Written In The Stars IV -[Harry Potter xF!Oc]

Chapter Twenty-Three: The Yule Ball.

The oak front doors opened, and everyone turned to look as the Durmstrang students entered with Professor Karkaroff. Krum was at the front of the party, accompanied by a pretty girl in blue robes Harry didn't know. Over their heads, he saw that an area of lawn right in front of the castle had been transformed into a sort of grotto full of fairy lights — meaning hundreds of actual living fairies were sitting in the rosebushes that had been conjured there, and fluttering over the statues of what seemed to be Father Christmas and his reindeer.

Mel smiled at the sight of her friend, she turned to see the boy's reaction, but they didn't recognize her, she rolled her eyes. Of course, they were that oblivious...

"Champions over here, please!" Professor McGonagall called from the doors.

"See you in a minute," Harry told Ron nervously. Mel slapped the boy's hands away from his cuffs one last time.

"Ron, you look handsome, be good and lighten up a little!" She pulled him down by the collar and gave him an affectionate kiss on the cheek. Ron complained, rubbing his face on the exact place she'd kissed. Mel stuck out her tongue and laughed, happily letting Harry guide her toward the rest of the champions.

"Very well then, you must wait here until by the doors until all the students are inside the Great Hall, once everyone's seated," McGonagall looked at Mel and asked, "Where's Flint?"

"I don't know. I'm– I'm with Harry tonight."

The woman's eyes examined her robes and then Harry's, she thought it could've been a trick of the light, but it looked like McGonagall had almost smiled. "I see... There you are! Good evening Miss Greengrass if you can join the line as well, at the top, please. Mel can't be there, she's Potter's partner..."

Erick's head turned fast when he heard that, abandoning any kind of discretion. Mel looked away, managing to witness the moment Harry realized Krum's partner was Hermione, his eyes widened in a way Mel found hilarious.

"Hi, Harry!" Hermione said nervously. "Hi, Mel!"

The girls chatted for a while until the doors to the Great Hall opened, Mel was happy that Hermione could have such a lovely moment, some girls looked at her like she was their worst nightmare or a very inconvenient rock in their shoe, but Hermione paid no mind to it as she engaged in a quiet talk with Krum.

When Ron walked past he didn't look at her, Mel wondered if it was because he still couldn't recognize her or he was upset because she hadn't mentioned her partner was Krum. When the champions -plus Erick and Daphne as the committee- made their entrance, everyone inside the Hall applauded and cheered. They sat on the front of the Hall where there was a large table that they shared with the judges and teachers.

If there was a moment where Mel had felt like a real princess, that was it. She walked through the tables and the silvery ornamentation surrounding them in awe. In her state, she pulled Harry closer and intertwined their fingers, skipping with every step she took.

"Look at this, Harry! It's like we're inside of a fairytale! I haven't stopped thinking about it, everyone looks like royalty! So pretty!"

"Yeah," Harry smiled, his eyes glued to her face, "breathtaking..."

"Hey," Mel snapped out of her daze, "what's Percy doing here?"

"What?" Her friend looked in the same direction.

Percy Weasley was looking as if the ball had been organized solely for him. The older Weasley pulled out the chair next to him and Harry politely obliged, before sitting down he pulled the chair on his left and waited until Mel sat down, she was highly tempted to tease him about it, but at the same time she was too delighted to break the charm of it.