The 4th year girls' dorm was a flurry of activity as the girls primped and preened, preparing themselves for the Yule Ball. They had disappeared up there hours prior, dragging Ginny with them, to pour over a variety of pictures from make-up books and magazines. Aria had even had her dad send her a few Muggle teen magazines with makeup tips which Daphne and Tracey found fascinating while Pansy and Millicent had both pretended, they had no interest.

They had, eventually, allowed Harper Elliot and Seraphina Borthwick in to watch them get ready. Both were a bit lost without Astoria around to boss them about. Aria still thought Seraphina was a snob, but she was a nicer snob without Astoria around, especially to poor Harper who was a middle-class (by wizarding standards) halfblood who didn't have the same spine of steel that Ginny had.

There was a smaller party on one of the upper floors for the younger students that had decided to stay at Hogwarts, and Pansy and Daphne eventually decided to be kind and do Harper and Seraphina's makeup and hair for it even though neither their makeup or hair were as glamorous as the 4th years and Ginny.

"One way to show class is to know when and where to wear certain looks," Daphne told the two girls after Seraphina had huffed. "A Yule party for eleven to thirteen-year-olds is not the same as a Yule Ball. You don't ever want to show up as a slob, but neither do you want to show up overdressed."

All the girls except Ginny and Tracey were in Gloria Keetering. Aria knew that the families were still persona-non-grata with the boutique and others due to the incident over the summer, but she was glad to see that at least they had been able to get their orders in before their mothers' poor behavior had essentially found them blacklisted. Each girl was in a beautiful dress with color that complimented them, though Aria could tell that Millicent would have preferred a darker set of colors over the pastel yellow she was in. Her dress was a wrap with cinched waist and a long V-neck that made Millicent appear taller and slimmer than she was. She had chosen to accessorize with a longer necklace and dangling earrings while her hair was piled on her head and curled around her face.

Pansy's dress was a stunning flame-colored orange cut with a peplum, giving the illusion that Pansy had more curves than she currently had. There were also shimmering gold accents climbing up the hem of the dress that twinkled in the light. She had further accented herself with gold jewelry and hairpins shaped like sunbursts with diamonds. Aria did not have the courage to ask if the hairpins had real diamonds in them or not.

Daphne had chosen an a-line dress of Carolina Blue with lots of tulle in the skirt and butterfly embellishments on the torso, capped off with petite capped sleeves and a low back. She had her hair done half-up and curled, silver butterflies adorning her hair and silver jewelry adorning her neck, ears, and arms. Tracey had chosen an a-line dress as well, though this one came with a halter-top, no tulle, but still had lots of volume in the skirt, and was a dark navy with an overlay of gold lace layering the entire dress until it simply disappeared near the hem line.

Aria was going to write to Gloria Keetering and tell her that she had outdone herself in putting together the dresses.

Aria, of course, got the appropriate gasps at her dress. Her dress was a dark purple the color of wine, its top layers made almost entirely if tulle and sequins that sparkled and shimmered in the light like fairy-lights. The tulle cinched expertly at her waist just under her boobs were the V-neck dipped a bit scandalously low for a fourth year. She was well-covered for that she was glad, though the front of her dress molded around her boobs as the fabric traveled up her torso to her shoulders where her no-sleeve dress rested on the furthest edge of her shoulders. Unlike Pansy's dress where the sequins climbed the dress, the sequins on Aria's dress cascaded from her shoulders to the bottom of the dress. Aria had gotten some jewelry from the Flamel vaults that she had inherited. According to Axel, Teddy had taken great pleasure in fetching the jewelry for her, and she had to admit that Teddy had a good eye for this sort of thing.

Ginny's dress was as green as the Slytherin house colors and accented with silver. It was much more modest than the 4th years' dresses, though Daphne said that was expected seeing as Ginny was only thirteen and that her great-aunt Muriel had bought the dress. The dress had a wide band around Ginny's natural waist and a sweetheart neckline. The sequins remained mostly along the torso, and while there were no sleeves, it had a covered back that was held together with tiny pearl buttons.

Aria thought they all looked like something out of a fairytale.

"Are you girls ready yet?" Draco's voice carried through the closed door. The girls took one last look at each other, giggled madly, and hurried out the door and into the common room where their dates were waiting except for Neville who would meet them outside the Great Hall.

"We need a picture!" Millicent declared.

"We need lots of pictures," Pansy corrected. The boys groaned, but played along and smiled when they were supposed to. First, Draco was ordered to take a picture of the fourth-year girls together, then the fourth year girls and Ginny. The boys had a group picture too, first as a group which meant that Cassius Warrington got to be a part of the group since Millicent had managed to catch his eye (much to the envy of nearly every Slytherin girl), followed by a picture of just the fourth-year boys. Crabbe and Goyle were noticeably absent, having decided to go home for the holidays instead of staying. Aria thought it had something to do with being rejected by every girl they asked to the ball.

Finally, Ginny took a picture of all the fourth years together.

Pictures concluded; they headed up out of the dungeons.

Aria gasped as they came out into the atrium. The entirety of Hogwarts had been transformed into a winter wonderland of gold, silver, and green. Fairies and candles floated about, casting a soft glow and she was certain that if she could see into the Great Hall, that there would be snow coming down from the ceiling.

"Surprised you actually showed up, Bourne," Graham Montague sneered as he passed by with his Ravenclaw date. "We all know you never got another date."

"Don't spoil the night," Cassius snapped.

"Aria! Harry!" Hermione's voice carried over everyone's head and the Slytherins turned to greet the group of Gryffindors making their way down the grand staircase. Hermione's periwinkle dress floated around her legs as she seemed to glide down the stairs, her hair artfully done and her curls not frizzy for once. Lavender wore a pink dress, which didn't surprise Aria at all. Her eyes fell on Parvati's sari and her mouth dropped. She thought her dress had a lot of sequins, but Parvati's took the cake!

"Parvati, you're gorgeous!" Aria cried. Parvati grinned, twirling for everyone. The skirt of her sari flared out and the light glistened off the gold. The base of Parvati's sari was a darker orange than Pansy's dress, leaning towards red in its color, and there was an astounding amount of gold embroidery.

"Isn't your dress heavy?" Tracey asked. "It looks heavy."

"Gotta patti only looks heavy," Parvati answered. "It's actually quite light, even with all this being real gold."

"Ginny, you look amazing," Neville said. Neville's robes fit him perfectly and he tried to wear them well by standing up straighter, but Aria could see that he was uncomfortable in them. Hopefully Ginny's easy-going nature would help their friend relax a bit more. He had come a long way since first year, had really grown in confidence, especially last year with Remus around to act like a mentor.

Seamus and Dean both looked dapper in their robes. Dean had decided on a style that took inspiration from Muggle coat tails. Ron had changed the color of his robe's cravat to a shimmering gold to match Padma who was now coming down the stairs with Lisa Turpin and Luna Lovegood.

Luna had chosen a soft pastel pink which may have washed anyone else out, but for Luna, it made her look ethereal. The dress was Grecian in style with a single halter top instead of two strips of cloth over the shoulders. Someone had taken the time to weave her hair into a flower crown of white snowdrops and she wore bottlecap earrings.

She really did look pretty.

Harry offered his arm to Luna who took it with a smile.

"There they are!" Viktor came through the crowd, Nikola on his heels. They stopped short of the group, clicked their heels together and bowed together. Aria and Hermione grinned at their antics, admiring their formal wear. Both Viktor and Nikola had chosen a more militaristic uniform. Their knee-high boots were polished black, their black pants were tucked neatly into the top of the boots, and their dress tunics were tailored perfectly to their size. While Viktor had taken the traditional Bulgarian red as his color for the night, a nice compliment to Hermione's periwinkle dress, Nikola had chosen a rich burgundy. Both wore capes off their shoulders.

"You can't be serious," Pansy cried even as she slid her arm around Draco's. "You moved up!"

"Thanks, Pansy," Draco drawled, pretending to be offended.

"Come," Nikola urged Aria, pulling her away from her friends. "I vish to reintroduce you to my parents and siblings."

"Your brother and sister came too?"

"Da. As did the Minister and his wife. Many dignitaries from the Eastern bloc and so forth. All very important. Many have expressed a vish to meet you."

"Me? Why?"

"Did you not see the newspapers about you and Lord Malfoy?"

"I saw the Daily Prophet."

"Other newspapers reported afterwards. There has been great excitement on the continent, according to Viktor's mother. Lord Malfoy's reputation precedes him."

"And now mine does too," Aria quipped, gripping Nikola's arm even tighter. They approached a large group of people chattering away in Bulgarian. Aria recognized the Royal Guards in their black uniforms, and who could forget Nikola's little siblings? Desislava and Ivan were dressed in formal robes and dresses, clearly designed to not only show off their royal status, but their ages. Desislava's dress had many bows, and her sleeves were puffed, nor did the dress reach farther than mid-calf. Her hair had been pulled into a braided bun and accessorized with a large tie-back headband in the style of laurel leaves set to diamonds. Ivan's dress robes were dark blue with silver embellishments and the cut was roomier to give him more space to wiggle about as the young child he was than the stiffer, more formal cuts for the adults and students.

The tsar and tsarina wore a crown and tiara respectively as well as red ribands held to their clothes by jewel encrusted medals. Nikola bowed to his parents in greeting and Aria, still clutching his arm, managed a curtsy where she did not wobble. The tsar and tsarina looked her up and down, faces less open and warm than they had been at the Quidditch World Cup and in the direct aftermath.

"Mother, Father," Nikola said as lightbulbs from the press cameras flashed. "I would like to reintroduce you to Aria Bourne."

"It is good to see you again, Your Majesties," Aria greeted.

"And you," the tsar replied with a nod of his head.

"Minister Oblansk," Nikola said in greeting, turning to a man standing beside the royal family. He too wore a riband over his robes, this time in the white, green, red tricolor of Bulgaria. "It's good to see you. May I introduce my date for the night, my friend Aria Bourne?"

Aria shook the man's hand.

"You vere up in the Top Box this summer," the minister said with a warmer smiler than the royals.

"I was," Aria answered.

"And I recently heard that you had a bit of an altercation with Lord Abraxas Malfoy."

"I think the whole world's heard the story at this point," Aria complained. She felt someone tap her arm and she looked down to see Desislava looking at her with scrunched eyebrows.

"Are you really mŭgŭloroden?" the little princess asked. "I've never met one before. You're much prettier than the storybooks say."

Aria guffawed as Nikola hissed at his sister in Bulgarian. She might not know Bulgarian, but she could guess what Desislava asked.

"I am a Muggleborn," Aria told her. Her and Ivan's eyes widened. "Now you can say you've met one. And I'm glad you think I'm pretty. You're very pretty too."

"You look like Vila Samodiva!" Ivan said.

"Eh?" Nikola cried. "She is my date. Go find your own."

"You'll have to explain that one later," Aria laughed.

Viktor and Hermione appeared at that moment with Viktor's parents. The Bulgarians greeted the royal family, and the royal family greeted them warmly, clearly showing that the friendship was not just between Nikola and Viktor. Hermione also curtsied a greeting and she received a polite but cool greeting like Aria. More cameras flashed as they took pictures of Viktor and Hermione. It was clear that the Eastern European papers were going all out on reporting the event.

Across the atrium Aria noted that several journalists were taking pictures of Fleur and Roger Davies from Ravenclaw, clearly showing they were from, at least, French newspapers though Aria was coming to realize that a lot of Western Europe went to Beauxbatons. Another look across the atrium and she saw a reporter and cameraman taking pictures of both Cedric and Cho and Harry and Luna. Rita Skeeter was not in sight. She hoped Skeeter had tripped over her own ego and died.

"Come, Nikola," the tsar said, gesturing for his family and the Krums to gather closer alongside Minister Oblansk and the other Eastern European dignitaries. "We have got to greet people."

The large contingency made their way around the atrium, greeting the French Minister of Magic, a witch named Annette Dupont, the Delacours, and the French ICW representatives, Lord Maël Archambeau and Lady Colette Lamar. The lady greeted Aria with kisses to her cheeks.

"Bonjour, petit," Lady Lamar said with a bright smile. "I am so happy to meet you. You, demoiselle, have made quite a stir over in France."

"I have?" Aria questioned. "Oh dear. I seem to be doing quite a lot of that lately."

"Indeed! Armand Malfoy first came to England with William the Conqueror. Even though it's been a thousand years since, the two sides of the family are still in regular contact with each other. Every few generations there is a marriage to keep the two sides aligned. The only difference, however," here the lady lowered her voice to a mischievous whisper, "is that the French branch is not so intent on blood purity as they once were."

"Ah . . . so Abraxas Malfoy's . . . misdeeds do not reflect well on them?" Lady Lamar shook her head.

"I also must say, petit, that it is good to see more Muggleborns fight against the worst of wixen traditionalism," the woman said. "From one Muggleborn to another, it is not an easy path, the one we choose, but the reward is great." She patted Aria's cheek before turning to greet Madam Maxime who had appeared with Dumbledore and Karkaroff. Aria quickly slipped to Nikola's other side to put space between her and the Durmstrang headmaster.

"Everything all right?" Nikola asked.

"Yes. Lady Lamar is a lovely woman."

A gong sounded, signaling to everyone that the doors to the Great Hall would open. The dignitaries, Heads of School, the Board of Governors, and the four Champions all lined up for the procession into the hall. Aria spotted Percy and Oliver among the group representing the United Kingdom and Ireland. She was not sure who exactly made up the entire group. She recognized Minister Fudge, Percy and Oliver, and Mr. Bagman. She did see Mr. Crouch eventually, though he did not seem to have brought anyone with him. She noted two men making conversation with Percy and Oliver, one of them having a beautifully dressed lady on his arm. For a moment she thought she might be looking at an adult Ginny Weasley before realizing that was silly, but her interest was piqued. She would have to say hello to Percy. Maybe not Oliver. She was still made at him from when Prudence had told her about what Oliver had accused Percy of doing, the idiot Gryffindor.

"Tell me," Nikola said, gesturing with his chin towards the Board of Governors. "If that man is related to Draco Malfoy."

Aria looked.

"Yes," she answered. "That's his mum and dad, Lucius and Narcissa Malfoy. Doesn't Mrs. Malfoy look divine?" She could only hope to look as beautiful as Mrs. Malfoy someday. She looked like a queen with a deep emerald dress, it was nearly black. Unlike Padma who had gold accents on her green sari, Narcissa Malfoy's dress used silver embellishments interspersed with diamonds that were probably real. Sheer fabric draped off her shoulders, nearly touching the floor and her hair piece was an arrangement of emeralds, diamonds, and rubies all cut to look like a wreath of holly berries and garland. Perfect for the season.

"I's forgotten Mr. Malfoy had joined the Board of Governors," Aria continued. "Lord Malfoy used to be on it, but he went to prison for having Dark Artifacts and was kicked off. That lady there, that Neville Longbottom's grandmother."

"Ah, Miss Weasley's date, correct?"

"Yes. I'm not sure who the man with her is." Both Lady Longbottom and the man were dressed well, but their dress was more reminiscent to the Edwardian era or perhaps even the late Victorian era. Aria still had not fully forgiven Lady Longbottom for her words to Remus at the end of last year.

Another gong sounded, followed by the deep creak of the doors to the Great Hall swinging open. Music immediately filled the atrium was inside the Great Hall. Dumbledore, Madam Maxime, and Karkaroff led the procession into the Great Hall followed by the champions, the Board of Governors, the British contingency, the Bulgarian contingency, the French contingency, and eventually the rest of the students.

Aria couldn't stop the gasp as she stared around her at the Great Hall. The walls of the Great Hall had been covered with magical, sparkling silver frost and hundreds of garlands hung about the hall, a mix of mistletoe and ivy, holly berries, and pinecones. The celling was a deep black with thousands of stars twinkling overhead while a gentle snow fell. The torches along the walls had been transformed to appear like ice, and all the house tables had been replaced with over one hundred round tables that could sit up to a dozen people. Each table had an ice sculpture at its center, encircled by a garland of some kind. At the front of the Great Hall where the Head Table normally was, an orchestra was seated, playing music.

"It's like a dream," Aria breathed. Nikola laughed as he led her up the aisle towards a set of round tables closes to the orchestra. It was clear that the tables nearest to the orchestra were the "head tables" for the evening and designated for the Heads of School, the Champions and their dates, and anyone visiting Hogwarts as part of each country's contingency such as the Board and ministry members. Aria found herself seated between Nikola and Minister Oblansk at a table made most of the Bulgarian royal family and contingency.

Each place setting had more utensils than Aria had ever seen. She had thought Professor Snape was half joking the night he had had the Slytherins go through an etiquette dinner where they reviewed what fork to use with what course and how to properly butter bread. Now she could see that he had been telling the truth after all.

She picked up the menu sitting on her charger plate. This was definitely a fancy meal, as there were more than three courses to choose from. She watched as the tsarina helped Desislava and Ivan choose their food and tapped her wand on their menus. Aria drew her wand out and began selecting the food she wanted for each course. There was a wide range of cuisines available with no specific theme except that there were enough different types of food offered that everyone regardless of the country they came from could find food they liked.

She started off by selecting a pumpkin and sage soup to be followed by candied carrots with honey, cumin, and paprika. For the salad she stuck to what she was familiar with and chose a simple salad with tomatoes, lettuce, onions, cheese, and a tart vinaigrette. She settled on grilled salmon with a maple syrup glaze for the fish course, as she knew she liked salmon but had never had maple syrup. For the first main course she chose roasted duck with a traditional orange-ginger glaze to be followed by a sorbet palate cleanser, whatever that was. For her second main course she waffled between lamb or steak as both were things she liked but rarely got to eat due to their expense, before deciding on the stuffed lamb breast with lemon, ricotta and lemon with rosemary potatoes. She immediately chose crème brulee for her dessert to be served with a coffee and macarons for the mignardise. She had no idea there could be a course after dessert, but if she got macarons out of it, she was not going to complain.

She was certain that she would not be able to finish all the food, but as each course popped up in front of her, she realized she might be able to. Each portion was small, except for the two main courses, and she remembered a tidbit that Daphne had told her which was that she did not actually have to finish eating each course. That seemed like a waste of food to Aria, and even Harry had balked at the idea of not finishing his plate, but Aria decided that for tonight she would take Daphne's advice and not finish every course.

"So, Miss Bourne," Minister Oblansk said once they were onto the salad, "I read in the paper that you told Abraxas Malfoy that you vant to find a cure for lycanthropy?"

"Yes," Aria answered. "I was upset to find our Britain treats werewolves after the uproar over Professor Lupin."

"Ah yes, we vas vith you all in the Top Box. He has written papers before, and I noted that the OWL and NEWT scores for Hogvarts were the highest they have been in years!"

"He was an excellent teacher," Aria agreed. "But I know he had been helping Sirius . . . I mean . . . Lord Black recover from his time in Azkaban and he has been made Steward for House Potter. So, he's a bit busy now."

"And you're being supervised by Potions Master Snape?"

"Yes."

"Has he introduced you to Potions Master Babic?"

"He did," Aria said. "At the YEP Symposium this past summer." She could hardly believe how much had happened between then and now. It seemed like a lifetime ago! "Unfortunately, he is not able to help me."

"Really? But he is one of the premier researchers in the area of lycanthropy."

Aria felt her cheeks grow warm. "Yes . . . well . . . he was going to help but, in the end, decided we had incompatible magics." Minister Oblansk choked on his water. Even Nikola's father on his other side appeared shock at Babic's words. Aria recalled what Fleur had said that saying meant and was glad that these high-ranking Bulgarians at least had the decency to realize how rude Babic was regardless of their views of her blood status.

"You've got a long road ahead of you," Minister Oblansk settled on saying. "It may be a silly question, but I assume you have good potions grades?"