A sirius matter

Chapter 31 - What's the News?

Almost every girl in the school applauded at Dumbledore's announcement of the ball, while several boys groaned. Harry looked at Hermione to judge her reaction. She had an almost wistful expression as she glanced at him, only to find he was looking at her. She blushed and turned away quickly.

Harry wasn't sure how he felt about the ball, and knew that he couldn't dance. However, he knew that he had to be a dutiful boyfriend, and it was obvious that Hermione wanted to go. Figuring that he might as well get it over with, he said, "Hermione?"

"Yes," she replied, looking at him hopefully.

"Would you like to go to the ball with me?"

She smiled brightly, and he thought that smile was worth enduring a Yule Ball. "I'd love to, Harry."

"Good," he responded as he smiled back at her, glad that he'd done something right. He looked at the package of horntail armor that had arrived minutes before Dumbledore's announcement. "Come on. I'd like to put on my armor before we go to class, and I'd like it if you would, too."

"Sure."

They went to the Gryffindor common room, where he opened his package and took out Hermione's outfit, giving it to her. She went to her dormitory to change while he brought the box up to his. After he'd put his armor on beneath his clothes (all but the hood and gloves, which he put in his book bag), he put the box, which contained eight more outfits, into his trunk. He would give one to Sirius, Ron, Neville, and Ginny (they would magically shrink to the size of the wearer to be skin tight so they'd fit anyone from five feet to six-and-a-half feet tall). He'd still have four outfits to spare, but wasn't sure who to give them to, or if he should keep them as spares. He put his new boots on and walked down the stairs.

He saw that the common room was empty, so he sat down on a couch and waited for Hermione. After five minutes, he saw her walking down the stairs. She was wearing the boots, but he could see the bottom of her legs beneath her uniform skirt, so he assumed she was wearing the shorts without legs as they'd agreed on (whatever was practical for the situation). She looked a bit nervous as she approached him.

"Er, Harry?"

"Yes?"

"I was wondering. Um, I know the Dursleys wouldn't have taught…Do you know how to dance?"

A frown formed on his face as he put his head down, feeling a bit ashamed. He took a deep breath. Looking at the ground, he answered, "No. I'm sorry, I…"

"It's all right, Harry," she assured him, putting her hand on his arm. "I only asked because I thought I could teach you if you didn't know how."

He looked up at her with a neutral expression. "Teach me?"

"Yes. If you can learn advanced dueling, charming broomsticks to fly, and occlumency, then surely you can learn how to dance."

Nodding, Harry agreed, "When you put it that way, I suppose…"

"Excellent! We'll add that to our training." She took a deep breath. "I suppose you'll want to do it in your trunk so nobody knows."

"Of course. And don't tell anyone, either."

"Don't worry," Hermione replied with a big smile. "This'll be fun. I just have to borrow a…Wait a minute. That Pensieve Professor Dumbledore gave you for your birthday will be even better! I'll put memories of my dance lessons in there and we can go in together."

"You took dance lessons?"

"Yes. A few years before I came to Hogwarts. My parents thought it was important for me to learn ballroom dancing. It'll be good for me to review as well."