Chapter 13 - The Christmas Ball
It wasn't surprising that Harry found himself in his private Head Boy dormitory sitting at his desk reading Secrets of Potions: Made Easy. It was about the time for the Christmas Ball to begin and Harry could hear all the commotion outside his door. He could hear students running up and down halls, some of them having conversations, and others just plain yelling.
Harry sighed in his chair and tried to concentrate on the book, but with all the distractions outside, it was very difficult. He would have to find the boy who had dropped the book and return it to him soon.
The thought that Harry could have been attending the Christmas Ball (with Hermione too no less) kept scrambling in his mind. If he just told her that the dress was from him, it would be him that was going to dance with Hermione, not Ernie. But being the person that Hermione was, Harry figured that she would not accept the gift from him if she knew that he bartered his Firebolt for her dress. As long as Hermione was happy, it was all good for Harry. Just as Harry could recognize a mass group of people shuffling down to the Great Hall, which told him that the Ball was starting soon, there was a knock on his door.
Harry's head shot up from Secrets of Potions: Made Easy and to his door with an eyebrow raised. "Come in."
"Hi Harry," replied Colin Creevey, fully dressed to attend a Christmas Ball, as he stepped through the door and walked toward Harry's desk.
"Hey Colin," said Harry, surprised that Colin was there to see him. "What can I do for you? I know you don't want to keep Ginny waiting."
"Oh," said Colin, surprised that Harry knew who he was attending the Ball with. "Well actually I have something for you."
He reached out from under his dress robes and pulled out a standard size manila envelope and handed it to Harry.
"What's this?" asked Harry, hesitantly taking it from Colin at first. Harry waited for Colin to explain before opening it.
"Well I just had a huge photography project where I had to take as many pictures as possible," explained Colin, matter-of-factly. "So many in fact that I have way too much for me too keep."
Harry nodded in assurance that he was following what Colin was saying.
"I don't believe in throwing pictures away," he continued, "because I think it's like throwing away treasures. Plus, I think it's bad luck to be throwing pictures away especially if it's of people."
"I see," replied Harry, not seeing where this was going.
"And I want you to have that picture," finished Colin.
Though Harry didn't really care what the picture was of, a curiosity enveloped him. "Why would you figure I would want to have this?"
"Don't know," shrugged Colin, but the slight smile on his face told Harry that he did know.
"Well, thanks, I guess…"
"Um Harry? Are you going to the Christmas Ball?"
"… No I don't think so…"
"Oh… well…um…" stuttered Colin, not really knowing what to say. "I'm sorry."
"It's ok," assured Harry. "It's not your fault."
"Well… um… I better get going then Harry…" said Colin uneasily.
"Yeah sure," he replied. "You don't want to keep Ginny waiting." Just as Colin was about to close the door behind him, Harry called.
"Colin?"
He turned around toward Harry. "Yeah?"
Harry fanned the envelope in his hand, still not knowing what was in it. "Thanks."
He anxiously opened the envelope as soon as Colin left. What he found inside was not what he had expected: It was a 5x7 Muggle portrait of Hermione from the chest up.
She was wearing her Hogwart's uniform and leaning against a wall somewhere outside of the school grounds and hugging a few books to her chest. Her smile was of sheer joy and simplicity that made you feel warm when you saw it. Her hair cascaded over her shoulders and just by the way her hair looked, you could tell that there was a slight breeze just as the picture was taken. By the way the mood of the picture looked, it seemed that Hermione didn't plan on taking the picture in the first place; she was asked impromptu.
"Wow!" whispered Harry to himself. He was surprised at how Colin could manipulate his camera so precisely that he could catch a single moment in time so beautifully, but not as surprised as how beautifully the picture had turned out. More specifically, why did Colin give it to him in the first place? Colin sure had a gift in photography, which explained why he was in an advanced class.
As Harry continued to admire the picture, there was a knock on the door.
"Come in," he said automatically, still concentrating on the picture. He heard the sound of the door creak open and close and a figure approach him a few feet from his desk but was still distracted by the photo.
"Harry?" said a girl voice that was very familiar. Harry's daydream was coming into reality; he was still staring at the picture but he could make out a figure standing in front of him wearing something very sparkling and very red.
"Harry?" Hermione asked carefully, as though she were approaching a tiger.
Harry scrambled to put the picture back into the manila envelope and then throwing it into the top drawer of his desk and closing it with a big slam. He ended up sitting comfortably in his chair with his hands folded as though he had done nothing.
"Hi Hermi…," started Harry nervously, but the words stuck in his throat as he gazed at her. At first he was hoping that she had not seen what he was doing or what he was looking at, but that all didn't seen to matter now.
Hermione was wearing the elegant red dress that he (although she had no idea) gave to her. The dress was partially shoulder-less and just barely dragged on the floor. There were a few sparkling diamonds in some of the hems and her hair (which was usually bushy, but Harry found attractive anyway) was tied up in an graceful knot. She looked absolutely stunning.
"Hi Hermione," squeaked Harry.
"Hi Harry," answered Hermione, but with a look of uttermost confusion. "You're… you're not ready…?"
Harry blinked and uncomfortablely took Secrets of Potions: Made Easy and a quill and nervously pretended to take notes.
"Ready for what?" asked Harry, not looking at Hermione.
"Ready for the Ball Harry," answered Hermione. Harry stopped pretending to take notes.
"Oh," he said, looking up at her. "I'm not going…" He looked back down at Secrets of Potions: Made Easy and pretended to take notes again.
"And why not!?" asked Hermione sadly, approaching Harry's desk and resting her palms on top.
"I couldn't get a date," said Harry uneasily. "You know, about the "having a date" requirement thing, that Dumbledore said. I don't have a date so I can't go."
"Oh…" was Hermione's response. "Did you ask that girl that you like?"
Two things hit Harry at the moment. One: Since when did Hermione noticed that he "liked" someone? Two: This was not something good if he wanted to catch Hermione's attention…
"I was about to…" began Harry timidly, "but someone got the chance before I did…"
"Oh…" said Hermione. "Well I guess you should be quicker next time."
"Maybe…"
"I really thought that you had a date for the Ball."
"I thought I had one too. But… things didn't work out well for me."
There was a long silence between the two of them.
Harry motioned toward Hermione's outfit. "Any clue as to who gave you the dress?"
"No, none," said Hermione, shaking her head.
"Oh," said Harry, feeling a bit relieved. "You look beautiful in it."
"Thank you…" smiled Hermione. "It's too bad I can't say that you look handsome."
"No… you can't."
Hermione leaned in and over the desk closer to Harry, putting her mouth very close to his ear. Harry shivered slightly.
"I still think you're handsome," she whispered, then withdrawing and standing upright.
"Thanks," said Harry, blushing a bit and looking back down Secrets of Potions: Made Easy. He could start to hear feet rumbling down corridors outside his door, which meant that the Christmas Ball would be starting soon.
"You better get going," urged Harry. "You don't want to keep your date waiting."
"Right," Hermione agreed, but reluctantly. She left much more slowly than she had stepped in.
"Whew," sighed Harry with relief. "That was close. She almost saw the picture that I was looking at. Who knows what she would think if she knew I had that. Probably think I was obsessed with her or something…"
Suddenly, there was another knock at the door. Harry was beginning to get irritated.
"Come in," Harry said.
He thought that someone he knew would walk in but someone he didn't know walked in. It was a black- haired young boy probably in his third year. He wore Gryffindor robes, though Harry had never seen him before, though he did look vaguely familiar. That was another thing that puzzled him; the boy didn't look at all ready to be going to a Ball. Of course, Harry assumed that he was the only one not attending the Ball.
"Can I help you?" asked Harry in a professional manner.
"Um… Mr. Potter?" squeaked the boy.
"Call me Harry," said Harry, a bit weirded out at the formality of his name.
"Oh ok Mr. Potter… I mean, Harry." The boy seemed to be very nervous about something. "Could I ask you something?"
"Sure," answered Harry. He motioned toward the seat in front of his desk. "Please sit down."
Though the boy did get into the seat, he looked just as nervous as before and he sat looking very tense.
"Well…um…" began the boy, "well… you are the Head Boy and um… it would be your duty to… um… help out a fellow Gryffindor if he was in need of advice right?"
"Uh huh," nodded Harry, still puzzled by the whole situation. "So what's your question?"
"Well… um… how do you know if… um… you're… in love…?"
"Huh?" said Harry, not sure if whether or not he had heard correctly.
"How do you know if you are in love or not?"
"Oh!" exclaimed Harry, very taken aback by the question. "Well um…" he seemed to be looking for a name.
"Daniel. But you can call me Dan."
"Well Dan," said Harry. "That's a very difficult question actually, but I'll answer it as best as I can."
Harry cleared his throat and tried to clear his mind.
"Actually, you can't really say if you're in love or not. It'll just come to you one day. You'll meet the right person and it'll hit you like… um… like…"
"…lightning?"
"Yes! And you'll just… know."
"I see," replied Dan nervously.
"Is something going on?" asked Harry, though he already knew what the answer was.
Dan nodded.
"Is there a girl that you think your in love with?" Harry sounded almost disguised with himself. He couldn't believe he was having this conversation. It sounded like he was on some hotline for love advice.
"There is," explained Dan. "We've been friends since first years just me and her. Then suddenly I looked at her one day, earlier this year to be exact, and I… I don't know… I… just wanted to kiss her…"
Harry was surprised that Dan was so open with him, like being Head Boy and listening to love problems was his job in the first place.
"I know what you mean," answered Harry. "In fact, I'm not too far from you Dan. There's a girl in my life too that I know I'm in love with."
"You mean Head Girl, Hermione Granger?"
Harry was amazed at the sureness of Dan's answer. Like he or anyone would be stupid if you didn't know that "Harry Potter was in love with Hermione Granger".
"The point is Dan," continued Harry, ignoring Dan, "you just need to feel it out. One day you're going to feel "it". I don't know what "it" is, but you're going to feel it."
Dan nodded in confirmation.
"By the way," added Harry, " I think this is your book." He handed over Secrets of Potions: Made Easy.
"I don't need it," said Dan. "You keep it. You may find something you need in there."
"Yeah, like how to cure a heartbreak or something," joked Harry. Dan laughed with him then stood up to leave.
Harry continued. "Have fun at the Christmas Ball."
"Oh… I'm not going," said Dan in about the same way Harry said it when Hermione asked him something along those lines.
"I couldn't get a date," Dan proceeded. "Besides, she already got a date."
"Let me guess," said Harry, feeling sorry for him and himself all over again, "you didn't ask in time?"
Dan nodded sadly.
"It's ok," comforted Harry. "It's too early to tell if she likes him yet.
"I hope you're right," sighed Dan, just as he opened Harry's door. "And Harry…" Harry looked at him again. "Thanks…"
"You're welcome. Come anytime you need help ok?"
"Ok," answered Dan closing the door softly behind him.
"Poor guy," said Harry to himself. "He's almost as pathetic as me…"
A/N Sorry for the HUGE delay in the update. I've been WAY TOO busy with work and college that I almost forgot about this fic. Not to worry, I may have forgotten, but I'm not giving up! BTW, anyone see the PoA Trailer yet?