November quickly snuffed itself out in a flurry of flurries. Snow covered the ground of Hogwarts Castle. The trees glistened with frost and Hagrid spent much of his days coming inside to keep warm, tracking snow and ice all over the entrance. The holiday spirit was fast overtaking the student body this year. Even though classes were routine, most professors were reviewing with their students, preparing them for the end of term.
Matt and Hermione were often in the library studying and quizzing each other. Ginny and Neville would accompany the couple, and Draco was increasingly joining them as well. He had not wanted his own grades to slip and saw Hermione as his personal academic rival. Matt was doing his best to beat Draco, though. The three of them seemed to constantly one up each other in classes.
Hermione rarely came out less than the top though, leaving the American and British boys to battle it out for second place. Hermione took immense pleasure in taunting and teasing her boyfriend whenever Draco beat him out. Matt would often playfully scowl at her comments, making her giggle. This was typically followed by retching noises from Ginny if she were nearby.
Late one evening in the common room, Hermione was bent over her homework, attempting to finish her latest essay on rune translation in ancient structures and tombs when she realized she was very alone. Hermione looked very puzzled as she glanced up from her work, as the portrait opened.
"Ginny, was Matt with you?" Hermione asked her friend as she climbed in, followed by Neville.
"No, I haven't seen him." Ginny said surprised.
"Has he not been with you since dinner?" Neville asked.
"No. He came up with me, but…" Hermione trailed off. Her stomach dropped. She remembered talking with him as they came into the common room. They had sat at their usual table and Hermione had dived into her work. She thought Matt had as well. The more she thought about it though, the more she realized neither had said a word to one another since they started.
Suddenly the portrait swung open, and Matt stepped in, looking out of breath.
"There you are!" Hermione said and she felt relief flooding her. She wondered why she had been worried. Perhaps it was the thought that because they both seemed to be in danger, something had happened to him. It was a silly thought though; nothing was going to get to him inside the castle. Hermione knew though, in the back of her head, that they had thought that before. They had let their guard down, thinking that Hogwarts was some kind of impenetrable fortress. Then, Death Eaters had gotten in, Dumbledore had died, Bill Weasley was savaged by Fenrir Greyback, and several other students and teachers were injured, include Neville and Professor Flitwick.
Even though Hermione knew that they had gotten rid of the Vanishing Cabinet in the Room of Requirement, it still bothered her to think that it might be possible that something had happened to Aberforth at the Hog's Head and that passage into the castle was accessible to any remaining of Voldemort's forces, including whoever was after herself and presumably Matt.
"Yes, here I am!" Matt said and grinned as Hermione stood and wrapped him in a hug. "Not that I'm complaining but, what did I do to deserve this?" he asked and smiled.
"I just realized how long it had been you'd been gone, is all." Hermione said. "Where were you anyway?"
"I had to see Professor McGonagall about something." Matt replied cryptically.
"Should I be worried?" Hermione asked.
"No! Nothing bad." Matt reassured her.
The following evening at dinner Professor McGonagall stood up to make an announcement. It was a rare occasion when everyone was in the Great Hall at the same time to eat but the timing was perfect.
"May I have your attention please?" she called out. Silence fell over the student body as everyone turned to listen to the Headmistress. "As you all know, when we started the school year, I informed you that this Christmas we would be having a ball to celebrate the end of the Second Wizarding War. For those of you who were here, it will be much the same as the Yule Ball that was held during the Triwizard Tournament. It will begin at eight p.m. and end at Midnight. Much like the Yule Ball, we are asking that the ball be opened by the students in seventh year who were active participants in the Second War. Yes, that includes you, Professor Potter." McGonagall explained and gave a brief glance over her shoulder to her Defense Against the Dark Arts professor. "I trust our graduating class will be able to find appropriate dates." McGonagall said and sat back down.
"Boy, Hermione, you're gonna have a tough time, don't know who you're going to find to go with you." Matt said, his voice dripping in sarcasm.
"You're right. It'll be so hard for me! Perhaps I'll ask Malfoy…" she teased back. Matt looked shocked and injured at the same time.
"Wait, I was kidding…Hermione!" Matt called after her as she stood up to leave, and Matt scrambled to chase after her. Ginny and Neville were left snickering as Luna giggled from the Ravenclaw table, watching the couple's antics.
The following weeks, right up until tests were given and classes ended, were filled with students making various overt gestures to one another to win their dates hearts. Most went over well, however, some overly ambitious first and second years were left disappointed. And more than one person in sixth and seventh year were found sobbing in their common rooms or library, having been rejected by their intended.
Luna had boldly asked Rolfe Scamander before he could approach her and was given an instant yes from him, much to Luna's delight. She spoke highly of him to her friends in Gryffindor, stating that he was the only Ravenclaw who treated her decently and would raptly listen to her talk about various creatures she was sure existed but had no evidence to support. Ginny had been asked by Harry, obviously, in the most unique way possible. The professor had thrown a wadded-up piece of parchment at her during dinner one evening, then mimed dancing, using only his hands to silently ask his student and girlfriend to go with him. Ginny had agreed, enjoying his tribute to her late brother's style of asking girls out.
Neville had quietly asked out Hannah Abbott who quickly agreed. Meanwhile Draco had struck up a friendship of sorts with Astoria Greengrass and decided to make an overt gesture in the library one day. Matt and Hermione had watched in amusement as Draco had done some over the top things like transfiguring flowers in front of her and getting down on one knee. Both agreed he had been a little desperate, but she accepted all the same.
Hermione looked over at Matt as they read once Draco and Astoria had left.
"Matthew," she began "Do you have anything on your mind?"
"Well," Matt looked over at her sheepishly with a shy smile; Hermione rarely used his full name. Meanwhile, he would only use her full name, learning one quiet evening in the common room she hated nicknames, especially 'Hermy' and ''Mione' although she was not specific as to why. "I was wondering whether or not anyone had asked you to the ball."
"What if they have?"
Matt felt his stomach drop like a stone. What if he had waited too long? What if someone had beaten him and asked his girlfriend out because he had dawdled, to build suspense for her, and now he would be dateless?
"Wait, they haven't, have they?!" Matt's voice was full of worry. Hermione softened her expression.
"Of course not. I think everyone's a bit intimidated to be honest."
"I was gonna do this differently but…Hermione Granger, would you go the ball with me?" Matt asked quietly, leaning in close to her so it was very intimate, just the two of them and the books.
"Of course! I thought you weren't going to ask…" she replied, relief filling her voice.
"I wanted to build up suspense, you know? I was gonna try to get the Room of Requirement to do this whole restaurant thing…"
"That would have been sweet of you, but truthfully? I like this better." She admitted and pulled him closer to her over their table and kissed him on the lips. Matt returned the kiss and grinned at the same time. Hermione let out a soft giggle, feeling his lips curve.
"Now that that's settled, I suppose I should ask if I should match colors with you?" he queried his girlfriend. Hermione leaned back and tapped her chin for a moment.
"Let me think on it, and I'll let you know!" she replied brightly. Matt smiled and nodded, the pair returning to their books for recreational reading.
As the week moved closer to Christmas, Hermione found it odd that Matt was spending less time in the common room and on the grounds with her than usual. She did not mind independence, but she would have been lying to herself if she were not somewhat worried about his sudden absences. That and she did find she missed his company. More than once did she remind herself that absence makes the heart grow fonder, and she found that to be true. Part of her could not help but wonder though, what her boyfriend was up to. She trusted him enough, though, to not spy and use The Marauder's Map to check on him.
The last thing Hermione Granger wanted was to violate her boyfriend's trust by using a magical artifact to spy on him. She trusted him and knew that, based on the way he behaved, he would not be cheating on her. Not like Ron had. Hermione's decision to end things for good with Ron was further affirmed after Matt and Ginny had returned from his Apparition test.
Matt had scheduled it on Halloween after the incident with the dragon and the subsequent awards ceremony. He and Ginny had gone a few weeks later, Matt to his test, Ginny accompanying him to see her dear brother at the ministry. Ginny had returned angry as ever at her family.
Matt had not encountered Ron, but Ginny had walked into his office while he was speaking with Padma Patil, the twin had been begging Ron to go public with their relationship for some time. Ginny overheard that the pair had been sneaking around for seven months, well before Matt woke up and Hermione had come back to Hogwarts to enlist for her seventh year of education.
Hermione was furious with Ron all over again. She recalled how several times a week Ron had sent a Ministry Owl to the Burrow stating he was held over late for special training. Harry was exempt as he had a good grasp of everything, while Ron needed extra practice. Apparently, that extra work had merely been learning fresh new snogging techniques with Padma. Hermione's decision to leave him was completely reaffirmed after hearing this.
Matt had done his best to make sure she did not go running off and curse Ron Weasley, assuring her he was not worth the time or effort. Harry even reminded Hermione that it would be a waste of time to go after him and that she was better served by spending her time with her boyfriend who actually cared for her. Any further mention of their former compatriot would put Hermione in a foul mood for the rest of the day.
Harry was all too aware of the strife between Hermione and Ron and was almost not looking forward to the holidays. He was aware some staff would go home; others would stay at Hogwarts until the end of the year before returning home. Hagrid was one of the few people, outside of the Headmistress, who would stay at the school year-round. Harry found himself reminiscing more and more about the past holidays at the Weasley's home and was not sure where things stood.
He had not had a single letter from Ron since term started. Ron knew Harry put Hermione up while they were falling out, but he seemed perfectly fine at King's Cross Station. Would he be welcomed at his adopting wizarding family's house? Or would his association with Hermione and subsequently Matt, make him uninvited? Harry did not know; he would wait to talk with Ginny about it during the ball.
The day of the ball arrived and found Matt Santini, Neville Longbottom, Draco Malfoy, and Ernie MacMillan joined by Rolf Scamander in an all-out snowball war on the grounds. Their opponents consisted of Ginny Weasley, Hannah Abbot, Astoria Greengrass, her sister Daphne, and Luna Lovegood. Hermione sat on the sidelines, reading, and refereeing to a degree. At first things seemed balanced, however, Matt was sure his girlfriend levitated some snowballs in his direction without announcing so.
"We're outnumbered." Matt said ducking behind a snowbank.
"What're you on about Santini? It's even!" Malfoy said as he ducked a snowball aimed at his head, thrown by one of the Greengrass sisters.
"I think Matt's right, one of the ghosts must be helping the girls!" Neville said breathlessly.
"It doesn't help that Luna seems to know every move before I make it." Rolfe replied.
"It's not the ghosts," Matt started and popped up from the bank to lob a snowball at Ginny who was already prepared to fire back and only nearly missed him, knocking off the beanie he had gotten from her for Christmas. "It's Hermione."
"Can't have done!" Ernie said as he dove to join them. "She's reading."
"I know my girlfriend." Matt said. "She's been using wandless magic to throw additional balls at us or roll them for the girls."
"That Granger's quite the witch." Ernie said.
"Yup." Matt said with a grin. "But I think we can win."
"What?! How?" Malfoy looked astonished at the statement.
"Their snowbank is getting thin and it's smaller than ours." Matt began.
"How do you know that?" Neville asked, firing a snowball followed by a yelp. He had managed to hit Hannah who shot him a foul look.
"I've been watching them, they're using the bank to make their snowballs, we haven't." Matt pointed to the deep tracks the boys had used behind them to craft their ammo.
"Ok, how does that help us?" Ernie asked.
"Concentrate your fire on the right-hand corner of their bank, if we hit it with enough shots, and it won't take much…"
"Of course, the whole thing'll collapse." Draco said. "It'll drive them out, then what?"
"The nearest cover is, of course, that." Matt pointed to the large tree Hermione was under, whose branches were heavy with snow.
"Oh, that's devious!" Rolf said. "All we do is shake the tree, but that'll get your girlfriend too!"
"You should've been a Slytherin, Santini." Malfoy added.
"Yeah, drive the girls under the tree then, hit the tree with this." Matt said pointing to a large ball of snow and ice.
"Even if that works, we'll never get a clear a shot at that corner." Neville said ducking another snowball as it flew over them.
"Yes…we will." Matt replied.
"How? Oh no, you're going to pull a Potter, aren't you?" Malfoy said. Matt nodded in reply.
"On my mark…" Matt said and crouched at the edge of the bank, closest to Hermione and the tree. He smirked at her as she looked up at his furtive movements towards her. He gave a shrill whistle that got the attention of the girls and then he popped out of hiding, an armful of snowballs with him. Matt fired at the girls wildly, drawing their attention.
The ladies could not resist the opportunity to at last get the crafty boy who had remained untouched the entire game until now. The five turned and opened fire on him. To the boys it seemed to play out in slow motion as Matt was pelted with snowball after snowball driving him backwards. They did not see the other boys emerging from the opposite side of their snowbank until it was too late and their own was toppling towards them.
Shrieking, the five ran towards the tree as Matt fell at Hermione's feet, his armful of snowballs being tossed into the air, causing her to squeal. As the five gathered around the safety of Hermione's tree Neville lobbed the ice ball high at the trunk.
"Oh, you didn't!" Hermione said, seeing it fly through the air above her and she looked down at Matt. The ice ball exploded, and the tree shook horribly, the girls had nowhere to run. Before they could even scamper away, all six of them, including Matt, were buried under a fresh dousing of snow. Hermione, wide eyed, had only figured out Matt's deception a second before and dived forward landing on top of him.
The boys emerged, arms raised in victory as the girls shivered, their hair coated in snow and the chilly soft stuff filling their collars and sliding inside their clothes. Hermione was the only one not standing and thus did not have any snow down her shirt. Part of her wondered whether that was part of Matt's plan the entire time. He grinned up at her, her face just a few inches from his own, her long brown hair fell like a curtain around them, shutting out the rest of the world for a few moments.
"Hi." Matt said, seeming to be incredibly happy his plan worked.
"Hello." Hermione replied. "You figured out I was helping, didn't you?" she asked.
"Mmhmm!" Matt hummed in reply, his smile widening.
"How did you figure it out?" she wondered.
"You do this cute little thing, where you hold your hand up to your face, like you're scratching your nose, when you use wandless magic, and you don't want anyone to read your lips." Matt replied. Hermione did not need to reply, her cheeks turning bright red was all the confirmation he needed.
The couple stood up after hearing more giggles and squeals from the others. Matt suddenly realized he did not care and put his arms around Hermione and leaned in to kiss her. She responded in kind, her eyes closing with his. They only broke apart when someone hit the branch above them with a snowball and properly doused the pair in snow. The group, all laughing and giggling, made their way back into the castle. They needed to prepare for the ball. Hermione promised Matt he would not be disappointed with her dress robes and Matt made a similar promise to her.
After some preparation Matt and Neville walked out of their dorms, wearing some very sharp-looking dress robes. Neville's was more traditional, with a white dress shirt and black waistcoat with a black bowtie and matching pants and shoes. Matt had gone for a three-piece suit, which consisted of a white button-down dress shirt underneath a blue vest, accompanied by a matching blue jacket and pants. He had a black necktie under the vest and a black leather belt. He finished the look off with black dress shoes.
"You're not going to have a problem dancing at all in that!" Neville said, sounding a bit jealous.
"Yours looks good too!" Matt returned the compliment.
"I hope Hannah likes it." Neville said. Matt smirked.
"Oh, she will."
Ginny was next out wearing a sleeveless floor length dress. It was all a pale shade of pink, with her dress made of a weightier material that allowed her to move quite a bit while appearing to float at the same time.
"Don't you two look dashing?" she asked as they gathered in the common room. Most of the younger students had already moved out or were already in the Great Hall, eager for dinner and a dance with their dates.
"Where's Hermione?" Matt asked, looking around nervously for his girlfriend.
"Oh, she said to go ahead. She'll meet you at the stairs. She wanted to put some finishing touches on her look." Ginny said and led the way out.
They met up with Hannah Abbot who was more than pleased with Neville's appearance. Ernie was there as well with Daphne Greengrass as his date. Daphne was wearing a sleeveless royal blue dress with shoulder straps and an intricate gold pattern around her waist. Ernie was more than happy with his date, his own gold dress robes appropriately reflecting his house colors and were similar to the Hogwarts school robes.
Luna was next, wearing a strapless gown, with the bodice in an off-white color, while the dress was made of a floaty tulle and had little white puffballs that moved all around it, like the portraits. Rolf was on Luna's arm and looking sharp, having gone with a more Tuxedo-like set of dress robes.
Harry joined the group as they waited, wearing a white oxford shirt with a silver tie, black pants, and a bottle green waistcoat. Ginny immediately latched onto his arm and grinned. Harry beamed at her as Draco finally joined in with Astoria on his arm. He looked like he got a new set of robes, black velvet with a high collar. Harry noticed it looked like a slightly newer version of his Yule Ball robes.
"Where's Hermione?" Harry asked.
"I said the same thing." Matt replied nervously. There was a sudden gasp, as Hannah pointed to the top of the stairs. Matt looked up and his jaw dropped.
Hermione stood at the top of the stairs, wearing a gorgeous all white set of robes. Her hair was no longer bushy but smoothed out and tied in an intricate pattern with a long-braided plait over her shoulder. The dress was sleeveless with a nude-colored neckline, a white wavy pattern on the bodice and the dress was a floaty white material that faded to a darker gray color as it reached her feet.
"You might want to close that; fly might get in there." Harry joked and pushed Matt's chin up for him.
Hermione slowly descended the stairs, and Matt could not take his eyes off her. Finally, as she reached the bottom of the staircase, Matt reached out to her.
"You look drop dead gorgeous." He said. Hermione blushed and took his offered arm.
"Thank you. You look handsome yourself." she replied, biting her red painted lips. Matt had to resist kissing her right there.
"We're ready for you." McGonagall said and the door to the Great Hall opened. The seventh-year students all filed into the hall one after another. The rest of the gathered students murmured as they entered. All eyes were on them as they strode through the Hall to the table prepared for them, sitting at the front where the professors usually sat.
Hermione and Matt sat next to McGonagall, with Hermione between the Headmistress and her boyfriend. Ginny sat next to Matt, between him and Harry. Matt never felt more contented at Hogwarts. He was surrounded by his girlfriend and their closest friends, and he could never have felt happier.
Hermione demonstrated how to order off the menu by speaking to her plate. Presumably, the house elves in the kitchen were standing by for orders. Matt and Hermione were often trying things off one another's plates. It was something they rarely needed to do during normal meals but with this being a special celebration, they could not just grab something the other had that they wanted to try.
There was much light chatting and discussion as to what people would do after Hogwarts. Hermione was set on going to find her parents after they sat their N.E.W.T.s in June. Matt said he was not sure what he would do, but expected he would figure it out by the time the school year ended. His spotty memory made him want to know who was after him.
Ginny had already received letters from several professional Quidditch teams and scouts were said to have already attended the first match of the season at the school. Neville was set to return to be an understudy for Professor Sprout and Hannah was going to go to St. Mungo's for a bit, wanting to become a matron herself eventually. Draco was looking into magical law and thinking about trying his hand at being a lawyer.
After the meal had concluded the seventh-year students gathered on the dance hall floor as a formal waltz began to play. Matt made a double take as he and Hermione walked out. Over on the stage, with a set of speakers and turntables, was none other than Cassidy Curtis. She grinned at the couple, giving them finger waves.
"Is that who I think it is on the stage?" Hermione asked.
"If you think that it's Cassidy, then yes." He replied.
"How did…" Hermione began.
"I have no idea." Matt said as he took her hand in his, placing his other hand on her waist. They began to dance, gliding over the floor with the other couples. Matt had exceptional footwork as they traveled the Great Hall. Hermione was shocked as he lifted, spun, and dipped her accordingly. Once the opening dance had concluded Hermione looked at her boyfriend with admiration.
"You're an exceptional dancer. You never mentioned you were this good." Hermione said as they drew closer, and the music picked up.
"I've been taking extra lessons with the Headmistress." Matt replied with a blush on his cheeks.
"So that's where you've been going in the evenings the last month!" Hermione exclaimed. Matt grinned and nodded sheepishly.
"I really wanted to impress you and do this night right."
"For me?" Hermione asked, although she somehow knew she did not need to and already had the answer.
"Always." Matt responded. His words made her fill with joy as they danced blissfully.
The happy couples dancing around and enjoying themselves, were unaware of another figure that lurked in the entrance hall, just outside the Great Hall. He watched his targets as they danced and moved through the crowd. The American had escaped his grasp last time, so had that bushy haired bitch. Not this time though, the figure was going to get his revenge, no matter what. He drew his wand, ready to hex the couple, just as soon as they drew close enough…
To Be Continued