Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter, Naruto, or anything/anyone else except for a few OCs.

Warnings: same as in previous chapters. A bit of this chapter taken directly from the book, though I'm not going to bother italicizing it anymore.

Enjoy!

Dumbledore, demonstrating a continued desire to impress the visitors from Beauxbatons, Durmstrang, and (most importantly, in his not-so-humble opinion) Hayden Potter's group.

Well, that wasn't quite true.

He didn't care in the least about the 'ninja,' he just needed to impress the Prophecy Child.

Hogwarts students noticed that the Christmas decorations, when they went up, were the most stunning they had ever seen at the school.

Everlasting icicles had been attached to the banisters of the marble staircase; the usual twelve Christmas trees in the Great Hall were bedecked with everything to luminous holly berries to real, hooting, golden owls, and the suits of armor had all been bewitched to sing carols whenever anyone passed them.

It was quite something to hear "Carol of the Bells" sung by an empty helmet that only knew a few words of the song, humming the tune to fill the gaps.

Personally, Hayden's favorite encounters with the suits of armor were when Peeves the Poltergeist hid inside of them, improvising his own lyrics during the gaps in the armor's singing, most of which was very rude.

Luna stared at the black haired boy in front of her, eyes wide in genuine surprise as her mind processed what she had just been asked.

"The Ball?" she repeated, pale eyebrows furrowing in bewilderment. "You're asking me?"

Satoshi's hopeful grin faltered slightly as he resisted the urge to rub the back of his head. "Well, yeah—I mean, yes. You don't have to, of course, it's just that—"

Was she one of those purebloods with superiority issues, who would never so much as willingly interact with someone like him?

She didn't seem the type, but then, Satoshi had inherited his mother's habit of assuming that people were kind and honest until proven otherwise.

"I would like to go to the ball." The witch interrupted with a small, still confused smile. "It's just—me? But I'm 'Looney' Lovegood!"

Satoshi blinked, eyes narrowing slightly. "Your name is Luna. People actually call you that?"

Luna nodded, a barely noticeable frown gracing her features. "Yes, though my friends have guarded me against the worst of it."

Noticing the upset look in his eyes, she wondered why he cared so much. They'd only spoken a few times, and not for very long. "Don't worry. Most of the people here are infested with Wrackspurts. They'll grow out of it."

Satoshi blinked again, tilting his head thoughtfully before nodding slowly. "Okay…I suppose that makes sense."

Teenagers did dumb things, after all. Even him, his siblings, and their friends.

Heck, the stories their parents had told them about their teenage years!

"But that doesn't make it right." He muttered petulantly.

Luna gave another small, enigmatic smile before turning away, a skip in her step.

"Wait, where are you going?" Satoshi asked, surprised.

"The kitchens." Luna said airily. "I want pudding."

"Ah." Satoshi nodded at what was, in his opinion, a perfectly reasonable answer. "But…you didn't give me an answer. Will you go to the Yule Ball with me?"

Luna glanced towards the ceiling with a hum, slowing down only slightly before nodding. "Yes. Until next time, senpai."

(So what if she had looked up Japanese culture at the library after the ninjas arrived? She was sorted into Ravenclaw for a reason, after all.)

And with that, she was gone.

Sarada hummed thoughtfully as she perused the books in the restricted section of the Hogwarts library, full access having been granted to everyone in their group in return for her sister to attend the ball…that she had been planning on going to anyway.

Idiots, the lot of them.

Anyway, the ninja hadn't even waited until they'd been at Hogwarts for 24 hours before they had broken into the restricted section (it had been pathetically easy, and a quick Fūinjutsu seal negated any wards and traps on the tomes, but Tsunade-hime had known that it would annoy Dumbledore, so she argued for it anyway.

It helped that the old teme thought that all of them were completely naïve and helpless with anything involving magic, even Hayden, since he didn't know that she'd found and started learning about about the wizarding world when she was seven.

Hearing footsteps coming up from behind her, she grabbed a book, opening it and pretending to read.

She didn't know who it was, but it wasn't a ninja. She could sense their magic, and Hayden would have announced her presence as soon as she was within hearing distance.

Her silent companion coughed to get her attention, and she turned around to see Viktor Krum, of all people.

"Ohayo." She greeted with a raised eyebrow, before shaking her head distractedly. "I mean, hello. May I help you?"

"Hello. Your name is Sara, yes?" His voice was hoarse, indicating that he didn't speak very much.

There was also a thick accent, but Sarada had come across people who spoke languages other than Japanese and English that nowadays her mind automatically 'translated' the cut off or mispronounced words.

"Sarada," she corrected with a small smile, not bothered that he'd gotten it wrong. Her name wasn't exactly a common one, much less in Bulgaria, she presumed. "Uzumaki-Uchiha Sarada."

He nodded, making a note to remember that. "Viktor. It is an honor to make your acquaintance, Sarada."

She smiled, unbothered that he addressed her so informally.

After all, he probably knew little about Japanese culture, and why would someone go to a foreign country and expect the people there to conform to their culture?

Granted, she'd never been to Japan, even if their culture was remarkably similar to that of the Elemental Nations, and Viktor wasn't a native to the United Kingdom either, but the point stood.

"Likewise." She answered. "Oh, am I in your way? Were you looking for something?"

"No." Viktor shook his head, and was silent for a long moment.

Sarada was just about to excuse herself, feeling a bit awkward, but as she moved to leave the Bulgarian wizard reached out and touched her arm, causing her to pause and look at him questioningly.

"I have…a question for you." He said gruffly.

"I may or may not have an answer." Sarada returned automatically, the short exchange being something she and her family said to each other frequently.

Viktor's lips twitched, not in annoyance, but as if he was trying not to grin.

"I was hoping—wondering, I mean, if you would go to the ball with me." He said.

Sarada's mouth dropped open slightly in surprise, having somehow not seen that coming.

'Some kunoichi I am.' She thought dryly. 'Talk about missing social cues.'

Realizing that she hadn't answered, and that Viktor was gradually looking more nervous and uncertain (and there was a strange vulnerability in his eyes, and Sarada wondered how anyone could think that he was an emotionless grunt, as she'd overheard one of the Ravenclaw girls say,) Sarada gave him a small smile.

"I would be honored."

She felt an odd sensation in her stomach as Viktor relaxed, gracing her with a small but genuine smile of his own.

Ronald Weasley was NOT having a good day.

Actually, his entire week had been horrid, but today especially.

First, he had asked Fleur Delacour, the Veela, to the Yule Ball.

He had no idea what had possessed him to do it.

One moment he was staring at her as she walked into the Great Hall, speaking with Potter, of all people, and the next he was overcome by desire and was practically shouting in her ear.

When he came back to his senses, he ran for it.

He might be delusional, but he wasn't a complete idiot. He knew that the Beauxbatons Champion was way out of his league.

It had been utterly mortifying.

Trying to distract his embarrassment, he asked another girl—a Hufflepuff who didn't look too bad, to go with him, but she rejected him quickly, as did the next two girls he asked.

"So…you got a date for the ball yet?" George asked, eyeing his youngest brother as Ronald plopped down onto the bench and starting grabbing every morsel of food he could reach.

"No." Ron answered sullenly.

"Well, you'd better hurry up, mate, or all the good ones will be gone," Fred told him.

"Who're you going with, then?" Ron snapped.

"Angelina." Fred answered promptly, without a trace of embarrassment.

"What?" Ron sputtered. "You've already asked her?!"

"Good point." Fred mused. He turned his head towards Angelina and the other Gryffindor Chasers, who were eating a few meters away. "Oi! Angelina!"

She looked over to him.

"What?" she called back.

"Want to go to the ball with me?"

She gave him an appraising sort of look.

"All right, then." She answered, turning back to Alicia with a bit of a grin on her face.

Ron gaped.

Fred elbowed George in the gut with a smirk, and George's ears turned slightly red.

"Now you can ask Katie for me, and we'll switch." Fred muttered, glad that the girls didn't know how to tell them apart.

Angelina hadn't asked, and if Katie did, George could just tell her that he was Fred.

It was a win-win for all of them.

…Hopefully.

Please review!

Hope you liked it! This was only part one, so the others will be getting their dates next chapter. Except Ron, maybe. I might just make him go stag.