FINALLY! MY FAVORITE PARTS OF THE WHOLE BOOK!

Just giving you a heads up: These Yule Ball chapters will have some dialogue from my stories Harry Potter And The Other Side and Twelve Kisses in them. And it will really be opening the door to Ron's thoughts and realizations about Hermione and I'M SO EXCITED! BE STILL MY ROMIONE HEART!

LET'S DO THIS!

Chapter 100: Shall We Dance?

"Potter! Weasley! Will you pay attention?" said Professor McGonagall, sounding very irritated.

It was the end of the lesson; we had finished our work and the bell was due to ring at any moment, and Harry and I, who had been having a sword fight with a couple of Fred and George's fake wands at the back of the class, looked up at her. I was holding a tin parrot and Harry, a rubber haddock.

"Now that Potter and Weasley have been kind enough to act their age," said Professor McGonagall, with an angry look at the pair of us,"I have something to say to you all. The Yule Ball is approaching - a traditional part of the Triwizard Tournament and an opportunity for us to socialize with our foreign guests. Now, the ball will be open only to fourth years and above - although you may invite a younger student if you wish -"

Lavender burst into giggles. Parvati nudged her hard in the ribs, even though she was trying not to giggle herself. They both looked around at Harry, who suddenly looked like he wanted to disappear.

"Dress robes will be worn," Professor McGonagall continued, "and the ball will start at eight o'clock on Christmas Day, finishing at midnight in the Great Hall. Now then, The Yule Ball is of course a chance for us all to - er - let our hair down. But that does NOT mean that we will be relaxing the standards of behavior we expect from Hogwarts students. I will be most seriously displeased if a Gryffindor student embarrasses the school in any way."

The bell rang, and there was the usual scuffle of activity as everyone packed their bags and swung them onto their shoulders.

Professor McGonagall called above the noise, "Potter - a word, if you please."

Hermione and I waited outside the classroom for him to come out. For some reason, she had gone really quiet.

"Alright there, Mione?" I asked.

"Yeah." she said, looking at me out the corner of her eye.

A few minutes later, Harry came out and explained that he had no choice but to find a date and do some stupid dance with the champions at the opening of the Ball.

I couldn't wait to laugh.

Everyone in the fourth year and above put their name in to stay for the holidays. They all seemed to be obsessed with the coming ball, or at least all the girls were, and it was amazing how many girls Hogwarts suddenly seemed to hold. I had never quite noticed that before.

Girls giggling and whispering in the corridors, girls shrieking with laughter as boys passed them, girls excitedly comparing notes on what they were going to wear on Christmas night...

"Why do they have to move in packs?" Harry asked as a dozen or so girls walked past us, giggling and staring at Harry. "How're you supposed to get one on their own to ask them?"

"Lasso one?" I suggested, shrugging. "Got any idea who you're going to try?"

Harry didn't answer. He didn't really need to actually. I had seen him eyeing up the Cho Chang girl a few times, and I knew he fancied her.

Still, there were more options than just her. And Harry must had not realized that he could have the pick of the litter if he wanted.

"Listen, you're not going to have any trouble. You're a champion. You've just beaten a Hungarian Horntail. I bet they'll be queuing up to go with you." I said.

As if confirming my statement, a curly-haired third-year Hufflepuff girl to whom I knew as Hannah Abbott's little sister Shannon, came up and asked him to go to the ball with her the very next day. Harry was so taken aback he said no before he'd even stopped to consider the matter. Like a fucking idiot.

The girl walked off looking rather hurt.

"What was wrong with you?" taubted Dean as he, me, Harry, and Seamus headed to History of Magic. "She was a hot little number!"

"I know! I didn't mean-"

"You're daft, ya are." said Seamus.

The following day, two more girls asked him, a second year and (to his horror and my amusement) a fifth year actual Slytherin who looked as though she might knock him out if he refused.

"She was quite good-looking," I said after I stopped laughing.

"She was a foot taller than me," said Harry. "Imagine what I'd look like trying to dance with her."

As Harry continued to turn girls down, I sat back and thought about if I really wanted to go. And if I did, who would I ask. I didn't have much to offer. I wasn't a champion like Harry, but maybe being the champion's best mate would give me somewhat of a chance.

After classes, we went down to talk to Hagrid about his interview.

"She didn' seem very int'rested in magical creatures, ter tell yeh the truth," Hagrid said. "She jus' wanted me ter talk about you, Harry."

"Of course." said Hermione, rolling her eyes.

"Well, I told her we'd been friends since I went ter fetch yeh from the Dursleys. 'Never had to tell him off in four years?' she said. 'Never played you up in lessons, has he?' I told her no, an she didn' seem happy at all. Yeh'd think she wanted me to say yeh were horrible, Harry."

"'Course she did," said Harry, throwing lumps of dragon liver into a large metal bowl and picking up his knife to cut some more. "She can't keep writing about what a tragic little hero I am, it'll get boring."

"She wants a new angle, Hagrid," I said as I shelled salamander eggs. "You were supposed to say Harry's a mad delinquent!"

"But he's not!" said Hagrid, looking genuinely shocked.

"She should've interviewed Snape," said Harry grimly. "He'd give her the goods on me any day. 'Potter has been crossing lines ever since he first arrived at this school.'"

"Said that, did he?" said Hagrid, while Hermione and I laughed. "Well, yeh might've bent a few rules. Harry, bu' yeh're all righ' really, aren' you?"

"Cheers, Hagrid," said Harry, grinning.

"You coming to this ball thing on Christmas Day, Hagrid?" I asked.

"Though' I might look in on it, yeah," said Hagrid gruffly. "Should be a good do, I reckon. You'll be openin the dancin', won yeh, Harry? Who're you takin'?"

"No one, yet," said Harry, blushing.

The last week of term felt like more pressure was put on us boys for dates. Rumors about the Yule Ball were flying everywhere. For instance, apparently Dumbledore had bought eight hundred barrels of mulled mead from Madam Rosmerta. It seemed to be fact, however, that he had booked the Weird Sisters, which was brilliant. That was my deciding factor on attending.

Some of the teachers, like little Professor Flitwick, gave up trying to teach us much when our minds were so clearly elsewhere. He allowed us to play games in his lesson on Wednesday, and spent most of it talking to Harry about the perfect Summoning Charm Harry had used during the first task of the Triwizard Tournament.

Other teachers were not so generous. Nothing would ever deflect Professor Binns from droning on and on about goblin rebellions, Professors McGonagall and Moody kept us working until the very last second of our classes, and Snape, of course, would no sooner let them play games in class than adopt Harry. He informed us that he would be testing ua on poison antidotes during the last lesson of the term.

"Evil, he is," I said bitterly that night in the Gryffindor common room. "Springing a test on us on the last day. Ruining the last bit of term with a whole load of studying."

"Mmm...you're not exactly straining yourself, though, are you?" said Hermione, looking at me over the top of her Potions notes.

I was too content with building a card castle out of my Exploding Snap pack to care about any work.

"It's Christmas, Hermione," said Harry lazily, as he was rereading Flying with the Cannons for the tenth time in an armchair near the fire.

Hermione looked severely over at him too. "I'd have thought you'd be doing something constructive, Harry, even if you don't want to learn your antidotes!"

"Like what?" Harry said.

"That egg!" Hermione hissed.

"Come on, Hermione, I've got till February the twenty-fourth," Harry said.

"But it might take weeks to work it out!" said Hermione. "You're going to look a real idiot if everyone else knows what the next task is and you don't!"

"Leave him alone, Hermione, he's earned a bit of a break," I begged, and as I placed the last two cards on top of the castle and the whole lot blew up, singeing my fucking eyebrows. I looked like fucking Seamus.

"Nice look, Ron...go well with your dress robes, that will." said Fred and George. They sat down at the table with us.

"Ron, can we borrow Pigwidgeon?" George asked.

"No, he's off delivering a letter. Why?"

"Because George wants to invite him to the ball," said Fred sarcastically.

"Because we want to send a letter, you stupid great prat," said George.

"Who d'you two keep writing to, eh?" I inquired.

"Nose out, Ron, or I'll burn that for you too," said Fred, waving his wand threateningly. "So...you lot got dates for the ball yet?"

"Nope."

"Well, you'd better hurry up, mate, or all the good ones will be gone," said Fred.

"Who're you going with, then?"

"Angelina," said Fred promptly, without a trace of embarrassment.

"What?" I gasped taken aback. "You've already asked her?"

"Good point," said Fred. He turned his head and called across the common room, "Oi! Angelina!"

Angelina, who had been chatting with Alicia Spinnet near the fire, looked over at him.

"What?" she called back.

"Want to come to the ball with me?"

Angelina gave Fred a look that clearly told on her that she was blushing.

"All right, then," she said, and she turned back to Alicia and carried on chatting with a bit of a grin on her face.

"There you go," said Fred to Harry and I. "piece of cake."

He got to his feet, yawning, and said, "We'd better use a school owl then, George, come on..."

I was shocked. They made it look so damn easy.

"We should get a move on, you know...ask someone." I said. "He's right. We don't want to end up with a pair of trolls."

Hermione smacked her lips. "A pair of excuse me?"

"Well - you know," I said, shrugging. "I'd rather go alone than with - with Eloise Midgen, say."

"Her acne's loads better lately - and she's really nice!" she exclaimed.

"Her nose is off-center," I said, as if that made things perfectly clear .

"Oh I see," Hermione said, bristling. "So basically, you're going to take the best-looking girl who'll have you, even if she's completely horrible?"

"Yeah. That sounds about right."

"I'm going to bed," Hermione snapped, and she swept off toward the girls' staircase without another word.

"Nice going, mate." said Harry, shaking his head in disapproval.

"What did I say?"

The Hogwarts staff, demonstrating a continued desire to impress the visitors from Beauxbatons and Durmstrang, seemed determined to show the castle at its best this Christmas. The were the most stunning I had yet seen inside the school. Everlasting icicles had been attached to the banisters of the marble staircase; the usual twelve Christmas trees in the Great Hall were bedecked with everything from luminous holly berries to real, hooting, golden owls, and the suits of armor had all been bewitched to sing carols whenever anyone passed them. It was quite something to hear "O Come, All Ye Faithful" sung by an empty helmet that only knew half the words. Several times, Filch the caretaker had to extract Peeves from inside the armor, where he had taken to hiding, filling in the gaps in the songs with lyrics of his own invention, all of which were very rude.

"I suppose there's always Moaning Myrtle," Harry said gloomily.

"Harry - we've just got to grit our teeth and do it," I said on Friday morning"When we get back to the common room tonight, we'll both have partners - agreed?"

"Er...okay," said Harry. "I guess I'll ask her then."

"Ask who?" I said, knowing the answer.

"Cho, of course." said Harry, heading down a corridor.

I walked in the opposite direction and ran into Ginny. We walked and talked until we got to the entrance hall.

And then I saw her. The goddess Fleur chatting with Diggory.

Suddenly, a wave of bravery swept over me. I should ask her! She would be sure to say yes. And then, after we dated, and after I turned seventeen, she would wait until I graduated for us to marry.

"I'm going to ask her." I said to Ginny.

Ginny's smile that she had on her face disappeared. "Uh Ron, maybe it's not such a good idea?"

But it was too late. My legs were already taking me towards Fleur.

The entrance hall was filling up and by the time I got to her, I had felt as if I was going to melt.

She turned to me and gave me a look that read half intrigue/half disgust. I opened my mouth to speak, but instead of speaking calmly, I ended up blurting it out.

"GO TO THE BALL WITH ME?" I said. Very, very loudly.

Diggory looked at me with pity. Fleur looked as if I had insulted her. People around me were chuckling, and Ginny was tugging me by the arm. I snapped out of whatever it was that had a hold on me and bolted for the common room

"Ron, slow down!" I heard Ginny calling after me. I didn't even look back. I had to get as far away from that woman as possible.

Luckily the portrait hole was open, so I ran through and leapt for the sofa, face first. I never felt so embarrassed in my fucking life.

Soon I felt hands through my hair. Thinking they were Hermione's, I sat up, only to meet Ginny's face.

I got up and sat in a corner chair. Gibby followed me, kneeling down so she could see my face.

"Ron...oh Ron, it'll be okay." she said, trying to soothe me.

"What's up, Ron?" said Harry, who had just joined us.

I looked up at Harry, horrorstruck.

"Why did I do it?" I whispered in a crazed voice "I don't know what made me do it!

"What?" said Harry.

"He - er - just asked Fleur Delacour to go to the ball with him," said Ginny, smiling mind you, as she rubbed my arm.

"You what?' said Harry.

"I don't know what made me do it!" I gasped again. "What was I playing at? There were people - all around - I've gone mad - everyone watching! I was just walking past her in the entrance hall - she was standing there talking to Diggory - and it sort of came over me - and I asked her!"

I moaned and put my face in my hands. "Fucking wanker, how could you?" I mumbled into my hands.

"She looked at me like I was a sea slug or something." I said, looking back up at Harry. "Didn't even answer. And then - I dunno - I just sort of came to my senses and ran for it."

"She's part veela," said Harry. "You were right - her grandmother was one. It wasn't your fault, I bet you just walked past when she was turning on the old charm for Diggory and got a blast of it - but she was wasting her time. He's going with Cho Chang. I asked her to go with me just now, and she told me."

Ginny had suddenly stopped smiling.

"This is mad," I said. "We're the only ones left who haven't got anyone - well, except Neville. Hey - guess who he asked? Hermione!"

"What?" said Harry, completely distracted by this startling news.

"Yeah, I know!" I said, remembering how I was a mixture of amused and annoyed and didn't know if I wanted to laugh or punch him in the face. "He told me after Potions! Said she's always been really nice, helping him out with work and stuff- but she told him she was already going with someone. Ha! As if! She just didn't want to go with Neville...I mean, who would?"

"Don't!" said Ginny, annoyed. "Don't laugh -"

Just then Hermione climbed in through the portrait hole.

"Why weren't you two at dinner?" she said, coming over to join them.

"Because - oh shut up laughing, you two - because they've both just been turned down by girls they asked to the ball!" said Ginny.

That shut Harry and I up.

"Thanks a bunch, Ginny," I scoffed.

"All the good-looking ones taken, Ron?" said Hermione smugly. "Eloise Midgen-"

I started tuning her out as I thought about the incident with Neville. And then it hit me. Hermione! I could ask Hermione! Why didn't I think of it before? She would be a fun date actually. She would t take all that dancing and ruffles seriously. We would have a good laugh at everything!

"Hermione, Neville's right - you are a girl." I said, wishing instantly that I said something different.

"Oh well spotted," she said acidly.

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

'No, stupid, just you!' I thought to myself.

"No, I can't," snapped Hermione.

"Oh come on," I said, growing impatient, "we need partners, we're going to look really stupid if we haven't got any, everyone else has..."

"I can't come with you," said Hermione, now blushing, "because I'm already going with someone."

The record scratched in my head.

"No, you're not! You just said that to get rid of Neville!"

"Oh did I?" said Hermione, and her eyes flashed dangerously. "Just because it's taken you three years to notice, Ron, doesn't mean no one else has spotted I'm a girl!"

Now she was just speaking mental. Of course I knew she was a fucking girl. I had spent many a night since she arrived at the Burrow figuring that shit out.

"Okay, okay, we know you're a girl," I said. "That do? Will you come now?"

"I've already told you!" Hermione said very angrily. "I'm going with someone else!"

And she stormed off toward the girls' dormitories again.

"She's lying," I said flatly, watching her go.

"She's not," said Ginny quietly.

I whipped my head back around to Ginny. "Who is it then?" I demanded.

"I'm not telling you, it's her business," said Ginny.

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

"I can't," said Ginny, blushing. "I'm going with - with Neville. He asked me when Hermione said no, and I thought...well...I'm not going to be able to go otherwise, I'm not in fourth year. I think I'll go and have dinner," she said, and she got up and walked off to the portrait hole, her head bowed.

I looked over at Harry, who looked at me as if I was the dumb one.

"What's got into them?" I asked.

"Wait here," he said, and he stood up, walked straight up to Parvati. By the look on Parvati's face, and her giggling, I had figured he had just asked her to the ball.

Nice pick. Parvati was pretty. Annoying sometimes, but pretty.

After a couple more minutes or talking, Harry came back over.

"Problem solved, mate." he said. "Parvati agreed to go to the ball with me. And you're going with her twin."

I gave Harry a suspicious look.

"Don't worry, they're identical."

"Oh. Well, brilliant."