2 | CONFESSIONS° HARRY POTTER

11 | THE YULE BALL

ACT TWO, the returned
CHAPTER ELEVEN, the yule ball

Snow was falling thickly onto the castle and the castle grounds by the time Iris got another letter from her parents. This time they sent separate letters, both with differing contents inside with the same overall message. Sirius told her not to get too relaxed despite everything and to let him know if anything unusual happened. Calypso, also, reminded Iris to stay alert but she asked more questions about the Yule Ball than Sirius did. She asked about the dress Iris was wearing, who she was going with, etc., before saying that they'd write again on Christmas Day.

Her friends exchanged gifts with one another as they normally did on Christmas, but Iris was surprised when Harry asked to meet her in the Astronomy Tower because he had a gift to give her. Harry, on the other hand, was nervous to give Iris the Christmas gift that he had gotten for her during their last trip to Hogsmeade. He didn't know what she would think when she received the gift, but judging from the surprised expression she had on her face when he told her he was giving her something she hadn't been expecting anything at all.

"Uh, here." Harry said digging into his pocket and pulling out the terribly wrapped gift that had a lopsided bow on it. The corner of Iris's mouth twitched as she took the gift from him.

"I didn't get you anything." Iris said glancing up at him as she began to unwrap the present. His heart pounded in his chest at he anticipated what her reaction would be.

"That's fine." Harry waved his hand dismissively. Iris finished unwrapping the gift and inspected the black box that was in her hands now. She opened it up and her eyes widened at the ring that was inside. It was a snake with green eyes that would wrap around whichever finger she put it on. Iris normally wasn't a big fan of jewelry, but she loved it.

A smile stretched across her face and Harry could feel the weight lift off his shoulders.

"It's beautiful, Harry. Really. I don't think I could thank you enough for this." Iris said honestly. Harry smiled back at her, delighted at the way that she was looking at him right now. She took the ring and slid it onto her pointer finger, taking a second to admire it. "It even goes with the dress that I'm wearing to the ball. Uh... who are you going with, Harry?"

Harry's eyebrows rose, not expecting Iris to ask or even care about who he was going with. She tilted her head as she asked the question, seemingly nonchalant while, in reality, she had been thinking about it quite frequently.

"Ron and I couldn't find dates, so we decided to go with the Patil twins." Iris knew of Padma and Parvati Patil. Parvati was a Gryffindor who Iris didn't know that well but she had spoken to her sister, Padma, a Ravenclaw, on multiple occasions because she was good friends with Elissa, Iris' Ravenclaw friend.

"Well, I guess I'll see you there then." Iris said. She moved to leave before hesitating. She took a deep breath and turned around, pulling Harry in for a quick hug. He froze up. "Thank you for the ring."

Before Harry could respond, Iris was leaving to go get ready for the ball.

"This is disastrous!"

"What's Iris going to do?"

Iris heard the voices of Astoria and Pansy outside of her room before she had entered. She entered the room and saw the two girls gathered around Iris's bed, looking down at it.

"What's going on here?" Iris asked suspiciously. Pansy and Astoria jumped up as Iris startled them. Iris narrowed her eyes at them before taking a look at her dress that was on the bed. The green gown didn't resemble what it had looked like when she left. Now it was completely ripped to shreds and unwearable. Iris could feel the anger flare up inside of her. "Who did this?"