Okay, so this took me a little longer than I had hoped and I'm not entirely sure about it, but ah well.

I've decided that if I'm using quotes from HP, I really should use some from XS as well, so I'll be incorporating more of those as we go along, though not as many as the HP ones.

I've just realised how long this story - and most likely its sequels too - is going to be. I'm about half-way through and it's already longer than 'Keep Walking' and has only a few chapters less than 'The First Step'. Ugh, I can't come up with titles for the life of me. I've already got all of the titles for this series planned out but I'm only happy with the first and last as though they're a bit odd, they just seem to fit. To me at least.

Anyway, enough rambling. On with the chapter! Please R&R!

Chapter Fifteen

It was odd, but over the next few days I seemed to get more attention than usual from the male population of Hogwarts. I could hardly go anywhere without someone asking me to go to the ball with them. They all seemed really disappointed when I had to turn them down, though I suppose they were only faking it. I mean, the only reason they were interested at all was because of my fame and my money.

Rai got increasingly grumpy over those days too. I tried not to be too offended as I assumed that it was over the fact that he was pretty much being forced to go out with me. The girls had tried to protest when I brought up this theory but as I had shot back, it was obvious that it was something to do with me as he was particularly touchy when talking to me. Maria had just looked incredulously at me, as if I was missing the most painfully obvious thing in the world.

I was rapidly losing my temper with Rai as he got surlier with each passing day, and it all came to a head in Xiaolin training, about a week before the ball was to take place. We had been training with the Shen Gong Wu, though not the ones we usually worked with. Something about training with the other elements. Anyway, Rai was working with the Orb of Tornami and he wasn't concentrating as he had been told time and time again that you must when using Shen Gong Wu, meaning that instead of hitting the target he was supposed to be hitting, he had let loose a flood, sending the rest of us flying across the grounds.

I slammed, rather painfully, into one of the stone slabs we had hid behind last year when Buckbeak was executed, and heard the others doing the same. "Sorry." Rai supplied as he walked towards us rather sheepishly. "But I think the Orb is defective."

I could feel the anger that had been building up inside me for weeks boiling beneath the surface of my skin. "I'm pretty sure something's defective, and it's not the Orb." I snapped, glaring at Rai.

Rai's eyes narrowed. I could see Clay and Omi's gaze flickering uncertainly between the two of us, but I was too far gone in my anger to stop now. "What's that supposed to mean?" he hissed.

"Oh, you know perfectly well what I mean!" I hissed back, drawing myself up to my full – though still rather short – height, hands on my hips and flames flickering about my fingers.

We ended up screaming ourselves hoarse at each other for the best part of half an hour, oblivious to Clay, Omi, Master Fung, and even Dojo's attempts to separate us, and calm us down, too focused on the other. I poured out all of my frustration from the past two weeks, and managed to calm down enough by the next day to have a civil conversation with him.

The four of us lounged under the tree in the courtyard again at lunchtime, bundled up in hats, scarves and gloves as the cold weather started up. I watched in amusement as Jack Spicer attempted – unsuccessfully, once again – to get himself a date to the Yule Ball. I really didn't understand why he didn't just go with Ashley. I mean, they seem to be the only ones in the whole school that can stand each other.

I giggled with a mock sigh as the girl simply laughed at him before walking away. "Yet another girl falls prey to the charms of Jack Spicer."

The guys looked up and followed my line of sight. Rai and Clay smirked while Omi looked confused. "But he-"

"Sarcasm." Rai muttered and Omi's face cleared in understanding.

"Oh."

Rai and I still struggled to figure out what the egg's clue was supposed to be, yet admittedly it got pushed aside due to the fighting and the ball, but that didn't mean it wasn't still on our minds.

As the night of the Yule Ball approached, the female population of Hogwarts got increasingly excited. The ball was to be for third-years and above since I – as the youngest champion – was thirteen, so technically should be in third year, that was the minimum age.

Sishi was going to the dance with a Ravenclaw in our year, named Ryan, and Maria was going with Michael Goodfellow. Keiko and Neko both refused to tell us who they were going with, dissolving into giggles every time they were asked. I decided not to burst their bubble with the knowledge that I already knew, but I didn't want to ruin their fun either, so I told no one.

Clay and Omi hadn't asked anyone to go with them, claiming that they didn't really know any girls apart from me and the girls, all of whom had dates. The only girl they knew that didn't was Ashley, and neither was eager to go with her. Aidan seemed to be having a problem. He didn't seem to know who to ask, and soon it was only a few days before the dance and he still hadn't asked anyone.

The group of us sat in the Gryffindor Common Room, Keiko and I curled up on armchairs, reading, while Maria messed with my hair from behind. Aidan glanced over at us, his gaze lingering on Keiko, before he sat up a little straighter. "Hey Keiko," she lifted her eyes from the pages of the advanced transfiguration book I had recommended to her, to his face. "You're a girl."

"Oh, brilliant observation, Aidan." Sishi cut across him, her voice dripping with sarcasm. Aidan went faintly pink before continuing.

"Do you want to go to the ball with me?" Keiko's face flushed slightly, though I'm not sure it was noticeable through normal vision.

"I've already got someone." She looked down, fiddling with the edge of her robes.

"Come on." For some reason Aidan didn't seem to believe her. "It's one thing for a bloke to show up alone. For a girl it's just sad."

Keiko's eyes flashed, along with the rest of the girls', and she glared at Aidan. "Well, I won't be going alone because, believe it or not, someone's asked me." She snapped her book shut, clambering to her feet, still glaring at Aidan. "And I said yes." She hissed angrily before storming off, the rest of us girls following behind her.

The night of the Yule Ball had finally arrived and our dormitory was busy as everyone rushed to get ready. Maria had helped me to do my hair, and I hers, before we got dressed. I soon found myself ready – thank you inhuman speed – and at a loss of what to do. I figured that the guys would have finished getting ready by now, and headed out to the Common Room. There I found them sitting and talking, but Rai wasn't there.

I found him in his dormitory, staring in horror at his reflection in the mirror. "I didn't realise you were quite that vain, Rai."

He spun round to face me, an expression of despair on his face. "Look at these!" he indicated his dress robes, which to be fair, weren't exactly the nicest I'd seen. They were rather old and while they were a rather nice black colour, the collar and the sleeves were lacy and ruffled. I grimaced sympathetically.

"Let me." I pulled out my wand and neatly severed the ruffles and lace. "There." But Rai didn't seem to have heard me. He seemed to have noticed what I was wearing and was staring. "Uh…Rai?"

He jerked, shaking his head. "Uh…wow…you look great, Kimiko."

I blushed. "Thanks."

We stood awkwardly for a while until Rai broke the silence. "Well, we'd best be going."

We headed down the staircases with Aidan, Clay and Omi, the girls having already gone ahead with their dates. "Poor girl." Aidan said suddenly, prompting the rest of us to look at him, utterly confused. "She's probably alone in her room, crying her eyes out."

"Who on earth are you talking about?"

"Keiko, of course! Why do you think she wouldn't tell us who she was going with?"

"Because you'd take the mickey out of her if she did." I shot back but he only shook his head.

"No one asked her, of course." I clenched my hands into fists. "I would've taken her myself if she wasn't so ruddy proud."

I wheeled on him, my eyes blazing. "Someone did ask her, Aidan Bakerset. Is it really so hard to believe?" and I stormed off, dragging Rai behind me. After all, we did have to open the ball.

Professor McGonagall quickly ushered all but the champions into the hall, instructing us to wait outside until everyone else was inside. I spotted Keiko and Neko on the arms of Krum and Voskef, sending them my best version of that damned annoying knowing grin, to which they grinned back.

We were eventually ushered into the hall where we opened the dance with a waltz before sitting down at the large table to have dinner before the proper dance part begun. Luckily Rai and I were seated near Master Fung – though this was also near Pedro, at his insistence – so we weren't at a loss for entertainment for the evening.

I barely sat down after that Rai and I were dancing so much, and it was one of the best nights at Hogwarts. I couldn't see Omi in the crowd but I could see Clay, talking to a very pretty red headed girl I'm pretty sure was in Ravenclaw, and the rest of my friends generally having a good time, though Aidan disappeared halfway through the ball.

When it ran into the wee hours of the morning, the teachers ushered us out of the hall, declaring the ball over, and we headed, albeit reluctantly, to bed. When we reached Gryffindor Common Room, we were met with the sight of Aidan and Keiko, red in the face from yelling at each other. "Well, if you don't like it, you know what the solution is, don't you?" Keiko was screaming at him, in typical Rai and I fashion, her hair falling out of her elegant bun and onto the shoulders of her gorgeous purple dress. "Next time there's a ball, pluck up the courage to ask me before somebody else does, and not as a last resort!" and she rushed off.

I glared at Aidan before running after her, purposely knocking into his shoulder once again as I did so. He had been glaring at Keiko and Krum all evening. What made him think that he could just ruin this for her! She had been having such a wonderful time… Keiko deserved to have someone 'pluck up the courage' to ask her to the ball, she deserved to have fun. I mean, she works so hard. And she had had that with Krum before Aidan ruined it.

She deserved it, even if Keiko had secretly wished it was Aidan who had asked her.

I'm still not entirely sure I should've put that last line in, though I'm sure any of you who have read my other stories knew it was coming. If you've read the books/seen the films (though the books are more what I'm sticking to in regards to this) you've probably guessed that the Aidan/Keiko relationship is the Ron/Hermione relationship of the series (though the RaiKim relationship has tones of it as well) so you'll know that there's a lot more to come for those two!