Chapter Three: "I Dare You"
A/N: I fixed my computer! It took me four hours, but I did it. Haha. Okay, on with the story. Don't forget to review! Thanks so much for all of the reviews so far.
"What?" Harry demanded, "What happened to her?"
Lavender grabbed his arm and yanked him around the hallway. There, sprawled on the ground, was Hermione with a black eye and bloody nose.
Harry's eyes widened. He felt rage surge within him. He was going to hex the person that did this. He was going to make sure they were sorry. Harry clenched his fists, and ran over towards Hermione. "Hermione, are you alright?"
She smiled weakly, opening the eye that wasn't bruised to look up at Harry. "Do I look alright to you?"
Harry shook his head. "That was a stupid question."
Before Harry could answer, a stream of red hair came rushing over towards Hermione. "Hermione, Hermione, Hermione!" Ginny cried, tears trickling down her face, "Who did such a dreadful thing?"
Hermione had a look of pure disgust. "Malfoy," she spat, "He called me a bookworm and a Mudblood, so I threatened to hex him. He decided to give me a bloody nose and punch me instead."
Ginny gaped at Hermione, astonished. How could Draco do something like this? Ginny knew that Draco wasn't exactly the best person, but he rarely fought someone. He usually just insulted them and moved on.
"I'm going to talk to him," Ginny muttered angrily, "He can't just hurt my friend like that."
Ron snarled. "Not if I get to him first, Ginny. I'm going to give him a piece of my mind."
Harry grabbed Ron's hand. "Ron, don't. We all care about Hermione, but fighting Draco is exactly what Draco wants. Don't give him that, Ron."
As Harry and Ron continued to bicker, Ginny took off down the hallway. She spotted Draco going into the Great Hall. Angrily, Ginny followed him, walking as fast as she could. Once she got inside the Great Hall, however, she noticed a large crowd gathered around a sign.
Ginny curiously headed towards the sign. It read: Winter Ball on December 13th. Ginny blinked, and stared at the sign again, wondering if her eyes were playing tricks on her. There had never been a ball in Hogwarts for as long as she could remember, except for the Yule Ball. What was Headmistress McGonagall getting at?
Ginny watched Draco say something quietly to Crabbe and Goyle from the corner of her eye. Draco laughed, and shook his head to brush his blonde hair out of his eyes. Ginny sighed. If only Draco went mad and decided to ask her to the ball. Like that would ever happen.
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"Hey Weasley!"
Ginny, who had just stopped under her favorite tree, smiled at the sound of Draco's voice. She took a deep breath and then turned around, smirking. "Yes, Malfoy? Are you glad to see me again?"
Draco laughed. "I knew you'd show up, Ginny. You seem to enjoy coming to these practices. You haven't missed one yet this season."
"You didn't answer my question," Ginny answered, sitting down under the tree. She pulled her knees close to her chest.
Draco smirked, sitting down next to Ginny. It was obvious that he wasn't going to answer the question. "Isn't it kind of cool to be out here?"
Ginny knew Draco was right. She looked down and realized that she was wearing her thin robe. She had forgotten her coat in her room in the rush of getting to practice on time. Ginny looked up and saw the dark clouds move above where she and Draco were sitting. She shivered slightly from the cold.
"I'm fine," Ginny told Draco, shivering.
Draco didn't answer. He was staring off at someone in the distance. Ginny looked towards the direction and realized that Draco was checking Lavender Brown out. Ginny smiled to herself. So it wasn't as if Draco wasn't attracted to Gryffindors. He just chose not to date them.
"You're checking Lavender out," Ginny said accusingly. She felt a scintilla of jealousy.
Draco turned away from Lavender. "So? Aren't guys supposed to appreciate a good body?"
Ginny shrugged, and said quietly, "She's a Gryffindor."
Draco gave her a look. "Just because someone's in Gryffindor, that doesn't make them unattractive."
"So you would be okay with dating a Gryffindor?" Ginny demanded. She knew Draco was defeated. There was no way he'd be comfortable going out with a Gryffindor.
"Yes."
Ginny raised an eyebrow, and smiled slightly. She had just gotten the best idea. "Fine," Ginny told him coolly, "I dare you to take a Gryffindor to the Winter Ball that's coming up."
Draco sneered. "Fine, I accept the dare. And I dare you to go with a Slytherin to the ball."
Ginny's heart was thumping now. She knew this was her chance to do something with Draco. This was the only way she was going to ever find out if Draco was the guy for her. "Fine, then. Draco, will you go the Winter Ball with me?"
Ginny crossed her fingers, waiting for his answer.
Draco looked at her suspiciously. "You're just asking me because of the dare, right? It's not as if you'd actually want to go with me."
Ginny didn't want to lie to Draco, but she didn't want to tell him the truth either. She smoothened her vibrant red hair and shrugged. "You're not half bad for a Slytherin. I'd prefer you over all of the Slytherins."
Draco paused. Ginny felt her heart speed up. Was that his way of saying yes? Finally, Draco answered, "Then it's settled. I'll meet you in front of the Gryffindor common room at six."
"Sorry you have to spend your dance with a Gryffindor," Ginny muttered, stressing the 'Gryffindor.'
Draco gave her a look. "Then you better make it worthwhile. I don't want to be wasting my time."
Ginny held her breath as Draco walked away. "Till the dance, Malfoy," she called after him.
"Unless you show up to Thursday's practice," Draco answered smartly, heading towards the pitch, "But I'll still see you at the dance."
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Harry sighed. His mind was having a big debate: to ask Hermione to the dance, or not to ask Hermione to the dance? Harry knew that the right thing to do was to just confess his feelings before Ron asked Hermione. At least that way Hermione would know how Harry actually felt. However, Harry didn't want things to be weird around the two of them. Harry wouldn't want to give up his friendship with Hermione for anything. Even if it meant not telling Hermione how he actually felt.
The door flew open and then slammed shut. Harry turned around and watched a steaming Ron come into the room.
"That idiotic Loony asked me to the dance!" he raged. Harry could swear that he could see steam coming out of his ears.
"Ron, be nice. And calm down," Harry told him, trying not to laugh. Ron's ears were bright pink, and his face was scarlet.
"How can I calm down?" Ron demanded, pacing. He walked from one end of the common room to the other room. "The worst part is that I said yes! I said yes to Loony!"
Harry couldn't help it. He burst out laughing. Was it possible that Ron liked Luna? Harry tried to picture the two of them together, but just couldn't. It was unbelievably funny.
"Harry," Ron hissed, "Stop laughing. You know whom I was planning on asking. Now I can't ask her! Please, Harry… ask her for me? I don't want her to be going with someone she's going to fall madly in love with."
Harry smiled to himself. By asking Hermione to the dance, he'd be doing Ron a favor and he'd get to go to the dance with the person he liked. This was all working out perfectly. "Okay, Ron," Harry answered sincerely, "Sorry for laughing. Anything for you."
At the moment, Hermione entered the common room. Ron gave Harry a wink, and then headed up for bed. Harry swallowed, his throat dry. What if Hermione already had a date? She was gorgeous, and many guys knew it. She had probably been asked already.
"Hey Mione," Harry greeted in a high-pitched voice. Horrified, Harry blushed. He swallowed, and mentally told himself to calm down.
"Are you okay, Harry?" Hermione asked, sitting down next to him, "You don't sound okay. Do you have a cold?"
"No cold," Harry croaked out. This wasn't like him. It wasn't like Harry to get nervous in front of a girl. Actually, it wasn't like Harry to even be interested in a girl. He'd gone out with Cho and Ginny, but that had been different. Somehow, Harry felt differently about Hermione in comparison to those two girls. "I was uh wondering something."
Hermione sighed. "You need to copy off my homework again? Honestly, Harry, when are you going to learn to do your own homework? This is our last year. Hasn't it gotten old yet? You've been doing the same-"
"Hermione, will you go to the ball with me?" Harry blurted out.
A/N: Yay, a semi-cliffhanger. I'm in the middle of writing chapter four right now, and am almost done. Review, and you might get it very soon.