The Actual Yule Ball
The next morning, Harry realised what had happened. He, Harry Potter, had agreed to go to the Yule Ball with Draco Malfoy. They had kissed! Oh Merlin..... He walked down to the Great Hall alone. Due to his late night's, he had woken up late and Ron and Hermione had gone down to breakfast without him. Thankfully, it was Sunday so he didn't need to pretend to focus in class. I mean, cause, how could he focus?! He had kissed Draco Malfoy! Voluntarily! He had initiated it! When he walked into the Great Hall his gaze immediately searched for Draco. His green eyes met Draco's grey ones and he felt his face heat up at the memory of the night before. Draco smirked devilishly and winked discreetly at him. Harry yelped slightly and hurried over to the Gryffindor table.
He sat down between Ron and Neville. Hermione was no where to be seen. Harry turned to Ron. "Where's Hermione?" He asked. "Lib'ary." Ron garbled. As usual, he had to try and speak around the food he had stuffed his face with. "Are you ok Harry? You look a bit red." Neville asked cautiously. Harry felt himself go even redder. He mumbled a quick "fine thanks" and grabbed a piece of toast just before the food disappeared. Harry looked sadly at his piece of plain toast. He sighed and stood up. He needed to owl Sirius and since it seemed that he wasn't going to get any breakfast, he might as well do it now.
Ron insisted on tagging along. Ever since he had came to his senses about Harry not putting his name in the Goblet of Fire ( because yeah, sure, glory and gold. But. DEATH. ), he insisted on doing everything with Harry. It was a nice show of friendship but.....it gets a bit....annoying. On the way out of the Owlery, they ran into Cho Chang. She blinked shyly at Harry and moved to go into the Owlery before turning back to the two boys. She smiled seductively at Harry and batted her eyelashes.
"Harry, would you like to go to the ball with me?" She asked boldly. "Oh,uh, I have a date already, sorry." Harry replied awkwardly. Ron stared at him, boggled. "You have a date?!" He repeated. "Since when?!" Harry paled. Oh dear. "Uh, since last night." Cho looked disappointed. "Oh. Who?" She asked bluntly. Harry laughed nervously. "What?" "Who's your date?" Cho persisted. Harry panicked. Both Cho and Ron were waiting for an answer and they were staring at him intensely. "Uhhh, pff, you probably won't know who it is." He stuttered. Cho frowned. "I might know her. Describe her." She ordered. "Uh, blonde, yay high, um, hot."
Harry had to make sure his face hadn't burst into flames. He had just called Draco hot! He had just called Draco, Draco! Cho seemed unpleased with his answer. She sniffed disapprovingly and with a flick of her hair, flounced into the Owlery. Harry and Ron began to walk back to the library. Ron glared at him. "Why didn't you tell me you have a date? Now I'm the only one without one. Even Neville has one!" He looked miserably angry. Harry felt guilt curdle in his stomach. "I still can't believe I have a date." He said honestly. Ron grumbled unintelligibly under his breath. He remained in a foul mood till dinner, which Harry skipped to escape the black cloud hovering over Ron but when he got back to the dorms, he felt nothing but concern for his best friend.
Ron was completely horrified at his attempt to ask Fleur to the ball. He gibbered weakly as Hermione patted his hand consolingly. She exchanged a look with Harry and he nodded. Enough was enough. He strode over to Parvati and Lavender and asked them if they knew someone who would go with Ron. Parvati offered to ask her sister who, luckily , said yes. Feeling off put, Harry strode back over to Ron to give him the good news. Why do girls giggle so much? He was so glad he was going with a boy.
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"I look like my Great Aunt." Ron whispered in horror. He was looking at himself in the mirror and plucking at the frills frantically. He looked at Harry. "I look like my Great Aunt Tessie!" Harry tried not to laugh. He was surprisingly excited for the ball and butterflies fluttered in his stomach. Giant mutant, venomous man eating butterflies that were trying to eat him alive from the inside. Ok, he was also decidedly nervous. Ron looked close to tears. "Murder me Harry." He couldn't keep the grin off his face. "I'm sure once you burn off the frills it'll be fine." He said. Ron snorted unattractively in anger. "Says you! You look fine! Look at you! At least you have normal robes!"
Harry was wearing the robes Molly had got him and a silvery grey bowtie which, in his opinion, made him look like a reversed penguin. He had slicked back his hair too, which in his eyes only added to the penguin look. Harry frowned. "I look like an inverted penguin." He muttered. But Ron was to preoccupied with burning off the frills that fringed his robes everywhere. Harry grimaced. "Come on. We'd better go. Padma will be waiting for you." He added. Ron nodded sullenly. They walked down to the Entrance Hall, where practically half the population of Hogwarts were waiting. Harry kept an eye out for Hermione and Draco. Hermione had been very secretive about the ball. And as for Draco, Harry hadn't spoken to him since that night outside the common room a week ago.
But, the previous evening, when he had gone to the library after hours, as he'd made a habit of doing over the past week, on top of his stack of books he'd found a little black box with a silvery grey bowtie inside and a note saying:
Wear it? x D
Harry let his gaze drift across the crowd, in search of a certain blonde. They were standing beside Padma now, who was gazing at Ron disappointedly. "You look...dashing." she said hesitantly. Ron grunted. "Where's Hermione?" He asked. Harry shrugged, a sinking feeling in his stomach. Maybe it was all a joke. Maybe, right now, him and Pansy were laughing at him. Maybe, right now, Draco was telling the tale of how Potter kissed him- Draco grinned at him from across the room. Harry let out a shakey breath. Merlin, he looks good. Draco wore black robes, which made his eyes startlingly silver. His hair fell naturally over his forehead. Harry never knew it was that long and had a sudden urge to floof it. He wore a silver bowtie. Beside him, Ron began to freak out; he had just seen Hermione with Krum. But Harry didn't notice him because Draco was walking towards him. Oh, his hands were sweaty. He turned to Ron. "Uh, I've seen my date. The doors are opening so you should probably go in." He turned to Padma. "Sorry, he's in a foul mood. Just kick him if he's being an ass." To Ron again. "Dance with her. More than twice. And smile!" He gently shoved the two into the horse of students heading towards the Great Hall.
"Everything ok?" Harry jumped and spun quickly towards the voice. "Yeah!" Why does his voice sound like a strangled cat?! He cleared his throat. "Ron's being a prat and I don't want Padma to have a bad night...." He trailed off. Were Draco's eyes always that silvery? Draco smiled, his eyes glinting playfully. "How chivalrous of you." He quipped. Harry smiled and let his gaze roam over Draco's bod- outfit! Draco's outfit. "You wore it." He heard. He looked up quickly and Draco lightly touched the bowtie. Harry grinned, probably looking like a madman. "Of course I did." He murmured. Draco raised an eyebrow and let his hand drop. "I wasn't sure you would." He muttered under his breath. Harry wasn't sure he was meant to hear it. Louder this time he said "You look good." His eyes blatantly checked Harry out and he smirked slyly. "Very good." He added. Harry felt his face go red. Merlin. It seemed all he was doing lately is blushing. "So do you." He said, looking everywhere but at Draco. Draco smiled broadly, clearly amused.
Suddenly, McGonagall clapped her hands. The sound reverberated through the Entrance Hall, startling Harry and making him look up. Somehow without him realising, everyone except the champions and their dates had gone into the Great Hall. Across the Entrance Hall, the other champions stared curiously at Harry and Draco. "Mr.Malfoy, if you would make your way into the Great Hall to your partner for this evening please." McGonagall said briskly. "And, Potter, where is your date?" Harry opened his mouth to speak but Draco got there first. "Actually Professor, my partner for this evening is right here." He said respectfully. He slid an arm around Harry's waist possessively.
The other champions and their dates stared at them, eyes and mouths wide open, shocked. Cho gasped out loud, as if it was a horrific thing, them being each other's dates. Harry felt his face burn red and he kept his gaze down. McGonagall stepped backwards, concerned for her students. She knew there was a possibility that people might react badly. "Well, then, join the others." She said hesitantly, gesturing to the open mouthed champions. Harry slipped out of Draco's grasp and started to walk towards the others, keeping his eyes down. Draco followed him, disappointed. But halfway to the others, Harry held out his hand to Draco and offered him a tentative smile. Draco beamed back at him.
In the line, Harry tried to ignore the fact that the other people kept turning around to stare at them, but he couldn't. If this is how eight people reacted, even Hermione, what about the hundreds in the Great Hall? What about Ron? He couldn't remember ever seeing two guys together romantically before. What if it was as taboo as being a Parselmouth? Harry felt himself getting panicky. Draco squeezed his hand. He snapped his gaze to to Draco's, who was looking at him kindly. "It'll be fine." He whispered. "Draco, I can't even dance." Harry whispered. Draco winked at him and straightened Harry's bowtie. "But I can."
The doors opened and Harry heard the chatter of the other students. The line started moving forward and he took a deep breath before advancing, Draco's hand still firmly clasped in his. As he walked into the Great Hall, he kept his gaze firmly focused on their interlocked hands. He heard people whispering and felt their states boring into his skeleton. Terror squeezed his chest. They stood in the middle of the dance floor. Draco gently guided Harry's hands onto his shoulders. He settled his own on Harry's waist and the surprisingly comforting warmth helped calm his racing heart. Harry raised his eyes to Draco's. "Just look at me." Draco murmured. "Just me." The music started and they danced.
Harry gazed into Draco's eyes, and everything else fell away. All the fear....He was just happy. Draco lead, obviously, and Harry only stumbled slightly once! Which he considered a success. When the champions finished dancing, the Wierd Sisters began playing. Draco didn't let Harry worry one second more, and led him into the next dance, and the next, and the next. Until Harry literally couldn't dance anymore. He collapsed into a chair and Draco grinned. "I'll go get us drinks." He said and hurried off into the crowd. Immediately, Hermione came up to Harry and plonked into the chair beside him. She engulfed him in a hug, all smiles and rainbows. "I haven't seen you all night!" She exclaimed. "Been dancing." Harry explained. He was wary of the conversation. She was one of the people who had looked back at them after all. Hermione nodded. "With Draco. Does he make you happy?" She asked. Harry blinked. "Uh, it's only tonight that we've gone out but.... yeah. He does." He smiled slightly. Hermione grinned in response. "Good! Because if this was some blackmail thing, I was going to kill him." Harry laughed. He was extremely relieved that the conversation wasn't horrible. He still hadn't spoken to Ron, but he seemed to be having a good time. He hadn't sat down once, and him and Padma were grinning madly. Harry saw Draco coming back, two bottles in hand. He didn't know what would happen in the long run but for now, he was happy to drink, dance and have fun with Draco Malfoy.