(A/N: I wasn't planning on publishing this chapter yet, but this fanfic reached 80k reads so, to celebrate it, get ready for a long and intense chapter, including the yule ball!
Also, trigger warning: there's mentions of internalised homophobia and a slur.)

The party in the Gryffindor common room was... awesome. Everyone burst into cheers and claps as soon as Harry walked in. There were mountains of cakes and flagons of pumpkin juice and butterbeer on every surface; Lee Jordan had let off some Filibuster's Fireworks, so that the air was thick with stars and sparks; and Dean Thomas, who was very good at drawing, had put up some impressive new banners, most of which depicted Harry zooming around the Horntail's head on his Firebolt, though a couple showed Cedric with his head on fire, something that Ben didn't like in the slightest.

Everyone seemed to be back at liking Harry, and they kept congratulating and complimenting him.

Ben found it quite hypocritical of them, since barely some hours ago most of them were making fun of him and talking shit behind his back. However, he didn't say a word, since he was glad Harry was finally happier than before.

Apart from the fact that he was no longer being hated on, he and Ron had also finally made up. The redhead had approached him after the task, and, after long enough, he had spoken to him.

So, now the four of them were back together.

"I'm so glad this is finally over," commented Ben.

"What do you mean by this?" asked Ron.

"You two being mad at each other," he replied. "It was starting to get annoying not being able to be with you both at the same time."

"Honestly," agreed Hermione.

Ron grinned. "I'm gonna go get some more cake," he announced, and shot a quick glance at Harry and Ben. "Want to come, Hermione?"

"Sure," she said, standing up and following Ron into the crowd.

Ben looked at Harry. "I don't think I've ever been as scared as I've been today."

Harry chuckled. "I'm sorry for that."

"You did amazing, though," he said, meaning it, yet still smiling. "Seriously. You did a wonderful job, I'm so proud of you."

"Thank you for saying that," whispered Harry, his lips curling up into a smile. "And for last night."

"You don't need to thank me for that."

"I want to, though."

His eyes gleamed with a captivating beauty in the shadows, illuminated solely by the glow emanating from the fireplace in front of them.

Wait, no, gleamed was an understatement. No word could adequately capture the incandescent glow pouring from Harry's eyes, the dazzling radiance that surpassed the combined gleam of every star in the night sky.

Ben found himself longing to spend the rest of his life gazing into those bewitching, heavenly eyes, contemplating all the beautiful thoughts they conjured in his mind.

Oh, Merlin, was he going crazy? Could it be possible for someone to go insane over someone else's beauty? He was certain about it. Because he was, indeed, losing his mind over his eyes. However, deep down, he knew it wasn't only over his eyes. He was losing his mind over every single thing about him; his voice, his way of speaking, his sarcasm, his courage, the way he deeply cared about everyone, the way he playfully teased Ben, his laugh, his hair, and how soft and fluffy it was (and how hard he tried to make it flat, although Ben was in love with its messiness), his smile, and his lips.

He was losing his mind over him.

Over Harry.

And, especially, over the fact that he couldn't help but unconsciously wonder what it would feel to kiss him.

And it hit him.

All of a sudden, he knew precisely what he had meant by feelings.

The air seemed to solidify. It was there, everywhere, surrounding Ben, but he couldn't breathe it. It was as though he were submerged in the depths of an infinity pool, and it didn't matter how fast he tried to reach the surface or how hard he tried to breathe; he just couldn't.

He stopped hearing the laughter and shouts of joy of all his Gryffindor classmates. His ears were plugged, and the only thing he could hear was his own heartbeat, and the echo of a familiar voice pronouncing a word that, although it had not been addressed to him for years, had remained engraved in his mind forever.

He stood up suddenly, his head spinning so fast that he almost lost his balance. Harry tried to help him, his face full of worry, but Ben muttered something, and pushed his way through the crowd of celebrating Gryffindors.

He didn't know if what he had told Harry made sense. He didn't even know what he had said exactly. Only he remembered saying the word "bathroom."

The stairs seemed to have become endless, but Ben managed to get to the boys' dorm, close the door, and run to his bed before completely breaking down.

His eyesight was blurry because of the tears welling up in his eyes. He didn't want to cry. He never cried. Especially not now that he was older. Boys don't cry.

Well, boys aren't supposed to be in love with other boys either, so might as well let it all out.

Tears streamed down his face as the same question kept echoing over and over inside his mind; Why me? What had he done to deserve something like that? He knew he wasn't perfect, but he was constantly trying to be the best version of himself, and to be kind and help everyone he could. So, why did that have to happen to him?

Hadn't the incident with Malfoy when they were kids been enough? Hadn't Sébastien and Katherine Walker's punishments and words been enough to teach him how wrong it was?

He instantly regretted saying he had never been more scared in his entire life than during the task, because the fear he was feeling now was something inimaginable. It was all over him.

He could feel its claws digging into his skin, tearing it apart wildly. Or, maybe, it was just the memory of the first of all those scars.

How had he been so stupid to not realise before? He didn't know when it had started, but he was sure it had been going on for a long time, now that he stopped to think about it.

He had spent the last months constantly and unconsciously resisting urges to be closer to him, yet he hadn't noticed what it meant.

But, now, he finally did. He finally realised he was in love with his best friend.

He was in love with Harry James Potter.

No, he wasn't.

Yes, he was, who was he trying to lie to? Himself? Stupid.

But maybe he wasn't, actually. Maybe he didn't actually fancy him. He was his best friend, after all. And he was wonderful, so it made sense for him to care about him. And to admire him.

That's right. He admired him. That was it. His feelings for him mostly consisted of admiration. Nothing more.

Liar.

Why was he trying so hard to deny it? He literally wanted to kiss him. Deep down, he had wanted to do it for a long time. Merlin, he had literally kissed his forehead the night before. And, they had slept hugging.

There was no straight explanation for that. He was in love with Harry. And Harry was a boy. And that meant his father was right. He was, in fact, a faggot.

But how could he be gay if he liked girls? He was sure he did. He had never had a crush on one, but he was young, and he found them to be quite attractive and beautiful. He wasn't sure if it even mattered, though, because his heart was full of a certain black-haired boy, and that was bad enough.

The scars in his body started to ache after years of being untouched. He knew it was just a mental thing, but they were stinging, burning.

Afraid that someone might see him, he drew the curtains of his bed, and got between the bedsheets, before rolling up his trousers, and taking his shirt off. It was rather cold, but the sight of all those scars, marks and bruises filled him with an odd sensation of heat.

They were everywhere. He didn't even remember having that many. It had been a long time since he had last looked at them. Usually, he changed as quickly as possible, and refused to look at himself in the mirror as he unclothed before having a shower. He didn't want to see what his body had turned into.

But, now, it was different. He needed to see them. He needed to take a look at the constellation of scars all over his torso, arms and legs, no matter how hard it was, no matter how much it hurt.

He needed to remind himself of that pain. He needed to remind himself of what could happen to him if he failed his parents again.

They weren't all the same size or shape, and they hadn't been done in the same way, but every single one of them carried vivid memories. It only took him a glance, or his own finger carefully tracing them, to remember everything. He remembered the fear, the anguish, the hopelessness, the rage and the impotence. He remembered their yells and shouts, the words they had spat at him, which had become part of his scars, although not on his skin. But, mostly, he remembered all the tears that he had fought against, all the tears he had forced to stay back, all the tears he had refused to allow them to fall from his eyes.

All those tears that were now falling, and didn't stop until he fell asleep.

———————————————

The next morning, he couldn't bear the idea of looking at Harry. For some minutes, he considered avoiding him, but he soon turned the idea down. It was the day after the First Task, and he had done amazing, and he had also made up with Ron. He didn't want to ruin his very deserved happiness by starting to act weird around him.

So he sucked it up and waited for Harry and Ron to get dressed before going downstairs to have breakfast.

"Where did you go last night?" was the very first thing Ron asked him as soon as he woke up.

"I was feeling a bit sick," he half-lied. "And I was very tired, so I just fell asleep as soon as I came here."

"Oh, okay," he nodded, and began getting ready.

Harry, who had woken up earlier than Ron, and was much faster getting ready, sat beside Ben. The boy got very tense instantly, and breathed in sharply.

"Did anything happen to you?" he asked, worriedly, his voice almost a whisper.

"No, why?" replied Ben, not meeting his eyes.

"You were okay, and then, all of a sudden, you... panicked?" he explained. "I asked you if you were okay, but you didn't reply. You ran away, and I tried to follow you but Fred and George caught me and asked me to open the egg."

"How did that go?"

"Absolutely terrible," he admitted.

"Why? What happened?"

"When he opened it, a very loud and ear-shattering noise was heard," replied Ron.

"What a dramatic word, ear-shattering," laughed Ben.

"Well, but it was true," insisted Ron. "It was some sort of... wailing. Truly terrifying."

"And what did it mean?"

"No idea," shrugged Harry, standing up. "It doesn't matter, I still have a lot of time to figure it out."

"Around three months, right?"

Harry nodded. "Hey, are you sure you're okay?" he asked.

"Yes, of course," he assured, smiling nervously and trying to ignore how handsome he looked. "Anygays-WAYS! Um. We'd better get going or we'll be late."

Classes flowed without any disturbances. People were now being much kinder to Harry, even more than before he was announced as a Champion, and some girls were even starting to stare at him with strange looks on their eyes, and letting out giggles.

Everytime it happened, there was a terrible knot on Ben's stomach.

He envied the way they didn't need to hide the fact they liked Harry, even though they barely even knew anything about him past his name, what had happened the night of Halloween 1981, and the fact that he was a champion in the tournament.

He, on the other hand, did actually know him. Harry was his best friend, and he had been for over three years. He had been on his side no matter what happened during all that time, and had always tried his best to help him in any sort of situation. Ben knew about Harry's problems, fears, favourite things, wishes, dreams...

Yet, he couldn't do anything but pretend he hadn't realised he was madly in love with him.

It was so unfair. But it also meant it would perhaps be easier to get over him.

If Harry dated a girl, it would hurt him. A lot. But getting rejected, indirectly, would be easier than never having an answer, and not being able to stop wondering if he could ever like him back.

He found himself thinking about that during Transfiguration, as he watched Harry and Ron have a sword fight with a couple of Fred and George's fake wands at the back of the class.

"Potter! Weasley! Will you play attention?" Professor McGonagall's voice cracked through the classroom.

They both looked up at her.

"Now that Potter and Weasley have been kind enough to act their age," she said, an angry look on her face. "I have something to say to you all. The Yule Ball is approaching; a traditional part of the Triwizard Tournament and an opportunity for us to socialize with our foreign guests. Now, the ball will be open only to fourth years and above, although you may invite a younger student if you wish."

Lavender Brown let out a shrill giggle. Parvati Patil nudged her hard in the ribs, her face working furiously as she too fought not to giggle. They both looked around at Harry.

Ben looked at him, too, and was quite relieved to see him not even reacting. Instead, Harry noticed his stare, and met his eyes, before grinning at his friend. Ben felt himself blush furiously, and covered his face with a hand, pretending to simply be using it to support his head.

"Dress robes will be worn," Professor McGonagall continued, "and the ball will start at eight o'clock on Christmas Day, finishing at midnight in the Great Hall. Now then, the Yule Ball is of course a chance for us all to, er... Let our hair down. But that does NOT mean that we will be relaxing the standards of behavior we expect from Hogwarts students. I will be most seriously displeased if a Gryffindor student embarrasses the school in any way."

The bell rang and there was the usual scuffle of activity as everyone packed their bags and swung them onto their shoulders. Harry was called by McGonagall, so Hermione, Ron and Ben waited for him beside the door.

"Are you excited for the Yule Ball?" asked Hermione, a dreamy look on her eyes.

"No," chorused Ron and Ben.

Hermione rolled her eyes. "Ugh, you boys are always acting all tough when it comes to things like this."

"I'm not acting tough," retorted Ron. "I'm just not excited for it, Hermione."

Harry walked up to them groomily. "I've got to find a date, apparently."

"Good thing you've already got a crush, then." Ron grinned devilishly at him.

"I'm going to punch you."

"Why do you have to find a date?" wondered Hermione as they exited the classroom.

"McGonagall said that the Champions open the ball," he explained, somberly. "And I must find a partner."

"Do you even know how to dance?" asked Ben, slightly teasingly.

"No!" he exclaimed, quite dramatically. Ben pursed his lips, fighting back a laugh. "That's the problem. Well, that and the fact that I'll have to ask someone out."

"I bet loads of girls want to go to the ball with you," said Ben, focing himself to look casual and relaxed and, most of all, straight.

"That's true, Harry, haven't you noticed how many girls keep staring at you as we walk by?" agreed Hermione.

"No, honestly."

"Well, they do."

"I don't care, I don't want to go with any of them."

"Why not?" demanded Ron.

"Because the only person I'd like to go with is... out of my possibilities."

Hermione let out a devilish giggle. "Who would you like to go with, Mr. Potter?"

"I can't say it."

"Oh, come on," she complained.

"We won't tell anyone," added Ben, ignoring the pounding of his heart, and genuinely being curious about who it was.

Ron exploded into knowing chuckles, and Harry glared at him, panicking. "Okay, well, it's Mei-Xing, from Ravenclaw, you know."

Ron stopped laughing at once. His eyebrows furrowed, and he stared at him, completely... surprised?

"She's dating Cedric," Ben found himself stuttering.

"That's why I said she's out of my possibility," he replied, not meeting his eyes.

Ben swallowed hard and clenched his jaw, doing his absolute best at pretending he didn't care in the slightest, although his heart was aching.

All of a sudden, footsteps were heard. He turned to see Marina walking over to him, along with Delilah, Thomas's cousin.

"Hey," she greeted. "Have you Gryffindors been told about the Yule Ball?"

"We have," he replied gloomily.

"Great," she smiled broadly at him. "So... Are you going?"

"I guess so, yeah."

"Do you have someone to go with?"

"Not yet."

"Do you want to go with someone?"

"If I find a date."

"Maybe you don't have to go searching for one."

"What do you mean?" he frowned. Marina was looking up at him, her eyes wide open, but her smile dropped, and so did the excitement from her face.

"Ugh, nevermind," she groaned. "You guys are so clueless sometimes... See you soon, Ben."

She and Delilah hurried away, whispering to each other.

"Is she mad at me?" he asked Hermione.

"Why are you asking me?"

"Because you're a girl..."

"Quite a fascinating observation," she rolled her eyes. "Do you really not understand what she was trying to say?"

"Er- No."

Hermione rolled her eyes again. Ben exchanged looks with Ron.

"She wants to go with you!" she exclaimed.

"Then why didn't she say so?"

"Because she wanted you to ask her."

"You girls are so weird," commented Ron.

"And you boys are so stupid," added Hermione, her nose up in the air.

Ben blinked. "So, should I ask her?"

"Well, that depends," she reasoned. "Do you want to go with her?"

Marina was definitely not the person he would've loved to go with, but he knew it was literally impossible to go with him. Especially now that he knew Harry had a crush on Mei-Xing. Besides, Marina was one of his friends, and she was quite beautiful. Perhaps he'd eventually start fancying her.

"Yeah."

"Then go ahead and ask her," said Hermione.

"Now?"

"Yes!"

"Can we go, too?" asked Ron.

"Why?" inquired Harry, who seemed to have been silently admiring the dusty floor.

"I don't want to miss it," shrugged Ron, smirking.

"Marina!" Ben called out, rushing after her, followed by an eager Ron and Hermione, and a hesitant-looking Harry. "Hey, Marina."

The girl spun around. "Yeah?"

"Would you like to go to the Yule Ball with me?" he spat out, before he had the chance to get nervous.

Marina's lips drew a wide smile, her eyes lightning up. "I'd love to!"

Ben smirked, feeling himself calm down. "Awesome! I'll see you there, then!"

———————————————

Ben was very glad to have asked Marina that early, because he later heard she had been asked out by some bloke from Durmstrang. Harry and Ron were having quite a lot of trouble trying to find a date, though.

Well, technically Harry wasn't. He had been invited by at least three girls but, Merlin knows why, he had refused.

"Why don't you two go together?" taunted Ben one evening, merely a couple of days before Christmas, as they were in the common room studying (except for Ron, who was busy building a card castle out of his Exploding Snap pack).

"Hilarious," commented Ron, and he placed the last two cards on top of the castle and the whole lot blew up, singeing his eyebrows.

Ben snorted.

"Nice look, Ron... Go well with your dress robes, that will."

It was Fred and George. They sat down at the table with them as Ron felt how much damage had been done.

"Ron, can we borrow Pigwidgeon?" George asked.

"No, he's off delivering a letter," replied Ron. "Why?"

"Because George wants to invite him to the ball."

"Because we want to send a letter, you stupid great prat," said George.

"Who d'you two keep writing to, eh?"

"Nose out, Ron, or I'll burn that for you too," Fred waved his wand threateningly. "So... You lot got dates for the ball yet?"

"Nope," muttered Ron. "Well, Ben does."

"We should've expected a pretty boy like you would," said George, in a grandmotherly tone as he patted his freckled cheek.

"The rest of you'd better hurry up, or all the good ones will be gone," added Fred.

"The good ones are already gone," mumbled Harry.

Of course, thought Ben. Mei-Xing was already going with Cedric.

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

"Angelina," replied Fred, without a trace of embarrassment or shyness on his voice.

"What?" Ron raised his now slightly burnt eyebrows. "You've already asked her?"

"Good point," nodded Fred. He turned his head and called across the common room, "Oi! Angelina!"

Angelina, who had been chatting with Alicia Spinnet near the fire, looked over at him. "What?" she called back.

"Want to come to the ball with me?"

Angelina gave Fred an appraising sort of look.

"All right, then," she said nonchalantly, and turned back to Alicia and carried on chatting with a bit of a grin on her face.

"There you go," said Fred to Harry and Ron, "piece of cake."

———————————————

In the end, Harry and Ron did manage to get dates for the Yule Ball; Parvati and Padma Patil. Harry had asked Parvati after Ron had gloriously made a fool of himself by asking Fleur Delacour to go with him.

The afternoon of the Yule Ball, he wrote Alycia a letter telling her about all the drama regarding it, because he knew she was a bit of a gossip, and thaking her for the bracelet she had made for him as a Christmas gift. It was made of thread, and it interspersed both of their favorite colors; blue and pink.

He got ready as quickly as he could, since he wanted to be able to send it before the ball. The owlery was empty when he got there, and his biggest preoccupation was the possibility of an owl pooping on his dress robes. It wasn't like he particulary liked them, but it was either that or those horrendous suits his parents always made him wear to important dinners.

On the way back, he saw Thomas walking around the corridors, nervously.

"Thomas!" he waved at him, smiling.

The boy's tense look relaxed as he was approached by Ben. "Hey, how are you?"

"Awesome, I just went to send my sister a letter," he told him. "Are you going to the ball?"

He nodded. "I didn't think I would, since I'm younger, but I was invited by an older girl."

"Oohhh, who was it? Wait- You're going with a girl?"

"Well, erm... I can't just show up there with a dude," he reasoned. "So I was asked by Millicent Bulstrode, and I said yes-"

"WHAT."

"What?"

"You're going with Millicent Bulstrode?" he asked in desbelief, his eyes so open it almost seemed they would fall out. "That girl who bullies first-years? That girl who tried to kick Hermione?"

"I don't like her in the slightest," he lifted up his hands. "Not only because of that, but because she's annoying as hell... But I really wanted to go to the Yule ball. And, please don't tell anyone, but I'm secretly meeting someone else there."

"Who?" asked Ben, teasingly.

"Do you know who Theo is?"

"Theodore Nott?"

Thomas nodded, looking around to make sure nobody could eavesdrop. "So, basically, he asked me to go with him. But, of course, we couldn't actually go together, so I'm going with Millicent, and he's going with someone else."

"That's nice, I hope everything goes well."

"I heard you're going with Marina, I always knew you two would end up being together."

"Oh, no, no, we're not together!" he denied effusively. "I don't like her in that way, we're just going as friends."

"Mhm, sure," smirked Thomas.

"Anyways, I'd better go back to the Common Room, see you!"

He rushed back to the Gryffindor tower, afraid he'd end up being late. He ran up the stairs to the boys dormitory, and felt himself bumping into someone.

"Oops, I'm sorry!" he apoligised before noting it was Harry. "Oh, er- Hey."

"Hey."

How handsome Harry looked was nearly unbearable. He was wearing black dress robes, similar to Ben's, and they fit him very well. Black looked awesome on him.

"You, erm- look really good," he said, trying to sound very masculine and straight.

"Thank you," the boy smiled, looking down nervously. "You look bea- very good, too."

"Thanks," he grinned. "Hey, I'm sorry you didn't get to go with Mei-Xing..."

"It's alright," he said. "I actually didn't want to go with her, anyway."

"Wait, what?"

Harry didn't get the chance to respond, because Ron burst out of the dorm. "Oh, here you are!"

"Woah, looking very sexy, are we?" teased Ben, eyeing his robes. Harry chuckled, though Ron didn't seem to find it funny at all. They were, well... Quite traditional. They were light brown, with a flowery pattern on them, and they included a lace and some kind of collar.

"Which way of killing myself do you think will be faster, jumping off the Astronomy Tower, or stealing some poison from Snape's classroom?"

"Jumping off the Astronomy Tower," Harry replied at once. "Though the second one seems more interesting."

Ben and Marina had decided they would meet at the entrance hall, so that's where he, Harry, Ron and Parvati went. Padma, Ron's date, was already there, waiting, when they arrived.

They both looked quite pretty, in robes of shocking pink, in Parvati's case, and bright turquoise, in Padma's. Ron, however, kept looking around at the crowd. "Where's Hermione?"

"She was still getting ready when I left our dormitory," said Parvati.

"Oh, okay."

"Does somebody know where Marina is?" asked Ben, despite it was obvious they didn't, since neither of them were Hufflepuffs.

"Here!" He heard her voice from behind. They all turned to see her making her way through the crowd, looking gorgeous.

She was wearing a tulle dress, a very dark blue tone with small silver crystals along the skirt, giving it the look of a starry sky. Her long brown hair was half up, half down. Although, normally, it was already slightly wavy, now her waves were much more defined and shiny.

"You look stunning!"

Marina blushed furiously. "Thanks, Ben. You look really handsome, too."

Ben was very happy, all of a sudden. He looked at Harry, and his heart fluttered at the realisation he was already looking at him.

Then Professor McGonagall's voice called, "Champions over here, please!"

Parvati readjusted her dress, and turned to Harry, who hadn't reacted. "Uhm, Harry, Professor McGonagall called you."

"Oh, yeah, right," he snapped out of his thoughts. "Erm- See you soon."

Ben watched as Harry carefully took Parvati by her arm, as she grinned, and they walked away.

———————————————

Once everyone else was settled in the Great Hall, the doors swung open, and everyone burst into applause as the four champions and their partners entered.

The first one to walk in was Viktor Krum. However, Ben barely noticed his presence. His attention was right on his partner, Hermione.

His jaw dropped at the sight of his female best friend. She looked absolutely gorgeous, but very different. Her curly and bushy hair was now silky, and she had twisted it up into an elegant bun. Her dress was made of a floaty, periwinkle-blue material that looked beautiful on her.

Marina clapped eagerly as the girl walked past them, giving them a nervous smile.

The next champion was Fleur, who was wearing a glittery grey dress. She was walking, arm in arm with Roger Davies, the Ravenclaw team captain, who could barely look away from her.

Then, was Cedric. His hair was messy, but in an elegant way, if that made sense. He was looking radiant, walking beside Mei-Xing, who wore a beautiful long-sleeved dress, of a tone similar to a mixture between silver and white. Her silky, jet-black hair was, too, twisted up in an elegant bun.

"Go, Cedric! Mei-Xing!" shouted Ben, clapping. They both looked at their younger friend, and the boy winked at him.

And, the last one, was Harry.

Ben had already seen him that evening, but it felt different that time, when Harry looked at him as he walked into the hall. For an instant, he forgot how to breathe. The champion grinned brightly at him, and Ben could've sworn his heart did a flip. All the people clapping and shouting in the hall disappeared, and the only thing he could look at, or even perceive, was Harry.

"Ben, are you okay?" he heard Ron ask. He didn't react. Ron began to snap his fingers in a somewhat pathetic manner in front of his face, to get his attention.

"What?" he said, startled.

Ron was grinning at him, for Merlin knows what reason. "Nothing, let's go with the others."

He led the way through the crowd, and Ben finally took in the beauty of the decorations. The walls of the Hall had all been covered in sparkling silver frost, with hundreds of garlands of mistletoe and ivy crossing the starry black ceiling. The House tables had vanished; instead, there were about a hundred smaller, lantern-lit ones, each seating about a dozen people.

Ron walked over to one where Neville and Ginny were sitting, happily chatting. Ben was surprised to see they were together, but he was very glad Neville had found a date, especially knowing he had worked hard on improving his dance moves.

They were soon joined by Fred and George, along with their dates, Angelina and Alicia Spinnet.

"Have you seen Hermione, Ron?" Fred sat beside his younger brother.

Ron shifted uncomfortably in his seat, and grumbled some kind of response nobody really understood.

"Did you know who she was going with, Ginny?" asked Ben.

The girl nodded. "She told me not to tell any of you."

"Why not?" wondered Marina.

"She said you'd make fun of her."

"Understandable."

"Krum's an idiot," Ron mumbled, out of the blue.

"Because he was faster than you at inviting Hermione?" taunted George, messing up with his brother's hair, leading to him calling him something he most definitely wouldn't have said in front of their mother.

"Shut up."

The Weird Sisters now trooped up onto the stage to wildly enthusiastic applause; they were all extremely hairy and dressed in black robes that had been artfully ripped and torn. They picked up their instruments, and all the champions (beside Harry) and their partners were standing up.

However, the boy didn't react until Parvati Patil hissed something in his ear, and he got to his feet nervously, tripping over his dress robes. They all rushed to have a better look, joining Dean and Seamus in the first row. Both boys were waving at Harry and sniggering as he and Parvati walked over to the dance floor.

She seized his hands, placed one on her waist and held the other tightly as The Weird Sisters began playing a slow, mournful tune, and they began dancing. Well, actually, Parvati danced, and Harry did his best to move around.

Soon, many couples joined them, and Harry visibly relaxed, since he wasn't that much in the spotlight anymore. Neville and Ginny were one of the first couples to join the dance.

"Do you want to dance?" Ben asked Marina, feeling as though he needed to.

"Can I tell you a bit of a secret?" she whispered, looking up at him. He nodded. "I don't know how to slow dance."

"Really?"

"Yeah... Do you?"

"I'm a Walker, whether I like it or not," he shrugged. "We can dance to a faster one later, if you want to?"

"Sure," she smiled brightly.

The Weird Sisters stopped playing, applause filled the hall once more. Ron and Padma left, and went back to sitting at their table. Ben saw Harry let go of Parvati at once, and exit the dance floor, with her reluctantly following. Another song soon started playing, and it was much faster, with a more animated melody and rhythm.

Ben wanted to join Ron and Harry, but the song sounded quite good, and he could hang out with them any other day. Besides, he had told Marina they'd dance together, and she was looking joyful.

So, he took her hand gently, and led her to the dance floor. And they began dancing. Ben was actually quite glad he didn't have to slowdance. Despite the fact that he knew how to do it, he found it quite embarrassing. Dancing to a quick song was easier, and much more fun.

Hermione and Krum were dancing nearby, so they ended up being a group of four. Ben wondered why Ron didn't take advantage of the fact that his friend had gone to the ball with Viktor Krum, his favourite Quidditch Player, to talk to him. But, merely a couple of seconds later, he remembered that Ron was probably very jealous of Krum, but he'd never show it.

A couple of songs went by, and Hermione and Marina seemed to be getting along quite well with each other. Since they were now immersed in a conversation about something Ben couldn't hear, he tried to chat with Krum.

However, he wasn't precisely a very talkative person.

"Hey," Hermione turned to both boys. "Marina and I are going to join Harry and Ron, if you want to come?"

"Sure!" exclaimed Ben.

"Ve'll go get some drinks," said Krum, in his thick accent, referring to himself and Ben.

"Oh, okay," he said.

Krum kissed Hermione's hand, and both girls disappeared in the crowd. Ben followed Krum on his way to a table full of drinks.

"Your name is Ven, right?" he asked.

"Er- Yes."

Krum nodded in understanding, as he took some drinks. "Veil, Ven, do you know vho 'Ron' is?"

"Yeah, he's our best friend," he answered, eyeing him a bit suspiciously.

"Herm-own-ninny mentions him a lot," announced Krum. Ben fought with all of his entire strength and self-control the urge to laugh at how he had pronounced her name.

Once he was done coughing dramatically to cover the chuckles escaping his lips, he turned back to Krum, with a smirk. "Of course she does."

"Vhat do you mean by that?"

"Well, they're best friends."

"Nothing more than that?"

"They've never told me otherwise."

Technically it wasn't a lie. They were just friends, although Ben was sure there was something else, very deep down. Krum seemed satisfied by the response, so they approached the table where Harry, Ron were sitting. As soon as Krum realised Hermione wasn't there, and neither were Marina, Parvati or Padma, he disappeared, after saying goodbye to Ben.

He still walked over to his friends. "Where's Marina?"

"Hello to you, too," said Harry grumpily. Ben ignored the tone, assuming he was probably just mad he hadn't gotten to go with Mei-Xing.

"What did you do to scare all the ladies off?" he asked, sitting beside Harry, who immediately sat up straight.

"I told Hermione Krum was using her."

"Okay and why would you tell her that?"

"Because that's what I think is happening!" exclaimed Ron, clearly taken aback by the fact that Ben didn't instantly agree with him.

"Have you even talked to him?"

"No, have you?"

"Yes, actually, I have," he said. "Well, not for long, but I've seen the way he talks to her and treats her. I think he does like her."

"He doesn't even know her!" he went on. "They've known each other for, what, a couple of weeks? I know her since first year-"

"Then you've had plenty of time to ask her out, haven't you?"

And he left, hearing Ron stutter something. Not because he was mad at them, but because he genuinely didn't want to be around them when they were in such a grumpy mood. Besides, he had been having a lot of fun dancing with Marina, Hermione and Krum.

So he spent the rest of the night with them, being joined every now and then by some other classmates or friends, including Cedric and Mei-Xing, Rolf and a younger blonde Ravenclaw, Thomas (who had escaped Millicent), Dean, Seamus and the Patil twins, who were dancing with two handsome Beauxbatons boys.

At some point, soon before the end of the ball, Hermione disappeared. The ambience was dying out, and everyone seemed to be getting tired. Marina was, too, so Ben offered them to leave and to accompany her to the entrance of the Hufflepuff common room.

However, as soon as they stepped outside the Great Hall, and into the entrance one, their eyes stopped on a girl crying on the marble staircase. There were some more girls sobbing, but all of them were surrounded by their friends. All of them, except for Hermione.

Without saying a word, Marina and Ben rushed over to her.

"Mione," called the girl, softly, as she sat beside her and Ben knelt in front of them both. "Are you alright?"

"Did Krum do anything to you?" asked Ben, very seriously.

Hermione shook her head, and wiped a tear off her face. "No, it was... Ron and I argued about the same thing again."

"Again?" repeated Ben.

"Again," she confirmed.

"Oh, for Merlin's sake!" he groaned. "I'm going to go talk to him," he turned to Marina. "Do you mind if I-"

"No, don't worry," she smiled at him as he stood up. "I'll stay with Hermione, alright?"

"Alright."

She momentarily got to her feet, leaned forward, and kissed him on the cheek. "Bye, Ben."

"Erm... Bye, you two!"

He hurried upstairs, and didn't stop running until he finally reached the common room, and walked up the stairs, out of breath. He opened the door of their dormitory, to find Harry and Ron already changing into their pyjamas, looking grim.

"What the hell, Ron?" he asked.

"Huh?"

"I've seen Hermione at the entrance hall," he said, walking over to him. "She was crying."

All colour drained from Ron's face. "I didn't know."

He took a deep breath. "Do you have any idea of how happy she was? Of how much she was enjoying herself?"

"No I don't, but you certainly do, since you haven't been with us all night!"

"I had a date!" he exclaimed.

"Trust me, we know," said Harry, all of a sudden. "And it seems it ended up well, right?"

"What are you talking about?" he asked, ignoring the rise in his heartbeat.

"Nevermind."

And, with that, the whole conversation ended.

A/N: OKAAAYYYY

I can't believe I finally wrote Ben's realisation moment after over a year of writing his fic LMAO

Any thoughts or theories on what's happening next?