Rita Skeeter interviewed Hagrid a few days later.
Apparently, she told him it was about his class, but she only asked questions about Harry.
"You know, I think she didn't care about learning about the creatures," Hagrid had said. "But I told her we'd been friends since I picked you up from the Dursleys' place; I did."
Harry tried to figure out what the clue meant for the rest of the week.
The egg was loud and ear-piercing; maybe he would need to work with mandrakes. Maybe he should talk to Professor Sprout about borrowing a pair of her earmuffs and opening the egg again. Maybe he needs them for the challenge. It might be a race to see who could re-pot the most mandrakes. That was his best guess, and he hated it because he knew that would not happen.
But that meant that he really needed to figure this out.
Harry had tried everything he could think of, he even tried screaming back at it, but nothing happened except for a slightly irritated throat. He was not having any luck.
He'd asked Tonks and Neville while they were doing tutoring. Instead of practising their social skills, they spent the afternoon in the common room opening and closing the egg until Fred and George came downstairs and begged them to stop 'for the love of Merlin' because they preferred it when their eardrums weren't bleeding.
It was now the 18th of December and he was no longer focused on the egg for the moment.
He was sitting in the Common Room freaking out because the Yule Ball was in a week and he didn't have a date but as a 'champion' he needed a date to make his stupid grand entrance with. He didn't want to make a grand entrance at all. He didn't want to go to the ball at all. He wanted to go have Christmas with his new family.
Usually the best part about staying at Hogwarts for Christmas was so many of the students were home that it was always quiet but this year, nobody had gone home, aside for a few homesick first years.
Harry sat watching the fire flicker in front of him, not really thinking about anything, just sitting there, trying to relax. He needed a date and only two names came to mind.
Cho Chang, he'd had a crush on her since last year. They played Quidditch together. She was beautiful and smart and she had fun stories to tell about her family. She used to make his stomach feel like it was filled with butterflies when she looked into his eyes. She has such a beautiful smile.
The other name was Draco Malfoy. But Draco was a boy. A boy who looked into his eyes and makes his stomach feel like Cho used to. They play quidditch together now too and Draco knew his single darkest secret now and Harry knew his. They were there for each other on full moons, along with Myrtle and he was now getting along with Harry's friends, which was becoming a wild source of gossip sometimes.
But still, Draco was a boy and Harry liked girls, so how could he all of a sudden like a boy?
But who else could he ask? The last he heard, Cho was going with Cedric and he didn't know if he was even allowed to bring a boy as a date, not that Draco would want to be his date anyway.
The door to the common room swung open and a frantic Ron swept in, with Ginny and Hermione by his side, they were both whispering assuring words that whatever it was wasn't that bad. But he wasn't listening to them at all.
"Murder me, Harry. Please!"
Harry raised a brow and frowned.
"What happened?"
Ron sat beside Harry dramatically with a plop and buried his face in his hands.
"I asked Fleur to the ball," Ron groaned.
"Actually," Ginny started. "You kind of shouted it at her. You stood up and screamed at her to go to the ball with you."
"She was just walking past and Ron just turned around and shouted it at her."
Hermione was clearly trying not to laugh in amusement.
"What did she say?" Harry asked, his mind whirling.
"He ran away before she could answer."
Now Hermione sound annoyed but still trying not to laugh.
Harry looked sharply at Ron who just groaned.
Harry frowned at Hermione and Ginny who were both shaking their heads.
"Hermione asked someone out too," Ginny squealed, grinning widely as Hermione turned red.
"I hadn't planned to ask him, I just… we were talking in the great hall and I just sort of blurted it and he said yes," Hermione flushed, grinning from ear to ear.
"Who?" Harry asked, curiosity gnawing away at him.
"Blaise."
It made sense, Harry supposed. They were always reading and whispering together. They had so much in common.
"That's awesome!" Harry replied, trying to figure out if that was the right thing to say or not.
It was jolting though. A few months ago, they wouldn't have said more than a couple words to the Slytherins and now Hermione had asked one of them on a date to the ball. Harry was crushing on the boy he hated more than anyone and Ron had asked an older woman out and ran away.
It was crazy.
Last year, he was just a wizard, professor Snape hated him, he was living with the Dursleys and trying not to die with his friends every year.
This year, still trying hard to not die in a stupid competition. But now Professor Snape was tutoring him, he had been blood adopted into two families. He was a werewolf which sucked but was kinda cool sometimes. He was a metamorphagus and still found that to be fun to play with. Sometimes, when he was just coming out of the shower, he'd bractice things like changing his nose, skin, hair, eyes and mouth into whatever he wanted. The other day, he freaked Ron out by changing his face to match Ron's and then waking him up.
"We saw Draco today," Hermione said, her voice sounding calculated. "He looked peaky. Like you do now."
Harry frowned. The potions he'd taken that morning made him look better than he had after they finished their transformation but it wasn't enough to fully restore him to full strength and health. He trusted them to know he was a werewolf but to tell them that would pretty much out Draco as a werewolf too.
"Hmm, odd," Harry muttered, hoping she'd drop it.
"Odd, I suppose is that you two seem to get sick so much at the same time. Its just odd, as you said," Hermione stared at Harry for a second and turned her head. "Well, I'm going to get ready for bed, Harry, are you going to have supper tonight?"
Harry frowned and stared at his watch. It was half six, he had been staring at the fire in the common room since last class let out at 4 and hadn't noticed how much time had passed but now that it was brought to his attention, he was starving. It was odd how he hadn't noticed until now.
"Bed!" Ron exclaimed, in utter disbelief. "It's 6:30!"
"I woke up at 6am to the sound of someone throwing up and was too concerned to go back to sleep," Hermione snapped, turning to Harry to make it clear who she was talking about.
Harry groaned, he must have forgotten the sound spell. But now Ron was also staring, concern starting to blossom in his own eyes.
"Mate," Ron started.
"It's just a bug, I swear," Harry said. "Professor Snape says I'm still anemic, that means I'll get sick more than you do."
That was true but it was almost gone, so it wouldn't affect him as much as it did before. But it was all he had. Besides, Harry knew they couldn't ask him to confirm because he knew that Professor SNape wouldn't be allow to tell his medical information to them.
"I am going to eat."
"Good!" Hermione exclaimed, "now I'm going to go wash my hair before bed. I was to straighten it."
"I have to do my charms essay," Ron said, and Harry ducked out before Hermione could lecture him about the fact that that essay was due in the morning.
The great Hall was busy when Harry finally got there just before seven. The first thing he noticed was Draco was already gone. The next thing he noticed was all the professors were still there, including professor Dumbledore who was eyeing him closely.
Harry sat down and began helping himself to some pot roast, veggies and whatever else he was craving. The evening potions popped up along with his food and he knew Professor Snape was watching to make sure to took them, so he held them up in the professors direction as though toasting him. His response was a subtle eye roll.
The food was great as usual and he had stood up to eat when he felt a hand on his shoulder. He wanted to go back to the common room and get away from all the extra noise because it was so noisy today and his hearing was still extra sensitive from the full moon the night before.
Albus Dumbledore stood there, wearing clothes that were far too bright and shiny and they hurt Harry's eyes. His face was bright, his smile was large and grandfatherly. Everything about him seemed sincere, except his eyes. SOmething was off about his eyes and it was disconcerting and strange. Something about the man's eyes made him uncomfortable.
"Harry, my boy, if I could have a word quickly before you retire for the night?"
The man was standing there, eyes twinkling but Harry was getting a strange vibe off of him. His scent smelled strange and his eyes were just twinkling away in such a strange way.
"Hello, Professor Dumbledore."
Maybe he looked iller than he thought he did and now the headmaster was checking up on him.
"Yes, hello, I have had it brought to my attention that you and Miss Granger have been spending extra time in the dungeons as of lately and I was wondering why," the headmaster said in a grandfatherly tone but something about it seemed off, like it wasn't sincere at all.
"Oh, that," Harry said slowly.
"Yes, I was worried about you two," he said, but something about his posture told Harry that he was lying.
"Perhaps if he and Miss Granger would behave better in class, they wouldn't have found themselves in Sunday detentions for the remainder of the school year."
Harry hadn't heard Professor Snape approach but he was staring at Professor Dumbledore with an unreadable expression.
"Detention? For the whole year? What have they done?" The shock in his eyes was genuine, perhaps because Harry had never earned such a long detention before. "Perhaps that is a bit far."
"My punishment stands," Professor Snape bit, "their antics could have killed someone, they must learn the full magnitude and this is appropriate."
Professor Dumbledore turned sharply to Harry, eyes wide in shock, clearly asking for an explanation.
"I didn't think the explosion would be that big and neither did Hermione," Harry sighed, spitting out random words, hoping it would be believable. "We wanted to make Ron laugh."
"Harry," Professor Dumbledore said, now staring flabbergasted at Harry and back to Professor Snape, clearly not knowing what to say. "You may be excused, Mister Potter. I will be asking Professor Snape about this incident in question."
"The incident has been dealt with, Albus and I have spoken to all the involved parties and they know what will happen if their hairbrains do it again," Professor Snape said. "The only reason they weren't expelled is because the magnitude of the incident was the result of a bad batch of ingredients delivered to the classroom. I have received a refund."
Albus shoke his head almost tiredly and walked away.
"That was some quick thinking, Mr Potter," Professor Snape said to Harry with a smirk. "Perhaps fill Miss Granger in on your story and your two can tell me what happened so I can know."
Harry nodded.
*****LINE*****
"I say we go as friends," Draco said to Harry, Monday morning before Care for the Magical Creatures. Harry's stomach exploded into butterflies and he did his best to try to control his blush.
They were talking about the Yule Ball.
"Is that allowed? We're blokes?" Harry asked, confused.
"And why would that be an issue?"
Draco's question caught him off guard because he sounded so confused about why it would be an issue.
"Half witches and wizards are bi, it's not even a thing, Harry," Draco told him, staring at him. "People don't even care."
"Bi?" Harry asked, he'd never heard that word before, except bye.
"Bisexual," Draco started. "Likes boys and girls. Didn't the muggles teach you that?"
"No, they only talk about gay people and they say theyre bad."
"Well, do you want to go to the Yule Ball with me?" Draco asked, "it'll be fun, we can laugh at all the lovey dovey couples. Crabbe is going with Millicent Bulstrode, so that'll be hilarious."
"Hermione is going with Blaise," Harry mentioned and Draco dramatically rolled his eyes.
"I heard, over and over and over," Draco sighed. "He talks about it all the time and her. He's got it bad."
Harry laughed because Hermione was just as bad. Whenever they said anything, it was 'Blaise does that too' and 'Blaise feels this way' and it all about Blaise.
"So, what do you say?" Draco asked, grinning.
"Yes," Harry grinned widely.
The grin Harry got back from Draco made butterflies burst through his whole stomach.
"Great!"
*****LINE*****
It was a pair of excited, giant eyes that woke Harry first thing on Christmas morning.
Big giant green eyes and it was all Harry could do to stop himself from flinging himself way from the grinning house-elf.
"It is Christmas! And Dobby is most pleased to give you a gift! You is being following Dobby to the tree!"
Harry heard Ron and Neville chuckle but soon enough, Harry was at the tree with Ron and Dobby.
Dobby had made Harry a pair of blue and Green socks; he had worked hard to earn the money for the yarn.
From Mrs Weasley, he got the usual sweater which he proudly put on seconds after opening it. Sirius and Remus got him a Dragon hyde wand Hollister and he'd received a book called 101 Potions Teens Find Useful and Fun from Professor Snape.
But the one that made his stomach twist and turn for some reason was the silver necklace with a wolf pendant from Draco.
He had gotten everyone gifts too from Hogsmeade. He had been scared to send his gift to Draco. Giving a gift to everyone else had been easy but his gift to Draco made him sweat nervously and he was scared. He had gotten Draco a bracelet that had a wolf paw print on an ivory stone.
He had found in when getting the piece to convert his suit into a bracelet for more convenient access.
The rest of Christmas left Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Nevile curled up in the common room, occasionally glancing out the window at the snow as it fell heavily.
It was a good snowstorm going and it was amazing to watch more and more layers of snow being added to the snow that was already down.
Eventually, everyone dispersed to get ready for the ball. The boys' dorm and showers were chaos. Everyone was bustling around trying to get ready. Neville had lost his deodorant, Dean Thomas got his try wrong twice and Ron's hair refused to cooperate. All Harry could think about was whether or not he looked good enough to be by Draco Malfoy's side.
What would the others think? Draco said it wouldn't be a big deal for two boys to go as each other's dates, but Harry was still nervous.
"If you tie your tie any tighter, you won't have to worry about the ball at all."
*****LINE*****
Harry groaned; it was going to be a long night. Harry and Draco were immediately pulled aside the second they both got near the great hall.
"Mister Potter, where is your date?"
Professor McGonagall's usual stern bun was gone and in it's place, her brown hair was curled elegantly, cascading her face. She looked really beautiful like that.
"Right here," Harry said, pointing to Draco who grinned back.
She looked at Draco, completely unphased and nodded as though this was not shocking at all. It was refreshing to see so little reaction from everyone involved.
"Excellent, Mr Potter, you will be last in line with your date and you will stand on the right, and your date will be to the left. You will follow the other champions to the opening in the hall and proceed with your dance. You will all remain elegant and poised until the song is over," Professor McGonagall instructed.
"How well do you dance, Potter?"
Draco asked as he began straightening Harry's bow, with intense focus. Harry and Draco were both wearing green bows; Draco brought them and proudly declared it was only fair they matched.
"I'm actually pretty good," Harry grinned. For the last tutor session with Tonks, they'd practised ball etiquette and dancing. Harry and Neville even spent a few hours practising together, despite the mocking of the twins when one of them would mess up.
"Good," Draco laughed, placing his hands on Harry's shoulders. "Now, just focus on me, don't get nervous. Don't look at anyone else."
"I don't get nervous."
"You do, and you squirm when you do. I've known you since we were eleven," Draco said, grinning.
"All I'm hearing is you've been watching me since we were eleven," Harry teased, delighted when a pink hue took over Draco's face.
"Sure, you tell yourself that, Potter," Draco grinned back and Harry's cheeks heated when Draco's steel grey eyes met his.
"It's time, line up!" Professor McGonagall shouted.
Harry held out his arm, and Draco wrapped his own around it. Harry's stomach and heart felt like they had ground to a rather abrupt halt all of a sudden before kicking back into motion.
And soon, they were moving into the great hall.
The great hall had been transformed completely. The tables were gone, instead of smaller, more elegant tables around the edge of the hall. The candles in the ceiling were replaced with snow clouds, and there were silver Christmas trees all over the edges of the hall. There were elegant decorations everywhere, and there was a band playing nice, elegant music at the front
Harry focused on Draco as they walked in, and then Harry bowed graciously to Draco before they began dancing. Harry knew people were whispering about this, this was a big deal, but he tuned them out, and it was easy because he didn't want to look anywhere else but at Draco, who looked terrific. His hair was parted in the middle and looked brilliantly soft. He wanted to run his fingers through it, but the blond boy would probably murder him.
Harry and Draco found Ron speaking with Percy when the first dance was over. Percy was standing with his chest far out and a proud look on his face.
"...and because he is sick, I am here in his place. I still can't believe he trusts me enough with this, Ron. Ah, Harry, Malfoy," Percy said, bringing Ron's attention to them.
"Congratulations, Percy," Harry said before Ron could say whatever he looked ready to say that would say something rash.
"Yeah, congratulation," Ron muttered, but he seemed to mean it a bit more to the end.
"Thank you," Percy grinned proudly, "I need to go and speak with Ludo Bagman and Albus Dumbledore quickly."
"Your shirt has come untucked," Draco informed him. "Bagman is big on neat attire."
Percy looked down abruptly and flushed profusely before dashing off, muttering a thank you to Draco.
As soon as he was gone, the three boys burst into laughter.
They walked around, laughing and joking about quidditch.
"Cockroach!" Harry announced, grinning, rushing to step on it, but Draco stopped him.
"It looks like a real stinker; you might ruin the ball if you squish it."
"Sounds fun," Ron said, not really wanting to be there at all because he hadn't gotten a date on time.
"Fine," Harry muttered, frowning at the bug that had scurried off to where Hagrid was standing with Madam Maxine. It crawled up her shoe and up her giant leg.
"Should we tell her?" Harry hissed to Draco, who was on his arm again, as though it was the most natural thing in the world.
They heard the words 'half giant' but nothing else.
"...it is nice to meet another half-giant!"
Madam Maxine gasped loudly
"'Ow dare you! I 'ave never been more insulted in my life! 'Alf-giant? Moi? I 'ave — I 'ave big bones!"
Ron and Harry attempted to go closer, but Draco stopped both of them.
"Let's go get some punch."
And before Harry or Ron could object, Draco was already dragging them off.
"Did you know, Harry?" Ron asked when they left the great hall.
"Know what?"
"He's half-giant!" Ron hissed and Harry shrugged, unable to see the big deal.
"So?" Harry got shocked looks from Draco and Ron.
"I already knew," Draco shrugged. "Father is on the board of directors and they wrote to him about it because he needed special doctors or something. He made me swear not to tell anyone. And then I got grounded for reading his confidential paperwork. But what did he expect, leaving it in a locked box in his study with the key hidden in the bedside table where anyone can find it?"
"I think he expected you to stay out of it," Ron muttered.
"Boring," Draco sighed, "anyway, we can't tell anyone. Even I have come to… appreciate the man."
"Deal," Ron and Harry said at the same time. They were not going to tell anyone. Besides, Harry wasn't sure why this was such a big thing but he could tell it was huge and he didn't want to hurt Hagrid ever.