𝑵𝑰𝑲𝑶𝑳𝑨 𝑷𝑶𝑻𝑻𝑬𝑹 ⭑ 𝑫𝑹𝑨𝑪𝑶 𝑴𝑨𝑳𝑭𝑶𝒀

NINE: Lakeside Party

Later that day I went to look for Harry, as after my talk with Draco I had so much to tell him. Besides, I still wanted to persuade them to go to the party later with me. McGonagall had announced she wanted to see us in the hall, so I headed that way assuming I'd bump into him. Instead, Cedric caught up with me.

"Potter," he called, rushing to my side.

"Cedric, you seen Harry?" I asked, glancing around my shoulder to try to spot him.

"Erm, no. Sorry. You thought any more about the party? Everyone's talking about it now," he asked. I kept glancing around to keep an eye out as the corridor filled with students towards the hall.

"Er, yeah. I'm thinking about turning up with Harry later, Draco persuaded me," I explained, though my mind was only partly in the conversation.

"Oh, right, yeah. I heard you two.. sorted things out," he muttered. This felt like more of a question than a statement for whatever reason.

"Yeah, sort of. I don't really know what's going on with us at the moment, but we're on good terms. That's all that matters," I explained entering the hall. I scanned the area and saw Harry and Ron on the other side. I turned to Cedric. "I see him, I'll see you later Diggory," I quickly said, flashing him a quick smile before hurrying over to them. "What's going on here?" I asked them once I reached their side, glancing around the crowded hall.

"Not sure, McGonagall gathered us here," Ron said, shrugging. I looked over to see McGonagall fiddling with a sort of music player in the middle as students came in. I leant over to Harry's shoulder.

"We need to talk later," I whispered, before McGonagall started hushing the crowd so all the attention was turned to her. She cleared her throat to talk.

"Now that I have your attention, I want to bring you aware of an upcoming event - the yule ball," she began, quiet chatter filling the hall wit excited giggling girls as she paused. "It has been a tradition of the Triwizard tournament since its founding. On Christmas Eve night everyone will gather in the great hall for a well-mannered fun event. As representatives of Hogwarts I expect each of you to put your best foot forward. Quite literally, as the yule ball is dance." There was a loud groan from the boys behind us, including George and Fred Weasley. I let a small laugh slip, as they had expressed exactly how I felt to this information. I'd never been the type of girl who loved getting dressy and obsessing over boys, so having the knowledge I was going to have to attend a ball wasn't my favourite thing ever.

"Silence," McGonagall snapped at them from the front. "Now the dance is to let the body breathe. Inside every girl is a secret swan longing to burst forth for flight. Inside every boy is a lordly lion prepared to prance." Ron couldn't hold in his laugh at these silly metaphors, and whispered something to Harry - probably mocking it. McGonagall turned her attention to him and his cheeks flushed red. "Mr Weasley, will you join me please?" Me, Harry and the twins laughed as he awkwardly made his way beside her and she grabbed Ron to dance. "Place your right hand on my waist," she ordered. Ron looked our way horrified, before reluctantly doing so. Fred whistled from behind causing a small laughter to flood around the hall. The music starts and Ron and McGonagall demonstrate the dance steps. Ron clearly miss-stepped multiple times before she gave up with him. She told us all to stand, and started pairing random girls and boys together to practise. I tried to shuffle my way closer to Draco but he quickly got paired with Pansy, which angered me slightly.

"Miss Potter, why don't you come here with Diggory," she called. I went to object, as I knew this would irritate Draco. Then again, he was partnered with Pansy which I wasn't totally happy with either. I stepped forward to them, and tried not to glance in the direction of Draco and Pansy.