Adventures at Hogwarts

Chapter 21: The Yule Ball Part 2

The day of the Yule Ball came and everyone was hustling and bustling to get ready. Meg was coming down from sending an owl to Mr. Legonté to thank him for the dresses and accessories when she ran into Harry. "Hey, Harry! Watch yourself as you go up, it's a bit icy at the top." Harry heeded her warning, but he wanted to do something first. "Meg, I was wondering, since you already have a date for the Yule Ball, could you consider saving me a dance?" Sadly, as he was asking her this question, owls were screeching behind him. "Sorry, I didn't quite catch that." Meg responded. Harry repeated his question. Meg was very hesitant to say 'yes' because she knew Draco would want her to himself. She got up the courage to respond to Harry, "I'll try, Harry, but I make no guarantees either way." Harry wasn't too thrilled with this answer, but he knew Meg would try to save him a dance. He didn't doubt her at all.

The night of the Yule Ball came and everyone was beside themselves excited. Meg and Hermione had spent two hours preparing themselves for the excitement that awaited them. Harry and Ron on the other hand were just as excited, but not to the extreme as the two girls were. While Meg and Hermione were putting the finishing touches on their ensembles, in the boys dormitory, Ron was immediately regretting his dress robes. As Harry entered their dorm, Ron became even more distressed. Once he saw Harry's perfect dress robes, he began to speak his feelings. "What are those," Ron began. Harry responded rather confusingly, "My dress robes." Ron retaliated, "They're alright. No lace, no dodgy collar." Harry was becoming more confused by the minute. "Well, I guess yours are more traditional." Ron disagreed, "Traditional?!? They're ancient! I look like my Aunt Tessie! Smell like my Aunt Tessie!" As Ron looked deeper into the mirror he finally said to Harry, "Murder me, Harry."

Once the two boys came downstairs to the entrance to the Great Hall, Harry noticed Meg almost immediately, but there was no sign of Hermione. The two boys began to wonder where their other friend was when Harry saw something he wished he never could've seen in his lifetime. He saw Meg with his long-time, arch nemesis, Draco Malfoy. All Harry could think about was Meg, and sadly, she was with, what he thought, was the wrong guy for her. As Harry gazed at Meg with longing eyes and Ron messing with his dress robes, the Patil twins, their dates, came up to the two boys. As the other students began to enter the Great Hall, Harry watched Meg walk with Draco with longing eyes. Pavarti Patil, Harry's date, looked behind her and saw an angelic like figure coming down the stairs. She acknowledged the girl by saying, "She looks beautiful." Harry thought she was talking about Meg, so he agreed with his date. However, when he turned around to see who she was really talking about, his eyes were more befuddled than they were before at seeing Hermione Granger walking down the stairs in her periwinkle dress and beautiful accessories.

As the four champions entered the Great Hall to begin the dance, everyone around them applauded. Once Draco saw who Hermione was with as her date, he began to ask many questions. He looked at Meg, "Is that Hermione Granger with Viktor Krum?" Meg replied confidently and gave him more details. "Yep, and it took him three tries for her to finally say yes." Draco couldn't believe his ears at this phenomenon. As the four champions prepared for the first dance, the other students were anxious to see how well each champion would perform. In comparison with the other three champions, Harry was not the best at dancing. To take some of the attention away from him, Dumbledore allowed the other students to join the dance. Once Meg and Draco came out to the dance floor, Draco could tell that Meg was very nervous to dance. So, he took her in his arms and led her gently. Not once did he mock her or discourage her. Shall she step on his feet a few hundred times, he didn't care. All he cared about what the fact that he got to dance with the girl of his dreams. A little further into the dance, Professor Flitwick introduced one of the most popular bands ever, The Weird Sisters. Everyone was ecstatic at this introduction. As the students danced, Harry, Ron, and the Patil twins did not take part in this section of the dance. As Harry and Ron watched their two friends dance with their dates, they made some pretty nasty remarks. Ron began the scoffing, "Bloody pumpkin-head." (Directed at Viktor Krum). Harry made the next remark, "I don't think it was the books that had him going for the library." (Directed at Draco Malfoy). Once the song ended, the two girls headed to the table Harry and Ron were sitting at and their dates went to go get drinks. Hermione was the first to break the tension. " Hot isn't it? Viktor and Draco have gone to get drinks, would you care to join us?" Ron was quick to respond, "No, we wouldn't like to join you, Viktor, and Malfoy." Meg retaliated to his remark, "What's got your wand in a not?" Ron responded again, "Viktor's a Durmstrang and Malfoy's a Slytherin. You both are fraternizing with the enemies." Meg didn't like where this was going. "The enemies? Who was it wanting Krum's autograph?" Hermione chimed in, "Besides, the whole point of the tournament is international magical cooperation, to make friends." At this point, Ron wasn't even thinking about what he was saying or how he was saying it. "It looks like they've both got more than friendship on their minds." Meg was tired of his barking, "So, that's not for you to judge, Ronald. Whatever Hermione and I do with our dates is none of your business!" With that last comment, Meg and Hermione got up and left to go where their dates were waiting for them.