I Want to be Your First Choice, Harry Potter

Chapter Seventeen

When I enter the ball, Hermione and I walk in together down the large stairs. I can see Harry making casual conversation with a few other boys. Harry notices me right away, we lock eyes as I walk down the steps making sure not to trip on my dress. Even though everyone is wearing masks I can tell who Harry is and he can obviously tell who I am. He is wearing black and white dress robes similar to the ones he wore at the Yule Ball last year. The robes fit him better this year though; they compliment his body shape nicely. When I get down to where he is standing I try and look for Seamus but I can't tell which boy he is through the large crowd of people around.

"You look brilliant." Harry says. I can't really tell what his face looks like but his voice sounds sort of nervous.

"You can't even see my face." I say, teasing him.

"I meant your dress and whatever I can see, well I'm sure your face is pretty too but you as a whole I meant." He stumbles over his words a little bit.

"Well either way, thank you." I say. I realize that I won't have to worry much about blushing tonight since nobody can even tell. I look around for Seamus some more and finally find him. He's good company but the whole time we talk I keep glancing over at Harry and Avira, they don't look like they are talking much.

Luckily last year for the Yule Ball everyone had to take the preparation classes for ballroom dancing so when the first song comes on everyone knows what to do. For this type of dance for part of it we are supposed to switch partners. However I won't know who my new partner will be until we are about to switch. Seamus and I go somewhat in the middle of the dance floor and it's hard to tell who is even around us. Seamus is a good dancer, but I'm better. That's only because I feel the need to be the best at everything. This is one trait that Hermione and I share.

We get through most of the dance and the part where we switch is coming  up. I try to look over Seamus' shoulder to see who I would be switching with but I can't really see. Once we let go of each other I am matched up with a particularly horrible dancer but it's ok since I have a massive crush on him.

"So how's Seamus?" Harry asks, looking at his feet to make sure he's doing the steps right.

"He's good. We only came as friends you know." I say. I don't want him to think anything of me and Seamus.

"Oh, I didn't know that." He says. I ask him about Avira and he says that she's too shy for him.

"I like someone who can keep a conversation going and someone who can even put me in my place when I'm wrong. And she's smart and all but she's not like-" He stops himself. Was he going to say me? Was he describing me? "She's just not the type that would get the top grades in the class just so she could brag about it. You know what I'm talking about?" He asks. I know exactly what he's talking about. He's talking about me. I do that. Every semester.

"Yeah I do." I say. As much as I want to keep dancing with Harry it's time to switch back to dancing with Seamus. After the first dance I spend some time talking with Ginny. Dean asked her to the ball which she was excited about. Harry comes up to me and tells me to wait up for him at the end of the ball. I agree excitedly. I spend the rest of the night wondering why Harry would want to see me after the ball.

Once it's over everyone starts leaving at the same time, It's very chaotic and I keep getting pushed around while I try to find Harry. I spot him walking a few feet in front of me and grab his arm, he spins around and we both stop walking. People continue to walk around us bumping us around a lot. It's loud so he doesn't bother talking instead he grabs my hand and walks up the stairs pulling me along. Rather than going the way that everyone else is to their dorms he turns a different way.

"You're going the wrong way." I say.

"We aren't going to the dorm area." He says.

"Then where?" I respond quickly.

"Just have some patience." He says. I begin to let go of his hand since we are the only two in the hallway now. He holds on for a moment longer than me before letting go as if he didn't want to let go. I reach back for his hand but stop myself because it would just make it awkward and I don't even know if he did that on purpose or if it's just a figment of my imagination. I notice where we are going but I don't want to ruin the whole surprise part for him so I act like I don't know. As we enter the staircase to the Astronomy tower I can't help but get a rush of excitement. We go straight over to the railing and look out at the stars. I love how the stars look from the Astronomy Tower and Harry knows that. It's a cold night, freezing actually but I feel warm; not because of the dress. The reason is standing right next to me.
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