After the first task

3

The day of the Yule Ball was coming closer and Harry was getting a little more nervous. Sure, he had a date and now knew how to dance, but he had to open the dance with the rest of the Champions. This scared him. He hated having everyone staring at him, and now he had no choice.

Plus, he didn't want to embarrass Hermione at all, which made him even more nervous. Hermione however, did her best to quell his nerves though she was quite nervous as well. The Yule Ball would be when their relationship would be brought out in the open. Sure, some of the students knew, but this would make them official in the eyes of the school.

"Harry, there's nothing to worry about. You have mastered how to dance, I know you'll do fine" Hermione said reassuringly."Yeah, but you and I are going to be dancing in front of everyone" Harry said trembling slightly.

"Don't worry about that Harry, the other Champions will be there also, not just you" Hermione said soothingly. "That kind of makes me feel better" Harry said. "I knew it would" Hermione said smiling brightly. "I don't know what I would do without you" Harry said pulling Hermione into a tight embrace. "And you'll never have to, I'm not going anywhere" Hermione said pulling Harry into a kiss.The Yule Ball was forgotten for a while as the couple enjoyed each other.

/Scene Break/

On the day of the Ball Harry felt nervous, but excited. He met up with Neville and they headed to the common room to wait for Hermione. When she got there the three headed down to the Great Hall for breakfast and on the way they met Luna. This was now a habit for them. In the Great Hall Luna sat at the Gryffindor table.

"I hope there won't be any nargles in the mistletoe tonight" Luna said thoughtfully as she buttered her toast. "I'm sure Dumbledore checked for that," Harry said smiling at his friend. "Are you sure, nargles can be quite tricky" Luna said seriously.

"I'll protect you from the nargles Luna, you don't have to worry" Neville said. Luna smiled and kissed Neville on the cheek, which caused him to blush."Nev, if you get any redder I would think you hit the firewhiskey early" Harry chuckled.

"Shut up Harry" Neville said and chucked a roll at his friend."Hey, no hurting my date, he needs to be able to dance with me tonight" Hermione said smiling. "A Ravenclaw, Michael Corner" Ginny said."He's a nice person, and he didn't pick on me" Luna said. They continued their antics outside in a snowball fight, which became larger as more Gryffindors joined in as a few others from other houses. Harry and Hermione on one side with Luna and Neville on the other. But when the Weasley twins jumped in it became an all-out war with every one for yourself. They all had fun til the girls announced that they needed to get ready.

"But the Ball isn't for hours" Fred shouted. "We have to look our best" Alicia Spinnet said. "And you want us to look our best, right?" Angelina Johnson asked arching an eyebrow. The twins looked at one another then at both of the girls and said, "Go, take all the time you need, we'll wait for you no matter how long it takes."

Harry just smiled and kissed Hermione before she left and Neville kissed Luna on the cheek.An hour before the Ball the boys decided to head in to get ready. Harry and Neville were showered and had their robes on when Ron came out. "Bloody hell, what is that?" Neville asked when he caught sight of Ron's robes.

Ron was dressed in what could be described as ancient dress robes. They were maroon and had a heavy smell of mothballs. They had frills on the cuffs and they were frayed quite badly. "I look like my great aunt Tessie" Ron moaned then sniffed himself, "I even smell like my great aunt Tessie."

Harry and Neville couldn't help laughing at the sight of Ron looking miserable in his dress robes. "Come on Harry, Hermione's waiting" Neville said clapping the boy on his back."I can't wait" Harry said grinning.