Harry Potter - Fanfiction

Year 4 - The Yule Ball

Despite it being the holidays, we are given a very heavy load of homework, which I set to getting done so that the rest of my holidays can be spent worry free. Tracey on the other hand wants to put it off, but I force her to do it with me. She'll thank me in the end.

So, we spend the beginning of the first week of holidays doing all our homework and by Thursday morning I am homework free, which works out perfectly because I am set to meet up with the twins by the lake.

I pull on one of my cloaks with a scarf and beanie and head off, leaving Tracey behind in the warm common room where she is snuggled up on the couch in front of the fire with one of the older Slytherin boys, deep in conversation.

Snow is falling thickly upon the castle and its grounds now. The pale blue Beauxbatons carriage looks like a large, chilly frosted pumpkin next to the iced gingerbread house that is Hagrid's cabin, while the Durmstrang ships portholes are glazed with ice, the rigging white with frost. The house-elves down in the kitchen are outdoing themselves with a series of rich warming stews and savory puddings which certainly helps beat the cold.

I rub my hands together as the icy winds cut through me while making my way down to the lake. As I grow nearer to the lake, I can hear the infectious laughter coming from the twins.

Once they spot me, they wave me over with their mitten covered hands.

"Please remind me why we always decide to meet here when it's so cold," I say as I blow hot air onto my fingers.

"It's not so bad," chuckles Fred through chattering teeth.

"Here, use my gloves," says George, taking off his mittens and placing them over my hands. His body heat that remains in the gloves instantly heats mine.

"Thank you." My teeth also chattering a mile a minute. I know I should be used to this cold, but sometimes I cannot handle it.

"Let's head back to one of the corridors, my brain is too frozen out here to even think," George chimes as he pulls me in and rubs my shoulders, trying to heat me up. His body towering over me slightly, blocking most of the wind.

"Good idea." I nod.

We don't have to walk for long to find a warmer corridor as most students are smart enough to stay within their common rooms with this cold. Only a few other groups of students milling about here and there as they walk around the castle, meeting up with their friends from other houses, much like we are doing.

"You see if you were in Gryffindor, we wouldn't have to travel so far to see you," says Fred as we find a place to sit in one of the corridors, the twins seated on either side of me sandwiching me in the middle.

"Oh, terribly sorry to drag you all the way out here then," I joke.

"You can make it up to us." Fred pulls out a biscuit from his pocket. "We got biscuits from the kitchen and saved you one."

I questionably eye Fred and take the biscuit with caution.

"If this is another one of those biscuits disguised as a canary cream, I'm going to pummel you both. I mean come on I helped you design those, and I know you've been making a killing with them."

"Yeah, that's true," laughs George, "sadly all the Gryffindor's have now learned to treat offered food with extreme caution, nobody wants to accept anything from us."

"Well do you blame them," I chuckle.

"Just eat the biscuit already," Fred says eagerly, "we won't prank our best teammate."

"Now you're just saying that so that I do eat it. I know what you up to mister and I know you're going to find one way or another to make me eat it," I grin.