Dark

Chapter 18

Harry
“Potter! Weasley! Will you pay attention?” McGonagall shouted, her voice cracking like a whip through the classroom.
I looked up to find an irate McGonagall staring down at Ron and I. We were working on changing guinea fowl into guinea pigs today, and as the end of class loomed the two of us had instead opted for a sword fight with two of Fred and George’s fake wands. Under McGonagall’s stare though we dropped the fake wands, one bursting into tin parrot as it hit the desk, and faced back toward the front of the room.
“Now that Potter and Weasley have been kind enough to act their age,” Professor McGonagall began again. “The Yule Ball is approaching – a traditional part of the Triwizard Tournament and an opportunity for us to socialize with our foreign guests. Now, the ball will be open only to fourth years and above – although you may invite a younger student if you wish. Dress robes will be worn for the boys, appropriate gowns for the girls. The Ball will start at eight o’clock on Christmas Day, finishing at midnight in the Great Hall. Now then, the Yule Ball is of course a chance for us all to – er – let our hair down.”
A number of students silently sniggered at the thought of McGonagall letting her hair out of its tight bun.
“But that does NOT mean,” She continued, “that we will be relaxing the standards of behavior we expect from Hogwarts students. I will be most seriously displeased if a Gryffindor student embarrasses the school in any way.”
The bell rang and I jumped up with everyone else to make my way out of the classroom, but I was pulled back when McGonagall called my name.
“Potter – a word, if you please.”
Of course I was going to get into trouble for the fake wands. Just what I had needed. I approached her desk as she shuffled some papers into a neat pile. When she looked back up at me she wore that serious expression that never seemed to leave her face.
“Potter, the champions and their partners –“
“What partners?” I asked her.
“Your partners for the Yule Ball, Potter.” She said coldly. When I just stared at her for another moment she added on, “Your dance partners.”
That can’t be right. I’m not dancing.
“Dance partners?” I asked worriedly. “I don’t dance.”
“Oh yes, you do,” McGonagall said. “That’s what I’m telling you. Traditionally, the champions and their partners open the ball.”
That was even worse. I certainly couldn’t dance, and I wasn’t about to do it in front of the entire school. I had thought that this tournament couldn’t get worse than dragons. Yet here I was.
“I’m not dancing.” I told her.
“It is traditional. You are a Hogwarts champion, and you will do what is expected of you as a representative of the school. The same will be expected of Cedric and Eleanor. So make sure you get yourself a partner, Potter.”
“But – I don’t –“
“You heard me, Potter.” She said shortly and indicated the door with her hand.
As I left the room I immediately ran into Ron and Hermione, waiting for me outside the door.
“Did you get into trouble for the fake wands?” Ron asked quickly.
“No, it wasn’t that.” I muttered as I began to make my way down the hall.
“What was it then?” Hermione asked as they walked alongside me.
“Champions have to open the ball.” I told them. “And we have to dance before everyone else.”
Ron laughed loudly at this and Hermione slapped him on the arm.
“Ron!” She hissed. “Harry will do fine, don’t make him nervous.”
“Who are you going to ask then?” Ron chimed back in.
“If I had it my way, no one.” I answered.
“Oh come on, Harry.” Hermione said with a knowing smile on her face. “This gives a perfect reason to talk to Cho, doesn’t it?”
“What do you mean?” I pulled up short. How could she know I had been thinking about Cho Chang?
“I’ve seen how you look at her, Harry. You could always ask her to the ball.”
“Harry? Ask a fifth year?” Ron blurted, earning him another slap to the arm from Hermione.
I had tuned out as Hermione and Ron began to argue. Hermione was right, I could ask Cho. That would require an entirely different kind of courage from what I had though. Dragons, sure. Ask Cho to the Ball? That I’m not sure about.
“Well who are you going to ask then?” I turned back toward Ron.
“What?” He asked, surprised.
“You heard me. Who are you going to ask?”
“Honestly, I have no idea.” Ron answered as we began to walk through the corridors again. I noticed Hermione’s face fall at his answer. That seemed strange. Maybe she thought she knew who he would ask too. We were quiet for a few minutes as we made our way to the common room.
“Who do you think Eleanor will end up going with?” Ron asked awkwardly.
“Eleanor? I have no idea.” I said. “Wait, why?”
“All I can picture is her going with Malfoy.” Ron chuckled. “Can you imagine?”
“No, I don’t even want to imagine that.”
“I mean, she’s never around anyone besides Malfoy.” He continued. “And Krum, now that I think of it. They train together a lot. Maybe they’ll end up going together.”
“I doubt that Ron. He’s what? Four years older than her.” Hermione cut in.
As we entered the common room our thoughts turned back toward homework and I pushed the Yule Ball out of mind again. Maybe I would ask Cho, but it wouldn’t be today.

Draco
Of course she was out there again. Eleanor spent nearly all her time outside of class with Krum. Then when she wasn’t with him, she had her head buried in a book.
I was watching from the courtyard as she made her way around the Black Lake. I was constantly surprised by her ability to stay in step with Krum. He was an International Quidditch star, yet she wasn’t intimidated by him. What I should I expect though, she wasn’t intimidated by me either. She wasn’t intimidated by anyone, not even a dragon.
My attention was pulled away as the seat next to me was filled. It was Zabini.
“So, who are you going to ask to this Ball then?” Blaise asked me.
“Who are you asking?” I countered.
“Already asked Greengrass.” Blaise answered.
“Hmm.” I considered it for a moment, but I knew who I’d probably end up being stuck with. “I’ll probably just go with Pansy.”
“Why would you want to go with someone so dimwitted?” He asked me.
“Because Greengrass is brilliant?” I smirked.
“Fair enough.” He conceded.
For a moment I just watched Eleanor again. She seemed to be fighting with Krum. I’d seen them doing this here and there before. It was strange to say the least. Why would she want to bother learning muggle fighting? She’s a witch. She has a wand. What would she need to learn all of this for? Was she just trying to spend more time with Krum? She was with him a lot these days. What does she see in him?
“I think you know who you want to ask.” Blaise said.
“What is that supposed to mean?”
Rather than answer me he just nodded his head toward the pair sparing by the lake. No way, he couldn’t be saying he thought I wanted to ask her. Right?
“You think I want to ask a Potter to go to a Ball with me?” I asked harshly.
“That’s exactly what I think.” Blaise said. “Why else would you spend so much time staring at her?”
I don’t stare at Eleanor. What in the world could he be getting at? I was about to open my mouth to tell Zabini off, but then I caught sight of Eleanor again. I completely lost my train of thought. Eleanor was standing in the water of the Black Lake, it was up to nearly her waist. Krum had already waded far enough into the water that he was swimming away.
“What the bloody hell are they doing?” Blaise asked, shocked.
“I have no idea.” I said as I watched Eleanor dive fully into the freezing water.

Eleanor
I had been excited to spend the holidays in the castle. From what I had heard, not many students tended to stay back. With no family to visit and an absolute desire to avoid the orphanage at all costs I was happy to be nearly alone for two weeks.
Then the Yule Ball was announced. Now nearly everyone was staying back for the holidays.
The thought of attending a dance was much more intimidating that facing a dragon. Especially now that I had done the latter. Of course I probably wouldn’t walk away with scars covering half of my body, but I would still rather face the dragon again. I wasn’t close to anyone at Hogwarts, so I had no idea whether anyone would ask me or not.
That was, until the whispering started happening.
I was searching through books in the library for ways to breathe underwater. I found a number of books about underwater spells, but I’d had no luck yet with discovering how exactly I could survive an hour underwater in the first place. I already had a stack of books in my arms to look through and I slowly walked down the aisle of shelves I was already in, scanning the topics on the book spines as I went.
As I neared a section on inanimate transfiguration I could hear a hushed conversation from the row over. I hadn’t been planning to stop, but then I heard my name.
“Yeah, I thought about asking that Potter girl.”
“I’ve heard a fair few people have thought of asking her.”
That was news to me. Not a single person had approached me about the Yule Ball yet.
“I’m not surprised, what she did with that dragon…it was impressive.”
I smiled at that. I couldn’t help it. To think at least one person was interested in asking me and thought my performance in the task was impressive, well that was new for me. People don’t like me, so this was a change.
“Are you going to ask her then?”
“No…I mean, I considered it, sure. But I really don’t want to be stuck staring at her face all night. Those scars are disgusting. I’d rather go with someone who I can stand to look at.”
“I hear you there.”
Suddenly the books in my hands felt significantly less important. I made my way further down the aisle and set them on a shelf. An overwhelming feeling of needing to escape the library overtook me. So I rushed out of the double doors.
I had never felt such a powerful sense of self-consciousness in my life. Since when did I care so much if someone liked me face? As my stomach dropped and my heart raced, I simply spent the rest of that day in my dormitory and the common room.
Over the next few days I caught small snippets of similar conversations throughout the halls. People either didn’t realize that I could hear them at times, or they simply didn’t care. Which though, I had no idea. In the end, this made my prospects for the Yule Ball quite clear.
Rather than hope and be disappointed, I knew exactly what I would do.