All characters are property of JK Rowling and I do not make a profit from this story.
Beta: Roman's Sundial
Chapter Thirteen: The Second Yule Ball
Draco Malfoy – Present Day
November 20, 1999
Wow, he thought, she was absolutely beautiful. Hermione had arrived outside of the Slytherin common room to pick up Draco for the Ball. She was wearing a long, tight (Merlin help him) black, sleeveless dress that hugged her in all the right places. Her usual bushy hair was now tamed, with several loose curls going down to the middle of her back.
"Ready?" she asked him. He nodded, still too stunned to speak. He followed her towards the main hall, watching the way she moved in her marvelous outfit. "You're very quiet today," she said to him.
"Just wondering who my date is," he lied to her.
"You'll see. We got ready together you know, she looks marvelous." There was a mischievous look on her face and Draco wondered what was in store for him. They entered the front entrance where everyone had started to gather, waiting for the doors that led to the Ball to open. The pair stood near the marble staircase, waiting for their dates. Any one coming from Durmstrang and Beauxbatons had been put on a list and was checked in by Filch at the apparating point before being allowed to enter the castle. "Oh, here comes your date!" Hermione said happily. Draco turned and watched a short blonde walk down the stairs towards them.
"You're joking? Lovegood?" he asked incredulously. Well, at least she looks normal today, he thought to himself. Luna Lovegood walked towards him. She had her long blonde hair down in waves, and was wearing a short silvery dress that was tight at the top and puffed out around the hips.
"Hello, Draco, hello, Hermione!" she said dreamily.
"Hello, Luna, thank you so much for agreeing to this!" Hermione said enthusiastically.
"No problem, I'm sure Draco and I are going to have a great time, aren't we?" she smiled over at Draco. When he didn't respond, she continued, "Take my arm, Draco, that's what a good date would do." Hermione couldn't contain her laughter.
"I'll get you for this, Granger," he whispered to her. She chuckled but didn't reply.
"Oh look, there's Viktor," Luna said, staring towards the open front doors where Viktor Krum was walking in. Draco watched Hermione's smile falter; he wondered what was up with her.
"Hello, love," she said as she tiptoed to kiss her boyfriend hello.
"Hermione, you look immaculate," he said, looking her over from head to toe.
"Hello, I don't think we have properly met, I am Luna Lovegood," said Luna, extending her hand and giggling when Viktor kissed it.
"The pleasure is mine, Luna," he said, before slightly glancing toward Draco. "And I thank you for vatching him tonight," he said, nodding towards Draco.
Draco rolled his eyes. "Hello, Krum," he said, extending his hand. Viktor shook the extended hand firmly.
"I am looking forward to tonight vith my beautiful girlfriend. She deserves time away from her babysitting duties."
Draco squeezed his hand a little tighter. "Jealous, Krum?"
Hermione instantly picked up on the tension building up between the pair. "Oh, look, there's Harry!" she said, trying to distract the men.
"Hey," said Harry, as he joined the group. The five of them made small talk for a short while, and it wasn't long before the doors to the Ball finally opened. Draco took a deep breath and slightly reluctantly, took the arm of Luna and joined the queue to enter their second Yule Ball.
Harry Potter – Present Day
November 20, 1999
Harry stood to the side and allowed everyone to enter the Ball ahead of him. He knew that he and Ginny were having problems, but was she really going to stay away? Almost everyone had entered the Ball except for a few stragglers waiting on dates, and Harry was running out of excuses for standing there on his own. Defeated, he turned to enter the Ball, but from the corner of his eye he saw the most stunning image he had ever seen. Ginny descended the marble staircase in the tallest, blackest heels she owned. Her black hair was down and curly, and almost gave her a Slytherin look. What was completely mesmerizing, however, was the very short and very tight red dress that she was wearing. She walked towards him without saying a word.
"Red looks fantastic on you," he said, wondering how much could be seen if she were to bend down. Ginny smirked but said nothing, grabbing his arm and leading him into the Ball. They joined their friends at their designated table of eight. Harry held out Ginny's chair for her as she sat on Viktor's right. Across from Viktor and Hermione sat the odd couple of Draco and Luna. Harry took his seat next to Ginny, staring at the empty seats across from him that should have seated Ron and Jessica. "Where's Ron and Jessica?" Harry asked the table. Nobody knew where they were, however, and before someone offered to get their galleon and find out, dinner was served and they focused instead on their empty stomachs. Half way through their delicious meal of turkey, ribs, steak, mashed potatoes, yam, rice, salad, and a few other things that Harry had never heard of, Ron and Jessica finally made it to their table.
"Sorry we are late," Ron said to the table as he held Jessica's chair out. "We had to travel here the muggle way." Ron, of course, dove right into his meal, never missing out on food, and frowning at the fact that there was no chicken being served. Dessert had followed of course and after filling up on pumpkin pie and two helpings of treacle tart, Harry couldn't eat another bite. There wasn't much conversation happening at his table. Ron was still mad at him, as was Ginny, so neither of them were talking to him. There seemed to be tension between Malfoy and Krum so there was no conversation there, either. Harry tried his best to get the table more involved.
"How's quidditch going, Viktor?" he asked the man to Hermione's right.
"Vonderful as always, Bulgaria is in first place."
"What's quidditch?" asked Jessica.
"It's a sport played on broomsticks. I play on the school team, but Viktor plays professionally," Ron told her.
"Harry and Draco play on the school team as well," Luna chimed in. "But against each other." The conversation remained as dull and soon, Harry found himself wondering when he could leave. It wasn't long before the dance floor was open and Viktor was on his feet.
"Shall ve?" he asked, his arm extended to Hermione. She smiled as she grabbed his hand.
"Draco, Luna, join us please!" she asked them.
Luna stood but Draco didn't move. "I don't want to dance," he told her.
"She told you to dance," Viktor said rudely. "Listen to the one who is in charge." Draco's eyes were shooting daggers at Viktor, but he grabbed Luna's hand and followed Viktor and Hermione to the dance floor.
Harry looked over at Ginny. "I don't suppose...?"
"Let's go," she said, standing up and heading towards the dance floor. They danced silently for a while until Harry could no longer stand it.
"Are you going to talk to me?" he asked her.
"Are you going to induct me?" she asked in return.
"Can we not talk about that and just have a good time?" he said angrily.
"Ginny shrugged. "I am having a good time." There was more silence until Ginny decided to break it. "You didn't think I would come, did you?"
"No, I didn't."
"I'm still your girlfriend, Harry."
"Then why are you acting this way?"
"You know why. You have whatever stupid reason to keep me from the Order, but to not tell me about George?"
"How do you know about...?" Harry was stunned.
"That doesn't matter, what matters is that nobody decided to tell me!"
"Where's my invisibility cloak?" Harry asked angrily.
"It's safe."
"I want it back."
"You'll get it back when I'm done with it."
"Ginny!"
Ginny let go of Harry and started to walk towards the exit. "You're not making decisions for me anymore, Harry." And with that, she turned and walked out of the Ball.
Ron Weasley – Present Day
November 20, 1999
"Are you enjoying yourself?" Ron asked Jessica.
She shrugged. "I guess, but I can't get Amelia out of my mind. What if there's a change?"
"Then Mum would owl me. Come on, let's dance, you need to get your mind off of stuff." The pair of them hit the dance floor but not much dancing was done. Perhaps because Jessica's mind was elsewhere and also because Ron hated dancing, the pair mostly rocked back and forth and watched the people around them instead.
"Look at how he's dancing," Jessica laughed, pointing at Seamus shaking his body and hopping around.
"How about her?" Ron said, pointing to a young Slytherin girl who had her head tilted to the side and was swinging her arms down low. The pair continued to laugh at other students to the point that they were no longer dancing themselves, but instead walking around and inconspicuously pointing. Jessica stopped near a pair dancing toward the centre of the dance floor.
"Wow, look at her," she breathed. Ron turned his head and looked at who Jessica was referring to. She was tall and beautiful. Her long white blonde hair hang in loose curls past her mid back. She wore a white-silvery gown that flowed around her legs. The dress was tight around her bodice and emanated a beautiful glow. Goodness, Essa truly was beautiful. Ron snapped out of it very quickly, however, grabbed Jessica's hand, and stormed out of the room.
"What the heck, Ron!" Jessica said, pulling her arm free when they reached the main entrance.
"Who was she with, did you see?"
"No, he had his head down on her shoulder. Why, who is she?"
Ron was taking deep breaths, trying to calm his anger. "My ex," he said.
Jessica's voice faltered. "You're that upset about seeing your ex?" she asked sadly.
Ron looked at Jessica; clearly she misunderstood his anger. "My ex doesn't go to Hogwarts, she goes to another wizarding school, Beauxbatons. The rule is if you want to attend and you aren't from Hogwarts, you can only do so if you go with someone from here."
"Okay?" Jessica said, not understanding.
Ron sighed. "Nobody knows Essa and I broke up, I told you, it was recent, remember? I don't care that she's here with someone, I care that someone would take her when in their mind, she is still my girlfriend." There was some truth to what Ron was saying to her. Clearly, someone was stabbing him in the back, but what bothered him more was the fact that Essa chose to go with another Hogwarts student. Before Ron could find out who that student was, he felt his pocket grow hot. He took out his galleon to see Ginny's serial number appear. Why would she be messaging him, wasn't she just inside the Ball?
Get to St. Mungo's, now.
"Why are you staring at a coin?" Jessica asked him, trying to grab it from him.
He pocketed the galleon immediately. "We have to go; Now. I think it's Amelia."
Harry Potter – The Past
May 4, 1998
Fred's funeral had quite a large turnout. He expected there to be less people as many had lost loved ones in the battle and had their own funerals to attend do, but it seemed as if all of Hogwarts had come to pay their final respects to Fred. Similar to the only other funeral Harry had attended, which was Dumbledore's in his sixth year, Fred's body had been laid in a tomb at the front of a very large gathering at his Auntie Muriel's. Harry had learned that Muriel owned the most property and every Weasley that had passed on was buried on one of her lands. In front of Fred's tomb, there were rows upon rows of folding chairs, and every seat had been filled. The front row consisted of all the Weasley's and Harry, the latter being forced there by a distraught Mrs. Weasley. Fred's father, Arthur Weasley, had been the first to face the large group and say his eulogy.
"A parent should never have to bury their child," he started. Yeah, thought Harry, a parent truly should not, and that child should not have died because of him. He had only picked up on pieces of what Mr. Weasley was saying, as his thoughts were elsewhere. They were indeed on Fred, but mostly on how it was his, Harry's, fault, that he was dead. He hadn't realized that Mr. Weasley had stepped down and Mrs. Weasley was now approaching the podium. She stood there for quite some time fumbling with a piece of parchment, probably the eulogy that she had written, but after a few moments she shook her head and sat down, crying too hard to present her eulogy.
Bill took her place at the podium and presented his own eulogy. "I have many brothers, but none are like Fred." Harry sat and watched Bill, followed, by Charlie, followed by Percy. All three brothers presented beautiful memories of their late brother and guilt pulled at Harry more and more at each word said.
"I should have never told a joke, Fred knows I don't joke. I distracted him and now he is gone. I will never tell a joke again," Percy finished, and he sat down next to his mother, tears splashing down his face.
Harry was almost doubled over in pain. Percy was blaming himself for Fred's death even though it was not fault. He looked up at the podium and held his breath as he saw that it was George's turn next.
"Fred was my brother, my twin, and my best friend. We wouldn't have the success that we do if not for him. I was the good looking one," he chuckled, and many followed suit, "but he was the brains. Fred was..." he swallowed, trying hard to continue. "Fred was... He was..." George couldn't finish. Not realizing what he was doing, Harry stood up and went immediately to George.
"I'm sorry," he whispered to him, but George shook him off and stormed away. Harry made to walk back to his seat, but Mr. Weasley stopped him.
"It's okay, son," he said to Harry. "You may go ahead and deliver your eulogy now."
His eulogy? He hadn't planned to deliver one. He stood at the podium dumb-struck, staring out at all of Fred's family and friends. What could he possibly say to all these people about the person who died thanks to him?
Author's Notes: Okay, I get it, you hate Harry's treatment of Ginny right now, lol! You have my word that this will change, I promise! (By the way, those of you inboxing me, please feel free to review as well!) For the current readers who hate Harry right now, I think you'll appreciate chapter nineteen! Also, in terms of the Weasleys, you need to remember that Molly Weasley has never been okay with her children being a part of the Order. If you remember in JK's HP and the Order of the Phoenix, she doesn't even want Fred and George to join, even though they are of age. With that said, I think that explains why she is okay with Harry choosing to leave Ginny out of the Order, probably very grateful, actually. The story is going to take an interesting turn right around Christmas, so keep an eye on the dates!