Harry Potter and the Mother Who Lived

by Gracques

When Lord Voldemort went to Godric's Hollow to kill Harry Potter, he agreed to a request from one of his disciples to spare his mother. The Dark Lord remained true to his word. Lily Evans Potter survived the night of October 31, 1981. Follow the story of Harry Potter where Voldemort kept his word and Harry was raised by his mother.

142. Harry XXVIII (Yule Ball)

Hi everyone. Finally, I managed to review this chapter and upload it despite minor health problems.

So, this chapter is bar far the longest I have ever written. Over 33,000 words, and my previous record was 22,000 maybe. It covers the Yule Ball and the days preceding it, including events from previous chapters from Harry's point of view, and explaining the behavior of a few characters that might have been harder to decipher before.

I took some liberties with the plan of the Yule Ball, especially adding a music and dancing show that wasn't part of it in canon. Those changes were made simply out of fun by me, because I wanted to, and don't represent any consequences of Lily Evans being alive. Many of the songs in question were created after 1995, so for once, I don't respect my rule to only include Muggle events that follow real history. I indicate the songs in bold when they start playing, with the name of their author(s). You can find all of them easily on Youtube, but I cannot provide links as the website prevents me from doing so.

So, I hope you enjoy the Yule Ball. This is really a chapter that required a lot of time and that I loved writing.

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HARRY XXVIII

Harry walked away from his encounter with Cho very slowly, so upset that he forgot about dinner. One name kept coming back to his mind, and the more Harry repeated it silently, the more it was like hammering that name.

Cedric Diggory. Cedric Diggory. Cedric Diggory. Cedric Diggory. CEDRIC DIGGORY!

Of all the names, it was the one he had to hear, the one Cho had to say, right when things started to look better. Ever since his face off with the Hungarian Horntail, the situation had improved for Harry in Hogwarts. His friendship with Ron was repaired. The number of badges against him dropped significantly, and in no small part due to Cedric asking the other Hufflepuffs to remove them. Harry found hilarious the scene Hannah made in front of Malfoy and the entire Great Hall, so much that he almost completely forgave her whatever grudge he still kept against her for Remus' dismissal. Fewer people laughed at Malfoy's jokes by the day. And then the unexpected task had come. McGonagall ordered him not only to dance at a ball, but to find a girl to go with.

Harry already knew who he wanted to invite. Cho Chang. Smaller than him despite her age superiority, a fantastic Quidditch player, very pretty, with long, shining, black hair, and Harry already got along quite well with her. Only, would she accept to come with him? It seemed Harry had his answer. No, because she already going with someone else. And this someone else was Cedric Diggory, on top of everything. Right now, Harry despised him more than anything in the world. Though truth be told, Harry raged against himself too. Why did he need weeks to summon the courage to invite Cho? Maybe if he had done it before Cedric asked her, she would have accepted. But no, he waited, and waited, and waited, and here he was. And still alone for the ball, on top of everything. Things were really not turning into his favor this year.

While walking, Harry's arm collided with one of the many suits of armour that populated Hogwarts corridors, resulting in it singing.

(O come, O come, Emmanuel; Peter Hollens)

O come o come, Emmanuel

And ransom captive Israel

O come o come, Emmanuel

And ransom captive Israel

That mourns in lonely exile here

Until the son of God appear

Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel

Shall come to thee, oh Israel

In other circumstances, it would have lifted Harry's spirits up, but he doubted that even Peeves' crude version would make him laugh right now.

"Hi, Harry."

Susan was approaching him in the corridor, her bag on her shoulder. "Hi, Susan," he replied evenly.

She stopped at the armour, listening to the song. "I like this one."

Harry nodded, forcing a smile upon himself. Susan loved music, as evidenced by her membership to Hogwarts' choir. They had the chance to perform a few times since the students of other schools arrived in October. She was lucky. All she had to do was to worry about people potentially thinking she didn't sing well. Harry had to contend with the prospect of finding himself alone on the dance floor with everyone laughing at him for coming alone to that damn ball.

As the armour completed the second verse, they heard another voice adding lyrics.

Students can't wait to fart on Christmas Day

"Oh no. Peeves!" Susan complained. She didn't like music to be distorted. Finally, maybe Peeves's version could bring back some smile to Harry.

"Better go. Filch may show up any time," he reminded her.

She nodded, obviously agreeing with him, and they walked away as obscenities kept getting worse from Peeves' mouth.

"You're staying for Christmas, I guess?" Harry asked her as they followed the same corridor.

"Yes, much like everyone else. My parents almost threatened to disown me if I even had the idea to jump the ball."

Harry smiled at the prospect. Susan removed a strand of red hair from her forehead. Her bag looked particularly heavy. "What are you carrying?"

"Oh, it's my stuff for Arithmancy and Ancient Runes," she answered. This explained why the bag was heavy. Harry realized all of a sudden that Susan was going up, not down where both the Hufflepuff common room and the Great Hall were located.

"Where are you going?"

"To the library. I plan on beginning on the homework they gave us for the holidays."

Harry was surprised. Even Hermione would not start homework this evening, when the term just ended.

"Are you sure you want to do homework tonight?" he asked her.

"Well, not particularly, but I needed an excuse to get away. Everyone is going to talk about what they will wear for the Yule Ball tonight. I can't wait for all this to be over."

Harry was surprised. It was the first time he heard a girl talking against the ball. Ever since the announcement, all the girls he crossed seemed to be talking excitedly about it, or to judge boys from afar. Harry had his fair share of it.

"You're not excited for the ball?"

"No." She looked embarrassed all of a sudden. "I can't dance. I don't know how."

That, Harry could sympathize with. "Well, if that's any consolation, you're not the only one."

"No?"

"No. I don't know how to dance either," he confirmed.

Some time went on as they happened to follow the same path. The library was on the way Harry took to head to the Gryffindor Tower.

"Wait, Harry. Aren't you supposed to open the ball with Cedric and the other champions?"

It seemed like everyone was already aware. "Yes, I am," he confirmed, rolling his eyes in exasperation.

"How are you going to open it if you can't dance?"

He shrugged, knowing very well what awaited him in a few days. "I don't know. Anyway, maybe I'll be spared since I have no partner."

"You don't?"

"No, I don't have any," he plainly stated, the memory of Cho's refusal returning strong, and his internal curse against Cedric Diggory reviving.

"I thought you would have found one by this time."

"Well, you were wrong," he said bitter.

They continued to walk for a moment without saying a word again.

"Harry, if you want, I could go with you."

Harry stopped at that and turned to Susan, surprised at the unexpected idea she had. "Are you sure?" he asked, uncertain.

"Yes. I mean, if you really need a partner, I can."

"But… you don't know how to dance," he said. He didn't want to look like a fool in front of the whole school, but he didn't want Susan to look like it as well.

She shrugged half-convincingly. "I know, but it's still better than nothing. Anyway, I was supposed to go alone. I had no one to go with."

"No one invited you."

"No. No one."

Harry thought for a moment. He didn't consider asking Susan. He meant, asking Susan to the ball would have been as awkward as asking Hermione, or even Ginny. He got along well with her, but… Well, after all, he guessed they could go as friends. Now he wondered why he didn't think about it sooner? He could have asked Hermione, after all. She would probably not have minded that they go only as friends. But Susan just suggested the idea, and it looked like a good one.

"Okay. If it doesn't trouble you…" he began.

She laughed a little, in a mocking way that reminded him of Hermione, although he felt that he wasn't the subject of her mockery. "Harry, you're my friend. It doesn't bother me at all."

He nodded. "Okay. Well, thank you, Susan."

"And by the way, Harry, Hermione told me that McGonagall gave you a course about dancing?"

"Yes, but it was only half an hour. And I already don't remember what she taught us." Harry had seen this dance lesson as a foretaste to what he had to expect from the ball, looking ridiculous in front of hundreds of people. The example McGonagall showed with Ron was the only highlight of the lesson, with Fred and George promising they would never let Ron forget about it.

"You could ask her for a private lesson, maybe," she suggested. "After all, you're in her house, and she might not be willing to let you not know how to dance for Christmas."

"Maybe," Harry reluctantly said. He didn't think the prospect to ask McGonagall for particular dance lessons was any more enthralling than the ball itself or inviting a girl to it. Though the latter was done, thanks to Susan.

"You only have to ask her. I can go with you, if you want."

"It's alright. I'll ask her," he said.

They reached a junction where the corridor separated in two. Susan headed for the right while Harry headed for the left.

"The library is this way," she said, Harry already knowing it. "I'll see you soon, Harry."

"Bye, Susan," he told her as he walked in the other direction.

"Harry! Can I ask you favor?" Susan said all of a sudden.

"Yes. What?"

"Please don't tell the others that we're going to the ball together. I don't want people to start asking me questions about it."

"Oh. Fine. I won't tell."

"Thank you, Harry," she said, sounding grateful.

They both walked in opposite directions.

When Harry walked through the portrait hole not long after, he felt better than right after Cho refused his invitation. Although he still felt bitter towards the Cedric Diggorys of this world, at least now he had a partner for the ball. Even if now he promised to ask McGonagall to teach him how to dance. He better not tell anybody, especially not Fred, George or Ron. They would make sure to taunt him about it for the rest of the time before the ball, and after.

When he entered, he noticed that Ron was sitting in a corner, looking miserable, with Ginny talking very kindly to him, as if he was sick and condemned to death.

"What's up, Ron?" he asked him.

"Why did I do it? I don't know what made me do it!" He looked as if he wanted to die while staring back at Harry.

"What?"

It was Ginny who answered.

"He… just asked Fleur Delacour to go to the ball with him."

"What?" He and Ron agreed to have a date for the ball by the end of the day, but Harry never thought that Ron would actually ask Fleur Delacour, a girl he couldn't take his eyes from since she arrived in October, to come with him to the ball. He could hardly imagine him doing this.

"I don't know what made me do it!" Ron said, looking devastated. "What was I playing at? There were people, all around. I've gone mad. Everyone watching. I was just walking past her in the Entrance Hall. She was standing there talking to Diggory. And it sort of came over me. And I asked her! She looked at me like I was a slug or something. Didn't even answer. And then, I don't know, I just sort of came to my senses and ran for it."

Harry sympathized. He remembered something he learned during his dispute with Ron and that he forgot to tell him when they reconciled. "She's part Vella," Harry revealed. "You were right. Her grandmother was one. It wasn't your fault. I bet you just walked past when she was turning on the old charm for Diggory and got a blast of it. But she was wasting her time. He's going with Cho Chang."

Ron looked up to him at this, and the frown on his face hid partially his embarrassment.

"I asked her to go with me just now, and she told me," Harry simply explained.

He noticed that Ginny, who had been fighting to not smile the whole time, suddenly stopped looking like she found it funny.

"This is mad!" Ron swore. "We're the only ones left who haven't got anyone. Well, except Neville. Guess who he asked? Hermione!"

"What?" Harry was surprised. Though maybe he shouldn't. After all, a few minutes ago, he did wonder why he didn't think about inviting Hermione as a friend. His surprise was likely due to the fact that someone else actually went with the idea of inviting her.

"Yeah, I know. He told me after Potions! He said she's always been really nice, helping him out with work and stuff, but she told him she was already going with someone. Ha! As if! She just didn't want to go with Neville… I mean, who would?"

Ron burst into laughter. Harry refrained from doing the same. He didn't want to actually think Hermione refused Neville for this reason, but picturing their roomate inviting Hermione was comical in its own way.

"Don't," Ginny said. "Don't laugh…"

Hermione chose this moment to arrive through the portrait hole.

"Why weren't you two at dinner?" she asked.

Ginny answered before Harry could.

"Because… Stop laughing, Ron. Because they've both just been turned down by girls they asked to the ball."

Ron stopped to laugh. As for Harry, he thought it was time to rectify. He was so surprised by the story of Ron asking Fleur and Neville asking Hermione that he completely forgot to tell them what happened after Cho's refusal of his own proposal.

He tried to say something, but Ron cut him short. Maybe he didn't even hear him.

"Thanks a bunch, Ginny," he retorted.

"All the good-looking ones taken, Ron?" Hermione said on her sufficient tone. "Eloise Midgen starting to look quite pretty now, is she? Well, I'm sure you'll find someone somewhere who'll have you."

Ron, though, didn't look angry. He looked at Hermione in a much different way. Harry thought he knew what was coming, and he wasn't sure if he wanted to see the results of it.

"Hermione, Neville is right. You are a girl," he said.

"Oh, well spotted," she replied, definitely not on a kind voice.

"Well, you can come with one of us!"

"Ron…" Harry tried to say, since he suggested something that was no longer possible in Harry's case.

"No, I can't," Hermione stated, cutting him once more.

"Oh, come on," Ron complained. "We need partners. We're going to look really stupid if we haven't got any, everyone else has…"

"I can't come with you because I'm already going with someone."

"No, you're not! You just said that to get rid of Neville." Hermione was not happy at all with this comment.

"Oh, did I? Just because it's taken you three years to notice, Ron, doesn't mean no one else has spotted I'm a girl."

Harry had to admit he felt a little guilty about it too. After all, he didn't think about Hermione as a possible partner, even as a friend, before today.

"Okay, okay," Ron said. "We know you're a girl. That do? Will you come now?" Harry was afraid that it was too late.

"I've already told you! I'm going with someone else!"

She stormed off to the girls' dormitory.

"She's lying," Ron said after her departure.

"She's not," Ginny declared.

"Who is it then?"

"I'm not telling you. It's her business."

"Right, this is getting stupid. Ginny, you can go with Harry, and I'll just…"

Again, Harry tried to place a word, but Ginny was also quicker this time. "I can't! I'm going with… Neville. He asked me when Hermione said no, and I thought…"

"It's fine," Harry said, deciding that it was finally the time he told them, especially now that Ginny was blushing furiously. "Okay. It's no trouble. I already have someone, anyway."

"WHAT?"

The way they said the word together was almost as comical as Fred and George doing the same.

"But… I thought Cho Chang turned you down," Ron asked.

"She did, but I asked another girl afterwards, and she accepted," Harry explained, careful to not let Susan's name slip out.

Ron looked utterly surprised and dumbstruck. "Wait. You waited for weeks to ask the girl you wanted to come to the ball with you? When finally you invite her, she says no, and a moment later, you ask another out of the blue?"

"Well, that's not really how it happened…" Harry began. It was more a common agreement, whose idea was Susan's, but Ron again did not let him finish his idea.

"Unbelievable! I'll be the only one without a partner to this stupid ball."

In the meantime, Ginny stood up. "I think I'll go and have dinner."

She walked away quite quickly, walking through the portrait hole, her head down. Strangely enough, Harry thought that Ginny and Susan didn't look very different from behind.

"What has gotten into them?" Ron asked.

Harry looked at Ron, who seemed utterly miserable. Harry had been bothered by the idea of not having a partner for the ball. For Ron, he thought it was not that a tragedy, since he wasn't to open the ball. But after all that happened, especially their dispute in November, Harry thought it would be better if his friend had someone to go with.

As Harry was beginning to ponder solutions, he heard two girls giggling behind him. He turned to see Parvati and Lavender coming in through the portrait hole. Harry opened his mouth slightly as Parvati looked in his direction, a large smile on her face. Lavender made an expression between a scold and a warning.

Harry considered it for a moment. He knew that Lavender was already going with Seamus to the ball. He was the first one in their dormitory to ask someone to the ball. Harry was jealous of him for his courage at the time. But Parvati… Feeling how risky it was, and knowing what someone like Hermione would tell him for this foolishness, Harry stood up and walked towards the two girls, who now sat in front of the fireplace, discussing in whispers like they almost always did.

"Hi, Parvati," he said timidly, uncertain of her reaction.

"Hi, Harry." At least, she was smiling, but he felt that her smile hid something else than joy, or the kind of joy Harry wouldn't like. Lavender was staring at him warningly again. She was like that with Harry ever since their return to school. Harry never asked Parvati, but he supposed that she told Lavender about their time together in summer. He hoped Parvati didn't tell her too much. Even Harry was selective about what he told Hermione. There were details he didn't want to share about their relationship. Harry was even surprised that almost no one in the school had heard about him and Parvati, considering she and Lavender were not the kind to keep something like that for themselves. Gathering his courage, Harry asked the fateful question to his ex-girlfriend.

"Parvati, are you going with someone to the ball?"

For a moment, her face showed something akin to surprise, but then she started to giggle. Harry sighed internally, not wanting her to notice how he felt about her giggling. He never liked that tendency of Parvati and Lavender to giggle uncontrollably behind everyone's back, so doing it in front of his face didn't make it better. However, Lavender was not giggling. Instead, she was staring at Harry, though her gaze seemed to show interrogation more than anything else.

"Well, I didn't expect this…" Parvati said.

"So, are you going to the ball with someone?" Harry repeated, trying to not sound irritated.

"No, not for now. I'm available."

She made one of these faces that reminded Harry of last summer. He chased those memories from his mind, for he feared her reaction to his next question.

"Would you…" He was about to ask her if she could do him a favour, but he changed his mind mid-phrase. He didn't think he would have the best chances of results by asking his ex-girlfriend for a service. "Would you like to go to the ball with Ron?"

Her face changed of expression right away. The seductive smile was gone, replaced by utter confusion. At least, she didn't seem angry or outraged, for now. She didn't even look sad or disappointed. Lavender displayed a similar shock.

"Ron?" Parvati asked. Harry looked behind, but Ron didn't seem to give much attention to them. He must not have heard.

"Yes," Harry forced himself to say. "He doesn't have anyone either." And then, he chose to add something more. "I think he's too afraid to ask you because… he is afraid you might refuse."

He wasn't sure of the results it would bring, but he didn't think Ron had much to lose anyway. Parvati's nose was dead centre, after all.

She stood up. Harry remembered at this moment why he dated her for a short time. Parvati was quite pretty, truth be told. Even though their relationship had been over for long, Harry couldn't deny her beauty. She was about his height, or maybe an inch taller, which didn't make much difference. She had a light tanned skin, dark eyes, and long black, shining hair which she usually wore into a ponytail. Even the way she arranged her hair made her pretty, but Harry also liked the way they fell on her back when set free. Her hair reminded him of Cho's.

Parvati then grinned all of a sudden. "Watch me."

She walked past him, slightly grazing his shoulder on her way, and came to stand up next to Ron.

"Hi, Ron," she said.

"Hi, Parvati," he said, not moving his eyes from the floor he looked at.

"Ron, I just wanted you to know that I am available for the ball, and I would be very glad to accept the invitation of a boy who would ask me out."

"Good for you," he replied on an even tone.

Harry had approached, and he feared Ron committed a huge mistake. His friend looked at him, and Harry tried to slightly make a movement of head towards Parvati, who remained standing next to Ron. After a while, Ron seemed to understand, as his eyes travelled from Parvati to Harry. Finally realizing the chance he had, he stood up, awkwardly, trying to arrange his hair in the process, much to Lavender's delight who laughed uncontrollably into her mouth behind.

"Parvati…" Ron began. "Wou… Would you like to go to the ball with me?"

Harry wasn't sure if she would accept, given Ron's initial reaction to her move, but Parvati laughed instead. "Yes. All right then. See Ron. It wasn't that difficult."

She turned around and walked past Harry, grazing his shoulder once more, grinning on the way. Harry seldom was grateful to Parvati, but he was right now. Though he hoped this didn't hide something he would come to regret one day.

"Oh, Harry," she said as he thought so, sitting back gracefully. "I'm sorry. I would have offered you to go with Lavender…" At that, Lavender opened her eyes and mouth wide. "…but she's going with Seamus. If you want a girl for the ball, you'll have to look somewhere else."

"I already have someone," he said once again.

Lavender's expression of shock remained, but Parvati's joined it. "WHO?" both girls asked, looking very excited and very interested all of a sudden.

"I can't tell. It's a surprise. And I promised her to not tell anybody."

Maybe he should not have told the two girls that he had a partner for the ball in the first place, to keep the secret even better, but it was done, and all he could do now was to keep it a secret that the girl in question was Susan.

"Oh," Parvati said. "Well… I guess we'll find out at the ball."

And she turned on herself to look at the fireplace, and engaged into a whispered conversation with Lavender, who looked at Harry with frowned eyes before returning all her attention to her inseparable friend. Harry returned to see Ron.

"Thank you, mate. You're saving my life," Ron said.

"Now, we all have a partner," Harry said, relieved that this issue was solved.

"So, who's the girl going with you?"

Harry sighed. "I can't tell you, Ron."

His friend frowned. "Why?"

"Because I promised her to not tell anybody."

"Okay. But you can tell me. I'm your friend."

Strangely enough, this reminded Harry of the discussion they had the night after he was chosen to be the fourth champion of the Triwizard Tournament. And Harry remembered very well what happened when Ron believed he wasn't telling him the truth and keeping it all for himself.

"You're not going with Hermione, are you?" his friend asked. Ron's face had turned suspicious.

"No," Harry answered right away. "No, I'm not. I have no idea who Hermione is going with."

"Oh." Ron seemed relieved. "Then who are you going with? Come on, tell me. I won't tell anybody, if you want, but you can tell me."

Harry thought about it. He didn't want another dispute with Ron. And since Hermione kept her date a secret, well, maybe Harry could reveal him his own.

"Okay," Harry accepted. "But you must absolutely not tell anybody."

"Fine with me," Ron assured.

"You can't tell Hermione, Neville, Seamus, Dean, Parvati or any of our friends."

"Okay."

"You cannot tell Fred or George or Ginny either."

"Understood."

"And you cannot tell your parents or anyone in your family outside of Hogwarts either. You cannot write to them about this. You cannot…"

"OKAY!" Ron almost burst. "I get it. I tell no one. I shut my mouth and say nothing. I'll even try to forget her name once you've said it. Now, tell me who she is."

Harry sat down next to Ron. He checked around, but it seemed no one was listening to them. He leaned and whispered in Ron's ears.

"It's Susan."

Ron looked at him in an odd way after he revealed her identity. He hoped he didn't just make a mistake.

"Susan? Susan Bones?" he whispered, leaning near Harry so their heads almost touched.

"Yes. And she doesn't want anyone to know because she doesn't want people to ask her questions about it."

"Oh. I see. Well… It could have been worse."

This time, Harry frowned. "What do you mean?"

"Well, you know. All I mean is, you're one of the champions. You could have done better."

"Why?" Harry didn't get it.

"Come on. It's Susan Bones. I mean, she's not ugly, and she's not Eloise Midgen, but still… She's kind and all, but she's not very pretty." He showed his chest. Harry still didn't understand, and he didn't really like the direction this discussion was taking. "She's a little… Well, you know."

"I don't see what you're talking about," Harry assured.

"Come on, Harry. You know what I mean. She's a little… you've got to admit."

"I don't see what you're talking about," he repeated.

"Come on, Harry. It's obvious."

"No, it's not."

Ron raised his arms in the air. "Alright. No matter. At least, we both have a date. I told you no one could resist our charms."

They both burst into laughter. Now that indeed they didn't need to worry about inviting girls any longer, the prospect of the Yule Ball was not as terrible as it previously seemed. But Ron then insisted to know who Hermione' partner was, forcing Harry to repeat several times that he didn't know who he was, which was the entire truth. Harry finally moved the subject to discuss with Ron about his dress robes. This topic made Ron miserable again, but at least he abandoned insisting to know who was going to a ball with Harry's best friend. It seemed Harry would have some work to do to convince Ron that Hermione did not tell Harry everything while hiding the same everything from Ron.

Harry and Ron slept a little longer than usual the next morning. It was the first day of their Christmas holidays. Hermione also lingered a little into bed, for they went to the Great Hall for breakfast all together. Despite the many students who remained for the holidays because of the ball, the Great Hall was sparsely filled. The three friends sat down together. Hermione and Ron seemed to be on speaking terms again. For the most part of the breakfast, they discussed about all other things they planned and would do during the holidays, about anything but the ball. Until Ron decided, as they had nearly ate everything in their plates, to bring up the matter again.

"I have a date for the ball, by the way," he announced, much more for Hermione than for Harry.

"Congratulations, Ronald. You found the courage to ask an ugly girl?" she said haughtily.

Harry imagined it had to sting for Ron. "I'll tell you who I go with if you tell me who you go with," he stated, a little rude.

"I'm not telling you. You'll just make fun of me."

"Oh, come on. I'll tell you who I go with and who Harry is going with. That's a deal?"

"Ron!" Harry warned. He promised to tell nobody, not even Hermione. But she turned to face him, turning her back to Ron.

"You found someone, Harry?"

"Yes," he confirmed.

"Good. Finally. You'll have someone to open the ball."

"Yes," Harry recognized begrudgingly. Finding a partner though now seemed to have been the easy part. Now he had to convince McGonagall, who currently ate at the staff table, to teach him how to dance. He spotted Susan at the Hufflepuff table, who just arrived with Hannah.

"So, who is she?"

Harry brought back his attention on Hermione. "I can't tell."

She looked at him with an exasperated expression, and threw a dark look at Ron behind before looking at Harry once more. "You're not to play this game you too!"

"I'm not playing. Okay. She asked me to not tell. She doesn't want everyone in the school to know about it."

Hermione's face softened. "Oh. I see. Well, you're doing the right thing in this case, Harry. I wouldn't want everyone asking me questions either for going to the ball with a champion."

Harry was glad she took it this way. He then noticed that McGonagall had left the staff table and was walking towards the exit. He decided now was as good a time as any. He learned it the hard way that it was no good to wait for the last minute to ask something.

"Excuse me. I've got something to do," he said, and stood up, leaving Ron and Hermione alone behind without explanation.

He didn't run. She he walked quickly to be sure he could catch up on the Transfiguration professor. He finally arrived at her level as she was about to climb stairs to the second floor.

"Professor McGonagall," he called her.

She stopped in her tracks and turned to face Harry. "Potter."

"Sorry, professor. It's about the Yule Ball."

Before he could add anything, she raised a finger imperatively. "Potter, I warn you. You must open the ball. There is no way around it. This is your responsibility as a champion. No excuse. Even if you somehow still don't have a partner after all this time and even if you're on your deathbed, you must open it."

Harry was glad to not have come to try and convince her he wouldn't open the ball. Though this would have saved him a lot of trouble, and to Susan as well.

"The problem is… I don't know how to dance. And my partner doesn't know how either," he said.

McGonagall sighed and shook her head. She spoke again before he could manage to explain further. "Potter, you disappoint me. Very well. If the short dancing lesson I gave you and your comrades was not enough, I'll make sure you're presentable for this ball. I want to see you at my office at six o'clock this evening. And come at the exact hour, not a minute late. Punctuality will be required for the ball as well. And bring you partner with you. I'll make sure you both know how to dance for Christmas, even if I have to teach you the entire night. And no excuse. You both come."

"Eh… Okay," he answered.

"Good. Now, please forgive me. I must take my leave."

She left on that. Well, it had been easier than Harry thought. He didn't even have to actually ask McGonagall for private sessions. She imposed them on him of her own initiative. He shrugged. The times around the Yule Ball were turning crazy.

On his way back to the Great Hall, Harry fell upon Ginny and Hermione. He thought about a good idea.

"Hey, Ginny. What are you doing today?" If he, Ron and Hermione went outside to play or went to see Hagrid, they could ask Ginny to follow them.

"I… I'll be going to the library with Hermione," she answered.

"Oh?" Harry frowned. But when he looked at Hermione, he saw that she was dead serious. Did she and Ron got another, worse argument in his short absence? "Okay. Well, I'll see you both at lunch, I guess."

Harry left them heading to the library, and went to find Ron, since he was probably alone right now. He found him in the Entrance Hall, along with Fred and George.

"Where have you been?" Ron asked him.

"To the washroom," Harry lied.

"Is the toilet bowl we blew up last year still missing?" Fred asked.

"Because if that's the case, we need to blow it up again," George added.

They all laughed. The first day of the winter holidays proved very funny, as they watched Fred and George playing more than a few tricks with their most recent inventions. One of the best was their miniaturized version of the trick wand. It was mostly the same trick wand they made before, but only long of one centimeter, and their metamorphosis took place under a certain force of impact, not when you tried to throw a spell.

Fred and George wanted Harry and Ron to help them test these very small wands by playing a game of snowballs. They were to throw snowballs at each other, like in a normal game, but they could hide these miniaturized wands into the snowballs they pitched. As a result, Harry received a bouquet of flowers in the face, curtesy from George, while Ron ended up with a teddy bear in the eye from Harry. The worst was when Fred got hit by a snowball that turned into a small dumbbell… made of soap.

"We tend to forget how damaging soap can be," the twin said after that, a bruise on his right side of the mouth.

"I'm sure Angelina will love it," George assured him.

"You're kidding! She's going to faint with how it will make me handsome."

"Like she loved your beard, I guess," Ron added.

"Oh, yes. She was crazy about it."

"Or she went crazy," Ron corrected.

"About it," Fred added.

"Well, I'm sure a little soap will make it disappear," Harry said, talking about the bruise, resulting in some more laughter.

The boys went back to the Great Hall for lunch. Something jolted in Harry's ribcage when he crossed Cho's path as he walked into the place. Cho seemed to avoid his gaze. Truth be told, Harry wasn't very keen to face her after yesterday. He followed Fred, George and Ron to the Gryffindor table, although he couldn't keep himself from shooting a gaze or two at Cho as she walked between the tables of Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw. He felt a rise in jealousy when he noticed her saying hello to Cedric on her way.

"I think it's not ready yet," George said. "Half of the miniaturized fake wands failed to explode at the contact."

"We've got to polish the magical process," Fred declared.

"Well, the bright side to Harry being champion and not us is that we have time to work on it."

They didn't meet Hermione and Ginny during lunch. Harry thought it odd. They could at least relax from the library for the first day of the holidays. Especially Ginny, since Harry never pictured her as a workaholic.

When they left the Great Hall, Harry's eyes wandered to the other tables. Cedric and Cho seemed to have both left before them. However, he spotted a long plait of red hair among the Hufflepuffs. He remembered what McGonagall told him this morning.

He stopped. He had not told Susan yet. He thought about going to her to inform her for the evening, but she was surrounded by other Hufflepuffs, including Hannah. She and the other people around would suspect something if they heard Harry and Susan discuss about dance lessons with McGonagall. Harry had to find a way to give her the information.

"Harry, you're coming?" Ron asked him, probably as he saw that Harry stopped walking.

"Eh… Yes, I'm coming."

Harry didn't know how to speak to Susan without having people suspect something. Susan was not Cho, she wasn't as popular, and she didn't have people always around her, but in Hogwarts, times when someone could actually be alone were rare, due to the way schedules and the castle was organized. Lessons were over, but it also made it harder for Harry to know where Susan could be at a certain moment.

Harry spent the following hour playing chess with Ron, to which he proved even worse than usual. His mind couldn't focus entirely on the game as a part of it was wondering how to inform Susan about the dancing lessons with McGonagall. He thought about sending her Hedwig at dinner, with an unsigned letter, but his owl was easily recognizable for many people. Failing to find a solution, he began to wonder why Susan didn't want at all costs for people to know they were going to the ball together. After all, they would discover the truth sooner or later.

His poor performance at chess didn't enhance Harry's mood. He finally told Ron he was going out alone to take a walk. The temperature felt as cold as in the morning. The ship and the carriage almost looked like ice palaces. He crossed path with a boy from Beauxbatons who was hurrying towards the castle, rubbing his arms as he almost ran away from the cold. Harry didn't see any smoke coming from carriage. The inside was certainly very cold if they had no fire. A girl from Durmstrang he saw from afar, wearing their heavy robes, looked much better and lazily walked in the park. Those of Durmstrang put on clothes that were for sure warmer than those of Beauxbatons. Harry's eyes then caught something, a lone figure on a bench. A neat red plait came out of the cap on her head. Well, chance was on his side today. He had been wondering how to contact her without creating suspicions, and here he had a chance.

"Susan."

She looked up from the book she was reading and smiled. "Hi, Harry."

There was really no one around. "I talked to McGonagall. She wants both of us in her office at six o'clock today."

"I'll be there," she assured.

"Susan, are you sure we cannot tell anyone we're going together to the ball? I had trouble finding you alone to tell you about it."

"Oh, I'm sorry, Harry. I didn't think about it. But really, I would rather avoid that. You remember what happened to you and Hermione after that article of Rita Skeeter? I don't want to go through the same thing."

Harry didn't wish to anybody to go through this kind of ordeal. Except for Malfoy, maybe.

"Okay. So, we keep the secret."

"Thank you."

"Six o'clock, remember."

"I'll be there," she assured again.

Harry made to walk away, but he thought about something all of a sudden. "Susan, by the way, would you happen to know who Hermione is going to the ball with? She refuses to tell us who it is and that it is a surprise."

If he could tell Ron who it was, maybe he would stop asking the question to Hermione and leave it rest. And since Susan and Hermione were friends, and that she seemed to have told Ginny, maybe Susan knew something as well. However, Harry was disappointed.

"No, I don't know. In fact, I didn't even ask her if she was going to the ball. I wasn't even aware she was going with somebody."

"Oh. Well, thank you, anyway. See you later."

"Bye, Harry."

He went back to the castle. Seeing Hagrid's cabin, he thought about suggesting a visit to Ron and Hermione tomorrow. In the meantime, he headed back to the Gryffindor Tower, where he spent time with the Weasleys for the rest of the day. Hermione joined them following dinner. After some time participating to explosions, Harry went to read an old book he had on the history of Quodpot, a sport descending from Quidditch very popular in the United States.

A pack of card just blew in Fred's face when Harry looked at the hour. He almost didn't see time advancing.

"I've got to go," he said, standing up very quickly to not be late.

"Where are you going, Harry?" Hermione asked.

"I've got something to do," he replied hastily as he left through the portrait hole.

He arrived in front of the door of McGonagall's office a few minutes before six o'clock. However, Susan was not there already. He began to feel stress in his bones. If he felt like that for a dancing lesson, he didn't dare to imagine how he would be the day of the ball.

Six o'clock arrived, and Susan wasn't there yet. Harry began to wonder whether she forgot. He hoped not. What would he look like in front of McGonagall if his partner didn't show up? Luckily for him, he didn't have to wait too long, for Susan arrived soon after, running.

"Sorry," she said. "Hannah held me back."

"Fine. Let's do it," Harry, not really caring why she was late, only that they could begin now and be done with it as soon as possible.

He knocked at the door.

"Come in," the professor replied from behind the door. Harry pushed it.

"Hi, professor," Harry said while Susan walked in behind him, closing the door behind her.

"I said six o'clock precisely, Potter," McGonagall reminded him as she kept her back turned on him. She seemed to be looking for something among piles of paper.

"Sorry, professor," Susan said. "It's my fault. I took a little more time than planned for dinner."

"Anyway, let's start our lesson." McGonagall turned to face her. If she was surprised to see Susan, she didn't show any sign of it. "You both need to know how to dance before Christmas. Now, come here."

She indicated a place that was a relatively free space. Harry wondered whether she freed it of anything else for the purpose of this lesson. He and Susan went there and waited for instructions.

"Well, what are you waiting for? Face each other." They did as she was told. Susan didn't look any more comfortable or like she knew what she was doing than Harry was. McGonagall approached the both of them. "Closer. You have about five meters separating you."

McGonagall had to repeat the order a few times before they were close enough to her taste. In the end, Harry found he and Susan were so close they could have kissed. His partner was looking everywhere but at him. He could sense things were going to be perfect, in quite an ironic way.

"Now, you both are right handed, I think? Good. This will simplify things. Miss Bones, you place your left hand on his shoulder… No, not like this. You must reach behind his shoulder… Yes, this way. Now, you take Potter's left hand in your right… No, his left hand… A little higher… Good. Now, Potter, you place your right hand on her waist…"

Only the positioning seemed to take an eternity. Harry discovered that he had to be careful how to position his hand on Susan's waist for if he placed it incorrectly, he could cause her to laugh due to tickles. Not to mention their common awkwardness at the position of their hands. When it came to move, things proved even worse.

Three hours later, they left Professor McGonagall's office, their feet very painful due to hours dancing, but also due to another factor Susan spoke about quickly when they left the office together and the door closed.

"Sorry for your feet, Harry," she said. She walked on them a few times. Not that Harry had been any better. The way Susan shortly rubbed her own as they began to move was a testimony to his own clumsiness in the domain.

"Let's hope we don't do that at the opening," he said.

"I didn't think it would be that long and difficult."

McGonagall had ordered them to come back tomorrow at the same hour. The only reason why she kicked them out at nine o'clock was because they couldn't stay up later according to the rules. And if there was something McGonagall applied and followed in all circumstances, it was the rules.

"Are you sure you still want to come with me?" he asked. He regretted saying it, for he feared she might come back on her decision.

"I'm not going to let you down now."

Harry breathed a sigh of relief. A girl like Parvati might not have held onto her promise after such a miserable dancing lesson.

The following days went quickly, far too quickly for Harry's taste. The ball seemed to be approaching way too quickly. He and Susan kept coming to McGonagall's office each evening at the same hour, and each evening she instructed them to come back the following day. They got better, and their feet endured less pain as they progressed, but still, McGonagall was not satisfied. One evening, as Harry was heading for another dancing lesson, a girl from Gryffindor in her second year, with large dark eyes, long and curly black hair approached him and asked him if she could come to the ball with him. Harry refused, and the girl left very sad right when Susan was joining Harry. She had seen the whole scene. However, she didn't seem to mind. She said that she witnessed two girls asking the same question to Cedric, getting the same answer and departing with the same defeated expression. And they both went through this at the same time. Harry wished this kind of things only happened to Cedric.

With time, it was impossible for Harry to maintain the secret over his evening absences in the Gryffindor Tower. He maintained the secrecy about Susan, but he revealed to Ron and Hermione that he was taking dance lessons from McGonagall, and soon all the people they knew were aware of this. Fred and George made a joke of it with great pleasure, and many people kept asking him who he took the lessons with. He refused to tell anybody, and after repeating that he wouldn't tell for what felt like the hundredth time, he wondered how Hermione did to not be fed up with Ron asking her the question again and again. Once, Harry pointed this out to Ron, but he shrugged.

"If she doesn't want us to ask, then she should answer. Same thing for you."

Between the various activities he found to make with others during the day, the dance lessons of the evening, the few homework he chose to begin, his correspondence with Remus and Sirius (his godfather replied late to his letter on how he defeated the Hungarian Horntail, and his writing revealed he regretted to not have been there to see it) and a lot of other insignificant things, Harry didn't see time go on.

On the 23rd of December, two days before the Yule Ball, in the end of the afternoon, Harry was working with Hermione at the library on the homework Professor Bathsheda Babbling in Study of Ancient Runes gave them for the holidays. Harry chose to do homework that day because he preferred to keep Christmas Eve and Christmas free of work. His legs and feet also needed some rest from the dance lessons, and there was no better way to rest them than to remain sitting the whole day.

"Almost done," Hermione said.

"Me too. Something good to get rid of," Harry muttered.

"Do you recognize this ruin?" his friend asked him. Harry took a look.

"This is Viking. It represents a raven," he said immediately. He would recognize this symbol anywhere. He found it odd that Hermione didn't recognize it, for this was a simple one, and she seemed to be of the same opinion.

"Of course."

"Are you tired?"

"No, no. I just forgot about it."

Harry went back to work. Maybe half an hour later, he was done.

"Finally over. One good thing done," he said as he yawned and stretched his arms.

"Silence, Harry," Hermione whispered. "Madam Pince."

"Oh. Sorry." He had forgotten about her.

"You'll have more time to focus on the egg after the ball, this way."

Harry sighed internally. Hermione kept harassing him about it. "I'll work seriously on it, Hermione. I promise. I just couldn't find anything to understand it so far."

He had not wanted to dig too deep into the golden egg right after he survived the first task, and so far the Christmas holidays proved very busy.

"Well, you shouldn't drag your feet, Harry. The second task is approaching, and faster than you think."

"Hermione, please. First, let me face the Yule Ball. After, I'll face the second task and whatever it brings."

One fight at a time. Harry had already enough on his shoulders to not add more. The golden egg could wait. He had two months before the second task, but only two days before the ball.

"You're so afraid about the ball?"

"Well, it's not you who got to open the ball when you don't even know how to dance."

He thought he saw something in Hermione's eyes, but he wasn't sure what it was. "Haven't the dance lessons with McGonagall brought any progress?" she asked.

"Barely. I don't understand how people can love the idea of a ball." Despite getting decent at dancing, he still couldn't see the appeal. Susan neither. At least, they could share their distaste over this event.

"Everyone has different tastes," she said, almost echoing his thoughts. "Come on, Harry. It will go well. Unless you invited Pansy Parkinson or Millicent Bulstrode."

"You really think I could ever be desperate enough for that?"

"No. But I would stop having such ideas if you told me who you are going to the ball with."

"It's a secret, Hermione. Unless you tell me who you're going with."

"So you can tell Ron? No way. It will remain a surprise."

"For both of us, then," Harry ended the exchange on.

Truth be told, he wished it was Hermione he told about Susan and not Ron. Ron kept his word and no sign showed that anybody else suspected anything about Harry and Susan, but he still trusted Hermione way better with secrets. The fact she could keep it about her own date was proof enough. He didn't tell Susan that Ron knew for them, but he thought that if Susan would have tolerated anyone knowing, she would rather have chosen Hermione. After all, the two girls were friends. Ron was not really Susan's friend.

"What are you doing here?"

Harry jumped at the same time as Hermione. Hannah just appeared out of nowhere behind them.

"Completing homework," Hermione answered.

Hannah laughed. "Today? You're funny, you know. The ball is approaching, and still you make your homework. Even Ernie doesn't do that."

"Well, we're not Ernie, what do you want?"

"Mind if I sit?" She didn't wait and took the chair next to Harry. "Ah. Ancient Runes. May I take a look? That could help me when I do it after Christmas," she said while addressing him.

"Help yourself," he said.

"Thanks," and she took his homework right away.

Although Harry was glad that Hannah changed her opinion about him following the first task, she still didn't make the person he enjoyed the company the most. He had come over what she did to Remus, but he had not forgotten it either. And truth be told, during summer, he enjoyed Susan's presence when doing their homework way more than Hannah. He liked Susan's best friend, but listening to her gossips and wild theories all day could become exhausting for him.

"Are you coming to the ball?" Hannah asked Hermione.

"Yes, I am," Harry's best friend replied.

"With who?"

"It's a surprise," Harry answered, almost exasperatedly.

"Well, I guess Harry's partner is a surprise as well. I can't wait to see who this is."

Harry felt uncomfortable at the way Hannah grinned at him. Did she find out about him and Susan? He doubted Susan would tell her. She made it very clear over the last few days that the last person she wanted to know about it was Hannah, for the whole school would know within the hour if it came to her ears. Susan even assured him that Hannah was persuaded that she had no partner for the ball. But Hannah being herself, she certainly realized Susan's absences every evening, and probably had a few ideas to explain it. She may have guessed what was happening, especially if somehow she heard about Harry's dancing lessons with McGonagall and linked them to Susan's absences.

Harry decided it was time to go, even though the dancing lesson would not begin before another half-hour.

"Sorry, Hannah. I've got to go. Can I…?" he asked her, pointing his homework she held.

"Of course." She gave it back. "Well, I'll see you soon, Harry."

He left Hermione and Hannah behind, escaping the risk of someone knowing the truth. First, he thought he would go to the Great Hall to dine, but Susan intercepted him in the Entrance Hall.

"Harry. Hi. I've been thinking about something," she told him.

"What?"

"Could we find a place to train in secret? An empty classroom maybe? We could arrive better prepared for McGonagall's lesson and leave early. And maybe avoid another lesson on Christmas Eve."

Harry was not tempted by additional dancing time, but he agreed nonetheless. Maybe Susan was right, and they would actually avoid more lessons with McGonagall if they could make more progress. They found an empty classroom in an almost unused corridor, moved a few desks, and began to repeat the dance steps McGonagall showed them over the last few days. Without McGonagall to tell them all the time how to do and where exactly place their hands and feet, it proved more relaxing, though the lack of music didn't help. Still, Harry thought they did well. Only once did their feet walk on each other, and it was sadly Susan's that got crushed. Harry apologized profusely, but Susan only laughed shortly and said this was nothing. They kind of got used to it over the days.

They practiced their dancing skills alone for longer than they planned, and they didn't have time to dine before McGonagall's lesson. It was the second time it happened. On an empty stomach, they went there. Even Susan's belly rumbled once. However, they wouldn't be deprived of eating for long. After an hour, McGonagall judged that they danced well enough, and even congratulated them on the progress they made since yesterday. They were free to go, and free of dancing until the Yule Ball. They went to the Great Hall where they both dined with appetite, but at their respective tables.

Christmas Eve proved to be the best day of the winter holidays so far, and Christmas morning was even better. When Harry woke up that day with a large pile of presents at the foot of his bed, he had the additional surprise of finding a letter from his mother.

My dear,

I wish so much that I could be with you right now. I miss you. Know that I am well, and that I think we will be reunited soon enough. I heard about the dragon you defeated in the first task. Congratulations. But be careful. You still have two tasks to complete. Be safe and stay out of trouble. (I know I say it often and that you will say the troubles are finding you, but I say it all the same.)

Merry Christmas,

Your mother who loves you (and ruffles your hair by the same occasion)

This came accompanied by a pile of comic books containing the latest numbers of Spider-Man, Doctor Strange and the X-Men. He also had letters from his godfather and Remus, along with various gifts such as a book on Quidditch from Hermione, candies and sweets from Ron and Hagrid, the jumper and pies Ron's mother now sent him every Christmas. He also received a knife from Sirius to lock and unlock any lock, which was probably the most practical gift. Remus sent him a Star Wars book, though he apologized in his letter if it wasn't one of the best, since he wasn't very knowledgeable about that Muggle series. Harry didn't know that book either, but he appreciated the gesture all the same and would read it. But the best remained his mother's letter. Harry missed her. He would by far have preferred spending Christmas with her, Sirius, Remus, and maybe a few other friends in their apartment at the Abandoned Tower in London.

The first part of the day was wonderful. They all spent the morning enjoying their presents, ate generously at breakfast and lunch, and participated to a snowball battle in the afternoon. Hermione left it at five o'clock, three hours before the ball, and all Ron got for asking her one last time who she was going with was a snowball in the face. But eventually, they had to go back to the Gryffindor Tower and prepare for the Yule Ball.

Harry's mother had bought him dress robes at the beginning of the year, for formal occasions. They were relatively simple, mostly like his usual wizard's robes, in a dark green color. Harry was glad that she didn't take something too sophisticated or ostentatious. And he was especially glad that he didn't get one like Ron's with laces around the collar and sleeves. Ron proceeded to remove the laces with his wand, but the cuts were not perfect and threads were seen at all extremities. Perhaps he should have asked Hermione to help him.

"I still can't work out how you got the best-looking girl in the year," Dean said, while looking at Ron's miserable robes in disbelief.

"Animal magnetism," Ron shortly explained, which was absolutely untrue.

"What about you, Harry? Will you finally reveal who you are going with?" Seamus asked. He looked quite excited to go to the ball on his side.

"You'll find out very soon," Harry replied. "Just like for Hermione."

At that, he felt that the four other boys in the dormitory were looking at him with big eyes. Even Ron turned at him with a skeptical expression.

"Eh, Harry…" Neville went on, "I'm sorry to have invited her, if you and…"

"I'm not going with Hermione!" he snapped. "And before you ask again…" He threw a glare at Ron. "… I don't know who she is going with."

"Okay," Neville said, stammering. Harry felt a little guilty.

"By the way, Neville, nice choice with Ginny," he said to up his moral.

"Oh… In fact, it's Hermione who suggested that I invite her, after she said she couldn't come with me. She was very kind, in fact. And it is true. Ginny could not have come if someone didn't invite her."

"Neville, I warn you," Ron said. "This is my little sister you're talking about. You take good care of her during the ball."

"Yes," Neville promised, looking afraid once more.

"And you, Dean? You really have no one?"

Dean nodded in the negative way.

Harry looked at his watch. "I've got to go," he said.

"Already?" Seamus asked.

"McGonagall told the champions to arrive sooner than the others."

"You really won't tell us who you're going with?" Dean asked a last time as Harry walked through the door and went down the stairs.

When he came down, his eyes wandered in the sea of people wearing so many different colors and types of dress robes. They stopped on a figure in particular. Parvati was standing at the foot of the stairs. She wore a pink dress, had arranged her hair into a plait held in place by golden threads, and had several bracelets made of the same material at both her wrists and arms. Harry had to admit she was very pretty, which reminded him how he had come to date her. But today was not an evening for Parvati, and Harry pushed those memories away. He hoped she would ignore him, but she didn't.

"Hi, Harry."

"Hi, Parvati," he replied. She was grinning at him. All of a sudden, Harry wanted to get away from there as quickly as possible. He didn't want to be there when Parvati would see Ron with his robes from another century and take it on Harry for coupling them. "Sorry. I got to go."

"Say hi to your date from me," she threw as he walked away towards the portrait hole. Harry had wanted to find Hermione before the ball began, but she was nowhere to be seen, and he was already tight in time. The sea of various dresses and robes was even larger and more varied in the Entrance Hall, where people had started to gather. Harry walked through it. But before he could leave it, the imperious voice of the Professor McGonagall called him.

"Potter! May I ask where your partner is? Don't tell me I gave you two dancing lessons for nothing."

"I'm on my way to find her," he told the teacher.

"Very well. Then hurry. The ball is beginning soon."

Harry resumed his journey, and he went through the Entrance Hall. He noticed that the delegations of Durmstrang and Beauxbatons had both already arrived. He spotted Viktor Krum with a pretty girl wearing blue dresses. He then walked into the corridor leading to the Hufflepuff common room.

He had agreed with Susan that they would meet in front of the Hufflepuff common room's entrance. Now, however, he regretted making this choice. He was walking against the current of people heading towards the Great Hall, and many looked at him on his way. Some gazes were even hostile, as some, is only a few people in this house still blamed him for stealing Cedric's place. Finally, Harry arrived in front of the entrance to their common room, and he waited here.

He didn't wait one minute that Cedric came out, very handsome in his black dresses.

"Hi, Harry." The orange paste covering half his face was gone, and he was every inch the boy every girl in Hogwarts wanted to date.

"Hi, Cedric," he replied on an even voice, still shaking the hand he offered to Harry.

"Merry Christmas."

"Merry Christmas, you too."

"So? Eager?"

"Eager for it to be over," he replied darkly.

"Ah. I see what you're meaning. I think we're taking a page from Krum's book. Very good on a broomstick, feeling weird in public events."

He could talk. He was the boy everyone looked up to, the one the girls fantasized about, the one who always seemed in his right place wherever and whenever he was. He was also the one who got to go to the Yule Ball with the prettiest girl in the school.

"Well, I apologize, but Cho is waiting for me. See you later, Harry," Cedric told him and he walked towards the Great Hall.

Did he do it on purpose? Harry stayed there, pacing in front of the entrance to the common room, waiting for Susan. His impatience, his stress, his uncertainty, even his anger in some way kept growing as the opening of the ball kept approaching. He was angry at Cedric for inviting Cho first. He was also eager for all of this to be over. He was eager for Susan to arrive so he could leave this place where Hufflepuffs kept coming out in a trickle. And he was afraid that something might go wrong during the ball and he would make a fool of himself. What if he forgot the dance steps he worked so hard to learn? What if Susan forgot them? What if they stumbled on each other during the first dance, like it happened regularly during McGonagall's training sessions? What if people simply laughed at him when they would see him dancing? He wished he had another version of Hermione's Time-Turner last year and that he could advance the time by a few hours to entirely skip the ball.

"Hi, Harry." Harry turned. It wasn't Susan who just came out of the Hufflepuff common room, but Hannah.

"Oh. Hi, Hannah."

He didn't say a word for a while. Hannah had dressed and arranged her hair so differently he may not have recognized her immediately if she didn't call him in the first place. Like for Parvati, she was quite pretty in the way she dressed tonight. Harry thought he ought to say something, so he did.

"You're… You're very beautiful." The words sounded very awkward in his mouth. Though they were true.

"Thank you. You're quite handsome you too," she said with a smile. Harry was surprised by the words.

"Thanks." That was all he managed to utter.

"So, Harry…" she began.

"Hey, Harry. I'm here. Sorry to be late."

He was relieved to hear the now very familiar voice of Susan. She came to him, wearing a black dress like Hannah, although the dresses were quite different. Hannah had relatively large straps that covered most of her shoulders, but left the sides of them bare. Susan's dress was wider around the neckline. The straps only began at the middle of her shoulders, but covered their sides and even went down to the middle of her arm, while a veiled black tissue descended to her elbow. She also wore some kind of black scarf, the same color as her dress, on her forearms, as she crossed her hands. Her dress covered the rest of her body and went down to the level of her ankles, which revealed high heels that were so down they could barely be classified as high heels. She didn't seem to have put any makeup, and she didn't wear any jewel aside from a very small medallion right below her neck. Finally, she had set her hair free like she usually did, though it was smoother than usual, if it was even was possible. She also kept it to her back, and not in front of her shoulders as she usually did, and she rearranged it at the level of her forehead to remove the many strands that normally covered it.

Harry's mind registered all that, but he didn't really give them much importance at the moment. His apprehension had reached quite a level by now, and he was solely focused on what to do next.

"Okay. We've got to go. McGonagall said…" he began in such a fast voice that he was surprised he didn't hear it tremble.

"Yes, that the champions must be early. I know. So, we go?" Susan asked, in a very fast voice like his own. He nodded and they went on.

Both walked at a brisk pace, traversing the corridor while not giving much attention to anybody else. When they emerged into the Great Hall, they stopped right outside the doorframe opening on the corridor that led to both the kitchens and the Hufflepuff common room.

"Here we are," Harry said. He had not realized that he was out of breath.

"Yes. Here we are." He heard how Susan was just as apprehensive as he was. They looked at each other straight in the eyes. "Together?" she asked.

"Together."

Without realizing it, he took her hand. She smiled slightly at him, and then they walked forward. First, Harry thought it wasn't so bad in the end. People around didn't seem to be giving them too much attention. The Entrance Hall was full of people looking for their partners, couples discussing between themselves, friends showing each other their robes and jewels.

"Ah, Potter." McGonagall had found them. She didn't even need to raise the voice. "Here you are. Come. The champions must wait here."

They were brought to one side of the heavy doors giving on the Great Hall. Harry knew from what the professor told them before that the other students would come in first, then the champions would enter last once everyone was inside. Another moment in the evening Harry was not looking for. Another moment in his life when all eyes would be turned on him. Hopefully, most pairs would be too occupied with Fleur, Krum, Cedric and even Cho to even consider him and Susan.

When they arrived on the sides of the door, two other pairs were already there. Fleur Delacour and Roger Davies were at the head, Roger not taking his eyes out of Fleur for a single moment. The other couple, behind which Harry and Susan took place, was Cedric Diggory and Cho Chang. Harry and Susan's hands had untangled, and they didn't hold each other anymore. To Harry's despair, Susan spoke up.

"Hi, Cedric."

He turned to look at Susan, and Cho did the same, to Harry's despair.

"Hi, Susan," he said, sounding sincerely surprised and delighted. "I didn't know you were coming with Harry." Cedric looked at him. "You should have told me."

Why should he have told him?

"He couldn't," Susan explained. "I asked him to tell no one that we were coming together."

"Oh, I see," Cedric acknowledged. He then looked at Cho then Susan. "I'm not sure you know each other."

"Well," Susan said, her voice trembling, "I know who you are, Cho. But I don't think we have ever met really."

"Glad to meet you, Susan."

These were the first words Cho uttered in Harry's presence. He tried to avoid her gaze. He felt it upon him, but he didn't want his eyes to meet hers. And he didn't want to look at Cedric either. So he focused mainly on Susan, while gazing around from time to time, seeing McGonagall talking to Krum and his partner in a blue dress, who were now approaching.

Susan and Cedric talked a little more, but Cedric and Cho eventually turned their attention towards Fleur and Roger. The first was her usual self, while Roger needed to be called three times to answer one of Cho's questions. Harry was relieved that their attention was brought somewhere else.

At this moment, McGonagall called with a strong voice across the Entrance Hall. "Listen, everybody. The Yule Ball is about to begin. These doors will now open, and you can take place at one of the many tables set for the occasion. You can sit wherever you want, except at the top table, which is reserved for judges and champions. Now, please come in order, and Merry Christmas."

The heavy doors of the Great Hall opened, and students started to pour excitedly into the Great Hall. When suddenly, on his left, Susan said something that caught his attention.

"Hermione?"

Harry turned to her to see where she was looking. However, she wasn't looking at the crowd that began to walk into the Great Hall. She was staring at the girl in a blue dress who stood behind them, next to Viktor Krum. Harry's jaw dropped.

"Hi, Susan! Hi, Harry!" she said.

It was Hermione, but it wasn't her at the same time. Her hair, usually bushy, was now smooth and shiny, similar to that of Susan, but arranged in a sophisticated knot at the back of her head. She was also standing differently. Perhaps it was because she didn't carry tons of books on her back. And there were her teeth too. Not long after the champions were chosen, Harry had a confrontation with Malfoy at the beginning of a Potions class. That was when the badges were revealed for the first time. He and Malfoy threw spells at each other, and Hermione got one to her teeth. When Madam Pomfrey arranged them, Hermione had her reduce the size of her teeth a little more than to their usual state. She told him not long after the accident was over. This detail was more apparent now than ever.

However, they didn't get the chance to talk any further on this occasion. Harry was still numb at the revelation of Hermione, but there was also a huge and very noisy crowd that kept pouring inside the Great Hall to them, making any attempt at conversation they would try impossible. The only person Harry could talk to, if their heads were close enough, was Susan. Furthermore, after his state of shock somehow receded to a certain extent, Harry noticed with some pride and amusement how people stared at Hermione on their way. There were the usual girls who had a crush on Viktor Krum who cast pure looks of hatred to Hermione on their way. Even more satisfying were the Slytherins, especially Malfoy and Pansy Parkinson who was his date, who seemed unable to comment on Hermione tonight. And there were also people who gaped at Hermione's sight when they realized who she was, like Harry. Finally, there were people who were excited, like Hannah Abbott, who waved her hand at Hermione when she walked past them. In a way, it was a blessing. For a moment this evening, the attention was not on Harry, nor on Susan.

Slowly, the Entrance Hall emptied, until only the champions were left. McGonagall, who surely went into the Great Hall to ensure an organized settlement of all participants to the ball, came back and ordered the eight of them into a line, the girl to have an arm wrapped around the elbow of the boy.

This proved to be awkward for Harry and Susan. They had to try several times before arriving to a result that was relatively decent.

"Sorry. I'm not used to it," she apologized.

"You realize who you're talking to?" Harry asked her on an ironic tone, and the meaning of her question was not lost of Susan who agreed with a sign of head. She cast a sideways look in Hermione's direction.

"Did you know? For Hermione and Krum?" she asked him.

"No. You didn't?"

She nodded negatively. But at this moment, McGonagall indicated to them to walk forward. So they did.

Harry and Susan were third in line, after Fleur, Roger, Cedric and Cho, but before Krum and Hermione. When they walked in, the whole Great Hall applauded enthusiastically, some whistling and yelling on their passage. Harry could feel how tense Susan was through her hand in the nook of his arm, and he felt no better. He was afraid of stumbling, especially in Susan's dress, as he took in the details of the Great Hall for the ball. It was decorated in a manner Harry never saw, silver frost, mistletoe, ivy and Christmas trees giving quite a sight, the invisible ceiling showing snow at the top of the castle. The long tables were removed, replaced by dozens of smaller round tables that could welcome a dozen people each. Harry noticed Ron sitting at a table with Parvati, Lavender, Seamus, Dean, Neville, Ginny and a few other Gryffindors. Most were gaping at Hermione, he supposed, and judging by Ron's expression, he didn't miss her like he did when he walked into the Great Hall initially.

The walk to the top table where Dumbledore, Karkaroff, Madame Maxime and Bagman were waiting for them seemed to take an eternity under the applauses of everyone. As they neared, Harry realized there was someone else sitting at the table, someone who wasn't Bartemius Crouch. It was Percy Weasley, Ron's brother. When Harry was close to the table, he made a slight move towards him and moved two chairs next to him, indicating to Harry to sit next to him. Harry didn't want to argue or to delay the time when he would sit down, so he obeyed, and sat on Percy's left, Susan taking the place at his own left after she removed her hand from his arm. Harry noticed she had some hardship removing it. Did he squeeze her hand without wanting to? Before he could ask her, Percy talked up.

"Hi, Harry. Merry Christmas."

"Merry Christmas, Percy," he said to Ron's brother. "What are you doing here?"

"I've been promoted. I'm now Mr Crouch's personal assistant, and I'm here representing him."

"Hi, Percy," Susan said as she sat down, removing the scarf on her arms to place it on the back of her chair.

"Hi," he replied, barely giving her a second of attention. Harry thought of it to be rude, but Percy was already going on about Mr Crouch. "Mr Crouch said he had too much work to do to attend the ball."

"For Christmas?" Harry asked, unbelieving somewhat.

"Well, it is true that with the unexpected twist the Tournament took, he's had a lot on his plate lately. Not that it is any of your fault, Harry. Even Mr Crouch know you're not responsible for any of this." Harry felt a strange feeling of gratitude hearing that Percy and his boss believed him, although it was tempered by Percy's persistence to talk about Mr Crouch. "By the way, Charlie told me how you did in the first task. Congratulations. But like I said, Mr Crouch got a lot of work to do. And the loss of his house-elf was a rude shock to him. I think he's been affected by her death more than he lets on. I think he wanted to spend a quiet Christmas alone."

Harry was about to ask what happened to Mr Crouch's elf, remembering Dobby from his second year, when Dumbledore said, very loudly for everyone to hear, "Pork chops!"

Harry looked at him and saw a generous plate of pork chops appearing in front of the headmaster. Harry noticed at this moment there were no people to serve the food. However, the guests to the ball began to imitate Dumbledore, and plates appeared everywhere. Harry quickly looked at his menu, and he made his choice. Soon, everyone was eating. But the conversations didn't stop for it. People were talking as much as when they arrived in the Great Hall. Percy kept talking about Mr Crouch, mentioning how his elf died during the event of the Quidditch World Cup. This interested Harry, for he remembered his mother saying something about this last summer.

"Harry," Susan said next to him, diverting her attention from the pastas in front of her. "Your mother worked on the riots at the Quidditch World Cup. Maybe she worked on this elf's death."

"I highly doubt it," Percy said. "It was a house-elf. It was surely handled by the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures. Furthermore, it was classified as an accident. A terrible accident, and a tragedy for Mr Crouch."

"But the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures does not have the authority or the resources to conduct investigations of that kind," Susan protested. "Furthermore, when there is the possibility of a murder being committed, the Department of Magical Law Enforcement must conduct a thorough investigation. And given the circumstances in which that poor elf died, they would have to conduct an investigation."

Percy looked very impressed by what Susan just told him. Harry was surprised as well.

"You know very well the inner workings of the Ministry," Percy commented.

"The advantage of having someone in my family working there," Susan replied, resuming eating at the same time. Harry also resumed taking bites in his goulash.

"Really? Maybe I've met him. Who… Excuse me, I don't recall your name. I remember you from when I was Prefect, but it is hard to remember the names of everyone in Hogwarts, given how many we are."

"Susan. Susan Bones."

If Percy could be stunned, he was right now. He made big eyes. To Harry, this was no surprise. He had been aware for a very long time who Susan was related to. She was his mother's superior after all. However, Percy obviously wasn't aware.

"Are you…?" he began.

"She's my aunt. And my godmother," Susan confirmed.

"Oh. Well, Susan, let me tell, your aunt is probably the most remarkable woman I've ever met."

"Yes. I like her very much, me too."

"The way she is handling things… She is probably one of the most efficient and devoted employees of the Ministry. I would say the most devoted employee short if Mr Crouch and the Minister…"

Percy went on and on about it, to the point that he seemed to talk alone and to not realize he had an audience, or that this audience was drifting away.

"Does he always talk about Mr Crouch like that?" Susan asked Harry, leaning towards him to whisper so only he would hear.

"Almost," Harry confirmed, the situation almost comical with how Percy was disserting and no one listening. "Do you know Mr Crouch?" After all, he and her aunt were colleagues. But Susan made a negative nod.

"Not really. I think I may have met him once. But my aunt usually keeps me away from her work. She doesn't like to involve my parents and I in her public relations. She doesn't really like public relations short, in fact. She's not the kind to hunt the Golden Snidget with Fudge to get a promotion."

"I thought Golden Snidgets could not be hunted."

"No, they can't. The hunt was banned in the fourteenth century, and they are a protected species. I was only giving an example."

Susan later tried to engage a conversation with Hermione, but the latter was too busy talking with Krum, trying to teach him how to accurately pronounce her name, and getting more information about Durmstrang. Dumbledore then regaled them with a personal story as to how he found a mysterious room with a collection of chamber pots one night he lost his way to find the bathroom, only to never be able to find it afterwards, maybe because it only appeared when someone's bladder was exceptionally full.

Harry shortly laughed in his plate of goulash, much like Susan in her pasta. All the while, Cho and Cedric kept whispering to each other, as if they spoke a language only they could understand. Harry tried to ignore them the best he could, and luckily enough there were enough interesting and entertaining conversations for him to be interested in listening to. Fleur Delacour was criticizing every aspect of Hogwarts, from the weather to the decorations, ending her tirade by saying that if Peeves ever showed up at Beauxbatons, he would expelled on the spot, hitting the table with her fist to emphasize it, causing most people around to jump. Harry felt a certain hostility against Fleur around the table, especially from the other girls. Roger Davies, however, was drinking each and every one of her words, completely forgetting to eat. He slapped his hand on the table just like Fleur after she did it.

Fleur then turned to Madame Maxime, who she was sitting right next to, and said something to her headmistress that Harry did not understand. He supposed that they were talking in French, a language Harry did not understand. He turned to Hermione, who he knew had some mastery of this language due to her many trips in France. Harry thought it might have been good if he learned a few words while in Calais last summer, but he didn't think it would be useful at the time, his mother doing much of the talking, and with most places where they went having staff who spoke English fluently.

Hermione, however, was still too busy talking with Krum and didn't seem to hear what Fleur was saying. The champion of Beauxbatons, in the meantime, kept talking to Madame Maxime, very loudly and very fast. The headmistress of Beauxbatons was replying very calmly and kindly, but she was frowning more and more, and even looked shocked at moments. Perhaps the speed prevented Hermione from understanding, or perhaps she was too focused on Krum to give any attention to Fleur. Harry, however, noticed that Susan stopped eating and was looking rather with a dark expression at her plate.

"Is there something wrong?" he asked her.

She raised her finger. Harry supposed she wanted a moment, but he didn't know what she was doing. He had his answer after Fleur said something else loudly to Madame Maxime, Roger still staring at her in marvel. Susan looked up, directly at Fleur.

"La rouquine entend et comprend ce que tu dis."

Susan spoke very loudly, at least as loudly as Fleur did, and all conversations at the table stopped. Harry didn't think he ever saw Susan in this state. Her eyes were throwing daggers at the French champion. Fleur had an expression that was just as unusual. She looked shocked, and embarrassed. Madame Maxime, on her side, looked embarrassed as well, though she kept her composure much better than Fleur did. Even Roger stopped gaping at Fleur to look at Susan, obviously not understanding what she just said anymore than Harry did.

"Mademoiselle Delacour," Madame Maxime said in a very dignified way, most likely in French, which Harry didn't understand, "je crois que vous devez des excuses à Mademoiselle…"

The French headmistress looked at Susan, who retorted right away. "Ne lui demandez pas de s'excuser. Si elle doit le faire à toutes les personnes qu'elle a insultées jusque-là, nous serons encore là à minuit. Et personellement, ça ne me derange pas. Contrairement à certaines personnes, je ne risque pas de ne plus rentrer dans ma robe à la fin de la soirée."

Whatever Susan said, it got Hermione to giggle uncontrollably. In the meanwhile, both Madame Maxime and Fleur looked scandalized. Dumbledore had this twinkling in his eyes that Harry knew he had when he particularly appreciated a situation. He wondered what was so funny.

"My dear Madame Maxime," Dumbledore told his French counterpart, in English this time, "it has been a long time since my last visit to Beauxbatons, but I was fascinated by the ice sculptures at the time that decorated your corridors. We tried to infuse some of their spirits in our decorations today. Do you think we have succeeded?"

Slowly, conversations resumed. Cho with Cedric, Hermione with Krum, Dumbledore with Karkaroff and Madame Maxime. Only Roger was back to staring wonderfully at Fleur, while now Fleur didn't say a word, but threw daggers at Susan herself. Harry's partner had gone back to eating her pasta, her plate nearly finished by now. Harry was about to ask her what just happened when Fleur stood up, so abruptly that she had the table bump and a glass of wine in front of Madame Maxime spilled. Right now, she reminded Harry of the Veelas at the Quidditch World Cup when they got furious at the end of the game. She didn't change like they did, but her stance and the look in her eyes were definitely intimidating, and it had a great effect on the people around the table, and also some people at the nearby tables.

"Comment oses-tu? Ne vous enseigne-t-on le savoir-vivre dans ce trou perdu? Vous vous comportez tous comme des enfants. Quel âge as-tu, dis-moi?"

"Mademoiselle Delacour," Madame Maxime said, loud enough for Fleur to turn towards her, in a calm but strict and authoritarian voice that reminded Harry of the effect Dumbledore had on some people when they disappointed him. "Asseyez-vous."

Whatever she said, Fleur seemed to obey. She sat down and remained silent for the rest of the feast, talking in low voice with Madame Maxime. She kept throwing daggers at Susan from time to time though.

"Well done, Susan," Hermione told her, a large smile on her face.

"I didn't want to cause a scene," Susa n said, almost apologetically.

"What did you tell her?" Harry asked her, wondering what Susan could say to put Fleur in such a state.

"It would be too long to translate. Especially if I translate all the things that she said in French before."

Harry was impressed nonetheless. The only other time he saw Fleur angry was when his name came out of the Goblet of Fire.

Conversations resumed slowly, and soon it was as if Fleur's outburst was forgotten by everyone, except Fleur herself. Hermione looked deeply engaged in her discussion with Krum, and Harry still had no wish to talk to Cedric and Cho. As for Fleur, well, the mere thought of talking to her right now could be sufficient reasons to send him at St Mungo's Hospital for psychiatric problems. So instead Harry mostly discussed with Susan as the main course was done and dessert was served. He ended having a good enough time talking with her about how Christmas went in their respective families. It was unexpected, to a certain extent. Harry had always gotten along quite well with Susan. Not as well as with Ron and Hermione, but better than with Hannah. However, Susan was not very talkative usually. When doing their homework together during summer, she focused on them, and only broke her silence when she wanted to ask a question or show something in one of the many homework they completed. This was their main interactions. In most circumstances, Susan simply seldom talked. But it seemed a dam was broken after her argument with Fleur, and she talked enthusiastically to Harry during dessert.

Once the plates were all empty and clean, Dumbledore stood up, and everyone went silent.

"So, now that we have all filled our stomachs that we should feel our dress robes have gone tighter…" Harry contained a laugh at this, just like Susan and Hermione. Now, Fleur threw daggers at Dumbledore while Madame Maxime seemed to be trying to keep her calm. "Let me wish you all a Merry Christmas."

"Merry Christmas!"

"Merry Christmas!"

"Merry Christmas!"

The wishes came from everywhere in the Great Hall, not all together.

"Merry Christmas, Harry," Susan whispered next to him.

"Oh. Merry Christmas, Susan." He should have told her earlier, when they met in front of her common room, but he felt too stressed back then. Anyway, she didn't seem to mind.

"And now, to allow our bowels some time to digest what we just ingested, we have a few artists who are going to perform in the context of the Triwizard Tournament for us, before we get to dance," Dumbledore announced. Some moans showed that there were people disappointed that the dance would not begin immediately, though others also looked very interested and eager. Harry didn't mind. His legs had resumed shaking at the thought of dancing.

"Now, I ask you to please welcome a very young and talented singer. She comes from Ilvermorny School of Witchcraft and Wizardry in the United States, and kindly accepted our invitation to perform tonight."

There were a few claps of hands as Dumbledore sat down, and the lights in the Great Hall slowly went out. Candlesticks, fireplaces, lamps, even the lights hung up to the trees disappeared. When looking at the ceiling, you could still see the sky, but it looked as if it no longer illuminated the Great Hall, as if the light was caught somewhere up and stopped there.

(Let It Go; Idina Menzel)

Then it started. First, they only heard a piano in the dark, but couldn't see anything. But slowly, a patch of light appeared in an empty space at the end of the Great Hall, where the staff table usually was but was removed like all others. Harry had not realized this space was so large before. In the ring of light, a young woman appeared in the growing light. She was wearing a turquoise dress, with black sleeves, a purple cape on her back, blue gloves, and a diadem on her head. Her clothes covered her whole body, leaving only her face to be visible, although she kept it down and stared at the floor. Her white hair was tightly attached into a single bun.

The music was beautiful. Harry still couldn't see the piano, but it was playing, without any doubt. It sounded like a music that had not been created yet, as if it came from another world. And then the woman began to sing in a very clear and warm voice.

The snow glows white on the mountain tonight

Not a footprint to be seen

A kingdom of isolation

And it looks like I'm the queen

The wind is howling like this swirling storm inside

Couldn't keep it in, Heaven knows I tried

As the woman sang, she lifted up her head, her face becoming visible in the spotlight coming from nowhere. Then the rhythm of the invisible piano quickened and she began to slowly walk forward, the light following her.

Don't let them in, don't let them see

Be the good girl you always have to be

Conceal, don't feel, don't let them know

Well, now they know

She raised her arms, and her dress flew in the air, disappearing, never to be seen again. Harry thought he heard a few gasps in the crowd. The singer now wore a shining, revealing blue dress, transparent silvery sleeves on her arms, a veil of the same fabric flying behind her back, and her blond hair now arranged into a heavy plait that fell on her shoulder. A magical snow now fell around her.

Let it go, let it go

Can't hold it back anymore

Let it go, let it go

Turn away and slam the door

I don't care what they're going to say

Let the storm rage on

The cold never bothered me anyway

Wind was blowing in the Great Hall now, causing many girls to grip their dresses. Harry himself felt the cold stream at the level of his legs as the singer walked among the students, all smile, leaning towards some on her way as if she wanted to tell them a secret, to the other end of the Great Hall.

It's funny how some distance

Makes everything seem small

And the fears that once controlled me

Can't get to me at all

It's time to see what I can do

To test the limits and break through

No right, no wrong, no rules for me

I'm free

Once at the other side of the Great Hall, she produced a wand and made an arch bridge made of snow, connecting both ends of the Great Hall. Then she ran on it and the bridge turned to ice.

Let it go, let it go

I'm one with the wind and sky

Let it go, let it go

You'll never see me cry

Here I stand, and here I'll stay

Let the storm rage on...

Back to the platform where the staff table usually was, she made great moves with her wand, and the Great Hall was illuminated as tall structures of ice grew and appeared everywhere.

My power flurries through the air into the ground

My soul is spiraling in frozen fractals all around

And one thought crystallizes like an icy blast:

I'm never going back, the past is in the past!

Let it go, let it go

And I'll rise like the break of dawn

Let it go, let it go

That perfect girl is gone

Here I stand in the light of day

Let the storm rage on!

The cold never bothered me anyway

As she sang the last line, she raised her wand, and something came out of it. It rose up in the air, and stood high, near the ceiling, a shining sphere that lightened all the Great Hall, now decorated with impressive ice structures.

The people exploded in applauses, and the woman bowed to thank them.

"Thank you. Thank you," she said among the cheers to which Harry participated.

He couldn't deny this was a fantastic song, and the magic used to accompany it was marvelous as well. He saw that Susan and all the others at the table looked just as appreciative of the art. Even Fleur politely clapped her hands. The icy structures included the bridge the singer created early, some kind of rectangular arch over the platform, a high tower, a structure behind it that was as high but larger and reminded Harry of a cathedral, and about four others hung up to the walls which looked like ships, similar to that of Durmstrang currently freezing in the lake. Harry wondered what Karkaroff thought of it and if that was a way to mock his school. Of course, there was also the luminous globe high over their heads that now projected a great light, but not in a blinding one, over the whole Great Hall. Fires were no longer needed to illuminate it.

"Merry Christmas," the singer said as the applauses receded. "Thank you. I want to thank the Professors Dumbledore, Karkaroff and Maxime for all accepting me here tonight, even if my school, Ilvermorny, does not participate to this tournament." It was strange, but her American accent somehow reminded Harry of Susan's way of speaking. "But I won't hold you longer than necessary. Next to me, comes another artist from another school that did not have the chance to participate to this Tournament. Please welcome him. He is from the Mahoutokoro School of Magic in Japan, and he is not alone."

Lights faded once more, and they were plunged into the same obscurity as before the first song, while students applauded the departure of the singer. The claps eventually receded, and it was total silence. Harry thought he heard something though, as if something was… melting. Was it the ice the singer previously created? He thought magical ice did not melt.

Then they began to hear music. It wasn't a piano this time. It was a string instrument, and from the sound of it, it was Asian, though Harry could not identify the instrument. He supposed this would please Cho.

The instrument and the musician playing it did not remain invisible like for the previous song. Soon, the same spotlight illuminated him, sitting on a raised platform, playing. He was wearing a traditional Asian costume and held a strange instrument in his hand. Even seeing it, Harry could not recognize what it was. But he played it very slowly, softly, resulting in a beautiful sound spreading through the Great Hall. Then he stopped, and silence reigned for a moment. The light in the Great Hall increase, and Harry saw that indeed, like he got the impression, some of the ice had melted, only not in the way he imagined.

The arch over the platform where the musician was playing was now made of red columns with a triangular shape over it, casting a long red veil behind the musician. The bridge also took the shape of those bridges Harry often saw in Asian movies. The ice was not a structure in itself. It was hiding one beneath its surface.

(When Honor Dies; Miracle of Sound)

Then the musician began playing faster, with rhythm. As he played, the red veil opened, revealing eight other musicians with various instruments, including various types of guitar, a bass, keyboards, drums, lute and cello.

And the eight musicians joined him. They played the same melody at the same rhythm, but their instruments made it very different. Many students cheered and even stood up at the sight. As many heard the rumor already, the Weird Sisters had come to Hogwarts. Harry was not a fan of the group, but he couldn't ignore their popularity in this instant with so many people screaming.

As they played the intro of the song, Harry realized that the colors of the Great Hall totally changed. They looked like they were not in winter anymore. Instead, it was as if they went back several months and autumn was there, red, orange and yellow colors matching everywhere on the walls, and fallen leaves even appearing on the floor out of nowhere.

The Weird Sisters were not the only ones to show up. A string of people also wearing traditional Asian costumes, conical hats, and swords attached to their belt, arrived by the bridge previously built by the American singer. They took position in the free space between the musicians on stage and the tables where everyone was still sitting. They then unsheathed their swords and began to make complex moves with them. Harry was even more impressed by the fact that the swords never came in contact between them as those men and women in the free space, representations of samurais, moved in unison.

Then the Weird Sisters began to sing, first relatively slowly, but accelerating after the first two verses.

Proud and ancient land

Noble souls, a final stand

Spells on fallen leaves

Left alone and lost

Magic lines that I must cross

Lords unite with fiefs

Fear in the blade

The spirits of the ancients fade

Soil and degrade

Their legacy and name

Bending the code

Defile the duty long bestowed

Burdened by the shame

When honor lives

There will be no death of wizardry

When honor lives

We will be granted our history

I give my everything

Return the reckoning

Gaze of the school fills my eyes

When honor lives

Balance for the mind

Blossoms paint the paths and shrines

Nature's poetry

Staying in the shade

Tradition of the kin betrayed

Soil and degrade

Their lineage and claim

Exile and pain

A poison in the dying vein

Burdened by the shame

When honor lives

There will be no death of wizardry

When honor lives

We will be granted our history

I give my everything

Return the reckoning

Gaze of the school fills my eyes

When honor lives

Ghosts of the fallen

The wind is ever guiding

Memories are calling

A specter in the night

Ghosts of the fallen

Golden wings are gliding

Feeding the soil

So the world can return to life

The Asian musician hadn't stopped playing when the Weird Sisters began. The attention only shifted away from him. However, now, the Weird Sisters stopped, and they let him play a solo. He moved his hands faster than Harry could think was possible. Then one of the guitarists joined him and they repeated the same solo together. And a second guitarist also played the solo a third time with them, morphing a traditional tune into one that sounded like hard rock. The swords of the samurais on the floor began to shin. Then they sang the same the same verse again.

Ghosts of the fallen

The wind is ever guiding

Memories are calling

A specter in the night

Ghosts of the fallen

Golden wings are gliding

Feeding the soil

So the world can return to life

The Asian musician made another solo, shorter, this time much quieter and slower. And for the first time, he sang, with a very soft voice, almost strangled, that contrasted with those of the Weird Sisters.

My soul still thrives

Then the Weird Sisters took over once more.

When honor lives

There will be no death of wizardry

When honor lives

We will be granted our history

I give my everything

Return the reckoning

Gaze of the school fills my eyes

When honor lives

The last words of the song were followed by a long instrumental conclusion that went faster as the song reached its end. It ended on a grave note from one of the guitars, and the students cheered once more, much louder than for the American singer. The Asian musician stood up, bowed, then took his leave after shaking hands with each of the Weird Sisters. The samurais also left in good order. The singer of the band then came forward.

"HELLO HOGWARTS!"

The yell elicited even more shrilling, hysteric, uncontrollable cheers. Harry almost got his ears pierced. He was glad that none of the girls at the table where he sat behaved in the same way. He noticed that Parvati did next to Ron.

"ARE YOU READY FOR SOME REAL MUSIC?" People cheered again. The singer raised three fingers. "Three songs. One in honor of each school and their countries. Composed by the Weird Sisters, with the help of an Irish composer who couldn't afford to be here tonight. So, we'll finish with the best. And like Dumbledore would say, that means beginning by Hogwarts."

Some people groaned in the audience. Harry noticed that Karkaroff and Madame Maxime were not impressed by the group. Harry wasn't either, not with their ripped and torn dresses, and their extravagant long hair. But the two other headmasters seemed kind of satisfied to hear that Hogwarts valued less than their schools. From the amusement in Dumbledore's eyes, Harry suspected this was his doing.

Lights slowly went off again, and Harry heard again the melting sound. Then he heard some kind of gong. It reminded him of the sound ancient clocks made when a certain hour was reached. When lights slowly began to return, he quickly understood where it came from. The rectangular arch and the bridge had disappeared, but the large tower had lost its ice, and was also moved in the free space. The tower was indeed a large clock, and Harry couldn't be fooled by the fact it was smaller than its equivalent in real life. This was a replica of the Big Ben, the tower with the clock at the Palace of Westminster.

As the clock kept ringing, carriages conducted by the skeletal mounts that Harry saw leading the carriages earlier this year arrived from the doors of the Great Hall, somehow managing to find their way amidst the tables, which caused more than one person to gasp or squeak in terror when the animals rode close to them. It seemed that no one could see them apart from him. They brought their carriages to the free space around the tower, from which several people came out, wearing high hats and canes that gave Harry the impression to watch a historical movie. The beasts then left with the empty carriages, to only leave about a dozen men all clothed in the same way, presenting a picturesque and very limited image of London in the nineteenth century.

(London Town; Miracle of Sound)

Then a piano began to play, although from the sound of it, Harry had the impression to hear an organ. Then the guitars and drums joined the melody, giving it a way more groovy music. At the same moment, the men began to dance, making complex and well orchestrated movements with their canes and hats. Then the Weird Sisters sang.

Beasts in seas of soot we drown

Come on down to London town

The cogs they creak and the pistons pound

Come on down to London town

Death is cloaked in progress

Smoke in Eden's eyes

A million choking chimneys burn and

Blacken out the sky

Grab your mates and join us

Where the rats rejoice

The brazen brass of the wizard class

Are here to find their voice

Revolution holds us bound

Come on down to London town

Hide your back from class and crown

Come on down to London town

Steam train running on a reckless rail

Speeding right into the rising gale

Shovel harder cos we're on your tail

London's bloody cry

Crippled to deliver

The spoils of industry

Crimson are the rivers

Beasts are killed into the sea

Beasts in seas of soot we drown

Come on down to London town

The cogs they creak and the pistons pound

Come on down to London town

Steam train running on a reckless rail

Speeding right into the rising gale

Shovel harder cos we're on your tail

London's bloody cry

Cry revolution, to save the beasts

Cruel revolution kills the beasts

Come on down to London town

Come on down to London town

Cry revolution, to save the beasts

Cruel revolution kills the beasts

While the Weird Sisters played, two of the dancers smoked strange, large pipes, from which they produced a steam that took the shape of various magical creatures. Among them, four dragons appeared, and Harry recognized the distinctive tail of the Hungarian Horntail. He supposed the three other images showed the dragons Cedric, Fleur and Krum fought. There were also images of the Abraxans, the winged horses that drove the Beauxbatons carriage, of the Giant Squid, of a mermaid, of a Yeti, of a hippogriff… Harry wondered how Hagrid felt at seeing this, but he couldn't locate him in the Great Hall while the song played. Somehow following the words of the song, the shining sphere barely emitted any light, and the Great Hall was into a state of semi-darkness during the whole song.

Applauses were not as great for this song when it ended as it had been for the first the Weird Sisters played. Harry had to admit this was not the song he expected to be played for Hogwarts.

(My Revolution; Miracle of Sound)

The band then followed up with the song for Beauxbatons. Again, the Great Hall fell into darkness, and when it slowly lifted, Harry saw that the representation of Big Ben was gone along with the dancers, and instead he saw the other ice sculpture behind the Weird Sisters, and he really had the impression that it was a cathedral, surging in a sunset light. Another gong sounded, and what sounded like an organ played again. This time, the Weird Sisters started singing while only the organ still played. Right when they started to sing, new dancers dressed somewhat like ballerinas came out of the cathedral and lined themselves in the free space.

Voices joined will never tire

Sisters all are we

Streets they run with magic fire

The proof of liberty

The guitars joined at this moment, and the rhythm of the music significantly increased, as well as the speed of the dancers' movements.

The revolution carries me

In a moment lost in time

The revolution sets me free

We will flow across the lines

Bring out the sister in me

I'm searching for unity

Everything is changing

Inside of me

The city's under my feet

The vision of the artist

Everything is changing

Inside of me

Secret truths are buried deep

Our mothers by our sides

With every lunge and every leap

Closer to our kind

The revolution carries me

In a moment lost in time

The revolution sets me free

We will flow across the lines

Bring out the sister in me

I'm searching for unity

Everything is changing

Inside of me

The city's under my feet

The vision of the artist

Everything is changing

Inside of me

Révolution dans les rues

Je vois la beauté en dessous

La magie est une rivière pure

Je la cherche dans l'azur

The music then took a softer tone. The dancers stopped to dance and sang the following two lines.

The revolution carries me...

The revolution sets me free...

Then the Weird Sisters took a more hardcore approach, lights flashing everywhere while the dancers resumed their movements in a quite faster choreography.

The revolution carries me

In a moment lost in time

The revolution sets me free

We will flow across the lines

Bring out the sister in me

I'm searching for unity

Everything is changing

Inside of me

The city's under my feet

The vision of the artist

Everything is changing

Inside of me

The revolution carries me

It's gonna carry me

Carry me

The revolution sets me free

It's gonna carry me

Carry me

Carry me

Révolution dans les rues

Je vois la beauté en dessous

La magie est une rivière pure

Je la cherche dans l'azur

The last verse was only accompanied by the organ, which made the last note the moment that the choreographers brought the final touch to a small copy of the cathedral behind that they built with their own bodies.

The entire Great Hall cheered again. The delegation of Beauxbatons in particular looked delighted. There was only one song left, the one for Durmstrang. Darkness fell again, and Harry thought he heard the dancers quickly running away to the exit. The melting noise was barely discernible. And then…

A sound that seemed to be coming from a horn resonated throughout the Great Hall. A first blow was followed by a second blow, during which streaks of blue, green, red, violet and purple appeared in the sky, crossing the ceiling and illuminating the Great Hall with a diversity of colors that wasn't seen until now. The polar lights danced on the floor and the walls, ice reflecting them. The white blankets on the tables, and the robes of few girls who came dressed in this same color, displayed this game of shades.

The cathedral had disappeared in the background of the Weird Sisters, replaced by the Christmas trees it was probably hiding moments ago. The icy ships on the walls had disappeared. In the free space, the four of them stood proud, free of their ice. They were much smaller than the vessel of Durmstrang. Their sails were fully deployed, and Harry soon realized that their heads displayed dragons. These were Viking ships.

A third blow of the horn brought a few dozen people from the doors of the Great Hall, who took place inside the ships. It was difficult to see with the polar lights, but they all seemed to have tattoos on their face and their arms. They also wore large clothes that looked to be made of heavy furs, similar to the uniforms of Durmstrang. They sat in ranks inside the ships, and then a fourth blow of the horn had the ships slowly rise in the air.

(Valhalla Calling; Miracle of Sound & Peyton Parrish)

As the ships gained altitude, drums joined the horn. And the Weird Sisters started to all sing together, as if they were in a choir. In fact, it was literally a choir of very deep voices that sang.

Ships on vigor of the waves are skimming

Barren summits to the verdant plains

Each horizon is a new beginning

Rise and reign

The ships started to move in the air, their occupants moving oars.

Far from the fjords and the ice cold currents

Ravens soar over new frontiers

Songs and sagas of a fate determined

Shields and spears

It was as if the ships were really advancing with the force of the oars. One of them was close to their table, and Harry felt water pushed at his face, although he absolutely had none on him when he touched his face with his hand to verify.

Vows of favour or the thrill of plunder

Pull together for the clan and kin

Clank of hammers and the crash of thunder

Pound within

Oh-ho-oh

The echoes of eternity

Oh-ho-oh

Valhalla calling me

Oh-ho-oh

To pluck the strings of destiny

Oh-ho-oh

Valhalla calling me

Valhalla calling me

Silence reigned for a moment. And then, it was as if an explosion occurred. All instruments of the Weird Sisters played together at the same time. This was the same song, but it was as if they turned to play a metal version of the one they began to sing earlier. The polar lights increased in intensity and speed, giving an illusion of being in a rock 'n' roll concert. Even the voice of the singers became harsher, as if they were warriors running to the battle. The occupants of the ships now brandished weapons: swords, axes, spears, shining in golden light, while others threw arrows that progressively lit up candlesticks, fireplaces, lamps, and even the decorations on the Christmas trees. Harry wondered how they managed to always shot precisely at the right place without causing a fire.

Sails a' swaying on the crimson rivers

Blood and glory in the fighting fields

Shields a' shatter into splintered timbers

Iron and steel

Fires are rising and the bells are ringing

Glory take us into Odin's halls

Golden glimmer and the sound of singing

Asgard's call

As the refrain was approaching, all archers from all ships shot their flaming arrows, and they met in the air to form a perfect straight line that exploded into fireworks.

Oh-ho-oh

The echoes of eternity

Oh-ho-oh

Valhalla calling me

Oh-ho-oh

To pluck the strings of destiny

Oh-ho-oh

Valhalla calling me

Valhalla calling me

The horn sounded very long this time.

Wind and the waves will carry me

Wind and the waves will set me free

Wind and the waves will carry me

Wind and the waves will set me free

The archers repeated their exploit of creating a perfect ark of fireworks with their arrows meeting in the air. A very large man on feet, carrying a gigantic hammer, came into the free space on the floor.

Oh-ho-oh

The echoes of eternity

Oh-ho-oh

Valhalla calling me

Oh-ho-oh

To pluck the strings of destiny

Oh-ho-oh

Valhalla calling me

Valhalla calling me

VALHALLA!

As the Weird Sisters chanted the most common word of the song, the gigantic man with the hammer raised it in the air. Electricity came out of it, and it shot straight towards the shining sphere the first singer of the evening created earlier. It exploded, setting multiple fireworks explosions across the entire Great Hall as the last notes of the song died down.

This time, people cheered. Harry suspected some of them did this out of eagerness for the next part of the ball. Harry clapped as long as he could, hoping to delay the inevitable. As long as the ball was about a band of music playing, people weren't paying attention to him and he could breathe easy. Now, in an instant, everyone in the place would stare at him, probably looking for any small mistake he might do. One of them would probably be Professor McGonagall. With the way she was perfectionist and obsessed with each and every little detail during their dancing lessons, Harry wouldn't be surprised if she gave him a detention in the case he would fail to apply what she taught them nonstop over the last few days.

"Well, everyone… TIME TO DANCE!"

The singer of the Weird Sisters said the words Harry dreaded the most. Everyone stood up in the Great Hall, and tables moved to arrange themselves on the sides of the walls. Harry was so apprehensive that he forgot to stand up.

"Harry, it's time," Susan whispered. She was already standing up, and Harry left his seat, almost tripping on his dress robe in the process, his legs feeling like they weighed a hundred tons. However, from the way Hermione was talking closely to her when she told this to Harry, Susan had hesitated to stand just like he did.

"Now's the time," she whispered. Her voice was quivering as they headed for the wide clear floor the tables left behind. "Will you forgive me if I crush your feet?"

"Will you forgive me if I crush yours?" he asked in return in the same whisper.

She smiled nervously and nodded. Harry even heard a small laugh kept inside her throat.

"Then I will," he whispered even lower than he planned to.

This released the pressure for a moment, but soon they were facing each other in a corner of the dancing floor while the Weird Sisters were arranging their instruments. Harry could see from the corner of his eye Seamus and Dean waving at him, laughing hard at the same time, and they weren't the only ones.

"Only the opening song," he reminded his partner.

"Only the opening," she confirmed. She was breathing as fast as Harry was.

He could hear her breathing from where he was, though this didn't mean much since onkly a few inches separated them. At least, he wasn't the only one to be afraid, stressed, even panicking at the prospect of dancing before half the school. What wouldn't Harry give to be back home, quietly celebrating Christmas in family.

The Weird Sisters were almost ready. Harry and Susan took the position McGonagall taught them and that they repeated again and again over the last few days. They did it so often that it became an automatism, almost natural, his left hand and her right one joined, his right hand on her waist, her left hand on his shoulder. This wasn't completely natural though. Harry's arms and legs were stiff, so he didn't.

"Harry, relax." He realized that he held her waist too tight. He then felt a shot of pain in his right shoulder.

"Susan…"

"Sorry," she apologized, and released the pressure immediately. And the song began.

Despite being unprepared, they began to move immediately. It happened that the song on which they trained under McGonagall's supervision was the same as the slow, mournful tune the Weird Sisters began. Things went well first. Harry could feel Susan's stiffness as much as his, but they managed to make all the right moves. All this was mechanical, the results of repeating again and again the same movements. They also watched their steps carefully. Harry tried to avoid the best he could to trip onto Susan's dress. Although this concern seemed unfounded, for her dress proved to not stop low enough for such a risk to exist.

To Harry's great relief, more people began to join the dancing floor. Dumbledore danced with Madame Maxime, Moody with Professor Sinistra, Neville with Ginny. This allowed him to relax a little, for two reasons. First, the full attention was no longer on the champions. Second, he thought he would look stupid while dancing, but if that was the case, then the others were far worse. Madame Maxime was so tall that even though Dumbledore wore his magical hat, the tip of it didn't even reach her chin. Professor Sinistra tried to avoid at all costs the wooden leg of Moody. As for Ginny, she winced regularly as Neville crushed her feet again and again. In the meantime, Harry and Susan felt more fear than pain.

"We try it now?" he asked Susan. There were about twenty or thirty people on the dancing floor now. Enough to not have the attention on them, but still few enough to make it.

"Okay," she replied, sounding distressed.

Harry realized she had the hardest part of the work to do. He tried to reassure her with his eyes, but if she tried to smile at him in the same vein, it failed and it looked more like a grimace than anything else.

When the next right moment in the tune came, Susan stepped aside, extending her arm to distance herself from Harry as he held her by one hand. Then she came back to him by performing a full turn on herself, coming with her back on Harry, then making a rotation in the other sense under his arm to come back face to face with him.

She drew a breath of relief, which he couldn't fault her for. "Done," she said, a small chortle escaping her stiff lips. "It's going to be your turn, you know."

That was the moment he dreaded the most. Harry had to admit he asked Susan to make her move first because he was afraid to make his own. But now, there was no turning back. He couldn't refuse to do it after Susan accepted to accompany him to the ball to help him and went through over ten hours of dance lessons, especially not when McGonagall was certainly watching them. So Harry prepared himself mentally the best he could. And when the music came to the right point, he did it.

Harry seized Susan by the waist with both his arms, while she put both her hands on his shoulders. He pulled her up, making half a rotation on himself to land her on the opposite side. Susan was not particularly heavy, but Harry had never been very strong physically, and they were about the same height. So he struggled to keep her in the air even on such a short period, and she landed pretty hard on the floor. But they managed to resume their initial movement, and resumed dancing like they did since the beginning of the song.

"Done," he said. "I'm sorry."

"That's fine. We did it," she said, as nervous as he was.

And then they both burst into laughter, but they maintained the movements McGonagall printed into their minds. It had to be the nervousness blowing up.

A few moments later, the bagpipe produced the last note of the song, and people broke out their dancing to clap hands.

"We leave?" he asked her.

"We leave," she confirmed, and they both hurried out of the dance floor towards one of the walls.

By now, most people were on the dancing floor. The tables were covered with bottles of Butterbeer, but no mead like rumors suggested. Susan seized one and offered another to Harry.

"Thanks," he told her, truly grateful. His breathing was still quick, his legs quivering, and his arms stiff, but he was alright. This was over. He opened his bottle.

"To the survivors," Susan said, approaching her bottled from Harry's. They hit them softly.

"To the survivors," Harry repeated. Yes, they survived the first dance of the Yule Ball. They didn't have to dance for the rest of the evening. This was probably the best news of the day for this Christmas, and certainly a cause for celebrations.

Harry took a swallow of Butterbeer. Susan's own swallow was way larger. He looked at her as she seemed to almost want to empty her bottle in one sip. Her red hair was still falling behind her back, maintaining her forehead and shoulders, usually covered with it, totally free. Harry was surprised. Considering the sudden moves they made, he would have thought that Susan's hair style wouldn't hold. But now that he thought about it, it flew over in the air around her but always took back its place behind her back once they returned at a more normal pace of dancing. Susan must have somehow fixed her hair with a spell or a potion. He was about to ask her the question as she finished her long swallow, but she said something before he could.

"I was afraid this would never end."

Dancing had been a stressful affair for her too. Harry felt he had to say something. "Susan, thank you. I owe you one."

She laughed shortly. "No, Harry, it was my pleasure."

"Okay. But I owe you one. I'm serious."

"As you wish."

She took another smaller sip of Butterbeer, and Harry imitated her. Harry saw Cho and Cedric dancing on the much faster song the Weird Sisters played now. He looked away and found Ron sitting with Parvati at one of the tables. Hermione was still dancing with Krum.

"I'll go and see Ron," he told Susan.

"I'm coming."

He didn't ask Susan to follow him for the rest of the evening. In his mind, she came mostly so he could have someone to open the ball with, but he wouldn't have minded if they went separate ways for the rest of the evening. He didn't mind though that she stayed by his side, and he was even grateful for it. They headed towards the table in question, their bottles of Butterbeer still in hand. From a closer point of view, Harry got the distinct impression that neither Ron or Parvati were happy. Ron was glaring at Hermione and Krum, while Parvati almost had her back turned on him, her legs and arms crossed. Harry feared she might really give him a hard time for setting her with Ron for tonight, but it was too late. They were too close to fall back.

"How is it going?" he asked Ron as he sat next to him. His friend didn't answer. In the meantime, Susan went to sit on the other side, next to Parvati.

"Hi, Parvati."

She uncrossed her arms and legs right away. "Oh, hi Susan. So, you are Harry's surprise date for the tonight?"

"Eh… I wouldn't really call that a date," his partner replied.

Harry felt irritated as his eyes once again caught sight of Cedric and Cho dancing, and he looked back at Ron, still staring towards Hermione and Krum.

"Oh, then how would you call that?" She didn't leave time for Susan to reply. "I saw you dancing. Pretty good. You were quite cute together."

While saying that, she turned her head to look at Harry, and he couldn't miss the blame she sent him in her gaze.

The discussion was not taking a direction Harry looked forward to. At last, Ron said a word for the first time since Harry sat down.

"Ruddy pumpkin-head, isn't he?"

It took a moment for Harry to understand, probably too long considering Ron had kept staring at the same two people the whole time, and this comment could only be directed at one of them.

"I don't think it was the books that had him going to the library," Harry concluded.

To Harry, it looked quite evident now. There were three things you could almost be assured to find when you went to the library: books, Madam Pince, and Hermione. Krum never struck him as an avid reader, and he certainly didn't go there for Madam Pince. Though the possibility that he would go to the library only to see Hermione would have seemed totally impossible for Harry only a few days ago. Not that he thought Hermione was unattractive, but it just seemed impossible to Harry that Krum would be interested in his best friend. It looked as likely as Krum coming to him and offering him to play for the Bulgarian National Quidditch team in the next Quidditch World Cup.

Harry didn't really know why Ron was behaving in such a way because Hermione came to the ball with Viktor Krum. To be honest, aside from being surprised, Harry was happy for Hermione. She never seemed to consider having a love relationship with anyone before. It was good to see her let it go. But whatever the reasons for Ron's behavior, be it the miserable dress robes he wore or the fact that Hermione hid all of this from him for days despite his repeated questions, Harry liked being back on speaking terms with Ron too much to say anything that could upset him.

In the meanwhile, Parvati and Susan kept talking between them. Harry had the impression that Susan was uncomfortable in her conversation with Parvati, and he had a bad feeling about it as well. Luckily enough, a boy from Beauxbatons soon came and asked her to dance.

"You don't mind, do you, Ron?" Parvati asked him. But when she saw that he didn't give her any attention and kept staring at Hermione and Krum without saying a word… "Oh, never mind," she finally snapped.

The boy then turned his attention to Susan. "I have a friend that I can introduce to you if you want?"

"No, thank you. I'm fine here," she replied, and the boy left with Parvati. Harry drew a breath of relief. Susan also seemed relieved and took one more sip of her bottle. It was almost empty now.

After a moment, she looked at Ron. "Is there something wrong, Ron?" she asked.

"I didn't ask for your opinion," he snapped.

Susan looked surprised, and even harmed by his reaction. Harry thought it was quite an overreaction for such an innocent question.

"Ron…" he began, but Hermione arrived and sat down on the seat Parvati left vacant a moment ago.

"Hi," Harry said.

"Hi, Hermione," Susan added.

"Hi. It's hot, isn't it?" Hermione asked, waving her hand to use it as a fan to her face. Harry wouldn't know. He and Susan only did the opening, and it was on a very slow pace. "Viktor has just gone to get some drinks. Would you care to join us?"

Harry was about to answer by the affirmative, but Ron got to it before. "Viktor? Hasn't he asked you to call him Vicky yet?"

The three of them, Harry, Hermione and Susan, looked at him in surprise and consternation.

"What's up with you?" Hermione asked him.

"If you don't know, I'm not going to tell you," he retorted.

Hermione looked at Harry, who indicated without a word he had no idea what this was about. She returned her attention to her other friend. "Ron, what…"

"He's from Durmstrang! He's competing against Harry! Against Hogwarts! You… You're… fraternising with the enemy, that's what you're doing!"

Hermione looked stunned by Ron's words. "Don't be so stupid! The enemy! Honestly, who was the one who was all excited when they saw him arrive? Who was the one who wanted his autograph? Who's got a model of him up in their dormitory?"

"I suppose he asked you to come with him while you were both in the library?" Ron asked her, still angry, totally changing subjects and ignoring what she just said.

"Yes, he did. So what?"

"What happened? You inadvertently hit him with your bag full of books?"

"No, I didn't. If you really want to know, he's the one who came to see me. He said that he had been coming up to the library every day to try and talk to me, but he hadn't been able to pluck up the courage!"

"Yeah, well… that's his story."

"And what is that supposed to mean?"

"Obvious, isn't it? He's Karkaroff's student, isn't he? He knows who you hang around with. He's just trying to get closer to Harry, get inside information on him… or get near enough to jinx him!"

"For your information," Hermione pointed out, obviously containing her fury, "he hasn't asked me one single thing about Harry, not one!"

"Then he's hoping you'll help him find out what his egg means! I suppose you've been putting your heads together during those cosy little library sessions…"

"I would never help him work out that egg! Never! How could you say something like that? I want Harry to win the Tournament. Harry knows that, don't you, Harry?"

"You've got a funny way of showing it."

Harry felt that this conversation was getting completely out of hand. Ron's last comment reminded him way too much something else he told Ron two months ago. You're doing a really good impression of it! It was to tell Ron that he behaved stupidly. Something similar seemed to be coming.

"This whole Tournament is supposed to be about getting to know foreign wizards and making friends with them!" Hermione protested.

"No, it isn't! It's about winning!"

They were now talking so loudly that people around started to stare at them. Susan had her own eyes set on them, and she seemed unsure as to what to do. Harry thought it was time to end this.

"Ron," he said carefully, "I haven't got a problem with Hermione coming with Krum…"

"Why don't you go and find Vicky," Ron shot at Hermione. "He'll be wondering where you are."

"Don't call him Vicky!" Hermione shrieked.

She left their table on this and stormed away through the crowd. The following instants were awkward to say the least. To arrange nothing, Krum showed up with two Butterbeers. At least, most people's attention had already turned away from them.

"Where is Hermione?" he asked. Harry had to say that he looked like someone lost this way. He almost pitied him, and Ron helped in this sentiment.

"No idea. Lost her, have you?" Ron defiantly asked.

"Well, if you see her, tell her I have drinks," he said. And he disappeared. From his facial expression, Harry had the impression that Ron managed to make miserable two people tonight… if not more.

"Ron…" Susan said hesitatingly, looking totally unsure as to what expect or what to say. "I don't think Hermione…"

"Oh, shut up, you!"

This time, Harry was beginning to be fed up with his friend. "Ron! What…"

"You!" Ron interrupted him, staring at him with an accusing glare. "When did you get the brilliant idea of getting me to the ball with your ex-girlfriend?"

Harry was shocked. Just like Susan, it seemed, who he looked at immediately when Ron said the words, but his friend continued.

"Surprised that I know? Do you know how I learned? Lavender told it to the whole table during dinner. You thought you would have a good laugh at me by getting me with a girl you already had a go with?"

The night had really turned out worse than Harry would ever have thought it could. He thought the worst part of this ball would be the opening, with everyone looking at him dancing. But this was completely unexpected. He was speechless. He had no explanation to give to Ron, except that he had not wanted his friend to come alone to the ball and asked the first girl available. Not a very good excuse, really.

Susan slowly stood up. "I think I'm going to get some fresh air." She made to leave, and Harry was even more upset at Ron right now, who was back to staring darkly at the dancing floor, although there were no longer a Krum or a Hermione to stare at there. "Harry, you're coming?"

He was almost surprised by Susan's question, but he jumped on the opportunity. "Yes." He stood up quickly. Right now, he didn't really want to stay with Ron, not in his current state.

"I'll get my scarf. Wait for me at the doors," she said, and she turned her back on him.

Harry walked towards the heavy doors of the Great Hall, thinking that Susan may just have found an excuse to walk away from him for the rest of the evening. In the meantime, Percy had gone to sit next to Ron. Harry couldn't say that Ron didn't deserve to be in his brother's company. But Susan actually only went to pick up her black scarf like she said, which was rolled around her arms when she joined Harry again.

"Where do you want to go?" he asked her.

"Let's see what is in the park," she said, and they headed for the Entrance Hall. "What's going on with Ron?"

"No idea," he replied. Truth be told, he thought that he may have an idea, but it wasn't his terrain, and he didn't want to bring forward theories without any foundation. "I'm sorry."

"It's not your fault. But I feel sorry for Hermione. I hope she will be alright."

"She's seen worse. I guess she will be."

Susan nodded. She didn't seem convinced though, and Harry wasn't either, truth be told. This wasn't Ron's and Hermione's first disagreement or argument, but he had the grueling impression that tonight was something different. He didn't share his thoughts with Susan though.

They left the Entrance Hall and walked outside. The grounds were turned into some large magical garden filled with rose bushes, statues displaying Christmas legends, actual fairies flying from one flower to another, and richly ornamented paths going in different directions. Harry and Susan took one of these randomly. Carved benches were placed there and there, sometimes with people sitting on them. Harry heard a fountain far away.

"Harry, excuse me, but… What did Ron mean when he said you had him go to the ball with your ex-girlfriend?"

That wasn't a question he was eager to answer, or that he wanted to answer either. But if Ron knew, and if Lavender told the whole table where she sat during the feast, not to mention any people who could have heard Ron shouting, there was no point hiding it anymore. Better tell her the truth.

"Parvati and I, we dated last summer. For about a month."

He looked at Susan's reaction while he said that. She had her eyes big. "You dated Parvati? She was your girlfriend?"

She sounded as if it was unbelievable. "Yes. You can say that I'm stupid if you want."

"No, that's not what I'm thinking. I'm just… surprised. Astonished. I mean, we live in the same tower, we are neighbors, and I never knew about it. Not that I'm looking into other people's private life, but I'm surprised that Hannah never knew. If she had, I would have been the first person she would tell."

"We didn't tell anybody. Almost. Even our parents didn't know about it."

"How did you do?"

"My mother was going through her final exams to become an Auror, and Parvati's parents are merchants. They're often absent from home. I think that only Padma, her sister, knew about it at the time. Maybe Lavender too, though she may only have learned afterwards. I also told Hermione. She was the only one I told about it. And my mother found out because she overheard our discussion. We… I broke up a few days before the Quidditch World Cup."

He didn't know why he was giving all those details to Susan. She was listening attentively to him.

"And… that thing about setting up Ron with her?"

Harry sighed. "Well, you remember the day when we agreed to go to the ball together? When I came back to the common room… Well, Ron wasn't well, and he had gone through a bad moment that day…"

"That's the day he invited Fleur Delacour?" Harry looked at her astonished. She shrugged. "Everyone has heard about it. Hannah was there to see it."

Harry rolled his eyes. "Well, I just… saw Parvati coming into the common room, and I asked her if she would be interested to accompany Ron to the ball. And then she went to see him, and Ron invited her." Or she gave him the idea to invite her, to be more accurate. "I didn't get them together."

"Well, not really," Susan said, though he noticed a hesitation in her voice. "But it may not have been the best idea to suggest her to invite Ron."

"No, it wasn't," he muttered.

They kept walking a little while longer, carved benches getting slowly less occupied.

"So, what happened between you and Parvati? Why didn't it work?" she asked, all of a sudden.

"I don't know," he replied. "I think… I was not in love with her." It was the truth. Even today, seeing her, he noticed her resemblance with Cho.

"Well, no one can help it, I guess."

A moment later, as Harry wasn't sure what to talk about, he heard a very unpleasant voice.

"I don't see what there is to fuss about, Igor," Snape was saying.

"Severus, you cannot pretend this isn't happening!" Karkaroff's voice was saying, very far from its pleasant behavior he put on whenever he saw fit. "It's been getting clearer and clearer for months. I am becoming seriously concerned. I can't deny it."

"Then flee. Flee, I will make your excuses. I, however, am remaining at Hogwarts."

The two men emerged from a corner of the path. Snape had drawn out his wand and waved it. Harry feared he might use it against them, but instead several bushes were blown apart, and two shadows ran away.

"Ten points from Hufflepuff, Fawcett. And ten points from Ravenclaw, too, Stebbins." Snape then set his eyes on Harry and Susan, examining them suspiciously for a moment. "What are you two doing here?"

Harry felt Susan tense next to him, even though they were not in contact. "We're walking," he replied. "Is that forbidden?"

Snape had no reason to give them any trouble. The gardens were open to all students in this night, and he hadn't found Susan and Harry in any inappropriate situation that could warrant any sort of punishment. Not that there was any chance for that to happen, anyway.

"Keep walking, then!" he shot at them, and walked past them, followed by Karkaroff who looked at them suspiciously.

"I didn't know that Snape and Karkaroff are on first-name basis," Harry said aloud once they were far away enough.

"I'm not surprised. They're both former Death Eaters," Susan declared, disgust in her voice.

Susan was well placed to know about that. Last year, Karkaroff testified during the trial that sent Peter Pettigrew to Azkaban, but not about the murder of Harry's father. He admitted to being present when a large part of Susan's family, including her uncle, her grandparents, and many of her cousins were savagely slaughtered. According to Karkaroff himself, although he was present this day, he didn't kill anybody, for he was stupefied early in the battle, but if Harry was to rely on his mother, Sirius and Remus, they couldn't trust Karkaroff's word. And he still participated to the assault, even if he didn't cast any Killing Curse. He wondered how it was for Susan to be close to a man who participated to her family's slaughter. Harry couldn't imagine himself suffering Pettigrew as a guest at Hogwarts, if he had been still alive.

"I suppose that explains why they're both so afraid of Moody," Harry commented. This had been the first time Harry saw Snape afraid of a Professor of Defence Against the Dark Arts.

Susan nodded. "I'm lucky my parents let me come to Hogwarts this year."

"What? They wanted to keep you home?"

"When they heard about the Triwizard Tournament and that Karkaroff would spend the year here, they wanted to send me to another school for this year. But finally, it didn't work. Still, they warned me to stay away as far as possible from Karkaroff and Snape."

"Wise advice. Though it's hard to avoid them at all times."

Susan nodded again, looking quite sour. "Hannah told me that Karkaroff only gave you three out of ten in the first task."

"Yes, he did," Harry confirmed.

"As fair as Snape is," Susan commented dryly. Harry could only agree. But he noticed something.

"Hannah told you about the score. You weren't there?"

"No. I didn't attend the first task."

"You didn't?" Harry was unaware of that.

"No. I… I didn't want to be there, in case someone died. I'm glad you got out of there alive. And Cedric too."

Harry nodded. He wasn't exactly sure how to feel about Susan not seeing him face the Hungarian Horntail.

"But well," Susan resumed, "Hannah told me in large details everything that happened. You know how she is." She had a timid smile and Harry nodded. "I made the mistake of mentioning how you got past the dragon in one of my letters to my parents, and I got a reply so long that my owl collapsed when he arrived."

"Why?"

"My father," she said, with an expression that meant it was obvious. Though Harry wasn't sure how. "I told my parents that you used your broomstick to get through the dragon. The same thing happened when I told them you had a Firebolt last year."

"That deserves such long answers?" Harry knew that many people almost worshipped the Firebolt, but to such an extent?

"My father is one of the engineers who designed the Firebolt," Susan then revealed.

"He did?" Harry asked, all surprised. He had no idea.

"Yes, he did." She didn't sound proud of it though. The feeling getting through her voice sounded more like exasperation. "My father is already unstoppable when he starts talking Quidditch, so imagine when this is about the famous broomstick he helped to create."

Harry remembered Susan explaining to him at the Quidditch World Cup how her father could make monologues for hours about any topic related to Quidditch. He wasn't sure if that was entirely true. He tried to imagine an owl struggling to carry a huge package containing a letter so long and heavy that it could barely make it to the Hufflepuff table, much like Errol, the owl of the Weasley family.

"You must have been happy when the Quidditch Cup was cancelled this year," Harry told her. At the mention of it, he felt a pang of longing. He missed Quidditch.

"Not really. I was afraid during the whole first task for you. And the others," she added.

"Well, it's true that the only difference between the Hungarian Horntail and the Slytherin Quidditch team, it's that the dragon has brains."

A chortle escaped Susan's throat after a moment. "Don't say that, Harry." But she smile was still very visible on her lips.

From far away, Harry noticed a large figure sitting on one of the carved benches. It could only be one person. "It's Hagrid. Would you mind if I say hello to him?" he asked her.

"Why not?"

The headed together in that direction. As they approached, Harry saw the outline of another massive figure sitting on a bench next to Hagrid. They were both too huge to hold on a single bench.

"The moment I saw you, I knew."

He heard Hagrid while they were still at a respectable distance. He could hear the emotion piercing through his voice. Harry stopped in his tracks, raising his arm to stop Susan as well.

"What did you know, Hagrid?" He heard Madame Maxime say.

"Harry," Susan whispered. "I think we should go."

Indeed, Harry felt that this was the kind of private conversation Hagrid wouldn't like them to hear. Susan gripped his arm to make him turn around, but it was useless since Harry willingly did it. They walked back towards where they came. Or so Harry thought. Because when they came this way, Fleur Delacour and Roger Davies were not busy snogging, their bodies only half hidden by rose bushes.

"Il y du monde qui se promène ici, vous savez."

Susan shot those words that Harry didn't understand before he could react. Fleur did react immediately to her words though, which were obviously meant for her. She stared towards Susan, recognized her, then grabbed Roger and brought him elsewhere.

Harry couldn't stop himself from laughing. "What's funny?" Despite the serious attitude Susan had, Harry thought he perceived some smugness behind it.

"It's the second time you tell Fleur off this evening. Few people do that."

She had a timid smile once again. "Well, she should try to behave correctly." They resumed walking away. Looking back, Harry saw Hagrid and Madame Maxime still discussing. They didn't hear them, it seemed. "I can't suffer her."

"You're not the only one," he assured, thinking especially about Hermione. Harry himself couldn't claim he liked Fleur very much. He hadn't forgotten how she called him a little boy when he was selected as a champion, and her general behaviour didn't make him like her any more.

"Be glad you don't understand French. Believe me, the worst things, she says them in her own language, to her friends."

Harry wondered how Susan could understand this language so well, but there was something else he was curious about. "What did Fleur say during dinner?"

"Nothing important," Susan brushed away. "I was just fed up with her."

They were back in front of the Entrance Hall. Another couple were kissing in the bushes nearby. Susan didn't tell those off this time, probably because Fleur was not among them. A much more rhythmed song came from inside, with shouts and yells being heard.

"I could use another Butterbeer," Susan said.

Inside the Great Hall, when they returned, people were no longer dancing the same way they did at the beginning of the ball, when pairs moved across the dancing floor. This looked more like one of those heavy metal concerts, with people yelling hysterically at the Weird Sisters. Harry saw Hermione dance on a frantic pace with Krum.

"Looks like Hermione is alright," he said, pointing to her.

"Good," Susan smiled, looking truly happy for Hermione as she took another bottle of Butterbeer. Harry also helped himself with another one, having left on a table the previous one he didn't finish. Susan took another deep swallow. "Ah. It's really good."

"You really like it?"

"I do. That's why my mother never buys any. Or I would empty the reserves within a single day."

They exchanged smiles and laughed shortly. Harry liked the way Susan laughed. She wasn't giggling uncontrollably like Parvati or Lavender. Her smiles and laughs were natural.

"Susan!" Out of the crowd, a disheveled Hannah came running to them. "Where have you been?"

"I needed some air," she replied to her friend. Hannah laughed almost hysterically. She looked at Harry, then to Susan again.

"When did you two get together? When did he invite you? Why didn't you tell us you were coming together?" Hannah asked in a row.

"Because I would have been bombarded with questions like now," Susan answered quite calmly.

"Well, you'll have to answer them now. Come. The others are this way."

Susan looked uncertain as she looked to him. "Do you mind, Harry?"

"No, you can go."

"This way."

Hannah grabbed Susan's arm, dragging her towards a nearby table. Harry looked around and saw Ron at the same table where he left him. Percy was gone. Despite their earlier disagreement, Harry decided to go and see him. As he approached his friend, he decided to keep some kind of distance between them by remaining standing against the table instead of sitting down. If need be, he would be able to leave more quickly this way. He also said nothing, waiting for Ron to speak first.

"You could have told me," Ron finally uttered. His voice didn't express anger or fury. He looked more sad or resigned this time. "About you and Parvati," he added after a time.

"I told no one. I'm not proud of having dated her. And I'm the one who broke out," Harry informed him, taking a swallow of Butterbeer at the end.

"I know. Lavender said so to everybody. She said you broke her best friend's heart." Ron looked up at him for the first time and raised a thumb. "Good job, mate."

Harry may have laughed in other circumstances. Ron himself seemed to find it funny, although he showed it sparingly in his current state of mind. However, he wasn't proud of breaking up with Parvati. Actually, he wished he never started to date her. Right now, she and her sister were sitting at another table, surrounded by boys from Beauxbatons. It had been stupid from the beginning to date her. It was way better to have Parvati as a distant friend.

Well, at least, as grumpy Ron was right now, they were still on speaking terms. Neville showed up at their table at this moment, and he sat next to Ron.

"Hi," he said.

"Hi, Neville," Harry replied. "Where is Ginny?"

"Farther. She's dancing with someone else. Michael Corner. You know, the Ravenclaw with black hair in our year." Harry remembered him. "You saw Hermione with Krum?"

Harry nodded. Ron didn't seem to react, still staring at Hermione and Krum. However, Neville kept talking about the matter.

"I understand now why she refused when I asked her to the ball. She said that she was going with someone else, but I almost wondered if she said it only to avoid going with me."

Harry felt he had to reassure Neville, even if it was at the cost of Ron's anger. "No, believe me, Neville, she was already going with Krum at the time."

Luckily enough, Ron didn't react to this. The music had gone back to a slower pace where people were almost hugging. Susan came back at this moment, accompanied by Hannah.

"Hey, Ron," Hannah asked. "You want to dance?"

"Eh?" he asked, as if coming out of a trance.

"Very well. Neville, I can dance with you after that if you want."

She grabbed Ron's arm and dragged him out of his chair, forcefully bringing him with her to the dance floor. Harry noticed a certain smug smile on Susan's face.

"What just happened?" Harry asked.

"Well, you suggested to Parvati that she should come to the ball with Ron, so I suggested to Hannah to dance with him. Maybe Ron will be less gloomy after that," she explained.

Harry didn't know whether he should laugh, feel grateful or impressed by Susan, or feel sorry for Hannah.

"I don't think Hannah would enjoy dancing with me," Neville said. "Ginny didn't, even though she tried to hide it." Harry couldn't argue with that. "By the way, you danced very well, both of you."

"Not really," Susan said.

"No, you did. Seriously. I'm surprised, Harry. You told us you couldn't dance."

"Me neither," Susan, taking a small sip of Butterbeer. From how filled it was, Harry thought it might be a new one. "Professor McGonagall taught us. She didn't want us to shame Hogwarts."

"Oh, yeah. It's true. Well, you danced very well. Even better than Cedric and Cho."

By mentioning their names, Neville somewhat soured Harry's mood right when it began to turn better. He tried to chase them out of his head again. "Thank you," Harry simply replied.

"I wish I had similar lessons."

"No, Neville, you don't." He thought about all the time and effort they made only to be able to dance for a few minutes tonight. It hadn't been worth it. The only real positive point to these lessons were that he had them with Susan and got to spend time with her. Though McGonagall made it less pleasant with her presence. Harry had found practicing dancing much more bearable, even enjoyable to a certain extent, when he and Susan practiced alone the last time.

"Well, I know Ginny would have liked me to." For the sake of her feet, probably, Harry thought.

Susan had already emptied her bottle. Harry was only halfway through.

"I think I will go for a walk again. Harry, you come with me?" she asked him.

Harry nodded, abandoning another unfinished Butterbeer and following Susan out. They took another path in the gardens this time, with a different view. Far away, they could see lights on a tall structure with towers and rings.

"Look, they decorated the Quidditch pitch as well," Susan showed him. He nodded. She was right. She looked back at him. "You miss Quidditch, don't you?"

"Are you sure you want to talk about this?" he asked, making a reference about her father she told him about earlier.

"You're not my father," she said with a smile, catching the reference. Harry smiled in return.

"Truth be told, I would rather face Malfoy a thousand times than have the Triwizard Tournament on my back."

Susan's face turned into an expression of sympathy. "I'm sorry you have to go through all this."

He looked back at her, staring in her brown eyes for a long time. "Thank you, by the way, Susan," he said. "For believing me. I should have thanked you earlier."

Susan was one of the few, maybe even the only one in Hufflepuff, who believed Harry when he first said that he never put his name in the Goblet of Fire. She never wore a badge supporting Cedric and downgrading Harry, and he heard she even had arguments with her friends over the subject. Harry found it similar to his second year, when Susan was as well one of the few Hufflepuffs, if not the only one, to believe he didn't Petrify Justin. If it hadn't been for her testimony that he wasn't there when Justin was Petrified, he might have gotten into trouble back in the time.

She smiled fondly at him. "I know you well enough to be sure that you wouldn't break the rules to risk your life in a stupid tournament. Everyone else who thinks so either doesn't know you at all or is an idiot."

It made him feel good to hear someone else actually say it. They arrived at a place where the path divided into two. One of them seemed to lead to the Quidditch pitch.

"If you're okay with that, we can go there to see," Harry said, indicating this path. Susan nodded, and they took it.

As they progressed, the garden remained mostly the same, with the same bushes and flowers, but there were fewer statues and benches in this section. On their way, Harry heard muffled noises coming from the bushes more than once.

"Really?" Susan said once, rolling her eyes. Harry could have made without these noises as well. He wouldn't want to be in these people's place when Snape would find them.

The most striking different was that as they kept walking, the miniature fairies were slowly replaced by miniaturized versions of Quidditch players flying around. Tiny Quaffles and Bludgers, and even Golden Snitches, also flew around.

"You must like this section of the gardens," Susan supposed.

"And you?" he asked her.

"As long as my father is not here, it's fine," she said with a smile. And they both laughed. Harry definitely liked her laughter.

When they finally arrived to the pitch, they noticed the path was leading to the other side of the benches, on the pitch itself. Harry noticed that lights on the goalposts and the towers were switching colors from time to time. He also heard explosions on the other side. He and Susan followed the path and emerged on the pitch.

Some sort of observation point, if you could call it that way, was established. It was a semi-circle demarcated by a red barrier in one corner of the pitch. There were about a dozen other people present, sitting on carved benches for some, but most standing, looking up. For over their heads, a play of fireworks was displayed, taking the shapes of Father Christmas, reindeers, snowmen, and other such Christmas figures, illuminating the ground under their feet. Harry noticed it was snow, but it wasn't melting, didn't feel cold to his feet, and that no footstep was visible in it.

"Do you want to sit?" Susan asked. "You didn't crush my feet, but my legs need some resting, I think."

"Of course."

He had no problem with that. Harry had noticed earlier this evening that Susan's high heels were very low, but they probably still remained high heels. He and Susan found a bench on which they sat, and watched the fireworks show from there. It was quite beautiful, colors reflecting on the snow in such a way that whether you looked up or up, you could watch a show. Harry saw some effects used during the songs that preceded the ball being repeated here. Polar lights, magical snow, shaped steam. Only it was without the music this time. They were added to the flashing lights installed around the stadium and on the goalposts. He and Susan stayed there for some time, in silence, observing the show unfolding over their heads. People came and go, watching the fireworks for variable time, then leaving. Harry noticed a few couples holding each other's hands, arms, leaning their heads against each other, talking in ushed tones, even silently kissing.

Harry's gaze wandered to his partner sitting next to him. He noticed both their hands were pushing against the bench to hold themselves in position. His left hand was only a few inches away from Susan. He would just need to move it a little on the left, and they could hold hands. Though he wondered how Susan would react to this. They were only friends, after all. That was why Harry wondered why he didn't think about inviting her, or even Hermione, to the ball before. He didn't need to come with the girl he was in love with. Susan even offered to accompany him when she learned that he had no partner. He was lucky to have her. Who knew with who he would have gone to the ball if she hadn't been there? He may have been desperate enough to invite Parvati, and he didn't think this would have gone well, whether she would have refused or accepted. He didn't know what would have been worse.

Despite not being in love with her, Harry couldn't help but notice how Susan was beautiful tonight. It wasn't that he usually found her ugly, on the contrary. Only, he didn't pay much attention to the appearance of his friends, whether they were boys or girls, and he didn't classify them as being ugly or pretty. Tonight, however, he couldn't ignore how beautiful she was. Especially right now, as the colors of the fireworks were mirrored on her skin, her arms, her hands, her neck, her face. Her hair fell like a waterfall behind her back.

"What are you looking at?"

It seems that Susan noticed he was staring at her, for she just turned away her attention from the fireworks. Harry was caught on the backfoot. And he stammered to find an explanation. "Nothing. I was wondering… your hair."

She frowned. "My hair?"

"Yes," he kept stammering, but then found something that truly intrigued him earlier tonight. "I noticed it's not moving. It always stays behind your back. I wonder how, especially while we danced."

She seemed to accept his explanation for she smiled afterwards. "Oh, yes. In fact, they do not stay behind my back. Not all the time. When I'm moving, they can move, like when we… danced. But once I'm unmoving again, or not moving much, like when we only made normal steps during the dance, they come back behind my back."

"How did you do it?"

"A little spell. It should hold for the night. I thought it was more convenient than having a complicated hairstyle that would untie after a few hours."

"You could have arranged your hair in a plait like you often do."

"Yes, but… I didn't feel like it. Not tonight. You haven't combed your hair either."

Harry brought his hand to his hair, feeling ashamed for a moment, but then Susan laughed lightly, and he joined her. They had kept talking in whispers to not disturb the others. Another question came to Harry's mind.

"I wonder what Hermione did to her hair. I mean… Well, I suppose it must explain why she needed three hours to prepare."

"She used a potion," Susan explained. "Some Sleekeazy's Hair Potion. I know because I ran into her as she was going to the Durmstrang ship. I didn't know back then that she was going with Viktor Krum, but now I understand why she was going in that direction. Well, she had a vial with a surplus in it. She gave it to me, saying she would probably not need it."

"Oh. So, you put some as well?" He didn't see how Susan's hair could be sleeker. Though, when looking at it closer, he did have the impression that she somehow managed to make it even smoother than usual.

"No. It's not advised to take it when you have red hair. Apparently, the results could be… surprising."

"In what sense?"

"I'm not sure. I think I heard Hannah say one day that your hair could change of color, turn to yellow or purple, even green. But I'm not sure if she knew what she was talking about."

Images of Susan with yellow or green hair surged in Harry's mind. He refrained from laughing. "Well, you did well to not take it then."

She smiled. "I think Hermione didn't think about it when she handed me the vial. She was probably just trying to get rid of it."

No, indeed. This wasn't Hermione's style to turn the color of other people's hair. That was more in line with Fred and George's mischiefs. Harry wondered if his father and his friends played such tricks when they were at Hogwarts.

"You didn't know any of this, Harry? About the potion?" Susan then asked.

"No." He never used potions for his hair. He didn't have to. Or he didn't see the need to.

"You didn't know that it was your grandfather who invented it?"

Harry caught off guard. "No."

She nodded. "Fleamont Potter. He's the one who invented it."

Harry didn't know. He knew that his grandfather, his father's father, was a potion-maker, and owned a company making potions and material to prepare them, but he didn't know anything else aside from that. His mother didn't give him a lot of information on his father's parents, no more than on his father. It remained painful for her to talk about him.

"Well, no, I didn't know."

They returned to watch the fireworks. Harry decided to keep his eyes on them this time, so that Susan wouldn't wonder why he could be looking in her direction. At some point though, Cho and Cedric walked into the pitch. Harry watched them, Cho's hair arranged into a bun attracting his attention.

"Ready to go?" he whispered to Susan.

She nodded, and they left. Cho and Cedric did not look at him a single time. Cho was clutching his arm and leaning her head against Cedric's shoulder. On their way back to the castle, he tried not to think about them and what they might be doing now that he was gone.

"It's too bad that the pitch will not be used this year," Susan said.

"Yes, I guess," he answered distractedly.

"Do you think you could resume these common practices you did at the beginning of the year when snow disappears?"

"I don't know." He didn't think he wanted to resume them, not with Cedric around. "Anyway, between the Tournament and exams…"

"True. Everyone will be busy. I guess some people think you're lucky to be exempted of exams."

"I would rather do them than face the third task," he found himself answering.

They remained silent for a moment after that.

"Did you manage to solve the egg, Harry?" she suddenly asked.

"No. In fact, I barely started." He thought he would have more time after Christmas. "When we open it, it just…"

"Screams? Cedric's is doing the same thing. He opened it after the first task in front of everybody."

"Do you know if he managed to solve it?" Harry regretted his question right away. He couldn't ask Susan to give him information on the champion of her house, especially when he was the only one chosen with legitimacy. However, she didn't seem uncomfortable or in any way indisposed when she answered him.

"I don't know. He doesn't talk to anybody about the egg."

Glad to not have made her upset with the question, Harry continued to walk with her.

"Find the solution, Harry," she said in a soft, worried way. "You need all the odds on your side. I don't want something to happen to you during the second task."

"Thank you," he said, sincerely touched. "I'll do my best. Will you come to see it this time?"

"If you ask me," she said. He smiled back at her as they emerged in the first section of the gardens, where fairies, not small Quidditch figurines, flew around.

There were more people around, sitting on the benches. Seamus and Lavender were among them. Seamus waved at him. Lavender followed his gesture, and she sent Harry a cold look on his way. He and Susan went back in the Great Hall, where the atmosphere was less festive. The evening was advanced, the music that played was slower, many people had sat down. Though there were not that many people sitting inside the Great Hall. Harry supposed that many went out. Only a few couples were dancing. Harry noticed Hermione with Krum again. Ron was nowhere to be seen. Again, he and Susan went to take a Butterbeer each and watched together the evening as it unfurled under their eyes. Dumbledore was dancing with McGonagall. Mr Bagman danced with Professor Sinistra. Karkaroff and Madame Maxime were nowhere to be seen. Hannah somehow convinced or forced Neville to dance with her, and Harry couldn't help but notice her wince once. Parvati and Padma were both dancing with a boy from Beauxbatons. Hermione remained with Krum. On the sides, Fred and George made people laugh hard by mixing something in a glass, resulting in something that look very foamy. Katie Bell was sitting with Angelina and Alicia apart at another table. He spotted Malfoy leaving with Pansy Parkinson, Crabbe and Goyle following not far behind them. Harry was glad, though unsurprised, that none of these two idiots managed to find a date.

The music stopped, and everyone applauded. The next tune was a little more rhythmic, though it would have been manageable to dance on with the technique McGonagall showed them. Some couples stopped to dance, and others came on the floor to replace them. Hermione and Krum went on separate ways. She headed in their direction.

"It's really hot," she said, leaning against the table next to Susan. Her hair was beginning to come out of her bun. She was breathing quicker and quicker, and sweating too. Harry supposed that the slower music had not begun long ago. Susan was fresh as a rose next to her, hair perfectly sleek.

"How long have danced?" Susan asked her.

"I lost count. Viktor is using the washroom. I needed a break anyway. Do you have something to drink?"

Susan indicated the table against which she was leaning. There were bottles of Butterbeer all over it. Susan had already taken another one. Hermione seized one and drank from it right away. She looked exhausted.

"So, having a good night?" Hermione asked them.

"I can't complain," Susan answered before Harry. She looked at him before returning her attention to Hermione. "By the way, did you know there were fireworks at the Quidditch pitch?"

"No."

"We just came back from there. It's very beautiful."

"Maybe I could bring Viktor there. I need a pause."

"I believe Sally and Ernie were there when we left." Harry did not remember seeing them at the pitch. "But be careful. We came across Snape and Karkaroff while walking in the gardens."

"I would rather avoid them tonight."

"Let me guess," Harry began. "R… Karkaroff is not happy either about you coming with Krum to the ball?"

He almost said Ron's name, but he took it back before he pronounced it. He saw a flash of anger in Hermione's gaze, but considering the words that followed, it wasn't certain if she caught it, for her anger could have been directed at Ron or Karkaroff.

"No, he didn't look like it," she answered, her voice hard. "When I showed up at the Durmstrang ship, he refused to let me in, and he also refused to believe that Viktor invited me. I had to wait away, until finally all the Durmstrangs came out. Then Viktor took me on the way, and Karkaroff had sort of not the choice to let him, because we were close to the Entrance Hall and there were people around from Beauxbatons, but also from Hogwarts." She took another sip of Butterbeer, which seemed to make her a lot of good. "Apparently, when I first told Karkaroff why I had come to their ship, he went to see Viktor, and made him promise to not go with me. But Viktor went to me the moment he was outside the ship anyway, and Karkaroff was powerless to stop him. I hope he doesn't get into trouble later."

Harry had a bad feeling that Krum was into a lot of trouble. Susan voiced the reasons why he thought so. "Considering who Karkaroff is, I'm afraid he's going to pay."

"So you didn't get to see the interior of the ship?" Harry asked her.

"No. But apparently, it's not very comfortable. That's what Viktor told me, at least. When I described him the Tower of Gryffindor, he looked at me as if he thought I was living like a princess. Sometimes, I'm wondering whether they even have beds in this thing."

Harry saw Susan shuddering as Hermione made the hypothesis.

"Durmstrang doesn't seem like a good place to live," Harry said, taking a sip as well.

"Well, there are good sides to it, according to Viktor. They have a very large park. He says that summer is fantastic in this place. Though it is short."

"I prefer Hogwarts," Susan said.

Krum showed up at this moment. He merely looked at Harry before going to Hermione. Harry noticed how illuminated his face became when he laid his eyes on her.

"Hermione. Do you want to dance again?" he asked her.

"Oh, if you don't mind," she said, "I would like to take a stroll outside. Apparently, there are very beautiful fireworks at the Quidditch pitch. Would you like to see them?"

"Very much. If you want."

And on that, they left. Harry and Susan were alone once more.

"Do you think they have beds in the carriage of Beauxbatons?" Harry asked, more to do the conversation than anything else.

"I wouldn't be surprised if they had a royal suite for Fleur Delacour," Susan retorted. Harry laughed as he was drinking from his own Butterbeer. "I'm glad my parents didn't send me there," she added.

"That's the other school they wanted to send you to?" he asked, remembering what she said earlier about her parents wanting her far away from Karkaroff.

"One of those. They also thought about the university, but they abandoned the idea."

Harry frowned. "University? What university?" As he knew, universities were not made for people of their age, and they were Muggle institutions.

"Not an university. The University. There are two wizarding schools in North America. Ilvermony, in the United States, and the University, in Canada. My mother went to the latter, so she thought she could get me in." Harry remembered that Susan told him one day that her mother was Canadian. "I'm glad she didn't do it. I wouldn't like to go anywhere else than Hogwarts."

"Me neither."

Harry considered Hogwarts like some sort of a second home. He couldn't imagine his life without going there.

The Great Hall was totally different from what it usually looked like right now, but it remained the place where the Sorting Hat sent him to Gryffindor, where Dumbledore announced Gryffindor's victory for three House Cups and one Quidditch Cup, where Hedwig delivered his Nimbus Two Thousand, and where Hannah made a show of throwing away the badges Malfoy and the Slytherins used to mock him. It was also the home of less pleasant memories, such as when his name came out of the Goblet of Fire. But tonight, there was no Goblet of Fire, and he didn't feel like a champion of the Triwizard Tournament. He was just a fourteen-years-old boy spending a relatively good time.

"Finally, the ball was not as bad as I thought it would be," he said.

"No, it wasn't," Susan commented. "I mean, there are moments that could have gone better, but overall… this is a good night. Thank you, Harry."

They smiled at each other, although Harry didn't think he had anything to see with how well the ball actually went. And he didn't think it went that well for everyone else. Wherever Ron was right now, Harry didn't think he was spending a good night.

The Weird Sisters were playing slowly as snow fell from the magical ceiling, as the trees bore witness to the last hours of their day, and as people kept evolving on the floor, most of them with their heads leaning against each other, like on the Quidditch pitch. The musicians played one last music note that they stretched for a very long time. There were so few people left that claps of hands were very thin. Harry and Susan politely joined the others in this. Like between each dance, some people left the floor, others joined it. They were about ten couples, and Harry wasn't sure if he knew any of them.

(Canon in D major; Johann Pachelbel)

Then they began to play again. This was a slow, melodious, sad song. Only this time, Harry knew this one. He heard it before. He didn't remember the title, but he definitely knew it. It was played even among Muggles. It was a mix of piano, lute and cello. Part of the melody in the back was a constant repetition of the same eight notes.

Harry looked at Susan. He wondered what she thought of this music, since she was in Hogwarts' Choir. She looked at him as well, smiling. He guessed that she liked it. She put back her bottle of Butterbeer on the table.

"Harry…" she began, "I know we agreed we were just doing the opening dance but… We've spent hours learning the steps. Maybe we could make it worth more than a single dance."

This was unexpected, but after all, Susan was not entirely wrong. They spent hours learning to dance, only for a few minutes in front of the whole school. Harry looked at the dancing floor. He recognized no one dancing there. His greatest fears when McGonagall told him he would have to dance were for people to mock him, and to fail to dance and cause an accident or something. Now, these fears didn't seem as founded as they used to be in his eyes. He and Susan had managed to survive through the opening of the ball without crushing, bumping, tumbling or falling. There were few people left in the Great Hall, and few really knew him. Finally, risks of accidents were reduced since there were far fewer people on the dance floor.

"Yeah, of course, why not," he answered. Furthermore, the music was slow, so they wouldn't risk performing hectic movements.

"Good."

Susan had looked embarrassed while asking him. She removed her black scarf, placing it on a chair. Harry clumsily offered her his arm. They both laughed at his attempt, but she took it nonetheless. They went to the floor like this, then faced each other, positioning their hands on the right places, and they began to move around.

Harry found it way easier to dance than hours ago. He didn't feel the gazes of everybody on him. They had place to move. He could focus solely on his steps and those of the person he was dancing with, the one he trained with for days so he wouldn't look like an idiot for a ball he should never have opened. But any thought of the Tournament was soon banished from his mind. The only thing that mattered was the dance he learned to perform, and the girl he did it with.

Susan also seemed more relaxed. Her left hand on his shoulder was no longer stiff, and their fingers were crossed so loosely he had the impression to barely brush them. Harry also didn't feel uneasy anymore about he way he held her waist, almost letting it go.

"Okay. I think we can try my thing," Susan said.

"Okay," he said, a little surprised, but not that much. "When you're ready."

"On the next one."

When the moment came, she released herself from him, only holding to him through the extremities of her right hand that held his own left hand. Her other arm extended as if she was trying to catch something far away. She remained in that position for what looked like an eternity, then she made not a single, but two rotations on herself before resting her back against him, then turning in the opposite direction under his arm to come back to their initial position.

"It went well," she said with a smile and a short laughter, which he returned.

"Seems so," he recognized, something still making his stomach lurch.

"Let's try again."

They did it again, twice, then another time. The tempo of the music was slightly increasing, and notes were getting higher. They laughed each time they succeeded to perform the movement. And at some point, when the instruments pitched high, without thinking, Harry performed the other movement, the one he struggled to do the first time. He seized Susan by her waist with both his hands and carried her around in a half-turn. Susan screamed in surprise. A little. It was barely audible. Harry was probably the only one to hear it.

"Sorry. I should have warned you," he apologized, returning to their steps.

But Susan was laughing. "It's alright. Let's try my thing again."

Again, the extension, the rotation, then the contrary rotation under his arm. Susan seemed to be having a good time judging from the wide smile on her lips, and Harry felt he was having a good time as well. This time, however, came to an end when the cellos ended the last music note after holding it as long as they could.

Harry had a vague feeling that the others around them stopped dancing and applauded the Weird Sisters. He and Susan stopped to dance as well, but they didn't join the applauses. Instead, they remained there, unmoving, looking into each other's eyes. Harry had never realized how deep Susan's eyes could be. He didn't withdraw his hand from her waist, and she didn't remove her own from his shoulder. The other two hands remained intertwined.

(Nights in White Satin; The Moody Blues)

Another song began. Slower. Smoother. This time, it involved guitars.

Nights in white satin,

Never reaching the end,

Letters I've written,

Never meaning to send.

Beauty I'd always missed

With these eyes before,

Just what the truth is

I can't say anymore.

'Cause I love you,

Yes, I love you,

Oh, how I love you.

Gazing at people,

Some hand in hand,

Just what I'm going through

They can't understand.

Some try to tell me

Thoughts they cannot defend,

Just what you want to be

You will be in the end,

And I love you,

Yes, I love you,

Oh, how I love you.

Oh, how I love you.

Nights in white satin,

Never reaching the end,

Letters I've written,

Never meaning to send.

Beauty I'd always missed

With these eyes before,

Just what the truth is

I can't say anymore.

'Cause I love you,

Yes, I love you,

Oh, how I love you.

Oh, how I love you.

'Cause I love you,

Yes, I love you,

Oh, how I love you.

Oh, how I love you.

Harry and Susan stared in each other's eyes during the whole song. There were no big movements this time. They simply turned around each other, not saying a single word. It was as if the world around them ceased to exist. All Harry could focus on were the brown eyes looking back at him, and nothing else. When the song ended, they stopped moving, their hands still joined, while the others applauded. Harry didn't know who initiated it, but it happened.

Their hands came off, and they faced each other, maybe only two or three feet separating them. They looked at each other for what felt to be a very long time. Finally, he didn't know why, but Harry broke the silence.

"Maybe… I guess we danced enough. Maybe we could sit."

"Yes. Maybe." Her voice seemed to come from far away. But after a moment, she tore away her eyes from Harry, and cleared her throat. "Let's go. There are others who want to dance. We should the space to them."

"Yes," Harry approved, nodding probably faster than he usually did.

She moved away, and Harry followed her. He realized he had been holding his breath. He released it and took a great inspiration. They sat down at a random table, and there remained silent. They remained still, not saying a word, looking at other people dancing. After a while, Susan spoke.

"I'm going to get my scarf… I forgot it…"

Harry only nodded. He didn't say a word as he watched Susan going to retrieve it. Her long red mane was still falling behind her back, not a strand on her shoulder. He watched her very closely as she had her back turned on him, registering each and every one of her movements. A foot taking a step in front of the other. An arm that extended. A hand that opened. Fingers that seized a black piece of cloth. A head that turned. Red hair that moved along with the movement.

Harry looked away the moment Susan headed back towards him. He tried to only look to the people dancing on the floor. Hermione and Krum were back. He tried to focus on them, but he was deeply aware of the human shape advancing in his direction. Of the legs that bent. Of the chair that creaked against the floor when she sat down next to him.

He shot glances towards her as they sat silently, watching and listening to the others dancing. He saw many small details he hadn't noticed before, such as the black scarf covering a part of her forearms. They sometimes said something, a few meaningless words, to which the other responded, but didn't engage in any long or meaningful conversation. They sat there, looking at the others, doing nothing.

Susan was sitting on his left. Somehow, their backhands began to brush each other. They hung down, his left hand and her right hand, almost lifeless, and in their little swinging motions, they sometimes came into contact, barely grazing each other. But with time, they stopped swinging, and remained immobile, in contact. The contact increased, from a barely sensible brush to a soft caress. Then slowly, their fingers moved, until they intertwined just like they were on the dancing floor. Their two hands were sealed together. And still, they didn't move, and kept looking ahead.

Harry wondered whether she was casting looks at him from time to time, like he did, when she thought he wasn't looking. He had the impression that she did. But he didn't dare to take the risk of meeting her gaze.

How much time they remained there, hand in hand, doing nothing but looking at the likes of Hermione and Krum, Seamus and Lavender, Megan and Wayne, dancing, Harry didn't know. The only thing he knew for sure was that when, at midnight, the Weird Sisters finished their last tune and received a last, loud round of applause, and when the ball was finally, officially, brought to a close, he was, to his great surprise, of the same opinion than those he heard who wished the ball could have gone on longer.

He and Susan did not stand up immediately when McGonagall announced the end of the celebrations and instructed everyone to go to bed, wishing a Merry Christmas once again. They waited as they saw people walk towards the exit of the Great Hall. Harry found that there were far more people in the Great Hall than he had been under the impression of. His hand remained entwined with Susan's. Then, as the last students were approaching the exit, she spoke.

"I guess… we must leave." Her voice sounded hoarse, almost foreign to Harry.

"I guess," he muttered.

Reluctantly, against heavy resistance, he released Susan's hand. He hadn't realized how moist his hand had become while holding hers. He stood up, as reluctantly as when he freed Susan's hand. She stood up as well, and moved towards the Entrance Hall, Harry on her heels, looking one last time at her perfectly sleek red hair. He remembered how it flew around while she twirled on the dancing floor. Once, he almost got it right in the face. But it always moved back into position, without anyone noticing, falling behind her back, ending halfway between her shoulders and her waist. They arrived into the Entrance Hall, where people said their goodbyes and wished each other a happy Christmas one more last time. Harry realized the moment was approaching for him too.

Susan stopped in her tracks, and Harry stopped as well, next to her. She turned to look at him.

He waited. Susan opened her mouth a few times, as if she was trying to say something, but no sound came out. Her lips ended up closing again each time without a sound having come out of it. When finally Harry heard something, it didn't come from her.

"Hey, Harry."

He turned sharply to see Ron walking in his direction. He didn't seem to be in any better mood than the last time Harry saw him. Suddenly, a part of him felt guilty for abandoning him the whole evening. Only a part of him.

"Going back to the Gryffindor Tower?" Ron asked, looking eager to go to bed.

"Eh… Yes… I only need…" he began.

"Hey, Harry."

He was interrupted yet again by someone else, and this time by someone he looked forward talking to even less. Cedric Diggory had approached. Harry noticed Cho waiting for him a few steps away.

"Yeah?" Harry asked Cedric coldly.

"Can we… be alone?" he asked, looking at both Ron and Susan.

To his regret, his dancing partner for the ball was the first to leave.

"Have a good night, Harry," Susan said before turning on her heels, walking away towards the Hufflepuff common room.

"See you in the dormitory," Ron said, shrugging, leaving Harry with the last person he wanted to be with right now.

"Listen," Cedric started to say, his voice very low. Harry was certainly the only one who could hear him. "I owe you one for telling me about the dragons. You know that golden egg? Does yours wail when you open it?"

"Yeah," Harry replied, uninterested. He noticed Hermione saying goodbye to Krum not far away.

"Well… take a bath, okay?"

Harry frowned. "What?"

"Take a bath, and… take the egg with you and… just mull things over in the hot water. It'll help you think. Trust me." Cedric seemed to be done, but then he resumed. "Tell you what. Use the Prefects' bathroom. Fourth door to the left of that statue of Boris the Bewildered on the fifth floor. Password's Pine-Fresh. I've got to go. I want to say goodnight."

Grinning, he went back to Cho. Harry stared at him as he took her in his arms, and they kissed. He was boiling from the inside. Really? Cedric was telling him to take a bath, and then smooching Cho right in front of him. Their goodbyes lasted long. Harry felt fury grow inside of him. He clenched his fists. He wanted to hit something in this very moment.

"Harry!" He was brought back to reality by Hermione. "What are you doing? Never mind, off to bed, now."

She walked past him and headed to the stairs leading to the Gryffindor Tower. Harry followed suit more as an automatism than anything else. It was probably a good thing. He didn't think he could have stood another second watching Cedric and Cho kissing. This image kept coming back to his mind, making him feel worse every step he took. Hermione walked faster than him, and she soon distanced him. He lost sight of her after she turned a corner.

Harry followed the corridors, walking alone. That was how he felt right now. Alone. Very much alone.

"Harry!"

For the fourth time since the ball ended, someone hailed his name. Only this time, it didn't bring him back to reality, for he was already in it. He turned and saw Susan standing maybe ten feet away from him.

"Susan?" He didn't expect to see her again this evening.

"Excuse me… I was… hoping to catch you," she stammered.

"Well, you did." He didn't know what to say. Susan, on the other hand, seemed to know more what to say now, to the opposite of when they went separate ways in the Entrance Hall.

"Can I ask you something?"

He was confused. "Of course," he replied mechanically. He wasn't sure what to make of Susan's presence. She was twisting her hands and talking very rapidly.

"You said you owed me for coming to the ball with you."

"Yes," he confirmed, still confused.

"Then… Can you do me a favor?"

A few minutes later, Harry stood alone in front of the Fat Lady. His mind was numb, and he muttered the password without thinking. But he needed some time to realize that it didn't open. The Fat Lady was asleep with her friend Violet.

"Fairy lights." He said it in a normal voice. He repeated the password again, and again, louder and louder, until he almost screamed, which woke up the two ladies, who let him in, though quite unwillingly.

He then walked in and was immediately welcomed by two voices screaming at each other, partially piercing through the numbness of his head. It seemed that Ron and Hermione resumed the fight begun earlier at the ball. A few people were staring at them as they screamed at each other.

"He's using you!" Ron roared.

"How dare you?" Hermione retorted, just as furious. "Besides I can take care of myself."

"I doubt it. He's way too old."

"What? What, that's what you think?"

"Yeah, that's what I think." Ron had an expression showing both anger and satisfaction.

"Well, if you don't like it, you know what the solution is, don't you?"

"Oh yeah? What's that?"

"Next time there's a ball, ask me before someone else does, and not as a last resort!"

Hermione stormed away on this and slammed the door of the girls' dormitory behind her. A few people kept staring at Ron while others walked away to their own dormitories. Ron looked as stunned as Harry thought he may have been not long ago.

"Well…" he stammered, "well… that just proves… completely missed the point…"

Harry said nothing. His mind was still partially numb, and strangely enough, he had a feeling that Hermione had reached the point much better than Ron.

"What are you looking at?" Ron asked around, and the few people still staring scattered. Ron then turned. "And you? What are you doing, gawking?"

Harry shut his mouth. He tried to regain his senses.

"Well, I'm off to sleep, anyway."

And on those final words, Ron stormed the boys' dormitory just like Hermione stormed the girls'. Harry found himself almost alone in the common room. He waited some time to let Ron get to bed, then went into the dormitory as well. He removed his dress robes, put on his pyjama, brushed his teeth, and went to bed. All the while, he kept thinking about one thing, only one thing, and this wasn't the dispute Ron and Hermione just had. He kept thinking about it after he slipped under the covers, and it pursued him through the entire night within his dreams.

---

So, like I warned earlier at chapter 136 (Parvati IV), you may decapitate me in the comments if you want, but please, do it gently if you're not happy with how this ball went.

Considering the length of this chapter, which could almost stand as a fanfiction on its own, I'm not going to upload new chapters for a while, to give as many people as possible enough time to read it.

Please review.

Next chapter: a new POV