The Book of Morgan Le Fey

Chapter Ten: The Halloween Ball

Bill and Harry scheduled the first D.A. meeting to take place on a Tuesday night, and got permission from Dumbledore to use the Great Hall. Harry had spent the rest of the weekend working up a schedule with Bill and squeezing in another Occlumency lesson.

Ron was getting more and more worried about Harry. The only time he seemed remotely himself these days was during Quidditch practices. He was quieter, more closed off than he had ever been; Ron knew that Harry's scar was hurting him worse than he was letting on. He knew that Occlumency lessons were draining him of energy and spirit. But Ron didn't have a clue how to help.

The afternoon of the D.A. meeting, their Defense Against the Dark Arts lesson was letting out. They had finished Patronuses and were working on Repelling Spells, to ward off some of the milder curses; Bill informed them that Occlumency lessons would begin after Halloween.

The class filed out, but Ron lagged behind, anxious to talk to Bill. Draco Malfoy shot him a sneering look, and as he passed he said under his breath, 'My dad's out, Weasel-king. Your Mudblood girlfriend's as good as dead. Not to mention Saint Potter.' Crabbe and Goyle were flanking Malfoy and they chuckled sycophantically.

Ron took a threatening step toward Malfoy, fully prepared to hex the hell out of him right then and there, when Bill intervened.

'Clear off, Malfoy,' he snapped. 'Unless you'd like a few detentions.'

'We were just leaving, Professor,' Malfoy drawled sarcastically, shooting a disgusted look at Bill.

Malfoy turned on his heel and stalked out of the classroom, followed by his cronies. They passed Hermione, who was standing in the doorway, looking at Ron anxiously, but they said nothing to her, clearly not wanting to risk it in front of Bill. Harry had already left.

'I'll catch up,' Ron called, giving her a smile. She nodded, but she took her time leaving, clearly not interested in being confronted by Malfoy and his goons on her own again. Ron and Bill waited a few seconds while Hermione made much ado about re-packing her bag, and then smiled at her as she edged her way out of the classroom.

'What's up?' Bill asked, returning to his desk and stacking up several rolls of parchment.

'I want to talk to you,' Ron said. 'About Harry.'

'What about Harry?'

'I'm worried about him,' said Ron. 'He's not himself. Not at all. He's tired all the time, he doesn't talk to me or Hermione. He's got this...this sort of...I dunno...this haunted look about him all the time. I think this Occlumency stuff is really starting to mess with his head.'

Bill stopped packing up his things and looked up at Ron, a sad smile on his face.

'Learning Occlumency takes its toll for a while,' Bill said, trying to sound reassuring. 'But eventually he's going to get stronger. He has to.'

'What if he doesn't?' Ron retorted. 'Last year with Snape he got worse, okay? His scar hurt him all the time. And yeah, you're a whole lot nicer than Snape is but you're still invading his brain or whatever it is you're doing and he looks like hell and he's--'

'Not himself,' Bill finished. 'Look, Ron, I know this isn't easy for you to watch. It's not easy for me, either. It's not fun for me to do this stuff to him. You think I leave those lessons feeling good about myself? I don't. But it's vital that Harry learn how to do this. It's vital that he master it. Dumbledore wouldn't have let me teach him if he didn't think Harry could handle it.'

'Yeah, but what happens along the way?' Ron shot back. 'Dammit, Bill, Sirius died, okay? And he still had to spend half his summer with those rotten Muggles and even if they were a bit nicer to him it's not like he had his friends around him to help him deal with Sirius dying. How much is he supposed to take?'

Bill shook his head. 'Ron, Harry is more important than you understand. Than even I understood. Harry is the only person who can destroy Voldemort, okay? He's the only one.'

'Oh, come off it,' Ron snorted. 'What's that all about? Since when? I thought Dumbledore was the only one Voldemort ever feared, anyway.'

'I can't tell you why this falls on Harry,' Bill said. 'Dumbledore swore me to keep it a secret, and anyway, it's not for me to tell you. It's for Harry to tell. I'm sorry I can't be more helpful.'

'Tell me what I can do to help him, then,' Ron said, feeling very uncomfortable talking about Harry like this.

'Just be his friend,' said Bill simply. 'You and Hermione, and Ginny, and anyone else. What you have to understand is that Harry is only beginning to realize the burdens he's faced with. He's going to try and push you away because he thinks it'll be safer that way. Don't let him do it. He can't do this on his own.'

'But you just said he's the only one--'

'It's complicated,' Bill said patiently. 'Some day you'll understand better.'

'Oh, great,' said Ron angrily. 'That's a fine answer. I'm not a kid, you know, Bill. I can take whatever--'

'I told you, it's not my place to say,' Bill said, sitting down in his chair.

Ron gave a huge sigh, feeling defeated. He had hoped Bill might shed some light on Harry's behavior, but now Ron felt only more confused.

'I better go, I guess,' said Ron glumly. 'I'll see you at the D.A. meeting in a bit, shall I?'

Bill nodded but said nothing. Ron nodded back, picked up his bag, and dragged himself out of the classroom, feeling as bad as he had felt after his recent rows with Hermione.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Three hours later Ron, Harry and Hermione returned to the Great Hall to find it completely cleared of tables and chairs. In their places were what had to be hundreds of cushions. Bill seemed to be arranging a pair of them and looked up.

'Hey,' he said, nodding to them. 'Well, I guess people will be coming around in a few minutes. Unless they forgot to look at the message boards. Harry, you want to assist?'

'Sure,' said Harry in a flat voice. He looked as exhausted and gloomy as ever, but he forced a smile for Bill's benefit.

Very quickly students began to file in. It was a much bigger turn-out than the original D.A. meetings, but then again, the first time through they had been a secret organization and had not broadcast their intentions to everyone.

Many familiar faces were there, however. Susan Bones, Hannah Abbott, Ernie MacMillan and Zacharias Smith of Hufflepuff trooped in together. Next came some Ravenclaws, including Luna Lovegood, Cho Chang, Michael Corner, Terry Boot, Anthony Goldstein, Padma Patil, and to Ron's extreme annoyance, Eddie Carmichael. Then several more Gryffindors, including Ginny, Neville, Seamus, Dean, Parvati, Lavender and both Creevey brothers. But when Ron saw who entered the room next he would have traded them for a whole room full of Eddie Carmichaels.

Draco Malfoy strode in, followed by Crabbe, Goyle, the Slytherin Quidditch captain Montague, Blaise Zabini, Pansy Parkinson and Millicent Bulstrode.

'What are THEY doing here?' Ron demanded, not bothering to lower his voice.

'Ron!' Hermione hissed. 'They can be here if they want.'

'Oh, come on!' Ron hissed back. 'They're only here so they can do nasty spells on people, namely us.'

'They're not going to do anything with Bill here,' Hermione insisted. 'And don't forget all the other original D.A. members. Remember what they did to Malfoy and those two thugs on the train?'

'Right,' Ron said, brightening a little at the memory of the three giant slugs several D.A. members had turned Malfoy, Crabbe and Goyle into at the end of last term.

'Attention, please, everyone!' Bill called as he stood up on a chair. 'As most of you know this group exists for the purpose of practicing defensive spells. The group was led last year by Harry Potter, of course, but this year I'm in charge, and Harry will assist. As such, any out-of-turn hexing, jinxing or cursing will be severely punished.' He shot an appraising glance at the Slytherins.

'Tonight we're going to go over everything we've covered so far. Reductor Curses, Disarming Spells, Impediment Jinxes, Total Body Binds, the whole lot. We'll end with Patronuses. Pair up, please.'

Ron made a move to pair up with Harry, who looked grateful to get away from Bill for a few moments. Ron could tell Harry was not entirely comfortable with starting the D.A. up again, especially with so many Slytherins present.

Hermione started to pair with Neville when Eddie Carmichael glided over, a smarmy grin on his face.

'Want to partner up, Hermione?' Eddie said in that honeyed, nauseating voice.

'Oh, lovely,' Ron muttered under his breath.

'All right, then,' said Hermione, her cheeks pink. She had a radiant kind of smile on her face. Ron felt distinctly sick.

'Just go easy on me, okay?' Eddie said, winking at her.

'That's not really the point of D.A. meetings, Eddie,' Ron said scathingly. Harry swatted him on the arm.

'Knock it off,' he said under his breath.

Hermione gave Ron a murderous look and Ron quickly shrugged his shoulders apologetically. Eddie, however, hadn't noticed anything, because he was too busy leering rather obviously at Hermione, his eyes lingering on the swell of her bosom. Ron realized that he, too, was glancing surreptitiously at this particular part of Hermione's body. His neck went hot; he really oughtn't look at her chest like that, but, well, it had...grown a bit over the past year, and it looked very nice on her, and anyway, he was a bloke and he couldn't really help noticing things like that.

Ron looked at Eddie again, who was grinning wolfishly at Hermione; the Head Boy then stole another look at Hermione's chest and licked his lips. Ron clenched his fists.

'Harry, do-a-curse-on-me-now-because-if-you-don't-I'm-going-to-pound-Carmichael's-face-in,' Ron said, very fast in one breath and in low voice so Eddie and Hermione couldn't hear. But Harry swatted him on the arm again to shut him up. Ron took a deep breath to calm himself down and settled for grinding his teeth.

'Wands out,' Bill instructed. 'When I give the word, do the Disarming Spell. Ready. GO!'

Shouts of 'Expelliarmus!' filled the room. Ron pointed his wand at Harry but Harry was too quick for him; he shouted the incantation and Ron's wand flew out of his hand and clattered to the floor.

'Damn,' Ron muttered, picking up his wand. 'How is it you're so fast?'

'I'm smaller than you,' Harry said, and he grinned for the first time in many days. 'You've got those big meathooks for hands. And those huge feet. Makes you slow and clumsy.'

'Ha ha.' said Ron. 'Well, you know what they say about blokes with big hands and feet?'

'What do they say?' Hermione asked, handing Eddie back his wand.

'Oh, uh, I don't know, actually,' Ron lied, feeling his face get hot. Oops. He hadn't meant for anyone but Harry to hear him.

'Oh, come on, Weasley,' said Eddie, in a falsely jovial kind of voice, as though he were enjoying a lewd joke with a close mate. 'Everyone knows that old saying.'

'Yeah, well, I don't,' Ron said through clenched teeth, and it took every ounce of self control not to shove his wand up Eddie's perfect, perky little nose.

'I'm sure Hermione'd love to hear it,' Eddie went on.

Just then Bill came by. 'Boys, stop fighting over Hermione, would you? This is a meeting, not a social club or a pissing match.'

Eddie gave a hearty laugh and Ron stared at his older brother in fury and disbelief.

Hermione gave a nervous laugh.

'Um, shall we?' she asked Eddie. 'Continue, I mean?'

'All right, then,' Eddie said, giving her his most dazzling smile. 'Let's see what you've got.'

Ron's temper reached the boiling point at that instant, and it was only the most fleeting desire of not wanting to make Hermione angry with him that he aimed his wand at Harry instead of Eddie.

'Impedimenta!' he shouted, and Harry went flying off his feet.

'Ron!' Bill snapped. 'We're doing Disarming Spells, not Impediment Jinxes.'

'It's okay,' Harry said, sounding a bit winded as he got up. 'I'm fine. That was a good one, Ron.'

'Thanks,' said Ron darkly. 'Sorry about that.'

'No problem,' said Harry, smiling wryly and fixing Ron with a knowing look.

'Keep your mind on what you're doing, please?' Bill said under his breath.

Ron gave his brother a hateful look as he walked away and tried to ignore the sniggering of the Slytherins and the fact that Hermione was beaming happily at Eddie.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It was less than a week to Halloween and Ron was so caught up with his studies, Quidditch, prefect duties and the D.A. that he forgot about the Halloween ball. He was rudely reminded of it by huge signs (no doubt put up by that prat Carmichael) posted outside the common rooms.

'You STILL don't have a date?' Harry asked. He was in a better mood this week, though Ron hadn't quite figured out why.

'No,' Ron said sullenly. 'I forgot about it, okay? Now help me figure out who to ask, because if I show up alone and Crabbe and Goyle get dates to this thing, I'm going to kill myself.'

'What about Padma?' Harry suggested. 'She might, you know, give you another go. Maybe she heard about your huge hands and feet.'

'Ha ha,' said Ron, rolling his eyes. 'Padma's going with Anthony. Try again.'

'How about Parvati, then?' Harry said. 'She's a bit nicer than Padma, and she plays Quidditch.'

'That's a bit weird, though, isn't it?' said Ron, looking skeptical. 'Going out with one sister and then taking out the other?.'

'Ron, you went to the Yule Ball with Padma two years ago,' Harry said, sounding a bit exasperated. 'I'm sure neither of them would care.'

'Yeah, all right then,' Ron said, resigning himself to asking Parvati. Well, Ron thought, at least she's really good looking.

But Ron was unsuccessful with Parvati, as she had already secured a date with Terry Boot, the Ravenclaw Chaser.

'What about Luna?' Harry suggested, when Ron came back to him empty-handed.

'Not on your life,' said Ron firmly. 'I already told you that.'

They were silent for a moment, both considering.

'Hey,' Ron said, brightening. 'What about that Susan Bones?'

'Uh, she's going with me, actually,' said Harry, blushing.

'Oh,' said Ron, deflating a bit. 'You fancy her?'

'I dunno,' said Harry, staring at his shoelaces suddenly as if they were fascinating. 'She's nice, you know. Smart. Not bad looking, either. I mean, I don't know her all that well, but we, uh, we've sort of been talking...here and there.'

'That's great, Harry,' said Ron impatiently. 'But I'm the one with no date, remember?'

'Right,' said Harry. 'How about Lavender?'

'Fine, except she's Seamus's girlfriend,' said Ron, rolling his eyes.

'Oh, right. Hannah Abbott?'

'She's with Ernie.'

'Eloise Midgen?'

'Her nose is crooked!'

'There HAS to be a girl around for you to go with.'

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Two days before the ball Ron was still dateless, and to his horror he learned that Crabbe and Goyle had indeed somehow managed to secure dates.

He was returning from dinner to go get ready for Quidditch practice when Luna Lovegood floated dreamily toward him, her protuberant eyes managing to look both hazy and bright at the same time.

'Oh, hello, Ronald,' she said in that slow voice of hers.

'Uh, hi,' he said uncomfortably. 'I'm just on my way...have to go to Quidditch practice, so...' He started down the hall, but to his shock, she followed him. It was amazing how she was able to keep up with his long stride, considering she was so much shorter than he was and that her legs barely seemed to move. Maybe she'd done a Levitation Charm on herself.

'I heard you don't have a date for the Halloween ball,' Luna said, smiling raptly at him.

'Uh, no, I don't,' Ron said, picking up his pace and looking around desperately for someone, anyone, to get him away from her. At this point he'd take Peeves dumping stinksap on his head.

'Well, I don't, either,' Luna said, but she didn't sound too upset about it. 'I've always thought it's not very nice, these social events that pressure people to pair up. Someone always gets left out.'

'Right,' said Ron, at last spotting the fat lady's portrait and now practically running.

'But since the ball is what it is, perhaps you and I could--'

'I really have to run, Luna,' Ron said quickly.

'Fainting Fancies' he practically shouted at the fat lady. 'See you later,' he said to Luna, throwing himself through the portrait hole.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

'I don't see why you can't go with Luna,' said Hermione the next morning, when Ron had filled her and Harry in on his encounter with Luna in the hallway.

'You don't?' Ron said, incredulous. 'You're the one who thinks she's a mad bat, remember?'

'Well, she is a little off, I'll grant you,' said Hermione, daintily sipping a cup of coffee, 'but she's nice enough. And, no offense Ron, but it's not as if there's much left.'

'Who's fault is that?' Ron snapped angrily.

'Don't go there!' Harry said quickly, glaring at him and Hermione. They both settled for giving each other dirty looks and finishing their breakfast in silence.

By the next day Ron had resigned himself simply to not going to the ball at all. Hermione lectured him for a full fifteen minutes before he told her to put a lid on it, which succeeded only in offending her and her giving him another round of the silent treatment for the rest of the day.

The day of the ball came and Ron was still dateless. For half the day he sulked, insisting he wouldn't go, but then Harry gently reminded him that if he, Ron, didn't go, he wouldn't get to keep an eye on Eddie Carmichael and Hermione. Ron spent the rest of the day in search of a date. His only criteria were that she be at least fifteen and not Luna Lovegood.

But to his amazement, nobody was available. Every girl he approached had secured a partner for the evening's events. He couldn't understand how it had happened.

He was just working up the courage to go to Professor McGonagall's office to ask her to conjure up a girl for him to take to the ball when Luna Lovegood found him again.

'Hi, Ronald,' she said, smiling at him and twirling her dark blonde hair in her fingers.

'Oh, uh, hi,' he said. 'What...what's up?'

'Let's go to the Halloween ball together, shall we?' she asked. 'I have a really spectacular costume. And you wouldn't have to dance with me. I know you don't like to dance.'

'Don't I?' Ron said, a sense of horror and dread filling him. But something else was taking over his thoughts: a sense of guilt. Luna wasn't looking at him with her usual dreamy expression. There was something like desperation there instead. He wondered just how much she really liked him.

For a whole minute she simply looked at him expectantly, and he said nothing, his mind debating. If he agreed to take Luna, what if she took it the wrong way and thought he fancied her? But maybe if he was honest with her she'd get hysterical and curse him. She was scary enough to do that. Then there was the idea of showing up with Luna at the ball in the first place. The Slytherins would have a field day laughing at him. And he could only imagine the kind of costume Luna had come up with.

'Ronald, you haven't answered my question,' she pressed.

'Uh, okay,' he said, before he realized just what he was saying. He swallowed. 'Yeah. I'll...I'll go with you.'

'Ooh, Ronald!' she cried, and she twirled around three times before throwing her arms around him and kissing him wetly on the cheek. 'We'll have so much fun, I promise!' Even in her excitement her voice never lost its vague, dreamy quality.

'Yeah,' said Ron, trying to push her away gently. 'Look, Luna. Um, you're a nice girl, okay? But...but I really just...prefer to be friends. Okay? I mean, let's have fun at the ball and what, but just...as friends.'

'Oh, of course, Ronald,' she said, as though she hadn't really heard him. 'I'd better get ready. See you in a little while!'

She had danced off down the hallway before Ron realized that he hadn't thought to ask her when or where to meet him.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It was only when Ron returned to the common room that he remembered he hadn't given a thought toward assembling a costume. He raced up the spiral staircase and threw open the door to the dormitory.

'Hey,' said Harry, looking up as he put on a ripped black T-shirt that bore the legend The Sex Pistols. His black hair, always untidy, was now sticking out in very severe spikes as though it were full of glue. 'Get a date yet?'

'Yeah,' said Ron, 'Luna Lovegood. And if you laugh or say anything about it I swear I'll punch your lights out.'

'I wasn't going to, mate,' said Harry quickly.

What are you supposed to be dressed up as, anyway?'

'Sid Vicious,' said Harry.

'Who?'

'He was in this Muggle punk rock band back in the 70s,' said Harry. 'But he died of a drug overdose or something. The T-shirt's Dudley's. My hair's the wrong color and Sid Vicious didn't wear glasses, but it's the best I could come up with.'

'I need a costume,' said Ron, tearing open his trunk and pulling out clothes, throwing them haphazardly on his bed.

'Just go as a Chudley Cannon, you've got loads of their T-shirts,' Harry suggested, pulling at a tuft of his hair to make it stand up straighter.

'Good idea,' said Ron. 'That's easy enough.' He grabbed an orange Cannons t-shirt and a pair of old jeans and changed, then threw all his clothes carelessly back into his trunk. 'I could do the hat, too. What do you think?' He slapped the cap on his head. It clashed terribly with his hair.

'Uh, no,' said Harry. 'I mean, you're already really...orange.'

'Right. I can't believe I agreed to take Luna Lovegood,' he said miserably, taking off the cap and running a hand through his hair. 'Harry, I think she...fancies me.'

'I hadn't noticed,' said Harry dryly. 'Come on, Ron, it's one night. It won't kill you.'

'Speak for yourself,' said Ron. 'She doesn't fancy you. I told her I just wanted to be friends but I don't think she really believed me. What if she tries something?' He shuddered.

'What, you mean like try to snog you on the dance floor or something?' Harry said. 'Ron, you're twice her size. I'm sure you can handle it if she tries to attack you or something.'

'Harry!' Neville called breathlessly, hurtling into the dorm room. 'Susan's downstairs waiting for you. I let her in, I hope that's okay.'

'Thanks, Neville,' he said, and he started out of the dorm room.

'Harry, don't leave me!' Ron cried, running after him. Neville stared at him.

'Ron, get a grip,' said Harry, rolling his eyes. 'She's just a girl, okay?'

'Right,' said Ron glumly, watching Harry's retreating back. 'Just a girl. A complete nutter, but just a girl.' He stumped down the stairs in time to see Harry greet Susan, whose reddish-brown hair was done up in two plaits. She was wearing some kind of tan dress made of what looked like an animal skin, and wearing lots of beads around her neck. She looked rather nice, Ron thought, though he had no clue what her costume was supposed to be, but he wish he'd thought to ask Susan before Harry had.

'Hi, Harry,' she said, her voice a bit breathy. 'Wow. You look...interesting. Sid Vicious?'

'Yeah,' said Harry, grinning. 'How'd you know?'

'I've been taking Muggle studies,' said Susan. 'Thought I'd do a little extra research on the side. That's how I came up with my costume, actually. Pocahontas.'

'The Indian princess, right?' said Harry. 'Cool. Uh, you look...really good.'

'My hair's the wrong color and I'm way too pale but...well, anyway,' she said shyly.

Ron watched the exchange and noticed that Harry kept clenching his fists nervously and looking at his shoes.

'So, uh, wanna go?' said Harry, and he offered her his arm. Ron bit his lip to keep from laughing. Harry, the Punk Rocker, holding out his arm like some Victorian gentleman or something. Susan blushed prettily and took it.

'See you, Ron!' Harry called, and Ron could only nod. He wondered briefly where Hermione had gone, if she was already at the ball, if Eddie Carmichael was snogging her, and he felt slightly sick.

'Come on, Ron, or we'll be late,' said Neville, squeezing past him to go down the stairs.

'Neville, did you ever get a date?' Ron asked, following him down the stairs and out through the portrait hole.

'Oh, uh, yes,' said Neville. 'I'm going with Katie.'

'Katie?' Ron asked, his eyes widening. 'Katie Bell?'

'Yes,' said Neville blushing. 'She's...really nice, don't you think? I need to run, though. I'm supposed to meet her in three minutes!' He hurried down the corridor toward the Great Hall.

Dammit! Ron thought to himself. How could I have forgotten about Katie? He never dreamed he'd be jealous of Neville for anything.

'Hi, Ronald.'

Ron looked up in time to see Luna gliding down the corridor toward him. He gulped. She didn't look too bad, actually, all things considered. True, she was wearing a huge, ridiculously plumed hat and some kind of lurid, lacy, magenta, old fashioned full-length dress with a massive bustle in the back, but it could have been worse. And her hair looked almost nice, tied up in a loose bun (or at least Ron assumed that's what it was; he couldn't see all of it for the hat).

'Uh, hi,' he said uncertainly. 'What're you supposed to be?'

'I'm a Gibson Girl,' she said, but offered no further explanation.

'That's...nice,' said Ron, not having a clue what a Gibson Girl was and not caring enough to ask.

'You're very orange,' she noted. 'I don't think that color is good for you.'

'Probably not,' said Ron, a bit defensively.

'I heard from Daddy that the Chudley Cannons haven't won a championship in ages,' Luna went on. 'Of course, they wouldn't have. They've been under an Imperius Curse by Cornelius Fudge. He got tired of assassinating goblins and decided to rig Quidditch matches.'

Holy Merlin, she is completely mad, Ron thought. But he nodded and smiled fearfully. 'Right,' he said.

'It's really incredible,' said Luna breezily. 'Fudge has a whole underground Quidditch gambling ring. Very sinister, and totally illegal.'

'Uh, let's go, okay?' Ron said quickly, not wanting to let her go off on one of her mad tangents about Fudge or heliopaths or Crumple-Horned Snorkacks or anything else.

She beamed at him and offered her arm, and Ron took it, preparing himself for the long night ahead.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Ron entered the Great Hall full of trepidation. The Hall itself was magnificently decorated by Flitwick and the house elves. A hundred jack-o-lanterns (provided by Hagrid) were floating above; the false sky above was full of flashing lightning, and thousands of candles glittered against the windows.

But Ron barely noticed any of it. He was sure that at any moment the Slytherins would, as one, laugh at him for showing up with Loony Lovegood.

They didn't, and Ron saw why. Bill was patrolling the room, and Fleur was with him.

Ron swallowed. Fleur was beautiful as ever, wearing robes of midnight blue satin that set off her very blue eyes. They were dancing very close together to a slow ballad of some sort (Lee Jordan was providing the music--he waved to Ron and immediately went back to what he was doing) and Fleur had a radiant smile on her face. Her teeth were so white they practically sparkled. The Slytherin boys were all too busy gawking at her to even notice Ron and Luna. With no small amount of satisfaction Ron saw Malfoy staring dumbly at Fleur as Pansy Parkinson--wearing the get-up of a 17th century barmaid and looking very tawdry--made repeated efforts to get Malfoy to pay attention to her instead.

Ron watched Fleur for a few moments, unable to keep from looking at her.

'She's very beautiful, yes,' said Luna in a serene voice. 'She looks very happy with your brother.'

'What?' said Ron, as if being awoken from a reverie. 'Right, yeah. She and Bill are pretty serious, I think.'

Ron looked around the room and saw that the boys weren't the only ones looking at Fleur. Dozens of girls were staring daggers at her, clearly furious that their favorite teacher, Professor Weasley, had brought his girlfriend to the ball.

Ron saw Harry and Susan dancing nearby; Harry was allowing Susan to lead him. They were both smiling and looked like they were having fun, and Ron quickly shifted his attention to finding Hermione.

He spotted her across the room and felt his stomach lurch. He had no idea what she was supposed to be dressed up as, but she looked very pretty. She was wearing a long gown made of several layers of floaty, translucent material, in a shade of pale blue. She wore no robes, and her hair was done up in an intricate plait that she wore over one shoulder. It had begun to curl again and soft tendrils escaped the plait to frame her face. Entwined in the plait were silver ribbons and tiny pearls. She had a small diadem of pearls on her head. She was dancing with Eddie Carmichael, who was leering down at her and probably saying something thoroughly smarmy. When she turned, Ron saw that her dress was cut low in the back, revealing the remnants of her summer tan. Eddie's hand traveled lazily across her bare back, which made Ron want to break all the Head Boy's fingers.

'Wanna dance?' he said to Luna, in a falsely cheerful voice. Before she could answer he gripped her hand hard and yanked her out onto the dance floor.

'I'm not a very good dancer,' Luna said as Ron steered her around the floor.

'Me, neither,' said Ron. 'It's okay.'

Luna smiled at him, and Ron gave her a brief grin but immediately turned his eyes back to Hermione and Eddie, who were dancing closer together now. Ron was sure Eddie was trying to rub up against Hermione in a lewd and disgusting fashion.

Luna and Ron danced for another 20 minutes; Ron noticed that Luna did not change her dancing style even when the musical numbers became very fast and upbeat. She just sort of twirled around. It wasn't too bad, he decided. She seemed to be enjoying herself and thus far nobody had given him any grief about being her date.

Another 10 minutes passed and Ron started to get tired. He noticed Eddie and Hermione return to the dance floor and begin to dance. Eddie was a very good dancer; he moved effortlessly across the floor and guided Hermione gracefully in and out of his arms. Ron felt like punching him.

'You know,' Luna said, 'if you'd rather dance with Hermione, I'd understand.'

'What?' said Ron, blinking and looking down at Luna, who, even with her huge hat and absurdly pouffy dress on, seemed very small to him just then.

'I know you're in love with Hermione, Ronald,' said Luna, and a sad kind of look crossed her large eyes. 'It's all right. I never thought I'd have a chance with you. Not really.'

Ron stared at her.

'Look, Luna,' he said, trying to keep his voice even. 'I don't fancy Hermione.'

'Of course you do,' she said, smiling at him. 'You look at her the same way I look at you, you see.'

'I really don't know what you're on about, Luna, but--'

'It's all right,' she said again. 'I'm not that hurt by it, you know. I know people think I'm odd. You think I'm odd, too. It's okay. I'm very resilient. But I think you really ought to tell her, you know. Before Eddie takes her away from you. It's not good to hide your feelings, you know.'

Ron could think of nothing to say. He was flabbergasted that she, too, would suggest that he fancied Hermione. Was there some sort of conspiracy going on, were people ganging up on him and trying to convince of something that just wasn't true? Harry, Bill, Luna, even Malfoy had accused him, in one way or another of fancying Hermione, or suggesting that she was his, Ron's, girl. It was ludicrous. Ron had never once asked Hermione out. Of course he didn't fancy her!

'Ronald,' said Luna, looking up at him. He was suddenly aware that they had stopped dancing, and she was standing in front of him with her hands at her sides. 'Thank you for escorting me to the ball. I think I'll look around and mingle a bit now. Have a lovely evening.'

Ron blinked and looked at her, and a horrible feeling of guilt took over him. He had hurt her feelings somehow, by not returning her affection. The least he could do was be a decent date for her.

'Luna, come on, let's keep dancing,' Ron said, taking her hand. 'We're friends, right? You look really nice. Let's just...have fun, okay?'

'Thanks, but I think I'll go,' said Luna, and she smiled at him. 'I like you Ronald, but not enough to be your leftovers.' She reached up and patted him lightly on the cheek, then glided away from him, walking over to talk to Ginny, who was dressed as one of the Weird Sisters and chatting animatedly with Dean.

Ron watched Luna go, feeling wretched. He hadn't meant to hurt her feelings. She wasn't so bad, really. Just a little odd. He vowed to himself never to call her Loony behind her back again, or to be unkind to her.

'Hi, Ron!'

Ron turned. It was Hermione. She was pink-cheeked and looked so pretty Ron immediately forgot all about Luna.

'Hi,' he said, feeling his throat constrict. 'You look...who are you supposed to be?'

'Titania,' she said. 'Queen of the Fairies. From A Midsummer Night's Dream. It's a Shakespeare play.'

'Of course,' he said, smiling. 'You look...really pretty.'

'Thanks,' she said, and she blushed. 'So, do you want to dance with me?'

'What about Eddie?' Ron asked, looking around the room.

'Oh, he's talking with Bill,' Hermione said, and she looked slightly annoyed about something.

Ron scanned the room and found that Eddie was indeed engaging Bill in conversation. Or at least Eddie was trying to talk; more often than not he was gawking at Fleur. Ron suddenly felt the powerful urge to smile, but he fought it.

'Come on,' said Hermione, grabbing Ron's hand and tugging him toward her.

Ron swallowed, and his insides seemed to freeze. He allowed Hermione to take the lead, and she took his left arm and wrapped it around her waist, and positioned his right hand to hold her left.

'You do know how to dance, don't you?' she asked, looking up at him.

'Not really,' said Ron, swallowing very hard. His hand was touching the bare skin of her back. It was soft. Very soft. He wished she had worn robes. He wasn't sure he liked what touching her back was doing to his stomach, which was flopping around like a half-dead fish again.

Another ballad came on and Hermione pulled Ron around in a kind of careless circle. He moved stiffly, afraid of trodding on her feet or tripping over his own.

'Are you okay, Ron?' she asked. 'You seem really tense.'

'I'm fine,' he said, in an unnaturally high voice. He coughed. 'I'm fine,' he said again, his voice deeper.

She led him around the room and Ron began to lose track of things. Like the music, or the chatter of all the people in the room, or anything else except Hermione. His stomach had stopped flopping and instead he felt a kind of pleasant warmth inside his chest. This wasn't so bad, he thought. It was nice, actually. He looked down into her eyes, which were glittering from the candles, and then her lips, which looked wet and shiny. His hand moved up her back, his fingers pressing her skin, and drew her a little closer. She smelled of lilacs, and there was the faint hint of chocolate on her breath. She was looking up at him and smiling, but it was a different kind of smile, somehow. Shy, perhaps. She wrapped her left arm around his neck more tightly, tilted her head up and leaned in closer and he felt his own head drop forward, so that his cheek rested against hers. He could feel her breath on his face. Then she pulled back slightly, and her lips seemed to drag, light as a feather, against his cheek. She looked up at him again, and she was so close her features were blurred. It was only then that Ron noticed they had stopped dancing, and that his heart was racing. Her lips were right there. They looked very soft...

'May I cut in?'

Ron felt as though he had been jerked out of a deep sleep. He blinked and backed away from Hermione quickly, looking up to see the smiling face of Eddie Carmichael.

'Oh!' said Hermione, sounding startled. She was blushing. 'Uh, hi, Eddie. Ron and I were just having a dance. You know.'

'Looked a little cozy to me,' Eddie said, smiling sleekly at her and then at Ron. Ron caught a flash of something behind Eddie's eyes. Eddie swung an arm around Hermione's shoulder and pulled her close to him. 'But that's okay,' he went on easily. 'I can understand it, Weasley, you wanting to get up close and personal with Hermione. She's quite the special girl, isn't she?' Eddie's eyes were glittering with something like a challenge.

'Yeah, she is,' said Ron, meeting Eddie's glance but not smiling.

'Ron...' Hermione began, sounding nervous.

'I'm going,' Ron announced, his eyes fixed on Eddie. 'Have a good time, Hermione. I'll see you later.' He turned on his heel and left the Great Hall, ignoring Hermione and Harry both calling out to him.

All the way back to the common room, however, his mind was racing. He wasn't sure what was worse: Carmichael's possessiveness over Hermione just now, or the fact that everything Harry, Bill, Luna and even Malfoy had been saying about his feelings for Hermione was completely true.