Chapter 56
RONALD WEASLEY
The entire school now stood outside the Great Hall, dressed in their finest robes. Ron had never felt more embarrassed or out of place in his life as he stood there in his second-hand robes, waiting for his date.
He could see the Slytherin House members eyeing him and smiling as he tried to push down his embarrassment, while Harry stood beside him clad in fine new robes. He felt a bit jealous seeing his friend's lavish robes, and the little changes that Ron had noticed throughout the year had never felt more obvious than today, for this Harry was way different than the boy who had met him at Hogwarts Express.
It was subtle at first, but Sirius's presence had begun to change his old friend, and though they remained friends, but he did not remain his sole friend any longer. Harry had found himself new friends, including McLaggan, Dean, and even Susan Bones.
Even now, though they stood side by side, Harry was busy chatting away with McLaggan as Ron tried to hide away his embarrassment. But in the end, despite his struggles, Ron prided himself on being his first friend.
"Harry's really changed," Neville whispered as he tried to tie himself a tie, and Ron nodded.
"Yeah, he has," and now he wore his glasses less and less, and even now he was using an artefact to correct his vision, dumping his new glasses as they waited outside the Hall.
"Well, good for him," and indeed, it was good for him.
"Still, I heard that he got rejected by Hermione," and Ron stiffened at that, for he had been the one to let it slip, even when Harry had asked him to keep it a secret.
"Shhh," he pinched Neville's arm, stopping him from saying anything more.
"What?" Neville asked as he winced in pain.
"He asked me not to tell anyone?" and of course he would. It was a great embarrassment for anyone to be rejected by Hermione, though Ron himself had faced a slew of rejections himself, including one rather embarrassing one from the Beauxbaton champion herself.
"Why?" Neville asked, and he wondered himself but Harry had grown to care about many things now. Like how he looked, how he ate and how he dressed.
Things that had never mattered to him before.
Suddenly, the Hall shifted as Ron heard a few girls gasp as they would for him in his dreams, but the object of their awe was someone else.
"Look at him!" "Damn!" he heard a few murmurs and turned back and saw the reason for the ruckus, as his mood soured immediately.
Dressed in an impeccable, pitch black suit was the current object of fascination for every girl at Hogwarts, and his black hair and eyes only added to his overall presence as he waded through the Sea of girls, and headed towards the door.
"It seems like you have some sense at least," Professor McGonagall's voice broke him out of his stupor as the Transfiguration Mistress gazed at the Ravenclaw champion.
"Champions! Champions!" she then began to call out as she cleared up the space from the front of the Hall, and his attention was easily caught by the rest of the group where Cedric was paired up with another Ravenclaw girl. In contrast, Beauxbaton's champion had chosen Roger Davies as her partner.
"Lucky Ravenclaws," he cursed, as he grew angry at that Ravenclaw senior for having what he could only ever dream of.
"Krum's got no one?" Neville asked.
"Seems..." but before he could finish, the Drumstrang champion moved towards the stairs as all eyes turned towards the stairs, and even Ron found himself stunned at the sight in front of him.
"Is that..." Neville gasped as it took him a few seconds to recognise the person coming down the stairs.
"Hermione?" and despite sharing a class for around four years, he couldn't recognise her.
She wore a pink dress, with the silk forming several flowers and swirls all around. She looked absolutely gorgeous, and he regretted not having asked her out, and he could see Harry's eyes narrow as Viktor Krum stepped forward and took her arm.
Her smile stiffened as she looked up, as the Bulgarian Keeper led her to the entrance, and she saw more than two dozen eyes all turn towards Harry as Hermione walked past them, as the transfiguration Professor turned towards the last champion.
"I do hope that you were able to get yourself a date, Mr. Black?" and then she appeared.
And the rumor had spread far and wide that someone had finally been able to melt the Frozen heart of the Ice Queen of Slytherin, and as Daphne Greengrass walked down the stairs, everyone stiffened for there was a girl that all the boys at school had revered and feared equally.
She wore a black, simpler gown, one that showed her back, and it perfectly matched the Black of her date's dress. As Cassius led her to the entrance, the Transfiguration professor finally let out a sigh of relief.
"The First Dance is reserved for the Champions...."
0000
DAPHNE GREENGRASS
Daphne and Cassius had danced over a thousand times by now. He had been her designated partner for a hundred such events by now, yet this dance was unlike anything they had done before.
The steps were the same, the movements routine, the music familiar enough, but their bodies hugged each other like they never had. This was no longer routine.
The Great Hall itself had been transformed into an elaborate Ballroom with pearly white walls and shimmering white lights that lingered over the Champions as they glided across the stage, amidst the hum of a slow, romantic ballad.
The blacks of their dresses blended into one another, contrasting against the white of the stage and the walls, as he spun her around before wrapping her arm around her waist, staring intensely into her eyes as he pulled her closer than ever and whispered.
"Have I mentioned how gorgeous you look?" he teased as she rolled her eyes.
"Just a dozen times," and the way his eyes were glued to her was an answer enough to what he thought of her dress and herself.
"Then you wouldn't mind me saying it a dozen more," and she shook her head, as the music came to an end.
Then the music shifted, the rest of the school joined in, and this once dance alone had been tiring enough for her, and he saw that in an instant and slowly led her to the edge of the dance floor.
"Do you want to sit down?" he asked, as they slowed down to a simple waltz, as the rest of the school joined them on the dance floor, and they were the first Champions to sit down, as Daphne's eyes scanned the crowd as she eyed her brunette friend dancing in the arms of a somewhat nervous Blaise Zabini.
"I never knew that Tracey and Zabini were a thing," Cassius added, and neither did she, and the way Tracey was smiling was an answer enough that this was no simple fling for her.
"Neither did I," and her dress sparkled in the same way as hers, and was rather distinct in its style, as they should be given their designer.
"You must have spent a fortune on the dresses," she asked, and Cassius raised a brow as he gave his usual reply.
"I have a thousand problems, my dear, but money isn't one," and his American accent was as good as always as she shook her head. Still, Tracey had spilled the beans on how she had extorted quite an exuberant price for this gift, and much like a dozen other things, he had not hesitated for even a second in paying it.
Cassius himself wore a matching Black dress, elegant and straightforward, as always.
"Still, I don't think I have complimented you on your looks," and Cassius had always had a rather impeccable fashion sense, no matter how much he may try to act the fool.
Even now, his matte black suit stood out amongst the crowd, as he flagged down two glasses of Butterbeer for them.
"You haven't," he teased, and she nodded. And so for his constant teasing, she held her tongue, making him give her an aghast look as they were joined on their table with a somewhat familiar couple.
And even before Daphne had tried to avoid letting her glance linger on her, but she could evade her eyes no more as Hermione and Viktor Krum approached their table, the Bulgarian Seeker unaware of the history between his date and Cassius.
The Drumstrang champion greeted Cassius, as Hermione stood there awkwardly, and she saw the former Gryffindor girl gazing in her date's direction with some semblance of longing and regret, as Daphne slowly tapped him on the shoulder.
"Could you get me something?" she asked, and he was quick to get the hint as Viktor politely asked her the same question, as the two boys left them alone to talk about their problems.
"You should dress up more often," she advised, and the brown-haired girl blushed.
"Well, it's all thanks to Fleur," she said, pointing towards the Veela champion from Beauxbaton who had captivated the eyes and nearly half the boys in the room.
"Come sit," she said as the two of them sat side by side, their gazes following their respective dates, who seemed to be having a good time together in one corner of the room.
"I won't apologise," Daphne was the first to break the ice, and she saw Hermione stiffen before the girl added.
"You don't have to," she whispered.
"Something's simply aren't meant to be," Hermione added, and the girl was clearly in pain, but Daphne had to accept her strength to sit here beside her.
"I just hope that we can still be friends," she asked, and despite what any sane person would say, Daphne nodded as she smiled at Hermione.
"Of course," and she did that only because of trust, not in herself but in the boy standing in the far corner of the room, laughing with the Bulgarian Seeker.
And so, the conversation turned to other things, like school and subjects, and it was only the arrival of Tracey that made them stop as her brunette friend jumped in with a rather serious question.
"So should I bring swords, or drinks?" Tracey asked nervously as she eyed them both sitting down with one another, and the girl had helped mediate this whole affair between them and had been richly rewarded because of that.
"What about your hidden boyfriend?" Daphne asked, seeing through the girl's ploy to deflect away from her secret.
"Which secret boyfriend?" Tracye continued to pretend, as she smiled wildly.
"The very one that was flying across the room with you," and it was Hermione who finished her words.
"A certain Blaise Zabine, perhaps..."
.
.
.
And as the students all danced and enjoyed the Ball, a certain green-eyed boy reclused himself to a corner, his green eyes blazed with red sparks as he eyed a brown-haired girl dancing in the arms of the Black boy, his teeth grinding in rage and his snarling anger evident.
"You dare turn down me!" he whispered angrily, remembering all those stares from earlier and how he had been insulted.
"You mudblood!" and the slur stirred something inside him, a reaction, anger, but the red sparks grew darker as he put down this rebellion and made a promise in that moment.
"You will pay for this..." he promised as he vanished from the Hall, all by himself, even as his date searched for him.
"You will pay for humiliating me...!"
0000
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