Chereads / A look of Harry Potter / Chapter 22 - Chapter 22: Christmas

Chapter 22 - Chapter 22: Christmas

Winky sat there and listened to her Master. He was quite impressive. He had done so much so young yet he was happy and positive still.

She was glad he was willing to share his past very quickly with her. It would make it easier for her to serve him.

Harry started telling her about his adventures in Skyrim. He needed her to understand him. It would be something he'd do for the following couple of evenings. It brought them closer together.

Harry was sitting in the Owlery looking out over the snowy grounds below. He was petting Hedwig gently.

Professor McGonagall had dropped a bomb on them earlier that day. There was going to be a ball.

A dance. Now, if there was something he didn't know how to do, it was dance. McGonagall had offered them lessons. He felt like he needed more than that though.

He also had to ask a girl out. He sighed. He didn't feel like it, but he couldn't skip out since he was one of the Champions. They had to dance.

He smiled as he saw Fleur walking into the Beauxbatons' carriage. Maybe he could ask Fleur. He got up.

He was at least going to ask her if she was willing to teach him how to dance since he needed lessons, and he assumed she knew how to.

He made his way down to the courtyard and over to the carriage. He knocked on the door. A girl opened it. She gave him a hard look and went back inside. They knew him well enough to know who he wanted to see.

Most of them didn't like him much, but they were polite enough to tell Fleur he was there despite their dislike of her.

Some of them had noticed that the boys acted less like idiots around Fleur when Harry was there and they saw that as a good thing.

Fleur showed up and invited him inside. "'Arry 'ow nice to see you," she said.

"I hope I'm not intruding," Harry said.

"Non, not at all," Fleur said. "Please come in it's cold out 'ere." Harry followed her into her room. "So what do I owe the pleasure?" she asked.

"Well, I just learned that there is going to be a ball at Christmas," Harry said. "I don't know how to dance. I hope you would be willing to teach me because I don't want to make a fool out of myself."

Fleur laughed. He was looking at her with such a pathetic gaze. He looked so cute. "I'll aide you," she said with a smile.

"Thank you," Harry said happily. He'd taken the glamour of the moment the door had closed. He stood up and bowed low. "Will you dance with me mademoiselle?" he said and held a hand out.

Fleur laughed again as she took his hand. He helped her up and placed his right hand on her waist. "This is right, yeah?" he said.

"Oui," Fleur said. She shifted his hands a little and pulled her wand. She pointed it at a music player and then she made her furniture move out of the way.

"There," she said as the music started playing. She moved them in time with the music. It didn't take long before Harry was the one leading.

He messed up at times, but the longer they went on the better he did. He realised very quickly that all his other training helped a lot with dancing.

"This is very nice," Fleur said softly. She leaned in closer to Harry.

"Do you want to go to the ball with me?" Harry asked. "You'll have to stand the glamour so we would have to train that way too but…" he didn't finish the sentence. "You'd have to stand everyone else being idiots of course," he added.

"I don't care about what they think," Fleur said. She smiled up at him "You are a good friend. I would rather dance with you than any of those guys that can't see past the allure."

Harry smiled at her and twirled them around. "I guess all you need is some confidence," he said.

"Oui, that makes things easier," Fleur said. "Can you adapt the robes we bought for you to fit the glamour?"

"Yes, any clothes I wear before applying the glamour will just adapt with the magic of the glamour," Harry said.

"Wear the blue set," Fleur said.

"With purple and silver or …?"

"Oui, that one is good," Fleur said. She sighed. "This will be the first yule when I do not go home and see my family. I will miss Gabrielle. She always gets so excited about decorations and baking."

They swayed back and forth with the music for a while. Fleur corrected Harry when he made a mistake.

"I never went home," Harry said after a while. "Back before my trip to Skyrim. I never went back to the Dursleys for Christmas. They didn't want me so it felt pointless."

"You 'aven't told me about them," Fleur said. "They are your only living family, non?"

Harry nodded. "I lived with Petunia Dursley and her family after my parents were killed. She's my mother's sister. They didn't like me much. They weren't …" He closed his eyes.

"They weren't physically abusive but they did starve me and lock me up in a tight dark space a great deal. I know that what they did was wrong."

He shrugged. "I would rather just never have anything to do with them again. My cousin Dudley would beat me up when he could catch me. I was pretty fast on my feet though."

He spun them around again. "Rashall, Naya and Katla did their best to reverse the damage done. They managed pretty well. Maybe I'm not as tall as I could be but that isn't so bad."

He could feel Fleur's allure crackling around him. She was furious.

"I 'ave suggested it before," Fleur said. "You can come to stay with my family for the summer. No child should be treated that way. Those people are monsters."