Chapter Sixty-Eight: Speaking Up
I think this is one of my favorite chapter so far. Really cute father figure/daughter moment coming up with Severus and Hermione. :)
As Ginny went after him Severus and Sarah followed shortly along behind them. While Harry sobbed inside the hallway Sarah got her letter out of her pocket. "So I'm guessing this means that you got the same letter that we did." She said as Harry turned his head over to look at her and nodded silently.
"She's only seven years old." He pointed out. "She hasn't even entered Hogwarts yet."
"I know Harry, but this is in God's hands now." Severus told him before Sarah started singing a muggle song that her mother was rather fond of called "The Streets of Heaven" and apparently Ginny knew it too because halfway through she decided to join in with her.
"Wow." Severus began. "I haven't heard talent like that since Rachel McAdams." He told them.
"Rachel who?" Sarah wondered while looking up at him with uncertainty.
"Oh she's a famous singer that Ron is totally obsessed with." Ginny told her.
"And if I recall she was in my house back when she was still attending Hogwarts." Severus began. "Anyways, if I do say that Mr. Weasley probably has much of a thing for her as you do Aaron Parker." He told her and that's when Ginny's cheeks went pink before they started walking back to the Great Hall together.
While Harry sniffed and wiped his nose on the back of his hand his father pulled him into a tight hug. "It'll be alright Son. We'll get through this together I promise." He reassured him as Harry looked up at him and nodded.
"I know." He told him and then followed the girls back into the Great Hall where Ron was holding up some old-fashioned dress robes.
"Ginny, this must be for you." He told her but she just made a face of disgust.
"I'm not wearing that that's ghastly." She told him before Severus let out a chuckle.
"I don't think they're for your sister Mr. Weasley." He began. "I do believe that they're for you." He finished when suddenly horror struck Ron's face.
"What!?" He squeaked.
"They're dress robes for the upcoming Yule Ball." Severus told him.
"That suspiciously sounds like a dance." Harry said as Sarah widened her eyes in mock amazement.
"By Jove I think you cracked the code and solved the case Detective!" She exclaimed while Harry just rolled his eyes.
"I don't dance." He told her.
"Sorry, but I'm afraid that you won't have a choice. All the Triwizard champions will be required to participate." His father told him.
"And what about the rest of us?" Ron wondered.
"Well you won't have to go, but it's either that or studying." Severus told him.
"Will I be able to go to the ball?" Sarah wondered.
"Sorry Princess, but it's only open to fourth years and above. I mean if an older student asks a younger student, then it's alright, but you're a bit too young for it anyways since you're not even a teenager yet." He pointed out.
"Damn it, it's totally unfair." She said while she looked to the ground and as her father warned her not to use that kind of language or it'll cost her house points and detention Harry started thinking quietly to himself. If he had to go anyways, then this could be his chance to ask Cho Chang out on a date. As if Ron had suddenly been reading his thoughts, he turned to him.
"So Harry, is there anybody you would like to go with then?" He wondered.
"Yeah." He replied while Hermione turned her head to look over at the Slytherin table.
"What about you Hermione?" He wondered but she continued staring into space. "Earth to Hermione Granger." He said while waving his hand in front of her face and she quickly snapped to be reality and looked over at him.
"Oh no. I don't want to go with anyone." She lied. "I think I'll just catch up on some reading." She told him before she quickly hurried out of the room.
"That was awkward." Ginny said while Severus continued watching her leave.
"I'll be right back. I'm going to have a word with her." He told them before he followed Hermione out into the courtyard. He spotted Hermione sitting on top of the bench and stood out in front of her. "Mind if I join you?" He wondered and she silently just nodded before he sat down beside her. "It certainly is a beautiful day." He began. "So, that begs the question what could possibly be troubling you on a day like this?" He asked her as he turned his head over to look at her.
"I lied. There is somebody that I want to go to the ball with." She told him.
"Oh I see. And this certain somebody wouldn't happen to be Draco Malfoy would it?" He questioned her before she blushed beet red.
"Is it really that obvious?" She asked him before he let out a laugh.
"Trust me, I have a twelve-year-old daughter. I've seen that look before in the way you look at him. So here's just an idea, why don't you ask him to the ball?" He wondered and that's when a look of complete and utter shock, horror, and bewilderment hit her face while she looked up at him.
"Are you joking!? I'd totally be humiliated." She told him but he simply just shrugged.
"You never know, he might say yes." He replied before she turned her head away from him and tears silently rolled down her cheeks.
"No he won't. He's embarrassed to be seen with me in public because I'm a muggleborn." She replied with a sniff. "I know because that's what he told me at the Qudditch World Cup. That's why we didn't sit together." She told him with another sniff while glancing down at the ground.
"Child, you really should just tell him how you feel. Take it from somebody who knows. I might be married to the woman I love now, but I could have been for a longer period if I had just spoken up. Besides, is this the same Hermione Granger who stood up to a mountain troll, solved the mystery of the Chamber of Secrets and helped go back in time and save an innocent man from being killed? And now you won't even have enough guts to ask a boy you like to the ball?" He wondered before he just simply shook his head at her. "I thought I knew you better than that." He told her.
"You really think I should ask him?" She wondered.
"Well if you don't how will you ever find out the outcome?" He questioned her while he got to his feet. "How did you go from an irritating know-it-all to being a beautiful lady and somebody that I actually feel affection for and want to adopt myself?" He asked her before she let out a giggle.
"I don't know, I already have parents." She told him while smiling through her tears.
"True, but just like Harry already found out. You can have more than two." He told her. "Don't make the same mistakes I did." He told her while putting his arm around her and hugging her tightly and kissing the top of her head softly before he walked back inside the castle.
