Oh hai Reader, welcome to the next chapter of Cruel Angel Thesis. I hope you enjoy it as much as I had writing it and now on to the reviews.
girani4: Why thank you and... hey! Adri: "Why thank you girani4! I think Skyguy over there just lacks inspiration for it or doesn't have the motivation to write it."
knightmarkus20: Okay?
Now story time.
Alex awoke very suddenly on Christmas Day, he heard Harry's voice very loudly, "Dobby! Don't do that!"
Scrambling away from the elf so fast he almost fell out of bed. "Dobby is sorry, sir!" Dobby squeaked anxiously, jumping backward with his long fingers over his mouth. "Dobby is only wanting to wish Harry Potter 'Merry Christmas' and bring him a present, sir!"
"It's okay.", Harry said, still breathing rather faster than usual, while his heart rate returned to normal, "Just... just prod me or something in future, all right, don't bend over me like that..."
Alex wasn't the only one who was woken up by Harry's yell, it appeared that Ron, Neville, Seamus, and Dean as well. All of them were peering through the gaps in their own hangings, heavy-eyed and tousle-haired.
"Someone attacking you, Harry?" Alex yawned sleepily.
"No, it's just Dobby." Harry said, "Go back to sleep."
"Hah, no!" Alex said, spotting the large pile at the foot of his bed.
Ron, Neville, Seamus and Dean, decided that now they were awake they might as well get down to some present-opening too. Harry turned back to Dobby, who was now standing nervously next to Harry's bed, still looking worried that he had upset Harry. There was a Christmas bauble tied to the loop on top of his tea cozy.
"Can Dobby give Harry Potter his present?" he squeaked tentatively.
"'Course you can." Harry said, "Er... I've got something for you too."
It was a lie; he hadn't bought anything for Dobby at all, but he quickly opened his trunk and pulled out a particularly knobbly rolled-up pair of socks. They were his oldest and foulest, mustard yellow, and had once belonged to Uncle Vernon, "Sorry, I forgot to wrap them..."
But Dobby was utterly delighted. "Socks are Dobby's favorite, favorite clothes, sir! I has seven now, sir...But sir..." he said, ripping off his odd ones and pulling on Uncle Vernon's, his eyes widening, having pulled both socks up to their highest extent, so that they reached to the bottom of his shorts, "They has made a mistake in the shop, Harry Potter, they is giving you two the same!"
"How can you haven't spotted that?" Alex said amused, rubbing a hand to his long hair.
"Tell you what, Dobby, here you go, take these two, and you can mix them up properly." Ron said grinning, before realizing something, "Oh and have a sweater while your at it."
He threw Dobby a pair of violet socks he had just unwrapped, and the hand-knitted sweater Mrs. Weasley had sent, Dobby looked quite overwhelmed.
"How dare you give away your Weasley sweater!" Alex said appalled, "Traitor!"
"Sir is very kind!" he squeaked, his eyes brimming with tears again, bowing deeply to Ron, "Dobby knew sir must be a great wizard, for he is Harry Potter's friend, but Dobby did not know that he was also as generous of spirit, as noble, as selfless..."
"They're only socks.", Ron said, who had gone slightly pink around the ears, though he looked rather pleased all the same, "Wow, Harry! Cool!" He had just opened Harry's present, a Chudley Cannon hat.
He jammed it onto his head, where it clashed horribly with his hair. Dobby now handed Harry a small package, which turned out to be... socks.
"Dobby is making them himself, sir!" the elf said happily, "He is buying the wool out of his wages, sir!"
The left sock was bright red and had a pattern of broomsticks upon it; the right sock was green with a pattern of Snitches. "They're... they're really... well, thanks, Dobby," Harry said, and he pulled them on, causing Dobby's eyes to leak with happiness again.
"Dobby must go now, sir, we is already making Christmas dinner in the kitchens!" Dobby said, and he hurried out of the dormitory, waving good-bye to Alex, Ron and the others as he passed.
Harry, Alex, Ron and Neville met up with Claire and Hermione in the common room, and they went down to breakfast together were they met up with Fleur, Adri and Amelia.
They spent most of the morning in Gryffindor Tower, where everyone was enjoying their presents, then returned to the Great Hall for a magnificent lunch, which included at least a hundred turkeys and Christmas puddings, and large piles of Cribbage's Wizarding Crackers.
They went out onto the grounds in the afternoon; the snow was untouched except for the deep channels made by the Durmstrang and Beauxbatons students on their way up to the castle. Hermione, Fleur, Adri and Amelia chose to watch Harry, Claire, Alex, Neville and the Weasleys' snowball fight rather than join in.
"Today I ate some oatmeal for my breakfast." Charles said depressed as he was walking over the snow covered grounds with Snape and Flitwick, "It was flavorless and watery. I thought of my mother. I cried."
"Charles!" Snape sneered, "Have you been reading my diary again!?"
It was there that a stray snowball managed to hit Charles at the back of his head when he walked past with Snape and Flitwick.
"Why does tis keep happening!?" Charles shouted, retaliated with his own snowballs, joining in the fight as the other two Professor's looked on.
In an instant, Charles starts to mow down the Harry, Claire, Alex, Neville and the Weasley's effortlessly, the ones not immediately struck down by his snowballs tried to attack him with their own snowballs, but it didn't matter.
Hermione, Fleur, Adri and Amelia watched in awe how effortless Charles is defeating his opponent with almost no movement above the shoulders. He was marching towards their positing in at a methodical walking pace.
That was until a stray snowball hit Fleur straight against the face. "Oh, it. Is. On.", the French witch said grabbing a hand full of snow before joining the snowball fight against Charles herself.
It eventually came down to Charles versus Fleur, engaged in a furious snowball fight, where Fleur attempted to do some sort of jumping attack. But she messed up her time horrible, crashing into Charles who wrapped his arms around her waist before the two hit the snow.
Fleur lifted her head, "Professor, are you alright?" she asked, sitting up, resulting in her being on her knees, but her waist, was still on top of Charles abdomen due to his arms around her.
"I'm alright, Madame Delacour." Charles said, picking his upper body off from the ground, supporting himself on his elbows. He let out a light groan as he could feel something rise down below.
"Are you sure your alright?" Fleur asked worriedly, leaning forward with her body.
"Yeah." Charles quickly answered. She moved backward while not knowing what it was doing to him. Her heart raced harder the more she stayed in this position.
At five o'clock, Claire, Hermione, Fleur, Adri and Amelia were going back upstairs to get ready for the ball.
"I hate doing make-up." Claire mumbled, "I also don't like wearing dresses."
"Want me to do your make-up?" Fleur offered.
"You need three hours for that?", Neville said, looking at them incredulously and paying for his lapse in concentration when a large snowball, thrown by Claire, hit him hard against his face.
"Who're you going with?" Ron yelled after Hermione, but she just waved and disappeared up the stone steps into the castle.
There was no Christmas tea today, as the ball included a feast, so at seven o'clock, when it had become hard to aim properly, the others abandoned their snowball fight and trooped back to the common room. The Fat Lady was sitting in her frame with her friend Violet from downstairs, both of them extremely tipsy, empty boxes of chocolate liqueurs littering the bottom other picture.
"Lairy fights, that's the one!" she giggled when they gave the password, and she swung forward to let them inside.
Harry, Alex, Ron, Neville, Seamus and Dean changed into their dress uniforms up in their dormitory, most of them looking very self-conscious, expect for Alex.
"Nothing suits me like a suit!" Alex said, looking at himself in the mirror, fixing his sleeves.
"You look like miniature Jeager." Neville said.
"I hope I look as good when I am forty three." he said, fixing his hair.
"Jeager is forty three?" Harry said surprised, "How did you find out about that?"
"Well..." Alex said, before taking a deep breath, "He also was a professor for my mom, who was in the same year as Snape, Harry's parents, uncle Sirius and my dad. They are all around the age of thirty three, and I overheard McGonagall complaining about how Jeager, Snape and Flitwick where completely wasted at Flitwick's forty fourth birthday. I also heard Professor Vector talking to Professor Sinistra talking about how weird it is that Flitwick is only a year older than Jeager."
"So putting all those facts together, I figured out Charles Jeager is forty three." Alex finished explaining as the boys set off downstairs, "It's simple math, really."
The entrance hall looked strange, full of people wearing different colors, all milling around waiting for eight o'clock, when the doors to the Great Hall would be thrown open. Those people who were meeting partners from different Houses were edging through the crowd trying to find one another.
"Where are the girls?" Alex said, looking at his watch, "We would be meeting up here... Oh there is Ron's date!"
"Hi." Padma said, who was looking pretty in robes of bright turquoise. She didn't look too enthusiastic about having Ron as a partner, though; her dark eyes lingered on the frayed neck and sleeves of his dress robes as she looked him up and down.
"Hi." Ron said, not looking at her, but staring around at the crowd, "Oh no..."
He bent his knees slightly to hide behind Alex, because Claire, Hermione, Fleur, Adri and Amelia had entered.
Harry was startled when he saw Claire. She looked very beautiful indeed, in a dress consisting of a black sweetheart bodice with dark green off-the-shoulder straps, and has greenish-gold trim, an olive drab pleated skirt with sashes consisting.
She wears her hair in a bun, and a part of her hair is braided and used as a headband, a green comb-shaped barrette with a couple satin ribbons green and chartreuse attached to the back of her hair, and dark pink lipstick. The front of her black hair was still covering her right eye.
"You... er... look beautiful." he said a red blush on his cheeks.
"T-thank you, you look positively smashing yourself." Claire said back, a faint blush on her cheeks herself.
"Hermione..." Alex said, his face feeling warmer than it would normally seeing her standing there.
She looked nothing like the Hermione he knew at all. Her hair was no longer bushy but sleek and shiny, and twisted up into an elegant knot at the back of her head. She was wearing robes made of a floaty, periwinkle-blue material, and she was holding herself differently, somehow, or maybe it was merely the absence of the twenty or so books she usually had slung over her back. She was also smiling, rather nervously, it was true, but the reduction in the size of her front teeth was more noticeable than ever.
"You look..." Alex said, for the first time not knowing what to say, "Beautiful isn't strong enough of a word."
Hermione smiled, as Alex made a slight bow and they locked arms. Ron, however, walked right past Hermione without looking at her.
A group of Slytherin's came up the steps from their dungeon common room. Malfoy was in front; he was wearing dress robes of black velvet with a high collar. Pansy Parkinson in very frilly robes of pale pink was clutching Malfoy's arm. Crabbe and Goyle were both wearing green; they resembled moss-colored boulders, and neither of them had managed to find a partner.
Then Professor Jeager's voice called, "Champions over here, please!"
Fleur passed, looking stunning in a crystal-blue, off-the-shoulder dress with a right knee-high slit, a crystallized bodice and translucent, powder blue sleeves and accompanied by the Ravenclaw Quidditch captain, Roger Davies.
Professor Jeager, who was wearing a black dress suit with a red dress shirt and a black tie, told them to wait on one side of the doors while everyone else went inside; they were to enter the Great Hall in procession when the rest of the students had sat down.
Harry and Claire continued to talk with Fleur, while Roger Davies looked so stunned by his good fortune in having Fleur for a partner that he could hardly take his eyes off her.
Cedric and Romanova were close too; he looked away from them so he wouldn't have to talk to them. LeBlanc was accompanied by one of the Beauxbatons girls, who seemed all to happy to be with him, while LeBlanc himself looked bored. Much to each of their surprise, Krum apparently had asked Amelia to the Yule Ball.
Once everyone else was settled in the Hall, Professor Jeager told the champions and their partners to get in line in pairs and to follow him. They did so, and everyone in the Great Hall applauded as they entered and started walking up toward a large round table at the top of the Hall, where the judges were sitting.
The walls of the Hall had all been covered in sparkling silver frost, with hundreds of garlands of mistletoe and ivy crossing the starry black ceiling. The House tables had vanished; instead, there were about a hundred smaller, lantern-lit ones, each seating about a dozen people.
Harry concentrated on not tripping over his feet. Claire seemed to be much more confident.
They caught sight of Ron and Padma as they neared the top table. Ron was watching Alex and Hermione with narrowed eyes. Padma was looking sulky.
Dumbledore smiled happily as the champions approached the top table, but Karkaroff wore an expression remarkably like Ron's as he watched Krum and Amelia draw nearer. Ludo Bagman, tonight in robes of bright purple with large yellow stars, was clapping as enthusiastically as any of the students; and Madame Maxime, who had changed her usual uniform of black satin for a flowing gown of lavender silk, was applauding them politely.
But Mr. Crouch was not there. The fifth seat at the table was occupied by Percy Weasley. When the champions and their partners reached the table, Percy drew out the empty chair beside him, staring pointedly at Harry and Claire.
They took the hint and sat down next to Percy, who was wearing brand-new, navy-blue dress robes and an expression of such smugness that Claire thought it ought to be fined.
"I've been promoted." Percy said before either of them could even ask, and from his tone, he might have been announcing his election as supreme ruler of the universe, "I'm now Mr. Crouch's personal assistant, and I'm here representing him."
"Is he sick or something?" Claire said. She wasn't looking forward to being lectured on cauldron bottoms all through dinner.
"I'm afraid to say Mr. Crouch is not feeling well at all. Hasn't been right since the World Cup. Hardly surprising overwork. He's not as young as he was, though still quite brilliant, of course, the mind remains as great as it ever was. But the World Cup was a fiasco for the whole Ministry, and then we had the tournament to arrange, and the aftermath of the Cup to deal with, that revolting Skeeter woman buzzing around. No, poor man, he's having a well earned, quiet Christmas. I'm just glad he knew he had someone he could rely upon to take his place."
Harry wanted very much to ask whether Mr. Crouch had stopped calling Percy 'Weatherby' yet, but resisted the temptation.
There was no food as yet on the glittering golden plates, but small menus were lying in front of each of them. Claire picked her's up uncertainly and looked around, there were no waiters. Dumbledore, however, looked carefully down at his own menu, then said very clearly to his plate, "Pork chops!"
And pork chops appeared. Getting the idea, the rest of the table placed their orders with their plates too.
Meanwhile Fleur was trying to talk with Roger Davies, but he was only watching her talk with a very dazed look on his face, and he kept missing his mouth with his fork. Claire had the impression that Davies was too busy staring at Fleur to take in a word she was saying.
"Absolutely right." he said quickly, slapping his own hand down on the table, "Like that. Yeah."
Claire looked around the Hall. Hagrid was sitting at one of the other staff tables with Jeager, Snape and Flitwick. Hagrid was back in his horrible hairy brown suit and gazing up at the top table. Claire saw him give a small wave, and looking around, saw Madame Maxime return it, her opals glittering in the candlelight.
Charles was staring at the champions table, barley having touched his food but holding a tight grip on his glass.
"For once don't drink too much, okay?", Snape said, "We are still on school grounds, Charles."
"You know I can't promise that." Charles said, leaning on the table.
"What is getting drunk going to accomplish you, Charles?" Flitwick said worried.
"That I end up dead under the ground." he mumbled, emptying his glass.
When all the food had been consumed, Dumbledore stood up and asked the students to do the same. Then, with a wave of his wand, all the tables zoomed back along the walls leaving the floor clear, and then he conjured a raised platform into existence along the right wall. A set of drums, several guitars, a lute, a cello, and some bagpipes were set upon it.
The Weird Sisters now trooped up onto the stage to wildly enthusiastic applause, they were all extremely hairy and dressed in black robes that had been artfully ripped and torn. They picked up their instruments, and Claire, who had been so interested in watching them that she had almost forgotten what was coming, suddenly realized that the lanterns on all the other tables had gone out, and that the other champions and their partners were standing up.
"Come on, we're supposed to dance." Harry whispered softly in her ear.
Letting out a deep breath, Claire put up her brave front, not wanting to embarrass Harry. The Weird Sisters struck up a slow, mournful tune, Harry, and Claire walked onto the brightly lit dance floor, and next moment, he had place one hand in her own while placing the other around her waist. It wasn't as bad as it could have been. The revolving slowly on the spot with the girl he had a crush on for a while now.
Taking Claire's hand, Harry soon began to disregard the people that were watching them, and dance with his date as if the entire Great Hall was empty save for the two of them. Her body pressing against his, holding her right arm up while his left hand rest against the beautiful girl's waist.
When she wasn't looking into Harry's eyes, she looked at her friends, and very soon many of them too had come onto the dance floor, so that the champions were no longer the center of attention.
Neville and Luna were dancing nearby, Neville sharing the same dreaming expression as his date and Dumbledore was waltzing with Madame Maxime. He was so dwarfed by her that the top of his pointed hat barely tickled her chin, however, she moved very gracefully for a woman so large.
Professor Jeager was doing a dance with Professor Sinistra. Past Alex and Hermione, who were dancing so exuberantly that people around them were backing away in fear of injury.
The fluttering fairy lights in the rose garden winked and twinkled as Charles and Snape went down the front steps, where they found themselves surrounded by bushes; winding, ornamental paths; and large stone statues.
"Well?" Charles said.
"Karkaroff's Mark is becoming darker too. He is panicking, he fears retribution; you know how much help he gave the Ministry after the Dark Lord fell." Snape looked sideways at Charles, "Karkaroff intends to flee if the Mark burns."
"Does he?" Charles said, softly, as he saw something Fleur and Roger Davies in the distance, "And are you tempted to join him?"
"No." Snape said, his black eyes in the same direction as Charles, "Not after what Voldemort has done to James, Lily and Elizabeth."
"I remember that scrawny eleven year old boy..." Charles said, placing a hand on Snape's shoulder, "I am proud of the man you have become Severus."
"I... Thank you." Snape said, taken aback, "And... I don't want you under the ground just yet..."
Harry and Claire went over to the table where Ron was sitting alone, Padma was nowhere to be seen.
"How's it going?" Harry asked Ron, sitting down and opening a bottle of butterbeer.
Ron didn't answer. He was glaring at Alex and Hermione, who were dancing nearby. "Not well I presume." Claire said, opening a bottle of butterbeer.
Soon Hermione came over and sat down in an empty chair. She was a bit pink in the face from dancing.
"Hi." Claire. Ron didn't say anything.
"It's hot, isn't it?" Hermione said, fanning herself with her hand, "Lex just gone to get some drinks."
Ron gave her a withering look, "Lex?" he said, "How come your calling him Lex? Isn't Alex short enough already!"
Hermione looked at him in surprise, "What's up with you?" she said.
"If you don't know." Ron said scathingly, "I'm not going to tell you."
Hermione stared at him, then at Harry and Claire, who shrugged just as Alex came walking up with five bottles of butterbeers.
"What's up my peeps!" he shouted.
"Thirsty, Lex?" Claire said to her cousin.
"Of course!" Alex said, placing a bottle for each of them on the table, "And only Hermi is allowed to call me Lex."
Ron let out a disgusted scoff, shooting him an angry glare. "What's up with him?" Alex said, looking around, "And where is Padme? Did Ron feck up that badly?"
"Oh piss of Alex!" Ron growled, "Not everyone is as perfect as you."
"There's no such thing as a perfect being." Alex said, "But if there was it would be me!"
Ron jumped to her feet and stormed off across the dance floor, disappearing into the crowd. Alex looked Ron go with a surprised look on his face.
"I think he is jealous." Claire said.
"Well if he wanted to go with Hermione, than he should have asked her first." Alex pointed out.
In the entrance hall, Charles and Fleur where standing to the side, him trying to walk away, but the French witch didn't let him.
"What kind of game are you playing?" Fleur asked, sounding slightly mad, "You try to distant yourself, but the moment I do something with another man... Oh I get it. You're jealous! You do have feelings for me!"
"What? Jealous? Don't be ridiculous." Charles protested, "Your crazy!"
"I might be crazy, but you're a liar!" Fleur told him, "When you're with other woman, you're thinking about me, aren't you?"
Charles hardened expression suddenly broke, turning his gaze away from her, "You are right. I was jealous... When I saw you dancing with Davies, I wished that was me... But like I told you, I ain't a nice man. I can't let you in my life... Don't you get it? Don't bother with someone like me, you deserve to be happy."
"What about you?" Fleur said, crossing her arms, "Don't you deserve to be happy?"
Suddenly Charles placed his hands on the wall, trapping her between the, "Tis is your fault, I'm all confused." Charles mumbled, "When I saw you again, you're all I can think about, day and night. Tis isn't how it's supposed to be..."
He looked up from the ground, his grey eyes looking into her sky deep blue's. Fleur was shocked by what she saw in them. In his eyes she saw the pain of a man who has seen and been through too much.
"I will let my office door open." Charles said, finally letting her go, "If you come, I will explain... everything. If you don't come... Well, I will accept it."
They walked past where the Weird sister's where still playing as people where still dancing. Letting out a deep breath, Charles turned to Fleur, extending his hand.
"You don't have too..." she began.
"But I want to." he said softly, "Please... Allow me tis one moment of weakness."
She placed her hand in his, and he guided her to the brightly lit dance floor, and next moment, he had place one hand in her own while placing the other around her waist.
The Weird Sister began to play a new song, as Myron Wagtail, the lead singer began to sing, "Your life is your life. Somewhere there is light, the gods wait to delight in you! It beats the darkness, you are marvelous. Who's pretending to be who?"
Fleur's body pressing against his, holding her right arm up while his left hand rest against the beautiful girl's waist.
It felt amazing to say the least, every step Charles took with Fleur, every breath he felt from her as they both mimicked each other movement, to when they both press foreheads together as they both look into each others eyes, cloudy grays into sky deep blue ones.
"Your life is your life. The forms, the repetitions, don't let it be clubbed into dank submission. You should get to the point, where anyone else would quit. You're gonna wake up! And work hard at it!"
In the heat of the moment, Charles leaned his face closer to Fleur's. The French witch didn't seem to mind as she twist her head, readying to accept his kiss.
"Just do it! Nothing is impossible! Just do it! Yesterday you said tomorrow! Just do it! Don't let your dream be dreams! The more often you do it, the more light there will be, the more light there will be!"
With the last note, the Weird Sisters stopped playing, applause filled the hall once more, the kiss was cut short by the sounds of clapping. Charles eyes widen and he pulls back to look around the hall to Fleur's disappointment.
Meanwhile Harry and Claire had reached a large stone reindeer in the garden, over which they could see the sparkling jets of a tall fountain. Claire had been pretty quiet for the past few minutes, and it starts to worry Harry.
"You okay, Claire?" he asked.
"Oh, don't worry about me. I'm just fine." Claire said, she looks up at Harry, a smile on her face, "Tis is the best night I have ever had. I'm so glad we could go together."
Harry gave a sigh of relief, "Claire... I-I... really..." he started, "It's really strange, I really liked hanging out together. But now... I feel all tense and on edge..."
"I have been feeling the same... it's the weirdest feeling isn't it." Claire said, "What I mean is... why is tis so difficult for me to say?"
"I think I know what you want to say." Harry said, placing his hands on Claire's cheek to guide her in for a soft kiss on the lips.
Harry closed his eyes slowly and Claire put her arms around his neck. He followed her putting his arms around her waist. The kiss was soft and sweet. Harry pulled away after a minute and looked into her grey eyes.
"Now tis evening is perfect." Claire said with a relieved smile.
"Yeah..." Harry said, keeping her close, "Claire... will you be my girl?"
"Thought you would never ask." she said with a smile, and the two pressed their lips against each other again.
"I wonder how Sirius and Margaret are going to react..." Harry said softly, pressing his forehead against hers, his arms around her waist.
"Sirius is going to be over the hill that his godson his dating his daughter." Claire said, resting her arms on his hips, "I guess Margaret is going to threaten you."
"Good to know." Harry chuckled.
And then they could hear Hagrid speak, the shadowy outlines of two enormous people were visible on a stone bench, watching the water in the moonlight.
"Momen' I saw yeh, I knew," he was saying, in an oddly husky voice. Harry and Claire froze.
"Tis got awkward all of a sudden..." Claire said as they let go of each other and tried to sneak off.
"What did you know, 'Agrid?", Madame Maxime said, a purr in her low voice.
They definitely didn't want to listen to this, Hagrid would hate to be overheard in a situation like this.
Instead Harry tried to interest himself in a beetle crawling along the stone reindeer's back, but the beetle just wasn't interesting enough to block out Hagrid's next words.
"I jus' knew... knew you were like me... Was it yer mother or yer father?"
"I - I don't know what you mean, 'Agrid..."
"It was my mother." Hagrid said quietly, "She was one of the last ones in Britain. 'Course, I can' remember her too well... she left, see. When I was about three. She wasn' really the maternal sort. Well... it's not in their natures, is it? Dunno what happened to her... might be dead fer all I know..."
Madame Maxime didn't say anything. In spite of themselves, they took their eyes off the beetle and looked over the top of the reindeer's antlers, listening. They had never heard Hagrid talk about his childhood before.
"Me dad was broken-hearted when she wen'. Tiny little bloke, my dad was. By the time I was six I could lift him up an' put him on top o' the dresser if he annoyed me. Used ter make him laugh...", Hagrid's deep voice broke. Madame Maxime was listening, motionless, apparently staring at the silvery fountain.
"Dad raised me... but he died, o' course, jus' after I started school. Sorta had ter make me own way after that. Dumbledore was a real help. Very kind ter me, he was..."
Hagrid pulled out a large spotted silk handkerchief and blew his nose heavily. "So... anyway... enough about me. What about you? Which side you got it on?"
But Madame Maxime had suddenly got to her feet, "It is chilly." she said, but whatever the weather was doing, it was nowhere near as cold as her voice, "I think I will go in now."
"Eh?" Hagrid said blankly, "No, don't go! I've... I've never met another one before!"
"Anuzzer what, precisely?" Madame Maxime said, her tone icy. Claire could have told Hagrid it was best not to answer, hoping against hope he wouldn't... but it was no good.
"Another half-giant, of course!" Hagrid said.
"'Ow dare you!" Madame Maxime shrieked, her voice exploded through the peaceful night air like a foghorn; behind him, "I 'ave never been more insulted in my life! 'Alf-giant? Moi? I 'ave... I 'ave big bones!"
She stormed away, great multicolored swarms of fairies rose into the air as she passed, angrily pushing aside bushes. Hagrid was still sitting on the bench, staring after her. It was much too dark to make out his expression. Then, after about a minute, he stood up and strode away, not back to the castle, but off out into the dark grounds in the direction of his cabin.
"Come on." Harry said, very quietly to Claire, "Let's go..."
As they walked back to the castle, Claire's expression became very serious indeed. "Did you know?" she whispered, "About Hagrid being half-giant?"
"No, so what?" Harry said, shrugging.
"I'll explain inside." Claire said quietly.
Harry and Claire returned to the Great Hall. Neville was still dancing with Luna, and Hermione was once more dancing with Alex. The duo sat down at a table far removed from the dance floor.
"So? What's the problem with giants?" Harry prompted.
"I know there's nothing wrong with Hagrid, no one who knows him will care, and no one should care, because they'll know he's not dangerous." Claire explained, "But most giants are very vicious. It's like Hagrid said, it's in their natures, they're like trolls... they just like killing. There aren't any left in Britain now, though."
"What happened to them?"
"They were dying out anyway, and then loads got killed by Aurors. There're supposed to be giants abroad, though. They hide out in mountains mostly..."
"I don't know who Maxime thinks she's kidding." Harry said, watching Madame Maxime sitting alone at the judges' table, looking very somber, "If Hagrid's half-giant, she definitely is. Big bones... the only thing that's got bigger bones than her is a dinosaur."
Charles was standing in his office, bending over his desk. The only light came from the fireplace. He was staring down at a small silver ring with a sapphire gem on top.
"I don't want to let you down... But when I am with her, it doesn't hurt so bad anymore..." he mumbled to himself, placing his hand over his left chest, "You can understand right?... I planned for every possibility... But I didn't plan on being happy."
He heard the door to his office open, making him turn around to find Fleur standing there, still in her Yule Ball dress.
"You came." he said, as she closed the door behind her.
"Of course..." she said walking up to him, until she stood next to him.
Charles took the ring from the desk, holding it between his index and thumb, stroking the gem with the thumb of his other hand.
Releasing the ring, it began to spin and floating towards the desk, forming itself in a shallow metal basin, with runes and symbols around the edge.
Silvery light was coming from the basin's contents, it looked like light made liquid, or like wind made solid.
"Do you know what tis is, Fleur?" Charles said, gesturing to it.
"This must be a Pensieve..." Fleur said, as she studied the stone basin, "A tool that can be used to view Memories."
"Tis is your final warning, if you proceed there won't be turning back." Charles warned her, "But if you really wish to know the truth... Then look into it and it will explain everything."
Fleur looked from Charles to the Pensieve. Taking a deep breath, she lowered her face, until the tip of her nose touched the memories.
Harry and Claire spent the rest of the ball dancing, until the Weird Sisters finished playing at midnight, everyone gave them a last, loud round of applause and started to wend their way into the entrance hall.
And when it was finally time to go back to the Common Room, the two where about to walk up the stairs when they heard, "Hey Claire!"
It was Cedric Diggory, Romanova waiting for him in near the entrance hall.
"Yeah?" Claire asked.
"Listen... You know that golden egg? Does yours wail when you open it?", Cedric began, Harry and Claire nodded, "Well... take a bath, okay?"
"Do I smell?" Claire asked.
"What? No! You smell great! J-just take a bath, and... er... take the egg with you, and just listen to it under water." Cedric said, a bit embarrassed, "Tell you what. Use the prefects' bathroom. Fourth door to the left of that statue of Boris the Bewildered on the fifth floor. Password's 'pine fresh.' Gotta go... want to say good night."
"Don't do any thing I wouldn't do." Claire grinned at him and he hurried back down the entrance hall.
"So mi'lady, how was your evening?" Alex said, walking with Hermione to the Gryffindor Common room after the ball ended.
"It was simply wonderful... But." she said, fidgeting with her hands, as he looked curious at her, "Be honest with me Alex... Your the most populair guy in Hogwarts."
"I don't know most populair, but I am one of the most populair." Alex laughed, "Definitely top three."
"Alex, this is serious!" Hermione told him, "Look... I just... You could have picked any girl you wanted... So why settle for someone like me?"
"Who said I settled for you?" Alex said, sounding a bit offended, "We might never attend a Yule Ball again, so I wanted to make it something to remember, so I wanted to go with the girl I liked for a while now."
"Wait... You... like... me?" she said, completely surprised, "B-But your Alex Kent, why would you want a mousy bookworm like me?"
"There are a lot of beautiful things about you." Alex said, softly taking her hand, "There's your hair, for one. It's really nice and wild, and I've caught a couple whiffs of it, and it has a nice scent."
This made Hermione blush.
"Then there's your eyes. Your eyes are a beautiful shade of brown. Your personality is attractive, too." Alex continued, "Sure your bookish and can lose your temper over things, but the way you do it is pretty adorable."
"And your not a mousy bookworm to me. You don't give yourself enough credit, Hermione." Alex finally said, "And even if you really think that about yourself, I am pretty enough for the both of us."
This got her to laugh again, as she held his arm, resting her head against his shoulder.
The Fat Lady and her friend Vi were snoozing in the picture over the portrait hole. Alex had to yell "Fairy lights!" before he woke them up, and when he did, they were extremely irritated.
They climbed into the common room, Alex walked her to the stairs leading to the girls dorm.
"Thank you for the wonderful night, Lex." she said, before plating her lips onto his, surprising Alex, but he soon melted into it. Their mouths moved in sync and taking advantage of this to explore the inside of her mouth
"No, thank you." Alex said with a bright smile. When he heard the door close, he turned around to come face to face with a blazing Ron.
"Alexander!" Ron bellowed angrily.
"Ronald!" Alex bellowed back, "Why are we shouting!?"
"What are your intentions with her!?" Ron demanded.
"You speak of Hermione as if she is not present." Alex said, gesturing over his shoulder, "She is just right over there, you know..."
"Don't dodge the question!"
"Oh, my! Is tis brotherly concern I detect? Or something else?" Alex pondered with a smile, folding his arms, "Do I detect a bit of jealousy there? Feeling territorial? Perhaps you are concerned for me?"
"Is that a smirk!?" Ron bellowed, his face almost as red as his hair, "Are you smirking at me!?"
"I assure you, that I am not smirking. No smirking here." Alex said throwing his arms up, "But if you don't like me and Hermione together, you know what you should have done?"
"Oh yeah?" Ron yelled back, "What's that?"
"Next time there's a ball, ask her before someone else does, and not as a last resort!"
Ron mouthed soundlessly like a goldfish out of water as Alex walked past him and towards the boy's staircase.
"What was that about?" Claire said as she and Harry just came through the portret hole.
Ron turned to look at them, "Well." he sputtered, looking thunderstruck, "Well... that just proves... completely missed the point..."
The memory dissolved around Fleur, for a moment, all was blackness, and then she felt as though she had done a slow-motion somersault, suddenly landing flat on her feet, in the office of Charles Jeager.
The Pensieve was shimmering on the desk in front of her, and Charles was sitting with his back against the desk.
Fleur looked at him, dropping to her knees as tears rolled down her face, "You poor, poor man..." was all she could say after witnessing the memories, of what this man before her had gone through.
"Now you know... That is mine burden." Charles said, his usually neatly combed hair was hanging in front of his face, "Someone has to do it, so why not me? Even if it means sacrificing my own mind and soul..."
"You have others that help you." Fleur said, placing her hand on his cheek, making him look at her, "Let me help you as well, let me ease your burden..."
"I cannot ask that of you." Charles said, tears rolling out of his eyes as well, "The pain I would feel..."
"I cannot bear to think of you suffering alone." Fleur said determent and the two looked each other in the eyes.
"Thank you..." he said, the two inching closer to each other, tilting their heads, closing their eyes, until their lips pressed. When they did, Charles eyes gave a white glow, that passed through him and into Fleur.
Alex: "So been busy with? Kingdom Hearts III?"
Sephylon with a controller in hand: "Yeah... busy..."
Alex: "Oh, it's the end of the chapter yet? Hope you enjoyed it Reader. Many thanks to everyone who read, review, favorite or follows tis story as usual. For now I wish you all a fantastic day, if you enjoyed Skyguy's work don't forget to leave a review and I hope to see you ladies and gents next time."
Sephylon: "...Need to save Aqua."
Alex: "Want to go brave the World of Darkness?"
Sephylon throws controller away and raised the Ultima Weapon Keyblade: "For the waifu!"
Alex raising No Name: "For the waifu!"
Adri shows up as well, holding up Destiny's Embrace: "For the waifu!"
Sephylon: "Charge!"
Claire watched on as her cousin and Adri follow Sephylon towards a portal: "So yeah Mischief Managed."
She raised her own version of Ultima Weapon Keyblade: "For the waifu Elsa!" follows after them.