I do not own anything from the harry potter universe, unfortunately.
"Normal Talking"
'Thoughts'
"Parseltongue"
If Harry wasn't already in such a good mood he was sure he would be pulling his hair out of his head. His ears were ringing and he was currently holding back a very irate owl. Hedwig was out for blood as she screeched madly at the golden egg that Harry had closed up just moments ago. It had been a while since he attempted anything with the egg so he decided to give it another go.
Biggest mistake of his life as it was just more of the same. Perhaps he was mad as all he was doing was trying to approach the problem the same way and hoping for a different result. In any event, even the annoyance of the Egg did not sour his good mood. After calming Hedwig he released her and she fluttered to a desk in his training room. Placing the Egg back into its bag he sat down and began to go over the Grimoire. He had been making decent progress with the spells and the conjuration spells he could perform with ease now and with his training with the casting technique he felt like he was getting close to the point where he could attempt to cast the Protego Diabolica spell.
Not to mention there was also the Ball to consider. It was today and the entire castle was abuzz with exciting activity. Or terror if you consider those that waited till the last minute to try and find a date. While walking through the halls he could hear excited chatter from the girls and nervous mumbling from most of the guys. Though he was one of those nervous guys himself, despite the girl's assurances that it would be fine he still felt nervous about the dance.
It was completely different than when he faced the Dragon and in all honesty, he couldn't decide if he would prefer the Dragon or not. Though it hadn't been all smooth sailing since Malfoy had decided to make a move on Daphne. He remembered stumbling upon the scene just yesterday.
He had been heading towards the great hall for dinner when he heard the familiar snobby voice of Draco. He peeked around and saw that he was alone and Daphne was with him. At first, he was confused as to why they would be together for any reason but from Daphne's expression, it was not a planned venture on her part.
"Look, Greengrass, you've had your fun. It's time to stop this madness, I understand that perhaps slumming it can be fun but this farce has gone on for long enough. You need to remember your station."
"My station?" Daphne asked her voice laced with disgust for the person she was currently speaking to.
"Yes, consorting with blood traitors and that filthy Mudblood, not to mention Potter. Greengrass, your father made his mistakes but you still come from a long line of purebloods. There are more appropriate relations for you to make." Draco said and from the way his eyes roamed over Daphne Harry could feel a burning rage begin to boil over inside him. Smoke and flecks of flame began to form around his feet as Demona became riled up as well.
Though he was stopped when a burst of laughter came from daphne echoing across the halls. It wasn't her usual amused laugh or even the cute giggles that he had come to know. No this was filled with nothing but pure mocking energy.
"After everything you have done. All your insults and barbs about my father and all of the sudden you expect me to... what? Fall into your arms like some love-struck puppy. You know what I take that back a puppy wouldn't even be able to find you the least bit desirable. Malfoy, I know you lust after me and since your daddy gets you whatever you want and you've never had to work for a thing in your life you expect me to just drop my knickers and say come on in. Well, tough shit, I have a boyfriend and he is superior to you in every way. So I am going to say this once and hopefully it will stick in your head this time. I will never like you or even tolerate you in any way. So leave me alone, I have a date to plan for." She said turning swiftly on her heels her hair whipping around as she walked down the hallway.
Malfoy just stood there shocked for a moment before his features morphed into one of rage. Whipping out his wand he aimed it at the back of Daphne but Demona was faster as she rammed into the blond boy knocking him to the ground.
"I don't think so Malfoy!" Harry growled out as Demona pinned the boy to the ground.
"Get your bloody mutt off me, Potter!" Malfoy screamed. Harry ignored him in favor of walking towards Daphne who didn't even look surprised at seeing him.
"Are you okay?" She obviously was but he still wanted to ask.
"Of course, I knew you were there."
"You did?"
"Yes, I saw the smoke from Demona." Harry smiled as the duo looked back at Malfoy.
"You heard her Malfoy leave her alone." Harry said as Demona gave one last snarl as she melted back into Harry's shadow. The two left the furious Malfoy.
Harry smiled thinking back to how Hermione and Susan both wanted to have some words with Malfoy as well but Daphne assured them it wasn't necessary. Speaking of the girls Harry's attention left the Grimoire and towards the door of the classroom and found his three girlfriends walking into the room.
"Hey, there handsome." Susan greeted as Daphne smirked at her.
"Oh, look who's being all bold today." She teased causing Susan to blush.
"Now Daphne don't tease her, we're all excited for the Ball tonight." Hermione chastised playfully with a smile.
"Are you excited Harry?" Daphne asked and Harry nodded.
"Of course, since I'm going with the prettiest girls in the entire school."
"Smooth, real smooth." Daphne smirked as the girls came to sit down next to them.
"So seeing as Daphne is your official date has McGonagall given you any instructions?" Hermione asked while Harry was assured that the girls had no problems with it asking one of them to be his official date still made him incredibly nervous. But just as promised they had no issue with it when Harry had asked Daphne to be his official date Susan actually made a bit of a joke and asked Hermione to be her date to the ball.
"Nothing except we have to meet in front of the Great Hall and share the first dance as well as the dinner. After that, we are free to spend the evening how we wish."
"I'm still curious why McGonagall was insistent that you only bring one of us as your official date." Hermione wondered and Daphne snorted.
"I'm still of the opinion that she is just a prude."
"That's probably not it but in any case, it doesn't matter." Susan stated. "Also I got word from my aunt." She said and all focus went to her.
"What did she say?"
"She wrote me in code but essentially she's managed to make it to where she has been called in with her Aurors to bolster some of the security around the tournament. Using that she wants to meet with you."
"When will she be arriving?" Hermione asked.
"Sometime next week so she will be here before the second task."
"Does she know?" Daphne asked.
"She knows what we've told her, that's why she's coming to get more information and if necessary, evidence." Susan said but Daphne shook her head.
"No, no not that. Does she know about...?" Daphne trailed off while gesturing to all four of them. At first, Susan looked confused then her eyes widened.
"Oh no!"
"You forgot to tell you Aunt that we're dating?" Harry asked suddenly feeling even more nervous than he was about meeting the highly trained head of magical law enforcement.
"It'll be fine... I think." Susan laughed nervously.
"You think?" Harry asked.
"Well, yeah... maybe... probably." She said trying to give a reassuring smile to Harry but her nervousness made it anything but reassuring.
"Well if the tournament doesn't kill me we can probably count on your Aunt getting it done." The girls laughed at that but Susan was still nervous. Her Aunt was a kind woman but she had always stressed the importance of trust and honesty between them. Hopefully, she wouldn't take the news badly.
The group spent a few minutes talking to each other, Hermione and Daphne hadn't found anything about the symbols on the Egg and were coming to the conclusion that they were indeed just decorative. After a few extra minutes the group parted ways, they had a Ball to get ready for after all with Susan, Daphne, and Hermione all heading towards their usual bathroom while Harry made his way to the Dungeons to see if he could catch Blaise letting Hedwig fly off as he went.
"So... how do we do this? I haven't worn many dresses." Hermione said being the most nervous out of all three of them. Her entire experience with dances or parties had been from books.
"Don't you worry Granger you will have no issues, trust me." Daphne said with a smirk.
"Oh thank you, Greengrass." Hermione returned playfully as Susan pulled a few boxes out of her pockets and un-shrunk them. They had a collection of six boxes each containing their own dress.
"Okay, so we have a couple of options here. Hermione why don't you go and try this one. We can change the color with a spell if we want." Susan said handing Hermione a box. Taking it she went to the nearest stall and went about changing.
"Daphne?" Susan asked holding out a box which the blonde witch took but unlike Hermione, she just started changing right there, after quickly casting a locking charm on the door to the bathroom.
"What are you going to wear?" Daphne asked neatly placing her uniform on the edge of a sink. Susan for her part was looking at the boxes and picked one out.
"I looked through them earlier and I think this is the best one for me." She said and began to disrobe herself. Daphne easily slipped into her dress, it was a beautiful white dress that had a single strap going over the shoulder leaving the other exposed. The top and bottom of the dress had a separation in the middle where a single wrap of fabric that looped around her waist separated the top from the bottom. The skirt of the dress was asymmetrical being shorter up front falling just above her knees while it got longer towards the back falling just above her ankles.
Susan's dress, which was also white had an elegant lace top that looped around her shoulders leaving them exposed but it did have sleeves that wrapped snug around her wrists. The lace only went a little past the color revealing a bit of her cleavage but the rest of the dress fell naturally with a slight hug at her hips and the skirt fell a bit past her knees with a slight slit going up the left side.
"Oh, I see you are being very bold today Susie." Daphne teases and the strawberry blonde blushed hotly.
"It's too much, isn't it? I knew it." Susan said as she went to remove it.
"Don't you dare, you look gorgeous!" Daphne reassured before taking another look at herself. "I like this dress but... I don't know." She said turning to look at herself from different angles.
"Well, you've got choices how about this one?" Susan said handing her another box. It was at this moment that Hermione stepped out of her stall wearing her dress. Like the others, it was white with a loop at the top that went around her neck with the entire top covering her front but leaving some of her back exposed. From there it flowed down freely falling to her ankles.
"Oh, you look nice." Susan complimented with Daphne nodding her agreement as well.
"Are all the dresses white?" Hermione asked seeing the others and Susan nodded.
"Yes, but we can change the color if we want." She explained demonstrating by taking her wand and waving it over her own dress.
"Colovaria." She cast and like water from the lace downwards the dress began to change from white into a dark blue.
"Nice color choice." Daphne complimented as she began to take off her dress. Hermione looked away and Susan noticed.
"You alright Hermione?" Hermione nodded.
"Yes just giving her privacy." She said and Daphne giggled.
"You know we're all dating the same guy, eventually we're going to have to get used to each other. I'm not even naked anyway." Daphne said opening the box Susan had given her and began to put the dress on.
"Well, I guess..." She said bringing her attention back to the group.
"I think that dress looks very good. Want to try something else?" Susan asked and Hermione looked at herself in the mirror.
"Maybe... my hair kind of ruins it doesn't it?" Hermione asked trying to smooth down her wild hair.
"We can deal with that after you pick a dress why don't you try this one." Susan said handing her the dress that Daphne was just wearing. Hermione went to change in the stall but stopped deciding to change with the girls. As Daphne said, they would have to get used to each other. She undressed quickly though still covered her chest and faced her back to the other girls.
"Oh, I like this one!" Daphne proclaimed after finishing putting on her dress. The top consisted of a looped sash that went around her neck and crossed over her front making an X covering her chest and then going to the waistline. It left much of the belly and the sides exposes along with no covering on the back. The skirt fell below the knees but had slits that went up to about mid-thigh on both sides.
"And you said I was the bold one." Susan joked as Daphne appreciated her own appearance in the mirrors.
"Is this too much?" Hermione asked after putting on the dress that Daphne had on previously. Susan and Daphne both turned to Hermione who was looking down at her dress and occasionally up at the mirror.
"I think it looks great but we have one more here." Susan said pulling out the last box and handing it to Hermione. Hermione took it and once again turned around to change. Daphne and Susan who were okay with what they were wearing went about getting some makeup products out and ready.
"This is a bit much too..." Hermione said finishing putting on the last dress. It was a thin-strapped V-neck that hugged her sides showing off her figure rather well. It shows off some of her back and exposed some cleavage. The skirt was interesting it had two layers the bottom layer was a skirt that fell above her knees and the outer layer was a thin see-through skirt that went to her ankles.
"What are you talking about? You look amazing!" Susan said coming over to look at Hermoine in her dress.
"Are you sure?" She asked.
"Absolutely, Daphne?"
"You got it, flaunt it. If Harry's jaw doesn't drop to the floor when he sees you then he's lied to us and is gay." Daphne joked getting a snort of laughter from Hermione.
"So what color do you think?" Daphne asked holding up her wand. Hermione looked down thoughtfully for a moment.
"Um... pink but not bright pink."
"Let's try rose pink." Daphne said and with a quick incantation and wave of her wand Hermione's dress went from plain white to a rich rose pink color.
"Yes looks good. Now for me." Daphne said and repeated the process on herself her white dress became an emerald green color.
"Ladies... we look damn good!" Daphne said giving a sultry smile to the mirror.
"Well..." Hermione mumbled pawing at her hair.
"Oh hush, you look fantastic... not as good as me obviously." Daphne said with a playful smirk and Hermione and Susan both rolled their eyes in response.
"Yes, we know Daphne." Susan said lightly patting said Blonde on the head.
"Now Hermione, let's get to work. We'll teach you all we know about hair care." Hermione nodded as Susan and Daphne went to work.
Meanwhile, Harry was currently in his room with Blaise and he had two of his nice wizard robes laid out. Both were a sort of mix between medieval and modern style giving the suits a traditional feel but so much that he looked like he was in the wrong time period. The main difference between the two outfits was the coloring. One suit was blue with gold ornate detailing with a matching cloak. The other was black with a similar ornate design but with silver and a black cloak to go with it that had a silver border lining.
"Nice outfits." Blaise said going through some of his own clothes.
"Yeah but they're so stiff." Harry said picking up the black one and rubbing his thumb over the fabric. He remembered when he tried them on in Hogsmede.
"Oh, I can fix that." Blaise said pulling out his wand. Coming next to Harry as he set the outfit back down with a few wordless waves of his wand a sort of light blue shimmer hovered around the outfits for a second before dissipating.
"Go ahead." He said gesturing to Harry's outfits. Harry picked up the black one again and pulled a bit on the sleeve and instead of finding it unyielding it was now rather elastic.
"How did you do that?"
"When your mother drags you to all sort of social gathering you need to learn a thing or two to make yourself as comfortable as you can." Blaise answered returning to his clothes.
"So did you finally get a date for the Ball?" Harry asked. Deciding on the black outfit over the green.
"Actually yes, it's Luna."
"Oh, so you like her?"
"Well I wouldn't go that far but I can say that talking to her makes one think. Either because you're confused or she's talking about some surprisingly deep things. Do you know what a Nargle is?" Blaise asked as Harry chuckled.
"No clue."
"Great so it's not just me."
"So just as friends then?"
"Right now yes, she is very pretty though, I'll admit that." Harry thought back to when he met Luna and had to agree with Blaise while he didn't notice at the time Luna was a beautiful girl.
"I have heard some things about her though, I didn't recognize it at first but I'm pretty sure she's the one that some people call Looney."
"What why?" Harry asked and Blaise turned to look at him with a raised brow.
"You have talked to her, haven't you?"
"Well... yes but."
"Hey I don't agree with it it's just what I heard. Besides, it wouldn't be very Slytherin of me to judge someone based on second-hand information. That's what Malfoy would do... or Gryffindors." Blaise joked with a smirk and Harry laughed a bit at that. Before he might've jumped to the defense of the Lions but after spending so much time around Slytherin students that weren't Malfoy and his gang he found that Blaise's statement had more gravity to it. Especially this year.
"Well, I think she's nice." Harry said.
"Don't make assumptions so quickly Harry, maybe talk to her more than once before you decide whether or not someone is nice." Blaise said and Harry nodded.
"Yeah, you're right." It was pretty much what happened with Ron, he took pretty much everything he said at face value. It was the same with Malfoy, he only interacted with Malfoy and based his opinion of the entire Slytherin house based on him and his group. Not to mention Dumbledore.
"Change of topic, how's your Egg coming along?"
"More of the aggravating same."
The boys talked a bit more as they changed and both went out to the common room. Most of the students had already left for the great hall all that was left was Tracey, Jones, and a few others.
"Looking snazzy there Harry." Jones said with a little catcall at the end. Harry blushed a bit from the praise and saw what the two girls were wearing. Jones had on a rather revealing dress that appeared to be a bodysuit top but the bottom of the top disappeared at the waistline since she had a skirt that appeared to be separate from the top but Harry couldn't be sure. The skirt fell just below the middle of her thigh and was snug around her legs but not so tight that they were squished together. Her bodysuit top had a diamond cut out revealing some cleavage and it was a high cut so it also revealed a lot of skin on her hips and waist. The dress was dark blue in color.
Tracey was a bit more reserved with a strapless dress that hugged her torso leaving her shoulders and some of her cleavage revealed. The dress was smooth on the torsor before morphing into a slightly more pleated skirt. There was also a change of material with the torso being smooth but the pleated skirt was some form of lace over the original material giving the skirt an ornamental design on the skirt.
"Looking very nice yourself." Harry complimented and Jones smirked and spun in place.
"Nice? I'm gorgeous! But that's okay you're taken, after all, can't be showing too much interest in me or else your Girlfriends will get jealous." She said with a playful flirtatious wink. Harry rolled his eyes and complimented Tracey as well who returned it in kind.
"So we gonna go or what? Let's spike the punch!" Jones cheered as she sauntered off getting a laugh from the group. They made their way to the Great Hall and the closer they got the more sound they could hear. mainly it was chattering and some ambient music but nothing major.
"Oh I see my date, good luck Harry try not to step on their toes too much." Tracey said with a smile as she left the group who watched her. However, she continued to pass guy after guy, and when she finally stopped the group's eyes widened at what they saw. Tracery all but strutted up to a very red-faced and fidgeting Neville Longbottom.
"Well, that's not who I was expecting." Blaise said.
"I thought so." Harry said.
"You saw this coming?"
"I might've caught Tracey talking to Neville so I had my suspicions."
"Oh, this is going to be fun!" Jones cackled as she entered the Great Hall.
"Mister Potter! Mister Potter over here." McGonagall called him waving him over.
"Good luck mate." Blaise said and went to go find his date. Harry walked forward and stood next to McGonagall.
"Mister Potter, you look well, where is your date?" McGonagall asked and Harry looked around.
"She's not here yet but she will be soon."
"Good you will be coming in last in the line Miss Delacour in the front, Mister Cedric behind her followed by Mister Krum. They are waiting over there." She said pointing to said champions. Harry nodded and thanked the Professor as she went about making sure everything was set up properly.
"Champion Potter looking good." Cedric complimented and Harry nodded and took in the other champion's appearances. Krum was wearing something that reminded Harry of an officer's uniform that was all red with black accents. over one shoulder was a half cape that was draped over his side and was lined with thick fur. The pants he wore were simple black dress pants. His date was a pretty girl Harry did not recognize but she was dressed in a similar soldier style dress though considerably more feminine.
Cedric was in classic black and white dress robes though he still wore his Hufflepuff house crest on his chest. There wasn't much to say about his outfit but his date was another story. It was Cho Chang, a pretty Asian Ravenclaw that Harry used to have a crush on. In all honesty, he hadn't thought about the girl in a while which made him feel a bit bad but he quickly shook that off. She was wearing a nice blue and silver Asian-style dress with her hair done up in a bun which was decorated with a single ornate hairpin that looked like a feather. Her dress also followed this pattern as along the edge there were silver feather-like designs along the edge, and repeating patterns in the blue that harry would describe as teardrops.
Fleur was undeniably drop-dead gorgeous with her silver hair put into an intricate braid that fell over her shoulder with what looked like touches of glitter within the braid. Her dress was a light icy blue that had a loose hoop around the shoulders so it revealed some of her cleavage and much of her back. The dress was long and while it hugged her hips it still managed to appear like soft flowing ice in a way.
Her date was much like Cedric dressed in the classic Black and White but beyond that nothing much to tell. Though he did seem to be in a trance with a slight bit of droll at the side of his mouth. Funnily enough, Harry knew him it was Roger Davies from Ravenclaw and the quidditch captain if he remembered correctly.
"Champion Diggory, Champion Krum, Champion Fleur you all look brilliant."
"Don't lie I look so underdressed compared to you lot." Cedric chuckled as Cho smiled.
"I think you look very handsome." She said and Cedric smiled at her.
"Do not veel too bad. This is a uniform that all the Durmstrang students shall be vearing." Krum said and the girl next to him nodded.
"Indeed, It's a terrible bore but our headmaster is quite strict on this." She spoke much clearer English than Krum.
"Ah forgive my manners, dis is my lyubima." Krum said placing an affectionate arm around the girl's waist.
"Girlfriend. My name is Clara Belligar of house Belligar." she clarified with a smile leaning into Krum's embrace.
"'Arry, where is your date?" Fleur asked as she kept an eye on her date to make sure he didn't get too handsy.
"Oh, she should be here any... second..." The words began to die in his throat as he looked up a flight of nearby stairs and saw what appeared in his mind as three angels descend the steps. Hermione, Daphne, and Susan all looked stunning and all three were turning heads, most were shocked at Hermoines's stunning appearance. It was more than just her dress it was also her hair. Most had become accustomed to her wild unkempt hair. But now it was flowing glossy and free with slight curls at the end. Susan's hair was similar but with more curls than Hermione's and Daphne's hair was kept long and straight though she had bangs that she had swiped to the side and tucked behind her ear.
Each girl had just the barest application of makeup which did nothing but enhance their beauty even more.
"Uh oh I think we broke him." Susan teased as the three approached.
"Harry dear, are you alright?" Daphne asked with a playful grin.
"I... uh..." Harry tried to answer but for the life of him could not form any coherent sentence or thought. His attempt was met with plenty of giggles though.
"Harry breath, you need to breathe to live remember." Hermione said and Harry did take a couple of deep breaths as he tried and failed to calm his racing heart. Though eventually, he did manage to get his brain working a bit.
"You look... incredible." Harry said as a blush very present on his face. The girls smiled at him.
"Thank you and you look amazing as well." Susan spoke up as they came up.
"You look kingly." Daphne said rubbing the fabric of his arm.
"Champions get ready and line up. Mister potter your date?" McGonagall asked as she walked to the front of the group. Daphne then looped her arm around Harry's with a smile.
"Here professor." She said and if McGonagall was surprised by his choice she didn't show it.
"Very good, Miss Granger, Miss bones head on inside." Both girls nodded but not before laying a kiss on Harry's cheeks before heading in. Harry and the others lined up with Harry bringing up the rear with Daphne.
"Save the best for last I suppose." Daphne whispered which caused Harry to laugh lightly. Though Daphne was holding him rather snuggly so his mind was a bit distracted. And now that she was so close he could smell her flowery perfume.
"You all really do look amazing." Harry said and Daphne just smiled at him.
"Thank you, Harry." It wasn't long before Harry heard some music begin to play as McGonagall ushered the champions forward. Upon entering the Hall he was met with applause as the crowd had parted to make a lane for the champions to pass. The Hall was decorated with a heavy winter theme with a large pine at the back of the Hall that had a snowfall around it and was decorated with silver and blue ornaments. Even the tables and chairs he could see were made of some sort of ice-like glass. Harry looked up and saw a starry night sky with streamers around the ceiling and the same snowfall making its way over the whole hall but not falling completely to the floor like at the tree.
Looking over he noticed how little Daphne's dress covered her. And while he, as a male, was very appreciative of this fact he was still concerned.
"Are you cold?" He asked and Daphne shook her head.
"Warming charms." she answered simply and Harry nodded. The duo came upon the dance floor as the four champion couples took their places. Harry turned to face Daphne and she took his hand and guided his other hand to rest on her hip. He thought that it was a little low but when he tried to raise it she gave him a raised brow that told him that she didn't want him to.
"I'm going to apologize in advance for any smushed toes that may occur." Daphne laughed at that as the music started and the four champions began their dance. At first, Harry was very stiff and it showed he was so concerned with not stepping on Daphne and not messing up his steps that he forgot to just relax. Luckily Daphne expected this and her free hand from his shoulder and brought it to his neck so she could brush her thumb through his hair. Over the week she and the other girls had found that Harry became very relaxed when you brushed his hair with your fingers.
Almost instantly Harry's eyes widened a bit as his head leaned into her touch. His body become much more relaxed after that his shoulder was no longer so stiff and he didn't look like a fish out of water.
"Just relax Harry you're doing fine." Daphne encouraged and they shared a smile. He did relax and began to enjoy himself as he took in the moment. The softness of Daphne's touch and the sheer beauty she had. The gentle rhythm of the music. Everything else just faded, the other champions and even the crowd watching them as the duo continued to dance.
Daphne was in a very similar position, Harry's hands weren't soft but instead coarse from his time playing quidditch. She could even feel some muscle definition under his clothes and with a better diet, she was sure he would fill out nicely. His hair despite being cut shorter still managed to be slightly wild but in a more controlled sense than it was before. Though what drew her in the most were his eyes. Those brilliant shining emerald eyes. She remembered when she noticed them first, at that quidditch game. He had come flying past her but for that moment everything seemed so slow.
He was looking towards the snitch and she saw such determination and passion in his eyes that it took her breath away. Being in Slytherin and being a Pureblood she was so used to people's eyes always lying to her and betraying their words. Thankfully it wasn't so rampant in Slytherin as one might think but it was still there. But Harry's eyes were so pure to her, especially at that moment.
The duo who were lost in their own world came to a stop when the music ended and the crowd politely applauded the champions and their dates for the opening dance. McGonagall guided the champions to a long table while the other students filled in several smaller round tables. Susan and Hermione made sure to get a table closer to Daphne and Harry and were joined by Jones, Tracey, Neville, and Blaise with Luna.
"Neville?" Hermione asked as the boy blushed.
"Hi, Hermione." He greeted as she looked between him and Tracey.
"When did you two...?" Susan asked and Neville just looked at his date nervously.
"I asked him out a while ago." She said simply and Neville just nodded.
"And Blaise?" Jones asked seeing his blonde Ravenclaw date.
"We're just here as friends." Luna supplied "I'm Luna Lovegood."
"Megan Jones." Jones greeted the others introduced themselves as well as Dumbledore made his way to the front of the Hall. Harry and his Girlfriends were careful not to look into his eyes as he almost immediately brought his attention to them. A fact that Daphne found infuriating though she kept her composure.
"Welcome, one and all to the Yule Ball! A brief reprieve from the fires of competition. Firstly I would like to congratulate our Tri-Wizard champions on exemplary performances and wish them all the best of luck in future trials. Continue to strive for excellence and represent your schools with pride." A round of polite applause followed his statement. "Now let us enjoy this feast and the rest of this wonderful evening." He finished and with a clap of his hands, a banquet appeared on each table for the students to choose from.
Harry looked around and noticed Krum had taken his girlfriend's plate and began to fill it for her. Looking over he saw Daphne was going for her plate but he placed a hand on her arm.
"H-here let me." He said a bit nervous at first. Daphne at first looked surprised but it soon melted into a pleasant smile.
"Please if you would, I would like some chicken with broccoli and two buns." Harry nodded and carefully loaded her plate and laid it out before her. Cedric followed the two others' example and Davies was too enamored to even notice so Fleur rolled her eyes and loaded her own plate. When they were all seated they started to eat and began to talk. Mainly about random topics but Harry would occasionally look back towards Hermione and Susan as they seemed to be enjoying their meal as well.
Though something happened, right when he went to take a dring from his goblet he suddenly felt a force pull his hand away from his mouth. It was familiar as he placed the goblet down and pulled up his sleeve to reveal a familiar tendril of darkness wrapped around his wrist. Feeling for his bond he felt Demona and the urgency she was portraying. Suddenly the image of the goblet flashed in his mind after that an image of a snake with venom dripping from its fangs. Poison? That didn't make sense these drinks were supplied by the castle elves and they only took orders from the staff here at the school. Unless... it might not be poison at all. After all, Demona wouldn't be able to recognize a compulsion charm or potion she would just assume it was the poison of some kind and react accordingly. If it was then that probably meant this was somehow connected to dumbledore.
Making sure he didn't react he simply left the goblet where it stood and asked Daphne if she could share hers. Thankfully beyond a confused look, she didn't ask and simply nodded. After this Demona calmed down and Harry made sure to look as inconspicuous as possible and began a conversation with Daphne.
"So you're in ancient runes right?" Harry asked and Daphne nodded.
"Yes, I find it so fascinating Hermione's in the class too."
"Right, Jones is too, probably not in your class but she's taking her NEWTS I'm pretty sure. She showed me one of her rune matrixes when we were talking. It was brilliant."
"Do you want to try it out, It's not too late. If we study over the summer Professor Babbling will give you a chance to join our class."
"Will that work? The start of the class was in the third year I'll be two years behind."
"If we study hard over the summer she'll test you to see if you have the knowledge required and if you do she'll let you into her class."
"That could be interesting."
"It is interesting and very useful. I fancy becoming an enchantress when I graduate so I need nothing less than O's for my NEWTS in Ancient runes and charms and I will need to pursue a mastery in at least one of those fields."
"Sorry, but what's an enchantress?" Harry asked and Daphne smiled.
"An enchanter's or enchantress's main job is to create or invent enchanted items, they can also be called upon by the ministry to identify certain enchantments upon objects they find in raids and the like. They can also work for Gringotts for similar reasons and they also have a hand in creating wards."
"That's... quite a lot." Harry said in all honesty he hadn't thought much about life after Hogwarts. Especially with his life usually being on the line every year.
"It is but it's what I want to do. Failing that I'm also interested in becoming a healer so I will need O's in my NEWTS for Charms, Potions, and Herbology. I will also need to shadow Madam Pomfrey for my final year at Hogwarts."
"That seem's like so much though." Harry said very surprisedly.
"Well, a lot of this is only going to matter in my NEWT year so right now just focus on the OWLS. Besides I wasn't sorted into Slytherin for nothing. What about you do you have any idea what you might want to do after Hogwarts?" Daphne asked.
"Not so much, I just never really thought about it."
"Well to be fair, since I know you live with muggles, what do you know about the wizarding world outside of Hogwarts?"
"Um... Well, there's..." Harry sat back and realized he didn't know much of wizarding life outside of Hogwarts. He got most of his information secondhand from the Weasley family the most he knew about life outside of Hogwarts was Quidditch and that was because that's all Ron wanted to talk about. In fact, Hermione probably knew more about life after Hogwarts than Harry did.
"It's alright Harry, we have summer to talk about it and the rest of the school year as well, you know when your not fighting for your life or going on dates with the most gorgeous witches in the school." Daphne smiled as Harry blushed and she rubbed his knee with her own to add to the effect. The main dinner continued for a few more minutes before McGonagall came up to inform the students that the dance floor was now open. Upon hearing that many of the older female students began to rise to drag their dates up to dance. Thankfully most of the male students were more than happy to dance with their dates.
"Okay Harry, I think Susan and Hermione have waited long enough. Go get 'em, tiger." Daphne said urging him to go and dance with his two other girlfriends. Harry nodded and in a pleasant act of boldness, he placed a kiss upon Daphne's cheek surprising her as it was the first time he had done so. The smile and blush on her face were plenty thanks for Harry as he stood to walk over to where Hermione and Susan were sitting.
"Excuse me, but I couldn't help but wonder if you two were available for a dance?" Harry asked trying to be funny which worked as the two girls chuckled lightly.
"Well good sir, I am more than ready for a dance if my friend wouldn't mind letting me have this dance?" Susan asked and Hermione nodded.
"Please." With that Susan rose and took Harry's hand as they made their way to the dance floor. Like with Daphne this song was slow and Harry found their fingers woven together with his free hand resting on her waist. Though there were a few keen differences. Mainly the fact that he felt to soft mound pressing into his chest which caused his face to light up like a tomato. Susan was also very aware of what was happening if her blush was anything to go by.
"Sorry." she mumbled and Harry shook his head.
"No, it's alright... it's nice... wait no I didn't mean... not that they're not nice but... I'm gonna stop." Harry said as both of them blushed heavily and instead began to dance along with the music. Eventually, both were able to overcome their embarrassment and enjoyed the music and their gentle dance. Dancing with Susan was slightly different that Daphne, beyond just the physical aspects. Daphne had felt in control while they danced and was very sure of her steps and was confident in her ability. Susan was much more gentle preferring to just move with Harry and the music. If he had to describe it it was like dancing with Daphne made him feel confident while dancing with Susan made him feel relaxed. Though dancing with them felt right to him as well.
While the pair danced Daphne moved to sit with Hermione.
"Hey there, my boyfriend is currently dancing with another girl so I thought I should talk to you."
"Oh what luck my boyfriend is also currently dancing with another girl so I am free." Hermione returned and the pair shared an amused smile as they looked over to Harry and Susan.
"How's the evening going for you so far?" Daphne asked and Hermione smiled.
"Very well actually, Luna makes for some very interesting conversation, to say the least. I think Neville might be close to fainting." Hermione said as the duo observed said Gryffindor Dancing with Tracey. Neville's face probably couldn't get much redder and Tracey looked extremely pleased with herself at the moment.
"She can be very flirtatious when she wants to be." Daphne admitted.
"I also may have noticed a certain blond by the name of Malfoy making eyes at you."
"Oh please, I just ate try not to make me feel so ill."
"He looked more murderous if you ask me."
"I bet, he tried to... sway me into going to the Ball with him instead of Harry. Something about slumming it with the Mudbloods or some such nonsense." Hermione tensed a bit at the word Mudblood which Daphne noticed.
"I'm sorry... I didn't mean."
"It's fine, really. You're not worried about Malfoy though?" Daphne snorted in response.
"Malfoy may be a bloody idiot but he's not so barmy as to try anything with all these witnesses. Maybe when we sneak off to snog Harry rotten then he'll try something but we'll be careful." Daphne said and Hermione blushed at her words.
"Who said anything about snogging!?" she exclaimed and Daphne grinned.
"It's the night of the Yule Ball, a beautiful snowfall outside, a very nice dinner, and an evening full of dancing and good company. Can you think of a better occasion for our first kisses?" Daphne asked and Hermione just continued to blush.
"How do you know it's my first kiss?" Hermione asked challengingly and Daphne just cocked an eyebrow and Hermione pouted. "Fine... it'll be my first real kiss."
"It's mine too and like I said what better night to have our first kiss." Daphne said but looked around and spotted Malfoy and he was making eyes at her. He looked just like a toddler who was throwing a tantrum after getting his toy taken away. Sitting at his table was his usual troop and Pansy was trying desperately to get his attention. Deciding to stir the pot a bit he grabbed a goblet from the table and took a drink from it. But while she did so she gave him a side-eye look while raising her middle finger.
Malfoy began to fume at this, so much so that when Pansy went in for another try at his attention he snapped at her roughly pushed her away. Daphe was surprised at this and even a bit concerned for the girl who looked absolutely devastated and mortified. Pansy then stood with tears already rolling from her eyes and she left the Hall in a hurry. Daphne felt a bit guilty about what happened to Pansy but returned her attention to Hermione.
It wasn't long before Harry and Susan returned to the table with Susan looking like a happy toddler on Christmas with the biggest smile Daphne had ever seen on her face.
"You look happy." Daphne observed with Hermione smiling right along with her.
"I am." Susan answered simply and went to take her seat but not before Harry placed a kiss on her cheeks which seemed to make the Hufflepuff girl positively glow.
"Hermione, may I have this dance?"
"Are you sure? You can take a break you know." Hermione said, she wanted to dance but she didn't want Harry to be uncomfortable. Instead, he just grabbed her hand and helped her to her feet as the girl giggled and they both made their way to the dance floor.
"So how was it?" Daphne asked and Susan, still beaming, sighed contently.
"Amazing, and you?"
"Phenomenal. After this comes the cherry on top."
"Snogging?" Susan guess knowing Daphne and said blonde grinned.
"Snogging." She affirmed as Susan blushed but continued to smile.
Meanwhile, Harry and Hermione were very much enjoying their time on the dance floor though Harry found himself in the position of being the one to try and relax Hermione. She was acting just like he was at the beginning he could it in her eyes how she was counting her steps and was a bit rigid.
"Hermione it's okay. Just relax."
"I don't want to step on your toes." Harry laughed.
"I'll be fine let's just have fun." He encouraged and Hermione began to take a few deep breaths to calm herself and he could see her shoulders become much looser. Taking a quick look around he saw other couples dancing and one seventh-year boy decided to spin his date which Harry went to copy.
It took Hermione off guard at first so it was a bit clumsy and both of them ended up laughing about it as they continued to dance.
"I like your hair." He said and Hermione smiled at him.
"It took a considerable amount of effort. I like it too, it's much easier to handle now. Daphne and Susan will help me out maintaining it." She said and the two continued to dance. Dancing with Hermione was different from Daphne and Susan as he expected. He thought Hermione would be more like Daphne in control and sure of her movements. But she wasn't in all honesty she was dancing more like he was before Daphne calmed him down. Now he found himself in the more dominant position calming Hermione down and guiding her to have some fun. Not that he was much better at dancing but the pair enjoyed themselves to the fullest.
As the music began to come to an end Harry and Hermione left the dance floor, and none too soon since Harry could already feel the soles of his feet begin to ache. Before the two sat down Harry made sure to place a kiss on Hermione's cheek which brought a blush to her face.
"Welcome back." Susan greeted as the two came back to the round table that Daphne and Susan were seated at.
"Have a nice dance?" Daphne asked and Hermione beamed at her with a smile and a nod.
"Lovely, though I may have stepped on his toes at least once." Hermione admitted as Harry chuckled.
"Barely, I didn't even feel it." Harry assured as he looked around. He saw Tracey and Neville had left the dance floor and was enjoying a conversation by the punch bowl. Most of the Gryffindors were looking at Neville as if he lost his mind. Slytherin students just gave them curious glances but beyond that didn't seem to mind, or more like they just didn't care. Except for Malfoy and his lot who looked right miffed by Tracey's choice of date.
Then there was Blaise who was dancing with Luna it seems that they were in the midst of a conversation. One that was both confusing and intriguing if Blaise's expression was anything to go by. Harry also noticed Luna's dress and it was nice it seemed to be a simple double strapped long dress but it was decorated with what appeared to be icicles that were multi-colores and if harry had to guess they were colored in the same way the northern lights would be. It was definitely one of the more unique dresses at the Ball.
Though he also noticed that there were a number of Ravenclaw students who were looking towards the pair, some with jealousy others seemed to be quite angry. He maybe could understand the jealousy seeing as Blaise was a very handsome bloke and much desired by the many of the female students in the school. But the anger was something Harry found both confusing and slightly familiar. It reminded him of his time with the Dursley and anytime it would appear he would be enjoying his life they would take personal offense to that.
Dragging his eyes away from the pair he spotted Jones nearby the punch bowl looking suspiciously innocent. She was standing off to the side not even near the bowl talking to some other students Harry didn't recognize. Eventually, her eyes wandered until she saw Harry looking at her and she smirked and winked.
He looked back over to Neville and Tracey and could see that while Neville was blushing he was also looking quite flushed and so did Tracey if the slight red on her face was anything to go by. In fact, most of the students around the punch table were looking a bit flush.
"We should probably avoid the punch tonight."
"Aw! Are sure? We could always just go for it." Daphne said with a playful smile. Hermione looked over towards the table with the big punch bowl and adamantly agreed with Harry.
"Absolutely not." She told Daphne who pouted.
"Fine, you two are no fun."
"It's okay Daphne, we can drink some other time." Susan reassured and both Hermione and Harry looked at her with shock.
"Susan!?" Hermione exclaimed and the Hufflepuff girl smiled sheepishly with a blush on her face.
"Oh don't let her sweet girl routine fool you. This one time over the summer I managed to sneak a bottle of wine out from my parent's Cellar and she..."
"Daphne!" Susan exclaimed embarrassedly as said girl covered Daphne's mouth though you still hear her amused but muffled laughter. Harry and Hermione were just shocked, it was difficult for them to imagine how the sweet and kind Susan they knew had a bit of a crazy side to her.
"I'm not that bad, I promise." Susan reassured the two and Daphne snorted. "I just become a little less... refined if I drink." Susan explained a blush still on her face.
"She means more fun." Daphne said and Susan groaned and hid her face in her hands. They had a bit of a laugh but their attention was brought to the stage where the band was playing a sort of curtain made of mist-covered them up. Flitwick came out from the curtain to address the students.
"Hello students, now I do hope you are all having a wonderful time but now we have a special treat for you all." Excited murmurs broke out as it was pretty obvious the surprise wasn't so secret. "A band that requires no introductions, I give you the Weird Sisters!" The mist veil came down revealing a quite oddly dressed band and was met with a thunderous cheer.
"Oh my gods! C'mon!" Daphne said bolting to her feet and grabbing Susan who looked equally excited. Hermione looked confused but found herself being dragged along.
"Harry?" Susan asked and he smiled apologetically.
"My feet still feel a bit sore." He said but the girls smiled and nodded as they went to the dance floor. He smiled as they watched them and the music began in earnest. Harry didn't know much about music but he could tell that most of the magical world's music wasn't quite to his taste. He much preferred Queen or Journey to this stuff. It wasn't bad he just found that the lyrics made no sense.
Harry looked around and spotted Malfoy staring at him with fury and Harry rolled his eyes. Did the idiot really only come here to glare at him? He shook his head and looked around some more and spotted Ron. Who was, unsurprisingly sitting at a table slouched down in a hideous-looking dress robe. It appeared to be more ruffles than anything else and was an odd off-brown color. Next to him was Pavarti, while the Indian girls were twins he could tell them apart rather easily. Pavarti always wore more product than her sister and like to wear more jewelry, while Padma was much more refined.
Though looking at her he could tell that she was having a very terrible evening and Ron didn't care one bit. How she said yes to his invitation he couldn't even guess. He felt bad for the girl but luckily one of the Durmstrang students came over and she practically leaped at the chance to getaway. Beyond looking a bit miffed Ron made no motion to stop her. Harry just shook his head and turned away preferring to watch his dates have a good time.
Seeing the three girls all smiling and having fun, even Hermione who just let it go and danced with her friends. It was very heartwarming to see and brought a smile to his face.
"Oh look at you!" Jones said as she came over giggling incessantly. "You're so cute! All love-struck and happy!" she laughed her face flush. "You know so many guys asked me to the dance but I was like... no!" She laughed again. "They couldn't handle me! I'm just that great!" She explained making wide gestures with her hands. "Did ya see Luna? She has this super cool dress. You know because it's Ice! I wonder if it tastes like a popsicle?" She wondered aloud and a big grin split her face.
"I'm gonna ask!" she declared as she stumbled away towards the dance floor. Harry just laughed at the weird exchange and Jones's oddity.
"Enjoying your night Potter?" He heard a familiar voice ask as he turned and groaned seeing Malfoy. Though he could tell that Malfoy took a few swigs of Jones's special punch as his face was flushed.
"I was until you showed up, why don't you find Pansy to distract you or something and leave me alone."
"I don't care about the stupid whore!" Draco growled and Harry narrowed his eyes. He might not have had any love for Pansy but calling her a whore was a way out of line.
"Now Malfoy that's not very nice."
"You don't deserve her she's a Pureblood and your nothing but a disgusting blood traitor who deserves nothing in this world but like the boots of your superiors. She's mine!" Malfoy spat and Harry began to scowl himself. He knew that Malfoy was talking about Daphne and it was making him very angry. But he needed to control himself, he would not ruin what was an amazing evening so far with an outburst.
"You should just lie down in filth and die! Just like your filthy Mudblood mother!" Harry froze, everything began to melt away for him as his vision tunneled focused entirely on Malfoy. Billows of darkness and flickers of crimson flames began to emanate from his shadow. Slowly coiling around him as the smokey apparition of Demona's snarling fangs began to manifest behind him. The image of Harry looking murderous and the flaming smokey form of his hellhound behind him made Malfoy back peddle in fright before tripping over his own feet and falling.
Harry began to stalk forward with every step Demona manifested more and more becoming more solid, as her eyes blazed and her fangs began to glow like white-hot metal. Harry's eyes were glinting dangerously as he slowly began to reach for his wand.
However before he could even grasp it he felt a familiar soft hand grab his own, and two other pairs of hands grasp him and hold him close. Turning he saw Daphne, Susan, and Hermione all there giving him meaningful looks.
"He's not worth it Darling." Daphne whispered softly.
"It's alright calm down, come back to us." Hermione said and Susan just embraced him tightly. With their help, Harry did calm down and began to soothe Demona through their bond and the Hellhound gave one last snarl before melting back into his shadow.
"Leave Malfoy." Harry growled and even in his drunken state, Malfoy had some wits left to know when he should retreat. The only Slytherin trait he excelled at was self-preservation after all. Looking around it would appear that the rest of the students, at least the ones who were dancing, were too busy to take notice of the altercation.
"Let's take a walk." Susan said as the trio decided to leave the Hall. Harry was still running hot and angry but the soothing touches and words from his girlfriends. They walked for a bit out of the courtyard so they wouldn't be caught by Snape. Eventually, they settled for an alcove out of the way and private.
"What did he do?" Hermione asked as the group came to a stop. Harry didn't answer just glared at the air looking out at the falling snow.
"Harry, talk to us. Please." Susan asked gently placing a hand on his shoulder. Harry took a few deep breaths and remained silent for a moment before sighing.
"He came up to me, drunk from the punch, and started just doing his usual nonsense. He was going on about Daphne being a Pureblood and me being undeserving of her." Daphne growled at that. "But I wasn't going to let it get to me. I didn't want to ruin the night but... but then he..." Harry struggled just the thought of what Malfoy said made his blood boil.
"Harry." Hermione said gently taking his hand.
"He... he said that I should die, just like my Mudblood mother." Harry said repeating the words. The three froze when they heard it and the group was silent. Nothing but the sound of a gentle breeze in the wind to break the silence. Without a word, Daphne turned and began to walk away but Susan quickly grabbed her hand to stop her.
"Let go, Susan." Daphne said her voice low and cold. But Susan didn't let go as she had to reach out and grab Hermione's hand as she tried to rush past.
"You two need to control yourselves." Susan said and both whirled on the girl but stopped seeing just how angry Susan looked, it was unsettling to see as such and was enough to get Susan and Hermione to calm ever so slightly.
"I want to kill him." Daphne hissed out and Hermione nodded, though she was little more on the maim or seriously injure rather than kill.
"Oh he'll get his. Just not now." Susan said and the girls nodded.
"Hey... I'm sorry I didn't mean to mess up our night." Harry apologized feeling a bit guilty about rilling up everyone even though it wasn't his fault.
"Oh don't you dare Harry, this is nowhere near your fault. This is all Malfoy." Hermione said and the others nodded. The girls took a few moments for themselves to calm down, Harry was right. Even if it wasn't his fault they shouldn't let this ruin the night they were having, Malfoy would reap what he had sown.
"Harry, just forget about him, we'll deal with him but tonight is about us okay." Susan said as she brought back a smile and went to Harry to embrace him followed by Hermione and Daphne.
"You're right." Harry agreed as he brought the girls close to him. Feeling their warmth made him feel much calmer.
"I have something that could make this night get back on track." Hermione said and Harry looked at her but before he could ask he suddenly felt her hand behind his head as she brought her face in close and before he knew what was going on he felt her soft lips press against his own. Her eyes were closed but his eyes were wide but they soon closed and he melted into the kiss. Fireworks was the closest thing he could describe how he felt. Joy, love all these things rolled into one and they lingered as they separated.
"Hey! That was my idea!" Daphne said but her smile showed she didn't actually mind. Hermione was a bit in the clouds at the moment but responded all the same.
"Sorry..." She wasn't and she wanted to go in for another one but Daphne beat her to the punch.
"Darling." Daphne purred her eyes reflecting her flirtatious nature as she brought Harry close for his second kiss. It was just as fantastic as his first, though this had a bit more passion behind it he would say if the light feel of a tongue asking for entrance was anything to go by. He opened his mouth and almost immediately Daphne's tongue dominated his own. The sensation was something he enjoyed but was hard-pressed to describe.
Eventually, she drew herself back with a very satisfied smile as Susan came for her turn. Her kiss was soft like Hermione's but had a little less passion than Daphne's did her mouth would open slightly but her tongue never made it to his mouth.
At this point, the issue with Malfoy was as far away from his mind as it could get and the only thing on his mind was his girlfriends and how much he loved them. Susan pulled back and all the girls were blushing and smiling and Harry was sure his face was very red at the moment as well.
"That... that was..." Harry tried but his brain was a bit fried at the moment.
"Amazing."
"Brilliant."
"Fantastic." Susan, Hermione, and Daphne said in that order. The four were all smiles as they embraced each other.
Though none of them noticed a certain puffy-eyed tear-streaked Slytherin girl had observed the whole thing and looked rather envious of the situation.
Harry didn't notice but at the moment he probably wouldn't have cared, all that mattered were the three young women in his arms.
_SCENE_
Here it is the long awaited chapter 12 with the night of the Ball, the community poll had Daphne winning, by a rather large margin too. So Daphne was the official Date of Harry Potter to the Yule Ball. I hope I did the Yule Ball justice and made it enjoyable to everyone. Chapter 13 on the way! Hope you enjoyed and until next time this has been your Average, Ordinary, Everyday Fallen Angel!