Miss Hogwarts

Miss Hogwarts

Chapter Twelve
Heaven at Midnight

After tonight, Ginny had sworn to herself earlier in the day, nothing will change between Harry and me.

Ginny’s incurably romantic mind had told her that Miss Hogwarts, and the preparation for it, was just the beginning of a glorious relationship with Harry Potter. She had been pessimistic just yesterday, yes, but she had told him what she had always felt for him last night—and he had, too, although he had used Ron and utterly humiliated him. Wasn’t that enough?

Nah.

Not if it was all going to end after the pageant.

“You done yet?” Ginny yelled presently, rapping on the door of one lavatory.

“Hang on a second,” Harry hollered from inside.

Ginny crossed her arms across her chest in waiting until Harry opened the door. Strands of his long hair stuck onto different places of his face due to the effort of putting on the dress. It was the glittery black one they had chosen for the dance, which Harry was now donning rather carelessly.

“Can you zip this thing?” Harry said, motioning to his back.

“Turn around,” said Ginny.

Harry did as he was told. Ginny fumbled with the zipper on the back of Harry’s dress. She tugged at it upwards, past the bra that she had so unabashedly lent him without telling him it was hers. She lifted his hair and slid the zipper the rest of the way up, stopping just below his nape, which she noticed was unnaturally pink.

Ginny’s hands hesitantly went downwards. But, owing to the fact that she just had to do it, or else Harry would look disheveled onstage...her hands fell in place. And she silently yanked the dress so that it fit Harry around his hips.

“Okay,” said Ginny, her cheeks feeling very warm indeed. She then led him to their corner, let him sit down on a chair, and came up with a box of fake diamond jewelry. She fitted the earrings, which had only clasps on them, on Harry’s earlobes. Then she took his hand and put a bracelet around his wrist.

When she looked up, she saw Harry staring at her face. Blinking, she managed to ask, “What?”

Harry gave her a small smile. “Nothing.”

It would have been a sweet, wonderful moment, if Harry weren’t all dolled up and pretty. Oh, how I love you, Ginny mentally told him, staring back as she arranged his hair in place.

Ginny was only vaguely aware of Lee Jordan and Meg Leroux talking in the background until the audience outside cheered. She and Harry had a fleeting sight of Roger coming out on the stage, wearing a pink ballet dress.

Ginny couldn’t resist giving out a snort of laughter. She turned to Harry, whom she expected to be laughing as well, but he was just staring after Roger.

Ginny had a feeling that she knew why. “You’re on in about...seven minutes, huh?”

Harry merely nodded nervously.

“Oh, come on—you made it through the entrance! This will be a breeze.”

“Yeah, well...” Harry’s eyes flickered towards something behind her. Ginny twisted around to find Ron pacing just outside the lavatories.

Ginny let out a heavy sigh and patted Harry’s hand. “I’ll be back in a second,” she said, standing up to leave the backstage.

“Just be quick, all right?” Harry said warily.

Ginny nodded. “Of course.”

Just then, music began playing outside, and the audience applauded once more for Roger.

When Ginny turned her back on Harry, she immediately felt her hands shaking. She resisted the urge to put both of them on her cheeks—at least, until she was out of Harry’s sight.

She had just touched Harry Potter’s arse.

* * *

When Malfoy came out of one of the cubicles to find Ron pacing, Harry saw that he regarded Ron with a disgusted look and went away with Pansy. Malfoy was clad in a glittering green top that only reached about an inch below the water balloons, and a silky sort of skirt down to his ankles.

Ron, meanwhile, didn’t enter the loo. He was still pacing.

“You okay, Ron?” asked Harry, who had just peeked through the curtains to check what Roger was doing.

“Yeah,” Ron grunted.

Harry didn’t believe him for a second. Putting on his glasses, he took another peek at the stage. Roger was in his element. He wasn’t really a good ballet dancer—not by a long shot—but his knack of entertaining the audience was phenomenal. The music he used wasn’t classical; he used jazz instead, one that was appropriate for ballet dancing. At one point he did a pirouette with his arms above him, then glided on stage, and ended up with a split.

Ouch. Harry shuddered, wincing. He looked back at Ron. He was still pacing, and his shirt already wet through with sweat.

Harry took a deep breath and took his wand out of Ginny’s bag. “Hold still,” he told Ron, walking towards him. He then cast a Drying Spell on his clothes.

“Thanks,” Ron muttered.

Harry eyed him apprehensively. “Hey. Do you realize we’re about to embark on what could be the most embarrassing moment of our lives?”

“Yeah.”

“Do you realize that after this, everyone could be teasing the two of us?”

Ron sniffed. “You have no idea.”

“Do you realize that no matter what we do, what I just said will happen?”

“Yeah...”

“So...”

Ron looked at Harry expectantly, as though reading his mind.

“I think we should...you know...give our all when we go out there...because we’ll still be embarrassed. Better make the most out of it.” Harry shrugged.

Trumpets blared, and Harry figured that Roger’s performance was half over. He had about three minutes to go. His knees began to wobble. What was wrong with him? He had gone through the first part, hadn’t he? Why was he nervous now?

He glanced at Ron—Ron’s face had turned into a nasty green shade.

“Ron,” Harry muttered frantically. “Hey—you need to—?”

Harry didn’t get to finish the sentence. Ron abruptly ran into the loo and locked himself up. Harry heard him hurling out whatever he had for lunch.

“Oh, God,” Harry mumbled, eyes wide as he stared at the stage. Roger was bending backwards, trying to reach the ground with his fingers. Harry would be called onstage any second now. He felt like a dozen Chocolate Frogs had started moving around his stomach.

“Where did Ron go?” Harry heard Ginny ask as she approached him. She had come back, carrying two bottles of Butterbeer.

“Retching,” Harry said weakly, relieved to see someone who didn’t look so anxious. He grabbed the bottle she handed him and took a long swig.

As if on cue, a pale Ron emerged out of the loo, wiping his mouth with a handkerchief. Ginny tossed him the other bottle. “Thanks,” he gasped.

“Ron,” Harry said, “remember what I told you?”

Ron only nodded wordlessly.

Harry and Ginny caught each other’s eyes. Both seemed to be anticipating doomsday.

Trumpets blared again, more loudly than ever. Harry took another long gulp of Butterbeer, imagining the liquid drowning the frogs in his stomach. Right when he finished the bottle, they heard a riotous applause from the audience, particularly on the left-center side where the Ravenclaws were.

“Here we go,” said Harry, removing his glasses and handing them to Ginny, along with his bottle of Butterbeer.

“Wait,” Ginny suddenly said, fishing something out of her pocket. The Ever-Equipped One came up with a little pot of lipstick. “Say ‘ah’.”

Harry obliged and let her put lipstick on him.

“That was Miss Ravenclaw in a tutu, dancing ballet,” they heard Lee Jordan say. “What talent.”

“I must say,” Meg agreed. “I guess doing all those complicated moves in Quidditch taught Miss Ravenclaw a few things.”

The audience chuckled. Harry silently begged her to joke more to stall for time.

“I’ll have a look at those moves again in the next Ravenclaw match,” Lee said. “But meanwhile, I’d like to introduce our next contestant, who is incidentally a Quidditch player too....”

Ginny finished retouching his lipstick. She pressed an unnaturally clammy hand on Harry’s cheek. “Don’t be nervous; it’s all in the mind. Break a leg, Harriet.”

Harry swallowed and nodded, not noticing Roger return to the backstage and the others congratulating him.

“Our next contestant,” Lee went on, “is already famous in her own right.” Harry winced at this point. So Lee and Meg had decided to use the feminine pronouns on the contestants. “Here in Hogwarts, she’s our champion Seeker, and out in the wizarding world she’s The Boy—I mean, the Girl Who Lived.”

The audience let out an appreciative laugh. Harry, though certainly not amused, didn’t say anything; he was busy taking deep breaths. Ron was doing the same beside him.

“Let’s make the best out of this, all right?” Harry said again.

“Okay,” Ron squeaked.

“My friends,” Lee said solemnly—as he did so Harry suddenly felt his nervousness turn into something else. All the frogs miraculously disappeared, just like a while ago, in the entrance number. “It’s all in the mind,” Ginny had said, and Harry suddenly understood what she had meant.

“It is of greatest honor to introduce to you the side of Harry Potter we never knew. I give you—Miss...Gryffindor!”

To Harry’s surprise, it was Ron who tugged at his hands. Harry stared at him just as they swept through the curtains. Ron was—it was impossible, but he really was—grinning widely.

The audience gave out a loud hoot, but it was the shrieks of the girls that lingered. A girl yelled, “I LOVE YOU, RON!” and Harry knew it wasn’t Hermione.

Harry likewise smiled at the audience and waved gracefully. Ron then released his hand and crossed the stage on the other side, facing Harry.

Harry extended his left arm towards Ron, palm down and fingers curled. “You do look good, you know,” he whispered.

“And you were the one who said I’m not attractive just last night,” said Ron.

Harry cracked a smile. “I’m wearing a dress right now, darling.”

The intro of Heaven at Midnight played from somewhere unseen. It was their cue. As the first notes of the xylophones were heard, Harry and Ron did a complicated dance step towards each other, a cross between cha-cha and rumba. The audience went wild when their hands met. Harry and Ron grinned at each other. Ginny is a genius, Harry thought.

Harry knew everything so well that everything just came out smoothly. But it was different this time. He and Ron had never danced this way before. It must have been the audience that charged him, or the realization that this was the stage, this was Miss Hogwarts, and this was a contest.

Harry found that he was graceful and lively—and that he could actually dance. Ron, meanwhile, was amazingly brilliant. They pulled off Ginny’s choreography of Latino ballroom dances so flawlessly, so impressively. At one point, when Ron twirled Harry around twice, he caught Harry off-guard—right afterwards, he grabbed him by the waist and tipped him towards the ground. Harry’s back ached a little when Ron pulled him back on his feet, but continued dancing, getting carried away by the catchy tune.

“Back, place, front, place, right, place, left, place”—Ginny’s voice chanted in Harry’s head as the bongo drums and marimbas were heard. He was only vaguely aware of the audience shouting madly. He was just dancing to his heart’s content, as if nobody was watching.

Time flew by, and all too soon, the song ended. Harry’s talent portion was over.

The Gryffindors went wild. Harry and Ron broke apart from their pose and bowed. Harry waved at them, breathing hard. Ron raised a fist to the air. Then they slipped out of the audience’s sight.

He had done it. He hadn’t missed a single step, nor became awkward at any point in the dance.

Miss Hogwarts, as far as Harry was concerned, was half over.

* * *

Hermione had rushed backstage right after Harry and Ron’s dance. She promptly crushed them both in a mighty hug—which seemed impossible, given her size—as she laughed her heart out.

“You were awesome,” she gushed. “Amazing. You never did it as good as that in your practices! It looked all so real—Harry, you were so graceful, I almost believed you were really a girl!”

Harry winced. “Come on, Hermione.”

“SERIOUSLY! And you two were looking at each other as if you were really in love—”

Harry and Ron quickly jumped apart.

“—And all the Gryffindors were just amazed and...oh, you were wonderful!” She reached up again to hug Harry.

Harry hugged her back, feeling relieved. At least this part was over.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Ginny rush to Ron and embrace him. “I knew you can dance, if you only had the right partner!” she told him teasingly.

“Yeah, yeah...” Ron was looking at Harry and Hermione, as though desperately trying to catch Hermione’s attention.

Rolling his eyes, Harry broke away from Hermione, looked at her meaningfully, and motioned to Ron. Hermione only grinned even wider and rushed to him.

“Harry!” Ginny cried, smiling at him, her eyes crinkling at the edges. “I had no idea it would be as great as that.”

“Told you I won’t screw up.”

Ginny grinned. “Okay, forgive me for not trusting you.”

Harry didn’t take his eyes off her. She really had no idea she was the one he had to thank for everything.

“Come on,” said Ginny, grabbing his hand and leading him towards Roger, Cho and Hannah, who were watching through the curtains. Harry didn’t notice Justin come out onstage, or hear Lee and Meg call him, but Justin was there now—and Harry couldn’t help but be impressed. Justin was wearing a tuxedo top, a shiny sort of skirt and netted stockings. He was holding a cane and a top hat, and was singing and dancing cabaret. His voice was obviously forced, but he was not off-key or anything. In fact, Harry thought, he sounded great. What was even more remarkable was that Justin was dancing while singing, and was doing a perfectly good job of it.

The three Hufflepuffs in tuxedos that Harry had seen earlier turned out to be Justin’s escorts. Justin was pretending to charm them while dancing—the audience went wild when Justin walked around one of them, eyeing him seductively, and slid his cane on his chin towards him. Harry had to admit that Justin was good.

“That’s a Muggle dance,” said Harry, staring at Justin. “Where’d he learn to do that?”

“Do you need to be reminded that Justin’s Muggle-born?”

“Yeah, but...that’s really amazing, what he’s doing. Didn’t know he can sing and dance.”

Ginny looked at Justin thoughtfully. “Yes, he’s good.” Then she nudged him on one side of his hip. “But you were great, too.”

She glanced behind them, at Malfoy and Pansy. Malfoy was wearing a thin green veil, held in place by a gold hoop. Pansy was putting bangles on his wrists. Apparently, Malfoy was going to do belly-dancing.

“What are you staring at, Weasley?” Pansy suddenly snarled. Malfoy turned around his chair to face her and Harry.

Ginny stiffened, but immediately graced them with a smile. “I was just wondering where the snake you’ll be charming is,” she told Malfoy, smirking. “Be careful—Harry the Parselmouth is here, and he could ruin your performance.”

Harry looked at her with a mixture of disbelief and amusement, partly because she was one of the very few people who could make Draco Malfoy narrow his eyes murderously. Before Malfoy or Pansy could try anything, though, Harry put an arm around her.

He had done it easily, as though it was the most natural thing in the world. He felt Ginny stiffen; then, almost immediately, her shoulders fell and her head rested on his upper arm. She looked up at him with an almost apologetic smile.

“Ahem.”

The two of them looked up to see Ron and Hermione staring at them. Hermione was smiling. “You two look like you’re best girl friends or something.”

Ginny laughed and pushed herself away from Harry. Harry, however, was stunned. Acknowledging his feelings for Ginny was so easy for him that he even forgot he looked like a girl himself while he was doing so.

A loud cheer was heard from outside, signaling that Justin’s performance was over. Malfoy stood up and, to Harry’s glee, Malfoy looked extremely anxious. After a few seconds Justin and his three escorts appeared backstage and Hannah hugged each one of them.

“Good one,” said Harry, giving Justin a thumbs-up.

“Thanks,” Justin said, grinning. “That’s one huge pain in the arse gone, eh?”

Harry couldn’t agree more. Just then, Meg called Malfoy onstage, and Malfoy disappeared through the curtains to be greeted by loud applause and wolf-whistles.

“Shouldn’t I be wearing that evening gown already?” Harry asked, turning back to Ginny.

“If you want,” said Ginny. “We can wait, as there’s an intermission number after Malfoy while everyone eats dinner. They’re bringing food up here,” Ginny added, obviously seeing Harry’s disappointed face when he had thought they wouldn’t be joining in the Halloween feast.

“Let me see the git dance,” said Ron, pushing through the crowd to peek through the curtains. Harry and Ginny followed him. The music, sounding like something that came out of the Arabian Nights, had just begun.

Harry watched Malfoy stand on tiptoe and wave his arms about, going around in circles onstage so that all the silk on his clothes fluttered gracefully. Harry noticed, however, that Malfoy himself wasn’t very graceful. Apparently Ginny thought the same; she looked up at him and grinned triumphantly.

“Ready for the question-and-answer?” she asked, moving away from the crowd towards the corner where she had arranged Harry’s hair and makeup.

“I hope,” Harry replied, sitting down across her. “I mean, I hope I can be witty out there.”

“Well, it’s really the answer that matters, isn’t it? This is probably the only part where you’re truly yourself out there.”

Harry chuckled sardonically and glanced down his dress. “Oh, yeah. With this?”

Ginny only smiled in a wise manner. She picked up her bag and came up with a hand mirror. Then she reached out to brush his hair off his forehead and held the mirror in front of him. “Reality check, Harry,” she said.

Harry stared at Ginny in confusion, then took the mirror. When he looked at his own reflection, he had to blink in surprise. For despite the new hair, the colored lips and the makeup, the one thing that stood out was his scar. It was there, a thin pink line on the right side of his forehead. It was something that even the concealer was not able to hide.

Harry looked back at Ginny, who took the mirror. She seemed to be struggling with something she had been holding back for a long time.

“It’s been four weeks since I started working with you, Harry,” Ginny went on quietly. She looked up to meet his eyes. “Despite all the cross-dressing, I...I still see you—the real you—in there.” She glanced at his chest, where his heart was, and smiled warmly. She was almost biting her lip, and her cheeks were pinkish.

Harry felt his heart flutter against his ribs. Ginny had a way of looking into his eyes that made him feel that she was aware of his whole being. And by doing so—by those simple gestures, or by adding simple words—he became more aware of himself.

Ginny presently stood up. “I’ll just...go see what they’re up to,” she said, patting his arm before joining Hannah and Cho in watching Malfoy. Ginny was easily the smallest among the three girls, and yet she stood out because of that flaming red hair. She didn’t have Cho’s delicate Asian features, nor Hannah’s sweet face, but she had something else.

Ginny whispered something to Hannah and Cho, and the three of them laughed. And as Ginny threw her head back, Harry realized what was so special about Ginny: she burst with life, and her sensitive, caring soul poured out of her.

She was...what she truly was.

Ginny must have felt his eyes on her; she met his gaze, then cocked her head in a questioning manner. Harry felt his cheeks burn. He only wished there were enough makeup on him to hide his blushing face. He gave her a small smile, which she returned.

Harry felt his stomach do a cartwheel. It was a different feeling from the frogs in his stomach just before the entrance number or his dance number with Ron. It was somehow a more welcome sensation, but it made him even more nervous.

I’m going to tell her, Harry vowed to himself. Tonight. Right after Miss Hogwarts. It’s now or never.

Jenna’s Notes: Mush. Hooray. This chapter took quite a bit of research, I can tell you! I have to thank whoever choreographed Diamonds are a Girl's Best Friend in Moulin Rouge and Natalie's dance in Charlie's Angels for the inspiration. Justin and Harry couldn't have danced so well if it weren't for you. :) Many thanks to Alli and Kate for all the help, and you, my readers, for putting up with this silly fic.
Next chapter we’ll be seeing the question-and-answer portion and perhaps the announcement of the winner. Will it be Harry? Will Harry be able to tell Ginny how he feels? It’s a chapter you can’t miss!