taking control

Chapter 16: A Dual-Pronged Attack

My thanks go to Ruby for all the hard work she puts into making these chapters what they are. The story is much richer thanks to her efforts. Thanks also go to Christine who proof reads the final draft and helps fix up the readability of the chapters.

And thank you to all those who have been kind enough to leave reviews for the story. I apologize that I'm not as good about responding to each one as I'd like. I'm trying to improve on that, but oftentimes life gets in the way. I just want you all to know that I truly appreciate your comments.

Without further ado, I give you chapter 16.

Chapter 16: A Dual-Pronged Attack

Ronald Weasley was sitting next to his date, Hermione Granger, at the Yule Ball. He rather liked the sound of that; Hermione Granger was his date. He had wanted to ask her the moment the ball had been announced, but her response concerned him. He was not sure she would want to go with him and worried that if he asked and she said no, it would have made their friendship awkward. Luckily, that had not been an issue. She had eagerly agreed to go with him and was now his date. He wondered if she was having a good time. He wished he had shown more interest when his mum had tried to teach him how to dance. At the time it had seemed a pointless waste of energy, but now that he was at the ball with Hermione, the idea did not seem quite so trivial.

Ron's eyes drifted across the dance floor and locked onto his little sister and best mate. He could not believe Harry had learned to dance, and from McGonagall at that. That had to be awkward. Still, he had learned to dance and was ruddy good at it too. Hermione had commented on his dancing several times throughout the night, and, while he could not deny Harry's ability, that did not mean she had to keep mentioning it.

His eyes narrowed slightly at the couple. Harry and Ginny had been dancing all night long, and, despite what Harry might have said, they looked anything but innocent. Harry was holding Ginny rather closely, and they had been looking at each other funnily all night. He really was not sure what to think. What if they became a couple? What if he saw them snogging? A shiver ran down his spine at the thought. Then again, they both looked so happy. Should he not be happy for them? His eyes followed them as they walked off the dance floor towards the double doors leading to the Entrance Hall. Where did they think they were going?

His thoughts were interrupted by his own date. Ron sighed. He really did not want to dance, but he knew Hermione did. After all, she had been asking him to dance all night. He had given in a couple times already and had hoped that would satisfy her, but he was not that lucky. Taking a deep breath, he turned to Hermione who was again trying to coax him onto the dance floor. "Alright, Hermione," he relented.

She smiled gratefully and led him by the hand to the dance floor. He awkwardly placed one arm at her waist, the other Hermione kept cupped in her own hand. He did his best to keep up with her and not step on her toes from that part forward. Not really enjoying the actual dancing, he looked to his partner, the reason he was on the dance floor. He smiled; he supposed he could suffer through it if it made her happy. She returned his smile, causing his stomach to jolt.

Now that his eyes had left his feet and traveled to Hermione, he found he could not tear his eyes away. He felt he should say something but struggled to find an appropriate topic. He did not want to embarrass himself, first and foremost, so he tried to find something he could compliment her on that would not put himself out there too much. A moment later, he found his target. "That's a pretty necklace," he told her honestly. It was on a silver chain, with a silver pendant holding some sort of blue stone. Jewelry was not exactly his area of expertise, but the necklace looked beautiful on her.