"So, Dumbledore can't do anything?" Angelina asked Tori as they made their way up the staircase. She had explained the whole thing to Angelina about her and Cedric complains to Dumbledore about the rumors Rita Skeeter was spreading. Tori nodded, sighing. "He can't control what's the Daily Prophet puts out. All he can do is put more restrictions on Skeeter. So until then, everyone thinks I'm dating Cedric."

"We don't. And well... at least Alyssa and Iris spoke to you."

When Tori had first been sorted into Gryffindor there were two other girls in her dormitory. They weren't the nicest. Tori hadn't seen them since they move into their friend's dorm.

At lunch that day, the two girls went right up to Tori while she was eating, startling her. "Is it true your dating Diggory?" Alyssa asked her. She was obviously much older now, yet still seemed to have that 'I'm judging you' attitude.

"Uh. No." Tori gave Angelina a wide-eyed look.

"So... he's available?" Iris asked. Tori formed her lips into a thin line. "Okay, we're done here."

"That's the first thing they've said to me in six years." Tori shook her head, laughing to herself. "You'd think it'd be with a hello."

The two girls laughed, leading into Professor McGonagall's class. There were chairs on each side, and McGonagall was instructing boys and girls apart. Once all of the Gryffindor students were seated and finally quiet, Professor McGonagall stood in front of them all.

"The Yule Ball is approaching – a traditional part of the Triwizard Tournament and an opportunity for us to socialize with our foreign guests. On Christmas eve night we and our guests gather in the great hall for well-mannered frivolity. Dress robes will be worn, and the ball will start at eight o'clock on Christmas Day, finishing at midnight, in the Great Hall.

"As representatives of the host school I expect each and every one of you to put your best foot forward, and I mean this literally because the yule ball is first and foremost... a dance."

Groans emerged from the boys who were listening on. The girls seem a lot more excited. "That's what we needed the dress robes for!" Alicia whispered yelled, shaking Katie's arm.

McGonagall narrowed her eyes at the boys. "Silence. The house of Godric Gryffindor has commanded the respect of the wizarding world for nearly ten centuries. I will not have you in the course of a single evening besmirching that name by behaving like a babbling, bumbling band of baboons."

Tori glanced over to see Fred and George whispering to themselves. McGonagall continued to talk. "Now to dance is to let the body breathe, inside every girl a secret swan slumbers longing to burst forth and take flight. Inside every boy, a lordly lion prepared to prance. Mr.Weasley, will you join me."

McGonagall pulled Ron up out of his chair. The boy must have said something, but his face was filled with regret. "Now, place your right hand on my waist." Tori covered her mouth, trying to contain her laughter.

"Where?" Ron asked her, eyeing the boys who were already smirking. McGonagall gestured you her body. "My waist."

Hesitating, Ron did so. There was a loud whistle, no doubt coming from the twins. McGonagall paid no attention to it. "Now bend your arm. Mr. Filch..."

The music started from a large gramophone and McGonagall spun around the room. "One two three, one two three, one two three."

Tori tried to stop laughing, she already knew the twins would never let Ron live this down. Once the music was finished, McGonagall gestured to the rest of them. "Everybody come together."

Most of the girls instantly stood up and walked forward. Tori hesitated. Neville Longbottom was the first boy to take a stand.

"Boys, on your feet," McGonagall warned. One by one everyone stood awkwardly around. "Pair up, quickly!"

Tori crossed her arms, glancing around at her friends. "Care to dance?" Fred's voice said teasingly. Tori faced him, chuckling. "From the look on McGonagall's face, we don't really have a choice. Do we?"

"I guess not." She took his hand, mimicking the way Ron and McGonagall have to dance. The music started again. The room was filled with quiet laughter and the occasional apologies.

"You're actually sort of good at this." Fred complimented.

"Why, thank you. It's only one of my many talents." Tori joked, watching her feet. "Ah. Is being modest on that list?"

The two both laughed, spinning slowly so they wouldn't bump into Lee and Alicia, who were bursting in a fit of giggles. "So, are you going to go?"

"To the Yule Ball?" Tori switched her hand, looking up at him. "I mean, probably. I see no reason not to. What about you?"

"Maybe or... probably."

✧    ✦    ✧

Yule Ball fever was all over Hogwarts by the following week. There was constant giggling from groups of girls, and nervous whispering from boys.

"Angie, it's only been a few days since the ball was announced! You'll get asked! Don't fret!" Tori told the girl, watching herself in the mirror as she brushed through her long dark hair.

"Hazel and Katie have already got dates!" Angelina complained, dropping on her bed dramatically. "The Yule Ball is in two weeks. Two weeks!" Tori chuckled, trying to untangle a knot.

"So you have two weeks to get a date," Katie assured her. She had been asked by a Drumstrang boy named Perrie earlier that day. "It's much harder for the boys, especially if they're expected to do all the asking."

"Who are you thinking of going with Tori?" Alicia asked, spinning around on a pilar. Tori shrugged, her mind wandering to a certain redhead. "I dunno. Whoever asks me."

"If I don't have a date, I'm not going," Angelina said crossly. She continued to talk, but Tori tuned her out, thinking into her own thoughts. She didn't know why she kept thinking of Fred. Fred was like her brother!

But immediately once she thought that, she knew it wasn't true. Fred wasn't at all like her brother. You don't laugh until your stomach hurts with your brother. You don't grin every time he so much as glances at you. You don't look forward to seeing him. You don't feel your heart flutter when he smiles at you.

Fred was more than a brother. More than a friend even.

Tori couldn't believe she was saying this. But she felt something different about Fred. Something she hadn't felt for anyone else, not even Cedric. And she was really hoping he would take her to the Yule Ball.

#1 in harry potter. this is wack

i also totally stole that gif for my sign off ahah