After breakfast, Chris went upstairs to unpack and to text his 'muggle' friends- although no one he knew used that word at home or magic school at home, Chris had picked it up during his time at Hogwarts and found he preferred it, when talking about his friends at least, to the usual terms of 'innocent' or 'mortal'. Most of his muggle friends didn't know he was a witch, but they did know he had spent the semester in Britain on an exchange program and his inbox was filled with texts from the last few months, asking for details.
Once he was finished, he went back down stairs to find his brother pacing backwards and forwards in front of the door. He was muttering under his breath and his face was scrunched up in a deep frown.
"When is she meant to be coming?" Asked Chris, recognising the symptoms of an imminent Katherine visit. Wyatt jumped, having not realised Chris was there.
"What? Oh... any time now." He said, returning to his pacing and muttering. "Look Katherine, I'm sorry, but... no...Hey Katherine, umm funny story... no..." He turned back to Chris, who could see real panic in the Twice Blessed's eyes. "What the hell am I supposed to say to her?"
"How about; Hey Katherine, I'm a selfish idiot who ignored his brain and listened to a part of the anatomy which is slightly lower down." Suggested Melinda scathingly, leaning over the banister, and clearly enjoying her big brother's distress. It hadn't taken long for Melinda to prise what Wyatt was hiding about the ball out of him. She had the same 'I-know-you're-hidning-something-and-I-will-get-it-out-of-you-one-way-or-the-other' look as Piper had and she used it just as effectively. Wyatt was just about to retort, when their came a knock at the door.
"Wy-Wy!" Exclaimed Katherine, barely giving Wyatt a chance to open the door fully before leaping into his arms and kissing him passionately. Wyatt, suddenly caught in the moment, wrapped his arms around her waist and kissed her back before Melinda cleared her throat loudly, bringing him back to reality. "Melinda, Chris- so good to see you again!" She greeted enthusiastically as the pair pulled apart. She kissed both of them on the cheek, before grabbing Wyatt by the hand and pulling him to the sofa. Chris turned to head into the kitchen, but Melinda pushed him after the couple- not wanting to miss anything.
A key think to note about Katherine Butler at this point is her keen and perpetual ability to talk. Wyatt barely needed to say anything, but occasionally agree with her and she would talk for hours about everything from her day to the global economy. Chris suspected Wyatt never really listened to what she said, but today he was rapt with attention, as he desperately fought to cut into her long monologue to say what he needed to say. Unfortunately, Katherine, it would appear, had learnt the art of circular breathing meaning she could talk non-stop, while breathing through her nose, so she never needed to even pause during her lectures.
It didn't take long for the conversation to switch to the ball, and as this was a subject that also fascinated Melinda, the pair suddenly leapt into a high speed exchange, gossiping about everything from dates to dresses.
"So my best friend, Sarah, is going with this apparently really cute guy called Roger Davis." Katherine explained at twice the speed of a normal human being. "She's got this really pretty pink dress and great shoes I leant her, and then her little sister, who by the way would have been perfect for Chris, is going with this guy umm... Draco I think it was. Apparently he's really sweet. Sarah said she's lent her old blue prom dress and then she's going to have her hair all curly and..."
"Wait, Draco as in Malfoy?" Cut in Chris- able to decipher a few words. "Why?" In unison Katherine and Melinda turned to face him, clearly disapproving of the interruption.
"Apparently they have herbology and transfiguration together and he is really sweet to her." Katherine told him. "What's the matter, Chrissy, wishing you'd asked her instead."
"No." Replied Chris honestly- he had never really made any friends in magic school. "I'm just surprised to hear that Malfoy can be sweet. He's always a real git whenever he talks to me and my friends." Subconsciously, his hand moved to where Malfoy had blasted his shoulder, no one seemed to notice the movement apart from Wyatt.
"Fascinating." Replied Melinda in a way which suggested she really wasn't fascinated at all. "So any way, my cousin PJ was going to go with that guy, John, from Chris' year, but then she found out he was cheating on her with like three other girls, so she dumped him, I think he's going with these twins, um Flora and Hestia Carrow now."
"Oh, I heard about that." Replied Katherine. "It was so sad. You know I really pity the girls who fall for those sorts of boys." She said condescendingly. "I mean, how naive can you be to be dating a guy like that and not think he's going to get distracted."
"Hey! That's my cousin you're talking about." Objected Melinda. "She's not naive."
"Of course not." Agreed Katherine unconvincingly- Melinda was starting to get annoyed. "I'm just saying that girls need to learn how to find the right sort of guy and learn how to keep hold of them."
"And you've learnt how to do that have you?" She asked with a small sneer. Wyatt's eyes were growing wide, and he was desperately shaking his head at his sister.
"Well of course." Responded Katherine with a small titter, nestling closer to Wyatt.
"Oh really." Snapped Melinda. "Is that why my 'right sort of guy' brother asked someone else to the ball even after he received your letter?" She asked. The room froze.
"What?" Asked Katherine- her voice dangerously calm and her smile horribly forced.
"Yeah, he asked the hot, blonde, French Champion literally two seconds after he realised he was going to have to take you to Hogwarts. Pity isn't it, the way Fleur fell for a guy who is so easily distracted." She stated triumphantly, before flicking her hair over her shoulder and stalking out of the room.
The silence that descended after that announcement was so concentrated that Chris found himself nervous to breathe. Wyatt sat as still as he could, staring straight ahead, trying to keep his face as calm and neutral as possible Katherine was staring fixedly at her boyfriend, her fingers twitching slightly and Chris was nervous to see small sparks appearing at the end of them.
He stood up quickly, ignoring his brother's pleading eyes as he left, and he was glad that he did as a moment later, there came a sudden blast and a yell from inside the room and Katherine could be heard several houses away screaming. "YOU BASTARD!"
Xx
The next few days leading up to Christmas were filled with excitement. The whole family seemed to come over every day to help with some part of the Christmas build up, and while the adults talked in the kitchen; his female cousins badgered Chris for stories about Hermione while Henry Junior seemed more intrigued by the notion of Quidditch.
Wyatt stayed mostly in his room or out with his friends. Melinda had told everyone what he had done and his mother, aunts and cousins were all very disappointed in him.
"It's typical." He moaned to Chris one day. "I fought off a bloody dragon with bloody Excalibur and all they care about is whether or not I can resist every hot French girl who flirts with me!" Chris laughed and Wyatt returned to flicking through the pages of the book of shadows. "So I've been thinking, and I think she may be a Veela."
"Are you looking up girls in the Book of Shadows again? I know most of the people that wrote in this were woman, but you realise this is a grimoire, not a diary right?"
"Ha ha, very funny." Replied Wyatt without any mirth in his voice. "I'm serious though. From everything that's written in here Fleur is really ticking all the boxes for being a Veela."
Chris moved round the podium and read the page over Wyatt's shoulder. It wasn't very long and appeared to be written in the hand of Penny Halliwell who described her encounter with the beautiful blonde who flicked her hair, laughed and gave her her first lesbian experience.
"Well there's something I didn't need to read about our great grandmother." Said Chris. "I see what you mean about Fleur though, and it does sort of justify your actions."
"What is it with this family and refusing to date anyone normally?" Sighed Wyatt. "I mean, from the sounds of it, Mum and the Aunts dated pretty much every demon who manipulated them, both mum and Phoebe ended up marrying the person the elders sent to help them, and now grams and I are being manipulated by Veela. Seriously Chris, you are our only chance for normality." Chris smiled and accepted the compliment.
Eventually Christmas day dawned. As the Yule ball started at eight and ended at midnight GMT, the plan was for Wyatt and Chris to orb to Hogwarts at about 19:30 (11:30 PST) so as thy would arrive with plenty of time to meet their dates. They were to eat as little as possible during the ball and then had to orb out of Hogsmeade at the latest at 00:30 (16:30 PST) and arrive back in time for Piper's famous Christmas dinner. It had been planned down to the last second, and, much like in Cinderella, there would be a lot of trouble if they ignored the clock.
The dress code for the ball was dress robes which Leo had purchased for his sons while he had been picking up Magic School supplies in Diagon ally. Piper insisted her son's wore them all morning before they left which caused much mirth for their cousins and thereby increasing the boy's desire to get going even more.
Xx
Harry and Ron stood awkwardly in the entrance hall next to the Patel sisters. They hadn't spoken more than a few words at a time to the girls since they had all met up. Ron stood fidgeting with his hand-me-down dress robes, clearly very uncomfortable, as he surveyed the entrance hall looking for Hermione and ducking whenever he saw Fleur.
"Where is Hermione?" He said for what must be the hundredth time in Harry's opinion, but he ignored the question as at that moment a group of Slytherins emerged from the stairway to the dungeons. The group was led by Malfoy who had a rather pretty girl Harry didn't recognise on his arm who was wearing a light blue dress. Behind them, Harry saw a very bitter looking Pansy Parkinson wearing a set of very frilly pink robes, glaring at the back of their heads as she walked arm in arm with Blaise Zabini.
The oak front doors opened and everyone turned as a small group of magic school students, led by Wyatt and a beaming professor Lawrence, entered the entrance hall. By the varying degrees on relief on the student's faces as they were greeted by the warm castle, Harry suspected the group had been forced to assemble and wait for everyone outside before they entered. Over their heads he saw that an area of lawn had been turned into a form of grotto, with real fairies sitting in the trees, statues and freshly conjured rose bushes.
Then Professor McGonagall's voice called, "Champions over here please!"
Parvati readjusted her bangles as Harry said good bye to Ron and then the pair of them walked over to where McGonagall was beckoning. Next to her stood Cedric Diggory, wearing a very smart pair of dress robes and chatting happily to the beautiful Cho Chang. Next to them stood Fleur who was standing very close to Wyatt and they were both conversing merrily in fluent French. As neither of them appeared to be with anyone else, Harry suspected they were each other's dates.
"Hi Harry." Came a voice from behind him. "Hi Parvati." Harry turned around and his mouth dropped open as at first he didn't recognise the girl before him. She had sleek brown hair which was twisted up into an elegant knot. She was wearing robes made of floatly periwinkle-blue material and stood tall and proud. It was Hermione.
Next to him, Parvati too was gazing at Hermione, unable to believe the transformation, and they weren't the only ones, several people from their year, or that knew Hermione well were staring at her in undisguised disbelief, and Harry noticed very dirty looks being thrown her way in particular from the group of Slytherins Malfoy stood with.
"Her...Hermione." Stuttered Harry. "You look great!"
"Thanks." Smiled Hermione just as Ron approached from behind.
"So, are we finally going to meet your mystery date, or are you ready to admit you were just trying to get rid of Neville." He asked, not bothering to complement her transformation. Hermione's smile turned into a frown, but before she could respond she was interrupted.
"Hey, sorry I'm late- we sort of misjudged where we needed to orb to in Hogsmeade and ended up right on the other side of the village."
"Chris?" Exclaimed Ron, noticeably disappointed. "I though you went home for the holidays!"
"I did." Replied Chris, offering his arm to Hermione just as the doors to the great hall opened. "But I wasn't about to stand up my beautiful date, nor miss watching my brother attempt to ballroom dance."
"You're Hermione's date?" Asked Ron indignantly. "Why didn't you tell us?"
"Because you were being an ignorant git, Ron, so I asked him not to." Replied Hermione matter of factly. "Shall we go in then?" She asked, turning to Chris who nodded, and the pair of them joined the teeming masses swarming into the lavishly decorated great hall. Ron didn't know how to respond, but after a moment of his gaping, Padma sighed, and dragged him into the hall after the pair so they could get a seat together.
Once everyone was seated, the great hall doors opened one last time, and down the centre of the small tables came the procession of champions and their partners led by McGonagall. The champions walked right to the end of the hall and sat with all the head masters and mistresses at the main table. Harry was sat next to a young man with hair as red as any Weasleys and it appeared as if they knew each other for the moment Harry sat down, the young man leaned over to him and told him something he was clearly very proud of.
"Smug git." Muttered Ron, who was glaring up at the man. "I bet he's talking about his promotion again. You know, he's sent everyone in the family notifications of his promotion, and then mum did the same!"
"You can't blame him for being proud, Ron." Chastised Hermione. "He's barely left Hogwarts and he's already doing really well in the ministry for magic- that is impressive."
"Yeah, and doesn't he know it." Glowered Ron.
"Wait, so he's also your brother?" Asked Chris incredulously, having already met Charlie, Fred, George and Ginny. "How many siblings do you have?"
"Six." Replied an increasingly despondent Ron. "That's Percy, and then Bill and Charlie already left and are also really successful." Chris nodded sympathetically, he was no stranger to being overshadowed by his brother, but he couldn't imagine having to compete with five Wyatt's. "Where the hell is the food?" Ron muttered. "I'm starving- I haven't eaten since lunch!"
Chris knew that there was meant to be a meal served before the main dancing part of the ball, and although there were small menus in front of everyone, Chris couldn't see any waiters moving around or taking orders. At the top of the hall, however, Chris noticed some of the guests did have food. Dumbledore, for example, was just tucking into a rather magnificent looking plate of pork chops.
Chris scanned his eye along the table; trying to spot where the food had come from and as his eyes fell on Harry, he saw him survey the menu, mutter a word and then a plate of goulash appeared before him. Frowning, Chris picked up his own menu and scanned though the list of meals- which each sounded as delicious as the last. Unsurprisingly both goulash and pork chops were available, as were an assortment of other dishes including steak, pasta and a variety of French delicacies.
"I think we're meant to tell our menus what we want to eat." He told the table at large, fully aware of how mad he would sound if he were in different company. Ron didn't think twice, before seizing his menu and demanding roast chicken of it. Instantly, a steaming plate of chicken, potatoes and vegetables appeared before him and so the rest of the table followed suit. Chris just asked for a small plate of pasta, having only had breakfast a few hours ago and not wanting to fill up before Lunch.
As everyone ate, the great hall filled up with chatter. A coupled of tables away, raucous laughter could be heard as Fred, George, Lee Jordan and Callum all sat on the same table and seemed to be performing some sort of mini cabaret using any object they could get their hands on to tell stories- each trying to one up each other on how ridiculous they could be. After a bit, Lee seemed to give up, and instead decided to commentate on the other three's antics, until professor McGonagall came over to tell them to settle down.
Chris was sitting in between Ron and Hermione, who had now decided that the best way to get through the night would be by ignoring each other. He therefore spent most of the evening ignoring all the other people on his table, including Seamus, Lavender and Dean, and spent his time talking intimately with Hermione, as she tried to ignore the looks she was still receiving from the other guests. They talked mostly about their childhoods- both of them had been raised in the muggle world and although Chris had known about his powers, it was still nice to talk to someone who understood the appeal of leaving the wizarding world from time to time- Wyatt definitely never felt that urge.
Once the plates were magically cleared, Dumbledore stood up, and then asked everyone else to do the same. Then, at a wave of his wand, the tables zoomed back along the walls, leaving the floor clear bar a raised platform along the right-hand wall which had set upon it a set of drums, several guitars, a lute, a cello and some bagpipes. An atmosphere of eager anticipation filled the air as everyone waited, and then suddenly enthusiastic applause broke out as a group of incredibly hairy people dressed in black, artfully ripped robes trooped on to the stage and picked up their instruments.
"I can't believe it's really them?" Breathed Padma under her breath, clasping her hands tightly as they began to play a slow, mournful tune.
"Who?" Asked Chris.
"The Weird Sisters!" Exclaimed Padma scathingly- unable to understand how Chris had not heard of them.
By now the Champions had made their way on to the brightly lit dance floor. To Chris' disappointment, Wyatt was a noticeably competent dancer and he and Fleur moved gracefully around the room. Harry, by contrast, was clearly lacking in confidence as Parvati ended up moving his hands into the correct position for him, and appeared to be steering the actual dance. Eventually other people started joining in and Chris offered his hand to Hermione and together they walked on to the dance floor.
"You can dance." Commented Hermione, undeniably impressed, "I sort of expected you to need me to guide you around the floor like Harry and Parvati." Chris laughed and as if to demonstrate his superiority to the boy who lived, he twirled her round and then picked her up.
"Yeah, my sister wanted to have lessons about a year ago and my mum insisted I help her practise in return for my allowance." He confessed.
"Well I'm delightfully surprised." She complemented. They stopped talking for a while and watched the other dancers. Neville and Ginny stumbled past them, and Chris heard Neville muttering apologies endlessly and Ginny tried to hide her winces. On the other side of the room, Professor Moody was dancing rather clumsily with Professor Sinistra while Madam Maxime and Professor Dumbledore waltzed all around the floor.
After a several songs the pair decided to take a break. Chris went to find them drinks while Hermione walked over to Harry and Ron. Harry's partner had left him and was now dancing with a couple of boys from Magic School. The area containing all the drinks and snacks was pretty crowded, and Chris lost sight of Hermione and the boys and by the time he had extracted himself from the crowd holding two bottles of butter beer he was surprised to see that not only had Padma now left Ron, but Hermione had stormed away from the boys and was nowhere to see.
"Where's Hermione?" He asked.
"No idea." Said Ron mulishly, looking up at him. "Lost her have you?"
"Are you OK Ron?" He asked, "Have I done something wrong?"
"Why would you think that?"
"Umm... okay, well if you do see Hermione, tell her I have the drinks." He said, before turning around and heading towards the crowd on the dance floor. He found Hermione on the edge of the floor, farthest away from where Harry and Ron were sitting. She was leaning against the wall and was clearly fighting not to cry. "Hermione, hey, are you alright." She stood up properly and wiped her eyes.
"Yeah, I'm fine." She smiled. "Ron was just being an idiot, you know." She took the bottle of butterbeer Chris offered and took a few sips before putting it down on the floor and taking Chris' hand. "Hey, let's dance!" Chris tried to ignore how obviously upset Hermione was as they danced for a while longer, but eventually he suggested they went outside for a while to get some fresh air.
The grounds were blissfully cool compared to the hot and crowded great hall and it felt good to be outside. They walked down the winding paths, admiring the beauty of the decorated grounds. Gradually though the novelty of the cold wore off and Hermione began to rub her arms trying to remain warm, so Chris took of his cloak and wrapped it around her shoulder and they sat down on one of the ornately carved stone benches.
They sat in silence for a while, neither of them needing to talk. They barely noticed when their fingers intertwined and they gradually shifted closer together until their heads were just inches apart.
"This has been a really nice night." Thanked Hermione, turning to face Chris, who did the same. Their eyes were steadily flicking from each other's eyes down to their lips as they moved closer and closer, until their lips were separated by less than a centre metre of air, and then, finally, their lips met in one, long, passionate kiss.