Hello people… Hope all of you are doing well. First things first, I would like to wish you a very Happy and Prosperous New Year. May the days ahead be filled with success.
I have the next chapter ready for you and I would not like to keep you waiting. As always you can find further chapters if you wish to in my patr3on page-
patr30n(dot)com / hadrianpotterpeverell
Enjoy reading and let me know how the chapter turns out……
Chapter 15- Looking for a Date
"This is bad," Harry muttered which was heard by his friends. "This is very very bad."
"What happened?" Fred questioned, making sure to keep his tone low, not letting McGonagall hear them. The entire Gryffindor house from fourth years and above were assembled stating some form of announcement and Harry had been feeling queasy since the announcement.
"I just don't like it. Something bad is about to happen." Harry added as McGonagall cleared her throat.
"Settle down. Quiet there, Mr Mclaggen." As the students settled down, McGonagall continued.
"I have an announcement to make. The Yule Ball will be taking place on the twenty-fifth of December. The event has been a traditional part of the Tri-Wizard Tournament and this must be considered an opportunity to socialise with the foreign guests."
The mutterings and whisperings grew considerably, as girls began interacting excitedly amongst each other, shooting looks towards the opposite gender.
"I really don't like where this is going," Harry whispered, dreading what was coming.
"The dance would be for the students above the fourth year, but if you wish to invite somebody from the lower years, you can do so."
"Keep in mind that this event is in no way a chance to cause trouble. You will behave as expected to the standards of the noble house of Godric Gryffindor. The consequences of any misdeeds will be dealt with severely." The woman warned making sure that her threat reached everybody.
"Mr Potter?" McGonagall addressed Harry. "You and the other champions will be required to open the dance. Make sure that you have a partner for the event."
'Shit.' Harry swore mentally, choosing to nod his agreement. 'Where am I supposed to find a partner now?'
"Fantastic," Fred whispered. "What is the problem with that? It is not like you will find it difficult to get a date." He nodded towards the girls seated opposite the boys and sure enough, Harry noticed some girls shooting glances towards him, whispering with their friends, giggling at each other.
"If the Boy Who Lived doesn't get a date, then we peasants are done for," George added which didn't help in this situation.
"Will you two please shut up?" Harry groaned softly. Fred and George were trouble. They never failed to make his day better. Annoying, but good people. He had become used to spending time with the two now that Ron and Hermione had put some distance between them.
"Do you have somebody in mind?" Fred questioned as they piled out of the hall. Harry had not given it much thought. He had no idea that he had to open the dance. He would have skipped it if possible, but now he was obligated to attend the event.
"I would have gladly skipped it if possible." He explained. "I have zero interest in these events and I am no dancer. I have no idea what to do."
"I am sure you will figure it out," George assured though Harry doubted if it was as easy as these were making it seem.
"What about you?" Harry questioned. "Do you have plans for the dance? What about your dates?"
"I am sure we can come up with something," Fred smirked at his twin. "I have a name in my head. Let's see what she thinks."
"Who?" Harry asked, now getting impatient. "A name Fred. I need a name."
"Let that be a surprise," Fred grinned winking at Harry. "We need to worry about you, Harry."
"Please don't," Harry begged. "I don't want you two pulling some weird stunt in your bid to do something. I will manage somehow. Please don't do anything stupid."
"Us? No. We would never do something like that." George returned pretending to be offended which didn't fool Harry for a second.
"What will you do about the dancing part of the event?" George questioned. "You don't know how to dance?"
"Not even a little bit, mate. Not even a little bit." He was thinking of learning some basics and he had the perfect name to teach him to dance. He only hoped that he wouldn't make a fool out of himself going first.
It was one thing not knowing how to dance, but he was supposed to be taking a date and there was no chance that they would be very forgiving if he messed up.
"I will see you two later." Harry excused himself and made his way to the passageway that led outside the school to the shrieking shack.
It was not long until he found himself at the doorsteps of Grimmauld Place. He was sure that Narcissa could teach him to dance and she was probably the best option considering he had no idea who to ask back at Hogwarts.
The woman was not to be found in the living room and Harry sat on the couch, sighing tiredly as he closed his eyes. He was thinking about the ball. Who was he supposed to take?
He could ask Ginny or Angelina, Katie or Alicia. But who else apart from them?
The first name that came to his head apart from his friends in Gryffindor was Fleur Delacour. He would have to be a fool not to feel attracted to the girl. She was the definition of beauty and perfection. He hoped it would pass. It didn't seem more than a small attraction common in every red-blooded male. He decided to stick with Hogwarts.
"What are you doing here?" Sirius had walked into the room and was surprised to see him sitting on the couch.
"Is everything alright? Is there a problem?" He questioned, suddenly worried by his sudden appearance here.
"Calm down, Sirius. There is no problem at least not like you are thinking off. Don't worry." Harry assured him as Sirius took a seat across from Harry.
"I needed something from Narcissa and I came to see if she would be willing to help me." He explained.
"What's up?" Sirius asked as he relaxed in his seat. "You came from Hogwarts to meet her? Is it about that Malfoy boy?"
"No. It's about the tournament. There is a Yule Ball which is to be organised and I needed help." Harry explained.
"Ahh. You need help dancing?" Harry nodded his agreement to which Sirius chuckled. "You came to Cissa for help with dancing?"
"Why are you laughing?" Harry questioned, confused by the man's reaction.
"You have no idea what learning etiquettes from pureblood women is, Harry. Etiquettes are essential and are looked up to in pureblood circles. The women folk are drilled with them extensively all their lives and they in turn do the same with their children. They take it very seriously."
"You are in for a very trying few days if you decide to seek her help from Narcissa. She expects nothing more than the best from you. You will know what I mean soon enough." He chuckled mischievously which didn't sit well with Harry.
The said woman walked into the living room surprised to see him sitting with Sirius.
"Hello." Narcissa greeted the young man as she came to a halt. "This is a surprise. What are you doing here?"
"Harry here needs your help with something." Sirius piped up, ignoring Harry's glare.
"What is it?" Narcissa questioned, shooting a look between them, shaking her head as she did so.
"Did you get into some kind of trouble?" Harry was annoyed by that.
"I take offence to that. Why do you assume I got into trouble?" Harry questioned. "There is no trouble like he said. I just need your help to learn dancing."
"Dancing?" Harry nodded. "I am supposed to open the dance at the Yule Ball. I have no idea about dancing and wanted some help learning it."
"Sure." The woman shrugged, as she took her seat. "I can teach you."
"Thank you." He returned. "I appreciate it. You can tell me when you are free and we can start practising."
"Why not right now?" Narcissa prompted. "Why delay it? Christmas is not far away and you will need all the practice you can get. I will not have you making a fool out of yourself and the poor girl you would be taking as your date."
"Who are you taking as your date?" Sirius questioned. "If it is a girl from any of the pureblood families, then they would expect nothing less than perfection."
"This isn't about pureblood or otherwise, Harry. It doesn't matter what girl you choose to take as your date, it is just not right to disrespect her presence. You must make sure that the evening goes well. Treat her properly and make sure that she enjoys herself." Narcissa warned, shooting him a look that brokered no argument, not that he had any in mind.
"Still didn't give me an answer regarding your date." Sirius cut in, waiting expectantly for his answer.
"I don't know." Harry shook his head. "I haven't managed to decide who my date will be. I have time for now."
"Very well. Why not start immediately?" Narcissa asked standing up and walking out of the room and Harry followed. That was the easy part done. The difficult part of finding a girl to take to the ball will have to wait for now.
BREAK—--
Fred and George were right. There had been no shortage of girls wanting to go with him. A lot of them, to be precise, something he did not understand. Many of them were furious not long ago about his entry into the tournament and now, they seemed to want to be his date to the ball.
He had not found a moment of peace for the past three days. Harry felt that there was a sudden increase in the opposite sex in the school since the announcement of the ball and with a lot of them watching him, expecting him to ask them, moving in groups, giggling with each other shooting him suggestive looks which he conveniently ignored.
A lot of them had stepped up to him and asked him to go to the ball. He had respectfully turned them down. He had not thought much about the ball and his partner when McGonagall spoke of it, but as days passed, he decided to make a genuine attempt with his partner. He was looking forward to the date.
His options were now running short with every passing day. Neville asked Ginny out on the day the ball was announced. Fred and George were taking Angelina and Alicia and Katie Bell was going with a student from Hufflepuff.
He had then gathered the courage to ask Luna Lovegood, but the girl was not interested. She conveyed the same to Harry, after a lot of talk about Nargles and something called wrackspurts of course. She said that there was no chance he would be enjoying the evening with her. She also told him that she was a very poor dancer and he would be better off with another partner.
So he had run out of options for now and was genuinely worried about what he would be doing. It was not that he didn't have options, but it was just that he didn't have any more options to go with somebody he would enjoy spending a few hours with.
"Don't you look where you are going?" Harry paused mid-stride, the voice breaking him from his thoughts. He had just stopped himself from running into the person walking opposite to him.
"You shouldn't be walking with your mind elsewhere, Potter." It was a Slytherin student judging by her uniform. It was a face he was slightly familiar with, but couldn't place a name on the face.
"Sorry about that." He muttered, making way for the girl to pass, but to his confusion, the girl stood her ground. A moment later, Harry realised she was staring at him with something akin to curiosity.
"Can I help you miss?" Harry questioned, now irritated with her staring.
"My, you are quick to anger. You don't seem very quick to temper from the look of it." The girl seemed to smirk at him and for some reason, it irked him even more.
"Is there a point you are trying to make?" Harry shot back, annoyed by the girl and her words.
"None at all. Just wanted to say what is on my mind. Is that a crime, Mr Potter?"
"It is when you have no idea about the person before you, but they judge you anyway. It is not something a court would convict, but that is a massive crime. A very big one." Harry returned, sidestepping the girl and walking away.
He didn't catch the name of the girl, but whoever it was had managed to annoy him with just a few words. That thought gave him a pause. He was annoyed that many girls would interrupt him midway and ask him to be their date and take them to the ball and for the first time in a few days, one of them barged up to him and did nothing, but speak.
He had not walked more than a few metres when Ginny stepped into his path from nowhere.
"What is with you people coming out of nowhere?" Harry questioned, annoyed by the repeated occurrence of people barging in his way for the umpteenth time.
The girl looked far from impressed by his outburst and fixed him with a stare that made him look away. This girl was unbelievable sometimes.
"So, you didn't find a date for the ball yet?"
"Shut up," Harry grumbled walking past her and the girl fell in step with him. They began moving towards the Great Hall and Harry didn't want to discuss this Yule Ball mess with her.
"Stop being grumpy will you?" Ginny shot back. "Do you have somebody in mind? You can't keep putting it off for long. This is a very small issue, Harry but it seems to be messing with you for some reason."
"Stop behaving like a child and see to it that you find somebody. I do not want to be spoken to like this every day. You are a lousy person to be around when you are annoyed."
Harry wanted to protest but understood instantly that it would not change what the girl had said which was not far away from the truth. He was letting this mess get to his head and his behaviour had turned erratic.
"Sorry about that. I would rather have stayed away from all of this, but it seems to be something that I cannot avoid. I won't call it frustrating, but it is very irritating." Harry explained, a deep sigh escaping his lips.
The two reached the Great Hall and they made their way towards the Gryffindor table and sat down next to each other. Harry allowed his eyes to travel to the Slytherin table and they sought out the girl who had spoken to him not too long ago. She was seated at the table, away from all the noise from the rest of her housemates and she seemed to be busy with a book in her hand.
"You know who that is?" He pointed towards the girl showing her to Ginny who nodded.
"Daphne Greengrass. The heiress of the Greengrass Family. She is in your year." She informed.
"Greengrass?" He could not for the life of him remember where this girl was in the four years he had been in Hogwarts and how she had managed to escape his eyes for those years.
"A very old and powerful family. Notoriously neutral. They have managed to stay away from conflicts from both factions of Wizarding Britain and have avoided picking a side. The Dark Faction and the Light Faction fear them and respect them equally."
He should learn a lot about the Wizengamot. His knowledge regarding the ancient families of the Wizarding World was lacking, which was not acceptable considering he was supposed to take up the mantle of two powerful families in the Wizengamot.
"Huh. Never knew about her till today and would probably have not found out about her if not for a chance meeting. How is an influential person like her without arse kissers like Malfoy has?"
It shocked him by the number of people who feared and puckered up to Draco Malfoy. He had no idea for what, considering there were several more influential families than the Malfoys. How is this girl not surrounded by similar people trying to gain favours?
"It isn't that simple. She knows her situation better than anybody else and she keeps her distance from the rest of the school. It is highly impossible to approach her and she barely talks to anybody who approaches her. She is very quick to temper and very quick to curse people who annoy her. I have heard of her cursing a few fellow students when they tried to get very close to her."
"In her defence though, they all would want to establish connections with a powerful heiress rather than a student and so, we can't blame her," Ginny explained.
"The girl next to her is her sister. Astoria Greengrass." Harry noticed a brunette sitting next to the girl. Barring the colour of their hair, the two looked extremely alike.
"She is in my year and she is very different from the elder sister. She is accepting, open and curious. Very very opposite characters."
"Good for her," Harry muttered as he faced Ginny who continued. "But there is one thing that not a lot of people know is that Astoria does not have a lot of days left."
That made him sit up slightly. "What?" He questioned, doubting if he had heard the girl correctly.
"She has a rare blood disease. A hereditary blood disease of sorts. It appears once in a while in their bloodline. Last I heard, somebody in their family had the disease but that was around three hundred years ago and now, she has it."
Harry observed the girl closely and could see nothing indicating something serious. She seemed normal and healthy.
"I heard that the Greengrass family has spent a lot of money trying to find a cure, but there has been no positive news about a cure. Astoria is very open and is a pleasant person to be around, but her sister's reputation keeps people away from her."
"A loner in simple words." Ginny pointed out. "Both the sisters keep each other company and that is it."
"Poor girl," Ginny whispered. "How she manages to smile despite knowing that she would not live to see the future beyond a few years, I have no idea. I feel ill just thinking about it."
Harry felt bad for the girl. Ginny was right. How she managed to stay bright knowing her future was beyond him.
"Now that is one powerful individual," Ignotus spoke up inside his head and Harry hummed his agreement.
"It takes a lot of mental fortitude to smile despite knowing you will die soon. I am glad to see that such individuals are still around."
Harry got up and began walking to the Slytherin table having made up his mind with a decision. It was probably pity too, but he felt it was the right thing to do.
He approached the Slytherin table and walked towards the end where the sisters were seated next to each other. He knew that the entire hall was watching him, but he was not about to care for them right now.
The younger sister watched him come closer and nudged her older sister in her shoulder and the two looked up to see Harry standing in front of them.
"Ms Greengrass." He bowed slightly, his eyes focused on the younger sister.
"What can I do for you, Potter?" It was the older sister who questioned him. "Is there anything you need?"
"With you, no." He shook his head. "With Ms Astoria, yes." The brunette frowned in confusion, not knowing what Harry was getting at.
"Me?" She seemed to be surprised. "How can I help you?" She asked, still in doubt about what he could want from her.
"I have a request and I would be honoured if you chose to help me out." He began. "Ms Greengrass, will you accompany me to the Yule Ball as my date?"
The girl and her sister were taken aback by his request. Harry knew that the entire school must be watching him by now, not that he cared much. It was her answer that he was looking forward to knowing.
"What are you doing, Potter?" Daphne Greengrass hissed, her eyes burning with temper. "What is this stunt you are trying to pull?"
Harry ignored her, focusing on Astoria who had yet to answer his question and seemed deep in thought.
"Take your time, Ms Greengrass. Think it over and get back to me. No pressure." He smiled and nodded at the girl as he began walking back towards the Gryffindor table ignoring any whispers that were pointed towards him.
"What was that?" Ginny questioned as he sat down. "I didn't think you had something like this in your mind."
Harry shrugged. He didn't know this was the way forward when he sat down with Ginny to eat. It was a decision that he took in the spur of the moment. He smirked at the thought. He was proud of himself because these are the kind of things that would be a problem compared to the Triwizard Tournament.
"Well I needed a date and I couldn't resist taking a chance. My gamble paid off."
"I don't think so. She didn't answer did she?" Ginny questioned, shooting a look at the Slytherin table where the sisters were in a heated discussion.
"I think she will." Harry returned confidently. For some reason, he knew that the girl would accept. Astoria casually let her eyes wander towards the Gryffindor table, and they fell upon Harry. She smiled at him and Harry could see the uncertainty in her eyes.
He was genuinely interested in the girl. It was not romantic, but he would not mind getting to know the girl.
"This might have been the best decision I have taken in the past few days," Harry added as he sighed, as he picked up the goblet of juice placed in front of him. He felt relieved. If the girl didn't accept his request, he decided to forsake the ball, consequences be damned.
BREAK—--
"Are you still thinking about it?" Daphne questioned as they arrived at their dorm in the dungeons. The older girl was seething at what took place in the Great Hall.
"The gall of the bastard." She hissed. "The audacity to do something like that in public."
"Will you calm down?" Astoria grumbled. "Why are you getting worked up?"
"I am not getting worked up." Daphne was offended that Astoria would say something like that.
"Well, calm down then. What did he do wrong?" Astoria questioned. "He did what all boys would do. How is that his mistake? How are you blaming him for anything?"
She was surprised beyond expectation. There she was, having lunch with her sister and Harry Potter of all people had walked up to them and had asked her to the ball.
"Our lives are different Astoria," Daphne spoke up. "You know why people want to get close to us, don't you?"
Astoria laughed. With Daphne, everything was politics. Her sister was too serious for her own good and very much into the political aspect of their lives to think like a youngster.
"Did you wonder about the possibility that he probably wanted nothing more than friendship?" Astoria questioned.
"Do you really think Potter of all people needs our family name or influence for some reason?"
"Well, what if there is a motive behind his approach?" Daphne challenged. "What if there is something he needs from us? What if he needs something from Father and is just using you?"
Daphne knew her sister was right. Potter was not to blame for anything here. He did do what every other teenager did, but her worry was not politics as Astoria pointed out. Harry Potter was already one of the country's most influential individuals, even before he got into the Wizengamot.
Her worry was Astoria. People were not nice to Astoria for no reason. The entire wizarding world knew about her condition and she was instantly ostracised. What should have been a normal life turned out to be a life of loneliness ever since people found out that she was useless to them.
Purebloods never did anything that didn't hold some form of advantage or benefit to them. Astoria was a dying life. She had nothing to provide. Had things been different, Astoria would have been having people pucker up to her for the influence and power her name and her family held, just like Daphne was being puckered up to by all the purebloods in Britain right now.
She worried for Astoria. She decided long back that she would not try and develop any attachments knowing what lay in wait for her future. She had distanced herself from the outside world and contact with people apart from her family.
With Potter walking up to her and asking her out, Astoria would be exposed to something she never wanted and distanced herself from. Companions.
"Whatever your decision, make sure that you think this through, Astoria," Daphne instructed. "Make sure that you don't regret whatever you decide to do."
Astoria was left alone by her elder sister who exited the room and the girl collapsed onto her bed. What was she supposed to do? This situation was not something she ever wanted to face and yet, here she was in a conundrum.
Her life was not the same as her sister's or any of her other classmates. She had no future to look forward to. Her life was short and was counting the number of days that she had left. She had distanced herself from such trivial matters knowing that it would invariably cause a lot of pain to let go and she lived as such for all these days until Potter came up to her.
Astoria wanted to ignore his offer and get back to her life, but her heart disagreed with her. She couldn't ignore the feeling of excitement that she felt when she thought about his offer. She wanted this, despite one part of her head strongly disagreeing with her. She wanted this experience.
'You don't have much time left Astoria. Why don't you take your chance and do something fun for once?' It was a question that she posed to herself every single day for the past four years.
"I will seize my chance this time." She decided as she got up. "I will go to the ball and I will take Potter with me."
She decided to listen to her heart this time. She only hoped that her decision would be something special to her rather than a disappointment.
TBC—--