A/N I'm keeping this fic rated T so I think we can all just presume what happens during the second line break aha. Speaking of that I have been wondering if it needs a change to M due to the language sometimes used. It's quite colourful and even though you do indeed hear all of it in a British school, I'm worried someone might take offense. For the moment this fic is staying T rated but that may change as I reach year 5.

I've always thought of Ginny as that overprotective best friend type, so that's how I've written her here.

I also just want to thank everyone that is following this story because I've just seen the number hit 100. The fact that so many people have actually followed this story and are enjoying this makes me want to cry happy tears. There's one way that I know to thank you all for your support - and it's with this chapter: the chapter of the Yule Ball.

One more thing: lizy2000 am I that predictable? Because that bet was kind of right. :')

Chapter 37

Reece had only just managed to leave the hall when Danielle pounced on him, dragging him into the small social gathering in the Entrance Hall. The gathering consisted of Fleur, Juliette, Danielle and a few other French students as well as Cedric Diggory and a couple of his friends that seemed to be a bit out of place in the setting. Danielle had wrapped her arms tightly around Reece's midsection, pulling him into the group as she laughed at something Fleur had said. Reece was definitely caught off guard at first but he eventually returned the awkward embrace by looping an arm around her shoulders and pulling her even closer.

"Mesdames, my date to the ball." (Ladies) Danielle beamed as some of Fleur's friends squealed. Fleur herself wasn't paying much attention, as she was talking intently to Diggory as his friends stood and watched Reece rather judgementally. Danielle removed her arms for a moment, taking both of Reece's hands in hers and moving in front of him before wrapping both of his arms around her waist.

"Reece iz such a gentleman," Juliette told the other girls as she quietly cooed at their position. Reece was now pulling her closer into him and her arms were now resting on top of his as she smiled a winning smile at her friends. "Danielle iz vairy lucky." She continued. The group soon silenced however, when Ron Weasley walked past, suddenly looking very unlike himself.

"Fleur Delacour – go to the ball with me?" Ron blurted out in a yell. For a few seconds everyone was silent, watching the expression on Fleur's face turn to one of disgust immediately. Then suddenly he seemed to come to his wits and made a run for it. As he was running away both Reece and Danielle burst out laughing, closely followed by Juliette, Cedric and everyone else. Even Fleur started to laugh harshly as Ginny Weasley ran past with Fay Dunbar and a couple of other girls, glaring at the French girls specifically and giving Reece the dirtiest eye roll he had ever seen. Reece gulped, loosening his arms on Danielle as he digested the look he got from Ginny. She'd seen him with his arms around Danielle not exactly long after she'd given him and Hermione that speech in the Astronomy Tower. Ginny was certainly not happy with him – and Reece was almost sure that Hermione would be either slinging twenty questions at him or avoiding him altogether. Great.

Christmas day couldn't have arrived sooner. It had been a long year so far, but now that snow was falling and Fleur was starting to complain about gaining weight, the approaching Yule Ball was getting everyone excited.

Ever since Ron Weasley had embarrassed himself Reece and Danielle couldn't stop making jokes about it. Everything was well with the Slytherins but not with the Gryffindors and Reece had a bloody good idea why. Ginny had of course told Hermione about the new development (Reece and Danielle now being rather physical with each other) and the Gryffindor princess didn't seem very happy about it. She seemed so annoyed in fact, that Reece didn't dare speak to her. Instead he spent a lot of time with his date to the ball and the Slytherins in attempt to get his mind off of Granger's obvious coldness towards him.

The day didn't seem to drag on until Danielle went to get ready at around four. She had kissed him goodbye and Reece was more than happy to kiss her back. They had in fact been snogging the daylights out of each other outside in the snow for around ten minutes until Fleur appeared, dragging her friend away saying that she would see him later. A good pull never hurt anybody and it put Reece in an incredibly good mood as he returned to the common room to lounge around until seven when he was to start getting ready.

At around ten to eight Reece left the common room with Blaise and Daphne. He was happy with his appearance as he had got hold of a neat set of black dress robes and his hair had gone well. The three made their way to the Entrance Hall and Reece told the two to have fun as he made his way over to Danielle. She was standing with Fleur and Roger Davies the Ravenclaw Quidditch captain, wearing radiant red robes that were a similar colour to the rose Reece had given her when asking her to accompany him.

"You look stunning." Reece drawled, taking her hand and placing a kiss on her knuckles as she blushed and smiled at Fleur.

"And you look 'andsome." Danielle said as people began filtering into the hall. "Should we make our way in?" Reece nodded, holding out his arm and allowing her to link with him. "See you inside Fleur." She giggled as they entered the hall.

"Lestrange." Malfoy greeted politely as Reece nodded his head in acknowledgement. Pansy was clinging to Draco just as Bulstrode was clinging to Goyle, and poor Crabbe stood to the side of his best mate without a date. Reece gave him the tiniest glance of sympathy as he and Danielle continued to move past, ignoring the slightly irritated glare of Ginny Weasley who was standing beside her partner, Neville Longbottom.

Then all of a sudden the hall doors flew open and the champions entered. Fleur and Roger entered first, followed by Krum and his incredibly hot date. Reece stood with Danielle, watching as the four champions entered when a sudden comment from a random Gryffindor beside him caught him completely off guard.

"Is that Hermione Granger?" Their date dismissed them but the girl continued talking and Reece couldn't help but listen in. Well shit, Granger had said that he'd asked her. "It is – she's Viktor Krum's date." This girl was having a fucking laugh. Reece stared at the girl beside Krum, his jaw hanging open when he noticed that it was indeed Hermione Granger, the girl that he fancied the hell out of. She looked amazing, absolutely gorgeous in her periwinkle-blue robes and Reece couldn't help but stare. Even when Danielle began dragging him over to a table to sit with Juliette and her date, his eyes were still watching Hermione's every move as she sat beside Viktor. He looked over to Ginny and unsurprisingly the redhead was giving him a smug grin from her seat across the hall and Reece couldn't help but sigh as he turned back to the conversation between Danielle and Juliette. They were discussing Fleur's dress and how nice it was, and Reece just slouched in his chair. He wanted Granger. He really, really wanted Granger and he could have had her if it wasn't for his name and his house and his blood and everything else.

After the meal the Weird Sisters appeared and began playing a slow song. The champions were all beckoned to the dancefloor and after they had danced for a while Professor Dumbledore and Professor McGonagall light-heartedly joined the students. As more teachers moved to join in Neville and Ginny began to dance. Knowing that there was no time like the present Reece took the hand of his French date, leading her to a space and twirling her gracefully as the song continued. He almost enjoyed himself as the dancing continued and as the Weird Sisters broke out into a more student friendly song everyone began dancing faster, ignoring the movement from the teachers who chose to not take part in this dance. After a few more songs Danielle grabbed Reece's arm and began running through the hall, dragging him out into the Entrance Hall where they could have a moment of privacy.

"Do you know anywhere we can go?" She asked quickly, smashing her lips against his without giving Reece time to reply. He returned her intensity and the two battled for dominance as he pushed her against the nearest wall, pinning her against it roughly and lowering his hands so that he could feel something other than her lower back. As soon as his hands began to grope she let out a delicious moan, hissing as Reece moved his lips to her neck, biting down in a way that was sure to leave a mark. "We can't – do this 'ere." She moaned again, pushing her body against his as he moved to the other side of her neck.

"I know." Reece groaned deeply as her hands moved from his hair and found a new place against his body. "All I can think of is an empty classroom, near here."

"Mmm sold." Danielle laughed as his lips were suddenly crashing into hers again. He was very needy the French witch noted. And there was a lot of sexual tension that she was willing to try and get rid of. "Take me there."

Danielle had quickly left the classroom once she had got what she wanted. But Reece stuck around a little longer, sorting out his robes and fixing his hair so that no one would notice what had happened. He wouldn't mind if some people found out about the shag, but one person he did not want to hear about it was Hermione Granger – or even Ginny Weasley for that matter. Reece sighed. It would have always been him; the one to have sex for the first time and then think about another girl two seconds after.

Once he had triple checked that he was presentable, Reece began making his way back to the hall, hoping that there were still drinks left to quench his dreadful thirst. It was on his way through the hall doors when a certain sight shocked him. She was sitting on the stairs, crying softly, still looking as beautiful as ever. Reece paused. Should he go up to her after what he had just done only minutes ago? He still probably smelt of bloody sex and to go up to Granger when she's in this state – dirty. He kept his eyes on her, admiring the way that one of the girls had tamed her hair and tracing her appearing curves with his eyes. It wasn't like he'd cheated on her or anything. They were just friends. And with that Reece slowly made his way over to Hermione, crouching in front of her as she was sitting on the bottom step. She didn't seem to notice until he spoke.

"What's wrong, Granger?" He asked, giving her a gentle smirk as her head shot up. The crying hadn't done a massive toll on her makeup, and only her eyes seemed a little puffy and red, but even like that she still looked amazing.

"He ruins everything." Hermione quietly sniffed.

"Who? Weasley?" Reece asked, his tone sharpening slightly upon the mention of Weasley being a dick to her once again. She nodded and watched, confused, as Reece stood up straight again and held his hand out to her. "Will you allow me to try and fix what he's ruined?" Hermione was giving him that doubting look that he hated but he wouldn't give up that easily. "It only has to be one dance."

"Oh alright." She gave in with a small sigh, pushing away the aching in her feet and reluctantly placing her hand in his. Reece pulled her up softly, walking backwards while smirking at her and making her blush as they entered the hall once again. There were barely any couples left dancing. One of the couples, Reece noticed, was Ginny and Neville. They were still dancing slowly and Fred and Angelina were also still enjoying themselves on the dancefloor. Reece pulled her a little further before spinning her round softly and placing a hand on her waist. "You weren't lying about the dancing." She said as she forced a laugh while he spun her around once again.

"Want to know who taught me?" Reece chuckled as he caught Ginny's eye. The redheaded was giving them a very sceptical – borderline cynical look. He was close to giving up with Ginny. One moment she was all for a relationship between Reece and Hermione and the next moment she was giving him a dirty glare.

"Who taught you, then?" Hermione asked as she turned to see what Reece was looking at; noticing Ginny, she gave her a reassuring smile before turning her full attention back to Reece.

"Narcissa Malfoy." Reece said as he attempted to block out Ginny and everyone else around them completely so that he could focus on the girl that he was holding. "Started teaching me when I was five, stopped once I came to Hogwarts. What about you? You seem to know what you're doing."

"Well Professor McGonagall held a mandatory dance class for our house." She answered, smiling at the thought of Ron having to dance with McGonagall and how embarrassed he was about it. The twins had teased him over and over again and each time Ron's face almost turned as red as his hair. "But it was mostly my mum actually – she used to love dancing and we'd always dance around the house when I was younger."

"What's she like?" Reece asked quietly as he pulled Hermione closer slightly, hoping that she wouldn't notice how close the two were getting. "Your mum, that is."

"Well she's a muggle-" Hermione began, only to be cut off by Reece as he suddenly dipped her and brought her back up. She let out a small squeal as he did so, giggling as he spun her around once more.

"You know that's not what I meant princess." He said softly. "Like, what's she actually like, as a mum? What's your favourite memories with her and stuff?"

"She's amazing." Hermione replied in a tone just as soft as his as she adjusted the position of her hand on his shoulder. "Both of my parents have always been very – accepting of magic, and my mum's always supported me no matter what, so when I got my letter I guess it just didn't change the fact that she loved me." Reece smiled as she continued talking. He'd never really asked about her family before, and she'd not often mention it knowing that they were muggles and Reece's apparent thoughts about them. "When I go back home we still do stuff together that we used to do when I was younger – we'll bake and talk about the books we're reading."

"So that's where you get your love of books from? From your mum?" He'd always just presumed it was because she liked to be the smartest and know everything there is to know, but now Reece was seeing a deeper side of her. And he rather liked it.

"Kind of, I suppose. Muggle books definitely." Hermione said happily, flicking her gaze over to Ginny for a brief moment to see both her and Neville looking over at them as they danced. Neville's expression was unreadable. It was as if he was angry yet calm at the same time and Hermione had a pretty good idea why. Neville wasn't going to let what happened to his parents go easily and seeing Reece everyday must have been a hard reminder for him. "I've always enjoyed reading and my mum liked to make sure that I was reading the best books; it kept us really close, even when my accidental magic started kicking in."

"She does sound pretty amazing." Reece muttered in agreement. "How did your parents react when your accidental magic started? I mean, it must be hard to digest, if you've never thought it was real."

"They were really shocked at first – but once everything was explained to them and I got my letter, they were still proud of me, and they said before I left that they'd never ask for a better daughter." Hermione explained happily, smiling even wider when she noticed Hagrid and Madam Maxime still dancing together. "It's strange though, for muggles. The only witches and wizards they ever really hear about are the ones in children's books; and maybe ones written for fiction."

"So when you say to your mum you're a witch, she thinks fiction?" Reece asked with a chuckle. "Because we're all bloody real – I mean look at this," He said, looking around the decorated room with a grin. "Magic." Hermione laughed, noting that he sounded exactly like a muggle magician.

"A few years ago I would've thought fiction too." Hermione said with a grin. "The only witches I'd heard of were the ones in stories."

"And now look at you." He smiled. "Now you're as much of a witch as I am a wizard." Hermione knew at this point she'd never smiled so widely in her life. That statement was a huge breakthrough she thought to herself. She understood exactly what Reece was saying between the lines – that it didn't matter where she had come from – and that her bloodline didn't matter because she was still a witch just as he was a wizard. It was probably one of the nicest, realest things that Reece had ever said to her and after what Ron had said earlier it meant a lot.

"Hermione!" And suddenly her name was being called by Ginny, much to Hermione's silent annoyance. Reece sighed quietly as he turned his head to look Ginny and Neville who were approaching and now intruding inside Reece and Hermione's invisible bubble. "Fancy a quick partner swap?"

"Oh, sure." Hermione said politely. Reece inwardly cursed. He wouldn't mind sharing a dance with Ginny but he was enjoying himself far too much with Hermione to let her go. She looked up at Reece, giving him a look of apology as she removed her arms and went to take up a starting position to dance with Neville. Ginny quickly took up the vacant position and Reece reluctantly placed his hands on her waist as he began moving his feet.

"You're disgusting." Ginny said suddenly, once Hermione and Neville were far enough from them not to overhear. They were having a serious conversation that was most likely about Hermione suddenly dancing, laughing and acting all friendly with a Slytherin that had joined in on bullying Neville the previous years.

"I'm sorry, what?" Reece frowned in confusion.

"Apology accepted." Ginny answered sassily, smirking for a moment at the shocked expression on Reece's face as he spun her around. "Seriously though, you actually are."

"Yeah? And where's this hostility suddenly come from little red?" He questioned tensely. "Not too long ago you were trying to get me and Granger together, and now you think I'm disgusting? Not one to make up your mind, are you?"

"I saw you leave with your date before." Ginny snapped. "And now you're back in here acting like prince charming – making Hermione laugh and sweeping her off her feet while you're secretly with that French girl."

"I'm not 'with' Danielle." Reece snapped back. "We might hug," He almost coughed uncomfortably at the thought of what else they'd done previously as well as hugging. "But we are definitely not going out or anything like that – don't jump to conclusions so fast,"

"That wasn't hugging that I saw outside." Ginny cut in, her eyes flashing furiously as she purposely stepped on his foot.

"You saw that?" Reece cringed.

"Yeah I did." She said harshly. "So sorry if I'm not happy with you dancing with Hermione after seeing that. That's almost cheating-"

"But it's not cheating," Reece argued vehemently. "If I was with Granger I wouldn't let Danielle anywhere near me – but I'm not with Granger. At the moment we're just good friends, so sorry if it annoys you but I can do what I want. I certainly don't need you on my back about my personal life Ginny, even if it is because you care about your friend."

"I don't know what she sees in you." Ginny spat nastily. "Snogging one girl one second and moving onto Hermione the next; you're just going to hurt her and I don't want to sit around and watch one of my best friends get hurt."

"She was hurting before I brought her back in here." Reece hissed as his lip curled up in a sneer. "Your idiot of a brother decided to say something stupid – as per usual – and upset her. I don't know what the fuck he said but it brought her to tears and that's how I found her, in tears. If anyone's hurting her it's that prick, not me."

"If Hermione tells me one thing – one single thing that you ever do to upset her – I'm coming after you." Ginny stated bluntly.

"And I'd expect nothing less." Reece smirked. "In fact, if I ever go wrong with Granger, I'm kind of relying on you to come and set me straight. You're actually quite scary when you're pissed."

"My mum's even scarier."

"Better be on my best behaviour then." He replied shortly.