Life Imitates Art

Panic at the Yule Ball

Remus was mad at Sirius, and it was nothing less than Sirius deserved. They'd been caught in a prank - everyone but Remus, who was hiding as their lookout, and Sirius had thrown Remus under the bus. Remus wasn't too mad - he had figured he was going to get caught, it would have been nearly impossible to sneak away, but still. Sirius, however, had come up with the perfect plan to make amends.

Every Christmas, there was a ball of sorts, and those fourteen or older were able to attend. Considering the boys were sixth years, they all planned to go. James had managed to get Lily to go with him, and Sirius knew there was only one person he wanted to ask. Now he just had to figure out how to do it.

In the end, he figured a nice, private moment would be better than some grand gesture. So, after breakfast two weeks before the ball, he asked Remus for a word.

Remus followed him into an empty classroom, before folding his arms and looking at him.

"What's this about?" he asked.

Sirius fidgeted nervously. "Er, I just, um... I kind of wanted to ask you a question."

Remus looked confused. "What is it? Is everything alright?"

"I just..." Sirius nearly chickened out. He was so close to just asking what the plan was for the next full moon or something, improvising on the spot, before he took a breath, calmed down slightly, and spat the words out. "Wouldyougototheballwithme?"

Remus stared at him. "What?"

"Would you... would you go to the ball with me?" Sirius asked again, his voice a normal speed and pitch this time.

Remus was silent, long enough for Sirius to start panicking.

"It's ok if you don't want to," he said. "We can just forget this, it was stupid-"

He was cut off by Remus pressing a kiss onto his lips.

Sirius froze, shocked, before he began kissing back. It felt like several hours and only a few seconds at the same time before they broke apart.

"Does, uh..." Sirius said, slightly dazed and out of breath. "Does that mean yes?"

"Of course it means yes, you prat," Remus grinned slightly sheepishly. "But I'm still mad at you for turning me in."

Sirius grinned.

-{}-{}-{}-

It had been exactly four months since Draco had joined the Golden Trio, making them a quartet and throwing a splash of green into their exclusive red and gold group. Draco was good friends with all three Gryffindors, but he'd become especially good friends with Harry, and it had taken him quite a while to realize just why he got so excited at the prospect of hanging out with him without Ron and Hermione.

He'd had a bit of a heart attack at the realization that he was maybe just a little bit gay, and a bigger heart attack when he realized he was maybe just a little bit gay for Harry Potter. The nerves were calmed, however, when Ron accidentally let slip that even though Harry liked girls, he also liked boys. And then, Dumbledore had announced that Hogwarts was going to be holding a Yule Ball over the Christmas holidays, and Draco had decided that now was as good a time as any to shoot his shot. Especially considering the fact that Harry might die soon, considering the way the Triwizard Tournament was going. If dragons were the first task, he shuddered to think what the second could be.

Draco had finally decided on the right moment. Despite the lack of the Quidditch season, all four Houses had decided they still wanted to play and train, and so, they'd continued their training sessions and put on games themselves. Slytherin was playing Gryffindor this Saturday, and so Draco had decided that he was going to ask Harry then.

With Wood gone, Angelina had been appointed honorary captain by the team, and she'd held mock tryouts for a Keeper, with Ron winning out.

The morning of the game dawned clear, sunny, and cold. There was a definite bite in the air, what with it being December, but at least there was no rain or snowfall. Draco had worked with several of his and Harry's classmates to make sure his plan was set in motion, although he was definitely a little nervous to do it in front of the whole school.

Angelina and Montague, the Slytherin captain, shook hands, before Cedric, the Hufflepuff captain and referee of this game, blew his whistle, and the game was on.

Half an hour in, Gryffindor was up 70-20, and there had been no sign of the snitch. Harry was flying around, searching diligently, when he heard Lee's commentary break through his concentration.

"-Potter clearly hasn't noticed yet, might do him some good to take a look at the stands, course that may just prove a distraction so maybe he shouldn't..."

Confused, Harry looked around at the stands, and caught sight of a giant banner, apparently being held up by at least six students. Massive green lettering was written across it.

Harry, I know you're a Seeker, but to me you're a Keeper

Will you go to the ball with me?

-Draco

Harry stared at it for a moment, until Draco flew by.

"Are you fucking kidding me?" Harry shouted at him.

Draco looked nervous. "What?"

"Yes I'll go to the bloody ball with you," Harry rolled his eyes, and caught sight of the snitch near the ground. "But there is no way in hell that I'm gonna let you win!"

And he banked into a steep dive. Before Draco even knew what was happening, Harry was rising back into the air, the snitch held above his head in triumph. Even though they'd lost the game, Draco felt like he'd won, anyway.

—--

"You picked the middle of a Quidditch game to ask me, seriously?" Harry laughed fondly.

"What? It seemed like the grand gesture type of thing you'd like," Draco shrugged. "Besides, it's not like you didn't still win the game."

"No, you only managed to distract yourself with that one," Harry agreed. "Now I just gotta figure out what I'm supposed to wear to a ball. And how to dance. And how to tell Sirius and Mia that I'm going with a Slytherin."

"You should wear green," Draco advised.

"What?" Harry exclaimed, giving him a look. "You may be a Slytherin, but I wear red, Draco."

"You look better in green though," Draco argued. "It matches your eyes. And it's not like there is any possible way I'm dressing like a Gryffindor."

Harry considered this. "I'll think about it," he finally allowed, though Draco knew this meant he had won.

—--

The next several weeks was a flurry of invitations to the ball. Ron had, shockingly, found the courage to ask Hermione to the ball, while Neville had asked Ginny. Christmas day found everyone spending much of the afternoon getting ready, especially the girls.

The ball went extremely well, in Draco's opinion, especially as the night had ended with him and Harry kissing at midnight, and officially becoming a couple.