Chapter 17: Dress Robes?
A.N. I Don't own anything from Harry Potter because my initials aren't J, K, R

The next morning, it was snowy and Christmas was definitely on the way, which also meant it was nearly Ash's birthday. It was the 14th December and Ash's birthday was on the 18th December, which meant that the Yule Ball was on the 25th December which meant the Second Task was on the 28th December. James was thinking about how quick it would go until the second task and he still had NO idea what the clue to the next task was, and James DID NOT want to open the pendant because of the horrible smell and the small buzzing noise it made, which deafened ears!
He got up and then went to the bathroom's where he had a small shower and freshened up and then went back up to the Common Room where he saw Rhea sitting by herself. He couldn't see Ash around so he went up to her to see what the matter was.
'Hey Rhea, are you alright?' Said James
'No, I am most certainly not alright' Replied Rhea, sounding quite rude
'Tell me what the matter is!'
'No, I don't want to tell you…'
'It's about Sid isn't it?'
'It might be why?'
'He's my friend and maybe I can help, just tell me Rhea!'
'Okay… Well… I told him before the Tournament not to put his name in the goblet but he didn't listen to me and he put his name in, yes he survived but that doesn't mean he will survive the other tasks does it? And anyways he's already ditched me for someone named Priya…'
'I'm so sorry Rhea, and I promise you, and I really do, that you and ONLY YOU will go to the Yule Ball with Sid'
'Thanks James…'
James was about to walk away and then Rhea added 'You like Ash don't you?'
James turned to look at her and then said 'I don't know I guess. She's a great friend…'
'You know you like her. When she wiped your nose bleed in the Hospital Wing, you blushed, and yesterday when she looked at your scars and when she held your hand you both blushed'
'Maybe… Wait… How do you know about that?'
'Guess…'
'Oh great, so you like watching through keyholes then?'
'Maybe…'
Rhea and James started laughing together and then Rhea added 'Thanks James… You and Ash make such a cute couple'
'As do you Rhea… With Sid, I'll catch you later'
'See you!' Said Rhea
James then left and then Rhea was by herself again. Ash then came down an Fi, Rachel and Zee were behind her. But then someone else was behind her as well. This girl, she had very long hair which was wavy, and was tied up in a bun, she was also the shortest Gryffindor ever seen, which was an achievement and she looked very loud!
'Hey Rhea! This is Lia, she's new to Gryffindor' Said Fi
'Oh hey Lia!' Said Rhea
'Hey there! Its nice to be with everyone you know!' Said Lia
Then Rhea followed on with everyone and then they all went to the Great Hall so then they could eat and receive their mail from their owls, Ash was really worried about Hooter, he wasn't used to going out to get the mail in the winter, only the summer and spring. When they got into the hall, everyone was already sitting down and they were just waiting for the post. Ash sat down next to James where she usually sat and she didn't look happy, again. Rhea was looking at Sid who was sitting next to a girl that Rhea didn't know, he looked like he was quite close to her, maybe as close as to going to the Yule Ball. Zee was looking around and then she saw a boy, looking at her. She didn't know who he was but she thought he was cute… She didn't know what to do or say so she just looked away. Fi was smiling at Albus just thinking about the chances of Fi and him going to the Yule Ball. Albus didn't really look at Fi, because he thought usually that she was reading books and just staring into space. Back to Ash now, Ash had that same thought that she had every year after that first Christmas she had. She wanted to tell James. It had been 3 years, she HAD to tell him, you cant keep a secret forever… James was looking at Ash while she was waiting for Hooter to arrive, while she was looking at all the different owls, he knew that she was thinking about something, and something interesting was on her mind, and he knew she wouldn't tell him anything. Maybe it was something about him, maybe it was something about the Tournament, or maybe it was generally about her subjects, who knew?
The owls were coming together and Hooter still hadn't come and Ash was really worrying. James' owl Reggie was here and it dropped down 2 BIG parcels for James, for Hugo there was a HUGE parcel of things, he had no idea what it was. Rose also got a parcel but it was a quite small and simple package, smaller than Hugo's that's for sure' Rhea got a big one, so really EVERYONE got a new one. Hugo started opening his, when he fully opened it, he saw it was some kind of dress, with a bonnet and everything, he ACTUALLY thought that it was for Rose when it was actually for him
'Urm. Rose, I think that package you have is mine, and this is yours' Said Hugo
'That is HORRIBLE. That is obviously not from me' Said Rose
Everyone started laughing and Hugo was confused
'Hugo… Didn't your father or mother ever tell you, their dress robes, for BOYS not GIRLS' Said Rachel
'This… This is what I'M wearing for the Yule Ball?' Said Hugo
'Probably, let me see mine and we'll compare!' Said James
James opened up his package and then inside was this nice formal, black and white dress robe which had a bow tie in, with NO frilly bits or CURLY bits
'Your dress robes are absolutely fine James!' Said Hugo
'So is yours, I'm sure you will be fine!' Said James and then added 'Now girls, would like to do the honours of opening your packages?'
'No… The girls dress for the Yule Ball is always a surprise, especially when she HAS NO DATE' Said Rhea. James looked at Ash again and she wasn't paying any attention to anything because she was worried about Hooter…
'Ash are you okay?' Said James
'No I'm not okay, I can't see Hooter anywhere!' Said Ash
'I'm sure he's coming, there's probably a delay!'
'There aren't any more owls coming, there's never a delay!'
Ash put her head down on the table and then James put his hand on her back and then tried to make her happy and then suddenly everyone turned around because they heard a noise, a noise which sounded like a bird's noise, Ash then looked up and then saw Hooter flying with a package coming to Ash. Ash's face brightened up and then she caught the present when Hooter dropped the present and then Hooter went to Professor McGonagall, where she stroked him slowly, and gave his favourite snack of 'Owl Magic Biscuits' to him. Ash smiled at McGonagall and then she gave a smile back, thank god Hooter was saved! Ash didn't notice, but James did, his hand was still on Ash's back, so before she noticed, he quickly took his hand off and put it on the table. Rhea looked at James and smiled and then looked back at her package, wondering what it was! Sid had a package and the girl who was next to him was touching the package and helping him open it, Rhea was jealous, and angry. But she knew that she was going to be the one that he would go to the Yule Ball with. James wanted to ask Ash but whenever he said her name, he got nervous and didn't know what to say so he just said 'Nothing'
Ash wanted to go with someone but it was still a while till the Yule Ball and they had a lot of days to find someone to go with… 11 days actually! But the only thing she was thankful about at this moment, was that her Hooter was safe. Hooter had gone all the way from Scotland to London and then back again with the package, probably most of the owls did.
Ash was just looking and then she saw Aleksandar looking at her and staring at her and she looked around her and looked at him again. James saw Aleksandar looking at her so he started casually talking to Ash and then he put his arm around her without her noticing, Aleksandar was jealous. James was jealous, this was probably a fight over Ash… But who would get Ash first….?