The American Sisters: The Yule Ball

Before I start the story, I just want to thank you all for your reviews and help. Because of requests I decided to write about the Yule Ball. Also, thanks for pointing this out, I said the sisters were Muggles, what I meant was that they were Muggle born, they're witches of course. Also, the first part of this story is normal, but the actual Yule Ball part is told in the style of the movie "Go", from all the different characters perspectives, so I hope that doesn't confuse you! Enjoy!

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Hogwart's looked beautiful. They had never decorated for Christmas at Courtney and Tracy's school in America, and so both of them were in awe as they walked down the hall and saw the gorgeous decorations. Courtney was particularly fascinated by the suits of armor that glowed as she walked by, while Tracy loved the gorgeous greenery that was popping up all over the school. And there were signs all over the halls about the Yule Ball. The sisters had been told that this was a particularly special event since it usually only happened when there was a Triwizard Tournament going on. But this year, due to the fact that there had been snow storms going on since early November and it would be particularly hard for students to return home, they were going to hold the Yule Ball without the Triwizard Tournament.

"So, d'you think that Ron'll ask me?" Courtney had just finished telling Tracy all about her trip to Hogsmeade, and her worries about the upcoming ball.

"Um, well Courts I don't want to upset you or anything, do you promise not to start crying if I tell you what I really think?" Courtney looked anxiously over at her and nodded her head.

"Yeah, promise."

"Well, I've heard that here in England when a guy kisses you, it means he really doesn't like you, and that he wants you to stay away from him. So I would just give up about Ron asking you to the ball."

"You know I hate you, don't you?" She slapped Tracy on the arm.

"Ouch, and yes, I know." She laughed. "So don't you want to know who I'm going to the ball with?"

"Aren't you going with Fred?" Courtney gave her a puzzled look, and Tracy laughed.

"He hasn't asked me yet either! Does that make you feel better? I bet it runs in the family." Both girls laughed, Tracy gave the password to the Fat Lady and they both stepped inside.

They entered the commons room, and it seemed to be filled with everyone in the house. Fred and George had obviously snuck down to the kitchen and brought back snacks for everyone, including butter beer from Hogsmeade.

"Where have you two been? The party's been going on for ages!" someone yelled out from the back of the room, and others echoed similar statements.

"We've been looking around at the decorations! They're amazing!" Tracy yelled in the general direction of everyone in the room, since the inquiries had seemed to come from all around the room.

"Oh you silly American girls, so easily pleased by cheap tricks and decorations," came a familiar voice from the back of the room. Tracy searched around until she saw Fred slouched in one of the big, soft commons room couches, and went to sit down next to him.

"Hey there George. How're you? And how's your delightful brother Fred?"

" Oh I suspect he's doing all right for himself, and I couldn't be better. Want a chocolate? They're delicious!" He grinned at her, holding out a scrumptious looking chocolate.

"Uh uh, you bite into it first. I'm not falling for that!" He grinned again and put the chocolate down, then retrieved another out of a little box, bit into it, and then handed the box over to Tracy after she was sufficiently convinced that it wasn't a trick.

"So, you and Courtney have been looking around at the decorations huh? Are you excited about the Yule Ball?" She looked at his laughing green eyes and knew that she was very excited indeed. She gave an exaggerated sigh.

"I dunno, no one's asked me yet, and I don't really want to go alone..." She smirked at him. "But I think I have an idea of someone who I could go with."

"Oh you do, do you? And who might that be. I doubt anyone wants to go with the new girl." Tracy scanned the room until her eyes fell upon the person she was searching for.

"Hey! George!" He turned around and smiled at her.

"Yeah?"

"Who're you going to the Yule Ball with?"

"I haven't asked anyone yet, why?"

"Well, no one's asked me yet either, and I was thinking that maybe you and I could..... EEK!" She let out a high pitched squeal as Fred grabbed her and started poking her right where he knew she was ticklish.

"You be quiet you little....." He laughed as she squealed and squirmed, trying to get away from him. She was laughing so hard that her eyes were beginning to fill with tears. Within minutes she had fallen off the couch and was rolling around on the floor while Fred tickled her, with the entire commons room laughing along.

"Stop Fred....please.....you're killing me...." She forced her words out between peals of laughter, she was laughing so hard that she was becoming short of breath.

"You really want me to stop? All you have to say is that you'll go to the Yule Ball with me."

"I'll....please Fred, I can't breath......I'll go.....to the Yule Ball....with you!" He laughed and stopped tickling her, and she sucked in gulps of air as he helped her up.

"Now that that's settled, I think we should go offer Colin a chocolate, what do you say?" She smiled and followed behind him.

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"Aren't you going to go help your sister? She looks like she's about to explode." Courtney turned around and saw a smiling Ron looking down at her.

"No, I think she's enjoying it, and besides, I'm not going to mess with your brother."

"Well at least he'll stop worrying about asking her. He couldn't get up the nerve to do it and he thought that someone might ask her before he did."

"Funny that he didn't ask her right away, I mean, he knew she would say yes."

"Yeah it's funny how people get scared about doing things that should be easy.....um, youwannagototheballwithme?"

"Sorry? I couldn't really make that out." She laughed at him as his cheeks turned the color of his hair.

"You heard me, I'm not going to say it again!" He laughed good naturedly.

"Well in that case, yes, of course I'll go to the ball with you. It wasn't really all that hard was it?"

"You have no idea. What's happening over there?" They turned at the same time and laughed as they saw Tracy and Fred double over with laughter as a small canary frantically flew about the commons room.

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The Yule Ball: Ron's Perspective

"She'll think I'm ridiculous." Ron groaned as he looked at his reflection in the mirror: a boy with ridiculously bright red hair wearing something that resembled a Muggle woman's nightgown.

"She won't think you're ridiculous, I'm sure she's not that superficial. She'll hate it more if you do to it what you did last year. I hate to say it Ron, but that looked awful." Harry was standing in the mirror alongside Ron, adjusting his dress robes. "Really, just don't worry about it, it'll be fine."

"Ok, but if she laughs at me I'm coming straight back here and staying for the rest of the night." He and Harry headed downstairs and joined Fred and George, who were waiting for their dates. In a strange turn of events, George had decided to go with Hermione. Everyone was surprised since Hermione seemed to disapprove of everything George did, but Ron had a feeling that Hermione had been warming up much more to practical jokes ever since she had become friends with Courtney and Tracy.

"Here they come!" Ron turned towards the stairs as George announced the arrival of their dates. Ginny came down first, and he heard Harry draw in a breath as he saw her. Ginny certainly looked pretty, she had her hair curled and pulled back in little butterfly barrettes, and she had done something to her eyes that made them look big and gorgeous. Ron couldn't believe it was his own sister. Hermione and Tracy came down next, they also looked great. Courtney emerged after them, looking very nervous and slightly scared. She smiled however when he went up to her and presented her with the corsage that Fred had managed to get somewhere from Hogsmeade. Ron couldn't believe his luck. She had curled her hair somehow, and she had put makeup on her eyes that made the blue in them really stand out. She was wearing a little bit of pink lipstick too, which made the whole rest of her face look rosy. Ron thought she looked better than any of the other girls combined.

"So, are you ready to go down?"
"Yeah sure, we don't want to miss the start of it." They began to head down to the Great Hall, and while they were walking, Ron managed to maneuver her hand into his. He liked it, it felt like they fit together perfectly, and he thought she probably liked it too, judging by the little smile that flickered across her face.

They reached the Great Hall, and Ron pulled her over to a table where Harry and Ginny and George and Hermione were already sitting. Fred and Tracy were already on the dance floor, lost in their own world. They sat down at the table and talked for a while with the other couples. He was glad that Harry was going with Ginny this year, he had felt bad for her last year when she had endured a night of Neville stepping on her toes.

"Well what do you say we all go get these girls some punch?" George stood up, addressing Harry and Ron.

"Yeah, sure, that's a good idea. Do you want some Courtney?" She nodded, and so he got up and joined George and Harry.

"So, how's it going guys?" George said as soon as they got away from the table. "Anything embarrassing happen yet?"

"No not yet." Ron answered. "She didn't even say anything about these awful dress robes." Harry chortled.

"They're not that bad Ron. Ginny's being great, I never realized how sweet she was."

"Yeah well, you keep your hands off my sister Potter." George laughed and gave him a menacing look.

"We'd better get back, the girls probably want to dance." Ron's hands suddenly became clammy when Harry said this, and he started back to the table with heavy feet. He watched as Harry and George asked Ginny and Hermione to dance, then slowly started over to Courtney.

"Um, you want to dance now?"

"Yeah, sure. But we don't have to if you don't want to you know." This simple statement made Ron feel less nervous. Obviously Courtney didn't have any ridiculous expectations of him.

"No, I would really like to dance with you. C'mon, this is a good song."

"Okay." Courtney smiled and allowed Ron to take her hand and help her up.

Ron wasn't quite sure where to put his hands while they danced, but he looked around at the others and quickly figured it out. It felt so natural to be dancing with Courtney that soon he forgot his inhibitions, and one song turned into another song. Soon they had been dancing for so long that he wasn't really sure what time it was anymore.

"Hmm. I wonder what's wrong with Tracy." Courtney looked over Ron's shoulder and he turned around just in time to see Tracy run out of the room with Fred following closely behind.

"I have no idea." He said, looking down into Courtney's eyes. "But right now, I don't really care." And he leaned down for their second kiss, making it much longer than their first one had been.

The Yule Ball: Courtney's Perspective

"You guys look great. You look absolutely gorgeous." Courtney had spent the last hour helping Tracy, Ginny, and Hermione with their makeup, which was a big help since none of them really knew anything about it. "But are you sure this looks ok?" Ginny had convinced Courtney to curl her hair by telling her that Ron loved curly hair, and now she wasn't so sure about what she had done. She had put on her favorite shade of lipstick and eyeliner, but not too much. She didn't want to overdo it.

"You look perfect Courtney. Ron'll love it, I promise." Hermione offered these reassuring words. "We better go on downstairs, the guys are probably already waiting for us." Courtney reluctantly followed Ginny, Hermione, and Tracy down the stairs, desperately hoping that Ron wouldn't think she looked stupid.

When she reached the bottom of the stairs Ron came over to her, and she smiled immediately, he looked so cute. He was wearing dress robes with all types of little bows on them, and the robe looked great with his red hair, his cheeks looked pinker than usual. Suddenly she felt a lot less nervous about the night.

"So, you ready to go down?" Ron asked her.

"Yeah sure, we don't want to miss the start of it." She answered back. They began to head down the hall. "I wonder if he'll kiss me again?" Courtney thought to herself. She wouldn't mind if he did, their first kiss had been so brief that she sometimes wondered if it had even happened at all. All of a sudden she felt Ron's had slip around hers. They felt perfect together, as if they were made for each other, and she smiled as he looked over at her.

When they got to the Great Hall they went to sit down at a table with Hermione and George and Harry and Ginny. She began talking immediately with Hermione, they talked all the time now that Ron had made them friends. They talked about every topic under the sun, from schoolwork to boys.

"Well what do you say we go get these girls some punch?" George stood up beside Hermione, and after a little talking the other two followed behind him away from the table.

"So how's it going with Ron?" Hermione asked the minute the boys were far enough away from the table.

"Oh it's great!" Courtney answered. "He held my hand on the way down here, it was perfect. I like him so much. How about George?"

"Oh, well he's nice and we're getting along, and it was nice of you to have Tracy set us up and all, but I think we'll probably stay just friends. What about you Ginny, how's Harry?" Ginny blushed, both girls knew very well that getting to come to the ball with Harry was a dream come true for Ginny.

"He's great, I'm trying to not act like a lovesick little girl."

"Oh, Ginny, you're not a lovesick little girl. If Harry doesn't see how great you are, then that's his fault." Courtney had become much better friends with Ginny ever since she had become friends with Ron, and she hated it when she put herself down. Harry and George came back over and asked Hermione and Ginny to dance, but Ron hung back. Courtney wondered for a minute what was wrong, but then she looked at his face and could tell that he was nervous about dancing. He slowly made his way over.

"Um, you want to dance now?" Courtney was happy that he asked her, but she didn't want to make him too nervous. She decided to give him a choice.

"Yeah, sure. But we don't have to if you don't want to you know." Courtney saw Ron visibly relax and a second later they went out to the dance floor. Courtney saw Ron looking around at the other couples to figure out where to put his hands, it was a little awkward but eventually he figured it out, and when he did it was perfect. Courtney felt so safe and warm in his arms that she never wanted to leave. After a couple of dances, Courtney saw Tracy rush out of the Great Hall with Fred close behind her.

"I wonder what's wrong with Tracy?" She said to Ron, who was holding her very close. Ron looked down at Courtney.

"I have no idea. But right now, I don't really care." He leaned in closer to her and kissed her for the second time, and this time, Courtney definitely knew that it had happened. Everything about it was perfect.

The Yule Ball: Tracy's Perspective

Tracy was having the time of her life. On the way down to the Great Hall Fred had pulled her into a corner and kissed her, for no reason at all. It had been a perfect, unplanned moment, and Tracy had been feeling a bit dizzy ever since. Fred looked so much different to her tonight than he had in the past. Now, instead of a friend, she saw him in a new light. She was determined to make this night one of the best of her life.

The minute they got to the Great Hall Fred and Tracy started dancing. They were completely oblivious to others around them, not even bothering to sit down at the table with the rest of their friends.

"You look great tonight," Fred said, smiling at her as he whirled her around the dance floor.

"Thanks" she blushed, and then giggled as Fred dipped her. "Sorry!" She apologized as she bumped in to a very disgruntled looking Slytherin couple. "Fred, I'm tired, I think I have to go sit down for a sec."

"Want me to bring you some punch?"

"Yeah that'd be great, thanks." Tracy made her way over to an empty table and sat down. After a few minutes, Draco Malfoy came over to her.

"Hello Tracy."

"Oh! Hi! Um, what do you want?" She looked at him suspiciously.

"Look, I just wanted to say I'm sorry about what happened at the Quidditch match, my team urged me to do it and I let them get to me. Here, I brought you some punch. No hard feelings?"

"Oh, well that's so nice of you to say, of course no hard feelings! Thanks for the punch!" She looked after him as he walked away astounded, she had never thought Draco would apologize for anything.

"Doing OK over here? I saw you talking to Malfoy, I hope he wasn't bothering you?" Tracy looked up and saw that Fred had returned and that for some reason he looked both angry and confused.

"Oh no, I'm fine, we were just talking Fred. Here, he brought me some punch, sit with me for a while." Tracy took a sip of her punch and began to talk to Fred about the upcoming Quidditch match. But all of a sudden she felt something take hold in her stomach.

"I-I'm going to be sick." She ran out of the Great Hall as fast as she could, she didn't want Fred to see her throw up. She reached Moaning Myrtle's bathroom and ran to the first stall as fast as she could.

"Trace?" she heard Fred's tentative voice from the doorway. "I'm coming in ok?"

"Ok." But no sooner had she said the words than she started to be sick again. She felt cool hands pull back her hair and hold it away from her face, and Fred stroked her hair soothingly.

"It's all right, don't worry..." Tracy thought she might cry. She had wanted this night to be perfect, and now it was ruined. Fred was sitting here watching her throw up.

"Very romantic." thought Tracy wryly. It was then that she knew she loved him. She sat there with him helping her while she was sick, and he didn't leave. He stuck by her, even though it was ruining his evening.

"Should I tell him?" Tracy wondered. She looked up at him, and to her surprise he looked angry. Not daring to ask what was wrong she simply said "I bet Malfoy put something in my punch." And then she was sick again.

The Yule Ball: Fred's Perspective

When Fred had first seen Tracy on the night of the Yule Ball he had been over whelmed. She looked so pretty that while they were walking to the Great Hall he had pulled her aside and kissed her. And she had looked so surprised and pleased that it was completely worth it.

Fred didn't think he could stand a minute of sitting down at a table and making small talk, so he pulled Tracy onto the dance floor as soon as they got to the Great Hall. Perhaps he was dancing a little too vigorously because after they hit a pair of Slytherins Tracy said she needed to go sit down. Fred left to get them some punch, and when he came back he saw Malfoy talking to Tracy. To his surprise he felt a wave of anger hit him. Could Malfoy be hitting on Tracy? And since when did he care who Tracy talked to? And then it hit him. He had fallen in love with Tracy. Had he really? Fred didn't believe that it could be true, but his heart was telling him otherwise. He suddenly found himself very confused. As soon as Malfoy left Fred went over, and after being assured by Tracy that nothing was wrong, was content to sit down and drink punch with Tracy.

All of a sudden Tracy got up and ran out of the room, saying something about being sick. Fred got up and hurried after her, not wanting to be apart from her for a minute. He rushed into Moaning Myrtle's bathroom just as Tracy became sick for a second time. He rushed over and pulled back her hair, and trying to comfort her he began to talk to her as soothingly as he could. "I really do love her," he thought. "Why can't I just tell her?" But he was scared that she wouldn't return his feelings, and so he decided not to tell her, even though it made him angry at himself. All of a sudden Tracy looked up at him, and she looked as if she was about to tell him something. But then she changed her mind he guessed, because all she said was "I bet Malfoy put something in my punch."

"I'm going to kill Malfoy." Fred thought to himself, as Tracy leaned back over the toilet and was sick again.