THE POTTER TWINS AND THE TRIWIZARD TOURNAMENT
CHAPTER 10:
Author's note: Leave your comments...
"You look very ...nice." The words Fred said so casually, or so she thought were repeating back and forth in Hazel's head.
"You look beautiful," Lee said as she snapped out of her thoughts.
"Oh, em, Thank you!" It didn't seem much of a compliment from Lee.
They walked to the great hall, behind Harry, Parvati, and Ron and Padma.
"Where is Hermione?" Ron whispered to her, leaving his date in front.
"She'll get here when she gets here, Ron!"
"Looks like we have to go!" Harry said as Professor McGonagall called out the Champions.
Professor McGonagall, who was wearing dress robes of red tartan and had arranged a rather ugly wreath of thistles around the brim of her hat, told them to wait on one side of the doors while everyone else went inside; they were to enter the Great Hall in procession when the rest of the students had sat down. Fleur Delacour and Roger Davies stationed themselves nearest the doors; Davies looked so stunned by his good fortune in having Fleur for a partner that he could hardly take his eyes off her. Cedric and Cho were close to Harry too; he looked away from them so he wouldn't have to talk to them. His eyes fell instead on the girl next to Krum. His jaw dropped.
It was she didn't look like Hermione at all. She had done something with her hair; it was no longer bushy but sleek and shiny, and twisted up into an elegant knot at the back of her head. She was wearing robes made of a floaty, periwinkle-blue material, and she was holding herself differently, somehow — or maybe it was merely the absence of the twenty or so books she usually had slung over her back. She was also smiling — rather nervously, it was true — but the reduction in the size of her front teeth was more noticeable than ever; Harry couldn't understand how he hadn't spotted it before.
"Hi, Harry!" she said. "Hi, Parvati!, Hazel!"
"You look stunning, Hermione!" Hazel knew she had to say this, Hermione was so occupied with other stuff she never cared for her appearance, but now that she did, she looked absolutely amazing.
"Thanks, Hazey, so do you!"
Parvati was gazing at Hermione in unflattering disbelief. She wasn't the only one either; when the doors to the Great Hall opened, Krum's fan club from the library stalked past, throwing Hermione looks of deepest loathing. Pansy Parkinson gaped at her as she walked by with Malfoy, and even he didn't seem to be able to find an insult to throw at her. Ron, however, walked right past Hermione without looking at her.
After the feast, The Weird Sisters now trooped up onto the stage to wildly enthusiastic applause; they were all extremely hairy and dressed in black robes that had been artfully ripped and torn. They picked up their instruments, and Harry, who had been so interested in watching them that he had almost forgotten what was coming, suddenly realized that the lanterns on all the other tables had gone out, and that the other champions and their partners were standing up.
"Come on!" Parvati hissed. "We're supposed to dance!"
Harry tripped over his dress robes as he stood up. The Weird Sisters struck up a slow, mournful tune; Harry walked onto the brightly lit dance floor, carefully avoiding catching anyone's eye (he could see Seamus and Dean waving at him and sniggering), and next moment, Parvati had seized his hands, placed one around her waist, and was holding the other tightly in hers.
Unlike Harry, Hazel had no problem in being graceful, she could be when she wanted to. It was so remarkable in how she looked exactly like Lily and behaved exactly like James at times.
The Weird Sisters stopped playing, applause filled the hall once more, and Harry let go of Parvati at once.
"Let's sit down, shall we?"
"Oh — but — this is a really good one!" Parvati said as the Weird Sisters struck up a new song, which was much faster.
"No, I don't like it," Harry lied, and he led her away from the dance floor, past Fred and Angelina, who were dancing so exhuberantly that people around them were backing away in fear of injury, and over to the table where Ron and Padma were sitting.
Hazel soon joined Harry on the other side of the table, Lee Jordan was talking to George,
"How's it going?" Harry asked Ron,
sitting down and opening a bottle of butterbeer. Ron didn't answer. He was glaring at Hermione and Krum, who were dancing nearby. Padma was sitting with her arms and legs crossed, one foot jiggling in time to the music. Every now and then she threw a disgruntled look at sat down on Harry's other side, crossed her arms and legs too, and within minutes was asked to dance by a boy from Beauxbatons.
You don't mind, do you, Harry?" Parvati said.
"What?" said Harry, who was now watching Cho and Cedric.
"Oh never mind," snapped Parvati, and she went off with the boy from Beauxbatons.
"Come o, Ron, cheer up!" Hazel told him. "He did ask her first, and you didn't!"
"It's not that!"
"Okay, okay, A dance with me? Ron!" She asked him.
The weird sisters truck up a new tune.
"Err, emm, okay!"
"Come on, Ron, don't ruin this for yourself, have a little fun!" Hazel glanced over to Fred and Angelina for a fraction of a second, she was telling this to herself more than Ron.
It was only a few minutes Hazel and Ron started to dance as Hermione came up to their table.
"It's hot, isn't it?" said Hermione, fanning herself with her hand. "Viktor's just gone to get some drinks."
Ron came up to her, followed by Hazel, he gave her a withering look. "Viktor?" he said. "Hasn't he asked you to call him Vicky yet?" Hermione looked at him in surprise.
"What's up with you?" she said.
"If you don't know," said Ron scathingly, "I'm not going to tell you."
Hermione stared at him, then at Harry, who shrugged.
"Ron, what — ?"
"He's from Durmstrang!" spat Ron. "He's competing against Harry! Against Hogwarts! You — you're —" Ron was obviously casting around for words strong enough to describe Hermione's crime, "fraternizing with the enemy, that's what you're doing!"
"Ron!" Hazel looked shocked as well.
Hermione's mouth fell open.
"Don't be so stupid!" she said after a moment. "The enemy! Honestly — who was the one who was all excited when they saw him arrive? Who was the one who wanted his autograph? Who's got a model of him up in their dormitory?'
Hazel got a brain wave, so it was the what they both wanted but couldn't admit.
Hermione and Ron were bickering off at full speed and a considerable volume, Harry and Hazel were cut out each time they tried to interrupt or tried to finish the argument.
People were starting to stare at them.
"Ron," said Harry quietly, "I haven't got a problem with Hermione coming with Krum —"
But Ron ignored Harry too. "Why don't you go and find Vicky, he'll be wondering where you are," said Ron.
"Don't call him Vicky!" Hermione jumped to her feet and stormed off across the dance floor, disappearing into the crowd. Hazel followed her.