Love Is In The Air: The Angelic Witch And Draco Malfoy (Book 4)

Yule Ball - The Perfect Partner

The last week of the term became increasingly boisterous as it progressed. Rumours about the Yule Ball were flying everywhere, though Heroneka didn't believe half of them - for instance, that Dumbledore had bought eight hundred barrels of mulled mead from Madam Rosmerta. It seemed to be fact, however, that he had booked the Weird Sisters, a very famous musical group.

Some of the teachers, like little Professor Flitwick, gave up trying to teach them much when their minds were so clearly elsewhere; he allowed them to play games in his lesson on Wednesday, and spent most of it talking to Heroneka about the perfect Conjuring Charm Heroneka had used during the first task of the Triwizard Tournament. Other teachers were not so generous. Nothing would ever deflect Professor Binns, for example, from ploughing on through his notes on goblin rebellions - as Binns hadn't let his own death stand in the way of continuing to teach, they supposed a small thing like Christmas wasn't going to put him off. It was amazing how he could make even bloody and vicious goblin riots sound as boring as Percy's cauldron-bottom report. Professors McGonagall and Moody kept them working until the very last second of their classes too, and Snape, of course, would no sooner let them play games in class than adopt Harry. Staring nastily around at them all, he informed them that he would be testing them on poison antidotes during the last lesson of the term.

"Evil, he is," Ron said bitterly that night in the Gryffindor common room. "Springing a test on us on the last day. Ruining the last bit of term with a whole load of studying."

Heroneka and Hermione were busy completing their potions' homework.

"Mmm...you're not exactly straining yourself, though, are you?" said Heroneka, looking at him over the top of her Potions notes.

Ron was busy building a card castle out of his Exploding Snap pack - a much more interesting pastime than with Muggle cards, because of the chance that the whole thing would blow up at any second.

"It's Christmas, Snitchy," said Harry lazily; he was rereading Flying with the Cannons for the tenth time in an armchair near the fire.

Hermione looked severely over at him. "I'd have thought you'd be doing something constructive, Harry, even if you don't want to learn your antidotes!"

"Like what?" Harry said as he watched Joey Jenkins of the Cannons belt a Bludger toward a Ballycastle Bats Chaser.

"That egg!" Hermione hissed. "Snitchy said she would work on it after Christmas because she already has a lot going on. But you are free, right?"

"Come on, Hermione, Snitchy and I've got till February the twenty-fourth," Harry said.

"Right!" Heroneka looked over at him. "We'll figure it out together, Mione. Don't worry about it."

Heroneka and Harry had put their golden eggs upstairs in their trunks and hadn't opened it since the celebration party after the first task. There were still two and a half months to go until they needed to know what all the screechy wailing meant, after all.

"But it might take weeks to work it out!" said Hermione. "You're both going to look real idiots if everyone else knows what the next task is and you guys don't!"

"Leave them alone, Hermione, they've earned a bit of a break," said Ron, and he placed the last two cards on top of the castle and the whole lot blew up, singeing his eyebrows.

"Nice look, Ron...go well with your dress robes, that will."

It was Fred and George. They sat down at the table with Heroneka, Harry, Ron, and Hermione as Ron felt how much damage had been done.

"Ron, can we borrow Pigwidgeon?" George asked.

"No, he's off delivering a letter," said Ron. "Why?"