I felt like I had just been sucker punched. Her words rang in my ears even as I walked aimlessly away, lost in a sea of misery and despair.

"Sorry, Harry, I already got a date," Parvati Patil had said to me. Oh, the agony I felt at those words.

I didn't know what to do, so I simply accepted my failure and disappointment. When I looked around the common room, I saw that every single girl in my year and up, and even some of the lowers, had a date. Yet, I was a Triwizard Champion and I couldn't get one.

"Bad luck, mate," Ron said as he caught up to me.

"At least you can skip out on the whole thing altogether," I said with frustration. "I have to have a date. What kind of rule is that?"

"It's tradition," Ron said with a shrug, and with a bit of sympathy.

"A tradition that hasn't been done in over three hundred years," I grumbled. "Three hundred years is a long time, even by wizarding standards."

"I don't disagree with you, mate, but tradition is sometimes all we have. I do want to go, but… I'm not sure if I want to go badly enough where I have to take Eloise Midgen as a date. I don't think I like tradition that much. And that's not to mention that awful dress robe I have."

"If you take her, then who will I get? Getting a first year and giving them an aging potion isn't my idea of following the 'tradition'".

Ron snorted. "Yeah, you'll have all sorts willing to do that. It's a shame that no one is actually willing to say yes to you date-stealing. But… there is one person I think that can't possibly have a date."

He left the words hanging in the air, just waiting for me to ask. He wasn't just going to come out and say it. He was enjoying my anguish all too much.

"And who's that?" I finally asked with a resigned sigh. By Ron's tone, I knew it couldn't be good.

"Millicent Bulstrode," Ron said flatly, allowing his words to sink in or hit me like a sack of bricks. And boy, did they ever.

"You've got to be kidding me, Ron," I blurted in surprise. "There's no way that I'd ask her, and there's even a lesser chance that she'd say yes. I mean, she doesn't even like me, and our houses have been rivals for centuries –"

"You're preaching, mate, I know. But think about it from her perspective," Ron said, surprising me with his attempt to use logic. "There's no way someone would be crazy – or blind enough – to ask her. And it's you. Them purebloods get uppity about that kind of stuff, but you'd be a real trophy to them. She couldn't possibly say no, not without thinking of all the possibilities and accolades she would get from accompanying you to the Ball."

"But –"

"Look. You ask her, and I'll ask Eloise. It's all about the girl, right? I'm sure Bulstrode would feel real special."

"I'll be laughed at," I said sullenly and defeated. "Alright. I'll do it. Remind me to hate you afterwards, alright?"

"Sure thing," Ron said with a laugh. He was way too cheerful about the whole situation. Or perhaps his laughter at my misfortune was a cover up for his own misfortune. That's what I would do.

I pulled out the Marauders' Map and perused it, looking for our potentials. I pointed to where Eloise Midgen was (outside with some other Hufflepuffs), and Ron left immediately to go ask her. I wished him the best of luck. Maybe he wouldn't have a second Fleur incident, but I secretly thought that would be hilarious.

Regardless, Millicent Bulstrode was also outside, but in one of the student greenhouses, alone. Thank Merlin for the small favors. I wouldn't be caught dead talking to her.

I walked down to said greenhouse, albeit I was hardly in a rush. The inside of the castle seemed very bleak, and outside was just as dreary. Or perhaps that was just my mood, painting the world in monochrome.

I knew there was an Herbology club or something, but standing around all day in a sweltering hot greenhouse wasn't my idea of fun. A lot of students who didn't excel in any other particular subject could be found in the club. Case in point – Millicent Bulstrode.

She was a mountain of a woman. Not overweight, mind you, but a real butch type. A female version of Goyle, perhaps even taller. She had a strong jaw and a massive amount of brown hair, worn plainly.

I gulped, suddenly very aware that this girl could probably crush my skull. But, I gathered my nerve and walked up to her while also noticing she stood a head taller than me. Gulp.

Clearing my throat, I tapped the girl on shoulder as she was potting a plant. "Hey, uh, Bulstrode, I… uh…"

She turned around quickly, but not quickly enough to ruin her hard work. Her eyes widened just a fraction in surprise at seeing me. "Potter…? What do you want?"

Her voice was deeper than mine. Hell, it was probably deeper than any guy's voice in my year or the year above. Well, her voice wasn't really that deep, but I was a bit surprised at how quiet she was for being such a broad-shouldered girl.

"I… erm, wanted to know if you wanted to go to the Ball with me," I said lamely.

She laughed. By Merlin, she laughed right in my face, and what a diabolical laugh it was. "You?" she said, pointing at me. "Want to go to the ball, with me? Good one, Potter, good one."

"I'm serious," I replied. "Will you go with me?"

"No, Potter, I will not." She started to turn back around to her work, but I stopped her.

"Why not?" I asked. It was a logical question.

"I'll spell it out for you, Potter," she said, poking me in the chest. It hurt. "I can take one guess as to why you asked me. You waited until the last minute, and all the girls you wanted to ask were taken, and then you thought 'Oh, there's got to be some girls who would never be asked out, so I'll ask one of them'"

"Well, actually, you were the last resort after the last resort," I clarified. I internally winced after I said it, but the damage was already done.

"Oh, you really know how to make a girl feel special, don't you?" Bulstrode said sarcastically. "Well, I already have a date, so you can go bugger yourself."

"You," I said slowly, "have a date?"

"Don't look so surprised, Potter. I'm not as much of a pansy as you are, and I am self aware. I knew it was unlikely that someone would ask me, so I took the initiative.

"Oh? And who's the lucky boy?" I asked dryly.

"Theodore Nott. He had his eye's set on Lucretia Moon - as if she'd say yes. I know I'm not blessed with tits like that Veela tart, but I do know how to use my body to its full advantage. I promised Nott I'd break his fingers one by one until he asked me, in front of the other Slytherins."

"How… charming…"

"Oh, fuck you, Potter. I did that weeks ago, and here you are, scrambling around, trying to find any girl who doesn't already have any plans. Good luck."

"But you don't understand –" I started to say.

"I think I do –" She cut me off.

"No, you don't" I cut back in. "I need a date. All the champions do. If I wasn't required to go, I wouldn't be."

"Right," Millicent drawled. "Instead, you'd probably be wanking to pictures of Veela in whatever magazine you could steal from an older student."

I blinked a few times, surprised that she had really just said that. "Okay, let me try a different approach. I'm the Hogwarts' Champion. Not Gryffindor Champion. I am representing all of us. So, if I go to this Ball, without a partner, I will make us all look bad."

She laughed again. "Do you honestly think anyone here cares what about what our media thinks about what the French media thinks about us? Or the Germans? The answer is 'no'. It's not about the Champions or some silly Tasks, it's all about building relationships and contacts with those who you would not normally have the chance to. Or, at least, that's what anyone with half a brain realizes."

"Uh, huh," I said, trying to not get angry. I realized this plan was a lost cause. "But that still doesn't help me with my dilemma. Well, thanks for the talk in any case."

I heard her sigh as I turned to leave, pulling my heavy robes closer to myself. The weather was just a bit too British, even though we were in the Highlands of Scotland. It was more than cold enough to snow, but of course, being where we were, it was cold enough to snow quite often.

I left the warmth of the greenhouse behind, regrettably, and headed for the lake. It wasn't snowing at the moment, and for that I was thankful, but it was quite windy. Even more so at the water's edge.

Stopping at the edge of lake to contemplate the futility of my life, I didn't hear someone approach me until she tapped me on the shoulder. I turned around, surprised to see Millicent there.

"Here to gloat some more," I said snidely, and I came off a bit ruder than I meant.

"You're alright, Potter," she admitted to me. "You don't fit the picture that everyone's tried to paint you as, and I like that. It just happens that I know someone who has no date."

"Oh, is that so?" I asked, again, dripping a bit of malice into my voice that I really didn't mean. Thankfully, Millicent ignored my frustration.

"Yes. The problem is that she's going home for Festival, so you're going to have to convince her to stay and go with you. Sounds easy, eh?"

"Nothing involving me is ever easy," I shot back. "Do I know her?"

"You share all our classes with her, so yeah. Daphne Greengrass."

"Her?" I said with surprise. "She wasn't even on my list, because I'd figured that she'd probably already had a ton of prospects."

"Nothing is so cut and dry, Potter, you've shown me that today. If you hurry, you can probably find her in – "

"The library?" I finished. "I know. She's there more than Hermione – Charm's Club, I think?"

"Right. Well, I'd suggest running before it's too late. Once she's in the common room, you'll be shit out of luck."

So that's what I did. I didn't bother with a farewell, not like Bulstrode would care, and I ran back up to the castle. I was freezing anyways, so I didn't need to be told twice.

Once inside, I slowed down to a more dignified pace. One, the castle is large and it's grounds were even larger, so running for so long got me winded, and two, I didn't want people to ask me the awkward question of "why are you running?" or "where's the fire?" and other similarly useless questions.

I've spent too much time for my liking in the library, considering my disposition for studying, but I've been there enough to whereas no one took a second glance at me when I entered. Thankfully.

Taking a slow lap through the rows of bookshelves, I pretended like I was browsing for something when I was actually just looking for the girl. I knew who she was, obviously, as having four years of classes together kind of did that, but I never really talked to her much, and never outside of class. That wasn't atypical.

She was sitting at a table in a secluded nook in the library with another girl. I've seen the other girl before, but I didn't know her name. Deciding to be brave, I walked up to an empty chair and calmly asked "Can I sit here?"

Daphne casually looked up from her book and made eye contact with me. Her eyes were a fairly pretty blue, and she responded "That depends. If you're here to ask me to do your homework, then you can bugger off. If not, well, it better be interesting."

I was caught off guard by her brazen attitude, but I didn't let it show. I looked between the two girls, Daphne having hair the color of hay, and the other being a younger red head. The red head whispered something to Daphne while I took a seat.

"Well, I'll just come out and say it then. Daphne, would you like to go to the Yule Ball with me?"

Daphne turned to the red head. "You're right, Astoria, he's not very interesting."

"Who's not very interesting?" I asked.

"You," the red head, Astoria, said with a girlish laugh.

"Ok then…" I said, turning my attention back to Daphne. "Now that that's been established, what do you say, Daphne? I know we've never talked outside of class, but that's mostly due to our Houses and nothing personal… and I know I'm cutting a bit close with the timing…"

Daphne's expression turned serious for a second. "Why me? And how do you know I'm not going with anyone? Or that I plan on going at all?"

"I talked to Bulstrode and –"

"Oh, you asked her to the ball first, and got denied?" Greengrass said with a halting laugh. "That's cute. So, I'm rated below her - that makes me feel real special."

"Slow down now, I meant no insult. There's other people I didn't even consider asking as well, but you got recommended. I didn't bother asking Mandy Brocklehurst –"

"Who is going with Terry Boot," Greengrass replied quickly.

"Or Morag MacDougal," I continued.

"Going home for Festival," Daphne said with a bored tone.

'...Su Li."

"Going with Michael Corner," she said, again with the bored voice.

"Hannah Abbot-"

"Going home for Festival," Daphne said again.

"Lisa Turpin…"

"Going home for Festival," She said once more, and this time with Astoria echoing her.

"Megan Jones…"

"Going home for Festival."

"And you," I finished.

"Going. Home. For. Festival." She said pointedly.

I sighed in defeat, and my shoulders slumped. "What do I have to do to convince you to go with me?"

"You should have asked sooner," she said nonchalantly.

"That's exactly what Hermione said," I replied sullenly.

"Well, that one thing she's got right. You do realize the train leaves tomorrow, right? If you have any chance of getting me to agree to go with you, the price is going to be steep."

"What, like gold?" I asked in surprise.

"I'm not some common whore, you ass," she shot back. "Try again."

"A trade then?" I said slowly. "I'm not sure…"

"Well, you better be sure, because as I see it, if you don't get a date, you might as well just give up any thoughts of a future because you'll be the greatest laughing stock the school has seen this century."

"Don't remind me," I said with exasperation. "Alright, what do you want that I have? The list can't be that long… uh, my broom –"

Daphne rolled her eyes. "Boy and their toys. I'm not interested in –"

"I'll go with you for your Firebolt," Astoria said quickly.

"Oh, shush, Astoria," Daphne said with a sigh. "I don't get the fascinations with brooms.

"Right, well, I don't really have much else of value…" I said. There was zero chance of me mentioning my dad's invisibility cloak. I only mentioned the Firebolt since there was no Quidditch this year, and the chances of it coming handy again like in the First Task seemed nearly nonexistent to me.

"I'm not talking about monetary value," Daphne said with patience. "I'm talking about what's up here -"

She poked me in the head, hard. At least she wasn't a brute like Bulstrode.

"Ow, what was that for?"

"We've only heard rumors of what you've gotten up to during the school years here, and not even substantial rumors at that. There's been talk of a Philosopher's Stone, the Chamber of Secrets, Werewolves, Sirius Black…"

"You want to see the Chamber of Secrets?" I asked. "I can do that."

"No," She said quickly. "Well, kind of, but trading a 'date' for the opportunity to see an old room with a thousand years worth of muck and grime doesn't seem appropriate. No, I have a different idea. I want you to teach me the Patronus Charm."

"You want me to teach you the Patronus Charm?" I repeated.

"That's what I just said," Greengrass replied with extreme patience.

"I can't teach you that between now and the Ball," I told her reasonably. And it was true. "It took me months to learn it from an actual teacher."

"Oh, and I want you to teach Astoria as well. And I want to learn it before the second task. Just in case you die, so you can't leave us hanging."

"…Right. So if I say yes, you will say yes to going with me?"

"On one condition," Daphne continued. She enjoyed having the upper hand, and she didn't hide her smugness. "You need to learn how to dance properly and you need a proper outfit. I will not have my date looking like a slovenly pauper."

"I don't think there's enough time in the day to learn how to dance and teach the Patronus."

"That's alright. Astoria will teach you to dance, and then you'll teach us the spell after the Ball."

"Ok. That sounds fair," I responded. What other choice did I have? I'd still have to figure out the egg clue as well, but I could only take things as they happened one at a time. I'd worry about that later.

"Fair? Hardly. Dancing is easy, as is wearing a good outfit. So really, you're in my debt until we've both learned the spell."

"That's fair too… I suppose." I sighed. I sighed heavily. Talk about making leaps of faith. I couldn't believe she was actually going for it, even though the price would be high - for me at least.

"Do you even know what Festival we're talking about?" Daphne asked offhandedly.

I had wondered that, but I wouldn't admit it. Truth be told I was clueless, but I wouldn't say that out loud either, so I took a guess. "Midwinter?"

Daphne narrowed her eyes at me. "Nice guess, Potter," she said after a second. "It's far more interesting than whatever Muggle rubbish the majority of people here are celebrating this week. It actually involves, you know, magic, so it's far more relevant to our culture as a whole than some mundane holiday."

I shrugged, not caring one way or another. I realized she was probably trying to get a reaction out of me, or at least a read on me. I wasn't particularly religious, and the only holidays I ever celebrated were the ones my friends celebrated, which were the ones that were celebrated at Hogwarts. It wasn't something I gave much thought to, as it didn't influence my day to day life. "It's not so important that you won't go to the ball with me?" I asked eventually.

"It's a festival, Potter, a celebration. It's not some occultist ritual of sacrifice. Nothing will happen if I don't attend, and there are other ways to pay respect to the old traditions of Magic. I'm committing myself to this, so I will write to father to tell him I won't be home. You better not flake out on me now."

"My word is good," I stated confidently. "If there's one thing you've must've heard about me, it's that."

Daphne shrugged, looked up at the library's clock, closed her book, and stood up. "Well, this conversation has been enlightening. You will meet me in the abandoned corner Charms classroom on the fourth floor. Be there no later than 9 am. If you don't show up, I'll be on the train home. Enjoy your dinner, and if I find out that you've been bragging to your friends, I'll castrate you."

With that calm threat, the two girls left, and I was there by myself to mull over her words. There was only one word to describe my feelings.

"Fuck."