Hermione could not believe she had survived the First Task, even two weeks later she was still shell shocked. She couldn't help but smile each time she thought about this. She had survived! Her plan had worked! Her wounds were still healing, her cracked rib was still sore, but she was alive, that was all that mattered.

School had returned to normal; there was no more whispering, the constant buzz in her head was gone. People no longer shot her dark glares as she walked by, a few people actually stopped to congratulate her. Additionally, all the teachers now treated her normally again.

The Second Task was not until February, and as much as Hermione wanted to solve the clue of the egg, she was glad to relax. She knew she could survive the Second Task. However, the fact that she could not solve the clue in her egg bothered her a little. Each time she opened it, a terrible screeching and high-pitched scream came out of it. Hermione had not given it much thought, but it kept nagging at her.

"Hermione," Said Ron. "Are you listening?"

"Sorry, I was just thinking about the Second Task."

"Don't start worrying about that yet, it is barely the beginning of December, you'll have loads of time to figure the clue. If you want to worry about something, think about the Yule Ball."

Professor McGonagall had recently announced that there would be a ball before Christmas; it was a tradition for the school hosting the Triwizard Tournament to host a ball. This was one of the few times your enemies could be your friends for the night.

Ron had a point, Hermione thought. The ball was in two weeks and she still had nothing to wear, and no one to go with. Professor McGonagall had informed her that the Champions were the first ones to dance, and therefore Hermione had to find herself a date, and soon.

"Well well well, look who's out for a bit of fresh air," said Malfoy as he walked toward them.

Hermione had decided to take a walk and Ron had decided to join her, probably because she was finally in a good mood since she had survived the First Task. They had stopped to sit down near the lake and Hermione enjoyed the quiet, thinking no one would come down here and disturb the peace. Apparently, she was wrong.

"My father and I were quite surprised, and a little disappointed, that you had made it through the first task. You may have survived facing a dragon, but you will not make it to the end, you do realize that, right?"

"Oh, shove off Malfoy," said Ron.

"I don't recall talking to you, Weasley. Last I checked, I was talking to the mudblood next to you."

Ron tried to take his wand out of his robes to shoot a hex at Malfoy.

"He's not worth it, Ron," said Hermione as she grabbed his hand.

"No mudblood can win the Goblet of Fire, there would be an uproar in the magic community, so don't bother Granger."

Hermione did not respond to him since she knew he was partially right, instead, she just kept glaring at him.

"By the way, did you find a date to the Yule Ball yet? Wait, what am I saying, of course not. Well, good luck with that," Malfoy said as he walked away. "I wouldn't bother looking if I were you, no one would take someone like you to the ball."

Once Malfoy was out of sight, Hermione breathed a sigh of relief and Ron's anger got the best of him.

"He is such a cocky…"

"Ron," Hermione interrupted him. "If you don't mind, I want to go the owlery, alone, to send a letter to my parents, they have been wondering about me and I would like to share some news with them."

"Uh, yes, of course, not a problem," Ron seemed slightly confused as Hermione got up and walked away. He wondered if what she had just told him was a lie or the truth.

As Hermione walked away, she couldn't help but feel a little bit bad for leaving Ron behind, but she needed some time to herself. She hated Malfoy, but what he said was somewhat true. If she won the Goblet of Fire and people discovered she was a mudblood many would say she did not deserve to win. Heck that could happen even if people didn't know she was a mudblood but because she was the fourth champion. Although, let's be real, Hermione thought, there was no way she was going to win the Tournament. She may have defeated a dragon, but two tasks were still ahead of her. She had survived this task with multiple bruises, who knows how the other two could go.

Hermione was so focused on her thoughts that she did not notice Cedric at the top of the steps, in front of the owlery.

"Hermione, um, I was not expecting to see you here. How are you," Cedric asked.

Sorry, I didn't think anyone would be up here. I am doing well, how are you?"
"I am good. Listen, while you are here, I've been meaning to ask you something, do you have a minute?"

"Uh, yes, of course. What did you want to ask me?"

Hermione was curious; he seemed uncomfortable and she wondered what was wrong.

"Well, um, I was hoping to…um," Cedric blushed as he ran his hand through his hair. "Okay, here it goes, will you go to the Yule Ball with me?"

Hermione starred at him in surprise; did she just hear him right? Did he just ask her to the ball? If Hermione's jaw could drop, it would have. Her eyes went wide and her eyebrows shot up as she processed the question.

"I know this may seem odd," said Cedric, who was somewhat bemused by the surprised look on her face. "But the Tournament helped us become friends so I figured this could be a good opportunity to get to know each other and have fun as friends."

"Yes," Hermione responded.

"I'm sorry?" Now it was Cedric's turn to be surprised.

"Yes, I will go with you to the Yule Ball."

"Great! Wow, thank you. Well, I have to go to class, but I will talk to you later so we can figure out the details?"

"Yes," Hermione responded as the smile on her face grew. "That sounds good, thanks Cedric."

"Yeah, no, of course, thank you, actually," he replied as he slowly walked backward, almost tripping on the stairs as he did. "Um, have a good afternoon."

"You too."

As he walked away, Hermione could no longer hold in the joy she felt. She now had a date to the ball, just when she was thinking of perhaps not going. She smiled as she watched him leave. Now, all she had to do was find a dress.