The Winter Ball Announcement

// THIS IS AN OLD CHAPTER. THE NEW CHAPTERS ARE IN VOLUME 2. YOU CAN READ THESE CHAPTERS IF YOU WANT SOME INSIGHT ON WHAT IS GOING TO HAPPEN LATER BUT SOME EVENTS CAN BE DIFFERENT BETWEEN THE OLD AND NEW CHAPTERS.

After the incident during the first task, Fleur and Viktor were devastated. We have all realized how dangerous the tasks are. Potter was sent to St. Mungo to seek treatment for his injuries. He will probably have scars from it for the rest of his life, but I don't think his life is in danger.

This afternoon, right after her Transfiguration class, Professor McGonagall announced the winter Ball.

"If I can have your attention for a few moments. Let me tell you that the winter ball is approaching. It is a tradition that allows us to get too closer to our guests. All students in fourth grade or above are invited. Those who are younger will have to be invited by an older student if they wish to participate. Evening dress is compulsory, and the ball will be held in the great hall from eight in the evening to midnight. "

Several girls turn around in the direction of the boys they are interested in, and when some of them stare at me, I can feel Daphne's hand slipping under my arm. If one look could kill, all these girls would be dead already.

As I was about to leave the classroom, McGonagall held me back.

"Mr. Bones, as the champion of the school, you are expected to start the ball with a dance with your partner."

"Understood professor."

"Good, and now try not to keep Miss Greengrass waiting." The old Transfiguration teacher chuckles up in her sleeve like a college girl.

I walk out of the classroom to my next class when suddenly a group of Ravenclaw girls walked giggling right in front of me, giving me insistent looks. I pretend I saw nothing but after my defense against the dark art class, I meet the same group of girls again and then three girls from Hufflepuff where I also recognize one of the girls who had tried to give me drugged chocolates on Valentine's Day. Is it me or the number of girls I meet today is exploding?

But I don't really have time to hang around. It's already time to go to the library to study. Since the start of this year, I have spent most of my time learning Bulgarian so that I don't look like an idiot the next time I meet my cousins ​​and great-aunts.

In the room, the girls were already studying. Susan is nose deep in a botany book. Ginny and Rose are reviewing a spell for Transfiguration class. Hermione is helping Luna, and Daphne is working on her homework for Snape. The funny thing is that our table had surprise guests with Viktor Krum who is reading a book on counterspells, and Cho and Cedric who came to revise quietly while keeping an eye on Luna.

I think the library has never been so crowded, between the admirers of Viktor, the girls who hope to see Cedric invite them rather than Cho, and what I think is my own fans. Irma Pince, the librarian doesn't know where to turn and we can hear her every two minutes asking the chuckling girls to be quiet.

I sit in the last free seat and pull out my Bulgarian book which catches Viktor Krum's attention.

* Do you speak Bulgarians? *

* I'm trying to learn * After that he starts talking to me in Bulgarian so fast that I have trouble understanding. Vocabulary is not difficult to remember, however, grammar and oral expression take time and practice. He finally realizes that I'm struggling and slows down his speaking speed.

* Did you find the solution to the egg? *

* Yes * I give him a mischievous smile.

* Can you tell me what to do with it? *

* It depends on what you give me in exchange. * Viktor thinks for several minutes, but he doesn't seem to think of anything that might interest me.

*What do you want? * I laugh mentally, there is nothing Viktor Krum can give me that I don't already have.

* Just kidding, you just must submerge the egg in the water and put your head in it too to be able to listen. But if you insist on paying me back, I am not against a partner to help me speak Bulgarian. *

*That's all? *

* That's all * Viktor rushes out of the library, to join Karkaroff and try what I have just revealed to him.

All the people at our table see Viktor almost running away from the library, while a second ago he was chatting quietly with me.

"What happened to him that he left so quickly?" Hermione looks a little disappointed, I don't know if Krum has invited her to the ball yet.

"He has hemorrhoids that heal badly and so he can't sit in a chair for too long." I can't help but laugh at this terrible joke, but Hermione's look of disgust is worth all the gold in the world.

"Speaking of itchy hemorrhoids, Daphne. Would you like to go to the ball with me?" Everyone sticks their heads out of their books and even some students who weren't at our table turn around.

"Ask me that again without telling me about hemorrhoids and I'll think about it." She looks both happy and upset. How do girls manage to have so many contradictory emotions at the same time?

"What? That was a good joke. No?" She rolls her eyes before plunging back into her book.

I tear off a piece of paper from one of my notebooks and write 'Do you want to come to the bathroom with me?' and I add two boxes with the words yes and no next to it before giving the paper to Daphne. She reads it and rolls her eyes again before pulling out a quill and replacing the word toilet with the word ball and ticking the yes box. I laugh a little too hard which earns me a glare from the librarian.

The rest of our study time goes by without much happening. I just gave Rose and Ginny a hand when they were having a hard time with their spell before we got out of the library. As we pass the arch that leads onto the hallway, I grab Daphne by the waist before hugging her and kissing her in front of all the students who were going to the great hall for dinner. When our kiss ends and I lift my head, there is a lot of disappointment in the crowd.

I take Daphne by the hand as we resume our journey to the great room.

"Are you free this weekend to go get our prom outfits?"

"Well yes, but we are not allowed to leave the school."

"Don't worry about it, I've got my way out of Hogwarts."