Chapter 18 – Yule Ball
Lyra and I were getting ready at the night of the Yule ball. Lyra was just touching up her make-up as she wore a floor length sapphire blue dress. I was sitting in front of the mirror with a frown as I kept changing my hair. I sighed in frustration and dropped my head in my hands. I heard Lyra chuckle behind me.
"Don't laugh at me." I grumbled in my hands.
"I'm not." I shot a glare at her. "Alright, maybe a little." She grinned as she walked over bare foot. "But you can do anything with your hair."
"That's the problem, too many choices." I pursed my lips as I looked in the mirror again.
"Keep it simple then. Your favourite length and colour."
"Yeah, maybe you're right." I tussled my head and it changed my hair into ash blond colour that reached my mid waist. I only pushed in two silver pins on each side before I slipped on my dress. Two pair of heels later, Lyra and I were standing in front of the mirror dressed for the occasion.
"You know I love Odin." Lyra started looking at me in the mirror. "But I'm so jealous you're going with Luke to the ball. Remember my huge crush?"
"How can I forget." I laughed. "You followed him around like a puppy for like a month in our third year." I wrapped my arm around her and pulled her close. "Odin's going to drool all over you."
"You think?" She asked nervously, pulling at her dress.
"Oh, yeah. Now before we go." I reached behind me to grab the camera. "Picture time first. Smile." I said as I let the camera hover in front of us. I tucked the camera into my small bag, and we headed to the common room laughing. Odin was already waiting for Lyra, wearing a navy-blue suit. "You clean up nice, Odin." I smiled and kissed his cheek.
"You too, Northon." He grinned before his eyes fell on Lyra. "I- you- Wow!" He stumbled over his words, which was incredibly adorable.
"I'll let you two love birds alone. I'm heading out to find my date."
"Wait, we'll come with you." Lyra put out her hand.
"No, you two enjoy your alone time for a while. I see you at the dance." I smiled at them before I walked out the common room.
The teachers have been busy decorating not only the great hall but the whole castle. Every corridor I passed had garlands, lights or Christmas trees in it. It was certainly a sight to behold, Christmas in the castle. I never saw it as I always went home or to the Diggory's. My eyes were fixed on the candles and the decorations, that I didn't notice when I entered the crowded corridor in front of the great hall.
"Fuck!" I heard a voice say, so I snapped my head to the sound. Luke was walking over to me, his eyes going up and down my body. "Northon, you look absolutely stunning!" He kissed my cheek. "I told you we would be the hottest couple tonight." He winked. Luke did look amazing, wearing a simple black suit with a white shirt. His tie was the exact same colour of my dress, and he was fumbling something out of his pocket. "It's a little corny." He grinned, but I saw a slight blush appear. "But it's a muggle tradition." I glanced down and saw a beautiful blue and silver rose in his hand.
"It's gorgeous." My hand grazed the flower.
"It's a corsage, but I enchanted it so it could be pinned in your hair. May I?" He asked holding up the rose. I nodded my head with a smile and let him tuck the rose near my ear.
"Thank you." I whispered before I kissed his cheek.
"Ready to head inside?" He asked offering his arm. I looped my arm through his and we walked to the doors. A large dance floor was situated in the back of the great hall, just in front of the teachers table, while the rest of the great hall was filled with large round tables, where they could sit and eat before the dance was going to start. "Where do you want to sit?"
"I don't know. You pick." I said as my eyes scanned the crowd.
"Uhm, what about-" Luke started but was cut off by my scream as someone picked me up and twirled me around. Luke looked to me in surprise.
"Fred! Put me down."
"As you wish, milady." He put her down and bowed deep. "I have to say, you're the prettiest person I have seen tonight."
"You haven't seen Hermione yet." I grinned and kissed his cheek. "But thank you. You know Luke?" I asked and gestured to my date.
"Yeah. Hi, mate." Fred gave him a short nod before he turned his attention back to me.
"You don't look bad yourself." I smiled as I straightened his collar.
"I'll take that." He gave me a lopsided smile. "We still have room at our table."
"Oh, no-" I was started to decline.
"That would be great, thanks Fred." Luke smiled, not noticing me tense up. "I'll get us something to drink. Fuzzy Wiz?" He asked me.
"Perfect." I smiled and he turned to head to the bar. The moment his back was to me, I glared at Fred. "I'm not sitting with her."
"Oh, come on." Fred wined stomping his foot. "You won't even notice her with everyone else around the table. Beside you need to show her off, you look way better than her. And we could use someone fun around the table."
"I don't know." I risked a glance at the table and saw George's eyes on me. His mouth slightly dropped open; pupils dilated. I tore my eyes away from him and looked down. "I don't think I'll get through the night with her at the table, I'm sorry Fred." I pushed passed him and walked to Luke at the bar. Luke just picked up the drinks from the bar and turned to search for me when I popped up next to him. I nearly dragged him to another table where Lyra and Odin were sitting at, he looked from me to where Fred was standing in confusion but didn't argue. I had just sat down in my seat when I saw that George was just in my eyesight. I mumbled to myself and made a move to stand up and chose another seat before others arrived and took place in the last empty seats around the table. Luke let his arm drape of the back of my chair and leaned in to whisper.
"Are you okay?"
"Yes, I'm fine." I managed a smile. Everyone had just taken a seat when the Champions arrived in the great hall, each pair went up to the dance floor and started to dance when the music began. I chuckled at Fred's reaction at seeing Hermione in her periwinkle dress. When my eyes found Cedric, I smiled at him, he was wearing a simple, nice black suit that suited him perfectly, the girl on his arm did not. I saw his eyes flickering through the great hall in search of me. It was only when the song ended, he found me. My breath hitched at the look he gave me. I smiled broadly at him, and he gestured that he would dance with me later after dinner as they sat down.
During dinner, Luke had charmed my camera to take pictures randomly during the night. It was a muggle camera, a polaroid or something like that, that printed the photo's that moment. And every time a photo was taken, it appeared in my purse. When I saw the Weird Sisters take the stage, I dragged Luke with me to the dance floor. But he didn't seem to mind and followed me without a second beat. We danced for a couple of song before Luke couldn't handle it anymore and went to get drinks. I was just about to turn to the table when a hand caught mine and stopped me in my tracks. I looked over my shoulder to see a beaming Cedric. He gave a short pull and tucked me close to him as a slow song started to play.
"I don't think Cho will like this." I whispered as I glanced to the Ravenclaw girl, who was standing in the corner, her glare fixed on me.
"I don't care. I want to dance with my best friend." He pulled me a little closer. "Who is making it very hard to stay just my best friend, looking like that." He whispered.
"Is this better?" I chuckled and pulled back, my nose large and crooked with a big mole on it.
"Even hotter." He laughed. "It doesn't matter what you look like, you know that."
"I know." I smiled as I rested my head on his chest, my features back to normal. "Did you tell Harry? About the egg?"
"No, I'm planning on getting him alone later tonight to tell him."
"Good." I nodded as I looked at him. "How is it going tonight?"
"Alright." He shrugged. "Better now I get to dance with you." He winked and I rolled my eyes.
"As lovely as this is, you better go after your date." Cedric looked at me confused and I nudged my head to the door, just as Cho disappeared through it.
"Let her cool off." He looked back down to me. "I'm good here. As long as your date doesn't mind."
"He doesn't. I told him earlier that I promised you a dance."
"Just the one?" He quirked an eyebrow.
"Maybe two." I pursed my lips to hide a smile. They stopped dancing together after the third song, and only because Fred tapped him on the shoulder trying to cut in.
"Can I have this dance?" Fred bowed so deep; his nose nearly touched the ground.
"If you must." I sighed playfully and he send me a glare with a grin.
"There is someone I have to talk to anyway." Cedric said, he leaned over to kiss my cheek before he darted away, and Fred took me in his arms. Because my back was to the table, I didn't see where Cedric went to. I thought he was going to find Cho, but he actually went to talk to George. Fred was trying to see what's going on without letting me know so.
"So, you and Cedric made up?"
"We talked." I chuckled as he dipped me.
"About?"
"Curious, aren't you?" I raised an eyebrow, but he just chuckled. "We actually... we told how we felt about each other." Fred stopped dancing and looked down at me shocked. I started moving again, not wanting the others to look at us weird. "We decided to stay friends. It isn't the time for us, maybe it will never be." I shrugged. "I'm just happy to have my best friend back."
"Wow, that must've been hard."
"Yes and no." I said as he picked me up and turned me the other side. "So, are you going to ask Hermione to dance?"
"Maybe later." He said as he looked to the Gryffindor.
"She'll say yes, trust me."
"Are you going to dance with George?" He asked, turning back to look at me.
"Why would I dance with George?"
"Because I know he wants to dance with you."
"If he wanted to dance with me, he wouldn't have asked Angelina." I huffed and stepped away from Fred.
"He thought you were going with someone else."
"And where did he hear that? Why not ask me? And why her?" I bluntly pointed to Angelina. "I'm going to find my date, thanks for the dance, Fred."
Fred didn't know what to say and stood there rooted to the ground as Gwen walked away. He glanced over to his twin, who had just given an earful from Cedric. He shook his head and headed back to George.
"What did Cedric want?" Fred asked as he pulled George to the side. George rubbed his face and groaned.
"He told me we were both idiots for letting Gwen go. That I fucked up the thing I could have with her. He basically told me, that she and him, even though they love each other, are nothing more than friends."
"She told me the same."
"Why didn't I just ask her? In the back of my mind, I thought it was fishy, why didn't I just ask her if she had a date!" He sighed and leaned against the wall. "The moment I saw her, she took my breath away, she looks absolutely stunning tonight."
"Go tell her that." Fred nudged him.
"What? Now? Are you mental, she has a date. I have a date."
"From all the people, why her? I think she wouldn't have minded if it was someone else. But Angelina has been gunning for her since the start of the year."
"I - I don't know why her. She was just there when I found out about Guinevere's date."
"You don't think that's a coincidence?"
George huffed. "I do now." He frowned before he pushed himself of the wall and walked over to Angelina. He took her by the elbow and dragged her out, with all the intend of knowing once and for all what she did.
"Do you want something a little stronger?" I asked Luke as I shook my purse in front of him. He glanced inside and grinned when he saw a bottle of fire whiskey.
"Let's head out to the courtyard, we don't want any of the professors catching us."
"Good thinking, let's go." I grabbed his hand and we walked out of the great hall. Luke had grabbed two glasses from the counter just before we walked out of the music filled room. Once seated outside he put a warming charm around us as I poured us each of glass of fire whiskey.
George dragged Angelina into the small alcove, and she giggled as she looked up to him. "What did you do?" George's voice laced with anger.
"What do you mean, Georgie? I just had a little bit of alcohol." She giggled again as she traced her hand over his chest.
"No, that's not what I meant." He stopped her hand from trailing down to his waist band.
"Or do you mean this-" She pulled on his collar and crashed her lips against his. George was too shocked to pull away instantly, so both of them didn't notice the flash going off next to them. George pulled away a second later and glared at her.
"Did you plan this with Cho? Did you two plan everything so neither I nor Cedric would take her to the dance."
"Maybe." Angelina growled. "She isn't worth it, Georgie. Come back to me." Her hands all over him again. He pushed away from her and stepped out of the alcove.
"This is over, Angelina." He said before he stalked up the stairs.
Luke and I were laughing at the pictures that had already appeared in my purse, sitting close together on the bench, my purse on my lap. The camera was doing over time as it floated around the yule ball. My hands clenched around one of the photo's when I saw who was on it. Luke was too busy laughing at a photo of Harry dancing awkwardly with one of the Patil twins, that he didn't notice. I put the picture of George and Angelina back into my purse and poured me another glass of fire whiskey as I downed it in one go.
"I had fun tonight, thanks for asking me."
"Anytime. Although, I wished I could have danced with you some more."
I smiled as I stood up and held out my hand. "We can dance right here." I explained at his confused look. He chuckled lightly before he took my hand and stood up, the music clear in the background.
"I like this better actually." He said pulling me flush against him. "More private." He whispered and it send a chill down my spine.
"I like it too." I locked my eyes with him. Luke was nice, handsome but we both knew this wasn't something that would turn into something more, maybe just something to let off steam. We actually talked about it before the dance, to not get our signals mixed. "I need a distraction." I said as my eyes flickered from his lips back to his eyes.
"Cedric or George?"
"Does it matter?" I asked as I stood on my toes.
"No." His voice low before he captured my lips, and his hands went low around my waist. The kiss was hot, needy and filled with alcohol. They weren't drunk and they both knew exactly what they were doing, but it felt like they both needed it. He walked me up against the wall as his hands trailed over my body. Reluctantly I pulled away.
"My room?" My voice heavy. He nodded his head against mine and took my purse from the bench and handed it over before he took my hand and dragged me to the Hufflepuff room. The way to the Hufflepuff common room was filled with giggles and kisses. He pushed me against the wall as his hand trailed over my thigh, making me moan in his mouth. I opened the door to the common room quickly and pulled him in. With a wave of my wand, I granted him access to the girls' dormitories. I glanced in my room and saw that it was empty. I pulled him in, and he pushed me gently against the now closed door. His hand went around my leg and lift it up while he trailed kisses in my neck, going down. He pushed the shoulder straps down and took one breast in his mouth. A moan slipped away, and I pushed him towards the bed, letting my dress fall to the ground. I smirked a bit at the look Luke gave me, his mouth slightly open. "Your turn." I gestured to his clothes. He snapped his mouth back shut and started fumbling with his buttons. "Need any help?" I whispered as I climbed the bed on my knees. I didn't wait for an answer as I start unbuttoning his shirt, leaving kisses over his chest.
"You'll be the death of me, Northon." He grumbled, his hand in my hair. I smiled as I pushed his shirt of his shoulders. When I vanished his pants with a wandless charm, he looked wide eyed from me to his discarded pants. And he growled as he picked me up and laid me down on the bed, placing kisses from my lips to her neck, all the way down. He stopped right in front of my centre and looked up at me. "You wanted a distraction." He winked and gave a too cocky grin before he leaned down.