Nearly a hundred Gryffindors waited inside their common room, wondering what the house meeting was about. Everyone in Hogwarts had been told to return directly to their dorms after classes. Few of them noticed their own head of house standing before them until Professor McGonagall cleared her throat.
"As you all know, the Triwizard Tournament has been a traditional tournament that showcases the greatest strengths a school has to offer. The champions and the trials, however, are only a part of the festivities. The next event will allow all students fourth-year and above to participate."
Excited faces grew on the Gryffindors' faces. This was the chance for the house of the bold and brave to shine! The boys could feel the competitive spirits rise inside them again, like when they would cheer for the house Quidditch team. The entire first term had gone by and there had been no Quidditch. The Tournament was supposed to be exciting, but most of the students couldn't buy themselves seats. Harry always gave his complementary ticket to Hermione. There was nothing exciting about reading the results in the next day's newspaper. They were ready to release their bottled-up cheers, shouts, and cries of victory when they faced their opponents-
"... by dancing. In just under three weeks' time, there will be a New Year's Ball, held on New Year's Eve and going past midnight. Your parents have already been informed by owl post. The Hogwarts Express will return from the winter break three days early this season, on December 30th. I suggest you use the time during the break to purchase suitable clothing. This will be a formal dinner and dance. Dress robes for all the men, and suitable dresses for the ladies."
The girls squealed. The boys gaped. A few of the older Gryffindor couples looked at each other, thankful that they already knew they had dates. A third-year girl, Janice Edgeworth, raised her hand. "Professor, did you say only fourth years and up could go?"
Professor McGonagall answered, "All students in fourth year and above are invited to the ball, along with their dance partners. Should those in third year and below wish to attend, you will need to find yourself an escort who is in fourth year and above."
The younger girls' eyes lit up with hope, while the younger boys looked bored with indifference. A few of the older boys understood the implications- if they didn't ask the girl they wanted now, they could end up going with some 13-year-old they didn't even know. For two particular boys, being completely shameless helped them get over their nerves very quickly.
"Katie?" Fred turned to his Quidditch teammate.
"Angelina?" George did likewise.
"Would you do me the honour of going to the dance with my brother George?"
"And would you do me the honour of being Fred's date, Miss Johnson?" Both of the twins grinned wildly.
Katie stood there looking back and forth between the two twins before bursting into laughter, while Angelina faced Fred and punched him in the arm. "Ask me properly, you dolt!"
Fred got down onto his knees and took Angelina's hand. He looked straight into her eyes and cleared his throat. "Angelina... will you... wait a sec, this is missing something." He pulled out a small packet from his pocket and threw it at the ground. A shiny pink powder began to fill the room, making it difficult to see anyone more than an arm's length away. The powder sparkled ten times as much when someone moved through it and also created sweet-smelling bubbles in their wake. Fred made a deliberately embellished sweep of his arm when he took up Angelina's hand again, surrounding himself in sparkly glitter and scented bubbles. "Angelina..." he began, with a voice that was much deeper than normal, and for some reason, had an echo. "Will you be my date for the ball?"
Angelina, clearly unimpressed but rather amused, blew the powder away with a quick spell. "I told you to ask me properly!" She turned and walked towards the girls' stairs, but paused at the first step. "You can try again tomorrow morning."
Katie was on the ground, clutching her sides in laughter. George looked around the room, holding up several more of the packets that Fred had used. "Weasley Wizarding Wheezes' Instant Romance Powder! Get yours today! It gives you instant, temporary, privacy, a little sparkle to your eyes even if you haven't slept in days, enough fresh-smelling perfume to cover the fact that you haven't bathed in a week, and a little suaveness to your voice for that extra edge you'll need to land the girl of your dreams!"
"Messrs. Weasley, this is not the time to be selling your joke products," Professor McGonagall scolded. "And there had better not be any love potion within that mixture of yours, because you'll be in with more than just the school if- "
"Oh, there's no love potion in here at all! Nothing of such dubious legality," Fred answered with a shocked expression. "Why, I'm offended! We're running a proper business here! Our product is only just as effective as love potion, that's all!" Many of the Gryffindors rolled their eyes in disbelief.
"We just invented this to help our fellow Gryffindors," George added. "Some people just need every little advantage they can get to snag themselves a belle, like..." he gestured his hand around the room as several boys ducked behind the chairs and tables to avoid being made an example. "Hey, where's Neville gone to? Or Harry?"
"Harry, you have to relax to do this properly!"
Harry was frozen stiff. It wasn't because the water was cold, because the Room of Requirement had created a swimming pool with very comfortable temperature water. It was because his head was pressed up against Hermione's soft breasts as he floated on his back while she supported his shoulders. Harry was surprisingly comfortable in the water for someone who never had swimming lessons as a child. When they first practiced simply dipping underwater and controlling his breath, he was perfectly fine with it. He didn't want to mention to Hermione how Dudley and his gang used to dunk his head into the toilets at school. When they moved on to floating, however, Hermione got a lot closer to him, bringing along her distractions as well.
"Just close your eyes and listen to my voice, and pretend you're going to sleep on top of the water."
Harry did as he was told, finally letting his arms and legs droop into the water, making himself more buoyant. The water washed against his cheeks, making him jerk his head up whenever it came near his nose. Hermione, having no free hands, pushed his head back down by planting a kiss on his forehead. After a few minutes of this, Harry was quickly getting used to the feeling and kept his head relaxed. He was still unsatisfied with his progress, however, as it had taken half an hour and he hadn't even begun moving in the water yet.
"I'd rather practice my animagus transformation than this," Harry sighed.
"Being a bird won't help you underwater, Harry. The Trial of Water is our more immediate concern. We'll have to put that on hold until you can swim properly," Hermione told him.
"I know, I just wish I could do more than just float here... I feel so useless right now."
"Harry, do you know how long it takes some people to learn how to do just that? Half an hour to get this far is amazing. I mean, look at Neville..." Hermione looked over to her right and asked Luna, "How's Neville coming along?"
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