Lost Love Found

Chapter 8: The Winter Dance.

Adrian got up from bed right after Harry, Ron and Dean had left. He took a shower, got dressed and then he left for the Great Hall to have breakfast. The school looked almost deserted. Most of the students had gone to Hogsmeade and the younger ones, who couldn't go, were outside playing in the snow. Adrian sat down on the Gryffindor table all by himself and began eating his blueberry waffles. The sound of heavy footsteps echoing throughout the empty Hall made him look up from his plate.

"Hello Hagrid," he greeted.

Hagrid walked over to the Gryffindor table. "Hello there, young fellow! What are you doing here? Why didn't you go to Hogsmeade?"

"Because I have a tutoring session with Professor Lupin in half an hour. I'll go to Hogsmeade next time. Do you want something? I'm not going to finish all this food by myself. Sit down."

Hagrid sat down in front of Adrian putting his moleskin coat aside. "All right if you insist. So you have a tutoring lesson with Professor Lupin?" Adrian nodded trying to swallow a mouthful of waffles. "Precisely I was just with him. I was helping him to organize his office." Hagrid took a piece of toast and spread butter and marmalade on it. "How's your grandpa?"

"He's fine. I received a letter from him yesterday."

Hagrid and Adrian continued chatting and eating their breakfast while three floors above, Professor Lupin was finishing the "early spring cleaning" of his office. He put a big box full of books on his desk knocking down a smaller box that was resting on the corner of the desk. The small box opened as soon as it hit the floor and a bundle of letters tied with a blue ribbon and a ring came flying out of it. Remus bent down to pick them up. He put the letters back in the small box and then he sat down holding the ring on the palm of his hand. It was an engagement ring made of platinum. An inlay of tiny diamonds ran all around it and in the center there was a beautiful diamond cut in the shape of a rose. The ring was so small that it could've only fitted a delicate and slender finger. Remus looked at the ring melancholically, then he smiled vaguely as he thought of the person to whom the ring had belonged. He was soon immersed in a sea of memories, but he focused on one in particular: the day of the Farewell Dance for the seventh year students at Hogwarts...

*~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~*

The day of the Farewell Dance Remus, James and Sirius looked very handsome in their dress robes as they waited in the Gryffindor common room for their dance partners to come down. They've been waiting for them to come down from the girl's dormitory for almost fifteen minutes now and Sirius was getting very impatient.

"What are these women doing? I'm starving," said Sirius pacing anxiously around the room.

"We were getting pretty for you," said a beautiful dark-haired girl dressed in black velvet robes who was descending the stairs followed by Lily.

"And you did a marvelous job," said Sirius flashing his most charming smile and kissing the girl's hand.

Lily walked closer to James and stood in front of him. Her burgundy robes were made of satin and she was wearing her hair in a very elegant updo. "What do you think?"

"You look beautiful Lily," said James putting his arm tightly around her waist.

"Where's Clara?" asked Remus glancing eagerly at the stairs.

"Calm down, she's coming," laughed Lily.

"Clara! Hurry up! We are starving here you know," yelled Sirius.

"Go on without me, I'm not ready yet. I'll meet you guys in the Great Hall," said Clara's voice from upstairs.

"All right, we are leaving then," yelled James.

The five of them exited the common room. Remus was reluctant to leave but he decided to follow his friends, so they could find a table for all of them. They walked into the magnificently decorated Great Hall and they found a table big enough for all of them nearby the entrance. They sat down talking animatedly while the Hall filled with seventh year students from the four different houses. Remus kept glancing towards the entrance waiting for Clara to come. When he finally saw her coming in, he was breathless. She looked beautiful. Her silk baby blue robes clung tightly to her body showing her curves and her hair was done in an elegant French twist crowned with a diamond and sapphire tiara. A few curled strands of her hair hung loosely in front of her ears. Remus got up from the table and went over to her.

"You look gorgeous Clara," he said hugging her.

She blushed and smiled. "You look very handsome too."

They walked back to their table. Soon Dumbledore stood up and gave his speech wishing all of them good luck and warning them about the dark side, which was getting stronger at the time. After Dumbledore's speech, the feast began. When everyone finished eating, Dumbledore asked them to step aside and with a wave of his hand the tables moved to the sides leaving a wide space at the center of the Hall.

"Time to dance," said Dumbledore cheerfully and a slow tune began playing.

Remus stood up. "Would you dance with me?" he asked bowing in front of Clara.

Clara looked at him and smiled. "Sure."

They got up and went towards the dancing floor, which was beginning to fill with dancing couples. They stood in front of each other. Remus put his left hand on Clara's waist while he took her right hand in between his. Clara put her free hand on Remus' shoulder and they began to dance slowly. From the first note played Clara immediately recognized the song as one of her favorites.

And I'd give up forever to touch you

'Cause I know that you feel me somehow

You're the closest to heaven that I'll ever be

And I don't want to go home right now

Remus held her even closer and tighter and she rested her head on his chest. She could smell his sweet cologne and feel his rapid heartbeats. Remus felt her warm breaths poking through his robes and he rested his cheek gently on her head.

And all I can taste is this moment

And all I can breathe is your life

'Cause sooner or later it's over

I just don't want to miss you tonight

They kept moving slowly following the rhythm of the music. It seemed that everything around them was dissolving and that they only had each other. Clara looked up at Remus, her eyes watery at the corners. "What's wrong?" he whispered in her ear.

And I don't want the world to see me

'Cause I don't think that they'd understand

When everything is made to be broken

I just want you to know who I am

"Remus, promise me that this won't end once we leave Hogwarts," whispered Clara, her voice breaking.

"Of course not. You are not going to get rid of me that easily. I promise," he said grinning and holding her chin up to kiss her. Then he pulled his lips away from hers and asked, "what about you?"

"I promise too," she replied gazing directly into his eyes.

*~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~*

A wide grin formed in Remus' lips as he wandered around his memories. He looked down at the ring he was holding and this time his mind landed on the day he had asked Clara to marry him. He would never forget the look on her face when he proposed: she looked at him in disbelief and her eyes filled with tears of joy before she threw herself in his arms and buried her head in his chest. "I do, I want to marry you," she said in between sobs. A few months later they got married and those were the happiest moments of his life. But those moments didn't last long and all his dreams were shattered the day he lost Clara forever thanks to Voldemort.

Remus was squeezing the ring tightly with his hand and a lump was forming in his throat at the memory of the day he had lost her. He was startled by a knock on his door. He straightened up on his chair and said, "Come in." He put the ring back in its box and closed it. When the door opened he was very surprised to see Adrian coming in. "Adrian what are you doing here? I thought you were going to Hogsmeade."

"Hello. I didn't go because I had to come to our tutoring session."

"You really want to ace this test don't you?" grinned Remus.

Adrian nodded as he sat down in front of Remus. He took out his notes and his Defenses Against Dark Magic book and put them on the desk. After they had reviewed the material covered in class, Remus asked Adrian questions to make sure that he knew the material.

"What's the only effective spell to use against a Lethifold?" asked Remus.

"The Patronus."

"Correct! That's it Adrian. I'm sure you are going to ace the test. You've answered all the questions correctly. In fact, I don't think you'll be needing any more tutoring," said Remus.

Adrian smiled but he couldn't help feeling a little sad that the tutoring sessions were over. "I'm going to miss the tutoring," he said putting his stuff away.

Remus felt the same way as Adrian. "Me too, but you can drop in anytime and visit me," he said getting up from his desk and leaning against one of the windows of the office. The sky was a grayish shade of blue and the sun was sending weak rays of light to the snow covered ground.

Adrian had already gathered his things and was ready to walk out the door. "Thank you very much Professor. Well, see you tomorrow in class."

Remus was gazing at the horizon and he could barely make out the gray silhouette of Hogsmeade in the distance. Then he had an idea. He turned to look at Adrian and asked, "What are you doing today?"

"Read, I guess. I'm all caught up with my homework," shrugged Adrian.

"Would you like to go to Hogsmeade?"

"Sure, but everyone left hours ago."

"You could come with me if you want. I have some shopping to do over there. I'm sure you'll find your friends there."

Adrian's face lit up. He looked like a three-year-old boy who had just been given a new toy. "You bet I want to go! I'll just go to my dormitory to drop this off and get some money. That way I'll do my Christmas shopping before I go back home. Wait for me Professor, I'll be right back!"

"All right, I'll wait for you in the Entrance Hall."

Adrian nodded and dashed out of the office. He went up the stairs taking two and three steps at a time. When he arrived to his dormitory he threw his book bag on his bed and took out a handful of gold Galleons, silver Sickles and bronze Knuts from his trunk. Then he took his wool cloak and folded it under his arm before he darted out of the Gryffindor common room and sprinted down the stairs. By the time he got to the Entrance Hall he was almost out of breath. "Here I am," he wheezed halting in front of Remus.

"Did you run the seven staircases up to Gryffindor tower and back?" Remus asked in surprise seeing Adrian's flushed face.

Adrian just nodded unable to speak as he caught his breath. Remus just laughed and put his cloak on. Adrian did the same and they walked out of the castle. They followed the winding path towards Hogsmeade chatting animatedly. There was a cold breeze blowing by and brushing against their uncovered faces and hands. By the time they reached the village their faces were pink and their hands were numb.

"Let's go to the Three Broomsticks for a butterbeer," said Remus, his teeth clattering.

"Butterbeer? What's that?" asked Adrian rubbing his hands together to warm them up a little.

"It's a really good drink that warms you up. I'm sure you'll like it."

By now they were in front of the Three Broomsticks. They entered and they saw that the place was swarming with a variety of customers ranking from Hogwarts students to goblins. Remus and Adrian fought their way through the crowd until they finally found an empty table. They took off their cloaks and sat down. A minute later a pretty lady wearing and apron and sapphire heels came over to them.

"Remus what a pleasure to see you!" she smiled showing a row of big white teeth. Then she noticed the boy sitting at the table with Remus and added, "Who's this young man?"

"He's one of my students, his name is Adrian," replied Remus.

"Adrian Franco, pleased to meet you," said Adrian getting up from the table and shaking the lady's hand.

"Oh my, what a gentleman! I am Madam Rosmerta, the owner of this place. What are you two having today?"

"Two butterbeers please," said Remus.

"Coming right up," she said walking behind the counter, her sapphire heels clanking loudly as they hit the floor. Seconds later she was back holding two large foaming cups. She set them on the table in front of them and walked away briskly to attend a group of rowdy goblins. Adrian took a sip of his butterbeer and as soon as it entered his system he felt a warming sensation traveling all the way down his throat to the tip of his toes.

"This is good! I'm not freezing anymore," said Adrian putting down his empty cup on the table. "Professor do you know where I can go to buy some Christmas presents?"

Remus drank the last of his butterbeer and said, "Well, it depends on what you want to buy. You can go to Dervish and Banges, the wizard's supply store. They have a nice gift shop there and there's also Quidditch Supplies and Honeydukes. I'm going to Dervish and Banges right now if you want to tag along."

"Sure, let's go."

Both of them got up from the table, said good-bye to Madam Rosmerta and exited the Three Broomsticks. The streets were almost as crowded as the Three Broomsticks. Witches, wizards and Hogwarts students were strolling down the streets carrying boxes and packages containing their purchases. Adrian was marveled looking around. He had never been in an all wizard village and Hogsmeade was certainly colorful and charming. The rooftops and window ledges were covered with thin layers of snow while the displays of the shops were beautifully decorated with twinkling lights (made up of dancing fairies) and Christmas motifs. Remus stopped in front of Dervish and Banges and Adrian, who was walking behind him curiously glancing all around, bumped into him.

"Sorry Professor," said an embarrassed Adrian.

Remus laughed. "No problem. Here we are. Look around and see if you find something."

Adrian nodded as he entered the shop. Once he was inside he was sure he would find something. The place was full of all sorts of curious objects. He walked around and saw a splendid set of Wizard's Chess. The chessboard, which served as a case too, was made of fine polished wood just like the exquisitely carved chess pieces. Adrian was looking at the set when a squeaky voice made him jump.

"Marvelous set. The best one we have I daresay young man," said the shopkeeper. He was a short, middle age man with a balding head and he was wearing magenta robes. He took one of the pawns and showed it to Adrian. "It's all hand crafted. Would you like to purchase it?"

Adrian nodded as he scratched a name off his Christmas shopping list. "Could you engrave the box?"

The shopkeeper grinned and said, "Certainly, what do you want me to engrave on it."

"Property of Ronald Weasley, the Chess Master."

"Very well, it'll be ready in a couple of minutes," said the shopkeeper carrying the chess to the back of the shop.

Fifteen minutes later Remus was at the counter paying for parchment and ink when he saw Adrian coming over with an armful of things to buy. "I see you definitely found something," chuckled Remus.

"Yeah, I'm almost done with my Christmas shopping. I just have to buy something for Harry, but for that I think I better go to Quidditch Supplies," said Adrian dumping all his stuff on the counter.

"Are these Christmas gifts?" asked the shopkeeper blissfully. Adrian nodded handing him the money. "We also count with gift wrapping for an extra Knut."

"Good, then wrap all of them and I'll come back in a few minutes to pick them up," said Adrian.

"Certainly."

Remus and Adrian left Dervish and Banges and went over to Quidditch Supplies. Adrian bought Harry's present and a broom servicing kit for himself. After that they went back to Dervish and Banges to pick up Adrian's things. Adrian felt very happy that the boring Sunday he thought he would have after his tutoring turned out to be a very nice one after all. He and Remus were strolling down one of the streets nearby the outskirts of town when they saw Harry, Ron and Hermione standing next to a wooden fence. Adrian ran towards them but he stopped in his tracks a few steps away from them when he saw the enormous black dog standing next to Harry.

Hermione smirked and said mockingly, "Don't be scared wittle baby, the doggy doesn't bite."

The remark hurt Adrian's pride so he stepped closer followed by Remus, who immediately recognized who the dog was. Adrian noticed that Hermione was still smirking at his uneasy expression. His injured ego made him more daring so he stepped even closer and nervously patted the dog's head. When he saw that the dog didn't resent his strokes he calmed down and lowered himself to level his eyes with the dog's and scratched it behind its ears. Adrian had the odd feeling that the dog was looking at him rather attentively, so he straightened up. "Whose dog is this?" he asked.

Harry, Ron and Hermione looked at each other unsure of what to say when Remus intervened, "It's a stray dog. I've seen it before wandering around town."

"Yeah, it's been following us for a while now," added Harry.

"It's a really big dog. Maybe he got lost and someone is looking for him. It seems of good pedigree," said Adrian looking closely at the dog.

Remus snorted trying with all his might not to explode laughing. "I don't think so Adrian. It's just a shabby old stray dog that I'm pretty sure was kicked out of somebody's house," he said looking straight into the dog's eyes. The dog looked back at him and growled.

"Professor Lupin, I think you hurt his feelings," said Hermione reproachfully as she petted the dog.

This time Remus couldn't contain himself and busted out laughing. Ron, Harry and Adrian did the same. Hermione was looking despairingly at them.

Remus pulled himself together and said, "If you want to look around town a little more do it now because it's getting late."

Ron, Harry and Hermione got the hidden message: he wanted to be left alone with Sirius.

"Have you gone to Honeydukes Adrian?" asked Ron.

"Not yet," replied Adrian. "I've only gone to the Three Broomsticks, Dervish and Banges and Quidditch Supplies."

"What are we waiting for then? Let's go. We'll show you around town Adrian," said Ron and the four teenagers said good-bye to Remus and walked away.

As soon as they were out of sight, Remus and Sirius walked in the opposite direction through thick clusters of enormous pine trees. It was a difficult trail to walk on. Of course for Sirius, as a dog, it was much easier than for Remus to walk through the fallen branches, shrubs and the protruding roots of some trees that covered the forest ground. To Sirius' amusement, Remus was constantly stumbling as he tripped and his robes got caught several times by shrubs and branches. Once they were deep enough in the forest, Sirius stopped and transformed into his human self. He was thin and pale although not as bad as he had been the last time Remus had seen him. Sirius propped himself against a tree folding his arms in front of him. "So I'm just a shabby old stray dog that was kicked out of somebody's house?"

"Come on Padfoot, it was only a joke. Besides, Adrian was getting very interested in you. I think he felt so sorry for you that he almost wanted to adopt you," said Remus laughing.

Sirius laughed too. "By the way, who's that boy?"

"Adrian? He's a transfer student that came from Spain and as you saw, became friends with Harry and company." Sirius had a reflective expression on his face. "He's a very nice kid. He's very intelligent too. He's giving Hermione a good competition."

"Oh, so he's from Spain?" Sirius paused and then looked gravely at Remus. "Moony, that kid is identical to you."

"What? Sirius you are definitely getting old. I think you need to start wearing bifocals," chuckled Remus.

"The one that needs the glasses is you. I'm telling you, that kid looks just like you when you were his age and he's from Spain just like..."

Remus' expression darkened as he cut Sirius in the middle of the sentence. "Sirius, it can't be so shake that hair brained idea out of your head. How was your mission?"

Sirius was truly convinced of what he was saying but he better than anyone knew how obstinate Remus could be so he decided to rest his case. "It was good. I have a very long list of the wizards who have gone to the dark side and I bet it's longer than the one Snape has."

****************

Next Thursday, when Alicia, Katie, Angelina, and Harry entered the locker rooms after their Quidditch practice they were welcomed by Fred, George, and Adrian's water balloons.

"What the?" yelled Katie wiping the beads of water dropping from her face where one of the balloons hit her. "You are so childish! Are you ever going to mature?"

"Oh come on Katie, where's your sense of humor? Who's up for a water balloon fight?" asked Fred holding a huge basket full of water balloons.

"Not me," replied Alicia.

"Or me," said Angelina and Katie at the same time.

"Come on Harry you can be in my team," said Adrian holding his own basketful of balloons.

"I don't think so. The least I want right now is to end up drenched from head to toe," replied Harry running away from the locker rooms followed by Alicia, Katie, and Angelina.

As Harry walked back to Gryffindor Tower he was laughing at Adrian, Fred, and George. He felt a little sorry for Adrian because, knowing Fred and George, he knew that Adrian was going to end up completely wet. After climbing the seven staircases that led to Gryffindor Tower he finally reached the portrait hole and entered the common room, where he found Ron and Hermione with sour faces.

"Hi, what's going on?" he asked, fearing the answer. He was afraid that maybe they had fought again or in the worst of cases that Voldemort had attacked or that something bad had happened to Sirius or... "Stop," he ordered himself mentally, "stop thinking the worst."

Ron and Hermione looked at each other gloomily and then back at Harry, who was getting impatient and worried. "Well...are you going to tell me what the heck is wrong with you or not?" he chided.

Ron sighed. "I just got a letter from mom saying that Percy was promoted in the Ministry. He's going to assume Mr. Crouch's position..."

"But those are good news! Why the murky expressions?" asked Harry.

"Well they aren't that good: one, because he's going to brag about it for the next century and two, because thanks to Percy's promotion we'll have the money to go to Romania to visit Charlie..." Ron paused and looked at Hermione, who silently urged him to go on, "and spend the holidays there. Mom wants the whole family to spend the holidays together and dad says that it is too dangerous for you to come with us."

Harry saddened but he tried not to show it. Besides, he felt happy for Ron and his family. Now that Percy will hold such an important post he would be making a lot of money, which was going to be of great help to the family. "Don't worry Ron. Hermione isn't such a bad company," he joked.

Hermione's stomach was churning and she was chewing her lower lip. "Harry... I won't be staying either. My grandparents are coming to visit from the United States and I haven't seen them in ages..."

Harry was devastated. He didn't want to spend the holidays alone at Hogwarts but he understood that his friends had powerful reasons to leave for the break. "Don't worry guys. I'll be okay. I'm pretty sure that somebody else is staying," he said trying to sound cheerful but awfully failing.

Just then Adrian walked in soaking wet from his water balloon battle against Fred and George. "Hey, thanks a lot Harry. Fred and George flattened me. I'm wet to the bone. I better change clothes before I catch pneumonia," he paused gazing at the miserable looking trio in front of him. "What's wrong? Why the long faces?"

Ron explained everything and Adrian felt bad for Harry so he offered, "you can come with me Harry! I'm sure that Dumbledore will let you come. My mom and my grandpa will be there to protect you. Well, that is if you want to come."

"Sure I want to go! Thanks, Adrian," said Harry gleefully.

"I'll go write to my grandpa right now so that he can ask for Dumbledore's permission to let you come to our house." Having said that, Adrian dashed to his dormitory to change clothes and write the letter for his grandpa, leaving behind a happier Harry and a relieved Ron and Hermione. He sent the letter with Hedwig and went back downstairs. This time he was the one with the long face. "I sent the letter already Harry," he said.

"Thanks Adrian. What's the matter?" asked a concerned Harry.

Adrian sighed. "Detention with Madam Pince tonight so I better get going," he replied gloomily.

"Good luck," said Hermione guiltily.

Adrian waved and walked out of the common room. As he dragged his feet slowly towards the library he smiled, remembering Hermione's guilty expression. It was the same she had a week ago when she found out about his detention. Adrian shivered slightly when he evoked the warm feeling of Hermione's soft hands in between his. He had to admit that even though Hermione wasn't exactly the most popular or stylish girl in school she was very pretty. What he liked the most about her were her brown eyes and the way they twinkled when she was concentrating or how they gleamed when she was angry or how warm they could be when she smiled...

"What the hell is wrong with you Adrian? You are pathetic," he whispered to himself trying to get Hermione off his head. He kept walking until he reached the library. Once there, the sight of Madam Pince was enough to get Hermione off his thoughts and bring him back to the grim reality of his detention. The librarian was standing at the door with such a severe look on her face that it seemed that she was ready to bite somebody's head off.

"It was about time for you to show up. You are five minutes late for your detention Mr. Franco," she said sternly.

"Sorry Madam Pince."

"Don't worry, you'll make up for those five minutes. Follow me." Adrian nodded and followed her to the back of the library. "It was very nice of Professor Snape to assign someone to reorganize the student files after the mess Peeves made of them."

"Yeah very nice, that son of a..." muttered Adrian under his breath.

They arrived to the farthest corner of the library where a dozen of huge filing cabinets stood against the stone walls. Madam Pince motioned Adrian towards the very end of the library. There was a row of four cabinets. The first one was red, the next one was blue, the one next to it was yellow and the last one was green.

"These cabinets correspond to each of the different houses. You may identify them by their color and their crest. Here are the files," she said pointing at the four heaps of folders stacked in front of each of the cabinets. "I already sorted them by house. All you have to do is to sort them by alphabetical order and year of graduation. The drawers are labeled by time periods. Any questions?"

"No."

"Get to work then," said Madam Pince walking back to her desk while Adrian looked hopelessly at the four enormous piles of folders in front of him. He sighed and decided that it was better to get started right away if he ever wanted to get out of the library before midnight. He decided to start with the Slytherin files and then work his way down the row of cabinets. He sat down cross-legged on the floor in front of the stack of Slytherin files and began sorting them.

Three hours later, his neck was stiff, his legs were numb and his eyes were itchy with tiredness but, fortunately, he only had a few of the Gryffindor files left. Those were already organized according to the year of graduation. All he had left to do was to alphabetize them. He yawned trying to keep his heavy eyelids from closing.

"Aikman, Beecher, Black, Burton, Colfer, Davis." Adrian was absently muttering the names he was alphabetizing when suddenly the following files caught his attention. "Evans, Lily, that's Harry's mom and here are James Potter and Professor Lupin's files. Wow! Look at all those detentions!" he said in astonishment as he put the files in their respective spot in the Gryffindor cabinet.

Only one file was left on the floor now. Adrian bent down to pick it up and as soon as he read the name printed on the folder his eyes widened and his legs turned to gelatin. He collapsed on to the floor clutching the folder in his hands. He was staring in disbelief at the black letters on the side of the folder that read Franco, Clara Irene. He opened the folder and skimmed through the file. There was no doubt. That was his mother's file. A wave of fury washed over him. He couldn't believe that his mother had never told him that she had gone to Hogwarts.

"Well, you shouldn't be surprised Adrian. It's only one more thing to add to your 'Things I don't know about my mother' list," he thought bitterly. He was still staring at the folder when suddenly he felt someone's hand tapping on his shoulder. He turned to see who was tapping his shoulder but he didn't see anybody. He was bewildered looking around the room when he heard someone laughing. This time he recognized whose laughter it was. "Harry? Where are you? Are you wearing that invisibility cloak again?" he asked.

"You caught me," said Harry still sniggering and taking the cloak off in such a manner that Adrian could only see half of Harry's body. "You should've seen the look on your face."

"Very funny. What are you doing here anyway?"

"It's quarter past ten already and I was wondering what you and Madam Pince would be doing here all alone," said Harry smirking.

Adrian smiled weakly. He was still teed off from the recent discovery about his mother. "Nothing of course. I'm done."

"What's wrong?" asked Harry looking inquisitively at Adrian's grim expression.

Adrian sighed and shook his head as he showed Harry the folder he had been holding. "This is the last one." Just then, Madam Pince's shrill voice echoed through the library, "Are you done Mr. Franco?"

Harry quickly covered himself up with the invisibility cloak and gestured Adrian that he would be waiting for him outside. Adrian put his mother's file in the cabinet and closed it. "Yes Madam Pince, I'm done," he replied wearily.

"Very well, you may go now. Goodnight."

"Goodnight," said Adrian as he walked out of the library. Once Adrian was out in the hallway, Harry took off the cloak and began walking next to him.

"So your mom came to Hogwarts too? Why didn't you tell us?"

"Because I didn't know," answered Adrian sulkily and Harry shot him a puzzled look. "You know? My mom doesn't talk much about her past. I know that she loves me but sometimes I feel like she is a total stranger. There are so many things I don't know about her or my father and... I'm being over dramatic huh?"

"No, you are not. I know how it feels not to know anything about your parents," said Harry sympathetically.

"Yeah." Adrian decided that it was enough of confidences for a night. "Race you to the common room," he said and both of them broke into a run.

The following days went by swiftly and as the Winter Dance loomed nearer the students got more excited. It was getting harder and harder for them to concentrate on their classes for which the teachers, especially Snape and McGonagall, were assigning extra homework and reprimanding students left and right. For Harry it wasn't so bad, at least not as bad as it had been the previous year right before the Yule Ball. This year he wasn't a champion and best of all he didn't have to dance the opening dance feeling everyone's stares on him. Also, he was going with Ginny. He felt a little uneasy with her because he knew that she had a crush on him but he also felt more confident around her than he felt around any other girl, aside from Hermione of course. Besides, he had something to look forward to: the Christmas break. He was very excited because Dumbledore had given him permission to go spend the holidays with Adrian's family.

*~*~*~*~*~**~*~*~*~*~*

Since there isn't a date that doesn't come or a time that doesn't fall due the day of the Winter Dance finally arrived. Harry, Ron, Adrian, Dean, Seamus, and Neville were in their dormitory getting ready for the dance. Ron was very pleased as he looked at his own reflection in the mirror. He was wearing the new maroon dress robes that Fred and George had bought for him because they "felt ashamed of how shabby he looked in his old lacey robes" or so they said when Ron inquired about the reason behind their gift.

"These robes fit me perfectly. Do I look stunning or what?" he asked as he combed his flame red hair.

"Yeah sure. Move over prince charming. You are hogging the mirror," said Adrian snickering.

A few minutes later they were all dolled up and ready to go to the dance. They descended the stairs to the Gryffindor common room together and sat down to wait for their partners. Ginny came down first, and Harry was very surprised to see how pretty she looked in her velvet olive green robes that matched perfectly his own bottle green ones. Her flaming hair was arranged in lovely curls held by a circlet of flowers. "When did the skinny little girl transformed into such a lovely young lady?" he thought and then said awkwardly, "Y-you look very pretty Ginny."

"Thank you Harry," she replied blushing furiously.

Parvati and Lavender came down next. Parvati was wearing the same shocking pink robes she had worn last year. Her hair was arranged in a stylish braid and her arms and hands were glittering with jewelry. As she descended the stairs she was checking Ron out and she was very pleased to see that he was wearing new dress robes and that he looked very handsome in them. She walked next to him and took his arm. Ron's face turned crimson and he smiled gawkily at her, "Hi Parvati. You look great."

"Thank you," she answered batting her eyelashes.

Now it was Adrian's turn to be amazed because Hermione came down next. She was wearing organza robes lined with matching mauve satin. Her hair was styled into a loose bun with locks sticking out elegantly and she was wearing a silver and diamond choker with matching earrings and bracelet.

Adrian gasped at the sight of Hermione and hurried over to the staircase to meet her. "Hermione, you look gorgeous," he smiled.

Hermione felt herself blushing as she thanked Adrian for his compliment. The six of them walked out of the common room and went down to the Great Hall, which was superbly decorated. The sparkling silver walls were lined with garlands and fairy lights entwined together. There was an enormous Christmas tree standing handsomely at the back of the Hall (Professor Flitwick had certainly done a marvelous job of decorating it with his charmed ornaments). Instead of the four house tables, today there were many small tables covered with white tablecloths patterned with golden mistletoes. The enchanted ceiling showed a beautiful starry night and Christmas carols could be heard in the background to complete the picture perfect scenery.

Harry, Ginny, Hermione, Adrian, Ron, and Parvati sat at the same table and began talking contentedly. Ron was looking all around at the other couples that were entering the Hall when he said, "I bet we have the best looking partners of the whole school."

The three girls blushed slightly and Hermione joked, "Ron, are you sick or something? You are being gallant for the first time in your life!"

"What are you talking about? I'm always polite and gallant," replied Ron in indignation.

Everyone at the table began laughing, even Ron. "Well, I try too anyway," he shrugged picking up the menu in front of him. Everyone did the same and soon their plates were full with the delicious viands they had chosen from their menus.

Hermione felt a little uncomfortable and flattered at the same time because she caught Adrian staring at her a couple of times. As soon as she turned to look at him he would swiftly turn away pretending he was looking at something else. Adrian, on the other hand, was imagining how stupid he must look staring at Hermione but he just couldn't tear his eyes away from her.

An hour later, when everyone finished eating, Professor Dumbledore stood up from his seat to address the students, "I hope all of you enjoyed the feast as much as I did. Since I believe that we all have to be united and tolerant, tonight the musicians will be playing music from different countries and cultures, including muggle music. If anyone would like to hear a particular tune you may request the band to play it. Please step aside your tables."

Everyone did as Dumbledore said and with a wave of his hand all the tables moved to the sides of the Hall leaving a vast dancing space. "Now it's dancing time!" As soon as he said that, music began playing. Harry, Ron, and Adrian were looking awkwardly at their partners wondering if they should ask them to dance while the girls were talking amongst themselves. Nearly an hour went by like that and Parvati was getting very impatient so she said, "Ron, are you ever going to ask me to dance or should I find another partner?"

Ron's face turned crimson. "No," he swallowed, "do you want to dance?"

"What do you think," she said getting up and dragging Ron to the dance floor.

Ginny was looking expectantly at Harry so he asked, "do you want to dance, Ginny?"

She nodded and the two of them got up and joined the other dancing couples on the dance floor. A slow melody was just ending and a new, more rhythmical one, began playing. Drums, guitars and trumpets began resounding throughout the Hall in a sort of tropical and contagious rhythm.

Adrian, who had been aching the whole night to get closer to Hermione, quickly said, "I know this song! It's a muggle song. Want to dance Hermione?"

"I don't think I know how to. It sounds like one of those tunes that you have to dance very fast and move all around," she replied.

"It's easy, come on."

Hermione nodded hesitantly and got up. Adrian took her hand and guided her to the dance floor. Once there, she stood nervously in front of Adrian waiting for his instructions.

"Just move to the rhythm of the music," he said taking Hermione's hands and beginning to dance.

Man it's a hot one

Like seven inches

From the midday sun

I hear you whisper

And the words melt everyone

But you stay so cool

My munequita, my Spanish Harlem

Mona Lisa

You are my reason for reason

The step in my groove

Hermione began dancing nervously, but she was relieved to see that most of the other students were also clueless as to how to dance that kind of music. She was very surprised to see that Adrian was an excellent dancer. He was twirling her all around and following his lead she was soon dancing like a pro. "Where did you learn to dance muggle music?" she asked.

"I have a few muggle friends back in Spain, who love to throw parties and besides, I like muggle music. I'm surprised that you, being a muggle-born witch, haven't heard this song, it's very popular."

"Well, I'm not much into music. I'd rather read a good book," she shrugged and Adrian smiled.

And if you said this life

Ain't good enough

I would give my world to lift you up

I could change my life to better

Suit your mood

'Cause you're so smooth

By now, almost everyone was getting the hang of it. Even the teachers were dancing (trying to anyway). Dumbledore was dancing with McGonagall, Lupin with Professor Sprout, Hagrid with Madam Pomfrey (who looked like a little child compared to him) and Filch (believe it or not) with Trelawney. The beat of the melody was so contagious that even Snape was tapping his feet rhythmically under the table.

And it's just like the ocean

Under the moon

Well that's the same as the emotion

That I get from you

You got the kind of lovin' that could

Be so smooth

Give me your heart, make it real

Or else forget about it...

The song ended and Hermione's face was flushed from the dancing. She started walking back to their table to rest when she felt Adrian's hand grabbing her arm.

"Where are you going?" he asked pulling her closer.

"Back to the table. That dance was quite a workout," she smiled.

A new tune was starting now and Adrian didn't want to let go of Hermione so he said, "I really like this song come on, just this one and then I'll let you rest for a while."

"All right."

As they danced Hermione was observing Adrian carefully. He looked very attractive in his navy blue robes and now that she was this close to him she could see that, even though, he had a lean body he also had firm muscles (Quidditch practices were certainly helping in that). And for the first time in her life she found herself wondering how it would feel to have a boyfriend. She was so distracted by her thoughts that her left foot somehow got caught on the hem of her robes and she tripped. She was about to fall on top of Adrian when he caught her by the waist. "Are you alright?" he asked.

"Yes, sorry. I told you, I'm a terrible dancer," she replied blushing furiously (more because of her previous thoughts than because of her accident).

"Don't say that, you are a very good dancer," he said still holding her by the waist and looking deeply into her eyes. A few curious faces turned to look at them so they began dancing again.

The Hall was beaming, not only because of the decorations but also because of the environment. Everyone was dancing and laughing the night away. You could almost breathe the happiness floating in the air. Dumbledore was blissfully looking around the Hall. He felt very glad that the students, staff, and even he could spend such a nice evening and forget, at least for a couple of hours, about Voldemort and the horrors awaiting outside the castle.