Chapter 6
The time of the holiday ball was swiftly approaching, and Harry and Ron still didn't have dates. The closer it got to the day of the ball, the more worried Harry got, and it seemed to him that there had never been so many girls at Hogwarts.
Two days before the ball, Harry knew it was time to take drastic action. He had just seen Parvati and Lavender come in through the portrait hole, and he quickly stood up and walked over, leaving Ron behind him.
"Hey Parvati? Will you go to the ball with me?" he asked, and watched as Parvati immediately erupted into a fit of giggles.
He waited patiently for her to regain her composure, and then she said, "All right then," blushing intensely.
Then, turning to Lavender, he asked, "And will you go with Ron?"
At that, Lavender also began giggling, and Parvati said, "She can't. She's going with Seamus."
Harry lowered his voice so Ron couldn't hear him. "Well do you know anyone else who would go with him?"
"My sister Padma isn't going with anyone," Parvati said. "I could ask her if you like."
"Yea, that would be great," Harry said. "Let me know, would you?" And he went back over to Ron, feeling that this ball nonsense was a lot more trouble than it was worth.
*
Finally, the day of the ball had arrived, and all the boys in Harry's dormitory were getting dressed. After putting his dress robes on, Harry glanced over at Ron, whose robes looked more like a dress than anything else, with lacy cuffs, and a big frilly neck. In the interest of politeness, Harry held all his laughter in, and turned instead to look at Neville, whose dress robes were, of course, very fancy and extravagant. They were dark blue, and he had put a charm on them to make the shine and glitter, making him look, in Harry's opinion, a bit ridiculous.
Neville had been standing in front of the mirror for at least ten minutes already doing his hair and fixing his robes, and turning back to Ron, who had just done a bad Severing charm on his ruff and cuffs, and said, "C'mon, let's get out of here before Neville starts putting on makeup."
Ron replied, "I actually think he's done that once before," and the two boys left the room laughing.
Parvati was waiting in the common room, looking very pretty in robes of bright pink. "Padma is going to meet you in the entrance hall," she told Ron, and the three of them climbed through the portrait hole.
When at last they had made it past the dozens of giggling girls that lined the hallways to the entrance hall, Ron met Padma, who looked as pretty as her sister in turquoise robes.
Entering the Great Hall with Parvati on his arm, Harry couldn't help but wish he was somewhere else. Balls just weren't his thing. And for once, Harry was right about something. The ball really did turn out to be more trouble than it was worth.
After dancing once with Parvati, Harry returned to the table where Ron was sitting next to Padma, who looked bored out of her mind and kept giving Ron dirty looks. "So, having fun?" Harry asked Ron sarcastically.
"What's it look like?" Ron mumbled. "But at least not everyone is having a miserable time," he added, nodding toward the middle of the dance floor.
Harry looked up, and immediately the bottom of his stomach seemed to fall out. There was Hermione-his Hermione-dancing with Neville, and actually looking happy about it. She was smiling. Neville was making her smile.
Harry couldn't take any more of it. He stormed out of the hall as quickly as he could, deciding that balls were definitely not his thing, and that he would do better just to go to bed and forget all about it.
"Harry, wait!" said a voice behind him-a voice he knew better than anyone else's. "Where are you going? You look upset," Hermione said, leaving the ball with Neville trailing behind her.
"It's nothing, really. You should go back in. You looked like you were having a good time in there."
Hermione leaned forward, whispering, "Well, of course I looked happy. I couldn't just look moody, could I?"
Harry felt a little better at this, but then Neville came over and began dragging her away. She pushed him away gently, and he slowly went back to the hall.
"I'll be right there, I promise," she called after him.
Harry frowned. "Well, why don't you just go with your precious Neville then?" he said bitterly. "You obviously don't want to be out here."
"What are you talking about?" she asked incredulously. "I'm here, aren't I? If I wanted to be with him, I wouldn't have followed you."
"Well then why did you come with him?" Harry shouted, losing control. "You think you have everyone fooled but you really do like him!"
Hermione just gaped at him for a moment, and then turned around and followed Neville back into the Great Hall.
Harry couldn't wait to go home. At least there he didn't have so much drama to worry about. At least there he could just be alone when he wanted to be, without having to deal with Hermione Granger.
I'm sorry if this chapter isn't great, but I promise the next chapter is gonna be a lot better, because it's gonna be about Harry going home for the holidays, and I'm gonna have a lot of fun with it, so don't lose interest if you didn't like this chapter. I kind of rushed it.
But whether you liked it or not, please review… it really makes my day, whether they're good or not.
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