"He...he was?" Harry asked shakily, then realized he was slipping up. He cleared his throat. "I mean, why the hell would he come here because of Lord Voldemort?" he hastily corrected himself. Hagrid flinched at the name.
"How should I know?" Hagrid shrugged.
"How did you know it was him? I mean, he usually has a hood on," Harry stated.
"Look, Malfoy. All's I know is, yer father came here, an'...wait a minute. How can I trust yer with what I tell yer?" Hagrid narrowed his eyes.
"Because, you clod, he's my father and I have a RIGHT to know," Harry drawled, rolling his eyes. Hagrid watched him closely and then took a deep breath.
"Lucius came here with a robe and hood on. I happened to see him, and I thought he was one of the Aurors. Turns out he wasn't, just took Polyjuice Potion to look like one of 'em. I recognized him because it started to wear off, and I could notice his blond hair underneath the other man's brown. He told me not to tell anyone or else-" he hesitated.
"What?" Harry prompted.
"He said You-Know-Who would kill me," Hagrid said softly. Just as these words were sinking into Harry, there was a soft knock on the door. Hagrid stood up and opened it, and Harry saw a pointed wizard's hat and a long silver beard at the door. He drew a sharp breath in. Dumbledore was here.
"Well, Hagrid, you seemed to have cleaned up quite well," he said as he stepped inside. His eyes fell at once on Harry, who was sitting there with his hands clasped, very un-Draco like. He quickly unclasped them and leaned against Hagrid's mantel casually, as he had seen Malfoy do countless times. He prayed that Dumbledore would fall for it.
"Hello, Draco," Dumbledore said kindly, flashing him a small smile. Harry moved to return it, but instead muttered, "Hello, Professor."
"Hagrid, may I speak to you in private for a moment please?" Dumbledore asked. Hagrid nodded and the two stepped outside for a few minutes, which seemed like an eternity to Harry because he couldn't hear what they were saying. They finally came back in.
"I trust you will get over there as soon as possible to help those poor souls?" Dumbledore verified.
"Yes, sir," Hagrid agreed.
"Good. I will be there shortly, for I have a few loose ends to tie up first," Dumbledore said. Then, he turned to Harry, gave him a small nod and a smile to match the nod, then left. As soon as he was out the door, Hagrid started moving around his small hut, gathering things.
"Where do you think you're going?" Harry asked casually, hoping Hagrid would blurt out the situation in his hurry.
"The Dark Mark's been found in Hogsmeade," Hagrid said quickly. "And Nott's been found with the same wand Harry found in here. Now get out, Malfoy. I've gotta go," Hagrid rumbled. Harry immediately exited, much to Hagrid's surprise. Harry noticed.
"Be sure not to scare anyone anymore than they already are! Although, I'm SURE that will happen, considering its YOU," he retorted to cover. It worked.
"Malfoy, if you don't want detention with the Blast-Ended Skrewts, you'll leave," Hagrid said menacingly, shutting the door behind him. Harry rolled his eyes for effect and left quickly.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"Guess who I'M going to the Ball with?" Neville asked excitedly at breakfast a week after Harry's encounter. Harry sighed. He had heard this countless times already, and Neville wasn't giving up anytime soon.
"Let me guess, Neville. Padma?" Harry asked. Neville nodded fast.
"You bet, Harry! It's awesome! My first date!" he said and soon after, blushed.
"Its all right, Neville. You have to start somewhere," Ron, who was sitting across from him and next to Harry, said with a small smile. Harry smiled, stifling laughter. Neville with Padma. Dean and Parvati. Angelina and George. Lavender and Fred. Katie and Lee. Susan and Seamus. Ron and Hermione (Harry was pretty sure of this). Seemed that everyone was paired up for the ball coming up the following Saturday. Everyone except Harry, that is. He still had no one to go with.
Lunch came quickly. After going through Care Of Magical Creatures, though, Harry didn't have much of an appetite. They had studied Goober- Toobers, which Harry thought was more than an appropriate name for the...whatever they were. They were long like worms, but gray and jelly- like (you could see through them). They had twenty legs, ten on each side, but also twenty eyes, two starting at the front of its head and then traveling single- file down its back. What were they useful for? No one knew (except for probably Hermione). They were all too busy staring at the nasty things to listen to Hagrid, who cooed at them as if they were puppies as he explained their uses. But to their surprise, it looked like it could EAT a puppy. When its mouth was closed, it looked like it didn't even have one. But when it opened, two rows of jagged yellowish-blue teeth dripping with purple saliva were revealed, snapping for any type of food. Everyone had been unpleasantly revolted.
Defense Against the Dark Arts turned out to be just as much fun as it was in the third year. They worked with Nettleworts as promised by Professor Lupin, who took them down to the Hogwarts cells quite below their actual classroom, where a Nettlewort was hidden in-between two stacks of hay in a corner. Lupin had pulled it out and each student was able to attack it using the spell, "Conglomero Difflo", which made the Nettlewort's two separate forms slide apart from one another, then shrink into nothingness. When Harry had approached it, the top portion turned into a dementor, and to his surprise, so did the bottom. When he asked Lupin why, he explained that it was because that was the only thing Harry was truly scared of. Harry was at least happy that nothing else scared him.
At lunch, all everyone could talk about was the Ball that was taking the place the next evening. Some girls kept leafing through book after book filled with pictures of new dress robes and giggling, some girls were pointing at other boys and giggling, some boys were pointing back, and Neville was still mentioning his date. Not much had changed, including the fact that Harry still didn't have a date.
He felt a soft tap on his shoulder. He looked behind him to see Ginny standing there with a smile on her face.
"Hey, Gin," he greeted, returning the smile.
"Harry, can I speak with you for a moment, please?" she asked somewhat shyly. Harry nodded and stood up. Ron shot him a confused look, and Harry shrugged as Ginny walked off. Harry quickly caught up with her outside the Great Hall.
"Harry, I was wondering if...I mean, if its not awkward for you or anything, if you'd go to the Ball with me," she rushed it all out in one breath. Harry was taken aback. This was Ginny. The girl he had saved from Tom Riddle and his Basilisk in the second year. The girl who had put her elbow in butter the first time she had seen him.
"Um, sure, Ginny," he said somewhat uncertainly. Ginny's smile lit up and with a "Thanks, Harry!" she ran back into the Great Hall. All right. What just happened? Harry asked, rooted to the same spot.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
The next morning, Professor Lupin woke Harry up especially early. Harry grumbled and turned over in his bed, covering his ears by pushing another pillow down on top of his head.
"Harry, that won't help you," Harry heard Lupin's voice say in his mind.
"Its too early," Harry mumbled.
"Harry, do you want new dress robes or not?" Lupin's voice resounded in his head, more clearly this time. He opened his eyes into his pillow. What is going on? Harry thought.
"Nothing is going on! Sirius told me take you shopping for dress robes for the dance," Lupin said in his head. Harry sat up bolt upright.
"Professor, did you just...read my mind?" Harry asked, shocked. Lupin smiled.
"Something like that. I'm a SoothSayer. I can read minds and serve as a medium for people who want read each other's minds," Lupin explained. "Now, DO you want dress robes or not? Because if you don't, I'd be more than happy to spend all these Galleons on something else," Lupin said, jingling a bag of the big gold coins in front if Harry. Harry quickly got out of bed saying, "There IS no better way to spend those other than on me!" and rushing to the bathroom with a grin.
Harry and Lupin flooed to Diagon Alley, where Harry bought forest-green dress robes that complimented his eyes very nicely in Madam Malkin's Robes For All Occasions. Both of them went to Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlor and had two 'Merlin's Beard' Sundaes, and just like Merlin's beard, it was long and hard to finish. He tried to find some sort of magic comb that would help settle his hair, but to his luck, he didn't find anything.
"It's just as well, Harry," Lupin remarked with a small smirk. "You look like your father with that hair. Why would you try to change it?"
"Because it looks EXACTLY like my dad's," Harry grumbled. They walked inside the Leaky Cauldron, still arguing about Harry's impossible hair.
"Hey, Tom," Lupin greeted the bartender as they entered. Tom waved back with a smile. "Hello, Remus! Hiya, Harry!"
"Just flooing back to Hogwarts," Lupin informed as they headed toward the fireplace.
"Oh! The big dance there tonight, right? Got a date, Harry?" Tom asked, winking. Harry blushed and nodded.
"Really? Who is this girl?" Lupin asked, surprised.
"Ginny. Let's GO!" Harry said quickly.
"What was that? I heard something like...Ginny? Weasley?" Lupin asked, even more surprised as he reached for the Floo Powder.
"What's so surprising about that?! She asked me, I said yes!" he exclaimed, reaching for some Powder
himself. Lupin regarded him with a smile, then turned back to the fireplace, threw the powder in (making the red flames
turn green), stepped in, and shouted, "Lupin's Quarters!" He disappeared, and Harry followed. He tucked
his elbows in tightly while still managing to hold onto his glasses and the bag of clothing He landed with a thud in
Lupin's office, where he found him brushing soot off his already ragged robes. He did the same and glanced at the
clock. It was one in the afternoon.
"It's a shame about Hogsmeade," Lupin remarked.
"Yeah. I still can't believe it. Who do you think did it?" Harry asked. Lupin shrugged.
"Could've been anyone. Personally, I think it was the Death Eaters since the Mark was over the town and Nott was found at the scene," he commented.
"Wait. Nott was found? In Hogsmeade?" Harry asked, making sure he heard right. Lupin nodded. "Without his wand, too," he added. Harry paused for a moment, thinking.
"Harry, I can see the wheels spinning in your brain. Don't worry yourself! Everything's getting sorted out as we speak! Just think about the dance and your date," Lupin reassured. He's right. Just for once. Get away from that subject, Harry said to himself.
"I have to go put these away. I'll see you later, Professor," Harry bid him goodbye as he walked out the door.
"Bye, Harry! Have fun with Ginny tonight!" Lupin called after him, making Harry scowl.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
There was a sudden knock on the door.
"Hang on a second!" Harry yelled, adjusting the sleeves of his robes, and trying one last time to straighten his hair. Then, he opened his door to find Ron in immaculate new robes.
"Ron! When'd you get the new robes?" Harry asked, eyeing him. Ron's robes were a night-sky blue, making his blue eyes stand out brightly.
"They're not COMPLETELY new, but I did change them a bit. Do I look OK?" he asked, nervously tugging at the neck. Harry smiled.
"You look fine, Ron. Any girl would be happy to have you as a date," he replied. Ron beamed. Behind him, Parvati sprinted up the stairs and said, "Guys, your dates said they'd meet you outside the entrance to the Great Hall," and then sped back down. Ron took a deep breath.
"Let's hope this turns out better than it did last year," Ron said. Harry agreed, laughing. The two nervous boys padded down the stairs and quickly walked out the common room towards the Great Hall. Harry's heart thudded in his ears dully. His best friend's heartbeat matched that of his. As they approached the Great Hall, Harry spotted a flash of red and lavender. They turned the corner and both of them stopped in shock.
Ginny looked...Harry could find no other word than 'different'. Her hair was slightly wavy, halfway up and
with falling ringlets around her face. Her robes were a pale sky blue, with lace sleeves that you could see through to
her creamy skin. Hermione donned lavender robes that flowed out at the sleeves and just a little as it neared the
floor. Her hair was straight and all the way up in a high but simple ponytail.
The boys slowly found their feet and neared, smiling as they did so. Harry took Ginny's arm in his and they walked straight into the Hall.
"I'm so used to these dances and lavish parties. My parents throw them all the time," Malfoy was saying as they entered. Harry turned around and saw him walking gracefully with none other than last year's date, Pansy Parkinson, hooked on his arm. His younger version, Harry saw, was right behind the older and had a small girl with brown hair and quite a lot of makeup on his arm, wearing shocking pink robes. Both the Malfoys grinned identically as they entered behind Harry. Harry rolled his eyes and turned back to the front. He was going to have fun tonight, and he was not going to let Malfoy ruin his good time.
The Great Hall looked as grand as the Yule Ball had. It had streamers that kept changing colors across the sides, with dozens of clustered floating candles in-between whose flames also changed colors. The ceiling was bewitched to look like a summer night's sky, clear and sparkling with a million stars. The floor emitted sparks of silver, green, red, gold, blue and yellow.
"Its beautiful," Ginny commented as she walked through. Harry looked at her and noticed that she was, too. They found a small round table near the staff table with a lone floating candle in the middle, and sat, still looking around them. Harry looked up to see Dumbledore in mild orange robes that had stripes running across them, a matching hat, and a huge grin. Next to him was Professor McGonagall in white robes and a matching hat with what looked like a bell on top of it. Next to her was Professor Vector, the Arithmancy teacher, Professor Trelawney in dingy caramel robes, Professor Flitwick in gold robes, and Hagrid in a huge green suit.
"Harry, look at Hagrid," Ginny said across the table, her voice spelling laughter. "Looks like he tried to comb his hair again!" Harry did notice, for there was tiny splinters in his beard and his hair, which was oddly bunched to both sides.
"Ginny, look who's next to him!" Harry exclaimed, figuring out why he had gone this far.
"Oh my god! Madame Maxime is here!" she exclaimed. "Hagrid invited her to come here all the way from France, I suppose." Harry noticed them holding hands on the table and laughing. Guess they made up, Harry thought. He turned and saw Ron and Hermione sit a few tables away from him. Harry sighed. He had already given up.
"Want to dance, Harry?" Ginny was suddenly next to him. Harry looked up and nodded, smiling. They went out to the middle of the dance floor. Ginny draped her arms around his neck and Harry placed them on her waist. He took a deep breath to calm his nerves. A slow song by someone named the Boo Brothers came on, and he felt Ginny relax against him. He tried to relax as well. She looked up into his eyes and he looked straight back.
"What are you thinking about, Harry?" she asked softly.
"About how I want this night to be perfect," he answered.
"It already is," she said and kissed him quickly on the lips. She pulled back almost immediately, and looked down, blushing. He brought her face up to look at him.
"Gin, you don't have to blush every time you kiss me. I mean, technically, we're on a date. You're
supposed to do that," he reminded her. She laughed.
"You're right, Harry. I'm sorry," she apologized.
The night went by too fast for Harry's liking. Last year, it had seemed to drag on forever. But this year, when he was actually having fun, laughing, dancing, and talking to Ginny, it seemed to speed by. A few minutes before the dance officially ended, Ginny reached up and whispered in his ear, "Let's go outside before we get trampled on." She took his hand and led him outside with her, where there was no one but them. She laced her fingers through his, and they started walking in silence. Harry heard the distinct sound of lots of feet rushing to get to where they were going, but continued walking. After a few minutes, he turned to her and said, "Well, it's been a few minutes. It should be safe to go in now."
"What? You don't WANT to spend time with me?" she asked, pouting.
"No! I-I..." Harry stuttered. He looked at her and saw her laughing.
"Not funny, Gin. I thought I really upset you there for a second," he replied, smiling.
"What would you have done if I really had?" she asked with a straight face.
"Well," he mused, "first, after stuttering for a year, I would've apologized thoroughly. Then, I would've given you a hug," he said and pulled her in a big hug, "like this, and then..." he trailed off as she looked up into his eyes again. After what seemed like an eternity of silence, he lowered his lips to hers. Not to his surprise, she met him halfway.
Meanwhile, back at the dance, Malfoy was getting a kick out of taunting Ron again.
"Really, Weasley. What spell did you use to turn the robes of the 16th century to look even remotely like that?" he asked, cracking up.
"A different spell than the one I'll use to permanently disfigure you," Ron threatened.
"And HOW on Earth," Malfoy continued, "did you manage to snag Mudblood Granger as your date?" he asked, cracking up even more.
"Oh come on, Draco! Mudblood, Weasley. They're synonymous!" the little Malfoy exclaimed, and this time, both of them cracked up at the same time.
"I'm giving you until the count of three, Malfoy. I swear, I'll use you," Ron pointed at the younger, "to beat him up."
"Ron, let's go! Everyone's leaving!" Hermione tugged on Ron's hand for a few seconds before he grudgingly budged and followed her out to the common room and up the stairs to the boys' dorms. She sat Ron, who was still fuming, down on his bed, and sat next to him.
"He always finds a way to ruin my night!" Ron burst out. "And now the dance is over, and..."
"But the night's not over yet," Hermione said softly in his ear. Then, she leaned in and kissed him tenderly. "Feel better?" she whispered.
"Not quite. Maybe one more will do the trick," Ron replied, grinning. She laughed and kissed him again, more deeply than the first time. He responded immediately. After a few seconds, she lay back on his soft pillows and he followed on top. She wrapped her arms around his neck, and not breaking the kiss, he pulled his robes off so that he was only wearing a full-sleeved T- shirt and khakis underneath.
"Hermione," Ron said, breathless, but couldn't continue because she grinned and pulled him down for another kiss. He was happy to oblige. Ron unclasped the small pin that held her robes together, and she was only wearing a tank top and shorts underneath. She pulled his shirt over his head, and ran her hands down his well-maintained body. Ron smiled against her lips, enjoying spending every moment with Hermione and all thoughts of Malfoy flying out of his head.