Pale Ghosts Ascend

Free Your Hearts of Fear

The next several weeks were spent trying to figure out the eggs, which supposedly held the key to the next trial. All me and Harry had managed to glean so far was that when you opened them, they let out a screeching cry, one that left my ears ringing with pain for about an hour after we heard it the first time. Hermione had read basically every book on dragons and their eggs that the library had to offer, but had turned up nothing relevant. We made our way into the library once more, deciding to expand the search to any type of magical eggs.

"You guys know who you're going to ask to the ball?" Inquired Ron, who was reluctantly tagging along with me, Harry, Hermione, and Andromeda.

I stared at him, baffled that he seemingly had directed the question at both Harry and me.

"Uh, thats rather obvious, no?"

Ron frowned. "Presumably Andromeda, but did you ask her?"

I rolled my eyes, glancing over at Andromeda. "Would you like to attend the Yule Ball with me, milady?" I asked sarcastically.

"Oh, that would be wonderful, good sir!" Replied Andromeda, with an exaggerated lilt.

Hermione let out a slight snort at our antics.

"'Meda, speaking of, did you get that package from, er, our romantically obsessed relative this morning?"

She let out a slight groan. "Ugh. Yeah. She sent me a whole box of hair product too! I'm never going to be able to use all of it!"

Hermione's eyes went wide. "Wait. Do you two mean..."

I sighed, lowering my voice. "Aphrodite, yeah. She, uh, takes a special interest in demigod relationships sometimes. We are, er,  fortunate enough that she picked us out as one of her favorites. She sent both of us an outfit for the ball, even offered to send one of her attendants to do our hair and stuff for it."

Andromeda nodded. "It's not like I don't appreciate it, she obviously has quite the sense for style and that sort of stuff. It's just a bit overbearing at times. Feels like we're constantly being watched too, which is a bit weird."

"Do you think I could borrow some of the things she sent you? Does she have anything for frizz?" Asked Hermione, excitedly.

I frowned slightly. "Honestly I don't know if the stuff she uses is fit for mortals. If it has nectar in it, it might burn you to a crisp. I'll look into it, but..."

Hermione nodded, sighing. "It's alright, I understand. Just let me know, will you?"

I nodded, making my way over to Harry and Ron while Andromeda and Hermione went to find the books we were planning to look through today.

"You figure out who you're taking?"

The two both shook their heads.

"Well I'd like to take Cho." Harry replied, "But I don't quite know how to ask."

"Girls are bloody scary." Ron added, insightfully.

I shrugged. "Don't come to me, 'Meda is the one who asked me out. Just, uh, go for it, I guess? Whats the worst that could happen?"

Ron frowned. "They say no? And everyone laughs at you? I've seen it before!"

I sighed. "I doubt it would be that bad, Ron, my friend Charlie got rejected by one of the Aphrodite girls last year, and nobody really made fun of him. Then again, he does all the armor repairs, so... but still! We have like, what, three weeks until the ball? If you don't hurry up, there won't be anyone left."

Before either of them could respond, the girls returned. We spent the next couple hours reading through a bunch of books on various magical eggs and magical creatures that laid eggs, with no success, before I suddenly felt a vibration in my pocket.