"You look rather dashing Harry, you look a lot like my late husband and you are just as kind and smart as he was.", said Rowena.
Harry blushed slightly, "Thanks Rowena, but no matter how good I look, I think everyone is going to be looking at Fleur."
"I don't think so, Harry. The female population of Hogwarts might have to find new knickers after they see you.", teased Helga.
"Helga, control yourself.", Rowena exasperated.
Harry turned beat red and nodded thanks before leaving. Rowena and Helga spent the last two weeks teaching Harry how to dance so he didn't make a fool of himself in front of everyone and even helped him pick out his dress robes, which he was thankful for because he was hopeless in doing it himself. Today was Christmas Eve and the night of The Yule Ball and Harry, who was dreading this at first, was actually looking forward to it because he had a date with Fleur. The two had been getting closer over the last few weeks and he was even thinking about asking her on a real date if the Ball went okay as she was funny, strong, smart, and kind and he suspected she could understand his pain from some of his darker memories in a way his other friends couldn't with perhaps the exception of Alicia who already knew.
She is older than me like Penny and Tonks are, but she's not in a relationship or well into adulthood so maybe she'll say yes. Although, my heart still aches for Penny and Tonks whenever I think of them. Ugh, when did my love life become so complicated especially since I don't have an actual girlfriend?
Harry made it to the entrance to the Great Hall and saw Cedric and Krum standing off to the side with McGonagall waiting for the other students to finish filing in before the champions made their grand entrance. Harry went over to them and finally noticed their dates: Cho looked quite beautiful as she was attending as Cedric's date, which didn't surprise him as the two had been dating all year; however, he was shocked to see Hermione as Krum's date and looking rather radiant. He had noticed how Krum was looking at her like how a bear looks at a fish, but he never thought that she would actually go for it and would instead likely decide to go with Ron. She noticed him and blushed slightly when she saw him and turned away, which Harry didn't really care about since there was only one girl's opinion he cared about concerning his look.
As Harry stood by with Cedric and Cho, he noticed the people walking into the Hall and widened his eyes at a few of them. Tracey and Daphne were drop dead gorgeous as Tracey wore a black dress that hugged in all the right places with a low V neck opening and Daphne wore a green dress that was much more conservative but still very form fitting; needless to say, Harry was blushing like crazy and when the two girls saw him, Tracey giggled and winked at him while Daphne gave him a small smile and a nod. They had told him they were going together since they didn't want to go with any of the Slytherins and said they only would have gone with him but they understood why he didn't ask one of them as they agreed their Housemates were beginning to question them relentlessly about the nature of their relationship with him and going to the dance would only bring unwanted ire.
Next he saw Su in a dark blue Chinese flower dress which didn't show much, but Harry still thought she looked amazing and full of poise and grace. Her date was next to her chatting away but in a subdued manner and to Harry, it almost looked like Su was going to die of boredom and regret until she saw Harry and blushed at him then gave him a small wave which he returned before she went inside.
Then, he saw Susan Bones in a hot red dress that matched her hair that showed her rather 'developed' frame and Harry felt like he was going to pass out until Cedric nudged him with a smirk on his face. Susan was walking with Hannah Abbott, who Harry will admit was also quite pretty in her yellow dress that left much to the imagination and he was a little surprised as he didn't think the Hufflepuff was that bold and he could tell by looking around that he wasn't the only one. That was until he saw MacMillan's leering smirk as he was also essentially grabbing her bum in front of everyone but the professors were distracted to notice and that was when Harry put the pieces together that it was likely Ernie's idea that she dress like that. Susan waved at Harry with a beaming smile, which her date Smith noticed and he decided to respond by putting an arm on her shoulder rather tightly and that made her uncomfortable and Harry pissed off to touch his friend unwanted like that.
Finally, everyone entered the Hall and that was when Fleur decided to make her entrance and Harry's breath hitched when he saw her. She descended down the steps in a beautiful silver dress that looked like it was painted on her as she moved in an alluring way yet she was all class and elegance as she smiled at him when they met and linked arms, shocking everyone. McGonagall regained her sense and directed them into a line with Krum and Hermione going in first, Cedric and Cho going next, and finally Harry and Fleur then she opened the massive doors and allowed them in with music in the background.
The Champions strode into the Great Hall to the applause of the entire student body and the professors; however, the clapping was also accompanied by surprised faces as not only did they see resident bookworm Hermione Granger with Victor Krum of all people, but also that Harry and Fleur were together which confirmed the rumor from before as Harry knew that most people thought it was fake. He noted that Su, Tracey, Daphne, and Susan were smiling at him and everyone else, especially Ron and Malfoy, looked angry. When Harry and the others eventually got to the abandoned dance floor, they stood in a triangle and Harry took Fleur's hand and put his other on her waist when her brilliant blue eyes met his stunning green ones, then the music hit and they began to dance. For the next ten minutes, even as the other students and professors joined in, Harry and Fleur's attention never left each other's eyes as their movements became one as the music played in the background in what looked like a very romantic sight. The music ended and Harry decided to get some punch for him and Fleur as she went to talk to Marie while he was trying to calm himself down from his rapidly beating heart.
"I must say Potter, I never would have thought you to be such an accomplished dancer.", said a voice he didn't recognize.
He turned to see Pansy Parkinson standing there with a smirk on her face. She was wearing a pink dress that suited her rather nicely and showed off all of her 'assets'. He also noticed Malfoy and his goons were nowhere to be seen.
Harry decided to speak cautiously, "Well I couldn't exactly make myself look like a fool, especially in front of the entire school."
Pansy's smirk turned wicked, "Especially in front of the girls right? I've seen you hanging out with Tracey and Daphne, as well as Li, Bones, your French date, and Draco's cousin Tonks or something. Quite the coven of witches your amassing."
Harry nearly spit out his drink, "C-Coven? No, I'm just making new friends and for once, I feel really good about my choices. Why Pansy, were you hoping I had a coven so I could save you from Malfoy?
She frowned slightly, "As tempting as the offer sounds Potter, I accepted my fate long ago and there's no getting out of it. Once my grandfather dies, my father will finally become Lord Parkinson and the contract will finally be sealed with Draco. He will rule my life and tell me what I can and can't do as well as which of my friends I can and can't see and lord knows no one will be brave enough to tell him otherwise once he inherits everything."
Harry frowned and clenched his fists, "Bullshit, we make our own fate. And if you need a friend to help you, I can be that friend…if you want."
Pansy's eyes widened drastically as she looked like she was about to tear up, "I guess Tracey and Daphne were right about you Pot-..Harry. I might just take you up on that offer as spending all of my time with Draco is slowly killing me."
Harry smiled and the two parted ways with a promise to talk soon. Harry walked back over to Fleur and Marie but while walking toward them, he noticed Ron sitting angrily in a corner by himself as his date Padma left him. He followed his gaze and noticed he was watching Hermione and Krum dance and Harry just sighed hoping nothing stupid happened to ruin everyone's night, even his two ex-friends. As time went on, dinner was eventually served and Harry with his date enjoyed the rest of their night together and decided to take a slow walk back to the carriage while others went back to their dorms for snogging and other activities. However, as they were walking down the empty corridor, Harry heard two familiar voices arguing hotly with each other.
"I told you we're going back to the abandoned classroom to have some fun finally.", said Ernie.
"Ernie, I told you I'm not ready for that and besides, Susan's waiting for me.", Hannah said.
Ernie growled, "I'm done with waiting, you're parents have been denying my parents' offer for your hand in marriage, typical since their blood traitors with no respect for tradition. Therefore, it seems I'm going to have to lower your virtue to make them wise up and they will have no choice then."
Hannah's eyes face became terrified as she began trying to break Ernie's hold as he was grabbing her all over and about to push her into the classroom. Harry decided to burst into action, thanking Godric and Salazar who told him to carry his wand with him at all times no matter what, and casted Stupefy. Ernie went down quick and Fleur went over to console Hannah who was going back and forth from kicking MacMillan to sobbing. It was then that Snape decided to walk in and Harry groaned knowing this likely was not going to end in his favor.
"Potter, what do you think you're doing?", Snape sneered.
Harry calmed down and answered evenly, "Sir, I was escorting my date Fleur back to the carriage when we came upon MacMillan attempting to sexually assault Abbott and I launched the Stupefy charm at him. You may ask Fleur and Abbott to confirm my story."
"It's true.", Fleur quickly agreed. Hannah just nodded as she was still sobbing.
Snape furrowed his brow but he reluctantly nodded and dismissed them leaving him to deal with Ernie, although that worried Harry as he knew from a letter sent to him by Sirius that Snape was a former Death Eater and apparently so was Karkaroff, so he feared that he might let Ernie off without any repercussions. Harry and Fleur took Hannah to a bench to allow her to gather herself as Harry sent a Patronus to Susan Bones telling her what happened.
"…Why?", he suddenly heard from Hannah in a whisper.
"Why what?", he asked curiously.
"Why would you save me? You hate me because over the last two years I've done nothing but be a cold bitch to you and you still decide to save me, why?", she asked.
Harry sighed with a small smile, "It's true that we are not exactly close, but that doesn't matter to me. No one deserves what Ernie did to you and I would have done it again. What can I say, I help people no matter what; although, that has definitely gotten me into a lot of trouble."
Hannah just nodded with a grateful expression and he noticed Fleur was beaming at him. Hannah then spoke up again with a more normal tone, "I just don't get why Ernie would want to hurt me like that, I did everything for him and he still treated me like I was a possession than a person."
Unbeknownst to Hannah, her words just struck a cord with both Harry and Fleur due to their past experiences, but its Harry who decides to speak up first.
"You know I live with my aunt, uncle, and cousin right? What nobody knows is that they think of me as a freak who isn't actually family and no matter what I did, it was never enough and they often would abuse me for trying to improve myself even if I did it for them. Eventually, I gave up trying to love them because I knew they would never love me so you shouldn't love Ernie if he will treat you like that because I know people like him don't change."
Hannah was shocked at the admission and didn't know what to say, neither did Fleur but she was clearly more affected as she had tears in her eyes and a look of sympathy. It was then that Susan came running up to them to thank Harry with a bear hug before taking Hannah away with saying one last thank you towards him. Harry and Fleur finally made it to the carriage and Fleur spoke.
"I'm sorry about what your family has put you through Harry, I too know what its like to be hated and feared for things beyond your control but I always had my family to fall back on."
Harry shook his head, "I made my peace with it a long time ago, but thanks anyway. I had a great time tonight Fleur and I hope you did too and maybe one day soon, we could do it again."
Fleur smiled, "I'd like that Harry and thank you for tonight, I never thought I'd get to experience anything like it."
Fleur decided to lean in and kiss Harry tenderly, which shocked him at first, but he decided to give her a gentle kiss back. They parted a few seconds later with goofy grins on their faces and Fleur said goodnight before entering the carriage.
Harry walked back to the chamber in high spirits as he succeeded at not making himself look like a fool, saved Hannah and made up with her, and possibly even got a girlfriend. Thinks were looking for Harry and he could only hope his Potter luck didn't ruin it anytime soon.