He scanned the hall, catching sight of a curly red ponytail just on its way out the door. Muttering an excuse to Neville, he jumped up and hurried out, calling Susan's name. She turned, both her and Ernie stopping with curious looks on their faces. "Harry? What's the matter?"
"Would your aunt mind if I wrote to her again? About Rita Skeeter?" he asked. "I don't know if you saw the article about Hagrid, but it's ridiculous, and there's got to be something I can do about it legally. Or someone could do."
"Aunt Amelia would love to hear from you, Harry, but I don't know if she can be of any help. Trust me, if there was a way to get Skeeter arrested, she would've done it by now," Susan added with a sour look. "The worst the DMLE can do is slap her with a few fines, and the Prophet is happy to pay those; she brings in way too much money for them slinging her muck about." She paused thoughtfully. "What about that lawyer you got in touch with? Maybe she'll have an idea?" "I can ask." Harry hadn't spoken much to his lawyer, but Evelyn Frobisher seemed to be one of the best. Harry expected as much, if she came on the recommendation of the head of the DMLE herself. "But I can't exactly have her banned from talking to everyone. Especially not the people who can consent for themselves." If only Hagrid had turned around and told her no comment. Then again, she probably would've written that crap regardless.
"Maybe we can get her banned from the grounds except on tournament days," Susan said slowly. "On the claim of disrupting our learning. If Skeeter's allowed to just wander around and interrupt classes for interviews, what's to stop other random adults coming in and doing it?"
Harry grinned; he could put up with Skeeter on tournament days if it meant being rid of her the rest of the time. "That could work! I'll write to Mrs Frobisher and ask. Thanks, Susan." He was about to turn away, when suddenly a thought occurred to him. "Hey, Susan? Are you going to the ball with anyone?"
She blinked at him, eyebrows rising. "Not yet. Why do you ask?"
"Would you want to maybe go with me? As friends," he clarified quickly, feeling his cheeks grow hot. "I have to have a partner to open the ball, and I thought it'd be good to go with someone from a different house. If you'd rather not, I completely understand," he added. "That sort of attention isn't for everyone. But… it could be fun." He wasn't quite bold enough to go with a boy — especially one that wasn't Draco. But going with a Hufflepuff, he could do.
Susan eyed him contemplatively. At her side, Ernie was grinning. "I'll warn you, I've never danced a step in my life," Harry added, wondering if that was a dealbreaker. "But I'm willing to learn."
"I don't have time to teach you, but if you promise to get good enough not to embarrass yourself, I'll go with you," she agreed, folding her arms over her chest. "Even if you're terrible, it'll still be good for my image to be seen with you. And for our little house unity side-project," she added with a grin. "Your image?" Harry repeated, baffled. She nodded.
"If I want to be Chief Warlock of the Wizengamot by the time I'm thirty, I have to start somewhere, don't I? I'm a Hufflepuff; we don't make waves. Being Harry Potter's date to the Yule Ball will make me memorable." She spoke as if it was obvious, and Harry merely nodded, mildly terrified of the determination in her tone. "What colour are your dress robes?"
"Green, with gold answered. Susan smiled.
detail,"
Harry
"Good, I look great in gold." "Sooz, we've got to get to Defence," Ernie nudged, gesturing at his watch. Harry realised he was probably going to be late for Potions. Oh well, Snape hadn't had the chance to take points off him in a while. Maybe he could even wing his way into a detention; Remus was coming to visit in a couple of days.
"Let me know if you don't find anyone to teach you to dance, Harry," Susan said. "I'll ask around."
"Will do, but I think I have someone in mind," he assured her. Draco would definitely know how to dance. He was probably great at it, too, the prat. "Thanks, Susan. I'll try not to let you down."
She patted him on the cheek gently, smiling in a way that was vaguely condescending, but somehow nice at the same time. "Just be a pretty bit of arm candy for me, you'll do fine." That had Ernie laughing. Harry was wondering if he should regret his choices. Maybe Parvati would have been safer.
"Who are you going with, Ernie?" he asked curiously.
"Hannah," the Hufflepuff boy replied, looking incredibly pleased about it. "Not all of us want to break house boundaries for this one, y'know."
"He's fancied her since last year," Susan whispered theatrically, making Ernie blush. "See you later, Harry!" Harry turned away just as the hall began to fill with students heading to classes, immeasurably glad he'd managed to ask Susan before he had an audience. He went to find Neville, grinning to himself.
One problem down, just one more to go.
.-.-.
Harry was wondering if he should try making friends with people other than Neville — publicly, that was. With Ron still pissed at him and Hermione mostly-pissed at him, he found himself at a bit of a loose end when Neville was off doing things in the greenhouses. With little else to do, he went to the library, planning on getting a head start on the Featherlight charm for the next class. It was a Friday evening, so the library was fairly busy — as far as the school library went. People wanting to get their homework done before the weekend, or finish stuff they'd been given an extension on and had to hand in before Saturday morning. He glanced around for a free table — Viktor was almost always in the library these days, maybe Harry could sit with him?
He followed the trail of starry-eyed teen girls until he saw the crowd of Viktor's most devoted stalkers lurking around the edge of a bookshelf. They looked furious, muttering to each other and glaring daggers at something on the other side of the shelf. Harry kept out of sight and edged closer, his eyebrows rising at what was making the girls so upset. Viktor was indeed in the library, but he wasn't studying alone. Hermione was sat right next to him, leaning just a little bit into his space as she read a passage from the book they appeared to be sharing, then said something quietly. Viktor's lips twitched, and he replied, making Hermione giggle. The pair of them looked pretty cozy; no wonder Viktor's fans were upset.
Harry backed out of the scene, feeling conflicted. On the one hand, he liked Viktor a lot, and if he liked Hermione, more power to him. He even liked Hermione, most of the time, even if she didn't like Harry very much these days. He wasn't really sure where their friendship stood — and he wouldn't be until he had proof that she was just friends with him because Dumbledore told her to be — but he still wanted her to be happy.
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