"It's got to be you, Granger, and She-Weasley," Draco said, keeping his voice low, even though Potter and Granger were on the complete other side of the paddock; Granger's Skrewt had seemed to sense a chance at freedom and taken off with her barely holding on. Potter and Hagrid were doing their best to help her. He and Weasley would have been over there too, but they had their own Skrewt to deal with.
"Ginny can't," Weasley said distractedly, "she's only a third year."
"What?" Comprehension dawned. "No, not the-" Draco shook his head, exasperated; the Yule Ball had been announced two nights earlier, and Weasley had been quiet, and strangely preoccupied since. Granger was excited but between Weasley's strange mood, Draco's utter lack of interest in the whole affair, and Potter seeming to view it as an unofficial fifth task he'd have to grit his teeth and get through, she hadn't able to instigate much genuinely interested conversation about it and tended to save it for when she was around other people. "For the task," Draco said.
"Oh." Weasley nodded and twisted out of the way of their Skrewt, which had begun to eye his shoes with unnerving intent. "Yeah, right, well, Hermione's a given. Harry'd be stupid not to take her with him." He glanced across the paddock, where, as if to prove his point, Granger had her wand out and had used it quite successfully to subdue her errant charge. Harry was holding his wand like he wanted to hex it, and was giving Hagrid a genuine but rather pained smile. "And Ginny sort of has to, because she's the only one young enough to fit with Hermione and one of us-"
"With you," Draco said. "I've decided." Weasley frowned. Draco matched his expression, suddenly uncertain. "Do you not want to-"
"'course I do!" Weasley said, then sagged a little. "I just- This is about getting Harry through, right? So if you're the better choice, it should be you."
"In what world am I the better choice?" Draco asked, nudging the sinisterly curious Skrewt away with his foot. He glanced around again, but the nearest people to them were Longbottom and Finnegan, who were trying to coax their wrestling Skrewts apart. "I'm compromised, remember?"
"You're not really, though," Weasley said patiently. "We know whose side you're on, and anything you do that makes it look otherwise is just to pass a test-"
"And where better to test my loyalty than in a very public arena?" Draco snapped. He'd discussed it with Severus the night before, at the conclusion of his Occlumency lesson. It had not been a fun conversation.
"He wouldn't have you do anything obvious, though," Weasley said. "Would he? He'd probably just want information again-"
"Possibly. Severus thought it unlikely I'd be asked to sabotage Potter directly." Draco couldn't quite meet Weasley's eye. "But who's to say he wouldn't ask me to sabotage one of the others? Confund them, or 'accidentally' have them take a fall, or trip into the path of a spell or some sort of dangerous creature."
"When you say others, do you mean the other Champions, or do you mean Ginny and Hermione-?" Weasley glanced over his shoulder.
"I mean anyone in the arena that's not Potter," Draco said tiredly.
There was a pause, silent but for the sounds of their struggling classmates, and their Skrewt tearing at the grassy ground.
"Would you?" Weasley asked eventually, looking a little pale under his freckles.
"I don't know," Draco said, voice coming out smaller than he'd intended. "If I knew it'd kill them, then of course not, but- if they were going to come out of it with a bruise and no lasting damage…? Probably." He wasn't proud of it, but he'd made his peace with it with Severus last night… sort of. "But how can I guarantee that's the case? And where do I draw the line? If a bruise is okay, is a cut? Is a sprain, a fracture, a break? What about causing them pain?" Weasley's expression tightened a bit at that - he knew pain. "Emotional distress-"
"You're making me emotionally distressed." Draco didn't know if Weasley was trying to be funny, or just being honest.
"Good," Draco said. "You and I both, now."
"I did say we were in this together," Weasley muttered, and sighed. Then, he scooted out of the way of their Skrewt's lashing tail. "Blimey." Draco wasn't sure if he'd said that last in response to their unpleasant charge, or to Draco's situation. "Okay, so we keep you out. What do we tell Harry?"
As it turned out, they didn't tell Harry anything. Malfoy told Harry, as well as Hermione and Ginny that it ought to be Ron going in with him.
"I've been thinking about it-" Malfoy's voice was low, though Ron thought the chances of anyone hearing him over the dinner-time noise was slim; further down the table, Fred and George were cackling at something Lee had said, and Fleur Delacour was shoving her very short hair back behind her ears, and irritatedly proclaiming that it would take weeks to grow back to its original length. "-and I think I'm the one who should sit out. Granger's got to go, obviously, and out of the two of us, Weasley's the better choice. He's a better duellist than I am, has a good head for strategy, he knows the wizarding world in an intrinsic way that you two-" He gestured at Harry and Hermione. "-just don't - no offence. And he knows all sorts of useful little spells thanks to his extracurricular studies."
Harry, for his part, didn't look overly surprised; Ron had admitted to him over the summer that he'd been reading some of Bill's old spellbooks, trying to make himself less useless. Ginny frowned, but it smoothed quickly into a look of comprehension; she'd caught him both over the summer in Bill and Charlie's old room (dozens of times), and at Hogwarts, sneaking off to the Room in the early hours of the morning (only once, because Ron had worked out how to create a passage directly from the boys' dorms shortly afterward). Hermione did look surprised. Only for a second though, because then her curiosity caught up with her:
"Extracurricular studies?" she asked. She was looking at Ron rather than Malfoy, which Ron thought was a bit unfair; Malfoy had started this, so he ought to be the one fielding questions. "On what?"
"Just… stuff," Ron muttered. He was sure his ears were pink.
Hermione frowned a little but didn't interrogate him further, for which Ron was grateful.
"Well," she said at last, returning her attention to her dinner. "If there's anything useful, add it to the blackboard in the Room so we-" She waved the hand that wasn't holding her fork at herself, Harry, Ginny, and Malfoy. "-can work on it."
"Sure," Ron said, and then returned to his own dinner. The others did the same, and when he thought they were suitably occupied, he kicked Malfoy under the table. Malfoy gave him a look that was somehow equal parts smug and innocent. Ron kicked him again.
Harry glanced up then, eyes flicking between them, but he didn't say anything.
Not then, anyway. He waited until after dinner, when Hermione had disappeared to the library and Malfoy had slunk after Snape, and he and Ron were alone, heading back up to the Room:
"What's going on with you and Draco?" Harry asked. "Why's he scheming to get you into the task instead of him, and why are you letting him?"
"Like he said," Ron said, willing himself to sound casual, "I've been doing extra stuff, so I'm- er- better?" It came out sounding like a question.
"You think you're better than Draco?" Harry asked, not with skepticism, but like he thought he'd misheard and wanted Ron to repeat himself.
"Er… at this, a bit?" Harry snorted.
"Shove off, Harry," Ron said, and gave him a good-natured push to make his point.
"I know there's something more to it," Harry said. "Draco doesn't talk himself down much, and you're modest, only before..."
"I- yeah, but-"
"Ron," Harry said, cutting him off, tone firm but serious. Ron fell silent, actually glad for the interruption, because he hadn't known what to say. When Harry spoke next, his voice was entirely different; quiet, and worried, and uncertain: "Is he all right?"
"Yeah," Ron said, immediately, and Harry relaxed slightly. Ron let out a gusty breath. "He's- it's- his dad." Harry's mouth curled down, but he didn't look surprised; Ron wondered what he was imagining. Ron picked his next words carefully; Harry would be able to smell it if he wasn't being honest. "He- I don't know all the details, but I know a bit. He- they're on… decent terms at the moment. Malfoy and his dad. And if Malfoy's in the task with you, it might look like he's chosen sides. I mean, he has, but it's not safe for him to be obvious about it. Not for something like this, where the whole world's watching. Mr Malfoy would er… well-"
"Yeah," Harry said, and lifted his glasses to rub at his eyes. "That- yeah. Okay." They made it up another flight of stairs in silence, then Harry asked, "He- was- why didn't just he say that? Why that little show at dinner?"
That, at least, was easy to answer:
"He didn't want you to worry. It's all under control, and- well, you've got enough to worry about." It was the wrong thing to say; Harry visibly sagged, his expression a miserable mix of guilty and exhausted.
"Right," Harry said tiredly. "Yeah, okay."
"He's not worried about what you would think," Ron said, taking a guess at what had upset him, "or that you wouldn't understand." Something in Harry's demeanour did seem to ease at that, but he still looked incredibly tired. Was he sleeping, Ron wondered? Ron was, so exhausted from all their additional training, but was Harry? "He just- you've got you to worry about-"
"And you and Hermione and Ginny," Harry said heavily, "since you're coming with me this time."
"Have you met Ginny and Hermione?" Ron asked, nudging him. "Don't worry for them, worry for anyone that goes up against them." That coaxed a small, tired smile out of Harry. "We'll be all right," Ron said genuinely. "We've made it through worse with less notice." And they had, multiple times.
"Can't argue with th-" Harry fell silent, turning to glance behind them. Ron heard footsteps a moment later and then Diggory came into view, alone, heading toward them with nervous purpose.
Ron glanced at Harry, trying to gauge if he'd been expecting Diggory or not, and was surprised at how entirely Harry had transformed. Letting Ron see how worn out he was was clearly acceptable, but he obviously wasn't comfortable with Diggory seeing the same; Harry stood taller than he had before, weariness tucked away behind polite curiosity.
"Potter, a word," Diggory said, nodding briefly at Ron before flashing Harry a small smile.
"Sure," Harry said, shrugging, but didn't move. Diggory glanced at Ron.
"In private? It's- about the Yule Ball, and it's a bit… erm… sensitive." Ron's eyebrows shot up. Harry looked equally bewildered, but shrugged at Ron and trailed after Diggory, the two of them going to speak further down the corridor.
Ron watched them, wondering if perhaps Diggory had some sort of intel about the Ball relating to the Tournament? Or perhaps… Surely Diggory wasn't going to ask…
Ron suddenly wished he had Malfoy's ability to understand a conversation without being able to hear it:
Diggory said something - looking both nervous and hopeful - and Harry blinked, seemed to laugh a little, and then nodded. He waved a hand in an oddly dismissive way, but Diggory lit up with a pleased sort of relief. Harry shook his head, smiling, said something else, and then headed back toward Ron, expression amused. So Harry wasn't upset, or embarrassed by whatever had just happened. That was good. But what had happened?
Ron wasn't sure what to ask, and settled for raising his eyebrows at Harry.
"He wanted to know if he could take Cho to the Ball without me taking it as a declaration of war or something," Harry said, still looking amused.
"Oh," Ron said. "Blimey, from here it looked a bit like he was asking you." Harry grinned and shook his head.
"You told him he could?"
"He's already asked her, and she's said yes," Harry said. "He wasn't looking for permission, just didn't want to upset me-"
"You're not upset, though, right? You and Chang-"
"Merlin, no," Harry said fervently. "Better him than me."
"You thought about who you are going to take, then?" Ron asked.
"Not really," Harry said, his amusement fading a little. "I've sort of been too preoccupied to fancy anyone." He laughed, sounding stressed. "Thought I might ask Hermione, just as friends." Ron felt something inside him wince, protest, wither, sigh, huff, and recoil all at once. He didn't have a name for it - probably because it was too many feelings all at once - but Harry gave him a sharp, curious look that softened into a sort of thoughtfulness. "Er… or not," he said. Ron looked at him, relieved and grateful and red-eared with embarrassment.
"It's not like that," Ron said weakly. "It's- I don't- I just- When Dumbledore announced it, it sounded really- well, like it'd be hard work, only with Hermione it wouldn't be. Y'know? We already know each other, and we always have things to talk about… It'd be fun."
"Yeah," Harry said slowly. "I s'pose I'll figure something else out, then." He cocked his head at Ron. "When are you going to ask her?"
"Dunno," Ron said, suddenly feeling defensive, though he knew he had no reason to. "Soon." Harry still looked curious and thoughtful though, not like he was going to give Ron a hard time for being nervous. "I just- I'm working up to it."
"All right." Harry wore the same amused look he had when he was speaking to Diggory. "You'd better get a move on, though. If Romilda Vane or that giant fifth year ask me again, there's a good chance I'll ask Hermione just to be free of them…"
"Hermione," Ginny said, trailing after her, "you're worrying me a bit…"
Hermione ignored her and pushed open the door to her dormitory, where, as she'd hoped, Parvati and Lavender were lounging on their beds, chatting about the Yule Ball; Hermione hadn't heard them talk about much else since it was announced. Excited as she was, it was wearing thin… or had been, because right now, that was exactly what Hermione needed to talk about.
"Hermione-"
"Can you keep a secret?" Hermione asked, almost desperately.
"Me?" Ginny asked, with an odd little smile. "Hermione-"
"I know you can," Hermione said, but then turned to her housemates. "Lavender? Parvati? Please?"
"Of course, Hermione," Parvati said.
"Depends on the secret," Lavender said, but she patted the end of her bed, and Hermione sank down onto it.
"Promise?" she said, and Parvati moved her feet to make room for Ginny.
"Obviously," Lavender said, rolling her eyes. "Come on, Granger," she said, and poked Hermione in the side with her sock-covered toe, "spill."
"Viktor's asked me to the Yule Ball," Hermione said, feeling both dazed and guilty. The others looked blank. "Krum. Viktor Krum."
"What!?" Lavender dove forward to fling her arms around Hermione's shoulders, and Parvati squealed from the next bed. Ginny gaped at her.
"You said yes, didn't you?!" Parvati asked, giving her a little shake.
"I- yes." Hermione was blushing, she could feel it. "I did, but maybe- I don't know if I should have-"
"Why? Don't you want to?" Parvati's excitement vanished at once, replaced by concern.
"No, I do!" Hermione said. "I just- I don't know if Harry will be… He doesn't care about winning, and Viktor's not been rude to him, but they're still competing against each other-"
"Can we just go back a bit to how you know Krum?!" Ginny interrupted. She looked pleased, but still a little stunned.
"I gave him Harry's message before the first task," Hermione said, hoping Lavender and Parvati wouldn't ask questions about that.
"You left him an anonymous note," Ginny said. "That's very different from being on first name, going-to-the-Yule-Ball-together terms."
"We'd talked before then," Hermione said, embarrassed. "And we've talked a few times since-"
"About what?" Lavender asked, apparently fascinated.
"Well, the first time was about Harry," Hermione admitted. Lavender's face fell - she'd likely expected something more exciting. Parvati nodded like that made sense, and Ginny looked a little dangerous. "He worked out pretty quickly that I wasn't going to tell him anything helpful, and he hasn't asked since."
"Good," Ginny said, voice firm but cautious. "You deserve better than someone trying to use you to get information about Harry."
"It's not about that at all," Hermione assured her. "We mostly talked about books, and our schools, and spells… He's- he's very clever, and well-read, and he knows some fascinating magic, and he's very comfortable in the spotlight, obviously, but he'd actually much rather people left him alone-"
"Not if those people are you, obviously," Parvati said. Hermione felt her cheeks heat up, and Ginny sniggered.
"So you don't think I've made a mistake?" Hermione asked.
"No," Lavender said. "You're going to the Ball with Krum! Unless he somehow turns out to be a complete creep-"
"He's not!" Hermione said indignantly. Other than the time he'd startled her by grabbing her wrist - which she hadn't even known would startle her, and he'd realised and apologised almost immediately - he'd been a perfect gentleman.
"-then how in Merlin's name could it be a mistake?" Parvati nodded in agreement.
"Harry won't mind," Ginny said, and Hermione gave her a grateful look. "If you're really worried, ask him… but like you said, he doesn't care about winning and Krum's not gone out of his way to be a prat. The only thing Harry might worry about - and actually, now that I think of it, I'm a bit worried about it too - is whether you'll be willing to hex Krum in the second task."
"Why would I need to hex him?" Hermione asked, scowling.
"Because he does want to win, so he'll be going for us, and we can't afford to be out of action." Ginny wore a flinty look. "Harry's going to have enough to worry about so if it's Krum or us, it's going to have to be him." She cocked her head. "Are you going to be up for that?"
"I don't think I have much choice," Hermione sighed; Ginny made a lot of sense.
"That's the spirit," Ginny said. "Honestly, I think I'll just go for him from the start so it's not an issue - I'm not sure I trust Ron to be able to take him out either." Lavender and Parvati both laughed, but Hermione thought Ginny was being completely serious. "I'll be gentle, though - I wouldn't want to upset him and ruin your night."
"Honestly, if that would upset him enough to take it out on me, this probably won't work," Hermione said, but she was suddenly worried; would it upset him? Surely, if Ginny - a third year - was able to land a spell or two, he'd admire her for it rather than sulk? Surely he wouldn't begrudge them - as Harry's friends - doing whatever it took to help Harry? She chewed her lip.
"I wouldn't worry, Hermione," Parvati said, "he's older and more mature than the idiots we go to lessons with, and a sports star besides; he'll have learned to lose graciously, even if he doesn't like it much."
"It might not even be an issue," Lavender said. "Him losing, I mean. Harry's- well, Harry… and I know you lot make a good team, but the other Champions and their teammates are going to be older and more experienced..." She shrugged. Ginny narrowed her eyes and opened her mouth, so Hermione hastily filled the silence.
"So, do you know who you're going to the Ball with?"
"Third year," Ginny said, a little grouchily, and Parvati made a sympathetic noise.
"Seamus," Lavender said.
"Oh!" Hermione said. "Really?" She hesitated, then, rather carefully, said, "I thought you broke up...?"
"They did," Parvati said, with a wry twist of her lips.
"Not properly," Lavender huffed. "He was just- I told you- it doesn't matter, we're past it." She gave Parvati a pointed look, and Parvati arched an eyebrow.
"Until next week," she teased. Lavender threw a pillow at her, and Parvati laughed.
"What matters," Lavender said, clearly trying to keep a straight face, despite the smile that was threatening, "is we're going together, and Seamus is going to be a perfect gentleman, and we're going to have a lovely time."
"Have you met Seamus?" Ginny asked, looking amused.
"All right, so the gentlemen thing's a hope, not a guarantee," Lavender said, laughing. "It'll still be a good night."
"I'm sure it will be," Hermione said. "What about you?" she asked Parvati.
"No one's asked me yet," she said. "Which, watching this one-" She tilted her head towards Lavender. "-and even you tonight, fretting, might not be a bad thing. Boys seem like an awful lot of work." Lavender poked her tongue out. "I don't think any of the boys have dates yet," Hermione said. "Except for Seamus, apparently."
"And Dean," Parvati said. "I was going to suggest we double date with Lavender and Seamus but he's going with Katie Bell."
"Really?" Lavender asked, eyes wide. "Since when?!"
"This afternoon," Parvati said shrugging.
"Are they, like, together? Or just friends? Or not together, but fancy each other enough to use the Ball as a trial-"
"The last one, I think. But can we talk less about Dean and more about my non-existent date?" Parvati flopped back onto her pillows.
"Take Neville," Hermione suggested. "He and Seamus are friendly, so you could still-"
"I am not taking Neville," Parvati said. "He's sweet, he is, but he's…"
"He's Neville," Lavender said, nodding, as if that was all the explanation needed. "What about Malfoy, he's good looking."
"He's rude, never smiles, and would probably call me 'Gryffindor Patil' all night. No thanks." She grimaced somewhat apologetically at Hermione and Ginny.
"Harry? You could go with your own Champion - apparently that's the done thing." She grinned at Hermione.
"Mmm," Parvati said consideringly. "Maybe. If he didn't ignore me. And he wasn't awkward." Lavender hummed in thoughtful agreement.
"Awkward's probably your biggest risk," Hermione sighed, thinking back to the disaster that was Harry's attempt to date Cho.
"Definitely," Ginny said, sniggering. "Besides, why would he ignore you?"
"Because Harry has two modes," Lavender said, as if this were a very well known fact. "There's heroic and serious - in which case he tends to get that look on his face and ignore everyone but Dumbledore and Black, and then there's his relaxed, cheeky self. Which is infinitely preferable, don't get me wrong, but when he's relaxed he also reverts back to being a fourteen year old boy and he's attached to you lot - especially Weasley - at the hips."
"What's wrong with that?" Hermione asked, a little defensively.
"There's nothing wrong with it," Lavender said, "it's actually kind of sweet. But it's nearly impossible to get a word in edgewise, which is less sweet if you're on a date." Parvati nodded. "But as Champion he'll be separate from the rest of us, at least for a bit. It could work."
"There's Ron, too," Hermione said.
"He's funny," Lavender said. "And cute, in a freckly, gangly sort of way."
"He's too thick to be awkward," Ginny said helpfully. "And he'd probably be so amazed he had a date that he wouldn't dare ignore you."
"Ginny!" Hermione said, but she was laughing. So was Parvati:
"You're really selling him."
"What else are little sisters for," Ginny asked, grinning.
