Despite the very heavy load of homework that the fourth years had been given for the holidays, hardly any of them were seen doing it. The week leading up to Christmas was spent enjoying the lack of classes and free time. Gryffindor Tower was hardly less crowded now than during term-time; it seemed to have shrunk slightly too, as its inhabitants were being so much rowdier than usual. Fred and George had had a great success with their Canary Creams, and for the first couple of days of the holidays, people kept bursting into feather all over the place. Before long, however, all the Gryffindors had learned to treat food anybody else offered them with extreme caution, in case it had a Canary Cream concealed in the centre, and George confided to Harry that he and Fred were now working on developing something else.
"Never accept anything from them." Harry whispered to Skylar.
"Ever." She agreed with a nod.
Snow was falling thickly upon the castle and its grounds now. The pale blue Beauxbatons carriage looked like a large, chilly, frosted pumpkin next to the iced gingerbread house that was Hagrid's cabin, while the Durmstrang ship's portholes were glazed with ice, the rigging white with frost. Skylar of course was the only one annoyed by the snow, apart from the cold Beaubaxtons who were used to warmer weather, as it seemed it was blocking any electrical storms. There still hadn't been one and she was therefore still reciting the four words of the animagus enchantment every morning and afternoon without fail.
Her only encouragement were the meals that the house-elves down in the kitchen were sending up at meal times. They were outdoing themselves with a series of rich, warming stews and savoury puddings, and only Fleur Delacour seemed to be able to find anything to complain about.
"It is too 'eavy, all zis 'Ogwarts food," they heard her saying grumpily as they left the Great Hall behind her one evening (Ron skulking behind Harry, keen not to be spotted by Fleur). "I will not fit into my dress robes!"
"Oooh there's a tragedy," Hermione snapped as Fleur went out into the entrance hall. "She really thinks a lot of herself, that one, doesn't she?"
"Hermione — who are you going to the ball with?" said Ron.
He kept springing this question on her, hoping to startle her into a response by asking it when she least expected it. Skylar he didn't care much about, though she also didn't care of it being a secret. However, Hermione merely frowned and said, "I'm not telling you, you'll just make fun of me."
"You're joking, Weasley!" said Draco, behind them. "You're not telling me someone's asked that to the ball? Not the long-moulared Mudblood?"
Harry and Ron both whipped around, but Hermione said loudly, waving to somebody over Draco's shoulder, "Hello, Professor Moody!"
Draco went pale and jumped backward, looking wildly around for Moody, but he was still up at the staff table, finishing his stew.
"Twitchy little ferret, aren't you, Malfoy?" said Hermione scathingly.
"Say Draco, who'd you ask to the ball?" Skylar wondered. "Or did you not have the nerve to receive such a rejection?"
Draco blushed at her as she, Hermione, Harry, and Ron went up the marble staircase laughing heartily.
"Hermione," said Ron, looking sideways at her, suddenly frowning, "your teeth…"
"What about them?" she said.
"Well, they're different… I've just noticed…"
"Of course they are — did you expect me to keep those fangs Malfoy gave me?"
"No, I mean, they're different to how they were before he put that hex on you… They're all… straight and — and normal-sized."
"Now he notices?" Skylar mumbled.
Hermione suddenly smiled very mischievously, and Harry noticed it too: It was a very different smile from the one he remembered.
"Well… when I went up to Madam Pomfrey to get them shrunk, she held up a mirror and told me to stop her when they were back to how they normally were," she said. "And I just… let her carry on a bit." She smiled even more widely. "Mum and Dad won't be too pleased. I've been trying to persuade them to let me shrink them for ages, but they wanted me to carry on with my braces. You know, they're dentists, they just don't think teeth and magic should — look! Pigwidgeon's back!"
Ron's tiny owl was twittering madly on the top of the icicle-laden banisters, a scroll of parchment tied to his leg. People passing him were pointing and laughing, and a group of third-year girls paused and said, "Oh look at the weeny owl! Isn't he cute?"
"Stupid little feathery git!" Ron hissed, hurrying up the stairs and snatching up Pigwidgeon. "You bring letters to the addressee! You don't hang around showing off!"
"That owl has such the personality." Skylar mumbled.
Pigwidgeon hooted happily, his head protruding over Ron's fist. The third-year girls all looked very shocked.
"Clear off!" Ron snapped at them, waving the fist holding Pigwidgeon, who hooted more happily than ever as he soared through the air. "Here — take it, Harry," Ron added in an undertone as the third-year girls scuttled away looking scandalised. He pulled Sirius's reply off Pigwidgeon's leg, Harry pocketed it, and they hurried back to Gryffindor Tower to read it.
Everyone in the common room was much too busy in letting off more holiday steam to observe what anyone else was up to. Ron, Skylar, Harry, and Hermione sat apart from everyone else by a dark window that was gradually filling up with snow, and Harry read out:
Dear Harry,
Congratulations on getting past the Horntail. Whoever put your name in that goblet shouldn't be feeling too happy right now! I was going to suggest a Conjunctivitis Curse, as a dragon's eyes are its weakest point — "That's what Krum did!" Hermione whispered — but your way was better, I'm impressed.
Don't get complacent, though, Harry. You've only done one task; whoever put you in for the tournament's got plenty more opportunity if they're trying to hurt you. Keep your eyes open — particularly when the person we discussed is around — and concentrate on keeping yourself out of trouble.
Keep in touch, I still want to hear about anything unusual.
Sirius.
"He sounds exactly like Moody," said Harry quietly, tucking the letter away again inside his robes. "'Constant vigilance!' You'd think I walk around with my eyes shut, banging off the walls…"
"But he's right, Harry," said Hermione, "you have still got two tasks to do. You really ought to have a look at that egg, you know, and start working out what it means…"
"Hermione, he's got ages!" snapped Ron. "Want a game of chess, Harry?"
"Yeah, okay," said Harry. Then, spotting the look on Hermione's face, he said, "Come on, how'm I supposed to concentrate with all this noise going on? I won't even be able to hear the egg over this lot."
"Oh I suppose not," she sighed.
"Besides, I think Harry should be allowed at least the week up to the ball to clear his head, and then once Christmas is over, he can start studying the egg." Skylar said. "If you overwork him he won't perform at his best, remember you last year, overworked with too many subjects and a time turner?"
Hermione had no argument there and so she silently sat down to watch the boy's chess match, which culminated in an exciting checkmate of Ron's, involving a couple of recklessly brave pawns and a very violent bishop.
"Hey Sky," Harry asked and she hummed in response, having been picking through people's minds in the common room out of boredom. "Who are you going to the dance with?"
Ron turned to Hermione at such an opportunity but Skylar didn't look at them.
"Stephen." She said simply.
"Should have seen him, he ran up to her as soon as the school heard the news to ask her." Hermione said.
"Good thing he did, I think someone asked me not a period later." Skylar muttered.
"How many people did ask you?" Harry muttered.
"Uh," Skylar thought. "Seven? Maybe nine?"
"Who?"
"A few people, mostly Hogwarts students, a few Durmstrang and a Beauxbatons even." She thought.
"I only saw three." Harry said.
"I saw six." Hermione shrugged.
"What? I saw two?" Ron gapped.
"And some like you two, wanted me by myself to ask me and did so." Skylar shrugged. "Why's it a big deal?"
"Clearly Ron never saw you as a girl." Hermione said coldly.
"No, I'm too much 'one of the guys' clearly." She agreed as Ron rolled his eyes.
"Will you let that go?"
"No." Skylar and Hermione chorused.
Christmas morning, Skylar awoke to a pile of presents on her bed. It was odd, waking up with so many people in the dormitory, usually it was only her and Hermione. They all wished one another a Merry Christmas before the girls all opened their gifts. Skylar had a new jumper from Mrs. Weasley as well as some mince pies, Hermione had bought her some hair clips, glittering with flowers which would match Skylar's dress robes perfectly. Ron had bought her a load of different sweets. Her parents had sent her a book of unusual spells, likely something that would also help Harry. Hagrid sent her more sweets, her brothers gave her a number of items from Zonko's Joke shop in Hogsmeade and Harry had given her a book. The last few years Harry had given her muggle items, the book seemed a bit out of place until she read the cover; Finding Your Animal Spirit. She couldn't help but chuckle.
Getting dressed, Skylar and Hermione went to the common room and waited for the two boys. Harry told them they'd had a visit from Dobby that morning as they went down to breakfast. It seemed Dobby had given Harry a pair of odd socks that he'd knitted himself.
"Apparently Dobby thinks socks are meant to be odd." Harry admitted.
"Why not." Skylar shrugged with a chuckle.
They spent most of the morning in Gryffindor Tower, where everyone was enjoying their presents, then returned to the Great Hall for a magnificent lunch, which included at least a hundred turkeys and Christmas puddings, and large piles of Cribbage's Wizarding Crackers.
They went out onto the grounds in the afternoon; the snow was untouched except for the deep channels made by the Durmstrang and Beauxbatons students on their way up to the castle. Hermione chose to watch Harry, the Rosenwalds, and the Weasleys' snowball fight rather than join in, and at five o'clock she called on Skylar and said they needed to get going to get ready for the ball.
"What, you need three hours?" said Ron, looking at her incredulously and paying for his lapse in concentration when a large snowball, thrown by George, hit him hard on the side of the head.
Neither girl answered as they hurried up the stairs.
"Who're you going with?" Ron yelled after them, but Hermione just waved and disappeared up the stone steps into the castle with Skylar.
"This is so exciting!" Skylar grinned.
The two girls were not the only ones in the tower, many were in the common room and Lavender and Parvati were already getting ready in the dormitory.
Despite her already curly hair, Skylar pinned her hair up, using Hermione's silver clips to do so, and curled the hanging ends a bit more. She had mutinous amounts of jewellery at home but had asked her mother to send her specifics. She slipped a few rings onto her fingers, a bracelet or two on her right wrist and a necklace graced her collarbone. Her robes were a brilliant red to match her hair and her necklace held a number of sparkling diamond gems, one of the rings holding the same to match.
She and Hermione had fun playing with the amount of makeup also sent from home, highlighting their eyes, their lips, and their cheeks. Parvati and Lavender were done before the two girls and left in an excited hurry to find their partners.
Hermione was wearing blue and her hair had been straightened with a lot of Sleekeazy's Hair Potion just for tonight. She had had to ask Skylar for help in accomplishing the mission.
Hermione left before Skylar did, as she had to go down to the Durmstrang ship to meet Viktor Krum. Skylar was cleaning up her things before she found a parcel that had been sent a few days ago. She paused in confusion before she gasped in realisation.
"Crap!" She moved from the now empty dormitory and down the stairs before running up the boys dormitory stairs, catching the attention of several of those in the common room. She knocked and the door opened to reveal Dean and Seamus.
"Wow." They chorused, looking her over.
"Is Ron still here!" She demanded.
They shared a look before standing aside and exposing the rest of the dormitory, still staring at her as though dazzled. Harry was there in his bottle green robes and Skylar thought he looked wonderful in them. He was staring at her too, eyes glued, which made her smile, before she had to remind herself why she was here. She tore her gaze off him and looked around to spot Ron in the corner, wearing the maroon robes, but all the frills were now gone and the ends were frayed from where it seemed he severed them.
"Ron!" She said and she moved over to him.
He looked miserable as he turned to her. "What are you doing here?" He didn't notice her appearance like the others in the room.
"You were an asshole and as a consequence, I totally forgot about this." She handed him the parcel. "It's from my parents, they sent it a few days ago."
Ron looked confused and not very interested as he unwrapped the parcel to reveal a dark material with a tinge of red to the colour. Ron's expression changed as he quickly pulled it out to find a pair of dress robes there. They had no frills, and looked rather smart, less dress-like and brand new.
He looked at Skylar with his mouth open like a fish.
"I have to go, see you guys later." She said and she moved for the door to hurry down into the dormitory. The common room looked strange, full of people wearing different colours instead of the usual mass of black. Skylar recognised Parvati waiting at the bottom of the stairs. Harry had finally found a partner and had asked Parvati, asking her to ask her twin sister for Ron. She was wearing robes of shocking pink, with her long dark plait braided with gold, and gold bracelets glimmering at her wrists.
"Give them a few minutes." Skylar said to her. "You look lovely by the way."
"You too, Sky." Parvati nodded.
"Understatement." The two girls turned to see the Weasley twins grinning at her with Nick, wearing their own dress robes. Neither of them wore frills or ancient robes and Skylar wondered if they'd made enough to buy their own or if Nick had done something.
"Wow," Nick grinned.
Skylar curtsied to them all with a grin. "So you managed to all get dates?" She asked.
"Who do you think we are?" George chuckled.
"Clowns." Skylar nodded, earning a roll of the eyes from the three.
"I never found out who asked you Sky?" Nick said.
"A few people but Stephen was first." She nodded. "I have to go meet him now." She moved for the portrait hole with a wave at them as they promised to see her later.
"And we demand a dance!"
Skylar made her way down to the Entrance Hall, her heart beating a bit faster than necessary in excitement. She passed a few people on her way and blushed as many stared and some of the older students whistled at her.
The entrance hall was packed with students too, all milling around waiting for eight o'clock, when the doors to the Great Hall would be thrown open. Those people who were meeting partners from different Houses were edging through the crowd trying to find one another.
Skylar paused at the top of the Marble Staircase, looking around to try and spot Stephen. A few people gazed at her as she moved down the stairs before she caught sight of the boy and moved over to him. He was talking to his friend, Oliver Rivers. She walked and tapped his shoulder for him to turn.
He was rendered speechless as he looked at her and Oliver was the same.
"Hey." She said.
He still didn't speak and she started chuckling. "Thank you. You look rather good yourself." He was wearing very dark, navy blue robes.
Oliver glanced at his friend and nudged Stephen to gain his attention.
"Sorry," he mumbled, glancing from Oliver to Skylar. "You look…" he couldn't find a word for it.
"Thank you." She nodded.
The Entrance Hall grew more crowded, Skylar saw Harry with Parvati and Ron come down the stairs, Ron looking a bit more cheerful in the new robes instead of the old, as they went looking for Padma. She was wearing robes of brilliant turquoise, and didn't look overly happy at going to the dance with Ron.
Next a bunch of Slytherins joined from the dungeons. Draco was in front; he was wearing dress robes of black velvet with a high collar. He glanced and spotted Skylar through the crowd. She raised an eyebrow at him as he had Pansy Parkinson in very frilly robes of pale pink clutching his arm. He stared at her until Pansy forced his attention away. Crabbe and Goyle were both wearing green; they resembled moss-coloured boulders, and neither of them had managed to find a partner.
The oak front doors opened, and everyone turned to look as the Durmstrang students entered with Professor Karkaroff. Krum was at the front of the party, accompanied by Hermione in her blue robes, looking like a completely different person. Over their heads and behind them, it seemed that an area of lawn right in front of the castle had been transformed into a sort of grotto full of fairy lights — meaning hundreds of actual living fairies were sitting in the rose bushes that had been conjured there, and fluttering over the statues of what seemed to be Father Christmas and his reindeer.
"This is going to be so much fun." Skylar believed.
Then Professor McGonagall's voice called, "Champions over here, please!" Professor McGonagall was wearing dress robes of red tartan and had arranged a rather ugly wreath of thistles around the brim of her hat.
The crowds parted to let the four champions and their partners through and towards the door. Parvati led Harry over. Cedric went with Cho, Fleur Delacour was with Roger Davies, the Ravenclaw Quidditch captain, and Krum with Hermione.
The Champions had to wait while the schools were told to file into the Great Hall. Skylar smiled at Hermione as she passed her and waved to Harry who was staring at her, managing to smile back before she entered the room.