Cedric looked at the golden egg in aggravation. They’d opened it a few times – he and Harry - along with either Draco, or Dudley and Ron. A large contingent of Ravenclaws had gathered once to ‘listen to the screaming’. There were various theories, but everyone was puzzled.

Cedric was staying over the Yule holiday, of course. He sighed loudly, wishing the egg puzzle wasn’t quite so difficult … he was trying to impress Cho Chang, a Ravenclaw. Today Draco and Harry were in a corner of the library with Cedric and excavating the section that held information on magical animals and languages.

"It can’t be anything winged … I’d be able to understand it if it was a magical animal that could fly – I would hear it …" Draco grumbled.

"We’ve eliminated most of the magical creatures that would be ‘earth creatures’. Centaurs, house elves …" Cedric muttered.

"House elves …" Harry echoed with excitement. He knew the names of a few of the Hogwarts elves, though he never summoned them. He’d snuck into the kitchens a few times and had asked the names of a few of the cooks before pleading for extra food for midnight study sessions. "Blinky? Could you come here?" He asked, raising his voice a bit.

"Master Harry Potter is needing Blinky?" The small elf popped into existence next to Harry.

"Blinky, if we play a recording for you, can you tell us what is speaking?" Harry asked.

"Blinky can try, Master Harry Potter." Blinky answered.

Cedric looked skeptical but opened the egg and let the screaming escape for a few moments. Loud complaints came from nearby students and Madam Pince started up the stairs toward them with a grim look in her eyes.

"It sounds like the beings in the Black Lake, Master Harry … the Merpeople." Blinky squeaked and popped away before he could be yelled at along with the students. Madam Pince ordered them out of the Library with a harsh lecture on the need for quiet.

Cedric, Draco and Harry fled out the library before Pince could send a hex their way and headed toward the Hufflepuff dorm. The sight of two Slytherins entering behind the Hufflepuff prefect should have been odd, but mingling of houses had become rather common.

The three teens raced to the shower room and filled one of the tubs with water. Soon they were all neck deep listening to the mermaids singing.

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Harry fought to get the tie straight, but finally gave up. Draco was having the same difficulty and muttering that ‘Nimsy always took care of helping him with formal dress’. Harry shrugged and walked out to the common room. Most of the girls were still primping, but Pansy was there, talking to her date, Theo.

"Pansy, would you be so kind?" Harry asked hesitantly. The girl had remained friendly, though she tended to stay on the outskirts of the students that supported Harry.

Pansy looked at the hopeless knot Harry had been tying and snickered. She had not wanted to appear too eager to get into Harry’s ‘inner circle’ … she didn’t really want to be in the thick of whatever was going to happen, anyway. Harry had made it clear she was now an ‘ally’ and Blaise had backed off … though when Harry wasn’t around he tended to mutter about Blood traitor sluts. She didn’t care; she and her family would be safe.

Pansy sashayed over to Harry with an only mildly mocking grin. "Why are all you guys so hopeless with ties?" She asked rather rhetorically as she put both Harry and Draco to rights. They both smiled and thanked her while Blaise and Neville curled their lips and sneered. Theo kept a carefully neutral expression on his face … he was walking the same tightrope that many others were.

Draco and Harry left the Slytherin dorm to find Dudley dragging a reluctant Ron toward them. Ron was wearing a rather old dress robe – it likely had been considered quite dashing … a couple centuries ago. Draco reflected that the preserving spells placed on some garments kept them around for far too long if they ended up on horrified students long after they were considered suitable.

"I’ll just pretend to have a stomach virus … or food poisoning … dragon pox, even" Ron said desperately.

"Lavender will kill you if you stand her up … even if you’re dead in a casket with mourners lined up, she’ll hex your dead corpse for not taking her to the Yule Ball before going and dying on her …" Dean added from behind the two. Seamus nodded in agreement next to him.

Ron slumped unhappily, he hadn’t really thought about the dress robes he’d been sent. Yes, they’d looked horrid when he’d first pulled them out, but he’d stuffed them back in the box and ignored them. Now, with them actually on and knowing that a dressed to the nines Lavender Brown was waiting for him – well, it was going to be a night of torture, he could tell.

Draco shook his head at the robes and even a less than knowledgeable Harry knew they were embarrassingly out of date. Dudley crossed his arms and looked at Draco sternly. He fully expected Draco to do something about the problem.

Harry hustled them all into an empty storeroom and Draco pulled the most offensive piece of clothing off Ron – the coat.

"Just making it black should suffice – the cut of the coat isn’t that bad." Draco muttered to himself and started waving his wand.

Harry squinted at Ron’s shirt and since Dudley was better with transfiguration, directed him in changing the lace cuffs to simpler and currently fashionable ones. The lace on the front was vanished and they coaxed the yellowing shirt into a pristine white. Dean conjured a cummerbund and helped Ron put it on. Seamus, who was quite skilled in freshening charms from hiding his habit of sneaking mead or ale into the dorms for evening festivities, cast some very strong charms on the clothing to get the "we’ve been stored forever" smell out of them.

Draco was finally satisfied with the dye job, though the design could still be seen as a slightly darker black. They decided that the design looked ‘cool’. Ron was quite relieved. His outfit didn’t look as expensive as Draco’s or Dudley’s … or even Harry’s, but he felt reasonably presentable and at least he wouldn’t get laughed at.

Ron glanced at Seamus, who already had a shirttail hanging loose and smiled. He was as well dressed as his Gryffindor roommates, for once – and slightly better that a few.

Ron managed a smile and thanked Draco and Dudley and the others, he was so relieved. Dean cuffed his shoulder and grinned. "We have to stick together with these ‘events’ like the Yule Ball or we’ll all go crazy pretty quick."

They re-entered the hallway and made their way to the entrance to the great hall. Professor Sinistra, as Harry’s Head of House had informed Harry with a stern frown that he would be taking a date to the Ball – she had heard of his and the twin’s plan to go stag and dance by themselves – and told him that as a ‘second’ he would be opening the Ball with the champions and other seconds.

Harry had found a date immediately after Sinistra’s edict – dancing alone in a crowd as a joke was one thing, doing it in front of a large, disapproving audience when opening the Ball was another. Luckily Luna was right behind Sinistra and when the Head of House left, she smiled and asked if he needed a dance partner.

Harry had beamed happily; Luna always seemed to be aware of what he needed, almost before he did. She often showed up with a book he was looking for in the library, an ingredient he was going to need in the next potions class and had forgotten to order, the list went on and on.

Harry had mentioned it to Tom, who had gotten an amused look on his face and said that ‘some people are just in tune with each other …’

Harry was happily surprised to see Luna in a very classy green gown that was the same shade as his cummerbund – which Rosmerta had said was a match for his eyes. Then he laughed as the ribbons in Luna’s hair erupted into little fireworks. He’d been afraid she’d turned normal on him. Harry enjoyed Luna’s unique outlook on life and the looks of confusion she always managed to get … and always grinned when he caught her looks of amusement when no one but him was looking.

Harry got to Luna’s side and they both watch Ron getting overwhelmed by enthusiastic Lavender. Ron abruptly stopped trying to fend her off in time to scowl at a smirking Neville, who was meeting a much dolled up Ginny.

Ginny had sent off three letters a day to her mother, insisting on a very, very expensive and hopefully alluring ball gown. Molly had sent an answer that amounted to ‘fat chance’. Ginny pleaded, Molly said that she would find something ‘suitable’ that wouldn’t empty Ginny’s account that had been set up with the Basilisk money. They argued by post over hemlines, colors, necklines and height of the heels Ginny wanted until Ginny received a box with the gown, shoes and matching wrap and a note saying that this was what she was wearing and any requests for changes or additions would be burned unread.

Ginny had tried to enlist Lavender’s help in a few alterations – Lavender was well known to overhaul her own wardrobe on an almost weekly basis. Lavender had been overjoyed at the thought of helping out ‘Won-Won’s sister. Unfortunately they found that there were rather forceful charms preventing changes to neckline, hemline or color. Lavender had been quite impressed by the spells.

Ginny had complained loudly until Pavarti had rather pithily remarked that there was no use lowering the neckline to show off assets she didn’t really possess as yet.

Ron glowered a bit at the pair; unhappy that his thirteen year old sister was looking as well as she did, with his smirking ex-best friend. His anger deepened as he was reminded that his mother had gone to some trouble to find a very pretty but suitable gown for his sister and had essentially tossed a rag at him. Being the last of the boys – before his mum had finally gotten her longed-for daughter had meant he was just a disappointment that got corrected with the next child, as far as Ron could tell. His anger burned a little brighter as he saw Hermione and Victor walking arm in arm.

Draco was feeling the same burn of jealousy as Hermione and Victor walked to the door, followed by Cedric and Cho as well as Fleur and a blissfully smiling Percy. The seconds and their dates followed. They opened the dance and the teachers eventually joined them, giving the rest of the couples tacit permission to start dancing as well. Harry and Luna danced almost all of the dances for the first hour, and then taking time to grab a few drinks and sample the buffet.

Harry watched with interest as Draco cut in once to dance with Hermione. Pavarti was chatting with her large circle of friends and didn’t seem to mind, but Harry was a bit concerned by the glint in Draco’s eye. True, they were only fourteen but he knew from listening to his father’s tales of his obsession with Lily that attachments could certainly be made even at that age. If Draco was serious, it would certainly be a contentious relationship. They had such differing viewpoints on things and were both so very competitive when it came to their grades … and most everything else.

Harry shook his head and hoped for the best. Dudley caught his eye and nodded toward Ron, who was trying to sit out every dance using every excuse under the sun. Harry snuck his wand out and cast a stinging hex, making Ron leap to his feet. Lavender jumped up with a bright smile and dragged Ron to the dance floor before he could explain he hadn’t meant to dance.

Neville was a very good dancer – one of the few things he had learned before coming to Hogwarts, though mostly on his own. The house elves had shown him the small music room that had been some great – aunt or second cousin’s private studio. There had been a charmed mannequin that had taught him all the ballroom dances and he’d felt safe and happy there, whiling away many a lonely afternoon.

He and Blaise had thought there would be more of an outburst over Neville taking Ginny to the ball. Blaise had been sure that the gossip among the girls was that Harry was interested in the she – Weasley. Perhaps the interest was all on Ginny’s side, though. Still, it was satisfying to see Ron fume and Dudley look disapproving. He had written a faintly defiant letter to his grandmother saying he was taking Ginny to the Ball and wishing her a faintly sarcastic ‘Happy Christmas’ along with the gift of a bright red hat with big fluffy purple plumes – the farthest thing from her vulture hat he could find.

He’d been surprised when there had been an approving note from her and rather warm wishes. She’d even expressed pleasure over the hat. He’d had mixed feelings – bittersweet happiness at having finally pleased her in some way – and faint sorrow over their strained relationship.

Harry happily twirled with Luna - Rosmerta and Dora had given him a few lessons here and there over the last 3 -4 years, usually just before one of Lucius’ Christmas or New Year’s parties. He knew a fair number of the dances, though not always perfectly. Luna was a good sport about it all, remarking on any of his miss – steps by saying that the nargles had distracted him or a wrackspurt had tripped him … all with a guileless look from her cornflower blue eyes and with a dreamy smile. Her fireworks – emitting ribbons had created a bit of a stir after a stray spark had caught Albus’ robes on fire, but Albus had seemed to find that hilarious. From the spark of irreverent humor in Luna’s eyes after she had apologized for the accident, Harry wondered if it hadn’t been on purpose.

The traditional ball was near it’s end – and would be followed by the Weird Sisters. The Weasley twins and Harry exchanged crafty looks as one of the final waltzes started and Harry whispered to Luna, who responded with a giggle. Fred and George, followed by Harry joined in the waltz that was in progress, spinning and twirling with invisible partners – just as they had sworn they would. Bets had been laid on it, so they had vowed to keep to the plan.

Giggles and laughter started up as the trio of solo dancers were spotted. Fred and George hammed it up, dipping their ‘partners’ and George even planted a kiss on the invisible dancer.

Luna watched the three with a grin. Angelina and Katie flanked her, shaking their heads in despair at their antics. Angelina snorted as George tripped.

"Oh, it wasn’t his fault, Angelina – the Crumplehorned Snortkack tripped him." At Angelina and Katie’s incredulous looks, she added artlessly, "You didn’t think they were dancing alone, did you? The Snortkacks love dancing …"

Angelina laughed, deciding it was a joke, while Katie gave them a pained look.

Fred let out a yelp at the sight of Professor Sprout and Minerva making their way through the dancers, toward them.

"Oh, the Snortkack must have stepped on his foot – their hooves are quite sharp …" Luna managed to look concerned, while the twins twirled and spun through the crowd on the floor … staying a few feet ahead of the pursuing teachers.

Harry ‘danced’ to the edge of the crowd, making for a side door that he could escape through. Sinistra and Severus intercepted him – with displeased looks on their faces.

"A most unseemly display, Mr Potter, you’ve bought yourself some detentions." Sinistra, like Severus disliked taking points from her own house, so Slytherin students could always count on a detention when caught by her, now that she was Head of Slytherin House. "You’ll be serving them with Professor Snape …"

Harry perked up, at that … until he saw the unpleasant smirk his dad usually reserved for foolhardy Gryffindors. "Um, how many detentions …?"

"However many it takes for you to get through the crate of rats I just received – they all need to be relieved of their spleens." Severus answered with a certain amount of satisfaction.

Harry’s face took on a rather outraged look and he huffed in annoyance. "Rats? Really? …. You know I hate dissecting things." Harry managed a creditable whine. He gave up at the sight of the unmoved expressions on both their faces and sighed heavily. Well, at least he could spend a bit of time with his dad before Rosmerta and Beth arrived. Beth had really started hogging Severus whenever possible when they were home.

"Run along, Harry." Severus said more gently. "I believe your date is awaiting you … your visible date, that is …"

Harry grinned more happily – at least his father didn’t seem truly angry with him, and trotted back to Luna through some snickering fellow students.

Severus watched him go with a faint smile. Sirius would be pleased with Harry’s next letter, he expected. Harry had pulled a prank that he could write to Sirius about. Severus didn’t mind the schoolboy hijinks Harry got up to – no one was harmed by Harry pretending to dance with someone. The occasional prank of the twin’s that Harry might help with was never one that would cause lingering embarrassment – and Black always seemed heartened by anything that might help him reminisce about James.

The waltz ended and the orchestra packed up, making way for the Weird Sisters. He sighed with satisfaction as he left … only Heads of House were required to stay for this, to keep order. That was Sinistra’s problem, now.

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Harry bounced down the trail after Cedric, heading for the Black Lake. Life seemed to be going well. Christmas at Hogwarts had been wonderful and he’d quite enjoyed showing Beth around the castle. There seemed to be some thawing out between Albus and Severus – at least the sniping and unfairness had ended.

Cedric had been sure that a bubblehead charm was the answer to the problem of the Lake. Harry had told him that gillyweed was much better – with the flipper on the feet and webbed fingers; swimming was easier and much quicker. Cedric and tried the two out a couple weeks before and said that the gillyweed did seem to make him able to swim faster ... and had also decided that serious warming charms were also needed to make swimming in February survivable.

Cedric, Fleur and Victor did not divulge how they intended to last underwater for an hours without air – but they did all have to share the books on magical aquatic life in Scottish Lochs. Instead of all trying to go there secretly and alone and perhaps hide books from each other, they all went at once and did a certain amount of information trading.

Cedric had ‘home ground’ advantage and knew what creatures were in the lake. Fleur knew a great deal about creatures – once she knew what was there. Victor was a fountain of information on spells that might work. The last ‘skull session’ ended with them saying ‘may the best witch or wizard win’. Each felt they would do the best with the knowledge they’d all unearthed.

Harry watched the three enter the lake with excitement. The Governors had been appalled that all the well – paying spectators would see was the surface of the lake and had somehow spelled a large free- hanging screen to be in front of the stands, high in the air for all to see. It had a large image of the area of the merpeople’s village where the three ‘stolen people’ were. The spectators could at least watch the mermaids swim around and would see who made it to them first.

Cedric arrived first, gillyweed in use. He had some trouble casting with his webbed fingers to free Cho Chang. Fleur arrived; having used the bubblehead charm – she also had finally gotten the hang of a spell that imitated a muggle propeller and she was hot on Cedric’s heels as a shark – headed Victor grabbed Hermione and headed after them.

Fleur got to the platform mere inches ahead of a Cedric and Victor who were in a dead heat. There was a lot of screaming and cheering and the points awarded, when added to those from the dragon taks, ended with Cedric slightly ahead of Victor – by 2 points and Fleur only 3 points behind Victor.

The third task would be coming, Minister Fudge announced with great pomp – and all the Champions were told was that they would be put in a maze … they would just have to be ‘ready’ for whatever was thrown at them within it …

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