The month of December was passing by at a much faster pace than usual at Hogwarts.
Romance, love and anticipation were everywhere as confessions and invitations were happening constantly. But there was also nervousness, stress and general unease amongst many as well, mostly because boys were wimping out and girls wanted to be asked by the one they hoped for.
Most of my friends and those I was close to had their dates figured out already.
Cedric was still going out with Cho Chang in this timeline and the two were excited to go together. Most of my little successor from the Dueling Club had dates: Hannah Abbot was going with Neville, Daphne Greengrass with Ernest Macmillan, and Ron, who had a standard dress rob thanks to yours truly, was going with Padma Patil like the standard since they had a good enough friendship through the club.
The partners for the Champions had to be told to our respective heads of house/schools in order to confirm everything was in order and traditions were upheld. Viktor managed to properly invite Hermione with some help from your friendly neighborhood wingman, making this stony friend of mine even crack a smile. Fleur actually asked me and James due to the both of us being the only male friends she's ever had who only saw her as a normal girl with gifts, and not a sex object like so many other. I already had Victoria, but Fleur and James were more than happy to be going with each other. Plus it's not like James isn't an attractive young man, with his chin length blonde hair, calm blue eyes, gentle features and strong body, he was the dream of many female students in Hogwarts.
Christian was actually the most annoying to convince this time. He didn't have any girls he was close too besides Tory, Luna, a bit of Hermione, Fleur through James and I, Cho from Quidditch, and maybe a few acquaintances from our house and the club. But we all knew he had special spot for Luna Lovegood, they just clicked together and if you think about it honestly, 4 years isn't much of a gap in age. They get along great, have common interests, curiosity and exploration always drives the two, he always takes time to help her out and protect her from people who don't even try to understand her, teaches her a bunch of useful things and just always looks so soft around her. So yeah, we just spent an entire week getting the knucklehead to admit that he liked her and get him to realize there is absolutely nothing wrong with that. He just needed to keep in contact and try to make time to visit during her Hogsmeade visits after we graduate, and maybe give her a vanishing box for quick messaging. Then if they felt the same when she graduated, they could decide to really be together. So long story short, we got him to ask a now very happy Luna to the ball. Her yes really sent him up to the clouds too, real fun to tease him about that one.
'It's kinda adorable watching my friend who can transform into a wolf, be so gentle on the innocent little bunny.' I thought with a smile after he asked her out.
The only person I really knew that didn't have a partner yet was Harry.
The kid had an unfortunate crush on Cho Chang even in now, likely due to how she's been growing up and her skills on a broom, but she's dating Cedric so that's a no go.
So he came to me for a bit of advice.
"You really can't think of anyone to ask?" I said to the kid with a raised eyebrow.
"No. Ron's already got Padma since their both in your club, Hermione won't tell us who she's going with, the girl I wanted to ask already had a date and I can't just ask a random girl right?" The kid tried to explain to me.
"Honestly, you pretty much could." I answered with a little chuckle.
"What?" The surprised Harry asked.
"You underestimate two things about yourself right now: your fame and a woman's desire to be under the spotlight." I decided to say in response.
"How does that help me get a date?" He exasperatedly asked as his shoulders slumped.
"Well the fame thing is pretty self explanatory, you're the-boy-who-lived to a lot of people and are famous if you want it or not. But you being a champion and successfully completing the first task like you did bumped your popularity up quite a few notches." I started explaining to the oblivious kid.
"Really? How come I can't notice it then?" He suspiciously asked.
"Well that's because I'm also very popular so I steal some spotlight, and you tend to try and ignore or push away anything that has to do with fame, so that's the reason." Was my answer as I made him nod in agreement.
"Ok so I'm more popular, but how does that help me? I still can't just ask a girl and hope she thinks I'm enough." He dejectedly said.
"Well that's where my second point comes in. Pretty much any woman on this planet wants to feel special. They want to be able to be under the spotlight and shine in front of everyone, in one way or another. And right now, the biggest stage to do so is at the Yule Ball, with the spotlight on the Champions. Fleur, Viktor and I all have our partners, leaving only one last chance for the spotlight and that's with you. So you have actually been prime prey for a lot of girls at the moment, you just haven't noticed because you're always stuck in your own head and miss a lot of things around you." I say as I try to explain a single facet of the great and mysterious creature know as a woman.
"But I still don't like when people try to be near me cause I'm famous for something I don't even remember doing. And I certainly don't want to be with them." He answered with some discomfort.
"Alright, if that's such a problem i think I've got four good candidates for you." I answer with a little sigh.
"Really? That's brilliant." He excitedly replied as he perked up.
"The first would actually be Pavarti Patil. She's in your house and year, so she knows you well enough and shouldn't be affected by your fame. Ron is going with her sister and it would make a sort of double date for the two of you." I say as I kinda feel like a certain magical mirror from a green character's movie.
"I didn't even think of that." Said a thoughtful Harry.
"Second would probably be Gabrielle Delacour. I know her sister pretty well, we've all become friends and I'm sure she would much prefer having you than some random numbskull. The little girl asked me to escort her, but I already have my date so I had to reject her. I'm sure she'd be happy to go to the ball with you, even if it's just for the sake of you having a partner." I mention to Harry in order to give him another easy way.
"Yeah, she is like an energetic little sister. It wouldn't be bad if I did it. Plus it's just to dance." He murmured Harry has he gave it some thought.
"My third suggestion would be Susan. You've both spent enough time together during the summer to know each other pretty well. I trust you enough to not do anything stupid to her and she's a wonderful girl. She was just planing to have fun and going with some friends from her house, so I know she's free." I continued as if presenting a lovely princess.
"You'd let me take Susan?! But I thought you wouldn't even let her stay." A surprised Harry said.
"I am fully in favor of her having fun and living her life, I just don't want her to make bad decisions so I'm can seem a bit protective. But that doesn't matter. My last option for you would be Ginny Weasley." I start off saying as I get back on topic, but Harry got very shocked.
"Ginny!? I can't go with her! She's Ron's sister!" He interrupted as he almost yelled.
"Honestly, I would like to see what happens if Ron even tries to stop her. The girl has had a crush on you for years Harry, and I honestly think that Ron would feel a lot better having you taking her than some random jackass. I say that as a protective older brother myself" I answered the teen dismissively.
"She has a what on me?!" Harry said with a raised and progressively higher pitched voice.
"Well yeah. She had a crush on you since her first year. Everyone could tell with how she turned bright red whenever you were around. Then you went and rescued her from a Basilisk and Tommy boy, so not many young girls wouldn't fall for their rescuer. Especially if they already liked them and they weren't bad looking." I explained in an 'I can't believe you never noticed' tone.
"But you were there too!" He tried to counter.
"So? She likes you because of who you are and what you've done for her. But that's all I've got for you Harry. I gave you the net approach to get a random girl to fill your needs, and I gave you the four specific options I believe would be the best for you as of now. Everything else is up to you." I say as I give the kid a pat on the shoulder and take my leave as he starts thinking about his options.
"But try not to think too much. Just go with what you feel is right and everything will work out." I said to the kid without turning back.
Like that, the holidays approached the castle.
The majority of students fourth year and up would be staying for the ball. The reason for that was third years and below couldn't attend unless they had been invited by an older student like Luna had, so they went to spend the break with their families.
Susan and I informed mother that we would be staying for the ball, since I actually had to be there due to being a champion, and that we would be coming over on the 26th in order to spend time as a family. Susan, Victoria And i would simply go to Hogsmeade and apparate to our house for the rest of the holidays. Even if I had/wanted to go to the ball, I would never want to leave mother home alone for the holidays. I loved her too much to do that, especially when I have at least four different ways of going back in a jiffy.
So with excitement in the air, Christmas Day came to Hogwarts.
I decided to have a few little parties for the groups I'm involved in the night before, just to give everyone a good holiday mood. This meant the exchange and dueling club. So I organized a warm gathering and prize giving for the former, and a sort of mini carnival games set up for the latter. They both had good feedback from the participating students.
I also decided to hold a little Christmas lunch with the Champions and our friends, just to make everyone feel that they weren't excluded from the Christmas atmosphere of Hogwarts. The girls didn't eat much during lunch in order to not make their dresses tighter than they wanted, which was something Fleur really worried about due to the heaviness of English cuisine, not so much a worry for Tory who carefully planned her diet and exercised daily though.
Overall it was a pleasant way of spending my days at Hogwarts. I even had a few business talks with the twins, started teaching my new spells to my friends, planned with them on when to go register our animagi forms, and we even decided to just run a bit wild in said forms as we ran through the snow covered grounds of the school at night.
Then the evening before the ball came and every girl attending went into a fervor in order to look their best.
The Yule ball was about to begin.