Yo! Thank you to all readers so far!
The Yule Ball ended up being as scandalous as Harry had been hoping for.
After leaving Moody's rooms, Harry went straight back to Gryffindor Tower and got into bed, though his thoughts were whirling too much for him to get any sleep. By the time it was fully bright out, he was sure he'd only slept for about an hour if even that.
He wanted to find out what the stranger had been talking about, but Harry honestly wasn't the best at research and had absolutely no idea where to start. The best thing he could do, he figured, was get Hermione involved, but...he couldn't tell her what happened. She would kill him for being so reckless!
Maybe he could make something up? Pretend he'd just happened to overhear something and grown curious? Or maybe it was better to simply tell her the truth. He knew he could trust her. He just didn't want her to start yelling at him!
Either way, with today being the day of the Yule Ball, he didn't even have time to talk to her. Well, HE did, but she didn't. It turned out girls needed a whole lot more time to get dressed for fancy occasions than boys did. Harry didn't really understand that, but seeing the way some of the girls glared at some of the boys for questioning it made Harry think it was better to keep quiet.
So with Hermione not around, Harry ended up spending his time with Neville instead. He was going to go to the ball with Ginny. Harry hoped that meant Ginny didn't have a crush on him anymore. It was sweet, but she wasn't his type. In more ways than one…
When evening arrived and it was time for the ball, Harry, once he'd changed, headed down to the Entrance Hall on his own, having planned on meeting his date, or rather, dates, there.
The whispers started almost immediately. Most he could hear sounded surprised he'd shown up at all and were amused and not particularly surprised that he appeared to be alone. But the gossiping whispers stopped soon enough when all the students entered the Great Hall, leaving only the necessary students behind. And it was now that Harry took the time to examine his fellow competitors and their own dates.
His eyes fell on Fleur first who really did look very pretty, giving off an aura of her own, no doubt thanks to the bit of Veela blood she had in her. Her date, on the other hand, someone whose name Harry could never remember, left much to be desired.
Then he noticed Cedric, Cho Chang on his arm. He figured that wasn't too surprising. They were in different Houses and had, of course, played Quidditch against one another before, both of them in a Seeker position, but it seemed like they had something or another between them, mostly judging by the way they kept looking at each other.
And then he looked to Krum and-and...wait. Harry blinked. Well, he certainly hadn't seen this coming. He'd always thought Hermione didn't like Krum, but here she was, clutching his arm, a blush on her cheeks. She looked very pretty too, he decided. She would have to keep away from a certain redhead who was surely going to pitch a fit when he saw her though. Harry was just glad she looked happy.
Professor McGonagall bustled over just a moment later, quickly taking in who was left in the Entrance Hall, before turning to Harry, her brow pinched. "Where is your date, Mr Potter?"
It was Hermione who answered though, no doubt aware Harry would speak in Parseltongue if he even bothered answering, which wasn't going to get anyone anywhere. "Fashionably late, I assume?"
Suppressing a grin, Harry nodded but said nothing. McGonagall pressed her lips together, but before she could say anything more, Fred and George arrived, grinning. Apologizing, they approached Harry, greeting him in incoherent hisses that they were pretending was Parseltongue (and accidentally was on Fred's part, because he'd just asked Harry if he'd seen his gerbil). Harry, in return, greeted them in actual Parseltongue, not that they understood him.
McGonagall frowned again. "Are- Is one of you... Is one of you Potter's date?"
Fred and George exchanged a glance, and then, together, said, "We both are."
There was a gasp of surprise, possibly from Cho, and McGonagall stared before hurrying away, muttering something about this being very 'unconventional', not that Harry or the twins cared in the slightest. He knew things were only going to get even worse when they entered the Great Hall anyway.
The massive doors opened and the champions, along with their dates, began to enter. Fleur and her date-Roger, was it?-went first, followed by Cedric and Cho, then Krum and Hermione. Finally, Harry walked in, Fred and George on either of his arms. Or, more like he was on theirs. The cheers that had been echoing throughout the hall went silent abruptly.
Only the twins were aware of the way Harry had tensed, his grip on their arms tightening. They whispered, both of them, one after another, quietly reassuring him that everything was alright. Harry didn't say anything but inclined his head slightly to show that he was hearing them.
He didn't normally mind being around crowds like this or anything-he did play Quidditch, after all. But that didn't mean he didn't get nervous, and he knew a whole lot of these people were currently very annoyed with him, and he was actively trying to annoy them even more, which was something that could very easily go wrong. Especially today when emotions were high.
Now that he was here, Harry was very glad he had the twins with him. It made him feel much safer. Also, they were cute, so that was a very nice bonus.
The champions and their dates joined the adults at the larger table, and as everyone began to have their dinner, whispers broke out, quickly becoming louder and louder. But the twins kept Harry focused on them instead, the three conversing quietly.
Dinner was all fine and well; it was the coming dance that was making Harry anxious, even though he was pretending otherwise.
They spoke in English, or rather, Harry did, mostly because it couldn't be avoided if they wanted to be able to talk to each other. While the twins were perfectly content to pretend to speak to Harry in Parseltongue, it wasn't like they actually could, and not being able to talk to each other for the entire night was just going to be annoying.
That didn't mean they had to talk to anyone else though, which they didn't unless they were speaking to Hermione, though most of her attention was on Krum at the moment, understandably.
But soon dinner came to an end and the four champions and their dates moved to the centre of the hall, more surprised and confused whispers breaking out when both Fred and George joined Harry.
It was bad enough that Harry's dates were males (which was unheard of), but the fact that there were two of them? Oh yeah, this was definitely going to be on the front page of the paper. Harry was sure there would be many a few doing some pearl-clutching tomorrow morning.
The dance was slightly awkward, mostly for those watching. Harry, kept sandwiched between Fred and George, barely noticed, the three trying their best to do a three-person waltz without breaking out into laughter. Judging by Hermione's giggling, it was probably a sight to behold.
All three of them then escaped the Great Hall after the mandatory dance, once all the other students had taken up the dance floor. None of them even wanted to be there anyway, having better things to do.
Or rather, Harry didn't want to be there, and the twins wanted to make sure he had some company since his other friends were all at the ball. It wouldn't be fair to leave him alone, after all, and Fred and George hardly minded. They weren't particularly fond of dress robes anyway.
Not caring if anyone was watching (and perhaps hoping they were, as the twins both planted a kiss on Harry's cheeks as they left), the three made their way over to an abandoned classroom, had food and drinks brought to them by Dobby, and spent time laughing and joking, having their own little party.
Barty, disguised as Moody, watched the three go, an amused smirk on his face that was easily passed off as an uncomfortable grimace. Potter was nothing like the Dark Lord had warned him about. He was becoming very intrigued by him.
That's it for now. Looking forward to reviews! Laterz!