Aurora | Harry Potter

chapter eleven

"The Yule Ball has been a tradition of the... Triwizard Tournament... since its inception," Professor McGonagall explains to all the Gryffindor students sat in the small and empty classroom. "On Christmas Eve night, we and our guests gather in the Great Hall for a night of well-mannered frivolity. As representatives of the host school, I expect each and every one of you to put your best foot forward. And I mean this literally because the Yule Ball is first and foremost... a dance."

Mumbles and groans sneak through all the male boys, who all either roll their eyes or sink lower in their chairs, whereas whispers of excitement soar through the girls.

"The house of Godric Gryffindor has commanded the respect of the Wizard World for nearly ten centuries. I will not have you, in the course of a single evening, besmirching that name by behaving like a bambling, bumbling band of baboons!" She exclaims and when I look across the room, I see Fred and George repeating that phrase over and over again.

"Now, to dance is to let the body breathe," McGonagall says as she motions to the girl students. "Inside every girl, a secret swan slumbers, longing to burst forth and take flight!" I just manage to hear Ron say something hurtful about Eloise Midgen's appearance, so I turn around and whisper, "You're beautiful, El."

She smiles and whispers a thank you, as McGonagall turns to the boys. "Inside every boy, a lordly lion prepared to prance, Mr Weasley," she exclaims and I know this is going to embarrass Ron for years. "Will you join me please?"

Ron begrudgingly stands up and I look over at Harry, who looks at me and we share a silent giggle with each other. "Now, place your right hand on my waist," McGonagall instructs. Ron moans slightly as he does, a boy loudly wolf-whistling as McGonagall asks Filch to play the record.

Slow ballroom music starts to play and McGonagall starts dancing around the room with Ron, making several people laugh.

"Everybody, come together!" McGonagall exclaims, every girl stands up immediately whereas all the boys stay in their seats. "Boys, on your feet!" I look across all the boys and I see Neville bravely stand up and he walks over to Ginny, which puts a smile on my face.

I see Harry start to sit up as more boys hesitantly stand, but Fred practically pushes him back down and jumps over him to make his way over to me. I laugh slightly as we start dancing together, surprise taking over me at how good he is at it.

"Fred, you're actually really good at this!" I exclaim as he twirls me around, both of us grinning at each other. "You think? I've been practicing because..." he drops his voice to a whisper and tells me that he wants to ask Angelina to go to the ball with him.

My heart warms and I give him a large smile. "She'd say yes, I know it. Why don't you ask her later during our study period with Snape?" I propose, to which he gasps slightly and nods his head. Then, he turns around and I see Harry standing behind him, his loose sling now on his chair and his arm hanging freely by his side.

Fred moves away and goes back to stand with George as Harry takes his place. "Well, Mr Potter, shall we dance?" I say, putting on a very fake, posh British accent, which makes him smirk. "We shall, I'm terrible though, so watch your toes."

-

Ron groans as Snape pushes his head down to look at his book, me and Hermione trying to concentrate as he talks with Harry about asking a girl out to the ball. It's getting quite irritating due to me and Hermione sitting right next to them and by looking at Hermione's face, it's irritating her too. 

Then, they poke fun at Neville - who is sat just a few seats down - and say that at least he'll be alone at the ball with them. "I'll think you'll find that Neville is going with someone," I comment, not taking my eyes off my work. Ron lets out another groan. "Well now I'm really depressed."

Out of the corner of my eye, I see Fred slide a note to Ron and I hear him read it out. " 'Get a move on or all the good ones will have gone'... who are you going with then?" Ron retaliates, handing the note back to Fred, who scrunches it up and throws it at Angelina when Snape's not looking.

He then whispers and mimes about her going to the ball with him, to which she happily says yes. Fred winks at Ron and mouths 'thank you' to me, to which I mouth 'no problem' in return. Ron rolls his eyes and turns to Hermione.

"Well, Hermione, Aurora... you're both girls," Ron starts, but I see Snape already noticing them talking so I just look down at my work as Harry tries to warn them but fails, the sound of books being slammed against all three of their heads. 

"Come on, it's one thing for a bloke to show up alone but for a girl it's just sad." That's it, Hermione's pushed over the edge. "I won't be going alone because believe it or not, someone's asked me," she snaps, standing up and briskly handing her notebook to Snape. 

"And I said yes!" She finishes, sweeping her books into her arms and sauntering out of the Hall. "Ron, you went too far again," I murmur, shaking my head. 

Then, I notice Snape noticing Ron talking to Harry and I see him pull his sleeves up slightly. "Look, we've just got to grit our teeth and do it. Tonight when we get back to the Common Room, we'll both have partners, agreed?" Ron says. 

Harry nods his head and they both groan as Snape forcefully pushes their heads down towards their work. I heave a sigh, the boys now really getting on my nerves. "You're both acting like finding an available girl to take to the dance is such a big deal," I say as I stand up, handing my work over to Snape.

"Well, have you got a date, Miss Diggory?" Harry jokes. I pause, turn around and say, "No," before walking out of the Hall.