Chapter Eighteen: Unforeseen Trouble—That's What Girls Are
After he was allowed to return to the castle, Harish met up with Hermione, Ginny, Daphne, and Draco. They informed him of how the others did, mentioning that Krum had points deducted because his dragon smashed all of the real eggs, and that Fleur's skirt had caught on fire. While they talked, Harish lead them up to the Owlry and he sent a letter to both Sirius and his father using school owls.
Then, Hermione said, "We should probably go on down to the common room for your party."
"Party?" Harish asked.
Hermione nodded.
"I expect the twins should be back from the kitchens by now."
Sure enough, when they entered the Slytherin Common Room, it exploded with cheers and yells again. There were mountains of cakes and flagons of pumpkin juice and butterbeer on every surface; the twins had also set off some Filibuster's Fireworks, so that the air was thick with stars and sparks. The twins ambushed their friend and dragged him into the common room, congratulating him all the while. Then, they all dug into the cakes.
"Merlin, this is heavy," Draco said, picking up the golden egg Harish had left on the table. "Open it, Harish, go on! What is inside it?"
"He's supposed to work the clue out on his own," Hermione said swiftly. "It's in the tournament rules…"
"Oh, come on, Hermione," Ginny said. "I'm sure it will be fine if we just see it. We won't necessarily be helping him."
Draco passed the egg to Harish, who dug his fingernails into the groove that ran all the way around it and pried it open.
It was hollow and completely empty—but the moment Harish opened it, the most horrible screaming wail filled the room. The teen had never heard anything like it in all of his sixteen years.
"Shut it!" Fred bellowed, his hands over his ears.
Harish slammed it shut.
"What was that?" Astoria asked, repugnance on her face.
"Sounded like a banshee," Draco said. "Maybe you've got to get past one of those next."
"I thought it sounded rather like Percy singing," George said. "Maybe you've got to attack him while he's in the shower."
"Want a jam tart, Hermione?" Fred asked.
Hermione looked doubtfully at the plate he was offering her. Fred grinned.
"It's all right," he said. "I haven't done anything to them. It's the custard creams you've got to watch—"
Ginny, who had just bitten into a custard cream, choked and spat it out. Fred laughed.
"Just my little joke, Ginny…"
Hermione took a jam tart.
"So you got all of this from the kitchens?" she asked.
"Well," Fred said, rubbing the back of his head. "Not exactly…The butterbeers…"
Hermione fixed him with a look and Fred finished, "We got the Butterbeers from Hogsmeade."
Hermione opened her mouth to say something, but Fred was spared as Ginny turned into a large canary.
"Oh—sorry, sis!" Fred shouted over all of the laughter. "I forgot—it was the custard creams we hexed!"
Within a minute, Ginny had molted and once all of her feathers had fallen off, she reappeared looking entirely normal. She even joined in on the laughing.
"Canary Creams!" Fred shouted to the crowd. "Harish, George, and I invented them—seven Sickles each, a bargain!"
It was nearly one in the morning when Harish and the twins finally went down to the dormitory. Harish set his little model of the Hungarian Horntail on his side table and it curled up with a little yawn. Then, the teen drifted off to sleep with dreams of talking dragons that kept turning into enourmous canaries.
The start of December brought wind and sleet to Hogwarts. Drafty though the castle always was in the winter, Harish was glad of its fires and thick walls every time he passed the Durmstrang ship on the lake, which was pitching in the high winds, its black sails billowing against the dark skies. He thought the Beauxbatons caravan was likely to be pretty chilly too.
Another thing about December was the fact that it meant that the holidays were drawing nearer. There was a lot of discuss about gifts and about the Yule Ball. Professor Snape had held them back after Potions class one day and had explained that the Yule Ball was a tradition of the Triwizard Tournament.
"The Yule Ball is approaching," Snape said. "It is a traditional part of the Triwizard Tournament and an opportunity for us to socialize with our foreign students. The ball will be open to fourth years and above—although you may invite a younger student if you wish—" several girls giggled and looked pointedly at Harish. Snape didn't seem to notice but continued, "Dress robes will be worn and the ball will start at eight o'clock on Christmas Day, finishing at midnight in the Great Hall. Now, the ball is for your enjoyment, but that does not mean that we will be relaxing the standards of behavior we expect from our students—I will be seriously displeased if a Slytherin embarrasses the school in any way, and you will be facing suspension if you do. You are dismissed, except for Blake."
Everyone rushed out of the room and the twins spared Harish a sympathetic glance. Harish stood and looked at Snape, who seemed to be waiting for the room to empty. Once everyone else had gone, Snape said, "Blake, the champions and their partners—"
"What partners?" Harish asked.
Snape regarded the teen suspiciously, as though he suspected that Harish was trying to be funny.
"Your partners for the Yule Ball, Mr. Blake," he said coldly. "Your dance partners."
"Oh," Harish said, swallowing. "Those partners."
He hated dancing. And anything social, for that matter. As the Dark Lord's heir, he had always been expected to entertain others and he hated that. But, since this wasn't a party filled with Death Eaters and their children, things may be different.
"Traditionally," Snape said, interrupting the sixteen-year-old's thoughts, "the champions and their partners open the ball."
So Harish was stuck having to find a partner for the ball, as he had to go. That wasn't all that bad, Harish thought as he watched Daphne at lunch. The only problem was asking her.
After Snape had told them all about the ball, it was all anyone talked about; what they were going to wear, who they were going to ask, or who they wanted to ask them.
While Harish was trying to figure out how to ask Daphne, her little sister, Astoria, was waiting for her betrothed to ask her to the ball. She finally got impatient after it had been a week and she still had no results. That, unfortunately, wasn't very good for Draco.
When the girl had finally cornered him, he was standing in the courtyard talking to Ginny and Hermione. Harish was sitting against a tree a few feet away, reading, and the twins were off doing who knows what. Astoria walked up to Draco and tapped him lightly on the shoulder.
"Yes?" Draco asked, glancing at her over his shoulder.
"Is there anything you would like to ask me?" she asked.
It seemed that everyone except Draco knew the first year was hinting at the Yule Ball. Ginny was looking particularly sour.
"Uh…no?" Draco replied.
Astoria burst into tears and dashed off. If it was possible, Draco looked even more confused and concerned. Everyone else watched with amusement.
But still no one had a date until Saturday—nearly a week later. Harish was sitting in the common room reading a book on the Dark Arts that he had disguised as a Transfiguration book. Daphne was sitting on the couch beside him, working on her Charms homework. Draco was trying to get Harish's model of a dragon to set fire to a piece of paper, and Ginny was dozing in an armchair.
After a few minutes, Daphne snapped her book shut and walked over to Ginny's armchair muttering, "Can't sleep there all night…" And she woke the younger girl up, steering her into the dormitory. The room became silent once more as they were the only ones in the common room. Most everyone was outside in the courtyards talking about the ball. Harish vaguely wondered if they were going to do that until curfew.
Then, the silence was broken as Fred walked into the common room.
"Well," he said. "Just did it."
"Did what?" Harish asked, looking up from his book.
"Got a date for the ball, of course," Fred replied.
"Who?" Harish and Draco asked at the same time.
"Hermione," Fred replied, a deep flush creeping up his neck.
"Really?" Draco asked. "What, did you ask her out in the library?"
"As a matter of fact, I did," Fred replied, sticking his nose in the air.
"Well, I think you did good, mate," Harish said, patting Fred on the arm as he walked past.
"Mhm," Fred hummed skeptically. He went down to the dormitory with a wide smile on his face.
Once he was out of earshot, Harish and Draco turned to each other.
"We'll both have partners by the end of tomorrow," Harish said. "Deal?"
"Deal," Draco replied.
So, the next morning Harish approached Daphne at breakfast. Draco was sitting to her left and Hermione was sitting in between Daphne and Ginny.
"Would you uh—" Harish started as he sat down across from her. He paused as everyone nearby turned to watch. His cheeks flushed.
"Don't you all have your own conversations?" Daphne snapped. They all turned back to their food. "Yes, Harish? What were you going to tell me?"
"Well—I was wondering if you would like to go to the Yule Ball with me?"
"Oh, sure!" Daphne exclaimed happily. "I would be glad to!"
Harish nodded and began piling eggs onto his plate. That wasn't as bad as he had suspected. Draco looked annoyed that Harish had beat him to asking someone out. Fred sat down next to Harish a moment later and whispered, "Good job, mate."
The teen nodded before asking, "Where's George?"
"See for yourself," the Weasley replied, nodding toward the Gryffindor table.
Harish peered around Daphne to see George talking to Angelina Johnson. Both of them were smiling.
"Is he asking her to the ball?" he queried.
Fred nodded, cutting his pancake in half. Just then a rustling was heard overhead as the mail was delivered. An owl swooped down and landed in front of Harish. He took the letter off and saw that there was a paw print on it.
"Who's it from?" Fred asked.
Harish looked down the table before whispering, "Sirius."
Fred nodded knowingly. Harish looked up to see the others staring at him.
"I'll tell you later," he said. They nodded.
George then sat down on Harish's other side, grinning widely.
"What's for breakfast? I'm starving!"
After breakfast, they all headed back to the common room. Then, they all sat down in front of the fire. Harish pulled out his book once more and Draco sat next to him, fidgeting.
"What is the matter with you?" he finally snapped.
"Nothing," Draco replied, who was in fact mentally planning how he was going to ask a girl. Then, after a minute of silence he stood and walked over to Ginny. "Ginny?" he asked.
"Yes?" she asked, looking up at him.
"I was uh—wondering—well…I wanted to know…uh…"
"Yes?" Ginny prompted.
Draco tugged at his collar. "My father will kill me if he hears of this!" he thought. Harish watched with amusement, thinking the exact same thing.
"Yes?" Ginny asked again.
"Doyouwannagoballwimme?" Draco asked in one breath. Then, he winced.
"What?" Ginny asked.
"Do you want to go to the ball with me?" Draco repeated, much slower. He was now as red as Ginny's hair.
"Oh!" Ginny exclaimed, looking surprised. "Well…sure! I would love to!"
"Are you sure?" Draco asked. "'Cause if you don't want…I've been such a prat…"
Harish practically face-palmed.
"No really," Ginny said, blushing. "I would love to."
Draco looked immensely relieved. Then, he leaned over to Harish.
"My father cannot hear about this," he said.
"Or my mother," Ginny said, eyeing the twins. "She would have a right fit."
The twins looked insulted.
"You think we would do that to you?" Fred asked indignantly.
"We've had enough trouble with her alone," George added.
They both shook their heads and said, "Honestly…"