"Bloody hell, has anyone gone home for Christmas?" Pansy wailed as they looked down on the entrance hall from the second-floor balcony.

She turned around, leaning against the railing and covered her face with her hands.

Harry smiled, putting a hand on her shoulder. "Come on, it'll be okay."

"I can smell the bonfire already." She said, her voice muffled by her hands.

He took hold of her slender wrists and gently pried her hands from her face revealing her eyes screwed tight-shut.

He kissed her and she immediately relaxed. A second later there was a cry of astonishment from the stairs descending toward them.

There was a huge crowd of assorted students heading down the stairs, all sniggering and talking behind their hands. They shuffled along, a small group of them detaching from the mass and huddling at the far corner of the landing while the rest headed down to the Great Hall.

"Come on." He said to her, taking her hand.

She shook her head.

"Miss. Parkinson, I asked you, - you – to the Yule Ball." He whispered. "I am buying you the dress of your dreams for the Yule Ball, you are teaching me to dance for the…?"

"Yule Ball." She mumbled, unable to fight off a small smile.

"You are the Queen of Slytherin House, the partner of one of the Hogwarts Tri-Wizard Champions, the only other person our age I know that can produce a patronus and you're the most amazing girl that champion has ever met."

He kissed her again and she yielded against him. When he pulled away, her eyes were shining bright, and her smile was radiant, defiant and hungry.

She took a deep breath and stood off the hand rail, kissing him back and taking his hand. The giggling and chatting faded into nothingness, meaningless white noise.

Hand-in-hand, they moved toward the stairs. The way she changed as they walked bought him to mind of the transformation that had come over him when he walked toward her a dinner the previous night. By the time they reached the top step, she was straight-backed and cool. Halfway down, she was smiling and imperious. As they touched the ground floor she achieved full control of herself.

They walked in step with each other, their hands welded together, impervious to the stares and mutterings of those around them.

They wound their way through the knots of people and entered the Great Hall.

"My turn." She said, turning right toward the Slytherin table.

She drew him resolutely toward the table beneath the green and silver banners and halfway along the hall. The hall was approaching the height of lunch time and by the time they reached the general area where the fourth-year's sat, half the hall had fallen into silence.

"Harry, I'd like to introduce you to Millicent Bullstrode, Daphne Greengrass, Sophia Andersen and Tracey Davis,' she said, gesturing to the other girls from her dorm. 'Ladies, I'd like to introduce you to Harry James Potter. I'm going to be his partner for the Yule Ball."

The four girls looked stunned.

Sophia, the nearest one, stood and shook Harry's hand. "Hi Harry James Potter. You know Pans, we've all met before?"

Pansy shot her a dirty look, "Obviously, but the niceties must be observed, mustn't they?"

Sophia raised an eyebrow and grinned. "You're going to burn this place to the ground, you know?" She said to both Pansy and Harry.

"Would you like to join us for lunch, Harry?" Asked Millicent.

Unsure he had ever heard Millicent Bullstrode speak before, Harry nodded. "Yes, please. Thank you."

The girls shuffled around, moving bags and making space for Harry and Pansy.

"My god, they weren't joking." Said someone as Harry helped Pansy to her seat. She stopped half way down and stood again.

"Blaise," she said, "now you see why I couldn't go with you."

Blaise Zabini was very tall, lean and handsome, with skin the colour of mahogany and brilliant amber-coloured eyes. He stopped and scrutinised Harry, looking him up and down several times, his eyes glancing at his scar each time.

After several seconds of uncomfortable silence, he held out a large, manicured hand.

"Harry." He said softly.

"Blaise." Harry said, shaking hands. "Thanks for understanding."

"I do; she's a wonderful woman. Just be good to her. I'd hate to have to hurt you." Blaise said cooly and without expression.

Unsure of how to take such a statement, Harry simply nodded. "I intend to."

Blaise released the handshake first, turning to Pansy. "Congratulations, I would stop and chat, but I have to confer with my own partner for the dance. I'll catch up with you soon."

He hugged her quickly and carried on up the table.

Pansy leant in close to Harry and whispered, "He would probably try too, but his strength is in potions and charms – you should hear his plans for the future."

The sensation of her breath on his ear made him shudder and he pulled away, smiling in a way that felt a little forced.

They sat and food appeared in front of them. They started to eat in – in silence for a few minutes – until Tracey, tall and blonde with blue eyes so dark they were almost black, sat back.

"I've gotta say Pansy," she started in a hard voice, her accent tinged with the sound of her native New Zealand, "I don't think it was very cool, the way you dumped Draco."

Pansy stiffened. "And I don't think, Tracey, that's it's any of your business."

Harry glanced at her, totally wrong-footed on how to act. Pansy really didn't seem the sort to need or want anyone to help her with sisterly disputes, so he kept quiet.

Pansy and Tracey glared at each other for a while and Harry had the distinct impression of a pair of great cats snarling at each other, vying for control of their pack.

Millicent slapped the table. "Stop it you two, you're better than squabbling like that, especially over a boy. Tracey, if you don't like it, get Draco to take you. If there is anything else to say, can you please do it in private?"

Tracey snorted with derision and sipped her juice.

Pansy smiled at Millicent who had returned to eating a large sandwich, thick with slices of beef and pickles. Millicent was huge, easily a foot taller than himself and immensely powerfully built. She wore her hair in a tight ponytail and her hazel eyes were hard.

Harry exhaled, trying to breathe quietly.

"-HARRY!" someone shouted from across the hall.

Harry spun around, standing, his hand on his wand.

It was Ron, standing on his bench. "Everything okay?" he mouthed, holding both his thumbs up.

Half the hall laughed, and Harry flashed back his own thumb before sitting back down.

"That will do, thank you Mr. Weasley." Commanded Professor Snape from across the hall, his voice dominating the space in spite of him not seeming to raise it at all.

Ron jumped back down to his seat immediately and resumed chatting with Hermione and Dean.

"You know," Harry said, leaning in toward Pansy, "I think this is the first time I've ever not eaten at the Gryffindor table."

She squeezed his hand. "Well, you know what they say about variety?"

He smiled, catching himself from leaning in and kissing her, unsure how she would feel about it in front of her dormmates.

"What're we doing for the rest of the day?" She asked after a few seconds, seeming to understand and reciprocate his desire.

"Well, there is a certain outfit I need to see to – ah, thinking about that, do you want to see my dress-robes? So you can tell me-"

She didn't give him chance to reply. "No, I already told you I like green and that it's up to you. You remember the only other requirement?"

The other girls had gone silent.

"Impress me." he said, mimicking her.

Daphne Greengrass laughed aloud. "You didn't do that to him, did you? Pansy, you evil woman." She said, rocking back in her chair.

Harry looked between them.

"He agreed, didn't he?" challenged Pansy, then turned to Harry, "you don't have to, you know. It was just a spur of the moment thing."

Harry looked around the group at the table. "I wouldn't go back on it. I get to keep you waiting until the night of the ball, don't I?" He said, grinning wickedly.

Pansy's eyes went wide. "What? No."

Daphne laughed again. "Oh, I like this. Potter knows how to play. I think you're going to have your hands full with this one, Pans."

Pansy made a disgruntled humming-growling sound. "You'll have to at least give me an idea, so I can get my hair and make-up right, okay?"

"He can show it to me." Chimed in Sophia, "or any of us, really – and we can tell you what you need to do."

"You're all evil." Pansy said, colouring.

They all fell into fits of giggles.

Almost an hour later, they all dispersed from the house tables, Pansy going with the other fourth-year girls.

"I'll introduce you to my lot at dinner." Harry said, squeezing her fingers one last time, desperate to kiss her, hold her.

"Sure." She said, a little sharply and pulling her fingers free and using them to touch his face again.

He quickly kissed her fingers before she drew away, trying to be as subtle as possible.

"MY GOD, Pansy!" cried Sophia scandalised, grabbing her by the arm and pulling her away.

Millicent smiled at him before following them out of the hall. Tracey just glared at him as Pansy blew him a kiss and Daphne paused.

"You know Potter, you're much more interesting than I ever imagined." She said, eyeing him shrewdly before following the others.

He turned around and released a pent-up breath. Just as two hands landed on his shoulders.

"You crazy bastard, Harry!" scoffed Seamus as Harry shrugged them off.

Dean looked scandalised, a grin somewhere between horror and amazement on his face. "You crazy, crazy bastard." He laughed.

Ron was smiling too, with Seamus stood a little behind them.

"What went through your crazy, spiky head?" Neville asked.

Harry just shrugged.

"Fame must've gone to his head, that's all I can think of." Ron said, throwing his arm around Harry's shoulders. "Fancy a butterbeer around the fire?"

"Fred and George managed to smuggle a whole case in, somehow." Seamus said as they started walking in the direction of the Common Room.

Half-way up the second set of stairs, Harry remembered what he had to do.

Cursing, he stopped and turned around.

"What's the matter?" Asked Ron.

"Nothing's wrong, I just have to ask McGonagall something. Go on without me, I'll be there soon." He said, letting the others climb past him and starting back down the stairs.

McGonagall was one of four teachers filing out of the Great Hall as he made it back.

"Professor!" he called, "Professor McGonagall!"

She stopped and turned back to him as he approached the teachers' table. "Yes, Potter, what is it now?"

"There is something I need, I just don't know where to start."

She frowned, looking uneasy. "Yes, and what is it?"

He stammered over the words for a few seconds, then cleared his throat and started again. "I need to order a ball gown for my… for Pansy. It needs to be spectacular."

McGonagall, the vision of propriety, smiled.