Chapter 4 Christmas

Disclaimer: Still don't own it!

A/N: Soooo sorry this four days late! I feel soo bad. Hopefully, though, you guys will all review still!

The night before the Yule Ball, Harry lay in his four-poster, but he couldn't sleep. He lay there, thinking about the next day. He was excited to spend the night with Pansy, but he knew this was going to cause many problems for them. It would probably be worse for Pansy. She will most likely have to tell her story, about how she doesn't feel like she belongs in Slytherin, and that she feels more like a Hufflepuff. Now that he thought about it, Harry remembered that a lot of Pansy's "friends" asked her to find something, when it went missing. Yes, she was absolutely a good finder. Anyway, back to the issues. He hated being the center of all the gossip. He wondered how Pansy would handle it, though. She wasn't used to it. She wasn't the one who was tortured as the 'Heir of Slytherin' during second year. She wasn't ogled at, no matter where she went, for having a lightening scar on her head. But, he would be there for her the whole time, and they would definitely be using his invisibility cloak and the Maurders Map. He still couldn't believe that his father, Lupin, and Sirius were three of the four who made the map. He sometimes wondered if James would be proud, or disappointed about how much he snuck out, and broke the rules. Sirius said he would be proud, but Lupin didn't always agree. Harry shook his head, to clear it. After a little more time, spent with Harry's head thinking in circles, he remembered that it was also going to be the day before Christmas. Christmas was always an emotional time for Harry, since it's a holiday so focused around family, and he didn't have any.

The next morning, Ron woke up Harry, in a frenzy. "Harry! Come on! I'm starving. Let's go find Hermione and get some breakfast."

"Why are you in such a rush?" Harry asked, rubbing his eyes of the sleep he was just awoken from.

"Cuz I'm nervous! What do I do when I'm nervous? I eat! Plus, when do I not wake up starving?" Ron said.

Well, Harry knew that was true, so he got up to get dressed.

Fifteen minutes later, the three friends were sitting at the Gryffindor table. Harry noticed that there was a very small amount of owls, today. He was used to this during Holiday, because there weren't usually many people at Hogwarts. But, due to the Yule Ball, a lot of people stayed.

"We should visit Hagrid, today." Hermione said. "We don't really have time during classes, so we should use the time to see him."

"Yeah. You know how he gets when we don't visit for a while." Harry said. Ron, for once, remembered to not talk with his mouth full, and so he didn't comment. He only nodded.
Nearly Headless Nick sat down next to them. "Merry Christmas, fellow Gryffindors.

"Merry Christmas, Nearly Headless Nick." Harry replied. "How have you been?"

"Good. You three?"

"We're fine, thanks." Hermione said, while the Gryffindor ghost looked at Ron, wistfully.

Harry noticed and said, "We haven't really seen you around, lately. What have you been up to?"

"Oh, I've been visiting some of my friends. There was a ghost convention, too. And, you didn't have to be headless to go." He said, putting emphasis on the word headless. Harry winced, remembering the Headless Hunt, which Nick was not allowed to enter.

"Oh. Very nice. Did the other Hogwarts ghosts join you?" Hermione asked.

"Just the Bloody Baron," Nick replied.

"Cool," Ron said, finally not having too much food in his mouth to make a comment.

"Well, as nice as it has been talking to you three, I must be off, I heard something about Peeves and Dungbombs, so I must find the Bloody Baron," He said, as he floated away.

"Good luck," Hermione called after him. "Well, are you two done eating? We might as well head to Hagrid's hut, now."

"Ok." Harry replied. "Let's go!" The trio left the table and headed outside.

Harry knocked on the door, and heard Fang barking. Hagrid opened the door, "Merry Christmas. Come in."

"Merry Christmas, Hagrid," the three said.

"I was 'opin you three would come down to me cabin. I was worried you'd forgotten me."

"We could never forget you," Hermione laughed.

"Would you like some rock cakes?" He offered.

Harry said, "Sure," and braced himself. He's eaten Hagrid's cooking before, and knew it isn't the best.

The morning soon turned to mid-afternoon. Hermione, upon realizing this fact, stood up rather fast, and said, "I have to go. It's late. Bye, Hagrid. C'mon Ron, Harry." She left, leaving the three blokes looking at each other.

Harry shrugged, and said, "I guess we're leaving."

Ron, looking outside and seeing Hermione tapping her foot impatiently at them, said, "Yeah. Good to see you, Hagrid."

"You too. I'll be seeing you tonight, then."

"Yeah. See ya." Harry said, him and Ron walking outside.

Ron and Harry discovered that Hermione had left in such short notice because she had to get ready for the Yule Ball. This being the case with all of the other Gryffindor girls, the common room was full of groaning blokes.

"Do we really have to do this?" Ron asked Harry.

"Yes, Ron," Harry said, sighing. Ron had asked this question a hundred times, since that night when he asked Lavender to go with him. "As a competitor in the tournament, I have to go. And because I have to suffer through this night, you, as my best mate, must suffer along with me."

"Ughhh." Ron said. "I really don't want to put on my dress robes." Harry had to work really hard to stop himself from chuckling.

"Hey. I have an idea! Let's go to our dorm." Harry exclaimed, jumping up.

"Get out your dress robes and lay them on your bed," Harry said, while Ron sat with a confused look on his face."

"Ok. You do know I think you've gone mad, right?" Ron said.

"Yeah. But you won't in a minute. Now, it would be better if Hermione was here. However, I'll have to manage on my own," Harry muttered half to himself. "Diffendo."

Ron yelled, "Blimey. That was awesome." The lace had been severed off of the robes, but that was not the only improvement Harry made. He also cast the color-changing charm, to turn Ron's robe to a nice blue.

"Here you go, Ron. Better?"

"Loads. Thanks, mate. Maybe this won't be so terrible after all."

Harry smiled, "good. Now, let's get ready. We don't have all that much time until you have to meet Lavender."

"True." They both got their dress robes on, and fixed their hair. Well, Ron did, while Harry attempted, to no avail.

'Oh well,' Harry thought, 'I hope Pansy doesn't mind.'

The two boys left their dorm mates nervously preparing for the dance, and went downstairs.

A/N: What do you guys think?