Chapter 12 of 21
The Color of Friendship
“What’s the color of friendship?” James asked.
“Blue,” Sirius answered.
“Maybe Pink,” James said back.
“Fuxia,” Sirius added.
“IT’S AN EXPRESSION!” Remus and Lily yelled together.
Harry bid goodbye to his guardians, assuring them that he would send Hedwig if he needed anything. Sirius once again warned Harry to look out for Professor Karkaroff. Harry could tell it was more than just a friendly warning but knew he couldn’t press the matter with Ron and Hermione standing there. This would just have to be another discussion that waited until Christmas break.
“I’m so exited about Christmas break,” Sirius said clapping his hand.
“We’re still in summer break,” James explained.
“I meant Harry’s Christmas break, duh,” Sirius rolled his eyes, “It’s going to be his first Marauder Christmas!”
James eyes lit up and he sported a mischievous grin that mirrored Sirius’. Lily and Remus rolled their eyes but they too were smiling.
Returning to the Gryffindor Tower, Harry found that Remus had heard correctly. The entire Common Room had been decorated with banners drawn by Dean Thomas. Platters of food were everywhere along with mugs of pumpkin juice and Butterbeer. The moment everyone noticed their guest of honor had arrived cheers and yells filled the air. Ron took Harry’s Firebolt upstairs to their dorm room as Harry was bombarded with handshakes and pats on the back. So many people were talking at the same time that it was impossible to understand what they were saying.
“We Gryffindors know how to party,” Sirius said proudly.
Once Harry had made his way through the crowd he collapsed in a chair, Ron and Hermione sitting down at his sides. Setting his golden egg down, Harry mindlessly grabbed a pumpkin pastry and slowly ate. He couldn’t remember the last time he had eaten more than a few bites before feeling sick to his stomach. He couldn’t remember the last time he had a decent night’s sleep either.
“Then eat and go sleep honey,” Lily said patting the book. The boys looked at her weirdly.
Harry was so out of it that he didn’t even realize Lee Jordan had picked up the golden egg until he spoke. “This thing is heavy, Harry,” he said in amazement. “Have you opened it up yet?”
Harry shook his head and smiled. “I start working on it tomorrow,” he said. “I think I’ve earned a day’s vacation.”
“A DAY!” James cried, “Harry, you’ve earned a week’s vacation at least!”
“Yes, the second task is not until February. You have almost three months to prepare!” Sirius said
“Normally, I wouldn’t condone slacking off, or agree with James and Sirius for that matter,” Lily said, “But you have been pushing yourself to hard Harry. Take a break.”
“True but that doesn’t mean we can’t just look inside,” Lee said with a grin in a loud enough voice that others would hear them. “C’mon Harry. Open it up.” Several people echoed Lee’s enthusiasm as Lee passed the egg back to Harry.
“He’s supposed to figure it out on his own,” Hermione protested. “That’s the rule of the Tournament.”
“Oh, yeah,” Sirius snorted, “’Cause all the other champions are having no help at all!”
“Hermione does seem very strung up on rules,” Remus commented.
“We’re not going to solve it for him,” Fred interjected as he moved to Lee’s side. “We just want to know what’s inside the egg. Besides, we can keep a secret, Hermione, especially when it comes to Harry and the Tournament. He’s in first place. We wouldn’t want to jeopardize that by doing something thick. That’s the Slytherins’ forte.”
They all laughed.
Harry looked over at Hermione and shrugged helplessly before prying his egg open only to nearly drop it when a loud piercing wail filled the room. As quickly as possible Harry closed the egg as students covered their ears. Silence filled the Common Room. Everyone was staring at the egg in horror. No one had imagined something so horrible had been inside. Harry on the other hand smiled and looked up at Fred and Lee innocently. “Well, you can’t say Hermione didn’t warn you,” he said candidly.
Ron covered his mouth as he snorted in laughter. Several others laughed too. Fred and Lee soon joined in the laughter and returned to the party. Looking down at the egg, Harry started thinking. So that was the clue. Now Harry knew why they had three months until the next task. It would probably take him that long to figure out what in the world that voice was.
“What do you think it is?” James asked the rest.
“No idea. What has a piercing wail?” Remus asked.
“Lots of things, banshees,” Lily answered.
“People have too, when tortured,” Sirius, “Some don’t even need to be tortured,” he finished nodding his head in Lily’s direction.
She glared at him and hissed, “I doubt they’ll be torturing the champions, Black!”
For the next few weeks the library because a second home for Harry. In addition to his homework, Harry was going through every language book he could find to try and figure out what that voice coming from the egg could possibly be. Hermione and Ron had taken it upon themselves to help Harry in any way they could.
“I thought Hermione said the champions weren’t supposed to have help,” Sirius interjected.
“Really, Sirius. Did you think they wouldn’t help him,” Remus said.
“No,” Sirius grinned, “I am merely pointing out that Hermione is breaking the rules.”
There had even been a few times when they looked up from their books to see Harry passed out due to exhaustion. They were half tempted to send an owl to Harry’s guardians but knew it wouldn’t change anything. When Harry was determined, there was no stopping him.
Harry wasn’t the only champion spending an overabundance of time in the library. Viktor Krum was also surrounded by books and fans that came to the library just to spy on him. The noise the giggling girls made annoyed Hermione to no end. There were even times when Hermione’s frustrations got the better of her and she slammed her books down on the table, waking Harry with a start.
“What’s going on?” Harry asked quickly.
Hermione let a long breath. “Sorry Harry,” she said sincerely as she looked past Harry’s left shoulder at Viktor Krum. “I just can’t take it anymore. Can they really think he likes them acting like this?”
“I don’t think thinking is their forte,” Lily rolled her eyes.
Harry rubbed the remaining tiredness out of his eyes before looking over his shoulder to see Viktor who looked as annoyed as Hermione. Gathering all the courage he could muster, Harry stood from his seat and approached Durmstrang champion. He really didn’t know what he was doing but he figured anything was better than hearing Hermione complain for the next few hours.
Taking a deep breath, Harry pulled out a chair and sat down across from Viktor. He could only hope that Viktor felt the same way as he did about the adoring public. “Er—please don’t take this the wrong way but do you like—er—them,” he said in reference to Viktor’s fans who were watching the scene in deep interest, “acting like this? They can be a little distracting.”
Viktor rolled his eyes. “Tell me about it,” he said bluntly. “I vish they vould understand I am not something to be stared at. If it is really a bother to you and your friends I could leave…”
“Krum is like Harry. He’s just trying to get by with his normal life,” James said.
“Yes, but the difference is Harry never asked to be famous while Krum chose to play Quidditch,” Sirius said.
“That doesn’t mean they should bother him constantly,” Lily snapped.
“I agree with you,” Sirius tried to calm her; “I am just saying that I sympathize more with Harry because he never asked for it. Krum knew what came with being a famous Quidditch player, and I bet that before he actually became one he, like everyone else, dreamed of fame.”
Lily looked pensively and conceded defeat, “Ok, maybe you’re right,” Sirius grinned, “Don’t get so cocky, there’s a first time for everything.”
“But that’s really not helping you,” Harry said thoughtfully. Well, here goes nothing. “Would you like to join me and my friends? I promise we’re not as scary as we look. We can also cast a few silencing charms on those who don’t take the hint…”
“Aw, how nice of Harry,” Lily cooed.
Viktor appeared to be skeptical at first then started gathering his books. “I vould appreciate that very much,” he said gratefully as he stood up and followed Harry back to where Ron and Hermione were sitting.
Silence filled the library. No one could believe it. As Harry reached the table, both Hermione and Ron were staring at Harry in shock. This was clearly the last thing they had been expecting. “Viktor, these are my best friends,” Harry said with a look that signaled ‘deal with it’. “Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger. Ron, Hermione, I believe you know Viktor.”
“Nice to meet you,” Hermione said softly as she extended her hand to Viktor who shook it. Ron followed suit. Harry sat down across from Hermione while Viktor sat down across from Ron. Hermione glanced at Viktor’s books. “Magical Creatures?” she asked curiously. “You should probably talk to Hagrid. He knows a lot about that sort of thing.”
“Oh, do you think the second task is a Magical Creature?” James asked.
“Probably, with the wailing and all,” Remus said, “I sure hope Harry thinks of this too.”
“He has to since most of his pets fit in that category,” Ron added under his breath. “Fluffy…Aragog…Buckbeak…Norbert…need I say more?”
“Actually Ron, yes you do, because Krum can’t know which creature those are,” Lily said.
“We know Buckbeak is a Hippogriff, but what about the rest?” Remus asked.
“Knowing Hagrid, the most vicious must be Fluffy,” James said knowledgably.
Viktor glanced at Harry with a confused look on his face. “Well, Fluffy is a large three headed dog that we sort of met our first year here,” Harry clarified. “Aragog is an Acromantula that we met in our second year, Buckbeak is a Hippogriff we met last year and Norbert was Hagrid’s pet dragon…er…what was it again?”
“Told you,” James said.
“I think the dragon is worst,” Sirius told James as if they were discussing the weather.
“Harry, what are you doing meeting those dangerous creatures?” Lily scolded.
“A Norwegian Ridgeback,” Ron said instantly. “I hated that thing. It nearly bit my finger off. It was a good thing we convinced Hagrid to let Charlie take him to Romania when it was still young. At least it didn’t try to eat us like Aragog’s children. I still have nightmares about that.”
“As soon as we get to Hogwarts I’ll be having a chat with Hagrid about appropriate creatures to show my son,” Lily said.
“What are you going to say; ‘Hey Hagrid, I got this book from the future and didn’t like the creatures you introduced to my son’,” Sirius said shaking his head.
“Wouldn’t work anyway, Hagrid would say they were harmless,” Remus chuckled.
Viktor looked at the three fourteen-year-olds with wide eyes. “You three have faced all of that already?” he asked. “But you’re only fourteen. How did you manage to survive?”
“A lot of luck,” Harry muttered as he looked around to see that people were still watching them. “We really shouldn’t be having this conversation here of all places. It’s not a big deal. With Hagrid as our Care of Magical Creatures teacher meeting strange creatures is normal.”
“Normal Harry? Since when is fighting a Basilisk—ow!” Hermione winced as Harry stomped on her foot to silence her.
“There we have the Basilisk again, and no one is explaining why he fought a Basilisk,” James said annoyed.
“Maybe they’ll explain now,” Sirius said hopefully.
Viktor looked directly at Harry. “You said it vas all just rumors,” he said softly as a grin broke on his face. “I agree this isn’t the place but I expect to hear all about your adventures later.”
“No, not later! Now,” Sirius whined.
From then on Viktor sat with Harry, Ron and Hermione in the library. Ron and Hermione were hesitant at first about the arrangement but they kept their comments to themselves since nothing was said about the upcoming task. Viktor occasionally gave in input when they were working on schoolwork that helped them along. Even Hermione had been grateful to the help Viktor provided.
Word had gotten around that Rita Skeeter was roaming the grounds looking for an interview. All staff had been warned not to talk to her since her main topic was Harry Potter. The threat of Sirius Black worked on keeping her away from Harry but other students weren’t so lucky. By now Rita knew who Harry’s close friends were and who to corner whenever they stepped onto the grounds. Care of Magical Creatures class was her opportune time to corner any Gryffindor she could. Those she talked to though would only say ‘no comment’.
“Good,” James said, “The last thing we need is her making things up in the paper.”
As if the school didn’t have enough to talk about already, Professor McGonagall announced the Yule Ball would be held at eight o’clock on Christmas Day and end around midnight in the Great Hall. If was open to fourth-year students and older but younger years could be invited. Dress robes were required attire. Harry let it all go in one ear and out the other. He already had plans for Christmas holidays, plans that he had been looking forward to ever since the school year began. Harry had never had a home to go where he wasn’t hated. Sirius and Remus had told him the Black House was far from being completely up-to-date but Harry couldn’t help wanting to see where he would be staying for the summer holidays…evil house elf or not.
When class ended, Harry moved to leave with everyone else but a stern voice made him stop. “Mr. Potter, if I could have a word please,” said Professor McGonagall. Harry turned around and waited for everyone to leave. Professor McGonagall closed the distance between them. “Harry, I noticed your name wasn’t on the list of students staying over the holidays.”
“Of course not. He’s going home to a marauder Christmas,” James said happy.
Harry was confused by the comment. Why would his name be on the list? “Because I’m not staying,” Harry said carefully. “I’m going home. This is my first Christmas with Sirius and Remus. Why would I stay here?”
“Yeah, why?” Sirius asked, “She’s nutty.” He finished fondly.
Professor McGonagall nervously cleared her throat. “Harry, please sit down,” she said and sat down herself. When Harry complied, McGonagall enfolded her fingers and appeared to be struggling to find the right words to say. “Harry, I can understand you want to spend Christmas with your godfather and Mr. Lupin. I know how important family is to you…however, you are a champion and have certain obligations—”
“Excuse me now, obligations?” Lily asked annoyed.
“—obligations?” Harry asked uncomfortably. He really didn’t like the sound of this. “What obligations could I possibly have? I’ve done everything you wanted. I put up with all of the harassment and stress that being a part of the Tournament has given me. I don’t think a break away from these walls is too much to ask.”
“Certainly not,” Remus said firmly.
McGonagall reached out and touched his hand. “Harry, we have asked so much of you this year, I know,” she said patiently. “You have risen to the challenge magnificently. I know this seems unfair but it is tradition for the champions to open the ball with their partners. You are one of the champions. If you want I can contact Mr. Black and Mr. Lupin for you. I know they’ll understand…”
“NOOOOOO!” four cries were heard.
“Nope, he’s not doing it,” Sirius said firmly, “He’s going home for his Marauder Christmas. I am putting my foot down.”
Harry could only stare at her. He was at a loss for words. This wasn’t happening. Why did he always have to pay for the actions of others? It wasn’t fair. He had been looking forward to this ever since Sirius had adopted him. Closing his eyes, Harry bit back a few selective words Professor McGonagall wouldn’t approve of and forced himself calm down. This wasn’t Professor McGonagall’s fault. She was just the messenger.
Opening his eyes again, Harry looked directly at Professor McGonagall who was staring at him with what appeared to be a mixture of sympathy and pity. “I don’t have a choice in the matter, do I?” Harry asked softly.
Professor McGonagall gently squeezed Harry’s hand, providing all of the confirmation he needed. “Do you want me to send word to your guardians?” she asked again.
Harry shook his head. “No, I’ll do it,” he said as he stood up. “I have a few other things to talk to them about anyways.” Picking up his school bag, Harry could feel his mind already trying to come up with a way to break the news to Sirius and Remus. “Thanks for the offer, Professor,” he said softly then left the classroom for the Gryffindor Tower.
“But we want our Marauder Christmas!” Remus cried.
“This isn’t fair,” Lily huffed.
He walked through the halls in a daze, not even realizing he had reached the Gryffindor Tower until the Fat Lady pulled him out of his thoughts. Harry mindlessly muttered the password then hurried through the Common Room and up the stairs. Entering his dorm room, Harry closed the door and locked it before hurrying over to his trunk and pulling out the small mirror he needed to contact Sirius. Sitting down on his bed, Harry took a deep a breath, called for Sirius and braced himself for a very uncomfortable conversation.
It only took a few moments for Sirius’ face to appear in the mirror. “Hey Pronglet!” Sirius said happily. “How’s my favorite godson?”
Harry snorted at the comment. “Sirius, I’m your only godson,”
“That doesn’t matter, still my favorite,” Sirius said happy.
he said then remembered the reason he had contacted his godfather in the first place. Harry bit his lower lip nervously. This was harder than he had thought. “Is Remus there with you?”
“He’s downstairs attacking a Boggart,” Sirius said cautiously.
“And why am I attacking a Boggart all by myself? Hum?” Remus asked, hands on his hips, glaring at Sirius.
“Because you’re the best at it,” Sirius suggested sheepishly.
“Harry, what’s going on?”
Inhaling deeply, Harry figured he should just get it over with. “I can’t come home for Christmas,” he began. “Professor McGonagall told me today that I have to attend this Yule Ball that’s being held on Christmas since I’m one of the champions. I don’t even want to go and I have to open the ball. What in the world does that mean?”
Sirius grinned. “Harry, that means you and your date have to dance the opening dance,” he said in an amused tone. Harry looked horrified at the thought which made Sirius laugh. “I’m sorry. I completely forgot about the Yule Ball. It’s a tradition for the Triwizard Tournament. That was why dress robes were required this year. I knew there was something we forgot to tell you.”
“Excuse me Sirius?” Lily asked, “What about the whole putting your foot down? The Marauder Christmas? I don’t see any foot down here.” Remus and James crossed their arms and narrowed their eyes at Sirius. Sirius looked lost.
Harry let out a groan as he ran a hand through his hair. “So you’re not mad?” he asked.
Sirius let out a sigh and rubbed his eyes. “Harry, I know this is something you need to do,” he said. “Of course I’m not mad. I’ll talk to Dumbledore and see if he’ll pull some strings.
“See, I’ll find a way to have our Marauder Christmas,” Sirius said happily and the others relented a little.
Now, this ball you have to go to. Any idea of who you’ll be taking as your date?”
Harry shifted nervously on his bed. “No,” he said honestly. “Any advice you could give would be greatly appreciated.”
“Well, in my school days I would have gone for the most attractive girl that would go with me,” Sirius said honestly.
Sirius grinned and Lily mumbled “shallow”.
“Now, I would probably take someone who I knew and would feel comfortable with. If you’re uncomfortable with your date, Harry, it’s only going to add to your nerves. Ask someone you know fairly well so you at least know what to talk about.”
“Quick Harry, run! That’s not Sirius it’s someone on Polyjuice!” Remus cried. James and Lily roared in laughter while Sirius glared.
“I’ll let you know that I am a very deep person,” he snapped at them. The laughter only increased.
“But I don’t know a lot of girls,” Harry said honestly. “The only thing most of them do around me is stare and giggle.”
Sirius started to chuckle much to Harry’s annoyance. “The mystery of women is a longer discussion that will have to wait until later,” he said candidly. “I’ll warn you, though. Those girls that stare and giggle probably wouldn’t be someone I’d choose. It’s a possibility that they would be more interested in going with the-boy-who-lived than with Harry.”
Harry rolled his eyes. “Just great,” he muttered. “I don’t even know how to dance. This is a complete nightmare.”
“Not many do at your age Harry,” Sirius said honestly. “Ask around. Maybe someone can teach you. I thought Moony mentioned something about the Chasers on your Quidditch team being girls. You’ve known them for years. If they don’t know how, they’ll probably know someone who does.”
Harry had to admit the suggestion made sense. Angelina Johnson, Katie Bell and Alicia Spinnet were three girls that didn’t treat him any different than anyone else on the team. He just hoped they would help. “Thanks Sirius,” Harry said appreciatively. “Will you be around later…just in case?”
“If I’m not Moony will be,” Sirius said in an assuring tone. “Don’t get so worked up about this, Harry. You faced a dragon. This is nothing when compared to that.”
For some reason Harry didn’t agree. Getting passed the dragon relied on instinct. Harry had plenty of experience in that area. The female side of the human race, on the other hand, was an area that Harry was at a complete loss on trying to figure out.
“You’re not the only one Harry. Not the only one,” James said looking longingly to Lily.
That night after dinner Harry did manage to meet up with Angelina and Katie alone. Remembering that Angelina had entered her name in the Tournament, Harry tried to be as careful as possible on wording his questions. In the end it didn’t matter. Both of the Gryffindor Chasers were extremely understanding to Harry’s dilemma and jumped at the offer to teach him how to dance. The lessons would be one hour each night for as long as Harry needed it.
Deciding on whom to ask to the ball was a little more difficult. Harry had every intention on following Sirius’ advice. It would make the evening more bearable if Harry was comfortable with his date. The problem was there were very few girls Harry knew well enough to be comfortable with. Most of them were more of an acquaintance than a friend.
The obvious choice was Hermione. She was one of his best friends. The problem was that Harry hadn’t been fast enough. The very day he was going to talk to Hermione in the library he overheard someone else asking her to the Yule Ball in accented English. Harry could hear the excitement in Hermione’s voice when she accepted and couldn’t help but be happy for his friend. He had rarely heard that tone in Hermione’s voice in anything other than schoolwork.
“Uh, oh, Ron’s not going to like that,” Remus said.
“Then he should have asked her,” Lily snapped.
It seemed that having a champion as your date was the goal of the majority of the female population at Hogwarts. Harry had been asked by girls he had never met before and had to politely turn them down. The more Harry thought about it he figured the sooner he had a date the better. At least it would get all of those giggling girls off of his back.
“People are so shallow,” Lily huffed, “I bet none of those girls even gave Harry a second glance before he became champion. I bet they were among the ones that turned against him on his second year.”
“Probably,” Remus said sadly, “They don’t care about going with Harry as much as going with a champion.”
Deep down Harry knew who he wanted to ask but he was afraid of what some people may say. Working on his homework with Ron and Hermione, Harry figured he just needed to get it over with. “Er—Ron?” he asked quietly.
“He’s asking Ron out?” Sirius asked.
“No, you dolt,” Remus said smacking his head.
“Then why is he talking to Ron?” Sirius asked.
“I think I know,” Lily said and Remus grinned with her.
“Care to share your theories?” James asked.
“No,” she answered. James and Sirius rolled their eyes at the grinning duo.
“I was wondering if you had a problem with someone taking Ginny to the ball…as a friend of course.”
Ron stared at Harry with a raised eyebrow. “What have you heard?” he asked protectively. “Who’s been eyeing my sister?”
“Oh, my God! Ron is even thicker then Sirius,” Remus cried. The other three nodded until Sirius stopped nodding and cried.
“Hey!”
“Ron!” Hermione scolded then lowered her voice so no one other than Ron and Harry could hear her. “That wasn’t what Harry said. He’s asking if you would have a problem with him asking Ginny to the ball.”
To say that Ron’s brain was acting slowly would have been an understatement. “Why would you ask her?” he asked thickly. “She’s my sister. There are plenty of other girls in this school—”
“—who are more interested in going with the-boy-who-lived than me,” Harry interrupted. “Sirius said that I should go with someone I’m comfortable with. Ginny is like a sister to me. Other than Hermione, Ginny is the only girl that believed me about not entering myself in the Tournament from the beginning. She already knows everything we’ve been through so she wouldn’t want to hear about it all night long to feed the rumor mill.”
“That makes sense,” Hermione said thoughtfully. “You’ve obviously put a lot of thought into this, Harry. I’m proud of you.”
“Why don’t you ask Hermione?” Ron asked curiously.
“Uh,oh!” James whispered.
Harry glanced at Hermione nervously before looking away. “Er—I believe Hermione is already taken,” he said hesitantly making Hermione’s eyes widen in surprise. He hadn’t said a word to her about the incident in the library yet.
Ron looked from Hermione to Harry and back to Hermione. “Who are you going with?” he asked her suspiciously.
“Told you he wasn’t going to be happy,” Sirius said grimacing.
“And as I’ve said; If he didn’t want her going with someone else he should have asked her first,” Lily said annoyed.
“A friend who asked me,” Hermione said evasively. “I really think you have a point, Harry. Besides, you’re practically family to the Weasleys already. It would be better if you took Ginny instead of someone who would take advantage of her. Don’t you agree, Ron?”
“Hermione! How very Slytherin of you!” James cried impressed.
That worked. Ron immediately dropped his stubbornness and gave Harry his consent to ask Ginny to the Yule Ball. Once Ron returned to his homework, Harry mouthed a ‘thank you’ to Hermione who mouthed ‘we’ll talk later’ back. They both knew they would have a lot of explaining to do.
Hermione had been shocked to find out Harry had heard her date ask her in the library. She had also been surprised that Harry had considered asking her and insisted that her date was only a friend which struck Harry as odd behavior. Why would he care? As long as she had a good time, what did it matter?
“Well, I guess Hermione knows Ron fancies her and thought Harry would think she would be betraying his best friend,” James said in Ron’s defense.
“I don’t think she should care, if Ron isn’t making any moves she has the right to be happy,” Lily said plainly.
Hermione never mentioned her date’s name hinting to Harry that she didn’t want anyone to know yet. He had recognized the voice immediately when he heard it but decided to respect Hermione’s wishes.
] “Who do you think she is going with?” James asked.
“Well it’s rather obvious,” Remus said.
“No,” Sirius shook his head.
“Then you’ll just have to wait and see,” Lily said smugly.
With Hermione’s help, Harry was able to catch Ginny when she had been alone the following morning. Asking Ron for permission had been a walk in the park when compared to trying to phrase everything right so Ginny wouldn’t take it the wrong way. The only problem is everything that entered his mind seemed to be unable to come out of his mouth. Why was this so difficult? This was Ginny.
“Because son women are mysterious, terrifying and charming creatures,” James said wisely.
“Terrifying and charming James, they are conflicting adjectives!” Remus said.
“And yet they are both,” James said. Lily laughed.
Harry looked at Ginny directly in the eyes and silently prayed that he wouldn’t mess this up. “Ginny, I think you know what is expected of me at the Yule Ball,” he began and let out a sigh of relief when she nodded. “I don’t like being in the spotlight and having a date that I hardly know will only make it worse. I know we don’t know each other as well as we should but I do consider you one of my closest friends, just like the rest of your family. You stood by me in October when the majority of the school turned away. You have no idea how much that meant to me. I guess what I’m trying to say is would you like to go to the Yule Ball with me…as friends?”
“Now see, that wasn’t hard,” Lily said.
“Excuse me, I beg to differ. As a person who has been on Harry’s shoes many times that is the hardest thing to do,” James said.
“You do it so often that I was convinced it came naturally to you,” Lily said.
“Nope, I just won’t give up in what I want,” he said boldly.
“You mean you won’t give up because I am difficult,” she said with a raised eyebrow.
“No, I decided a long time ago we were going to be married,” he said confidently.
“Yeah, first time he saw you in our first train ride when you scolded him for making fun of Snivellus he said: “I am going to marry her,”” Sirius said. James nodded. Lily looked pleased but didn’t say anything. Just kept reading.
Ginny stared at Harry for a long moment before allowing a large smile appear on her face and wrapping her arms around Harry’s neck. “I would love to go to the ball with you, Harry,” she said happily then stepped back with a calculating smile on her face. “Do you want to tell my brothers or should we surprise them?”
Harry bit his lower lip. “Well, Ron already knows,” he said hoping Ginny wouldn’t get upset. “I just wanted to make sure he was okay with it. He’s my best friend and I know how protective he is of you…”
Ginny now looked at Harry in amazement. “How did you ever manage to convince him?” she asked.
“You can thank Hermione on that one,” Harry answered honestly then relayed how Hermione had convinced Ron that Harry was the best choice for Ron’s baby sister. “Sometimes I wonder if she should have been in Slytherin,” he added thoughtfully. “Can you imagine if Hermione and Malfoy—”
“Uugh! Harry don’t do this to us!” Sirius begged.
“Don’t do this to Hermione!” Lily cried.
“Eww!” Ginny cried in disgust. “Bad mental image!”
They both started laughing. Harry couldn’t help but be relieved. Now all he needed to do was to finish the lessons Angelina and Katie were giving him, figure out the clue for the second task and finish his homework before the end of the term. Angelina and Katie had assured Harry that he was learning quickly and would be fine by the time the Yule Ball took place. It was difficult learning to dance with two girls who were taller than you but they made due. Harry could now make through the lesson without stepping on someone’s toes and losing step which was a vast improvement. All in all, Harry was overjoyed. He wouldn’t make a fool out of himself after all.
By the time the last week of the term arrived the Yule Ball was the only thing everyone talked about. Several teachers had given up trying to teach while others continued through material despite the distractions. Professor McGonagall, Professor Moody and Professor Snape were the worst. Professor McGonagall was always stern, no one dared to question Professor Moody and fun in Potions class was almost as likely as a Professor Snape not hating every Gryffindor that crossed his path.
“In other words; Never gonna happen!” James mumbled.
Harry and Ginny had agreed not to broadcast they would be going to the ball together. Actually Ginny begged Harry so she could have some fun with her brothers, Fred and George. Ron and Hermione had promised not to say anything although it was a little more difficult for Ron to keep quiet than Hermione. Ron was a little resentful that both Harry and Hermione had dates where he hadn’t asked anyone yet. It also bothered Ron that his little sister had a date before he did.
“And whose fault is that?” Lily asked annoyed.
“Give the kid a break Lily, its tuff asking girls out,” Sirius defended Ron.
“I agree with you Sirius,” Remus said, “But I also agree with Lily. There’s no reason for him to take it out on Harry and Hermione.”
Sitting in front of the fire, Harry was once again flipping though a book on magical languages. Classes were over for the holidays giving him tome to focus completely on the second task. Hermione and Ginny were sitting nearby talking excitedly about the group that would be performing at the ball called the Weird Sisters. Harry had never heard of them before and from the sounds of it Hermione hadn’t either.
“Do you really have to do that now, Harry?” Ron asked in a bored voice from the chair across from Harry. “You have over two months to figure out that silly egg. Why don’t we play a game of chess or even Exploding Snap?”
Harry looked up at his friend suddenly feeling horrible for being too caught up in his own problems to see that Ron was having problems on his own. The problem was Ron was creating his problems by procrastinating. “I would rather figure it out early and be prepared than look like an idiot, Ron,” he said honestly. “I was lucky I already knew the Summoning Charm for the first task. You understand that, don’t you?” He let out a sigh when Ron scowled and looked away. “Okay, how about the ball? Have you asked anyone yet? We could help you find someone…”
“What’s the point?” Ron asked stubbornly as he stared into the fire. The self pity in his voice was suffocating. “I’m not like you, Harry. I’m not a champion. Girls aren’t lining up for me like they were for you.”
“Uh, oh, I think someone is jealous,” James said grimly.
Harry closed his book and put it aside. It almost sounded like Ron was jealous but he had always complained about how much time Harry put into studying for the Tournament. It didn’t make sense. “But I still needed to ask my date,” Harry pointed out. “I even had to ask her brother for permission so I technically had to ask twice. Also, being a champion is not all it’s cracked up to be. If anything it made me feel like piece of meat on display.”
“At least you get noticed,” Ron muttered bitterly.
“Yep, definitely jealous,” Sirius grimaced.
That was the final straw. With his book still in hand, Harry stood up and turned to leave. “Oh yeah, I get noticed,” he said as he glanced over his shoulder at Ron. “The only reason I am noticed was because someone always wants me dead; usually the same person who murdered my parents and cursed my life. If you want my life so bad, Ron, you’re welcome to have it…all of it.”
Everybody winced.
Not wanting to hear some feeble apology, Harry left the Gryffindor Tower for the library. He really didn’t want to talk to anyone right now. Ron’s jealousy hurt him deeply. Harry had believed that Ron looked past the ‘fame’ when they found him asleep by the lake the morning after he had been announced as a champion. The truth was Ron hadn’t looked past it. He just didn’t say anything about it.
Harry wasn’t surprised in the slightest to find the library empty. Who would be studying at the beginning of the holidays anyway? He found a table deep in the library and forced himself to focus on the material he was trying to read. He was almost halfway through the book, just starting on the creatures that began with ‘M’. This was most likely the wrong way to go about finding out the language the egg spoke but Harry was running out of ideas.
Luckily it finally paid off when Harry reached ‘Merfolk’. The description of their language, mermish, was the closest of a match to the screeching he heard from his golden egg that he had found so far. Hoping against hope, Harry hurried to the Magical Creatures section and searched for a book on merfolk. He picked out a few and brought them back to his table only to see that he had company of the red haired variety.
The Weasley Twins, both of whom appeared to be extremely upset. Harry could only assume they had heard what had happened between him and Ron. “Is there something I can help you two with?” he asked as he sat back down and opened one of the books.
“Ginny told us what happened,” said George. “We just want to say—”
“—sorry that our brother is acting like a prat,” Fred said for George. “We have come to ask for permission—”
“—to prank his thick arse,” both of the twins finished at the same time.
“That’s not a great idea,” Lily said frowning.
“Not a great idea? He deserves it,” James said annoyed and the other two Marauders nodded fervently.
“He’s jealous of Harry remember, that’s only going to get worse if his own family sides with Harry against him.” She explained Remus nodded pensively but James and Sirius weren’t that easy.
“They are always saying Harry is like a brother to them. They are just siding with one brother against the other,” Sirius said.
“That’s very good in theory but practically it won’t works all that good,” she said.
Harry shook his head slowly as he rubbed his eyes underneath his glasses. “As much as I appreciate the thought you both know you can’t do that,” he said softly. “Ron’s your brother, not me. If you two keep taking my side it will only fuel his jealousy.”
Lily raised an eyebrow triumphantly.
The looks on the faces of the twins was downright comical. Both of them seemed to be at a state between confused and outraged. “But he’s being a prat!” Fred cried in disbelief. “Just because he’s too afraid to ask a girl doesn’t give him the right to—”
“—to what?” Harry interrupted. “Be jealous? That seems to be a common theme this year. Malfoy’s jealous of me so he attacks me…Ron’s jealous…” Harry let the sentence hang. He really didn’t need this now. He didn’t need his best friend turning his back on him. He didn’t want the Weasley family at odds because of him. “Don’t worry about me,” he said as he returned his attention to the book in front of him. “I’ll be fine.”
Luckily Fred and George took that as their cue to leave. Harry remained in the library until his lesson with Angelina and Katie only to return there afterwards. The holidays had barely started and already Harry was dreading them. Alone in the drafty library, Harry could only think of how becoming one of the Hogwarts champions had really messed up his life.
“A lot,” Sirius grumbled, “Especially messed our Marauder Christmas,” then he continued in a pompous tone, “Don’t fret young Harry I shall think of something.”