytherin common room that all Slytherins fourth-year and up were to report to an empty room down the hall in one hour. The school had been buzzing with the news of the Yule Ball since teachers had begun announcing it earlier that day, so they assumed that's what the meeting was about.

When Carina walked in with her friends, Snape was directing the girls to be on once side of the room and the boys on the other. Both sides had chairs lining the walls. Carina and Sylvia sat down in two of the chairs. A record player was sitting on a table near the door. With the students either seated or leaning against the wall if there were no chairs left, Snape faced the room, his black robes swishing about. The room was silent as all eyes were on their Head of House.

"The Yule Ball has been a tradition of the Triwizard Tournament since it's inception," Snape explained, taking slow steps around the room. "On Christmas night, we and our guests gather in the Great Hall. There will be no foolish behavior from any of you. I expect you all to uphold the Slytherin name, lest you face the consequences." He sent a glare to a girl who had been giggling in the corner. The girl stopped, paling and shrinking under his gaze. "To be certain you will not make a fool of yourselves, you will all be taught how to waltz."

The door opened and in walked Karkaroff and the Durmstrangs. "Ah, yes, welcome. Join us." Snape didn't seem too particularly happy they were there, but Carina couldn't figure out if it was because of Karkaroff's presence or because they were late. The Durmstrangs settled in, and with Sofia being the only female Durmstrang that had made the trip, she was the only one who walked over to join the girls.

"Now, as I was saying," Snape resumed, "today you will learn to waltz in preparation for the ball." Snape gestured to Carina and Draco, motioning for them to stand. "Miss Lestrange, Mr. Malfoy, you have both been properly trained in the art. Please demonstrate a proper waltz starting with a bow. The rest of you, especially those of you who weren't raised learning the proper etiquette, watch closely."

Carina stood, her heels clicking against the floor as she walked to the center of the room. Draco met her halfway, stopping in front of her. Snape flicked his wand, starting the music on the record player.

Carina curtsied and Draco bowed then they both stood up straight, reaching the same height and holding their chins high. Draco offered her his hand, and as she took it, he made a goofy face, just like he used to do when they were learning how to dance as kids when it was getting too serious for his liking. She bit her lip, trying not to laugh.

Draco set his right hand on her hip, and Carina placed her left hand on his shoulder. At the appropriate beat, they began their steps.

"One, two, three," Snape counted, so the others could learn. "One, two, three."

Draco raised his hand, twirling Carina in place, then they resumed the steps again. She wished she had worn a flowy skirt that day to accentuate the movement, but her pencil skirt was at least better than pants.

"Please demonstrate a lift," Snape requested.

Setting both hands on Carina's waist, Draco lifted her briefly along with the music then set her back down, gliding into the next steps with ease.

With the final spin, Carina twirled outward, still holding hands with Draco, and they ended with a curtsy and bow. There was polite clapping throughout the room.

"Everyone rise and find a partner," Snape said. "Should you get lost, look to Miss Lestrange and Mr. Malfoy."

For the next hour, Carina and Draco demonstrated the proper waltz to their peers.

When it came to an end, many of the boys hurried out of the room, mortally embarrassed, while many of the girls chatted excitedly about the ball.

"Miss Lestrange, a word?" Snape called before Carina walked out of the room.

Carina hung back, walking over to her Head of House. "Yes, sir?"

"As a champion, you will be expected to open the ball with your dance partner along with the other champions and their partners," Snape explained. "It is a tradition, so be sure to acquire a respectable date for the ball. That is all." He gave her one last look before swooshing out the door.

Carina hadn't wanted to attend the ball alone anyway. Champion or not, she would've been expected to have a date. At least Narcissa had already sent her the finished masterpiece that was Carina's dress.

She wasn't too concerned about finding a date though. The pureblood Slytherin suitors or one of the foreigners who found her attractive or knew of her family would likely come out of the woodwork and do all the work for her. Her mind was more focused on figuring out the egg clue. It wailed every time she opened it, and using a Silencing Charm on it didn't work. Trying to transfigure it did nothing, too. She was tempted to smash it against something.

A few days after the dance lesson, Carina and Sylvia sat in the courtyard, half doing homework and half watching the snow fall. They spotted three Durmstrang boys walk into the courtyard nearby: Lukas, Vasily, and Nik. Vasily and Nik shoved Lukas ahead of them as they walked over to the two girls.

Carina looked at them skeptically, raising an eyebrow and tempted to roll her eyes, while Sylvia smirked and shook her head, knowing what was coming and finding it severely amusing, though Carina didn't find it as amusing.

Lukas conjured a bouquet of flowers and put away his wand right before the three boys stopped in front of Carina and Sylvia. Vasily and Nik stood behind their Scandinavian peer, providing silent support. Lukas smiled, his dark eyes on Carina who sat up straight, waiting patiently for his question.

"Will you go to the ball with me?" Lukas asked with his cute accent and holding out the flowers.

"Yes, I'd like that," Carina answered. Her heart wasn't particularly in it, but she happily took the pretty bouquet, liking the flowers. She had a date, even if he was only nice to look at and not much else. Now, she had to get Sylvia and Adrian dates.

But the following day, Lukas and Carina were walking down a corridor on the seventh floor as she had been giving him a better tour of the castle than Durmstrang had received when they arrived and was doing most of the talking which Carina didn't particularly like, but it was better than uncomfortable silence. She had shown him a few secret passages for traversing the castle faster but not all, only the most commonly used ones, and the tour was coming to an end since they had started in the dungeons and worked their way up.

As they were walking through the Hall of Hexes, they were hit from above by a mass of gold and red-colored paint. Carina gasped at the feeling of cold paint drenching her hair and clothing, but once she fully realized what had happened, her fists closed and her jaw clenched. Her ears caught the sound of footsteps running away.

Fred and George. They hadn't even had the decency to own up to it, instead choosing to run away.

"Are you alright?" Lukas asked, wiping paint off his forehead before it could stream into his eyes.

No, she wasn't. She was shaking with anger. "You'll have to excuse me, Lukas. I have two prats to hex." Carina then stormed off, leaving Lukas behind, paint-covered and confused.

She marched over to the Room of Requirement, slamming the door behind her. George looked up from what he was writing, sitting on the floor with rolls of parchment, an inkwell, and a quill. A cauldron had been set up in front of him and had something boiling in it. Fred, on the other hand, was standing wide-eyed.

"Have you two lost the plot?" Carina asked harshly. A glob of paint flew off her arm when she waved her hand around.

George dropped his quill and held his hands up. "I had nothing to do with it!"

"You weren't supposed to get hit with it, only the Durmstrang," Fred said, trying to reason with her.

Carina turned fully to Fred, pulling out her wand and pointing it at him. "You gormless, barmy, mangy pillock! What the bloody hell warranted this?" She picked up a bunch of her hair squeezing and flicking off a bunch of paint.

"It wasn't for you!" Fred's hands were raised, trying to not seem like a threat so she wouldn't hex him.

"So it was for Lukas? Why?"

Fred pointed at the door with a glare. "He bloody well deserved it."

"By doing what?" Carina demanded to know. "What did he do to you?"

"He's taking you to the ball, isn't he? He and his friends are right proud of that."

Carina took a step back, shaking her head. "What does that have to do with anything? Who I choose to spend my time with is none of your business, Fred Weasley." She huffed, lowering her wand and holding it tight in her fist. "You can be a real git sometimes."

Fred waved his arms around dramatically. "Yeah, that's right. That's me, Fred Weasley. Just the git looking out for the perfect and prestigious Carina Lestrange. Godric forbid I have your best intentions at heart but do you care? No. You keep on living your life with everything handed to you on a silver platter but can't even admit we're friends."

"You know why I can't admit we're friends, you tosser, never mind anything more. Maybe use your head, for once, instead of acting on a whim." Raising her wand again, she pointed it at Fred. "Melofors!" Fred's head was encased in a giant pumpkin, and he stumbled back, regaining his footing so he wouldn't fall at the sudden weight on his shoulders. "Now your face can match your hair."

Carina then stomped out of the room, casting Scourgify on herself in the process to clean off the paint. She had to use the charm multiple times to fully get cleaned.

As she returned to her common room, Carina angrily asked herself, Who does he think he is, interfering in my life?

It was the last week of classes before Winter Break, and Sprout paired George and Carina up in Herbology for a last minute assessment on taking care of the Venomous Tentacula. Sprout didn't want to use the term test since it was less formal than that. She only wanted to see where everyone was at with their studies.

The sixth year students had been paired, Sprout having intermingled the houses as best she could, though it was difficult since Carina was the only Slytherin in the class, and there were only two Ravenclaws. The rest were Gryffindors and Hufflepuffs.

George sat on the stool beside Carina and their assigned Venomous Tentacula plant. Carina had already cast Immobulus on it so it wouldn't attack them as they checked it for weeds or decay and switched out its soil.

For a few minutes, George didn't quite know what to say to her as they hadn't spoken since her spat with Fred. And none of them had returned to the Room of Requirement in order to avoid running into each other. But George was tired of avoiding his friend just because she was on iffy terms with his brother.

"Are you excited for the ball?" George asked quietly as he jotted down notes on the plant's coloring.

"I am," Carina answered at the same level. "I heard Dumbledore has booked the Weird Sisters to play. I'm sure it'll be exciting." She paused, glancing around the greenhouse then back at George. "Did you get a date?"

"Alicia Spinnet, she's a Chaser on the Gryffindor team. Asked her last night."

Carina furrowed her eyebrows, turning to face George fully. "You're not going with Angelina? I would've thought you'd ask her."

George shrugged, trying not to show his dismay and agitation. "Fred asked her before I could."

"He what?"

"Yeah."

Carina shook her head incredulously. She couldn't believe it. George had liked Angelina for at least a whole year. She could see it plainly in their shared Defense Against the Dark Arts class considering he was always trying to impress her.

"Doesn't he know you fancy her?" she asked.

George gave her a blank look. "Fred wouldn't know you like him if you threw a bouquet and chocolates at him and screamed your feelings for everyone to hear."

A blush crept up onto her cheeks, and she ducked her head down, looking at the parchment in on the table. "How long have you known?"

"I started suspecting when you broke up with Cedric and even more so when you two had disappeared alone at that party together, and then I knew for certain when you were arguing about the prank and your date. If it had been a prank only against you, I doubt you would have reacted so poorly."

It didn't help that he had also run away instead of owning up to it straight away. Carina tapped her quill a few times then looked up at George. "Am I that obvious?"

George nudged her with his elbow and offered a small, reassuring smile. "Only when you're together. But if it makes you feel any better, he feels the same. He just won't do anything about it. That's why he tried to prank your date. He can be a git sometimes, but he's still your git."

On Christmas Day, hours before the Yule Ball, the sixth and seventh year Slytherin girls were all getting ready together, helping each other with their hair, makeup, and dresses. The dorm room was a flurry of movement, cursing, and laughing as they prepared for a night of merriment with their dates.

One of the girls braided Carina's hair into a low bun, pinning it with emerald and pearl hair pins and leaving a few curled strands to frame her face. Carina's makeup accentuated her sharp cheekbones and jaw, the silver eyeshadow and black eyeliner brought out her grey-blue eyes, and her dark red lips stood out against everything else. Sylvia painted Carina's nails silver.

The custom-made dress from Narcissa was off-shoulder, emerald green, and floor-length. The chest area was tight and decorated with lace and pearl beading that continued down to her thighs. At the waist, the dress loosened, flaring out the slightest bit and elegantly falling around her legs.

Carina put on the dress, silver stilletos, pearl earrings, and a coiled silver snake necklace that rested gently on her collar-bone around her neck.

Sylvia had three tight braids on the side of her head, pinning the back of her unruly curls up so it would hang over her neck from the opposite side of her head. Her dress was violet chiffon with a v-neck and reached the floor in a straight silhouette. Above her waist sat a sequined gold belt. On the wide straps were gold-colored rhinestones in a waterfall pattern. Her heels glittered gold as well.

As girls finished up, they left in pairs or groups. Carina and Sylvia walked arm in arm out of the room, descending the staircase to the common room. Terence was the first to catch sight of them and started coughing. Adrian slapped him hard on the back as the girls walked over. The boys wore handsome dress robes with ties that matched their partner's dresses while the rest of their robes were black, white, or grey.

"You clean up well," Carina said, straightening Adrian's sapphire blue tie. His date was a Beauxbatons girl. Terence wore a pastel pink tie, and he was taking a Ravenclaw girl. Cassius's tie was a sunset orange. His date was Sofia from Durmstrang. "We should get going. Our dates might worry if we take too long."

Together, the group of Slytherins walked to the entrance hall. The area outside the Great Hall was packed with students waiting to enter. Students went in search of each other if their dates were from different houses.

Sylvia's date, a tall boy from Beauxbatons named Julian that Fleur had introduced her to, had been waiting patiently at the foot of the stairs with Adrian's date, a red-haired girl named Celeste in a blue dress to match Adrian's tie. Terence and Cassius left in search of their dates. Carina didn't see any of the Durmstrang delegation in the entrance hall yet, so she waited with Adrian, Sylvia, and their dates, not telling Cassius Sofia wasn't even in the castle yet.

Nearby, Carina spotted Fred with Angelina. Angelina looked beautiful in a dark purple dress. Carina's jaw clenched as she forced herself to look away from those two. Lee stood by them with Katie Bell, a fifth-year Gryffindor, and they were lively chatting and laughing. George and Alicia were making pleasant conversation, but neither seemed into each other in more than a friendly sense. It probably didn't help that Alicia had dated Fred at one point. Carina felt bad for them.

Then the oak front doors opened, and in walked the Durmstrang students with Professor Karkaroff. Before Carina began making her way over to Lukas, she heard Professor McGonagall's voice call out, "Champions over here, please!"

Lukas and Carina met up where McGonagall was. Harry's date was fourth-year Gryffindor Parvati Patil in a beautiful pink lehenga with her hair plate braided with gold. Fleur was dressed in silver-grey satin, and on her arm was Roger Davies, sixth year Ravenclaw. On Krum's arm was Hermione. Carina's jaw dropped at Hermione's transformation. The usual bushy-haired girl had her hair sleek and shiny, and she wore a periwinkle dress. She barely looked like herself.

McGonagall told them to wait off to the side of the Great Hall while the rest of the students entered. The doors opened, allowing everyone but the champions to enter.

When all the students had entered and settled, McGonagall had the champions and their dates line up behind her. Carina stood behind Fleur, their dates on their right. Hermione and Krum were behind Carina and Lukas, and Parvati and Harry took up the rear.

McGonagall led them inside to the table at the head of the Great Hall where the judges sat, though instead of Mr. Crouch, he had sent his assistant, Percy Weasley. Harry and Parvati sat beside Percy. Across from Harry sat Hermione and Krum. Lukas sat between Krum and Carina. Fleur sat next to Carina with Roger on her other side.

Then the feast began. The Hall filled with idle chatter as everyone ate. Carina quickly found herself bored. While she found Lukas incredibly attractive, his chat was so boring and bland even with his cute accent. She found herself more amused at Fleur complaining about the decorations and Hermione trying to teach Krum how to correctly say her name when she would usually be annoyed in any other circumstance.

Until finally, it was time for the dance to began. Despite being forced to learn as a child, Carina did like to dance. It felt freeing. The Weird Sisters had set up on stage and played a slow tune. The champions and their dates led the first dance.

Carina spent most of her time dancing with Lukas, but she did dance with Draco and Cedric once and Adrian twice. The more she danced, the more she avoided conversation. But eventually, her feet began to hurt, so she told Lukas she was going to take a break and he went off in search of his friends to see how they were doing. Carina didn't care.

Before the ball, she had only had so many conversations with the bloke that she hadn't realized how boring he was since she had done most of the talking or was focusing on his cute accent. It didn't help that her heels made her taller than him, and she wasn't really into that. She was a decently tall girl that loved heels, preferring her partner to be of equal height or taller. Carina was tempted to shag Lukas to get it out of her system then toss him aside and move on but at the same time did not want to give him the satisfaction.

She peeled off her heels as she left the Great Hall, needing some air and less noise. Wandering into one of the secret passages nearby, she was finally alone, or so she thought.

"Rina?"

Carina snapped her head towards the noise. The passage was pitch black when the portrait that opened to it closed behind her. Lifting up the skirt of her dress, she pulled her wand from the holster on her calf and nonverbally cast Lumos.

A few feet away was Fred leaning against the wall of the passage. He raised his hand to block the bright light. "Sorry," she muttered, lowering her wand so the light wasn't blinding him. "What are you doing in here?"

"Hiding," he answered simply with a shrug. "Needed somewhere without so many people."

"Right, I'll just, uh, go then." Carina moved to push out the portrait.

Fred kicked off the wall and held out his hand for her to stop. "No, wait, it's alright. . . Having company isn't so bad."

Carina nodded, her hand falling back to her side. She dropped her heels on the floor and leaned on the wall. She sighed, relieved to finally be away from the crowd, and rested her head back.

Fred leaned on the wall across from her, watching. "Are you alright?" he asked quietly.

"Just tired of all the people. It's a little too much to bear sometimes."

He gently nudged her foot with his, knowing that wasn't all that was on her mind. "And?"

"Listening to Lukas talk is like watching paint dry," Carina said deadpan. Fred let out a sharp laugh and shook his head. She joined in with his laughter. "He's so boring, I want to pull my hair out."

"Don't do that," Fred said, his laugh dwindling and leaving a smile behind. "It's beautiful, er, the dress is. . . uh, you're. . . You're beautiful." He felt like a right git, stammering about like that.

"Thank you." She could feel her skin warming up and shifted her weight between her feet, a small smile pulling at her lips. Fred awkwardly rubbed his arm, looking away from her, just as awkward as she felt. "You look handsome."

His eyebrows skyrocketed and his eyes widened as he looked up at her, then he cleared his throat, straightening out his expression and nodding. "Better looking than George, as always." She laughed along with him. "But thank you." He felt a budding sense of pride in his chest but didn't show it on his face except for a slight grin.

Silence spread between them for a few moments as they both thought of what to say to each other. Then they both looked up and said each other's names.

"Sorry, you go first," Fred said, gesturing to her.

Carina took in a deep breath. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry for jinxing you and yelling at you. You didn't deserve it."

Fred shook his head, looking earnest. "You don't need to be sorry. You were right. I had no right to interfere in your life. I'm sorry for dropping paint on you and for what I said after. I swear it was meant for the Durmstrang. I lost concentration and dropped it early by accident. But even then, I shouldn't have decided to prank him."

Carina had a sneaking suspicion George had gotten on his case about the prank.

"Why did you?" she asked. "It wasn't just because he asked me to the ball, was it?"

He lowered his head, shaking it as he averted his gaze. "No, it wasn't. I would've been tempted to regardless, but. . . I heard him talking to his mates the day before about wanting to shag you. And it wasn't in a good way if there even is a good way to talk about that." Fred wrung his hands. For once, he looked sheepish. It wasn't often that he was serious about anything, so that's how Carina knew he was for certain telling the truth.

"If I'm being honest," Carina said, leaning forward at her waist, "that was the only reason I was interested in him anyway, but he's duller than Professor Binns which I didn't realize until tonight. I was super excited about tonight, too. I love dancing, but it felt like a chore dancing so I wouldn't have to talk to him."

Fred kicked the ground. "Guess I should've just let him dig his own hole then, huh?"

"Maybe, yeah." Carina watched him pick his pretty brown eyes up and look at her. "And maybe just tell me when you're worried?"

"Alright, yeah. I can do that."

Overcome with an urge, Carina pushed herself off the wall, took a few steps forward, and placed a kiss on Fred's cheek, having to go up on her toes to reach. She then wrapped her arms around his waist. "Thank you, Freddie. For everything."

He hugged her back, setting his head on top of hers. "I'd do anything for you, Rina. Even if it's utterly stupid and not thought out well."

They hadn't ever really hugged before. Any hug had been in passing or just him slinging his arm over her shoulders, except for the time at the World Cup when she sought his comfort. While they stood there in the passageway, she felt safe in his arms tucked under his chin. She smelled a faint hint of smoke that was likely from him setting off a firework or from a potion exploding while he and George were experimenting. It was so very him.

"You could slip him one of your Canary Creams," she mumbled in his chest. "I'll pay for it. Seven sickles, right?"

His deep chuckle reverberated in his chest. "You're not paying even a single knut for anything we make, Rina."

"As long as I can still buy your potion ingredients then because there is no way I won't compensate you somehow. You've both worked too hard for everything."

"Deal."

When Carina began to pull out of the hug, she paused when she looked up at Fred. Fred's eyes were solely focused on her in the dimly lit passage. Her stomach knotted together and her heart began to race. She wanted to kiss him. She had never wanted to do anything else more than her wanting to kiss him at that moment.

His lips parted and he whispered, "Rina?"

"Yeah?"

"Don't hex me."

Carina wanted to ask him why but didn't get the chance to ask as Fred leaned down, pushing his lips against hers. Her response was almost immediate. She dropped her wand, freeing her hands to bring them up to his hair. His hands gripped her waist tight as their lips melded together. Her lips burned at the contact, his touch sending her skin ablaze.

As Fred pulled back, he set his forehead on hers. "You have no idea how long I've wanted to do that."

"I can imagine," she muttered against his lips before kissing him again.