Magnolia Crescent

Chapter Forty-Two

Belle of the Ball

"All set," Harry said, adjusting his dress robes. While checking his white bowtie, he glanced over into one of the mirrors set up in a spare classroom.

"This is so embarrassing," Ron groaned, glancing down at his own outfit. The frills and lace were really getting to him now.

"Sirius did offer you a new one," Harry reminded. The Yule Ball was in a few hours and they still had things to set up. He hoped that they could get everything ready soon so that he could get to his position for the main dance.

"Hey, Harry. Hey, Ron," Neville greeted, tugging at the sleeve of his own robe. There was an uncharacteristic smirk on his face. Harry waved back but Ron was still busy lamenting his awful fashion statement to respond. "So, we all have dates – nobody gets left out. Um, Ron, just so you know, this is a onetime thing," Neville said.

"Huh?" Ron said, glancing up when his attention was finally taken away from his suit.

"I didn't mention it, but Ginny sorta felt sorry for me. So we are heading to the ball together," Neville admitted, appearing to shrink while Ron rolled his eyes.

"Don't do anything to cause her any sort of grief," Ron replied, simply shrugging.

"Just so you are aware," Neville added. Leo walked in then and all three simply stared in outfit in shock. He was sporting pure white dress robes, dark green pin stripped vest with silver and a matching tie. His dark blonde hair was slicked back, but loose around his shoulders. All in all, it was an impressive look for him.

"I think black is a bit overused," he stated, an amused smirk on his face while he adjusted his tie. "So, what do you think?" he asked, letting his robes swirl around him a bit.

"Slytherins," Ron muttered, rolling his eyes as he turned back to the mirror and thought of a way to improve his horrid robes. Harry just shook his head in amusement.

"I like it," Neville replied. Leo smile at the compliment while they grouped together. After a few short minutes, Ron joined them as well. They chatted aimlessly about classes and Neville doing his best to direct it towards Herbology.

"So, I let Fleur out of the deal," Leo said when there was a lull in the conversation. Harry's head snapped up.

"Well, that's two bombshells. You got a third one?" he asked, looking over at Leo.

"What's a bombshell?" he asked, a look of confusion on his face. T seemed that Ron and Neville shared his confusion.

"What made you change your mind?" Harry asked instead.

"Your bad influence, that's what," Leo grunted. "I felt bad, forcing her into something. And well, I doubted Hermione would be keen on it if she found out. That wouldn't help me much if I want a chance with her. Speaking of, I wonder who she is going to the ball with?" Leo mused.

"Good on you," Harry commented. "As for Hermione, she can be very tight-lipped when she wants to be. We haven't heard anything from her, but I've got a feeling that we will be finding out soon."

"Well, sucks to be you," Ron said. "No date, huh?"

"Nah, I'll just steal yours when you sit down," Leo replied, unable to resist a cruel smile. Ron frowned at that and quickly pulled himself together. "Speaking of which, who are you going with?"

"Lavender Brown – not that you are going to get a chance to dance with her," Ron replied, looking at Leo suspiciously.

"And Luna with Harry," Neville added. "Not a bad set up over all, in my opinion. Well, excluding one of course, but this is really big, you know," he said, forcing down his excitement.

"I take it he did a lot of mock dancing to keep from embarrassing himself on the dance floor?" Leo asked, pointing to Neville. Ron and Harry both nodded.

"What? Some of us aren't as graceful on our feet as others," Neville huffed while they moved through a corridor. Students in dress robes of all sorts were becoming more and more frequent as they approached the Great Hall.

"Hey, I see Ginny. I'll see you guys later," Neville said, rushing off to greet his date.

"I should try and find Luna as well. Lord knows they are going to make a spectacle of the Champions," Harry grumbled, taking a deep breath and bracing himself.

"Fleur, where iz your dancing companion?" Madam Maxine's voice asked, drifting over the gathering students. Leo glanced around until he spotted the towering Headmistress.

"Looks like I caused a lot more damage than intended. Well, here we go," Leo said, striding off. Harry, who hadn't quite walked off yet, watched amusedly as Fleur all but dragged Leo by his ear, shouting at him for being late. There was a lot of attention their way and Harry squinted in confusion when she grabbed Leo's wrist and dragged him off.

"Time to find Luna," Harry gulped, trying to swallow the uncomfortable feeling in his gut.

"Guess who?" Luna called, practically jumping onto Harry's back and covering his eyes. It came off awkwardly because of his glasses and carefully pried her hands away.

"I was just about to come look – " Harry began to say, turning around. Before he could finish speaking, Luna wrapped her arms around his neck. But instead of pulling him in for a hug, she kissed him. "Uh," Harry replied, vaguely noticing her dress now in his confused state. It was a strapless white dress of reasonable length with what appeared to be flowers on the skirt. In actuality, they were simply twists of the fabric that appeared to cycle through a pastel rainbow.

"Oh, sorry. Since you asked me out, I thought we should have kissed. Did I do a bad job?" she asked. Ron bit his lip in an effort to suppress his laughter and Harry simply blinked at her.

That only thing that seemed capable of coming out of Harry's mouth was 'uh'.

"There you, Potter. Now then, we need all the Champions together," Professor McGonagall said, striding towards Harry and Luna. "Dear boy, what in the world happened to you?" she asked, pressing the back of her hand to his forehead.

"Um," Harry responded, managing to swallow some lump in his throat.

"I have no time for your shenanigans today, Mr. Potter. Would you and your date kindly follow me," she instructed. Luna promptly latched onto his arm as they marched off. Harry was mostly dragged along for the walk.

Leo watched as Harry entered the side room for the Champions while he was clasped next to Fleur. He nodded at Harry, but he was so far away from the dance, he didn't seem to notice. Further along the room, he spotted Hermione and she was just as confused to see him. Zachary and his date, a quiet and shy girl who came from the American school as well, were standing off to the side and chatting quietly.

Leo glanced at her from the corner of his eye before looking back at Harry. Even Cedric had noticed that something was off about him. Leo shook his head when Cedric reached over and tugged at Harry's shoulder.

"Hey, Harry, are you okay?" Cedric asked and even Cho glanced over at him.

"Hey, it's okay to be a little nervous," she added kindly. Harry just looked over at them as if he didn't even know they were standing next to him.

"Sorry, I was a bit shaken up," Harry said, regaining his ability to formulate words after Luna had tried to steal his tongue.

"You cool?" Leo asked, watching Harry carefully. "Think you can handle a night on your feet?"

"I'm fine. It's cool, nothing happened," Harry replied rather quickly. Leo and Hermione both glanced at Luna but she didn't seem bothered by anything.

Everyone was waiting patiently for the dance to begin. Leo slipped his wand out and discreetly pointed it towards Harry's feet but didn't say a word.

"What are you up to?" Fleur hissed when she noticed his wand. Krum and Hermione were going to be the first to enter the dance and they were already walking towards the Great Hall. As soon as they were a few feet away, Cedric and Cho followed. "Well?" Fleur demanded.

"You'll find out if I need to use it," Leo whispered back. It was now their turn and Fleur began to walk. Leo paused for half a second to glance back at Harry. He nearly tripped over his own feet when Luna started forward. "Decorum et pedes," Leo whispered, flicking his wand. Harry appeared to regain his footing and calmly marched off, as cool and collected as he had been when he stood against the dragon.

"What did you do?" Fleur hissed. "If you did anything to embarrass him, I swear you will be the one walking funny for the rest of the week!" she threatened. Anything that could possibly mess up the first dance was not a good thing in her book.

"Me, walking funny? I didn't know we were going to start such an activity! I mean, I haven't even taken you out to dinner yet," Leo said with a sly smirk.

"You disgust me so much," Fleur said with a sigh.

"I understand why you think so, and I can't say I blame you. But you really only have yourself to blame for this. You could have had a date all lined up before this or even faked it and said you wanted to keep it to yourself and turned me down on those lines. In the end, you dug your hole just as easily as I took advantage of it," Leo replied.

"You are a snake," she spat. But they quickly clammed up when everyone took their positions. The music for the first dance opened on a quiet chord and all of the Champions seemed to move in sync.

Harry swallowed nervously until he realized that his feet were working quite perfectly. His steps came with very little issues; it was almost magic on the floor with the five Champions and their dates twirling effortlessly.

"You're doing great, Harry," Luna noted with a calm smile. "I didn't know you were so light on your feet."

"Thanks, Luna. I appreciate that," Harry replied, his nerves finally beginning to settle a bit. Not much further in and he found himself actually enjoying the dance. "You know, this isn't as bad as I thought it was going to be," Harry noted idly.

"Fleur seems to be keeping a close eye on us, did you know? Well, more you than me, really," Luna noted. Harry snapped his head around and saw that the Beauxbatons Champion was only focused on Leo. They seemed to be on edge with neither really focusing on the dance.

"You know, this is enjoyable. I was really worried this was going to be uncomfortable, but," Harry admitted, trailing off when he felt himself smile a bit.

"So glad you are taking this well," Luna said. That's when Harry noticed a blush beginning to work its way up her cheeks.

"Looks like we are finally going to have some company," he said, watching Dumbledore take Professor McGonagall's hand and lead her to the dance floor. "That's weird," he noted and Luna looked around.

"A wrackspurt?" she asked, eyes wider than normal.

"Sadly, no," Harry said. "My godfather, he's wearing a scarf of all things. He's told me more than once that he always hated having those things around his neck."

"Oh," she responded simply as the comment had completely lost interest. So much so that she seemed to automatically go rigid.

"Sorry," he said. "Sirius hasn't been himself since school started back up. I guess I have a habit of looking out for those kinds of things."

"Do you think it could be serious? Like a swarm of caput Harum in his head, or something?" Luna suggested, her interest suddenly spiking.

"Who knows. Lupin doesn't seem too bothered by it, and I have been thinking about asking him about it. But it just feels weird. Also, what is a caput Harum?" Harry asked, nearly tripping over the word.

"They are little mouth things that mess with people's heads and cause them to act out of character," she said, glancing at the couples dancing around them. "Want to know something scary?" she asked, leaning in closer.

"Hmm?" Harry asked.

"I think I may have one as well," she whispered close to his ear.

"What makes you think that?" he asked with amusement. She seemed almost childlike in her concern.

"Can't say – it may come out. I like it; if I can catch it and see what it looks like, that would be really cool. But if it thinks I am on to it, it may vanish," she said.

It didn't take long for the music to change and Harry found himself practically swallowed by a sudden crowd. He noticed a small figure surfing over the crowd near him.

"Professor Flitwick?" he asked. Even though the man couldn't hear him, it was clearly Professor Flitwick. Harry, finally sick of the mosh pit that had once been the dance floor, soon extricated himself, Luna in tow. The first person he spotted when he glanced around was Neville near the punch bowl. Harry walked over, feeling rather light on his feet and exchanged a smile.

"Here you go, Harry. You look like you could use something to perk you up," Neville said, offering a drink before dishing up another one.

"Thanks. I take it things are going well for you?" he asked, taking a sip. "What is this?" he asked in bewilderment.

"Yes, they are and I have no idea, to be honest," Neville replied. "All that practice paid off, Harry. But when did you become such a good dancer? It was like you weren't even paying attention to your feet and yet, you danced like you were born to," he commented, raising his cup. "Unlike Ron," he added. Harry then noticed that Lavender was keeping Ron on the dance floor, no matter his attempts to do otherwise.

Harry finished off his drink and noted that Sirius had vanished on him. He was trying to keep his mind from going into the reasons why. He figured Sirius would at least say hello or something. Ron was now struggling to pull his wrist out of Lavender's firm grip while they danced towards the edge of the floor.

"So, were you as surprised as I was to find that Hermione was coming here with Krum, of all people?" Neville asked, as they both spotted her in the crowd.

"Yeah," Harry admitted. "I've got a feeling that Leo will have his work cut out for him if they, well," Harry trailed off, feeling his collar tighten a bit. He didn't like the idea of Hermione going out with a Quidditch star – more importantly, someone he didn't know at all.

"Ah, I get what you're saying," Neville caught on. "Going to ask her about it?"

"None of my business, to be honest. I don't much care for it when she butts into mine so I will leave her be unless she asks," Harry replied and Neville nodded.

"What did she stir up?" Neville asked. Then he seemed to realize what he had asked and quickly glanced away. "Sorry, it's none of my concern."

"It's in the past and no longer an issue, but thanks for not pressing me on it," Harry said gratefully.

"Hey!" someone shouted. They were both surprised to see Leo in a not nearly as pressed coat and he greeted them with both hands above his head.

"Having fun?" Neville asked casually.

"A ball," he replied with a grin, ladling a glass of his own punch. He pulled out his wand and hovered the glass close before putting it away. "So, Victor Krum," he said, voice dropping dangerously. There was a very calculating look in his eye. Neville and Harry glanced away from each other.

"Seems so," Harry replied, noticing that the fun and humor had just vanished. "So, how is Fleur doing?"

"I think I made a lifelong enemy of her and if word ever gets out, I've got a feeling that a lot of women will never forget it. But other than that, she seems to have let her hair down," Leo admitted with a light shrug.

"Still beating yourself up on that, huh?" Harry asked. Neville looked between them in confusion.

"It was a mistake – one that, if Ron ever feels vindictive, could put me in a really bad position if he chooses to use it. I doubt Neville here would ever be that mean, but Ron," Leo said, trailing off with a small grimace. "It's making it hard to enjoy myself when I'm just thinking about the fallout."

"Ron wouldn't be that mean," Harry said. "Sure, he can be a bit rough, but he wouldn't be that mean. You did try to let her out of the ordeal," he pointed out.

"Too little, too late. Besides, with women, it's the intent that counts. Take you and the Triwizard Tournament; even if you live, I would think the fact that someone went so far to simply kill you would keep you on your toes," Leo countered. Harry felt his own good mood vanishing as he slipped into a more paranoid state of mind.

"Fair point. But to be honest, it's been slow going on that front," Harry admitted.

"Wouldn't be a bad idea to start looking around. You would be surprised what people will talk about when they think everyone else is doing their own thing," Leo advised with a massive smile appeared on his face. He waved at them sharply and headed back onto the dance floor.

Harry tossed his cup into the bin and Neville glanced at him.

"Something up?" he asked and Harry simply shook his head.

"I need to talk with my godfather. We need to sort some things out and I think he may have been putting things off a bit too much," he said, more to himself than anything. With that, he walked off to find Sirius.

Sirius, are you feeling okay?

Don't worry, there are more shenanigans in the Yule Ball to come.

~LE