All The Small Things (Harry Potter) *Fred/OC*

15. The New Year's Dance

The next day, the Gryffindors found a notice on the bulletin board, letting them all know that there would be a celebratory formal dance held in the Great Hall on New Year's Eve. The majority of the school was pretty excited about this – Tee being one of the minority who wasn't too sure about it.

"Come on, Tee," Rose pleaded with her friend the one afternoon in the common room. Fred and George were playing a doubles game of wizard chess against Ron and Harry, so they were free to chat without being hassled. "I know it's not your idea of a party, but you'll probably like it!"

"I'll just feel really out of place," said Tee. "It's all dresses and slow dancing and dates." She made a face. "You'll be okay; you've got George. Plus you like slow dancing and you look great in dresses!"

"You dress up sometimes too," Rose pointed out. "You've got a few really nice dresses. And you're not as bad as slow dancing as you think." She giggled. "You just need to pick your feet up a bit more."

Tee couldn't help smiling. "You don't need to point out that I'm clumsy! And who would I go with? I'd only embarrass myself in front of them."

Rose shrugged. "Ask Sam. I'm sure he'd say yes."

"I wouldn't really want to go with Sam," said Tee vaguely. "He's good for a snog and everything, but going with him as my date would be like taking a scary step forward and I don't want that."

Rose started laughing. "Gosh, you're so awkward. Commitment isn't that scary, y'know."

Tee grinned. "Is that your subtle way of telling me I'm weird?"

"We all know you're weird and we love you for it," laughed Rose. "Why don't you just go with Fred? At least that way you won't have to worry about it meaning anything."

Tee snorted. "No way. I'm not asking him; he bullies me enough as it is."

"Well, I don't know then!" laughed Rose, throwing her hands up in mock despair. "You really are awkward; you can find your own date."

Personally, Rose was really looking forward to the dance. It was definitely more the kind of event that she liked. She was glad now that in September she'd suggested to Tee that they both pack a dress, in case they did have any formal occasions to go to.

She was also happy that she could just go with George and not have to worry about anyone freaking out over it. The news had spread round the Gryffindor house after Fred and Tee had finally found out, so George and Rose were free to be a couple publicly now that there were no more secrets.

Most of the other Gryffindors now had dates too. Sumayyah had been the lucky one to bag Cedric, Marie was going with Curly-Bop, and Kayley was going with another of the Hufflepuff crew named Joe. Tee really hadn't wanted to have to find a date, but Rose managed to convince her to just come to the dance anyway and said they could all just hang out in a group.

That had been the original plan anyway.

Tee and Rose had just finished watching another episode of Ouran Host Club on Tee's iPod, so Rose went to disturb the twins' seemingly endless games of Exploding Snap. Putting her hands over George's eyes seemed to do the trick – it distracted him just long enough for Fred to win the next pair.

George didn't seem to mind. He just laughed and gently pulled her hands away. "Okay, I get it; more time with Rose."

"Just because you guys are public now doesn't mean you get to hog him all the time," said Fred, tossing his cards onto the table.

"Hog him? You guys have been playing this for nearly two hours," Rose pointed out.

"Wow, I can't believe I'm in such high demand," joked George, pulling Rose round onto his lap. "There's no need to fight; there's plenty of me to go around."