No Goodbyes This Time

"Hermione, you might not want to read this." I said, holding the latest Daily Prophet in the Great Hall. She snatched it out of my hand and read the article furiously.

"Look at this! I can't believe she's done it again! Miss Granger a plain but ambitious girl seems to be developing a taste for famous wizards. Her latest prey sources report is none other than the Bulgarian bon-bon, Viktor Krum. No word yet on how Harry Potter's taking this latest emotional blow!" She hissed. A little boy walked over holding a package.

"Parcel for you, Mr. Weasley." He said.

"Thank you, Nigel." Ron said. Nigel stood staring at Harry in awe. "Not now, Nigel. Later." Nigel turned and walked away. "I told him I'd get Harry's autograph." He opened up the package. "Mum's sent me something." He pulled out a long green robe with faded pink frills around the collar and cuffs. "Mum sent me a dress!"

"Well it does match your eyes." I said. I searched through the box. "Is there a bonnet?" I pulled one out and held it up the Ron's chest. "Aha!"

"Put those down, Hayley." He said. Ron walked over to Ginny who was sitting nearby. "Ginny, these must be for you."

"I'm not wearing that, it's ghastly." She said. Hermione and I laughed.

"What are you two on about?" Ron asked.

"They're not for Ginny!" Hermione said. "They're for you." Fred, George and I burst out laughing. "They're dress robes!"

"Dress robes! For what?" Ron asked.

---

"The Yule ball," Professor McGonagall said. The girls and boys sat across the room from each other in the Transfiguration room, but all the tables had been cleared away. A large record player was sitting in the corner which Filch was attending to. "has been a tradition of the Tri-Wizard Tournament since it's inception. 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 everyone of you to put your best foot forward and I mean this literally because the Yule ball is first and foremost... a dance."

I groaned with the rest of the guys on the other side of the room, whereas the girls around me seemed more excited.

"Silence!" Professor McGonagall ordered. "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 babbling, bumbling band of baboons. Now, to dance is to let the body breathe. Inside every girl a secret swan slumbers, longing to take flight!" I scoffed. Fred and George mocked being swans and sniggered at me. "Inside every boy, a lordly lion prepared to prance." I pulled my arms up like a meerkat and 'pranced' onto Ginny's lap. She giggled as the twins sniffed and looked away. "Mr. Weasley, will you join me please." Ron hesitated and Professor McGonagall pulled him up into the center of the room. "Now, place your right hand on my waist."

"Where?" Ron said.

"My waist." She said. He slowly put his hand on her waist. "Now bend your arm. Mr. Filch..." Filch put the pin onto the record and music sprang through the room. "One two three, one two three, one two three..."

"Never gonna let him forget this, are you?" I heard Harry say to the twins across the room.

"Never." They said mischieviously.

"Everyone come together!" McGonagall called. The rest of the girls stood and walked to the center and the boys and I remained seated. "Boys! Amsterdam! On your feet!" Neville was the only boy to stand up and dance. I was the only girl to stay put.