Story cover art by Instagram user galeaart.

'It is traditional,' said Professor McGonagall firmly. 'You are a Hogwarts Champion, and you will do what is expected of you as a representative of the school. So make sure you get yourself a partner, Potter.'

'But - I don't -'

'You heard me, Potter,' said Professor McGonagall, in a very final sort of way.

As he left Professor McGonagall's classroom, he realised he was all alone in the corridor. It was lunchtime, so everybody had already headed to the Great Hall to eat. As he made started to make his way there, Harry's mind started to swim. No wonder that there were dress robes included in his school list this year. With all the pieces starting to fall into place, Harry forced himself to look at the task at hand. He could already picture Malfoy making fun of him in front of the everyone at the Yule Ball for showing up without a partner.

Shuddering at the thought of the look on Professor McGonagall's face if that were to happen, Harry decided that there is no way that he will make a fool of himself like that. Even though he had no real clue of how to dance, he supposed it wouldn't be too difficult to learn a few simple steps. After all, he had managed to master the Summoning Charm in an evening, admittedly with Hermione's help. Still, he could not help but feel anxious. It never occurred to him that he would ever be in a situation that would force him to ask a girl to a dance.

Suddenly, Harry realised just how few other girls he knew apart from Hermione. There were Parvati and Lavender, of course, but Harry had never spent a lot of time with them in order to get to know them. There was also Susan Bones and Hannah Abbot in Hufflepuff, whom Harry had sometimes exchanged a few pleasantries in between classes, but barely knew at all. Ginny sprang to mind for a brief moment, but Harry dismissed that thought entirely. While he liked Ron's little sister, he knew that Ginny would probably spend the entire evening gawping at him.

What about Cho Chang? said a little voice in Harry's head. She's quite pretty, and she's a Quidditch player so at least you have something to talk about.

That's true, but it's not like she would ever consider going out with me. Harry thought to himself.

Why not? You just got past a Hungarian Horntail in the first task. How many other blokes here can claim to have done that? said the voice again.

So what? I want her to like me for ME!

'Hey, Harry!'

Harry was so lost in his thoughts that he didn't even realise that he had entered the Great Hall. Ron was waving at him to attract his attention. Taking a deep breath, he made his way towards him and sat down. Ron looked at him curiously.

'You ok, mate?' asked Ron. 'What did McGonagall want?'

'Nothing. It's just …' Harry told Ron what Professor McGonagall said to him.

'Oh … I get it, mate,' said Ron. 'Well, you can't worm your way out of this one 'cos you have to represent the school!' Noticing how quiet Harry was, Ron added 'But it's not like you're going to have any problems. You just defeated a Horntail! They'll be queuing up from here 'till Hagrid's hut!'

'But I don't want to just go with anyone, Ron!' said Harry suddenly. 'I don't want to go with someone just because she's some sort of fan or something. I want to go with someone who likes me for who I am and whom I can actually have fun with!'

'Well, I can understand that Harry, but does it really matter?' said Ron. 'It's only for one night. How bad could one night be?'

'I don't know, Ron.' Harry tried to think of something else to say that can get Ron to change the subject. 'Hey, where's Hermione anyway?'

'I dunno, probably up in the library looking up some more stuff for her spew thing,' said Ron with a shrug. Sensing Harry was still worried about the prospect of asking a girl out to the Yule Ball, Ron said 'You know, I bet Hermione wouldn't mind giving you a hand with this. She can probably suggest a couple of people for you. Hell, I wouldn't mind if she gave me a name or two. I don't want to be the only tosser there without a date. Although,' added Ron mournfully, 'with my bloody dress robes, I'd honestly rather stay in the Common Room all night with Crookshanks!'

'Yeah, I wish I could do that as well, mate.' said Harry gloomily. Suddenly not feeling particularly hungry, he got up and said 'Hey, maybe I should go and talk to Hermione. Maybe she's looking up something about the egg for me.'

'Yeah, you do that mate. I'm gonna stick here for a while. See you later!' said Ron, almost too eagerly.

Slightly suspicious as to why Ron did not want to tag along, Harry looked curiously behind him and saw Ron shooting a couple of furtive glances at Fleur Delacour, who was sitting with the rest of the Beauxbatons students. Grinning to himself, Harry left the Great Hall and headed for the library. He didn't have to go very far, however, as he saw Hermione walking along at a pace that Harry would describe as a great huff. Harry called out her name in an effort to catch up with her. She stopped, turned around and waited for him to reach her.

'What's wrong, Hermione?' asked Harry. 'I thought you were in the library. I was coming there to find you.'

'It's that stupid fan-club that keeps following Krum wherever he goes.' said Hermione, angrily. 'I can't concentrate with them twittering like idiots in there. I swear, I really don't know what they see in him. I mean, I get that he's a great Quidditch player but there's more to somebody than just being good at sports! Anyway,' she took a deep breath and forced herself to calm down a little before continuing, 'What did you want to tell me? Is it about what McGonagall told you after we all left?'

Harry quickly told her the same thing he had told Ron earlier.

Hermione gave Harry a small smile. 'Well, that's not such a big problem, is it? I mean, it's not going to be difficult for you to find someone, Harry. After the first task, your popularity has been on the mend. I expect there are quite a number of girls who would be glad to go with you!'

'Yes, but that's just it Hermione! I don't want to just ask someone just because I don't want to show up without a partner.' said Harry. 'I want to go with someone who actually likes me for me, and not just because I'm the Boy Who Lived. And this stupid tournament is only making things worse!'

Hermione looked at him sadly. "Harry, I understand what you're saying. You're one of the most famous wizards alive today and you're competing in a famous tournament. Of course you'd want to go with someone who actually likes you for who you are. I don't blame you. I'd want the exact same thing if I was in your shoes. But surely there must be at least one girl that you'd like to ask out, Harry! Are you telling me that you never noticed how pretty some of the girls at Hogwarts are?'

Harry started feeling a little uncomfortable. Now that he thought about it, a lot of the girls at Hogwarts were quite attractive. He wondered why he never thought about it before now.

'Well, -' he said slowly, feeling his cheeks getting redder. 'I suppose I wouldn't mind asking Cho.'

Hermione's smiled widely. 'See Harry, you didn't need my help figuring out that one out, did you?' Hermione's smile got even wider. 'And Cho is a lovely girl, Harry. I'm sure she'd love to go to the ball with you.'

Harry slowly started to feel a little better about himself. 'Yeah, I suppose so.' he said slowly. A small smile was creeping on his lips at the thought of asking Cho to the ball.

'Just don't leave it too late, Harry. It's best to ask her as soon as you can. You don't want to miss your chance!' said Hermione.

'Yeah, you're right. Thanks Hermione! I feel a little better now, actually.' said Harry gratefully.

'Well, you're very welcome Harry' said Hermione, still smiling widely.

Harry suddenly realised something odd about Hermione's smile. Somehow, it was different. He was sure of it

'Erm … Hermione?' He asked tentatively.

'Yes, Harry?'

'Why does your smile look … different?'

'Oh!' Hermione's cheeks reddened slightly. 'Well, do you remember when Malfoy gave me those ugly fangs?'

'Yeah …' said Harry, feeling puzzled.

'Well, when I went to Madam Pomfrey so she can shrink them again, I sort of let her carry on a little bit' she said a little hurriedly, blushing a little harder now. 'I never really liked them, and I've been begging my parents to me shrink them with magic for ages.' She started talking a little faster now, the way she did when she was passionate about something 'But they're muggles, and they don't think I should mix dentistry with magic even though it's such a harmless little thing so I sort of took a little advantage of the position that I was in. That way, they can't technically be mad at me for shrinking them on purpose because the priority was to shrink them because of Malfoy's spell and you know I don't take much stock in being so obsessed with one's appearance but -'

'I think they look really good, Hermione' said Harry with a grin.

'Oh.' said Hermione, whose cheeks have cooled down but still remained a little pink. 'Well, thank you for saying that Harry. I really appreciate it. You're kind of the first person to notice, actually.'

'Well, you're welcome' said Harry. He looked at his watch. 'You know, we have class in a few minutes. We really should get going!'

For the rest of the day, Harry dwelled on what Hermione told him about the Yule Ball and the possibility of asking Cho out. He was the Boy Who Lived after all and, like Hermione pointed out, his popularity has steadily improved ever since he successfully managed to complete the first task. He hoped that Cho would not agree to go to the ball with him just because of that, however. Still, Harry did not yet know how to best ask her to the ball. He wanted to impress Cho and not make a fool of himself when he does. He wished he had an older brother who could give him advice about this stuff without him feeling like he's an idiot.

Suddenly, Harry had an idea. Why not ask Sirius for some advice? While it was Hermione who had encouraged him to ask out Cho, Harry felt that stuff like this needed to come from a male's perspective as well. Just before dinner, Harry made his way to the Owlery with a hurriedly written note clutched in his fist. In it, Harry had written:

Dear Sirius,

The Yule Ball is coming up and I would really like some pointers on how to ask a girl out. I've never done anything like this before so I don't really know what to do!

Yours, Harry

Deciding to attempt to appease Hedwig by using her instead of one of the school owls (despite Sirius's insistence of changing owls), Harry watched Hedwig taking flight with his note attached to her leg. He wondered how quickly his godfather will get back to him. He didn't have to wait very long, however, as Sirius' reply was delivered the following morning just before breakfast ended. Deciding to read it later, Harry stuffed it into his pocket and waited until he was well-shot of anyone before opening it.

Dear Harry,

There's no need to feel afraid. Girls don't bite (unless she happens to be a vampire). The best advice I can give you is to be polite, confident and to know when to take a no for an answer. Just ask the girl in question if you can have a word with her, look her in the eye and ask her.

On another note, how are you getting on with that egg? Have you solved the clue yet? Let me know when you do! And remember to keep changing owls!

Sirius

P. S. Not that it's any of my business, but why not ask Hermione to be your date? She seems like a lovely girl and you two are quite close. I doubt she'd say no to you!

Harry's heart skipped a beat when he read this last line. Cho was one thing, but Hermione? Where did Sirius get the idea that Hermione wouldn't mind it if Harry asked her to the Yule Ball? Harry stared at the letter Sirius sent him as if expecting the answer to just leap off of it. Sure, he had told Sirius about both Ron and Hermione in the letters that he sent him when Harry was at the Dursley's over the summer but Harry didn't think this constituted as enough proof for Sirius to make such a claim. The only other time that Sirius had met Hermione (after the Shrieking Shack) was the brief moment where he and Hermione had rescued Sirius and sent him off with Buckbeak.

Slowly, he started to recall other times Hermione had helped him out of tight spots. Like during his first year, when she had rescued both him and Ron from the Devil's Snare and solved that potions puzzle that led him to the Philosopher's Stone. Or when she figured out that the monster in the Chamber of Secrets was a basilisk. Or when, up until a few weeks ago, she was practically his only friend and supporter in the entire castle. At that moment, Harry felt a twinge of guilt for the number of times over the years that he had taken her help and support for granted and felt a strong urge to make up for it all. He still felt bad about how he had reacted when Sirius had sent him the Firebolt as a Christmas present last year, and Hermione had the good sense to tell Professor McGonagall so that it could be searched for jinxes. Harry couldn't remember if he had ever apologised for his behaviour or if he ever bothered to thank her for looking out for him. It was as if Sirius's letter had made him appreciate everything wonderful about Hermione that he was always aware of but he never really took enough notice of.

Footsteps wrenched Harry out of his thoughts. As he turned around, his eyes landed on Hermione. The great rush of affection that had been feeling towards her suddenly vanished, only to be replaced by what seemed to be a feeling of embarrassment. He was struck at how much Hermione has physically changed ever since she was a first year. Had she always been this pretty? How did he never notice? Harry suddenly felt very shy; enough that he could barely bring himself to look her in the eye. At that very moment, Hermione Granger is the last person that he wanted to talk to.

'There you are, Harry! Where have you been?' she asked him. 'I've been looking for you for ages! I wanted to see if you wanted to get some time in with that egg. I thought maybe we could have a look at it and try to decipher that it means. I mean, it can't be too hard to figure out but I don't want you putting it off until the last minute like with the first task. We have some time now seeing as the Christmas holidays are coming up. I thought we could maybe go to the library after dinner and just try and see what kind of noise that egg is making when you open it. You saw how dangerous the first task was but you just need to be prepared and - Harry, are you even listening to me?'

This last question jerked Harry's head out of the clouds and back to reality. He felt silly for feeling so weird around Hermione. Why should he let a silly suggestion that Sirius made get to him so much that he'd feel uncomfortable even looking at this best friend?

'Harry, are you ok?' Her brown eyes looked at Harry with concern. 'It's not Cho, is it? Did you - I mean, have you gotten round to asking her to the Yule Ball yet?'

Suddenly, Harry was feeling very uncomfortable again. Why did she have to mention the Yule Ball now?

'Oh, no I - um - I haven't asked her yet,' he mumbled.

'Well, what are you waiting for, Harry? I told you yesterday, you don't want to miss your chance!'

Suddenly, a thought occurred to him. Why would Hermione be so supportive with him asking out Cho? Surely if she didn't want her to go with him, she would have said so. So why would Sirius suggest that he ask her out? Did she not like him back? Did she not think he was attractive? Harry realised he had never heard Hermione even mention what kind of guy she finds attractive. Is it possible that she might think that he's attractive then?

This jumble of thoughts was only making Harry feel more flummoxed than before. He had never thought of Hermione in this manner before and, for the first time in his life, he really came to terms with just how attractive Hermione Granger is. Unbeknownst to him, he started to blush slightly, something Hermione could not help fail to notice.

'Harry, are you sure you're alright? You look positively feverish! Is the thought of asking Cho to the Yule Ball making you nervous? I can give you some pointers if you -'

'Youwannagototheballwithme?' said Harry without thinking. His heart started pounding hard after realising what he said, and he started feeling his cheeks get even hotter.

Hermione stared at him, as if he had suddenly sprouted a new head.

'Excuse me?' she said to him with a hint of visible confusion in her voice.

'Um…would you like to go to the ball with…me?' said Harry almost hoarsely. He had remembered Sirius's advice and was forcing himself to look into Hermione's brown eyes. He never realised just how lovely they were. His blush deepened.

A few seconds passed yet Hermione remained silent. Harry was starting to feel uneasy. He felt incredibly stupid. This was a bad idea, he thought to himself. How could he put her on the spot like this? What a stupid, blundering move. Harry's thoughts became angrier. Of course she wouldn't want to go with him. Just because Sirius suggested it, it doesn't mean that he had to do it. Will she even want to be friends with him after this? Why couldn't he just keep his stupid effing mouth -

'Well, I … um … well … um … really?' said Hermione, finally speaking up. Her face had turned into a very attractive shade of pink, Harry noted.

Feeling both embarrassed and tongue-tied, Harry could only bring herself to nod. His angry thoughts had dissolved almost immediately.

Her face now burning scarlet, Hermione tore her eyes away from Harry's and looked down. Nervously, Harry waited for her to speak.

'But yesterday … you wanted to ask Cho. Don't you still want to ask her?' she said quietly. Her head was best so low that she looked like she was taking a great deal of interest in his shoes.

Harry shook his head, still terrified at the prospect at the thought of having to speak.

'So instead,' Hermione continued slowly, as if she's trying to translate a complex Rune inscription 'you'd rather go with me instead?'

Harry froze for a brief moment. Did he really mean to ask Hermione to the Yule Ball? It had slipped out of him so suddenly that he didn't even have time to process it. And yet, at that moment, he wished for nothing more than for her to say yes. He slowly realised how daft he'd been at never realising how much he really liked Hermione. It seemed almost ridiculous to him how she had done so much for him to help him with schoolwork and their adventures and everything else that they had faced together but that this one moment might make or break their entire friendship.

Noticing how Hermione was still waiting for a reply, Harry nodded again.

Hermione fell quiet again. Harry's nerves were tearing themselves to pieces.

Suddenly, a ghost of a smile started to form on Hermione's lips. Harry's stomach seemed to somehow even tighten itself into more of a knot.

'Well … I mean, I never thought … I mean, do you fancy me, Harry?' asked Hermione tentatively. 'Or are you just looking to take a friend with you instead? Because I am flattered Harry, really I am!' she added quickly. 'It's not that I don't mind going with you as friends. I'm just trying to understand what changed between yesterday and now that made you suddenly ask me to the ball!'

Harry slowly started to find his voice.

'It's just that…' he began slowly. 'Last night, I sent Sirius a letter asking him for some advice about this stuff and he wrote back and he just suggested I ask you 'cos he's got quite a good opinion of you and … well, I wasn't planning to say or do anything yet because I barely got a chance to think about what he told me before you found me and then it just sort of … slipped out' he finished lamely. Realising he probably shouldn't end on such an awkward note, Harry continued 'I mean, I do like you Hermione. You're my best friend and I care a lot about you. I guess the way Sirius put things made me realise that maybe I care a bit more about you in a way that I never really thought about before. I never really thought about those feelings before today and I don't really know much else about them but I don't think I would mind finding out if that's ok with you.' He hurriedly added 'And … um… I think you're quite pretty too.'

If my face gets any hotter, I'd be able to fry an egg on it, thought Harry as he felt the heat emancipating from his collar. However, he felt a little bit pleased with himself seeing that he not only managed to get all that he wanted to say out in the open but also made Hermione blush harder than he had ever seen her do so.

Hermione started to smile.

'Well, Harry I would love to go to the ball with you.' she said earnestly.

Harry's heart made a huge leap.

'Really?' he croaked out.

'Yes!' said Hermione with a huge smile on her face. 'I'm glad you were able to find the words to convey your feelings for me. No matter how unrehearsed it was.' She winked at him.

'However, can you do me a favour and maybe not tell anyone for now?' she said. Noticing Harry's look of alarm, she added 'I just mean that I don't want to upset or annoy anyone because half the castle thinks we are dating anyway and I don't want to add fuel to the fire knowing how uncomfortable the rumour mill here at Hogwarts makes you feel. Besides,' she added impishly, 'I'm sure everyone will be curious as to who the Boy Who Lived is taking!' She winked again.

Harry thought for a brief moment and nodded. What Hermione said made a lot of sense, after all.

Hermione's smile widened.

'Great! Thank you for asking me Harry, really. You've really made my day!' She paused to look at her watch. 'Anyway, I'm going to be late for my next lesson so … see you later, I suppose?' she asked, looking at him hopefully.

Harry nodded and said 'You know, if you want to work on the egg tonight, I'd love to get your thoughts on it.'

'Absolutely, Harry! Well, see you later!' She started to leave before pausing to turn to look at him. As her eyes met his, Harry could not help marvelling just how beautiful Hermione's eyes are. He looked at her with mild confusion, unsure as to why she hadn't left yet. Surely she wasn't about to change her mind?

Slowly, Hermione leaned forward and gave Harry a kiss on the cheek. Her soft lips brushed against Harry's smooth skin and the contact felt like a warm, comforting ball of flame was just placed against it. He briefly closed his eyes and savoured the moment.

'For what it's worth,' said Hermione softly 'I think you're very attractive as well!' She gave him a third wink, turned around and headed towards her next class without looking back. Harry suddenly couldn't help noticing he seemed to be quite focused on Hermione's dissolving figure. Averting his gaze, he made a mental note to send an owl to Sirius in order to thank him for his advice. Feeling like he had just faced another Hungarian Horntail, he started to make his way to class before a sudden thought struck him. How on earth is Ron going to react when he tells him that he will be taking Hermione to the Yule Ball?