34

If Harry Potter were the kind of person who worried and fretted over every decision they made, then he would have been at least a little bit doubtful about what he was about to do as he dressed for the ball. Had inviting Pansy been the right idea? Sure, it would get Draco's attention, but what if he wasn't even jealous, just pissed off? Ok, so he was hot when he was pissed off, but still. Who was Draco going with, anyway? Was he taking a girl? Was she pretty?

But Harry Potter was not the kind of person who worried and fretted over every decision they made. Or, at least, he was trying very hard to convince himself of that. Across the room, his best friend Ron was having problems of his own.

"Bloody things," the red-head muttered, looking down at his hideous, old robes. Harry looked down at his own emerald green robes and silently agreed with that sentiment. They were just so... posh, he thought, frowning to himself.

"Hey, Ron," he called, after a minute of glaring at his reflection in the mirror.

"Yeah?"

"Here you go," Harry quickly pulled his robes over his head and threw them at Ron, not waiting to see his friend's reaction as he turned and began to rifle through his trunk for something to wear. Jeans? Nah. Tartan trousers? They had mud stains on them, and whilst he was going for more casual than dress robes, he didn't think he would get away with turning up to the ball looking like a hobo, Boy-Who-Lived or not.

"Seriously? What are you wearing?" Ron asked, shedding his own robes and pulling Harry's on in what must have been record time so that Harry couldn't change his mind.

"'M not sure yet..." Harry mumbled, "I might just go naked... Oh."

"Found something?" Neville asked from his bed, where he had been sat watching the exchange. Harry pulled a pair of trousers out of his trunk.

"Oh, fuck yes."

The Great Hall was abuzz with chatter and laughter as the school(s) waited for their champions to appear and open the dance. There had been no Christmas lunch, as dinner would be served at the ball, but everyone (including the teachers, which considering Snape, was a scary thought) were acting as though they were on a sugar high. Hermione and Ron stood together with Neville and Ginny, making awkward conversation.

They were all nervous, though for very different reasons. Hermione was still feeling self-conscious about her transformation from bookworm to beautiful, especially as Ron had yet to comment on it. His jaw had dropped when he saw her, and he had actually been speechless for a while. It was the quietest anyone had ever seen Ron, apart from when he was stuffing his face. Therefore it stands to reason that Ron was nervous because he had no idea how to tell Hermione that she looked amazing. Ginny was overwhelmed by being one of the youngest students in the room, it had forced her old shy streak out into the open again.

Neville, for his part, was just worried about what Harry was wearing.

"The champions and their partners," an official voice announced. The doors to the hall opened slowly and everyone crowded around, trying to catch a glimpse of the four Triwizard champions.

Cedric came in first, wearing smart black robes and with a very pretty looking Cho Chang on his arm. Several girls glared at her, furious that she had gotten to him first. Fleur followed behind with Blaise on her arm. Harry had had the idea to pair the two of them up after one too many complaints from Fleur about not being able to find a decent guy to take her to the ball. Blaise was the most tactful guy Harry knew, and so he had thought they might be able to get through the evening without any mishaps. Plus, they looked wonderful together, the perfect contrast of light and dark, with Blaise in midnight blue robes and Fleur in a beautiful champagne coloured dress. Krum followed after, with an incredibly smug looking Parvati Patil on his arm. Her maroon dress went perhaps a little too well with Krum's Bulgarian dress robes, but she didn't seem to mind.

And then there was Harry and Pansy, and the hall went silent for a second before erupting into laughter and wolf-whistles. Ron's jaw had dropped and Neville had buried his face in his hands whilst Hermione tutted and shook her head at her friend's get up.

Pansy's dress was black; the top half was a leather corset with an intricate pattern of snakes carved into it, whilst the bottom half was layer upon layer of a flowing, sheer fabric that clung to the outline of her legs before pooling on the floor. Her lips were bright red and her eyes were smoky. Harry wore a smug smirk on his face and little else. His trousers were almost inhumanly tight and low rising, and matched Pansy's dress in that they were made of black leather. He wore a worn out, baggy white vest top over it and endless amounts of black eyeliner around his eyes. He didn't have his glasses on, having forked out for eye corrective spells when he was in Hogsmeade, and his green eyes were practically glowing. His long, shaggy hair fell messily around his shoulders as usual, but that only seemed to add to his charms.

Ignoring the attention on them, the couple followed the other champions onto the dance floor, where Harry took hold of Pansy's waist, holding her closer than was probably necessary. As he turned his back to the crowd in order to get into position, his classmates saw an extra detail to his outfit that hadn't been visible before: a golden lightning bolt on each of the back pockets of his trousers. Neville sighed; sometimes, just sometimes, he missed the old Harry.

Harry caught Draco's eye over Pansy's shoulder and winked, smirking at the scowl that formed on the blonde boy's face. Then the music started and he began to regret being so cocky. He had forgotten that he couldn't dance. The panic must have shown on his face though, as Pansy began steering them around the dance floor, controlling his movements with a series of pinches and prods.

Luckily, the song wasn't particularly long and soon enough Dumbledore had stood up at the head of the hall.

"Welcome, everyone, to the Yule Ball, and may I say that you all look rather wonderful tonight," his twinkling eyes lingered on Harry and Pansy and the Weasley Twins, who had decided that post-box red was the colour for them, "Now, if I could ask you all to take your seats, then dinner will be served."

Harry glanced around. The other champions and their partners were taking seats at the table at the head of the hall. He began to lead Pansy over until his eyes fell on a neat head of ginger hair. Percy smiled at Harry expectantly, and motioned to the seat next to him. Grimacing, Harry veered sharply to the left, dragging Pansy along by the arm, and stole two seats next to the Weasley twins.

"Harry!" One twin exclaimed, grinning and throwing an arm around the younger boy's shoulders.

"How nice of you to-"

"Join us!" Harry raised an eyebrow in bemusement.

"Alright, what do you want?" he asked, grinning at the faux hurt looks on the prankster's faces.

"Harry!"

"You-"

"Wound us!" They cried, ignoring their dates who were rolling their eyes at the red head's antics. Harry pulled a cigarette from his trouser's pocket and was about to light it when Pansy snatched it away.

"Err... Panse? I can't smoke that if it's over there," he said hesitantly. Pansy raised one perfect eyebrow.

"That would be the point," she said primly, "I won't have you smoking over dinner, it's horribly common."

"Pansy, you're at this ball with me, for fuck's sake. If you wanted anything other than bloody common, why are you here?" Pansy didn't answer, choosing instead to purse her lips and send a terrible glare in Harry's direction before ignoring him and perusing the menu in front of her.

"Okay..." Fred (or George) said after a minute or two of silence had passed.

"This is awkward..." George (or Fred) finished.

"What did you guys want before I got told off, anyway?" Harry asked, displaying his oh-so-Gryffindor skills in tact and subtlety. Fred and George both instantly brightened, matching grins on their faces.

"Well-"

"We were just wondering if you had anything spare in that-"

"Hipflask you seem to carry everywhere." Harry sighed, and reluctantly pulled the flask from his trouser pocket. No-one bothered to ask him how exactly he had fit the flask and his pack of cigarettes in his pocket, considering how distractingly tight his trousers were- they weren't sure that they wanted to know the answer.

"Don't you dare drink it all though," he warned, "I'm going to need something to get me through this evening, by the looks of it." He flicked his eyes over at Pansy who sat primly in her chair and levelled him with a glare. She was beginning to wonder if this was worth it; sure, Harry was gorgeous, and sure, maybe Draco would treat her better after this, but did her date have to be so... Gryffindor? She sighed inwardly, asking herself for the first time why Harry had asked her at all. She looked over at her date again and saw him staring at someone across the hall. Automatically, she followed his line of sight.

Draco? She frowned for a second, confused, before it clicked into place in her head.

Oh.