…GOoHS…

Chapter 13

A Daunting New Task

Harry may have had avoided the celebration party that the Gryffindors (mainly Fred and George Weasley) had prepared the night before, but he couldn't get past them the next morning. He was ambushed by his roommates and the Weasleys on his way down to breakfast and they revived the festivities the night before, although with less enthusiasm. Some of last night's participants were still out cold in the common room.

Harry only managed to get away from them when Seamus Finnigan insisted that he open up the golden egg. Harry opened it under the condition that they let him be afterwards and they readily agreed. Loud shrieking pierced their ears as soon as the egg was opened and Harry hurriedly closed it. The occupants of the common room startled awake, breathing heavily as they tried to process their rude awakening.

"What the bloody hell was that?" asked Ron incredulously. He slowly removed his hands from his ears and gave Harry a perplexed look.

Harry didn't have an answer to give him. He was just as lost as everyone else. Mr. Crouch had said that the egg contained a clue for the next task but nothing about the shrieking even began to shed some light on it. Seamus, after getting rid of the ringing in his ears, took the golden egg from Harry's hands and examined it intensely. Dean joined him and they started fiddling around with it. Harry paid them no mind; at least they were trying to help him decipher what the clue was.

"Who was screaming?" Lucas asked tiredly as he climbed down the stairs from the dormitories. He yawned when he reached the common room, not noticing everyone's confused expressions.

"The egg," Ron answered offhandedly.

Lucas stopped mid-step and looked at Ron funnily. "…the what?"

"Harry's egg."

Lucas and everyone else who heard it started laughing. Harry rolled his eyes and grabbed the golden egg from Seamus' hands. He then proceeded to climb up to their dorm room to put it away.

"That's one way to start my morning," Lucas chuckled. He sat down on one of the chairs near the window with Ron to wait for Harry to climb down. It didn't take him long but he did come back with a tie which, Lucas realized, he was missing. He mumbled out a thanks as Harry handed it to him.

"What have we got today?" Harry asked them as they made their way to the portrait hole.

"Erm… I think Charms first," answered Ron, reading out their class schedule. "and then Divination, Care of Magical Creatures, and then Transfiguration."

"Ugh… an afternoon with the skrewts again," Harry groaned.

"I thought you'd complain about Divination first," Ron said jokingly.

"Trelawney's going to be so disappointed that I didn't die yet," Harry said, climbing out of the portrait hole and waiting for Ron and Lucas to do the same. "Anyway, I hope they don't assign more work today. The weekend can't come any sooner... I need to catch up on my Potions essay. Good thing Ginny mentioned it last night or it would've completely slipped my mind."

"I haven't even started on mine," muttered Lucas as he finished doing his tie and climbed out after Ron and Harry. "I reckon I'll just copy off bits of yours and be done with it."

"You two can get whatever you want from my drafts but that's it," Harry said.

"You're bloody amazing, did I ever tell you that?" said Lucas gratefully.

Harry chuckled. "Since we were kids, Lucas."

"No, but I mean it! I don't know what I'd do without you," Lucas continued. "He truly is a generous man, our youngest champion!"

Harry shoved his face away. "Stop it. I'm not writing your introduction. You're on your own."

Lucas shrugged. "Eh, it was worth a try."

Ron laughed at their antics and swung his arms around the both of them. It wasn't particularly hard as he was easily a head taller than the Potter twins. Together, they all headed to their morning classes, laughing and joking around all the way to the classroom, not knowing that their peace was going to be shattered when they would walk out of the Transfiguration classroom hours later.

Harry was banging his head on the book he had spread out in front of him. He had already finished his potions essay and was now left to mull what Professor McGonagall told her class at the end of her lesson a few days ago. She had given him such a monumental task and he wasn't even close to tackling it.

Hermione, who had just walked in carrying a stack of books, looked at Harry with her brows furrowed. "Er… you alright Harry?"

"No," Harry answered simply, continuing to hit is head on the pages of the book.

"O…kay…" whispered Hermione, sliding into a seat next to him.

"Don't bother," said Lucas, scrawling furiously at the piece of parchment on his table. He was halfway done with his Potions essay and he had already run out of things to copy from Harry's drafts. He, instead, wrote whatever came to mind in hopes of filling up the empty space of his parchment. "Professor McGonagall broke him."

"Oh!" gasped Hermione, now understanding Harry's state. "This has something to do with the Yule Ball, hasn't it? But why would… oh yes! Of course, you're a champion! You're expected to—"

"To find a date and dance, I know!" moaned Harry. His face was now firmly planted on the pages of the book. "That dragon should have killed me when it had the chance…"

Lucas and Ron snickered.

"Fancy taking on a dragon rather than go to the Yule Ball, Harry?" Ron asked playfully.

"That's a problem that can be solved easily," said Lucas, cackling gleefully. "Just take the dragon to the Yule Ball."

He and Ron laughed loudly at that, much to the annoyance of everyone else in the library. Madame Pince sent a glare their way. Lucas and Ron forced themselves to be quieter but they kept laughing more. Hermione rolled her eyes and cast a silencing charm on them.

Harry flicked them off and resumed his moping. Hermione didn't bother him. She knew this was something she couldn't help with.

"Hermione… how do I ask someone to the ball? I mean… I'd make a massive fool of myself before I could even say anything," Harry said after a few minutes of silence passed by. His head was still laying on the book but he was looking up at Hermione.

Hermione continued doing her schoolwork and didn't spare a glance at Harry. "You're talking to me just fine, aren't you? I think you'll do alright, Harry."

"Yes, but…" Harry said, sitting up properly. "I've known you since our first year. I'm alright around you. Other girls… other people, really… well, I'm just no good at it."

Hermione gave a shrug. "Well, too bad. You're going to have to suck it up and ask someone to be your partner Harry. I can't help you."

Harry huffed and turned back to his book. "Fine, don't help me."

Hermione let out an annoyed sigh and set down her quill, fixing a glare at Harry. "Harry, really, you're so oblivious to everything. A lot of girls will want you to ask them to the ball. For example, that third-year Hufflepuff's been eyeing you this entire time and giggling into her book."

She jabbed her thumb towards the Charms section of the library, which was just opposite of where Harry was sitting, and, sure enough, a blonde Hufflepuff girl yelped and averted her gaze when Harry looked her way. Harry was stunned. He didn't expect that kind of reaction, especially since he was so used to the usual glares.

"See? I'm sure you'll find a partner easily. Though, please be careful when you choose them Harry," she dropped her voice to a whisper and leaned close to Harry. "I expect they only want to go with you because you're famous."

Harry looked at the Hufflepuff girl again and found himself wholly agreeing with Hermione's words. The girl was now twirling her hair and biting her lip to get his reaction and Harry immediately looked away, feeling embarrassed for the both of them.

"I promise I'll be careful," he said.

"Good," Hermione said, finally turning back to her schoolwork. Harry noticed that it was the Charms homework that Professor Flitwick assigned to them just yesterday. It wasn't due for another week. "Although, I'm guessing you already have someone in mind…?"

Harry rolled her eyes at her teasing. Hermione giggled.

"Oh, come on, Harry. This is the perfect chance to ask Cho Chang, don't you think?" she whispered.

Harry blushed. "Shut up. You know I don't have a chance with her. Not in a million years."

"Says who?" Hermione said, annoyed. "You two are a perfectly reasonable match."

"Yeah but… when was the last time I actually talked to her? That time when I mumbled out something when she helped her teammate to the Hospital Wing last year? After the match with Ravenclaw? That was embarrassing."

Hermione shoved his shoulder. "Oh, come off it. Just try it before admitting defeat. You've had a crush on her for a whole year Harry, you might as well ask her now."

Harry shook his head. "Enough, I'm leaving before you set something up."

Hermione laughed lightly and let him gather his things in peace. Harry removed the silencing charm on Lucas and Ron and told them he was leaving. Lucas frowned.

"Where are you going?" he asked.

"Hospital Wing," Harry answered, lifting his scarred right arm for them to see. The bandages had been removed yesterday. "Today's the last day of treatment."

"Oh, right… See you later then." Lucas said.

"Yeah… see you…" Harry muttered, ignoring Hermione's whispers of "Go ask Cho" to him as he passed her.

Harry was very glad after his visit to the Hospital Wing. His arm was back to normal at last. Madame Pomfrey gave him one last round of dittany treatment and then set to work on removing his scars right after. His arm looked perfectly normal now. Even Madame Pomfrey couldn't resist giving a very appreciative hum when she examined it for the final time.

Harry walked happily towards the direction of the owlery to give his parents the news, feeling the lightest he'd been in days. The rest of the school didn't bother him as much as before. He could probably give the credit to Cedric, who might have done it as his thanks for tipping him off about the dragons. Harry remembered him apologizing to him about the badges and the behavior the Hogwarts student displayed to him. Harry was just glad he didn't have to deal with so many glares and 'Support Cedric Diggory' and 'Potter Stinks' badges.

He reached the Owlery's steps and he quickly rummaged around his bag for a spare piece of parchment. He sighed in relief when he found some and was about to climb the stairs when he heard Lucas' voice from above him.

"Cho, do you want to go to the ball with me?"

Harry froze.

Lucas was here?

And he was asking out Cho Chang?

Since when had Lucas liked Cho?

Loud screeches and equally loud flaps of owl wings almost drowned out Lucas' question but Harry heard it. He held his breath and strained his ears for Cho's answer.

"I'm sorry. I didn't quite catch that," said Cho after things quieted down.

"Oh… ehm…" Lucas stammered. "I… I asked if… if you would want to go to the ball… with me."

"Oh…"

'Oh, what?' Harry thought, his heart pounding loudly in his ears.

"Lucas, I'm… I'm sorry," said Cho, sounding very apologetic. "Cedric's already asked me. And… well, I said yes."

"Oh…" Lucas said, very much dejected. Harry shared his exact sentiments. Oh, indeed.

"N-No, it's fine, Cho. It's alright. Just thought, I'd ask, you know?" Lucas laughed awkwardly.

"Lucas, I really am sorry," Cho said.

"Don't worry about it, Cho. You er… you take care going down the stairs. It's… slippery. The ice… you know," Lucas said awkwardly.

To Harry's horror, he heard Cho coming down the stairs and he quickly tried to hide on the side of the Owlery, out of sight from the stairs. He waited until Cho was far from the Owlery before letting himself breath again. Above him, he heard Lucas swearing and kicking at things inside the Owlery.

"Lucas, you idiot. You absolute dickhead!"

Harry heard a loud clatter and several owls squawking and hooting in protest. He felt his knees wobble from underneath him as it truly struck him that Lucas indeed liked the same girl he did. He never imagined he'd have to go through this with his brother but there it was.

Unfortunately for the both of them though, Cedric Diggory had already beaten them to it.

Several days after the encounter at the Owlery, Harry couldn't quite look Lucas in the eye. He was still very upset with the fact that Lucas had a crush on Cho Chang too and the fact that Cho was already going to the ball with Cedric Diggory.

Lucas noticed that Harry had been very withdrawn again lately but he just thought it was because he was under pressure from Professor McGonagall to find a partner for the Yule Ball. From what they heard, the other three champions already had dates and were already doing their scheduled dance practices.

Harry felt very silly going to those practices and having to dance with Professor McGonagall every time. He was very much thankful that the dance practices were strictly for the champions and their partners only. He couldn't bear to have someone see him stepping on Professor McGonagall's toes every few beats or so. As expected, the stern Head of Gryffindor house had grown tired of having to dance with Harry and had been repeatedly asking him to find a partner already so they could have ample time to practice before the ball.

Harry truly did his best to look for a suitable date but he either couldn't ask them or he had to reject those who asked him. He stood by what he said the day Professor McGonagall announced the Yule Ball. He would really rather have another go at the dragon instead.

After a particularly bad dance practice with Professor McGonagall, Harry made his way to the Quidditch Pitch, firebolt in hand. He had promised his roommates, excluding Neville, that they would go flying and maybe have a little pickup game of Quidditch. It was the perfect way to blow off some steam after a frustrating practice with Professor McGonagall.

Harry found his friends racing around the pitch on old brooms that they borrowed from the school. To Harry's surprise, there were a lot more people there than he anticipated, including the remaining members of last year's Gryffindor Quidditch team and some of the old reserve players.

Dean, Seamus, and Ron were trying to chase Ginny and take the quaffle she had under her arms. Despite being on a very old school broom, she had a rather sizeable distance between her and the three boys chasing her. Lucas, meanwhile, was trying to beat Angelina Johnson and Katie Bell in a shootout. The three of them took turns scoring while one of the Weasley twins defended the goal posts. The other was down on the ground selling their prank products to the spectators.

Ginny did a spectacular loop and flew to the opposite direction she had been heading to, scrambling Ron, Dean, and Seamus. She laughed and flew up to the goal posts and threw the quaffle into one of them.

"That's fifty for me!" Harry heard her yell from up in the air. "Go easy on her, my arse!"

Harry laughed loudly as he saw Ron glower at her. They finally spotted him when they heard his laugh and the four of them made their way to him.

"Hiya Harry! I hope you don't mind that we started without you," Seamus said.

Harry shook his head. "No, please, by all means. Your teamwork's coming along. Not enough to beat Ginny, though."

Ginny grinned and gave him a thumbs up. Ron scowled.

"That's cause her broom's one of the better ones. I've got rotten luck. I didn't notice I got one of the faulty Cleansweeps."

Ginny stuck her tongue out at him. "No, you didn't get me because you're shit at it."

"Just you wait! Harry, lend me your firebolt, I'll show her!" Ron said, going red in the face.

Harry snorted. "Ron, even if you've got the firebolt, you can't outmaneuver her. She flies too well."

"Oi! Whose side are you on?" Ron asked.

"Mine," Harry answered cheekily.

Ron growled angrily. "Fine, then if you won't help me, I'll go get a new broom. Just you wait, Ginny!"

He huffed and turned around, storming towards the broom shed.

Ginny smirked and called out, "You'd better improve your flying when you get back!"

Harry laughed. "Hey, lay off. He's already fuming."

Ginny raised an eyebrow at him.

"Don't look at me like that. I know you'll crush him, different broom or not." Harry said, grinning.

Ginny laughed and settled down on the grass with the other spectators to wait for Ron. Meanwhile, Dean turned to Harry and asked, "Harry, can I have a go at your firebolt?"

Harry shrugged. "Er… yeah, sure. We've got nothing better to do while we wait for Ron."

Harry handed his firebolt over to Dean, who audibly gasped when he touched it.

"This broom survived a dragon. Harry, this broom's a legend," he said in awe.

"I hope so. That broom survived without a scratch while I had to deal with a burnt arm." Harry said.

He let Seamus and Dean be after that as they took turns flying the firebolt around the pitch. He made his way to Ginny instead, who was watching the Gryffindor chasers in their shootout match.

"Who's in the lead?" Harry asked, settling down beside her.

"I think it's Angelina. She looks very relaxed and you know how competitive she is." Ginny answered.

"Oh…" Harry said, squinting at Angelina, who was indeed sitting on her broom with her arms crossed smugly over her chest. "I think she's going to be the captain next year. She's perfect for the job."

"So that means I'll have to impress her." Ginny said, looking not the least bit worried. She was on good terms with Angelina and the older girl always complimented Ginny's skill during practices, even if she was only a reserve player back then.

"Yeah, I'd say you have a good chance of becoming a starting chaser next term." Harry said.

Ginny smiled at Harry. "Thank you. I've been doing all kinds of stunts earlier to get Angelina to notice."

Harry chuckled. "Believe me, she noticed. Look."

Harry waved at Angelina, who was staring at him and Ginny from up on her broom. Angelina waved back at them, pointed to Ginny, and gave her a thumbs up. Ginny grinned at the praise. She gave Angelina a thumbs up as well before she turned her attention back to her competition with the other chasers.

Ginny resumed talking with Harry, filling him in on what they were up to in the pitch before he arrived. They then branched off to talking about the World Cup and other Quidditch teams as they watched and laughed at Seamus shooting off when he tried to ride the firebolt. Dean was a much better flyer but he still had trouble with making sharp turns with the firebolt.

While Harry was discussing the Holyhead Harpies with Ginny, a gaggle of girls suddenly walked past them. They were all eyeing the male Quidditch players and giggling loudly whenever someone looked their way. Two of them waved at Harry, trying to get his attention.

Harry blushed and ducked his head, trying not to give them a reason to think that he was inviting them over. Ginny looked a little amused at the situation.

"I didn't know you had a fan club all of a sudden," she said. She saw one of the girls, a third-year Ravenclaw, swoon when she saw Harry nervously look back at them. She winced internally, feeling a strange and embarrassing sort of empathy towards them. If she hadn't spent as much time with Harry as she had over the years, she would probably have acted like that. She shuddered at the thought.

"They just want to be my partner to the Yule Ball," Harry muttered, wishing Ron would arrive soon so he could take off into the air and not worry about girls and dances and the Yule Ball.

Ginny gaped at him. "What do you mean? I thought you asked Hermione?"

Harry made a face. "What? When did I do that?"

Ginny shrugged. "I don't know. Everyone just assumed. She's the only one you talk to often."

"Well, no… I… she has her own plans, I think. I wouldn't know. She's been spending a lot of time in the library lately."

Ginny reclined on the grass, turning her attention back to the players zooming around the pitch.

"So why haven't you asked anyone yet?" she asked.

Harry pulled his knees to his chest. "I don't know. Girls are scarier than dragons."

Ginny guffawed. "Your mind works in the strangest ways, I swear…"

Harry chuckled with her, letting the silence take over. He stood by what he said in the library over a week ago. He'd rather face the Horntail again than ask a girl to be his date to the Yule Ball. He didn't know how to talk to anyone he didn't know and the girls he had encountered these past few days all had that strange look in their eyes as if they appraised him like a jewel in a pawnshop. The giggles and the whispering didn't help either. Why couldn't they be easy to talk to like Hermione and… his eyes strayed to Ginny and he was suddenly hit with a stupid realization. Ginny was a girl.

More importantly, she was a girl he was comfortable with.

"Hey, don't look now, but I think someone's gotten the courage to come over here and talk to you." Ginny whispered to him.

Harry could see a yellow and black scarf whipping in the wind from the corner of his eye and he understood that it was another Hufflepuff girl come to ask him to the Yule Ball.

"Hey… Gin, before she gets here, quick question." Harry whispered back.

"I'm all ears," she replied.

"Has anyone asked you to the Yule Ball yet? B-Because… I mean… if you haven't said yes to anyone yet or…" Harry tried to power through his stammering as he heard the Hufflepuff girl call his name. It was now or never. "Would… would you like to go the ball with me?"

Ginny, who was more interested in keeping an eye out for the approaching girl, suddenly froze and gaped at Harry. Did she hear that right?

"Ginny?"

Ginny tried not to mind the somersaults her stomach was currently doing as she slowly nodded her head. "…er, y-yeah sure."

Harry looked very relieved when he heard her affirmative answer. Ginny still couldn't quite process what she had heard. She was sure Harry said something else. He wouldn't ask her to the ball.

"Hello, Harry! I'm Marissa Selwyn," said a voice from behind them. The Hufflepuff girl had arrived. "I don't know if the rumors are true but I want to ask you if you want to go to the Yule—"

"Er, no. Sorry" Harry said awkwardly.

The girl looked like she had been punched in the gut and Harry immediately felt bad for his blunt response. He quickly stammered out his reason.

"That is to say, I've already got a date to the ball. I'm sorry."

The girl looked like she was about to cry and Harry was horrified. He was about to apologize again when she bolted back to her group of friends. They gave her sympathetic looks when they saw that she had been rejected. Ginny, meanwhile, had an odd look on her face as her brain finally processed that she had said accepted Harry's invitation to the ball and it was reaffirmed when Harry told Marissa that he was already going with someone.

Ginny forced herself to calm down before Harry would retract his statement. That would be disastrous for the both of them. She focused on what was happening in front of her instead and looked between the girls and Harry.

"That was rough. Have you been rejecting them all like this?" she asked.

Harry face flushed a deep shade of crimson. "Well, I never know what to do in these kinds of situations!"

Without missing a beat, Ginny sat up and said, "My advice? Not that."

A/N: Okayyy! That's Harry's partner done, the others will have their partners in the next chapter, don't worry. Ooooh can you imagine Lily helping Molly coordinate Harry and Ginny's outfits? SQUEEEEEEE