Harry loved Christmas with Sirius and Remus. It was such a stark contrast from his previous Christmases, at the Dursleys' and at Hogwarts, and he doubted that he would ever tire of effort that Sirius put in to make the day special. They ate breakfast together, a special breakfast that Sirius had had the house-elves prepare especially (since apparently all Christmas meals had to contain Christmassy food), before moving into the Elladora sitting room to exchange gifts.

Harry could still remember receiving his first proper Christmas presents at Hogwarts during his first year. It had seemed like the best thing ever, but now he knew better. Opening gifts when surrounded by people who loved him was a hundred times more special than opening them alone.

Lunch was much more formal affair, with the Malfoys and Cousin Andromeda, Cousin Ted, and Tonks flooing over for the meal, but Harry enjoyed it nonetheless. He loved having a large family, even if not all of them got along, and it was always amusing to watch Lord Malfoy and Cousin Andromeda's polite verbal sparring.

It was good to see Draco as well. Harry hadn't seen his cousin since their conversation two days previously and he was relieved to see that Draco wasn't angry with him. Though only time would tell if Draco had decided to be nicer to Astoria.

The family lingered for a while after lunch, but then Cousin Narcissa announced that Draco needed to be home preparing for the Hogwarts' Yule Ball and the Malfoys took their leave. It was then that Sirius announced that Cousin Andromeda had agreed to stay for the afternoon to help Harry get ready. Harry could have cursed him and probably would of, if not for the fact that it would register as underage magic and would be unforgivable rude – especially since they had guests.

It wasn't that Harry didn't like Cousin Andromeda, because he did, but couldn't Sirius have given him a bit more warning? Besides, it wasn't as though he really needed her help anyway. He'd been fine when he'd prepared for the Malfoy's Yule Ball by himself the year before.

Cousin Andromeda's help was certainly educational and, by the time that she announced him ready, Harry was glad of her assistance. He'd had no idea that there were so many different spells that could be performed on his hair, though he did like the result. It looked a lot more elaborate than it usually did, though not in a feminine manner, and Cousin Andromeda had promised that the spells would last the night. She had even cast some sort of shield over his hair, claiming that the last thing he wanted was for someone to cast an Undoing Charm in his direction and have his hair return to a mess. Apparently that had happened to Lord Burke's son once and he hadn't lived it down for years.

The hair wasn't the only thing that Cousin Andromeda helped with though. She had been horrified to discover that, while Harry had found jewellery for Daphne to wear, he hadn't considered that he might need some matching cufflinks. She had immediately dispatched Sirius to Gringotts with instructions not to come back without two sets of cufflinks, one set for Harry to wear to the Hogwarts' Yule Ball and one set for the Malfoys' Yule Ball the next day.

All in all, the experience made Harry aware of just how many aspects of traditional culture that he was still unaware of. It wasn't surprising really, after all Cousin Narcissa could hardly have imparted fifteen years of information to him in three summers, but it was discouraging. Would he ever learn it all?

Eventually, Harry was ready and, when he looked himself over in a mirror, he scarcely recognised himself. He looked so…proper – which he thought was really saying something given the fact that he always made an effort to dress appropriately.

Sirius and Remus, both of whom were in dress robes as well, stared at him when he came downstairs, before Sirius gave a melodramatic sniff.

"Ah, my little prongslet, all grown up!"

Harry rolled his eyes, before stiffening when Cousin Andromeda cleared her throat disapprovingly. She was just as bad as Cousin Narcissa when it came to policing proper behaviour.

"Ready to go, Harry?" Remus asked from where he was leaning against the wall beside Sirius.

"Yes." Harry nodded, looking Remus' dress robes over with an impressed eye. Clearly Sirius had managed to convince Remus to let him foot the bill this time.

Sirius let out a low whistle and Harry followed to gaze to the stairs that Tonks was descending. She looked incredible in her wine coloured dress robes. Her hair, which was brown and longer than usual, had been put up in a complicated and delicate arrangement that held a piece of jewellery like the ones he had seen in his vault. She was also wearing a necklace and earrings that contained large jewels that matched the colour of her dress robes set in gold.

Harry glanced back to Remus who was staring at her like he'd been hit over the head. "Something you want to tell me, Remus?"

"Uh…" Remus' eyes were fixed on Tonks.

"You don't know?" Sirius looked apologetic. "Sorry, kiddo, I presumed he'd told you and he probably presumed that I'd told you."

"Told me what?" Harry persisted.

"That Remus is courting Tonks." Sirius answered. "He asked me in October, all nice and proper. Personally, I think she coached him."

"Well, I had to do something." Tonks commented with a grin, stepping off the last step. "He was moving at a snail's pace."

Remus stepped forward and bowed. "You look beautiful." His voice was unusually gravelly.

Tonks' hair turned a faint red, before returning to brown. "Yeah?"

Cousin Andromeda sniffed disapprovingly, but didn't say anything.

"Stunning." Remus promised seriously.

"You don't look so bad yourself." Tonks told him with a smile, before quickly adding. "I'm not wearing heels. I hope that's alright. It's just that I'm likely to fall over anyway, and with heels…"

Remus smiled warmly as she trailed off. "I don't mind, really."

Harry turned away from the couple when he felt a hand fall on his shoulder. "Yes, Cousin Andromeda?"

Cousin Andromeda looked him up and down, before nodding. "Be sure that you represent our House with pride and honour tonight."

"I will." Harry promised.

"What she means to say is have fun." Sirius said, with a pointed look towards his cousin. "Tomorrow night is the formal event, this is just the school one."

"I will have fun." Harry told him with a smile. "There's no reason why I can't do that and represent my Houses with pride and honour at the same time."

Cousin Andromeda nodded approvingly while Sirius rolled his eyes.

Harry turned his attention back to Tonks and Remus, who were now talking to Cousin Ted.

"Right." Sirius said loudly. "Time for you lot to be off, I think. You wouldn't want to be late. I'll be along soon."

Harry winced at the idea of being late to meet Daphne, he hated the idea of leaving her standing alone.

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As it turned out, they were half an hour early. Tonks thought that Sirius had probably been trying to rescue Remus from his discussion with Cousin Ted.

"Why?" Harry asked curiously, unsure why anyone would need rescuing from Cousin Ted. He was definitely the most harmless member of the Most Ancient and Noble House of Black.

Remus' cheeks turned pink. "Uh, no reason. Anyway, I should probably go and make sure there's nothing they need me to be doing. Are you alright staying here with Harry, Dora?"

"Of course." Tonks promised.

Harry turned his attention to her as Remus left. "You let him call you Dora?"

Tonks' hair gained a reddish twinge. "Yeah, but that doesn't mean anyone else is allowed to."

"Understood." Harry assured her quickly. "So…how has your work with the auror department been going?"

Tonks sighed. "It's a lot harder now that You-Know-Who is back."

"Because of his attacks?" Harry asked quietly.

"Partly," Tonks sighed again. "Two of the people who I went through training with are dead, killed by Death Eaters."

Harry's stomach twisted. "That's awful."

"That's war." Tonks said grimly. "But it's also harder because it seems as though half the housewives in the country are sure that they have Death Eaters hiding in their backyard. All it takes is a rustling bush and they summon us, certain that they're about to be attacked."

There was a part of Harry that found that funny, and kind of pathetic, but it was also very grim. "I had no idea people were so scared."

Tonks glanced over at him. "Yeah, well you weren't around during the last war. Neither was I, really, I was only eight when You-Know-Who disappeared, but these housewives were. They remember the days when there was a good chance that a rustling bush was a Death Eater out to kill them. All of them can reel off a dozen names of friends and family that were killed in the last war, half of them in their homes. They have good reason to be scared."

Harry stared at her in horror. "It was that bad?"

"Why do you think Hogwarts is half empty?" Tonks asked. "According to Mum, there were twice as many students here when she was a student. And three times as many when her parents were at Hogwarts. Of course then Grindlewald declared war on Europe and hundreds of people died, and then then You-Know-Who came and killed even more."

Harry felt sick. "I had no idea."

"No, you wouldn't." Tonks sighed. "I didn't either, not really, not until I became an auror trainee. People don't talk about it, and Binns certainly didn't teach it."

"Why hasn't Remus taught it?" Harry asked heatedly.

"Because there's more important things you need to know." Tonks pointed out. "And because he doesn't want your classmates to be crying murder at every rustling bush. It's no way to live, Harry."

Harry thought about that, it did make sense. He could remember the first few weeks back at Hogwarts, when everyone was still shaken from Voldemort's attack on the Quidditch World Cup. It had been awful.

"Anyway," Tonks' tone became forcedly bright. "Sorry, that's no kind of subject for a Yule Ball. I shouldn't have brought it up. Let's talk about something else."

"It's fine." Harry assured her slowly. "I'm glad you told me."

Tonks' eyes were compassionate, before they were suddenly filled with mischief. "I have a new topic. Remus told me that he walked in on Sirius trying to give you 'The Talk'. He said something about Quidditch metaphors?"

Harry could feel his cheeks heating in embarrassment. "It was awful!"

"What metaphor did he use?" Tonks asked with an unsympathetic grin. "Snitches and seekers?"

Harry shook his head.

"Beaters and bludgers?" Tonks questioned.

"No." Harry tried to force away his blush.

Tonks' eyes widened. "He didn't use the quaffle and hoops one, did he?" When Harry's blushed deepened she crowed in amusement. "Merlin, that's brilliant! There is absolutely nothing left to the imagination with that one."

"Tell me about it." Harry groaned.

"Did he cover pregnancy?" Tonks asked shamelessly.

"They were the goals." Harry mumbled.

"Ha!" Tonks grinned widely. "Brilliant! So, Harry, played any Quidditch with Daphne recently?"

Harry thought that this was possibly more embarrassing than his conversation with Sirius had been. "No."

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Thankfully other students began arriving before Tonks could ask him any more embarrassing questions and Harry took the opportunity to escape to the Entrance Hall. Neither he nor Daphne had known which floo she would be assigned to come through, so they had arranged to meet in the Entrance Hall to make things easier.

The room was mostly empty when Harry arrived, with only a few older students milling around, and he settled himself against one of the walls to wait. It was interesting to watch people, as they arrived. The girls seemed gigglier than normal and the boys seemed more awkward. Harry wondered whether the change in behaviour was due to their fancy clothes or their feelings about the ball.

The first of Harry's friends to arrive were the Weasley twins, which wasn't surprising given that they were staying at Hogwarts over the holidays to avoid their family. They both looked very smart in their new dress robes, which Harry took as a testament to Daphne's good taste. They weren't alone though, George had Alicia Spinnet on his arm and Fred had his arm around Angelina Johnson's waist. Both girls looked lovely, though they were wearing muggle styled dresses rather than dress robes.

Theo was next, with Nastasja Lestrange on his arm. She was by far the youngest person in the room, and Harry suspected that she would be the youngest person at the ball, but she looked delighted to be there. Theo spotted him immediately and made his way across the hall to where Harry was standing.

"Merry meet." Theo bowed low, as Nastasja curtsied at his side.

"Merry meet." Harry agreed with a nod. "You look lovely, Nastasja."

Nastasja blushed deeply as she looked at the floor. "Thank you, Harry."

"No comments about my appearance?" Theo asked jokingly.

Harry gave him a cursory glance. "My apologies, I was distracted by your betrothed's beauty. You look…well."

"Merry meet, Harry." Neville's voice came from Harry's left.

Harry was hard-pressed not to startle in fright as he spun around to face his friend. "Merry meet." He returned as calmly as he could. "Is Luna meeting you here?"

"Yes." Neville looked around. "It was easier this way. I presume you're waiting for Daphne?"

"Of course." Harry searched the room with his eyes. "Oh, there's Luna."

"Where?" Neville asked, before heading in the direction that Harry had pointed.

Draco arrived next, though Blaise and Ines weren't far behind him, and then they were only missing the Greengrass sisters.

The Entrance hall was definitely filling up now and, according to Harry's pocket watch, the ball was scheduled to start in less than five minutes. Harry stood as tall as he could and searched the room for his betrothed, or at least for the colour purple that he knew she would be wearing.

Eventually he spotted her, standing near one of the doors and looking around expectantly.

Presuming that Astoria would be with her, Harry got Draco's attention before making his way towards them.

It took them at least a minute to reach the door where Harry had seen Daphne, but when Harry moved around the last group of people between him and the door he had to swallow down a gasp. She looked incredible! Like…like…like…he honestly couldn't think of a single comparison that could describe how beautiful she was.

Daphne's dress robes, which were the colour of the Most Ancient and Noble House of Potter, were tailored to fit her body in a tantalising way and her hair glowed like a lumos spell. Not to mention that the diamond necklace, earrings and bracelet that she was wearing matched perfectly.

"Merry meet." Daphne curtsied shallowly.

"Merry meet." Harry knew that his voice sounded rougher than usual. "You look beautiful."

"Thank you." Daphne glanced towards the floor, before returning her gaze to his face.

Harry stepped forward and took hold of one of her hands, before bringing it to his lips to kiss it. "Absolutely stunning."

Daphne's cheeks pinked. "You look good as well."

Professor McGonagall's voice could suddenly be heard above the noise in the hall. "Champions over here, please."

"That's us." Harry offered Daphne his arm, before glancing over to where Draco was standing with Astoria. "We'll see you later."

"Of course." Draco inclined his head.

Harry led Daphne across the hall, towards where McGonagall's voice had come from. Nodding in acknowledgement to the bows and curtsies that he and Daphne received as they walked through the crowd.

"I could get used to this." Daphne admitted in a low tone.

Harry smiled. "You should."

McGonagall, who was wearing tartan dress robes of all things, was standing to the side of the doors into the hall and she nodded briskly when she saw them approaching.

"Good, you're here." She said. "Wait over there with the other champions."

Harry turned his attention to where she had gestured, before swallowing down a sneer when he saw that the only other champion who had arrived was Aceline Moreau. Why couldn't it have been any of the other ones? Aceline was awful.

Aceline didn't look happy to see him either, but she did offer a curtsey.

Harry nodded in acknowledgement, deciding to ignore how insultingly shallow the curtsy had been, before nodding to her date's bow. Harry didn't think he had ever met the wizard before, but he was pretty sure that he was one of the Beauxbatons' students.

There were a few seconds of awkward silence, as they waited for Aceline to introduce them, before Harry gave up.

"I am Harry Potter, Heir to the Most Ancient and Noble Houses of Black and Potter." He told the wizard. "And this is my betrothed, Daphne Greengrass, Daughter of the Ancient and Noble House of Greengrass."

The wizard bowed again. "Merry meet, 'eir Black. I am Walcott Durand, of the 'ouse of Belanger."

"Merry meet." Harry acknowledged.

"So eet is true then?" Aceline asked scathingly. "You are betrozzed?"

Harry narrowed his gaze onto her. "I am."

"And you do not care zat you will force zis girl into marrying you?" Aceline asked, looking Daphne over in disdain.

Daphne stiffened on his arm, before replying in fluent French "I beg your pardon? I will happily marry my Lord Potter."

Aceline sneered. "Then you are a gold digger!"

"Stop, Aceline." Walcott frowned, glancing worriedly towards Harry.

Daphne raised a condemning eyebrow. "So it is true. Peasants do think first of money."

Aceline's face flushed red. "Bitch!"

"Aceline!" Walcott reprimanded sharply, before turning his attention to Harry and switching the language back to English. "My apologies, 'eir Black."

Harry nodded sharply as Cedric and Fleur arrived together

"Merry meet, Harry." Cedric greeted him cheerfully with a bow.

"Merry meet, 'arry." Fleur echoed, curtsying lowly.

"Merry meet." Harry acknowledged. "I believe that you know my betrothed, Daphne Greengrass, Daughter of the Ancient and Noble House of Greengrass."

"I do." Cedric bowed again, this time over Daphne's hand.

"I 'ave not 'had the pleasure." Fleur admitted with another curtsey. "Eet is a pleasure to meet you, Miss Greengrass."

"Likewise." Daphne agreed with a smile.

Harry looked around and saw that the Entrance Hall was mostly empty, with most of the students having moved into the Great Hall. Viktor and Nynke arrived less than a minute later, each with a date from their own school, and then McGonagall bore down on them.

"You will be entering the hall together." McGonagall instructed them. "I want you to line up with your dates in front of the doors."

It took them a few minutes to work out the order of the pairs, but Harry was unsurprised that he Daphne ended up being first, with Cedric and Fleur directly behind them, after all, he and Cedric were the highest ranking champions.

"Follow me." McGonagall ordered, spelling open the double doors to the Great Hall and walking forward.

Harry looked down to where Daphne was standing, her hand tucked into his arm. "You ready?"

Daphne smiled confidently. "Of course."

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