Visionary | h. potter x oc

4.13

Mission "find out what the other champions know" was not going well. Not only was the name way too long, but Aurora couldn't get Krum or Fleur to reveal anything and Cedric wasn't in a single one of her classes. And now, instead of working on the many assignments she had or the pressing issue of getting into the restricted section, Aurora was stuck sitting in the transfiguation classroom with the rest of the Gryffindor's fourth year and above. Crammed between Hermione and Lavender Brown, she stared at McGonagall and the large gramophone sitting next to her.

"What do you think this is about?" Hermione whispered.

Aurora shrugged, "Not a clue."

As Argus Filch, the caretaker of Hogwarts, messed with the gramophone, Professor McGonagall began to talk, "The Yule Ball has been a tradition of the Triwizard Tournament since its inception. It is first and foremost a dance."

Students began to whisper amongst themselves, Hermione turning towards Aurora, "Do you know how to dance?"

"No." She murmured back, staring at McGonagall, "You?"

Hermione shook her head, "No. We're all going to embarrass ourselves, aren't we?"

"I don't need to be a seer to answer that question." She looked at Hermione with a small smile, "We absolutely are."

"Silence!" McGonagall's voice boomed, "The house of Godric Gryffindor has commanded the respect of the wizard world for nearly ten centuries. I will not have you, in the course of a single evening, besmirching that name by behaving like a babbling, bumbling band of baboons" That was a mouthful, Aurora thought, wondering where exactly she was going with her lecture.

Noticing Ron murmur to his friends, McGonagall looked at him, "Mr. Weasley? Will you join me, please?"

Aurora clamped her hand over her mouth to keep from laughing as the Professor led Ron into the middle of the room. He placed his arm – quite awkwardly – on her waist and took his other hand in hers. Music filled the room and she tried to lead him around the room in a waltz.

"Everyone come together!" The girls stood almost immediately, all except Aurora, as the boys continued to sit and avoid eye contact, "Boys, on your feet. Ms. Ollivander, you too."

Neville was the first to stand, walking over to Aurora and holding out his hand. She glanced at it for a moment before sighing and taking it in her own. Surprisingly enough, Neville was a decent dancer. Not once did he step on her feet or trip. Meanwhile Aurora stepped on him multiple times and ran into many of the other people around her.

"Sorry." She grimaced as she stepped on his foot yet again, eliciting a wince from the awkward boy. He only shrugged it off and they continued along.

~oOo~

"This is mad." Ron looked around as they sat in study hall in the Great Hall, "At this rate, we'll be the only ones in our year without dates."

Aurora rolled her eyes, "You just have to ask someone Ron. It's not very difficult."

Ron scoffed, "Easy for you to say." He turned towards Hermione on his right, "Oi, Hermione. You're a girl."

"Well spotted." She responded.

"Come with one of us?" Ron's tone seemed lighthearted, but Aurora could see the rage in her friend's eyes. "It's one thing for a bloke to show up alone. For a girl, it's just sad."

And just like that, Hermione's switch was flipped, "I won't be going alone, because, believe it or not, someone's asked me. Just because it's taken you three years to notice I'm a girl doesn't mean anyone else saw it." She grabbed her things and stood, handing her paper to Snape and leaving.

Ron looked at Aurora, "Bloody hell. She's lying, right?"

She shook her head with a frown, "She's not." Stacking her papers together Aurora began to grab her things, "Even if she was, that's not exactly the proper way to ask someone. Next time try, 'Will you go to the Yule Ball with me?' Instead of being an arse." She stood from the table, handing Snape her papers before rushing out to catch up with Hermione.

The brunette must have walked incredibly fast, because she was nowhere to be seen in the hallways Aurora took back to the Gryffindor common room. Just as she turned a corner she ran head-first into a familiar face,

"Aurora."

"Cedric!" She repositioned her bag over her shoulder and smiled, "What are you doing here?"

"I wanted to ask you something." He looked nervous and Aurora felt a pit grow in her stomach. She hated when people said that. She nodded, silently urging him to get on with it, "Do you have a date to the ball yet?"

She shook her head in surprise, the pit quickly going away, "No. I umm... I wasn't really planning on going, honestly."

A frown appeared on his face, "Really? I was..." He paused as if unsure to continue, but took a deep breath, "I was going to ask you to come with me."

It took a moment for her to respond. Somewhere in the back of her mind Aurora was hoping he would ask, but she was also waiting for someone else to ask. Someone who, at the same moment, was going towards the owlry to look for her. But time was running out to find a date and she didn't have an excuse to say no. Instead of thinking of one, the words that came out of her mouth were, "I'd like that."

Cedric grinned and nodded, "Great. I should get going then, I have to find dress robes that won't make me look like a complete fool."

Aurora returned his smile, "Trust me, nothing you find will be worse than Ron's."

He chuckled and looked down the hallway to where his friends, who Aurora hadn't even noticed standing behind her until then, were expectantly waiting for him, "I'll see you then?"

She rolled her eyes and shooed him off, "Go on before I change my mind."

As soon as he was out of view she let out a shaky breath. She could have done worse in terms of a date. Cedric was handsome and popular and, as much as none of the Gryffindor's wanted to admit, he was a fantastic Quidditch player. Yet of all the things in her life, going with Cedric Diggory to the Yule Ball definitely wasn't something she saw coming.

~oOo~

"Hermione!" Aurora rushed into their dorm, seeing her friend sitting on her bed quietly reading. She put the book down immediately, fear in her eyes at Aurora's loud and out-of-character entrance, "I need a dress for the Yule Ball."

"You've decided to come? That's fantastic!" She stood excitedly, "Did Harry finally ask you?"

"What? No." Aurora's face dropped, "Was he planning to?"

Hermione only shrugged, "I had a feeling but... nevermind that. If he didn't, who asked?"

"Cedric just asked me in the hall."

"That's fantastic!"

Aurora threw her stuff onto her bed before plopping down and staring at the ceiling, "Except that it's a week away and I don't have a dress."

Hermione only waved her hand dismissably, "Well that's not a problem, we can get you one tonight in Hogsmede. Our classes are over and there's a group going in a bit."

The Ollivander let out a sigh and turned to look at Hermione, "I hate shopping."

"As do I. But it just so happens that I also don't have a dress."

"Right." She paused, "Who are you going with anyway?" Hermione's cheeks reddened and Aurora sat up a bit, narrowing her eyes, "Victor Krum." She answered her own question, remembering the way the boy constantly looked at her.

The way Hermione avoided her gaze confirmed it before her words did, "He asked me yesterday..."

Aurora smiled, suddenly excited to go dress shopping, "Well then, let's make sure you're the hottest one there."

Her cheeks only darkened as she rolled her eyes, grabbing the black scarf on Aurora's chair and throwing it towards her, "Whatever, come on then."