Unofficial Portkey Archive

A Moment Like This

Chapter Two

Pretty Baby

By: Nicole

I'm just going to jump right on in. For author's notes and key to bold and italics, refer to SLY or Part 1 of Moment Like This, though the italic quotes are just things being said by random people. Also, I take no credit for the happy Christmas songs the ball will have. And I can write Draco however I choose, so don't say a word. Also, Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree is dedicated to all of my fellow shippers on the HMS Pumpkin Pie.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

When they arrived in the great hall, one look told Hermione that Ginny and her date had not yet arrived. Seems he really does love to make an entrance, especially when his date isn't the first person you'd expect. She figured that since most everyone was going inside the Great Hall, they might as well go on in, too.

She steered Harry towards the entrance to the Great Hall, and right before they reached then entrance, which Ron and Lavender had already passed through, the whispers started behind them.

"Is that Draco Malfoy with Ginny Weasley?" "I always thought he hated Weasleys…" "Ooh.. I wonder what his dad would say about this."

Unfortunately for the speaker of the last one, Malfoy had heard them.

"My father's opinion does not matter to me any longer on such things as who I see. I'm old enough to decide that for myself, thank you very much." Then he wrapped his arm around Ginny's shoulders and smiled reassuringly at her. "Have I told you how lucky I am to be with you?"

"No, Dragon, but I don't mind if you do." She grinned up at him, not noticing the smug looks being sent at them by Hermione, who was answering Harry's question's in an off-handed manner.

"Herm, is that Ginny? With Mal- Draco?" Harry asked her as they turned to head inside. "If it is, I'd better warn Ron, he'll freak out if he sees Ginny with Malfoy."

"Yes, Harry, that's Ginny, and yes, she's with Malfoy. But you're not going to Ron, because it's not his job to decide who Ginny can go to balls or to Hogsmeade with. And yes, I've known about Ginny and Malfoy, and I say as long as he treats her well and she's happy…" She trailed off because Draco and Ginny had just entered the hall, seemingly oblivious now to the stares and whispers. They passed by Harry and Hermione, and as they did so, Hermione just barely made out a 'Thank you, Herm.' from Ginny. Then she turned back to Harry, and over his shoulder caught a fleeting glimpse of Ron's face. "I'm glad Lavender's over there to hold him back and calm him down. Though, I hope he doesn't get mad at Lavender or myself when he finds out we helped Ginny with her hair and getting to the place they were going to meet." That last comment had struck something within Harry's mind, something he'd been wondering about but had never acknowledged.

"Hey, Herm, does that last thing have anything to do with why you borrowed my invisibility cloak?" He couldn't help himself, it slipped out of his mouth before he could stop it.

"Guilty as charged, Mr. Potter, as that's the entire reason I asked you for it. I figured if Ginny herself had asked for it, Ron would have been asking a million questions as soon as the request came out of her mouth." Hermione gave him a look that said plainly 'Don't even think you can come up with a contradiction to that.' Though it wasn't as if he needed the look to tell him that. After all, it was true. Out of all of the Weasley brothers, Ron was easily the most overprotective of his sister. In fact, he was starting to show it at that very moment. "Oh, no! C'mon, Harry! We have to go stop Ron before he gets in trouble!"

Harry allowed her to drag him over there, simply because he had plans of holding Ron back from Malfoy, who seemed to really be interested in only Ginny, and if Ginny wanted to see Malfoy, it was her choice, because Ron dictating her life was quite ridiculous, really.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

When they got over there, it was clear that their help would not be needed. Lavender was already calming Ron down, and had presently convinced him, with Ginny's help, to give Malfoy a chance on one condition - If Malfoy did anything to hurt Ginny, and Ron found out, then Ron could hurt him. But as Lavender told Ron, "Nobody wants a fight during a ball, Ron, so just let them be." And he did.

Amazingly, Ginny convinced Malfoy that, instead of sitting with the Slytherins, they needed to sit with the Gryffindors. Namely, Ron, Lavender, Hermione, and Harry.

There was little conversation at first, until Draco said the last thing anyone ever expected to hear him say.

"Uh, listen, you guys, I'm really sorry for how I've treated you all in the past, and especially for uh, calling Gran- Hermione a, uh, a" Draco stopped, as the others, except Ginny, were looking at him in shock. Hermione regained her composure first and actually finished his sentence for him.

"A mudblood? Is that what you were going to say?" Hermione asked. She appeared surprised, but inside, she had known that Ginny would never see him if he wasn't truly sorry.

"Yes, that. I regret ever having used it, as it is a foul, ugly word, and should really be used on people like my father and Voldemort." Draco recovered his smooth attitude quite spectacularly, and was appearing not to notice the look of disbelief on Ron's face, and the look of amusement on Harry's.

"Well, I agree that it should be used on them!" Ginny exclaimed suddenly. She'd had her head resting on Draco's shoulder while he and Hermione had been talking.

This got the others to talking and pretty soon, Ron, Harry, and Draco were chatting like they'd known each other all their lives and had never been enemies.. Of course, Ron and Harry didn't trust Draco completely, ad he had done some horrid things in the past few years. But in their opinions, he had a wicked sense of humour, and was very intelligent, considering who he had for friends.

*************

The meal portion ended, and a few couples got up to dance. However, Dumbledore stood up, and motioned for the music to be cut off.

"I'm pleased to have a special treat for you all. We have a special guest here tonight, a popular singer who's most famous song is the anthem for the Puddlemere United Quidditch team. She's getting into the Yuletide Spirit by singin a popular muggle carol, Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree. Ladies and gentlemen, Miss Celestina Warbeck!" Dumbledore didn't try to keep their attention any longer, as the cheers from the majority of the male population were quite deafening. So he snapped his fingers once, a huge christmas tree appeared in the center of the room, and snapped them again so it was decorated, with lights.

Celestina took up the command of the activities.

"All right, Hogwarts! As you will have noticed by now, your dear headmaster has placed a tree in the center of the room. I am going to hold a contest of sorts.. First verse will be the 4th and 5th years, 1st Chorus will be the 6th and 7th years. The teachers are going to be watching. If you drop the connection between yourself and any of the people beside you, you're out. The three couples from each year, or years, will get to stay or come back in for the 2nd verse and the end of the song. But the deal with the last portion is this-Couples will be taken out one at a time, and magic is allowed to keep the connection, because this tree is big, and we will eventually have three, two, and then only one couple left. The last couple left will be our Yuletide Sweethearts. So, might I have all 4th and 5th years who are interested out here around the tree?" Celestina cued her musicians who opened the song.

"Rocking around the Christmas treeat the Christmas party hopMistletoe hung where you can seeevery couple tries to stopRocking around the Christmas tree,let the Christmas spirit ringLater we'll have some pumpkin pieand we'll do some caroling." Out of the 4th and 5th years who had chosen to join in, Padma Patil and Terry Boot, Harry and Hermione, and surprising everyone, Neville Longbottom and Hannah Abbott, were the 3 who got to go on. Then the 6th and 7th years went out to show their stuff, though they were definitely nervous, because the 5th years that had made it were clever in how they stayed together. "You will get a sentimentalfeeling when you hearVoices singing let's be jolly,deck the halls with boughs of hollyRocking around the Christmas tree,have a happy holidayEveryone dancing merrilyin the new old-fashioned way."

In the end, Cho Chang and Roger Davies, Fred and Angelina, and George and Alicia were the ones from that group that got to go on. So they stayed in their positions by the tree while the 5th years joined them. Fred wound up next to Roger, Padma to Cho, Terry to Neville, Hannah to Hermione, Harry to George, and Angelina and Alicia next to each other. They waited on their cue, and started back up around the tree.

"Rocking around the Christmas treeat the Christmas party hopMistletoe hung where you can seeevery couple tries to stopRocking around the Christmas tree,let the Christmas spirit ringLater we'll have some pumpkin pieand we'll do some caroling."

By the time Celestina finished with the verse the second time, Harry and Hermione were the only 5th years left, with George and Alicia, and Roger and Cho being the 6th and 7th years. Harry and Hermione had already come up with something to keep them together, no matter what. Right when they had started, Harry had dug his wand out of his pocket and conjured up a length of rope, then split it in half, slipping Hermione one end. Her hand had temporarily moved to his arm, as the rule was not to lose contact. They had tied their ropes ends together in a knot, fingers lingering over each others. Now, it was clear that in a moment they would need their ropes. Hermione had pulled out her wand quickly and muttered a charm so the ropes would look as if they were arms and their actual hands.

"You will get a sentimentalfeeling when you hearVoices singing let's be jolly,deck the halls with boughs of hollyRocking around the Christmas tree,have a happy holidayEveryone dancing merrilyin the new, old - fashioned, way."

The first pair out of the three remaining to get pulled out was Cho and Roger. Cho whispered a soft "Good luck." to Harry and Hermione as they left. Hermione quickly grabbed Alicia's proferred hand, and let her hand pull slightly away from Harry's. Then George made the mistake that cost him and Alicia the contest. George had noticed the rope, albeit a little too late, and was reaching for his wadn to conjure up some rope. McGonnagall had noticed this right away, and had signalled to Dumbledore that they had their winners. This was perfect timing, as Celestina was heading into the last line of the song. She held the last line's notes like the muggle version had been, and the song ended. Dumbledore went up and conferred with Celestina, who smiled when she heard just who had won.

"Ladies, and gentlemen. May I have your attention, please? Headmaster Dumbledore has just informed me that we have our winners. And I'm sure you'll all agree with me when I say they make a fine looking pair. Ladies and gentlemen, it is my pleasure to announce that the winners of our competition are none other than Mr. Harry Potter and Miss Hermione Granger! Come on, you two, up here!" Celestina beckoned them up to where she was standing, and Dumbledore had two little pins that he had quickly transfigured into little Misletoe Hearts. He handed them to each other, handing Harry's to Hermione, and vice-versa. Hermione pinned Harry's on his robes, and he did the same to her. She kissed his cheek on impulse, and he blushed slightly. She had blushed a bit too, as the whole room had seemed to sigh. They went and sat down amidst the sudden burst of chatter.

*************

After the contest finished, Ron quickly pronounced himself bored, and Lavender took that as a sign to drag him out on the dance floor.

"Harry, I won't force you to dance if you don't want to." Hermione said gently. "But I don't care if you can dance or not, I'd still enjoy myself just as much as if you were the best dancer on the planet."

Harry laughed. "Well, if you ask me, I can't be much worse than Ron. After all, he's fooling around out there right now."

Hermione turned around, and sure enough, Ron was doing a dance worthy of boy bands mixed in with hip-hop, rap, and rock head bashing. All in all, it looked very crazy, yet very much like Ron himself.

"You're right, you couldn't be much worse than that. And if you're unsure, I know how to lead and make it look like you're doing the leading. I don't mind at all." Hermione smiled reassuringly at him, and he felt his dancing nerves lessen bit by bit until they were gone.

Harry then set his butterbeer down, stood up and offered her his hand. "Would you, care to dance, Lady Granger?"

Placing her hand in his in reply, Hermione allowed him to help her stand, and they led each other to the dance floor. She then guided his hands until they were in the proper position, placed hers where they should go and started moving slightly. Harry, getting the idea, followed suit, and found that once he got the step pattern in his head, it was quite simple.

After a few moments, the magical sound system stopped playing the music it had originally been playing, and a song started up. When the opening notes sounded, Hermione smiled.

"I found a charm that would make muggle electronics work here, and had my mom and dad send me one of my radios and some of my music to play in them. When they sent me my stereo, they had this song's album in it as a birthday present. I love this song, it's a beautiful one."

As he listened to the words, Harry understood why she liked it so much. "Well, Herm, let's dance to it then."

"Ok."

~*~Song Interlude~*~

You light me up and then I fall for you.
You lay me down and then I call for you.
Stumbling on reasons that are far and few
I let it all come down and then sung for you.

Pretty baby, why can't you see?
Pretty baby, don't you leave me.
Pretty baby, why can't you see?
Pretty baby, don't you leave me.
Pretty baby. My pretty baby
My pretty baby, don't you leave me.

- "Pretty Baby", by Vanessa Carlton, Album - Be Not Nobody

~*~End Song Interlude~*~

"Herm?" He looked at her, almost searching her soul, with those piercing green eyes of his.

"Hmm?" She just kept looking back at him, every so often taking a glance at his lips, which were definitely looking very appealing at that very moment.

"C-can I-I, uh, what I mean is, Herm, I need to talk to you. I don't care if we talk right here, I just need to talk to you." He suddenly looked as if this was very important to him.

"Of course, Harry, you can talk to me about anything at all!" Especially if you're saying you love me, cam the annoying voice in her mind.

"We-ell, the thing is, I'm really starting to, uh, be really, uh, attracted to, uh, oh bloody hell… Ithikimrllyatrctdtoyou and that I rllylvyou." Harry blushed, looking at his feet.

"What did you say, Harry? Did you say that you're attracted to me? And that you love me? Because if you did, I uh, I think you're really nice-looking and that I, uh, love you too." She too blushed and looked at her feet.

He looked up, and placed his finger under her chin, lifting it up to where she was looking him in the eyes. "Yes, Herm, I did say both of those things, and I meant every word." He brought his other hand up to tuck a curl behind her ears, his fingers lingering from the incredible tingling he felt from his fingers being in contact with her skin. Suddenly, he wanted to kiss her so bad it hurt.

He leaned in closer, noticing her eyes fluttering shut when he was close. Their lips brushed against each others just barely, but the fluttering in their stomachs was so intense he couldn't resist pressing his lips harder against hers. Funny… She tastes like Pumpkin Pie…

Hermione was in heaven… absolute contentment. Truth be told, this was the best thing she had ever experienced, and she knew that if she ever had to really learn how to produce a patronus, this would be her happy moment, it was so amazing.

He pulled away, to take in some much-needed air, and saw her face. It was almost glowing. She opened her eyes, which had a dazed look to them. Harry smiled softly at her, before pulling her close for another kiss. And at that moment, neither one cared that they were in the middle of the ball, with everyone's eyes on them.

For they were together, and that was all they would ever need, was each other.