Disclaimer:
Harry Potter and all of its characters belong to J.K Rowling.
I own nothing but the original characters I make.
"Dialogue"
'Thoughts'
$Parseltongue$
Chapter 90: Yule Ball
While she may have seen embarrassed at first, Susan offered a great performance during the opening dance. As the heir of the Bones family, she has been trained in pureblood etiquette since very young, and that included dancing.
Fleur was dancing with a seventh-year Ravenclaw and Cedric came with a Gryffindor girl named Katie Bell.
After the opening dance was over, McGonagall called everyone to the dance floor.
Harry offered his hand to Luna. "Shall we?"
Luna took it, looking a bit nervous.
"Are you worried about stepping on my toes?" Harry asked.
"The one that taught me how to dance was my mum, and…well, that was a long time ago," Luna said sadly.
"Just follow my lead. I'm no expert, but I can handle myself on the dance floor"
Harry guided her and they started dancing.
"Thanks," Luna says shyly.
Harry looked around and spotted Hannah dancing very awkwardly with Goldstein who seem to be unable to look at her face. Hannah didn't notice this because she keep looking somewhere else.
He also saw Susan dancing with Krum. The Bulgarian seems to have very wandering hands and Susan keeps placing them back on her waist.
'If He doesn't behave himself, He may not make it back to his country.' Harry thought.
After a few dances, it was time for dinner. Everyone went to their assigned seats.
Just before Harry and Luna seated, someone spoke from behind.
"Mister Potter."
Harry turned around to stare at the ugliest woman He has ever seen. The fact that she was wearing a pink dress with pink shoes and pink accessories did not help.
"Yes?" He tried to sound polite.
"My name is Dolores Umbridge, I am the secretary of the Minister, and I am here to invite you to his table." She turned to look at Luna and frowned slightly. "You can bring your…em…date, of course."
Harry immediately disliked this woman but agree to her request just because He had an interest in meeting this new Minister.
Sitting at the table were Madam Maxine, Igor Karkaroff, and the Minister. He looked around but didn't see Dumbledore anywhere, even when this was supposed to be his table.
"Ah Mister Potter, I'm glad you could join us, please take a seat." Rufus Scrimgeour said while pointing to a couple of empty chairs.
"Minister" He nodded, then looked at the other two occupants of the table. "And Headmasters."
"Hi!" Luna said enthusiastically and waved at them.
"Minister, not to seem rude, but I am curious about why am I here. I'm not even one of the champions." Harry mentioned the same thing that the two Headmasters were thinking.
They all looked at the Minister.
This one made a hand gesture that seem to mean 'don't be silly.'
"Nonsense Mister Potter, you are famous enough without being a champion. You saved our world when you were a mere baby, and then You saved the school when You slayed that beast two years ago. You are already considered a hero by most. Of course, I would want to take the chance to meet you." The Minister said.
Harry understood what the Minister was trying to do, He wasn't even being subtle about it.
'He just wants to make use of my fame to increase his own reputation.'
But that was fine by him. He could also make use of the Minister.
Harry gave Karkarov a quick glance. He hasn't thought much about that man, since He has barely seen him around.
He doesn't really feel any anger towards the man. By the time Karkarov betrayed the death eaters, they were no longer His followers. And now they follow someone else anyways.
'I suppose, I can let him live, as long as He doesn't do anything to annoy me.'
Harry then turned his attention to the Minister. This man could be useful in the future, so it wasn't a bad idea to get to know him a bit.
"Well, it's an honor to meet you, Minister. One can never have too many friends in the Ministry."
Scrimgeour chuckled.
"Very right, Mister Potter."
"Please, call me Harry."
They talked for a while about various topics and the Minister seem impressed with Harry's general knowledge, the two Headmasters would add something to the conversation once in a while.
Luna didn't say much and just ate her dinner. She was obviously getting bored.
"Minister, it was very nice to meet you, sir. But I'm afraid that my date is growing restless. I hope we can talk again on another occasion." Harry shook hands with the Minister.
"Ah, my apologies, I almost forgot that this was a party for the young ones after. So, you two go and have fun. We can talk more at a different occasion." The Minister turned to Luna and nodded to her. "Miss Lovegood, enjoy the rest of the evening"
Harry took Luna's hand and walked away. Once they were far enough, Luna turned to Harry.
"Are you sure about that?." She asked.
Luna had an idea of why Harry wanted to get in the good graces of the new Minister.
"Yes... to tell the truth, I was getting bored too," Harry said.
Luna chuckled. "Oh, thank Merlin! That was soo dull."
They went back to the dance floor and danced until Luna could barely stand.
"Come on. I'll escort you to your tower." She nodded and Harry took her hand.
When He looked around He noticed that neither Hannah nor Susan were in the hall anymore, or at least He didn't see them.
After arriving at the entrance of the Ravenclaw tower, Luna lean in and gave Harry a kiss on the cheek.
"Thank you, Harry, it was very fun." She said softly in His ear.
When She retreated her face away from Harry, stood there, waiting for something and looking down.
"Well-" Whatever she was going to say was interrupted when Harry put one hand under her chin to lift her up.
He then gave her a chaste kiss on her lips.
"Goodnight Luna." He turned around and started to walk away.
She stood there, flabbergasted for a moment until She heard the familiar voice of the raven statue.
"Do you want the riddle or not?" The statue seems to be getting annoyed at being ignored.