LIKE LIGHTNING | Harry Potter x Reader Fanfiction

⁕ ballroom dancing ⁕

"Y/N! You didn't!"

"Uh, yes?" 

"I- I just... nothing happened?" 

"Yes Arabella, we just slept in the same bed!" I said, throwing my hands in the air. I had given her a bit of a shock when I walked back into the Ravenclaw dormitories, wearing the same clothes from the day before. She had bombarded me with about a million questions about why and what had happened. Absolutely nothing, of course, I fell asleep about five minutes after we had snuggled into the covers. The thought of anything else happening made my cheeks glow bright red. I hadn't really thought about Harry in that way until now. 

So without further questioning, we walked down to the Great Hall for breakfast. Arabella sat with the trio and me this morning and we were about to discuss the golden egg's ugly screech when Ron was given a parcel wrapped in brown paper.

"Mum sent me something," Ron exclaimed. 

 He ripped the wrapping off and opened the box inside. Whatever was inside was very ugly and I had to stifle my laugh as Ron lifted the most horrendous looking dress robes out of the box. 

"Mum sent me a dress!" he said. There were pink and orange ruffles adorning the front of it and the cuffs. The robe itself was made of a brown fabric that looked absolutely ancient. 

"Well, it does match your eyes." said Harry, and I couldn't hold back my laughter as he continued, "Is there a bonnet? Aha." He said, pulling out some kind of ruffly shirt from underneath more wrapping paper. Ron smacked Harry and walked down the table. 

"These must be for you, Ginny." He said, showing her the robes.

"I'm not wearing that, it's ghastly." She said with a scrunch of her nose. Then Hermione laughed and said, "They're not for Ginny, they're for you." The whole table laughed at that and I had to push my bowl of cereal away from me to keep it from knocking over. Ron groaned and sat down, throwing the robes back into the package where they came from. 

※※※

"The Yule Ball has been a tradition of the Triwizard Tournament since its induction. It is more simply put a dance." Said Professor McGonagall.

I turned to Arabella, "This was why we had to get dress robes, I'm so stupid, why couldn't I think of that." Professor McGonagall explained went on to explain that the Yule Ball would be held on Christmas Eve and we all needed partners. Obviously, I would go with Harry, but I wanted to ask him anyway. 

McGonagall chose a random Ravenclaw boy to show the proper form of ballroom dancing and we all snickered as he reluctantly placed a hand on her hip and spun around the classroom. Then we all partnered up with the boys sitting across from us. I said hi to another boy I was unfamiliar with and went through the motions, it was quite awkward and I couldn't wait until this lesson was over. I shot a glance at Arabella who looked as if she wasn't even putting in any effort. Her legs limply moved in time and her face was a pure annoyance. Finally, it was time to go to our next class and I quickly let go of the boy's hands.

"Uh- bye." I said before grabbing my book bag and scurrying out of the room with Arabella on my side. 

"Ugh, that was the worst thing ever!" Arabella groaned. 

"Tell me about it, whoever I was dancing with had the sweatiest palms ever, I swear," I said with disgust, wiping my hands on my robes. 

"But I was thinking, screw all of the plans we had of getting Neville interested in me. I'm just going to ask him to go to the Yule Ball with me. And then if he says yes, then that's good. And if he says no-." 

"Then we realize that we don't need a boy to be happy." 

"Correct." She said with a smile. 

We made our way to the greenhouse for Herbology and were luckily early enough to catch Neville chatting up with Professor Sprout. I nudged Arabella in the side and she hissed in a breath through her clenched teeth. 

"Forget what I said earlier, if he says no, I might jump off the astronomy tower."

"Oh my god- SHUT UP!" I quietly yelled in her ear. We placed our books down and when Neville finished his conversation with the professor, I kicked Arabella in the calf and she yelped, standing up quickly and blocking Neville's path. 

"Oh, hey there Arabella." He said with a small smile. 

"Hi. Neville." She said, nervously, her face contorted into something that I hoped was trying to be a smile. I grimaced.

"I was wondering if I could ask you something, actually," he said, shifting from side to side. 

"Uh, me too," Arabella said fast. 

"Um, I was wondering if you'd like to go to the Yule Ball with me?" He asked, fiddling with his pockets. 

"Oh! REALLY?!" She said, face getting pink.

"Um, yeah, it's fine if you don't want to-" He said, starting to walk away. Arabella grabbed his arm, "No! I mean, yes, I'd totally like to go to the Yule Ball with you." she said. 

"Great! What was it you'd like to tell me, again?" he asked. 

"Ohh, it's nothing." She said, a real smile spreading across her lips. 

"Okay, well, I'll see you later." He said, giving a small wave at the two of us before leaving the greenhouse. 

"SEE I TOLD YOU IT WOULD GO GREAT!" I screamed, earning a startled look from Professor Sprout. 

"I just can't believe he asked me. This is amazing!" She twirled around and gave me a hug. Other Ravenclaw students made their way into the greenhouse. I couldn't wait to discuss the ball with the other girls. I guess you could say I wasn't big on girly things, but if there was one thing I couldn't help but adore, were grand balls with beautiful ballgowns and dancing. It was something I'd dreamt of going to since I was a little girl, and I was felt ecstatic just thinking about it. Not to mention it was on Christmas Eve, that night was going to be perfect. 

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Word Count: 1051