Chapter 11 The Yule ball

The weeks leading up to the Yule Ball were busy for a variety of reasons. Even though the girls had all brought something in the form of dress robes, many were lamenting that they were not exactly suitable for a Yule Ball. As a result, Gladrags Wizardwear in Hogmeade was doing a roaring business by catalogue, owl post and with a few of the senior students who had snuck off school grounds. Those that managed to escape successfully were more often than not, apprehended upon their return to the delight of the caretaker Argus Filch.

Harry and his friends however, faced no such difficulties as a quick message to Griphook had seen the goblin bring not only a vast array of catalogues, but also Madam Malkin herself to supervise the measuring and then creation of their dresses and robes. For the men, it was simple: Let Madam Malkin take their measurements and add the appropriate complimentary touches. The women however, had a great deal more work ahead of them as they savaged several dozen catalogues in search of something suitable.

Luna had Colin had fast become friends, then confidants and it was no surprise to the others when he had plucked up the courage to ask her to attend the ball. She had accepted and Harry had smiled when he heard about it, glad that Luna was coming out of her shell and continued to grow in to her own person. The rest of the girls had been more than willing to help make sure that the all-important first date went well and judging by their expressions, she was wearing the perfect dress. The blond was genuinely happy for the first time in several years – so much so that her feet didn't really touch the ground as she helped the others find their own perfect dresses.

It was rather strange, Harry mused as he looked across the living room of the residence: Nearly everyone present was dating someone else who was present: Harry was with Hermione, Cedric and Fleur had come together quietly and discreetly, but it was clear to everyone present something was going on there. Luna and Colin made a good couple if for no other reason than Colin grounded Luna slightly, while she kept him from being too firmly anchored to the ground. Ginny and Neville, sometimes he wondered what could have been, if it had been him and Ginny. It was idle speculation, as Harry knew he would not trade Hermione for anything. The only ones dating someone on the "outside" were the twins Fred and Geroge with Angelina and Katie respectively.

Potential trouble only raised its head once in the week leading up to the Yule Ball: Luna still did her own thing, but as a close friend of Harry Potter, nobody had disturbed her in many days. Some people have to upset the peaceful status quo. Staring out a window, admiring the lush landscape, a voice cut in to Luna's reflections, "Hey Loony! Heard Colin asked you to the Ball, too bad you're both going as Potter's lap dogs!"

Luna smiled serenely, "I know Colin would have asked me if he could attend. Harry made sure that all of his friends would be able to attend. I get to spend the evening with my boyfriend and my friends," she explained patiently and shrugged, "Who are you going with Cho?" there was no malice or rancor in Luna's question, "Is Cedric taking you to the ball?" That was Luna's return shot.

"That bitch Veela got her hooks in to my boyfriend! And there is nothing anyone can do to stop that charm! So you better hope she doesn't get her sights on your boyfriend!" Cho went on for several long sentences about what she would like to do to Fleur given half a chance.

Mild mannered and easy going, kind hearted with a unique worldview. There was a suddenly a fire in Luna as she took two steps closer to Cho, her hand clipping a stray lock of hair behind her ear. The same motion brought her wand in to her hand, "Fleur and Cedric are friends of mine," she said dangerously quiet, "And she had no need of her Veela charm to attract or keep Cedric interested."

Cho went from angry to enraged, at this little weirdo tramps insinuation, "Says the loony one who thinks she has friends! They need you for your daddy's precious paper! They couldn't care two knuts about you!" her hand vanished in to a pocket on her robes, but before she could even grip her wand, Luna's was in hand with a bright smile that seemed at odds with her auroresque dueling stance.

Cho froze as the blond spoke, calm and serene as ever, "I live with Harry Potter, have been giving access to his tutors, trainers and instructors that include three Hogwarts professors, a Goblin Warrior, and two Aurors of some reputation. I train and duel with the champions of the Triwizard Tournament. I may be Luna "Loony" Lovegood, but I'm quite sure a duel would end with one of us in the hospital wing."

"Still weird and unpopular," she sneered, "Why do you think your friends let you wander around the castle alone? Like I said…" Cho fired of a single curse. Luna seemed to float aside, letting it strike the wall.

The full body bind slammed in to her back and dropped her like a sack of stones. All she could do was glare hatefully with her eyes up at her attacker, "Weird… is a stretch. Luna has a unique and original view on things," Colin holstered his wand, as he collected the frozen witch's wand and dropped it on top of her frozen form, "Harry's friends, are never alone." Said Colin as he walked past her, revealing Ginny and Fleur Delacour standing some distance behind, "Sorry Luna, but she was not worth your effort," he paused as he studied the frozen witch, "Don't think she was worth mine either…." The group moved to take advantage of the sun shining outside.

It took Harry a few days to think it through, but he finally came to a realization and a decision: He was taking Hermione to the Yule Ball and he was going to have to dance.

It took a moment to track down the Librarian Pince and ask whether the library had any books on the subject. As a librarian at the finest school of witchcraft and wizardry in the country, she had received many strange requests, questions and enquiries. This one however, had her stumped. She was unwilling to admit that the school's collection was inadequate and had unearned a single volume entitled "Dance Amongst the Magical." He had the reflexes, the balance and the poise thanks to Quidditch and his own training. Memorizing the steps was easy enough with the aid of the chronological enchantments in the residence. Nevertheless, he knew he would need to actually practice with someone to go any further.

That was how Harry found himself in his current predicament, "Enter." He had knocked and a part of him had hoped that Professor McGonagall wouldn't be in… even though he'd waited under an invisibility spell to come up to her classroom. "Mr. Potter, what can I do for you?"

Considering everything he had faced, including face a Hungarian Horntail, he somehow found this to be amongst one of the most embarrassing things ever, "Professor McGonagall… I need your help with something, important…" she nodded and waited, "I need someone to practice dancing with." The normally stern transfiguration professor broke in to a very rare smile, "I've managed to learn the steps, but I'm not sure I can do them with a partner…"

"Ms. Granger can dance, having had lessons during her summer holidays for the past two years," confirmed Professor McGonagall, though how she knew that was beyond Harry, "I confess that I was not sure how to broach the subject, that the champions and their dates would open the ball with a waltz…"

"I was hoping that you would be able to practice with me, perhaps an hour a day for the next week or so?" he asked hopefully, "I'm sure I can ask Dobby to do some baking for me..." Professor Minerva McGonagall knew a bribe when she heard one, and if word ever got around about her weakness for chocolate, she was not sure whether she could live it down. Harry handed over a small box, "Charmed to stay warm…" The smile had not left Professor McGonagall's face as a wave of her wand music filled the room.

Things in the residence were also verging on normal, busy but as normal as possible between classes, private tutors, dance lessons and practices with the other champions, and training and coaching his retinue and friends. Without a doubt it was the happiest Harry, Hermione and Luna had been at Hogwarts. Of course, when Harry let slip to Neville that he was taking dance lessons, he had asked to join in, "Just as a refresher, you know? Can't be stepping on Ginny's toes all night…"

It had snowballed and the week before the ball had Professor McGonagall down in the residence, breaking bread with them every evening as she gave dance lessons to them all and they exchanged dance partners. She had no doubt that when they would effortlessly steal the spotlight.

The Yule Ball was only two days away when Hermione knocked on Harry's door, late one night after everyone else had gone to bed, "Harry… we need to talk about us." Seeing the nervousness on his face, she actually smiled and laughed, "No. don't worry," she leaned forward, and kissed him, gently, before quickly pulling away, "Harry…" she found herself wondering just where the Gryffindor courage had gone. "Back under your bed, in the 4th year girl's dormitory in the tower when you knocked on the door," a cheeky voice in the back of her head answered,

"Harry… I need to… to tell you how I feel… it's that if I don't tell you, I'm scared that I'm going to one day just pounce you. I… I love you," The words came out in a rush, "But I don't know how to control what I'm feeling!"

He knew exactly what she was talking about, exactly what he was feeling, "I know. Mione, I don't want to push you in to something that you're not ready for…I don't know a lot… about this sort of thing but I don't want to ruin what we have by taking things too far too fast."

She smiled, that same smile he found so attractive, as she leaned in and kissed him, and somehow manipulated him on to his back where all he could do was stare up at her, "I guess," she said seductively, "I'll decide how far, to take things…" She started kissing him, moving her tongue against his lips, and he just followed her lead, acting purely on instinct, letting his tongue play against hers, ever so gently.

Instinct can be an incredibly powerful thing. His hands slid low down her back, tracing slow lines and circles that seemed to sear the skin. Somewhere along the way, she had pinned him to the mattress, and he did not care. His hands slid around her waist, working their way, slowly up her sides. She finally understood some the things she had read in those romance novels she kept hidden under her bed. Reading about it was one thing. To ache for touch, his touch was another, and then, to feel his hands… that was something else again….

He could feel her against his hands, along his fingertips, sparks like lightning dancing along his nerves. She moaned in pleasure as he reached up to kiss her. The bedrooms of the residence were charmed for silence, privacy and discretion as after all they were originally for champions of age. When Harry awoke the following morning, it took him a long minute to realize that the night before had not been another reoccurring dream, but reality. She was snuggled up against him, clad in nothing but her underwear - just like him.

Nobody else in residence had heard a thing and could not explain the smiles on both teens at breakfast that morning, or the next few mornings, including the day of the Yule Ball.

That evening, the champions opened the ball with their dance partners, all eight of them dancing the traditional waltz. Harry was somewhat nervous about dancing in front of not only Hogwarts but also the students from other schools, but also when he has his arms around Hermione, his concerns just vanished and the two of them did admirably well.

Headmaster Dumbledore smiled indulgently at the couples. Whatever their personal differences were both was determined not to spoil the night for everyone else. Igor Karkaroff wore an expression that reminded Harry too much of Professor Snape. Ludo Bagman was clad in purple robes with large yellow stars and had given the champions enthusiastic applause. Madame Maxime had exchanged her usual black satin uniform for a flowing gown of lavender silk, had applauded them politely. Griphook was in formal Goblin regalia, complete with silver cloak bore and red trim. That was when he noticed that Mr. Crouch was still missing, with Ms. Umbridge occupying his seat as far from Griphook as possible on the large round table.

They took their seats and the conversation was awkward to say the least, unlike his dinner party sometime back. The differences between not only the adults and teenagers but also the personal animosities present: Dumbledore and Harry, Dolores and Griphook, Snape and Harry, Karkaroff and Victor, the list could go on for quite a while. The adults were clearly aware that something misspoken, or taken out of context could very well spark the next wizarding war. Only after the main course did things began to thaw and relax, "I'm afraid to say Mr. Crouch simply has not been well since the World Cup," explained Dolores Umbridge, "It was a ministry fiasco and then the involvement of his house elf, Blinky or whatever her name was only complicated matters further as has the aftermath…"

"Our castle is not as big as Hogwarts or as comfortable," Victor was telling Hermione, "Fewer floors and the fires are lit for magical purposes only. But our grounds are much more extensive, including lakes and mountains…"

"Now, now, Viktor!" said Karkaroff with a laugh that didn't reach his stone cold eyes, "Don't go giving away anything else, now, or your charming friend will know exactly where to find us!"

Dumbledore smiled, his eyes twinkling. "Igor, all this secrecy… one would almost think you didn't want visitors."

"Well, Dumbledore," said Karkaroff, displaying his yellowing teeth fully, "we are all protective of our private domains, are we not? Do we not jealously guard the halls of learning entrusted to us? Are we not right to be proud that we alone know our school's secrets, and right to protect them?"

"Oh I would never dream of assuming I know all Hogwarts' secrets, Igor," said Dumbledore amicably. "Only this morning, for instance, I took a wrong turning on the way to the bathroom and found myself in a beautifully proportioned room I have never seen before, containing a really rather magnificent collection of chamber pots. When I went back to investigate more closely, I discovered that the room had vanished. However, I must keep an eye out for it. Possibly, it is only accessible at five-thirty in the morning. Or it may only appear at the quarter moon - or when the seeker has an exceptionally full bladder."

Harry snorted into his plate of goulash. Ms. Umbridge frowned, but Harry could have sworn Dumbledore had given him a very small wink as if the two were sharing a private joke.

With dinner over, Harry made a brief circuit of the room, before turning his attention to his girlfriend and his friends instead of hanging around groupies and hangers on. As the night progressed, Harry made sure to dance with all of the women in his group including Ginny and Fleur and Professor McGonagall. Throughout the ball, the champions stayed within their group, twirling confidently across the dance floor, no matter what the music was as they received jealous glares from wizards and witches alike.

Luna was in her boyfriend's arms as they danced the last waltz together, thinking that this had been perhaps the best Christmas of her life. The atmosphere and company had made it all simply magical, even with very little visible magic on display. Harry had kept his word, ensuring that his friends would be able to attend.

Fleur Delacour was also having the best day of her life, sharing the last waltz with Cedric Diggory and those jealous girls' stares with Hermione. The champions had stayed inside their group all evening, much to the annoyance of some of the other students that circled like hyenas and vultures.

Victor had enjoyed a number of dances, and had shared several with a certain Hufflepuff 5th year. When asked about her, he had shrugged and said, "An old friend of the family." Otherwise, he was content to sit aside and just watch his friends. The word was somewhat strange to him but he liked the way "friends" sounded and all that it implied. He had danced with witches who treated him as an equal and had not drooled or slobbered over him like a demented fan girl. It was one of the few times in his life been able to relax and enjoy himself at a formal function.

There was, Cedric had quickly realized, more to Fleur than just her looks and that alluring charm of hers. She was as beautiful a person as she was physically attractive and he pondered his previous relationship with Cho: A witch on the high side of high maintenance with a jealous streak wide enough to park two Hungarian Horntails. He smiled and Fleur smiled back before whispering something in his ear that widened his smile in to a grin.

Ron eyes had drifted over the group on several times during the course of the night. He was not sure if he was more envious or jealous. His date seemed to have an understanding of how he felt, and her eyes had gone in the same direction as Ron, "Doesn't seem fair does it?" whispered Cho. Ron was her unlikely rescuer after her run in with Loony the previous week.

"It's not fair, because it isn't," growled Ron in agreement. Both sat on the side of the dance floor as Draco and Millicent danced past the seated couple. Crabbe and Goyle were not dancers in any way and neither had been able to find a date for the ball anyway. Ron noticed the pointed stare from Draco and caught on quick enough, "Ms. Chang," he said formally, "May I have this dance?"

Where Harry had arranged for Madam Malkin, Draco had arranged for Twilfit & Tattings to outfit not only him and Millicent but also Crabbe, Goyle, Ron who had comforted Cho after her run in with Luna. However, not officially a couple, the ball was their first date. Oddly enough, Daphne did not seem to mind. Ron looked particularly dashing – at least he hoped so – in his new dress robes of a dark burned gold color with green trim. It was almost a stark contrast to Cho Chang's white silk brocade cheongsam but as they headed on to the dance floor, and like Draco and Millicent, stayed at the opposite end of it from Harry and his friends. Nobody was looking for trouble.

Sometime later as Hermione enjoyed a dance with Victor, Neville asked Harry, more out of curiosity, "You don't hold all the Weaselys in the same bracket do you?" the herbologist in training nodded to the far side of the great hall, where Ron and Cho were in discussion with several from the house of serpents.

"These three are amongst my closest friends. Ron… he used to be. But I won't dump them because of what their brother has done or is doing." He hesitated, "I'm not so rich in friends that I can afford to throw away three years of friendship. But Ron made his choice," he met Neville's gaze, "mate."

Neville was surprised but that remark earned him a chaste kiss from Ginny. The Prank Master Generals took that as a challenge and descended upon Harry energetically, giving theatrical kisses, "Forge! Forge! I just kissed the boy-who-lived! He's going to marry me!" it was incredibly just how high pitched and girly Fred voice suddenly was.

"I kissed him too! You're going to have to share him with me Gred!" retorted George, "And if you won't share him, I'll make you!" his voice, if anything was even more high pitched than Freds.

It was Victor who intervened, grabbing the laughing twins by an ear apiece, "Unhand him you rogues!"The Bulgarian was having, a difficult time keeping a straight face at their antics, "Or I shall surrender you to Ms. Granger for punishment!"

"You could just give them a place in the Potter harem," said Luna, "At least then you could lock them in the residence… and keep the castle safe from their pranking antics…" The idea had some merit.

Albus Dumbledore watched the champion's party with a critical eye. "Remarkable isn't it?" commented Professor McGonagall, standing next to him, her tone neutral, "Students from three houses and three schools. Mixed house couples and even an inter school couple." Dumbledore said nothing as he observed the changes in the students, especially Luna Lovegood who was not on the fringes but a full part of the group. The strange young girl had vanished. The same for Ginny Weasely, full engaged with her boyfriend, no longer haunted by her past. Yes. Things were changing.

Professor McGonagall eyes wandered and noted Ron, his date and their choice of company, from Slytherin House. No doubt, Professor Snape was uncertain what to make of the situation. Moreover, so was she, especially over Ron's academic achievement, without Hermione to help him.

The day after the Yule Ball, everyone slept in and woke up either late or very late except for Luna and Colin. The pair had never gone to bed after their moonlight stroll where they spent much of their time star gazing as well. They had also been gazing at a different set of moving stars, sorting through the few hundred pictures that Colin had taken and deciding on which ones to send to Luna's father for the next issue of the Quibbler.

Colin turned out to be the typical Gryffindor, and had gotten over his hero worship of Harry and formed a solid friendship with the champion. His relationship with Luna was something else that had changed in the past few months. Both were new to the experience and they were taking things slowly as both were mature enough to realize they were not ready for too much

That and Colin knew that if he did somehow hurt Luna, it would mean a world of trouble, assuming he survived whatever Xenophillius Lovegood did to him: Harry and Hermione would be waiting with drawn wands.

Griphook was sitting in his office wearing a large smile and nursing the remains of a measure of the fire whiskey, one of the few wizarding beverages the Goblin had acquired a taste for over the years. The ultimate authority in Gringotts was also the Goblin High Council and they had voted, albeit narrowly, to share certain specific information with Griphook, when promoted.

The goblin had done outstandingly as far as the council was concerned. The business with the basilisk had earned the bank a fortune and the Quibbler's articles and the pictures of Harry in action sporting the goblin crest had initiated an upsurge in business. Indirectly, there had been improvements in Goblin Wizard relations for the first time since the end of the first war.

Igor Karkaroff had left the ball immediately after the opening waltz. He sat alone on his vessel surrounded by broken glasses, gulping fire whiskey straight from the bottle. Britain did not make or even import a decent brand of vodka, and he had drunk his way through the two crates he had brought with him. But then again, how many people could claim to have been dragged to the feet of the Dark Lord, subjected to the Cruciatus Curse for a number of minutes before being given a task that would make him the most hunted wizard in Britain if he succeeded or get him killed? Only a few months left to live, he as he drained the bottle and hurled it against the wall. It shattered, mirroring the life he had tried to rebuild. Damned if he did, damned if he did not….

Igor reached for another bottle.